VALATIE –The village has finalized a deal with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and the American Legion Hall to have a Sheriff’s Office sub-station on Main Street. The board adopted a motion at this week’s meeting to pay the American Legion $250 a month in rent for deputies to use part of hall has a station.

The board also had a long discussion about sewer issues at the Tuesday, July 13 meeting. Frederick Grober of Delaware Engineering attended the meeting to discuss the new disinfection system the state is requiring the village to install.

Mr. Grober, whose company works with municipalities throughout the state on water and sewer issues, said the new system was required in all communities that are part of Hudson River watershed. “Unfortunately the feds and the state mandated it but didn’t give any funds,” he said of the $100,000 project. The cost included adding the new disinfection system and work on the chlorine room.

Mr. Grober said his company provided for improvements “over and beyond what was required.”

The board then discussed improvements to the sewer plant. Officials plan to have the system cleaned and to use cameras to check the condition of the lines. Improvements to the processing plant will be more involved and costly.

There was also talk about what ends up getting trapped and must be removed from the plant, like rags and plastic bags. “If it can be flushed, it ends up there,” said Mr. Grober. He said a more efficient system would sort out those materials at the front end of the sewage process, so that they do not have to be fished out at the processing end.

Putting in the new system could cost the village about $300,000, money Mayor Gary Strevell said the village doesn’t have. Mr. Grober’s company does help villages find funds to pay for projects like this one, but he recommended the village conduct an income survey first. If the medium income in the village is lower than the $44,000 a year that the 2000 Census found, it will qualify for a hardship grant. The board adopted a motion to hire the survey firm recommended by Mr. Grober to conduct the income survey.

After the meeting, Mr. Strevell said the village started working with Delaware Engineering when the state mandated the disinfection system. The village is in compliance with all state regulations, he said, but upgrades are needed on the 32-year-old system.

Also this week the board held a public hearing before the regular meeting about a new development on upper Main Street called Mill Run. The Village Board passed a motion to create a special assessment district for the project.

The board began the meeting by honoring the students who helped a village resident in Pachaquack Preserve. Pat McCann fell in the preserve on June 24, and six local kids called for help and stayed with her until responders arrived. One of the students, Aileen Corrigan, told the board at the meeting that she saw Ms. McCann fall. “I was, like, uh-oh,” said Aileen. Board members called the students brave and said Ms. McCann is very appreciative for their help. Ms. McCann has recovered and has returned to to her home.