by Alex Brooks
The workshop meeting planned for 6:30 pm on May 18 didn’t really happen because the Board was in an executive session which started at 6 pm. They returned to the public meeting room at about 6:50 (the room was full, with every seat taken), and said they had made a determination regarding the Town Code Enforcement Officer.
[private]Town Supervisor Siegfried Krahforst did not attend the executive session, and at the start of the regular meeting at 7 pm when the result of the executive session was disclosed, he left the room. Councilman Neil Geary said the Board had decided to terminate the employment of the Town Code Enforcement Officer, Martin Conboy, effective two weeks from the date of the resolution. The Board voted 4-0 in favor of this resolution.
Councilman Neil Geary said they took this action because the Board has repeatedly had difficulties getting Conboy to “efficiently and effectively conduct business with the public and with members of the Town Government.” Geary said the Board had held many meetings with Conboy over a long period of time, and the problems were not resolved. He said the Board told Conboy what they wanted him to do, and gave him opportunities to improve his performance, and there was no improvement. Geary summed it up by saying, “The Code Enforcement Officer was not effectively conducting the business of the Town.”
Conboy has been in conflict with a number of Town Officials, including Planning Board Vice-Chairman Tim Church, the Supervisor, and several Town Board members who said he refused to do things the Board asked him to do.
Most recently, he has been pursuing Supervisor Krahforst for doing work on his buildings without proper permits. On this matter, Krahforst’s attorney Brian Baker came to the Town Board meeting to speak on Krahforst’s behalf.
Baker said Krahforst hired a contractor to work on a house that he owns on Head of Lane. He was pouring additional concrete against an existing foundation wall to strengthen it and make it more waterproof, but since it was not structural work, he felt he did not need a permit, and he did not get one. After discussions about this between Baker and Town attorney Ferlazzo, a consent order was agreed upon requiring Krahforst to hire an engineer. Baker said an engineer was hired, who said the work was not structural. A permit application was submitted, and it was rejected. In that permit, Krahforst apparently put in a figure of $69,000, which was understood to refer to the value of the renovation work being done, but Krahforst had intended to say that $69,000 was the value of the house, and this led to further complications. Then in April, said Baker, Conboy found a contractor working on Krahforst’s building at Sawyers Lane, and asked to see the permit for that work. It was a 2013 permit that Baker said was good through 2017, but Conboy said it expired in 2014 and demanded that a new permit be taken out. Baker then said that Conboy had told Krahforst that he needed to get a permit to replace a few fascia boards on his Head of Lane property. Baker said overall Krahforst feels that he is being singled out, and that he has been dealt with unfairly. He asked Baker to make this statement for him.
Conboy said the building code violations he believes have happened in Krahforst’s buildings have not been resolved, and he met with a state building code official last week, in the Petersburgh Town Hall, who told him the only thing he can do is to take Krahforst to court. He was planning to report on that meeting at this week’s Town Board meeting, until he learned that he was dismissed from his job.
He said his access to his town e-mail address was cut off on the night of the Town Board meeting, and he is concerned about following through with matters that he is in the middle of, including the situation with Supervisor Krahforst. He said, “I can’t just walk away. I will continue to pursue it.” Conboy said he expects some action from State building officials that he has been in touch with.
Both sides complain that too much of the Town Attorney’s time has been taken up with the dispute between Krahforst and Conboy, and that it is costing the Town money. But it appears that there is more to come.[/private]