by Thaddeus Flint
Tuesday’s meeting of the New Lebanon Town Board was a ship without a captain as the Town’s Supervisor, Mike Benson, failed to attend. Council Member Doug Clark did take the helm, but something was missing and some questions of residents and Board members remained unanswered.[private]
Smoking Isn’t Free
The night started off with Karen de Peyster of the Rip Van Winkle Tobacco Free Action Program who advocated making Shatford Park smoke free. According to de Peyster “most of the towns in Columbia County have a smoke free policy for parks.” In fact, New Lebanon is just one of three towns in the County that have yet to implement a smoke free policy. The issue is not solely about the smoke but about the litter as well. “Cigarettes are the single largest source of litter in the world,” said de Peyster. Toxins from discarded cigarette butts, which are not biodegradable, can leech into the groundwater causing long term problems.
The idea did cause some grumblings in the audience. “This is America!” somebody stated. Resident Kenny Kevin Smith, noting that there was no Town police force, asked who was going to enforce the law.
“It would only be a policy,” explained de Peyster. Nobody could be cited for smoking in the smoke-free park unless the Town made it an ordinance and “put some teeth in it,” stated de Peyster. The Town could then fine people for using legal products that the Town partly supports itself on through sales taxes.
The Board thanked de Peyster, and Clark asked that the issue be put on a future agenda for further consideration. “I think it’s a great idea,” he said.
In the mean time residents can stay clear of smokers in the Park by huddling around the new sprinkler at the pool. According to Councilman Matt Larabee, vandals came and ripped the head off the old sprinkler. For such a small town there seems no end to the vandalism. Is it the cigarette butts leaching into the drinking water? The Park has replaced the sprinkler with a fire sprinkler which is twice as powerful as the old one, and if you are anywhere near it, “You are going to get soaked,” stated Larabee.
Court Is Over Booked
Once the vandals do get caught they might get to visit the new Town Court in the addition under construction at the Town Hall. The problem will be if the vandals want to park anywhere near the court or try to appear before a judge. “It would be a problem parking,” conceded Councilman Bruce Baldwin. He went down to the current Town Court recently and counted some 52 cars in the parking lot during one session. Court is very popular in New Lebanon. Everyone is currently invited to come at 4 pm. There could be double the amount of cars than there are spots at the new building.
The new Town Hall can also only legally hold 50 people. Baldwin said that on some nights, “There might be 70 to 100 people appearing.” Respondents might be given a lottery ticket at the door which would then tell them what time to come back. Although if they are out sitting in their cars in the parking lot this might make it difficult for anyone else to get near the place. The court is looking into other solutions as well. “We do have some serious issues with the amount of people that appear,” said Baldwin. “I’m hoping we can have a solution by January.”
By January, should everything keep going the way it’s going, the new addition to the Town Hall should be up and running. The framing will begin this week, said Baldwin, who is overseeing the project, and the windows will be installed by the end of August.
Clark thanked Baldwin for all his time and expertise. “Have you put your time sheet in yet?” he asked.
“It’s pro-bono,” laughed Baldwin.
Job Creator Missing
Once the addition is finished there should be plenty of room for all the new employees. There are now two part time Assessor’s clerks, Darla Dobert and Cynthia Creech. Dobert is to make $12 per hour and Creech $11.85.
“I can’t understand the logic of this,” said Baldwin. Why was Creech making 15 cents less than Dobert? Since Benson, who had made the appointments, was missing, Creech, who was sitting in the back of the room, was asked if she could shed some light on the pay gap.
“I don’t have the vaguest idea,” said Creech, “quite honestly I don’t know.”
“It’s the same job, it should be the same hourly wage,” voiced Larabee. “I think the two Assessor’s clerks should be paid at the same rate.”
“Me too,” added Creech.
Clark wondered if it had something to do with seniority in the Town as Dobert had worked in the position of Deputy Town Clerk. Nobody knew for sure, so it was resolved that Dobert and Creech both be paid $12. “But this isn’t retroactive,” laughed Clark, as the Town would then owe Creech close to 75 cents in back pay.
Compensation of $15 an hour for Tammie Darcy in a Human Resources position was then discussed.
“We don’t have a Human Resources position,” noted Clark. “This concerns me.” Unfortunately Benson was not around to explain his appointment to a position that didn’t exist. It was thought that Darcy was needed to do the work Anita Crosby, the Town’s previous bookkeeper used to do, or didn’t do, depending on who one talks to. Crosby was fired by Benson for being a “no-show” employee.
Without having Benson present to explain what was going on, the rest of the Board voted to table the Human Resources matter until the next meeting.
Resident Hazel Dewey wanted to know why all these jobs were being hired “in-house?” She had never seen any advertisement for the positions. “I might like one of these jobs,” said Dewey.
“Good question,” agreed Baldwin. “These are positions the Supervisor appointed without Town Board approval.” The same question arose in regard to structures at the Park being painted by Donnie Sears, a Benson appointment, despite many residents and even the Parks Maintenance Supervisor, Scott Larabee, remembering that the project was supposed to be advertised and bids solicited. “This Board chose to put this out to bid,” said Scott Larabee. “There was nothing about it done legally.”
“Well, it’s painted,” pointed out Clark, “and we got a good deal.”
The Town Clerk, Colleen Teal, did, though, make it public that she is seeking a new Deputy. The job will pay all of $10 per hour. The position is 30 hours a week. The Board wondered collectively if the Town were really going to get the best man or woman for the position by paying only $10 an hour.
“That was what I was told I needed to do,” said Teal.
“Can we even get a Deputy for $10 an hour?” wondered Larabee.
It was decided that Teal could offer instead to pay $12 an hour but that the work week would be diminished to 25 hours.
New Lebanon is looking for all sorts of ways to save money. It was proposed that 250 linear feet of Hill Road be abandoned. The Board was to vote on submitting documents to the State with an explanation that the road had not been serviced in a number of years. Then Town Highway Superintendent, Jeff Weinstock, got up and pointed out that that wasn’t true. “We worked on it this morning,” said Weinstock. The abandonment was abandoned for the time being.
A special meeting of the Board will be held at 6 pm on September 11 at the Fire Hall. The topic will be pedestrian safety on Route 20 between the Lebanon Valley Speedway and the campground across the road. Discussion is expected on whether or not Speedway owner Howard Commander has made an adequate effort to address safety stipulations in his campground permit, which has yet to be formally issued. Commander maintains that the NYSDOT has made it impossible for him to improve pedestrian safety until they finish paving the road there.
Hearing On Ethics Committee Dissolution
A public hearing will then take place at 6:55 pm for five minutes on the dissolution of the Ethics Committee. The Town would like to have ethics matters handled at the County level, mostly because the current Ethics Committee members constantly get up at Town Board meetings and publicly argue with each other.
The regular September Board meeting will then continue from 7 pm onward.[/private]