Youth Commission Chair Resignation Accepted; New Plow Truck to be Ordered; No Progress on Washington Street Dispute; No Progress on Main Street Bid Approval
By John T. Ryan
Peru – The Peru Town Board accepted the resignation of Peru Youth Commission Chairperson Jennifer Madore at its Monday, January 28, 2019 meeting. Madore is the third Youth Commission member to resign over the past few months. On November 27th the Board accepted the resignations of Beth Lozier and Carrie Smith. Earlier in Monday’s meeting the Board appointed Jonathan Whitmarsh and Kirsten O’jida-Blair to the Commission.
As previously reported a town plow truck was severely damaged in a January 4th rollover accident. Both the truck and plow were determined to be beyond repair. Last night the Board approved the emergency purchase of a new plow truck at a cost not to exceed $211,000. The town expects to receive an insurance payment between $60,000 and $70,000 on the damaged truck yielding a net cost to the town of about $141,000. The purchase was deemed as an emergency purchase after Highway Superintendent Michael Farrell said that it would have to be ordered by the end of February to ensure delivery in time for the next plowing season. Otherwise, delivery would be delayed until very late in 2019 or spring 2020. The $211,000 price is in line with another plow truck recently purchased with competitive bidding.
In response to a question from the Peru Gazette, Supervisor Brandy McDonald said the Board is awaiting a proposal from Washington Street developer William Sawyer. Sawyer and the Town have a dispute centering on Sawyer’s not paving shoulders or installing 5-foot wide sidewalks.
The Gazette also asked if the Board has heard from NYS officials regarding the stalled Main Street upgrade. Supervisor McDonald said, “No, we’ve heard nothing.” The Gazette commented that perhaps it’s time to take up the matter with our New York State legislators.
The Board approved a proclamation designating February as Career and Technical Education Month. CV-TEC Director Michele Freedman thanked the Board and commented on the CV-TEC programs. She said, “I’m pleased to let you know that in Clinton and Essex County we serve over 600 high school students every year… are training in 31 career and technical programs…No longer is taking a vocational-technical course an either/or opportunity. It’s a transition or pathway to what’s next in life. Our students taking our construction trades programs, our diesel mechanics programs, our health careers programs are also earning college credits while they’re in our high school programs and transitioning into post secondary careers, associates, masters and doctorate degrees while they are still training in the field.”
The 2019 Ford Escape to be used by the Code Enforcement Officer has arrived.
Confidential Secretary Pam Barber commented that there have been a few problems with the new Logics Solutions software; nevertheless, she praised Logic’s support personnel for their persistence and availability.
In other actions the Board:
Corrected two Organizational Meeting resolutions. The correct date for the the last Board meeting of 2019 is December 30th at 6 p.m. The salary of the Water/Sewer Superintendent also needed to be corrected. The Peru Gazette will publish all the Organizational Meeting data as soon as it is made available.
Accepted the 2019 annual contract with the Peru Free Library in the amount of $80,000.
Accepted Counselor Jim Douglass’s audit of the Peru Town Court records. Counselor Douglass commented, “The Court Clerks do a great job. Everything is well-organized and well-kept.” Douglass said he was amazed by the scope of the court’s required paperwork.
Accepted a NYS Revolving Fund Short-term Financing Memo related to the upcoming sewer system upgrade.
Approved bills due and adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
Posted: January 29th, 2019 under General News.