The Hurley Town Hall at 10 Wamsley Place, Hurley on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. (Tania Barricklo/Daily Freeman)
HURLEY, N.Y. — Town Board members have agreed to hire Kingston Equipment Rental at $24,650 to make drainage pipe repairs on Hillside Avenue.
The work was approved during a meeting Tuesday and will be done as part of an emergency declared by officials last month when property owners on parallel road Orchard Street described flooding that is impacting septic systems.
“There’s a sinkhole condition because of the drainage pipe,” Town Attorney Cassandra Britton said. “This is an imminent harm. This is a safety concern.”
Orchard Street residents have said the overflow from the Hillside Avenue drainage ditch comes onto their backyards and became significantly worse after Ulster County did road work on Fortner Street and Zandhoek Road.
“What (rainwater) comes down the hill runs (into) that ditch,” resident Ty Chennault said.
Among the problems is the length of time it takes the properties to dry following flooding, which is pronounced in the spring following snow melts.
“It’s been taking longer for the land to dry out,” resident Christian Moller said last month. “Sometimes it’s July to the end of August. This year it’s just now starting to dry out and it’s something that is affecting our septic system.”
Residents said the drainage ditch was apparently created in the 1940s when the land was part of a small farm.
One issue that needs to be resolved is determining whether the owner of an adjacent property will want the wood from a 24-inch black walnut tree, which needs to be removed so new pipes can be installed in the ditch.
Kingston Equipment Rentals is expected to begin work in about two weeks, Britton said.
“They have one more job to finish…so they are trying to get it done as soon as possible,” she said.
On Sept. 19, board members agreed to seek bids for a second emergency drainage location, with work also needed on Kemble Terrace.
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