Berliners Ponder Important Vote

by Kieron Kramer
It’s official. At its meeting on November 12 the Berlin Town Board voted unanimously to set the time and place of the referendum on the use of Capital Reserve Funds to purchase the Berlin Lumber property. The referendum will be held on December 14 with voting from noon to 8 pm in the Town Hall. Absentee ballots must be obtained from the Town Clerk no later than November 30.
An Open House hosted by The Kinderhook Group, Berlin Lumber’s realtor, will be held on Sunday, November 22, so that Town residents can inspect the property before they vote. The house on the Berlin Lumber property would serve as the new Town Hall with offices for Town agencies. The garage on the property would provide a large meeting hall and more office space. The short shop would serve as the new Highway Garage. Currently, the Town Hall, Town Garage and Watipi Building provide 5,414 square feet for Town use. The house, the garage and the short stop at Berlin Lumber would provide 13,250 square feet. There is also an old mill that would be used for salt and equipment storage, 14,600 square feet, and a warehouse, 11,200 square feet. Many Berliners might ask, “Why do we need 39,050 square feet for municipal use when things seem to be going perfectly well now?” The idea for a new Town Hall and Garage has been in the works for over ten years when the Capital Fund for this purpose was established in 1998.
Numbers At Last
If the voters approve the expenditure to buy the Berlin Lumber property for use as a municipal center it may have a significant impact on the 2010 budget. So during the Public Hearing on the 2010 budget, held at 7 pm before the regular meeting, a cost analysis of the purchase was presented. The analysis was prepared by Board Member Sheila Hewitt. Her analysis included a projection of the ongoing annual cost including expenses such as maintenance and utilities, insurance, lost interest income on the fund balance and loss of Town tax revenue as well as savings from the Cowee garage space rental and from the utilities at the current Town garage and revenue from the rental of the current Town garage. Hewitt’s comprehensive analysis also estimates the impact of the purchase on future budgets. Everyone in attendance was appreciative of Hewitt’s hard work in preparing the analysis.
After applying the Capital Fund balance of $587,000, Hewitt’s estimated bottom line for the purchase and renovation of the property is $96,500 which would have to come out of the 2010 General Fund and would therefore have to be raised by taxes. The ongoing expenses total $53,060 for 2010 and will be similar in years after. The purchase, renovation and maintenance costs would add $4.98 per thousand to property taxes in 2010 and $1.26 per thousand in each year after for maintenance costs.
Hewitt’s analysis is really a worst case scenario, but it is a very useful starting point. There are some debatable numbers used in the speadsheet, however. She lists $569,000 as the purchase price. It is actually the asking price. “We may do better,” Town Supervisor Robert Jaeger said. The analysis also lists $80,000 as the expense to renovate the garage into Town offices and meeting hall. Jaeger said, “There is a solid quote of $64,000 [for this work], and we might not have to do the meeting hall right away.” Hewitt may have underestimated the closing costs at $2,000. The figures for the renovation of the house, $15,000 and the short shop, $11,900, are pretty hard figures based on quotes from two vendors. The estimate for the maintenance and utilities for 2010, $53,060, is for the whole year, but this expense would depend on when the Town takes possession of the property and puts it in use.
So, there really is no solid bottom line. What if the Town can purchase the property for $80,500 less than the asking price and can renovate the garage for $64,000. Then the Capital fund would cover the entire cost of the purchase and renovation, requiring no money to be raised by taxes for the purchase. But maybe the ongoing annual expense is too much. What if Berlin Lumber will not budge from its asking price? Then the project might be too costly for the taxpayers to bear. Perhaps the Town should have already negotiated and made an offer on the property contingent on the passing of the referendum. Then the voters would have a much clearer idea of the bottom line. The referendum only authorizes the Board to use the Capital Fund to purchase Berlin Lumber, it does not require the Board to make the purchase. So there is plenty of negotiating leverage for the Town. But it may not get that far given the worst case scenario conclusions of the cost analysis spreadsheet.
There were two interesting questions raised during the open discussion later in the meeting. Richard VonSchilgen, Councilman-elect, asked if the Berlin Lumber property was in the flood plain. The Assessors will look at their map to determine this. Becky Giumarra asked if an appraisal should be done before considering purchase. The consensus was that the appraisal information could not be circulated before the vote. At the end of the meeting an appraisal of the property from 2007, contracted by Berlin Lumber before the real estate bubble burst, was given to Jaeger, and he reported that the house was valued at $240,000 and the mill at $700,000 at that time.
