Petersburgh Town Board Action – The NY SAFE Act

by Alex Brooks
About 35 citizens came to the Petersburgh Town Board meeting on Monday, April 15. Most of them were there to comment on the Town Board resolution affirming support for the Second Amendment right to bear arms and opposing the NY SAFE Act gun control legislation.
[private]Supervisor Siegfried Krahforst introduced the issue by saying that the proposed resolution is non-binding, and may not have any practical effect. It is just a way to express the Board’s opinion on the issue so that those in State government will know where we stand.
Tim Church spoke first. He said his oldest son was murdered with a gun in 1989, and he said he supports the NY SAFE Act and opposes the Town’s resolution against it. He said he has no problem with people keeping guns for hunting, but he doesn’t think anyone needs an assault rifle. “Why does anyone need these big magazines?” he asked.
He also reminded everyone that this was brought up once for discussion, and the Board decided not to take a position on the gun law because it was too divisive, and he wondered why it came back a month later. Supervisor Krahforst said, “Our main concern was the way it was pushed through.”
Craig Levesque spoke next. He said he agreed with some of the points Church had made, but he opposed the SAFE Act, saying all it will do is create a black market in guns and ammunition. He also said he thought the Second Amendment “needs to be updated.”
Former Town Supervisor Peter Schaaphok saw the matter as a conflict between upstate and downstate. He said regulations that might make sense in an urban area don’t necessarily make sense here. In a rural town with no police force, where State or County police officers are based a long distance away, the need to have a gun for protection is different than it is in a city. He felt this is another instance of upstate being controlled by people from the New York City area.
The most ideological statement of the evening came from former Supervisor Mason Hubbard. He enumerated some of the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, among them the right to bear arms. He viewed the loss of any of these freedoms, or a part of them, as a road to the destruction of the Constitution and ultimately of our country. He said, “This will prevent us from defending ourselves, our loved ones and our property. We will be at the mercy of criminals.” He said he felt this country was built with “God, Guns and Guts” and we are losing those things now. He urged the Board to do whatever they can “to prevent the destruction of our country and our constitution.”
Vallis Goodermote (the wife of Town Board Member Duane Goodermote, who proposed the resolution) said as a woman from the country, she felt safer with our gun rights intact and urged the Board to oppose the SAFE Act. Her statement was greeted by a round of applause from most of the people in the room.
The Board then voted on the resolution opposing the NY SAFE Act and approved the resolution by a 4-0 margin. Board Member David Alderman was not present.
Call For Resignation
Scott Goldstein spoke to the Board about Planning Board Chairman David Miller. He described Miller’s behavior as harassment, threatening and bullying, and he called it a “misuse of power.” He called on Miller to resign as Chairman of the Planning Board.  Goldstein didn’t go into too many details about what Miller is threatening him with or why. Goldstein said he is renovating a building in town, and his dispute with Miller seems to have arisen out of that project.
Sean O’Donovan also called for Miller’s resignation. He said Miller is slandering him and said, “He’s out of control.” O’Donovan threatened legal action against the Town if Miller does not resign.
Krahforst said he couldn’t discuss the matter in public because it is a “personnel matter.” He suggested that Goldstein and O’Donovan submit their complaint to the ethics board.
The Price of Gravel
Sean O’Donovan then addressed the Board on another matter. He said he is selling gravel for $6.75 a yard, and he said he thought the Town has been buying gravel at higher prices from farther away. He wondered why the Town would do this.
Petersburgh Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison was not present so no answers were available. Peter Schaaphok wondered if this higher-priced material was the washed sand that the Town has been buying to keep the dust down, but O’Donovan said the material he is talking about is not washed.
In a discussion the next day, Harrison said that O’Donovan’s gravel is not on County contract or State contract so he can’t buy gravel there. He also said the gravel in his yard right now he bought from Dailey in Shaftsbury for $4.50 a ton. He said the Town will be entertaining bids for gravel next month so the Town will be looking at its options for buying gravel at that time.
Craig Surprise Re-Appointed
Craig Surprise was appointed to another six year term as the Town’s Sole Assessor. He was the only one who applied for the job after it was advertised recently.
Other Appointments
Terry Clyde was appointed to the Board of Ethics, which completes that Board, but Chairperson Deidra Michaels said she is still waiting for approval from the Town Board for the Code Of Ethics she submitted to them. Bill Seel said he has some problems with the Code of Ethics, but the matter was not on the agenda, and it was not discussed.
Brandon deWaal was re-appointed to the Board of Assessment Review for a term through 9/30/18.
Mowing Bids
There were two bids to do the Town’s mowing. One was from Ed Jones, who has been doing the Town’s mowing, and one from Darel Manchester and his company, Above and Beyond Landscaping. Jones’ bid was $5,875, and Manchester’s was $6,100. The Town hired Jones to do the mowing.
Cemeteries
Peter Schaaphok said he has been looking into the cemetery mowing, and he wonders why the Town mows the particular cemeteries that it does. The Town currently hires Jones to mow six cemeteries – the Sanford Hewitt farm on Leah’s road, the Reynolds Cemetery near Reynolds Road, the Griswold Cemetery on the East side of Route 22, the Weaver Cemetery on East Hollow Road, the Worthington Cemetery at the Ruebel Farm and the Hill Hollow Cemetery on Hill Hollow Road.
Schaaphok said there are many more cemeteries in Town, and he’s not sure why some family cemeteries are on the list and others are not.
Schaaphok’s suggestion was that only three cemeteries be mowed by the Town. The Board will have plenty of time to think this over since they have just accepted a bid for cemetery mowing for this year and the debate will be about what cemeteries to mow next year. The Board asked Schaaphok to give them his recommendations in writing.
The Leaning Garage
Supervisor Krahforst noted that the thirty days given to the owner of the former Jones Garage on Main Street to take out a building permit and submit plans signed by an architect have passed and he has not submitted plans or taken out the permit. Building Inspector Doug Hull was not present because his wife recently passed away. Town Clerk Callie Crisp said Mr. Mitri had removed two truckloads of stuff from the building and boarded up one window and that was about it, as far as she was aware. Krahforst said he will consult with the Building Inspector about what to do next.
Bocce Court
The Board has received a request from the Petersburgh Sunshine Seniors to allow them to put in a bocce court on the lawn on the east side of the Town Hall. Bill Seel said he needed more details about the size and placement of the bocce court before approving it.[/private]