Berlin

by Kieron Kramer

It was one of those unsettling moments when the greatest good for the greatest number comes in conflict with the rights of the individual and both sides are righteous. At the public hearing before the regular Berlin Town Board meeting on August 14, Ronald Snow launched into a lengthy diatribe in response to the Town’s order under the authority of the Town’s Unsafe Building Ordinance that he demolish the garage/utility building on his property at 3 North Main Street in the village. The Berlin Town Board, following the lead of Town Supervisor Robert Jaeger and Town Attorney Donald Tate, was adamant that the structure was dangerous and that the Town had followed the letter of the law in taking action. The Board’s decision at last month’s meeting to have the building demolished was based on a report sent to the Board by Code Enforcement Officer Allan Yerton. 

To say that Snow was beside himself would be an understatement. Since Snow lives in East Arlington, Vermont, the Bennington County Sheriff’s Department acted as the process server. “I have never been so disgraced as when the Sheriff pulled into my yard in front of my family and friends,” he said. He said the whole affair had almost caused him a heart attack. “I have the feeling I’m not the best liked person [in Berlin],” he added at the end of the hearing. According to Town Clerk Anne Maxon, Snow owns four buildings in the village and all are rental properties. “Nobody knows who he is and wouldn’t recognize him if he walked down the street,” she said. However, Snow did recognize Code Enforcement Officer Allen Yerton when Yerton commented, “You have continued to let the building run down.” Snow remembered Yerton as having hit the corner of one of his buildings with a snow plow in the distant past.

Snow, who is 68 years old, characterized himself as a man who “can barely read and write and who is just trying to be a decent person.” He claimed that he was “economically hard pressed.” He said the building is 200 years old, is safe and can be rehabilitated even though “it looks like the dickens.” “Will the Board be satisfied if I board the building up?” he asked. His plan now is to secure the building and rehabilitate it in the future. “I need a break; I’ve paid my dues,” he added. Snow claimed that over the years he had paid Berlin $250,000 in property taxes and that he always paid on time. Town Clerk Anne Maxon verified that Snow had always paid his taxes on time.

When Board Member Carl Greene asked Snow about a time frame for securing and rehabilitating the building, Snow said he would secure it within 25 days, but he was non-committal about when the renovations might start. “I’ll secure it; I’m no bird off the street,” he said. Town Attorney Tate told Snow that the law requires that he come with “some measure of proof” like an engineer’s report. “The order does not say boarding up [is acceptable],” Tate said. There is little leeway for time, he added, and he suggested that Snow get an attorney. Snow has until August 24 to demolish the building or the Town can have it done and charge him back on his tax bill. Later, in the regular meeting, the Board agreed to put the demolition of the building out to bid at the next board meeting if Snow has not followed the order. 

The Board’s resolve was hardened by the receipt before the hearing of a copy of a letter written to Snow in July of 2003 by the previous Code Enforcement Officer,  Dean Herrick, in which many of the same deficiencies were noted. The copy was provided by a “neighbor.” Obviously, no action was taken by the Town in the intervening five years and neither Town Clerk Anne Maxon nor Supervisor Jaeger knew of any notifications having been sent to Snow in the interim regarding the structure. So it’s not surprising that Snow thinks “everything is out of proportion.” At one point in the meeting he said, “This letter has not appreciated me.” It seemed that no one appreciated any part of this business.

From Tearing Down To Building Up

“It cost us $7,000 to pacify the DOT (New York State Department of Transportation),” said Highway Superintendent Jim Winn. He was referring to the engineer’s letters and the work securing the abutments of the bridge on Southeast Hollow Road that was red-flagged by the DOT earlier this summer. The Berlin Highway Department has used six truckloads of rock as rip-rap around and out beyond the abutments to prevent further erosion there. Winn will send pictures of the abutment work to the DOT along with the letters so that the red-flags can be reduced to yellow. The load rating for the bridge is now 10 tons. It used to be 20 tons. The tests and letters were done by the engineering firm of Erdman Anthony & Associates of Troy for $2,700. They will also do the monitoring program of one inspection per calendar quarter until next spring, as required by the DOT, for $2,200. Berlin rented the County Excavator for $2,000 for two weeks to do the work at the Southeast Hollow bridge. A bridge on Lanphier Lane was fixed with three loads of rip-rap, too. It had been yellow flagged.

