— Bill Sherman

ALTAMONT — The village moved one step closer Tuesday night to borrowing $1.4 million for its new drinking-water system as the board of trustees unanimously passed a bond resolution.

Village residents have 30 days to request a voter-approved referendum. The measure could be forced to a referendum if 20 percent of registered voters in the village sign a petition requesting the referendum.
Mayor James Gaughan acknowledged the current litigation surrounding the village water project, but said, "I recognize that there are some things that need to go on concurrently." Gaughan said he did not want to wait for months to move forward on the project financing while the lawsuits are decided.

The village signed a contract last year with Michael and Nancy Trumpler to buy about five acres from the Trumplers on Brandle Road, outside the village, where Altamont had drilled and found water.

The Trumplers were upset when they learned water they had thought would go to the village was to go to developer Jeff Thomas for a senior housing complex, also on Brandle Road, outside the village, on an agricultural parcel the town of Guilderland re-zoned so Thomas could build.

This March, the Trumplers filed papers in Albany County Supreme Court to have a judge decide whether the village’s contract for the five-acre site is binding; they sought no money from the village.

The village responded by filing counterclaims, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars, against the Trumplers.

Last week, Paul Wein, Thomas’s lawyer, told The Enterprise that, since the Trumplers did not drop their lawsuit against the village by the June 1 deadline he had set, Thomas will likely file a multi-million dollar suit against the Trumplers as well.

The village board met in executive session late Tuesday night to receive an update on the status of the lawsuits from the village attorney, Guy Roemer. Gaughan said yesterday that no action was taken and he had no further details to provide until the matter was resolved.

Safety commissioner
Tuesday, the board also approved what Gaughan called a "recruitment notice" for the village’s commissioner of public safety. Gaughan said the main requirement for an interested applicant is that he or she currently be "law enforcement certified or continuing certified eligible."

Last year, the village board, after hearing complaints from residents about too many police officers, named a committee to study the police department. The committee was headed by Gaughan; two new trustees — who, like Gaughan, were elected this spring — served on the committee: Kerry Dineen and Dean Whalen.

The committee surveyed Altamont residents and businesses and produced a report that recommended keeping the police department but was critical of a public safety commissioner who couldn’t make arrests and of so many part-time officers.

Gaughan told The Enterprise this week that the village was advised by Albany County Civil Service officials that retired officers are often eligible to be certified as a police officer following their retirement. It is unknown if the former public safety commissioner, Robert Coleman, who is currently serving as an advisor to the village on public safety matters, is eligible to be certified.
Gaughan said, "Everyone is entitled to apply if they meet the criteria. Bob can apply if he wishes to." Each applicant will also receive a full copy of the police report as submitted by the village police review committee.

The annual salary range for the position was set at $40,000 to $45,000.

The board is expected to hire a new safety commissioner by the end of July. Gaughan said the recruitment notice should be distributed to local media outlets by the end of this week.

On TV

Interested residents who were unable to attend Tuesday’s board meeting may view it on Guilderland’s public-access television station on Thursday, June 9, at 11 a.m. or on Saturday, June 11, at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Gaughan said he is happy to fulfill one of his campaign promises to provide a more open government by having the village board meetings taped and played on local television.