Three-inch part is rootof many water delivery

problems

By Melanie LekocevicHudson-Catskill Newspapers

When the Village of Cox-sackie went online with its new,multi-million dollar water filtra-tion plant last year, many localresidents figured their waterproblems were over.

Some, indeed, were. Sincethe new system went into effect,there is nary a boil water alert –once a common occurrence inthe village – in sight.

But one thing the new systemcan’t help is the frequency ofwater main breaks, which causeshut-offs and when not fixedquickly enough, boil wateralerts once again.

Last week the village experi-enced a major problem with itswater delivery system, causingwater service to be shut offthroughout the entire village,

just when everyone was gettinghome from work and washingup for the night.

But if the water filtrationplant isn’t the problem, what is?You might be surprised to findout that the root of the village’sdilemma lies in a three-inch part– and how it reacts to Coxsackiesoil.

Last week’s problem beganin the early afternoon when awater main behind Grand Unionsupermarket on Route 9Wbroke, disrupting water serviceto Hope Plaza and portions ofRoutes 81 and 9W.

That problem proved to be apretty easy fix – the Departmentof Public Works, or DPW, had itfixed within about an hour. Butwhen they tried to turn the waterback on, water began coming upfrom the valve in the water line.

“That usually indicates aproblem with the valve,” MayorMark Evans told the CoxsackieVillage Board at its Mondaymeeting.

The DPW’s original plan was

to begin digging up the areaaround the valve that afternoon,evaluate the problem, and makesure they had the replacementparts handy. But once they start-ed digging, the problems esca-lated from there.

“They got below the frostline and the valve blew,” Evanssaid. “There was a geiser ofwater six feet into the air.”

As a temporary fix, DPWSuperintendent Bob DeLucaused a backhoe to put pressureon the valve to stop the waterfrom gushing out, and had toshut off water to the entire vil-lage, starting around 6 p.m.

It took more than three hoursto drain the entire water line,and an hour after that, therepairs were complete. But theirproblems weren’t over yet.

“They tried to turn the valveon, but the valve blew,” Evanssaid. “The pressure pushed thepipes apart and caused water tospray all over.”

So they shut the water offagain, drained the main line a

second time – taking anotherseveral hours to do it – andrepaired the valve once again.This time it worked out, and thevillage’s water was turned backon, this time for good, at around6:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Because the water had beenshut down for several hours,state regulations required that aboil water alert be implemented.The alert was in effect until 4p.m. on Saturday.

So what causes all thesewater line breaks? At the root ofthe problem is a tiny three-inchpart that needs to be replaced inevery single underground watervalve throughout the village.

It’s a small steel bolt thatholds together the valves under-ground; each valve has ten tofifteen of them, depending onthe size of the valve. Because ofCoxsackie’s highly acidic soil,the steel bolts, after ten or fif-teen years, begin to corrode andeventually break, causing thevalves to blow. And that’s whenyou get a water line break.

“The clay in this area is soacidic it eats away at the steel,”Evans said. “A lot of the prob-lems we have are because of thevalves and because over theyears the bolts have been deteri-orated due to the acidic soil.”

There’s a pretty simple solu-tion – the village can purchasestainless steel bolts instead,which do not corrode in Cox-sackie soil.

But there are hundreds ofthose bolts buried deep under-ground throughout the village,and each costs around $25. Thecost, combined with the difficul-ty of digging up all thosevalves, makes the replacementof all the bolts at one timeimpractical.

So as each valve needs to berepaired or replaced, the villagehas been replacing the boltswith the stainless steel variety.

In the meantime, the villagecan expect to have water mainbreaks from time to time, andeventually all the steel bolts willbe replaced with stainless steel.

Thursday, February 14, 2013Vol. 5, No.7

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Legislature grant putsyoungsters in touch with

their creative side

By Melanie LekocevicHudson-Catskill Newspapers

It’s all well and good to toutthe benefits of art for children —enabling them to get in touch withtheir creative side, express them-selves, and so on. But doing thatcan be pricey — and when you’retalking about hundreds of kids,the expenses really pile up.

But a grant from the GreeneCounty Legislature will help take

some of that burden off one localorganization dedicated to keepingthe arts alive.

