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North Rockland Chamber of Commerce Working With State Officials To Press CHPE for More Support For Local Businesses Impacted By Transmission Project
By Tina Traster
Under pressure from local and state officials to help North Rockland businesses impacted by the disruptive transmission project, Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) upped its offer from $100,000 to $150,000 to mitigate financial harm caused by roadwork and construction.
The announcement was made two hours before a meeting in the Town of Haverstraw organized by State Senator Bill Weber to seek relief for struggling businesses. Weber said, “$100,000 is a drop in the bucket; when you divide it up, it’s pocket change.”
The North Rockland Chamber of Commerce is calling upon state officials to pressure CHPE to make a more significant donation to compensate for losses businesses have incurred through the duration of the project, which is ongoing. Thursday’s meeting, held at noon, was the second informational session (the first was held two weeks ago in Stony Point) to cull feedback from area businesses.
Another meeting is scheduled at Stony Point Senior and Community Center at 19 Clubhouse Lane at 6 pm on Sept. 9.
CHPE was invited to Thursday’s meeting but did not attend.
CHPE’s transmission line is slated to deliver 1,250 megawatts of renewable energy to New York City. The service area does not include Rockland County.
Chamber President Stephanie Malowsky said it’s important for businesses to present a clear financial picture, including tax returns, profit and loss statements, and revenue projections. The Chamber is working with the Rockland Community Foundation as a fiscal sponsor to manage grant money, though the Chamber has not accepted CHPE’s offer yet. Businesses are invited to submit grant requests via the Chamber’s portal.
Husband and wife team Nathalia Bosquet and Ronnie Guerra, one of only a handful of businesses to speak at Thursday’s meeting, run Titan Fitness Gym at 139 North 9W. Guerra, a retired marine, and his wife Bosquet, a nurse by trade, opened the gym eight years ago as a passion project but road construction and loss of a portion of their driveway is devastating their business. They said they have lost gym members, tried to change class schedules, they even walk to work from their home on Route 202 to free up a parking space.
Guerra quipped “this is worse than war,” saying he’s unaccustomed to such chaos.
“We’ve been going through our numbers, and seeing it’s hard to grow,” said Bosquet. “We’re still trying to get our numbers back from COVID losses.”
Stephen Beckerle, of Beckerle Lumber, also spoke about the injustices of the project and its impact on small businesses.
“It’s been a complete mess,” he said. “There’s road rage. Tempers are flaring.”
Mom and pop businesses along Route 9W feel like there is nowhere to turn for relief from CHPE’s havoc. Many are reporting heavy losses; some foresee the collapse of their business. They say customers have found it too daunting to navigate the Route 9W corridor, which has become an obstacle course. They’re not sure patrons will return when CHPE completes its project, which is projected for November.
What’s especially galling to Guerra is that landlords, like his own, he says, were given financial relief through “easements,” but that compensation has not trickled down to small businesses.
Prior to construction, CHPE secured agreements with affected towns and villages to utilize the rights-of-way owned by municipalities. The Town of Haverstraw got $6.8 million for a Community Fund; the Village of Haverstraw, $3.5 million for a Community Fund, and $3.85 million for a Streetscape Fund; the Village of West Haverstraw got $2.5 million for a Community Fund and $2.23 million for a Streetscape Fund; and the Town Clarkstown scored $3.9 million for a Community Fund.
Town supervisors say monies received for “community benefits,” must be used for capital improvements or “for the benefit of the community as a whole.”
With nowhere to turn for financial relief, North Rockland Chamber leaders are pressing for state and local officials to band together and pressure CHPE to make businesses whole. They have also asked their elected officials to engage Gov. Kathy Hochul in their quest for help.
“We are here to amplify their concerns,” said Assemblyman Pat Carroll. “We need more small businesses.”
But state officials concede there is no readily available money from the state for businesses.
“The pressure point is on CHPE,” said Weber. “There’s no grant money for the businesses.”
Carroll echoed the sentiment: “There’s nothing to tap into – the pressure needs to be directed at CHPE.”
Meanwhile, CHPE, in a press release, said it has worked with State Senator Pete Harckham, State Assemblymember Chris Eachus, Stony Point Supervisor Jim Monaghan and Deputy Supervisor Amy Stamm as well as businesses along the 9W corridor and Orange and Rockland to shift several segments of its contracted gas line relocation work to overnight hours.
CHPE is planning to shift select portions of its required Rockland County gas line relocation work to overnight hours, where work will take place Monday through Saturday, 7:00 p.m. – 5:00 a.m. with daytime work continuing in other locations. This is a shift from the daytime schedule where all work has been conducted between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
CHPE says these transitions could be in place by mid-September, but changing to night work requires addressing several logistics, including staffing and supervision, updated traffic control plans, Orange and Rockland and DOT approvals, lighting plans, noise mitigation, and other regulatory considerations.
Locations being moved to nighttime include:
- West/East Main Street intersection in Stony Point to Helen Hayes Hospital in West Haverstraw
- North of Westside Avenue (near Titan Gym) in the Village of Haverstraw south of Railroad Avenue-Village of West Haverstraw
- Just south of Railroad Avenue-Village of West Haverstraw
