Planning Board hears Cumberland Farms wastewater treatment plan

AMENIA — Expanding the capacity for wastewater handling at the Cumberland Farms site along Route 343, the Planning Board at its regular meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 12, discussed the plans and referred the project on to Dutchess County officials for decision.

Representing Cumberland Farms was Caryn Mlodzianowski, project engineer for Bohler Engineering of Albany, specialists in engineering challenging sites.

Mlodzianowski described plans to replace the current inadequate septic system at the site with a larger capacity system installing four tanks that would collect, settle, pump and process, all on-site. A two-foot retaining wall on the western side is included in the plan. She was seeking site plan approval.

“The project is for construction of a new wastewater treatment facility,” explained John Andrews, Planning Board engineer, noting that the project is classed as a “minor improvement,” and therefore not subject to a public hearing.

“The site is subject to flooding and located in a floodway,” Andrews noted. “When you seek to fill in a floodway, the site needs to be examined by county officials.

Although bog turtles were said to be absent from the site, Planning Board member Ken Topolsky asked for documentation of the possible effects of any disturbance within the site’s wetlands.

Agreeing that there is a substantive flood potential on the site, Planning Board member Nina Peek also noted the absence of promised landscaping along the Route 343 frontage between the current parking lot and the road.

An application to allow for a private driveway to one of the lots that are part of the Tower Hill Subdivision was detailed by Rich Rennia of Rennia Engineering.

Terming it a “slight change in the map,” Rennia said that the plans were originally approved in June 2023, revised in January 2024, and re-approved the following month.

“One of the lots is now looking for a private driveway,” Rennia said.

The new proposal only adjusts a lot line, Andrews noted, but a public hearing on the change would be needed.

The Planning Board agreed to schedule a public hearing on the lot line change for their regular meeting on Wednesday, March 12.