Stephentown Town Board Action – Budgeting Underway

by David Flint
There wasn’t much happening at the Stephentown Town Board meeting on Monday evening, but the Board has been wrestling with a proposed budget for 2013, and there was some discussion around that. Town Supervisor Larry Eckhardt reported that the Board had been up late the previous week at a workshop meeting “pounding the numbers.” Although the Board could override the State mandated 2% cap with a simple majority vote, he said that they are making every effort to adhere to that cap. [private]It looks like the increase in taxes for the Highway Department may exceed 2%, but the Board expects they will be able to keep the overall increase within the cap. Their biggest concern is with the costs of running the Highway Department, costs over which they have very little control. Eckhardt cited a projected increase in fuel costs of 10% among other things that make it difficult to adhere to 2%, with the Highway Department using about 2,000 gallons a month. Then, too, there is the increase in health insurance, expected to rise by 6%, and the cost of asphalt, tied to oil prices, and other road materials.
The Highway Department, Eckhardt noted, has only two sources of revenue, CHIPS funding  and taxes. The General Fund at least has multiple income streams including the mortgage tax, sales tax and income from the Justice Court, the Town Clerk’s office and the Code Enforcement/Building Inspector’s office.
Deputy Assessor Joan MacVeigh reported that frustrated Highway Superintendent Aldie Goodermote had called the County to ask that they take over the Town roads. County Superintendent of Highways Scott Gallerie said Larry Eckhardt should call the County, but Gallerie said, “I don’t think it’s gonna happen.”
MacVeigh advised that the Board should take note of how many people are now using the food pantry at the Federated Church. “What will it be in the dead of the winter,” she asked, “when fuel oil for the furnace is $5 a gallon and gas is over $4?”  MacVeigh said that when people come into the Assessor’s Office and complain about their high taxes, they would from now on be referred to the Town Board. “We’re not listening to it anymore,” she said.
Eckhardt pointed out that 2/3 of local taxes is school tax and 2/3 of the County/Town tax is County tax. MacVeigh retorted that County government should revert to a Board of Supervisors. “We had one for umpteen years, and it didn’t cost us all this money,” she said.
Eckhardt announced that a public hearing will be held on the Preliminary Budget on Monday, October 22, at 7 pm. The proposed Preliminary Budget will be available at the Town Clerk’s Office and posted on the Town website (www.TownofStephentown.org) prior to that hearing.
Provost Road
Provost Road has finally been paved. “I’m hoping this will allow us to stop spending money on that road,” Eckhardt said. The road functions as a cutoff between Routes 43 and 22, and it takes a lot of traffic. The Highway Department was constantly spending a lot of time, money and effort maintaining it, and complaints about the dust and traffic caused the Board to make it a one way road for a period of six years.
Now, with shared service assistance from the County Highway Department the road has been paved and reopened. Bills that the Board approved at this meeting included one for 800 tons of crusher run in the amount of $5,599 and another for asphalt in the amount of $31,135, both for Provost Road. Eckhardt said some work still needs to be done on the shoulders so that cars don’t slide off into the ditches.
Thanks From The Historical Society
Historical Society President Marilyn Osgood thanked the Highway Department for helping to transport a storage shed to the Heritage Center and get it properly placed. “They were very supportive,” she said.
Eckhardt said he had spoken with the Heritage Center Curator, Beverley McClave, about an idea raised at the last Board meeting to decorate the Town Hall walls with framed original land indentures signed by Stephen Van Rensselaer III. McClave thought it was a great idea but the problem would be assuring security for these valuable historical documents. Eckhardt said the Board would discuss the feasibility of providing some sort of lockable glass enclosed cases. He said that other historical photos that the Historical Society might have in its collection might also be appropriate to adorn the walls. Another thought he had was that it would be interesting to display photographs of previous Town Boards and maybe start a new tradition of having an official photograph of each new Town Board.
Town Beautification
Burt Swersey and Sustainable Stephentown are joining efforts to provide some green beautification around the Town Hall. Swersey is phasing out his Shadowbrook Farm Nursery and has offered to donate some shrubbery, plants and trees to the Town. Sustainable Stephentown has offered to have them properly planted. The focus, said Kevin Carpenter, is to provide some beautification around the Town Hall and between the Town Hall and the Library. Carpenter said some of the larger trees might require a commercial tree spade to plant. Carpenter’s organization was looking for some direction from the Board as to where they would like the planting done. Councilman Bill Jennings suggested that Carpenter’s group make a proposal to which the Board could respond.
School Property
Regarding the Town assuming ownership of the former Stephentown Elementary School property, Eckhardt said that the Board has responded to the Berlin School Board’s proposed contract indicating what they liked and did not like about the stipulations. Eckhardt believes the School Board is now in the process of reviewing Stephentown’s counter proposal and the Town Board is waiting to hear from them.
Halloween Party
Councilman PJ Roder announced that the Youth Commission will be sponsoring a Halloween Party at the Stephentown Memorial Library on Saturday, October 27, from 2:30 to 4:15 pm. There will be pumpkin painting, crafts, games, spooky stories, snacks and the “Great Pumpkin” Charlie Brown movie. Wear or bring your costume.
Zoning Board Approves Motocross DEIS
Eckhardt reported that the Zoning Board of Appeals had earlier this month approved the Draft Environmental Impact Statement submitted by Howard Commander for the Motocross park he proposes for a site off of Webster Hill Road in the south part of Town. The ZBA will now set a public hearing on the DEIS. Eckhardt believed that there may be a glitch in the ZBA making any decision in that Commander still owes money to the Town for attorney and engineering fees
Deposits & Spending
The Town Clerk turned over the sum of $712.37 to the Supervisor for the month of September. The distribution from the Office of the State Comptroller, Justice Court Fund to the Town has not been reported yet. The Transfer Station deposited a total of $8,065.
The Board audited and approved claims in the amount of $14,594.60 from the General Account and $109,176.04 from the Highway Account.
The Board set a public hearing on the Preliminary Budget for Monday, October 22, a public hearing on revisions to the Land Use Regulations for Monday, October 29, and their next regular meeting for Monday, November 19, all meetings to start at 7 pm.[/private]