by Thaddeus Flint
For the second month in a row, the monthly Board meeting in New Lebanon opened on a sad note, with the remembrance of yet another of those rare-and-getting-rarer citizens that makes a town so much more than just a town. Last month it was Assistant Fire Chief, Mark Sheline. This month it was Councilman Bruce Baldwin who passed away while on vacation in Australia on March 9.
[private]Baldwin first served on the Board from January 1986 through December 1987. He was then elected Supervisor and served from January 1988 through December 1995. In 2007 he was again elected to the Board as a Councilman where he served until his death.
“He was abrupt,” admitted his wife Jeanine Tonetti to a room full of residents who had all come to remember and honor Baldwin, “but he was coming from the heart.”
A whole Town Hall of people seemed to have a story of arguing and “butting heads” with Baldwin. But it was testament to Baldwin’s big heart for New Lebanon that everyone remembered these disputes, quarrels, and clashes with the cantankerous Councilman with fondness and smiles.
“I remember at Board meetings being a little scared at the way he would yell at the audience,” said the New Lebanon’s Code & Zoning Enforcement Officer Kent Pratt. “He was a valuable asset to the Town.”
“We came close to fistfights,” remembered Jeffrey Winestock, the Highway Superintendent. “He did care for the Town. He was a good man.”
“Bruce and I butted heads since back in the 80’s” said resident Joanna Johnson-Smith. “He stood up for what was right. It’s not going to be the same.”
“The common theme seems to be Bruce butting heads,” pointed out Councilman Matt Larabee who noted that as Spring slowly arrives, there will be an even better way to remember Baldwin. The landscaping of the outside of the Town Hall was “his pet project,” said Larabee. The plants will continue to flower and the trees to grow for a long time, and every time you drive by the Town Hall and see all this life, “we can remember him” said Larabee.
A public memorial for Councilman Baldwin is scheduled for Saturday, March 28 from 10 am to 1 pm at the New Lebanon High School Cafeteria.
The Board meeting, minus one, then went on. But it’s true, it wasn’t the same.
Nobody wants to buy the Town’s old gravel pit up on West Hill Road, at least at the price the Town would like to get for it. The Board had the lot appraised recently and the value came back at $7,000. The Board then put the lot out for bid with a minimum of $20,000 hoping somebody who really wanted a landlocked gravel pit would bite. Nobody bit. Based on that, it was decided, with all in favor, of once again putting the property back out for bid, but this time with a minimum of $7000. This doesn’t mean $7,001 will get you your own gravel pit with views of the Berkshires though. “We don’t have to accept it,” pointed out Councilman Chuck Geraldi.
It was also decided, with all in favor, of separating the Town Library’s portion of taxes on resident’s tax bills.
“This will demonstrate what aid and assistance you are giving to the Library,” said the Town’s attorney Andy Howard, who noted that this was just a “breakout of the bill” and would not be creating a separate tax district for the library. “Relations with the library would remain the same,” he said. Howard will go about drafting a local law that would encompass the changes. Currently, out of a General Fund for the Town of $318,403, explained Town Supervisor Mike Benson, the Library’s portion is $135,000.
Benson would also like the Board to figure out a way to save money when it comes to the Town’s banking. He noted that in January 2015 the Town paid $205.23 for mileage to make deposits, and bank fees. “This more than washes the interest we are being paid,” he said. Cutting down on trips may be a possible solution, as the mileage is currently costing New Lebanon around $85 a month. Electronic deposits, which Benson had hoped might be a solution, however are not allowed, according to the Town Clerk, Colleen Teal.
The Board would also like to keep track of finances when it comes to the Fire Department’s new building project. While it was thought that Councilman Geraldi had been appointed as the Fire Department Building Project Liaison, nobody could find any record of this officially happening. It has now happened.
“Be nice to me,” Geraldi asked of the Fire Department.
The supermarket-that-never-happens is once again surfacing, along with the mud, in New Lebanon. According to Councilman Dan Evans, the Economic Development Liaison, Max Gitter and the Economic Development Committee are “making progress” on getting a market of some type in the Town. There is some talk, which was confirmed by ZEO Pratt, that the OTB building is thinking of relocating closer to NAPA. This could free up a larger space across the street which would be more attractive for a supermarket should one ever again set their sights on New Lebanon.
Pratt also noted that two other interesting lots might soon be on the market. One is the Donnelly house, the historic building next door to the Town Hall. The owner was looking for around $150,000 a few years ago, but now he is “motivated to sell,” said Pratt.
“Tell him we will trade him a land fill,” joked Benson.
The old truck trailer graveyard owned by Vincent Murray, on the south side of Route 20 just after the Ski Lodge Mobile Home Park and before Country Squire Supply, is also expected to come up for sale. While it is known there are various drums filled with various liquids stored there, it is not known exactly what all those liquids might be. The Fire Department inspected some open drums back in the ‘80’s and didn’t seem to think it was New Lebanon’s own Love Canal, and the DEC has not filed any citations against the property so it might be a real catch for someone looking for property that has that post-apocalyptic look so in demand these days.
The night ended with thoughts of Spring – “It’s mud season,” sighed Winestock, who is doing his best to keep the roads drivable. He said that next year the problems with mud on West Hill Road should be remedied. Bill Banker, who lives on that road, noted that it would be less of a problem if kids in big jeeps with light bars attached would stop “ripping it up” whenever it got muddy enough to make ripping it up a lot of fun. Banker said he thought that the Supervisor’s son was one of the ripper-uppers. Banker said he understood the thrill of it, “I did the same thing when I was a kid”, he admitted, but that thrill is now long gone for residents who just want to get up and down their road without drowning in the mud.
For those whose thrill it is to chase a fluffy yellow ball around a square of green concrete with a stringed racket, however, the future is beginning to brighten.
Councilman Evans is going to prepare a signature form that will allow those residents who desire to use the tennis courts in Shatford Park to be counted. The courts are currently in abysmal shape.
“People used to use them all the time,” said Recreation Commission member Katherine Levitan, “but they aren’t using them now because they are a hazard.”
“We are going to get to it in the next 60 days,” promised Benson. Money is already budgeted and the matter will be studied. “But we are not going to spend it unwisely,” he added.
Resident Phyllis Hulbert (who was appointed that night, along with Katherine Heatley to act as New Lebanon’s members on the Columbia County Office for the Aging Advisory Council) asked that should the courts ever be successfully rebuilt, they be dedicated to Councilman Baldwin. Baldwin had ended last month’s meeting, in true Baldwin style, with the recommendation that the courts be “bulldozed” if they aren’t fixed forthwith.[/private]