by Alex Brooks
At the Petersburgh Town Board meeting this week, Architect Dave Sadowsky gave an update on the progress of the Veterans Memorial Hall renovation project and proposed some additional capital improvement projects to be undertaken this year.
The roofing project is completed. Interior renovations are in progress now. Sadowsky estimates that the work is about 65% complete.
The roofing work came to about $50,600. The General construction contract is for $105,875, the heating/AC work is $15,500 and architectural fees will be about $16,190, which all adds up to $188,186 spent to date.
Sadowsky proposed $33,300 worth of additional work, including exterior painting for $3,500-$5,500, floor refinishing for $9,600, 12” additional attic insulation for $10,000, replacement of a broken “actuated damper” for $3,500, lighting for the Observation Post for $2,500 and some additional carpentry work around the building for $2,200. Some of these figures are just preliminary estimates and may not be accurate.
Funding for this work would be available from $11,800 that is not yet spoken for of the original $200,000 bonding and an additional $50,000 from a grant from Senator Bruno, announced a few months ago. The Board approved going forward with this work by a unanimous vote of the three Board members present – Supervisor Hubbard and Councilpersons Richard Snyder and Amy Manchester. Bill Seel, who last month said he would like to see the Bruno grant used towards the existing scope of work rather than for additional projects, arrived later in the meeting. Councilman Broadwell was not present at this meeting.
Susan Nelsen, President of the Petersburgh Veterans Memorial Community Center, presented the Board with PVMCC’s budget projections for 2009 and made two requests for funding from the Town.
The PVMCC’s expenses include $1,050 for Director’s Liability insurance, $2,300 for janitorial services, $1,350 for supplies, $540 for Scheduling Coordinator and about $7,500 for utilities, for a total of $12,740. Utilities include $500 for phone, $500 for water, $1,500 for electricity, and $5,000 for heating oil. Estimated income based on 2007 income was $13,500.
Nelsen conveyed the request of the PVMCC for assistance with the fuel bill.
Nelsen also made a budget request for $2,200 additional in the Youth Commission budget to cover youth programming other than the summer program. She noted that in the past the Youth Commission sponsored activities all year round but now does only the summer program because the cost of the summer program has gone up and now consumes the entire budget. The request for additional funding was broken out in this way: Teen Night Program Director, 12 programs, 5 hours at $15/hr for $900, plus 10 school vacation programs, 5 hours at $15/hr for $750 and 40 hours of Program Administration, doing paperwork and writing grant proposals, raising the possibility that some or all of this cost might be paid by grant awards. The Board agreed to take these requests under advisement when they start putting together the budget for next year, about a month from now.
Nelsen also again asked the Board to pay the PVMCC’s voucher for rental of the Memorial Hall this year. This voucher is for a total of $1,400, $1,000 for the summer youth program and $400 for the seniors. Because this money was budgeted for this year and the Town has been paying it for a long time, the Board voted to go ahead and pay it at this meeting. Bill Seel had not yet arrived when this vote was taken, and when he learned of it at the end of the meeting, he said he objects to it. Said Seel, “I am strongly opposed to paying rent on a building we own. It’s not right.”
New Ambulance
Brandon deWaal and Adam Griswold spoke to the Board about their research into getting a new ambulance for Rescue Squad. They had received bids from several companies offering to supply a new ambulance, ranging in price from about $132,000 to $155,000. DeWaal said the Ambulance Squad’s Board is requesting that the Town give them a 5 year service agreement paying them $20,000 per year, for a total of $100,000. The Rescue Squad would pay the rest from its own funds. The last time the Town assisted the Squad to buy the current ambulance in 1993, they paid $15,000 per year for 5 years through the service agreement. Squad members began a discussion with Town Attorney Kevin Engel about getting a service agreement written and what should be in it. Both Engel and members of the Ambulance Squad agreed to do research on how other squads had done service agreements in the past, and the Board agreed to consider the Squad’s request while they put together the 2009 budget next month.
The Board went into executive session for about half an hour to discuss “a personnel matter.”
When they returned, Pam Eggsware asked what the Town is going to do about the “shirt factory” or the “dress factory” in the mill yard. She said the roof gave in on the back addition and that whole section of the building “collapsed the other day.” She said the building is not stable and kids have been in it.
Supervisor Mason Hubbard said the building was condemned a long time ago, but they couldn’t find the owner. He said he agrees that it is a dangerous situation, but he is not sure what the Town should do about it.
Eggsware said it’s been like this for three months, and she wanted to know who’s responsible.
Town Attorney Kevin Engel said it may be appropriate for the Town to take some action regarding this building, but he would like to look into it and learn more about it.
Eggsware also said again that she would like to know what she can do with her property at the bottom of Main Street. Hubbard said the Building Inspector holds office hours at the Town Hall every Saturday morning from 9 am to noon and she should go talk to him on Saturday. She said she will.
Highway
Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison said “every road in Town is washing out about as fast as we can fix it.” He said he has had major washouts of Puckertoot Road, Hill Hollow Road and Lewis Hollow Road in the recent heavy rains. Hill Hollow has washed out several times. He said they will just have to keep at it until they get all the roads back in shape.