KNOX — On Tuesday, presiding over his first regular town board meeting, Supervisor Vasilios Lefkaditis took on matters great (like purchasing over $600,000 worth of highway equipment and ending blight on vacant properties) and small (such as buying office supplies in a new way and installing hooks to hang a screen that would allow meeting papers to be projected so those in the gallery could follow along).

The board also agreed to a temporary moratorium on accepting electronic waste at the transfer station and heard reports from women appointed to help residents at both ends of the age spectrum.

Further, the board discussed ways to improve communication in town — pursuing an electronic sign to be shared with the fire department, posting frequently asked questions along with answers on the town’s website, and possibly installing a scrolling bulletin board at the transfer station.

Finally, the board decided to interview applicants for two seats on the planning board in an open forum where the public can ask questions.

The meeting, which lasted three hours, was fast-paced with lively discussion dominated by Lefkaditis and interspersed with comments from the score of residents in the gallery. Lefkaditis had ousted the 42-year incumbent supervisor in the November elections, and the five-member board has two other new members as well — one elected and the other appointed.

At its Jan. 1 re-organizational meeting, the board, despite Lefkaditis’s recommendations otherwise, retained its long-time attorney, John Dorfman, and its planning board chairman, Robert Price. Both Dorfman and Price contributed to discussion at the Jan. 12 meeting.

 

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Highway equipment

Referring to Highway Superintendent Gary Salisbury, Lefkaditis said, “Gary is this close to bringing in $600,000 for the town of Knox…We’ve got to get him over the hump.”

When Tropical Storm Irene caused damage to Line Road in 2011, Lefkaditis said, the Federal Emergency Management Agency estimated it would cost $676,000 to fix it. “Gary smartly said we could do it for significantly less.”

So, using an alternative course, Knox was to get 90 percent of the money for other uses — 75 percent from the federal government and 25 percent from the state.

“The timeline expired Dec. 23, last month,” said Lefkaditis. “If we were on top of it, we could have fixed all our facilities.”

In November, Salisbury told The Enterprise of the estimate to fix Line Road, “FEMA estimated it would cost $600,000 to fix it...The town board and I decided that was crazy...We found out they would give us a percentage for other things. That allows us to buy equipment we wouldn’t get any other way.”

Referring to forms Salisbury had filled out in the wake of Irene, Lefkaditis said, “Because we missed the deadline, we’re locked into the five pieces of equipment he listed.”

Salisbury intends to purchase a backhoe, an excavator, a trailer, a roller, and a tractor mower.

“We have to work fast,” said Lefkaditis, to meet the deadline. “We have to extend it tomorrow…Everyone OK with that?”

All the board members agreed.

“If we don’t use it, we lose it,” Lefkaditis said of the $608,824 in federal and state funds.

Salisbury said purchasing the equipment will save on rental fees. Previously, equipment not ideally suited for tasks at hand was pressed into service and worn out, he said.

The town has to buy the equipment up front and is then reimbursed. Lefkaditis said that borrowing with such low interest rates is like getting “free money” but he asked Dorfman to come up with language that would be “bullet proof” in assuring Knox would be reimbursed.

The board agreed to meet to consider requests for proposals for the equipment at 5 p.m. on Jan. 21.

“Not that anybody cares, but that’s my birthday,” said Lefkaditis. “Bring gifts.” He will be 44.

Blighted properties

Referring to junk-strewn property on Bozenkill Road, and elsewhere in town, Lefkaditis said, “All we can do is drive by and shake our heads.”

He wants the planning board to come up with language that would allow the town to clean up blighted properties. Lefkaditis said he had bought a junkyard on Staten Island and cleaned it up but then faced complaints about a rodent infestation; the city told him to deal with it. “If I didn’t do that, the city does it, and put foreclosure on it,” he said.

He also said there are properties in Knox that are dangerous; if a child were to explore a deteriorating building, it could collapse. He said, too, that the town could make money, charging the owner for cleaning up properties, or, foreclosing and selling the property.

