by Kieron Kramer
The Town of Berlin is changing willy-nilly. At the Town Board meeting on Thursday, September 13, the future of the Watipi Building was discussed. This was followed by an open discussion at the end of the meeting concerning the recent news that the Bank of America is leaving Berlin. Berliners expressed their disappointment with Bank of America. Jim Anders asked Jaeger if there was any interest by another bank in taking over the BoA building and services. Jaeger said he had made some calls. [private]The Berlin Fire Department and the Town need a commercial bank for their deposits. Their deposits not only need the FDIC insurance, but beyond that the banks need to set aside $1,250,000 of capital reserves to cover the municipal deposits, Jaeger said. Never mind that the commercial banks didn’t do this in 2008 and subsequently needed taxpayer bailouts to rebuild their capital reserves. Berlin has about $1.4 million in deposits, he added. “A credit union don’t cut it for us,” Jaeger said.
Because the Town, the Justices and the Tax Collector must deposit revenues right away, a local bank is imperative. “We don’t want to drive down to New Lebanon [where the nearest BoA office will be] all the time,” said Jaeger. Not to mention that 50 or more residents, according to Jaeger, walk to the bank now and seniors don’t want to drive any distance for banking services.
Jaeger wants a bank that holds its own mortgages. He has narrowed the possibilities to Trustco Bank, First Niagra and Pioneer; the Berlin School District already uses Pioneer. Jaeger is partial to Trustco which, he said, Petersburgh, Stewart’s in Berlin and some businesses in and north of Town use. He would like those entities and the public in general to put pressure on Trustco to take over the BoA building and business in Berlin. Considering how people are feeling about BoA right now, it’s a good guess that Trustco would pick up a lot of local business.
New Truck
The Board discussed at its August workshop, and extensively at this meeting, the purchase of a new tandem axle dump truck. Winn estimates that the cost may be close to $200,000. Winn said that Jeff Delurey of Delurey Sales and Service in North Hoosick has found two trucks without the pricey urea emission control systems. They have the regenerative emission control systems, but because the Town has no old truck worth trading in and because the new truck will have equipment that is more expensive now and an automatic transmission, which Jaeger said after the meeting adds about $12,000 to the cost, $200k is a reasonable estimate. The old truck, worth, according to Winn and Jaeger, considerably less now than the $12,000 trade in it would have brought last year, will be used to haul rocks, they said. Jaeger said that the cash surplus from the FEMA reimbursements will allow the Town a substantial down payment and because the Town already budgets $19,000 for truck payments there will be no increased cost to the taxpayers. Winn said that the International Truck municipal lease plan has a term of 7 years. He still needs to do more research. Jaeger hoped that Winn could get a hard price by the workshop meeting on September 27. Jaeger wants the Board to vote on the purchase at the workshop in order to take advantage of the lower priced, non-urea emission system truck that Delurey has available.
The Highway Department continued with its pre-winter work, chipping and black topping, Winn reported. He said that the FEMA project on Old Route 22 is finished. Board Member John Winn praised the concrete work by Dave Goodermote on that bridge replacement. He found it ironic that the date inscribed in the old concrete, 8/23/1949, was the same date on which the new construction was started.
At the August workshop the Board set the hourly pay rate for a new highway employee at $13 per hour during the six month probationary period. A new employee has not been hired at this time. Jaeger said that there has been an open position in the Highway Department for two years.
Youth Programs
The Board voted at the August workshop to opt out of the County’s reimbursement program for both the summer arts and recreation program and the swim program run by the Berlin Youth Commission. The Youth Commission has a yearly budget of $10,000 which includes the reimbursement of about $526 for each of these two summer programs. There are two reasons for opting out of the County reimbursements, according to Jaeger. The number of hours involved in the paperwork, 3 or 4 hours several times a year, and the requirements that the programs be educationally focussed to qualify for reimbursement were the determining factors, he said. “We’re running it as a recreation program for the kids not as an enrichment or therapy program,” he said. Jaeger said he expects to make up the $1,000 in the Youth Commission’s budget by using some of the $5,000 that was bequeathed to Berlin by Margaret Kinn to use for the youth programs. “We have not touched the Kinn money up to this point,” he said. Tammy Osterhout, who runs the youth programs, said she “is looking for a Christmas trip or some other winter activity” which would use some of the Kinn bequest.
Water Slam
Water District #2 Supervisor Jim Winn reported that a leak near the fire house had been fixed the day of this meeting after closing the shutoff the valve at the main where the property owner’s water line is attached. According to Winn this is an ongong problem that has been repaired four or five times. It is caused by a sudden increase in water pressure. When the hydrant next to the water line is opened it causes the pressure to drop and then when it is shut off it causes the pressure to rise quickly. Winn called this a “water slam.” The owner’s line is right next to the hydrant and, after the copper pipe leader, is made of plastic pipe. The opening of this hydrant happens when the hydrants are being flushed or when the Fire Department runs a drill; it would also be opened to fight a fire in the vicinity. The property owner could solve the problem by installing a metal water line.
