The Rest Of The Grafton Town Board Kerfuffles

by Kieron Kramer
One can infer from Grafton Town Supervisor Frank Higgins’ remarks at the Grafton Town Board meeting on October 21 that there have been complaints about the job Town Clerk Sue Putnam has been doing lately and about the fact that her friend, Jim Remington, spends time in the Clerk’s office with her. [private]These complaints seem particularly uncharitable considering what a dedicated servant to the Town Putnam has been for decades, that she has been fighting lately to overcome a medical condition, that she is beloved in Town, she is continuously re-elected, and that she has only two years left before retirement. Some of the complaints undoubtedly come from those who have a longstanding antipathy to Putnam, antipathy that she returns. You’d have to be grown in a petri dish to have the poor judgement to rile up any Town Clerk in the Eastwick area. And are the people who complain about the minutes not being posted promptly, as described in last week’s first installment of the October Grafton Town Board meeting, criticizing the Supervisor or the Town Clerk or do they even know.
Until recently Putnam’s Deputy Clerk was Allison Kirchner; she carried lots of the work load when Putnam was ailing. When Higgins asked for Putnam’s announcement at the Town Board meeting, she seemed to have solved several problems at once, announcing that she had appointed Remington as Deputy Clerk at no salary. It is the Town Clerk’s prerogative to appoint a Deputy Clerk the way a Supervisor can appoint his Secretary or a Deputy Supervisor. Then Higgins asked Putnam to appoint his Secretary, Joe Allain, as second Deputy Clerk. “Allain is here daily, and it will lighten the load and give people greater access to licenses and permits,” he said. Later, in the public comment period, David Buckley said that appointing Allain as a Deputy Clerk was good. Putnam would have none of it. At one point during his wide-ranging comments Tyler Sawyer said to Higgins, “You are not going to intimidate me, Mr. Higgins, like you did the Town Clerk.” First, if you know her, you know that Putnam cannot be intimidated. Second, who says the Supervisor’s passing along complaints to the Clerk is intimidation rather than his responsibility?
Sawyer also asked for clarification from Higgins regarding a statement he made in his letter published in the Eastwick Press on October 11 in response to a letter by Cathy Goyer. In his letter Higgins wrote, “We are very busy right now straightening out the mess left by the previous administration.” Sawyer felt he had been unfairly criticized in the letter, but many people  thought Higgins was referring to Ray Darling’s administration. When Higgins, in response to Sawyer, told him, “See me privately,” Sawyer was chagrined. Some people thought Higgins was being evasive or even rude. But why rehash Darling’s difficulties in public? Darling was dear to many in town, and he is gone now.
Sawyer, who had to FOIL the Town to get the Town’s financial statements, pointed out that the Town had overpaid the State unemployment tax. Higgins wondered why the Town had been paying any unemployment tax for many years past since the Town can opt out of unemployment tax contributions and can pay claims as they are filed. Sawyer tried to make the point that unemployment tax payments build up the Town’s unemployment tax account and result in a lower rate for the tax. After the meeting, Sawyer said that the Town included the Board members in its figures for last year and since Board members cannot collect unemployment their salaries should not have been included.
During the meeting the Board went into executive session to review the candidates for the ethics committee. The candidates went in to the session as well, presumably to be interviewed. When they all returned 26 minutes later the Board appointed Jason White and Christina Schillinger to the ethics committee by a 5-0 vote. Although this is a pretty normal procedure in other towns, Jack Ellis said in the public comment period that the length of the executive session showed that “you guys aren’t working together.” Sawyer also criticized the procedure saying that the interviews should have been done prior to the meeting.
During public comment Phil Davies said he wanted a speed limit sign on South Long Pond Road. “There was a rollover this summer right near our front yard,” he said. He added that it is a dirt road with a reverse crown and he has been recording people’s speed with a radar gun. Most go 15 to 30 mph, he said, but others go 55 mph. Higgins said, “The Highway Superintendent and I will get together to see what can be done; there are issues with posting a speed limit, but maybe something else can be posted.” Perhaps picking up on the aggressive tone of previous comments, Davies became quite exercised. “This is a Town road; I want it stopped.” Highway Superintendent Herb Hasbrouck informed Davies that there are many other roads in town with the same problem. “Since we are not a class A town, we have to go through the County and State who will survey and determine the speed limit,” he said. Higgins added, “That will take time; we should see if something else can be done.” Generally, towns can post advisory signs on their roads, like “Steep Hill – Use low Gear” or “Go Slow – Dangerous Curves,” without having to get State or County permission.
