Village Approves River St. Culvert Replacement

STAMFORD – Members of the Stamford Village Board welcomed a new trustee and organized for the coming year during a workshop and annual meeting Tuesday at Stamford Village Hall. Clifford Curley, recently elected by write-in ballots, took his oath of office and provided the quorum needed to get the new fiscal year started for the village. Board members also approved moving forward with the application for replacement of the River  Street culvert.

Several people attended the meeting, including appointees to the planning board and zoning board of appeals, who also took their oaths of office. 

A presentation was given during the workshop by Wayne Bonesteel on the status of the culvert replacement project on River Street. Bonesteel is a physical engineer with AZAR Design Company, the company designing the replacement culvert. 

While some may lament the loss of the beautiful stone archway of the culvert, it has been deemed unsafe for traffic and has been closed to traffic since March of  2025. The replacement design at this point does incorporate a mock stone facade over a precast cement culvert to simulate the appearance of the original historic archway. Money for the replacement is available through the BridgeNY program, however, the project was put on hold due to increased costs created by the need to provide a historic facade. 

The village is anticipating a $200,000 shortfall, but will apply for an additional grant through the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC). While nothing is guaranteed, the village has already invested in the design of the project and would not be reimbursed by the state if the project is abandoned. Bonesteel said the program is a reimbursement program through the state Department of Transportation (DOT) and the design must meet their approval due to the involvement of state funds, which means incorporating the historic design.

He outlined that there were three factors involved in the delayed project, a study for the historic nature of the archway culvert, obtaining clear right of ways from the towns of Stamford and Harpersfield, with town lines converging at the site of the culvert and satisfying the hydrologist, who did not like the original design.

Mayor Robert Schneider was concerned about the time frame and meeting the original deadline of the project and Bonesteel said he was confident an extension would likely be granted. An approved plan to go out to bid is dependent on the CWC grant. "Before we had a meeting with soil and water, we were going to have to abandon the project," said Schneider.

Bonesteel said the company is willing to stay on hold and do a pre-application, then sit down and discuss the plan going forward. He promises his firm would not run the village short again and will make sure all of the shortfalls are included in the application.

Also part of the workshop meeting was a report by Trustee Jim Kopp on the repair of the aging infrastsructure inside the village's water treatment plant. He said some of the wiring inside the plant is more than 100 years old and will not handle the load created in switching from the backup wells to the reservoir. He lauded Lucas Flachs, who operates the plant, and the electrician for paring the cost from $100,000 to $25,000. The village has applied for a grant to make the repairs and he said the Delaware County Economic Developent Department is aware of the aging infrastructure issues many of the county's municipalities face. The grant was submitted April 1 and the project is on hold, waiting to see if the grant is awarded, sometime in July.

Darran Hanway, former trustee, has worked up an estimate for a yearly inspection and maintenance proposal for the water treatment plant so the village is not caught with huge infrastructure replacements in the future. The consulting fee would be $2,500 to set up a schedule for replacement and maintenance of the village infrastructure, to get things started. The village has also applied for a grant to cover the  cost. This way, according to Kopp, who gave the report, the village could incorporate it in the annual budget. 

Board members adopted the preliminary budget with a budge hearing scheduled for April 21, along with a public hearing on a proposal to charge a shut off fee for water meters. The hearings will be held at 6:30 and 6:45 p.m. on April 21.