New Records Room Is Finished
At the January 15 meeting of the Petersburgh Town Board, Town Clerk Deidra Michaels said the construction work on the Records Room in the basement has been completed except for the shelves. Once the shelves are in all of the Town records will have a new home.
There is some construction remaining to be done in the Town Hall. There are some open walls in the basement that need insulation and sheetrock, the upstairs hallway needs new flooring and the front door will be replaced. But Supervisor Webster said he would like to get better figures on what all this is going to cost before proceeding.
Grant For Court
Town Justice Amy Manchester said a grant has been awarded for improvements to the Courtroom in the Town Hall in the amount of $8,500. She said the biggest part of it is installation of a glass window for paying fines near the entrance to the courtroom. This will cost $6,500 (she said it is expensive because the glass is bullet-proof) and the remainder is for shutters for the windows.
Town Supervisor Alan Webster said he believes Covanta is just about ready to respond to the Town’s claim that the company is responsible for the failure of its predecessor company Energy Answers to install a leachate collection system at the landfill when it contracted to close the landfill in the 1990s. He said Petersburgh’s environmental attorney Kevin Young has been in touch with Covanta this week and hopes to have an answer soon.
Webster also said that Taconic has been reviewing for the past month the Town’s latest request for reimbursement of PFOA-related costs and he expects a response from them very soon.
Webster also said Town Councilman Dennis Smith has agreed to be Deputy Supervisor, and the appointment was approved by the Town Board. Webster thanked Smith for taking on the additional responsibilities.
Water District Superintendent Ben Krahforst was not present at the meeting, but his report said that keeping the water from freezing was the big issue this month. He ran Well #2 twenty-four hours per day during the cold snap, which succeeded in keeping ice from forming, but put a strain on that well. Krahforst reported air in the system and a diminished yield from Well #2 by January 8.
Krahforst said Cedarwood Engineering has designed a temporary bubbler system to prevent ice formation and, once it is approved by State authorities, it can be installed.
Town Attorney Dave Gruenberg said exemptions for Cold War veterans that were approved in Petersburgh in 2008 will be expiring this year, so if the Town Board wants to continue them it has to act. The Board appeared to be inclined to renew them. Gruenberg said he would prepare a resolution to that effect for next month’s meeting, and a Public Hearing was scheduled on the matter for Monday, February 19 at 6:45 pm, just prior to the regular Town Board meeting.
Tim Church said the PVMCC has purchased a screen and projector so they can show movies at the Hall and has learned that PVMCC must pay a licensing fee for any kind of public performance of movies, which he believes will be about $85 per event. He said PVMCC will go forward with showing movies, but perhaps not as many as they had hoped originally.
Church also asked about the dog shelter building behind the Town Hall. He said people had expressed interest in buying it, believing that the Town is no longer using it. Supervisor Webster responded, “the State loves that building.” He said State authorities are pointing to it as an example for other towns to follow. He said the building will remain as a shelter where the Dog Control Officer can keep dogs temporarily when necessary.
There was some discussion of street lights out and efforts to get them fixed. Webster said he thinks there are about 12 street lights out at present.