by Kieron Kramer
On Monday the New Lebanon Town Board decided to demolish the assembly room of the Town Hall. They weren’t in it at the time; the Town Board meetings have been held in the upstairs of the American Legion Hall on Mill Street since the assembly room of the Town Hall on Route 22 in Lebanon Springs was condemned.
According to Councilmember Bruce Baldwin the assembly room was originally a dance hall and is now considered structurally deficient and unsafe to hold meetings. In order to avoid the cumbersome public bidding process required for expenditures of $20,000 or more Baldwin plans to generate a request for proposals for the demolition, to ask Columbia County for use of their containers for the debris that will be hauled away and to contract to have the exposed wall of the remaining two story Town Hall, which contains Town Offices, winterized. He expects each phase of this project to fall below the level of expenditure that would trigger a public bid. According to Baldwin, the demolition should only take one and a half days to do. He asked the Board to authorize Clark Engineering to review the Request For Proposals.
The question is what to do next to provide a permanent meeting place for Town Boards. The American Legion is an efficient facility, but it is not handicapped accessible, and it would cost lots of money to make it so. Also, there is no room for Town Offices in the Hall; to keep the Town Offices in Lebanon Springs and hold the meetings in a different location isn’t too appealing to the Town Board. Presumably a new assembly room could be constructed and connected to the Town Hall building that will remain after the demolition. Or, as suggested by Leonard “Rocky” Brown, should the Town Hall be rebuilt “across the street” where there is a geothermal spring that runs at 68 degrees year round that could be used to heat the new building? Brown said that the present Town Hall is a “money pit.” Such a project, he said, is a shovel ready infrastructure project that is also “green,” and with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand from this area there is probably Federal or State funding available. “We would have a shot at being the first town in New York State to have a green Town Hall,” he added.
What the Board has been pursuing for a while is the purchase of the CeramTek building on Route 20 closer to Center Lebanon. This is a 70,000 sq. foot structure that could accommodate all the Town, and possibly other, governmental agencies, the Lebanon Valley Protection Association, the NY State Trooper station and the New Lebanon School District bus garage. Baldwin has been contacting these entities to see if they are interested. He also suggested that this kind of consolidation of services might be eligible for a State Shared Services grant.
“This would provide a very dramatic town center,” Councilmember Monte Wasch said. The property lends itself to being “green” he added, because there is a geothermal spring up the hill from the building and there is lots of room for solar panels.
Apparently CeramTek NA (SC), which, according to Baldwin, is a subsidiary of CeramTek GB (Germany) which is in turn a subsidiary of Rockwell (VA) has indicated a renewed interest in selling the property. Wasch said, “They want to unload it now and not for the $900,000 they asked for last year.” Baldwin said that CeramTek could have “one more shot.” On February 26 at 4 pm there will be a walk-through of the property with the realtor representing CeramTek, a member of Clark Engineering and the Town Building Committee. This would be a huge project Baldwin said.
Cable TV Franchise
Former Councilmember David Katzenstein has been negotiating the renewal of the cable TV franchise with Charter Communications. He first tried contacting them a year and a half ago, he said, and so far has had eight go-arounds. This is not news to the officials in neighboring towns who have had to renegotiate with Charter. New Lebanon’s contract, which had expired, has been extended to August. Katzenstein said that Pat Johnson of the NYS Public Service Bureau has been “fabulous” in coaching him during the negotiations. Most of the changes are updating the verbiage to be consistent with Federal guidelines. Extension of service had been based on 30 residences per linear mile; Katzenstein got them down to 25 per linear mile. The term of the new contract will be 5 years instead of 3. Charter Communication will rebate to the Town 3% of the cable fees collected in Town. Charter’s bond will be reduced from $20,000 to $10,000. The bond is supposed to cover the 3% rebate that the Town expects to receive if Charter doesn’t or can’t pay it. Katzenstein said the rebate has been $7,000+ per year.
There were some exchanges confusing digital transmission with digital high definition transmission. It was asserted that Charter will not transmit HDTV to New Lebanon. Councilmember Wasch said that “Charter will not transmit HDTV” because the greater bandwidth would require Charter to “rewire the entire Town.” We have to try to get HDTV, he added, “even though we haven’t much leverage we should insist on a timetable” for HDTV upgrading. Town Attorney Jason Shaw said that the contract was essentially the same as Ancram’s. There is no competition for the franchises and so no leverage for communities of this size, he said. “You are lucky to get a franchise,” he added.
Midtown Mall
Lori Bashour and her partner Adele Williams appeared before the Board to discuss the progress of the Midtown Mall, across from the Bank of America on Route 20/22. They have owned the property for 4 years and have spent the intervening time meeting State and County requirements for septic systems and storm water run-off. The septic system can now handle 2,200 gallons per day – enough to support future use and development of the mall. Regarding storm water run-off, they thought they had to just repave the parking lot but instead they had to lower it 9 inches. “It’s a big deal,” Bashour said. “We have to think creatively because we have little money,” she added.
