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Alplaus Residents' Association

P.O. Box 185     Alplaus, NY 12008

 

The Alplaus Residents Association, ARA, is open to all Alplaus residents. Its function is to serve the community concerning any matters of interest. Its officers and board members meet monthly and invite all the residents to share their ideas with them. Several years ago it established a Neighborhood Watch Program with the help of the Glenville Police Department. It holds an annual meeting during the month of March. At this meeting new residents are introduced, events of the past year are reviewed, new community concerns are aired and officers are elected for the year.
President:  Bud Watson

Elected Officers:

 Gary Withey
Vice President: Kathleen Schnitzer Cindy Leveillee
Secretary: Mary Breslin Gray Watkins
Treasurer: Mike Sheppeck Art Harris

 Past President:

 Keith Abatto Barb Casey
Andy Gilpin
One year appointment: Kathy Sheppeck
Sandy Busino
Will Atchinson
Jeff Sheely
 

 

News and Updates

 President's Message 4/16/08

 
I just want to update everyone from Monday’s public hearing:
 
I want to thank the ARA board members and Alplaus residents that came Monday to the public hearing. The questions you all raised, and revisited, compelled the commission to table their decision (for now).  It appears that the questions and concerns we were raising were in correlation with the town engineers’ report recommendations.  The developer, Concord LCC, has 62 days to address these concerns and then the commission will render a decision.
 
I will say that the meeting went very well, but when a commission member suggested that they postpone the hearing until next month (due to our questioning); Concord suggested that the may take legal action against the town for the delay. The commission continued the open hearing but arrived to the same conclusion.
 
So where do we go from here?
 
1. Get involved.  As a father of three, combined with my work and coaching schedule, I know how hard it is find time to spend with my family. Going to a meeting after relaxing at home is not on the top of my list of things to do.  It is important to have large numbers at these public hearings. Having a large number of people at the meeting helped make our concerns heard, but we need more people involved. Without us there, Concord might be digging right now without having to make a decision about what to do at the intersection or addressing the town engineer’s recommendations. I guess they thought it was better to ask forgiveness than permission?
    
2. Contact the County Legislature :
It was emphasized by Concord , that the Schenectady County Legislature is firmly behind this project and that they (legislature) are supposed to attend to the traffic and runoff solutions. The major items were the straightening out Maple Ave. for a traffic light and creating adequate piping so that the water will drain out to the Alplaus Creek. (Jill Batson had  mentioned that the size of the storm that drains from Maple Ave to the Creek reduces in size gradually. That is why we see the water shooting out of the ground by the marina.)  Judy Harris had also pointed out the ARA has been asking for the same traffic solution for over 20 years.   
 
I will be asking the ARA board again to formulate a plan so that we may speak with the County Legislature to address the issues that were brought up in the public hearing.
 
You can get involved by contacting your county legislators for District 3 and give your opinion either pro, or con:
Legislative Offices
620 State Street , 6th Floor
Schenectady , NY 12305
518-388-4280
 
3. Support Open Space Initiatives
Mike and Kathleen Sheppeck, along with Barb Casey are our most informed on this subject but in the last few weeks I have become familiarized. An Open Space Plan (OSP) helps protect the exceptional quality of life in our region by working to preserve open spaces and special places for present and future generations. It is great way to help maintain the character of our neighborhoods.
 
With an OSP in place a development such as this one, and future developments, (marina/riverfront) will have to take into consideration the shape and character of the existing neighborhood. Developers will not be able to stick glorified 10 4-family duplexes into a 7.5 acre ridgeline setting that is a traffic nightmare without proper drainage.
 
If you would like more information please go to:
http://www.townofglenville.org/Public_Documents/GlenvilleNY_BComm/openspace
 
Also check out what Saratoga is doing courtesy of Barb Casey:
http://saratogaplan.org/
 
 
In closing:
 
Our 11th hour stand on this has resulted in the tabling of their decision but the project will most likely be approved in the next 62 days. We made our concerns heard and as Barb had mentioned, “laid the groundwork both for the town and county to take us seriously on traffic, drainage, and open space issues AND for a possible Maritime project down the road.”
 
