KNOX — The town board was informed last week that Assemblyman John McEneny has secured $125,000 in grant money to cover part of the ongoing $1.4-million town hall renovation.

“I’m close to people in Knox,” McEneny told The Enterprise this week, “and I know they had a problem meeting the obligations of that project for the town hall, and needed money for the roof; needed money for some paving; and they wanted to do it right. We came into a certain amount of capital money, so I was able to help,” he said.

McEneny, the longtime Democratic incumbent, will be challenged in the November election by Deborah Busch, a Knox native running on the GOP line. McEneny said earlier that the availability of these capital grants would not be affected by the outcome of the election.

Supervisor Michael Hammond told the board at its regular September meeting that the town will use $80,000 of the grant funding to offset the cost of roof work, and $45,000 to go towards a new parking lot that will soon be built behind town hall. Hammond went on to say that he is looking for funding to cover other portions of the project.

The town board also approved payments to M.A. Schafer Construction for work on the new town hall, paying $6,749.50 for framing work, and $6,001.50 for roofing work. The town also paid $3,528 to Seating Inc. for new furniture in the meeting room.

Other business

In other business at its Sept. 14 meeting, the town board:

— Heard that Supervisor Hammond would be distributing to the town board an e-mail from Planning Board Chairman Robert Price, which contained a draft of a local law that would regulate large-scale wind development in town. Neighboring Rensselaerville passed a law in August that prohibits commercial wind development in town;

— Scheduled a special meeting for Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. to discuss the one-cut rule, which allows landowners to circumvent the town’s subdivision regulations and planning process when dividing their property into two lots, with one such subdivision being allowed every 18 months;

— Scheduled budget workshops for Sept. 28 and Oct. 5 at 7 p.m.;

— Tentatively scheduled a hearing on Housing and Urban Development Section 8 low-income housing for Oct. 12, the next regular town board meeting.

“Every year, they address the board as to what is going on with their program in the past year, and what they see happening in the coming year,” Hammond said this week. “It’s giving the board a chance to be apprised of the program, and how it’s functioning, and what people are participating”;

— Heard that the International Union of Operating Engineers has requested a meeting with the town board to discuss renewing its contract for highway work with the town. The three-year contract, which began on Jan. 1, 2008, will expire at the end of the year;

— Heard that Eckert Mechanical Services has completed its work on the town hall furnace; and

— Heard that Joanne Lansing of the state’s Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services wants to open up a counseling center at Town Hall. The board discussed that this would not be a town function.