by Thaddeus Flint
A public hearing on a franchise agreement for cable services between New Lebanon and Charter Communications started off the monthly meeting of the New Lebanon Town Board on April 14.
The public seemed to have little interest in hearing about their cable company, or the five year contract it wishes to continue with the Town. [private]There had been some thought that hordes of residents might turn out with their pitchforks and torches to voice complaints against a company many are not so happy with, but that didn’t happen. People have either accepted the service they get or given up any hope of it ever getting any better. It turns out, though, that it could actually get worse.
The representative of Charter, Thomas Cohan, pointed out that Charter in New England and the surrounding areas could be acquired by Comcast once a proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner is complete. That could come as soon as this summer. Cohan outlined the highlights of the deal, which could include the “tremendous expenditures” needed to get New Lebanon the adequate broadband the Town has been craving since pretty much the inception of adequate broadband.
“I think the likelihood of that [adequate broadband] increases if the Comcast – Time Warner deal does go through,” prophesized Cohan. “We hope that sometime this summer the federal agencies will be ruling.”
Should the Feds rule in Comcast’s favor, Charter customers in New Lebanon could one day wake up to find themselves customers of what many believe to be one of the worst companies in America. One only has to type the word Comcast into a Google search to find an endless list of reasons why almost nobody wants anything to do with the media behemoth.
Nevertheless, New Lebanon, like many other Towns, really has no other option at the moment than to renew Charter’s franchise agreement for another five years, which is what happened, with the entire Board voting in favor. The Board did however limit the agreement to five years instead of the ten that Charter initially wanted, so if Comcast should inherit the contract, the town could escape sooner.
The regular Board meeting began with the presentation of proclamations honoring Councilman Bruce Baldwin, who passed away in March, from US Congressman Chris Gibson, NYS Senator Kathleen Marchione, and NY Assemblyman Steven McLaughlin, to Jeannine Tonetti, Baldwin’s wife.
Baldwin “served his community with civic responsibility,” noted Congressman Gibson in his proclamation, “and a commitment to excellence.”
Finding someone with the same commitment as Baldwin could be difficult, but the Board, finding itself with an empty seat, intends to fill it without delay.
“I want to do it next meeting,” said Councilman Matt Larabee, “and appoint someone that night.”
The rest of the Board agreed, and set a deadline of May 1 to receive letters of interest. Interviews will be held May 6, and a decision could be made as soon as May 12.
Voting eligible residents of New Lebanon who relish the idea of spending long hours arguing over intricate details of the mundane and often very boring realities of government for basically no pay and even less appreciation are encouraged to send in their letters of interest to the Town Hall. Letters should detail any experience arguing over intricate details of the mundane and often very boring realties of government, or any other experience that might be useful in guiding New Lebanon into the future, which in this case won’t be all that long as Baldwin’s seat was up for re-election in November.
While experience in government is not a requirement, it could brace the next Councilperson for the inevitable bureaucratic inertia that goes with the job. Private industry types often chafe at the realization that projects worked on now might not come to fruition soon, in the near future, in the far future, or ever.
Take for instance the HR Manual. Supervisor Mike Benson has been pushing for a complete HR manual since pretty much the first day he sat down in his office at the Town Hall. It has been on one agenda after another since then, and even though a manual actually exists in printed form, it still has yet to be adopted. The same thing happened at this meeting as previous meetings, which was nothing. “To be honest,” said Benson, “I’m not even sure where we stand on it.”
Nothing also happened with the sale of the old gravel pit. But not for lack of trying. The first time it went out to bid, the minimum was $20,000. Nobody bid, so it went out again with a minimum of $7,000. “We received nothing,” said Town Clerk Colleen Teal, “not even an inquiry.” Benson proposed trying once more in a few months.
The plan to have the Town’s Highway material tested also went nowhere. Benson says he would like to make sure the Town is getting what they are paying for. The Town’s Highway Superintendent, Jeff Weinstock, however, is adamant that the gravel they are paying for is the gravel they are getting. “I know it’s good,” said Weinstock. “I certainly don’t need an engineer coming in here.”
A proposed Inter-Municipals Highway Agreement is also momentarily stalled. This agreement would make it easier for the County to get FEMA money should it help New Lebanon in the event of some kind of catastrophe. Weinstock, however, is not exactly sold on it. “I’m not a big fan of it,” he said. “There is some wording in there I don’t like.” The agreement was tabled for another month so that Weinstock can confer with Columbia County interim Superintendent of Highways, Bernie Kelleher.
The Town’s crumbling tennis courts is one project that does seems to be moving in a forward direction, albeit slowly. The condition of the courts has been known for years, and money even budgeted for some kind of repair or replacement. The problem seems to be making the decision to either repair or replace them. Someone then questioned whether the courts are used enough to warrant such an expenditure and this slowed things down for a while. Last month the Board decided to set up a petition to gauge local interest in the courts, but that never happened. Recreation Commission member Cynthia Creech, however, set up an email survey and received 28 responses, with all but 3 saying they used the courts in some fashion. Even the 3 who didn’t use them weren’t against the Town fixing them. Both New Lebanon High School and the Darrow School also responded that the courts were an important part of their fitness programs.
Weinstock seemed incredulous that all this surveying and discussion of tennis court usage would be needed when the courts in question are lying just out the window of the Town Hall for anyone to easily see how much they are used. Weinstock sees them every day from the Highway building and according to him “there isn’t a time when there is no one on the courts. It’s been like that for years, and years, and years.”
In the end, the decision was made, with all in favor, to have the Town Engineer look at the courts and draw up a scope of work for either repair or full replacement.
“We just made progress here,” remarked Benson, “I’m a little surprised.”
Which isn’t to say that that was the only progress made. The Board also reappointed Dean Herrick as deputy code enforcement officer, the campground permit for the Lebanon Valley Speedway was approved, and a public hearing was scheduled for May 12, right before the regular monthly Board meeting, on separating the library’s portion of the taxes on tax bills.
Two other important events residents should add to the calendars now are Town Cleanup Day, which will be held June 20 from 8 am to 2 pm at the Highway Department garage, and the community picnic, which will be July 25 at Shatford Park.[/private]