Hoosick Hires LaBerge To Help Planning Board
by Alex Brooks
The Hoosick Town Board hired LaBerge Group to write an application for funding from the Hudson River Greenway grant program. If awarded, this would be a planning grant to update the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. A cost of up to $1,000 was authorized. Supervisor Mark Surdam said the Comprehensive Plan has not been updated since 2004 and he feels it would move the Town forward to take a fresh look at it, if grant money can be obtained for that purpose.
The Board also authorized a contract with LaBerge to have them assist the Planning Board. Surdam said he met last month with a “concerned citizen” who called his attention to some issues with the Planning Board. Surdam came away from the meeting feeling that the Planning Board, which is short-staffed and currently seeking two members to fill vacant seats, is not getting adequate support from the Town. He said the hard-working volunteers on this Board need to have access to training and to professional help when larger projects are presented, and he approached LaBerge to ask them to provide help. This might involve training for Board members, or might just be phone consultations, or possibly having LaBerge review applications for larger projects proposed in the Town. The Planning Board will call on LaBerge on an as-needed basis, depending on what is before them and how complicated it is.
Cornell Local Roads Program
Surdam said he met with someone from the Cornell Local Roads Program last week and learned more about the program. The goal of the program is to develop a 5 year plan for maintenance and improvement of the town roads using software developed by Cornell. Surdam said he had thought that the intern would be a Cornell student, but he learned that it could be a local person, who would go to Cornell for training to learn the software. Surdam said the Town will definitely be going forward with this program, but he is still learning how it will work.
Mass Gatherings Law
The Board discussed the Town Mass Gatherings law. While they felt that some of the discontent that arose last summer over a motorcycle racing event was caused by problems with the implementation and enforcement of the law (in particular a misinterpretation of a clause exempting one-time educational events), they also felt the law could be improved, and gave direction to Town Attorney Jonathan Schopf to ask him to write a revised draft for review by the Board next month.
Highway Garage Fire Alarm System
Surdam said they had received one estimate for a fire alarm system in the town Highway Garage, but other contractors who looked at it had asked for specifications of exactly what equipment is desired. He said he thinks the town needs to develop some specifications for what it wants in that fire alarm system so that contractors submitting estimates for the work will be giving prices for equivalent work. Surdam also said it looks like this project may be pricy, and it may have to wait until a new budget year when it can be written into the budget.
The town solicited buds again for Fuel Oil and Diesel fuel for the trucks, and this time Doug’s Oil submitted a bid, which was accepted, on similar terms to the previous year.
A Public Hearing was held on demolition of a house in unsafe condition on Scott Street. There is a buyer interested in buying and renovating this house, but The Town is moving forward with the process of getting ready for demolition in case the sale falls through.
The Board approved points awarded by the North Hoosick Fire Department to its firefighters in the Department’s Service Award Program and authorized Supervisor Surdam to sign all required documents.
Supervisor Surdam sought volunteers for a negotiating team to represent the Town in discussions about a new contract for the Highway Department workers. He sid he believed they are represented by Teamsters Local 294, but said he would check about that set up some preliminary discussions. the current contract is in force through December, but he would like to have the new contract worked out by September so that accurate numbers can be put in the budget next fall.
The Board held a brief Executive session to discuss legal issues surrounding lease of municipal offices in the Armory, and to discuss aspects of a Memorandum of Understanding between NYS DEC and the companies responsible for PFOA contamination of land and water in the Town. He described this document as a sort of addendum to the Consent Agreement already in place, adding further details about the companies’ responsibilities for the cleanup and maintenance of the filters and other equipment.