Petersburgh Town Board Action – January 2011

by Alex Brooks
The Petersburgh Town Board confronted the inadequacies of the heating system in the Veterans Memorial Hall at their meeting this week. Previous to the 2009 renovation, the heat was delivered through ducts in the floor and returned through ducts near the ceiling. When the heating system was replaced as part of the 2009 renovation, the system was designed to supply warm air through the ducts above. This did not work well, and an attempt was made to reconfigure the system to have the heat delivered through floor ducts as before, but it was found that the old ducts were blocked. Several other attempts have been made to fix the system, but it continues to be a problem. This past week in the cold weather Supervisor Schaaphok went over to observe the heat situation and found that it was chilly on the ground floor, around 60 degrees, and especially cold in the kitchen, but the small office on the second floor was 85 degrees.
Councilman Bill Seel said he thought whoever designed and installed the system in 2009 should be responsible for making it work. Schaaphok said he will discuss the problem with Dave Sadowsky, the architect who supervised the renovation work in 2009.
TRACS Application
Sue Nelsen asked the Town to send a letter of support for a grant application to be submitted by the TRACS group, whose work focuses on reducing teen use of alcohol and drugs. The TRACS program got started in the spring of 2008 in reaction to a survey done by Rensselaer County about drug use and drinking in the Berlin School. The results were alarming to many in the community, and a community meeting was held which led to the formation of the TRACS group, which has been meeting regularly ever since. TRACS stands for Together Reducing Alcohol and Drugs in the Community. It got a big shot in the arm in November when the Rensselaer County Under-Age Drinking Coalition received a $150,000 mentoring grant to assist them and another similar group in the Hoosic Valley School District over a two year period.
The grant they are applying for now is a NY State Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant which would bring $270,000 per year to the project for three years. If the grant is awarded, a full time coordinator would be hired and a data coordinator as well. Ten of these grants will be given out statewide. The grant is to be submitted this week, and an answer is expected by mid-February.
The Board asked if there is any match required or if the Town would have to put any money into it. Nelsen said no to both. The proposed support letter pledges the support of the Town for the project through such cooperation as Youth Commission collaboration, use of Town facilities and maintaining lines of communication between TRACS and the Town Council. The Board agreed to support the TRACS application with a letter.
Filling The Vacant Seat
There was a discussion about finding someone to appoint to the Town Board seat left vacant by Ray Broadwell’s resignation. Several Town Board members had spoken to potential candidates, but no names were mentioned and no action was taken.
In other business,
• Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison said a new truck was delivered to the Town this week, a Ford F250.
• The Board passed a resolution committing itself to the financing for the new plow truck which has been ordered. The truck fully equipped is to cost about $150,000. The Town will put some cash down, and then there will be four annual payments of $30,917.