Planning Board Minutes - August 25, 2003
 
Those present at the August 25, 2003 Planning Board meeting were:

Planning Board Members: Steve Watts - Chairman
Don Roberts – Vice Chairman
Marcel Nadeau
Cindy Patenaude
Rich Berkowitz
Tom Ruchlicki
John Higgins

Secretary: Tara Anuszewski

Deputy Attorney: Lyn Murphy

CHA Representative: Mike Bianchino

Liaison: Walter Polak

Mr. Watts called the meeting to order at 7:04 pm

The minutes for the August 11, 2003 meeting were not available to be approved.

Public Informational Meeting:

03.166 County Waste, 1927 Route 9, Addition to Site Plan – PDD – GEIS. Mr. Watts called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm and asked if anyone wanted the notice read. No one responded. Mr. Joe Bianchine was present with Scott Earl of County Waste and stated they would like to undertake some improvements at their site. What prompted this addition is they currently sort construction and demolition debris outdoors and would like to build a building to move it indoors as well as their MSW transfer sorting. Mr. Bianchine stated what that is, is they take Construction and demolition debris material which could contain wood, brick, concrete and metals or anything that comes from a new construction site or a demolition site. They manually sort out the material and either take it to a landfill or another market. Mr. Bianchine stated in doing the new building they are also putting on a new maintenance garage for their trucks. They currently have a maintenance facility but it is too small. They are converting the existing maintenance facility into a truck washing facility and a welding facility. Mr. Bianchine stated when they are washing they use a lot of water so they are putting in a new sewer system that will connect into the Saratoga County Sewer System. They do not have municipal water on site but they have recently drilled a new well. They will have a holding tank and pumping facility that would provide water for the washing facility and fire protection for the buildings. There will be a new-gated entrance to the facility with security. There will also be a new fueling facility that is state of the art with alarms. They are increasing their parking because of the number of employees they have and additional storage for their containers and roll off’s. They are proposing a new storm drainage system that will comply with the new States requirements for storm water management facilities.
All of the run off will be collected on site and taken down to a water quality and detention basin. There is a 100-foot buffer along the Dwaaskill that was setup along time ago. There will also be a second story addition added to the office building. Mr. Bianchine stated this is the home base for the County Waste operations. Mr. Bianchine stated that is all and asked if anyone had any questions. Mr. Watts asked if anyone wished to speak. Mr. John Delucia asked if the water effluent required any treatment other then settling. Mr. Bianchine stated the effluent from the runoff of the surface doesn’t require any treatment other then settlement. Anything that is contained within the building will be processed through a separate system, which will go to a holding tank. That holding tank is then pumped out and taken to a treatment facility. Mr. Delucia asked if the effluent had a biological or chemical oxygen demand. Mr. Bianchine stated it could but it depends. Mr. Delucia stated if it does someone has to pay for it. Mr. Bianchine stated County Waste would pay for that. Mr. Watts asked if anyone else wished to speak. No one responded. Mr. Watts closed the public informational meeting at 7:12 pm. Mr. Watts asked if anyone from the Planning Board wished to speak. Mr. Nadeau asked if he heard correctly that this site would be the home base for the operation. Mr. Bianchine responded yes. Mr. Roberts asked as a result of the expansion are they planning on increasing the volume of the waste they bring in. Mr. Bianchine stated they are planning on increasing the C& D waste. Mr. Bianchine stated outside they are limited as to what they could bring in and now that it is inside they would be able to increase the amount they process and that is also part of the application they submit to DEC. Mr. Bianchine stated DEC had to approve the increase. Mr. Higgins asked what the definition of C&D waste was. Mr. Bianchine stated the definition is per New York State DEC, which is construction and demolition debris. Mr. Higgins stated to Mr. Earl they bring in more then just construction debris. Mr. Earl stated at the time of the opening of their operation the only category the State had was C&D and MSW. Mr. Earl stated MSW is a sensitive area so they stayed away from that. Mr. Earl stated the State has since come back and given them the right to have the facility for the containers and they classify it as MSW not construction debris. Mr. Earl stated they are not getting something wet like Price Chopper or Saratoga Hospital. They collect dry MSW, dry commercial waste and C&D. Mr. Roberts asked what MSW stands for. Mr. Earl responded Municipal Solid Waste or RSW, which is Residual Solid Waste. Mr. Higgins asked if the back area bordered against residential. Mr. Earl