GUILDERLAND — A resident’s request led Guilderland’s supervisor to say the town board will focus on “discrete issues” rather than a wholesale reworking of town code to conform with Guilderland’s new master plan.

Terence Hoyt came before the town board on March 3 because he wants to make his barn into an apartment he can rent.

The barn, which he says was built in 1860, stands behind his Willow Street home on a one-acre lot. Last year, he had an architect draw up plans to create an 800-square-foot apartment in the barn.

“It would be a nice way to preserve the property and then make some income when I get older,” Hoyt told the board.

He said he hadn’t initially realized the project would need town approval.

In November, after three years of work, Guilderland updated its two-decades-old comprehensive plan. One of changes that the plan recommends is allowing for accessory dwelling units.

The plan’s recommendations, however, have yet to be codified into law.

“We’ve been contacted by multiple residents interested in ADUs,” Kenneth Kovalchik, the town’s planner, told the board. “But it’s just we’ve got to get our code updated to match what people want to do.”

“I’ve also been contacted by people who are very interested in ADUs,” said Supervisor Peter Barber. He said allowing accessory dwelling units — typically additions to homes or small backyard structures for relatives to live in — would be “very near the top” of code changes.

Barber went on, “At some point, we’ll sit down and figure out how best to do this, but I don’t think it’ll be a wholesale reworking of the code. I think we’re going to focus on the discrete issues that have come up, including ADUs.”

Kovalchik said that Hoyt had “come in a few times during the comp-planning process.” The hope was, he said, that “the zoning-code update would move a little quicker” so Hoyt wouldn’t have to go through the process of trying to get a use variance.

“Save your money; don’t go for a use variance,” Barber advised Hoyt.

Kovalchik advised Hoyt to keep in contact. “As we go through the process, maybe he can be an advocate when we’re doing the code up,” he said.

Other business

In other business at its March 3 meeting, the Guilderland Town Board:

— Agreed to the only bid that came in — from Scale Service & Supply Co. for $102,000 — for a new scale at the town’s transfer station. About half of the money will come from the Transfer Station Reserve Fund and about half from contingency funds.

Thomas Valletta, the transfer station’s superintendent, told The Enterprise in February he expected the new scale would cost between $95,000 and $125,000.

Valletta said the expected life of a scale is 15 to 20 years and the purchase of the current scale predates his 27-year tenure at the transfer station;

— Accepted a bid from Cutting Green, LLC of $77,450 for the purchase of four maintenance carts, a greens mower, and a turf grass sprayer for the town’s golf course;

— Accepted the lowest bids for chemicals to be used at the water plant for 2026 to 2028;

— Scheduled a public hearing for April 21 at 7 p.m. on a proposed conservation easement for property at 424 Wormer Road.

Barber noted this is the town’s second easement request; the other, which was granted, was for an adjacent property. In 2022, the town board approved a perpetual conservation easement on that 57-acre parcel in the Normans Kill watershed area.

“Only a handful of towns have this power,” said Barber of Guilderland setting up a mechanism to grant tax breaks to properties “consistent with the conservation-easement program,” protecting sensitive areas.

“The property includes a residence, several barns/garages, forested areas, open fields, and a ravine with a creek at its base,” according to a memo from Senior Planner Mansi Parmar. The applicant is proposing to place 10 acres from a 13-acre property onto a perpetual conservation easement, which would grant a 90-percent break in town taxes;

— Approved two resolutions — for $34,212 and $51,170 — to cover right-of-way costs to build sidewalks on Carmen Road and East Old State Road. The town pays the money up front but is then reimbursed, Barber explained;

— Set up two different capital-project funds: $1,080,000 for culvert replacement, on Leesome Lane, and a fund for four different projects administered through the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York.

This includes $125,000 for renovations of the historic Cobblestone Schoolhouse in Guilderland Center; $293,000 for upgrades at Keenholts Park, a new roof for the Schoolcraft House, and a new diesel generator for the town hall; $150,000 for improvements at the Volunteer Firefighters Memorial Park; and $250,000 for improvements at DiCaprio and Fort Hunter parks.

Barber said State Senator Patricia Fahy and assemblymembers Phil Steck and Gabriella Romero “were very instrumental in getting these grants secured”;

— Approved the purchase, for $130,000, of a used ambulance from the volunteer fire company in Cambria, New York with $86,232 from surplus in EMS revenue, $28,786 from the Capital Reserve Fund, and $15,000 transferred from the equipment-vehicle line.

“We have a very talented mechanic,” said Barber ,who “can get a lot of life” out of an ambulance.

Councilman Kevin McDonald said, as long as the ambulance is in good condition, “It is a massive cost savings to buy this used.”

Barber said a new ambulance would cost close to $400,000. The Cambria ambulance will be on hand “almost immediately,” Barber said, while ordering a new one would take a year; 

— Waived the building-permit fees for a home at 195 Route 146 damaged by fire in June; and

— Approved price increases, effective April 2, at the town transfer station. The increases are necessary, Valletta said in a memo to the board, to offset charges from the Colonie landfill where Guilderland takes its waste.

The cost for demolition debris will go from $150 to $175 per ton.

The per-trip price for garbage disposal will go from $8 to $9; for seniors, it will increase from $6 to $7; and for firefighters and EMS volunteers, it will increase from $3 to $5. The last increase was Dec. 1, 2024.

Barber said that Valletta, like his predecessor, David Corey, “was very sensitive” about increases and “very protective” of residents, especially seniors. “But the bottom line is, we can’t … lose money on this,” said Barber.

Deputy Supervisor Amanda Beedle asked if the increases were being posted so residents won’t be surprised. Valletta responded that memos were being put up and that the increases would also be posted “on our website for the transfer station.”