by Alex Brooks
Grafton Supervisor Frank Higgins announced at the December 9 Town Board meeting that the lawsuit brought by former Supervisor Tyler Sawyer against the Town, former Acting Supervisor Cathy Goyer and former Bookkeeper Victoria Nellis has been settled. Higgins said, “I am not at liberty to release the details of the case, but I want to let the people know that it has been resolved.” [private]Sawyer said after the meeting that the settlement was kept confidential at the request of the Town’s insurance provider.
Finances Under Control
Supervisor Higgins announced that the year end audit for 2012 has been completed and sent to the State Comptroller’s Office, and Bookkeeper Maureen Seel said the General Fund and the Highway Fund are in balance for 2013. Although she said she had a few more things to work through, she is pretty much up to date.
Time Warner Update
Higgins said that Time Warner reports that they are doing quality control work on the maps now and they expect to complete the design work early this month. They will then immediately apply for pole attachment licenses. They expect it will take about six months to get the licenses, and, once they have those in hand, they can begin construction.
Standard Work Day
Supervisor Higgins presented the Board with a resolution establishing a standard work day for purposes of reporting to the NYS retirement system. Councilman Mike Crandall asked, “Is this something new?” Higgins replied, “No. It was passed in 2010, but it was incorrect.” Rick Ungaro said to his fellow Board members, “If you are unfamiliar with it, I recommend tabling it until next month so we can review it.” Higgins replied, “Well, it’s three years late, but if you want to take a month to look it over, that works for me.” At public comment time, Higgins was asked to explain what this is all about, and he said, “It’s a real mess. I’ve been dealing with this for four months.” He indicated that it is difficult to deal with the people at the NYS retirement system, and that he still has a ways to go before it will get straightened out.
Lights In The Park
Eric Buckley thanked the Town for allowing volunteers to put up lights in the Town Park. The project was sponsored by the Fire Department Auxiliary, and about 40 people, many of them kids, showed up on Sunday, December 1, to put up the lights. Everyone who was there said it was a great community event and they had a great time. The lights decorate the gazebo and several of the trees. The Town pays the electricity for the lights, but everything else was donated by the participants. For years, Sue Putnam decorated the gazebo and put up lights by herself. When she had health problems and could no longer do it, there was a need for someone else to step up and continue the tradition. Sue thanked the Fire Auxiliary and all of the people who took part in the decoration of the Town Park this year. She said, “It looks great.”
Budget Transfers
Councilwoman Marie Claus said she thought budget transfers should be made on a monthly basis when spending in any account exceeds the amount budgeted, rather than waiting until the end of the year. Supervisor Higgins resisted this idea, saying that if you make adjustments part way through the year, you may have to adjust them again at the end of the year. Bookkeeper Maureen Seel said some of the towns she works for make transfers throughout the year as needed and some make transfers only at the end of the year. Former Supervisor Tyler Sawyer, later in the meeting, said the State Comptroller requires that budget transfers be done as needed throughout the year, as Towns are not supposed to allow any accounts to be overdrawn. “Running negative accounts until the end of the year is not acceptable to the State Comptroller,” said Sawyer. The matter was not really resolved, but the Board did set the date for an end of the year meeting for Saturday, December 28, at 10 am, and Higgins said he would bring all necessary budget transfers to that meeting for the Board’s approval.
Planning Board Report
Planning Board Chairman Tom Withcuskey presented a summary of Planning Board activities for the year. There were nine applications – one major, two minor, three change of use, two lot line adjustments, and they had to re-sign one plat map. Withcuskey also said he is trying to resolve a problem with the Valente Mine. On rainy days the trucks coming out of the mine have a lot of silty mud on their tires which ends up on the roadway on Route 2, making it very slippery. The Town is getting a lot of complaints from motorists because of the hazardous condition of the roadway. DEC and the NYS DOT have been notified. The owner of the mine has done several things to try to solve the problem, but it has not been solved. Withcuskey points out that Callahan has a mine right across the road, and they are able to haul material out of there without getting mud all over the road, so there has to be some way to solve the problem. Withcuskey said he will continue to press for a solution to this problem, because it is dangerous for this section of highway to become slippery every time it rains.
Ambulance Report
The Grafton ambulance responded to 15 calls in November – difficulty breathing, cardiac arrest, fall, back pain, three motor vehicle accidents, a fire standby, a sick person, an assault and one call each for abdominal pain, mental health and chest pain. Mutual aid was provided six times to Petersburgh Ambulance, “as this agency currently remains out of service.” Sixty and 7/10 volunteer hours were logged in the ambulance, and 282 miles were traveled during the month. EMT classes begin in January, and one member of the Grafton squad is planning to participate. New members are welcome. Dog Control Supervisor Higgins read a report submitted by Grafton Dog Control Officer Rick Bly summarizing his activities for 2013. It said that he received 88 calls during the year. Common issues were nuisance barking, dogs at large, dogs missing, destroying livestock, loitering or chasing passers-by. Fifteen official warnings were given, six appearance tickets were issued and seven dogs were impounded. The Dog Contrtol Officer (DCO) traveled 265 miles pursuing DCO duties, but no mileage was charged to the Town. Only $140 was spent from the DCO’s contractual budget “due to successful efforts to locate and hold accountable the owners and harborers of dogs receiving the DCO services.” Higgins said he wanted to thank Bly publicly for doing such a good job. After the meeting, Higgins said, “We’re lucky to have him. He’s very conscientious. It’s a tough job, and he does it well.”
Public Comment
Cathy Goyer had a laundry list of questions and complaints. Supervisor Higgins started out responding to the things she brought up, but by the third or fourth item, instead of answering her questions, he asked her if she had anything else. Over and over again, she said yes. She reminded Higgins that the Town Garage roof is in bad shape and still has not been fixed. Higgins said, “We don’t have any money to fix the roof right now.” She asked what happened to the idea of revising the travel trailer law after everyone agreed that the existing law is no good. Mike Crandall said the Town Attorney is writing a revised law, and the Board plans to take that up in January. Goyer said the retirement contribution fund for the Town employees is overfunded, and that money could have been used elsewhere. She asked why the Town does not acknowledge FOIL requests and wondered if it was just hers that they ignore. She noted that the financial page on the Town website is blank and asked that the Town budget be put on there, and she said she would like Supervisor Higgins to “stop calling people names.” Higgins thanked her for her comments and moved on.
Linda Laveway said there is a rack at the Senior Center that is supposed to have donated clothes on it for the Seniors to take if they want them, but it has a sign on it saying “do not touch.” Apparently it has fallen down more than once and needs to be secured so it can bear the weight of the clothes hung on it. Laveway said the Senior Center Director told her she notified the Town Highway Department, and they said the County should fi x it. Herb Hasbrouck said he heard about it that same day, apparently after Laveway inquired about it. Higgins said there ought to be a better system for maintenance in the Senior Center building, and he would get a meeting together to work that out.[/private]