TOWN of UNION VALE
Regular Town Board Meeting at 7:30 pm Tonight
Interesting Topics including the
Highlight: Furnace Pond Dam
Dear Residents:

At tonight's town board meeting we will have a special presentation from two engineers who have been working with us analyzing Furnace Pond Dam for over a year.

The dam is quite old, as many of you know, and since we are committed to being responsible dam owners we knew it was imperative to 1) get our hazard class reduced from "intermediate" to "low" as far as a safety rating was concerned; and 2) we want to ensure the dam is stable for the next 100 years so residents can continue to enjoy Furnace Pond.

We have been working with the firm Milone & McBroom whose engineers were able to, through their analysis and work with the DEC, get our hazard class lowered to an "A" which is considered a low hazard. That led to the next step which was a more in-depth Engineering Analysis (EA) of our dam, the results of which will be shared tonight.

We must have a conversation as a town after hearing tonight that there are some issues with the dam that have to be considered before we finalize next steps. The question will be - do we want to stabilize all aspects of the dam and continue to maintain it (could cost $770K +/-; with annual upkeep) or do we want to get rid of the dam (at an unknown cost but starting at $500K) and have a lovely wetland in its place instead of a lovely pond?

The town board needs your input. Tonight's presentation will start at approximately 7:30 pm. Please join us, if possible. Whether you do or not, you can send in questions after tonight and we will get answers for you. We intend to move quickly pursuing one path or the other, so your comments over the next month will be extremely important!

Some drone pictures taken during the engineers visits are attached for your review. Thank you for your attention and assistance with this important issue!

Most sincerely,

Betsy Maas
Town Supervisor
Top of Dam from Upstream
Closeup of Accumulation
Closeup of Low Flow Valve Areas
The pond after some draining in August. See the boathouse in the distance?
Furnace Pond!
TB Meetings
Highway Dept
Town's Instagram
Town of Union Vale | Office of the Supervisor
845-724-5600 |www.unionvaleny.us