When two major storms — Hurricane Irene and the October Surprise — recently brought flooding, downed power lines and outages to many surrounding areas, they were practically nonevents at Glassbury Court in Cold Spring. But it wasn’t fate or luck that kept the water away and the lights on here while so many other communities were left submerged and in the dark.

Glassbury Court Community in Putnam county, Cold Spring, NY

Here at Glassbury, it was infrastructure — and the smart planning and sound engineering that went into it — that Griffon Associates, the construction management subsidiary of Wilder Balter Partners, began putting in place a year before the first home was ever built.

As Mike Scribona, Chief Operating Officer of Griffon, explains it, the picturesque basin in which Glassbury Court is located is a part of the New York Watershed. As such, any systems within this area must be built to withstand the effects of a hundred year storm. And the infrastructure here was designed and built for that contingency, and then some.

“Storm water here,” Scribona says, “has always followed the area’s natural contours and pitch to drain into the Clove Creek that runs behind the community. As a result, flooding, contrary to what some people think when they first visit here, has never been a problem.”

But by combining technology and gravity to help nature work even more to Glassbury’s advantage, the pipe and drain systems here were placed and pitched from 4 to 10 feet below ground to guide water in the same direction as the basin’s natural drainage paths, with some strategically placed “stops” along the way to utilize storm water runoff in some very inventive ways.

Here’s how it works:

Central stormwater pond

The storm water that accumulates from the roads, drains, gutters, lawns and other points throughout Glassbury Court is quickly captured and carried thro

ugh a coordinated network of drains and drainage systems into the central storm water pond. The pond, which was once an excavation site for a rock quarry, serves as a centerpiece of the community as a landscaped water feature. Beneath the stone bridge that crosses the pond at one end is a culvert. And when water in the pond reaches a certain level, the excess flows naturally over the culvert and eventually down into Clove Creek. As you might imagine, the water flow to the central pond during the recent storms was fast and furious. “The water going into the pond was running like crazy,” says Scribona. But as a well-planned water-control device, the storm water pond worked perfectly. And all the excess ran in a controlled, systematic way into the creek where it was channeled safely away from Glassbury Court.

There are other equally imaginative water-control devices located around Glassbury as well. A series of aesthetically pleasing, highly functional rain gardens are strategically placed in residents’ yards and in common areas. These gardens are easily identified as small decorative planting areas of trees, shrubs and flowers.

Active Adult Living 55+ Plus Community NY

Fed by rainwater and snowmelt from the gutters and leaders on homes and other buildings, water is directed into these gardens where it then collects to nourish the plantings. When water reaches a certain level there, it can enter a system of grass swales and pipes that carry it into the big pond. “In all,” says Scribona, “it’s a great way to gather storm water runoff and actually put it to good use.”

Another aspect of this forward-looking infrastructure is the underground utilities that helped prevent the damage and outages that plagued other areas. Many communities — especially older ones — still rely on what is essentially a 19th-century power-delivery system: miles of horizontal wires strung between miles of vertical poles. With the underground utilities at Glassbury Court, power is completely shielded from disruptions caused by tree falls, wind damage and other events.

Just how long will this system of drainage pipes, water control and utilities last? Because it’s protected from the elements and constructed with materials that will not corrode, Mike Scribona believes that Glassbury’s infrastructure is certainly designed and constructed to endure the fury of a hundred year storm. Just as assuredly, these systems will still be in place and working every bit as efficiently a hundred years from now. And probably a whole lot longer.

Here’s a great resource for events and happenings this holiday season across the Hudson Valley: http://www.hudsonvalley.org/. Living at Glassbury Court in Cold Spring offers access to all these great attractions and destinations!

To all our Friends and Visitors,

The folks here at Glassbury Court at Cold Spring want to reach out and wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving.  May you all be blessed with a full belly and a happy heart as you celebrate this very American traditional day of thanks.

Just think, next year you could be celebrating the holidays in your new home at Glassbury Court at Cold Spring.  Come see our models and tour the clubhouse while you are here.

Sincerely,

In case you haven’t noticed lately, Glassbury Court Cold Spring has a new Facebook page with lots of interesting links, comments and even more information about our wonderful homes and growing community.

