By Doug La Rocque
At its Monday night, February 26 Workshop meeting, the Grafton Town Board awarded the purchase of the long awaited new ambulance to P and L Custom, Vander Molen of Syracuse, for the bid price of $163,073. One hundred fifty thousand of this will be covered by a New York State grant, with the Grafton Rescue Squad paying the rest. The company has promised delivery of the new ambulance in 260 days or less.
The purchase of the vehicle to replace the current ambulance, that by all accounts is “worn out,” has been a more than two-year long process. Former Town Supervisor Frank Higgins announced back in 2015 that State Senator Kathy Marchione had secured the grant for the town, primarily because of the coverage the Rescue Squad is required to provide for the Grafton Lakes State Park. It soon became mired down in a mountain of bureaucratic red tape, and at times, even looking like it might never come to pass. After a lot of hard work, however, on the part of town officials, Senator Marchione and former Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino, current Town Supervisor Ingrid Gundrum announced late last year, the grant was finally approved. According to Ms. Gundrum, Governor Cuomo’s budget office has assured the town, as soon as they see a paid receipt for the new ambulance, they will release the $150,000.
At Monday night’s meeting, Ms. Gundrum and the Town Board expressed thanks to former Supervisor Higgins, Rescue Squad Captain Joe Allain and former Councilwoman Allison Kirchner for all their hard work and perseverance in helping the town obtain the grant and the subsequent purchase of the new vehicle.
Concerns About Cooperation With The Highway Superintendent
Town Supervisor Gundrum, as well as Councilmen Eric Buckley and Jeff Wagar expressed their dismay that Highway Superintendent Herb Hasbrouck did not attend the meeting. They had hoped to discuss with him concerns they have over what they labeled as a “lack of progress” on matters concerning the Highway Department that have been the subject of discussion for several weeks. These include numbering the department’s trucks and matching vouchers for work or parts to the appropriate vehicle. A September voucher from Abele Tractor for $5,500 that Town Clerk Vicky Burdick told the Board Mr. Hasbrouck has instructed her not to pay because of a disagreement over the amount of the billing, was also brought up. The Board wondered why it had not yet been resolved. They also stated the superintendent has not yet placed the required books in each truck to log pre and post trip inspections.
Superintendent Hasbrouck tells The Eastwick Press he has just this week settled the pricing dispute with Abele, for half of the billed amount and will be submitting the bill for payment in March. As to some of the other comments made by the Board, he says “I have not yet been contacted by Board members as to their statements made at the Workshop meeting, so I really should not be commenting about them at this time.”
This Year’s Youth Programs Ready To Roll
Youth Commission Director Noelle Goyer was in attendance at the meeting to tell the Board that she has at least one program set for each month of the year. Last weekend’s Rock n Bowl was well attended and the annual Easter Egg Party is slated for Saturday, March 17 at the VFW. As was previously reported, the Summer Youth Program is being reduced to three weeks from five, eliminating the swimming program at Grafton Lakes State Park, primarily because of low attendance. Ms. Goyer says the money saved by this change will be funneled into enhancing the programs put forth during the three-week schedule.