VOORHEESVILLE — On a Sunday morning a year and a half ago, water began shooting up from the ground through the railroad tracks near the Voorheesville Diner.

William Smith, the village’s public works supervisor, got the call during church services, he said.

Since then, the village has been coordinating with CSX, the company that maintains the railroad tracks, to fix the water main, which is one of three that goes under railroad tracks in the village, Smith said.
"It’s a normal job; it just takes forever to do," he said of the nature of the work and the complications due to the placement of the break under the tracks.

While the work is being done, traffic in the village is being re-routed around the railroad tracks.
The burst pipe was likely buried in the early 1900’s, Smith said. It is being replaced with an eight-inch water pipe that is cased in a still larger pipe. Of putting it in, he said, "It’s like trying to push a blunt rod through a bunch of rock."

Pollard Excavating won the $85,500 contract with the village to do the job; it was the lowest bidder, Village Clerk Linda Pasquali said following the May decision. Workers have been there for about a week and a half and are expected to finish soon, Smith said at Tuesday night’s village board meeting.

At the village’s September meeting, the board voted unanimously to grant Pollard a 60-day extension on the project.
When the work is completed, Smith said, "It’ll put us back to our full complement."

Other business

In other business, the village board:

— Heard from Trustee Richard Berger that the renovations to the firehouse are complete except for the work on the epoxy floor and the brickwork, both jobs were considered unsatisfactory by the fire department;

— Heard from Trustee Bill Hotaling that the sidewalk project, building walkways in part of the village, is almost complete; and

— Heard from Smith that the village has been conducting its leaf pick-up and will come around to village houses on Monday for curbside pickup.