ROTTERDAM Masullo Estates drainage project to cost $1.4M; could be done by fall BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.
The long-awaited Masullo Estates drainage project and road reconstruction will cost Rotterdam about $1.4 million, slightly higher than original town estimates. Past engineering studies suggested the project would cost about $1.35 million. Supervisor Steve Tommasone said about a half-dozen companies picked up bid packages but only two actually submitted bids for the project, which has been nearly six years in the making. Town officials passed a resolution to bond the project during an agenda meeting earlier this month. Tommasone said the town also received support for the project from the Army Corps of Engineers, meaning the only hurdle remaining for the project is a tacit approval from the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Tommasone said wetlands exist on parts of the 15 acres of forestland slated for the drainage project. But the project isn’t expected to have any adverse impact on these areas, meaning drainage work could commence by the summer and wrap up by the fall. The project comes after extensive effort by the town to find a solution for the neighborhood’s groundwater woes. Many of the 88 homes in the development suffer persistent flooding, which also undermined the development’s roads. Rotterdam first commissioned a study of the problem in 2005, when the developers of Helderberg Meadows wanted to prove their nearby proposed 261-unit development wouldn’t impact Masullo Estates’ flooding issues. Since that time, the town has approved about $95,000 worth of studies aimed at remedying the neighborhood’s groundwater issues. The proposed project includes a full reconstruction of Masullo Parkway, a replacement of the storm sewers and a drainage system that will carry groundwater away from the road toward a catch basin built at the end of East Lucille Lane. Tommasone said the project will be funded through the general fund and the bond payments will likely be spread over the course of 10 to 20 years.
So are we to believe that Heldeburg Medows will NOT create a water/drainage problem now or in the future? Is that a guarantee?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Development work in Rotterdam progressing Work crews overcome soggy soil at Helderberg Meadows Friday, September 18, 2009 By Justin Mason (Contact) Gazette Reporter
ROTTERDAM — Drying out the land north of County Line Road has proven to be a challenge, but not one that has deterred the developers of the 314-acre Helderberg Meadows. Over the past six months, about a dozen workers have created a dry swath of land through the inhospitable marshland and dense forest extending toward Ghents Road. “When we started, you had to put your hip boots on and your rain gear,” said Josh Clue, a superintendent with William M. Larned & Sons, the company contracted to install the development’s infrastructure. Mother Nature didn’t make the work any easier, either. Storms pelted crews with golf ball-sized hail while rain from the wettest July on record for the Capital Region periodically forced a halt to work. The workers had to dig 25-foot-deep trenches through saturated soil to lay the project’s enormous sewer pipes. To improve drainage in the development, the trenches were filled with more than 10,000 tons of gravel to help direct groundwater toward detention ponds or areas designated for wetlands. Above the gravel-filled trenches the development’s 7,000-foot-long arterial is being constructed. Now with fall approaching, the road extends from County Line Road to just a few hundred feet away from Guilderland Avenue, where it will connect. The goal was to finish the road by October, Clue said Tuesday, and with less than 400 feet remaining, they appear to be on target...................>>>>...................>>>>..................http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009/sep/18/0918_development/
Yes and when they get to the polls, THROW THOSE BUMS OUT!!!!!!!!!! What is wrong with Rotterdam residents. Tommasone has bankrupted this town. He has thrown money away with two hands while giving favors to his friends and family. He will be remembered as the most corrupt Supervisor Rotterdam has ever seen. He is an embarrassment to this town. And BTW, no respectable Dem should cast a vote for the "Barbie Wanna Be" Holly Vellano. Her time on the Rotterdam Council was non-productive. A perfect fit with Tommasone/Mertz and back room deals. After a Supervisor with the business acumen of John Paolino, Tommasone looks like a buffoon.
Re your Sept. 18 article [“Development work progressing”] about Helderberg Meadows in Rotterdam: Mr. [Planning Commission Chairman Lawrence] DiLallo stated that there’s a chance the new development may help alleviate some groundwater issues. How many people would want a guarantee like that? Maybe if Mr. Di-Lallo didn’t vote against the SEQR [State Environmental Quality Review] process, he would have a better answer than “there’s a chance.” And why are they taking down beautiful, forested wetlands to build more condos when condos are not selling in Rotterdam? This is a travesty!
They have made a MESS of that property. I agree the condos were not necessary. Who permitted this?
You don't wanna go there cal. Who permitted the rotterdam square mall? Who let walmart in? Ya know, the store that has attracted the 'underserved' from the city causing crime to rise in rotterdam? Someone should have done their homework first BEFORE letting that beast in town. And who pays sewer tax? Ya really don't wanna go there either cal. 'you know not what you speak'.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Don't know from what I speak?????? I own most of the property on Ghents Road. Three houses--two are mine.
What the heck are you talking about? Re-read my post which was in responds to yours. I could care less what houses or properties or where they are....that you own. That has nothing to do with this.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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