by Kieron Kramer
When about fifty people show up at a Town Board meeting, something is definitely afoot. Such was the case on Thursday, March 17, when the Grafton Town Board met for its regular meeting which had been rescheduled from March 10. Most of the people in attendance were there to go on the public record that they are dissatisfied with Town government. Although four areas of complaint were focussed on the common thread running through these four main complaints is a feeling among the citizenry that their Town government is unresponsive to them and not transparent. Basically, they feel disconnected from the government officials they have elected. The glaring exception is Highway Superintendent Herb Hasbrouck for whom no one had a bad word. How could you after the job the Grafton Highway Department has done over the obscenely snowy winter and the recent ice storm. At this meeting Town Supervisor Allison Kirchner publicly thanked Hasbrouck and his crew for their work during the recent ice storm.
One of the complaints is the style in which the Town Board meetings are run where the Board does not feel obliged to answer the questions from the citizens of Grafton that are posed during the public comment portion of the meeting. In actuality, the Board answered many questions at this meeting while avoiding other ones. And, from the anecdotes related at the meeting, it seems that the Grafton Board is quite responsive to letters, emails and phone calls addressed to individual Board members who then, by and large, reply to the request for information or for support on some issue or other. As Councilman Ed Fredricks said, “It’s better when you write a letter or email because it helps us remember to get back to you; if you don’t hear back from us then, then you really do have a gripe.” During Thursday’s meeting Kirchner answered some direct questions with direct answers.
It is fair to say that the Board is not as unresponsive as its critics think. It is also fair to say that the critics have a case. The “I’ll get back to you” style in which the Board responds privately to public questions is a meeting style that has evolved over a number of years. Even though several Board Members seemed comfortable with a give and take with the public, the overarching feeling is that the Board need not respond to public questions. One exchange typified the attitude. When Doug LaRocque asked Kirchner for a letter answering the question, “What is the total bonded indebtedness of Grafton?” Kirchner said that she would respond and then added, “But I’m not obligated unless FOIL’ed.” At which point LaRocque said he would FOIL the Town Clerk for the information. The Board’s critics would argue that Kirchner was obligated to respond because a resident of Grafton asked her the question. The turf Kirchner seems to be defending is everybody’s turf.
The Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) is not supposed to be used to provide another hoop for the public to jump through to get information. It was passed by the NYS Legislature to give the public a means to force public officials to provide documents that they don’t want to turn over.
Before the night’s public comments started in earnest, the Attorney for the Town, Sal Ferlazzo, arose to inform the citizens as to the proper procedure for public comment periods. He said that public comment time was for the Board to hear the public’s opinions and questions about issues but that the Board was not required to answer any questions. (In fact, there is no statute in NYS Municipal Law that requires a public comment period in any Town Board meetings – that is what public hearings are for.) Ferlazzo said that “normally” Town Boards write down the public’s questions and get back to the questioner. The Board does not have to answer questions unless they chose to do so, he said, and he recommended that they don’t. Of course, in most other towns and in the village in eastern Rensselaer County the Boards have chosen to answer questions. In practice, it is “normal” for them to answer the questions put to them right away if they can. The public might not like the answers they are given, but that is another story.
Ferlazzo’s comment incensed the people in the room Thursday. Rick Ungaro asked him why he was at the meeting and, “Are we paying you to come here to tell us this.” Ferlazzo said that it was just this kind of disruptive conduct that is the problem. “It may be legal [not to answer questions], but it’s not right,” Doug LaRocque said.
Most Board members serve because they think it is their civic duty, not for the small amount they are compensated so it seems reasonable that the Board is not there to be on trial or to be disrespected. But there are other ways to control the comments than not to respond. This just heightens the frustration. Supervisor Kirchner admitted that she had asked Ferlazzo to make a statement about the public comment procedure. He was at the meeting to participate in an executive session at the end of the meeting about “an attorney’s client meeting and personnel issues,” said Fredricks. Ferlazzo’s statement was like the proverbial throwing gasoline on a fire trick and just plain bad politics. Even the President of the United States answers questions!
