The Peru Gazette

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The Town of Peru Water & Sewer Department announces that we will be closing Cross Street from the State Route 22 to Union Road on Thursday,  June 26^th  from 7:00 am til 3:00 pm to replace a sewer line.

There will be NO through traffic including Emergency vehicles during that time period.

—

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By John T. Ryan 

Peru – On about May 1st, the owners of 2,312 local properties received a notice that their property had a new assessed value. A few values decreased, but most increased, some significantly. Several people expressed their displeasure to the Town Board and on social media.

The notifications advised taxpayers to call assessor Jeremy Cross if they had questions and informed them of their right to file a grievance with the Peru Board of Assessment Review. Many people took that advice. After reviewing evidence and additional information, Cross changed the assessments on 108 parcels. The Board of Assessment Review received 94 grievances and approved 19 changes. 

Board of Assessment Review Chair Deborah Witherwax said she’s never seen so many grievances. The Board typically meets once annually. This year it met three times with 45 people appearing in person. While the Board changed 19 assessments, if people had presented more supporting evidence, they might have been approved many more. Witherwax stated, “We denied several for lack of evidence. Some people were upset, but the majority didn’t have any evidence other than last year’s assessment. We need to see sales data for comparable properties located in the Town of Peru, i.e., a stick-built, three-bedroom, one-bath ranch, on a slab, etc. One person submitted information on a sale in the Town of Plattsburgh. That’s not acceptable. We need sales in Peru. We need as much detailed information as possible.”

Witherwax advised taxpayers who have concerns to call the assessor to ask questions and to explain why they believe the assessment is incorrect. If dissatisfied, they can file the grievance form with the Peru Board of Assessment Review. If the taxpayer is unhappy with the Board’s decision, they can appeal in Small Claims Court at the cost of $35 or NYS Supreme Court depending on the nature of the property. One, two, or three-family residences appeal to Small Claims Court. 

Peru’s residential properties hadn’t undergone a total reassessment in several years. County Director of Real Property Services Martine Gonyo said up until about four years ago assessors conducted annual town-wide reassessments; however, state aid has been gradually decreasing. Consequently, the County assessors are no longer conducting annual town-wide reassessments. 

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Peru – At its June 22, 2020 meeting the Peru Town Board took the following actions: 

• Approved installation of a stop sign at the corner of Washington Street and the new Gala Lane. 
• Accepted ownership of water and sewer lines serving apartments at Davey Commons on Davey Drive.
• Approved a one-year term agreement with AES Northeast. AES designs and engineers most, if not all, of the Town’s water and sewer projects. 
• Accepted the new Patent Road culvert constructed by Luck Brothers. It passed all required inspections. 
• Discussed updating the Zoning Law regulations involving business signs, home-based businesses, and solar farm developments. Town Attorney Matt Favro suggested that Code Enforcement Officer Bob Guynup put his proposed changes in writing. Guynup will also confer with the Planning and Zoning Boards. 
• Noted that the Youth Commission will be discussing summer youth baseball-softball programs at its June 24th, 6 p.m. meeting. NYS has granted permission for some youth sports to begin on July 6.  Counselors Rick Barber and Jim Douglass will attend that meeting. 
• In other business Code Enforcement Officer Bob Guynup said he had visited several local restaurants to check COVID-19 Phase 3 compliance. He found no significant violations. Restaurants are currently permitted to operate in-doors at 50% capacity. 

The Highway Department’s new asphalt hotbox will cost the Town $2,233 more than anticipated. Peru is sharing the cost ($28,233.20) with the Town of Ausable and the Town of Chesterfield should pay its share next year. For some reason, Chesterfield did not include the item in this year’s budget. 

Supervisor Brandy McDonald reported that the search for a replacement is underway for IT consultant Tom Lemieux who resigned effective June 30. McDonald said a meeting was held with Primelink, Inc., and a meeting will be held with Twinstate Technologies. The Board agreed that a consultant has to be available to keep the computer systems functioning. The Board hired Jason Barber on an as-needed basis from June 23 to July 31 at a rate of $75 an hour.  The Board plans to hire a consultant by August 1.  

At Counselor Kregg Bruno’s request, the Board adjourned to an executive meeting to discuss a personnel issue. The Board took no action following the session.

Health Department Note of June 23:

Note: Some labs are taking a particularly long time to report test results. This is not something that we have control over, but it does sometimes affect when cases are reported to you, and how soon after you see individuals move to the recovered category.

– The isolation period for an asymptomatic person (a person who is tested, but has no symptoms) begins on the date their test is collected.

– For a symptomatic person (a person with symptoms of COVID-19), isolation starts when their symptoms began. Isolation continues for a minimum of 10 days, and until there is no fever for at least 3 days and symptoms have improved.

– According to the symptom-based strategy to discontinue isolation for persons with COVID-19, the word recovered is used to describe someone who is no longer infectious, or able to pass the virus to another person (https://bit.ly/2VagXLD). A person who is recovered may still experience ongoing effects from the virus.