The plan was to send a letter soon to all property owners presenting this information so that all taxpayers could make an informed choice. Jaeger had sent a draft of such a letter to Town Attorney Donald Tate. Tate rewrote the letter, and Jaeger read it at the meeting. Tate had taken out almost all of the facts of the purchase, citing case law regarding the possible skewing of public opinion by a governmental agency. Information, like the square footage available at the Berlin Lumber property, was censored. The irony is that the spreadsheet presented by Hewitt and the following discussion have made this information a matter of public record. Tate was just trying to protect the Town, but the letter infuriated everyone. It’s an example of why people would like to feed lawyers to the sharks and then shoot the sharks. Hewitt said, “This [letter] is not worth sending out.” The postage would cost around $500. Len Clapp called it “a non-informational letter.” Sharon Klein said, “So, we will not really be informed voters.” Board Member Carl Greene said, “Since this letter is so full of disclaimers why can’t they apply to the spreadsheet.” It was decided that Jaeger would ask Tate if Hewitt’s spreadsheet could be included with his letter.
A Zero Tax Increase At This Point
If the voters decide to authorize the purchase, the 2010 Berlin Town Budget will have to be amended. The budget was passed unanimously at this meeting. It has a 0% increase in the tax levy from last year. All Town officers are receiving the same compensation as last year. Town employees at the Highway Department and the Transfer Station will receive a 3% salary increase. They will however begin paying a percentage of their health care benefit rather than paying a fixed dollar amount. As health care rates rise so will the employee’s contribution. There is no money budgeted for sidewalk replacement in 2010. This has been an ongoing appropriation of about $10,000 a year for several years. Jaeger said he would rather use the money to fund the 3% salary increase to the employees of the Town. Hewitt said that the sidewalk appropriation would be restored in “the future.” The contingent account has been reduced from $25,000 to $20,000. The budget line for celebrations was increased by $1,350 to help fund the July Fourth Parade. Berlin is the only Town in Rensselaer County with a July Fourth Parade. The budget line for waste hauling was increased from $70,000 to $80,000. The total estimated revenue is $323,900, down from $326,986. There is no money appropriated for equipment for the Highway Department. Last year $38,500 was appropriated.
In summary, the total appropriation for the general fund is down 38.4 %, the Highway Fund is up 2.2%, the Street Lighting District is at 0% increase, and the Berlin Fire District is at 0% increase. Vice Chairman of the Fire District, Bruce Hake Jr. said that no services or activities in the Fire District will be affected by holding the District’s taxes to last year’s rate. Expenses for Water District #1 (Taborton) is paid by the users. The increase in non-metered rates for Water District #2, voted earlier this year, will generate an estimated $1,978 in surplus revenue.
No More Brush
After a lengthy discussion, it was determined that brush will no longer be accepted at the Transfer Station. According to Ivan Wager, who attended a NYS DEC conference at Lake George, the new Open Burning Law in NY State prohibits the burning of brush at the station unless the brush “is generated there.” Homeowners can burn brush – but no leaves – campfires for celebration or cooking and burning for agricultural purposes are allowed. Outdoor wood furnaces? No problem. “They would rather have 100 burns than one controlled burn,” Wager said. Wager said he argued with a DEC “decision maker” at the conference but to no avail. Wager is pretty upset about the new rules. So Wager is fuming but there is no fire. The chipper is so noisy that it can only be used on days when the Station is closed in order not to damage the hearing of those using the station, and, for safety reasons, must be run by two people. This would be a significant added expense. Billy Hammersmith suggested charging for brush which could then be put into a container and hauled away. Wager said he would have to check with Waste Management to see if this is feasible. Leaves can still be brought to the transfer station and put into the Little Augie to make compost, but the public will have to burn their brush at home.
Culvert Purchase For Southeast Hollow Road
The Board authorized the purchase of a 15.6’x 9.5’ culvert to be used to replace the Southeast Hollow Road Bridge. It will cost $19,352, including shipping, from Lane Enterprises in Ballston Spa. This culvert is larger than the one that Highway Superintendent Jim Winn had originally planned for, which was 14.6’ x 9’. Carl Greene said, “I’d like to thank Jim; this is a huge savings; at first we thought the culvert would cost $48,000.”
The Highway Department was visited by the NYS Labor Board. According to Winn, “After fixing a few things, everything seems fine.” For instance a flashback protector on the acetylene welding torch was required. It cost $375.
The rubber-tired excavator that the Highway Department rented for two months resided at the Town Garage for longer than that because the County was trying to sell it to a Town in Vermont and Berlin was a convenient location to store it.
