Planning Board Reduced to 5 Members
by Alex Brooks
The Hoosick Town Board held a public hearing prior to its November 12 regular meeting on its proposal to reduce the size of the Planning Board from 7 members to 5. No one came to the public hearing except this reporter, and no comments were offered on the proposal. Later, at the regular meeting, the Board unanimously approved the change to a five member board. The transition will be easy, because there are currently only five members on the Planning Board. The Town has sought in vain to fill the 7 member board over several years. The Planning Board for a while had only four members, which meant that if one of them didn’t show up, they did not have a quorum and no business could be transacted. With the passage of this measure, the Planning Board has a full complement of members for the first time in a while.
Bovie Hill Road Sinkhole
Everybody is puzzled by a sinkhole that wrecked Bovie Hill Road last week. Highway Superintendent Bill Shiland said part of the road sank about 8” last week, and his crew filled some of the hole and made it a one-lane road, but on Saturday morning the road had sunk another foot or so, and he and Supervisor Surdam had to close the road. Shiland said you would expect that the part that is sinking would be spreading off to the side, but in this case there is a stream next to the road and the stream is not getting filled in with dirt sliding off the road. “It seems to be going straight down,” said Shiland.
Supervisor Mark Surdam has asked the County to lend its Chief Engineer to examine the situation and make a recommendation about what to do. Surdam and Shiland both said they expect it will be a big expensive project to fix this problem, and in the meantime Bovie Hill Road remain closed for the foreseeable future. Those who live above the sinkhole now have to drive out to Pine Valley Road and on to their destination from there, rather than down to Route 22.
Cornell Roads Study Completed
The survey of Town Roads undertaken over the summer using software and methodology developed by the Cornell Local Roads program has been completed. The Board seemed to be unanimously of the opinion that it is a substantial, comprehensive and well-done piece of work, and that it will be a valuable guide to prioritizing the Town’s road improvement efforts. Every mile of road in the Town was evaluated for its condition and how much traffic it carries. All of the information gathered is entered into the Cornell Roads software, which generates a score for each road indicating its level of service and urgency of repairs. The report is the work primarily of the summer intern hired for this purpose, Michelle Gocio. The Board had high praise for her work and said they were lucky to find her.
As it happened, Matt Beck came to the meeting to ask that something be done about Beck Road. He described it as in “horrible” condition. He said he felt sorry for the plow driver who was plowing it that day, who could only plow at 5 MPH. Surdam said the Town is working to address its road condition issues, and the Cornell Roads study is the first step. But he said “I don’t know how soon this is going to get done. A large percentage of the roads in town are below acceptable standards.” He said it will take significant time and money to make road improvements on a town-wide basis. “These roads did not get in this condition overnight, and they’re not going to be fixed overnight. The Board scheduled a workshop meeting For Tuesday December 3 at 6 pm with the Town Board, Highway Superintendent Bill Shiland and Roads Intern Michelle Gocio to discuss how to go about a town-wide road improvement program.
2020 Budget Passed
The Board adopted its budget for 2020 which is largely the same as the Preliminary budget described in the Town Board report in the October 18 Eastwick Press. The budget includes 2% raises for Town employees. The tax levy increase is about 2%. The overall rate per thousand for all funds will increase by about 1.3%. The Town is aiming to reduce its fund balance carryover by using it for one-time expenses, so the fund balance applied to the budget is about $205,000 more than what was used last year, and it will be used to buy a new truck for the highway department, expected to cost $230,000. The budget for highway equipment was increased from $50,000 last year to $280,000 this year to allow for the purchase.
Recreation Report
The Town has gathered information about the cost of its recreational programs and distributed this to the Town Board members so that they can address the issue. The report showed total net expenditures on recreational programs of about $26,600. The summer camp brings in net revenue of $9,366 to the Town; The rink costs the Town $5,260, and the Pool cost the Town $30,700 annually. Bill Hanselman said some of the numbers presented in the report don’t seem to make sense and wanted to know a little more to verify that the numbers are correct. Surdam said they will look into it further. The point of the report is to seek ideas either to reduce expenses or enhance revenues so that the recreation programs are less of a burden on the taxpayers.