by Alex Brooks
The Grafton Town Board meeting this month was a bit of a circus, with more argument and drama than substantive action. The first controversy that erupted was over a letter to the Town Board from Sheryl Sawyer, former Town Supervisor Tyler Sawyer’s wife. Councilman Rick Ungaro read the letter out loud at the meeting. [private]Sawyer wrote that she had some friends visit her house, and one of those friends got an email the next day from Town Supervisor Frank Higgins asking if there had been a closed Board meeting in violation of the open meetings law. Sawyer was “shocked and angered” that anyone was watching their house and reporting the gathering to the Town Supervisor. She said she thought the one who reported it to the Supervisor was Town Code Enforcement Officer Tom Withcuskey, and she thought he should be reprimanded for doing so.
Rick Ungaro was one of the visitors to Sawyer’s house that evening, and he was the one who Higgins emailed to ask if there had been an illegal meeting. Ungaro said the Town’s attorney, Sal Ferlazzo, was copied on the original email so he contacted Ferlazzo to discuss the matter and Ferlazzo wrote to Supervisor Higgins saying there was no problem with the gathering. Ferlazzo wrote, “Unless there is proof of a violation of the open meetings law, there is no violation,” and added that even if five members of the Board gather it is okay if it is a political caucus. He cautioned against hyper-vigilance on this issue.
Ungaro said there were only two Town Board members present at that gathering. The issue of an illegal meeting does not even arise unless there are three.
While Ungaro was reading Sawyer’s letter, Supervisor Higgins left the room, and was not back when Ungaro finished reading the letter so the meeting came to a standstill while people wondered if Higgins had left the building and wasn’t coming back. But he returned shortly thereafter with copies of the email correspondence of which Sawyer complained. He said he had made no accusation about an illegal meeting – all he did was ask.
The next argument between Higgins and Ungaro was about the eligibility of Pierce Hoyt to be the Town Justice. Hoyt was appointed as Town Justice at last month’s meeting. Since then Supervisor Higgins asked Ferlazzo to look into whether Hoyt’s appointment would violate the Hatch Act, considering Hoyt’s position as Rensselaer County’s Director of Youth Services. Ferlazzo posed this question to Rensselaer County Attorney Stephen Pechenik, and Pechenik wrote back that he feels there is no violation of the Hatch Act.
Ungaro said he thought this kind of research should have been done before the appointment was made, and Higgins responded that Hoyt’s resume had come in late, not allowing time to look into such matters. Ungaro disputed that and seemed to feel the matter of Hoyt’s eligibility was settled. But Higgins said he is still actively seeking information about Hoyt’s eligibility for the Town Justice position. He said the issue is not the Hatch Act but Hoyt’s work on the “Juvenile Reform Team.” Higgins said, “He may have the same problem that Ed Bly had.”
The Homeless Man
There was more drama towards the end of the meeting when David Buckley stood up to make some comments and ended up in a dispute about his residency. He was brandishing papers which he said proved that he is a Grafton resident, and he demanded that Town Clerk Sue Putnam give him a Certificate of Residency. She said those are only done for HVCC students not for the general populace, and she said she will not do anything with Buckley’s papers. He tried to hand them to her anyway, but she would not take them, and they fell on the floor.
Rick Ungaro then said that he FOIL’ed the Board of Elections for Buckley’s paperwork declaring his residency and found that Buckley had declared himself to be living in front of 526 Madonna Lake Road, which is Ungaro’s house. Ungaro said he had not seen Buckley living there.
Apparently Buckley is the first person to register to vote in Grafton as a homeless resident of the Town. He said that he is living in his car on Madonna Lake Road. Buckley said although he sometimes stays at his house in Cropseyville in the Town of Brunswick, he intends to stay at least six months of the year in Grafton, either as a homeless person or at his father’s property in Grafton.
Grievance Day Moved
The Town Board did pass one resolution at this meeting. The Grafton Assessor can’t do Grievance Day on Tuesday when it has traditionally been held because he has commitments to other towns so the Board scheduled it for the first Wednesday after the fourth Tuesday in May. The motion passed 4-0-1. Marie Claus abstained because the resolution wasn’t given to her until just before the meeting, and she felt it was not necessary for it to be so last-minute.
Highway Report
Highway Superintendent Herb Hasbrouck said he has had many breakdowns and repairs of the Town trucks. Many of these repairs were done by the Highway crew in the Town Garage, which has saved the Town a lot of money that might have been spent if the trucks had been sent out for repairs. He commended his crew for their ability to get the trucks repaired and back out on the road. He also thanked all of his men, Jim Goyer, Ed Reddick, Jay Goyer and Jack Reinhard, for keeping things going when he was out sick.
He told the Board his priorities for road repairs, listing quite a few culverts that he plans to replace and upgrade when his crew is able to get to it. He said he plans to use his CHIPs money this year to pave Roxborough Road up to the Catholic Church and the north entrance to Babcock Lake.
Hasbrouck said the Highway Superintendents Association held an advocacy day at the State Capitol asking for an increase in CHIPs funding of $50 million and a $200 million fund for local bridges and culverts. He said both houses of the legislature are on board, but these sums may be cut down in the final budget negotiations with the Governor. “I believe we are going to get some extra money, but I don’t know how much,” he said.
Hasbrouck said he would like to have the Town Engineer get plans ready for replacing a box culvert on Jay Hakes Road that spans the Quackenkill Creek. It is too small, so the water backs up behind it during heavy rains, and the concrete is deteriorating, and the foundation is being undermined by scour.
Hasbrouck said he wants to have a “shovel ready” project set to go when the State aid for local bridges becomes available, so the Town will be in a good position to get funding for this project.
Hasbrouck said that this winter his department has used “almost double” the amount of sand and truck fuel that they use in a normal winter. He also said the Town’s 2003 Dodge Pickup has a broken axle and he wants to solicit bids in April to replace it with a used one ton truck.[/private]