Red Hook WatchIndependent Community Resource

Deputy Mayor Melkorka Kjarval's Monthly Reports — August 11, 2025

↑Meetings/Document history/chain_2094
1 versions2025-08-11attached document

Versions

  1. 12025-08-11
    Deputy Mayor Melkorka Kjarval's Monthly Reports — August 11, 2025
    attached documentmeeting · 2025-08-11

Document

Open original PDFView version history →Meeting on 2025-08-11 →

==> picture [431 x 520] intentionally omitted <==

==> picture [9 x 4] intentionally omitted <==

==> picture [375 x 138] intentionally omitted <==

==> picture [20 x 50] intentionally omitted <==

==> picture [444 x 237] intentionally omitted <==

==> picture [49 x 15] intentionally omitted <==

==> picture [61 x 15] intentionally omitted <==

Deputy Mayor Melkorka Kjarval’s Monthly Reports

August, 11th, 2025

Red Hook Together meets every first Thursday of the month. There was no meeting in August, the next meeting will be on Thursday, September 4th at 12pm/noon at the Red Hook VFW.

Village of Red Hook Indigenous History Project:

Historian Heather Bruegl, has shared the latest update: “ I am continuing my research, which has been a longer task than anticipated. Despite the difficulty in getting replies from those I've contacted, I am still finding relevant material. I am still on track to deliver the essay and resources by the October 1st deadline. I am hoping to send a draft by mid to late August.”

I will update the board once we receive the draft essay.

Town of Red Hook Comprehensive Plan:

Town of Red Hook Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee met on Tuesday, July 22nd. In attendance were the committee members, Town liaison Cristine Kane and also the Committee chair Julia Solomon, Patterns for Progress Eric Pierson and a representative from the NY Department of State; Amanda Wild. Wild explained the Smart Growth Community Planning Program assessment criteria. The Town Comprehensive plan is being funded through a NY State Smart Growth grant - and the town is required to demonstrate in their plan that that they have considered “Smart Growth” principles such as: Community Background, Mixed-use Neighborhoods, Diversity of Housing, Infill and Redevelopment, Public Spaces, Compact Neighborhoods, Open Space, Alternative Transportation, Climate Resilience and Mitigation, Sense of Place and Community Engagement.

On Thursday August 7th, The Mayor and I also met with Patterns for Progress Planner Eric Peirson to discuss ways in which the Town and the Village currently work together to provide services and/or have infrastructure overlaps.

The committee meets monthly from 7:30pm to 9pm on the fourth Tuesday at Town Hall.

Village of Red Hook Communications:

In order to comply with a new NY State law, the Village website and all Village emails use a .gov domain: redhookvillage.gov. The Red Hook Police are also in the process of having their email addresses updated from redhookpolice.com to redhookpolice.gov.

Please update your email address books as well as website links accordingly.

Village and Zoning Review: There was a meeting held on Aug 7th, 2025. In attendance was the Mayor, myself, the Village’s Planning Attorney Victoria Polidoro, Esq., from Rodenhausen, Chale & Polidoro, LLP & Bonnie Franson from Nelson Pope Voorhis, which is the firm who was hired to write the proposed “Gateway North” law.

We discussed feedback from Rupco at the previous July meeting, and applied edits to sections of the draft law. Once the new edits have been incorporated, there are plans to schedule an information session to explain the law's intent in detail and invite discussion and feedback from the public.

Links to the 2/26/25 draft of the Gateway North law, are linked in the March 13th special workshop agenda: redhookvillage.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03132025-662.

Planning/Zoning,

See attached Reports.

Building Department;

See attached Reports.

Changes between versions

2025-09-08→2025-09-08
substantive change+0 −56

The document was significantly shortened, removing the detailed operational overview and requests from H2O Innovation.

