by Alex Brooks
At the Grafton Town Board meeting on Monday Highway Superintendent Herb Hasbrouck said there was an incident with one of the Town trucks about a month ago. A Town 2000 International single axle dump truck was forced off the road by a reckless driver in a car, and the truck rolled over onto its side. The insurance company declared the truck unrepairable, so it must be replaced. The Town Board voted unanimously to seek bids for a replacement truck immediately.
[private]Hasbrouck also said the motor went on his other single axle dump truck. It is now in the shop being evaluated, but he does not yet have an estimate of what it would cost to repair the engine.
Hasbrouck said the Highway Department used a total of 4,000 yards of sand on the roads this winter. The average use of road sand in past winters has been about 3,200 yards.
In response to a question from Town Supervisor Frank Higgins, Hasbrouck said the State has increased the amount of CHIPS money it will be giving to the Towns for road improvements. Hasbrouck said he believes the campaign conducted by the Highway Superintendents Association to increase the CHIPS money was effective. The increase statewide was $40 million. Grafton will be getting $13,000 additional this year.
Transfer Station Sharing
Supervisor Higgins said he was approached by Petersburgh Supervisor Siegfried Krahforst about the possibility of having Petersburgh share use of the Grafton recycling and garbage facilities. The Board scheduled a special meeting for Saturday morning, April 26, at 10 am to discuss that and to discuss the Highway Department’s equipment needs. The Board will also open the bids for the replacement truck at that meeting.
Library Presentation
Library Director Christian Collins, who has been in the job for about six months, made a presentation about the Grafton Public Library. He said he is developing a vision for the Library and is eager to hear from the public about their needs and wants. He developed the theme that the public library has become much more than just books. He cited figures demonstrating rising usage in many areas, such as use of the public computers with internet access and free wi-fi for computers or mobile devices available at the library, checking out of DVDs and audio books and free downloads of ebooks. He said he would like the Library to be “a place of community connection” and toward that end discussed the many public programs put on by the Library, from lectures to music to storytelling, book groups to coupon clipper groups. He urged Grafton residents who have ideas or suggestions for things the Library could do to get in touch with him.
TRACS Presentation
The girls from the Berlin School Youth to Youth program, Jordan, Lindsay, Rachel and Amanda spoke to the Board about their efforts to reduce drug and alcohol use among teens in their school. Their group was formed after a 2008 survey found drug and alcohol use in the Berlin District “disturbingly high.” They try to raise awareness of the dangers of using drugs and alcohol and sponsor drug free teen events to provide what they term “pro-social alternatives.” One of the highlights of their year is Eastern States Conference at which they can get together with teens from other schools across the Eastern U.S. who are doing similar programs, and get ideas for drug-free activities and initiatives and make new friends with people from other places. For a number of years the $425 per student that it costs to attend was covered by a grant, but last year the grant ran out, and the students had to raise money for the cost of attending the conference. They raised enough to send eight students to the conference.
Biffy Cahill, the President of the TRACS group, spoke briefly at the end of the presentation to emphasize that the programs that have been put in place in the Berlin District are working. The 2008 survey found the Berlin District to have the highest drug and alcohol usage in Rensselaer County, and the 2012 survey found the Berlin District to have the second lowest drug and alcohol usage in Rensselaer County.
Other Business
The Board heard that NYSDEC had been named the “lead agency” for consideration of the Valente Mine permit modification, although the Town of Grafton had expressed a desire to be the “lead agency.”
The Board unanimously approved having Highway Superintendent Herb Hasbrouck attend “highway school” at Cornell in June at a cost not to exceed $1,000.
The Board approved moving grievance day from Tuesday to Wednesday, because of the Assessor’s conflicts with grievance days in other towns where he is the assessor. It will be on Wednesday, May 28, this year.
Public Comment
Cathy Goyer asked if the Board had tried to get the playground equipment from the Grafton School for local kids to play on. Higgins and Councilwoman Barbara Messenger said they have not pursued it because “there are problems with that equipment.” This was not the answer Goyer wanted to hear, and she continued to argue for acquiring the playground equipment.
The meeting was adjourned in loving memory of Pat Ryan.[/private]