by Alex Brooks
The regular Petersburgh Town Board meeting began, as it often does, with comments from Tom Berry. He began by asking why the Gradall has not been repaired and is now being sold off. He asserted that the swing motor on it could be repaired for under $2,000 and asked why it wasn’t repaired. He wondered how the Town is going to do ditching and culvert replacement without it.
Town Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison was not present to respond, but Tim Church, who is on the highway oversight committee, said the Gradall is an obsolete piece of equipment and it’s so old that nobody wants to work on it.
[private]Berry then said that he has been told by many long time citizens of Petersburgh that the roads have been improved dramatically over the years. He said a lot of the credit for that goes to Earl Brock and Ray Harrison. He said he drove around most of the roads in Town recently and found that most roads are in good shape, but some are not. He asked why the roads that need maintenance and improvement have not been done and, more generally, what has the Highway Department been doing?
Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison was not present to respond to these questions, but Berry’s comments elicited a great deal of exasperation from Town Supervisor Siegfried Krahforst. He said he thought Berry is on a “vendetta” against the Highway Department and his constant FOIL requests are tying up the Town secretaries and costing the Town money, and some of those requests he called “really ridiculous.”
Krahforst said, “As of today I am ignoring your comments. I am not going to answer your questions anymore.”
Former Town Board Member David Alderman said he didn’t think it was legal for Krahforst to take such an attitude. Town Attorney Sal Ferlazzo said, “You need to listen to the public but you don’t need to respond immediately.” He said the Board should avoid back and forth argument but should listen and consider the things that citizens have to say.
Equipment Bids
The Town opened bids for surplus equipment offered for sale by the Highway Department.
For the John Deere tractor, Murray Saunders offered $1,550 and Jamie Smith offered $1,200. For the Gradall, Erwin Greene offered $1,851. With Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison not present, the Board did not say whether they would accept any of these bids. They did say that the motor on the Gradall is nearly new, and they might be able to get more for it by selling the motor separately and then selling the rest of it for scrap. Later in the meeting Tom Berry put in a bid for the Gradall for $3,013. The published request for bids said bids had to be in by July 21 and didn’t mention any time so technically his bid was not past any deadline. But its coming in after the other bids were opened sparked a discussion of whether it could be accepted or not. After discussion, the Board decided to accept Berry’s bid.
Youth Program Report
A letter from Sherry Bowman-Kluck was received updating the Board on the latest news about the Summer Youth Program. The biggest news was that a learn-to-swim program was set up at the last moment through negotiations with the Grafton Lakes State Park. Lessons were given from 9 to 10 in the morning for two weeks at the main beach on Long Pond. Thirty-seven children participated in the recreation program for the first three weeks from June 30 to July 18, and 25 children enrolled in the swim program for two weeks from July 21 to August 1. Kluck’s letter referred to a County/State grant of $2,000 received by the Town to be spent towards the cost of the summer program. This apparently came with a mandate requiring that the counselors be paid at least $8 per hour. Some had been hired on the basis of a stipend which amounted to less than the mandated pay, so this increased the program’s cost.
A meeting to review the summer program’s finances was called for this week, but details were not available at this writing.
Planning Board Report
Planning Board Vice-Chairman Tim Church reminded the public that the Planning Board still has a vacancy, and is looking for a citizen willing to be appointed to a seat on the Planning Board.
He also noted that the Planning Board is engaged in Site Plan Review for the expansion of Taconic, and a Public Hearing on that matter is scheduled for Monday, July 28, at 7:30 pm. Taconic is planning a new building of 10,600 square feet and a new 92 space parking lot.
The Planning Board has completed a revised set of Subdivision Regulations and submitted them to the Town Board for consideration and possible adoption. Church said the Planning Board has been working on these updated regulations with Planning Board attorney Denis King for several years. Town attorney Sal Ferlazzo said a Public Hearing should be scheduled to present the new regulations to the public and to hear comments on them from the public. The Board scheduled a Public Hearing on the revised Subdivision Regulations and the new Road Specifications for Monday, August 18, at 6 pm.
The Saga Of Reynolds Road
Church also spoke to the Board about Reynolds Road. It was originally a Town road which became a State road when Route 22 was built in 1921. But in the 1960s, when Route 22 was improved and straightened, the State deeded the land on which the Road sits to the County but turned maintenance of the road over to the Town. In recent years, the Hewitt family asked the Town to abandon the road because they didn’t want a public way running through their property, but this plan had to be changed when the Hewitts subdivided in order to sell the tillable land to David Green. With two landowners there now, Reynolds Road was needed for access to one of the parcels. The Town would still like to abandon the road but must sort out access issues and the County’s ownership first. Town attorney Sal Ferlazzo asked Church to give him a copy of the recent Hewitt subdivision, and he would get together with the County Attorney Stephen Pechenik to try to sort the matter out.
Michaels Appointed Town Clerk
The Board appointed Deidra Michaels as Town Clerk from now until the next election. They also appointed her as the Town Registrar and Brigitta Schmidt as Deputy Registrar.
Emergency Contractors
Former Town Councilman David Alderman asked the Board if they had ever solicited bids from emergency contractors, so they would have prices in advance from contractors that they might need to hire on short notice. Krahforst said yes, he had sent letters to 16 contractors that he found in the yellow pages, inviting them to submit bids for their services so they would be on an approved list of contractors to call in an emergency. Only one of them submitted a bid. Alderman said he thought the bid solicitation should have been advertised in the paper. He called the bid process “biased” and asked the Board to do it again in a more open way.[/private]