By HEATHER NELLIS

For the C-S-E

TOWN OF AMSTERDAM — The Planning Board last Wednesday voted unanimously to refer a special use permit request from the M.H. Stallman Company to the Montgomery County Planning Board, and scheduled a public hearing on the issue for next month.

M.H. Stallman Co. wants to move their St. Johnsville operation to the former Hill and Markes building on Edson Street, but because of the proximity of that facility to the city of Amsterdam, town Attorney Chuck Schwartz said the county Planning Board also has to review the project to determine its county-wide significance.

The city also have to be formally notified about the public hearing, Schwartz said. It will take place at 6:50 p.m. on July 9, a special meeting that was scheduled because the Planning Board’s regularly scheduled meeting falls on the July 4 holiday.

Jeremy Silverman, a senior project manager of Grant & Essential Management Services in Amsterdam, represented M.H. Stallman Company at Wednesday’s meeting. He said the company wants to move its plastic-to-foam transformation operation that’s currently housed in the Cellect Plastics building on New Street.

Silverman explained the company takes “plastic pellets that are baked [in ovens] and then stretched into foam products” such as medical tape. He said the company will only bring one piece of old equipment from the St. Johnsville plant, and the rest will be purchased. The company also anticipates moving its engineering and corporate functions from Rhode Island if the permit is approved, he said.

The company has been promised $5 million in low-interest bond financing from Empire State Development, and the project is expected to create 40 jobs and maintain its existing dozen employees. M.H. Stallman also has an existing loan from the county Industrial Development Agency that will be restructured.

The permit is necessary under the town’s zoning laws “to control the impact of certain uses upon areas where they may be incompatible unless conditioned in a manner suitable to a particular location.” The building was formerly used for distribution.

Silverman said the only major physical change the company anticipates at the building itself is an upgrade to its power capacity.

At the meeting’s start, Widow Susan Road resident Dorothy Quick expressed concerns about what the potential impact of the company’s operations, ranging from additional traffic to whether the company would produce toxic pollution or emissions. It appeared the board had the same concerns.

Silverman said operations, under two 12-hour work shifts, would require a maximum of two daily truck deliveries, and the company is currently working with the state Department of Environ-mental Conservation to re-acquire a registration for emission “opacity issues.”

“There are no chemical emissions, but there are problems with opacity, or the color. They have an oxidizer to get rid of that color, and they are working out the data with DEC,” he said, adding he believes the company is currently in compliance with DEC regulations.

Silverman added he doesn’t think operations will produce noise that could be heard outside, nor will it create an unpleasant smell because the company is not burning plastic, which would change its structural composition.

What Silverman did not have an immediate answer for was board member Nicholas Bartosik’s questions about impact for the Cranesville Volunteer Fire Department. Silverman said he would follow-up.

“I’m curious if the fire department should be aware of any necessary apparatuses for fire suppression,” Bartosik said.

After the meeting, Quick said her concerns were not quelled by Silverman’s information.

“Companies always say a lot before they come in, but when they come in, things change,” she said.