Town schedules for many big-money projects this summer
HALFMOON, N.Y. » The town will be a busy place this summer as construction on a number of big ticket and small ticket projects begins to move forward.
In recent weeks the Town Board has authorized spending nearly $4 million for repairs and upgrades to the town’s water system.
The expenditures include $700,000 for renovation and upkeep to the water tank on Angle Lane and $600,000 for preventative maintenance to the Owl Creek culvert on Hudson River Road. Additionally, the town is planning to spend $2.6 million to make a connection to the Saratoga Water Authority for a backup supply of potable water in case of a break to the water line with Troy, the town’s main water provider.
The latter project includes installing additional water lines along Upper Newtown Road and building a pump station at Coons Crossing.
Most of the money for the three projects will come from the town’s 2016 settlement with GE for dumping PCBs into the Hudson River.
“The Saratoga County Water Authority’s line ends in Stillwater and that’s where a connection has been made by the city of Mechanicville,” said town Supervisor Kevin Tollisen. “The city brings it over to the Coons Cross-
“The community center is something we’ve talked about for a while and after speaking with our state senator, Sen. Kathy Marchione, we decided to take a shot at it.”
— Town Supervisor Kevin Tollisen
ing area and that’s where we’ll build the pump station and make our connection. We’re doing this to make sure our town residents will have safe and secure access to good water.”
In discussing the other projects Tollisen said town water tanks need to be painted and have maintenance done to them every few years and this is one of those times for the one on Angle Lane.
The Owl Creek culvert work is being done on the advice of town engineering consultants who believe the culvert needs preventative maintenance to make sure it does not cave in on a major trunk line for the town’s water district customers.
“These are big ticket items but they are routine maintenance. We need to be able to store water and we need to be able to provide it to our residents and this is part of that process,” Tollisen said. “If anything happens to the culvert it could potentially cause a major issue so that has to be addressed. We can’t wait on doing something there. There is money in the (water district) fund for the projects but the bulk of it is coming from the GE set- tlement.”
Tollisen said the town is happy with Troy water but wants a secure backup source in case there is ever another shut down due to a water line break as happened.
Other projects the town is either looking into or will complete this summer are a dog park, a splash park, a community center and a Farmer’s Market.
At the May 2 Town Board meeting the board authorized Tollisen to execute any necessary documents associated with a request for a $2 million State and Municipal Facilities Grant to build a community center in the town park on Route 236.
“The community center is something we’ve talked about for a while and after speaking with our state senator, Sen. Kathy Marchione, we decided to take a shot at it,” Tollisen said. “For long term strategic planning it’s something we wanted to do. If it happens, great, and if not we’ll continue to keep it in our long range plans. It’s an opportunity we didn’t want to miss.”
When the town park was designed a community center was part of the planning so there is a space in the park designated for a community center. Tollisen said the window of opportunity to apply for the grant had a short time frame and he didn’t want to miss it.
“We’re envisioning a gymnasium type of atmosphere that could be used for different types of activities, with conference rooms, offices, and restrooms,” he said. “Like all of our meeting rooms in town hall, we open them up to the public and since our meeting rooms are always in use, this would be another level of service to the public.”
“Scentral Bark Dog Park” was built on a section of Abele Park which is in front of the town’s justice building. The splash park is in the town park. Both are expected to open next month. And the town will be partnering with Lifesong to open its first Farmer’s Market, also in June.
“It’s something that people enjoy and have been asking about for a long time. We’re starting small but hopefully we’ll grow over time,” Tollisen said. “It will be around the gazebo in Ablele Park but on the Harris Road side. We think once it gets launched it’ll be successful for the farmers who want to be there because there are a lot of traffic going by.”
The Halfmoon Farmer’s Market will be open from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays so as not to compete with Farmer’s Markets in Clifton Park and Mechanicville. The opening is scheduled for early next month.