Kyle Proudman helping his neighbor
By Matthew Avitabile
CONESVILLE — A sparser crowd joined the Conesville Town Board for its August meeting. The board considered a request for a culvert change and had a light report.
Peter Barrett spoke before the board to open the meeting. A resident of Brand Road, he explained that several years ago he contacted the previous Highway Superintendent about a backed-up culvert. It was cleared at the time, but the superintendent said that the current culvert situation did not work properly. The town installed a new culvert. He said that the town crew did not check below the culvert and that there was an inverted traffic cone that had to be removed. There have been several issues caused by significant storms in recent years. This part week’s rain caused a washout. Mr. Barrett visited the sight and said that the smaller 18” culvert was still present, saying that a 24” culvert fed into an 18” one.
“That is never going to work,” he said.
He requested that a 24” culvert be installed.
“Mother nature’s trying to tell you what to do,” he said, speaking about the lay of the land.
Highway Superintendent Ward Apgar said that he agreed that the 18” culvert was too small and that a cross-pipe must be installed.
“It’s all rock, it’s all washed down.” Once there’s some debris, it backs up, he said. The crew placed a diversion to help send down water, but that got backed up, as well.
The crew plans to come to Brand Road in the next several weeks and install a new culvert and consider replacing the smaller one.
“There were a lot of plugged-up culverts,” he said. Councilman Bill Amend said that the town was fortunate that there wasn’t significant blockage on South Mountain Road.
Mr. Barrett credited Kyle Proudman for aiding him, helping to clear the issues by hand.
Town Clerk Carrie Sutton said she received a request for a death certificate from 1891 for genealogical purposes. She and Town Historian Kim Young researched the issue. Young found that the individual, the postman, died visiting friends in Pennsylvania. After the assistance, the requester was able to get the information from Pennsylvania.
In the sewer operator’s report, some brush hogging was done and started a 2025 budget proposal. At the main pump station, the manifold separated and required a repair. There have been no issues since.
Apgar also said that the highway department would like to purchase a new light-duty plow truck. The town would auction a 2004 truck to help cover the expenses.
Councilman Robert Proudman credited the superintendent, calling Apgar an “expert in your field.” He credited previous superintendents Dave Porter and Jason Barry for past purchases. Councilman Carl Fancher recommended a larger truck “if we’re going to spend that kind of money.”
“These small trucks are not meant for the abuse we’re going to put them through,” he said. He cited that the town was planning to replace a truck that is only five years old. Fancher recommended getting a truck that would not have to be replaced every five years. A larger example would be about $230,000-$240,000 rather than about $190,000 for a smaller one. Apgar said that some of the expenses may be covered by a grant, as was the case with the last purchase.
There was a spirited discussion about a potential purchase. The supervisor said that there could be about $55,000 left in the year-end fund balance. There is currently more than $60,000 in the equipment reserve fund. The town also budgeted $80,000 in a capital reserve this year. Altogether, the town had about $141,000 that it could use toward such a purchase. An option could be to lease such a truck, said Apgar.
Leasing could be a good start, said Federice, and also a chance to see if there was another way to finance, including a bond anticipation note (BAN). Apgar said that he recently took training that showed that selling a truck before major repairs are needed could save the town significant money.
The highway superintendent would find information about a possible larger truck. Federice requested that if he received leasing information to send it to him in order to shop it around to local banks.
A report from Town Historian Kim Young cited the successful pop-up museum held by the Conesville Historical Society, as well as the historical marker unveiled at the Methodist Church. Between 50-75, people showed up for a square dance with music performed by the Tremperskill Boys.
Town Supervisor Bill Federice complimented the pop-up museum.
The highway superintendent said that the town crew spent several days checking and cleaning up debris after the recent storm. He said that the crew has been repairing vehicles, mowing, brush hogging, and more.
Town Assessor Marie Stuber said that the last month has been quiet. She asked whether the town wanted to do an update on full market values for the town for the 2025 rolls to update the values of properties for assessment purposes rather than the ordinary four-year cycle. Stuber said that such a decision would be a “lot of work” but that it could cause more issues than it solved due to few changes in value. The decision could also be made next year. The board decided not to proceed with the full market value update.