I ask that you please stay diligent on keeping yourself informed, and be persistent with voicing your concerns with your phone calls, emails and appearing at town meetings.

 

Past President's Message 4/4/08

Today's the day for Alplaus news!  Just got Keith's message on the Yates Farm public hearing as well.  Put it on your calendar now--April 14.
 
Many of you attended our annual meeting on the 27th of March and so already know much of the information below.  For those who didn't and for a summary, the project is about to begin.  How delightful it will be to give an update on what HAS happened rather than what WILL happen!
Also, Ruth Peterson received the 2008 Citizen of the Year Award.  I left copies of two of her own favorite columns about Alplaus in the post office.
 
Barb
 
Citizen of the Year
Sheri McGovern, Jessica Evans, and Esther Miller joined me on April 3rd to present Ruth Peterson with the 2008 Citizen of the Year award because Ruth was not able to attend our annual meeting to receive it at that time.  We had a lovely time with Ruth, who has captured the essence of Alplaus for many of us through her columns about the hamlet in the Gazette newspapers over the years.  Although Ruth has this year moved to the Glen Eddy retirement community in Niskayuna, she will forever represent the heart and soul of Alplaus to those who know her or have read her columns.  Look for Ruth in the Fourth of July parade, where she will be our Grand Marshall.
 
Sewer Update
We were told at the annual meeting that work would start the week of April 7.  Rick LeClair, Commissioner of Public Works, and Walt Harbacz of Carver Construction answered many questions about what will happen this spring and summer.
 
Important things to note:
  • Carver Construction will leave flyers in residents' mailboxes giving notice when construction will begin in your area.  If you have neighbors who don't have mailboxes, please be sure to stop by or call to share the information.  If you have questions about what you receive, call Rick LeClair at 382-1406.  Please do NOT park on the street when construction is occurring near you.  Carver will make every effort to keep roads as clear as possible, but that will be difficult if they have to work around your car.
  • Carver has wooden stakes for homeowners to put into the ground in front of their homes so that you can mark where you want the sewer lateral to be left where the Town property ends – and your property begins.  This will allow for the most efficient connection for you.  If you don't know where your stake should go, feel free to talk with the Carver crews you see on site to help you figure it out.
  • Residents who thought they could get me recommendations for contractors to help with the homeowners' portion of work have not been able to provide me with anything, but I am still working on this and will likely try to get some information myself.  I've heard from only a few residents (all confidential, of course) who indicate costs will be prohibitive for them, but I will have names of contractors who will do work at a reduced rate only for those who truly can't afford it.  Now is the time to contact contractors if you want to use the system by year-end.  Don't forget that you'll have one year after the system is completed to connect, but costs likely will not go down, so locking in prices and getting work done this year might be wise.
  • Depending primarily on weather, construction is scheduled to be completed in August.  Mr. Harbacz shared the order in which they plan to do different sections of our hamlet:  Mohawk, directional drilling under the creek and the railroad, Alplaus, South, Belmont, Brookside, River, Snyder, Hill, Bruce, and finally, some connections between Hill and Bruce.  Pump stations are on order and will be installed in July.  Mr. Harbacz said, and I quote, that the new system will "definitely be in use by the end of the year."
  • Town officials will be checking homes in the existing district to eliminate I&I, or inflow and infiltration.  This means that sump pumps and other arrangements that put rain water and other types of water that do not belong in the sewer system INTO the sewer system will need to be altered by homeowners.  If you have a situation like this, please resolve it soon.  Call Rick LeClair at 382-1406 if you have questions.
Mark Kestner, the consulting engineer on the project, stated at our meeting that although my last column indicated that two of the pump stations had final designs but nothing had yet been turned over to Carver, designs for all four stations needed to be compatible so he could not submit the designs piecemeal.  Fair enough!
 
A contract has not yet been signed with Clifton Park, we haven't yet heard about the NYS Shared Services grant, but weather permitting, the project will at long last begin the first week in April.  Many thanks to Rick LeClair and Tony Germano for their hard work over the past year with trying to keep things moving AND ensure that additional users will eventually be added on to bring our costs down.  More on that later.
 
Please call or e-mail me or the town with any questions.
 
Barb Casey

 

Contact us at: Alplaus12008@yahoo.com.