by Deb Alter
At the Hoosick Rising Meeting November 17, developer Alex Buell said work on the “Corner” (formerly known as Doherty’s Corner) continues and he believes the building will be complete by the end of the year. Buell has had several inquiries from potential tenants of the ground floor space, but there is nothing solid yet.
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Hoosick Falls Mayor David Borge opened the meeting with a recap and update of Village news. The Village is in the process of putting the zoning laws online and making them business friendly. This will set the stage for creating a comprehensive plan for Hoosick Falls moving forward for the next five to ten years.
He said the solution to the water situation continues to move forward. “There are a few more t’s to be crossed and some i’s to be dotted, but when it’s all done we will without question, have the best water in the northeast,” he said.
The hoosickrising.org website continues to add links to local and regional resources, the schools, things to do in Hoosick, local businesses and various organizations. The Hoosick Rising Community and Economic Development Implementation Strategy and the Action Plan Matrix are available for download from the site. The mayor also spoke about the solar garden that has been “planted” on the old landfill near the transfer station that was “unveiled” on Monday, November 16. The total cost for the Village was $450 to upgrade some software at the water treatment plant and the installation will start generating savings as soon at the utility company flips the switch, which is imminent.
Town Supervisor Mark Surdam spoke about the importance of the revaluation project. They will be contracting with a company who has experience with revaluations in 2016, work will start in 2017, and the whole project will be finished in 2018. They will create one tax roll (the Village and Town have separate tax rolls now). There will be public forums to educate the public about the process and the impact on property owners’ taxes.
Hoosick Local Development Corporation
Bill Johnston of the Hoosick Local Development Corporation (HLDC), whose mission is “to promote, to assist, to develop, to plan, and to attract new businesses and industries to the Town of Hoosick; to encourage the development of, or retention of, existing businesses and industry; to revitalize the business community; and to promote and assist the growth and development of business concerns, including small businesses,” spoke about one of their major projects, bringing high speed internet to Hoosick. They hope to have everyone able to hook up to broadband by 2017-2018. They had been working with a regional proprietary company called Bouncelinx, but recently the company has been unresponsive to phone calls and correspondence, so the HLDC is now planning to meet with Hudson Valley Wireless, a non-proprietary group, to approach the project through them. This will require grants and state aid; the Bouncelinx organization did not.
Johnston also said that they had made three low-interest loans so far. They will consider making loans to anyone who comes to them with a viable business plan. In addition they will provide guidance and advice on developing a business plan with potential new business owners.
The third major project the HLDC is working on is inventorying vacant industrial and retail buildings and spaces. HLDC can be contacted at http://www.hoosickldc.org.
HFCS Community Information Officer Brian Bushner presented some new initiatives in the HF School District, including Panther Pit in which aspiring student-entrepreneur teams plan and make business presentations to a panel of “panther investors.” The judges are members of the HLDC; the presentations and judging will be in late January or early February. One example he gave was of a female student who is studying automotive technology at HFCS and has a plan for an all-female auto repair shop where women can bring their cars to be fixed and feel comfortable getting advice from other women. Another idea is for a coffee shop on wheels. Ms Jachym, the business teacher is guiding them.
The school recently hosted an all-county music festival. It was a packed house. Bea Peterson, who was at the Hoosick Rising meeting and attended the concert, said the concert was fabulous.
On December 4 the Advanced Chorus will be singing at Carnegie Hall in NYC. The concert headliner is Sarah McLaughlin and it is a fundraiser for autism awareness and research.
Bushner said the high quality of the Hoosick schools is drawing people to the community and is another important factor driving the revitalization of Hoosick.
John Downen, who owns and is renovating the old Delaney Hotel (at the intersection of Routes 22 and 67) was at a Hoosick Rising meeting for the first time. He had many creative suggestions for what could happen here to make it a tourist destination because of the rich history and interesting architecture. Mayor Borge invited him to be part of the focus group/committee that will be exploring how best to promote our community to outsiders. He accepted.
The next Hoosick Rising meeting will be on Tuesday, January 26, 2016 at 6 pm in the main retail space of Parson’s Outpost (“The Corner”) on the corner of John and Main Streets.[/private]