From The Desk of the Mayor July 2013

Happy Summer! Well, I had to hold back the July newsletter because I wanted to make sure I had a few dates correct before sending it out. Here is what is going on in Fleischmanns in the very near future: Stream Work The major stream projects through the Federal Emergency Watershed Protection program that we have been waiting for are finally about to begin. All of these projects are being bid out and administered through the Town of Middletown along with similar ones in Arkville and Margaretville to streamline the paperwork process. Bid opening was August 2nd, awarding on August 6th, and work is to begin on or around August 12th. Since the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation does not allow disturbance of the streams past September 30th, all of the projects will have to be complete by that date, or at least the parts involving the water. Much of this work consists of retaining wall construction and stream bank restoration and will take place between the old Lake Switzerland dam and the Mill Street bridge. There will be another site along the stream between the post office and La Cabana, and then another site behind the Valkerian Motel up to around Bridge Street. What this will mean to us is that A Lot of work will be happening in a short amount of time in the Village and we will all need to be prepared for roads and parking areas temporarily closing, large construction vehicles needing to move around, and other possible disruptions. Please be aware and be careful while driving or walking around the Village over the next two months wherever you see work going on. These people have a difficult but important job to do for us and will need our cooperation to get it done. The relatively short inconvenience will be well worth it though for our future. The projects that the Federal Government chose to fund here are considered critical for protecting property and infrastructure in the Village during future flooding events. Biomass Heating Project Way back in early 2011 a grant came through to the Catskill Forest Association to study the feasibility of using local biomass in the form of wood chips or wood pellets to heat a municipality somewhere in the Catskills. There are many school campuses and other facilities heating with biomass, but no municipal systems in the U.S. yet. The CFA brought the offer to the Village of Fleischmanns because they saw there was some redevelopment happening and that we would possibly be open to such an opportunity, and we accepted the study. After all, the possibility to save people tons of money on heating, and do so in an environmentally beneficial way that creates local jobs

is worth looking into. A non-profit consultant, Biomass Energy Research Center was hired and they collected a large amount of data including information about the buildings in the Village. Things were progressing and then the flood hit so the study was put to the back burner. Earlier this year the process was started back up with the goal of using the remaining grant funds to finish the feasibility report and do some education and outreach. The final report from BERC is expected some time in August. The outreach is going to be accomplished in two parts. The first is a bus tour to a similar facility at a school 2 hours away so that Village property owners, residents, and other interested people can see first hand what biomass heat looks like and how the different parts of the system work. The tour will be on Saturday October 19th so if you are able to attend and interested please let me know! We have not finalized the departure time but it will be in the morning and lunch will be served. The tour will be well worth it. I was fortunate to see a biomass system once such as we could build in Fleischmanns one day and I was amazed at everything about it from how clean and quiet it was to how cheap it was to operate. You really have to see it to understand the potential. The other piece of outreach is a short video that videographer Jessica Vecchione will be putting together. Included will be footage from the tour as well as interviews and other information on the topic, and it will be completed some time later in the fall. Clogged Sewer Main Last weekend there was a problem with a sewer main backing up on Wagner Avenue which required emergency action. It turns out that the cause of this problem has also been at the root of other issues throughout the system. In recent years the sewer plant operators have been reporting pipes and pumps becoming jammed with disposable baby/adult wipes and other non-biodegradable material. Even though many of these products say they are Flushable on the packaging, since they dont break down they get tangled in the sewers. There is debate right now on higher levels about the labeling of such products as flushable because they truly may not be, however we know locally that the more popular the use of these becomes the worse the clogs get. Please do not flush any of these products down the toilet except for conventional toilet paper. The pumps and lines that move the waste water to the plant as well as the workings of the plant themselves are being damaged. Your own waste water lines could become clogged with these as well. This preventable problem is becoming costly and we need to reduce its cause. If you rent a building you own please make your tenants aware of the problem. Thank you for your cooperation in helping things move along smoothly! Todd Pascarella, Mayor P.S. * Save the Date * There will be a Community Picnic in the Village Park on Thursday August 29th at 4 pm to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Village of Fleischmanns, the 250th Anniversary of the Town of Middletown, and 2 years since Hurricane Irene. Food will be sold by local vendors and there will be music, baseball, and games for the kids. Come and join us in the Park! Village Office 1017 Main Street (PO Box 339) Fleischmanns, NY 12430 phone 845-254-5514 email: village39@catskill.net website: www.fleischmannsny.com