Ready to Review Code Changes
by Doug La Rocque
More than a year into a moratorium on two-family and multi-family construction in the Town, Supervisor Phil Herrington announced at the Thursday, April 14 Town Council meeting, the proposed changes are nearly complete, and scheduled a Council Workshop for Tuesday, April 26 at 6 pm. This workshop is open to the public, but no comments will be entertained — those will be heard when a public hearing is scheduled.
The moratorium came to be because of many complaints about overcrowding in some areas of the Town along with comments that these multi-family dwellings were being proposed for some rural and agricultural areas. Since the moratorium’s enactment, a group of public officials and Town attorneys and the LaBerge Group have been meeting on a weekly basis to identify the issues that needed to be addressed and put together proposed solutions. That work is now complete.
Following the workshop, a new local law making the changes to the 2017 zoning laws will be introduced, possibly as soon as the Council’s May meeting, after which a public hearing will be scheduled.
Route 7 Traffic Study
It was announced at the March Council meeting the Capital District Transportation Committee (CDTC) had approved $90,000 for a new traffic study of NYS Route 7 (Hoosick Road). The most recent study is not very recent, at least 20 years old, and much has changed in those 20 years, particularly the number and length of the many traffic back-ups. At their Thursday meeting, the Councilors formally accepted that grant and the CDTC will now arrange for the study to be conducted, apparently sometime in 2022 or 2023.
The Fence Is Unsafe
A Woodward Avenue resident has been complaining to the Council that a fence erected by a neighbor along their backyard is unsafe and a danger to their children when playing there. While Brunswick does not have any codes concerning fences, the Council had an engineer inspect it who determined it was indeed unsafe.
The neighbor did submit an engineering plan to correct the situation several months ago, but according to the complainant no work on the fence fix has been done. Codes Enforcement Officer Chuck Golden said it was his understanding the work was to begin within days. The Council asked Mr. Golden to check on this with the warning for the fence builder: if not fixed the Town could take it down at the owner’s expense.
Disinfectants Too High in Keyes Lane Water
According to Water Superintendent Bill Bradley the Total Trihalomethanes Disinfection Products (TTHM) in the Water at the Town Community Center on Keyes Lane is reading eight one hundreds of a percent higher than is allowed. He feels this is the result of more organics in the water being treated by the City of Troy (Troy provides Brunswick with water). Users in the water district will be notified and the situation closely monitored.
Mr. Bradley says the increased treatment of organics is a direct result of the higher than average rainfall of late.
Other Action
The Council set public hearings to be held before their May 12 meeting on local laws to provide tax relief for eligible senior citizens and disabled homeowners. The Council will submit a Community Funding Project Grant application to rehabilitate the Van Derheyden Reservoir Dam. The Town is under a Department of Environmental Conservation Consent Order to repair the North Lake Avenue structure. The cost of these repairs is estimated at $2.5 million. The revisions to the Town’s website are underway but will take some time and a contract to install an electronic sign where the current Town Hall sign exists was approved.