After nearly 10 years, the town of Guilderland Parks and Recreations Department has increased its fees for 2007.

The department has recently moved into the former Inga Barth’s Florist building across from Tawasentha Park on Route 146. This year, conference rooms will be available there for local residents, businesses, and non-profit organizations.

The new park schedule was adopted Tuesday night by the Guilderland Town Board.
A conference room can hold upwards of 30 people and will cost residents $40 per meeting, which was defined as an "average meeting period" of a few hours each time.

There is a small kitchen with a refrigerator and a microwave available as well as restrooms, a small television, and a DVD player for presentations. Wireless Internet will also be available throughout the building.

Businesses or private groups will be charged $50 per meeting, but the conference room will have to be reserved by a town resident. Once reserved, the applicants will be issued a number or code for the conference room’s programmable keypad entrance. A new number will be assigned with each reservation to keep the building secure.

The conference room will be available from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day.

Supervisor Kenneth Runion has been a strong advocate of the newly expanded park system in Guilderland, which includes new trails in Tawasentha Park, renovations to the Guilderland Rock climbing Adventure Barn, and improvements to the community gardens along Route 146.
"Basically, we have 600 acres in the center of town where you can go golfing, play baseball, basketball or tennis, go to the Guilderland Performing Arts Center, have a garden, or go swimming, biking, skiing, snowshoeing, walking, or hiking, fishing, and simply enjoy yourself any time of year," Runion told The Enterprise last fall about the area.

As for the pavilions at Tawasentha Park, the rental fees have increased and are broken into two separate categories: weekday prices and weekend prices.

The large pavilion, which used to cost residents $50, will now cost $80, Monday through Thursday, and $90, Friday through Sunday. This pavilion accommodates over 100 people and is available May 1 through Oct. 30, with the exception of summer camp hours.

For businesses or private groups, it will cost $100, Monday through Thursday, and $150, Friday through Sunday.

The small pavilion, which used to cost residents $30, will now cost $40, Monday through Thursday, and $60, Friday through Sunday. This pavilion accommodates 40 people or fewer and is available the same times as the large pavilion.

For businesses or private groups, it will cost $60, Monday through Thursday, and $80, Friday through Sunday.

Guilderland school groups are not charged for pavilion reservations.

Use of the Nott Road Fields will cost residents $25 per game and leagues $30 per game. Businesses and private groups will pay $40 per game.

The fields are open 8 a.m. to dark and additional fees include:

— $55 for use of field lights;

— $10 per child camp fee (which must be sponsored by a town-approved Guilderland Youth Sports League); and

— $250 per day for tournaments.
The board was told that the new prices were still "far below" the prices of surrounding municipal facilities for similar services in towns such as Colonie.

Other business

The next board meeting will be on Feb. 6 and developers of the proposed $100 million Glass Works Village off of Route 20 are scheduled to come and formally submit their Draft Environmental Impact Statement to the board.

The town is currently waiting for a letter from developers showing how the draft statement specifically addresses questions raised in scoping documents dealing with potential environmental issues and the proposed development.

The second board meeting in February has been canceled due to the Association of Towns meeting.

In other business, the board unanimously:

— Adopted a resolution authorizing the supervisor to sign a contract with New York State Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation to receive a $100,000 grant for the rehabilitation of the pool house and deck at Tawasentha Park.
Saying the pool house was in "desperate need of rehabilitation," Runion said that the project will cost significantly more than $100,000, "But it certainly helps to get some help from the state," he said.

The grant was rejected last year by the state, but was granted for the 2007 fiscal year, according to the town’s chairman of economic development and grant writer, Donald Csaposs.
"We were rejected for the 2005 funding round and approved in the 2006 funding round," said Csaposs. "That’s not uncommon," he added;

— Authorized the police department to bid for new police uniforms.
"Currently we have"a green color which matches Army uniforms,’ Runion said. "I guess the Army is going toward a different color"so now we are, too."

The new color will be a dark blue or black, as chosen by the police department, said Runion.
The Police Benevolent Association has agreed to "forgo their uniform allowance this year in exchange for the new uniforms," he said.

The estimates for uniform pants alone are more than $10,000, so the expenditure needed town board approval before going out to bid;

— Appointed Dawn M. Nedoroscik as a telecommunicator from the Albany County Civil Service list;

— Appointed Darrin M. Anton as records coordinator from the Albany County Civil Service list;

— Authorized the supervisor to sign an agreement contract with Hudson Valley Community College for paramedic training;

— Authorized the department of Water and Wastewater Management to bid for granulated activated carbon for replacement of final filters at the water treatment plant;

— Set a public hearing on March 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall the Guilderland Section 8 Housing Agency Plan, a federal program sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help low-income households; and

— Appointed Jean Cataldo, town tax collector, as delegate, and Patricia Slavick, town councilwoman, as alternative delegate to the Association of Towns meeting in New York City, in February.
"Jean, you did such a fantastic job last year, your duties of delegate have been re-assigned," said Councilmen Paul Pastore.