by Alex Brooks
At its February 14 meeting, the Board of Trustees of the Village of Hoosick Falls accepted the recommendation of the search committee and agreed to hire Brighid Buzzell to be the coordinator of the Village’s economic development efforts. [private]Buzzell has most recently been working as the Director of Sales and Marketing for Lost Nation Brewing in Morrisville, Vermont. She has worked in sales and marketing for the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe Vermont, and she worked for four years as the membership director of the Chamber of Commerce in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Ric DiDonato, one of the members of the search committee, said he was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the applicants for the economic development position. There were four applicants. Three of them were interviewed.
The position is 20 hours per week and the Village has committed $50,000 to it over a two-year period.
At the suggestion of Mayor Borge, the Village Board also agreed to extend the contract of Camoin Associates for four months so that they can work with Buzzell during a transitional period. Camoin was the company hired to develop an economic development strategy for Hoosick Falls. Their contract expired in January of this year. The Board agreed to an extension of their contract for $600 per month for four months to help Buzzell get started on implementation of the plan.
Mayor Borge was pleased with the Board’s action, saying that hiring Buzzell is “a major step forward” for the Village.
Borge also suggested that the Village help the Local Development Corporation (LDC) by transferring some of the Village’s economic development funds to the LDC. Borge said the LDC has been very successful helping start-up businesses in the area through loans and through help with business plans offered through an organization of retired business executives. Borge said all of the LDC loans are being paid back. He said the LDC has $110,000 that it lends out. He suggested that the Village transfer $25,000 of its Economic Development fund to the LDC so that the LDC can do more to develop local businesses.
Borge said the Village has $193,000 in it economic development fund, and $50,000 of that is committed to paying Buzzell for two years, so there is $153,000 available. The Board voted unanimously to transfer $25,000 of that to the LDC.
Borge said the Village has received a proposal from Barton & Loguidice to conduct the study of Woods Brook for which the Town of Hoosick and the Village recently received a grant. He recommended that the Board accept the B&L proposal, and allocate $600 to pay the Village’s share of the matching funds required by the grant. The Board voted unanimously to do so, and the Town took similar action the night before, so that study is launched. The study will seek ways to prevent or mitigate the flooding that has plagued residents who live near the path of Wood’s brook though the middle of Town, particularly those on Hall Street.
The Board then accepted a proposal from MRB Engineering to do a study of PFOA at the Village’s wastewater treatment plant, and whether measures need to be taken there to remove PFOA from water before it is released into the river. The grant for this was $30,000, and it required a match from the Village of $7,500, so MRB’s contract is for $37,500. Mayor Borge said MRB is a good choice for this project because they have already done a lot of work designing a possible expansion of the sewer system, so they are very familiar with the Village’s existing wastewater treatment infrastructure.
The Board receive a a request from HAYC3 to modify the terms of a loan that the Village made to HAYC3. The loan was originally for $17,500. HAYC3 has been paying about $770 per month on it and under the current terms, it would be paid off by January of 2019. HAYC3 is current on the payments. They proposed that the loan be modified so that they pay half as much per month, about $385, so that the loan is extended and would be paid off two years later, in January of 2021. They said it would help with their cash flow. Trustees asked if they had done something like this on any of their loans before, and were reminded that they had allowed more lenient terms to the Hoosick Falls Health Center at one point when the Health Center was having cash flow problems. The Board then approved the extension of the HAYC3’s loan.
Full Capacity Filtration System Is Fully Operational
Mayor Borge said the Village was given the go-ahead to disconnect the temporary filtration system on February 6, and it was disconnected on Monday, February 13. The full capacity filter has been installed since December 30, 2016, and extensive testing has been done throughout the month of January to be sure it is working properly, and it has been found to be delivering clean drinking water free of PFOA. Mayor Borge called it a major step forward in the response of the State and the Village to the PFOA crisis.
In other business, the Village Board:
• accepted a bid from Randall Maynard of $400 for the Village’s 1991 International Truck, which has been declared surplus equipment.
• recognized Anna Brewer, who was chose “Youth of the Month” by the Rensselaer County Legislature. Brewer is engaged in constructing a “fitness trail” on the Hoosick Falls Greenway.
• appointed Sandra Sargood, Sharon Davendonis, Judy VanDerKar, Tony Hayes, and Art Hyde Sr. as inspectors for the Village Election to be held on March 21 from noon to 9 pm.
• opened the meeting with a moment of silence honoring the late Donald Bogardus, who served as Mayor of the Village for 28 years. [/private]