— Nicole Fay Barr

GUILDERLAND — Several residents attended Tuesday’s town board meeting, angry that a bike path is recommended to run behind their homes.

After two of the homeowners vented their frustrations, Pathways committee chairman Lindsay Childs said it’s unlikely the controversial bike path will be built and it’s not even proposed.

In April of 2003, the Guilderland Pathways Committee presented a report to the town board outlining areas of Guilderland it felt most needed sidewalks, bike paths, and trails. The plan, which took three years to complete, divided the committee’s findings into three separate reports, for sidewalks, walkable destinations, and bike paths.

Last year, the town received a matching grant of $7,500 from the Hudson River Greenways Council. The town then used the grant money to pay Wilbur Smith Associates to review the pathways plan and make recommendations.

In February, The Enterprise reported on a public meeting where Jim Donovan, of Wilbur Smith Associates, critiqued the pathways plan. Donovan was scheduled to present his analysis to the town board Tuesday, but did not show up.

At the end of Tuesday’s meeting, some of the dozen residents in the gallery told the board they were angry about a bike path proposed to run through their backyards, on Fuller Station Road.

Donald Csaposs, the town’s development director who wrote the pathways grant, explained to the group that Wilbur Smith is only studying the pathways plan. No action is to be taken now, he said.
"I just heard about it tonight from my neighbors," said Christina Smith. "It’s ridiculous."

Supervisor Kenneth Runion suggested she go to the next Guilderland Pathways meeting, on May 23.

Christina Smith continued that she’s upset she heard nothing about the plans for a path in her yard. She doesn’t want people walking or riding bicycles near her property, she said.
"It goes right between our backyards. Who’s going to police this"" Smith asked. "We already have motorcycles that go back there."
"They’re going to be looking into people’s windows," Marilyn Blesser said of people who would use the path. "...We have had no notice of this...People who are going to be affected have not been contacted until this week when we went door-to-door."

Childs then explained that, in the pathways plan, committee members suggested a path along the Fuller Station Road rail line. No one walked the area to see if there were houses nearby, he said; on a map, it just looked like a good place for a path.
"We knew there were going to be problems because we know things go through backyards," Childs said. "If the town ever gets to the point of doing this — it could be 30 years the way things are going — we’ll have to get around it."

Currently there is no money for constructing more bike paths and sidewalks in Guilderland, he said. If there were and if a path were considered, the public would be involved. The recommended path that Smith and Blesser are worried about, he said, could be re-routed.
"Okay," said Smith. "Look me up in 30 years."
"I don’t think the town board is ever going to approve a trail that runs through people’s yards," Runion said.
"The pathways people volunteering their time are not trying to hurt anybody," Councilman Bruce Sherwin said. The committee is examining the whole town and it’s hard, at this stage, to be specific in its plans, he said.

Phil Erner, of Forest Haven Drive, then told the board that he rode his bicycle to the meeting.
"There should be paths and lanes constructed in town," he said, "and sidewalks and public transit and lighting improvements."

Reservoir plans
Jim Besha, president of Albany Engineering Corporation, told the board about plans to raise the Watervliet Reservoir, Guilderland’s main source of drinking water.

Watervliet is asking for permission to put a gate on the Normanskill dam to raise the water level a few feet. By doing this, Besha said, the amount of water in the reservoir will more than double, from 1.7 billion to 3.5 billion gallons.

After the project is complete, the city will have more water to sell to other municipalities, like Bethlehem, New Scotland, and Duanesburg, Besha said.

The Enterprise reported on the reservoir project in detail last month. Then, environmental activists Thadeus Ausfeld and Charles Rielly said that the reservoir should be dredged and cleaned up, before more water is added to the supply.

Ausfeld and Rielly co-chair the restoration advisory board, founded years ago to advise on the cleanup of the old Army depot in Guilderland Center, which had used the Black Creek to remove waste; the creek feeds the reservoir.

Ausfeld, who runs Guilderland’s water-treatment plant, also worried that raising the reservoir will add more pollutants to the water supply. He says this will cost Guilderland because it has to purify the water before shipping it to residences.

Besha told The Enterprise then that the reservoir is not polluted and is "one of the cleanest water bodies." Many more studies will be conducted before the project begins, he said.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Besha told the town board that, in August or September, public hearings and information sessions will be held to discuss the project.

Other business
In other business, the board:
— Authorized increasing the petty cash account for the town-owned Western Turnpike Golf Course to $1,250. The town currently has an account of $1,000, but, with fees increasing steadily, the course needs more cash, Runion said;

— Authorized the town’s department of water and wastewater management to bid for rehabilitation work at the Farnsworth Drive pump station. The work is estimated to cost $361,524, which will be paid for out of sewer reserve funds, Runion said;

— Scheduled a public hearing for the rural Guilderland land-use plan for June 21, at 7:30 p.m.

Runion reported that, since the last public hearing for the plan, he has had two meetings with Landowners Offering Guilderland Intelligent Choices (LOGIC). The group has spoken out against parts of the plan.

As a result of his meetings with LOGIC, Runion said some technical changes have been made to the plan. The revised plan is available on the town’s website, as well as at the town clerk’s office and at the Guilderland Public Library;

— Awarded bids for the rehabilitation of the Guilderland Animal Shelter;

— Authorized the supervisor to sign a compliance report for an annual, federally-mandated stormwater management program;

— Authorized a warrant adjustment for an incorrect water-meter reading at 1 Crossgates Mall Road; and

— Heard from Councilwoman Patricia Slavick about self-defense classes, provided by the Guilderland Police. Slavick took the classes — which were divided into three, four-hour sessions — with Town Clerk Rosemary Centi and both said it was excellent.

More classes will be held on May 25, June 1, and June 8, from 6 to 10 p.m. They are free to town residents. Those interested can call the Guilderland Police Department.