By Alex Brooks
At this month’s Grafton Town Board meeting on February 9, a resolution to install LED lighting improvements in the Town Senior Center and Post Office buildings for the purpose of reducing energy costs failed to win approval from the Board. Board member Rick Ungaro asked who pays the electric bill. The bills are currently paid by the tenants, and Ungaro said he doesn’t think the Town should spend money on the lighting improvements since it will not directly or immediately save the Town any money. [private]Higgins and Messenger voted in favor, and Ungaro, Gundrum and Crandall voted against the measure. After the meeting, Higgins said preliminary negotiations with Rensselaer County to renew the lease on the Senior Center call for the Town to pay part of the electric bill. Since the Town owns these buildings, and the LED lighting program is subsidized, he considered it short-sighted to pass up the opportunity to put in more efficient lighting with a significant subsidy.
Higgins said the total cost to the Town for both buildings would have been about $4,300 and the estimated annual savings on electricity about $1,570. NationalGrid would have paid about $3,250 as a subsidy to the project. Higgins estimated the payback period as about 2.5 years for the Senior Center and a little over four years for the Post Office.
Resolutions on Town Board Procedures
Rick Ungaro brought forward a resolution requiring that all resolutions presented to the Town Board be presented in writing at least five working days prior to the next scheduled meeting, working days to be Monday through Friday. Ungaro said he believes this is necessary to allow Board members to know exactly what is being proposed, and to think about it and perhaps do research in advance of the meeting so as to make a better decision. This would also allow the resolutions to be included on the agenda to let the public know what will be proposed at a meeting. A provision for emergency exemptions from this requirement was also included. The resolution passed unanimously.
Board member Ingrid Gundrum brought forward a resolution to add a public comment period at the end of each Board meeting in addition to the public comment period at the start of each meeting. The resolution spoke of encouraging “timely and relevant commentary” from the citizenry. It was passed unanimously.
The Board also unanimously passed a resolution to send Code Enforcement Officer Withcuskey to the Capital District’s Building officials in-service training class at a cost of $30.
A letter requesting funding for youths to attend a Red Cross Safe Babysitting Course was received from Bev Stewart. The Board responded with a resolution to support local Grafton youth by subsidizing the Red Cross Safe Babysitter Course in the amount of $45 per youth resident up to a maximum of $450. This money would come from the Youth Committee budget. The resolution passed unanimously.
The TRACS group which works to reduce drug and alcohol use among area youth made a presentation to the Board describing the work that they do, and asked the Town to support them through a contract to sponsor two youths from Grafton to attend the Youth to Youth Eastern States Conference. The conference teaches and inspires the students to further the work that they do locally to discourage substance abuse among their peers. The board tabled the proposal and plans to act on it at the next meeting.
Highway Report
Superintendent Herb Hasbrouck reported that his department has been under stress due to the very cold temperatures and quantities of snow we have endured this month. Salt supplies in towns and the County are depleted and the mines cannot keep up with demand. Sand on hand has frozen, and is now unusable until it thaws. Hasbrouck said he is using sand as fast as he can truck it in.
Reports
• Code Enforcement Officer Withcuskey reported that the demolition of the abandoned home on Palitsch Road has been completed. He asked residents to be mindful when plowing, not to obstruct roads by plowing snow into the roadways. He reminded people that it is important in this season to be sure your smoke alarms are in working order and that your chimneys are unobstructed.
• Assessor Dave Galarneau repor-ted that he returned taxpayer calls and dealt with exemption applications, worked on land values with land sales and assessments.
He also reported that land tables have been finalized and are ready for use to update land assessments. He plans on sending out assessment change notices on April first.
• The Town Clerk’s report for January as received was incomplete so it was not approved.
• The Rescue Squad reported 15 calls in January: 2 falls, 1 structure fire, 1 fire alarm activation, 2 illnesses, 1 overdose, 1 breathing problem, 1 unknown problem, 2 motor vehicle accidents, 1 welfare check with Sheriff’s Dept, 1 Winterfest stand-by, and 2 calls unable to field a crew. 322 miles were traveled, and 49½ volunteer hours were logged.
The Squad provided stand-by service for the Grafton Lakes State Park Polar Plunge/Winterfest. No patients required treatment. Crew members volunteering their service for the event included Marissa Levsha, Michele Mills, Jordan Baldwin and Donna Baldwin. In an effort to increase squad membership, the members recently voted to eliminate residency requirements for squad membership.
Regular meeting dates have been changed – meetings are now held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7 pm.
• Dog Control Officer Jay Goyer reported two calls for the month with no mileage charged. A report received from NYS Agriculture and Markets for inspection of Dog Control Officer found three deficiencies: equipment not available for proper capture and holding; kennels are not available to transport dogs safely, and equipment was not available for sanitary inspection.
Supervisor Comments
Supervisor Higgins reported that he has not had any communications from the Town Clerk regarding appointments for 2015. In view of this he stated that the Town could have issues regarding the position of Registrar of Vital Statistics. Mrs. Putnam’s failure to perform her duties as Registrar without appointment of a deputy registrar will lead to difficulties for funeral directors requiring immediate access to body transport permits and death certificates. This is the same situation that was encountered last year when the Clerk was unreachable and her appointed deputy was out of town on vacation. The Board took no action on this at this time.
Supervisor Higgins said that the required annual audit of the town books will be performed prior to the next regular Board meeting on March 9.
After a motion to pay all bills as audited was passed, the meeting was adjourned.[/private]