Express News Staff
A summer music festival at McCauley Mountain, winter fireworks during an upcoming carnival, and trail permits for charity snowmobile rides were among the items discussed when the Webb town council held its January meeting last week.
Council members present Jan. 10 were Councilwoman Kate Russell, Councilman J.B. Herron, Councilman Mike Ross, and Town Supervisor Ted Riehle. Also in attendance were Town Clerk Nanci Russell and Town Attorney Richard Frye. Councilwoman Mary Brophy Moore was unable to attend as she was in Albany undergoing training for newly elected officials.
The first order of business was the awarding of bids for the town’s fuel supply. Although the bids were opened on Jan. 3, awarding the bids was tabled at that time due to discrepancies in the base prices which are supposed to be the same on each bid. After the board had the opportunity to review the bids further, the contracts were awarded to Griffith Energy Company, who was the lowest responsible bidder. They will provide the town with unleaded gasoline for $3.0486 per gallon, diesel fuel for $3.3714 per gallon, and winter blend diesel for $3.5572 per gallon. Herron made the motion to award the bids to Griffith Energy, which was seconded by Russell and passed by unanimous vote.
Riehle asked the board to consider a resolution to standardize the pumps used for wastewater treatment at future pump stations in the Town of Webb. According to Riehle, the town currently uses Gorman-Rupp T series self-priming centrifugal pumps at the wastewater treatment facility. He has found that these particular pumps meet the town’s needs well and have proven to be safe, easy to maintain, and efficient. This standardization will come into play as planning progresses for the town’s east side pump station. If the same pumps are used in all facilities, it will increase economy and efficiency of the town’s wastewater handling. A motion was made by Ross, seconded by Herron, and passed by unanimous vote.
Riehle asked the board to consider a resolution to adopt the town’s procurement policy for 2012 as presented at the last meeting. Changes can be made to the policy during the year at the discretion of the board. A motion to accept the resolution was made by Russell, seconded by Ross and passed by unanimous vote.
The town has received a proposal from Nick Bankert, Felicity Davey, Chip Kiefer and Travis Kiefer from the Adirondack Tourism Association to use McCauley Mountain for a music festival to be held this summer. The group would like to meet with the board at a later date to discuss the details of the proposal.
Andrew Getty has submitted an annual report of permitted building activities within the Town of Webb. All board members have received a copy of the report.
A motion was made to allow the town to establish an account with UniFirst, a uniform rental company. Some of the town employees, particularly the highway department and DPW employees, have requested uniform rentals. All employees renting uniforms would have the cost deducted from their paychecks, which would in turn be used by the town to pay for the rentals. The motion was made by Herron, seconded by Ross and passed by unanimous vote.
Town Attorney Frye informed the board that he has begun the review of the compiled ordinances and laws for the town’s codification project. He has requested to meet with the board sometime in February, in order to get direction from the board on the changes that need to be made. Although he can make suggestions, the decisions on these changes need to be made by the board. Riehle agreed that the board could meet next month to discuss appropriate changes. The deadline to complete the codification project is May 15.
Town Clerk Russell received a request from the CAA to conduct fireworks displays on Feb. 4 for Winter Carnival at McCauley Mountain, and again on March 10 for Snofest at the North Street Pavilion. A motion to allow the fireworks was made by Herron, seconded by Russell and passed by unanimous vote.
Herron asked Riehle about the possibility of leasing a groomer for the trail maintenance department and a grader for the highway department. Herron would like to see some progress made on this in the near future. Riehle said he is in the process of educating himself on the topic and will be ready to discuss it at the board’s upcoming special meeting on Jan. 23.
Ross requested that the board consider a motion to waive Webb snowmobile trail permits for participants in Zippy’s Crusade For Kids and for the Pink Ribbon Riders. Both charity snowmobile rides are scheduled for later this winter. The towns of Webb and Inlet have offered this to both groups in past years. A motion was made by Ross, seconded by Russell and passed by unanimous vote.
A request was made by Carolyn Trimbach for the town to place a Porta-Potty at the skating rink, as was done last year. A motion to make arrangements for this was made by Herron, seconded by Ross, and passed by unanimous vote.
Assessor Jean Murdock gave an update that the town’s revaluation project is progressing. A public information meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Feb. 23 at the Park Ave. Building to answer any questions before the revaluations are mailed out on March 1. After revaluations are received, property owners will have the opportunity to meet with the KLW Group to discuss revaluations through the beginning of April. After that time, the revaluations become the tentative roll. After the tentative roll is filed, the grievance process takes place and then the final roll is filed.
A motion was made for the board to enter into executive session. After the executive session was over, the board voted to offer John Murphy the wastewater treatment operator position at the town’s wastewater treatment plant. Murphy has already been working at the facility as assistant operator. Three applications were received for the position that was recently vacated by Riehle when he took over as supervisor.
A special meeting of the board will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 23, to accept and open bids for a new recycling truck and any other business the board deems necessary. The next audit of claims will be held at 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 13. The next regular meeting of the board will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14. All meetings of the board are open to the public with the exception of executive sessions.