She also asked about whether to order a new laptop. Stuber said that she had received one from Middleburgh and the one in Conesville cannot handle the updates from Schoharie County. She asked if there was enough from her contractual line in the budget. The supervisor said there was. Stuber requested ordering a computer through the county. The supervisor said that he would discuss it with the county. Stuber said that she would be on vacation from Aug. 19-23.
The supervisor said that things are “going well” at the county. He said that the current high rate of inflation increased prices, which also increased the amount of sales tax revenue being collected by the county. The town’s share was $20,000 a decade ago and is now between $55,000 and $60,000. Federice said that the increased share helped the town cover costs caused by inflation.
The board introduced several resolutions, including an expense correction and a budget amendment. The supervisor said that he incorrectly placed a streetlight voucher. It caused funds to be taken out of a different line in the budget but cost the taxpayers no additional costs. The resolution was passed unanimously.
The other resolution included several budget item amendments, including moving $2,035 for a bill from the Gilboa-Conesville School District that was not received until recently. The changes were about $6,000 and were adjusted from contractual expenses from the town court. Another $3,000 for highway expenses was spent out of contingency. The measure passed unanimously.
Supervisor Federice said that the town was planning a workshop for next year’s budget. It will likely be the second week of October. The supervisor cited the cost of inflation and said that prices would not go back down. He cited a 14% increase in insurance, a 17% increase in Tier 4 retirement, an increase in electricity cost of about 10%, and gas and diesel costs.
The workshop date was set for Thursday, Oct. 10 at 7 pm at the Town Hall. The budget public hearing is tentatively set for Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 7 pm.
Federice brought up NYSEG, which was a significant topic in the July meeting. The supervisor said that he received a person in NYSEG’s government relations office. He read from the letter he sent to NYSEG. The letter stated that there have been nine outages centered in the Hubbard Road area so far in 2024. He said that some residents believe that there are more outages than in other more-populated areas. Federice said that this could be due to a lack of maintenance and the condition of the equipment. The supervisor invited a NYSEG representative to attend an upcoming Conesville Town Board meeting.
NYSEG’s district manager will be coming to the September board meeting to address the board and answer any questions. NYSEG cited issues with trees as causing outages. One recent outage on July 6 was caused by a sharp increase in demand during a heat wave.
Federice discussed the New York Forward program and asked the board whether it would like to pursue a grant project. He said that such a grant program would be a “lot of work” and said that one possible application could be to have Conesville designated as a possible historic hamlet centered around the Couchman House and older homes in the town center. The town wouldn’t be able to apply for this year, but could in the future. He said that the town could partner with an organization such as Western Catskills to “take the lead.”
The supervisor cited progress at the Couchman House. The plumbing is done and most of the fixtures are installed. He said that there could be up to $7,000 in ARPA (Coronavirus-related) funding left over. This money could be used toward the potential grant project, which could result in a “much bigger payout.”
“Can we get money into the community that the state will pick up?” said Federice.
He said that he would have a “casual conversation” with Western Catskills.
“What do we have to lose?” he asked, “Except our time?”
The town received three bids for fuel. A bid from Sunrise Fuels for 4,000 gallons of LP for $1.65 per gallon starting on or after Oct. 1, 2024 until Sept. 30, 2025. The second bid was from MainCare, which offered 500 gallons at $2.7046, Diesel at $2.7537, and 70/30 blend diesel for $2.9196 per gallon. Propane could be delivered for $1.5592 per gallon. Nolan Propane offered propane at $1.389 per gallon.
The board approved MainCare’s gas and diesel bid and Nolan’s propane bid.
Councilman Bill Amend read an email about the planned November Turkey Trot. The registration fee has been increased to $25 online and $30 for the day-of. Clark Sports will operate the race and open registration on their website. Business advertising for the shirt will be sought starting in September. The next planning meeting is set for Aug. 26.
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