by Alex Brooks
The Grafton Town Board held a rather quiet meeting on Monday, January 13.
Supervisor Higgins said the Valente Company is seeking to expand its quarry, and the Town is seeking to be named lead agency in the permitting for that.
[private]Supervisor Higgins said there were some problems with the heating system at the Senior Center this month and Herb Hasbrouck spent quite a bit of time trying to resolve them. “We think we have the situation under control,” said Higgins.
He also commended Hasbrouck for calling attention to a monthly charge of $178 the Town has been paying for a repeater used in its communications that he felt the Town should not be paying for. Higgins and Hasbrouck took their case to the County, and the Town will no longer be charged for the use of that repeater.
Building Inspector Tom Withcuskey said there are 44 active building permits in Town and he has two new ones this month. He said he has been working with some of the lake associations on emergency vehicle access because some of them are “not plowed all the way around,” which he said causes a hazardous situation.
Supervisor Higgins said the Assessor reports that he is working with the County on some computer connectivity issues. He attended a demonstration of the Pictometry® software which is used for gathering assessment data from aerial photography, and he is continuing to work on neighborhood delineation.
Grafton Ambulance Report
The ambulance responded to eight calls in December – two difficulty breathing, three motor vehicle accidents, a structure fire, a stroke and a hemorrhage. The ambulance logged 41.7 volunteer hours and traveled 165 miles.
Annual elections were held, and line officers for 2014 were sworn in on January 15. Sharon Lecce is the Captain, Joe Allain the 1st Lieutenant and Tyler Baldwin 2nd Lieutenant. Outgoing Captain Donna Baldwin was sworn in on January 16 as EMS 201 Zone Coordinator, covering the Towns of Grafton, Petersburgh and Berlin.
Helen Ellett will have her 100th birthday on February 16, and the Senior Center in Grafton is planning to have a celebration of it at their lunch on Friday, February 14, at 12:30 pm.
At public comment time, Cathy Goyer asked about the highway garage roof, which she said has been leaking for several years. She wondered why funds for this were not included in the budget completed a few months ago. Supervisor Higgins did not respond. Rick Ungaro told her he had sought bids to have it repaired last year, but Higgins wanted to get a new roof put on so that solar panels could be installed to reduce the Town’s energy costs. Higgins said after the meeting that he hopes that when all the FEMA reimbursements arrive, the Highway Fund will have enough money to get the roof done.
At the conclusion of the meeting the Board went into an executive session to discuss “possible pending litigation.”[/private]