VOORHEESVILLE — Scant comment has been heard on a trio of laws the village is considering. The public hearing will stay open through an Aug. 10 meeting.

One law, spurred by a request, would allow villagers to keep chickens after getting a permit from the building inspector. The bill sets a maximum number of hens, forbids roosters, requires a coop, and establishes setbacks from neighbors, according to Richard Reilly, the village attorney.

A second would establish a means in village code for having a planned development district, or PDD. “We do not have one now,” Reilly told The Enterprise. “Saint Matthew’s has asked if it would be possible….to build residential housing behind their structure.”

St. Matthew’s, a Catholic church, is located at 25 Mountainview Street in the village.

The third proposal would update the zoning law to allow Shane Gonyea to run his auto sales business from the village’s industrial zone. The zoning law currently allows it in the business district but not the industrial zone, Reilly said.

Reilly also reported to the board on Tuesday on a water agreement the village has with New Scotland for a development built by Amedore Homes at the Colonie Country Club.

Trustee Jack Stevens questioned cutting the $25 fee, which he said was charged for upkeep of the entire system.

“Doubling the rates is to take care of that,” said Mayor Robert Conway.

“It was to raise money for our system, which they benefit from,” said Stevens, who voted against the measure while Conway and trustees Richard Berger and Richard Straut were in favor; Trustee Florence Reddy was absent.

Rail trail

The board decided to apply again for a grant that would upgrade the head of the Albany County Helderberg Hudson Rail Trail, a nine-mile trail, once a train track, which starts in Voorheesville and runs to Albany. The plan was to increase commerce in downtown Voorheesville by attracting people to using the hiking and biking path.

In 2014, the board requested a $1.2 million grant through the Transportation Alternatives  Program. Brett Hotaling, who was then a trustee and is now superintendent of the village’s Department of Public Works, presented plans for the construction of a building with restrooms, a tower, and an observation deck. A second building across the street was proposed as a rail museum, and a parking area for the two buildings would have been adjacent to the museum. Before reaching the Grove Street entrance to the trail, users could traverse an interpretive rail park and pass rail vendors between the tower and the trailhead, according to the plan.

After the application was turned down last year, the village, with the help of the Voorheesville Community and School Foundation, went ahead with parts of the project, framing a pavilion with a distinctive witch’s hat for a roof, reminiscent of the Victorian Voorheesville train station, long since torn down. The pavilion stands at the corner of Grove and Main streets, near the site of the original train station.

“The pavilion is coming along,” Hotaling, superintendent of Public Works, told the board on Tuesday. “The roof skirt is on. We’re still looking for a roofer.”

He also said that a line would be tapped for water in the next few weeks, that he is in the process of getting power, that some paving has been completed, and that seeding would take place in the fall.

“Bike Day went great,” he reported.

The grant that the board agreed to again apply for would cover an observation platform, landscaping, and paving onto Main Street, the mayor said. The village will ask for $278,000 with the local share being $139,000. Up to $91,000 could be done by the Department of Public Works or volunteers, Conway said, leaving $48,000 for the village “to pony up in cash.” He said this could probably straddle two budget years.

“We’ve gone this far with it,” said Berger, noting the trail is well used.

“The traffic is definitely there,” agreed Conway.

“I’ve always supported the plan,” said Straut.

“It’s found money,” said Stevens.

The village has “a good chance” of getting the grant, said Clerk Treasurer Linda Pasquali “now that we’ve done what we have.”

Summer fun

Sixty to 80 children have been participating in the village’s summer program, said Pasquali, noting that is the highest turnout in the 12 years she has worked for the village.

“It’s doubly amazing because of the heat we’ve been having,” said the mayor.

“We keep them hydrated,” responded Pasquali.

The program is at its midpoint and is aided by a dozen volunteers as well as paid staff. Another boy recently joined the volunteers, Pasquali told the board. He had said he had “nothing to do,” she reported.

“Was it my son?” asked Straut.

The board also gave the OK for Hotaling to tape lines on a second village tennis court so it can be used for pickleball tournaments.

Pickleball, played on a 20-by-44-foot court, laid out as if for badminton, is a racquet sport where players use a paddle, similar to that used in ping pong, to hit a ball like a wiffle ball over a tennis-like net.

Stevens said he had checked with a professional tennis company in New Hampshire that said adding the pickleball lines “was not a conflict.”

“The cost is minimal,” said Hotaling, noting there are more pickleball players using the village courts than tennis players.

Pasquali said they are on the courts before village workers arrive, play all day, and more show up to play in the evenings.

Other business

In other business, the board:

— Approved the higher of two bids for an no longer used truck — $6,821 from Car Wash Cars;

— Heard from building inspector Glenn Hebert that a cement pad in the northeast corner of Hannaford Plaza is being set up to charge electric cars;

— Learned from the mayor that David Moreau is looking for input on a proposal to extend Locust Road. “He uses us as an entrée with the town,” said Conway. The board agreed to meet with Moreau at 6 p.m. on Aug. 10 before the public hearings open at 6:30 p.m.; and

—Heard condolences from the mayor for the family of Earl McMillen, a long-time resident.