Berlin Town Board Action – The Rest Of The Story

by Kieron Kramer
The Berlin Town Board held its regular meeting on February 9. In last week’s issue of the Eastwick Press much of the meeting was reported. This is the rest of the story.
[private]28 Cents
Normally Town Clerk reports are boring. It is usually just a listing of revenues that the Town collects, a listing of the amounts forwarded to governmental agencies for which the Town collects fees for dog licensing and the like and a listing of the transfer station revenues and the amounts forwarded to Petersburgh, which shares the transfer station with Berlin. There always seems to be more dog licenses than marriage licenses.
At Thursday’s meeting Town Clerk Anne Maxon reported that the Town had received 28 cents in conservation license fees. A surprised Jaeger asked what license could cost so little. Maxon told him that it was a senior fishing license; the fee for that is $5 and EnCon gets $4.72 of the fee, the Town gets 28 cents. To which Jaeger said to the audience, “Her work got us 28 cents, no wonder we have her stuck in the dungeon.” He was referring to the fact that the Town Clerk’s office for the time being is still in the basement of her house. This tickled everybody’s funny bone no end.
Berlin Lumber Closing Date Not Set
The closing date on the Berlin Lumber property purchase has not yet been set. Supervisor Jaeger said in a telephone interview on Tuesday after the meeting that it is hoped the facility will be in use in the early spring. At that point Town Clerk Anne Maxon’s office can move out of her basement into real office space in Cherry Plain.
TRACs Coalition
Jaeger said he had met with three women from the TRACs Coalition who are asking town governments in the Berlin School District area to support the Coalition by naming a representative to the Coalition. The Board was presented with an agreement to sign showing its support. This would allow TRACs to pursue more grant money for their goal of controlling drug and alcohol use among minors in these communities. The tasks set for the representative are a bit daunting. There are twelve commitments ranging from attendance at monthly meetings to joining a subcommittee to undergoing Coalition sponsored training. Although the list is daunting, it may not seem so demanding in practice. Jaeger said, “I agree with the program, but the amount of involvement required is too steep.” No other Board members seemed able to take on this extra commitment either. Jaeger decided to “leave it on the floor” so members of the public can consider being the Town’s representative to TRACs. The Board did not sign the agreement with TRACs.
Rensselaer Plateau
Jaeger wanted to go on the record that he had attended a meeting for town supervisors sponsored by the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance. Jaeger said, “We went, and we listened, but we did not commit to anything.” He said he was pleasantly surprised that the Alliance’s main concern is to “highlight the benefits of the plateau.” But Jaeger is reluctant to support the alliance. “My concern as a property owner is that I don’t want to be told what to do with my land,” he said. “We don’t want an Adirondack Park situation.” Jaeger added that Stephentown Town Supervisor Larry Eckhardt was “charged up” and was particularly interested in the information regarding better practices for lumbering.
Other Items
Board Member John Winn asked if the authority to share services with the County and other Towns should have been given at the organizational meeting in January. Jaeger said he would look into it.
Highway Superintendent Jim Winn said that there has been so little snow that the Department has been working in the garage and has been cutting brush lately. The final bills from the County for the culvert repair on Watson Road have just been submitted, so Winn can finish his FEMA paperwork.
Dog Control Officer Doug Goodermote reported that he had been notified of two dogs roaming around but they got back home. He asked the Board, and got their approval, for a rabies clinic in the spring.
Board Member Dean Maxon said that the paperwork for reimbursement to the Youth Commission is being finished and will be sent to the County.
Jaeger said that there had been no workshop meeting in January because three new Board members took National Incident Management System (NIMS) training with Joe Rechen at that time. He suggested that a workshop be held on February 23 to review the draft of the wind energy law developed by the Planning Board.
In the absence of Rebekah Hartman, Chair of the Beautification Committee, Don Calman reported that Hartman had ordered 8,000 gladioli bulbs for the next planting. He also said that the fundraising is going well with the Committee reaching levels from last year much earlier.
47 Cents
Jaeger announced that Charter Cable had notified him that they will be raising the cable TV rates by 47 cents. It is a broadcast TV surcharge.[/private]