The village planning board has hired a consulting firm to review Bassett Hospital's draft environmental impact statement for its proposed parking plan.

The parking plan would create new spaces at Harrison House and Bassett Hall, but still falls short of the number required to meet its needs for patients and employees.

Chairman Teresa Drerup said the board selected Saratoga Associates Tuesday afternoon from a pool of three firms which submitted proposals.

"They were the best fit for this project," she said.

It will be the firm's job to review the DEIS and determine if it is adequate for beginning public review, she said.

If the consultant believes there are deficiencies in the DEIS, it will inform the board and provide a written response to Bassett which will have to revise the document.

Drerup said the planning board had some concerns about the DEIS which included the overview and content organization; the clarity of some of the maps; the traffic study which was not completed during the peak summer season and alternatives to the parking plan which were not fully detailed.

In its proposal, Saratoga Associates estimated the cost of the review to be approximately $23,000 - an amount similar to the other two proposals.

The bill for the review will be paid for by Bassett Hospital, Drerup said.

"According to the SEQRA law, we have the right to ask Bassett to pay for it," she said. "We made it clear to them we have the right to pass the cost on to them."

Saratoga Associates predicted it would be able to complete the review of the DEIS in as little as three weeks.