Pine Plains Planning Board and fire company to visit Paraco site

PINE PLAINS — Residents continued to resist Paraco Gas Company’s proposed expansion of their propane gas storage facility at the Oct. 14 Planning Board meeting. The board left the public hearing open at the end of the meeting, and a site visit is planned by the board and the Pine Plains Hose Company for November.

As has been the case in the past, public comments were all critical of the project, including three from Town Board members, George Keeler, Dorean Gardner and Rick Butler.

“I’ve talked to my constituents,� Keeler said. “They said they don’t want the project. There’s no economic benefit to the town.�

Public comments didn’t reveal any new issues with the project but reiterated concerns that have been voiced before. The safety hazards of storing such a large amount of propane in a residential neighborhood and the smell of propane have driven most of the public discussion so far.

Planning Board member Bruce Pecorrella, who has long been critical of the project, again brought up issues with the fire safety analysis that Paraco provided to the board. He continued to lobby for an independent review of the document.

Much of the public concern and discussion revolved around the possibility of an accident, the extent of a possible fire or propane explosion and how the accident would be addressed. While the majority of questioning was initially directed toward the applicant, Town Engineer Ray Jurkowski pointed out that in case of an accident, the town’s fire company would be responsible for having a plan of action and addressing any situation.

Several members of the board and Jurkowski attended a meeting at the firehouse; a site visit of the facility, which has not been completed by the fire department since the building was sold to Paraco, has been tentatively scheduled for Nov. 14.

The applicant, represented primarily by Michael Digiorgio, director of transportation and safety operations, continued to argue that everything Paraco is doing and is proposing to do is within the required guidelines and regulations, including numerous safety measures. The 100-percent increase in storage capacity, as was mentioned by many of the public comments, would not increase transportation and activity on the site but would in fact decrease it, Digiorgio said. As for propane odors, he said that the company “would be happy to install a diffuser that would mitigate the smell.�

Resident Torey Soracco seemed to represent the frustration of many residents when she asked if the board would be able to deny the project if enough residents in the town didn’t want the expansion.

“This board could deny this, but we would have to deny it with reason,� Bartles explained, adding that it was much harder to deny a project than it was to approve it. “A lot of improvements have been made to the site already. Under site plan review law, the basic assumption is that you don’t deny projects, you make the best out of a project. We’re trying to find that balance.�

The next Planning Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

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