Planning Board wants county to check sewer numbers

AMENIA — Silo Ridge’s wastewater treatment plant was the hot topic of discussion at the Planning Board meeting Thursday, Jan. 29.

The Silo Ridge Country Club has offered to provide excess space in its proposed plant for the town to utilize. This would be in lieu of building affordable housing in its development plans, which is a stipulation of local zoning laws. Silo Ridge is looking to build a resort community with a hotel, spa, restaurant, commercial space and residential housing, along with a revamped golf course.

Rudy Eschbach, chairman of the Amenia Housing Board, attended the Planning Board meeting and supported an e-mail that had been sent to the Planning Board by Councilwoman Vicki Doyle.

Eschbach explained there was some confusion with calculations in the Findings Statement provided by Silo Ridge. He specifically mentioned those that argue providing excess space in the wastewater treatment plant is an equal or greater cost than the expense of building affordable housing units and satisfying any zoning requirements.

Under the current plan, Silo Ridge would be required to construct 34 affordable housing units. Mike Dignacco, vice president of construction for Millbrook Ventures, the construction company hired by Silo Ridge, said if they were to build those workforce houses, and then sell them, it would actually net Silo Ridge a profit. But that’s not the point, he said.

Silo Ridge has previously run into problems with the Planning Board over the proposed sewer plant. During a meeting in August, the Wastewater Committee read a public letter recommending that Silo Ridge provide additional contributions, including a fourth pumping station and a force main that would be required to get the town’s waste matter uphill to the elevation of the treatment plant.

Silo Ridge responded by stating that it would withdraw its plans to allot additional space for the town.

Attorney to the Town Michael Hayes reminded the board at Thursday’s meeting of that, and the fact that Silo Ridge had provided the plans to build affordable housing, to prove to the town that it was truly prepared to withdraw its offer.

Doyle explained that the Housing Board’s liaison to Dutchess County Planning & Development, Mary Ling, suggested the county take an unbiased look at the applicant’s calculations. It is assumed that the analysis would be done at no cost.

“We want to make sure that Silo Ridge’s proposal is an equitable trade-off,� Eschbach explained, stressing that the Housing Board had no “ax to grind,� no matter how the numbers turn out.

Planning Board member Nina Peek said she was worried that the town wouldn’t be able to afford to hook up to Silo Ridge’s sewer plant, even if there was excess capacity.

“My concern is that we haven’t really talked about that and voted on it,� she added. “We need to get all the information that we need and discuss it.�

According to Hayes, once the Special Use Permit application is complete, a public hearing will be scheduled, similar to the process following the completion of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). The application will then go to the Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development, which will have 30 days to comment on it, and to the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals, which will have 45 days to comment. Hayes explained that sending the specific section to the county early will allow for a closer examination of those specific numbers.

“We all believe that a sewer plant is key,� Doyle said, “but we need to make sure that the letter of the law has been met. Those numbers shouldn’t come from the developer. They should come from an independent agency or one of our own.�

Dignacco agreed it was a good idea to have someone else review the numbers and said that if the county had any questions he would be happy to answer them.

“In general, when two independent estimates are conducted they will be different, so that can be expected,� he acknowledged. He also said he didn’t believe the two estimates would be different enough to change the fact that it is costing Silo Ridge more to construct additional capacity onto its treatment plant than it would for them to build workforce housing. He also pointed out that with workforce housing there would be the opportunity for the resort to receive revenue, while there is no such opportunity with the sewer plant.

Dignacco added that either scenario is achievable for Silo Ridge. It would not change the resort plan if workforce or employee housing were requested by the town, as Silo Ridge would build off site, and he felt it would not be a difficult switch if the town decided to do so.

Silo Ridge has been working with the town’s consultants on the Master Development Plan (MDP). Most of Thursday’s meeting was spent going over changes that consultants felt needed to be made, mostly in the area of elaborating on the document’s narrative and providing additional details for plans. Dignacco said his goal is to have a revised MDP submitted to the Planning Board on Feb. 12, which would allow Silo Ridge to be on the agenda for the Feb. 26 workshop meeting.

The next Planning Board meeting will be held on Feb. 5 at 7 p.m.