Board Approves Purchase of New Truck For $227,000
by Alex Brooks
The first Hoosick Town Board meeting of the year commenced with a welcome for new Town Board member Jackie Houghton and moved on to updates on a wide variety of ongoing projects. Perhaps the biggest event of the night was approval of a new truck purchase. This purchase had been planned as part of the budget discussions last fall, and Highway Superintendent Bill Shiland presented a proposal he received on the day of the meeting from Delurey Sales And Service. Shiland said this proposal came from “piggybacking” on another Town’s bid. It’s an International truck with Zwack equipment mounted on it, a dump body with a plow and wing. He said it is similar to the Town’s existing trucks. The price was $216,500, and there was an option to have a stainless steel dump body for $10,500 extra.
Concerning the stainless steel option, Supervisor Mark Surdam said although in the future the Town may implement a planned replacement program in which trucks would be replaced more frequently, at present the Town tends to keep its trucks twenty years or more, and if a length of service like that is contemplated, he thought the additional $10,500 is “well worth it.” The Board agreed, and approved purchase of the truck with the stainless steel dump body for $227,000 by unanimous vote.
SAM Grant
Surdam said the Rensselaer County Health Department approved the plans drawn up by Clough Harbor (CHA) for a portion of the project contingent on CHA making some minor revisions, which were made and the plans resubmitted. The Town is now waiting on approval of the revisions.
Councilman Bill Hanselman said he met with an athletic turf company called Chenango. He brought a sample to the meeting of a sample square of turf they left with him, about 6 or 8 square feet. A great many of these interlock together to form a turf field which can be removed seasonally by taking them apart and storing them. The system seems ideal for the Town’s needs except that Hanselman reported that it would cost $178,000 to buy enough of them to cover the skating rink. When he told the company representatives that this was many times the sum that had been budgeted for turf in the grant, they said a permanent turf field could be installed for $85,000, but this too is way above the sum budgeted for turf, which Surdam remembered as being about $25,000.
Tom Margiotta, who has been helping the Town with this project, said he had found some used turf for sale from Riley Rink in Manchester VT. It is 20 years old, in very good shape. He said it is in 15 foot rolls, 14 of them, and it has been rolled out and taken up by one man every year. But he said it cannot get wet. If it gets wet it would be a serious problem. Because of that, Hanselman said they cannot put this turf in place until they solve the flooding problem that the rink has had in recent years.
Margiotta then said there is probably a short window on the opportunity to buy this turf, as the people at Riley Rink intend to advertise it for sale soon and he guessed it might be sold by some time in March. Surdam said it is bad timing, and he didn’t think the Town would be able to buy it because they are not ready to take delivery.
Town Historian Phil Leonard said the Historical Society has identified the house in North Hoosick which served as headquarters for Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum for a day or two just before the battle. Baum’s forces were delayed at that place because General John Stark’s men had destroyed the bridge there after they saw Baum’s army approaching. Letters that Baum wrote while occupying the house have survived.
The house is in bad shape. It was occupied until seven or eight years ago when there was a fire, and it has been empty since then. It was owned by the Byars family, who had a bottled soda business. There was a bottling plant nearby, but only the foundation of that remains today.
Leonard said the main floor of the building is supported by huge log beams. Historical Society members are learning all they can about the building and will be seeking grants to pursue the project further. They have learned that there was a jail in the cellar and that a rifle was found in the wall.
Leonard also brought a poster about the history of North Hoosick. He said it was the second historical poster that he made when he became Town Historian 18 years ago. So far he has made 160 such posters. Leonard is 93 and said he enjoys being the Town Historian and wants to continue doing it as long as he can. The Board enthusiastically welcomed him and said they hope to see him continue his work for years to come.
Youth Center Proposal
Penny Acree, President of the Town of Hoosick Community Center, Inc. came to the Board with a suggestion that the Town consider sharing a full-time employee with the Youth Center, who would handle the pool, the rink, the Youth Center Basketball and generally be the sports and recreation coordinator for the Town facilities. The Board said it was an interesting idea and deserves further discussion and consideration. Kevin Allard endorsed the idea when he spoke to the Board, suggesting that the Town seek an HFCS graduate who majored in Phys Ed in college. He said it would be a great first job after college for some young person.
Phase 1 Pool Project Paid Off
Surdam said the Town has received the final payment of the grant for the bath house project at the pool that was completed last year, so phase two of the pool renovation project is now complete. The Town will pay off the final $130,000 plus interest on the bond taken out to pay for the phase I Pool Rehab, so that project is now fully paid for. There is still $300,000 of debt on the Phase 2 project, the bath house renovation, and Pioneer offered a 1 year bond on that for 1.75% interest. The Board accepted that financing proposal and authorized the Supervisor to sign it.
Battlefield Celebration in August
Surdam said he met with Peter Schaaphok, President of the Friends of the Bennington Battlefield, to learn about plans for this summer’s commemoration of the Battle of Bennington. Surdam learned that it is going to be a very large event this year. 400 re-enactors have already signed up to take part, and that may grow to as many as 500, plus spectators, tourists, family of re-enactors and who knows who else. The Town will have to make sure that adequate arrangements are being made for camping areas near the Barnett homestead, parking, toilet facilities, traffic control, etc. The issue was raised as to whether a mass gathering permit needs to be taken out, and the Board said they would look into it. The event promises to be spectacular, with 400 or more authentically attired and equipped living history enthusiasts re-enacting the battle over the course of the weekend. The organization of re-enactors is call the Brigade of the American Revolution. Pictures of them in action are posted at www.brigade.org.
Repeal of 2011 Law
It has come to the attention of the Town Board that there was a law passed in 2011 requiring that all resolutions passed by the Board at its meetings must be presented to the Board 10 days prior to the Town Board meeting. The Board has not been following this rule, and does not see the need for it at this point, so they voted unanimously to repeal this law.
Other Updates:
• The Town skating rink was open for only four days in December because the weather was uncooperative, but it is expected to be cold enough to open the rink this weekend January 17. The Board approved hiring returning rink guards Faye Macdonald, Benedict Kapron, and Allison Perry, and new rink guards Riley Drew-Cross, Jessica Weingold, Ally Hoag, Abigail Philpott, Rosabell Plusch, and Sydney Stowell. Skating lessons are on Saturday mornings, hockey is on Thursday evenings, and open skating is nearly every afternoon. Check the Town website for details.
• A contract has been signed to have all of the Town Laws gathered, organized, and posted online where the public can access them and this project will be getting underway soon. It is expected to take about three years.
• An agreement has been signed with a company to update the Town’s employee handbook, and work has begun on the project. The handbook was last revised in 2001.
•A representative from the Hudson Greenway has confirmed by e-mail that the Town will be receiving grant assistance with its Comprehensive Plan Update in the amount of $10,000. A meeting about this scheduled for December 11, 2019 was postponed until March 11 because of weather, so the details and official award of the grant await that meeting.
• An informational meeting about the Census that will be starting in the spring is planned for Tuesday January 21 at 6 pm in the meeting room in the Armory. The public is invited.
• The next regular meeting of the Town Board will be held on Wednesday February 5 at 7 pm