Town of Niskayuna board members held a special meeting Tuesday night to approve the sale of two unwanted storage buildings. Supervisor Luke Smith said the meeting allowed the town sales to be finalized and let the town generate funds for their reserves.
Approving the resolutions tonight at a special meeting was strictly an issue with time. Approving these resolutions takes these properties off our hands and allows the town to increase its revenue as well, said Smith.
The first of two properties is located at Aqueduct Road and was appraised by the town at $35,000. The town sold it for $37,000, while the other property located on East Street sold for $60,000.
`The East Street property sold for considerably more because of both its size and favorable condition,` said Smith.
In other business, the town discussed hiring an engineering firm to research possible locations for a well. The board has been in discussion with town engineer Richard Pollock about plans for a production water well. The production well would allow the town to have its own water supply. Smith said hiring a firm to conduct the research and initiate the state application process might save the town valuable time.
`If we hire a firm that can take care of this process soup to nuts, we may in the end save the residents both time and money,` said Smith.
Pollock told the board he researched town plans as far back as the 1950s where there was evidence of places suitable for drilling a well. He said that whether he initiates the process himself or an engineering firm comes in, the project cannot be completed until late winter or early spring.
`It’s a very involved process with the state application,` said Chapman.
A 2006 water treatment report, conducted as required by the state, shows that 39 percent of the water supply is the town’s aquifer along the Mohawk River. The remaining 61 percent is supplied by the City of Schenectady’s aquifer located in the town of Rotterdam.
The town and Pollock agreed to discuss the project further at the next meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, July 17, at 7 p.m. The town plans to make a decision on whether hiring a private firm would be both time- and cost-effective for taxpayers.“