After the meeting Linda Laveway and Sara Ungaro, among a number of others, accused Higgins of being rude during the public comment period and of not allowing the public to have its say. Although State law provides for comments from the public during public hearings, it does not require public comment time during Board meetings. Public comment during these meetings and how it is done is at the discretion of the Supervisor. At present, all town supervisors in the Eastwick area have public comment periods, but in the past some supervisors have moved the comment period to the beginning of the meeting, some have cancelled it for a few meetings and some terminate comments when a speaker is too insulting or aggressive. At this meeting Higgins allowed antagonistic comments to be made, but he did not respond to many of them. He probably thought he was being discreet by being silent. Others thought he was being rude. He let Sawyer speak for much longer than 5 minutes, contravening the 5 minute rule he had announced. He did not allow Laveway to make a second round of comments. To the neutral observer Higgins seemed more responsive than past Supervisors Kirchner and Darling but not as responsive to questions as Sawyer in his second stint when he replaced Kirchner as Supervisor.
Normal Town Business
Higgins announced that the Town would amend its response to the State Comptroller’s audit which stated that the Town continued to pay for a cell phone for about three years after it was no longer in service, from 2009 until some time in 2012. The Town made 38 payments totaling about $1,400 after the phone was no longer in service, the audit asserted.  It turns out the cell phone was used by the Rescue Squad as a backup phone and since the back up was not needed during this period of time there were no calls made and so it appeared that the phone was not in service. The Board voted 5-0 to amend the Town’s response to the audit. As a result of this discovery the Town will not pursue Verizon to recoup the funds, Higgens said.
Higgins said he would look into the “details and costs” of joining the County Health Insurance plan. At its meeting on October 8 the County Legislature voted to approve offering area municipalities the option to join the County Health Insurance pool. Higgins is hopeful that “it will result in a reduction of health insurance costs for the Town.”
Board Member Barbara Messenger made a motion to accept the Supervisor’s report, but Board Members Rick Ungaro, Marie Claus and Mike Crandall were concerned that the funds in various accounts had not been accurately transferred. Therefore, they could not accept the Supervisor’s report, and Messenger’s motion was not seconded. Higgins said, “We can wait a few more months – better to do it all at once.” The Grafton Supervisor’s report has not been accepted since February of 2012.
Board Member Rick Ungaro researched whether it is a conflict of interest for Highway Superintendent Herb Hasbrouck to also serve as a Fire Commissioner. He read emails he had received from the Association of Towns indicating that there was no conflict.
Hasbrouck reported that the project on Steve O’Dell Road is completed. It has been moto-paved; rather than using the oil and chip method of paving the oil and the stone is mixed right in the road by the moto-paver. The Department is still banking sand, ditching and grading. Beaver dams have stopped up a number of culverts and some roads are being flooded because of it, he said. Hasbrouck also said he had picked up 1,000 tons of Item 4 gravel from R.J. Valente as part of Valente’s deal with the Town when they were given a mining permit. Because the electronics recycling company is no longer coming to Grafton to pick up TVs and computer monitors as of November 1, the Grafton recycling center “is not accepting these items at this time” Hasbrouck said.
Higgins reported that Time Warner had been given a waiver by the Public Service Commission to provide cable and internet service to Grafton. Attorney Ferlazzo can now enter into contract negotiations with Time Warner for the Town cable franchise. Higgins said that another cable provider is coming to town to make a proposal. Higgins also reported that Code Enforcement Officer Tom Withcuskey said that 56 permits had been issued this year to date.
Donna Baldwin gave the Resue Squad report. In September the Squad responded to six calls – one person with heart problems, one sick person, one fainting episode, one fire alarm activation, one choking person and one motor vehicle accident involving a motorcycle. One person refused medical assistance. The Squad spent 27.13 hours in ride time, travelling 154 miles. Albany Medical Center was the destination once and Samaritan Hospital three times. Monthly meetings have been changed to the third Wednesday at 7 pm to allow squad members to attend free continuing education classes on the second Wednesday to keep their EMT certification. Baldwin said that the ambulance was out of service for one week in early October because of electrical problems and the need to replace a cam sensor. During that week Squad members loaded a Town truck with their equipment and responded to calls in that vehicle. The ambulance has now been recertified with the Department of Health until October of 2015.
Higgins read the Dog Control Officer’s report. From September 7 to October 7 there were eight incoming calls. Two dogs were reported missing. They were recovered and returned. Two dogs were reported “at large.” There were two barking dog complaints and one inhumane treatment concern. One large dog was shot and killed for attacking livestock.
In last week’s report it was incorrectly stated that the elected Board of Assessors was replaced by a Sole Assessor, Craig Surprise, during Tyler Sawyer’s administration. To be precise, the switch took place during the administration of Allison Kirchner, although Sawyer strongly promoted the change at the time.[/private]