Berlin Town Board Action – Berlin Officials At Sixes And Sevens

by Kieron Kramer
The depth of resentment between those who do the work and those who control the purse strings was the undercurrent of much of the discussion at the Berlin Town Board meeting on March 11. In this case those who do the work are the Town Clerk and the Highway Superintendent and his crew. Those who hold the purse strings are the Town Board members. The Clerk and the Highway Superintendent are elected officials, just like the Town Board, and their work is absolutely crucial to the running of the Town, affecting everyone in Town. Their performance and their expenditures are scrutinized and supervised by the Board. It’s not a pretty picture when these elected officials don’t support and trust each other.
The resentment surfaced when the members of the space committee, the committee established in the wake of the referendum defeat of the Berlin Lumber purchase, were named by Board Member and Chair of the committee Sheila Hewitt. The space committee will look into how to meet the Town’s need for adequate Town garage facilities, for a Town Clerk’s office so that Anne Maxon can move the Clerk’s office out of her basement and for a facility to store the Town’s historical documents and artifacts which will meet the State mandated standards. Highway Super Jim Winn said he was dissatisfied because he had suggested several people who were not picked to be on the committee. Later he said that the committee was “hand-picked,” presumably by Hewitt.
The committee, which was authorized by the Board at this meeting, consists of  Bruce Hake Sr., Corporate President of the Berlin Fire Department and who works for an architectural firm in Williamstown, MA, Sharon Klein, the Town Historian, Dave Theriault, Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) alternate, and Leonard Nicpon. No one doubts the integrity, ability or good intentions of these committee members, but clearly Winn wanted someone on the committee who has a vested interest in Highway Department needs. When he was assured by Hewitt that the committee would come to him for information about the Department’s needs, Winn said, “When it comes to the Highway Department some information never gets there.” From which one infers that it doesn’t sink in, or worse, is ignored. Board Member Richard von Schilgen said, “This is not about any committee member or any Board member; it’s about all of us working together. We need to be blunt and honest. We’ve [the Board] picked the members [Chairs] and they’ve picked the committees.” Since members can be added to this committee at any time at the Board’s discretion there is still the possibility that Winn can be mollified.
Von Schilgen, who chairs the newly formed Water Advisory Board, named his members – Ivan Wager, County Fire Coordinator and Berlin Transfer Station Head Attendant, Jim Winn, in his capacity as Water District #2 Supervisor, Doug Feathers and Leon Morse of Morse Heating. The Board voted to make these appointments. The big issues facing this committee are the institution of a water metering system for Water District #2 and the modernizing of the system in order to provide more dependable water service for private use and for  fire fighting in the district.
Speaking of space – garage space that is,  Town Supervisor Rob Jaeger asked the Board to reconsider its decision last month not to enter into an agreement with Hoosick River Hardwoods, LLC (aka Cowee’s) to rent their heated garage space for a year. Before last month’s meeting HRH informed the Board that it would be raising the rental charge from $300 to $650 per month. The Board was swayed by a coherent, but perhaps unrealistic, argument by von Schilgen that money could be saved and the budget stuck to if the Town, which rented the space on a month by month basis, did not rent the space during the good weather months, let the space committee research the garage issue and begin renting again in November at the new rate if there were no alternatives. Jaeger was the only Board member to vote against this plan last month. In the meantime, Jaeger conferred with Tara Cinney, the HRH General Manager, who agreed, according to Jaeger, to reduce the rent to $550 per month. Cinney also informed Jaeger that HRH has other people interested in renting their garage space. Oops! Now the heated place to park the plow trucks with their plows on is in jeopardy with the plan approved by the Board last month.
It’s important that the plow trucks be kept in a heated garage in the winter when not being used because the sand in the truck beds will freeze and become unspreadable. Without the HRH heated space the trucks will be kept inside the Town Garage, but the plows will have to be taken off every time they are parked because the garage is too small to park the trucks with the plows on. This was the alternative to renting that Board Member Jim Saunders, who was in Florida for this meeting, preferred. Winn pointed out that it will take 4 guys to put on the three plows at time and a half pay because it will be overtime hours. His estimate was that it would cost $175 per storm. “How many storms will there be?” he asked. Later in the meeting he said, “People are stepping over a quarter to pick up a penny.” Obviously, the response time to a storm would be  delayed since the plows would have to be mounted. And it’s not unreasonable to think that because  of the extra expense and the extra work, the Highway Department might feel pressure not to respond to snowfalls of just a few inches.
