by Alex Brooks
At the Town Board meeting on Monday, September 20, Petersburgh Town Supervisor Peter Schaaphok said he had received a letter from the Planning Board saying that they would like to revise the subdivision regulations, proposing that a one year moratorium on new subdivisions be enacted while they are rewriting the regs and requesting a budget of $7,500 for expert assistance in the rewriting project.
Schaaphok asked Town Attorney Kevin Engel for his thoughts on this. Engel said a moratorium is a big step and the Town should think carefully about the need for it before enacting a moratorium. He said there might be development projects in the pipeline which will be severely impacted by a moratorium. If the Planning Board Chairman is aware of any such, you might want to have an executive session to hear about them, he said. Engel also suggested the Town might want to get expert advice first and proceed to the idea of a moratorium if the consultant recommends it.
The Planning Board was meeting in another room of the Town Hall at the same time as the Town Board, and Schaaphok suggested the Board invite the Planning Board in to present their ideas.
Bill Seel was not in favor of doing that and suggested they discuss the matter in executive session. This reporter said if there are particular specific aspects of the matter which cannot be discussed in public that’s fine, but to take the whole topic into executive session would clearly be in contravention of the NYS Open Meetings law.
Town Attorney Engel said that was substantially correct, so the Board declined to invite the Planning Board in or to discuss the matter further. The question of why the regulations need to be rewritten or why a moratorium is needed were left to be addressed later.
Planning Board Criticized
The floor was turned over to Marian Wise and Duane Nealon, who had a lot to say about the Planning Board and its shortcomings. Wise and Nealon submitted a FOIL request in early August asking for basically all of the Planning Board’s paperwork over the last seven years. Specifically, they asked for the minutes of all meetings, the law itself, all requests for jurisdictional determinations and the Board’s responses, all site plans submitted for review and the design standards referred to in the law. They also asked for the Comprehensive Plan of the Town of Petersburgh, but that was a rhetorical request since Wise and Nealon know perfectly well that no such document exists. Ultimately the Town gave them almost nothing. The minutes could not be located and are assumed lost. The site plans submitted during that period also could not be located and are assumed to be lost. Jurisdictional determinations were handled verbally by the Planning Board Chairman, so there are no written documents in that area, and the design standards referred to in the law do not exist.
Nealon said he found it troubling that he asked for the Planning Board’s paperwork over a seven year period and received almost nothing. He said the few copies of minutes that were given to him were extremely incomplete and poorly done. He said rewriting the regulations is a good idea, but to make the Planning Board work better the Town will have to improve the way that Board functions. He called the current Planning Board “dysfunctional” and said the Town Board would have to insist on a minimum standard of administration. He went on in this vein for quite a while, detailing what he believes to be the incompetence of the Planning Board.
Peter Schaaphok later said he felt that Nealon’s diatribe was unjustified. Schaaphok said there are some Planning Board practices that need to be improved but the members of the Planning Board are smart and dedicated people who do a good job for the Town.
Nealon also said that to write a site plan review law that will stand up to a challenge, it has to be based on a Comprehensive Plan, and he urged the Town to undertake such a plan. He warned, though, that the $7,500 figure mentioned in Mr. Miller’s letter would not be anywhere near enough to do a Comprehensive Plan.
Town Hall Boiler Broken
Schaaphok reported that the steam boiler in the Town Hall does not work and needs to be replaced. He received an estimate from Carlton Coon to replace it for $8,275, but Bill Seel inquired whether it would be a good idea to convert the system from steam to hot water, and Seel also said he would like to have more than one estimate before agreeing to have the work done. The matter was tabled until they could get more information and more estimates.
New Truck Needed
Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison said the Highway Department needs to replace the 1991 dump truck. He said he believes a new truck will cost $150,000 to $160,000. Schaaphok said of course no such sum is in the budget, so he expects the Town will buy a new truck with a bond and pay it off over a number of years. He said he will research the matter.
Harrison said the Gradall has been repaired at a cost of $3,700 and is now operational.
New Gas Tank
The Board opened bids for double-walled gas tanks to replace the Town’s current underground gas tank. There were two bids, both from Northeast Petroleum Technologies. One was for a “teapot” tank and one was for a regular double-walled tank. The teapot tank was more money, and the Board saw no reason to buy that kind. The regular tank will cost $12,290, which includes taking out the old tank but also requires the highway crew to pour the concrete pad for the new tank and assist with the project. The Board approved going ahead with the tank replacement.
Budget Calendar
The Board scheduled a budget workshop for October 4 at 7 pm, and a public hearing on the proposed budget for Thursday November 4. Final adoption is expected to happen at the regular November meeting on Monday, November 22.