Town’s Old Gravel Pit Is Sold
by Thaddeus Flint
It’s July, a typically slow, sweaty month, so the big news from the monthly New Lebanon Town Board meeting isn’t really all that big: The Town’s gravel pit has finally sold.
The Board has been discussing the sale of the landlocked gravel pit up on West Hill Road since late last year. Holden and Associates from East Greenbush came and appraised the approximately 2.3 acres of land for $7,000. Some of the Board, however, were hoping for closer to $20,000 for the plot. But when it was put out to bid multiple times nobody wanted to pay close to that. Actually nobody wanted to bid at all.
[private]At the suggestion of resident Larry Benson, who’s property, now Shaker View Farm LLC, a protected conservation easement, surrounds the pit, the Board put the property back up for any bid whatsoever. Shaker View Farm LLC was the sole bidder at the July 14 meeting, with a bid of $2,001.
As the bid was substantially less than appraised amount, there was some question as to whether or not the Town could accept it.
“The Board could accept it,” said the Town’s Attorney Andy Howard, as “you have certainly tested the market place.”
The other question brought up was would not the land be useful to the Town if a satellite internet provider wanted to set up in the area? Apparently just such a start-up company has voiced just such an interest. Nobody knew for sure though if the property was the best place for such a setup, or if the start-up would ever in fact start up.
“Let’s sell it,” was Town Supervisor Mike Benson’s suggestion. He had concerns that some kind of environmental problems might be lurking up there and felt it would be better off for the future of the Town if the gravel pit went away sooner rather than later. A vote on the sale passed, with Benson and Councilman Dan Evans, and Councilwoman Irene Hanna voting in favor of the sale. Councilman Matt Larabee, who was in favor of tabling the decision until October, voted against. Councilman Chuck Geraldi was absent.
The summer is about half over now, and yet repairs to the Town’s tennis courts are still stuck in the planning phase. In June 2014 Councilman Bruce Baldwin spearheaded the subject saying “It’s really in rough shape.” Estimates then ranged from simple repair at $1,600, to a major repair of sealing, painting and leveling that would cost around $15,800. A year later it’s in rougher shape and Evans, who’s court the courts seem to have fallen into, now has estimates for repairing the tennis court of $66,000 to $94,000. Those costs could be lessened though if the Highway Department were to do some of the work. The next steps will be to dig down around the courts and get an idea of what lies beneath. Then the Board would like two scopes of works, one for the outside work, and one for the Highway Department. “We really need to know what both will cost,” said Benson. The project was then further complicated when somebody brought up the chain link fence surrounding the courts. Are they up to game standards?
“I’m a tennis expert,” said a tennis expert, and “they should be five feet back.”
Apparently then they are not up to standards. How did everyone survive so long missing five feet from each end? The missing footage will be considered, although it is expected to add to the already growing bill.
Another project that has been around awhile and will probably never go away is the proposed noise ordinance. Obviously Lebanon Valley Speedway is the target in this case. A noise ordinance workshop has now been scheduled between the three parties involved, those being the Town, Speedway owner Howard Commander, and all those people who feel the Speedway is getting louder than the loud they originally decided was worth living with when they bought their houses years ago.
The Planning Board is also back with some new changes to a proposed local law for a zoning amendment that didn’t quite make it last month. Ted Salem said that they had “tightened some things up” with what the definition of a small business might be. “A flip of a coin” led to the new designation of small business being one with 10 or less employees. The Board decided a new public hearing on the proposed zoning amendment was in order, though few residents were expected to attend.
“This is the only one who’s going to come,” said Benson, pointing to Jagat Pandey, who in fact was the only resident to turn up for both of the public meetings, one on boundary line adjustments and merger of parcels and another on Telecommunications Facilities, held earlier in the night.
“Maybe I will not come,” said Pandey.
The public hearing on the zoning amendment is scheduled for 6:45 pm August 11.
Resident Johanna Johnson-Smith wondered why the Town went through the trouble of having public hearings for things the public really didn’t want to hear about when, at the same time, they didn’t have public hearings on things people did want to be heard on. In particular Johnson-Smith was talking about the Behold! New Lebanon museum which appeared without much notice to those whose Town it was that made up the museum. Johnson-Smith had asked the Town Board to hold a public hearing on Behold! but that suggestion was ignored. Behold!, did however, hold its own public information session earlier this summer. Town Attorney Andy Howard pointed out that all Town Board meetings are in effect public hearings and that some points of the Town’s business do require specific public hearings whether residents want to attend them or not.
The fourth annual Community Picnic, Saturday, July 25 will be well worth attending, pointed out Councilman Larabee, who has been reminding residents of this fact for the past four months. “There will be alligators,” he added. Kobe, the alligator that put the Town briefly on the media map two years ago when he escaped from his enclosure, will be there along with his owner Rhonda Leavitt, as will food, face painting and all sorts of other fun. The picnic will run from 11 am to 3 pm at the Shatford Park Pavilion.
Attendees can also stop and see the trees and shrubs planted at the Town Hall in memorial to Councilman Bruce Baldwin. Baldwin’s wife, Jeanine Tonetti, in a letter, thanked all those who helped in their planting. Tonetti, with the Board’s permission, will in the future be adding a bench and handicapped accessible table to the park along with a plaque in Baldwin’s honor. Tonetti wrote that she was inspired by the many small parks that they picnicked in together in the small towns of Australia on their last trip together.[/private]