Hoosick Town Board Action

by Gary Danforth
The regular monthly Town of Hoosick Board meeting took place this past Monday evening, November 9, in the Hoosick Falls Armory with Supervisor Marilyn Douglas calling the meeting to order at 7 pm. After the Pledge of Allegiance the minutes of last month’s regular monthly meeting and special meetings were accepted. Councilpersons Mark Surdam, Mark Cottrell, Kevin O’Malley and Bob Ryan were present as was Town Clerk Sue Stradinger and Town Attorney Tom Kenney.
The Town Clerk’s report was accepted with two birth certificates, nineteen dog license renewals and four building permits being of note. The Building Inspector said a couple of additions and garages were being built in the township, and he was told of properties which the Board wanted him to check out in West Hoosick and along the railroad tracks.
There were some Berlin Central School students in attendance getting their government hours in for their class work.
Town Buys Bucket Loader
Bill Shiland, Superintendent of Highways, had asked the Board at an earlier meeting for permission to publish bid specifications for both a new and used Gradall/bucket loader for the Town, as the 23 year old Gradall, purchased in 1996 for $65,000, had blown a cylinder. The Town has put $5,000 into the current machine over the past thirteen years. The Town had rented a machine to be able to keep up with road ditching projects. The rental monies would be able to be applied toward the purchase price, with that having been put in the bid request. A bid from Southworth Milton was opened and a motion was passed to purchase the machine for $172,217, with the rental monies of the past months applied toward the purchase price to bring the cost to $157,217. Further, the Board passed a motion to take monies out of the fund balance at this time to pay for the machine in total, eliminating interest costs. The machine comes with a five foot bucket on the front plus a mower and 36 inch and 24 inch digging buckets. Shiland also asked persons within the township to stop mixing garbage with recyclable materials. The Town accepts papers, tin, glass and used motor oil but does not accept garbage, tires or plastics.
Town Historian Phil Leonard presented a picture board on the Walter A. Wood Mowing and Reaping Machine Company at its heyday in the 1880s and 1890s when it employed 2,000 people. He had two pictures from 1872. The plant had its own railroad system for shipments in and out of the plant and its own reservoir for water. It took eight hours for security personnel to circle the plant, and there were so many employed at the plant and so few beds in the Village of Hoosick that different people slept in the same beds on different shifts. There were 7,500 people living in Hoosick Falls at the time.
Leonard also spoke of the 58 veterans he had interviewed in 1999 and how on Tuesday through Thursday, November 10-12, six hours of filmed interviews would be shown each day at the Louis Miller Museum. Twenty one of those interviewed have passed away in the last ten years. Leonard also said that the Museum is looking for new members and that the Museum is selling its annual book for five dollars. The book includes 28 stories from the Town of Hoosick. Included in the membership fee are ten newsletters per year.
The Board received thank you letters from St. Mary’s Academy and the Senior Citizens for use of Town fields and swimming activities, respectively. The Town passed a motion to allow the Youth Center to hire youth for the upcoming season.
The Board heard about a CDTA Transportation Improvement Plan and an application that has been submitted by Supervisor Douglas for rebuilding the White Creek Road Bridge with the Town picking up 5 percent of the cost and federal and state funding paying for the the rest.
Councilperson Cottrell congratulated the HFCS football and field hockey teams for winning sectional championships and noted that youth programs do work as his daughter, Amber, was a member of the Nichols College field hockey team which had won their conference championship and was in the collegiate playoffs for the first time in the college’s history. Amber also pitches for the college softball team.
Councilperson O’Malley thanked everyone, including the HFCS Honor Society, the Hoosick Falls Village Police and Stewart’s store for a successful Halloween Parade.
The Board passed a motion to get two bids for electrical work for surveilance equipment for the castle playground and athletic fields to alleviate unsavory activities which have been going on there. The bids will be back for the December Board meeting.
The Board passed a motion to put out bids to purchase a small truck and replace a sixteen year old paving roller. A 1997 F350 truck would be traded in toward the new truck with bids due back by the December meeting. Douglas also reminded people that FEMA reimbursement funds had to be applied for each year as the Town got over $93,000 back this past year for monies spent cleaning up the December, 2008, ice storm damage.
Zero Tax Increase
The Board passed a motion approving the 2010 Town budget which has a 0% tax increase.
The Board approved a plan for a Cross Connection and Backflow Prevention Policy for the water system, which is the same as the Village of Hoosick Falls policy. It is a plan that requires companies and residents to install anti-siphon devices in their water lines to keep toxins from entering the Town water system. Since the Town buys water from the Village of Hoosick Falls, the Rensselaer County Department of Health said the Town had to adopt the Village’s plan.
The short, action packed meeting adjourned at 7:51 pm.