by Kieron Kramer
When Town Supervisor Robert Jaeger announced at the Berlin Town Board meeting on Thursday evening, September 10, that the purchase of the Berlin Lumber site for a municipal center was no longer viable because three Board members were opposed to it, there was an immediate, quite vocal ground swell of support expressed for the project. Jaeger, who introduced the possibility of the purchase because he thinks it has merit, has no vested interest or ego involved in seeing it through if it is not supported by the rest of the Board or by the residents of Berlin. He announced at this meeting that during the Board’s workshop meeting Board Members Jim Saunders, Carl Greene and Sheila Hewitt were opposed to the purchase. Green had indicated that the people who spoke to him about the purchase were split 50/50. Hewitt said that only one person she had spoken to was in favor. “At this point we didn’t achieve what we wanted which was a [positive] response from the public. My purpose is to make the opportunity available; we have funds, and we must look into the possibilities – but we will not go forward,” he said.
According to Jaeger, one Berliner had told him that the purchase of the Berlin Lumber property for use as a municipal center was a “no-brainer.” So what’s the problem? Is it the boo-birds flying in response to any positive or forward looking idea – a trend that has been sweeping the nation recently? More likely it is the old “glass half empty, glass half full” dilemma. The central question in any community, national, regional or local, is at the heart of the Berlin Lumber purchase facing the Town now. Do you want to stay where you are, do the things you have always done because past experience indicates that you will survive that way (or perhaps continue to prosper that way) or do you want to grow and to embrace change on the presumption that the future will be brighter. Some might call it the short term view versus the long term view. Some might call it conservatism versus progressivism. The truth is that there is no right answer; it’s a matter of temperament. Change is not always good and neither is the status quo always good. Time will tell. What we do know is that time moves forward, the earth continues to spin on its axis, and no matter how much you want to, you can’t swim upstream against the current of time.
On the surface the purchase and use of the Berlin Lumber facility, which consists of 23 acres with four large buildings on it, is a no-brainer. The benefits that we know are that it will provide a much larger meeting space for Town meetings, adequate office space for the Town departments like the Assessors and the Code Enforcement Officer, a small conference room, a building large enough to serve as a new Town garage, a town park which will include athletic fields and plenty of parking. Jaeger did a mini needs assessment by asking the department heads how much office space they needed and found out that about 1,364 square feet would be ideal. Currently the office space in the Town Hall is 180 square feet, and there is only one meeting room.
Other possible uses of the property in Cherry Plain are the garaging of a fire truck which will not save money on home owner insurance but will provide a faster response time to fires in the neighborhood since fire fighters in Cherry Plain will not have to drive up to Berlin and then drive the fire truck back down, shared services with Berlin Central School in the form of a wash station for school buses and for Town Highway trucks and a polling place so that voting will no longer have to be held in the fire house on Community Avenue. At present the School District’s and the Town’s facilities for washing road salt off their vehicles is inadequate.
According to Board Member Sheila Hewitt, who seemed the most adamantly opposed to the purchase, the renovation and the maintenance costs of the new facility makes the project prohibitive. “Raising area will raise taxes; our budget will double,” she said. Before public use, the buildings in the lumber yard will also have to be brought up to OSHA and the Americans with Disabilities Act standards. It was pointed out that Berlin Lumber’s buildings probably already meet OSHA standards since it was an ongoing business and that all the current Town Buildings require renovations to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act standards. There are also various ways to defray the maintenance expense. At present, the Highway Department rents space from Cowee’s at a cost of $3,600 per year to store the big trucks inside during the winter. This rental would no longer be necessary. The current Town Garage can earn rental income. Cowee Forest Products General Manager Tara Cinney said that they rent every square foot available because nobody has the money to build. Jaeger said that Morse Heating was interested in renting the Town Garage and have offered to donate the heating system for the building that would serve as the new Town Garage. The Taconic Valley Soccer Club, in the person of Pam Gerstel, has offered to maintain soccer fields at that site.
And, finally, the pipe dream of building a new highway garage can be put to rest, a project that would cost close to a million dollars. The asking price for the Berlin Lumber property, without any of the milling machines is $569,000, but the actual purchase price is likely to be lower, especially since, according to Jaeger, they’d get a tax break by selling to a municipality. The Town has a Capital Fund that has been built up to $587,000 since Stan Goodermote started it in the mid-nineties when he was Supervisor and which cannot be used for any other purpose than a new Town Hall or Garage because of the way it was set up. It can’t be used for maintenance or to reduce property taxes. According to Jaeger, the fund’s use can be changed by referendum to be used for any capital improvement such as sidewalk repair or roof replacement. Regarding taxes, Billy Hammersmith, who owns Quality Construction in Cherry Plain, made a comment that you don’t hear very often in this day and age. “We pay taxes now and get nothing; if my taxes want up 20% and you did this, I’d shake your hand tomorrow morning”
One drawback to moving the Town offices to Cherry Plain was raised by Richard Von Schilgen when this topic was first raised at the Board meeting in July. Center Berlin, with no hotel and restaurant and no Town meetings, will have little drawing power and will continue to decline. There is no adequate answer to this problem although the Town Court will continue to be held in the current Town Hall.
There was a general consensus that Berliners don’t know enough about this proposal. Board Member Carl Greene said about his opposition that he “is not looking to kill discussion; we don’t have the information we need; we need to find more numbers.” This was echoed by Von Schilgen. Of course, needs assessments and renovation estimates would take a lot of work, and Jaeger can’t do it now in the middle of Town budget season. Who would want to do that work anyway without the commitment that the community would back the idea if the numbers were satisfactory. Remember the several Planning Boards that were tasked by the Town Board to modernize the 1968 Town Land Use Regulations only to have the Board vote them down when they were presented after a ton of work?
