BETTER THAN HEARSAY - Junkyard Jawing in Jewett

JEWETT - It was very practical advice that could probably resolve a lot of problems in life, when the Jewett town board was handed a petition, recently, inviting them to relinquish their posts en masse.

This all began - well, it is difficult to pin down exactly when it all began - but for the purposes of this story it started when former town councilman Bill Mead strode into a council session, earlier this month.

Mead is a respected guy in Jewett and a longtime volunteer firefighter. He has been a familiar face at council meetings over the past few years, wanting the town to take ownership of private Conifer Lake Road.

Government officials have repeatedly denied the request, saying they will be happy to do so if and when Mead brings it up to current specifications.

Local highway superintendent Bob Mallory has explained the situation in various and sundry ways, none of which have quelled Mead.

Nothing had been heard lately from Mead, until the board’s regular monthly gathering on September 11, where the main topic of discussion was a complaint related to a junkyard in the area of routes 23A and 17.

Mead entered the room as the talks were happening, giving the petition to councilman John Pumilia who passed it to colleague John Giordano who relayed it to town supervisor Greg Kroyer who read it aloud.

The gist of the petition calls upon the town council to “uphold the town and New York State laws concerning unlawful junk yards in Jewett,” more specifically one on the property of Frank Mauro.

‘When the members of the Jewett town board ran for office, they indicated they would do everything they could do in the interests of the Jewett taxpayers,” the petition states.

“However, nothing has been done over the last number of years about the unlawful junkyard even though I have brought this up at two town board meetings,” the petition states.

“It seems the town board upholds other regulations, such as building permits, trailer permits and road specifications but not the regulations concerning unlawful junkyards,” the petition states.

“If the current town board doesn’t feel they can do their obligation for the taxpayers, they should resign and allow someone that will do the job” to take over, the petition states.

Kroyer, having entered the document (authored by Mead) into the record, did the same with his thoughts, saying to Mead, “it’s not true what you’re telling these people” who signed the petition, numbering over 100.

“You are making an accusation and it is false. Before this petition came in, we were already taking steps” to address the Mauro matter, Kroyer said.

Those steps, according to Kroyer, include two Notices of Violation and an Order to Remedy being issued by town code enforcement officer Carl Giangrande to Mauro.

Kroyer said the town is providing Mauro with an opportunity to comply with the regulations, granting time to get the 40 or so vehicles removed or properly registered.

Mauro, who was in attendance, said he has been collecting the vehicles and motorcycles over several decades, intending to restore them in retirement, hopefully selling them, until misfortune struck.

“I never expected to end up with a bad back,” Mauro said, explaining that he’d had a back fusion, limiting his ability to work on the vehicles.

Kroyer said the town is giving Mauro a grace period (while also wishing to avoid a potentially costly and lengthy court case), contingent on Mauro showing “good faith” by consistently coming into compliance. 

Mead was not assuaged, mentioning two other similar issues in Jewett in the past, including one he claimed the town let slide, prompting town attorney Tal Rappleyea to enter the chat.

Declaring that the town acted correctly in both instances, particularly with a location that was legally grandfathered, Rappleyea said to Mead, “we’ve been over this six times in the last twenty years.”

(Wait for it…here comes the practical advice).

“You get an answer but you don’t like the answer. Somebody told me once that the good thing about banging your head against a wall is, when you stop doing it, it stops hurting,” Rappleyea said.

Mead continued to press the issue before Kroyer apparently concluded there was more to Mead’s petition than met the eye.

Jumping into the conversation, Kroyer said to Mead, “you say [within the petition] that we uphold other regulations such as road specifications. There it is, right there Bill. This is really all about your road.”

Kroyer, noting Mead lives not far from the Mauro property, likely passing it on innumerable occasions, said to Mead, “it took forty years to get there and now all of a sudden you are like Christopher Columbus. You discovered this junk yard.”

Mead denied that, saying it was about the town seemingly willing to help Mauro but “you won’t help us,” by bringing Conifer Lake Road up to specifications, which Mead has requested in the past.

“The town is not a developer,” Kroyer said. “You won’t find a single other person who thinks the town should be in the road building business.”

Councilman Giordano, referring to the Mauro property, conceded, “we should have been stopping it over the years. It just got out of hand.”

Mauro ultimately quieted the discourse, saying, “I am an old man now. I had the back operation. I’m doing the best I can. I can’t work on things eight hours a day anymore. I will take care of this.”

Kroyer said the town council would take Mead’s petition and suggestion that they all resign “under advisement.” 

No precise date was set for Mauro to complete the cleanup, although council members made it clear the timeframe was not open ended.