Mark Primeau, one of the Berlin Fire District Commissioners, said that this is the first he has heard of the problem and that he would ask the Fire Department to use a different hydrant for their drills. Meanwhile, that hydrant is out of service because the stem valve has been twisted off. Winn said that the hydrant is a unique one, that it may be hard to find parts for it and that he doesn’t know how it comes apart. The Fire Department has requested that a bag be put over the hydrant indicating that it is out of service.
The issue of opening the hydrants in town causes more widespread problems because the water pressure in the entire Water District #2 system drops. Winn said that when a hydrant is opened for a drill he gets complaints from residents high on Plank Road and from former Supervisor Joe Rabatoy who lives on the high ground on the east side of Route 22. “I have received at least seven calls from Joe Rabatoy when the Fire Department does drills because of low water pressure,” said Town Supervisor Rob Jaeger. The sudden water pressure drop can be remedied by turning on another of the Town’s water pumps which will increase the water volume in the system, Winn said. All he needs is some prior notification from the Fire Department, he added.
Otherwise, all is quiet in Water District #2, Winn said. There was no Water District #1 report because Supervisor Leonard Clapp was absent due to illness.
Tattered Flags
Jaeger said that he had received complaints about “the ragged and tattered” American Flags that are mounted on utility poles throughout town. Jaeger estimates that there are about 20 of the small flags in Cherry Plain and about 20 in the center of Berlin. He said the Town has had the flags for four years and that the flags and the mounts cost $750 at the time of purchase. Winn said the Highway Department had already taken down the flags.
Flying Cars
Apparently, the association of town supervisors has been re-established, instigated by Petersburgh Town Supervisor Siegfried Krahforst, according to Jaeger. He announced at this meeting that the County Sheriff will attend the new association’s meeting in October to discuss the establishment of a flying car system throughout the smaller townships in the County with certified paramedics on board. “Real paramedics are needed for real life support,” Jaeger said. He estimated that for Berlin to have paramedics on call 24/7 would cost about $500,000 per year, but a shared system like the Sheriff hopes to establish might cost each of the towns $50,000. The shared system is still in the formation stages. It would not replace the Berlin Ambulance. Jaeger envisions that, when the flying cars are up and running, a paramedic and the Berlin ambulance would both respond to a medical emergency with the paramedic supervising the life support and riding with the ambulance to the hospital. Tammy Osterhout, a mainstay in the Berlin Ambulance, said that the huge amount of training to be a certified paramedic at this point pretty much excludes the possibility that a volunteer would or could do it. She added that the patient’s health insurance or the patient would pay for the transportation cost.
Bites In The Cherry Plain Park
What would a Berlin Town Board meeting be without one of Dog Control Officer Doug Goodermote’s dog tales? Two men were bitten at Cherry Plain Park last month. “One was from Wynantskill and one was from Rochester; the dog was from Schenectady,” Goodermote reported. They come from distant parts to bite and be bitten in Cherry Plain. According to Goodermote, the men were bitten while trying to break up a dog fight. The dog from Schenectady had slipped its leash during the fight. Goodermote was called to come report the bites, and then three or four days later he was called again by the Park Police when it was discovered that the dog’s rabies vaccination had expired. The dog had to be quarantined for ten days in Schenectady. Goodermote wondered why there should be dogs allowed in the State Park to begin with, who is supposed to check the dogs’ health records at the Park and why, if the Park is not going to do the right thing, should the Town have to deal with bites there. No answers to these questions were forthcoming.
Goodermote also announced that the fall rabies clinic would take place at the Town Garage on October 22. Cats will be treated from 6 to 7 pm and dogs from 7 to 8 pm. All vaccines cost $10, cash only.
Odds And Ends
• Code Enforcement Officer Allan Yerton reported that “there is nothing new started this month.” Some projects are in the works, he added.
• Zoning Board of Appeals Chair, J. Nicholas Adams, said, “It is very quiet” and that the ZBA needs an alternate member. Jaeger asked the audience if there were any volunteers.
• Ivan Wager said that Rensselaer County will get reports in the coming month regarding the fire at the Columbia County recycling plant. “The [Rensselaer] County system worked well,” he said. Advisories about the possibly dangerous toxins in the air from the fire were issued to residents in the southern part of the County.
• Wager announced that the contract negotiations with Waste Management are finished. The Town will be charged the same amount as last year for hauling refuse from the Berlin transfer station. He also said that the backs of two containers at the transfer station are “real bad.” The steel to repair them arrived on the day of this meeting, he said.
• Assessor Allan Yerton said that “there are a couple of new constructions to assess.” He hopes that the cell phone tower in Cherry Plain will be added to the grand list soon, when the Verizon transmitters on the tower are in service.
Right before the adjournment of the meeting at 8:45 County Fire Coordinator Ivan Wager’s emergency beeper went off. Tammy Osterhout looked at the message on it and rushed out the door to get the Berlin Ambulance. As Jaeger closed up the Town Hall 15 minutes later, the ambulance’s lights could be seen at a house on South Main Street.[/private]