So, because of the support expressed at this meeting for the purchase, it was decided to take a survey of Berlin residents. Jaeger will write a letter outlining the pros and cons of the project. Pam Gerstel volunteered to type the letter and have it printed and to mail it. Vic Lewin offered his help as well.
Water
Len Clapp reported that Water District #1 is “still running good.” Jim Winn reported that Water District #2 is quiet, too, except for a leaking hydrant and the dilemma of the hydrant at the Ring Tree. County Fire Coordinator Ivan Wager said that the small hydrants “are useless anyway” and suggested that the Ring Tree hydrant area could be covered by installing a bigger hydrant with a pumper bib at the laundromat hydrant site. It was agreed that Winn just “pull out” the hydrant at the Ring Tree.
Water rates for District #2 will increase in October and rate cards to this effect are in the process of being sent out. The cost of the metering system planned for the Water District is still being researched. Ivan Wager suggested that a pump shut off valve is a higher priority than installing water meters since so much water is wastefully pumped which raises electricity costs significantly.
Highways Under Control
Highway Superintendent Jim Winn reported that the Department has “shimmed” Southeast Hollow Road and used the rest of the cold mix on Greene’s Brook Road. “The County came out with their paver” he said, and Poestenkill helped with
some trucking. Shimming is when an inch or so of asphalt is used to resurface the road. The cost of the blacktop was $29,058. Greene’s Brook Road was in terrible shape, he said, and will be chip sealed again as well. The Department is also fixing the bad spots on CC Dam Road and replaced the culvert on Mattison Hollow Road near the Rubins’ in early September.
The replacement of the red-flagged bridge on Southeast Hollow Road has been put off until next year. There is not enough time left in the season to get into the waterway, and the County engineers still have not informed Winn of the specifications for the giant culvert that will replace the bridge. Because the red-flagged bridge will be used for another year three more engineer’s inspections will be required. The Board voted to hire Erdman Anthony and Associates to do the inspections at a cost of $550 per inspection. Erdman Anthony did the monitoring this year as well for $500 an inspection.
Abandoned Dog
Dog Control Officer Doug Goodermote announced that the fall rabies clinic is scheduled for October 22. He has taken two dogs to the pound and another dog was turned over in a court case Wednesday. It was the second offense for a black lab from Bly Hollow Road. Its elderly owners couldn’t keep him confined. “He’s a nice dog,” Goodermote said and added that the Berkshire Humane Society will find a good home for him. Goodermote also picked up a dog that had apparently been dumped on the road and had wandered onto somebody’s yard on the north end of Route 22. The dog is in bad shape – all scraped up, with long toenails and with a tumor. Goodermote cleaned him up but doesn’t hold out much hope for him.
Other Business
• Code Enforcement Officer Allan Yerton reported that there are new regulations from NYS regarding demolition and that he will meet with the Planning Board to establish a time frame for demolition in Berlin referencing the new regulations.
• ZBA Member Vic Lewin reported that the Board has hired Bruce Hutchinson as their consultant for the Mariner Cell Tower project on the west side of Route 22 in Cherry Plain. Hutchinson had been the Town’s consultant for the Verizon tower on Satterlee Hollow Road. Lewin said he expected that a public hearing on the Mariner Tower will be held in November. Jaeger reported that the utility pole and road are “going up” at the Verizon Tower.
• Tammy Osterhout reported that the Youth Commission is still waiting for the bill from the Hoosick Pool for the summer swim program. She is looking for other pools since, she said, the Hoosick Pool will be raising its rates by 25% next year. She also said that the Halloween party is scheduled for Saturday October 31 at the Fire House. The upright piano in the Watipi Building is filled with mold and should be removed from the building. Osterhout wondered if there were any takers.
• The Town screener will be moved onto Town property, appraised and put out to bid through an auction house.
• Half the sidewalk work on South Main Street is finished. Some hedges are in the way of work on the other half.
• At its workshop meeting on August 27 the Board made a list of repairs needed at the four Town buildings which indicated that the repair line of the budget should be set at least at $20,000.
• Board Member Jim Saunders noted that the electrical work in the Watipi Building is “going well.”
• Ivan Wagar discussed the importance of NIMS (National Incident Management System) training for the Town Board members. [See Joe Rechen’s announcement of NIMS meetings on page 4] Board Members Greene and Hewitt need the training, but other interested parties may take the course.
• Carl Greene expects the US Fish and Wildlife Agency to execute the Bentley project on the Little Hoosic River in the next 20 days.
• Greene circulated a copy of the NYS Association of Towns procurement policy guidelines. Town Clerk Anne Maxon said that the Town already has a procurement policy. She will give a copy to Greene to review. Greene also circulated a comparison report of summary expenses and revenues for the Towns of Berlin (population from 2000 census – 1,901), Petersburgh (1,563), Grafton (1,987) and Stephentown (2,873). Presumably these figures will be analyzed and discussed at the next workshop for the next Board meeting.
• Head Assessor Nancy Sweener announced that the tax bills were sent out. This news was appreciated by everyone in attendance. Assessors can answer questions about your tax bill, but if you want a copy of the bill you should call Tammy Whitman at 733-0151, she said.
• The Board agreed to have former County DA Patricia DeAngelis make a presentation on animal shelters at an upcoming Board meeting.
• The Board authorized Town Attorney Don Tate and Supervisor Jaeger to begin the process to get DOT input on establishing a speed limit for Mill Street.
• Pam Gerstel thanked Jim Winn and the Highway Department for the work done on Greene’s Brook Road as did Jaeger for the work on Southeast Hollow Road. “You took the jump out,” he said.