To stay in tune with special events, additional announcements and news, please go to http://www.facebook.com/Glassburycourtcoldspring. If you’re a Facebook user please “like” us there and recommend us to your Facebook friends too!

The Glassbury Court Cold Spring Community and all of our homeowners survived Saturday’s snowstorm beautifully with no power outages! How about you? Good locations still available! Call 845-265-9600 to set up an appointment now with a salesperson.

Kacey of WHUD Radio and friends at Glassbury Court

Click here to view more photos from the 2011 Fall Festival at Glassbury Court.

Join us October 22nd in our Clubhouse from 11AM to 4PM for our Fall Festival!

• Walk through our gorgeous new decorated ranch model.
• Refreshments served noon till 2PM
• Enter for free raffle drawings
• Meet Kacey from WHUD radio from 12 – 2 PM

To all of our friends who had damage to their homes or lost power during hurricanes Irene and Lee we hope that your lives are back to normal.

We have had so many calls from prospective buyers wanting to know how Glassbury Court in Cold Spring fared with all the rain. Well I am happy to say that our community did very well!

As a result of the expert engineering that was done on this property our systems performed beautifully. A few homeowners living in Glassbury Court stopped in to the sales office to say “kudos to the builder” and “the builder did a fine job with this site”.

The power did not go out and there was no negative effect from rain water, does it get much better than that?

Driving around the community we realize how it is all coming together so beautifully. The grass is a deep green, the flowers in the beds at each home are lively, the trees are beginning to fill out and the homes and clubhouse are lovely. With the mountains as a backdrop the whole community is simply picturesque.

With fall approaching, the trees will begin to turn and the mountains will be ablaze with color. If you are thinking about visiting Glassbury Court at Cold Spring now is the time!

2nd Annual Revolutionary War Weekend

(Co-hosted by the Fishkill Historical Society and Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot)

Schedule of Events:
Saturday, September 17, 2011 (10am – 6pm)

· Van Wyck Homestead museum tour – all day; self-guided
· Van Wyck property tour – all day; self-guided
· 5th NY Regimental encampment – on site all day *
· Military drills/musketry (Children) – 11:00am; 12:30pm; 2:00pm; 3:30pm
and livefire demonstration
· Spinning/weaving demonstrations – on site all day
· Walking tour to Soldier Burial Ground – 10:30am; 1pm; 3:30pm
· Honoring of fallen soldiers/bell ringing – 6:00pm
* [Featuring: Children’s games, Blacksmith, Broom-making, Cooper, Apple Cider, Powder-horn]

Sunday, September 18, 2011 (10:00am – 4:00pm)
· Van Wyck Homestead museum tour – all day; self-guided
· Van Wyck property tour – all day; self-guided
· 18th Century cooking demonstration – on site all day
· Spinning/weaving demonstrations – on site all day
· Walking tour to Soldier Burial Ground – 10:15am; 1pm; 3:00pm

  Tired of seeing your electric bill escalate in the summer? Is it painful just to open the envelope? This is what we hear from so many prospective buyers who are looking for some relief from the pain, and yet, want to be comfortable on the hot and hazy days of summer.
At Glassbury Court at Cold Spring we have the answer! Our energy star, LEED certified, high performance homes are insulated with Icynene, sprayed in place, insulation. This insulation expands to fill every inch of space in the exterior walls and at the same time is applied heavily in the roof area. With insulation this effective the home cools quickly and retains the cool much more effectively than a conventionally insulated home. This translates into energy savings in the summer as well as lower heating costs in the winter.
As they say “what’s not to like about that”?
In our Desmond model we proudly show this insulation through a Plexiglas window in our mechanical room. There, you will also see the high performance systems that heat and cool these energy star homes. One of the main differences is where the air ducts are located. In a conventional home the air ducts are exposed in the attic area. In our homes all ductwork is in conditioned space. In the summer there is no loss of cool air leaking into the non insulated area of the attic and in the winter there is no loss of heat as the air flows through the ducts.
In our Garrison model we take being green a bit further by heating and cooling this home with a geothermal system which is an option available at Glassbury Court.
Call our sales office at 845 265-9600 if you have questions and schedule a time to come out and visit our homes to see for yourself what energy efficiency is all about.