by Thaddeus Flint
As 2013 comes to a close in New Lebanon, the Town Board, at its monthly meeting Tuesday, found itself occupied with the same undertaking facing millions of other Americans this holiday season: figuring out health insurance. The general consensus of Americans, judging by lackluster results so far, is to put the whole process off for as long as possible in hope that things will iron themselves out later.
[private]The Board did just that at the November meeting, tabling a decision on what route the Town is going to take when it comes to choosing a health plan for the upcoming year. The current plan at the time was extended to insure against any gaps in coverage, but this came at the price of a 10% increase in its costs. Bronze, silver, gold and platinum are the plan options and yet, contrary to their shiny names, none of them really seems like a prize. “By implementing any of these options, it presents a major hardship to any employee earning under $20 an hour,” said Councilman Bruce Baldwin. “Many employees are suffering hardships already due to extremely large copays,” he added. The current plan, with its 10% increase, is “somewhere between Platinum and Gold,” explained Town Supervisor Mike Benson. Benson also is of the feeling that the current situation is unfavorable to employees. “The advice I’m getting relative to this,” he said, “is that we need to think about moving to a defined contribution.” Benson believes this would put “everyone on a level playing field.”
That will not be happening next year, though. “We had wanted to have the employees pay a percentage,” said Baldwin, “but we haven’t been able to implement this yet.” Part of the problem is that the numbers provided to the Town by the Capital District Physicians Health Plan (CDPHP) “usually aren’t available at budget time,” pointed out Town Clerk Colleen Teal. Councilmen K.B Chittenden and Doug Clark were initially in favor of going with the new Gold plan. “It will keep costs level and still give a premium program,” said Chittenden. “I agree,” said Clark. “It’s compatible with what we have now.”
The Town Highway Superintendent, Jeff Weinstock, is now and then seen as a of kind of “voice of the people” at Town meetings. He does represent a large portion of the employees of New Lebanon, and he does say the kind of things nobody else is saying but probably should be. Weinstock, at this meeting, pointed out that the number at the top of the page under whichever medal color one has chosen, doesn’t really say all that much about all the tiny print that follows. “We really don’t know what gold is,” said Weinstock. “There is a lot involved there.” Weinstock had wanted someone from CDPHP to come down and put the whole business in plain American English.
Either that wasn’t possible, or nobody had the time because everyone else probably wanted the same thing. In the end the tiny print was never explained. “There’s a lot in there that scares me,” said Weinstock. “Well, it’s a pretty scary topic,” agreed Benson. Without a greater understanding of what they could be getting into through a change in health coverage, Weinstock was of the opinion that keeping the current plan, even with the 10% increase, was probably the least scary of the available options. He wasn’t happy about it though. “It’s a slap in the face to give us a raise,” said Weinstock, “and then come right back and take it away from us.” Town employees were granted a 3% raise in the 2014 budget.
Councilman Matt Larabee made the motion that the current plan be kept until someone can come and explain things better. All were in favor in the end of keeping the current plan for the time being. “I think things will stabilize,” said Baldwin. “Or they could get worse,” pointed out Clark.
Youth To Youth
Things are getting worse when it comes to New Lebanon’s kids and drugs. At least that is what Larabee, ex-justice Darcy Poppey and even the Town’s Court Clerk, Tistrya Hamilton, have been saying the past six months or so. Larabee and Poppey have been working to get a TRACS program (Together Reducing Alcohol & drugs in our CommuniteS) up and running in New Lebanon. The program, started in the Berlin School District in 2009, is thought to have been instrumental in dramatically lowering the statistics for drug and alcohol abuse in that school district. At one time BCS had one of the highest drug and alcohol rates for teenagers in Rensselaer County.
“New Lebanon is facing similar issues as we were,” said Jordan Cahill, a student from BCS who had come to present the program to the Board. “We’d like the two Districts to join together for our youth.” TRACS has approached the New Lebanon School District, but the head of Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD), whom they were told to deal with, apparently has not yet had the time to see if TRACS is an option for New Lebanon. As Cahill tells it, SADD really isn’t the best way to keep kids off drugs anyway. “SADD is kind of sad,” she said. The program uses a dull educational type agenda. Kids just aren’t receptive to yet another lecture by adults anymore. Few students would ever proudly say they are part of SADD, pointed out Cahill. But a program called Youth to Youth is different. Youth to Youth says its goal is “harnessing the powerful influence of peer pressure – making it a positive force that encourages young people to live free of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs.” In other words, getting the kids to teach each other. “Kids aren’t ashamed to say ‘I’m a part of Youth to Youth,’” said Cahill.
Each summer there is a Youth to Youth conference held in the northeast. Local kids go, pick up the message, bring it back and share it with their peers. Adults are kept more to the sidelines. The message is, “You can have fun without getting drunk, doing drugs and then destroying the home of a retired football player which results in having the name of your town forever associated the world over with tweeting, vandalistic, nitwits.” At least that might be the message in Stephentown.
The message of Youth to Youth will now come to New Lebanon as well. The Board voted, with all in favor, to allocate $500 to cover the costs of sending one local student to the next Youth to Youth conference in the summer of 2014.
Fire Station Plans Underway
The Chief of the Lebanon Valley Protective Association, Ed Godfroy, has informed the Board that plans for a new fire station are well under way. The LVPA has been working with the division of Fire Protective Services of a Syracuse construction firm, Hueber Breuer, to put together a preliminary design for a large central station to be located at the site of the American Legion building in West Lebanon. The LVPA’s two current locations would then be “brought back on the market,” said Godfroy, adding to the Town’s tax base. A public information session will be held Thursday, December 19, at 7 pm at the fire station. “We want to be building by spring,” added Godfroy.
Supermarket
The developer of the proposed supermarket at Tilden Plaza is also still working to get that project off the ground. According to Monte Wasch of the Economic Development Committee, the developer will be shopping the proposal at an annual meeting of supermarket chains within the coming weeks. “The proposal is still alive and kicking,” said Wasch.
A proposal that is no longer alive and kicking, is one that would add another layer of red tape to the process of lighting a simple fire on your own land. The Board had considered adopting the same regulations Stephentown currently has. Further thought on the matter concluded with the realization that the fires are already well regulated by DEC. “We don’t need to add another layer of regulation,” said Benson. “There’s too many layers already,” agreed Baldwin.
The measure was voted down unanimously to the apparent pleasure of Benson’s Uncle Larry. Larry Benson had just resigned from the Conservation Advisory Council. (“It’s time for L. Benson to get in the back seat,” said L. Benson), and he now has time for various smoky burns on his property. “He’d need to pull a permit every 15 minutes,” laughed Supervisor Benson. “He’s going to go home now and light a fire.”
Upcoming Meetings
• Monday, December 30, at 7 pm at the Town Hall – Year End Meeting.
• Thursday, January 2, at 7 pm at the Town Hall – Annual Organizational Meeting.
• Tuesday, January 14, at 6 pm at the Town Hall – Annual Audit (2013) followed by the regular monthly meeting at 7 pm. Those residents awake on the morning of January 1, 2014 are invited to attend the brief swearing in of new and re-elected offi – cials at the Town Hall at 9 am. “Nine am!” laughed the Town Supervisor. “But what if we have a big night?” [/private]