Harpersfield Makes Appointments, Preps to Accept Paint at Transfer Station

HARPERSFIELD – Members of the Harpersfield Town Board made official designations and appointments last Wednesday, heard a rundown of the fire district budget from the chairman of the fire Stamford Joint Fire District commissioners and approved a program at the shared transfer station to begin collecting discarded paint. They also amended the Local Law granting a volunteer firefighter exemption to include any first district.

With the Stamford Joint Fire District budget up by 33 percent over the previous year's budget, members of the town board asked for the chairman to provide an explanation of why there was such a jump in the budget figures.

Tim Powell explained the SJFD must adopt a budget in the same way the town adopts its budget. He provided packets with the budget included to board members. He said a new roof was put on the Stamford Fire House this year at a cost of $300,000 which was bonded. The department opted to replace the shingled roof with standing seam steel roofing to eliminate replacement again in the near future. He explained the shingled roof has been replaced three times since the building was constructed in 1987. The district bonded the project for $335,000 over 10 years. He said the department's rescue truck needs to be replaced. It is a larger truck and in the same way as  many things these days, the department does not have CDL drivers. The rescue truck is nearing the end of its useful service and the cost is $225,000 over three years and is being funded by the Robinson-Broadhurst Foundation. The department will be short by about $150,000 to $180,000, which is reflected in the budget.

The department's membership is up 30 percent and the state dictates that the department must provide a certain amount of personal protection equipment to each member. The cost to outfit an interior firefighter is $6,000 to $7,000. The department recently received a state grant in the amount of $300,000, but at the time the budget was being developed, it was unknown if the department would receive the grant or how much it would receive.

When asked if the district sought bids for the roof, Powell said the project was put out to bid. It required spending $20,000 on a bond attorney and they were advised it would not be wise to replace the roof with shingles again. The steel roof has a warranty of 30 years.

Council member Erik Reeves said his building is larger and he didn't believe it would cost anywhere near that to replace the roof. He also asked if they had considered hiring  the Amish for the labor. Highway Superintendent Russell Hatch said the town had considered it and researched it but determined it was not feasible. 

Powell said there was a bid process that was followed.

He went on to explain interior firefighters have face masks issued to them individually at a cost of $400 and the turnout gear will be in the thousands. New regulations also require a double set of turnout gear so that the gear can be washed before being put back into service. 

"We were notified we would receive a grant and we got the full $300,000, but we did not know that before the budget was in place. He said the fire district has also had to play catch up with maintenance of the building since the district took it over from the village of Stamford.

He also said there is a budget process the same as with municipal entities. All of the towns in the district were provided a copy of the proposed budget, as well as the public. There is a time period and a process and everything is made available on the website.

Council member Patrick Funk asked that in the future the district budget would be provided to the town board. Powell explained they held budget workshops and a budget hearing, which are open to the public. If anyone has any questions, those are the times to ask them. 

The discussion ended with everyone agreeing that there should be attendance at meetings from time to time between the fire district and town board, so there is a better understanding.

Official appointments were made, as follows: Allyson Phillips, town attorney; Karen Kropp, town bookkeeper; Christopher Plante, code enforcement officer; Miquel Martinez, deputy code enforcement officer; Joy Musella, court clerk; Jeffrey Bell, dog control officer;  Thomas Giaguzzi, town historian; Dean Darling, planning board chairman; Dennis King, deputy planning board chairman; Otis Schermerhorn Jr., deputy highway superintendent and Heidi Stevens, registrar of vital statistics.

The town's official newspaper will be the Mountain Eagle and monthly meetings will be held on the second Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m..

Dean Darling, chairman of the town planning board, provided a report of the year's activities. Two subdivisions were completed, there was one boundary line adjustment and one site plan application for a doggie daycare facility on Wilcox Road. The planning board also dealt with four solar projects, including one known as Weaver Road and three off Bruce Hill Road on property owned by Eklund. Construction is underway at the Weaver Road site and will begin in the spring at the Bruce Hill Road sites. The third site on Bruce Hill has involved the town negotiating a road use agreement due to concerns over construction vehicle traffic on the roadway. 

A Verizon communication tower to be located behind the town highway shed is also in the process. A public hearing on the proposed project was closed last month. The town board amended the town's communication tower law to include a waiver process. If the planning board chooses to grant the waiver, they could approve the siting of the towers. The waiver is included in the site plan application which the planning board has not yet acted on, according to Darling. He said they hope to finalize the tower issue at the Jan. 29 meeting

"We had quite a few meetings and concerns on the solar projects," said Darling. "We thoroughly looked at things and we put in some late nights."

The town will begin accepting household paint at the shared transfer station facility in Harpersfield beginning January 21 and Supervisor Lisa Driscoll wants to get the word out to townspeople. At the beginning, each household will be allowed five gallons per day. The town anticipates a large influx of household paint initially, thinking people have been holding onto unused paint. This is to allow everyone an opportunity to get rid of unused paint.

An Amish shed is now in place at the transfer station to house the paint and the plan is to begin accepting paint by Jan. 21. It will be accepted when the transfer station is open to the public and is restricted to those residents already permitted to use the transfer site, including residents of Harpersfield, Kortright and Stamford. Containers that are leaking, empty, or without the original printed manufacturer’s label will not be accepted. The paint should not be dry, if it is it can be discarded as hazardous materials during the annual Clean Sweep event next fall. There is a limit of five gallons per day and an attendant must be present in order to accept the paint. Aerosol paints will not be accepted and it is expected a complete listing of the rules and acceptable paints will be listed. The paint will be collected by PaintCare and recycled. Paints that will be accepted include: interior and exterior architectural paints including latex, acrylic, water-based, alkyd, oil-based, and enamel (including textured coatings)

"This is not costing the taxpayers any money," said Driscoll. The town is being reimbursed for the cost of the storage shed. "Other than training an attendant and the time involved."