Bids Could Go Out Soon On Richmondville Municipal Building Addition

By Chris English

RICHMONDVILLE — Progress is going at a smooth clip on an addition to the Town of Richmondville municipal building just off Podpadic Road.

At the Thursday, May 8 board meeting, members voted to proceed with adjustments to the plan suggested by Councilmen George Horning and Todd Sperbeck and have the engineer on the project, Brendon Becker, move forward on the bidding process. Town Supervisor Jeffrey Haslun said he believed bids would probably go out in the next two weeks.

The small rectangular addition will increase storage for the town court section and provide easier access to that part.

In other actions from the May 8 meeting, Highway Superintendent Brian Manchester reported that he is scouting out the best location on the municipal building/highway department property for a small structure that will be part of Schoharie County's $33.3 million broadband project designed to provide internet access to every county resident. Manchester is coordinating with the project's main contractor, Mid-Tel, on the location of the infrastructure.

Haslun said there will eventually be a lease agreement with the county on the structure, and he added he would favor only having the county pay a nominal rental of maybe $1 a year to the town. Only enough to satisfy the requirements of the lease, were Haslun's thoughts. The three small structures that will be part of the broadband network's infrastructure will be in the Towns of Richmondville, Sharon and Esperance, he added.

Haslun further reported that there is progress _ though slower than hoped _ on the estimated $12-13 million sewer improvement project that will bring public sewer service to much of the town, including Warnerville.

"Brendon (Becker) is slowly ticking off things," Haslun said. "We're moving forward with things. It's taking longer than I ever thought it would."

On other matters, Haslun said the town recently received two checks from the county: $18,622 for the semi-annual mortgage tax and $15,452 as reimbursement for the town road crew plowing county roads within the town.

Richmondville is also taking steps through the county and state to determine and post an appropriate speed limit for Court Street _ a county road _ added Haslun.

The board approved two resolutions. One adopted New York State agriculture and markets lateral restriction conditions for the sewer improvement project. The other resolution puts into effect new state regulations that mandate new and additional reporting requirements for certain elected and appointed governmental officials and employees pertaining to, among other things, record keeping of work-related activities.