Petersburgh Town Board Action – A Reprieve For The Former Jones Garage?

by Alex Brooks
A public hearing was held on the Town’s plan to demolish the former Jones Garage on Main St., because the Building Inspector has found it structurally deficient. The owner of the building, Dan Mitri, was there and he said he had hired a contractor to stabilize the building, but the contractor couldn’t start work until June. Mitri said he will remove some heavy equipment that is in the building, and secure the building so no one can get in, within the next few weeks.
[private]Building Inspector Doug Hull said Mitri will need to submit architectural drawings of his plans for structural repairs. The Board agreed to wait until June to get the repair work started if Mitri will remove the heavy equipment, secure the building, submit his plans, and take out the building permit in the next 30 days.
Town Truck Accident
Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison said, “We rolled one of the trucks up on Prosser Hollow.” He said the truck slid off the road because of ice on the road. “No one was hurt, and the truck is OK,” said Harrison. He said a couple of springs were broken but not too much other damage.
Assessor
Petersburgh Assessor Craig Surprise said the County had approved its contract with Pictometry, so the aerial imagery of the Town should be ready in time to use it for the revaluation work this year. He said the County Attorney is preparing an agreement for the Town to use this imagery. “I think we’re in good shape,” said Surprise. He estimated it will cost the Town about $4,800, and he said this will save the Town a lot of money on the revaluation. This money will be collected by the County on their tax line called “chargebacks.”
Surprise’s six year appointment as Assessor expires at the end of September. His reappointment was on the agenda this month. Duane Goodermote asked why the appointment was on the agenda six months in advance.  Surprise said a lot of towns do that because if they wait until the last minute they might find their assessor has taken another job. He said a lot of jobs are coming up in the next few months, and if he’s going to pass them up, he has to know his appointment in Petersburgh is secure. The Board said their policy is to advertise publicly before making appointments so they told Surprise they need to wait until next month to make the appointment so it can be advertised in the meantime.
Appointments
The appointments that were held up last month so that they could be advertised were made this month. Helen Hemendinger was appointed as Assessor’s Clerk and Brigitta Schmidt was appointed as Deputy Town Clerk and Secretary to the Supervisor.
Board Of Ethics
Deidra Michaels, Chairperson of the Ethics Board, recommended the appointment of Terry Clyde to that Board. The Board said they will advertise the position and make an appointment next month. Michaels said once this  appointment is made her Board will be complete, with Bill Shorter, Clyde and herself and with Dave Huskie serving as an alternate.
Gun Rights
Duane Goodermote again presented a resolution for the Board’s consideration affirming Second Amendment rights and criticizing the NY Safe Act and other measures being considered at the Federal level to restrict ownership of certain types of guns. He said the last time he presented such a measure he was told that a public hearing was needed, but he said a public hearing is not required. The text of the resolution is available from the Town Clerk. Any Town resident who would like to comment on whether this resolution should be adopted or not may  do so by sending a letter prior to the April meeting or by coming to the April meeting to make their comments in person.
Broken Wheel Resolution
The Board passed a resolution 4-0, with Bill Seel abstaining, to go forward with the bridge replacement project at Broken Wheel. Town Supervisor Siegfried Krahforst said the Town will pay the bills and then submit them for reimbursement on a monthly  basis so the Town will not have large sums tied up in the project and will not have to borrow to sustain their cash flow.
Health Insurance
The Town’s health insurance was projected at budget time to increase by about 5%, and the budget reflected that. The Town has now learned that the health insurance will be going up by over 15%, so the budget is too low in that area. The Board agreed to a less expensive option for prescription drug coverage. This option includes a one time deductible of $100 which the Town will pay. Overall, the Town is paying almost as much for health insurance as last year, although it is covering one man less this year.
Town Land For $1
Planning Board Chairman Dave Miller said a subdivision in North Petersburgh is being done next to a small parcel of land owned by the Town which the Town acquired when Route 22 was reconfigured. Miller said this piece of land has been used by the abutting landowners, Mike and Brian Jones, for many years. Miller said he didn’t think this small parcel would be useful to anyone else, and he suggested that the Town sell it to the Joneses for $1 so that it can go back on the tax rolls and generate some revenue for the Town. He asked if the Town Board would support doing that. They said it sounds better than the current situation and gave it their blessing.
Town Hall
Supervisor Krahforst said an energy audit of the building is in progress.
The Board awarded a contract to Jay Burdick of Petersburgh to install window wells at the Town Hall, which is one of the last measures required to keep the basement of the building dry.  Krahforst said he had acquired some surplus furniture from the School District for free in anticipation of setting up some offices in the basement of the Town Hall.
Other Matters
Water Superintendent Ben Krahforst said he had rebuilt the chlorinator at the pump house and it is working much better now.
The Board agreed to send a letter of support to the State legislature to extend the additional 1% sales tax for another two years, as requested by County Executive Kathy Jimino. Jimino pointed out that the Town receives significant revenue from the County as its share of the sales tax revenue and if the extra 1% were not re-authorized, that revenue would be smaller.
Mike Jones presented a petition for a speed limit on Hewitt Road. Sharon Hodges, who lives on that road, said she was almost killed last weekend by someone speeding on that road. The Board agreed to initiate a request, which must be approved by the State DOT.
Duane Goodermote relayed a message from one of the Berlin Transfer Station attendants saying that garbage bags are not supposed to exceed the 40 gallon size, and if bigger bags are brought there, they would have to pay two tickets to dispose of them. Dave Miller asked who is the attendant to implement a change like that, but actually that has been the policy for a number of years, and the issue now is enforcing it.[/private]