by Alex Brooks
New Economic Development Initiatives
At the regular Village Board meeting on Tuesday, January 10, Mayor Borge announced that the Village has two applicants for the Economic Development position it is trying to fill.[private]He said one of them is local and the other is moving to Hoosick Falls. Interviews and deliberations are in process and he hopes to fill the position by next month.
Mayor Borge also discussed the work of the Local Development Corporation. He said under the Chairmanship of Bill Johnston, the LDC has been very successful making loans to support existing businesses and to bring new businesses into town. He said the loans are being paid back, and the businesses are doing well. The LDC has also facilitated the services of a group of retired business executives who volunteer to consult with LDC client businesses to help them manage their businesses effectively. This program, he said, has gone well for the businesses involved.
Borge said the LDC is looking into restructuring itself because as presently constituted, they are required to have an annual audit that costs somewhere between $10,000 and $30,000. If restructured, they would still have audits, but the expense would be much less.
Borge asked the Board to consider whether it might be a good idea to transfer some of the Village’s Economic Development money to the LDC so that their efforts can go further. He said the Village’s economic development fund currently has about $190,000 in it, of which $50,000 is earmarked to pay the economic development person now being hired, which leaves $140,000 in the account. Borge suggested that perhaps $25,000 to $40,000 of that might be transferred to the LDC to further its work. He said at this point he is only asking the Board to think about it – if they think it is a good idea they can act on it later.
Water Update
Mayor Borge said the full capacity filtration system is pretty much complete. It was turned on for the first time December 30, and testing is ongoing. Once testing is complete, the Village will be able to take out the temporary system and return it to Calgon. The space it now occupies will become storage space. Borge said once the work is complete, the village will probably hold an open house to show the community the completed system.
Borge said work will begin on Well #3 on January 25. The State has hired a contractor to refurbish that well at State expense. He also said an alternative water source is actively being pursued. Wells at the new site have been proven to be free of PFOA, and the next step is to drill a larger well to see if the quantity of water is adequate to the Village’s needs. The larger well is scheduled to be drilled in early February. He also noted that DEC is continuing its investigation at the landfill.
Action Items
The Board approved a contract to do appraisals of 5 properties on Lyman Street at a cost of $8,500 as part of the sewer project. These properties are potential purchases for the sewer reconstruction project.
The Board established two new accounts at Key Bank. One is to keep the $117,500 the Hoosick Falls Police confiscated in a drug bust last October. It is expected to end up being released to the Village and will support police work in Hoosick Falls. The other is to keep about $27,000 from the Woods Brook grant. It will fund a study of what needs to be done to correct the flooding in the area where Woods Brook flows through the middle of the Village. A match of $1,200 is required, so the Town and the Village will each contribute $600 to the project.
Clarification
About Grant
Mayor Borge said he misidentified a grant that the Village received last month. It was not to study new disinfection techniques that may be needed at the Wastewater treatment plant, but to study if there is PFOA in the discharge water from the waste treatment plant and where it might be coming from. Although the water coming from the water plant is non-detect for PFOA, other water gets into the system by the time it gets to the wastewater treatment plant, and it is possible that there could be PFOA getting into it. The leachate from the landfill is also sent to the wastewater plant for treatment, and that is known to have PFOA in it. The $30,000 grant will assess the situation and come up with a plan to address it. Mayor Borge said he has to check with DEC to find out if their investigations have touched on any of these issues, to make sure there is no duplication of effort.
Other Matters:
• Town Historian Phil Leonard said he has been in touch with engineers working on the site plan for Cumberland Farms about a sign commemorating the site of the Elks Lodge after it has been demolished to make room for additional parking for the Cumberland Farms store. He read the proposed text and offered two pictures of the building – one from 1909 and one from 1910 – to be used as part of the plaque.
• Trustee Ben Patton said the Village’s transition to new financial software is still dragging on, so he did not have a treasurer’s report. Mayor Borge said he had a commitment from Village Treasurer Denise McMahon to complete the transition by the end of January.
• The Board approved the 2017 STOP-DWI enforcement agreements, which bring a total of about $6,000 to $7,000 to the Village Police Department to support DWI enforcement.
• Hoosick Falls Police Chief Robert Ashe said his Department will be teaming up with the Man of Kent once again, this time to raise funds for the St Patrick’s Day Parade. They are planning a “Chicken Blizzard” for January 21, offering chicken dinners and the band Whiskey Highway playing in the Immaculate Conception Church basement. Ashe said, “the Man of Kent has stepped up again, donating all the food for the chicken dinners.”
• The Village Highway crew will be picking up Christmas trees starting January 17, and continuing for a month.
• The Village received a letter from Anna Brewer asking if the Village would sponsor one sign for her fitness trail on the Greenway. Mayor Borge said he thought the Greenway has some grant money that could be used for that purpose, and he said he will forward her request to the Greenway committee.
• The Village accepted an offer from Barton and Loguidice to administer 6 grants that the Village has in progress for a contract price of $13,500. Trustee Rick DiDonato said that is a good price. When the Village has hired organizations to manage grants in the past, it was quite a bit more expensive. [/private]