Dorfman confirmed, “The only language we have applies to junk vehicles and debris. I agree 100 percent we don’t have the teeth other than for junk vehicles.”

“I’d like to instruct the planning board to work on this, with haste,” said Lefkaditis.

“Can we include over-the-road trailers?” asked Price.

“Don’t get crazy on me,” replied Lefkaditis.

The board unanimously agreed to have the planning board come up with proposed wording.

Code of conduct

Deputy Supervisor Amy Pokorny went over a code of conduct for public meetings that she said was largely developed by Nicholas Viscio, the former deputy supervisor, who resigned from the board in December.

People at town meetings are to refrain from “making loud noises, shouting, booing, hissing or engaging in any other activity in a manner that disturbs, disrupts or impedes the orderly conduct of the meeting,” the draft says.

Lefkaditis said it was to “make sure we all behave.” Then he quipped, “Do I have to abide by that?”

“The board cannot throw a board member out,” said Dorfman since board members are elected representatives.

He also noted that planning board and zoning board members are protected and can only be removed for items listed in statute.

Pokorny said she’d make the needed revisions to the code, which the board unanimously approved. Dorfman recommended posting the code on the town’s website and in the local newspaper.

Internet access

Lefkaditis reported that Knox is not eligible for broadband funds recently announced by the governor because the community is served by Time Warner Cable. “The good news is Time Warner was bought out by Charter Communications, and Charter must provide 145,000 homes in the Time Warner footprint” with Internet access, he said

This month, the New York State Public Service Commission voted to approve the merger of Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications, which, according to the governor’s office, will improve broadband availability for millions of New Yorkers and lead to more than $1 billion in direct investments and consumer benefits. The commission’s merger requirements will deliver broadband speed upgrades to 100 megabits per second statewide by the end of 2018, and 300 Mbps by the end of 2019, benefitting two million upstate broadband customers. Currently, the highest speed offered by Time Warner Cable north of New York City is 50 megabaits.

The merger conditions further require that Charter Communications offer high speed broadband to 145,000 customers who currently have no high speed broadband at all.

The company estimates there are 150,000 to 250,000 homes in that footprint, Lefkaditis said, meaning a good share of Knox homes should be eligible.

“What they want from us — we’ll need a lot of help — is to identify all the streets” that are eligible, said Lefkaditis.

Although the standard requirement is 35 houses per mile, Lefkatidis said he talked to someone at Time Warner who said, “We’ll stick to the 12” houses per mile.

Lefkaditis asked Price to have the planning board come up with the eligible streets. Price said he’d have it to the board by its next meeting.

 

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Senior Services

Charlotte Fuss reported on a wide variety of programs available for the elderly in town. A “senior day care” program is slated to begin in February, she said.

She said, too, “We’d like a monthly senior social and a craft club.” She also named a senior picnic at the town hall and said bus trips were being planned with the youth council.

Starting this month, legal aid is offered at Knox town Hall on the second Wednesday of every month. (See Phyllis Johnson’s Helderberg Seniors column for details.)

“We’re trying to get free tax preparation,” said Fuss. “I even went to the colleges,” she said, seeking someone who could come to Knox to help people fill out their tax forms.

Lefkaditis volunteered his own accountant. “I will force him to come up from New York City,” he said.

“I’ll bake him cookies,” said Fuss.

“He’s Jewish,” said Lefkaditis. “Can you bake bagels?”

Youth Council

Maryellen Gillis said the Knox Youth Council had developed a mission statement and core beliefs as well as drafting bylaws. The council is also working on a code of conduct for both adults and children at events. The group agreed on “open enrollment,” she said, so that anyone may join the Youth Council at any point.

“I’m hoping our group will grow…I think we’re really heading in a great direction,” said Gillis.

She then went over an “ambitious preliminary calendar” for 2016 that starts with Winterfest on Jan. 30 in the town park. A new proposal for summer is “The Great Knox Campout” when families would pitch tents in the park.

To make better use of the park, as “a multi-age, multi-purpose facility,” Gillis asked for the board’s blessing to establish a short-term Playground and Park Committee that would act as a “think tank.”

