Cochecton acquires land for new town hall

Details of new building to be explored

By FRITZ MAYER

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — Cochecton town officials started saving for a new town hall more than 20 years ago, and now that goal is within reach.

At the town meeting on November 12, town attorney John Keating informed the board that the town had closed on four acres of land on Smales Road, not far from the existing town hall, where the new town building will be located.

Deputy supervisor Larry Richardson said that the four acres cost $51,050, and that senator John Bonacic and assemblywoman Aileen Gunther had each provided grants of $10,000 to go toward the purchase of the land. The property, which is already mostly cleared, is accessible to the Lake Huntington sewer district, so the town will apply to the Department of Environmental Conservation to be hooked up.

Richardson said he believes there is enough money in the fund to construct the new building without going into debt. He said there were many details that will be explored after the new board member, Ed Grund, joins the board in January. Such issues include whether the new building will be stick-built or prefabricated, and whether green technologies, such as solar hot water, will be part of the plan.

Councilman Gary Mass asked what would become of the current building.

Richardson said the board will work to determine the best use of the existing town hall, which is too small to accommodate the town’s current needs, such as an office for the code enforcement officer.

In other matters, the board took up the issue of outdoor boilers, which have become a topic of concern in several river valley towns. The board discussed the regulations in place in the Town of Callicoon, which determines such matters as how close an outdoor boiler may be to a neighbor’s property, and how high the smokestack must be.

Richardson’s suggestion was to allow new outdoor boilers only in agricultural and rural development zones, and exclude them from the more densely populated hamlets.

Grund noted that Callicoon’s ordinance allowed operation of the outdoor boilers only from September 15 to May 15, which would preclude residents from using the boilers in the summer to heat their swimming pools, which some residents intended to do.

Gregg Semenetz, the incoming code enforcement officer and building inspector, said that residents who wanted to do that could apply for a variance.

Keating was asked to prepare a local law on outdoor boilers that the board will consider at a later date.