SEWARD — August 10, brought a packed meeting room to the Town of Seward for its regular meeting. The residents who stepped in saw a welcome donation. If you have ever attended a meeting in the town, you remember the hard chairs that they had. Well those chairs are now in storage and have been replaced with new chairs. Sterling Insurance, of Cobleskill, was getting rid of 47 chairs. Brenda Southworth asked if the town could have them and they were graciously donated to the town. Highway Superintendent, Chad Evans. picked them up. A thank you note was sent to Sterling Insurance.
The meeting began with The Pledge of Allegiance. Roll call was taken, all board members in attendance. The meeting minutes from July 13, were approved. There were no requests for privilege of the floor.
Written and oral reports were next. Supervisor Mark Fletcher read the financial report and that was accepted. Highway Superintendent Chad Evans read his report. Paving hasn't begun yet due to the weather. Patrick Road is in its first stage of repair, hopefully to begin in two weeks. There are no more National Grid Grants to help with the town building lights. He also brought a quote to put a plow on the 550 truck to save the big trucks from going out in small storms. The quote expires on September 26, the town will revisit it next month. Mr. Evans hopes to add a few smaller trucks to the fleet within the next few years.
The Town Clerk report was read by Mark Fletcher, which was then approved. The Assessor did not have a report, as she was on vacation. The Dog Control report was also read by Mr. Fletcher and accepted. The Code Enforcement Report was read by Mr. Fletcher and accepted.
New business brought a new Planning Board member, Kenneth Martin-Johnson. With a possible second member to the Planning Board, Nate Pierce. Mr. Pierce will now approach the Planning Board with his interest of joining. If all goes well both vacancies will be filled on the Planning Board.
Jason Hughes of the Teamsters 294 was there to answer questions about the Union. The town employees have asked to go to the Union. The Board went into Executive Session to meet and discuss. They came back out to move on to more new business. Jersey Lane would like a speed limit reduction. There are no signs on the road, they would like it to be moved to 30 MPH. All five Board members agreed to move forward with the steps to start this. There was also a motion to hold off on the CDBG Grant for Patrick Road and the Community Center, until the grant for the sewer system to be put in first. The board will then decide if they will apply for CDBG Grant for either or both of the other projects later. The board wanted to clarify that the sewer is our first priority.
If you did not know, our town has a youth area that was used for many years. Everyone knows Matt Wilms. He has supported and been part of the youth program for 30 years now. He can not run the program anymore, his kids have grown and there are many restrictions on this area. There is possible monetary help that Mark Fletcher will apply for to help keep the youth program. Thank you for your time and service Mr. Wilms.
Issue Tracking with Councilman Harlow was next, following up on the Shale Pit. Also on the Deed to the piece of property the town owns on West Richmondville Road. Councilwoman Nelson has not heard back from National Grid on lights and will contact them again. There is still a vacant seat for the Board of Assessment Review ending on Sept. 30, please call the town if you are interested.
The last privilege of the floor was shared with many members of the community. They talked of getting youth back involved. Keeping a community and watching it grow. There was also some concern with the Union talk of the night. Mr. Fletcher ended with possible use of Jim Morell to help our community with metal scraping. The next meeting is September 14, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. Don't forget about the town wide garage sale on August 29. Please see Brenda Southworth to get added to the map.
