A rendering of what the new facility will look like once completed.

Building a hospital in this regulation-heavy society was never going to be quick or easy.

The new facility continues to be caught up in a web of regulatory requirements. Representatives of Brooks-TLC’s project showed an updated but little-changed site plan, and discussed some of the “legalese” needed to get construction formally approved, at a Fredonia Planning Board meeting last month.

Marc Romanowski, a lawyer acting as general counsel for the project, did most of the talking. He’s a familiar face to the Fredonia Planning Board, as he’s been discussing the project at their meetings since 2019.

Board members questioned the inclusion of propane tanks near the hospital building. Romanowski said they were for the backup generator, and the generator has to be close to the building.

Board member David Fridmann wondered why they didn’t use natural gas. Romanowski promised to look into it.

The lawyer added that the tanks will be protected by bollards. “We’ll get you more detail on all questions relative to (the tanks),” he promised.

Romanowski was asked to confirm that the driveway to Route 60 will have a right-turn-only exit. He did so.

“We admit we had to rush to get this together, so there’s going to be some details missing,” Romanowski said.

He said the most significant difference in the new site plan is the Route 60 driveway is vitally important, “not a ‘maybe’ thing.” He said Brooks-TLC research indicated that access and service would be negatively impacted if there was only the main entrance on Route 20 (aka East Main Street).

Walmart still needs to sell a strip of land to enable the driveway to Route 60, Romanowski acknowledged. “Every indication we’ve received is they’re supportive,” he said. Nevertheless, the legalities still need to be worked out.

The Planning Board must also formally approve a new site plan and State Environmental Quality Review. It initially approved those things in 2019, but Brooks-TLC has to do it all over again because the 2019 items have timed out.

The project also needs a municipal “lead agent.” The state still has to approve the Planning Board for that.

Also, Brooks-TLC needs a variance for the hospital’s setbacks. Romanowski will be back in Fredonia July 8 to seek that from the Pomfret Zoning Board of Appeals.

Romanowski said the construction timeline is now 24 months. “I got kicked under the table last time when I said 18 months.”

He suggested the board hold its required public hearings on the site plan and the SEQR next month.

While the legal niceties drag on in meeting rooms, the East Main Street site itself is showing small signs of what’s to come. The latest was June 26, when construction officials in hard hats and vests were spotted walking the site.

An old Cornell Cooperative Extension barn and grape vines were previously removed, and a drainage berm was built this spring on the west side of the property.