– There are multiple criteria that may place an individual in the probable category. For the probable case definition used by NYS, visit https://bit.ly/3en5n7o. Note that this is not a category that CCHD developed. A case definition is a set of uniform criteria used to define a disease for public health surveillance. These enable public health officials to classify and count cases consistently across reporting jurisdictions. — sharing a COVID-19 Update.

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik introduced a bipartisan bill to provide temporary relief for Perkins loan borrowers along with Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45), Congresswoman Susie Lee (NV-03), Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03), and Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12). This bipartisan legislation would expand the reach of the student borrower protections included in the CARES Act. The COVID–19 Perkins Loan Relief Act would allow the nearly 2 million borrowers with Perkins loans to forgo making payments on those loans until October.

In April of this year, Congresswoman Stefanik introduced similar legislation – the Equity in Student Loan Relief Act, a bipartisan bill to extend the temporary relief from student loan payments to Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) borrowers who have been left out of the relief provided in the CARES Act. Together, these proposals will ensure all federal student loan borrowers have equal access to the relief provided by Congress.

“COVID-19 presented significant challenges and uncertainty to North Country residents with student loan payments,” said Congresswoman Stefanik. “This bipartisan legislation closes a gap in the CARES Act and allows those with Perkins loans to defer payments until October as we recover from the COVID-19 crisis. Along with the Equity in Student Loan Relief Act, this critical legislation will reduce significant financial stress for the borrowers who have been left behind, and I’m proud to be an advocate for all of our hardworking North Country students and their families.”

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, along with Congressman Anthony Brindisi (NY-22) and Congressman Dan Newhouse (WA-4) have sent a letter to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) requesting the inclusion of United States apple growers in USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). The letter states that apple prices during the last few months declined anywhere between 6.5 percent and 24.9 percent. Apple producers have faced significant loss as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply chain disruptions that resulted from it.

“Our North Country apple farmers not only produce wholesome product for our communities, but also stimulate our rural economies,” said Congresswoman Stefanik. “The COVID-19 pandemic and price declines that our farmers have faced as a result certainly qualify them for economic relief from USDA. I am working on a bipartisan basis to ensure that our apple producers are rightfully included in CFAP funding, and I will continue to advocate for programs like this that help keep our farmers running successful businesses.”

“Apple growers take the same risks and work the same long hours as producers of row crops and livestock,” said Jim Bair, U.S. Apple Association President & CEO. “They worry about weather, pests and markets, and in most every way apple growers are indistinguishable from other farmers, so there’s no reason not to treat them the same.”

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The regular meeting of the Peru Town Board was held on Monday June 8, 2020 at the Peru Town Hall.  Those present were Mr. Brandy McDonald Supervisor; Mr. James Douglass, Councilman; Mr.Kregg Bruno, Councilman; Mr. Melvin Irwin, Councilman; Mr. Richard Barber; Councilman, Mrs. Dianne Miller, Town Clerk.  Also present were Mr. Courtney Tetrault, Water/Sewer Superintendent; Mr. Bob Guynup, Zoning Officer; Ms. Pamela Barber, Confidential Secretary to the Board and Mr. Matthew Favro, Town Attorney.

The meeting was called to order at 6:02 PM by Mr. McDonald, with the Pledge of Allegiance.  

Motion by Mr.Bruno  seconded  by Mr.Irwin to include the reports from the following departments into the official record of tonight’s meeting.  (Water/Sewer/Valcour; Highway; Town Clerk; Dog Control; Youth Department; Code/Zoning; Supervisor’s Report; Court; Website; and Banking Reports). No JCEO report submitted 

 Ayes 5  Nays  0                                                                         Motion Carried

Motion by Mr.Bruno, seconded by Mr.Douglass to approve the minutes from the May 28, 2020 meeting.

Ayes 5   Nays 0                                                                      Motion Carried

Motion by Mr. Barber to reject bid for Sewer Upgrade Project seconded by Mr. Irwin

Mr. Favro stated temporary easements will need to be redone as they expire 12/31/2020 .

There are 2 still outstanding temporary easements.

RESOLUTION NUMBER: 20.06.08-1

A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE TOWN’S ANNUAL TERM AGREEMENT FOR  THE AES PROJECT  #4154 WITH AES NORTHEAST, PLLC FOR ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR THE TERM OF JUNE 1, 2020 THROUGH  MAY 31, 2021 AND AUTHORIZING THE SUPERVISOR TO EXECUTE THE SAME.

MOTION: Mr. Bruno                        SECOND:  Mr. Barber

WHEREAS, the Town Board has the Short Form Agreement for the term of June 1, 2020 through May 31, 2021 between the Town of Peru and AES Northeast for engineering services for the Town before it NOW,

THEREFORE, BE IT

 RESOLVED, said proposed agreement is approved and the Supervisor be and hereby is authorized to execute said agreement.

AND,

 BE IT RESOLVED, that this Resolution shall take effect immediately.

