by Kieron Kramer
Communication was the word at the Berlin Town Board meeting on Thursday, February 12.
Cell Tower Public Hearing
Wireless communication was on people’s minds because the first public hearing on cell tower construction is on Thursday, February 19, at 7:30 pm. Considered a hot issue in Berlin, the Berlin Town Board decided to move the hearing to the Fire House on Community Avenue instead of using the Town Hall and then moving if more than 50 people show up. The legal capacity of the Town Hall is 50.
For the second Town Board meeting in a row individuals have expressed their disapproval of the cell tower construction, as Don French, Jr. did in the January meeting, or expressed their concern that the process leaves the Town and its citizens vulnerable, as Dave Theriault did in this meeting. It is a sign of people’s anxiety about the towers that they keep raising the issue when the upcoming public hearings, scheduled by the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) is the forum for statements pro and con regarding the proposed cell tower construction in Berlin and Cherry Plain. The hearing on Thursday will deal only with the tower proposed for Satterlee Hollow Road in Berlin. Representatives from Verizon will be there as will the lawyer and engineer hired by the ZBA at Verizon’s expense to protect the Town’s interests.
Theriault’s concern is that the piecemeal nature of the process, with each cell tower being proposed, discussed and decided upon separately, may result in several towers impinging on the natural beauty of the rural landscape but which provide coverage that does not service as many Berliners as it should. “To talk about towers piecemeal rather than a communication system as a whole is nutty,” he said. Theriault also said that he thought Fairpoint Communications, the company that bought out Taconic Telephone and provides telephone landlines and DSL to residents in Berlin, would be hurt by the unfair competition. He was assured by Board Member Sheila Hewitt that almost everyone will keep their landlines. Those worried about Fairpoint should keep in mind that Fairpoint provides a landline for these towers and that every call from a cell phone anywhere to a landline in Berlin will travel over Fairpoint telephone lines and they will get a fee for it.
Kent Goodermote asked if the ZBA will decide to approve the Satterlee Hollow tower after the public hearing. Vic Lewin, a member of the ZBA, said, “We can’t tell; the purpose of the public hearing is to see what concerns the public so that Verizon, the ZBA’s attorney and the Town’s engineer can answer them. We are not about to vote; we will play it a little by ear,” Lewin added.
No Communication Leads To Hard Feelings
Lack of communication was in evidence during heated exchanges between two Highway Committee Board members and Highway Superintendent Jim Winn about Highway Dept. expenditures. Board Member Jim Saunders, who has been a tireless critic of Winn’s highway expenditures since he was elected to the Board in 2005, was lit up again by three bills. First was a bill from Delurey’s for $654.16 to rewire the recently purchased used truck. It quit on Hilltop Road because it had been improperly wired by the previous owner, Winn said. He also said that Delurey’s had agreed to charge only $110, the cost of the parts, and that is what he ok’d on the bill. Saunders didn’t think anything should be paid. “Didn’t we have a warranty; we’ve only had the truck for 20 days,” he said. Second, Saunders questioned a bill for a 55 gallon drum of hydraulic oil, the third monthly bill in a row. The hydraulic oil is used in the big trucks to run the plow and wings and the sander. Each big truck, the Town now has two, has a 44 gallon capacity in its hydraulic system, according to Winn. He also said that he always wants to have a 55 gallon drum in reserve in case a hydraulic line breaks on the road. To have one of the trucks not be able to plow for lack of hydraulic oil is not acceptable. But the most acrimonious exchanges occurred regarding Winn’s purchase of a sand screen for the truck. The screen cost $1,600 and $200 more to install.
Town policy gives Winn the authority to make purchases up to $1,000. Anything over must be approved by the Board. Board Member George Shuhart and Town Supervisor Rob Jaeger remember that Winn did bring the purchase to the Board. Saunders and Board Member Carl Green don’t remember it that way. They form the Highway Committee of the Board along with Winn. The Board concurred that all purchases of that magnitude must come through the committee. Hewitt said she thought the cost of the screen was not made clear. Winn added that the Board was aware when the truck was purchased in January at a bargain price that some equipment and repairs would be necessary. “Money was put into the repair budget,” he said. Mark Primeau, Vice Chairman of the Berlin Fire Commissioners, commented on Winn’s behalf. “You bought an old truck, and it needs to be maintained,” he said. He also pointed out that repairs are so expensive now that Winn should be authorized to spend up to $2,000. “An emergency repair in the middle of the night might cost more than $1,000; you don’t want Jim [Winn] calling you at 4 o’clock in the morning do you?”