Rick Bly explained that when he asks a question during a public meeting he expects an answer during a public meeting, perhaps thinking that both the question and the answer should be a matter of record. Jan Shields was the first to bring this up. Whether or not the questions are recorded in the minutes are a matter of conjecture, which may be why so many in the audience Thursday wanted the minutes posted on the website. In response to a question from Cathy Goyer, it was explained that since the minutes are not official until the Board approves them at the next month’s meeting, there will always be a delay of at least one month before the minutes are posted. However, the Open Meetings Law of the State requires that minutes be available to the public two weeks after the meeting, with words like “draft” or “unapproved” in their title to indicate that they are not yet official. So, they could be posted earlier, before the next meeting, if the Board agreed to do so.
Any Graftonites interested in FOIL, the Open Meetings Law or open government can read about them on the NYS Open Government website at www.dos.state.ny.us/coog/.
Website
Kathleen Bly asked why there was no money in the budget for maintenance of the Town website. Lots of Town information like codes, meeting minutes, etc. are being posted quite late if at all. When Kirchner was asked why she was maintaining the website, she said that her husband was spending the time updating the website and that they were doing it as a matter of civic duty. Neither Kirchner nor her husband are paid to work on the website which, Kirchner said, was an attempt to hold down expenses so that the tax levy could be minimized. Board Member Barbara Messenger said that the Board had briefly discussed the issue of the cost of renewing the maintenance contract for the website during the budget discussions. It is clear, however, that the website is not the resource it can be for the Grafton residents and that the Town might consider budgeting money for its upkeep next year. Of course, the people eager to have an up to date website won’t mind a minimal increase in their property taxes in order to fund it.
Bookkeeper
Another simmering complaint aired at the meeting is the appointment of former Town Supervisor Tyler Sawyer as Town Bookkeeper and the salary he is getting for that service. Some people think that the appointment of Sawyer smacks of political patronage since he was Town Supervisor, is head of the Grafton Republicans and his protégés are on the Board. But you could look at it differently. Town Bookkeepers are appointed by Town Supervisors and work for their Supervisor; they are not hired by the Board. It makes sense that Kirchner, especially if she is financially inexperienced, would hire someone she knows and can trust, someone who knows Grafton issues backwards and forwards and has the expertise needed. Sawyer is also the Rensselaer County Auditor. Apparently, this has worked well. Town Clerk Sue Putnam, a Democrat, said that Sawyer has done an excellent job getting the Town’s books in order.
What Sawyer gets paid is another issue of concern. Grafton pays him $13,500. The Petersburgh Bookkeeper gets $6,500, and they pay $7,957 in Berlin, but Hoosick pays their Bookkeeper $20,488. It was mentioned at this meeting that the various town bookkeepers may have different tasks so their salaries are hard to compare. In any event, Sawyer said at this meeting that his hours are a matter of public record because he files them with the NYS Retirement System and by his calculations he is being paid a little over $14 per hour.
Sole Assessor
Some people are upset with the process in which Grafton moved from a Board of Assessors, which were elected positions, to a sole assessor, in the person of Craig Surprise, appointed by the Board. The right to vote on the Assessors “was taken away without the consent of the people [because there was no referendum],” Bill Middleton, a former Assessor and Chairman of the Grafton Democrats said. Theron O’Dell, after defending Sawyer and praising the “great” Town Board, said, “The new assessor is doing a great job; I didn’t want to see us lose the assessors, but they are quitters; they cut and run.” Referring to himself, Julie Darling, Joe Darling and Charlie Hamill, Middleton replied, “Nobody cut and run; they retired because they saw what was coming. The decision was made long before we left.”
There is no debate that the Grafton tax roll is in sad shape. The evaluation rate is very low which adversely effects the equalization rate that the State uses to make the tax levies fairer from municipality to municipality. It is also a question of basic fairness in town that everyone pays their fair share of property taxes, and this can only be accomplished with an updated tax roll, which, to most in the room, Craig Surprise is accomplishing.
For his part Surprise said that the previous Board of Assessors only had a review of building permits to work from. “I have computer systems and satellite imagery that they never had, so they couldn’t do the same job.”
Junk Cars
There was a lone complaint by Patrick Kane who said that now that the snow is melting people’s junk cars are showing up. “When are we going to start cleaning this s**t up?” he asked. In an interview on Monday, Code Enforcement Officer Tom Withcuskey said that the heavy snow pack made it unreasonable to ask people to tow their junk cars until now and he is beginning the process of enforcing the Grafton junk car law. He said that there are only 10 to 15 junk cars in Town.
