The Guilderland Town Board approved a motion at its Tuesday, Aug. 19, meeting to join the Albany County Storm Water Coalition.
The coalition is a group of 11 local municipalities that provide information, research and coordination for the participating entities.
There have been tremendous benefits to working collaboratively, said Nancy Heinzen, coordinator of the intermunicipal agency. `We’re a group that’s familiar with each other. We’ve done a lot of projects together with some success.`
Heinzen said Guilderland, like other government-owned entities, must comply with the State Pollution Discharge Elimination System Permit, and must adhere to six separate directives, including public education, facility management and tracking discharge into waters of the United States.
Guilderland Supervisor Ken Runion said joining the coalition is a proactive measure and will save the town of Guilderland money in the long run.
He said the town spends nearly $100,000 to comply with federal and state regulation to manage storm water and produce a report on progress. Membership in the coalition is $14,582 per year, and will assist with the compliance of the regulations.
Board members raised a few concerns at the meeting before they unanimously approved the motion to join the coalition.
First among the concerns was how the coalition will handle the specific drainage problems in Guilderland, such as the inadequate size of a drainage pipe that runs between Bethlehem and Guilderland, and second, that the City of Albany could potentially monopolize the coalition’s funding.
Heinzen said storm water issues are usually pretty generic, and that the approach to handle the problems will most likely be similar to problems other municipalities have had. She also said the drain pipe issue is something the coalition will be able to handle, especially in the ways of finding grant money to deal with the issue and sharing of collective knowledge.
She also assured the board that the high population of an area does not always yield more expenses, and that Albany does not take more than its fair share of the funding.
The coalition recently received $358,000 from two separate grants to deal with the costs associated with storm water management.
Heinzen said the coalition uses its funding to deal with public educational materials and outreach as well research to learn about storm water and associated pollution.
A McKownville house, located on the edge of Guilderland near the City of Albany, recently suffered severe storm water damage that caused their basement wall to cave in, something Don Reeb, the president of the McKownville Improvement Association said is a rarity, but one example of the way storm water can cause problems.
Reeb added that joining the coalition is a cost-effective and prudent decision and can help prevent future problems.
`The money spent on storm water will now be used more effectively,` Reeb said.
He said the four different systems in the area will now be coordinated and managed, and this will save time and money for residents.
He also said storm water management is a common problem in Guilderland as well as the rest of the county and places like The University of Albany, which recently revamped its storm water system, and Stuyvesant Plaza, have been dealing with the problem for years.
Runion said, though, joining the coalition was not a result of the specific incident in McKownville.
`We would be required to do it anyway,` Runion said. `The town, four years ago, was put under an unfunded mandate, for storm water management.`
The intermunicipal agreement will be for four years, and Guilderland would have the option to pull out at any time, although they risk losing a portion of the funds they would contribute to the coalition.
The regulation and membership fee is based on how urbanized the area is and its population. The annual fee for Guilderland is set at $14,582.
The board decided to appoint Runion as its representative on the coalitions board of directors.
It is made up of 12 municipalities including Albany City, Cohoes, Watervliet, Bethlehem, the town and village of Colonie, New Scotland, the village of Green Island, Menands, Voorheesville, Albany County, and now, Guilderland. “