Highway Workers Contract Settled
by Alex Brooks
At the March 18 Petersburgh Town board meeting, Supervisor Alan Webster announced that the Town has reached an agreement with the Teamsters on a contract with the Town highway workers. Webster said they have been negotiating since July of last year. He said, “It’s a good contract,” and characterized the negotiations as both “direct” and “amiable.” The contract runs for three years, covering 2019, 2020, and 2021.
At the last meeting of the Town Board, it was agreed that regular meetings between Petersburgh officials and New York State regulatory authorities are needed to move forward the Water District renovation project. The first of these meetings took place via conference call on March 13. On the line were Supervisor Alan Webster, Petersburgh Water District Superintendent Ben Krahforst, the Town’s engineer Tom Suozzo, and representatives from NYSDEC, NYS Dept. of Health, Rensselaer County Dept of Health, and members of the Town’s Water District Committee. Krahforst reported the substance of that call to the Town board. He said DEC acknowledged that treatment of wastewater generated by the water plant will be a financial obligation of Taconic. Water pumped out of the ground can no longer be released to surface water as it has in the past because it is contaminated with PFOA. He said DEC will review and approve all wastewater treatment solutions, and ensure that the Town of Petersburgh can review and approve such plans before they are implemented.
DEC also said they will develop some kind of financial assurance method (such as a bond) to make sure that Taconic is able to meet long-term obligations for maintenance and operation of PFOA filtering equipment.
Krahforst also said he is scheduling a site visit for several state officials to see the existing water plant buildings, and they have assured him that they will vet the plans for the new building at every stage of the design and construction process.
The call also discussed a plan for cleaning the water tank that incorporates testing of any sediment in the bottom of it that may contain PFOA resdidue, and solutions for problems with the recirculation suystem that Taconic installed at the water plant last fall.
A meeting between Town officials and Taconic officials is scheduled for late March, and the next conference call with State officials is scheduled for April 3. Krahforst said through these meetings he hopes to keep the design process for the water project moving forward.
Water Committee Request
Heinz Noeding spoke to the Board on behalf of the Water District Committee. The committee has been asking for some time to review all vouchers signed by the Town Board that are charged to the Water District. The Water District is in the red and apparently owes money to the general fund, but it is not clear how much. The Water District Committee is trying to understand better where the Water District’s finances stand and reviewing the vouchers is a first step towards that goal. At its last meeting on March 13, the Water District Committee reviewed about a dozen vouchers supplied by Town Clerk Deidra Michaels, and it had some concerns about them.
Noeding said the way that expenses are allocated between regular Water District expenses, PFOA-related Water District expenses that should be billed to Taconic, and Water District expenses that are part of the grant project seems to be done in a casual way by a number of Town employees using their “subjective discretion.” He called for a “procedure manual” laying out with more clarity and specificity the “basis and rationale” for allocating Water District expenses.
He also asked for a more accurate and complete accounting from the Town of Water District income and expense so that the Water District can accurately assess where it stands. The Water District has only about 70 ratepayers and its finances are a bit precarious. With the ambitious renovation project about to get under way, an increase in fees to the ratepayers may be necessary, but a rational decision about that cannot be made without accurate figures for the District’s income and expense.
The Board received quotes for a new truck. The town has been having a lot of trouble with its 1998 truck, which cost about $10,000 in repairs to get it through this past winter. Highway Superintendent Ray Harrison said he would like to get a new 1 ton truck. This would cost about $60,000, including a sander and plow. Webster said the Town has $100,000 in a reserve fund for highway equipment, so it could buy this truck without any immediate impact to the taxpayers.
Webster said the 1 ton, in addition to being cheaper than a big tri-axle truck, does not require a CDL license, and it is difficult these days to hire highway workers with CDL licenses.
The Board passed three resolutions concerning the County’s Hazard Mitigation Plan. One was a resolution to support the County Hazard Mitigation Plan; the second was to establish a Town Hazard Mitigation Committee; and the third was to appoint the Code Enforcement Officer as “NFIP” for the Hazard Mitigation Plan. No one was very clear what an NFIP is, but it has something to do with National Flood Insurance.
Town Clerk Deidra Michaels said participation in the Hazard Mitigation Plan is required in order to be eligible for FEMA funds in an emergency. The idea is to plan in advance to be prepared for extreme weather events and the like, so as to minimize damage and hazardous conditions when they come.