Town of Berkshire Regular Meeting April 20th, 2009 Page 1
The Town of Berkshire held their regular meeting on April2Oth, 2009 in the Berkshire Town Hall. The meeting was called to order by Supervisor Simmons at 7:00 PM. He opened with the pledge of allegiance.
Members present were Ronald Hartwig, Lillian Hoffmier, John Stoughton, Fraser Williams. Also present was Karl Spoonhower , Hwy, Sup't.
Approval of the Feb. minutes: A motion was made by Ronald Hartwig to approve the Feb. Minutes, seconded by John Stoughton, carried
Approval of the March minutes: A motion was made by Ronald Hartwig to approve the March minutes, seconded by Fraser Williams and carried.
Privilege of the floor: A.J. Hanson is concerned with the speed being traveled on the back streets
in Berkshire. He would like to see something done to slow people down. This issue has been
addressed before but Mike Simmons said he would see what he could do. Will talk about this
more under new Business.
Frank Kunik: Because of the expected large number of grievance, they are going to extend the
hours. In fact they will make sure everyone gets a chance to be heard. Because of this they would
like to hire someone for clerical help to fill out forms for them. Ronald Hartwig made a motion
to allow the board of review to hire some one for this not to exceed 5 hrs, or 150.00 dollars,
seconded by Fraser Williams and carried.
James Lacey: Expressed concern about the people on railroad ave double parking on the street.
Karl Spoonhower said he spoke with them about this but it made no impact, Mike Simmons said
he would make a couple calls and see if he could get someone down there to check on this.
Sam Davison: Sam is voicing concerns about tax payers assessments doubling. Wondering how
they are going to be able to pay that much more. He wondered if there was some way the town
could make it easier on people. The board explained that there really wasn't much as a board we
could do.
Reports:
County planning board James Lacey- Last Wed. Had a meeting, the toilet wasn't working, I
called Skip Hartwig and he came right down and fixed it that night. Thanks Skip. Attended
classes on water and agriculture. It was very interesting the impact of these things on our
communities, benefits and so on. One site plan review on satellite cell towers in Owego. Still
staying on top of the natural gas drilling impact on
roads and other concerns.
Code Officer Lee Virtue- No Report
Justice Court- No report
Hwy Dept. Karl Spoonhower- We will be getting the same amount of Chips money as we got last
year 2008. Picked up all the trash today, Apr. 20th.
Planning Board Ken Cuerter- Meetings changed to the lat Monday of the month-May 6*, 2009.
Still working
on the Code officer draft, and reviewing the current local laws.
Town of Berkshire Regular Meeting April 20th, 2009 Page 2
Report continued:
Dog control Ron Raab- Would like to do a dog enumeration, the cost to the town will be 1.50 per dog and mileage. A motion to proceed with the dog enumeration was made by Fraser Williams seconded by Ronald Hartwig and carried. The enumeration will begin on May 15th, 2009. The clerk will put an ad in the town newspaper to let people know this will be going on. Supervisor Mike Simmons- nothing to report.
Old Business:
Minutes were great Thanks Connie.
Front office is done except the floor. Not going to do anything to that for now. Code officer and
Assessor will be occupying that space for now.
Line items on the budget that were not deducting monthly have been corrected, and a year to date
line has been added.
Ambulance service- Still working on this. Will have an attorney look at the present contract.
Fire station and community center looking for new grants. Also looking into voting referendum.
Newsletter- Set to be done and delivered on May 2nd, 2009.
Adopt a highway- Poor turnout only about 7 people showed up. Still 3/4 success. Will push
harder for help next time around.
Trash clean up going well.
New Business:
Street lights- There are no street lights down on the back streets. Howland Bros. Used to have some. Mike Simmons is going to check with NYSEG and see about getting some put down there. Speed limits- Mike is going to check with DOT about speed limits on the back streets. Highway requests- Screen rental and excavator rental if needed taking the lowest of three bids. 2500.00 dollars for the screen per month(Apr. to Aug.) Excavator if needed 2900.00 dollars per month. Lowest bids from Whittimore construction.
Highway garage roof- The highway men will be doing the roof, a request to hire 3 more guys to help put the roof on has been made. The state comptroller has said this is okay to do this. The men will have to fill out the proper paper work(w4's etc..) before they begin the work. The approximate cost of the roof will be 6000.00. It will take 3 days to do the roof. A motion to hire the three guys for three days was made by Ronald Hartwig seconded by John Stoughton and carried. Grievance day will be May 29th, 2009
Board concerns- none
Town of Berkshire Regular Meeting April 20th, 2009 Page 3
Approval of the warrants:
General Fund vouchers #50-#64 totaling 5,576.44 a motion to pay made by Ronald Hartwig seconded by Lillian Hoffmier, carried
Highway Fund vouchers #42-#53 totaling 4,328.09 a motion to pay made by John Stoughton seconded by Ronald Hartwig, carried.
A motion to adjourn was made by Ronald Hartwig seconded by Fraser Williams, carried. Respectfully submitted
Constance M. Liddington Town Clerk