The Athens Cultural Centerwas awarded an $850 grantthrough the Greene County Legis-lature Youth Grant Program. Eachyear, the program — the brain-child of Legislature ChairmanWayne Speenburgh (R-Coxsack-ie) — awards grants to worthyyouth groups in each town aroundGreene County.

According to Dawna Johnson,president of the Athens CulturalCenter, the money will help payfor art materials for the organiza-

ATHENS

COXSACKIE

What causes Coxsackie’s water main breaks?

Photo by Melanie Lekocevic

A grant from the Greene County Legislature will pay for art materials forkids’ programming at the Athens Cultural Center. Pictured (left to right) areformer Legislator Chris Pfister, Athens Cultural Center President DawnaJohnson, and current Legislator Gene Hatton.

Continued on page 15

Hamlet at the FreeholdHouse opens its doors

By Melanie LekocevicHudson-Catskill Newspapers

Few buildings survive for hun-dreds of years and can still beused for day-to-day business.

The building that now housesHamlet at the Freehold House isone such building, and thanks to

local leaders, the Greene CountyIDA and a very enterprisingrestaurateur, new life has beenbreathed into this Freehold land-mark.

Originally a stage coach sta-tion on Route 32 — one of thearea’s main thoroughfares back in1791 when the Freehold Housewas built — over the years thebuilding has been used for vari-ous businesses, most recently a

restaurant.But a couple of years ago its

former owner was about to give itup and donate the property to anot-for-profit religious institution.Local leaders intervened.

Greene County LegislatureMajority Leader Kevin Lewis (R-Greenville) and Greenville TownSupervisor Paul Macko steppedin to see what they could do to

Helping kids put pen(and paint) to paper

FREEHOLD

New life breathed into centuries old Freehold business

Continued on page 15

Photo contributed

Local leaders cut the ribbon on Hamlet at the Freehold House, which opened for business in December. Pictured(left to right) are Greene County IDA Chairman Eric Hoglund, Project Manager April Ernst, restaurant operatorLance Moore, Greene County Legislature Majority Leader Kevin Lewis, Greenville Town Supervisor Paul Macko,Legislator Linda Overbaugh and Legislator Joseph Kozloski.

By Marlene McTigue Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

The RCS CommunityLibrary’s First Saturday-FirstMonday program generally offerscommunity members an opportu-nity to learn something new aboutscience, math or technology.

But this month it was wholedifferent story as 48 adults andchildren were provided with ataste of Fudozen Shorinji KempoKarate, more commonly known asKempo karate.

Local instructors Shawn andChristine Snyder, who have acombined 33 years of experienceas Kempo Black Belts, volun-teered to come in to teach a fewmoves at the library’s current pro-gramming space, the ChristianCongregational Church.

“Over the course of the threesessions, we taught some non-aggressive breaks and arm barsthat can be used to escape from anattacker,” said Shawn Snyder.“The main purpose was to get the

children to "do anything" to getaway in the event of an attack. Alltoo often, children have receivedlittle to no actual training on whatto do in the event of an attack.Children are usually just told to"get away" but aren't shown howto get away. These workshops,while being limited in scope, willat least open the door to what canbe done.”

Snyder goes on to explain a bitabout Kempo and his training.

“Kempo is translated to Way ofthe Fist and karate is empty hand.I am a Yodan, 4th degree, blackbelt and I have been training since1987, 25 years, and have had ablack belt 20 years. Christine is aShodan, 1st degree black belt andhas been training since 1994, 19years, and has been a black beltfor 13 years. We continue to studybecause karate promotes strength,flexibility, and calmness of mind.We also continue to train becausewhile you never stop being ablack belt, a martial artist's skilldiminishes over time. Trainingkeeps one sharp and ready,” saidSnyder.

The kids who attended Mon-day’s class, mostly ten-year-oldgirls, really seemed to relish theopportunity to learn that eventhough they are small, they canhave a big impact when trying toprotect themselves.

At one point in the demonstra-tion, Christine Snyder, who clear-ly under weighs her husband by atleast a hundred pounds, flipped

Vol. 138, No. 52Thursday, February 14, 2013See Page 7

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See Library’s program, page 10

By Bryan RowzeeHudson-Catskill Newspapers

“Good fences make goodneighbors,” wrote Robert Frost inhis poem Mending Wall.