The Southeast Hollow Bridge will have to be replaced. The project is planned for the spring. Winn wants to replace it with an arch culvert with backfill like the one on East Hollow Road in Petersburgh. He wants the culvert to be 20 feet wide so it can avoid inspection by the DOT, but it will have to be higher to get the same volume of water through it, he said. All work in rivers, creeks and streams is complicated further by the fact that NYS DEC now requires each entrance into the  water to have a permit. In the past municipalities signed a memorandum of understanding that they would notify the DEC of any project that required going into a waterway. The Town did not get a permit to put rip-rap around the abutments of either bridge worked on this month.

Winn said he had no numbers on what the bridge replacement would cost but he thinks it will be less than the $70,000 to $100,000 that the Town Board has been bracing itself for. He said he would call to get a ballpark figure on the concrete that would be needed for the project.

The bridge emergency and the significant rise in fuel costs which has a ripple effect in most material used by the highway department has already stripped away any cushion that was put into the Highway Department budget for this year. Carl Greene, a member of the Highway Committee of the Board, has already turned his attention to next year’s budget with these concerns in mind. He asked for an estimate of sand and stone needed for next year. Berlin has 48 miles of roads, 15 of which are blacktopped or chip-sealed. The other 33 are dirt. Winn estimated that the Town uses about four thousand yards of gravel to maintain the dirt roads. He estimated that the Town uses 2,500 yards of sand. Winn has 400 yards stored. He has 100 yards of stone stored and salt will be purchased under State bid. Winn said that the high price of fuel will result in less activity from the highway departments in the area. “There will be lots of unhappy people because everyone won’t be out putting down material like they used to,” he said. “The State and County won’t be out plowing bare roads and putting down sand and salt like they used to.” He said the County bid on sand might go as high as $7.82 a ton. Blacktop that cost $42 a ton in March now costs $72. The increased prices have used up the increases in CHIPS (Consolidated Local Street and  Highway Improvement Program) money given out this year.

On the income side, the Highway Department has some surplus equipment to sell. Winn suggested that the two sanders and the Gradall be taken to the junk yard. Nassau got $4,400 for an item like the Gradall which was higher than the bid they received, he said. Greene suggested that  the one ton truck and the loader, which has a two yard bucket, be put out to bid. Board Member George Shuhart suggested that the bulldozer also be put out to bid. These items can all be sent to scrap if the bids aren’t high enough, he said. Winn said the bulldozer was “from the landfill when I was a kid.” Shuhart  corrected him. This one was bought by John Adams (not the revolutionary), he said. Someone quipped that the price of junk is coming down.

Sidewalk Proposal Accepted

Board Member Jim Saunders, with Ivan Wager’s help, solicited two proposals for the 177 linear feet of sidewalk repair at the corner of Elm Street and Community Avenue near Hewitt’s Market. CWG Excavating of Berlin bid $9,200, and Keystone Contracting of Petersburgh bid $9,000. Berlin will remove the old sidewalk, put down fill and have material on hand in case more fill is needed. This cost is within the budgeted amount so the Board voted to accept the bid of CWG because it is local. The Board also authorized the down payment of one third the cost contingent on a certificate of insurance being provided.

Goodermote Receives Cat Calls

Dog Control Officer Doug Goodermote announced, “I’m just dog control; I can’t help it if your horse won’t eat or if the deer are eating the tops of your flowers.” He said that one lady had called him “all upset because turkeys are eating her tomatoes.” Jaeger suggested that she call back in November. 

