by Erin Hogan
At the commencement of the March Grafton Board meeting a moment of silence was held in memory of Gerald Dayhaw, Hilda Goyer, Rita Goodermote, Trevah Burdick, Paul Walz, Denny Frank and Robert Sheffer.
Nash’s Case For Grafton
At the March edition of the Grafton Town Board Meeting, John Nash was present in order to express his concerns about the Berlin Board of Education’s recent decision to bump up the time of the closing for the Grafton Elementary school. Nash expressed his opposition to this building closing as a taxpayer, a resident and a parent. From a taxpayer’s view point he told the Town Board that taxes may increase because of this action because of the price of the modular buildings that the School Board plans to put up for the incoming Grafton students. He explained that the children are subject to longer bus rides, regardless of what is promised. This met with remarks of agreement from the Board. Nash also explained that by shutting down this school, it will hurt the Town of Grafton’s potential for new young families in the future. He also expressed his concern to the Board about the “changing numbers” in the price of the Grafton Elementary School building. He strongly urged the Town Board to let the Berlin Board of Education know how it feels about the school closing, and he also requested that they submit a first refusal about closing the elementary school.
Supervisor Allison Kirchner let Nash know that once again they would try everything and that she is going to keep looking at options of what to do. Two suggestions presented were seeing if they could use the property until it is sold, as Stephentown does with the Stephentown Elementary School building, or even have the Town buy the property and open a charter school.
Rensselaer Plateau A Bad Thing?
Correspondence was received from the Department of Environmental Conservation regarding an informational meeting open to the public about the Rensselaer Plateau becoming part of the Forest Legacy Program. (This meeting took place in the library in the Tamarac High School at 6:30 pm on Wednesday March 24.) In another correspondence regarding the Rensselaer Plateau received from Anne Kiley, she expressed negative feelings about the Forest Legacy Program. Kiley explained that after reading about this program in the Times Union, she is not in favor. She believes that this organization has too much control of the land and doesn’t need more. In her letter she said that the Plateau has control of over ten thousand acres. She agrees that some land needs to be taken care of but not in excess. She expressed concern about increasing property taxes because of all the land being protected by this program. Herb Hasbrouck chimed in saying that this program hurts the district and “90% of Grafton” is protected by the Plateau. He, too, expressed concern about increased taxes and also explained that this won’t help make the roads any cheaper. It was also brought up that Grafton is the only town in Rensselaer County with a wind turbine law and if any more land is taken over by the Rensselaer Plateau, the law might be overruled. Code Enforcement Officer Tom Withcuskey said, “We’ve managed to take care of Grafton for 200 years. I think we’re doing okay taking care of it ourselves.”
Another correspondence concerned the census. Supervisor Kirchner got a letter from the census stressing the importance of filling out the census forms. It also offered training on how to use any census data once received.
Another letter was from the USDA Rural Development regarding life improvements and economic opportunities available to Grafton through their program. Enclosed with the letter was a list of various grants that are available to Grafton such as grants for septic, distance learning or broadband. The Board will go through the list and see what applies.
Middleton Resigns As Assessor
A letter was received from William Middleton, a Town assessor offering his resignation. He thanked the people of the Town for their time and support as well as the Board. He wished everyone well.
This led to Resolution 40 that appointed Craig Surprise as Chairman of the Assessors from April 1, 2010 until December 31, 2010. Next was Resolution 41 appointing Helen Hemendinger as the Assessment Clerk from April 1, 2010 until December 21, 2010. Finally was Resolution 42 appointing Elizabeth O’Dell as Board of Assessment Review Member from October 1, 2009 until September 30, 2014. All three resolutions were passed.
In his Assessors’ report, Craig Surprise said that he signed up for an ethics class that will take place on April 16. He also reported that there have been good turn outs on Wednesday nights and that the Assessors’ new computers are up and running.
Other Reports
In the Building Inspector’s report, Withcuskey reported that there are two new building permits in 2010 and 51 active. He also took this time to remind residents that the open burning ban is now in effect through May 15 and there is absolutely no burning allowed. Another reminder was that all residences need a carbon monoxide detector, including rental homes (the landlord is required to provided the detectors). As Withcuskey put it, “It’s a cheap way to save your family.”
The Dog Control Officer Alison Kirby’s report was short and sweet with a little discussion about how Kirby needs to stay within her jurisdiction. Other than that Supervisor Kirchner gave Alison Kirby a pat on the back saying ”She’s doing a really good job.”
Rescue Squad
The Rescue Squad reported six calls in February ranging from injuries to breathing problems. They put in 30.7 hours and drove 103 miles.