responded the East side of the property is lands of Arthur Gregoire and has a 6-acre buffer between them and his house. It is a natural heavily treed berm. The other side is a railroad track and Anthony Fortune’s warehouses. Mr. Earl stated Ms. Kathy Solosky owns land and has it labeled forever wild. Mr. Mike Stiles stated he owns property on the corner of this lot. Mr. Higgins asked how many feet is the green space that is being shown between the properties. Mr. Earl responded 6 feet. Mr. Earl stated it is a berm about 10 – 12 feet high. Mr. Delucia stated it sounds as though if it is dry it is acceptable and asked if that was true. Mr. Earl stated dry commercial or dry waste form a container. Dry does not mean Price Chopper, Price Chopper contains produce and would have juices. Mr. Delucia asked if residential was dry. Mr. Earl responded it is less then 60% moist by content. Mr. Higgins asked if they could process residential garbage. Mr. Earl stated there is nothing to process in residential garbage and could show Mr. Higgins if he would like. Mr. Higgins stated no but they are just trying to understand what exactly they are doing on site. Mr. Earl stated the scale would be relocated between the two buildings; the trucks would enter the facility through the gate around the fuel island to the scale. The scale is automated now there will not be an attendant. Mr. Earl stated the doorman would check the material to see what it is. If it is something sort able like C&D it will come in and be sorted. Mr. Higgins stated all that would be dumped there is containers, not dumpster trucks they pick up at households. Mr. Earl stated yes there are occasions that they will.
They provide several municipalities with general cleanups. They provide municipal collection of bulk items such as furniture and dressers items of that nature they are dry waste. Mr. Higgins asked if they would be in the trucks that pick up garbage. Mr. Earl stated no. Mr. Delucia asked what would not be allowed. Mr. Earl stated household waste not greater then 60% moisture. Mr. Higgins asked if the big building that was going to be half sorting and half maintenance if there would be a permanent firewall. Mr. Earl stated 2 foot of concrete as rated by the fire codes. Mr. Ruchlicki stated they mentioned the protective membrane underneath the building to protect the ground. Mr. Earl stated the protective membrane is cloth that is commonly used in construction when there is clay base to keep the ground stable. Mr. Ruchlicki stated he was under the impression that in that area where they are doing the sorting and the fueling of the trucks there was something underground if there was a spill. Mr. Earl stated that would be common in a landfill situation but not in a transfer station. Mr. Earl stated the floors are about 12” in concrete. Mr. Ruchlicki stated his other question was the oil and water separators. Mr. Ruchlicki stated he looked at the drawing and asked if it would go into a holding tank and take off site. Mr. Bianchine stated what goes into the oil/water separators is basically from the wash bay and is off of the trucks being washed. The overflow from that goes to the Saratoga County Sewer District. Mr. Ruchlicki asked if there was supposed to be a traffic study done. Mr. Bianchine stated there has been one done and they can make it available. There were no impacts to traffic based on the traffic study. Mr. Bianchine stated the trucks come out of the facility way before peak hours in the am and they are coming back in the afternoon and would not interfere with the peak pm traffic. Mr. Higgins stated the trucks run all day long. Mr. Bianchine stated yes but they are not a problem. They counted the traffic there. Mr. Ruchlicki asked if they could give a rough number of trucks. Mr. Earl stated they have about 120 collection vehicles. Mr. Earl stated they go every morning and stay out until they are done at night. During the day the transfer activity would generate about 60 – 70 truck trips in bound and about 20 tractor trailer trips out bound. Mr. Watts asked what are the hours of operation. Mr. Earl responded 6am – 6pm Monday to Thursday, 6am – 7pm on Friday, 6am – 6pm on Saturday but are usually closed by 2pm. Mr. Watts asked if anyone else wished to speak. Mrs. Patenaude stated they talked a little bit about ways to mitigate the impacts of potential noise of backing up trucks and asked to review them. Mr. Earl stated they looked at two options, one was to turn the trucks around and the other was some type of interference of the system, which he is not in favor of. Mr. Earl stated they are working on a combination of both. Mr. Earl stated the ear piercing noise is only 3 seconds when they are backing up. Mr. Watts asked if any of the neighbors have complained. Mr. Earl stated he has heard nothing about a backup noise. Mr. Ruchlicki stated there is an area in the back of the bins where there is a steep bank, Mr. Ruchlicki would like then to fill in that area with dirt and seed it. Mr. Earl stated it would not be a problem. Mr. Ruchlicki stated his only other comment would be to have CHA review the stormwater management with the proximity to the stream and the 100-year flood plain. This item was tabled.