Goodermote said he had gone up to Bucks Corners on an abandoned dog call and “it was a very bad scene up there – there is one building that should be condemned. They have no heat and the refrigerator is on the porch.” A nice, little dog at the south end of town was travelling around annoying people, but the owner surrendered the dog. Goodermote said he gets all kinds of cat calls, but the Humane Society is full so he has no place to take them. He now has to call ahead to bring a dog in. A rabies clinic was scheduled for October.

Other Business

ź Allen Yerton announced that he is now required to do safety inspections on apartment buildings and that places of public assembly have to be inspected, too.

ź Jaeger said that the County has announced that the Town of Berlin can’t stamp sub-division plats because the Town has no sub-division law. “Even Petersburgh has a sub-division law,” said Jaeger. Tate will look into developing one. 

ź Board Member Sheila Hewitt announced that the Comprehensive Plan survey indicated that people want Berlin to remain a rural community and many want cell phone service.

ź Tammy Osterhout reported for the Youth Commission that Todd and Sheila Hewitt donated a stove to be used in the Watipi Building, the Morse family donated a moveable basketball hoop and Pam Gerstel donated art supplies. The recreation program was attended by 10 to 25 kids per day. The swim program started August 11 with 50 kids enrolled. The summer program will not take part in the County lunch program next year because the kids didn’t like the food. An all day trip to the Schaghticoke Fair will be chaperoned by Kathy Burdick. Since the budget allows only $700 for this, only the first 40 kids can be provided with tickets since they cost $18 each. The kids made colorful bookmarks for the Town Board members.

ź The Little Hoosic Watershed Association had its annual meeting. Dues should be sent to the new Treasurer, Stanton Goodermote. Carl Schwartz of  the Fish and Wildlife Service will do a comprehensive study of the watershed.

ź A letter was received from the DOT notifying the Town that the Hammersmith mine in Cherry Plain had applied for expansion from 9.84 acres to 16.74 acres. The Town has 30 days from the receipt of the letter to comment. The Board had no comment.

ź Jim Winn received a certified letter regarding the Tanner Mine on Airport Road. It noted that some gullies caused by erosion might increase but the mine will be considered fully reclaimed  if a letter is received from the landowner indicating that he is happy with the reclamation.

ź Sheila Hewitt reported that Shane Leonard, owner of the True Value Hardware property in Berlin was asking $225,000 for the property. The Town had considered it as a possible Town Park at last month’s meeting. Supervisor Jaeger thought the property had already been listed at $159,000. The Board voted unanimously not to pursue this further.

ź The Board voted unanimously to authorized the Supervisor to pay bills as they arrive, particularly ongoing bills like utilities bills and health insurance bills. The bills will appear on the abstract at the following meeting, but they will have been paid in a timely fashion.

ź The Board voted to nominate John Kanopka and Allen Yerton to the County Fire Advisory Board.

ź Carl Greene went to the Berlin Library reading program celebration and it reinforced in him the idea of “how important a vibrant library is to the Town.”

And There Was Light

Sheila Hewitt announced that Kent Goodermote reported that all 14 electric light poles in Town that had not been working are “shining bright.” Goodermote  rarely misses a meeting. Hewitt reported that he said he was sorry he couldn’t be here to say it himself.

Pedestrian Safety

The meeting closed with a discussion of pedestrian safety raised by Patty Baretsky. The County is repairing the bridge on Elm Street near the Bank of America and has blocked off one side of the bridge. They will finish the job next summer. The bridge is now dangerous to walk on because people at one end are parking their cars on the remaining sidewalk so that pedestrians have to walk into the traffic lane. Both Town Attorney Tate and Board Member Sheila Hewitt suggested people call the Sheriff’s Office and complain. “Get the Sheriff to write some tickets,” Tate said. Town Supervisor Robert Jaeger said he would call the Sheriff.