Petersburgh Town Board Action – Broken Wheel Fixed

by Alev Brooks
Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison said his crew had poured new footings for the Broken Wheel Bridge, working with the County Engineer, and the red flag has been removed from that bridge.
Town Board Member Bill Seel thanked him for fixing that bridge.
[private]The Town is continuing to move toward replacing that bridge. Town Supervisor Krahforst said he has received a list of approved engineers to design the bridge, but he is still waiting for paperwork from the State to authorize the Town to go forward with the project. He outlined the process for the other Board members. The Town will float a bond of $155,000 for the design and engineering work, and, once those plans are finished and approved by the Federal agency, they will reimburse the Town for 100% of the cost of engineering and design. The Town will have to pay the costs of the bond, which are about $1,500 to create it, plus the interest cost. Then the Town will float another bond for the construction cost, which is expected to be $600,000 to $700,000.  Once the bridge is completed, the Federal government will reimburse 80% of the construction cost, and New York State will reimburse 15% of it. The Town will be left paying the remaining 5% as well as the cost of floating the bond and paying the interest. These costs, said Krahforst, need to be included in next year’s budget.
Sealing The Parking Lot
Supervisor Krahforst said he thought the Town parking lot, located between all the municipal buildings, needs to be sealed. There are some large cracks in it, and he was concerned that it may deteriorate further. He asked the Board if it would be OK to solicit estimates for work on the parking lot.  They agreed that it would be good to get some estimates so the Board knows what needs to be done and what the cost will be, but there was some resistance to the idea of doing it this year. Bill Seel said the budget for repairs to Town buildings has been used up.  Councilman David Alderman asked why he was told there was no money for improvements to the front door and entry sidewalk to make them more handicapped accessible in this year’s budget but now the Board is asked to go over budget for sealing the driveway.
Krahforst said he will get estimates for the driveway sealing and research the options concerning accessibility improvements and bring the information back to the Board.
Assessing From The Air
Petersburgh Assessor Craig Surprise said that the Rensselaer County Department of Public Safety will be doing aerial photography of all of Rensselaer County this fall and that this presents an opportunity for Petersburgh to save money on its revaluation. He said a “field survey” normally costs $15 per parcel, which would be about $15,000 to do the whole Town, but that the same data can be collected through aerial photography for $6 per parcel.
The company that does the aerial photography and supplies the software which allows the user to collect data from it is called Pictometry. Surprise has been talking with Pictometry about pricing to use their system, and he said they will give the best price if several other towns join in the purchase. He said some other towns have expressed interest, and he asked Supervisor Krahforst to talk with other town supervisors about the possibility of collaborating in this matter. Krahforst said he had a meeting with other town supervisors the next night, and he would bring it up.
Water District
Krahforst said he is working on getting a bond to pay off the Water District’s USDA loan, and it looks like he can get an interest rate that is about half that of the existing loan. The existing loan has 13 more years to go, and the new loan will be a 10 year bond, so it will also pay off the debt more quickly, while reducing the District’s annual costs.
Krahforst also said he has been investigating well #6, which, he said, is overflowing at the well but nothing is coming out at the pump house. He thinks there is a break or some blockage in the line. He thanked Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison for weed-whacking the area the pipe runs through so it can be investigated.
Krahforst also asked Town Clerk Callie Crisp when the money from the July billing will be coming in, as the Water District is currently $3,900 in the red. She didn’t have figures available on how much has come in or how much is expected soon.
No Party
Supervisor Krahforst reported that he called a special meeting to organize volunteers for a July 4th celebration next year, but no one showed up. “I guess nobody wants to have a party,” he said.
In Other Business:
• Planning Board Chairman Dave Miller advised the Board that he expects a final draft of the revised Subdivision Regulations to be done by the end of the month.
• The Board was told that the Ethics Committee has met and that it has received a few complaints, but it is not ready to report yet.
• The missing fire hydrant next to Jones’ Garage has been prepped, and the Highway Department will put it in as soon as they find the time.
• There was a discussion about the Youth Program being underfunded and what to do about it. Supervisor Krahforst suggested the Town do a 50-50 raffle to benefit the Youth Program, but there was some uncertainty about whether a Town can engage in raffles. The Board took no action on the matter.
• Dave Miller asked Krahforst why he accepted a letter and best practices manual from a “concerned citizen” group that wished to remain anonymous after he had announced that he would disregard anonymous comments and complaints.  Krahforst said he had said that in reference to anonymous phone calls, but he conceded that Miller may have a good point. Miller said he thought if someone wants to criticize the way the Highway Superintendent is doing his job, they should stand up and have their say in person.
The Board went into an executive session at the end of the meeting to discuss “personnel issues.”[/private]