Tom Berry Appointed to Town Board
by Alex Brooks
Because the End of the Year meeting was cancelled after a quorum couldn’t be assembled in the bad weather, the Organizational meeting held on January 6 had the agenda from both meetings to get through. The Board accepted Denise Jacon Church’s resignation from the town board. In a letter dated December 26, 2019, she said she could no longer serve on the Board because “a few months ago my personal life took an unexpected turn and I no longer reside in the Town of Petersburgh.”
She saluted the “respect, fortitude and compassion” of her fellow Board members, and the “proficient cohesiveness” of the Board which resulted. She said it was her honor and privilege to serve on the Town Board for six years, and a pleasure to work with the dedicated Town officials who were her colleagues.
Supervisor Dennis Smith nominated Tom Berry to be appointed to the vacant seat on the Town Board, because he showed great interest in serving on the Board by running for a seat this past fall, and because he received 168 votes in the November election, just 5 less than Heinz Noeding, who won a seat on the Board with 173 votes.
Noeding wondered if the vacant seat on the Board should have been announced publicly first, so that anyone else who was interested could offer themselves as candidates. Smith said the appointment is a Town Board decision, and they don’t really have any obligation to seek public input. He said to do so would delay the appointment, and he felt that a candidate who received so much support in the recent election should have priority. Noeding accepted this reasoning and joined the others in a unanimous vote, 4-0, to appoint Tom Berry to the Town Board seat. The appointment is for the calendar year 2020. If Berry would like to remain on the Board, he would have to run in November 2020 for the seat to finish the last year of Church’s term, and run again in November 2021 for his own term.
Berry was not present at this meeting, but those who have been in touch with him said he remains eager to serve on the Town Board and will be happy to be appointed.
Supervisor Dennis Smith said he has chosen Councilman Alan Webster to be his Deputy Supervisor.
Smith also announced that Tom Margiotta, who was appointed as Deputy Water Superintendent and was expected to take over the Water Superintendent duties once he got his Water Operator license again, has declined to take the job because of considerations concerning his wife’s health. The Town is once again actively seeking a Deputy Water Superintendent.
The Board passed a slate of budget transfers to replenish budget lines that had been overdrawn over the course of the year. In the General Fund, it took $10,626 from the contingency fund and put it into eight different budget lines that needed additional funds, the largest of which was “Garbage Contractual.” In the Highway Fund, it took $20,000 from the Bridges fund, and $36,255 from the Medical Insurance fund that was not spent, and put it into the General Repairs, Machinery Contractual, and Snow Removal Contractual lines which were overspent.
Most of the Resolutions prepared for the organizational meeting were tabled because of issues raised by Heinz Noeding and revisions to the documents requested by Noeding. The Board did pass the resolution setting salaries of Town officials because the revisions requested were minor and the Town needs to have that resolution approved so that it can pay people who work for the Town.
When the Board’s annual agreement with the Highway Superintendent was discussed, Noeding asked if the Highway Superintendent had taken an inventory of equipment, tools and supplies as he agreed to do in last year’s agreement. Alan Webster, who was head of the Highway Department liaison committee in 2019, said he had requested the inventory, but it had not been delivered. Noeding said he believed the failure to take inventory is a serious matter and the Board needs to insist that it be done right away.
The annual agreement with the PVMCC was tabled pending revisions because it had several clauses that were out of date, having been renewed several years without adequate updating. The appointments resolution was also tabled pending revisions, although the revisions were fairly minor. The resolution adopting Town Policies was also tabled pending a review of the Town’s procurement policy, which was referenced in the Policies resolution but not attached. The Resolution for Official Undertaking of Municipal Officers was tabled because it made reference to Emily Harrison and to the Tax Collector position. Harrison is no longer the Tax Collector, and the position of Tax Collector has been abolished. The Town Clerk is now collecting the taxes. The Board wanted to consult its attorney and insurance agent before rewriting those sections.
Water Rent Increase
The Board raised the issue of the Water District’s deficit, and the apparent need to collect more money from the ratepayers to maintain the system. Supervisor Dennis Smith said a committee should be set up to look into what rates should be charged for water usage once the new water meters are installed and make a recommendation for the new rate structure. He suggested that two members of the Town Board and some volunteers from the Water District Committee should be appointed to research this and make recommendations. The Board agreed in principle to this, but needed to discuss further who will be on the committee before formally setting it up.
Shoveling Out Fire Hydrants
Supervisor Smith pointed out that there has never been a policy on who is responsible for keeping fire hydrants clear of snow. Sometimes the Water District operator has done it, sometimes the Fire Department has done it, sometimes the Highway Department has done it, sometimes various ad hoc volunteers have done it, and sometimes it has not been done. He said he thinks someone should be given responsibility for making sure this gets done. The Board agreed to discuss this and seek more clarity on the issue, but did not have any immediate answers.
Audits
At this time of year, members of the Town Board do audits of the Town Clerk, the Justice Court, the Tax Collector, and the Water District Tax Collector. Heinz Noeding suggested that they might want to audit these accounts more frequently, and generally increase Town Board oversight of the Town’s various accounts. Supervisor Smith acknowledged that this might be a good idea and should be discussed, but for 2019 a year-end audit such as those that have been done in the past is the only thing that can be done at this point, so two Town Board members were assigned to each of the four accounts. The Town Clerk’s accounts will be audited by Noeding and Smith; the Justice Court by Noeding and Barnhill; the Tax Collector by Webster and Berry; and the Water Tax Collector by Webster and Barnhill.