Malta hires firm to study parks

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Williams

An Albany environmental firm has been hired to do land studies at three town park sites, including the 34-acre Luther Forest property being eyed for ball fields.

Infinigy Engineering and Surveying will be paid $21,100 for work involving assessing the land at the Luther Forest Technology Campus, the former Michalko property on East Line Road and a potential soccer field site at Shenantaha Creek Park.

The company will do a full initial environmental study on the site in Luther Forest, and more limited work involving surveying and wetland identification at the other locations.

The information will help the town develop a townwide sports field master plan.

All three parks have been mentioned as potential locations for new baseball, softball and soccer fields, and town officials say there is also public demand for a dog park. The town has allocated $100,000 for studies leading to creation of new parkland.

The town recently had The LA Group of Saratoga Springs do conceptual designs for the “34-Acre Wood” property in Luther Forest.

Then, last month, Advanced Micro Devices announced it would provide $1 million for ball fields as part of a benefit package tied to building its planned computer chip factory at the technology campus. Town officials haven’t said exactly how they think that money should be used.

The “34-Acre Woods” was given to the town as a condition for approval of the Luther Forest Technology Campus. The land, while designated for a park, remains undeveloped.

One of the issues the environmental study will look at is the extent of any remaining groundwater contamination below the site, which is adjacent to the old Malta rocket fuel property, which was a federal Superfund site, cleaned up in the 1990s. That project cleaned up surface pollution, but didn’t address any deep groundwater contamination from the fuel testing era in the 1940s through 1960s.