by Alex Brooks
Deputy Supervisor Peter Schaaphok ran the meeting Monday night, January 19, as Supervisor Mason Hubbard was in the hospital with a serious heart condition. A get well card for Mr. Hubbard was circulated after the meeting for people to sign.
Water District Problem
A letter from Water District Superintendent Todd Stradinger was read. It said that there is a significant leak in the water system which has not yet been found. The water level in the storage tank is low, and efforts to find the leak are ongoing. There was some speculation among the Board and Town officials about where the leak might be, and then the Board moved on.
Town And PVMCC To Collaborate
Susan Nelsen reported that a meeting had been held to discuss a new architecture for collaboration between the Town and the PVMCC on administration of the Veterans Hall and community programs in the Hall. Nelsen and Sue Dawes, the PVMCC Treasurer, were there representing the PVMCC, and Peter Schaaphok and Bill Seel were there representing the Town. They came to the conclusion that the relationship should be similar to that of the Town and its library, in which the Town pays all the expenses of the building, and the Library Board takes care of running all the activities within it.
The plan for the time being is to have the Town pay insurance on the building, water, electricity and heating fuel, grounds maintenance and snow removal and the PVMCC would get the revenues from renting the building to use for programming.
Bill Seel said he had some reservations about this arrangement, because he feels the income from the building should be used in part to offset the expenses of the building.
The Board agreed that the proposed arrangement would be a temporary measure, to be in place until a new users agreement could be worked out. Seel said he wanted to explore further the question of having some of the rental revenue come back to the Town in order to keep down the taxpayers ongoing cost of maintaining the building.
Nelsen said she was thinking of this as a trial arrangement to get the PVMCC started getting programs going. She wanted to get some better lighting and some better tables and chairs, to make the place attractive for rentals. She was thinking if we tried this for two years we would have a better idea how everything is going to work out in the longer term.
Town Attorney Kevin Engel pointed out that the shared goal of the Town and the PVMCC is to make the building successful – to have things happening there that the public finds valuable.
The motion to have the Town cover the building expenses and have rental revenue go to the PVMCC was passed unanimously, after which Peter Schaaphok said the Board should keep it in mind to start working on the final user agreement soon.
Right To Farm Life Law
Planning Board Chairman David Miller was on hand to answer questions about proposed amendments to the Town’s Right to Farm Life Law which have been before the Town Board for quite some time. The amendments require a permit for a commercial pig farm or an elevated poultry farm. It requires a minimum of two acres for subsistence farming and includes some fees and administrative provisions for enforcement. Last month there had been some uncertainty about the definition of a commercial pig farm. Miller said if you sell, barter or trade pigs, even on a small scale, you are a commercial pig farm. A Public Hearing on the proposed amendments was scheduled for Monday, February 16, at 6:30 pm.
Cell Tower
On another topic, Miller said AT&T plans to put cell phone equipment on the Verizon tower as soon as the weather improves, and, for the time being, Verizon and AT&T will probably be the only providers on that tower. Sprint has cut back on expanding their system, and T-Mobile has not been heard from. No other providers have expressed interest. It appears that the County will not be putting up any communications equipment on the tower for the time being, but space is still being reserved for them in case they do want to use it later.
Three Trucks Down
Superintendent of Highways Ray Harrison said three trucks went down in one day, January 19. “The rear duals fell off” the green Oshkosh, the Town’s oldest truck, in Prosser Hollow, and the road was closed for the night because the truck was blocking the way. Harrison said he expected to be able to drive the truck out of there by Tuesday noon when the parts arrived. The 1998 International had a ball joint fail in Stillman Village and had a front wheel hanging off. Gordy Kneer came and towed the truck up to Delurey’s in North Hoosick for repairs. The same day the 2000 Chevy pickup developed a noise in the front end and went into the shop. This left the Ford, the 1991 International and the grader still in service to finish off the plowing for the day.
Unsafe Building
Bill Seel asked where the Town is in relation to the “Shirt Factory” in the Mill Yard, which is in an unsafe condition. He said he thought the Town needs something from the Building Inspector saying it should be demolished in order to take action on it. Peter Schaaphok said he would look into it.