According to the issues and discussions at the trailer park in Duanesburg, the masullo/meadows wate issue is quite serious......

I'm afraid that Helderberg Meadows is a done deal as it'll bring much needed tax revenue into the town and that seems to be the only criteria necessary to get permission to build a development in Rotterdam.

http://www.dailygazette.com

Quoted Text

ROTTERDAM
Town urged to fix road
Residents say Masullo Estates street needs work
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    Mike Budka decided to give the Town Board members a little more than a piece of his mind this week.
    The East Lucille Lane resident gave them a plastic bag, filled with what he described as pieces from his badly deteriorated street.
    “That is rubble from East Lucille Lane,” he explained to the board members during Wednesday’s meeting. “There’s an actual layer over top of it.”
    Sure enough, the surface of East Lucille Lane has deteriorated to a point that the road no longer appears paved. Traffic passing over the Masullo Estates road kicked up dust Thursday evening.
    About a dozen residents from the development called on the board to restart efforts to repair the town road before it deteriorates further. Some pointed to the marked breakdown of East Lucille, one of the few streets that had remained mostly free of the potholes marring other areas of the development.
    “We’re looking at a road that isn’t a road anymore,” said East Lucille resident Michael O’Connor. “At least it’s not a road like you see anywhere else in town.”
    West Lucille Lane resident Dave Banker agreed. He urged board members to take corrective action soon, rather than allow another construction season to pass.
    “I know you guys have spent thousands on studies, but we have to move forward,” he said. “At some point, we have to stop studying and start doing some work.” The area for years has faced problems of a high water table, considered responsible for unstable roads as well as chronically wet basements.
    Board members set a public hearing for 7 p.m. April 23 in Town Hall to discuss a dry sewer line as part of a $1.35 million reconstruction project. The sewer line would be paid for by residents and is projected to eventually hook into a larger main planned for the proposed 261-unit Helderberg Meadows development.
    In November, board members approved a new $40,500 study to take into account a property located at the end of East Lucille Lane and bordering the proposed 261-unit Helderberg Meadows development. Project engineers have suggested building a drain from East Lucille Lane to a pond, which would then gradually empty into a lower-lying storm water stream serving Helderberg Meadows.
    Supervisor Steve Tommasone said the public hearing will give Masullo residents all the details about the project scope and allow them to voice their opinions. He said the board will then decide between scrapping the sewer project or sending it to a referendum vote for later in the spring.
    “We want to hear from the residents in the neighborhood,” he said. “We are going to be committed to working on the drainage system and the roads in the interim.”
    But Zbigniew Dzimiera, a Masullo Parkway resident living at the edge of East Lucille Lane, remained skeptical. He watched a cloud of dust rise from the street as a truck drove by Thursday; he pointed to the hoses pumping water from the development’s homes into the road.
    “They say they’re going to do it, but then they do nothing,” he said.

MARC SCHULTZ/ GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER
Traffic passes near a pothole in the Masullo Estates area of Rotterdam on Thursday afternoon.

I really don't know what to say about the poor people who live in Masullo Estates. It sounds to me like the only time the board addresses this issue is only when the people from Masullo Estates bring it up at a meeting. And they hear the same thing over and over. It's like going through a revolving door over and over and over........

Per the meeting Wednesday night of the Town Board on April 23 there is a public hearing on what will be done as far as sewers in Masullo Estates and if the sewers are voted down then the storm drains and new road will start as soon as the town can do it.

I don't know why, but Michael hasn't made any comments this month.  

His blog is still there...

http://rotterdamny.blogspot.com/

Life has gotten harder.  In the short term until I sort it out, my blog will probably be less active but I've added to it today.

I've been reserving my comments for Town Board meetings.  I'll have some at the Wednesday, April 23rd meeting.

I noticed that they were filling some holes at the entrance of Masullo Est. today.

Thanks are in order to anyone on the Town Board that followed through with the Highway Department in response to our comments about the road at the last meeting.

Last Friday, the street sweeper made several passes along E. Lucille to clear the debris (in fact, crumbling road) as we had asked.  I was skeptical the machine would be able to handle it but I was thankfully proven wrong.  It's a start.  I hope further evaluation is underway though because in a few weeks I fear the road will return to the previous condition.

The entrance to Masullo Estates, historically the worst road area in terms of potholes, was also resurfaced and patched pretty well.  Again, it's a short-term fix but is very much appreciated.  There's still alot of other potholes between the two sections addressed but as the weather improves I'm confident the Highway Department will do their best to patch those too.

So thanks to the Highway guys who got the job done and thanks to the Town officials who quickly responded to our pleas.

