Beaver Dam residents speak at hearing
Cornwall-on-Hudson residents Liz Dunn and Dan Ahearn are trying to transform the old Pennings Garden Center property, on Route 94 in Salisbury Mills, into a place where people can gather to socialize, be entertained, shop, sip a cup of coffee, or just enjoy the surrounding property. While most seem to be in full support of the concept, Beaver Dam Lake residents find a couple of the project details to be a bit unsavory. Earlier this month they voiced those concerns during a public hearing held by the Town of Cornwall Planning Board.
Cornwall Social is proposed on the 10.7-acre property and entails converting one of the existing buildings into a cafe to seat 40 customers with additional seasonal seating outdoors. The barn will be converted to allow for storage space, as well as a retail area for a farmers’ market. One of the remaining greenhouses was removed, due to safety concerns, and will be replaced with a smaller version to grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Another existing building will receive interior and exterior renovations and will be used as an indoor recreation space for games such as cornhole, shuffleboard, and ping pong.
The project also entails converting another of the buildings into a social hall for local markets, private events, and gallery shows. It will include a finished kitchen for catering and a larger restaurant. A breezeway will connect it to the rec hall.
The existing residence will also be renovated as part of the two-phase project.
As for the rest of the property, there will be walking paths, communal spaces, picnic tables, and wildflowers and raised vegetable beds to supplement the growth inside the greenhouse.
Access to the property is proposed off of Shore Road, rather than Route 94. This sparked a number of comments regarding the safety of residents going to and from home. One resident expressed concern for the children who ride their bicycles in and out of Cumberland Farms.
Another suggested additional traffic congestion could affect the response time of emergency personnel.
A third person said trying to exit out of the Salisbury Mills/Cornwall train station is already a nightmare without the addition of more traffic to the area.
Fred Redmond and Harry Blackman suggested conducting a traffic study while Michael Toler said the intersection may require a traffic light to avoid potential accidents like the ones at the intersection of Jackson Avenue and Rt. 94 before the light was installed.
The biggest gripe against the project, however, is the suggestion that treated wastewater would be dumped into the adjacent Beaver Dam Lake.
In 2018, the Beaver Dam Lake Association, in conjunction with Orange County, began the Beaver Dam Lake dam rehabilitation project. To accommodate the construction work, the 160-acre lake had to be drained. The project cost about $5 million, 80 percent of which was paid by Beaver Dam Lake District residents.
The original plan was to connect to the New Windsor sewer system, but the town has stood firm about not wanting to take on additional wastewater. Instead, the project’s engineer is proposing an on-site wastewater treatment plant capable of handling 5,500 gallons per day. The Department of Environmental Conservation has reviewed the proposed discharge location and provided preliminary effluent limits and guidelines as to how strictly the wastewater needs to be polished before it can be discharged into the lake.
During phase one of the project, it’s expected about 1,400 gallons per day will be conveyed to temporary storage tanks and would be utilized for a period of one year, from the issuance of a certificate of occupancy, or earlier based on the completion of the wastewater treatment plant.
An active hauling agreement will be maintained or the applicant agrees to cease all operations.
During phase two, the temporary storage tanks will be removed as the treatment plant is installed.
Since they didn’t have a voice at the meeting, Mike Moran spoke in favor of preserving the water and the natural area in consideration of the wildlife that lives in the area such as the bald eagles, beavers, peepers, gray tree frogs, herons, ducks, muskrats, and minks.
Derek Spagnoli suggested looking into composting toilets to address the sewer discharge.
Although the wastewater treatment plant would have an automatic system in place to monitor flow, residents like Larry Rossini didn’t express much confidence in the system should it fail and nobody is around to monitor the flow being dumped into the lake.
In addition to the wastewater, other concerns included additional runoff into the lake from the property, as well as the impact on well-water systems which some residents say they already experience sediment coming from their faucets.