Displaying items by tag: Claudia Braymer

Thursday, 18 April 2019 12:22

Ballston Responds to Asphalt Plant Controversy

BALLSTON SPA — The Town of Ballston Spa is responding to a group of residents going by “Citizens for a Clean Environment” that have been opposed to the sitting and operation of the Dolomite asphalt plant in the town since 2011. The asphalt plant is located in Curtis Industrial Park at 831, Route 67 in Ballston Spa.

After lengthy deliberation and a $4 million lawsuit against the town by Dolomite in 2016, the planning board granted conditional approval to the plant and Dolomite dropped the lawsuit. Citizens for a Clean Environment are saying that important conditions have still not been met by the plant. Major concerns included the hours of operation on the weekend, Route 67 improvements, improvements to the Zim Smith Trail and the size of the silos on the plant. Other concerns of the Citizens for a Clean Environment site the visual aspects of the plant, the smell, traffic and noise as well as the air pollutants.

In Ballston’s response, made by the town’s attorney Debra Kaelin, all concerns were addressed and were in favor of the concerned citizens. The town agreed to not allow Dolomite to operate unless a route 67 turning lane was installed and Zim Smith trail signage was made, all before April 30.

“Last month, the Building Department and I sat down with representatives from Dolomite to review and emphasize the importance of compliance with the conditions of their agreement with the Town,” said Kaelin.

“It was made clear that Dolomite must comply with all conditions. Dolomite’s representatives agreed and communicated to the Town they want to be good members of our community. All parties are working together to make sure the plant’s operation is handled within the confines of the courts’ decisions.”

However, Claudia Braymer, attorney for the Citizens for a Clean Environment, maintains the 70-foot silos, the turning lane at route 67 and the Zim Smith rail signage were supposed to be in compliance before Dolomite began operations. According to Braymer and planning board, the silos at Dolomite asphalt plant were supposed to be 40-feet in height.

Ballston’s town board, building and zoning department determined that the silos are equipment and they were not subject to the maximum height requirements.

“Those silos are much more visible than the project elements that the Planning Board reviewed and approved. The 70-foot silos, plus the industrial plumes from the asphalt plant, have a negative visual impact on the community,” Braymer wrote.

“The hoppers (silos) being that large give them the ability of producing more asphalt which is one of the things the planning board strenuously limited them on their production capacity; and everyone in the community was worried about them just becoming a massive production operation,” she said.

“The lawsuit settlements still says they have to comply with all of the other requirements in the code and obtain any other necessary permits... Well, my argument is they need the variance from the ZBA and they need to go back to the planning board to get approval to for those 70- foot-high silos.”

Published in News

Blotter

  • New York State Police The New York State Police announced that it issued 5,576 tickets during this year’s St. Patrick’s Day enforcement initiative. The campaign began on Friday, March 15, and continued until Sunday, March 17. During the campaign, funded by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, State Police utilized sobriety checkpoints, additional DWI patrols, and underage drinking and sales to minors detail. State Police also ticketed distracted drivers who use handheld electronic devices. State Troopers arrested 132 people for DWI and investigated 199 crashes, which resulted in 25 people being injured and no fatalities. As part of the enforcement, Troopers also…

Property Transactions

  • BALLSTON Heather DiCaprio sold property at 473 Garrett Rd to Justine Levine for $288,000 Sharon Willman sold property at 99 Jenkins Rd to Charles Lemley for $165,000 CORINTH George Montena sold property at 422 Oak St to Stephen James for $142,250 Mark Makler sold property at 313 Oak St to Sabrina Sinagra for $195,000 GREENFIELD Landlord Services of Upstate New York sold property at 1935 NYS Rt 9N to Cochise Properties LLC for $210,000 MALTA  Linda LaBarge sold property at 35 Snowberry Rd to Qu Haozheng for $270,000 Dennis Mitchell sold property at 60 Village Circle North to BGRS Relocation…
  • NYPA
  • Saratoga County Chamber
  • BBB Accredited Business
  • Discover Saratoga
  • Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association