The Town Board focused on Route 32 at its June 10 meeting. The board was hoping to ease the traffic jams caused by the bridge repairs, and was taking steps to acquire the Hand property that wraps around the highway garage.
The Town also engaged a hydrologist to study the impact of Kiryas Joel’s plan to tap the Catskill Aqueduct and run a pipeline along the highway.
• The work on the bridge is about one-third done. Chief Todd Hazard believes the project will take another year to complete. At certain times of a day, there are major backups as northbound motorists attempt to turn left on Orrs Mills Road.
“This can’t go on for another year” was the consensus of the board members. “There’s got to be something better.” They have contacted Sen. Larkin and Assemblyman Skoufis, and they plan to send another letter to the Department of Transportation.
Their suggestions include a temporary light or more detour signs.
• The Hand property extends for 20 acres (around the highway garage) on the east side of Route 32. At its June 10 meeting, the board was unanimous in authorizing the supervisor to continue negotiations for the land.
The following day Supervisor Kevin Quigley reported that the tentative price is $722,500. He suggested that the acquisition would give the Highway Department a place to store its trucks, sand and equipment. It might also enable the Town to save money by getting into recycling.
And, the supervisor reasoned, if future administrations thought it was a bad idea, they could always sell the property and recover the Town’s money.
The purchase price would be covered by a bond that would also include the cost of highway equipment, a property revaluation, and improvements to the sewer plant that have been mandated by the DEC.
• The proposed route of the Kiryas Joel pipeline will take it through an area where the Firthcliffe Water District has several lines. The board members are worried about service disruptions and the impact on local aquifers. They have hired Mazur Consulting to study the Kiryas Joel proposal. The company’s fee of $8,700 will be split equally between the Village and the Town.
