By Michelle O’Riley

VOORHEESVILLE — A fuel tank leak has led to soil contamination at the Mobile station on Route 85A.

Groundwater & Environmental Services, Inc. — an environmental solutions and liability management company — will remove the spilled fuel from the soil. Valley Equipment, which is under contract with Exxon Mobile, will be removing the defective tanks.

Village Building Inspector Jerry Gordinier said he assumes removing the tanks will take only a couple of days and they should be removed within the next four weeks.

Some village residents were notified by e-mail of the soil contamination and fuel-tank removal. At this time, none of the residents contacted have expressed any concerns, said Gordinier.

Alta East, the new owner of the Mobile station, plans on installing new fuel tanks after submitting an application to the planning commission for a site review. Once Alta East receives approval, it should take about four weeks to install the new tanks, said an Alta East field representative on Tuesday.

According to Gordinier, this will be the third set of fuel tanks installed at this site over a 25-year period.

Tower request

The board agreed at its March 28 meeting that the village would be interested in leasing land for a cellular tower.

Bill Biscone of Wire Free said the tentative site for the tower would be on the southwest corner of the Voorheesville Public Works property. According to Biscone, several landowners around the proposed site were contacted and seemed to have no problems with a tower being built.
The board and Biscone agreed that photo simulations and a balloon drop to gage the visibility of the proposed 160-foot tower are needed. Concerns were raised about the tower toppling, and Biscone responded, "They are not made to fall."

The tower would hold four to five cellular phone carriers and radio antennas for village services such as transportation, fire, and the ambulance. According to the board, some of the areas currently with little or no reception are the high school, town park, and soccer fields.
Biscone said that the tower would provide "reliable service for the entire community."

The board directed Biscone to take the next step and submit a proposal to the planning board.

Other business
In other business, the village board:

— Heard the suggestion for village elected officials and the planning board to attend informational meetings on water programs. These meetings would also allow village officials to meet leaders from other communities in Albany and Saratoga County to discuss what steps are being taken in the region to deal with water issues;

— Heard the proposal from a village resident to add a 120- to 150-foot sewer line connection. The board decided an engineering review is needed to find out the system’s current capacity and if the plant can take on any more users.

After recent requests and allocations, including 48 units for a proposed senior-housing project, the current sewer system may be at its maximum capacity;

— Approved a street-sweeping budget of $3,300 and the purchase of chain-link fencing for the village office parking lot. Also, approved that the premium mulch delivered by the village will now cost residents $25 a yard; and

— Heard that an application for a subdivision on Pine Street is pending review by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. Also, heard that Omni is back on track with the building plans for the new senior housing development. The company recently had delays due to managerial changes.