The town of Colonie welcomed three new police officers at its town board meeting on Thursday, June 28.
Nicholas Lane, David Mink and Jacques Trembley were introduced to the board and heard words of praise from their new boss, Chief Steven Heider.
Heider thanked the board for supporting the police department.
We’ve had 58 new officers in the last five years, he said. `It’s a very arduous process. All of our candidates have scored 90 or above on the police exam, have undergone an agility test, and a personal background investigation. From 15 candidates, we got these three. We are still two short, but that’s how picky we are.`
Lane, 26, scored a 95 on the test, has a degree from SUNY Brockport and a master’s degree in public administration. He currently is an investigator with the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
Mink, 23, is following in his father’s and uncles’ footsteps. Dennis Mink is a 23-year-member of the Colonie Police Department, and three of his uncles serve in other police departments. He has attended Hudson Valley Community College and the University at Albany, and works for the state Office of the Budget.
Tremblay is a graduate of SUNY Delhi and a veteran of the U.S. Marines, who saw combat in Iraq.
`In a few weeks, they go to six-months basic, and I know we’ll all be here to welcome them back,` Heider said.
The town board also accepted an award from the American Conservation and Engineering Council, which Terry Brown, president of local engineering firm O’Brien and Gere presented to the board.
The award went to the town for its work upgrading the Latham Water District’s Mohawk View water treatment plant.
`The American Conservation and Engineering Council is made up of more than 300,000 engineers, and for the vision of the community, we present this award,` Brown said.
`The Mohawk View water treatment plant had been pumping 20 million gallons of water per day,` John Frazer, head of the Latham Water District, said. `It produced 24 million gallons per day this week. This means we’re producing better water and more of it.`
Supervisor Mary Brizzell accepted the plaque, and pointed out that she and Frazer had been invited to a ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.
`This belongs to John Frazer for his leadership and dedication to the Latham Water District,` Brizzell said, handing the plaque over to Frazer.
The town also held a public hearing regarding the rezoning of Swatling Acres, a proposed development of two-story buildings of 128 condominiums at 179 Troy-Schenectady Road. The board is considering rezoning the 40 acres from commercial office residential (COR) to a planned development district (PDD). A new road is proposed to run from Troy-Schenectady Road to Swatling Road.
Swatling Road residents in attendance pointed out some of the traffic issues that already exist on Swatling Road.
Ken Raymond of Prime Companies, the developer of the project, said peak traffic with the new development would be 63 vehicles during the afternoon hours of 4 to 6 p.m., and 58 during the morning peak hours of 7 to 9 a.m.
`We don’t need a traffic study,` said Bruce Covey of 30A Swatling Road. `We wait every morning. The traffic is continuous.`
Ruth DeFreest of 30 Swatling Road, pointed out that cars and tractor/trailers use Swatling as a short cut.
`Traffic comes off Route 2, makes a sharp right, then a left into Stewart’s. I don’t know why somebody hasn’t been killed there,` she said.
Brizzell asked if the road had a weight restriction, and Heider said he would look into it.
The board seemed mostly pleased with the project, which will leave 73 percent of the land as open space. Twenty percent of the condominiums have been designed in such a way that they are senior citizen and handicapped-friendly. There are two stormwater detention ponds in keeping with state stormwater regulations. Most of the condos are two-bedroom units, and Raymond said prices will be around $200,000.
A few one-bedroom condos will be 1,100 square feet, and the two-bedroom units will be between 1,400 and 1,500 square feet.
`We anticipate a maximum of 22 students going into the school districts,` said Lynn Sipperly, engineer for the project.
Sipperly and Raymond anticipated the market for the condos being some single parents, young professionals and retirees. Varying designs will prevent too many garage doors facing the streets, and trees and streetlights are planned for the development.
The board deferred taking action on the rezoning so that town Attorney Arnis Zilgme could draft the proper legislation. “