Get ready to pump your brakes, New Paltz – Village trustees have scheduled public hearings on reducing speed limits from 30 to 25 mph.
Mayor Tim Rogers, once opposed to lowering New Paltz’s village speed limit without changes to state highways, now backs the move after consulting county planners. Requests to lower limits on Routes 32, 208, and 299 are typically denied under the state’s 85% rule (if at least 85% of drivers are exceeding the limit, it can’t be lowered). In a new strategy, the village plans to lobby legislators by stressing the economic and safety benefits of reduced speeds. To support that effort, trustees will consider lowering limits on local streets as well, with public hearings set for September 12 on both a village-wide reduction to 25 mph and a separate proposal for Plains Road, where residents petitioned for safer conditions in the absence of sidewalks.
Water, water, everywhere
Plans to give New Paltz residents a less expensive, more independent water supply have been years in the making and are now nearing conclusion. Others are finally getting started.
Mayor Tim Rogers reported that the four wells drilled at the water treatment plant can be connected to the public supply once the lab tests are reviewed and final approval granted. Those wells will add about 120 gallons per minute to the reservoirs, representing about a quarter of the supply needed. This measure will significantly cut back on how much water is purchased out of the Catskill Aqueduct, at rates that increase nearly every year. Ironically, the water in that aqueduct doesn’t need to be filtered in any way for New York City residents, but by law must be filtered before village residents may drink it.
Connection of users may soon begin in the Plains Road water district. The project will start under town oversight, but it’s being built so it can eventually connect to the village system, especially for times when the aqueduct is shut down for maintenance. Although one such shutdown is expected later this year, Mayor Rogers said the village reservoirs have enough capacity to cover it, so this particular shutdown won’t require help from the new system.
The mayor’s understanding is that Plains Road residents will be connected first, and then engineers will work out the details of what it would take to send the full volume of water into the village system without breaking anything. Some of that infrastructure is a century or more old, and having water introduced from a new direction might have unanticipated consequences.
Adele Ruger, an owner of a home at the southern terminus of the massive Chestnut water main replacement occurring this summer, asked if it would be possible to know in advance when work would be occurring nearby. The construction can have localized effects on water supply such as discoloration, and Ruger said that it would be easier to plan household affairs with some advance notice. Rogers reported that the project engineers are already developing a plan to obtain updates each Thursday on the expected work the following week. However, the mayor also noted that the project is already past its completion date, suggesting that that information should not be assumed as being wholly accurate.
Affordable housing updates
At the Aug. 13 village board meeting, members overseeing the affordable housing law received updates on Zero Place, which contains five of the seven affordable units in the village, and discussed possible changes to the code.
One of the handicapped accessible Zero Place units has been vacant since May, coinciding with the building’s conversion to condominiums. Project principal David Shepler explained that the vacancy fell during the “red herring” period, when the offering plan is under review by the attorney general and no public statements can be made until approval. He confirmed he may speak with elected officials about legal obligations but cannot discuss the matter with tenants, instead directing them to the offering plan.
The conversion raised concerns about whether affordable housing applicants could realistically purchase condominiums. Shepler noted that several state programs exist to assist with down payments and monthly costs, and there may be local programs as well. If the attorney general approves the plan after first review, sales could begin as soon as September.
Board members also discussed limitations in the current law. The mayor stressed that officials and volunteers cannot evaluate disabilities beyond requiring a doctor’s certification, but members suggested adjusting the points system to give greater weight to disability. Currently, applicants are placed on a first-in, first-out list, with ties decided by points for factors such as disability, village residency, and police service. Member Adele Ruger proposed increasing disability points, while Terry Dolan suggested adding points for firefighters, though it’s unclear whether that was excluded intentionally due to rules defining the role as volunteer. The board will likely return with proposals to revise the points system and require notice whenever an affordable unit becomes vacant.
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