by Alex Brooks
At the August 8 meeting of the Hoosick Town Board, Jeff Wysocki told the Board The Solar Committee, which consists now of only himself, Andy Beaty and Adria Diel, has completed its Report offering recommendations for regulation of solar installations.[private] The report divides projects by the amount of electricity they produce. Residential/Small commercial is defined as less than 20,000 watts capacity, large commercial as between 20,000 watts and 200,000 watts, and solar farms are defined as installations of 200,000 watts or greater capacity.
Using these categories and the existing districts defined in Hoosick’s Land Use Law, they recommended a different level of regulatory scrutiny based on the character of the District and the size of the installation. The only use that is not permitted is a large commercial or solar farm installation in a “Hamlet” district.
The report also recommends a 100 foot setback from any road and appropriate landscaping to mitigate visual impacts, and a maximum height of 20 feet for pole-mounted systems.
Large commercial and solar farm installations will need to have an approved security fence installed, and will need to submit a written decommissioning plan, which must be implemented within 12 months of the time when the installation stops being used.
Reorganizing The Planning Board After long-time Planning Board Chairman Jim Dunigan stepped down, the Board appointed Penny Acree as Temporary Planning Board Chairman. Hoosick Supervisor Mark Surdam said Mike Bacon has expressed interest in serving on the Planning Board. The Board was agreeable, but took no action on the matter until its September meeting.
Supervisor Surdam said the Rensselaer County Department of Health inspected the Town Pool and the Town of Hoosick Summer camp on July 21. There were no violations at the pool, and there was one minor violation at the summer camp, which he said was corrected “pretty much on the spot.”
He said an audit by New York State has begun and is now in progress, looking at the period from the beginning of 2015 into early 2016.
The final equalization rate has been received from New York State. It is 27.5%
Surdam said he sent a letter to the NYS Dept of Transportation requesting a study of the intersection of Route 7 and Route 279 where the Bennington Bypass starts. There have been quite a few accidents there. Surdam said one frequent reason is that people coming from Bennington and turning onto Route 7 Westbound think that the eastbound traffic in the right lane is turning right onto Route 7 towards Bennington. But that lane is not a right-turn-only lane, and many of those cars are accelerating onto Route 279 eastbound. He suggests the right lane become a right-turn only lane. NYSDOT has acknowledged the letter and request and they will do a study of the intersection and share their findings when it is complete.
The Board approved the budget calendar for next year’s budget. A budget workshop will be held on Tuesday, October 4 at 6 pm. The Town Board meeting that would normally be on October 10 was rescheduled to Thursday October 13 at 7 pm because of the holiday.
Public hearings on the Town’s Fire Department contracts will be held on October 20 – West Hoosick at 6 pm, Buskirk at 6:30 pm, and North Hoosick at 7 pm.
Pool Slide The Kiwanis has taken the lead on fundraising for costs of designing, purchasing and installing a pool slide, and Monolith Solar has also indicated a willingness to contribute. Rensselaer County requires plans to be submitted and approved for the slide, and LaBerge Engineering has given the Town an estimate of $3,500 to draw up the plans and submit them.
Bath House And Filter House Renovation Required lot line adjustments for the Town’s land near the bath house were submitted to the Village Planning Board and were approved at its July meeting. A pre-renovation hazardous materials survey has been completed. The Town is trying to get the work underway this fall, and a meeting with LaBerge engineers was held in mid-August to work towards that goal.
In other business: • Surdam reported that he received a letter from NYSDEC with results of a March 19 sampling of water from the Town pool. It said the water had 375 parts per trillion of PFOA in it. Surdam wondered why they bothered with that, since the pool was emptied in May and refilled with filtered water, which has no PFOA in it.
• Town Historian Phil Leonard presented a new Board showing the main products produced by the Walter A Wood Factory. Leonard said Wood’s main innovation, the thing that made the company so successful, was having replaceable parts which could be ordered from the company when they broke.
• Councilman David Sutton said the little dirt access roads to the beach at the River site known as “The Rock Cuts” are deeply rutted and he would like the Town to put some gravel on them to make them passable. The State gave the Town permission to do that, and Sutton asked Highway Superintendent Shiland to take care of it.
• An application for funding to study the Woods Brook situation has been submitted jointly by the town and The Village, and awards under that program are expected to be made in December.
At the end of the meeting the Board went into Executive Session to discuss bills from Creekside Kennel related to animals seized and held there, and issues with the Gnostic Church.
The Zoning Board meets on the first Monday of the month at 7 pm, and the Planning Board meets on the third Monday of the month at 7:30 pm.[/private]