Old Business:

03.159 Lot #5 Enterprise Avenue, 5 Enterprise Avenue, Commercial Site Plan. Mr. Jeffrey McCarthy was present and stated this is the last lot of the PDD to be developed. The lot is approximately 3.2 acres served by Municipal Sewer and Municipal Water. The stormwater is handled by the NYSEG Planned Development detention facilities. Fortress Partners is proposing a 30,000 square foot building that would house 24,000 square feet of warehouse and 6,000 square feet of office associated space. The proposal is to divide the building up into 4 sections for lease, each section being 50 feet by 150 feet. The parking provided is based on 1 space per 1,000 square feet of Warehouse space and 1 per 300 square feet of office space with a total of 54. The building occupies about 21% of the site, which is under the 50% threshold for the legislation. The greenspace is 39%, which is over the 25% in the legislation. Pavement is 40% of the site. Mr. McCarthy asked to answer any questions. Mr. Higgins asked if there would be any retail. Mr. McCarthy stated at this time there are no tenants. Mr. Watts asked Mr. Bianchino where he is with the comments. Mr. Bianchino stated he did review the final plans as submitted and all previous comments have been addressed except one minor comment regarding proposed foundation planning’s shown around the building and they wanted to have quantities and materials so they can identify it for the site plan so the Building Department can follow the site plan. Mr. Watts asked for additional comments.

Mr. Berkowitz made a motion to approve the site plan as presented. Mr. Roberts seconded. Motion carried.

03.180 Car Essentials inc., 1603 Route 9, Sign – (Total signage for Towne Center Plaza). This item was removed from the agenda.

03.187 Team Title Abstractors Inc., 1406 Route 9, Change of Tenant & Sign. Ms. Amy Emerson was present and stated they were at 1404 Route 9 but have moved to 1406 Route 9 into the new building. Mr. Watts asked how long they have been at these properties. They have been at 1404 about a year in May and have since moved to 1406 in January to the new building. Mr. Watts stated they have not come before the Board for an approval, which is required, and have advised the owner of the property. At the last meeting the applicants did not show up and now the owner is out of town. Mr. Watts stated he spoke to him a t 5 pm this evening and indicated someone should be present since there is an illegal tenancy. Mr. Watts asked what is the Boards pleasure with this application. Mr. Higgins asked where they were located in the building because they just approved 2 tenants. Ms. Emerson and Mr. Roberts stated they are in the new building and they occupy the entire building. Mr. Roberts stated mistakes have been made and it is not Ms. Emerson’s fault he has visited the site and does not see any issues. Mr. Higgins asked if the sign was ok. Mr. Roberts stated the pylon is approved and they are going on the approved sign. Mr. Nadeau asked who the owners of the property were. Mr. Watts responded Mr. Tanski. Mr. Nadeau added and Mr. Harding. Mr. Nadeau stated they have asked Mr. Tanski before about issues like these and he promised the Board it would not happen again and asked if a letter should be sent to the owners. Mr. Watts stated he spoke to Mr. Tanski already and also would write a letter.

Mr. Roberts made a motion to approve the use & sign as presented. Mr. Berkowitz seconded. Motion carried.