Too much to say about tonight's public hearing regarding the proposed sewer extension for Masullo Estates.  I hope the Gazette does the proceedings justice but I'll be commenting more extensively on my blog over the next couple days on precisely what I think.

Suffice it to say for now that there was a packed house, many commented, and there wasn't an apparent supporter for the proposal beyond the engineer.

And Michael received a well deserved applause after his public comment!! Good job Michael to you and the others that were there to state there views.

http://www.dailygazette.com

Quoted Text

ROTTERDAM
Masullo drainage work unlikely to start soon
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    Work to resolve drainage problems at groundwater-plagued Masullo Estates isn’t likely to be completed this year, a townhired engineer told residents of the neighborhood Wednesday.
    Project engineer Brett Steenburgh said financing and bidding is likely to take up to six months. By fall, initial work could start on the project and would likely extend into spring 2009. The system design is complete.
    Steenburgh answered questions about the drainage project during a public hearing on a proposed sewer district in Masullo Estates. Last year, town officials suggested installing a dry sewer line through the development as part of a multimillion-dollar drainage and road reconstruction slated for the neighborhood.
    The Town Board is expected to decide next month whether it will put the dry sewer line up to a public vote in June. If they decide against conducting the referendum, plans for the sewer line will be effectively quashed.
    Many of the nearly four dozen residents attending the public hearing spoke against establishing the sewer district, citing its costs. Mike Budka, a resident of East Lucille Lane, questioned whether the $611 annual cost to residents over 15 years was accurate, given that the figure was significantly more than what was proposed a year earlier.
    “Every time I see a cost estimate, the price seems to go up 60 percent or so,” he said.
    Steenburgh admitted the price had in- creased by more than 25 percent as a result of rising construction costs. But he said the sewer pipe — initially proposed as a dry line — will likely be able to connect into the main serving the proposed 261-unit Helderberg Meadows development within the next eight months.
    “These sewers may never remain dry as long as people start hooking up to them,” he said.
    Other residents questioned the cost of connecting their homes to the proposed line. Among the 88 residences in Masullo Estates, 19 homes would require grinder pumps to move effluent to the line, potentially adding up to $5,000 for the connection cost, Steenburgh said.
    The added cost was enough to sway East Lucille Lane resident Michael O’Connor against the project. He said the grinder pump his home would need, coupled with its added maintenance cost, would be burdensome.
    “When you begin to add these costs in, it begins to look very unattractive to those affected,” he said.
    O’Connor also questioned the motives behind extending sewers into the neighborhood. He said the line could provide a method for developers to build on adjacent woodland now prohibited from development as a result of drainage issues.
    “Those land owners stand to benefit disproportionately because of this sewer proposal,” he said.

I love the headline Justin chose for this article.  I was surprised to see my comments cited though as I made rather obvious arguments.  Mr. Budka's comments actually were very detailed number crunching that I hoped would be printed.  Others, like Mr. Tubelli who spoke at the meeting, undercut the veracity of the projections through his tale of obtaining a connection estimate that indicated he'd need a pump even though the engineer says he won't.  I think that will actually prove typical and surprise many that rely on not needing a pump.  So many other great questions were posed by those that spoke too.

Costs aside, the real surprise was the news that financing and bidding was 6 months away and that likely no work would be performed this season whatever the outcome of the sewer vote.  THAT was most mind-boggling.  There is no way that should've been the case and there is no plausible excuse for it either.  We were assured the contemplation of sewers would in no way deter the other plans.  Once again, we've been misled.  One is left with only one question, WHY?

I understand that sewers won't remedy the drainage problem 100%. But voting down public sewers...I have mixed feelings about that.  With a high water table and septics, I would be concerned about a possible sanitation issue in the future. I also believe that the home value would increase with public sewers.

I see this as a mutual feeling in many neighborhoods throughout Rotterdam. Everyone seems to want sewers, but no one seems to want to pay for them. I think that sewers and resolving the drainage issue in Masullo Estates should be two entirely separate issues. One separate from the other.

I know that there are quite a few homes all over Rotterdam who have sump pumps in their basement. I do! And it runs 24/7. And I don't live anywhere near Masullo's.

There is an obvious age vote here.....like the lady said "We have been pumping for 38years, we dont want another pump."----I say pour the concrete into the basements.....get ALL OVER the town for proper drainage relief and put in the sewers to assist.....the effluent is ALL OVER......there is no way to escape it....I googled it once and I can't find the website now,,,,but, it had great pictures and explanations.......

I'm sure the developers of Helderberg Meadows would love to give a GIANT discount to the entire neighborhood for some basement filling......