by Kieron Kramer
The only points of interest at the two minute long Grafton Planning Board meeting on St. Patrick’s Day, Monday, March 17, was what didn’t happen at the meeting – especially since nothing happened at the meeting. The meeting started early at 6:58 pm with Planning Board members Pete Gundrum, Owen Grandjean, Jim Goyer and Chairman Tom Withcuskey present. There was no one present from the public.
The Board reviewed and then voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the February 24 meeting and public hearing. Then Chairman Withcuskey announced that he had been in touch with the attorney for AT&T who informed him that they are “still putting their application package together,” according to Withcuskey. AT&T has to apply for a site plan review for modifications to its cell tower at 38 Radio Tower Way. Radio Tower Way runs off of Snyder Road. They want to place three new antennas on the tower to upgrade the signal to 4G LTE. AT&T had withdrawn its application before last month’s meeting, and it was to be on the agenda at the March 17 meeting if they had their paperwork done. Now it is being postponed until the next Planning Board meeting on April 21.
Hearing Nothing More
Withcuskey also announced that he had “heard nothing” about the site plan review required for the change of use at the R.J. Valente mine on Route 2 near the Brunswick Town line. According to Withcuskey, Valente has not begun the site plan review process as required by the Town and the Commissioner of the DEC has not ruled on which agency, the DEC or the Grafton Planning Board, will be the lead agency in the NYS Environmental Quality Review process (SEQR). Or, perhaps, the DEC has not informed Withcuskey of its decision, which he expected before this meeting.