NOTE: The Observer is starting a regular feature on local questions from inquiring minds. In this issue, it’s all about fuel.
Drivers passing through the traffic light intersecting Route 9 and Route 9G have been marveling for months at the seemingly immovable mound of dirt surrounding a huge empty hole at the former Getty station on the corner.
Only recently did the dirt—and the hole–begin to disappear.
According to Ed Matuk, building inspector for the Town of Rhinebeck, new gas tanks for a new station have finally been put in place.
The property is still owned by the Serroukas family, which also owns the Eveready Diners in Rhinebeck and Hyde Park as well as several other establishments in the area. But the lease on the site is changing hands, Matuk said, although he did not know who the new lease-holder was or what kind of station will surface.
“The new company did not want the responsibility of tanks they had not installed themselves,” Matuk said.
According to Matuk, the new tanks were tested on Tuesday, July 23, and would be back-filled within the week. “It takes a lot of time because there’s a lot of work to put all the new piping in for all the new pumps. Everything is all new,” he said.
Matuk said the current building permit covers underground tank removal and installation of new gas tanks. The work to take out the old tanks began on Jan. 9 and the permit to install the new tanks began April 11.
Meanwhile, the work on the new Mobil station near the Taconic Parkway on Route 199 is also in full-swing. A “Coming Soon” sign has already been posted.
According to Milan planning board secretary Karen Buechele, a permit for building the gas station and convenience store was issued July 8. Steve Cole, who is the town’s building inspector, said the estimated date of completion is four to six months from the time the permit was issued.
“They’re moving pretty quickly. The septic is being installed, the footing has been poured, the foundation walls have been poured,” he said.
With the addition of two gas stations underway, the area has also lost one other.
The Stewart’s shop on North Broadway in the Village of Red Hook had its two-sided single pump gas station removed May 19.
A spokesperson for Stewart’s, Maria D’Amelia, told The Observer that, as a corporate policy, Stewart’s upgrades their underground gas tanks every 20 years “in order to make sure that our equipment is up to par.”
She said that when the time came to consider an upgrade at the Stewart’s in the village, several factors came into play. “We had just upgraded the Stewart’s about a mile down the road [on Route 9 just south of the village]. This location [in the village] has a smaller parking lot and we wanted to make everything more efficient for our customers,” she said.
She added, “We have no plans to close the store.”
Editor’s Note:This story was updated to correct the location of the station.
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