In response to the heated exchange, Carl Greene said, “There is no reason we can’t communicate better; we shouldn’t have to see this again.” Jaeger agreed. But, when the bills were voted to be paid, only Jaeger, Shuhart and a reluctant Greene voted in the affirmative. No vote or further comment was made by Hewitt or Saunders.
In other Highway matters, Winn said the Department had drawn 1,000 yards of sand last week and he hopes this is enough sand to last the rest of the winter. Greene said that sub-accounts in the Highway Account had been established. These will help track and predict expenses, he said. A check for $1,125 was received from Henry Ruebel in payment for the Gradall sold as surplus in October. A formal relationship with the Berlin School District needed for the Town to buy fuel from the District using fuel keys at the fueling station on School Bus Lane has not yet been established.
This discussion of shared services led to a passionate criticism of the shared services concept by Dave Theriault. In short, he said that the transportation centers would cost millions to build and would cost more to utilize than is being spent now. So far all that the towns and school districts have committed to is a feasibility study which, in theory, will determine if and how shared services can save taxpayer money.
In other business the Board:
ź heard Jim Winn report that the new water pump had inexplicably shut off for hour on Sunday; he will have the back up pump wired into the system to cut in automatically if the new pump stops again;
ź heard Dog Control Officer Doug Goodermote report that three stray dogs had found their way home and that there had been one dog bite this month;
ź heard Jaeger announce that the Comprehensive Plan Committee will hold a meeting on March 9 at 7 pm in the High School auditorium with consultant CT Male summarizing all the information gathered by the survey in a power point presentation complete with maps;
ź heard Tammy Osterhout announce that the summer youth arts and recreation program is scheduled for July 6 through July 24 and the swim program for August 3 to 14 or August 10 to 21, depending on pool availability;
ź heard from Jaeger that some of the concrete in the new sidewalk has been “pulverized” and will need to be re-poured;
ź heard in a letter from the Town Historian Sharon Klein that, by State mandate, all the Town artifacts will have to be housed in a Town facility;
ź heard assessor Allen Yerton announce that all applications for property tax exemptions must be filed by Taxable Status Day, March 1.
ź passed a motion appointing Nancy Sweener as Chair of Assessors; this appointment was inadvertently skipped at the organizational meeting in January;
ź passed a resolution legally empowering the Town Planning Board to perform all duties as set forth in State Law and Berlin Local Law #2 of 1988 (Berlin’s zoning law);
ź appointed Dwight Goodermote Jr. to be Planning Board alternate;
ź went into executive session to discuss a letter received from Vic Lewin;
ź heard Sheila Hewitt announce that five voice mailboxes had been set up on the Town phone line for an $18 set up charge and a $12.75 per month fee; the Assessors, the Justices, the Town Clerk and the Supervisor will have voice mailboxes;
ź heard Kent Goodermote ask if the Town pump could take advantage of off peak electric rates; it was determined that being a three phase motor, it can’t; Winn said that the new pump saves about $500 per month in electricity;
ź heard a request by the County that residents obey the snow emergency no parking signs so that the County can plow the County roads without obstruction; Jaeger said the County will start towing violators.
Snow Plowing And
Shoveling
The consensus was that Elm Street on the west side of Route 22 is the worst example of the violation of emergency snow parking regulations. The topic quickly changed to snow on the sidewalks which is the responsibility of the property owners. Everyone agreed that the County plows snow onto the sidewalks. “They put snow everywhere without reason,” Bruce Hake said. He suggested a letter be sent to the County informing them that their plowing operators are out of control.
Jane Fitzgerald gave public thanks to Janice Powers for shoveling snow around the fire hydrant in front of her house on Park Avenue. Kent Goodermote announced that he has retired from shoveling snow. He has just had rotator cuff surgery.
911 Signs To Be Purchased
The Board voted to purchase $500 worth of 911 sign blanks to add to the Fire Department’s 44 blanks. The Fire Department still has enough numerals left over from the first round of distributing 911 signs in October 2007 to use on the new blanks. The price of one hundred signs is $5.50 each, so $500 will not be enough to purchase 100 sign blanks. Last time 374 signs were made. Around 135 more will mean that the Town will have signs on almost 509 of the 1,140 parcels that need signs. While Jaeger was describing the importance of these signs to the emergency services and even to the school bus drivers, Tammy Osterhout broke in and said, “The burning buildings are easy to find.”