Dave Green Appointed To Petersburgh Town Board

by Alex Brooks
The Petersburgh Town Board appointed Dave Green to complete the unexpired term of Councilman Ray Broadwell. Green has been a Councilman for many years in the past and is currently the Deputy Supervisor, so he brings a lot of experience to the job.
Heating Problems
Supervisor Schaaphok said he had spoken with Carlton Coon and Dave Sadowsky about the problems with the heating system at the PVMCC building and their recommendation was to install a new and larger return duct. Coon said it would cost $750 to do this, and the Board agreed to have the work done.
Also discussed was a problem with the heating system at the Town Hall. The steam boiler was replaced last October, but a tank connected to it has started leaking, and the basement is getting a lot of water in it. Carlton Coon, who put in the new boiler, said he could rebuild the existing tank for $500 or put in a new tank for $1,500. The Board decided to go with a new tank, although Bill Seel grumbled that this should have been taken care of when the boiler was replaced last fall.
The Mystery Of The Hydrant
A fire hydrant on Route 2 between the Eastwick Press building and Jones’ Garage was knocked over last week. Some thought the Town loader, which had been clearing snow near there, did it, but Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison said he had looked at it after the loader had cleared the snow, and the hydrant was fine. Some thought the wing of the state plow had done it, but others present disputed that.
The Mystery Of The Water Tank
Peter Schaaphok said he was called out to look at a leak in the Town water tank. Thirty-two feet off the ground there was a hole, probably less than an inch in diameter, and water was shooting out of it. No one knew how the hole was created, although Schaaphok said it looked like a bullet hole. Schaaphok called the tank company, and they said the short term fix was to whittle a wooden plug and jam it in there from the inside. The company will come and do a permanent repair in the spring, at a cost of $1,000. Schaaphok said insurance will cover the repair, but there is a $500 deductible.
Schaaphok said water bills were sent out late because Fred Humphrey was sick, but the deadlines for payment were extended accordingly.
Sales Tax
The Town received a request for a letter of support from the Town for the County’s effort to reauthorize the sales tax rate to continue at 8%.  The State gets the first four percent, and the County is “statutorily authorized” to collect three percent. The County has been authorized by the State legislature for many years to collect an additional one percent, but this authorization must be renewed every two years. They are asking the Town to support this re-authorization because the County shares sales tax revenue with the towns. If the additional one percent was not re-authorized, the Town would get less revenue from the County.
The Board was reluctant to support higher taxes, but reasoned that if it didn’t come from the sales tax, it would end up in the Town property tax levy and agreed to support re-authorization of the 8% sales tax.
The Town also received a request from Jean Brooks at the County Youth Department to protest cuts to State funding for youth programs which would reduce or end the funding that the Town gets for its youth program. The Town youth program budget is $8,000, and it gets $1,800 from the State to help pay for it.  Schaaphok said he would rather the Town not get involved in this, and Bill Seel agreed. Seel said the State needs to reduce spending, and if people scream about every funding cut, it makes it difficult to accomplish. Schaaphok felt that the revenue from the State is so small that if it were to be cut, the Town could work around it.
At budget time last fall the Board authorized an increase in the Dog Control Officer’s salary from $2,400 to $3,000, but when the salaries were written into the resolution for the organizational meeting, the old salary was used. So Schaaphok presented the Board with an amendment to Resolution 1 of 2011, raising the Dog Officer’s salary from $2,400 to $3,000 as intended. The Board approved the amendment. Town Clerk Callie Crisp said the Dog Officer has begun her enumeration of the dogs in Town.
Highway
Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison said he fell on the ice and broke some ribs this month, but the highway crew did a good job carrying on without him. Board members praised the Highway crew for their hard work keeping the roads clear through all the recent snowstorms.
At public comment time, Don Jones of Stillman Village road complained that two Town Highway workers came to his place of business and confronted him with criticism about how he plows his driveway, which he considered very discourteous. The Board agreed that confronting him at his workplace was unprofessional but didn’t want to adjudicate the question of whether he should change his plowing methods. Bill Seel said, “Ray is aware of the situation now. He can talk to his highway crew about their actions and to Don about his plowing and try to work it out.”