by Bea Peterson
Since tax grievance day was underway in the Hoosick meeting room the Town of Hoosick Board workshop meeting was held in the cavernous armory gym. Discussions at the Tuesday evening, May 24, workshop focused on two topics. The first was where shall the Town Hall be when the Armory closes and the second was where to put a domed sports complex in the Town. All the Board members were at the meeting, including Councilman Bob Ryan, who is recovering from rotator cuff surgery he had on Friday. Town Attorney Debra Young was also at the meeting. According to the attorney since no decisions were to be made at this meeting, no minutes were to be taken.
Sports Dome Complex
Town Supervisor Cipperly looked out at the crowd of more than 20 people, most of them South Street residents and said, “Usually there is no public comment at a Workshop, but we will listen as long as it stays under control.” Councilman Louis Schmigel added, “We understand your concerns and we would like to hear what you have to say.”
South Street resident Evan Wilson was the first to speak about putting a domed sports complex adjoining the soccer fields in Hoosick. He said he doesn’t want to see the zoning law changed to allow 60 foot structures in the hamlets.
Councilman Mark Surdam said, “We are looking at it from a whole Town perspective. This will benefit the whole Town. Here’s a chance to have a legitimate business come into our Town. We can adjust the laws. We knew there would be issues that would come up when we approved the law.” Ryan added, “The law is a work in progress. The complex would boost our economy. We can’t let it slip out of our hands. We have to look at all our options, no offense to anybody here. This is not personal.” It was apparent the Board wants to see the complex built somewhere in Hoosick.
A South Street resident and Hoosick Fire Commissioner said he thought the sports complex was a great idea but not off of South Street. He said more traffic could hinder the Hoosick Fire Dept. responding to calls.
Wilson said if the domes were located at the soccer fields, they would be 300 feet from his home. In recent weeks, he said, he has visited some of the existing sports domes in the region to find out firsthand about the overall impact of structures of this sort. He visited facilities in Queensbury, Latham and Colonie and spoke with owners and employees. What he learned, he said, is that the developers are under-selling the amount of traffic that will be generated. Soccer travel teams make up a large percentage of the income generated by domes of this sort and games are typically scheduled every fifty minutes, until closing. Even with as few as two indoor fields, he said, it would generate as many as 50 cars per hour, with new players and their families arriving on the hour as others are exiting. On a recent visit to Afrim’s Sports Complex in Colonie, Wilson said he observed four indoor fields in full play and a parking lot packed with as many as 200 cars. “None of us are against indoor sports,” he said, “but we feel that the domes would be dramatically incompatible for our hamlet.”
Later Wilson added that he visited another dome in Greenfield, MA, which was built by one of the investors for the proposed Hoosick domes. The first thing he noticed was that the dome was not in a residential neighborhood and that the club entrance was on a state highway, unlike the situation in Hoosick where cars would enter and exit on a County road emptying into a residential area. In addition, the dome was 50 feet from US 91, a four-lane highway. There was, however, a sole residence directly in front of the dome, and Wilson stopped to speak with the owner to see what it was like having a dome in his backyard. The owner told Wilson that when the dome had been proposed he really didn’t understand what it was and would never have allowed it to be built if he knew what he knows now. What he was referring to, said Wilson, was an all night concert held at the dome, known as a “Rave,” where the music was so loud, it shook the house until 4:30 am when it finally ended. The traffic was so bad, the police were called in to help direct it. Board members assured Wilson that laws are already in place that would not allow for such an event or noise.
Due to space considerations in the print version the rest of the story on the sports complex and Town Hall will appear in the newspaper, and will be posted, next week.