Land purchased in Historic Village of Montgomery
The COVID-19 pandemic increased the need for food in New York State and a period of inflation has continued that trend. Unable to properly meet those demands, the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley has purchased land in the Historic Village of Montgomery and is currently before its planning board seeking final site plan approval to construct a new facility.
Molly Nicol, Chief Executive Officer of the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, explained the nonprofit’s mission is to alleviate hunger and eliminate waste in the food system.
The region encompasses 23 counties from the Canadian border to Rockland and Sullivan Counties. The food bank accumulates large quantities of food which is then brought to its two warehouses in Latham and Cornwall-on-Hudson. There the food is sorted, inventoried, and stored for distribution to a network of 1,000 agencies like food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and anyone else who works directly with folks in need.
During the height of the pandemic, the food bank distributed 55.8 million pounds of food across the 23 counties it services. Of that, 22 million pounds was dispensed to the six counties which make up the Lower Hudson Valley – Dutchess, Putnam, Ulster, Orange, Rockland, and Sullivan.
Fifty-seven percent of that food had to come from the warehouse in Latham, said Nichol, because the facility in Cornwall-on-Hudson is not big enough to handle that volume of food. The Latham facility occupies 70,000 square feet and the one in Cornwall-on-Hudson is a 50,000 square foot building, but only 20,000 is usable space.
“We thought, coming out of the pandemic, the need would diminish, but then inflation hit,” Nicol said.”The need has diminished slightly, but we’re on track to distribute 51 million pounds of food.
That’s equivalent to 42 million meals. If this increase in volume was only going to be a blip, I wouldn’t have to do anything different from a structure standpoint, but this increase in volume seems to be with us. According to Feeding America, it’s going to be with us for at least another five years. We felt compelled to start exploring options to expand our capacity in the Lower Hudson Valley. We looked at a bunch of warehouses that were on the market, but they were snatched up immediately. We looked at different land options, as well as renovating the current building.”
The food bank was able to obtain land, located on the corner of Routes 211 and 416, from Nick Fitzpatrick, who sold the property at half the price. The sale won’t be complete until final site plan approval is granted.
Nicol said only a couple more appearances before the Planning Board should be necessary.
Environmental reviews have been conducted and turned up nothing of significance. A public hearing resulted in zero opposition. The Federal Aviation Administration needs to grant approval due to the site’s proximity to the Orange County Airport, and a second public hearing will need to be held in the Town of Montgomery, but Nicol does not anticipate any issues.
Ground breaking is anticipated by the third quarter of this year with the new facility opening a year later. The warehouse will be 40,000 square feet, but it won’t just double the current capacity. The warehouse in Cornwall-on-Hudson only allows pallets to be stacked two tiers high because of the low ceiling. The new facility will allow stacking up to five tiers high. It will also contain a 4,000 square foot cooler and freezer of the same size.
The project is fully funded, Nicol said. The food bank raised $3 million and the state awarded a $10.7 million grant to the Town of Montgomery for the construction of the facility.
