Names Peggy Cottrell As Volunteer Parks and Recreation Head
by Alex Brooks
The Petersburgh Town Board hired its Assessor, Craig Surprise, as acting building inspector at an emergency meeting on May 29. Supervisor Krahforst said at this week’s Petersburgh Town Board meeting that an attorney from the Association of Towns had assured him that there is no problem with having the same person be your Assessor and your Building Inspector/CEO.
[private] Krahforst said Surprise was willing to do the Building Inspector/CEO job for half of what the Town had been paying the previous CEO, because a lot of the paperwork involved is things that he is already doing. At the June 15 Town Board meeting the Board set Surprise’s salary for the Building Inspector position at $400 per month (additional to his Assessor pay).
The Board has not yet resolved who it will hire as the permanent Building Inspector/CEO, or whether this person will have a Deputy. They have received applications from Nathan Michaels and Pat Ivory to be Building Inspector, and they have interviewed both of them.
Councilwoman Denise Church supplied a job description for a Building Inspector/CEO, which the Board will review and act on later.
Dog Control
The Board voted unanimously to terminate the employment of the current Dog Control Officer Lynne Torello-Burns. The Board feels that she lives too far away, and now that she has taken a full-time job, it is not feasible for her to respond to dog incidents in Petersburgh.
The Town has been advertising for a “Deputy Dog Control Officer.” They had one application in response, but they were told this person has unlicensed dogs who are aggressive, and were unenthusiastic about pursuing that applicant. But then Town Constable Gerald Russell arrived and said he is willing to handle animal control as part of his Constable duties. The Board passed a resolution adding animal control to the Constable’s responsibilities. Russell said he would do the job on a fee basis, so he would be paid only when he responds to a complaint or an incident, and no salary just for being “on call.”
He suggested that if a Deputy Dog Control Officer was hired, that person would work on a fee basis also. Russell said he expects this will cost the Town less than the $3,200 annual salary they have been paying up until now.
The only problem is finding a state-licensed local kennel where dogs can be housed after being picked up. Russell was convinced there must be a local kennel available and said he would make inquiries to see what is available. Denise Church, who was already started on this quest, having talked with Berlin Dog Officer Doug Goodermote the Friday before, said she would also continue to try to identify what the alternatives are for local kennel facilities.
Court Renovations
The Petersburgh Town Court has secured a grant for $25,600 to renovate its courtroom, and has been seeking a contractor to do the work for three months. They got one bid in the latest round of bid requests, from a company called Hoosick Valley Contractors.
They are supposed to get three bids and choose the best among them, according to the grant guidelines, but since they have been seeking bidders for so long, they decided to open the one bid.
The main limitation on their ability to accept the bid is that the grant allocates $18,000 for construction. The bid from Hoosick Valley Contractors of Melrose, NY was for $21,920, with an alternate that would be $1,500 additional. The Board was unable to accept the bid, since they only have $18,000 to spend. Board member Jack Barnhill, who has an extensive professional background in construction, agreed to meet with a representative from the company to see if they could delete parts of the job or change the specs to make the project fit the budget of $18,000.
ADA Mediation
Supervisor Krahforst said members of the Board have been meeting with a mediator to try to resolve a complaint that has been filed against the Town for failure to comply with handicapped accessibility laws. He said the Town is correcting things and making their buildings more accessible, but a comprehensive deal has not yet been worked out, and the Town will continue to work with the mediator to resolve the issue.
Park & Recreation Chairperson
When Peggy Cotttrell attended the Memorial Day picnic at the Petersburgh Town Park, she was impressed with the beauty of the place and wanted to do something to take care of it and encourage more use of it, and she volunteered to lead a committee dedicated to that purpose. The Petersburgh Town Board this week appointed her chairperson of a Parks and Recreation committee. At the meeting, she said she will be seeking like-minded volunteers to help her with the project. She called the Park “a diamond in the rough.”
In recent years the Town has not had enough resources to keep the field mowed or to keep the weeds down in the play area, which has limited how much the Park can be used.
New Sign In Front Of Town Hall
The Board reviewed a sketch of a new sign to be put up in front of the Town Hall by Boy Scout Trevar Hall as his Eagle Scout project. The sign has an arc along the top, which makes room for the Town Seal under that. More sketches will be ready soon for Board approval. [/private]