So it makes sense to rent the heated space and to do it quickly because HRH may rent it to someone else, but von Schilgen wanted to wait until Saunders returned from his vacation. Does the word quorum sound familiar? Does Larry the Cable Guy’s imperative, “get ‘er done,” have any meaning? Jaeger rejected the idea to wait a month to reopen the discussion, at which point von Schilgen did an about face. Town Attorney Don Tate pointed out that you can’t rent on a month by month basis if you want to guarantee the use of the HRH space during the winter. Everyone on the Board agreed, and the Board voted, 4-0, to pay the April rent at $550 and to authorize Jaeger to negotiate a year’s lease with HRH.
The real problem behind this issue is that the Town does not have adequate garage space under its own control. Nor does it have adequate space for the Town’s historical records or for the Town Clerk’s office for that matter. Jaeger said that Cropseyville pays $1,200 per month to keep its trucks in a heated space. This was his reason to say that renting HRH at $550 is relatively cheap. Well, give Hoosick River Hardwoods some time; the rent might get up there in the foreseeable future. The Town has no leverage, besides HRH’s good will, to control this expense.
And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, feathers were ruffled, toes were stepped on, underwear was in a twist or whatever other cliche you’d like to use when it was revealed at this meeting that Berlin Central School District Superintendent of Schools Charlotte Gregory has included the Town of Berlin as one of the municipalities in a draft of an application for a NYS shared services grant. The other municipalities besides Berlin and BCS are the New Lebanon School District and Rensselaer County. And guess what? At the heart of the shared services plan is the acquisition of the Berlin Lumber property by the Berlin School District. A very large salt shed and a washing station would be built on the site.
Supervisor Jaeger seemed disturbed about the project and that Berlin was included in the draft application without a vote by the Town Board. But this was only a draft, and it was not unreasonable for Gregory to assume that Berlin would want to be a  part of it since she’s probably aware of Berlin’s needs. Board Member Sheila Hewitt is the Treasurer of the School District. Hewitt didn’t say what she thinks of the School District purchasing the Berlin Lumber property, but she was opposed last fall to the Town’s purchasing it. According to Hewitt, the four municipalities would each receive a $200,000 grant towards building a shared services facility at Berlin Lumber. Each municipality would be obligated to match 20% of the grant amount or $20,000. Jaeger was highly skeptical of the project because the state is cutting back on education funding and, in his opinion, is unlikely to kick in any money for the property purchase or construction. He also said, “I don’t trust their numbers.” And he said that they [BCS] are not the proper agency to drive this project considering that they asked for a $19.7 million bond to renovate buildings that they did not maintain properly.
Hewitt seemed to support Berlin being part of the grant application because she was sure that Berlin could pull out of the process if the expenditure was not approved by referendum. She said that all the entities involved would need approval by referendum. But Don Tate was not at all sure that Berlin could pull out  once being part of the application process. He said he needed to read the language more closely. The Board voted to table its response to Gregory’s draft until next month. Tate said that the Town is not required to respond right away, especially because she included the Town without permission.
So no wonder people were in a grumpy mood. No wonder that when the bills were voted to be paid and Hewitt focussed on a late payment charge (Town Clerk Anne Maxon said she had misplaced a folder with some now overdue bills in them), Maxon said, “Just take it out of my pay; I don’t care.” Well, if “it’s all about us working together,” as von Schilgen said in this meeting, then this group of elected officials has a lot of work to do.
Highway
In highway matters the Board voted to accept Winn’s suggestion that the Town contract for 125 tons of road salt for next winter at the County bid price. This is the same tonnage contracted for this year. The Town can use 70% of the contract amount or as much as 150% of the contract amount and will only pay for the tons on which it takes delivery. Winn reserved a sweeper for a month at the end of March. There is lots of demand for the sweeper, so it is wise to reserve it early. The cost is $1,950 per month, the same as last year, and considering the amount of sweeping needed, a month is the most economical rental term. No resolution was needed for this because it will be rented at the County bid price. The drive shaft  and the hydraulics on the grader needed to be repaired, Winn reported. He also said that he had talked to Wayne Bonesteel, the County Engineer, about obtaining a permit for the work on the Southeast Hollow Road bridge replacement. Winn said that the DEC did not really want Berlin to use a culvert to replace the bridge.
