Grafton Organizational Meeting

A New Secretary To The Supervisor
by Alex Brooks
On  Wednesday, January 2, the Grafton Town Board held its annual  organizational meeting at 6:30 pm in the Town Hall. Most of the appointments passed with little or no comment, but Resolution #6 on the printed agenda nominated Doug La Rocque to the Planning Board to fill the remainder of Scott Newell’s term. Newell resigned in December. This resolution failed by a 3-2 vote. Supervisor Ray Darling and Barbara Messenger voted in favor of the appointment, but Marie Claus, Mike Crandall and Rick Ungaro voted against it.
[private]At the end of the meeting Mike Crandall nominated Pete Gundrum to this Planning Board seat, and that motion passed by a 3-1 vote, with Barbara Messenger voting against.  Marie Claus then asked that the appointment of Pete Gundrum to the Board of Assessment Review be rescinded so that he holds only one town appointment, and she nominated Doug La Rocque to the Board of Assessment Review in his place. Both of these resolutions were approved.
New Secretary To The Supervisor
This reporter learned for the first time at this meeting that Supervisor Darling had, in his words, “let go” former Secretary to the Supervisor Nicole Hemendinger several months ago and hired Allison Kirchner in her place. The Secretary serves at the pleasure of the Supervisor so the Supervisor may employ whomever he wants for the position. Supervisor Darling declined to comment on his reasons for making the change.
Appointments
Accounting Services – West & Co. of Saratoga, NY
Deputy Supervisor – Marie Claus
Secretary to the Supervisor – Allison Kirchner
Town Bookkeeper – Carrie Minkler – $12,500/year
Attorney to the Town of Grafton – Salvatore Ferlazzo
Dog Control Officer – Rick Bly – $4,500/year
Board of Assessors Clerk – Helen Hemendinger – $10,500/year
Planning Board Chairman – Tom Withcuskey – $775/year
Planning Board Member – Arthur Surprise (5 year term) – $725/year
Planning Board Member – Pete Gundrum (2 years) – $725/year
Planning Board Secretary – Jessica Crandall – $75 per meeting
Board of Assessment Review – Doug La Rocque – $150/year
Official newspapers – The Record and The Eastwick Press
Court Clerk – Kathleen Mason-Wagar – $4,000/year
Building Inspector/Code Enforcement Officer – Thomas Withcuskey – $14,980/year
Engineer to the Town of Grafton – Russ Reeves
Senior Citizen Representative – Connie Alderman
Youth Director – Noelle Goyer – $1,750/year
Town Historian – Pat Niebuhr – $500/year
Deputy Town Clerk – Allison Kirchner – $500/year
Deputy Registrar of Vital Statistics – Allison Kirchner
Deputy Highway Superintendent – James Goyer
Banks/Depositories – Pioneer Commercial Bank
Meetings of the Town Board will be on the second Monday of each month at 7 pm except in November, which will be on November 18.
The mileage reimbursement rate was set at $.565 per mile, and the fee for bouncing a check to the Town was set at $35.
Supervisor Darling said that the annual accounting of the books for the Town Supervisor, Town Clerk and Judges and Tax Collector will be held at 6 pm on January 14 in the Grafton Town Hall. Books will be on display for all Board Members to view.
Annual Salaries of Town Officials
Supervisor – $9,450/year
Town Board  Members (4) – $3,000/year each
Justices (2) – $6,800/year each
Town Clerk – $11,500/year
Highway Superintendent – $45,000/year
Assessor – $23,000/year
Tax Collector – $4,200/year
Registrar of Vital Statistics – $1,000/year[/private]