Stephentown Town Board Action – Mining Is Still An Issue

by David Flint
Mining continues to be a thorny issue with the Stephentown Town Board. At their meeting on Monday, the Board passed a resolution requesting sealed bids for sand and gravel and other road materials. The bid specifications will be available at the Town Clerk’s office as of Tuesday and bids are due back by June 30. Stephentown has not bid contracts for road materials in recent years, but Highway Superintendent Aldy Goodermote said the Town used to bid out road materials and a lot of other things as well. Whatever the past practice has been, Town Supervisor Tom Sherman said the Town is now required by law to go out to bid for sand and gravel.
Billy Hammersmith from Berlin, who has been supplying the Town recently with sand and gravel, raised the question whether the Town’s Mined Land Form (MLF) would apply for loads provided by successful bidders. The MLF certifies that the vendor has a valid permit from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) if the amount mined is more than 750 cubic yards in one year. Apparently that is not the case because the Town will accept materials from agricultural or construction project sites that are exempt from permits. Under the State Mined Reclamation Law, mining does not include the excavation and removal of minerals from most construction projects or excavations in aid of agricultural activities. Sherman said he had received an opinion on this recently from two State lawyers. But Hammersmith said he has been told by DEC people that agricultural exemptions are not legal. Code Enforcement Officer Dean Herrick noted that it’s been his experience that DEC and the Department of Agriculture & Markets have long been at odds on what should constitute an agricultural exemption. This generated a round of discussion whether the Town would be opening itself to problems that have plagued the Town in the past and led to the conviction and removal from office last year of former Highway Superintendent Neil Gardner.
Councilman PJ Roder, although he joined the unanimous vote to bid the materials, suggested that the Town could avoid any problems by going with a State procurement contract. He acknowledged that the cost might be somewhat higher. Councilman Larry Eckhardt suggested that maybe the Town should buy its own gravel bank, a suggestion that Goodermote said he had made a number of times in the past.
Sherman said in order not to hold up the Highway Department from purchasing needed materials, the bids will not be out for the usual 30 days but are required to be back by the end of the month and the Board would hold a special meeting on Wednesday, July 1, to select the vendor.
New Mowing Tractor
The Board accepted a bid from Capital Tractor, Inc. of Latham for a new mowing tractor at a cost of $91,591. Other bids meeting specifications were from a John Deere dealer in Chatham for $101,312 and from Milton-CAT in Clifton Park for $106,271. All these bid prices included a trade-in allowance and specified options including a joystick and a swivel seat. The Board decided to pay for the tractor by putting 50% down and financing the rest for a three-year term.
Garage Doors
The Board accepted a bid in the amount of $3,770 from Bader-Lueki Industries of Niskayuna to replace two outside entry doors at the Town Garage. The only other bid was from Giangrande Construction, Inc. of Castleton in the amount of $4,697.
Another bid to repair the four overhead doors at the Garage was accepted from the Overhead Door Company of Albany in the amount of $4,600. A bid of $4,826 from Madsen Overhead Doors of Spencertown was rejected, as was a bid of $10,750 from Bader-Lueki that would have would have included all new hardware not called for in the specifications.
Opening Up The Youth Program To Tweens
The Youth Commission has concluded it would be in the best interest of the Town to offer summer activities for children in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades who have until now been above the grade limit for the summer program. To enable this expansion they requested that the Board increase their funding by an additional $2,750. The Board agreed and passed a resolution that the $750 designated for youth in the Taking Woodstock donation be used for this purpose and another $2,000 be allocated from a contingency fund in the 2009 budget.
Making Use Of The Stephentown School
Sherman noted that the Berlin Central School Board made if official on May 19 that the Stephentown Elementary School will be closed at the end of this school year and Stephentown children next year will go to Berlin. He said a number of people have been working on trying to figure out the best way to make use of the building. A survey indicated that the number one desire of respondents was for some sort of medical clinic, but other uses being considered include a facility for arts & crafts, for before and after school programs and for seniors, a farmers market, a technology center for startup businesses, an adult education center and a GED center to help drop-outs get their diplomas.
A number of grants have already been written seeking funding. Head Start funding was denied because there are already preschool programs in New Lebanon and Berlin. The building could be leased from the School District for a dollar a year, and the challenge is to arrange multiple uses so that it pays for its own upkeep and maintenance costs, accurate numbers for which are available from the School District. Sherman said he believed a plan could be developed that would avoid raising taxes. He noted that if the use includes educational components and is tied to the School District, it would be eligible for more and better grants.
Sherman said more input from Town residents is needed. He invited everyone to think about what they would like to see as part of a community service center. Councilman PJ Roder suggested a public hearing to present and gather information. The Board agreed and passed a resolution to hold a public hearing on Monday, July 13, at 7 pm.
Quirky Street Lights
Councilman Eckhardt said the proprietor of Dave’s Market has reported that when he turns off the lights at the store, the street lights at the intersection also go out. Eckhardt said he would like to get comments from other nearby residents regarding the lighting and safety at that intersection.
No Settlement For Cormier
The Board passed a resolution last month to seek a second opinion on paying Tony Cormier, via the Freeman company, for sand taken from his property back in 2005. David Grunberg of Troy, an attorney recommended by the NYS Association of Towns, was selected to provide the opinion. Sherman expected that the matter would be put to rest by this month but so far he has had no word from Grunberg. Cormier will probably have to wait another month.
Kudos To Audrey Foody
Councilman Eckhardt noted that Audrey Foody is retiring from her work with the Food Pantry located at the Federated Church. He said as long as he could remember Foody had been putting in a tremendous amount of volunteer work at the Pantry and he wanted to publicly recognize her many years of providing help to Stephentown residents. There will be a luncheon in July to honor her service. Eckhardt said he would be there with a certificate of recognition.
Money Is Tight
Sherman reported that mortgage tax payments from the County came in at $20,699.96 which is $15,725 less than last year. No sales tax revenue has been seen yet. State payments are running behind last year by $78,708. “Things are extremely tight,” he said, “but we are all doing our best to keep expenses down. If we don’t have to buy it, we don’t.”
Plaque Defacement
Aldy Goodermote said he didn’t always get along with Neil Gardner, but he expressed outrage that someone had invaded the Town Hall and defaced a plaque that honors Town employees who have put in over 20 years of service. Gardner’s name on that plaque has been scratched out. That was the doing of “some pretty low and ignorant people,” Goodermote said. Sherman said the Board would restore the plaque.
Cemetery Vandalism
Gardner reported another incident of vandalism in the town. Some people, he said, had been camping by the Stephentown Cemetery on Cemetery Hill Road. They were driving a Dodge Dakota pickup, and the party included four children. Objects had been stolen from the grave sites and some strewn all over the cemetery. Gardner said he had the pickup’s plate number and would report it to the State Police.
The Board set a special meeting for Wednesday, July 1, at 8 pm to review and approve bids for road materials, their next workshop meeting for Monday, July 13, to be preceded by a public hearing on use of the school building at 7 pm, and their next regular meeting for Monday, July 20, at 7 pm.