KNOX — At its April 10 meeting, the Knox Town Board approved the creation of an alternate position on the planning and zoning boards and filled one of the new posts by unanimously appointing Kristian Snyder to the Knox Zoning Board as an alternate member. He would vote only if another member is absent.

The town board had held a special meeting on March 27 in order to advertise for a public hearing on April 10. One member of the gallery objected to this action, saying that it seemed intentionally rushed. Supervisor Vasilios Lefkaditis responded that it had been discussed before. The board had briefly discussed Snyder’s appointment at the March 13 regular meeting and agreed to table it.

“We want to make sure that the residents are served by having at least a quorum present, so that they can conduct their business,” said Lefkaditis.

Councilman Earl Barcomb described the appointment as a political move by Lefkaditis. In March, following a slew of new town appointments, Barcomb told The Enterprise that he believed the supervisor has been attempting to shape the planning and zoning boards with new appointments and laws. The town board had also adopted a law last month, proposed by Lefkaditis, that allows the town board to remove a planning or zoning board member after a certain number of absences.

The first two years that Lefkaditis was Knox supervisor, he did not have backing from other board members to make the appointments he wanted. Since he and two running mates on the Republican line were elected, his recommendations for appointments have passed.

“I’m concerned that the town board really has been micromanaging these boards,” Barcomb told The Enterprise last month.

When asked about Snyder’s appointment, Lefkaditis said in an email to The Enterprise on Wednesday that the process of hiring new town officials has been openly advertised and transparent. He said that no one on the town board has a connection to Snyder.

“I’m proud of the work the Board has done to remove politics from the appointment process by openly advertising, interviewing, and selecting the best candidates … ,” he wrote.

Lefkaditis also wrote that the creation of an alternate position was considered by the town board over a year ago but was never followed through on. He said that, recently, zoning board members had also requested the position be created.

The town board also debated at its April 10 meeting the term length for an alternate member, eventually deciding on a three-year term. Snyder was appointed later that night to a term ending at the close of 2020.

Snyder has lived in Knox for the last 12 years with his wife, Tiffany, and their three children, he told The Enterprise on Wednesday. He telecommutes from home for the health consortium Kaiser Permanente, helping deliver information from bluetooth versions of blood-pressure readers and similar devices to off-site physicians.

Originally from Delmar, Snyder said he likes the close-knit community of Knox, as well as its supervisor. He and his wife, who serves as the planning board’s secretary, have volunteered for events like baseball games. He has also attended some zoning board meetings as an observer.

It was while attending the meetings that he saw some members were absent and he came up with the idea of having an alternate member, which he brought to the town, he said. When he applied for a post on the zoning board, he was assigned the alternate’s job.

“I was just trying to think of how we could serve the members of the town,” he said.

While he said he would not be opposed to being a regular, voting member of the board, Snyder said he would first “like to see how this works,” as an alternate.

“I want to learn,” he said. “I was just appointed, so I have a lot to learn.”

When asked if there had been a political reason for the new law for the zoning board, Snyder said he didn’t think so.

“It was an idea that I came up with, so I don’t think it has anything to do with the supervisor,” he said.

Business district discussion continues

The board also held another public hearing on the proposed business district that would stretch along routes 156 and 157 in Knox. The initial public hearing in March included property owners from the proposed district expressing their concerns, such as the repetition of such a public hearing after the proposed district failed in a town-board vote twice last year.

The Knox Planning Board had twice recommended against the proposal, citing concerns about traffic safety and  karst topography, leading the town board to proceed on its own.

Town attorney Javid Afzali said that information on the proposed district has been referred to the Albany County Planning, which will have 30 days to respond, and the town’s ZBA and planning board, who will have 45 days to respond. A state environmental quality review will also be submitted, he said.

Lefkaditis later added in an emailed statement that the board would continue hearing public comments for the next two months before the SEQR process begins in June. He said that the board would discuss and act on questions raised by the public in these hearings.

Residents of the proposed district had expressed their concern at the last hearing, and had further questions at the April hearing. The daughter and trustee of Harry Koch, who lives in the proposed district, raised several concerns.

“Why was this particular property chosen?” she asked, referring to Koch’s Thompson Lake Road land. “And how will that affect his land?”

Lefkaditis replied that the board would discuss this after hearing from the public. A woman in the gallery asked if the town board should be making decisions about the proposed district before residents’ comments shaped its parameters.

“I don’t even know what questions to ask,” added Koch’s daughter. “We don’t know how it’s going to impact him.”

