Mold Remediation Done At Town Hall
At the December 18 meeting of the Petersburgh Town Board, Town Clerk Deidra Michaels said she has had a worker who came here through a program of the Rensselaer County Dept. of Social Services working on the Town Hall basement. She said he almost finished doing the mold remediation in the basement before he had to move on to another job elsewhere. “He did a really good job,” said Michaels. She said it is a community service work program, so it does not cost the Town anything and Rensselaer County provides insurance.
Micheals also said 25 kids are signed up to receive gifts at the Town-sponsored Christmas Party, to be held on Friday December 22, 5 to 7 pm. She said quite a few donations have been received both of toys and gifts as well as cash.
Supervisor Report
Town Supervisor Alan Webster said the Town’s environmental attorney Kevin Young has been pressing Covanta for an answer about whether they will help with the leachate collection system which must be installed at the landfill, but so far there has been no response.
He said the Town has submitted a petition to Taconic asking for reimbursement for a list of PFOA-related expenses. Taconic is reviewing it, and has not responded yet about whether they will pay all or part of the funds requested.
Webster also said he attended a long range planning seminar on Town finances sponsored by the State Comptroller’s office, and he said it was very good. He is putting together long-term trendline analysis in Excel spreadsheets to get a better handle on the town financial picture. He said those who have done this say it is a lot of work initially to set up the spreadsheets, but it makes financial management easier after that.
Webster also said the Town’s CHIPS (State highway aid) money has arrived, a little over $70,000 – so the Highway Fund again has a strong cash position.
The Board divvied up responsibilities for audits to be done over the next month or so. Denise Church agreed to take the lead on audits of the Town Court and the Water District. Amy Schaaphok and Alan Webster will work on an audit of the Town Clerk’s operations and Dennis Smith and Alan Webster will work on an audit of the Tax Collector.
Appointments
The Board appointed Melissa Davock as Court Officer for Petersburgh Town Court. Davock is the Court Officer for the Hoosick Town Court and is an officer of the Hoosick Falls Police Dept. She will succeed Gerald Russell in this position (Russell remains the Town Constable).
The Board appointed Neil Geary to the Planning Board to fill a vacancy created by the recent resignation of John Stickney. Geary’s term will run from now until the end of 2020. Geary resigned as Deputy Supervisor, with thanks to Supervisor Alan Webster for remaining healthy during Geary’s time as Deputy.
The Board re-appointed two members of the Library Board of Trustees. These were Sharon Cole (owner of Paulson Lumber) and Doris Perks, who serves as Treasurer of the Library.
The Board also re-appointed Brandon deWaal to another five year term on the Board of Assessment Review.
The End of Year Meeting will be held Tuesday, December 26 at 7 pm and the 2018 Organizational Meeting will be held Tuesday, January 2 at 7 pm.
The Board then went into executive session to discuss a personnel matter.