Attorney for the Shaker Road Fire Department Jack Clarke told the Town Board that 15,000 cubic yards of tree bark and debris known as spoils were deposited on a 1-acre strip of land near the department throughout a six-year period, and as a result, Dorwood Drive neighbors are complaining of drainage and flooding issues.
The incident is the second involving the dumping of spoils during the previous administration to surface since Supervisor Paula Mahan took office in January 2008.
The news, which was discussed at the Thursday, Feb. 26, agenda review session, has left town officials questioning the motives behind the dumping, which began in 2001.
Clarke told the board a deed transferred ownership of the 1-acre parcel of land to the fire department from the town. Although it was signed by all parties involved, including then-Supervisor Mary Brizzell, according to Town Attorney Michael Magguilli, the deed was not recorded until 2008.
Magguilli, who confirmed the dumping of spoils took place, said documents show the then-town attorney’s office intended to record the deed, but the recording of the deed was put on a six-year hold after Highway Supervisor William Neeley sent e-mail correspondence to someone in the attorney’s office under the name SP, asking that person not to record it.
In August, the town began taking action to discipline Neely and another highway supervisor, Thomas Romano, for their roles in a 2007 paving job at the West Albany Rod and Gun Club in which `spoils` were dumped at the site with the use of town employees, man-hours and equipment. Neeley was eventually demoted by the Town Board for his involvement.
`Normally, you wouldn’t have someone in the highway department telling someone in the attorney’s department what to do,` said Magguilli.
According to Clarke, at the same time the deed transactions were going on, the parcel was being used to dump `stuff,` as he called it, onto the property. Clarke said the `stuff` he was referring to has also been called `spoils,` a composite material made up of dirt, tree bark and debris.
`The department doesn’t know what it is,` he said.
The neighbors are seeking retribution for their damages, but, according to Clarke, the fire department does not feel responsible because it is unclear who owned the land due to the time period in between when the deed was signed and when it was delivered.
Another questionable element, Magguilli said, is the fact that the town did not sign a hold harmless agreement at the time — typically a standard protocol with land deals in the town. The agreement would have exempted the town from being held responsible for any activities that took place on the land after the deed was signed.
`The town never attained a hold harmless agreement from the fire department,` explained Magguilli, `So, what’s happened is, I guess last year, the neighbors on Dorwood Drive were all complaining to the fire department about flooding and drainage problems, and they’re saying that’s because of what the town did.`
Magguilli said he is hoping the town will be able to have a third party evaluate the land and help determine whose responsible for the issues created by the dumping on the land. If it is found that the town is responsible, Magguilli said, Colonie will have to pay the retributions, the costs of which are still unknown.
If the fire department is determined to be at fault, they will be responsible for settling with the neighbors.
But according to Mahan, there is more to this issue than meets the eye.
`I think there definitely is a problem here, and I do think that the firehouse here has been put in a situation,` said Mahan, `To me, the town was negligent at that point.`
Mahan said she has been looking into the situation since Clarke had brought it to her attention earlier this month, and that `some of the things that I’ve found concern me greatly.`
Of those things is the timeframe in which the town used the land for six years after the signing of the deed.
Another concern of the supervisor’s is why, if the deed was signed, it took six years to be recorded.
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