Grafton Plans Dedication Ceremony For Long Time Town Clerk And Begins Infrastructure Improvements
By Doug La Rocque
The Grafton Town Board has finalized its plans to honor former Town Clerk Sue Putnam for her more than 30 years of service to the people of Grafton. [private] On Saturday, May 20, the Town will officially dedicate the gazebo in the Town Park in her honor. One of Sue’s favorite plants, a burning bush, will also be planted.
Putnam retired at the end of her term in 2015 for health reasons. The ceremony will be held at 11 am, and all residents of Grafton and the Taconic Valley whose lives Sue touched, are welcome to attend.
Some of Grafton’s infrastructure problems have been well documented in recent months, and the Town Board plans to meet in a workshop session on May 22 at 6:30 pm to further discuss its plans to correct the problems. Some of the work has already been completed, such as the repairs to a portion of the Town Hall roof where tires have been holding down a section of shingling. The entrance decking has been re-painted and the building pressure washed. This has been completed by Jim Goyer, who has many other tasks around the municipal complex he is looking to attend to.
Still to be addressed are major improvements needed to the highway garage and to town equipment. Town councilman Eric Buckley is also working on having a Wi-Fi extender placed in the garage to handle the soon to be installed computerized time clock, as well as providing smart phone data service in the structure.
Still No Word On The Ambulance Grant
It has been two state budget cycles since State Senator Kathy Marchione announced she had secured a $150,000 grant to replace the Grafton Rescue Squad’s aging vehicle. Town Supervisor Ingrid Gundrum said she has recently sent e-mails to the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY), which administers such grants, but is no longer getting an answer as to its status. DASNY has previously told the Supervisor they are waiting on Governor Cuomo to direct his budget office to release the money. The Governor’s office has recently been holding meetings around the state with localities about stepping up shared services. While the ambulance might not be the center of such discussions, Gundrum did indicate it might become part of such an endeavor. She wrote the supervisors of Petersburgh and Berlin about holding talks to consolidate each town’s respective emergency medical services, and indicates she has had some talks with Supervisor Webster of Petersburgh on this subject.
Revisions To
Camping Law
Town resident David Buckley has been pushing for changes to the law that does not currently allow the overnight use of campers in the town unless placed in an approved campground, without a variance granted by the Town Board. Councilwoman Allison Kirschner has drafted a proposed change to the law, but told the Board she has not yet heard back from Town Attorney Sal Ferlazzo as to its legality. She indicated she would pursue the matter with him this week. In the meantime, Buckley plans to file a request for a variance with the Town Clerk, and asked for a special meeting to consider it. The Board decided it would convene at 6 pm on the evening of May 22, prior to its workshop, to discuss and possibly approve the proposal.
More State Money
For Grafton Roads
Highway Superintendent Herb Hasbrouck said the Town will receive the same amount of CHIPs money this year from New York State as it did last, but with the addition once again of Pave New York dollars and winter storm aid, the Town is looking at $160,000 for road improvement projects this year. Hasbrouck also indicated the application is complete for an additional $26,000 in FEMA money for the cleanup of the March 14 blizzard, labeled as Winter Storm Stella. It’s not known when an answer on the application may be forthcoming.
Hasbrouck has indicated he would like to discuss the scope and location of these projects with the Town Board soon. He also said the Town was able to purchase a significant amount of gravel and stone dust from the Callanan Industries mine on the west side of the town. Because Callanan is now leasing its operation to Troy Sand & Gravel, it needed to sell off its stockpiles. The Town was able to purchase the material at four dollars a ton, and have it delivered for only two dollars a ton more. Hasbrouck said some of this will be used as they attempt to put roads back in shape after the winter, but the rainy spring is definitely hampering their efforts. One of the roads recently completed was Kautz Hollow Road, the condition of which was brought before the Board recently by a resident of the road, Doug Pratt. Pratt wrote the Town Board to express his thanks to the highway department for the work.
In other department reports, Building and Codes Enforcement Officer Tom Withcuskey said he has 15 new building permits out to date, and wished to remind all residents the state no longer allows any unlicensed vehicles on private property unless kept in a garage or another type of building. He did mention a number of people in the town have some sort of plow vehicle, and he would deal with this on a case by case basis.
Withcuskey also oversees the operation of the town’s recycling center, and wished to thank Jody Deschaine for her many years of hard work at the facility. Deschaine has moved on to a career in the restaurant business. Withcuskey said, “Saturday mornings here just won’t be the same.”
Town Clerk Vicky Burdick reported she turned over $3,238 in revenue to the Town for the month of April. Grafton Lakes State Park reported work is progressing on the Waste Treatment Plant and the new Welcome Center. The Park will start charging six dollars a car this weekend, with the price going to eight dollars when the beach opens on Memorial Day Weekend. Grafton Community Library Director Ronnie Tatro spoke of their ongoing programs, of the very long waiting list to view the Oscar Award winning movie Lala Land. She also said the library will announce the winner of the contest to help conceive the cover and title of Grafton resident Bill Middleton’s latest children’s book this week. Dog Control Officer Vicky Burdick said she had three calls in April, one for a barking dog and two stand-bys for matters involving law enforcement.
Supervisor Gundrum said the first of the Military Tribute banners being sponsored by the Taconic Valley American Legion has gone up at the corner of Route 2 and South Road. It commemorates the WWII service of Grafton resident Charles Minkler Sr. She indicated several more will be going up around town soon. The Grafton VFW post also presented a similar program to the Board two months ago, but she says she has heard nothing more about it. The meeting concluded with a presentation by the TRACS, Youth 2 Youth program, asking the town for $425 dollars more to help send a Grafton resident to their Eastern State Training Conference in July. The group is made up of Berlin Jr.-Sr. High School students who develop programs and work with their peers to deal with such social pressures as drugs, alcohol, tobacco and self-esteem.
When the program started back in 2008, the Berlin School District had the highest instances of such abuse in Rensselaer County. In 2016, the school now had the lowest reported instances of abuse. Following the presentation, David Buckley made a $50-dollar donation to the program.
The Board wrapped up the meeting by going into executive session to discuss a personnel matter and adjourned in memory of Caroline Boomhower, who recently passed away at the age of 102, and was believed to be the oldest resident of the town. Also memorialized on their recent passing were Michael Morrow and Larry Jensen, a onetime building inspector for the Grafton. [/private]