Volunteers Needed Represent Esperance in Comprehensive Plan Committee

Sitting at new tables made by Jerry Weis (that will soon get 7 mats to prevent damage) during the monthly Esperance Town Board Meeting for June. Officials include: Michael Keller, (empty seat held for Barbara Sharpe not in attendance), Harold Conklin, Benjamin Gigandet, and Town Supervisor Earl Van Wormer III. Not in the photo, but also present were Deputy Supervisor Brian D. Largeteau, Town Clerk Jessica Castle, and Highway Superintendent Michelle Brust.

ESPERANCE — At this month’s Esperance Town Board Meeting, Town Supervisor Earl Van Wormer III updated that 3 - 4 more Comprehensive Plan Committee volunteers are needed. To apply for grant opportunities that would benefit the Town and communities with things like infrastructure and road improvements, updating this plan is a key factor. Van Wormer doesn’t anticipate big changes in zoning laws as an outcome and would like a variety of volunteers. For example, there’s still not a volunteer representing input from the Village of Esperance. No prior Town meeting involvement is required to volunteer; call the Town Hall at 518-875-6109, or message Van Wormer at his new email address: supervisor@esperancetown-ny.gov.

To help with Van Wormer’s incoming emails that Town Clerk, Jessica Castle, has been helping manage, a motion was carried to hire an assistant for Van Wormer. The new hire is Luanne Mansheffer from the Water and Sewer Board who Van Wormer is already in close contact with. She will be working 10 hours a month to keep eyes and ears on grant opportunities at all times and help with the many full-time aspects of being a Town Supervisor that weren’t a part of the position even 5 years back. Because of this, Van Wormer said hiring an assistant is a decision Supervisors in other towns have also been making.

In addition to Van Wormer and Castle, Board members in attendance were Michael Keller, Harold Conklin, Benjamin Gigandet, Deputy Supervisor Brian D. Largeteau, and Highway Superintendent Michelle Brust.

Largeteau brought up something he noticed wasn’t mentioned in the Code Enforcement Report; A building he referred to as, “The Old Headstone Inn in Central Bridge near the cemetery”, seems to have collapsed. Van Wormer will make sure the Code Enforcement officer is aware. 

During the Town Clerk report, congratulations were in order as the marriage licensing and transcripts total for the month included the wedding of their very own Deputy Supervisor Largeteau’s son! Castle also updated that she settled taxes with the County treasurer.

Castle provided a list of records that have reached the end of their life expectancy and received Board authorization to destroy them. For example, it is expected they destroy bank statements after 6 years, creating space for newer documents as they accumulate. 

Brust detailed roads and blocked, crushed, and rusted culvert damage that the recent 4 inches of heavy rain, flooding, and debris have caused. Brust said it was lucky they didn’t lose the surface of Regan Road, but it unfortunately lost its shoulders. Sprakers Road had to be closed for a period of time and is so undermined that the Post Office is refusing to deliver mail to a homeowner there until it gets fixed. Bray road has also been undermined and is most urgently in need of repairs. Brust called 4 contractors to get estimates and found a way to save the Town $1,000 on the cost required to fix one of the culverts. Van Wormer recognized the need to fix this damage to prevent it from impacting the roads worse in the future, so the Board carried a motion approving up to $60,000 to get those repairs started.

It was brought to the attention of the Board that a new County employee billed Village snow removal to the Village, who then paid for it. Brust explained the Town typically pays for the Village’s snow removal. It will be an ongoing conversation next month as Brust investigates why her numbers don’t match the County’s numbers for the removal.

With the budget always having unexpected fluctuations, Van Wormer said he will be recommending a change in how they budget that will help take some of the guesswork out of it. He would like to set up a contingency account to help make other accounts whole in a timely manner when needed, and that would also allow unused line-item amounts by the end of a year to easily carry over for general distribution into the next year. 

Van Wormer reported that revenue and expenditures are pretty good for where we are in the year. They have not yet billed for Chips fund reimbursements that help cover road work, but once they do, Van Wormer said it will make up the difference currently lacking in their revenues. Overall, Van Wormer reported, “As our assets show, we are in really good shape.”

In the Assessor and Youth report, it was mentioned that in some communities, it was found there were houses built without building permits that aren’t on that tax roll.

Esperance Town Board Meetings are every 3rd Thursday of the month; 7:00 PM at the Town Hall, located at 104 Charleston Street. In July, that will fall on the 17th. A motion at this meeting approved the scheduling of a 7:15 PM public hearing during the July 17th meeting about Central Bridge Water District Improvements.  Van Wormer explained it’s very competitive to obtain Community Development Block Grant program funding opportunities, but they will have the required Engineering Report to apply, and it’s worth the efforts to receive input from the public and try for what would be a very helpful grant funding opportunity should they get approved.

Mike West plans to be at the September meeting to discuss RV and Camping Regulation.

Village Meetings are every 2nd Monday at the Village Hall at 7:00 PM. Both Town and Village meetings start with the Pledge of Allegiance and offer opportunities for all in attendance to speak and ask questions during Privilege of the Floor. 

Attending Town Board Meetings is also your opportunity to look through the Correspondence Folder each month. Van Wormer explained the folder usually contains newsletters from The Gathering Place, etc. According to this month’s agenda, it also contained a Schoharie County Conservations Association Newsletter, a Town of Westerlo Parade Invitation, and correspondence from Charter Communications and FEMA.