Ulster County is considering building a fire training facility in a residential community surrounded by active farmlands in an environmentally sensitive location - on Cottekill Road, 1/2 mile east of SUNY Ulster
The facility will include burn towers, car extractions, car burns and longer term EMS helicopter training. The facility will operate 6 days a week, mostly evenings until 9:30PM, all day Saturday.
The site is COMPLETELY unsuitable for the proposed project.
Within a 1 mile radius there are 292 homes, 7 active farms, 2 elementary schools, 1 mile of the Rondout Creek, 2 miles of the O&W Rail Trail Park, the Marbletown Community Center.
The site has inadequate water for large hose training. There are no hydrants. 40% of the site is Federal Wetlands, sewage treatment will need to be above ground.
This pristine site is within the view shed of the Mohonk Preserve.
Smoke, airborne particulates, noise and loudspeakers will pollute the surrounding environment. Abundant wildlife will be rendered homeless.
Our Firefighters deserve a first class training facility. But it belongs in an industrial location not in a residential community surrounded by farmland, schoolyards, park and a sensitive natural environment.
Please communicate to Ulster County decision makers by signing our petition to move the facility elsewhere
