The Peru Gazette

Peru Town Supervisor Peter Glushko has announced that Peru Town Hall will be closed all day on Monday,  February 15th, to celebrate President’s Day

By Adele Douglas

Libraries are usually quiet places, but the latest acquisition to the Peru Free Library is meant to encourage just the opposite.  Librarian Becky Pace believes the front room of the library is a perfect place for local musicians to share their talent.

 “The acoustics in that room are just lovely, it affords the community an intimate venue for musical performances of all kinds.  Having a piano allows for a greater variety of musical groups.”

The room comfortably holds 50 people and Becky also sees it as a possible location for end of year recitals by local piano teachers.

With the support of the Library Board, Becky started a fund about two years ago to buy a piano. A local couple, Alyce and Michael Provost, heard of the library’s interest and very generously offered to donate their family instrument, a very handsome 1924 Brambach baby grand.  Tom Roby of Roby’s Piano Shop Inc. of St. Albans, refurbished the piano and delivered it to the library in late January.

If you’re interested in discussing a performance or recital please give Becky a call at 643-8618.

The Peru Community Church hosts its 4th annual Mardi Gras on Tuesday, February 16th from 2 to 6 p.m. A chili dinner will be served at at a cost of only $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for children. There will be games, crafts, music and a cake-walk. Proceeds will benefit the church youth programs.

By: Donald McBrayer

The Regular Town Meeting was held on Monday, February 8 at 7PM.
Minutes for January 11 and 25 were approved and can be found at: http://www.perutown.com/min10.htm.
All Department Reports (except Dog Control) were approved and can be found at: http://www.perutown.com/town.htm. 

Two speakers attended the meeting with information on grants that can be accessed to install new sewer systems at South Acres Mobile Home Park, which is owned by Tam Phung. Read more »

The adirondack almanack reports

The adirondack almanack reports

AGENDA TOWN BOARD REGULAR MEETING

February 8, 2010 @ 7:00 PM Read more »

St. Augustine’s Knights of Columbus Free Throw Contest Chairman Brian Mulcahy with the winners of the Council 7273 competition conducted on Sunday, January 31^st in Peru.  The winners (L-R) Emily O’Connor (13), Samantha Bashaw (12), Lucas Frenyea (11) and Connor Sargeant (10) will advance to the district competition to be conducted on February 21^st at Holy Name School in Ausable Forks. 

The adirondack almanack reports (An excellent resource for Clinton Prison history)

The Adirondack Daily Enterprise reports

Plattsburgh’s first interpretive panel celebrating the Anti-Slavery movement will be dedicated at 5 pm on February 16, 2010. The unveiling will take place in front of the main entrance to the First Presbyterian Church at 34 Brinkerhoff Street. Interim pastor Virginia Murray and North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association president, Don Papson, will be joined by members of the church and the association. The distinctive panel is one of a series of state funded markers on New York’s Underground Railroad Heritage Trail. The North Country has three others-at the John Brown Farm in North Elba, the Essex County Courthouse, and the First Congregational Church in Malone.

Plattsburgh’s First Presbyterian Church played a pivotal role in the early stages of the area’s anti slavery movement. It was a moment of change in the fall of 1837 when the Clinton County Anti-Slavery Society convened for its first annual meeting in the original edifice constructed on the site. Among First Presbyterian’s founding members were some of Clinton County’s wealthiest and most influential citizens. Several owned slaves before New York abolished slavery in 1827. Read more »

Whiteface.com reports

AP reports

The Post-Standard reports

The Times Union reports 

The Watertown Times reports 

The Times Union reports (An excellent story on the importance of Moriah Shock to its community)

Becca Osborne (right) pictured with a SUNY classmate

Becca Osborne of Peru was one of ten SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry students accompanied by one faculty member who traveled from Syracuse to spend a week of the 2009-2010 winter break in New Orleans. Yes, they did do a little sightseeing but most of the week was devoted to helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina put their lives and neighborhoods back together.

Becca made the trip with Operation Southern Comfort, a Central New York organization that has taken over 25 trips to Louisiana and Mississippi helping Katrina victims to rebuild homes, a museum, tutor school children, and recently, plant trees.  www.OperationSouthernComfort.org 

During the winter break trip, ESF students helped plant one-thousand Cyprus trees along the soil bank in Bayous Bienvenue and Dupre, along the Violet Canal to restore wind and water barriers against future storms. The trees are started in pots and when they reach a height of about 6 feet they are planted in the bayous. Professor Richard Goyer of Louisiana State University is overseeing the project.

