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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Montgomery providing
bottled water
Continued from page 1
ing system at the village wells. Eligible
homeowners can pick up the water at the
Department of Public Works building at
67 Bachelor St.
The affected homeowners were grateful that the board took action on something that has tormented them since 2008.
“I don’t know too many boards
who would listen like this,” said Sandi
Mullarkey. “We commend you for that,
and we commend your hard work.”
Kim Allard volunteered to help village
officials vet the homeowners who want
the free water, after Deputy Mayor JoAnn
Scheels and other people at the meeting
expressed concern that people may want
water who don’t need it.
“Once people hear something’s free,
they want a piece of it,” Denny Hulihan
remarked.
“I hate to be negative, but that’s true,”
Scheels agreed. Mayor Steve Brescia said
the village has gotten calls from residents
outside that affected area saying that
they, too, need cleaner water.
Allard and Brescia both said the village needed to tread lightly when determining who is eligible.
“If they’ve had brown water like we
have, why haven’t they been to these
meetings?” Allard said. “If they want free
water, let them come and fight for it.”
The Orange County Department of
Health gave the village the go-ahead to
conduct a pilot study of a “green sand”
filtering system, according to Buddy
Nelson, superintendent of the village
Department of Public Works. Nelson said
the system is similar to one used by the
Town of Wallkill, although the village’s
needs are much smaller.
Each treatment tank in Wallkill is
eight feet wide by 24 feet long, with a
capacity of 700 gallons, Nelson told the
board. The Village of Montgomery’s layout would be much smaller, only totaling
about 350 gallons.
Nelson said the current problem
lies in the location of the homes. The
village’s Holt well originates near the
Water’s Edge/Dunn/Weaver area. Water
is pumped from there to the village’s
water tower. When the water tower is
full, water drains back down the pipes
and settles near the well. The Holt well
water contains manganese, and the settling water concentrates it, thus sending
it to the nearby homes.
Nelson said he expects the pilot test
to take approximately two weeks. Once
they get the right filter combination, an
engineer will design the full system and
construction will go out to bid. If the winter weather cooperates, the system could
be operating by mid-February.
Hulihan was both ecstatic and
relieved, sentiments that Brescia shared.
“Once we get clean water, we’ll have a
block party,” Hulihan said.
“And we’ll throw you that party,”
Brescia responded with a smile.
In other news, the mayor said he
would lobby the state to lower the speed
limit from 55 miles per hour to 30 mph
farther south on Route 211. Currently, the
speed limit lowers at the village line, on
Route 211 near Chandler Lane.
“By the time you realize the speed
has changed, it’s too late (to react to it),”
Brescia said.
At the meeting, a property owner presented a petition with about 25 signatures
asking for the lower speed.
Tim Mahoney, of 243 Union St. (Route
211), lives in the first house at the beginning of the village boundary. He said
out-of-control drivers have cost him several mailboxes, and that quite a few car
accidents have ended up in his front yard.
He’s lived here 21 years, he said, but the
speeding traffic has gotten much, much
worse lately. Police Chief Steven Walsh
said he has made the site a targeted
area of enforcement. Mahoney said more
needs to be done, and suggested that the
lowered speed limit should begin closer to
the Route 416 intersection.
Lastly, Trustee Michael Hembury
informed the board that the September
car show in the village attracted 1