by Kieron Kramer
“Hallelujah,” exclaimed Berlin Town Supervisor Rob Jaeger at the Berlin Town Board meeting on Thursday, October 10. He was referring to the fact that he had leases signed by himself and Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino for the County to rent the surplus garage space at the Municipal Complex and that the Board had just voted to authorize the leases. The logs on this arrangement have finally been unjammed after months of waiting. [private]Jaeger felt compelled to read one of the leases in its entirety to the assembled multitude in the Town Hall. Full of lawyerly language the reading was so tedious it would put a chicken to sleep. (Chickens must be included in every Berlin Town Board meeting.)
The term of the first lease runs from November 10 to December 31, 2013. The second lease is for the 2014 fiscal year. The rental rate is $500 per month. The County pays up front so Berlin will receive $1,000 for the two month rental on November 10 and $6,000 on January 1 for the 2014 rental. The County pays for its use of utilities; the electricity is on a separate meter. The leasing of the 80’x85′ secured space, because it is Town property, is subject to a permissive referendum. Once the lease resolution is published there is a 30 day waiting period during which time a petition could be filed requesting the permissive referendum. The number of signatures on the petition would have to equal five percent of the votes cast for governor in the last general election in the municipality. It is not anticipated that a petition will be filed, but the County lease must begin after the waiting period, hence, the term begins on November 10, 30 days after the Board approved the lease on Thursday, October 10.
The issue of renting the old Berlin Town Garage on Route 22 for $700 per month by two local businesses together, Eagle Energy, Inc. and Duane Goodermote Excavating, was also resolved, but not profitably. According to Jaeger, Eagle Energy withdrew the offer because the cost of insurance was too high. This week the Town republished public notices requesting proposals to rent the old garage. Interested parties will have to contact the Town Clerk to get what Jaeger said “is a framework for individual negotiation.” Proposals are due by October 24, the date of the next Board workshop.
Jaeger reported that at the Board workshop on September 26 Board Member John Winn suggested demolishing the old garage and shed and turning the area into a Town park and a Veterans Memorial with parking. Those who were opposed to the Town developing the Municipal Complex in 2009-2011 might recall that the “grand plan” proposed by Jaeger included income from the rental of the old garage to offset the ongoing expenses at the Municipal Complex, and they might remind the Supervisor and the current Board of that fact. Jaeger asserts that the savings from not heating the old garage and the Watipi Building will make up the difference. The sacrifice of possible future income from the garage might be too extreme a reaction to the failure of the first proposal to rent the garage; so the process begins again. Sometimes it takes time to find a tenant.
Jaeger announced that the sale of the Cherry Plain Polling Place to Gary and Marie Hoffman of Cherry Plain for $10,000 will be completed now that the 30 day waiting period for the filing of a permissive referendum is over.
The Town Hall is still a work in progress. Town Justice Joe Rechen has obtained a large desk and other furniture for the Justices’ office. He thanked Bud Hall and Highway Superintendent Jim Winn and his department for moving the furniture. The Supervisor’s Office space is ready to accommodate County Sheriff’s Deputies and NYS Troopers, Jaeger said, and the Town Hall will become a Sheriff’s Sub-Station. Since the Board plans to close the Watipi Building for the winter, the organizations that use it, the Berlin Senior Club, the American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary, have all been informed of the Watipi’s closing and been invited to use space in the Municipal Complex. The Seniors and the Legion both meet on a Wednesday; so does the Town Court. When the Court moves down to the Town Hall, the Legion will use the old Town Hall for its meetings. The Legion Auxiliary will meet in the Planning Board/ZBA conference room in the Complex. The Seniors will meet in the old Town Hall in November for the last time until spring, so closing the Watipi for the winter will not affect them much.
Jaeger wants the Justices to move to the Town Hall for the Court’s November 6 session. The illumination of the back yard with motion detection lights must be done first so the law enforcement officers will have the necessary visibility when entering or exiting the building for arraignments. The keyless entry door in the back entrance is in, and the Justices and law enforcement have the entry code. The ramp to the main entrance of the Town Hall is finished and is very impressive. Sometimes referred to as “the handicapped ramp,” it is the only way to access the front door of the Town Hall, the door which faces the parking area. Code Enforcement Officer Allan Yerton suggested that the deck and railings to the back door be done in the same style as the front ramp. The new doors have been installed as has the emergency lighting and the handicapped accessible bathroom. Aside from the yard lighting, signage is needed. At the moment it is not clear where the various offices and conference rooms are at the Complex.
So far all of this has been financed out of the $30,000 grant from the Office of Court Administration that Town Justices Joe Rechen and Don Sweet obtained. There is $4,291 left in the grant fund. Rechen said the motion detection lighting in the yard, the signage and other projects could be paid for out of the remaining funds. Jaeger said, “Not a nickel of this has come from taxpayer money; it’s pretty neat.” “Thank you, Justices,” Board Member Tara Fisher said, and there was a loud murmur of assent. “And a big thank you to Joe Burdick,” Jaeger added. Burdick has been doing the work on the Town Hall. The Office of Court Administration grant comes from the State’s coffers so taxpayers somewhere have paid for it.
Right Bank
At the workshop, the Board discussed changing banks. According to Jaeger the Bank of America branch in New Lebanon, where the Town accounts have been located since the BofA branch in Berlin closed last December, will be taken over by Berkshire Bank on January 17. Jaeger said that Berkshire Bank will not handle municipal accounts due to restrictions imposed by BofA which wants to keep these accounts. Jaeger and Town Clerk Anne Maxon, a former BofA branch manager, will meet with representatives from Key Bank to determine if the Town will move its accounts to that bank. The nearest Key Bank branch is in Hoosick Falls. There is no information from any source about the future of the former BofA branch building on Route 22 and Elm Street in Berlin.
