Stamford Village Water Rates Increased, Water Law to be Amended

By Liz Page

STAMFORD – Stamford Village Trustees were pleased to receive kudos, rather than complaints, during their public comment portion of Tuesday's regular meeting. They received no comments during a public hearing to increase water rates and they went ahead with the adoption of the proposed increase. Deputy Mayor Jim Kopp presided over the meeting in the absence of Mayor Robert Schneider and was happy to report the sidewalk project, which has lingered for more than five years, is expected to be completed by early next week.

John and Cathy Adams, of West Main Street, were present to thank the village board for taking down the former Four Seasons/Westholm next door to them. "We want to thank the village for the great job the public works crew does and the cleanup of the old hotel," said John Adams. they went on to ask about the ownership and legal issues going forward. They had been mowing the property and removing weeds, they wondered what would happen now. The property is still under private ownership and any costs for the removal of the building and continued maintenance of the property will be passed on to the owner through additions to the property tax bill.

The village code enforcement officer has the ability to fine the owner if the property is not maintained in accordance with state codes. Under state code, grass length may not exceed a certain height.

Adams also thanked the village crew for prepping the Rexmere Park for the Stamford Rotary Club car show recently.

The public hearing on the proposed increase in the water rates had no one to comment. The rates have not been changed since 2018 and the current rates do not cover the increased costs of operations at the plant. Rates were altered based on usage. The basic 5,000-gallon usage fee went from $42.50 to $45; usage of 5000-8000 was increased by $10 per every 1000 gallons and from 8,000 to 10,000 gallons the rate was increased to $11 for each $1,000.

Trustee Darran Hanway said the water law itself needs to be reworded and updated and a public hearing has been set for Aug. 20 on those proposed changes.

If you saw a bunch of people walking around Main St. last week with bright vests, it was members of the village board, the contractors, and state Department of Transportation (DOT) officials looking over the now nearly completed sidewalk project. There are a few areas that remain to be completed, said Kopp, and the exact completion date may be dependent on the weather. He said the project has taken seven years and has been downscaled more than once due to increased costs. Some sections designated in the original proposal were removed. A lot of the increased costs, according to Jesse Calia, village department of public works superintendent, is due to the state's own requirements. Drainage in some areas may actually be worse, due to those regulations.

An agreement between Stamford Central School and the village board, regarding maintenance at Russ Archibald Memorial Field, was tabled and Trustee Catherine Snyder said there needs to be a workshop meeting to hash it out. She said one board puts it on the other and it keeps going back and forth. She will facilitate a meeting of the minds as a member of both boards.

There was nothing new to report on the Churchill building, which houses the Stamford Library and Churchill Gym, except a new boiler is needed before the next heating season begins.

Calia is waiting on a second quote for the drainage issues on Beaver Street. He believes doing the work privately rather than through the Catskill Watershed Corporation is the way to go. However, he needs another price quote for the project.

Code Enforcement Officer Rich Irwin said the village needs to update its building code law and said a public hearing could be held in August.

Board members approved a motion to allow the proper authorities to sign the contract for the next phase of the water project, which will replace water mains along River St..

Josh Burroughs, director of the swimming pool, said swimming lessons are underway for Camp HERE and Kiddie Corner Preschool. The recent heat wave has packed the pool thus far.

Trustees then moved into an executive session to discuss personnel issues.