It looks as though the former West Hurley Elementary School will be developed into condominiums after years of delays and legal battles.
Voting 4-0, the town board passed a resolution paving the way for the formation of the Cedar Development Sewer Works Corporation, a necessary step to repurposing the two buildings into 46 condominiums.
A sewage treatment plant will serve only the condo development at 97 Cedar Street. State regulations require the formation of a sewage works corporation to allow the Department of Environmental Conservation to issue a permit to discharge treated water.
“It’s a separate business entity that’s going to be running this and as of right now all the shareholders are Cedar Development, but eventually all those shareholders will actually be the condominium association,” town attorney Matthew Jankowski explained.
The five-year cost of operating the treatment plant will be apportioned to each unit at a charge of $1319.07 per unit, per year.
Redevelopment of the former school has been the subject of several lawsuits. On November 21, 2022, county supreme court justice Richard Mott compelled the town planning board to sign the site plan after the latter had claimed the developer had failed to meet conditions of an August 30, 2021 approval.
On December 28, 2022, the town approved a settlement agreement allowing Cedar Development to proceed, provided the developer furnish a State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permit.
Some, including town supervisor Mike Boms, questioned the legality of the settlement since it had been approved by former supervisor Melinda McKnight without town board approval. But McKnight said town board involvement wasn’t necessary because the administrative action did not require spending of town funds.
Cedar Development is required to post a $500,000 performance bond and pay $10,000 into escrow for professional services retained by the town.
Further, Cedar Development must post a $303,386 bond to cover five years of operating expenses for the treatment plant.
Jankowski said the resolution only gives consent for the creation of the sewer works corporation.
“We don’t have authority to do anything with the SPDES permit. That complete authority is with the DEC,” he said. The agency will hold a public hearing on the SPDES permit application.
The town’s engineer will continue to inspect the project’s progress, Jankowski said.
Cedar Development purchased the former school in 2017 from the Onteora School District for $800,000.
Ambulance district for Hurley
The Hurley Town Board has retained a law firm to assist with formation of an ambulance district. It’s a first step in trying to resolve a chronic shortage of first responders.
The town board voted 4-0 at its June 26 meeting to retain the Hannigan Law Firm through the use of $15,000 in American Rescue Plan funds. Councilmember Gregory Simpson was absent.
Hannigan will provide advice on the establishment of an ambulance district and ambulance service administration. It will also serve as special counsel for legal matters related to EMS.
“We just approved to get the lawyers to start the planning and formation of the tax district. We have to do that first before we even pick a solution,” councilmember and safety committee liaison Debbie Dougherty said.
“That’s the first step in the process.”
In several parts of town, the alarm may go off several times before the all-volunteer EMTs respond, if it does so at all. Often, mutual aid is required from Marbletown, Woodstock, Olive and Kingston.
In February, Phil Sinagra, chairman of the local board of fire commissioners, said the situation had reached crisis levels.
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