Trustee Vince Buono said at the Saugerties Village Board meeting on September 19 that there had been a complaint about odors from the village sewer plant. Mayor Bill Murphy said he spoke to the person and it seems to have been resolved. “I told him, you know you’re living next door to a sewer plant; he’s a nice guy, and he was appreciative that we spoke to him. He’s got health issues.” Murphy said that one recommendation plant operator Joe Myers and Superintendent Mike Hopf have been discussing with the neighbors would be to stop taking in sludge, not right away, but in the future. “That’s $120,000 a year down the tubes,” Hackett responded. He suggested that putting up a building over the sludge works would help solve the problem. This was originally part of a planned major upgrade. Buono, who lives downwind of the plant, said he is aware of the smell “and it’s been more frequent of late.” Buono said the neighborhood has been very patient, but he doubted that any of the trustees would be happy living downwind of the sewer plant.
“We have been talking about this for eight years,” Hackett said. “We vote approvals, we make plans for it, but nothing happens.” The discussion included the difficulty of getting parts and labor to repair machinery, the difficulty in finding qualified personnel and the work required to bring the plant up to the best standards. Trustee Terry Parisian said there is funding available for sewer upgrades, which would help with the $6.5 million the plant will need.
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