Gilboa Has New Summer Recreation Director

GILBOA –  When Flat Creek Road will be open to traffic again is unknown, but residents along the road are still planning their annual 4th of July parade. And the town of Gilboa has a new director for its summer youth program.

Nelta Miller was appointed Summer Recreation Director, as Gilboa Town Board members reluctantly accepted the resignation of Sue Morkaut, who served as the director of the summer program for kids for more than three decades. Miller steps up with experience, helping with the program. "Sue Morkaut has impacted generations of young people in the town of Gilboa," said Gilboa Supervisor Alicia Terry.

While disappointed that Morkaut is stepping down, Terry was elated that Miller has stepped up. She is a licensed teaching assistant at Roxbury Central and formerly at Gilboa-Conesville Central. She has worked with the summer youth program in both communities.

Miller told the board she is very excited about doing it and will be meeting with Morkaut for a seamless transition.

Flat Creek Road has been closed for two years and traffic detoured along Wyckoff Road. A mudslide and unstable bank at one portion of the road resulted in its closure. A county roadway, the county has been researching how to stabilize the roadbed to prevent further slides and the county attorney is in the process of obtaining rights of way from landowners in the area of the closure to allow a wider easement to accommodate that stabilization. The county is also looking at engineering plans and soil nails to hopefully make the repair. 

In the meantime, detoured traffic along Wyckoff Road has doubled. The road travels between the parking lot and athletics fields and the school building at Gilboa-Conesville Central School, which has been concern, with speed limits lowered. However, there is a lot of wear and tear on the town roadway and Supervisor Terry is saying the county should pick up the cost of resurfacing the roadway, since there e is no other case where a county road has been closed for this long and doubled the traffic on a town roadway.

Her case will be heard on June 21 at 9 a.m. at the county office building in Schoharie. She believes the county should adopt a policy to address such situations in the future. The only other times county roads have been closed was for a bridge or culvert replacement and never for this length of time. Wyckoff Road is a critical piece of infrastructure for the town and she is seeking financial help from the county for its repair.

Work is underway at the town clerk's office to install a generator and she said if the town loses the grid by the time of the next town board meeting, they should be able to keep the town offices running. The highway garage is next, along with additional repairs.

Highway Superintendent John Wyckoff reported they have finished oil and stoning roads, which included Blackberry Street and Starheim Road. The town's new truck is expected to be here by July 4 and  Crews have been filling pot holes.

The town will advertise for fuel bids and Wyckoff explained they ran out of fuel this week and would like to find another supply. He said they ran out three times over the year, which is a major problem. During the runout this week, they were fortunately able to work around it and keep the trucks close to the garage without any long hauls, because they couldn't refuel.

Board members approved advertising for fuel bids.

Also in her report, Terry said Gilboa is one of the first two towns of the 10 approved by the county Board of Supervisors who will have a .gov email, which includes the town board members, assessor, code enforcement officer, and planning board chairman. The addresses are more secure and the county agreed to pick up the tab for 10 towns to start the program.

She also reported she will use the engineering report produced on Dave Brown Mountain Road to make an application for a stream stabilization project and other available funding sources.

The residents of Flat Creek Road hold a 4th of July parade every year. It includes all sorts of marchers and vehicles and everyone is welcome.  The lineup is at 11:30 a.m. at the Flat Creek Baptist Church. Despite the detour on Flat Creek, residents turn out every year for the parade and there will be hot dogs at the church after the parade. The parade is a community effort. It marches from the church to Back Road and Back Road Spurt back onto Flat Creek, ending back at the church. A motion was approved to its organizers permission to hold the parade. If you have never attended the parade, it gives you an appreciation for the community.