At Thursday’s Grafton Board meeting the reports and announcements that make up the regular meeting agenda took about 15 minutes; the public comments took about 45.
Regular Business
At the start of regular business, which began the meeting, the Board approved the minutes of the January and February Board meetings.
Local Law #2
The introduction of Local Law #2, setting the date of the annual Board of Assessment Review (BAR) meeting and Grievance Day, was on the agenda. The Law was read by Ferlazzo. This change of the date set by State Law is allowed, according to Ferlazzo, because Surprise is assessor in more that one municipality. He also does Petersburgh and New Lebanon. The proposed law sets the date for the Grafton BAR meeting on the first Tuesday after the fourth Tuesday in May – this year it will be on May 31.
Public Hearing
The Board voted to schedule a public hearing on the local law for 6:15 pm on April 14, before the next regular Town Board meeting.
Highway Report
Highway Superintendent Herb Hasbrouck said that he had been to a meeting and completed the paperwork needed for FEMA funds for the snowstorm of December 27 and 28. The Feds have declared this storm an emergency in Rensselaer County and FEMA will cover 75% of the costs to the Town. The State did not declare this storm an emergency so 12.5% of the costs will not be forthcoming from the State, according to Hasbrouck.
Hasbrouck has turned his attention to the clean up after the ice storm of March 6 and 7. He said that Grafton was the hardest hit in the whole County. He said that 66 crews from National Grid, about 120 to 150 men, were in Grafton working to restore power, which, of course, meant cutting many trees and tree limbs to clear the lines and to clear the roads. All the roads in Grafton have been cleared and are passable, Hasbrouck said, but the slash has been piled up on the sides of the roads. He said it would take his crews three to four months to cut up and chip the brush to clear the shoulders of the roads. And this is during mud season when there are plenty of other highway tasks to do. Hasbrouck said he has contacted the power company to see if they will come back and help with the chipping in the worst areas, but he hasn’t heard anything back from them. The ice storm has not been declared an emergency yet so at present Grafton will be paying for the whole clean up.
Hasbrouck reported that the bids for the first part of the repaving of Route 2 were opened on the day of this meeting. The award has not yet been made, he said. There will be another bid received this year for milling the surface and filling it and for the overlay. Hasbrouck also said, “The CHIPS money is still in place at last year’s level.”
Supervisor Kirchner read a letter from Bob Mayo, who lives on Taconic Lake, that said, “I have been extremely impressed with the road conditions and clearing and am deeply grateful.”
Code Enforcement
Tom Withcuskey reported that there are four new building permits and one new housing start, “which is a good sign.” He reminded the public about the open burning ban which began March 16. Withcuskey had been notified about a heap of “raw garbage” next to an apartment building at the beginning of Palitsch Road. He said that the owner was hard to get a hold of because he lives in Vermont but he responded to a certified letter and began cleaning up the property. On Monday night following this meeting Withcuskey said that all the garbage had been cleaned up – it took a while because the owner only has a small pick up.
Rescue Squad Report
Captain of the Rescue Squad Donna Baldwin submitted a written report for February that was read by Supervisor Kirchner. It said, “Responded to 7 calls: 1 call unable to confirm crew (total 8 calls for the month); 2 MVA’s, 1 Fire Alarm Activation, 1 sick person, 1 fire standby, 1 chest pain, 1 difficulty breathing; Total Miles Traveled: 70; Volunteer Hours: 30.5.” Six Rescue Squad members volunteered to stand by at the Grafton Lakes State Park Winterfest during the polar plunge where one patient was treated for a cold related emergency but declined to be transported via ambulance. On March 12, the certified members of the squad attended State mandated training at the Petersburgh Ambulance from 9 am to 1 pm. The Squad congratulated Leta Wagar and Tyler Baldwin for being named to the Dean’s list, (fall semester) at HVCC where they both take courses in addition to fulfilling both their high school requirements and participating in EMT classes. Baldwin reminded the public that the weekday hours between 4 am and 6 pm are still very difficult to confirm crews for due to work/school and most of these calls are responded to by the mutual aid provider, Mohawk Ambulance. “As we move forward, we would like to encourage new members to apply,” Baldwin wrote.
The meeting adjourned in memory of Walter Doyle and Bernadette Remington.