Mr. Bruno rescinds motion after discussion of details of agreement

 Mr. Bruno made motion to table resolution seconded by Mr. Irwin

Carried: 5 Ayes 0 Nays

RESOLUTION NUMBER: 20.06.08-2

A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE AES AMENDMENT TO OWNER-ENGINEER AGREEMENT PROJECT #4878 – LOA 2020-01 FOR DRINKING WATER ENGINEERING SUPPORT AND AUTHORIZING THE SUPERVISOR TO EXECUTE THE SAME.

MOTION: Mr. Bruno                                                 SECOND: Mr. Irwin

WHEREAS, the Town Board has the AES Amendment No. 1, to Owner-Engineer Agreement #4878 for Drinking Water Engineering Support for drinking water infrastructure related items before it

THEREFORE, BE IT

RESOLVED, said proposed Amendment to the Owner-Engineer Agreement is approved for A Cost not to exceed $3,000.00 ( Three Thousand Dollars) the Supervisor be and hereby is authorized to execute said agreement.

AND, BE IT

RESOLVED, that this Resolution shall take effect immediately.

Carried: 5 Ayes 0 Nays

 Acceptance of IT Consultant Resignation

Motion by Mr. Douglass; seconded   by Mr. Bruno to accept Thomas Lemieux resignation effective June 30, 2020 as Town of Peru IT Consultant.

New IT consultant Replacement

Mr. McDonald stated appointments have been made with Primelink & Twin State.

Mr. Guynup asked to change internet providers because Verizon is installing fiber optics in the Town of Peru.

Town Hall Paver Conditions

Mr. Tetrault will be obtaining a price for paving, stamping and spraying using asphalt.

Restaurant Parking Lot Seating

Mr. Guynup submitted a Temporary Outdoor Dining Plan application for local restaurants.

Motion by Mr. Bruno; seconded by Mr. Douglass to approve Temporary Outdoor Dining Plan application for local restaurants

 Town LED Street lighting

Mr. McDonald spoke with NYSEG representative and NYSEG will install LED street lights at the cost of no more than $ 2788.85.

Motion by Mr. Barber; seconded by Mr. Irwin to proceed with NYSEG for installation of LED lights not to exceed $ 2788.85.

Reminder of Workshop June 22, 2020 at 5:00 PM

Mr. McDonald stated Wastewater Disinfection Project Workshop will be held June 22, 2020-Town Hall.

A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE POST-AUDIT PAYMENT OF CERTAIN CLAIMS, BILLS AND INVOICES OF THE TOWN

MOTION: Mr. Barber                                                            SECOND: Mr. Douglass 

WHEREAS, the Town Board has reviewed and audited the following claims, bills and invoices for services rendered and goods provided to the Town in May 2020:

From Town of Peru Vouchers in May 2020; #202000559  through and including #202000595.

Abstract dated 6/5/2020

For the dollar amount totaling: $102,651.04, of that, $14,309.19 was wired, credit cards and prepaid; and $88,341.85 is remaining to be paid and

WHEREAS, the Town Board finds said claims, bills and invoices to be acceptable in form and reasonable in amount;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT

RESOLVED, that payment of the aforementioned claims, bills and invoices is approved and the Supervisor be and hereby is authorized to make such payment; and be it further

RESOLVED, that this Resolution shall take effect immediately.

Carried: 5 Ayes 0 Nays

Other Business

Mr. Tetrault stated EPA has increased allowable chlorine levels in water plant from .02 to .06.

Mr. Tetrault is waiting for job number from NYSEG before generator can be installed in Town Hall. Building will need to be closed for one day for installation.

Sewer line repair is continuing at Highway garage as time permits.

Mr. Guynup stated a planning board meeting will be held via Zoom June 10, 2020 at 7 PM.

Mr. McDonald stated the town has been given an A Plus rating by S &P Global.

This rating will benefit the town in the negotiating of refinancing bonds at a lower interest rate.

 Motion by Mr. Douglass; seconded by Mr. Barber to adjourn the regular meeting at 7:04 PM.  Ayes 5   Nays 0                                                                                     Motion Carried

_________________________Supervisor  _________________________Councilman

_________________________Councilman _________________________Councilman

_________________________Councilman

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“While I am encouraged that many regions, including the North Country, have been able to reopen with restrictions, this phased reopening left a large gap between previous guidance and what is projected to be covered under Phase IV.

“It seems counterproductive to indicate that large box retail stores can open for business, or 150 individuals can attend an outdoor graduation, but businesses who have long-standing practices of disinfecting such as fitness centers, malls, or even bowling alleys, cannot open their doors. Further, these businesses aren’t really reflective of the concepts of events included in Phase IV.

“I have continually advocated that the North Country region will take longer to recover economically than other regions, and our residents have worked hard to stop the spread and meet the necessary metrics to safely reopen. I am calling on the Executive to evaluate further businesses that can safely reopen, not only to help our economy to recover but to meet consumer demand and unrest.”

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