KNOX — As the town board considers siting a cellular tower, the highway superintendent is concerned about new laws on burning and recycling and their effects on the department.

In recent months, the town board has discussed siting a tower on properties owned by the town. One 5.4-acre plot under consideration is adjacent to the town’s transfer station along Street Road in a land conservation district. The board will hold a public hearing on removing the parcel from a conservation district on March 11 at 7:30 at Town Hall.

At Tuesday’s town board meeting, Gary Salisbury, Knox’s superintendent of highways, was uncertain when regulations on recycling electronics, florescent bulbs, and batteries will take effect. He had been contacted by eLot, a company based in Troy that recycles and refurbishes computers and electronics. Pete Pindelglass, sales manager of eLot, said businesses throughout the state with 100 or more employees are required to recycle their lightbulbs.
"We’ve got to do something. We don’t have a choice," Salisbury said.
"A lot of people are going to be getting rid of their analog TVs," said Robert Price, the chairman of the town’s planning board, referring to a federal mandate that will shut down analog transmission in February of next year.

Salisbury also cited regulations on open burning under consideration by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.
"Within the next couple of months, there’s no more burning," Salisbury said. "Period."

New regulations could result in more of a load at the transfer station.

Salisbury told The Enterprise yesterday he had received a call from Albany County’s health department and was told that the county was issuing burning permits through February but could possibly discontinue issuing them in the next couple of months.

The county follows DEC regulations, said Maureen Murphy, spokesperson for Albany County.

The DEC is considering a statewide law that would outlaw burn barrels, said Rick Georgeson, a spokesman for the department. Burn barrels smolder and release dioxins into the air that settle on grass, Georgeson said, and are then eaten by cows, contaminating their milk.
As burning laws now stand, open burning is not allowed in an incorporated city or village, he said. A statewide law, Georgeson said, "makes it less confusing and easier to enforce." Georgeson said, before adopting the law, a public hearing will be held.
"It’s going to happen," Salisbury said Tuesday. "They just don’t know if it’s going to be one month from now or two months from now."

Throughout discussion on recycling batteries, bulbs, and electronics, Knox Town Board members speculated about enforcement as well as how laws could affect the transfer station and its workers — who would be in charge of monitoring the materials, who would know which materials fall under the regulations, and how items would be separated.

The board will discuss the issue further at its meeting next month.

Transition to tower

As the town board considers removing property from the land conservation district, six members of the town’s seven-member planning board have raised concerns about siting a tower at the Street Road property. They have raised concerns about the site’s proximity to a nature preserve and say a tower at the property would mar the view. After analyzing the property, the majority of the planning board say the bedrock, which is made mostly of limestone, has many crevices and may be unstable, posing a challenge when constructing a 195-foot tower.

Knox currently has no cellular towers, and cell phone reception is spotty or non-existent.
The town is considering two sites — on Street Road and at the town park off Route 156. Six of the planning board members have said in an analysis that the town park site "would be less striking since the tower would be surrounded by various other man-made structures and visitors would likely be focused on a variety of other activities."

In one week, on Feb. 21, Verizon will be coming to the Street Road property with a crane and will take electronic readings, Price said Tuesday.

Councilwoman Patricia Gage said earlier she was concerned about going against the planning board members’ recommendation and setting a precedent by changing the town’s zoning ordinance to allow a tower.
She said Tuesday, "I was opposed"but I’m seeing now that the transfer station’s going to grow whether we want it to or not so I’ll retract my previous thoughts."
Councilman Nicholas Viscio said, "We’re between a rock and a hard place"I still think the town needs to be sensitive to its proximity to the adjacent land conservancy area and proximity to the Winn Preserve and that the town needs to be sensitive to not causing any more disruption than necessary to the adjacent lands."

The town board raised questions about ownership of a tower — whether the town would own the tower or lease the land to a company that would own it. Supervisor Michael Hammond said he would like to see the town own the tower.

The town board unanimously passed a resolution authorizing Hammond; the town’s attorney, John Dorfman; and Price to enter into discussions with prospective cellular tower and cellular service providers.

Information — including computer-generated images of cellular towers at both the Street Road and town park sites as they would be seen from various locations in the town — can be found at the town’s website: www.knoxny.org.

Other business

In other business, the town board:

— Voted unanimously to recognize the 60th anniversary of the Knox Volunteer Fire Company;

— Authorized Hammond to renew contracts with various municipalities and organizations for services as allocated in the town’s budget. The board authorized Hammond to pay $24,814 to the Altamont Rescue Squad, $22,000 to the Helderberg Rescue Squad, $41,250 to the Town of Guilderland Advance Life Support, $5,500 to the Altamont Library, $1,300 to the Berne Library, and $5,520.10 to Albany County for elections. Knox has no rescue squad or library of its own; and

— Heard from Hammond that the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Voorheesville will weatherize private homes.
"Super, super program," said NancyQuay Milner, the assistant director of weatherization.
"The biggest thing we do is attic and sidewall installation," said Milner.

The program has been underway for many, many years, Milner said, and is funded through the federal departments of Energy and Health and Human Services. It is available to low-income, elderly, and disabled residents, Milner said, who receive food stamps or get benefits from the Home Energy Assistance Program and Supplimental Security Income.

The weatherization projects, Milner said, are to prevent cold air from entering a home and warm air from leaving.
"I hope we get a lot of calls," Milner said.

To request an application or for more information, call 765-3539.