  • Removed the entire section titled 'Water Plant' detailing flow increases from 84 GPM to 164 GPM.
  • Removed the entire section titled 'Sewer Plant' regarding biomass management and filter operation.
  • Removed the 'Requests and Equipment Needs' section regarding pending quotes and consumable items.
  • Removed the 'Additional Improvements' section regarding surge tank and EQ pump installation.
  • Removed the 'Next Steps' section regarding the MCRT mass control program.
  • Removed the formal correspondence and contact information for Leslie A. Coon Jr. of H2O Innovation.
Show red-line diff
## Village of Red Hook SEWER DEPARTMENT REPORT ## August 2025 H2O Innovation Operation & Maintenance LLC has completed their first full month as our Water & Wastewater Operator. We had an operational meeting on August 20[th] where we reviewed sewer operations. We discussed a list of equipment and supplies needed for the Sewer plant. H2O did a safety audit of the plants. We were waiting for the report. We discussed the various reporting sites, such as NY Alert, Dutchess County DRIP, DMR, where we are in the process of updating to the new operator. We reviewed lab companies. The longer term “temporary” surge tank has been installed on a concrete pad on site. We discussed some adjustments that have been made to optimize the pump sizes for best function. For the “old plant” or Plant 1B, a pump is going to be installed in the EQ tank to allow for better management of the flow. Now that the biology or “bugs” are growing, there is a need to maintain the right amount which means sometimes the excess needs to be “wasted”. With the added pump in the EQ tank, that will allow for wasting to occur. The backwash procedure at the sand filters is being adjusted. Currently both filters are backwashed at the same time. If they were done separately, that would enable the plant to manage the flow better. Also the West side aeration tank is waiting for a valve so that the return activated sludge can function on this side. The East side is currently handling all the flow. We discussed asking Rural Water if they could help us with an asset management plan. We are scheduled to begin this process with them in mid-November. The first test report in August was in full compliance with our SPDES permit. The full second report has not yet been received. Fecal coliform (the only results received so far) is in compliance for both plants. We received no odor complaints that tied to the WWTP in the month of August. ## **Jennifer Cavanaugh** **From:** Leslie Coon <les.coon@h2oinnovation.com> on behalf of Leslie Coon **Sent:** Sunday, September 7, 2025 7:46 PM **To:** Jennifer Cavanaugh **Cc:** highway@redhookvillage.gov; Roy Rysinger; Keith Herbert; Mayor Smythe **Subject:** Overview of Operations for the Board. Village of Red Hook Town Board, Since assuming the role of lead operators at the beginning of August, we have not made any significant changes to process control. Our initial goal has been to observe how the plants operate and to better understand the dynamics of each facility. ## **Water Plant** At the water plant, we implemented a more representative sampling method by collecting from a potable water source. During our review, we also discovered that the distribution flow was not being fully monitored. Working with the Village team, we determined that an open valve was diverting a significant portion of the flow away from the meter. In a joint effort, we closed Distribution Valve #2, which increased flow through the meter from approximately 84 GPM to 164 GPM. This improvement will allow us to accurately track usage across the village and better identify potential leaks before they surface. ## **Sewer Plant** At the sewer plant, we have made a few targeted adjustments that have increased our ability to process water and manage surge flows in Plant 1B. With the support of the Village team, we installed a pump that allows us to control forward flow at a set rate. Currently operating at ~6 GPM, this adjustment has increased available equalization (EQ) capacity and improved our ability to manage biomass and achieve a healthier food-to-mass ratio. We expect continued improvements in this area over the next one to two months. We are also pleased to report that the 1B filter functions properly in automatic mode. However, given the current sensitivity of the biology, we are choosing to maintain manual operation for now to avoid unintentional disruptions. ## **Requests and Equipment Needs** Several quotes and requests have been submitted that will improve plant control and operational efficiency. I ask that these items be considered a high priority for approval. At present, we are sending some tests off-site and temporarily borrowing consumable items from another location with the understanding that the Village will replace them once approved. ## **Additional Improvements** The Village team also installed an additional surge tank to prevent overflows during peak usage and wet weather inflow/infiltration (I&I). Recent testing has shown this to be an effective temporary solution. Combined with the new EQ pumps in System 1A, this has helped stabilize operations and avoid potential emergency conditions. ## **Next Steps** With approval of the requested equipment, we plan to move forward with a mass control program using Mean Cell Residence Time (MCRT). Implementing this will be an important step in maintaining long-term process stability and efficiency. 1 If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly or through the Mayor. **Respectfully,** **==> picture [123 x 77] intentionally omitted <==** ## **Leslie A Coon Jr.** ## Sr. Area Manager **T:** 845-888-5755 | **M:** 845-544-3151 **E:** les.coon@h2oinnovation.com - 4 Commerce Street, suite A 2, PO Box 3148, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603, United States **www.h2oinnovation.com** **==> picture [21 x 20] intentionally omitted <==** **==> picture [20 x 20] intentionally omitted <==** **==> picture [21 x 20] intentionally omitted <==** **==> picture [20 x 20] intentionally omitted <==** 2

References

This document cites or incorporates the following separate documents:

Referenced by

These other documents cite or incorporate this one:

Recurring pattern

These other chains use the same template but are separate decisions: