Petersburgh Water District Superintendent Ben Krahforst Resigns
by Alex Brooks
The biggest piece of news to come out of the June 17 meeting of the Petersburgh Town Board was not on the agenda and was not mentioned during the regular meeting, but became a rather heated topic of conversation during the public comment session at the end of the meeting. This is the resignation of Water District Superintendent Ben Krahforst. Krahforst gave the Town his resignation letter on June 10, and gave two weeks notice, so the effective date of his resignation is June 24, only a week from the date of this meeting.
The Town Board went into an executive session at the end of the meeting to discuss the situation and what to do about it. Town Attorney Gruenberg said it is a personnel matter, and therefore it is not appropriate to discuss it in public session.
When the Board returned from executive session, they said no action was taken on the matter. Questions about the matter put to Supervisor Webster were referred to Town Attorney Gruenberg, who said the Town will be energetically seeking a new water system operator.
Krahforst’s June Water Report said he resigned because of differences with the Town over his compensation for PFOA-related work, and “lack of support.” Krahforst said he had an agreement with the Supervisor and the Town’s environmental attorney for his rate of pay for time spent on PFOA-related matters, but the Town did not live up to that agreement, after Taconic refused to reimburse the Town at that hourly rate for Krahforst’s time spent on PFOA-related matters, because it is well above what any local water system operator is making in salary.
Krahforst concluded his report by saying, “I would have liked to see these projects to their conclusion, but I must get on with my life. It has taken a lot out of me since this started in 2016. I still will be actively involved as a resident, and that will take a lot less time. Thank you for allowing me to serve Petersburgh.”
By all accounts, Krahforst has been a very dedicated and conscientious water system operator, despite the demands of responding to the PFOA crisis and dealing with old and often non-functional equipment. The past three years have required a much larger commitment of time from the water system operator than was the case before that, because of PFOA complications, equipment breakdowns, and planning the grant project to fix those things. Krahforst said it has interfered in a significant way with his electrical business, which is his primary job. He describes being pulled away from his electrical projects repeatedly by Water District matters that demand immediate attention.
Members of the Water District Committee and others who spoke during public comment time were very critical of the Town Board and the Supervisor for failing to pay Krahforst “in full,” and for not being tough enough in negotiations with Taconic over paying for Krahforst’s time. Joe Dunlop said losing Krahforst will be a major blow to the Water District, and nearly everybody present seemed to agree with that.
Supervisor Webster also seemed to be quite upset, saying that he has worked diligently to have Krahforst engage with Taconic on planning and executing the grant funded system renovations which are about to begin. He said Taconic had finally agreed to regular meetings between Krahforst and Taconic’s support staff to collaborate on the project, and now it’s back to square one. “I don’t know what to say,” said Webster.
Water System Grant
Earlier in the meeting, Supervisor Webster reviewed recent developments in the planning of the grant-funded water system renovation (usually referred to as the WIIA grant project). He said he has been talking with the person from Municipal Solutions that has been handling paperwork for Petersburgh’s grant, and she said an approved budget for the project is expected by July 4, and final approval of the project is expected to be completed by September.
He said he has discussed with Taconic the idea of combining the pump house and the GAC building into a single larger building, and he said they will “work with us.” They requested an update on the building plans with their engineer Jeff Mirarchi.
Webster also said he has been discussing with Taconic ongoing operation and maintenance costs of the Water District, and defining what part of that is PFOA-related.
LED Lighting Bids
The Board opened bids from three different companies for changing over the lighting fixtures in the Town Highway Garage and the Veterans Hall (PVMCC) to LED fixtures. The bids ranged from about $3,000 to about $13,000, but the Board had trouble determining if they were comparable bids, as it was not clear in some cases if installation was included in the price, or if figures for installation were estimates subject to change or were firm bid prices. There also seemed to be differences in the number of fixtures being replaced. The Board decided a careful review and comparison of the bids, probably involving communication with the bidders to clarify what is being offered, was needed before it could award the contract to one of the three bidders.
Playground Equipment
The meeting began with Heinz Noeding talking about the Memorial Day picnic, which he described as “well-attended.” But he quickly transitioned to another matter – while enjoying the picnic, people noticed yellow caution tape (which apparently was put there by the Town Highway Department) on the playground equipment, and a number of negative comments were made about the condition of the playground.
He said if the playground equipment is not up to current safety standards, it could expose the Town to significant liability if any children were to be injured while playing on it. He said he had found a company that will do a safety inspection for a contract price, and he has requested a quote from them to inspect the facilities in the Town Park. He also provided the Board with some literature on playground safety, and urged them to have it inspected in the near future.