But before new fences, shrub-bery, or outbuildings pop up on ahomeowner’s property, they aresupposed to checked with theTown Building Department toconfirm the property lines andpossible regulations, in part tomake sure what they want to do isactually done on their property,and not their neighbor’s.

Maps are central to many regu-lations.

According to Coeymans Build-ing Inspector Larry Conrad, thelast official town map was madeover five years ago. C.T. MaleAssociates has a new contract toupdate the maps, according toConrad’s Coeymans PlanningBoard report on February 4.

Like the current maps, the newones will be freely accessiblefrom the Town Hall and online atwww.coeymans.org, the town’swebsite. However, the new mapswill include clearer zoning desig-nations showing how parcels,deeded sections of land, aregrouped. Coeymans uses sixmajor zones: business, commer-cial, community facility, industri-al, residential and agriculture.

Access to the updated informa-tion will save hassle and frustra-tions for developers, realtors andresidents when buying and chang-ing their properties, according toConrad. For example, if someone

wished to purchase a lot next totheir current house or business,the map would let them knowahead of time if water, sewer oreven parking lot questions mightarise.

For instance, Conrad explainedthat one location wanted to shiftgears from selling merchandise tooffering office space. This ismuch trickier than just updatingthe business cards and sign outfront. A business owner whochanges gears needs zoning mapinformation to understand howfederal, state and local laws couldapply to adding more parkingspots, restrooms or lighting totheir property to best accommo-date changes in employees andcustomers.

Conrad said the town lovesgrowth and wants growth butneeds growth that follows thelaws created to help the wholecommunity. He said he hopes thatthis business and others will ben-efit from clearer zoning maps andbelieves this may lessen misun-derstandings and strained rela-tionships between communitymembers and town officials.

The Planning Board was alsocautiously optimistic about thepossibility of “layering”. Theengineers and other staff at C.T.Male Associates have a trackrecord of providing powerfultechnology to help make mapsadapt to user needs. Layering,Conrad reported, allows a user toview a variety of separate maps at

COEYMANS

Keeping Coeymans on the map

By Marlene McTigue Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

It’s the law of the Scout: aScout is trustworthy, loyal, help-ful, friendly, courteous, kind,obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave,clean and reverent.

On Sunday afternoon dozensof community members gatheredat St. Patrick’s Church in Ravenato witness the Cub and BoyScouts of Troop 1067 reaffirmtheir commitment to reverence,“to be reverent toward God, faith-ful in his religious duties and torespect the beliefs of others” inaccordance with the law of theScout put forth by the Boy Scoutsof America.

An opening prayer was readby Boy Scout Troop Master BrianSearles, which laid the foundationfor the service.

“Dear Lord, bless all thoseeverywhere who contribute toshape the hearts, minds and bod-ies of young people. Let usremember what they have taughtand apply it daily.

“When facing deceit and dis-honesty, let us be trustworthy. Ifwe see hypocrisy and faithless-ness, let us be loyal. Where disre-gard for others and where materi-alism prevails, let us be helpful.In an atmosphere of ill manner,let us be courteous. Where somemeasure manliness in brutalityand crudeness, let us be kind.Though law-breaking and rule-scoffing are common, let us beobedient. While others grumbleand grouch, let us be cheerful. Inan environment blighted by wasteand extravagance, let us bethrifty. When confronted withdanger and temptation, let us bebrave. As we see filth and pollu-tion everywhere, let us be clean.While witnessing impiety andirreligion, let us remember to bereverent. In short, in a world thathas for generation after genera-tion lamented the lack of goodexamples, let us Scouts stand out,grow up and be real adults,” readSearles.

All the Scouts then performed

RAVENA

Scouts reaffirm their faith in God in annual service

See Coeymans on the map, page 10

RAVENA

Library’s program gets physical

Photo by Marlene McTigue

Kempo karate instructors Christine and Shawn Snyder volunteer at the RCSCommunity Library’s First Saturday/First Monday program earlier thismonth.

Photo by Marlene McTigue

Weeblos of Pack 1067 illustrate the deadline sin of gluttony in a skit at the Scouts Own Service on Sunday.