Goodbye Hydrant
The hydrant at the Ring Tree will be removed during the week of November 16. It was struck by a car and has been covered with a garbage can for a while. The hydrant near the pizza shop will be replaced with a new one with a bigger capacity in order to cover the area that the Ring Tree hydrant had previously covered. Water Supervisor Jim Winn received the approval of the Board to install a new shutoff valve while the hydrant is dug up in order to isolate the water main branch that currently has no shutoff valve.
Gladioli
Don Calman had approached NY State Senator Roy McDonald for funding for the gladioli project. According to Jaeger, Calman, who is Chairman of the Beautification Committee, has overseen the planting of 10 gladioli beds so far in Berlin. There have been a lot of volunteers helping with the project. The Town was recently notified that McDonald’s office will forward $2,500 in funding to help with the project. Jaeger said that this will pay for five more beds. In order to receive these funds the Beautification Committee has to be an official Town committee so the Board voted at this meeting to form the Beautification Committee and to appoint Don Calman, Chairman, and Dwayne Goodermote, Rebecca Hartman, Sharon Klein and former Town Supervisor Sandi Slattery as members. The Committee suggested that the Town adopt a logo featuring a gladiolus and a motto, “Glad to live in Berlin,” since Berlin was the gladioli capital of the country about 100 years ago. Sharon Klein pointed out that all the neighboring towns have logos. The Board decided to think about the logo and motto idea.
Dog Control Officer Doug Goodermote reported that the State had inspected his kennel and it passed. He said the rabies clinic held in October was a great success with 110 rabies shots and 65 distemper shots given. He thanked the volunteers for their help at the clinic and Winn for the use of the Highway Garage. One dog was picked up this month.
Reporting for the Zoning Board of Appeals, Vic Lewin announced that the application process for the cell tower in Cherry Plain had “come to a screeching halt.” The Town’s consulting engineer has had health problems, and his report has been delayed until January. Regarding the cell tower on Satterlee Hollow, it was reported that the installation of the power, the telephone line, the chainlink fencing and the access road has been completed, but the tower hasn’t been put into service yet.
Town Historian Sharon Klein said she had received an email from the Smithsonian Institution asking her to help identify two old photographs of Berlin. The photographs were on glass plates and, she said, happened to be of the Greenberg House on Main Street. That house had been the Frank Lewis residence, one of the oldest residences in Berlin. So, Klein said, there are photos of Berlin in the Smithsonian.
Other Business
• Because the fourth Thursday of the month falls on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve the Planning Board will meet only once before the end of the year, on December 3 at 6 pm in the Town Hall.
• For the same reason, the Town Board will hold only one more workshop before the end of the year. This will be on December 3 at the Watipi Building at 7 pm.
• The Comprehensive Plan Committee is waiting for confirmation from the School District about the use of the auditorium for the focus group meeting tentatively planned for December 2.
• The weather dampened the turn-out for the Halloween Party.
• The Little Hoosic Watershed Association is looking at parts of the river in the village in preparation for action in the summer.
• All Board Members and VonSchilgen have completed their NIMS (National Incident Management System) training. The Chain of Command will be decided at the workshop after the Organizational Meeting in January.
• Chairman of the Assessors Nancy Sweener reported that they were “just plugging along getting the 2010 tax roll ready.”
• There has been no response from the County regarding the speed limit requested by the Town for Mill Street.
• In response to a question, Supervisor Jaeger said the Town is pursuing the idea of developing a website.
Street Signs
There was a discussion of street signs and traffic signs on Berlin thoroughfares. The County only uses County Road numbers to identify roads. Winn was asked to put up signs naming these roads. The signs would cost about $75 each to put up. There was no decision made about this matter. VonSchilgen mentioned that there are no traffic signs, stop or yield at some intersections, such as Bly Hollow Road and Watson Road. Winn said, “We can put up yield signs.” Jane Fitzgerald said, “Driver’s ed should take care of that.”
Public Hearing Set On TV Franchise
Charter Communication, the company that has had the Town’s cable TV franchise, has notified the Town that it has come out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy and would like to resume negotiating the cable franchise for Berlin. A public hearing was scheduled for December 10 at 7 pm, before the regular Town Board meeting. Jaeger will research what cash benefits other towns receive for awarding the cable franchise.
The meeting ended with Ivan Wager thanking all the candidates in the recent election for picking up their signs the very next day after the election. “Our town was the only sign-free town in the County,” he said.