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State DEC to tour Tech Meadows site after environmental tests stall Food Coffee project
Summary
Developers said the Food Coffee project at Tech Meadows has financing in place but construction is delayed pending a DEC review of past and current environmental reports; DEC will tour the site on Wednesday to assess testing wells and whether additional steps will be required before soil disturbance
Developers and staff told the Glens Falls Industrial Development Agency on Sept. 16 that the Food Coffee project at Tech Meadows faces a scheduling delay while the state Department of Environmental Conservation reviews previous and current site reports.
Jeff Flagg, IDA staff, summarized the project pipeline and identified an environmental review as the present holdup. At the meeting Tara, a project staff member, said the Department of Environmental Conservation will visit the site next week to evaluate prior reports and testing wells: "The meeting of the DEC is on Wednesday the 24th at 10 a.m. They will be touring the site, with Rob Holbrook from V and H Construction, and reviewing protection of the testing wells and compliance," Tara said. She said the site visit is a non‑invasive walk‑through to determine whether further testing or remediation steps are needed before any soil disturbance.
Contractors have expressed concern about whether work that disturbs soil will require additional testing or paperwork, staff said. Rob Holbrook, identified in meeting discussion as representing V and H Construction, was listed as attending the DEC site tour.
Why it matters: agency staff told the board that construction cannot proceed until DEC clears soil‑disturbing activity or specifies required procedures; that timeline is affecting the project closing and contractor scheduling. The board discussed a separate South Street site where soil had been covered after testing identified issues; staff said that visible soil covers at that site were the result of prior contamination findings and remediation work.
Board members and staff encouraged developer and contractor coordination with DEC and said IDA staff will stay informed of DEC findings. The IDA did not authorize funding or incentives tied to DEC's findings at the Sept. 16 meeting.
