ALTAMONT — The village took a step closer to creating a comprehensive land-use plan this week by hiring a planner.

At the first village board meeting of the year, Tuesday, the village voted unanimously to give the job to Nan Stolzenburg and her firm, Community Planning & Environmental Associates, of Berne.

Stolzenburg’s firm will receive a base contract of $26,327 but, upon board approval, could receive up to $34,000.
"There are some options that were included in the proposal that intrigued the committee and we might want to go forward with some of those options," said Trustee Dean Whalen, chairman of the Comprehensive Planning Committee.

Whalen, an architect, said his committee unanimously recommended Community Planning. The committee solicited 10 firms for applications, he said, and only received two. But, Whalen said, it was the two the committee wanted the most: Community Planning, and Barton and Loguidice, P.C., of Albany.
"The candidates were pretty equal in our minds," Whalen said.

After interviews and checking references, the committee finally settled on Stolzenburg, Whalen said.

Barton and Loguidice is overseeing Altamont’s project to add new wells to its strapped water system. Stolzenburg is also the planner for the town of Berne. She recently helped Berne on a controversial rezoning project for the hamlet of Berne.
Both proposals, Whalen said, allow the Comprehensive Planning Committee to do a lot of the legwork, saving the village money, Whalen said. Stolzenburg won’t be available to lead workshops until the middle of February, he said, but, "We’ll be able to get our marching orders next week," and start collecting information, Whalen said.

Part of Stolzenburg’s fee, $6,000, will come out of the village’s 2005 budget, while the rest will come out of this year’s budget.

Altamont’s zoning ordinance was created in the 1970’s, and hasn’t been changed since then. In September, the board of trustees unanimously adopted a moratorium on subdivisions within the village.

Whalen told The Enterprise in November that, within 10 months, the village hopes to have created a master plan.

Other business:

In other business at the Jan. 3 meeting, the Altamont Village Board:

—Recognized local children for their work on Links of Love, an effort to raise money for Habitat for Humanity to build homes for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. So far, the group has raised $10,000.

Mayor James Gaughan presented each child with a certificate;

—Heard a report on the Maple Avenue Park from steering committee member Keith Lee. The committee is considering whether or not to bar pets from the park and working with a local pre-school to build a playground, Lee said.

The pocket park, located between Victorian homes, used to have a tennis court, which was torn up during the recent road reconstruction project.

National Grid, formerly Niagara Mohawk, will provide electricity to the park for the first time, Lee said, and a local resident, Carl Schilling, is designing a structure for the park. The 16-foot by 26-foot structure will look like the village’s old train station, Lee said. Schilling will soon provide a parts list and approximate cost, Lee said;

—Passed a resolution to hold a public hearing on Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. to consider a transfer from the fire equipment reserve account to purchase a new truck for the Altamont Fire Department.

Chief Daniel Madison said a 1985 truck needs to be replaced. The department would like to buy a mini-pumper truck from VRS Sales for $140,872, Madison said. The truck has a 300-gallon tank and can seat four firefighters, he said.
"When I say mini-pumper, it’s not that small," Madison said; and

—Went into executive session to discuss litigation and personnel issues.