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PUBLIC AGENDA

WEDNESDAY , JUNE 27 Village of Montgomery Planning Board , 7:30 p . m . Village Hall , 133 Clinton Street .

TUESDAY , JULY 3

Town of Shawangunk Planning Board , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 14 Central Ave ., Wallkill . Montgomery Village Board , 7:30 p . m . Village Hall , 133 Clinton Street .

THURSDAY , JULY 5

Montgomery Town Board , 7 p . m . Town Government Center , 110 Bracken Road , Montgomery . Shawangunk Town Board , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 14 Central Ave ., Wallkill

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OFFICE : 300 Stony Brook Court Newburgh , NY 12550

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The Wallkill Valley Times , ( USPS 699-490 ) is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday at Newburgh , N . Y . 12550 , with offices at 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , N . Y . Single copy : $ 1 at newsstand . By mail in Orange , Ulster or Sullivan Counties : $ 40 annually , $ 44 out of county . Periodicals permit at Newburgh , N . Y . POSTMASTER : Send address changes to Wallkill Valley Times , 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , N . Y . 12550

By RACHEL COLEMAN

Montgomery town officials are considering an upgrade to the town ’ s sewer treatment plant that is expected to cost in excess of $ 7 million .

“ We ’ ve been over capacity for three months ,” the town ’ s engineer , Mike Aiello Jr ., advised the town board at a work session last week .

While that is not unusual in the spring months as towns deal with snow melt making its way into the system , Aiello explained that the town has been dealing with high amounts of sludge for some time , as well as an aging facility that the town has outgrown . The only way they keep up with things is by having a liquid hauler come in and “ pump out thousands and thousands of gallons over the course of a month .”

“ Because we ’ re removing so much sludge we are meeting permit , but the plant is stressed ,” said Aiello . “ The work that was done a couple years ago was a Band-Aid against some issues at the time — the rusting of the tank and all that .”

Aiello said because of the environment to which the tank is exposed , the corrosion is returning .

“ I don ’ t know how long before operational costs and repair costs really start skyrocketing on the facility that we have now and you have to deal with another temporary patch job ,” said Aiello .

In addition , he anticipates that within the next couple years , they will not only be over capacity in the spring , but that their 12 month average will be high enough to trigger management and restrictions through the DEC .

This of course , means there is no room to add new businesses to the town ’ s sewer system . Town Supervisor Rodney Winchell said there are businesses on the periphery of the sewer district that are asking for service and said he had a meeting scheduled for the next day for yet another request .

“ All we can do right now is shrug our

Continued on page 4

Wallkill Valley Times , Wednesday , June 27 , 2018

Laura Fitzgerald

Timber is all that remains of the Painted Lady , a Victorian-style home on Route 52 , west of Pine Bush . The former antique store had been operated by Access : Supports For Living as a group home for youths with developmental disabilities and behavioral health issues . All eight residents of the home escaped the house unharmed . The June 17 fire , which brought out responders from Pine Bush , Walker Valley , Bullville , Montgomery , Wallkill , Shawangunk Valley and Cragsmoor , is still under investigation .

Continued from page 1 that first year to $ 840,000 . Then we got another grant for another $ 500,000 to add to it in 2013 . Since then , we ’ ve just been trying to progress the project along . Every time we did a step , the state would ask for more documentation or change the process . The process has changed several times over the years , which has caused delays . This last set of documents took about two months .”

The construction might not commence this year due to fast-approaching deadlines to get the work underway . “ The bidding and a bid approval has to be done by Oct . 1 ,” Revella said . “ If a bid is done later towards that date , and an approval is done later towards that date , they won ’ t allow construction to start . They want to make sure they have at least four months for construction . They don ’ t really let them do construction in the winter months .”

When the work is completed , village residents will finally have new sidewalks to enjoy . “ Those sidewalks have been in dire need of repair for years and years ,” Walden Mayor Susan Rumbold said . “ So the benefit is that we ’ re finally going to get the project done and that street will be better than ever .” The village had to wait out a decade-plus of red tape to get the final go-ahead for the project , and the administration is glad the state granted the approval . “ There was a lot of paperwork that had to be filed and re-filed , then filed again just to get everything in order ,” Rumbold noted . “ It was a lengthy , tedious process that ’ s finally been completed .”

The village is hoping to get a healthy number of firms competing for the right to do the sidewalk construction work during the project ’ s bidding process . “ It ’ ll be publicly bid and hopefully there ’ s a lot that respond ,” Revella said . “ The more the merrier .”