Town celebrates grant wins, reallocates funds for SLPAC

Town of Chester Supervisor Brandon Holdridge announced the release of $115,000 in grant money for the resurfacing of Johnson Road, an announcement made through State Sen. James Skoufis’ office last week, and $130,000 in grant money for improvements to the water district of Walton Lake Estates at the July 24 Chester Town Board.

The town will only have to pay $10,000 toward the Johnson Road project. Skoufis’ announcement claimed the $115,000 grant was not processed under Valentine and credited Holdridge for doing the paperwork. Valentine responded that his office had worked on the project, claiming it had been caught up in technicalities.

In other news, the town voted to disburse $12,000 to the repair reserve fund for the SLPAC. This is money that had been in their bank account last budget year and was returned to the town’s general fund. The board decided this was a mistake and reallocated the money to SLPAC’s fund balance. They may get even more money during this budget season, Holdridge told The Chronicle, as the town wants the SLPAC to have a rainy day fund for repairs of the building. Any use of the funds would have to be subject to a public hearing and town board approval.

The town is also seeking a grant of $24,700 from the Climate Smart Communities grant to split the cost in building a pavilion at Knapp’s View. The pavilion would be approximately 20-by-40-feet in size. Holdridge said it remains to be seen whether the town would go forward with the project if they do not receive the grant.

The town also announced a further two-week extension in the bid process for service to the new ambulance district, citing potential bidders who needed more time to process their application.

Public hearings

Three public hearings were held at the July 24 meeting. A representative from Virginia-based firm Mission Clear Energy spoke during a hearing on a proposed battery storage moratorium. The representative said they would make themselves available for any advice the town needed on the topic and claimed that improved technology has greatly reduced emergencies on battery storage sites.

The town could not approve the moratorium yet, because they still needed to give the county two more days to respond. A vote is expected at the August 14 meeting.

Nobody from the public commented on a plan to put stop signs at five intersections in Surrey Meadows and the town board passed the plan 5-0.

A proposed referendum to stagger town council terms and make them four years instead of two years under the ward system also received no comment from the public. The law was passed and voters will vote on the referendum in November. If they reject the referendum, beginning in 2026, every council seat will be up every two years. If they pass the referendum, two council seats will be up for two years in 2026 and two will be for four years. Once staggered, the seats will be voted on every four years. Holdridge’s next election is in 2027 but for only a three-year term, putting him on schedule with the even-year law passed by Albany this year.

Conservation Advisory Council Chair Martine DePasquale and William Green spoke to the town board about creating a tree commission to plant trees on public property. Green said the Arbor Day Foundation is liberal with grants for tree planting and was hoping for several thousand in funding from the town board for the project.

Other business

The board passed a law to move the five-ton weight limit on Kings Highway to begin at Kings Highway Bypass instead of Pine Hill Rd. The town welcomed a new member of the SLPAC advisory board: Tim Hassler who lives in and owns a shop in Sugar Loaf and studied theater at Yale.

During public comments Cindy Smith warned the town board that the 100 acres on Ridge Road they were thinking of purchasing as open space land preservation could be “bad land” and to make sure they only pay fair market value for it.