“The plan for the Ockawamick School changes the usage density,” he said in an interview on Tuesday. “In the Comprehensive Plan, density is a major focus, and one of the things that create density is making sure in the hamlet portion that there is a lot of activity going on. If we don’t put a Town Hall within the hamlet boundary and put it outside, that is promoting sprawl. There is a perfectly good site in the old school in the hamlet.”

Brandston was referring to the old Claverack School adjacent to the Claverack Library and Fire Department, near the intersection of Routes 23 and 9H.

In the Comprehensive Plan’s Vision Statement, one goal is that “Claverack promotes sustainable residential and commercial development that is compatible and harmonious with its historic architecture, rural traditions and small town atmosphere. Growth is concentrated around the hamlets and Village [of Philmont] to continue our traditional development pattern of denser populated areas surrounded by open spaces and farms.”

In addition to the density issue, Brandston cites another goal that the Ockawamick proposal seems to disregard—traffic calming.

“Traffic calming is an important part of the Comprehensive Plan, and this is going to add traffic,” he said. “I think the Morris and Associates traffic study . . . is not comprehensive enough, and a separate, independent traffic engineer should be retained to look at that and its impacts on Claverack.”

Should the county move the Department of Social Services offices to the site, there will also be added bus traffic, Brandston noted. “An important part of the plan is calming, and this is adding large-scale vehicles to the mix,” he said. “No matter how they route it . . . I think it’s a nightmare about to happen.”

In the town’s plan, positive characteristics that residents wish to maintain for the future include rural character, small town atmosphere, and a “strong sense of place and connection with its working and natural landscapes.” Already considered a negative characteristic needing change is the intersection of Routes 9H and 23. The many residents who contributed to the plan feel speed limits should be lowered, and some would like to see a change in the pattern of the intersection, such as a traffic circle.

The impact on the town’s character isn’t the only problem Brandston has with the Ockawamick proposal. He is also unhappy with the cost analysis the county has done. “I listened very carefully to the presentation by the Board of Supervisors twice, and it is a very good presentation,” he said. “It’s well thought out and in what it says, it’s accurate. However, in their presentation . . . they left out significant portions of costs.”

He pointed out, for example, that there would be a major cost incurred to provide secure broadband Internet access to a facility at Ockawamick. “There is no high-speed computer [access] in our area, and that already exists in Hudson,” he said. “They didn’t say when this was refinished, what it would cost to supply new furniture and equipment.”

With a vote on the State Environmental Quality Review declaration set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at 401 State Street, Brandston commented that he felt the lack of a set plan for the site would lead to a segmented review. “You can’t review it without knowing what you are going to use it for,” he said, pointing out in particular that the review for an office building that didn’t require client visits would be different from the review an office that houses the Department of Social Services, which does require clients to travel to it. “You have to have the full review of the entire action. If you include DSS, you have to look at Greenport and Hudson impacts. They haven’t done that.”

The lack of a set plan for the site is also an issue for Gretchen Stearns, who was a member of the Comprehensive Plan Committee and involved the process that developed the draft document.

“There is nothing in the Comprehensive Plan that directly addresses that property,” she said Tuesday. “I think to give an analysis of how much it does or doesn’t fit with the plan, we would have to know more about what they plan to do with the property.

Stearns said that simply wanting a pedestrian friendly hamlet was a weak argument against the proposal, since there was no real way to know what the traffic would be without knowing what agencies would move to Claverack.

“I really want to see what their plans are for that property,” she said. “All those big playing fields, are they going to pave them all over? Are they going to plant more trees or make it into a recreation area for townspeople? That would be great. But I just don’t have enough information.”

Her sentiments were echoed by Charles Broussard, who was also on the Comprehensive Plan Committee. “I can’t really say it’s in conflict with it, or not in conflict with it,” he said recently. “We’re in the process of rewriting the zoning laws, and there are a lot of details in that which have to be sorted out before one could really pass judgment. It’s largely an opinion if it is in violation [of the plan] or not.”

Brandston feels the county is not giving the concerns of Claverack residents enough consideration. “If anything, what they really display all the time is total disdain,” he said. “Every single person I’ve been in contact with has been violently opposed, including  [Hudson Mayor] Rick Scalera. All the Hudson supervisors are opposed, unanimously. What’s going on here?”

He said there has been no response to his letters. “Some of the items require a response so that citizens and the community can test their veracity,” he said. “I would hope that the public officials would show respect to their community and give them all that information.”