Petersburgh Government In Disarray

Lack Of Action Leads To A Confrontation 

by Alex Brooks

The government of the Town of Petersburgh found itself in disarray this week. Supervisor Mason Hubbard, who had major heart surgery last winter, is intending to resume his position at the head of Town government but is not yet well enough to resume his duties. In the meantime former Supervisor Peter Schaaphok is serving as Acting Supervisor. The Town Board was unable to take any action at its regular meeting this week because it did not have a quorum. Councilpersons Amy Manchester and Ray Broadwell were not present at the meeting. Schaaphok said he is not authorized to vote on Town Board resolutions because he is not an elected member of the Board. Three voting members are needed to form a quorum, and last Monday only two, Councilmen Seel and Snyder, were present. In addition, although there were several calls for action by the Town Building Inspector and Code Enforcement Officer during the meeting, the Town does not have one at present because Building Inspector Ed McGuire has resigned. The Town has advertised for a new Building Inspector and has received one application for the position but has not yet hired a new Inspector.

Town Assessor Craig Surprise told the Board that he went out recently to take pictures related to his assessment duties, and found many unpermitted building projects going on. He said he found ten violations in five hours of driving around and that was only in one area of Town. He said he found new houses and major additions being built without permits. He found one person building on a permit given by Len Trexler many years ago. When he asked why people are building without permits, one shrugged, and another said he tried to call the Inspector many times and never got a call back. Surprise said no one is getting Certificates of Occupancy, which means the work is not being inspected.

Surprise said a lot of money is missing from the assessment rolls because the Town is not alerted when building is being done, and, therefore, assessments are not updated to reflect improvements.

Town Attorney Kevin Engel said the Town needs to clarify the scope of the Building Inspector/Code Enforcement Officer’s job, pay appropriate compensation and see that the duties of the job are adequately performed. He said, “It’s a big job.”

Unlicensed Motor Vehicles

Also present to complain about lack of code enforcement were Duane Nealon and Marian Wise, who have been asking the Town to take action against their neighbor who has unlicensed motor vehicles stored on his property. Nealon filed a complaint with the Town early in 2008, and Building Inspector Ed McGuire issued a Notice of Violation soon after that, requiring a cleanup. Extensions were given twice to allow further cleanup activities, but eventually McGuire issued an appearance ticket, and the matter ended up in Town Court. However, it was then thrown out, according to Nealon and Wise, because notices were not properly served, and the enforcement process broke down after that.  They are impatient at what they see as an egregious lack of enforcement activity.

Peter Schaaphok, however, saw the matter differently and told Nealon that there are many fewer unregistered vehicles on the property than he has been alleging and that the owner of the property, Curtis Main, has done a lot to improve the situation over the past year. Schaaphok said he spoke to Main and came to the conclusion that “the simple thing to do would be for him to get a junkyard permit.”

Nealon did not like this idea at all and said if that is the route the Town contemplates he will fight it. He said he has already filed a complaint with the New York Secretary of State’s office and if the Town seeks to permit a junkyard on that property he may file an Article 78 proceeding against the Town. He said if you permit this, it will cost both the Town and the landowner a lot of money.

Schaaphok asked Nealon rather heatedly, “What are you going after him for if you can’t even see these vehicles?”

Nealon said visual nuisance is not the only thing involved. He feels that living next to a place that he considers a junkyard devalues his property.

At this point Bill Preston, who lives directly across the road from Curtis Main, asked to speak and said that Nealon’s threats to bring in State regulators are empty. He said he has worked for the State for many years and he knows that the State “doesn’t give a damn what happens in Petersburgh.” This matter will land on the desk of a “grade 6 clerk” and sit there for years, and when it is finally acted on, not much will come of it. He therefore advised the Town not to take too seriously the threats of “blowhards like these two.”

Nealon took umbrage at this and told Preston to “keep a civil tongue in your mouth.”

Preston shot back, “Or what?”

There was some further back and forth with raised voices until Schaaphok gaveled the room quiet and said that nothing was to be gained from continuing this discussion and that it was time for the Board to move on to other business. As the Board tried to take up other business, Nealon and Preston went out into the hall to continue the discussion and seemed to be in a heated argument. Town Attorney Kevin Engel then said, “This is not a good situation. Maybe you ought to make a call.” Town Clerk Barbara Snyder went and called 911, and Engel went out into the hall to try to defuse the confrontation. He was apparently successful, as soon afterward Preston came back into the meeting room. Engel remained in the hall for some time talking to Nealon and Wise.

Curtis Main told the Eastwick Press after the meeting that he wouldn’t call his collection of vehicles a junkyard. He is not in the business of taking vehicles apart and selling the parts. He said he is in the construction business and he has trucks and skidders and other construction equipment for use in his business and he keeps some unregistered vehicles for parts and some for spares to use when he might need them. He said he spent six weeks last year getting rid of vehicles and filled ten dumpsters that were hauled away. 

The issue raises knotty problems for the Town. Many other people in Petersburgh keep some unregistered vehicles on their properties, and it’s hard to explain why the Town would aggressively prosecute one while leaving others alone. Furthermore, the violation notice given to Main was under the State Property Maintenance Code, and Schaaphok is concerned that if the Town uses this statute, it would be obligated to enforce other parts of it, which regulate such things as the height of grass, peeling paint, accessory structures that are in disrepair and other things more appropriate to a suburban situation than a rural one like Petersburgh. On the other hand, Nealon and Wise have made a strong case that the Town has an obligation to enforce the Uniform Building Code, including the Property Maintenance section of it.

Other Matters

Town Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison said the Town’s sweeper was rear-ended by a motorist. The accident demolished the sweeper and pushed it into the back of the pickup truck that was pulling it, causing $1,700 worth of damage to the pickup. This was the 1987 red Ford pickup. The insurance company gave only $250 for the sweeper, which Harrison thought was a very low valuation.

He discussed with the Board whether to buy a new sweeper or rent one, and Bill Seel’s advice was that it would probably be better to rent one but since the sweeping season is over for this year, there is plenty of time to contemplate the question.

Several members of the audience reported people driving very fast on the road down to the Town Park, and one reported a bunch of kids down there at 2 am. Peter Schaaphok said maybe it’s time to start locking the gate to the Town Park again, and on Wednesday, April 22, a Town highway employee locked it at dusk.

The Board attempted to go through its agenda but settled for brief discussions since it could not take action. Town Attorney Kevin Engel spoke with members of the Ambulance Squad about getting the Ambulance’s service agreement with the Town done. Schaaphok summarized the latest revisions to the Right to Farm Life Law amendment and suggested scheduling it for a final public hearing at the beginning of next month’s meeting. There was some discussion of the building in the Millyard which has been condemned. Petersburgh Assessor Craig Surprise said if the Town has to spend money to demolish it, the County will reimburse such expenditures through a property tax charge-back. It was also reported that there is, in addition to the house, a barn out in back which is also structurally unsound and full of garbage.

Since the Board could not vote to pay the bills and Town Clerk Barbara Snyder said some were already late, the Board decided to have a special meeting at 8 am on Saturday morning, April 25, to pay the bills and possibly to take up other business.