New Business:

03.193 Cracker Barrel, 4 Tower Way, Addition to Site Plan. Mr. Jeff Hartman was present and stated they are requesting to construct a retail storage addition to their existing store. The addition would have no impacts on the guest count, employees or parking. It will be for storage and a training center. Mr. Hartman stated due to Halfmoon not allowing storage containers this is their solution.
Mr. Berkowitz questioned it also being a training center. Mr. Hartman stated there is currently one their now but it is being used for storage. Mr. Watts asked how many people would be there for training. Mr. Hartman stated it is for all current employees looking for advancement in pay and skills. Mr. Watts asked if it was only for current employees for this store. Mr. Hartman responded yes. Each store has its own training center. Mr. Berkowitz asked if this addition would be big enough for a tractor-trailer load of materials. Mr. Hartman responded yes it would be 10 x 40. Mr. Watts questioned if this year there wouldn’t be any storage trailers. Mr. Hartman stated until this is constructed they will. Mr. Watts stated they do not have any approvals to have them there. Mr. Hartman stated they have had registered tractor-trailers there in the past. Mr. Watts stated the trailers would show up for the holiday season with out approvals and they cannot do that. Mr. Watts stated there would not be any trailers on this site. Mr. Watts stated he would like to see the addition done before the holiday season. Mr. Berkowitz asked if this addition would blend in with the rest of the building. Mr. Hartman stated it would be the same elevation and same boards and color. Mr. Higgins asked what the concrete fire wood pad with ramp and sidewalk. Mr. Hartman stated 95% of their stores have wood burning fireplaces but NY does not allow it. Mr. Hartman stated the architect drew that but there would not be a concrete fire wood pad. Mr. Watts stated he is glad to see they are getting a storage building. Mr. Watts asked if anyone else had any questions. Mr. Watts stated it would be referred to CHA and asked Mr. Bianchino if he could have the review done as soon as possible.

03.194 Priddle Subdivision, Angle Lane, Re-stamping of Minor Subdivision. Mr. Gil VanGuilder was present and stated this two-lot subdivision on Cary Road was approved about a year ago. The maps were signed but they were not filed within the 62-day time period. The Priddle’s are getting ready to construct the home and wanted to advance the process so Mr. VanGuilder is looking for a re-approval and stamping. Mr. VanGuilder stated there are no changes to the original approval. Mr. Berkowitz stated there was a letter submitted by the Corp’s regarding planting of trees. Mr. Watts read the letter from the Corp’s. (Attachment #2) Mr. VanGuilder stated he was not aware of this situation but will check with both properties. Mr. VanGuilder asked if it was a condition of the approval or if it was suggested by Mr. Priddle that they were going to plant trees. Mr. Watts read the previous minutes and it showed the Priddle’s would plant the trees. Mr. VanGuilder stated he would review that. Mr. Watts asked if anyone else had any questions. Mr. Higgins stated since the original approval stated the applicant intended to plant they trees then the applicant should replace them and make it part of the final approval. Mr. Watts would like to table this until they get an agreement.

03.195 Exam One, 2A Halfmoon Executive Park Drive, Change of Tenant & Sign. Mr. Richard Kopke was present and stated this application is for a tenant that processes physical examinations. There will not be any changes to the interior. Mr. Roberts asked how many employees there would be. Mr. Kopke responded approximately 4 and they would be dealing with one person at a time with one waiting. Mr. Berkowitz asked if the examiner goes to the client’s house or do they go on site. Mr. Kopke stated the clients go to this location. Mr. Roberts asked if there was plenty of parking for everyone. Mr. Kopke responded yes and the people that left prior had 12 employees. Mr. Higgins asked if there would be any hazardous waste. Mr. Kopke stated they did not mention that but as a landlord he would require that any red bags would have to be taken care of outside the regular trash collection.

Mr. Roberts made a motion to approve the use and the sign. Mr. Nadeau seconded. Motion carried.
Mr. Watts stated they are adjourning into Executive Session at 7:55 pm. The Board returned at 8:54 pm with no action taken.

Mr. Watts asked if anyone had anything else for the Board. Mr. Berkowitz made a motion to adjourn at 8:55 pm. Mr. Roberts seconded. Motion carried.

The next Planning Board meeting will be September 8, 2003

Respectfully Submitted

Tara Anuszewski, Secretary
Town of Halfmoon Planning Board