Clean-Up Day
The Board received a letter from Sylvia Thompson suggesting that there be a Town clean-up day. Although the purpose would be to clean up the litter on the side of the road, the Board worried that all manner of refuse and trash would be placed on the side of the road so it spent some time discussing ways to limit the amount of garbage picked up, like announcing the schedule at the last moment. In any event there will be an expense to the transfer station, and the suggestion that the Highway Department could pick up the bags along the road would also incur an expense even if the Department had the time to do it. Just getting rid of the tires on the  side of Bly Hollow Road would cost the Town a lot. To avoid expense Sheila Hewitt suggested that the Taconic Valley American Legion Post, which has done roadside clean-up in the past, the Seventh Day Baptist Church, which has sponsored clean-up days that include renovation and painting, and the youth group be contacted to see if they could join forces to take on this project. Jaeger said the Board would discuss this more and set a date for the clean-up at its workshop on March 25.
Thompson, who has organized the placement of barrels of flowers along the streets of the village during the summer season, also suggested that the Town sponsor an “adopt a barrel” program. The Board thought this was a creative idea.
Forest Legacy
The response to the announcement of the NYS DEC that it was attempting to establish a Forest Legacy Area designation for the Rensselaer Plateau, the fifth largest contiguous forest in NYS, was one of suspicion. The goal is land conservation and habitat preservation which would be achieved through voluntary land easements. Billy Hammersmith, an avid snowmobiler, said that the designation would halt the use of snowmobile trails and other activities on the plateau. “It’s very restrictive,” he said. There is an informational meeting about it at the Tamarac High School on March 24 at 6:30 pm, and Jaeger suggested that Town officials and other interested parties attend “so as not to be blind-sided.”
Dog Control Officer Doug Goodermote announced that there would be a rabies clinic on April 22. He also reported that someone brought in a pit bull that got loose on the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Green Hollow Road and killed a chicken. “It left town as quickly as it came in,” he said.
Sweener Resigns
Chair of Assessors Nancy Sweener informed the Board in a letter that she was resigning. The Board went into executive session to discuss the issue.
Other Reports
Code Enforcement Officer Allan Yerton said that he has received a lot of fire related calls. He is called in by the Fire Department after a fire call to inspect the premises for safety reasons. He said that he learned first hand that carbon monoxide detectors save lives.
Dave Theriault reported that the ZBA would be working on the SEQR application for the Mariner cell tower proposed for Cherry Plain. Jaeger added that, in response to concerns expressed at the public hearing on the tower, he had approached AT&T and they advised him that they are negotiating to rent space on the Cherry Plain tower. When the bills were read, a bill for the ZBA lawyer prompted Jaeger to ask Theriault to get the ZBA to ask Mariner for $5,000 to replenish its escrow account used to pay for these expenses. Doug Goodermote, on whose property the tower will be erected, said that he would talk to Chris Ciolfi of Mariner about the money when he sees him in a few days.
Sheila Hewitt announced that Tammy Osterhout, Monica Shupe, Petersburgh Town Board Member Bill Seel and Petersburgh Youth Program Director Cindy Mars had met to discuss merging the towns’ youth programs. They thought that Berlin Elementary School or the Seventh Day Baptist Church would be good locations for events because they each have a large hall. “The Veterans Hall in Petersburgh and the Watipi Building in Berlin both have problems,” she said. Hewitt also announced that there would be an Easter Egg Hunt on April 3 at 10 am at the Watipi Building.
Board Member Carl Greene announced that the Little Hoosic River Watershed Association is holding its annual meeting on March 22. The Board passed a resolution reappointing Stan Pettibone to the Board of Assessment Review (BAR). The Board received notification from the NYS DEC that the Hoffman mine has been transferred to D&M Sand and Gravel.
Jaeger announced that the Town’s Annual Report has been filed, that the Town website (http://berlin-ny.us) has lots of information on it now and has been getting 12 hits a day, that he is negotiating with Bank of America to lower the rates it charges the Town for services, that the money for the gladioli project has been held up but will arrive eventually, that the Board met with the Town Justices to conduct the annual audit and that the Board approved the audit, that three more members are needed on the BAR and that the insurance underwriter has lowered Berlin’s rate, which means that the Town will save approximately 5.4% in insurance costs.
The meeting had begun with a presentation from Andrew Zlotnick about TRACs, a volunteer organization attempting to intervene in the alcohol and drug abuse in the Berlin School District. When Zlotnick asked if he should stand to make his presentation, Jane Fitzgerald (aka Auntie Jane) who serves as the Town’s Greek chorus and who was on fire at this meeting, said, “You always stand when addressing a group.” TRACs would like Berlin officials to be signatories, along with law enforcement authorities and others, on a letter about the substance abuse problems that will be circulated to families in the School District.
The meeting ended with Town Justice Joe Rechen announcing that a grant of $7,800 from the Justice Fund to replace the windows in the Town Hall with energy efficient ones had been awarded and that the money would arrive by April 16.