Zooming In On The Town Board
By Doug La Rocque
Like many other municipalities, the Berlin Town Board conducted its Thursday, April 9 meeting via teleconferencing, because of the New York State emergency declaration due to the COVID-19 outbreak. And like most towns, the meeting agenda was pared down to the essential items and bill payments.
Landfill MOU
Perhaps the most important item on the agenda was the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Town of Petersburgh, to form a joint committee to manage the landfill project.
Having signed a consent order with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation to bring the landfill into compliance with landfill closure regulations, The two towns (joint owners of the landfill now found to have PFOA contaminated leachate) now need an administrative structure to carry out its responsibilities under the consent order and manage the funds received from Taconic and Covanta. The MOU is an agreement between the two towns for this purpose. The MOU was originally written by Kevin Young, the environmental attorney shared by the two towns, then revised by the Petersburgh board. Both Mr. Young and Petersburgh town attorney David Gruenberg have approved the revisions. The Petersburgh Town Board approved the MOU at its Monday, April 6 meeting.
The Berlin Town Board was not ready to jump on board just yet, deciding they would like their town attorney to review the document before they made any commitments. Following that review, the Board plans to approve or reject the document.
Water Related
Town Supervisor Rob Jaeger indicated construction was underway for the new water tower to replace the existing Water District # 2 reservoir. The Board did approve the purchase of a leak detector for between 10 to 15 thousand dollars, noting that with any new construction and improvements, leaks are bound to occur. Mr. Jaeger also said the Town has again contracted with Wel Dunn to act as Water District # 1 operator, and that the system will be opened as normal this spring.
Gravel Bid
The Board approved the bid from Hammersmith Gravel Mine, a division of Quality Construction, to supply the town with its gravel needs. The Cherry Plain based company was the only bidder. The Board also included a provision for Highway Superintendent Jim Winn to procure gravel from other sources when needed, a clause that has been in place for many years.
Following a motion to pay all bills as audited, the meeting was adjourned.