Kortright Is Organized, Discusses Highway

BLOOMVILLE – The town of Kortright always organizes on the first day of the new year and 2025 was no different as they met at the town hall on New Year's Day make official appointments and designations for the new year and conducted audits and inventories at the highway garage, the town hall and the water and sewer plants in Bloomville.

Official appointments and designations were made, as follows: one year - monthly meeting date is the third Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m.; Josh Morgan as code enforcement officer; Kevin Young, Young and Sommer, town attorney and Archibald Gallup, planning board chairman.

Michael Howard was reappointed to a seven-year term on the planning board.

Two year appointments included: The Reporter as the official newspaper; Kristin Craft, handicap parking permit agent, registrar and Bloomville Water District Collector; Jeffrey Haynes, deputy supervisor; Nancy Haynes, town historian; Meg Hungerford, bookkeeper and Chris Bodo, dog control officer.

They also adopted a motion to approve the elected and appointed officials salaries in accordance with the 2025 budget, as follows: Supervisor $14,806; Bookkeeper $14, 096, Highway Superintendent $56,260; Town Clerk/Tax Collector/Registrar and Sewer District Clerk $35,262; Bloomville Water District Collector $1,892; Justice $14,744; Council members, each $2,070; sole assessor $25,691; Dog Control Officer $3,500; Code Enforcement officer $12,657; Board of Review Chairman $437; Board of Review $326; Election Inspectors School $50; Primary $250; Election Day $250; Health Officer, $35 per inspection and Historian $620.

Additionally, mileage for town business was set at 67 cents per mile and they designated NBT, Wayne Bank and Community Bank as official depositories. 

Planning board meeting dates were set as the last Wednesday of each month, January through November at 7pm.

They also approved paying the Association of Towns dues in the amount of $900 and renewal of  the contract with the Delaware County Planning Department for $3,500.

The town has not received its Consolidated Highway Improvement Program, CHIPS funding for 2024 and it was discussed during Monday's regular town board meeting that the report was not  submitted on time. The town will be filing for the reimbursement late with the reimbursement payment expected sometime in March. 

Board members also discussed emergency plowing of private roadways and that a resolution needs to be adopted to cover the town's liability.

A  recent ambulance call resulted in the town being called by the 911 emergency dispatch to clear a roadway to allow the ambulance to access a patient. At the time, Highway Superintendent Bill Burdick did not realize it was a private roadway. 

Councilman Mike Pietrantoni told the board he has researched the town highway law and it is okay to plow a private roadway in an emergency situation. However, he is looking to create a resolution to cover such situations for the future. 

According to the law, a highway department can plow a private roadway in an emergency to provide access to emergency vehicles. It is allowed in the interest of public health, safety and welfare. It is allowed to provide immediate access to emergency vehicles in an emergency and provide immediate access for a serious illness or fire.

According to the discussion, 911 dispatch has contacted the town highway department on seven different occasions to plow for emergency access for an ambulance. In the future, it is recommended the fire department be dispatched and as an essential service they can request the roadway to be plowed in an emergency situation.

The town board will open bids for highway materials and bids for cemetery mowing in February. Board members approved advertising for the bids.