Petersburgh Stolen Blind

by Alex Brooks
Petersburgh Town Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison told the Town Board that someone has been stealing the Town blind of its emergency road markers. Four large “Road Closed” signs have been taken. It costs $340 each to replace them, and, in addition to that, hazardous roads are suddenly unmarked when someone takes away the “Road Closed” signs. The orange emergency marker cones have also been disappearing. Harrison said he has lost at least 50 of those since Hurricane Irene. These cost $38 apiece, and the special tall ones cost over a hundred. He has also lost 4 to 5 barrels which cost $150 each to replace.
These represent significant losses to the taxpayers of Petersburgh, and measures are being contemplated to catch the thieves who are taking them.
Harrison also said that all of the roads are now open and all of the washouts have been fixed. He said FEMA “has all of our paperwork” and 80% of the applications for emergency assistance are completed.
Supervisor Peter Schaaphok said the Town will get the cash from its Revenue Anticipation Note by December 7, which will alleviate the Town’s current cash flow problems. He noted that the date he mentioned is a week later than originally planned, because of a fax snafu which delayed publication of the required legal notice in the Eastwick Press.  The Town will henceforth submit notices to the paper by email, a more reliable technology.
Fire Alarm System
The Board agreed to hire the Center For Security of Clifton Park, NY, to refurbish the fire alarm systems at the four municipal buildings at a cost of about $4,000. This work won’t bring these systems completely up to code, which would require replacing much of the equipment at a much higher cost, but it will put all of the existing systems in working order. The company will then maintain the system on an ongoing basis at an annual cost of $720.
Budget Passed
The Board passed its 2012 budget at this month’s meeting. The overall spending plan, including the Fire District, the Water District, the two lighting districts and the Library, is $1,049,867. The amount to be raised in tax is $635,478. This is $12,223 more than last year, an increase of just under 2%.
There is a 3% raise for the highway crew, which has not had a raise in several years, a bit more money for cemetery mowing and the highway garage, which needs some work, and an increase in the capital outlay for buildings because some work needs to be done on the basement of the Town Hall, which has moisture and mold problems.
Roads Abandoned
A Public Hearing was held on a proposal to abandon four roads that have not been maintained for many years. These are Reynolds Road, Spencer Hollow Road, Tifft Road and White’s Road. An owner of property on Tifft Road came to learn more about the meaning of the road closing, but he was not opposed because he wanted to keep the gate across Tifft Road that keeps the public out. Before the gate was there they used to have problems with people dumping stuff there at night. The Board later passed a motion to abandon the roads.
Mill Yard Building  
Supervisor Schaaphok said he was pleased to report that the derelict property at 103 Mill Yard Road will be taken by the County in April, and, if no one buys it, the County Highway Department will take it down.