Berlin Town Board Replaces Troublesome Highway Department Truck
By Doug La Rocque
Highway Superintendent Jim Winn told the Board earlier this month at their regular meeting about his Ford F550, on which he has spent over $30,000 in repairs, continues to break down. [private]He asked the Board to consider replacing it, indicating he had enough money left over from last year’s budget to cover the cost. At their monthly workshop meeting on Thursday February 23, the Board agreed to a four-year lease for a new Dodge 5500, the total cost of the vehicle after putting a sander and plow on it coming in at $60,159. Because it is a lease and not a purchase, the Town did not have to go through a competitive bidding process.
Town Supervisor Rob Jaeger urged the board to move quickly, expressing his feelings about the safety of the employees driving it. The new truck was leased from Stevens Chrysler Jeep Dodge of Greenwich, with the option to assume ownership after the term of the lease. As to the F550, Winn said it has broken down again.
Carbon Filters For
The Water District
The work by private contractors hired by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to install filters at the pump house is progressing. Jim Winn, Water District 2 Commissioner, said there has to be a bypass of the system in case of some sort of failure, to ensure a continued water flow to the village residents. He said at this meeting that the design for this bypass is now complete and is in the process of being installed.
Supervisor Jaeger said he has received an e-mail from DEC assuring the Town that it will not be responsible for any of the maintenance costs of the filtration system.
Kevin Young, the attorney hired by the Town to guide them in their dealings with DEC as it pertains to the former dump shared by Berlin and Petersburgh, which is now leaching PFOA into waterways that flow into the Little Hoosic River, is again urging the Town to look deeper for any proof of insurance policies the town might have had for liability from the 1970s. Some of these policies have been located for the 1960s.Young told the Board last year, that such policies might have contained clauses that help cover the Town from any financial or legal repercussions.
Berlin has completed negotiations for a new one-year contract with the United Public Service Employees Union, that represents the Town Highway Department employees. Supervisor Jaeger said the agreement calls for a one dollar per hour pay increase. When negotiations started last year, Town Board members discussed their inability to attract well qualified workers because of the pay structure. All other provisions of the previous contract remain in place.
In Other Business:
• The Board agreed to change the fee structure for garbage bags being brought to the transfer station. It was noted that some people were stuffing several smaller bags into one large bag to avoid an extra fee. The new fee structure charges one ticket for 30 gallon bags, two tickets for 40 to 55 gallon bags and three tickets for the large contractor bags 65 gallons and up.
• Supervisor Jaeger read a letter from Grafton Town Supervisor Ingrid Gundrum, asking for a joint meeting of officials from Grafton, Berlin and Petersburgh to talk about the ambulance systems in the towns and specifically the number of times the ambulance corps have not been able to respond to emergency calls. Jaeger said he would be willing to attend such a meeting, but pointed out the Berlin Fire Company would have to take the lead, as they are the sole owners of the ambulance. In both Grafton and Petersburgh, the ambulance corps are their own entities, but they receive funding from the town.
Rensselaer County has already held such a session that included the towns of Brunswick and Poestenkill, looking into the cost of hiring a paid ambulance service to cover the more rural areas of the county.
• The Board received a letter from Bonita Maxon, expressing dismay that she was not reappointed to the Planning Board. Supervisor Jaeger said the action was taken on the recommendation of the Planning Board, which cited in their letter Maxon’s lack of attendance at meetings. [/private]