Big Bucks For Big Trucks And Other Things
By Thaddeus Flint
In the words of Councilman Bill Jennings, there was a lot of “money out the door” at the May 21 meeting of the Stephentown Town Board, with the Town buying a new truck, paying for tons upon tons of stone and writing checks for yet another round of substantial legal bills.
A new truck for the Highway Department was the largest purchase of the night, with a total price tag of $217,194. Of that, $117, 230 will go toward a 2019 International 6X4 tandem axle truck cab and chassis. “Take a deep breath,” said Town Supervisor Larry Eckhardt before the Board voted with all in favor of sending that money out the door and over to Navistar, Inc.
Eckhardt noted that the new truck will be equipped with a stainless steel body that should last longer in the harsh salty environment of upstate New York winters. Stephentown currently has one smaller truck with a stainless body that Highway Superintendent Aldi Goodermote says is holding up well. “It doesn’t rust out, we just keep rebuilding it,” said Goodermote. The downside of stainless is that stainless is expensive. However, the Board felt it would be money well spent, unanimously approving $99,964 to go toward the trucks’ body, sander, plow and hydraulic system which will be installed by Zwack, Inc. With all that money now spent toward keeping the Town’s roads roadworthy, the news that the Highway Department’s loader might also have to be replaced, was not exactly encouraging. “It’s discouraging,” agreed the Highway Superintendent. The Case loader has less than 3,000 hours on it and “shouldn’t be a problem.” However, “honestly, it has been a problem since day one,” added Goodermote. The loader is especially problematic during the winter months, that period of time when the loader is needed the most. Currently nobody knows what the problem is, even the people attempting to fix the machine whose job it is to know what the problem is. The mystery only jacks up repair bills even more and Goodermote estimates the latest invoice will probably be in the area of $10,000. This leaves Stephentown in its own “Catch-22” said Goodermote, of continually paying to fix something which may never be completely fixed, or shoving even more money out the door to buy a new one. Estimated price tag for a new loader: $220,000. “Want to buy a used loader?” asked Goodermote. Nobody wanted to buy his used loader.
Anyone who has driven past the Highway Garage lately has probably noticed the small mountains of stone that have been growing there. If only there were a loader to move it around with. Those mountains cost residents $13,205. Apparently some residents are of the belief that since they paid for it, it’s theirs, because a large cardboard sign recently appeared on the side of the largest mountain telling residents to keep away from the stone. Even though the total weight of the stone adds up to 1,134 tons, every stone counts in Stephentown.
The other notable expenses of the night were the Town’s legal bills, which if they were being graphed in comparison to the budgeted amount for the year, would be a line off the chart, up the wall, and onto the ceiling. For those keeping score at home, you can add $11,110 to that ever-growing total, with $1,370 going toward union matters of the Highway Department’s three employees, and $9,740 more for the Hanson/Baker/ZBA matters. And the total is going to continue its journey off that graph, perhaps even across the ceiling, out the door with the rest of the money, and maybe even up a flag pole or whatever else is the highest point nearby one could plot a line on. The Board voted, with all in favor, of authorizing a defense of the latest litigation the Town and the Zoning Board of Appeals is facing—filed on April 26 — this time by Thomas and Debra Hanson in a move that comes as a surprise to absolutely nobody. “Same people, same hourly rates,” said Supervisor Eckhardt.
Residents who dream about taking part in such epic and expensive battles with their fellow residents and neighbors are in luck. Planning Board member Tom Morelli has submitted his resignation after an astounding amount of time—Eckhardt thought it was close to 18 years of unpaid service—on that Board due to personal responsibilities which require much more of his time. While the Planning Board does currently have an alternate, “the alternate might want to stay the alternate,” noted Councilman PJ Roder. Who could blame him? The vacant position will be advertised and anyone with an interest in working long hours for no pay and less recognition should contact the Town Clerk for details.
On a smaller level when it comes to planning and zoning, or just keeping the Town neat and tidy, Councilman Jennings is asking residents who put up lawn signs along the roadways advertising events, or sales, or candidates, or whatever message it is they feel needs to be conveyed, to please be considerate. Don’t just leave the signs up forever. When the event is over, kindly come back and retrieve your signs instead of waiting for them to be run over or blown onto the wayside where they can sit for months before somebody is caring enough to come along and pick up the litter. The small junction at the corners of Routes 43 & 22 is an especially popular place that is often neglected when it comes to speedy sign clean-up.
Speeding and Old Memories
Getting the speed limit at that stretch of Route 22 lowered to 45 miles-an-hour, as well as a few other roads in Town, was also discussed. Residents have been asking about slowing things down for some time now and the matter is slated to go to a resolution at the June Board meeting. A passed resolution on the slowing will then be submitted to NYSDOT who will most likely act upon it–slowly, very slowly. “We might not get anywhere,” said Councilman Jennings, “but it all starts with a resolution.” The irony that some of the townspeople now looking to get lower speed limits on the very roads they used as racetracks back when they were young and fearless was remarked upon by the Highway Superintendent. “Remember? Remember?” laughed Goodermote, as he told stories of driving 130 miles-an-hour on roads now proposed for 40 miles-an-hour, jumping through ditches Duke-of-Hazard style, and “burning the tires off an automobile” back in the days when Stephentown was a livelier town to live in. “This is some show to watch,” said Goodermote.