TOWN BOARD- Special
Meeting re: Salt Shed; and Regular Meeting
Obviously, this blog
gets under Supervisor Salka’s skin but he still invited me to report on the
Board meeting. He doesn’t have much interest in town business now that his eye
is on Albany. If the November referendum
to extend his term of office passes, at least Salka will assure himself of four
more years here in Brookfield!. …”Career” politicians…just love them.
SALT SHED SPECIAL
MEETING: Public hearing
revealed $416,000 ( up to $430,000 total) will be needed to build the fabric
covered salt storage facility…”the shed”…plus additional funds for work to be
done by the Town. According to Salka, the shed must be built by Jan 1. The Town is using $100,000 of savings and borrowing up
to an additional $330,000 (at low 1.43% for the first year) to cover
the balance of the cost. The engineers, Barton & Loguidice
(B&L), told the Board the Town needed to be cited by the DEC in order to
get a grant-- that being cited by the DEC is a almost a guarantee that the Town
will get a grant. Well, we were cited in March and could be fined up to $37,500
per day for violations. Sounds like "great" advice!
GRADEALL: Major problems with this 1999 piece of equipment
which the Town purchased used. They tried to diagnose at the yard, but with
no improvement. The Board authorized Mark Zediker to
bring in outside dealer to evaluate. Zediker
received compliments for his work as interim Highway Superintendent.
PROPERTY LINE BATTLE
CONTINUES: An on-going
dispute with Flick’s Tavern has boiled over to the legal sphere as the Town
Attorney was called in to send formal letter to owner, Frank Kabana, warning
him about the encroachment on Town Property and order to remove furniture, etc. and stop parking
on the Town’s lot.
CONTAMINATED DIRT FROM
THE TOWN BARN: The County will take the
contaminated soil for cover on the land fill.
This will be 1/3 the tippling cost of trucking it to Ava. While
Salka couldn’t put a total figure to it, he assured that it was 1/3 the
cost. Apparently, the soil is from old fuel tanks which were removed from
the yard. The Town was going to wait until next year to take care of the pile,
but the Town was turned into the DEC and forced to move now. Salka accused…
"someone from Plainfield"
turned us in!
BUDGET: Yes, they are working on the Budget
but Salka wasn’t quite sure where they stood or when upcoming budget meetings
would be held.
CODES OFFICER – Chad
Trudell: Has now finished
his training.
NEW TRACTOR & MOWER
QUOTE: The Town is
considering spending approximately $116,000 for a new tractor and mower to
replace the Town’s existing equipment. They will use the current broom. The dealer rep was not sure if the
warranty covered labor.
JUDGE’s AUDITS: The Town is now doing the required, “annual”
2014 Audit of the former Justices of the Peace. Why so late? Salka:
“that’s the way we do it”…and have done so for the past 8 years.
JUDGE RHODES REPORT: She has applied for a grant to cover
security cameras in the courtroom area. Court is held every TUESDAY; ADA
District Attorney Night – next one NOV 1. This past quarter, she and
clerk Sharon Woolsey collected over $16,000 in past fines...most of which, unfortunately,
had to be passed on to the State.
The Judge is also looking for someone to repair the steel doors and
cement step. Interested parties should
contact Sherry, Marylou or Sharon.
PARKING SIGNS/
Fairgrounds: Annual NO
PARKING tickets handed out at Wheel Days. Zediker was informed by the
County that the signs needed to be replaced (so they are readable) and bushes
cut away from existing signs; additional ones needed. Clerk Kabana is to
research the Town’s responsibility for signs.
HIGHWAY EQUIPMENT - When asked if the Town owns or leases the
highway equipment, Salka was at a loss to explain: ..."it's complcated....we
own them but we lease them." Sounds like we're not the only ones confused!!!
DOG ENUMERATION – Need to do a new one. The Town is to follow up
with Jodi Hawes, Dog Warden.
WRECKER ROTATIONS: During public comment, a
situation was reported where a local wrecker, already on the accident scene,
was turned away under the County protocol. A wrecker from the other side
of the county had to be called in to take the wreck, which remained a hazard
for almost an hour during especially bad weather conditions near a bad
intersection (Button Falls/Rt 8).
MISSING- AGENDA,
FINANCIALS: Salka has not posted the agenda, financials or minutes on
the Town’s official website since April; Salka admitted they had not been posted, but maybe they would be posted if he gets around to
it. No big deal. It's just the way it is done here .... Any problem with that? YES!
A special thanks to the Leonardsville Community and Fire Department
for hosting the October meeting. Always a pleasure to meet there... the
consummate hosts!...and great brownies!!!
