by Alex Brooks
At the Petersburgh Town Board Meeting on Monday, November 17, the Board heard from Rob Cottrell, its newly-appointed Highway Superintendent. He said he had hired two new highway workers, one full time and one part time. He said he was very pleased with the men he had hired. “They started work this morning,” said Cottrell.
[private]Leo Guerin is the full time worker. He lives in Hoosick on Babcock Lake Road. He worked at St. Gobain in Hoosick Falls for ten years and before that for a trucking company called Overnight Transport. Bryan Amidon of North Hoosick is the part time worker.
He worked previously for Dailey’s Sand and Gravel, Inc. Both of the new hires have CDL licenses, so Cottrell is the only one in the Highway Department that doesn’t. He said he has his military one, but they won’t transfer that any more. He said he will be getting a CDL license soon.
Cottrell said he is keeping records of what the men do each day, what trucks are used, mileage, fuel usage, etc. He will be putting this information into the computer as soon as he gets one, which is expected to be soon, and he said anyone is welcome to look at these records.
Cottrell said he and the men are cleaning out the garage and doing inventory. He said, “We’ve got some nasty equipment out there.”
Town Supervisor Siegfried Krahforst said the Town’s cash flow is down a little this month because the Highway Department has finished its paving for the year and is waiting for reimbursement from the State’s CHIPs (Consolidated Highway Improvement Program) funds. He said they have changed the way the CHIPs program works. They require detailed paperwork and cancelled checks to document the work that the Town has done before they will pay it. Krahforst said it has added a lot of paperwork to the Town’s burden. He said the documentation has been completed and sent, and the Town is expecting $64,000 in CHIPs money before the end of the year. But despite this, the Town’s cash flow position is greatly improved since last year at this time, when the Town had almost no cash left.
Revaluation For 2016 Approved
The Board passed a resolution to do a revaluation of real property in Town, to take effect with the tentative roll in May of 2016. Supervisor Krahforst said the Town has not done a reval for quite a while. Its equalization rate is currently 59.25%. He said it is more advantageous for the Town if it is near 100%. It is also more fair and equitable if the valuations of real property are kept up to date.
Krahforst Will Not Run Again
Krahforst said his term is up at the end of 2015 and he will not be running again. He recommended that the Town consider making the Supervisor’s term four years rather than two years because, he said, in two years you have barely learned the job and you can’t do it well until the third and fourth year. Tim Church said the Town tried to change it to four years once before, and when it was put before the voters they rejected the four year term. He said if you have a good supervisor, you can just re-elect him or her after two years, but if you have a bad one, four years is a long time to wait to vote him or her out.
Denise Church said the County recommends two year terms. The matter was tabled pending further thought and discussion.
Supervisor Krahforst also suggested re-thinking the Town’s policy of advertising every Town position prior to re-appointing the incumbent. He said if there is an incumbent who wants to continue in the position, and is very likely to be re-appointed, it is misleading to the public to advertise it as if it were a vacant position. The Board took no action on this but will consider the matter for the future.
Denise Church said she has been working on job descriptions for Town positions, and she would like to have them ready in time for the organizational meeting in January so that the job descriptions are in place when appointments are made. Councilman Alan Webster volunteered to help her get the job descriptions ready.
Church also said she would like to get an emergency plan for the Town completed as soon as possible in 2015. The Town has been doing some work on this over the course of this year but much remains to be done. This will apparently be one of the Board’s goals for 2015.
Supervisor Krahforst said he had met with a grant writer who will be looking for grant money for the Water District to replace the meters and fix or improve the wells.
Krahforst said he had received a comment from someone who doesn’t read The Eastwick Press and who asked that legal notices be put in the Bennington Banner. Board members asked if he meant publishing them in the Banner in addition to the Eastwick, and he said yes. Town Clerk Deidra Michaels said she would gather information and bring it back to the Board at a subsequent meeting.
Sand And Dust
Peter Schaaphok again brought up the issue of using sand on paved roads and the dust that it creates. He noted that the State and the County don’t ever use sand on their roads. He acknowledged that there are practical difficulties for a small town with some paved roads and some dirt roads to treat them with different materials, but he urged the Board and the Highway Superintendent to continue to think about this issue, as there could be serious health consequences from the fine dust created by sand left on paved roads.
Highway Superintendent Rob Cottrell said in addition to salt being expensive, it is sometimes hard to get. He said the County has brought him one load but they will not have any more until January.
Peter Schaaphok said there are about 15 copies of his book, Petersburgh Then and Now, available from the Town Clerk for $20 each, and there are also copies of Warren Broderick’s book about Petersburgh, Berlin and Grafton available from the Town Clerk.[/private]