by David Flint
Stephentown is bracing for the annual Bella Terra Music Festival to be held at Gardner’s Field from Thursday, August 21, through Sunday, August 24. The Town Board is optimistic that things will run smoothly and safely and that measures to alleviate the noise, as promised by Festival organizers, will result in fewer complaints from residents.
[private]In recent meetings with the Town Board, Festival organizers agreed to take a number of measures to tone down the noise. The Main Stage will be reduced to one stage this year. The Redbull music truck will no longer play during late night. The late night stage will be moved into the woods after 11 pm and will end by 3 am. “Silent Disco” with headphones may continue until 6 am. The Main Stage will end on Thursday by 10:30 pm, on Friday and Saturday by 11 pm, and all music will end on Sunday by 8 pm. A hotline will be set up for residents and Town officials to report any problems. The Town Board has received a schedule of performances and contact information for the Festival organizers.
Eckhardt said that the organizers, apparently, are happy with the Stephentown location and are making efforts to respond to complaints from residents. He noted, too, that Stephentown residents can get discount tickets to the Festival. He added, however, “We will hold their feet to the fire,” and, if they do not adhere to agreements made, “We won’t be as nice.”
Noise On West Road
Bella Terra may have some competition on West Road. A resident who lives there about midway between Route 22 and Newton Road asked whether the Town had a noise ordinance. He complained of extremely loud live band music blasting constantly from a neighbor’s residence. He said he has had to call the State Police a number of times. The State Police, apparently under the impression that the Town does have a noise ordinance, have told the neighbor he has to shut down the music after 11 pm. But the next night the noise, which included a lot of raucous and drunken shouting and laughter, continued and blasted until 3 am.
Paula Dibble, who lives close by, said her property is somewhat sheltered from the noise by trees but confirmed that it does indeed go on into the wee hours of the morning and would certainly make sleep impossible. “It’s not a good thing,” she said.
Eckhardt said the Town does not have a noise ordinance but asked for written information on the problem and said he would contact Code Enforcement Officer Dean Herrick to see if something can be done.
Severing The Tie With ERCSWMA?
Councilman Bill Jennings reported that he and Councilman PJ Roder had met with Matt Curley, Executive Director of the Eastern Rensselaer County Solid Waste Management Authority (ERCSWMA) to discuss the impending expiration of the Town’s contract. If the Town were to continue with ERCSWMA Jennings said, it would certainly not be for a 25 year period as heretofore, but the details of any proposed renewed contract have not yet been worked out.
The contracts of all seven member communities will be expiring next year between August and October. So far, Jennings said, Stephentown is the only town that has expressed its intention of possibly not renewing. He said there are several options that may be considered. The Town could sign another contract with the Authority, contract with a company such as County Waste or Waste Management and continue to run the Transfer Station on their own without ERCSWMA, shut down the Transfer Station and go to mandated curbside pickup by one of those companies or just shut down the Transfer Station and leave residents on their own.
The Town will probably want to get bids from ERCSWMA, County Waste and Waste Management to see which one would come up with the best deal for Stephentown. ERCSWMA has already expressed interest in keeping Stephentown and is willing to work with the Town to come up with an amicable agreement. Eckhardt said that it is clear to all sides that Stephentown is not getting its money’s worth compared with other member towns. He thought it might still be feasible to stay with the Authority if substantial discounts on fees are offered.
Jennings said Matt Curley will attend the Board’s next Workshop meeting and then the Board will be looking at the details, financial and otherwise, of the various options in the coming months. There will be more public discussion of the matter before any decisions are made.
New Phone System Wanted
The Board has complained for a number of years about the malfunctioning telephone system in the Town Hall. They now passed a resolution authorizing the Town Clerk to advertise for proposals on a new phone system. Bid specifications will be available at the Town Clerk’s office.
Deputy Town Clerk
The Town Clerk was also authorized to advertise for a deputy for herself as the current Deputy Town Clerk is leaving. The position will be advertised with letters of interest and resumes due to the Clerk’s office by September 12. The current amount budgeted for the Deputy Town Clerk’s salary is $2,000.
Dog Control Report
Councilman Chris Demick said that the Dog Control Officer had reported two dog bite incidents, one on Madden Road and another on Brainard Road. There were also two incidents of dogs running loose on Madden Road.
Deposits & Spending
The Town Clerk turned over the sum of $619.48 to the Supervisor for the month of July. The distribution from the Office of the State Comptroller, Justice Court Fund was $1,395. The Transfer Station deposited a total of $5,960.
The Board audited and approved claims in the amount of $10,153.24 from the General Fund and $27,500.90 from the Highway Account.
The Board set its next workshop meeting for Monday, September 8, and its next regular meeting for Monday, September 15, both starting at 7 pm.[/private]