‘Important ... to maintain critical services’
Mayor Noble sees proposed natural gas regulator station as a necessary improvement
Mayor Steve Noble says that while he’s aware of neighbors’ concerns about a proposed natural gas regulator station in Uptown Kingston, he favors this kind of infrastructure improvement.
The mayor also said he’s confident the Kingston Planning Board will conduct a thorough review of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp.’s proposal for the corner of Washington Avenue and Janet Street.
“I am confident that the Planning Board will carefully review this project, as it does with all other items brought before them,” Noble said in an email Tuesday. “Generally, I do see the need for such important infrastructure improvements to maintain critical services.”
The Planning Board is to hold a public hearing on the proposal at its September meeting.
“I am also aware of some of the concerns raised by neighbors,” Noble said. “I expect Central Hudson will provide any relevant information at its [September] presentation.”
At a Planning Board meeting earlier this month, neighbors of the vacant lot
where the regulator station would be located expressed concerns about risks associated with the project.
Those concerns included the volume and pressure of
gas running through the pipes, the smell of gas emitted from the current station at Main and Emerson streets, and the possibility of property values being driven down.
Central Hudson has said the proposed station at Washington Avenue and Janet Street would replace the one at Main and Emerson streets,
which is just a few blocks away and 87 years old.
The proposed new station would have both aboveground and underground equipment and would be enclosed with a 6-foot-high fence, Central Hudson has said. And no employees would staff the station.
John Maserjian, media relations
director for Poughkeepsie-based Central Hudson, has said regulator stations such as the one being proposed in Uptown Kingston ensure the utility’s natural gas system is operating at the proper pressure and volume.
The utility is seeking a special permit from the Kingston
Planning Board to allow for the station.
“The new station ... will enhance the safety and reliability of the local gas system,” Maserjian said previously. Also, he noted, “these stations use no motors and operate silently.”
The proposed station would occupy a space measuring
about 25 by 44 feet and would have landscaping, such as trees and shrubs, consistent with the residential neighborhood, Central Hudson has said.
Central Hudson serves a total of about 300,000 electricity and natural gas customers across eight counties in the Mid-Hudson Valley.