by David Flint
“Fool me once, shame on you – Fool me twice, shame on me,” lamented Stephentown Town Supervisor Larry Eckhardt at the Town Board meeting Monday evening. Even as the Board was expressing frustration and aggravation at having been duped by organizers of the Disc Jam Music Festival held at Gardner’s Field over the weekend, they were now faced with a request for permits to hold another music festival at the end of July in the same place.[private]
Board members felt that the presentation made at their April meeting wildly misrepresented the recent event as a disc golf tournament. There would be camping and some music, but not anywhere near as big or as loud as previous Bella Terra festivals and the music would be a different sort of music, “not so much electronic.” They also knew about the rules and regulations that the Town had specified for Bella Terra regarding loudness and lateness. They promised they would follow the same rules and also provide the Board with a detailed agenda.
Eckhardt said, however, that they never got the agenda and many complaints from residents came pouring in starting Thursday night and through Sunday morning. The main request from the Board, he said, was that it not be late and loud, but many reports indicated the loud music continued to three or four in the morning. Attempts to contact the organizers were futile.
The bass was the worst, one resident complained, “24 hours a day of bang, bang, bang!”
“Five thirty on a Sunday morning, loud band music with drums…nine o’clock on a Sunday night when many of us have to go to work or school next morning, that’s unacceptable,” complained Paula Dibble.
“I think it’s been proven now with these events that they are not trustworthy,” commented Marilyn Osgood. “We cannot trust them. What they say is just baloney because they can’t control it either.”
The new request was from Robert Lumbra and Aaron Grehan representing a company called Fractaltribe. They proposed to hold Fractal Fest 2015 at Gardner’s “Fractal Forest” from Friday, July 31 through Sunday, August 2. Lumbra said he has had zero complaints about his last three festivals. The music can be toned down, he said. His festival would use a $20,000 sound system for an expected crowd of 500 people versus Disc Jam’s $100,000 sound system and a crowd of about 3,000 people.
Councilman Bill Jennings wasn’t buying it. “Someone very much like you was here at our meeting in April saying exactly the same damn thing. This is going to be smaller, only about a thousand people, very quiet, nothing late, nothing loud – promises, promises, promises. It went on all night Thursday. Only time it calmed down was during the rainstorm on Friday…So I have no reason to believe a word you’re telling me. Nothing against you, but your predecessors have sat there and lied.”
Eckhardt agreed saying, “We are at our wit’s end trying to come up with the right thing to do.” To help with this quandary, the Town’s attorney, Craig Crist, had been asked to research what other towns have done. Crist said the most detailed town law he had found was one that the town of Glenville had passed. Eckhardt said that at this point the Board was considering that they must at least ban Thursday starts, get more detailed promises in writing from organizers and from owners of the planned site and possibly also require that a bond be posted that would be forfeited if promises were not kept. There was no interest on the Board for passing any sort of noise ordinance, nor did they want to rule out music festivals altogether.
Lumbra and Grehan were asked to set up equipment and do a test run to show how they could tone down the music. They were asked also to provide the Board as soon as possible with a detailed agenda and schedule along with more information about who they are, where they have been and references. The Board will make a decision after reviewing all this.
Lawn Care Services
The Board opened three sealed bids for providing lawn care services at the Town Hall and the little Town park at the intersection of Routes 22 and 43. Dave Crowley of Petersburgh asked $30 for the Town Hall and $35 for the park. Both Scott Chapman of the Lawn Wrangler LLC in Cheshire, MA and Bob Willis of Robert’s Professional Services of Stephentown wanted $40 for each area. Eckhardt offered a motion to accept the bid from local resident Willis who he said has been doing a good job for a number of years. This motion passed 4-0.
Temporary Jobs
The Board passed a resolution authorizing the Town Clerk to advertise for a temporary position to help out at the Town Garage since Doug Griswold is recuperating from surgery. Cover letters, resumes and applications will be due to the Town Clerk by July 31.
The Board also passed a resolution authorizing the Town Clerk to advertise for a second Deputy Town Clerk to help out during hunting season. Cover letters, resumes, and applications will be due to the Town Clerk by July 17.
In Other Business
Eckhardt said he will order from Kevin Doherty of Montauk Signs three signs welcoming people to Stephentown. Two of them will be posted north and south on Route 22 and the third, a two-sided one, will be installed at the Town Park at the intersection of Routes 22 and 43. Town Historian Pat Flint advised that she and the Board of the Historical Society believe that the signs should read “Est. 1784” for “established” rather than “founded” or “incorporated”.
The Town closed on the transfer of property across the road from the Town Hall to the Stephentown Memorial Library. The Town agreed to pump out a septic tank on that property and to remove a pile of dirt. The Town received a check in the amount of $14,171 which included compensation for demolishing the house that had been on the property.
Eckhardt reported that the Town has received from the County $28,425 in mortgage tax distribution. Another distribution is expected later in the year.
Councilman PJ Roder reported that the Master Plan Committee has finalized a questionnaire that will be sent to all Town residents. It will go out in the mail June 23 and a Public Workshop will be held on July 27 at 7 pm.
The Town Clerk turned over the sum of $504.20 to the Supervisor for the month of May. The distribution from the office of the State Comptroller, Justice Court Fund had not been determined yet. The Transfer Station deposited a total $7,120 for May.
The Board audited and approved claims in the amount of $18,886.91 from the General Fund and $17,384.88 from the Highway Account.
The Board set its next workshop meeting for Monday, July 13 and its next regular meeting for Monday, July 20, both meetings to start at 7 pm. [/private]