Progress Shown At Potter Hill Junkyard

by Erin Hogan
At the Petersburgh Town Board meeting on Monday Petersburgh Code Enforcement Officer Doug Hull reported that Curtis Main on Potter Hill Road has made significant progress on removing vehicles from his premises. Although much has been done, Main removed approximately 40 of the 60 junk cars on his property, Hull suggested that Main be granted another 30 days to get more work done before being taken to court. This suggestion displeased Duane Nealon, a neighbor to Main, who has been trying to get this property cleaned up for over a year.
Nealon presented a letter to the Board and argued his case. He said that another extension would be “unreasonable and ineffectual.” Hull pointed out that the only reason he suggested the extension was so Main could get a quote on what taxes would be to construct a pole barn in order to finish clearing up the property. But Nealon believes that whether a pole barn is constructed or not, it would not remedy the situation. According to Nealon, putting up a pole barn does not mean that Main is in compliance because according to the property maintenance code 302.8 there can’t be more than two unlicensed vehicles stored on premises.
Nealon also pointed out that although progress has been made, Main has had over 19 months to comply and still hasn’t followed through. He believes that this “…is not going to go away…” and it will be a “continuous problem for the town” if serious action isn’t taken. He said that there are three problems – one, Main isn’t repairing the cars, two, the pole barn idea wouldn’t be adequate, and three, the number of vehicles left on the property would require a larger facility than a pole barn. Nealon said that there are fire trucks, buses and even a dump truck with a tree growing out of it on the property. When asked by Town Supervisor Peter Schaaphok, “Why do you care?” Nealon replied, “If left ambiguous, it’s always going to be an issue.”
As the discussion proceeded about the 15 to 20 “offending vehicles” left on the property, Schaaphok and Hull, agreeing about the extension to let Main have some more time, also agreed that Main needs to show up to the Planning Board meeting on Monday as an “action of good faith” to discuss his pole barn plans. “As long as constructive action is taken” then everything will run smoothly. If Main does not show up at the Planning Board meeting or shows no attempt at further progress then a violation will be written and off to court he will go. Schaaphok said, “He’s been cleaning it up.” Hull also plans a trip up the hill to check on him and take some pictures and report back to the Board.
FEMA Money
Superintendent of Highways, Ray Harrison, reported that just like in winter because of the intense ice storms, once again the Town of Petersburgh might be eligible for help from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), a government agency that reimburses municipalities for clean up activities necessitated by extreme weather. It’s possible that because Petersburgh has been fixing roads and culverts damaged by the heavy rainfall that the Town could get money from this FEMA once again.
PVMCC Agreement
The Petersburgh Memorial Community Center’s Director, Susan Nelsen, reported that she met once again with Peter Schaaphok about the user agreement and there are a few more things to work out but they are getting closer to getting the user agreement all worked out. Nelsen also mentioned that this Friday night there is going to be a Patriot Flight fund-raiser dinner and then Saturday there is the townwide tag sale from 9 am to 4 pm. Also, she reported that rentals are down, and she is going to do some more advertising to try and perk things back up and get people to rent the hall. Nelsen said that the summer program went great, and it’s been “quiet otherwise.”
Library Underwater
There has been flooding at the Petersburgh Library. It has been mostly drained out, but the cellar is still quite watery. There is work to be done but what that work is still needs to be decided.
Correspondence Received
Correspondence was received from the Hoosic River Watershed Association about their annual bike ride this weekend. The ride is 75 miles long and has a stop at the Petersburgh Rescue Squad for water. The riders should be coming through the town from 9 am to 12 pm. The tag sale will be occurring at the same time, and the Board expressed concern about the conflict. It’s a hazard for the bikers because of the heightened traffic from the tag sale. There was a suggestion to change the route and alert the police to make sure it’s safe. Adam Griswold said that he would alert the Bennington Rescue Squad that is in charge of the bike ride. If you plan on attending the tag sale, please be aware of bicycle riders.
Supervisor Schaaphok also received correspondence from the Association of Towns asking if Petersburgh would take part in executive order 17 issued by the Governor. This notification invited Petersburgh to participate in the census bureau’s new construction program. The entire Town would have to list any new buildings in Town constructed after March 2009. The Board decided not to take part because not much would be achieved by doing so. Petersburgh population count would go up but not significantly enough to be worth the time.
Building Inspector Report
Doug Hull reported that last month 20 building permits were issued. Also, two demolitions have been done in Town, a garage and the trailer on Route 22.
Mill Yard
The issue of the unsafe building on Mill Yard Road once again came up at this meeting. Progress has been made towards its demolition. Schaaphok took samples off the roof of the building and sent them to the lab to be tested for asbestos. If there is not a substantial amount of asbestos, then the demolition job will be awarded to the lowest bidder. If there is a large amount found in the lab results the job will be passed off to the County to take care of. Schaaphok said we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
On the road sand issue Schaaphok and Harrison came up with a drawing for the sand/salt shed that will have two concrete walls and a metal roof. After the drawings get more definite, it will go out for a bid.
Bank Of America Gone For Good
A question came up about whether the Town’s bank switch went through or not. Indeed, vitually all accounts for the Town of Petersburgh have been switched from Bank of America to Pioneer. There will be one small account left in Bank of America to do daily transactions in order to avoid going to Brunswick so often.