AGENDA PERU ZONING BOARD OF AGENDA Wednesday February 17, 2010 

7:00 p.m. Peru Town Hall Read more »

Walter Russell, Chair of the Town of Peru Zoning Board of Appeals, called the meeting of December 16, 2009 to order at 7:03pm. Read more »

Richard Williams, Vice Chair of the Town of Peru Planning Board, called the meeting of Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 7:00 pm, to order. Read more »

AGENDA PERU PLANNING BOARD Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 7:00  Peru Town Hall Read more »

The Post-Star reports  “Meanwhile, it will cost more to run the school district next year. The board learned Queensbury must pay at least an extra $450,000 for retirement benefits to teachers and another $237,000 for non-teaching employees’ retirement expenses. Right now, officials estimate health insurance costs will increase by $550,000.”

The Peru Town Board approved a public hearing procedure policy at its January 25th meeting.

Town of Peru Public Hearing Procedures 

The Town of Peru is committed to making its public meetings open to the public and structured to accept public comment in an orderly and efficient manner so that the Town may consider the comments in its deliberations.

From time-to-time, the Town conducts official public hearings on pending applications.  The public hearings are held expressly for the purpose of accepting comment from the public on specific pending projects.  The public hearings are not intended to engage either the Town members or staff in exchanges or commentary.  Likewise, public hearings are not intended to engage project applicants in debate or confrontation.

Therefore, the Town has adopted the following guidelines for public comments at meetings and official public hearings:

1.              The Town will accept written comment at all public hearings;

2.              The Town will accept verbal comment at all public hearings as follows:

a)     Comments are limited to five (5) minutes per speaker;

b)    Speakers must sign in on a sign-in sheet and identify themselves by name and address;

c)     Speakers will be called upon to speak in the order of their sign-in;

d)    Speakers will be required to comport themselves in a civil manner at all times;

e)     Speakers will not address questions to the members of the Agency or the Project Applicant, but limit input to their comments on the pending applications;

f)     After all of the speakers on the sign-in sheet have been heard, the presiding officer of the public hearing will ask if there are additional persons, not already heard, who would like to provide comment;

g)    When all speakers have been heard, the public hearing will be closed;

h)    If a group of five (5) or more attendees has formally designated a speaker for the group, and are actually present at the public hearing, the designated speaker may speak for a period not to exceed twenty (20) minutes, as long as the designated speaker introduces and identifies all of the group members present by name and address at the public hearing for which he or she is the designated speaker.

3.              The Town will legally advertise its public meetings and public hearings as prescribed by New York State law; and

4.              The Town may electronically or video-graphically record the public hearing proceedings and employ a court reporter and use the services of a timekeeper, at its discretion.

By Donald McBrayer

The Regular Town Board Meeting was held on Monday, January 25 at 7:00PM. Everyone except Town Clerk, Kathy Flynn, was in attendance.

Passed Motions included:

• Setting a date for a Compressive Plan Workshop to be held on Monday, February 1 at 6:30 PM prior to the Regular Meeting.
• Setting a date for a Insurance Workshop with Northern Insuring to be held on Monday, March 1 at 6:30 PM prior to the Regular Meeting.
• Adopting the “Town of Peru Rules of Order” after making a modification that will state the Deputy Supervisor will fill the roll of Supervisor in the event the Supervisor is unavailable. Next in secession would be a Chair Pro tempore who would be elected at the time. The “Town of Peru Rules of Order” will be placed on the Town Website once the modification is made.
• Approval of the Employee Handbook, which will include instructions for several, issues including mileage reimbursement, paid bereavement time, health insurance changes, shoe and uniform terms, and overtime. The Employee Handbook will be available at the Town Hall, and placed on the Town Website in the coming days.
  

The Board then went into Executive Session for an hour to discuss several contracts. Upon reconvening, contracts with JCEO, Town Engineer Peter Gibbs, Grant Coordinator Adele Douglass, and Town Attorneys Don Biggs & Tom Murnane were approved. Contracts with Elmore SPCA, an unnamed IT service, and Web Administrator Don McBrayer are still in review and will be readdressed at the next regular meeting.

After approving a motion to pay the monthly bills at 8:45 PM, the Board reentered Executive Session to discuss an employee issue. At this time everyone except the board exited the meeting.