“Playgrounds are incredibly expensive…in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Gillis.

Lefkaditis said he would put her “directly in touch” with a grant writer once Gillis gets to that point.

Councilman Erik Kuck volunteered himself and his wife to serve on the committee.

Appointments

Lefkaditis said that seven people had applied for two vacancies on the planning board and just one, the incumbent, had applied for the open seat on the zoning board of appeals.

The town board discussed having a committee of two of its members interview the applicants so as not to trigger the state’s Open Meetings Law.

“My concern is, I’m the most pro-business person on this board,” said Lefkaditis. “I’d like that reflected.”

Alluding to an applicant with a Ph.D., he went on, “As a planning board member, their vision is more important than their schooling…You can have all the Ph.D.s in the world.”

Ultimately, Councilman Earl Barcomb recommended, “Have a meet-the-candidates night.”

Kuck liked the idea, describing it as “a vetting process.” He said, “If you’re on the board, you’ll be in the public eye.”

“We’ll reach out to them all and tell them, ‘Bring your A game,’” said Lefkaditis.

The public as well as the town board members will be able to ask questions of the candidates. The session is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 4, at 6:30 p.m.

Electronic waste

Across the nation, the board learned, there are problems with recycling electronic waste.

“There’s a crumbling of infrastructure,” said Kuck. He recommended a moratorium in Knox, stating, “If we don’t…we’ll be inundated with electronic waste from all the surrounding communities.” Guilderland’s supervisor, for example, announced at the town’s re-organizational meeting last week that the Guilderland transfer station will no longer accept electronic waste.

On the other hand, Kuck added, the moratorium could lead to people dumping their unwanted computers and televisions by the side of the road where heavy metals would leach into the ground.

“The market has changed,” agreed Pokorny who attended a meeting on the matter along with Kuck. “Component parts are not worth as much. They’re accumulating in warehouses nationwide...The Department of Environmental Conservation has to change its rules.”

Pokorny recommended “a temporary moratorium until we can develop a way to handle it. We have to explain to the public why we’re doing it,” she said.

After much discussion, back and forth, including some comments from the gallery, the board agreed to a moratorium that will start after the Knox transfer station closes on Saturday, Jan. 16.

Items that will no longer be accepted include computers, TVs, servers, monitors, keyboards, fax machines, scanners, printers, DVD players and recorders, and video-game consoles.

Pokorny then read a proposed amendment to the Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act, which the board backed and agreed to send to the governor, the acting DEC commissioner, Senator George Amedore, and Asssemblyman Angelo Santabarbara.

Purchasing office supplies

Lefkaditis said that, currently in Knox, each department buys its own supplies, with individuals sometimes “driving to Albany to pick up one or two items,” and then charging the town for mileage. He called this “literally insane.”

Lefkaditis instead recommended buying on a state contract, which he said is cheaper, and overnight deliveries are free.

The board agreed; items will be delivered to the highway department, which is open regular hours.

“The insanity will finally end,” said Lefkaditis.

Communication

Pokorny developed descriptions of tasks performed by various town officials and boards, which will be posted to the Knox website to inform citizens.

Lefkaditis proposed a “frequently asked questions” section on the website, and Barcomb suggested each board or office come up with their own portion. The board agreed.

Lefkaditis also recommended sharing an electronic sign with the fire department that would inform travelers on Route 146 of upcoming events. Funds will be sought for this.

A resident in the gallery who does not live near Route 146 recommended a sign at the transfer station that would scroll events across its screen; Lefkaditis said such a sign wouldn’t cost much and suggested combining the project with the sign on Route 146.

He also asked the board for permission to put up two hooks to hang a screen so those attending board meetings could better follow discussions since the written materials under consideration by the board would be posted on the screen.

“Everything we’re looking at, they can see,” he said.

The board ended the meeting in executive session, which, Lefkaditis said on Wednesday morning, was to discuss, as the Open Meetings Law allows, “the medical, financial, credit or employment history of a particular person.” Lefkaditis said no motions were made.