Mine
J. Nicholas Adams, Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), attended this meeting and asked the Board to vote on the reclamation bond amount for the gravel mine on Plank Road which will utilize about 5 acres of the property of Nancy and Roger Vincent. Billy Hammersmith, who owns Quality Construction, a gravel mine on Watson Road in Cherry Plain, asked which agency was the lead. Adams said that the DEC is the lead agency and the ZBA is waiting for the DEC permit. One of the prerequisites is a bond to cover reclamation if the mine is abandoned. The DEC is requiring the Vincents to post a $16,959 bond. Although the DEC is the lead agency, the Town, Adams said, must pass a resolution approving the bond amount. The Board voted unanimously, following the ZBA’s endorsement, to approve the bond amount of $16,959.
Possible County Health Insurance
The County Legislature voted on the Tuesday before this meeting to allow municipalities in the County to join in the County health insurance plan. The County provides its employees and retirees with health insurance options from which they may choose coverage for themselves and any eligible dependents. By utilizing the County’s insurance plan local governments will gain access to the County’s community rating and the significant savings it provides. The Berlin Board will investigate this possibility to see if it is viable for the Town. One consideration is the health insurance benefits for Highway Department employees that will be determined by the ongoing negotiation with their union. Jaeger said that an analysis of the cost of comparable coverage will be done. The County would administer the plan and a dental plan is a possibility, he added. The Board will vote to join the County health insurance plan, if it wants to, at next month’s Board meeting.
Brookside Park Dog Bite
Dog Control Officer Doug Goodermote reported that the County Health Department had informed him of a dog bite incident in Brookside Park. So Goodermote went there but could not find the bitee. He finally “tracked him down” at Stewart’s. “The guy refused treatment,” Goodermote said, and he informed the County of that. Goodermote said he had picked up three dogs during the month. He found the owners of two of them and got them back home, and he “adopted out” the third dog. Other than that he reported that the dog world in Berlin has been “relatively quiet.”
Stacks
Code Enforcement Officer Allan Yerton reported that the new regulations for outdoor wood furnace emissions will go into effect on January 1. At this point outdoor wood furnaces must have an 18 foot high stack to limit inhaling the particulates in the smoke. Furnaces installed this year or prior will be grandfathered. The new furnaces, Yerton said, will be “gasifier types.” They do not need the extended stack. They work well and burn much, much cleaner, he added. The DEC will be the regulating agency that issues the permits, not Yerton. This is better for the Town, he said.
More Kinn Money
Jaeger reported that he had received a letter from John Darling, the executor of the Margaret Kinn estate, informing him that the Town would receive $5,369.13 more from her bequest. There are no restrictions on the use of the money, he added. Three organizations received this amount, Berlin, the American Cancer Society and the Sacred Heart Church in Berlin (now part of the Our Lady of the Snow parish). These disbursements close out the Kinn trust fund, Jaeger said. Kinn died in May, 2011, three weeks shy of her 101st birthday, and bequeathed the Town of Berlin $25,000 and the Berlin Youth Commission $5,000 upon her death.
STAR Informational Meeting
Head of Assessors Patty Baretsky reported that there will be a seminar on the new State filing system for the STAR property tax exemptions on Thursday, October 17, at 7:30 pm in the Town Hall. This is the same night as the rabies clinic. Representatives from the Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) will be presenting. The Basic STAR must be filed with the State by December 31, Baretsky said. The procedure for the Seniors’ STAR exemption, called the Enhanced STAR, has not changed, and Seniors should apply for it by March 1 through Baretsky.
Not A Museum
Town Historian Sharon Klein informed Jaeger that the old Town Hall, where the Berlin artifacts will be housed, should not be referred to as a museum. By State law a museum must have an accredited curator. From now on we must refer to the old Town Hall as the “Berlin Historical Center.”
Odds And Ends
Water District #1 Supervisor Len Clapp reported that the seasonal water system in the Taborton Mountain area of Berlin will close down on Columbus Day and he will begin draining the system then. Water District #2 Supervisor Jim Winn said that it’s “all quiet” in the district in the village. He added that he “will see about changing the hydrant over by the firehouse.”
As Highway Superintendent, Jim Winn reported that the Highway Department has been busy paving. The Berlin paving is done, he said, and the department has been helping the County and Stephentown with some paving. The chipping has been done and ditching is in progress even though the Department is short-handed due to people taking their vacations. Tammy Osterhout reported that the Youth Commission is preparing for the Halloween party at the Firehouse. Ivan Wager reported that “everything is going good” at the transfer station. The Board went into an executive from 8:14 to 8:34 “to discuss union negotiations.” The Board appointed Jennifer Wagner to be a Planning Board alternate. The Board voted unanimously to pay the bills as read by the Town Clerk. Board Member Dean Maxon gave “kudos to Rose Orenstein; the Town Hall always looks nice.” She was thanked particularly for cleaning the Town Hall after the furniture, with leaves, was moved into the Town Hall earlier in the week. The Board wished Board Member John Winn happy birthday.
Budget
Berlin has begun its budgeting process. According to Jaeger the Town’s tax cap this year will not be 2%; it will be 1.5%. He said this means that the Town can appropriate only $7,000 more than last year. Given the possible increase in fuel prices and services, “This is unworkable,” he said. The Board can vote to override the tax cap but has not yet decided to do so. In the meantime the Board will work on the budget at its workshop scheduled for 7 pm on October 24 in the Town Hall. There will be a public hearing on the budget at 7 pm before the next regular Board meeting on November 14.