Petersburgh Town Board Action – Woof, Woof

by Alex Brooks
On Monday, August 16, the Petersburgh Town Board zipped through its business in 15 minutes (not counting the half hour spent auditing the bills) this month with Deputy Supervisor David Green leading the meeting. Supervisor Peter Schaaphok was unable to attend because he was involved in a Battle of Bennington re-enactment on August 16.
The biggest head-scratcher of the evening was how to respond to New York State’s abdication of its dog licensing function. Local towns will track and issue their own dog licenses. They will no longer collect the State’s “base fee,” which was $2.50 for spayed/neutered dogs and $7.50 for all others, and will set their own fee instead. Petersburgh will continue to collect the $3 surcharge for unaltered dogs as well as a $1 charge for altered dogs, to be used for a statewide program to provide low-cost spay and neuter services. This will be handled by a contractor who is the winner of a competitive process.
The Town now has much more latitude to decide fees for dog licensing, and a new local law needs to be drawn up to outline the Town’s policies and procedures regarding dog licensing.
Town Clerk Callie Crisp presented to the Board and the Town Attorney the results of her research on this issue and an outline of what the Town needs to do. She has been in frequent contact with the other town clerks of Rensselaer County, and there is a possibility that there may be some County-wide cooperation to reduce costs and streamline the transition to the new system.
Library
The Petersburgh Library Board notified the Town Board that Michael Dunn has stepped down from his position as a Library Trustee, and the Library Board proposed replacing him with Moses Nagel. The Town Board approved the appointment. Petersburgh Town Librarian Sharon Hodges said that the Town Code Enforcement Officer, Doug Hull, did  an inspection of the Library and found it up to code except that two of the exit signs did not meet code and needed to be replaced. She asked the Town Board if that is something that the Town, as the owner of the building, would fix or if the Library Board has to find the money for the new exit signs out of its budget. The Board did not give her an immediate answer but said they will look into the question.
Other Business
Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison said the Gradall has an electrical problem that he and his men could not fix, so he had it hauled away for repairs, and he had no word yet on what the cost might be.
Hydrofracking
The Town of Barker, in the southern tier of New York State near Binghamton, asked the Town to take a position on horizontal drilling in the Marcellus Shale. The Board was unsure if they had enough information or if the matter is relevant to the Town of Petersburgh, but they agreed to look over the letter and perhaps consider the matter at the next meeting.