Lefkaditis said that the zoning ordinance, which is listed online, would show what would be permitted on his property.

“I don’t want a gas station next to me,” said the other woman, adding that she had found that the supervisor had been contacting gas stations and convenience stores for years. “Where’s the transparency?” she asked. She later asked the board to address any conflicts of interest with the proposed district.

Lefkaditis said that before he was supervisor and owned the former Knox Country Store, which he sold is to the restaurant Knox Market, he had looked into bringing in a gas station to town. He said it would benefit the town. Lefkaditis had also tried to bring in a Stewart’s Shop to Knox last spring, with hopes of selling his property to Stewart’s.

Bonnie Conklin, a Berne resident, had attended the April 10 meeting to address an issue involving a delayed ambulance response to her mother in Knox, but spoke up to defend the proposed district, saying, “It’s time for us to put our feet in the mud and make businesses … We need gas, we need groceries.”

Councilman Karl Pritchard agreed. A mechanic in Knox, he said people who come to his business often tell him they need more businesses in Knox and want a new district, he said.

Artie MacDonald, a resident of the proposed district, said that there is already a gas station in nearby Altamont, only three miles from his home.

“You want to come down and take my 40 acres and take away some of my land-use rights,” he said, of an exchange for a gas station.

Lefkaditis noted that MacDonald’s property would be excluded. The board had taken tax parcels of concerned residents out of the business district at the last public hearing. Barcomb asked if the other residents who had spoken up on April 10 should have their property excluded, too.

“But he doesn’t want a business next door to him or across the street from him,” said Koch’s daughter.

Other business

In other business, the board also:

— Agreed to advertise for a full-time contractual town post for someone who would work on a number of tasks that include dog control, cleaning, maintenance, and mechanical repairs;

— Authorized Lefkaditis to sign a lease agreement with the town of Rensselaerville to use its dog-control officer. Knox has been without a dog-control officer since Lou Saddlemire resigned in December;

— Set a public hearing for a town blight law on May 8 at 7 p.m. The law would include prohibitions to prevent abandoned property from becoming blighted;

— Approved paying the village of Altamont a payment of $1,502.67, following the settlement that devalued a village-owned reservoir located in the town;

— Changed transfer-station hours to: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and 4 to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which will take effect following Memorial Day;

— Heard from Lefkaditis that no companies responded to a request for proposals for new playground equipment but that he was in contact with two companies and the town would need to hold a special meeting to discuss the matter further;

— Rescheduled a town-wide cleanup day to Sunday, May 6, at noon, due to weather;

— Discussed a suggestion by Lefkaditis to allow snowplow drivers to use the town trucks to plow their driveways, a suggestion that was ultimately declared “dead” by Lefkaditis himself following concerns voiced by the board, the town attorney, and residents.

“I think it ought to be a perk of the job,” said Pritchard.

“For which town employees?” asked Joan Adriance, whose husband works at the transfer station.

“The truck drivers, the plow truck drivers,” said Lefkaditis.

“What about the dump guys who work nine hours and have to come and plow their driveways?” asked Adriance. “Then what happens?”

“It’s dead, that what happens,” said Lefkaditis;

— Discussed requesting state and county repairs of Route 157;

— Heard from Conklin that her mother, Linda Carman, had waited over half an hour for an ambulance in Knox — a squad from Guilderland came because nearer squads were busy — and the emergency responders, who came from outside the Hilltowns, had difficulty getting to Albany Medical Center from Knox;

— Heard from Councilman Ken Saddlemire that the Clean Energy Communities grant was in the process of approval, and that the New York State Power Authority will do an energy audit of the town facilities;

— Heard from Pritchard about the potential future of Knox’s garbage after the Albany landfill shuts down, and that he was looking into grants for revamping the transfer station;

— Viewed a plaque secured by Councilman Dennis Barber that lists all previous town supervisors;

— Heard from Ed Ackroyd, a Vietnam veteran who lives in Knox, and Michelle Viola-Straight, a self-described “military mom” from Guilderland, about the Hometown Heroes program, in which local military veterans are honored with a banner picturing them on banners displayed in town. Ackroyd said the banners in the Hilltowns wouldn’t be up until next year; and

— Heard from Claire Ansbro-Ingalls, of Kenneth’s Army, that the group will be conducting it annual motorcycle and vehicle run through several Hilltown locations ending at the Berne Town Park and would be putting together a concert. The group formed after Berne-Knox-Westerlo kindergartner Kenneth White was murdered in his Knox home.