RENSSELAERVILLE — Townpeople applauded the town board’s resolution last Thursday to give the highway department the go-ahead to repair two roads residents said are in "horrible shape."

Money from the highway department’s machinery fund, along with the money from the state’s Consolidated Highway Improvement Programs, will be used to repair Niles Road and Arnold Road before they are covered with snow.

Supervisor Jost Nickelsberg, a Republican, and Highway Superintendent G. Jon Chase, a Democrat, have been at odds since Nickelsberg took office in January. Nickelsberg has asserted that road repairs, which are costly, should last longer than they do, and he has said Rensselaerville roads compare poorly with those in the other Hilltowns.

The resolution to repair the roads came after the board heard Chase recommend that the monies from the highway department’s machinery fund and the CHIPs money be used for the repairs.
After the board discussed the cost of repairing the roads, and considered holding a meeting later after doing a cost-benefit analysis, Nickelsberg asked Chase, "So if we spend $137,000, we’ll have a 10-year-road on Niles, and you’ll complete Arnold" And that will also be a 10-year-road""
"Yes," Chase replied.
Nickelsberg then said, "I applaud you," and made a motion to approve the resolution.

CHIPs funding, Chase told The Enterprise, is money used for extra road work, which can only be used for roads or equipment and is only granted upon the completion of a project.

In 2005, Chase said, the town’s highway department received $98,150 from CHIPs, and, in 2006, it will receive $112,321.

Thursday night, Chase informed the board that the check from CHIPs is expected around Sept. 20.
"That money, I want back into the highway," Chase told the board. He added, "Each year, I have a machinery fund. This year it was $100,000." Chase then stated that the highway department needs two trucks, to be bought with the machinery-fund money.
"If we’re not going to buy the trucks, I want to put that money into roads," he said.
The combination of the CHIPs money and the machinery fund, Chase said, "would do Arnold and Niles roads""

Nickelsberg told The Enterprise this week that the total cost for completing both roads will be around $90,000.

Chase told the board that he needed to complete the roads within the next two to three weeks, or they wouldn’t be finished before the bad weather.
"I don’t like putting blacktop down in the cold," he said.

The board deliberated for some time, and asked Chase if he needed the entire $137,000 to complete Niles and Arnold roads. He said that he probably wouldn’t need all the money.

The report

Chase, reading from his notes, began his report by giving his analysis of the roads he submitted to the board for repair last fall.

While reporting on the condition of town roads — Niles Road, Cheese Hill Road, and Arnold Road — Chase was repeatedly questioned and scrutinized by Nickelsberg.

Nickelsberg referred to multiple letters from town residents, and stated they’d made complaints about road repairs that had been started but abandoned before completion. The roads, he said, had resulted in abnormal wear of tires and damage to vehicles.
Nickelsberg said of certain roads within the town — Pond Hill, Tanglewood, and Kenyon roads — "They’re in horrendous shape."

Chase cited multiple reasons why town roads were in poor condition and why the highway department hadn’t completed maintenance of certain roads.

The reasons he cited were: many miles of town roads (83.2); lack of funding; outdated, improper material used for the original construction of town roads; rising prices for oil and materials; and the unforeseen expense of flooding this summer, which depleted a large portion of the allotted funds for highway department.
"It cost $60,000 to $80,000 to repair roads which had been washed out," Chase said, adding that he had asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency for funding.

Chase told The Enterprise that he did not receive any money from FEMA.

Golf Road, he told the board, was damaged from flooding and took four to five days to repair.
Chase said of the expenses for paving a road, "It costs $92,000 per mile to prep a road."
"Give me more money," Chase told the board, "and we’ll do more work."
Nickelsberg stated, "I, as a taxpayer, am wanting more out of those dollars."
"How is your road"" Chase asked Nickelsberg, who lives on Chase Lane.
"Potholes," he responded.
Chase replied, "I’m doing the best I can."

The Rensselaerville Highway Department, Chase told The Enterprise, is allocated approximately $255,000 per year for road repair. "Our total budget," he added, "is approximately $1.2 million, but you’ve got to figure all the workers’ expenses in with that."

At the start of Thursday’s meeting, Paul Malloy, who lives on Arnold Road, read a letter signed by residents who live on Arnold Road.
The road, the letter said, is in "horrible shape," is not finished, is not wide enough, and is soon to be snow-covered.
"Once we allocate," Nickelsberg said to Malloy, "we’re going to have a rigorous conversation. We’ve not had one conversation"You need to get together with Highway Super Chase." He added, "Sixty percent of your taxes are for roads."

Other business

In other business, the town board:

— Heard from Sal Santo, a land surveyor, that a report from Lamont Engineers was flawed. In its analysis of two town dams, Santo said, engineers from Lamont recommended structural changes but hadn’t recommended the town set up a monitoring network to observe the sites, and that the situation would be life-threatening.

On July 14, two engineers inspected the impoundment structure below Myosotis Lake, which supplies the hamlet of Rensselaerville with water, and also looked at the store dam located at Lincoln Pond, a contributing water body upstream of Myosotis Lake. The engineers outlined short-term repairs and recommended a long-term plan be developed by the town and Lamont Engineers.

Santo also said that the report had not been signed by a licensed engineer.
"It’s not a life-threatening situation," Nickelsberg responded. He added, "Until we get a specialist, "we don’t know if we have a problem."

Nickelsberg added that engineers for the Hyuck Preserve looked at the situation and didn’t find any problems;

— Heard a letter from Crystal Lake resident, Roger Zimmerman, describing Crystal Lake, a small residential community in northwestern Rensselaerville. Its population has changed little, most of the residents are third- or fourth-generation owners, Zimmerman said. Since it has a history of residential stability and has limited use, the lake maintains its quality. It is a small lake, the letter said, and it is not sufficient for public ventures; residents of Crystal Lake wish to maintain their community’s rural character;

— Heard from Nickelsberg that Lisa Kelly has volunteered for Welcome Wagon, which welcomes new residents to the town, and introduces them to local civic institutions and business with small gifts and coupons.
"She’s a great person to do this," Nickelsberg said;

— Set its bidding date for a used-oil furnace for Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall;

— Set its budget meeting for Oct. 5 at 7:10 p.m. at Town Hall;

— Appointed new members Ted and Pat Rice to the Medusa Fire Company;

— Heard from Chase that he has been elected president of the Albany County Town Highway Superintendents Association;
— Heard a question from Sheila Whiteford, a resident whose home has been flooded four times. Whiteford asked why, since her home was flooded this summer, her taxes have gone up. The town’s attorney, William Ryan, said, "I can’t answer that. I don’t know why."
Ryan then speculated, and said that the assessment of her home was probably still the same but that the assessment rate may have risen. "I’d have to guess, but the school’s taxes may have gone up," he said.
Town Assessor Jeff Pine, said the date for the next review of residential properties is March 1. He later said to Whiteford, "We have to stick to a calendar. We have to set a date and time.
"You’re going to be the first person I talk to," Pine said to Whiteford; and

— Heard Whiteford commend residents Robert Bolte and Steven Wood, volunteers who excavated the property near Whiteford’s house last month to put the stream, which had flooded her property and done considerable damage, back in its original path. The men, following the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation’s guidelines, spent about a day-and-a-half to complete the work.

Whiteford, in an act of appreciation, presented Bolte and Wood with plaques for their efforts.
"I don’t have the words to describe how I feel about you guys"You’re the best," Whiteford said. "I salute you."