by Alex Brooks
The issue receiving the most attention at this month’s Grafton Town Board meeting was revaluations that have been done by Grafton’s new Assessor, David Galarneau. At public comment time at the beginning of the meeting, local realtor Gary Charlton spoke at length and in detail about what a “flawed document” the tentative assessment roll is. [private]He said 60% of the properties have had their value changed, and 40% are at the old value. He said when a large percentage of the properties in a town are re-assessed, they should all be re-assessed. He said it is “arbitrary and capricious” to put 60% of the properties at a new value, and leave others alone. Charlton said the Assessor did not have the time, the staff, or the ability to accurately evaluate 988 properties in such a short time.
Charlton said he was concerned that the Town might be sued under Article 78 because of these assessment changes, and felt that the Town would be likely to lose in court. He urged the Town Board to do something about the situation before they are forced to spend money paying for “legal defense in a losing case.”
Pat Ivory also spoke about the changes made by the Assessor, and expressed the opinion that Mr Galarneau does not understand real estate values in Grafton.
A little later in the meeting the Board went into executive session to discuss “a personnel matter.”
When they came back into the room, Town Attorney Sal Ferlazzo said he plans to meet with Assessor Galarneau before Grievance Day to talk with him about how to defend the changes he has made. Ferlazzo said there may be “an awful lot of people” grieving their assessments this year.
The Town Board asked Ferlazzo to attend Grievance Day, and agreed to hire a secretary to record and transcribe the proceedings.
Code Enforcement
Code Enforcement Officer Tom Withcuskey said he has been talking with Rich Elder at the County Health Department about their acceptance of peat septic systems, which often can be used successfully on a small footprint, or in soils where a conventional system won’t work. Elder said the County does not like to approve these systems because they feel they need to be inspected annually, and the County does not have the resources to do those inspections. Withcuskey suggested that the Town of Grafton might be able to do the inspections so that it would be feasible for the County to approve the use of peat systems, since Grafton has many situations where small lot size, poor soils, or proximity to a lake make conventional systems problematic. He suggested that the Town Board discuss the matter and consider the possibilities.
Land Donation
The Town Board accepted a donation of land from Wayne and Heidi Crandall consisting of the land under Bailey Road. It is a strip of land 50’ wide that amounts to about 2½ acres. There are a few places where the road does not exactly follow this parcel of land, and the resolution accepting the donation noted that the Town is not undertaking to move the road so that it stays on the donated parcel. The donation was accepted by a vote of 4-0, with Mike Crandall abstaining.
Grafton Festival
A letter was received from John Darling asking permission for Our Lady of the Snow Parish to use the Town Park again for the Grafton Summer Festival, to be held on July 18. A resolution was passed granting permission. Herb Hasbrouck said the people organizing the Festival should be aware that last year people drove cars in the park on top of the septic system, and also caused damage while driving tent stakes into the ground, and they should take steps to make sure those things don’t happen again.
Camping Regulation
At the public comment time at the end of the meeting, David Buckley noted that an effort to update the Town’s regulations about camping and camping vehicles has “fallen by the wayside.” He said people should not have to come to the town for permission to camp out on their own property, and asked that someone on the board take the lead on this issue.
The Supervisor thanked him for his comment, but no one commented on whether they wanted to take up the issue again or not.
In other matters:
• The Board approved purchase of a new truck body for one of the Town trucks, at a cost of $17,123. This bid from Tarco was the lowest of four bids received by the Town.
• The Board approved purchase of metal roofing materials for the Town Garage from Paulson Lumber for $8,431, which was the lowest of three bids.
• The Board approved a contract with National Grid to install more efficient lighting fixtures in the Senior Center and the Post Office to save on electric bills. The contract required an outlay from the Town of $3,332 for the Senior Center and $971 for the Post Office.
• Councilman Rick Ungaro made a motion to have the Town buy BAS town clerk software. The cost would be $1,000 plus $480 for installation and training, and there is a smaller annual fee after that. Assistant Town Clerk Cathy Goyer again made the case for buying the software, but Ungaro could not get a second to his motion, so it was tabled.[/private]