In Westerlo
Highway workers earn 75 cents more an hour



WESTERLO — In its first meeting of 2007, the Westerlo Town Board rapidly made its appointments and resolutions.

The town board will continue to meet on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m.; the planning board (consisting of the town board members) will meet on the fourth Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.; and the zoning board of appeals will meet on the third Monday at 7:30 p.m.

The board, at the recommendation of Councilman R. Gregory Zeh, resolved to reimburse all elected and appointed officials of the town the Internal Revenue Service-approved rate when using their own vehicle for official town business. The current IRS-approved rate is 44 cents per mile.

All highway workers will receive a 75-cent-per-hour raise in 2007. All highway workers are hired on a six-month probation and raises are given at the discretion of the highway superintendent.

Appointments

The Westerlo Town Board made the following appointments and resolutions on Tuesday:

Depository of all town funds: The National Bank of Coxsackie;

Official Town Newspapers: The Altamont Enterprise and The Greenville Press;

Consultant to the town: Robert E. Fisher;

Registrar of Vital Statistics: Gertrude A. Smith;

Deputy Registrar and Deputy Town Clerk: Kathleen Spinnato;

Deputy Code Enforcement Officer: Bruce F. Bunzey;

Court Clerk: Jessica Tronco;

Deputy Supervisor: Edward A. Rash;

Town Attorney: Aline D. Galgay;

Town Historian: Robert M. Duchow;

Dog Control Officer: Jody Ostrander;

Assistant Dog Control Officer: William Scott III;

Zoning Board Clerk and Planning Board Clerk: Florence Derry;

Assessor’s Clerk: Claire Marshall;

Youth Council Coordinator: Mary Jane Snyder-Araldi;

Board of Assessment Review: Dawn Belarge, Eugene Coogan, and Suzanne Rash; and

Zoning Board of Appeals: Ogden Saddlemire, Virginia Mangold, Gerald Woodruff, Wilfred VanIderstine, and Gail Snyder (chair).

Other business

In other business, the town board:

— Heard from Supervisor Richard Rapp that Hannay Reels sent a letter to the town, stating that its building, located next to the transfer station, was vandalized. Chains were cut, Rapp said, and it’s not the first time. The transfer station, he said, has been broken into before, too;

— Heard from Rapp that Town Attorney Aline Galgay will be reporting to the board at next month’s meeting about a proposed contract with the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society, based in Menands, for stray dogs; and

— Heard from Rapp that he is going to send a letter to Albany County about a dead tree on Route 405. The tree, Rapp said, is about to fall down. Rapp told The Enterprise he’s also going to call after sending the letter, and that he is concerned the tree will fall and "there’s a chance it could injure somebody."