Village Board Approves New Zoning Law
by Alex Brooks
The Hoosick Falls Board of Trustees held another Public Hearing on its new Zoning Law at its meeting on October 11 because it had been changed since the last meeting to ban keeping of chickens in backyards in the Village. [private] The Trustees had decided at the conclusion of last month’s meeting that enforcement of regulations concerning how chickens are kept will be too big a headache, and thought it better to disallow keeping of chickens in the village. The law had been revised to make that change. No comments were received, and later in its meeting the Board approved the new zoning law in its entirety.
Mayor Borge noted that the last time the zoning law was revised was in 1977, so the Village was definitely in need of an update, which has now been completed. The new zoning regulations have been about three years in development.
The Board also approved having the Mayor sign a contract for a State grant which will fund a Comprehensive Plan for the Village. The grant, awarded last December, is for a $75,000 project. The state will provide $37,500 in cash, and the Village is expected to supply the rest in matching funds. A $5,000 Hudson River Greenway grant will be part of the match, and most of the rest can be provided by in-kind services such as volunteer hours or services provided by the highway department. Mayor Borge said as far as he knows, the Village has never had a comprehensive plan. The Village will be seeking a consultant at some point to help them write the plan.
Village Financial
Condition
The Village’s Annual Financial Statement has been filed with the State Comptroller. It is available in the Village Clerk’s office if anyone wants to see it. Mayor Borge said, “The Village is in good shape financially.” He said there was a significant fund balance in all three funds. He said altogether in all three funds there was a fund balance of about $1.5 million.
Barbecue Raises $1,500
Police Chief Robert Ashe said the Chicken Barbecue sponsored by the Hoosick Falls Police Department and held on the same afternoon as the Tractor Show raised $1,500. John Bombard, owner of the Man of Kent Restaurant, donated 165 chickens for the event and cooked them. Hoosick True Value Hardware donated the charcoal, and the Johnsonville Fire Dept. lent their grill. The funds raised will be used to provide winter hats, scarves and mittens to members of the Hoosick community through HAYC3’s Holiday Giving Tree program. At the Village Board Meeting, Bombard presented a $1,500 check to HAYC3 Board member Andrew Bushey for the Giving Tree program.
Code Enforcement Officer Mark Surdam said he is not opening as many new cases as he did in the month before because he is doing a lot of follow-up on cases begun earlier. He said there are about 80 open cases right now, and continuing to pursue them is keeping him very busy.
Mayor’s Report
Mayor Borge said the Village has been having some problems with equipment at the Sewer Plant some parts had to be replaced at considerable expense.
Borge said the Village has been operating the water plant temporarily with just one well. The State has agreed to do work on Well 3 to bring it up to the same standards as Well 7 in terms of capacity, so well 3 is offline while they are working on it.
Mayor Borge said the Environmental Facilities Corporation has not given the Village any response yet to indicate how their application for funding for the Water expansion project scored. The Mayor said he is expecting to hear something from them by the end of the month.
Mayor Borge said the EPA has grants for downtown revitalization projects. He asked the Board to approve having Barton & Loguidice send a letter of interest to get the Village started on the application process for such a grant, and the Board agreed. The Mayor said sending the Letter of Interest does not commit the Village to anything.
The Mayor said the full-capacity filtration tanks have been delivered and are being installed now. “Things are moving rapidly,” he said. He added once they are installed there will be a lengthy sampling and testing process to make sure they are performing as expected.[/private]