Village Water Revenue Is Shrinking
By Keith Whitcomb Jr.
A sharp decline in industrial water usage will leave the water budget permanently pinched, according to village officials. “We did a little bit of data digging and what we discovered is in terms of the metered usage of our water, the metered usage dropped significantly, I want to say it was like 10 or 12 percent, but it wasn’t because of village resident usage,” said Mayor Robert Allen,
Water usage rates dipped several years ago when perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was found in the town water supply. The discovery was the beginning of a financial and legal storm that continues to involve the village, state, and the two companies — Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics and Honeywell — that the government deems responsible for the pollution. “Even when we looked at the initial drop-off during the PFOA situation… since that point, the village usage has actually been pretty much consistent over the past few years,” Allen said. “The big change was in our industrial usage, when the two Saint-Gobain locations switched to some sort of water reusing system.” This, he said, led to a drop in water usage, and along with it, revenue for the water fund.
“So that’s something we are going to have to look into over the course of the next several months,” Allen said. “We are not going to have the revenue we’ve had in the past… This is just the new norm for us. It was not a fun thing to notice, but it is what it is.” The dip is the reason why Allen said the village has to use caution in spending on its water budget, and to avoid using the entire amount of budgeted funds, otherwise there will be a deficit. He said last year’s budget included some large gains towards raising village employee salaries to what’s considered average in villages of Hoosick Falls’ size.
Last year’s budget got them halfway there, he said, with the intention of closing the gap this year, but with revenues and expenses being what they are, and a desire to remain below the tax cap, this budget only has them at 75 percent of the goal.
Village Treasurer Denise McMahon later in the meeting said this is the time of year to corral any extra spending. “The general fund is going to be very touchy this year with our flood expenses,” she said, referring to severe and costly flooding over the summer. “We had approximately $320,000 of un-budgeted flood expended. (Superintendent of Public Works Neil Stowell) and I were able to put a couple of the projects under CHIPS (Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program) reimbursement, and he also put off some purchases.” That still leaves the fund with about $250,000 in un-budgeted expenses, which will affect the village’s fund balance. “We need to save in every area we can,” she said.
Award
It was announced by Trustee Ben Patten that Water Superintendent Jim Hurlburt has been recognized by the New York Rural Water Association as water Operations Specialist of the Year. Patten read a letter from New York Rural Water Association Chief Executive Officer J. Andrew Herman that read in part, “Your outstanding commitment and dedication to our profession and duty to serve our communities has made this an easy selection. It is great recognition that is long over-due.” The award ceremony will be held May 22 at the New York Rural Water Association’s 39th Annual Technical Training Workshop and Exhibition at The Turning Stone Resort, just west of Utica. “I only know a fraction of what you endured and what work you put in,” said Allen. “It’s absolutely well deserved, well done.”
Police Report
Police Chief Robert Ashe commended Officer Swanton for his persistence in finding an elderly woman who’d wandered away from her home during the night of March 26.
“We were requested at 12:30 am at night to assist the State Police and Sheriff’s Department in finding an elderly person on Hill Road,” Ashe said. “We located her at 4:31 am, it was a cold night.” He said other police, with dogs, were involved in the search. “This is the second time this has happened where she’s wandered away.”
Ashe said that his department is also getting calls from people reporting phone scams.
“Again, we’re receiving phone calls and complaints in reference to individuals that are calling residents and informing them they are from the IRS (Internal Revenue Service),” he said. “Please, just hang up on them. If you feel threatened, by all means contact us and we’ll take a report, but there’s very little we can do based on that. A lot of these calls we track to New York City; New York City is not going to this apartment to check on this stuff. All we can tell people is to hang up.”
There are other types of phone scams going around, some involve the scammer claiming to be collecting on behalf of the New York State Police. Ashe said State Police do not do this, and people should hang up when they get such a call.
Reorganization
Currently, the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) only has two members. It’s supposed to have five, and needs at least three to take any action. Allen suggested merging it with the Planning Board, but Village Attorney Andrew Gilchrist said that’s not legally possible.
He suggested approaching a Planning Board member and asking them to leave the Planning Board and join the ZBA. The Zoning Board hears appeals and requests for variances on the zoning laws drafted by the Planning Board, so it must be separate.
Patten said he knows someone on the Hoosick Town Board who might be willing, given that it’s legal for them to do so. Gilchrist said he’d look into it.
The Board’s two newest members, Craig Pine, and Vanessa Lewis, were sworn in, as was returning member, Patten.
Committee appointments were as follows:
Trustee Robert Ryan: Code enforcement, court, dog control, highway department, public safety, and street lights.
Trustee Kevin O’Malley: Code enforcement, court, highway department, public safety, sewer, street lights, and events.
Trustee Patten: Communications, finance, recycling and solid waste.
Trustee Lewis: Finance, parks and grounds, recycling and solid waste, marketing, and events. Lewis was also appointed fair housing officer.
Trustee Pine: Planning and zoning liaison, water, and sewer.
Trustee Brian Bushner: Communications, parks and grounds, water, and
marketing.