VOORHEESVILLE — Flood maps around the state are set to be reconfigured and digitalized within the next few years, which could affect flood insurance in the village.

After a roughly $1.2 million mapping project, primarily funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Albany County will have updated flood maps, said William Nechamen, floodplain manager with the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. He said Wednesday that he expects that the project will be finished sometime in 2009.
In the last 10 years, two bridges that cross the Vly Creek in the village have been reconfigured, said Gerald Gordinier, one of the village’s two building inspectors. A bridge on Stonington Hill Road and another on Pine Street have been changed, he said this week. "For that reason, I believe we are entitled to new maps," said Gordinier. The current flood maps for the village, he said, were made in 1982.

Recently, the DEC, which has partnered with FEMA for the project, held a meeting to inform all municipalities in Albany County about the process of remapping, Nechamen said. Albany County is a priority for remapping because of the population, he said.

Gordinier attended the meeting and reported on it to the village board at its March 27 meeting. Insurance rates for residents who already have flood insurance in the village will be protected, he said, but those who might be affected by flooding according to the new maps will likely face higher flood-insurance premiums.

Other business

In other business at recent meetings, the board:

— Heard from Liza Agresta and the skateboard-park committee, in an hour-long discussion, about equipment for the proposed park. Agresta was representing R.E. Woodson, Inc., which sells skateboarding equipment. She suggested that the village look into getting state or corporate funds to help pay for the roughly $40,000 project.

The board hopes that the town of New Scotland will share funds for the park and committed to writing a letter of support for the skate park before the skate-park committee brings its proposal to the town;

— Heard from Will Smith, the village’s superintendent of public works, that bids for a new sidewalk and repairs to a water main that runs under part of the railroad track will be opened on April 18;

— Planned a workshop meeting for April 11 at 6 p.m. at Village Hall; and
— Held a public hearing on the village’s budget for the coming fiscal year. Thomas Mensching, who was the only resident to speak, said, "My village taxes will have gone up by nearly a factor of three."

The village’s planned $1.9 million budget has a tax rate of 97 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. This year, Mensching will be paying about $233, he said, to which the board answered that that amount of money wouldn’t cover the cost of garbage removal, should residents have to have private haulers pick up their trash instead of the municipal garbage pick-up that the village currently offers.