State storm-relief money to help build fire stations
The town and village are working with the state toward the construction of two new fire stations.
The $6.7 million project is being reviewed under the state’s Communities Rising program, which provided financial assistance to communities hit by Tropical Storms Irene and Lee in 2011.
Some $4.7 million of the $6 million earmarked for the town and village of New Paltz remains available for use. There has yet to be a determination about how to cover the additional $2 million cost of the fire stations.
“One of the fire stations would be the west-of-the-Wallkill [River] station because what has happened is you get these great big floods ... and the Wallkill floods the flats down by the Carmine Liberta Bridge,” town Supervisor Neil Bettez said, referring to the bridge that carries state Route 299 over the river.
When such flooding occurs, “everyone west of the Wallkill is cut off from the rest of New Paltz,” Bettez said.
The west-of-the-Wallkill station would be on Mountain Rest Road, near the reservoir.
The second station would be built on the site of, and replace, the current firehouse at North Putt Corners Road and Henry W. Dubois Drive.
Of covering the cost of the fire stations beyond the Communities Rising money that remains, Bettez said: “We’re approaching legislators, we’re looking into some grants, and the village and town boards will be talking about that. If we can’t find the money anywhere, we’ll have to talk to the voters about borrowing the money and issuing bonds.”
Some of the leftover Communities Rising money was to go toward upgrading a bridge connecting Springtown Road to the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, over the Wallkill River, but that project was determined to be too risky to potential damage from flooding.
“They spent $30,000 on that doing some engineering reports,” Bettez said. “They did the engineering and found out you still end up in a floodplain.”