When it rains in the Helderberg neighborhood in Albany, water from Ramsey Place contributes to flooding just South on Hackett Boulevard. Water Commissioner Joe Coffey says a project to increase storm water collection on Ramsey is expected to start this week.

"We need to look at a sustainable resilient infrastructure. We need to get away from flooded basements,” said Coffey.  

The streets will be narrowed to allow for more green space, and permeable pavement added on both sides of the road. Plans also include taking down about half the trees and replacing them with new, immature trees with pits for underground water storage.  Tara Borodin is among the group of people against these changes.

"Changing the complete landscape of our block by removing the foliage that we all love about the character of our block is devastating," said Borodin.

A majority of residents want the old, healthy trees to stay up and their roads to remain the same width.

"There are already people who are ready to put their houses on the market if this project goes through," said Ramsey Place resident Edward Vining.

Many neighbors are expressing that they don’t feel heard.

“They're doing exactly what we asked them not to do and they're doing it in a way that basically excludes us," said Vining.

There are a group of about ten residents who are in favor of the project. Deb Dennis echoed the water commissioner, saying Ramsey Place will still be the widest street in the neighborhood at 34 feet. She is excited for more sustainable infrastructure that will also help alleviate problems on Hackett.

"I'm big into everybody helping one another and trying to do what's good for the overall, rather than just individual households,” said Dennis.

Those opposed are hoping the project will be paused to allow for more discussion, but plans are underway to start tree removal by the end of the week.