What Bashour and Williams are looking for are what are nowadays called stakeholders. Bashour wants to form a committee of entrepreneurs, tenants and Town officials to create a vision and also to develop State aid possibilities. She circulated a rendering by her architect of the mall showing it before and after development. There are architectural drawings of the rental units on the second floor which were not available. Wasch volunteered to be on the committee. Councilmember Karl Chittenden suggested that the open grassy area in the mall could be used as a farmers market during the warmer weather with crafts and baked goods for sale as well. As she ended the presentation Bashour said, “We appreciate working in a Town that is so supportive.”
Zoning Rewrite
Councilmember Allen Livermore asked if there was some way to inform the public about the zoning rewrite that is in progress. According to Town law, whenever there is a change in zoning, a postcard announcing it must be mailed to every resident in Town. Attorney Shaw said, “We are the only town in Columbia County that does that.” Wasch suggested that the link to the zoning documents be included on the card along with a summary of the changes and a before and after map. The zoning documents are easily accessed on the Town website, www.townofnewlebanon.com. The documents will also be available at the library.
Court Consolidation
Livermore also raised the issue of Court consolidation. The State Comptroller’s Office did a study that documents substantial savings, he said. The Town of Canaan would be the Town to consolidate with and as much as $16,000 could be saved by doing so. Livermore thinks it would be the first court consolidation between towns in the State. Several villages and towns have consolidated, but not two towns, he said. The process is arduous. There would have to be a joint town meeting and resolution, a joint public hearing and a referendum in both towns. The Board voted to have Livermore develop a draft letter for their approval that would be sent to Canaan to see if they are interested.
Cost Cutting
Cost-cutting was also the issue when Town Clerk Colleen Teal announced that she had a candidate to fill the post of Deputy Town Clerk which was recently vacated through resignation. This position is appointed by the Town Clerk, and Teal has an interested party about whom she is very enthusiastic. The Town policy is that the position must be filled by a Town resident. It is a full time job that pays $25,000 per year. Livermore asked Teal if she could do without a deputy or maybe even get by with a part time deputy. Teal said she couldn’t. Rocky Brown said, “Everyone’s slashing and we are filling.” Trina Porte was upset that this position was not publicly advertised and that no one else had a chance for it. Town Supervisor Meg Robertson said that the money had been budgeted and the deputy clerk position approved. This ended the discussion. A decision on the amount the Town owes the resigning clerk for accrued vacation and sick pay was tabled until the Board can review the Town policy on these payments.
In other business the Board:
ź clarified the fuel bid from HL Fuel and decided to include delivery charges per gallon in the specifications of future bid requests.
ź decided to request bids for fuel and for health insurance to be due in September for budgeting purposes.
ź decided to resolve an employee’s request for health insurance buy-out at the March 9 meeting.
ź received an update from Supervisor Robertson on the County Board and Committee meetings.
ź voted to have Charley Sears, Park Maintenance Superintendent, move the Little League sign at Shatford Park after receiving a complaint from Sharon Smullen that it is an eyesore. Clerk Teal said that “the sign looks abandoned and has letters falling off.”
ź announced that a letter of interest had been received from Mark Sheline, President of the Lebanon Valley Protective Assn., regarding the vacant seat on the Planning Board. There are still two empty seats on the Zoning Board of Appeal.
ź announced that March 7 will be the last day for Assessor’s hours on Saturday. After that date Assessor’s hours will be from 4 to 8 pm every Tuesday and Thursday with Assessor Craig Surprise present from 6 to 8 pm.
ź voted to renew the liquor licenses for Lebanon Valley Concessionaires at the Speedway and for Fresco’s Restaurant.
ź voted to hold a public hearing on the Ethics Committee amendment at 6:50 pm before the next regularly scheduled meeting on March 9.
ź took no action to raise the reimbursement rate for home delivered meals. There are about 10 people receiving meals in Town. Several days worth are delivered at once. The deliverer is reimbursed $18 for each day of delivery.
ź voted to renew the license for the Ski Lodge Mobile Home Park after having it lapse for a number of years. Attorney Shaw said they had paid their fine.
ź heard from Shaw that the settlement of the Crobeth litigation at a final figure of $9,000 plus 9% interest may be paid soon since they want to refinance their property.
ź voted for a Town-wide Revaluation for the year 2010 to be done “in-house.” Livermore voted for this but announced that he didn’t want to see it cost “additional money.”
ź Voted to enact Local Law #1 of 2009 amending the Town Code on Mobile Home Parks. The public hearing for this was held on November 10, 2008.
źVoted to designate the Chatham Courier and The Eastwick Press as the official newspapers of the Town replacing the Independent which has stopped publishing.
ź Voted to pay bills in the amount of $37,206.23 from the General account and $31,350.07 from the Highway account.
The next Town Board meeting will be held on March 9 at 7 pm at the American Legion Hall, preceded by a public hearing at 6:50.