The Peru Gazette

By: Donald McBrayer

The Regular Town Meeting was held on Monday, February 8 at 7PM.
Minutes for January 11 and 25 were approved and can be found at: http://www.perutown.com/min10.htm.
All Department Reports (except Dog Control) were approved and can be found at: http://www.perutown.com/town.htm. 

Two speakers attended the meeting with information on grants that can be accessed to install new sewer systems at South Acres Mobile Home Park, which is owned by Tam Phung.

South Acres currently has 80 residences.  The park is currently set up with two units per septic system. These systems are more than 30 years old and are failing. It was noted Mr. Phung bought the park without knowledge of the degraded septic systems. The park faces possible closure if this issue is not addressed. There might be plans for park expansion in the future, but no details of this were discussed. It is estimated the South Acres sewer system replacement cost would be $600,000 to $700,000.

The first speaker was Lorette Oswald from Laberge Group, who stated that South Acres falls under the Housing Rehabilitation option on the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). In order to qualify, South Acres must meet HUD mid to low income housing standards and must keep rent at fair market value for 3 to 5 years.
The second speaker was Scott Campbell from Friends of the North Country, who started off by clarifying the Hamlet Revitalization Grant is not applicable to just the Hamlet. It could be used for any area within the town, and could be accessed to assist with the South Acres issue. The same qualifications would need to be met as with the Laberge Group. Mr. Campbell noted several local closures of mobile home parks in the area, and the impact this has to low income families needing affordable housing.

The town can only apply for one housing grant. The deadline to apply for either grant is April 23rd. Either grant, which could be reapplied for annually, would provide up to $400,000 toward low to middle income housing projects. These grants are 100% funded (no match required) and the administration costs are included in the grant budget. The only cost to the town would be the cost of posting public notices. There is $3,500 in the 2010 Town Budget for this application.  

Town Councilor, Brandy McDonald, asked who would have to pick up the remaining $200,000 to $300,000 cost not covered by the grant. Ms. Oswald responded that it was up to Mr. Phung to secure funding to cover any cost over the grant limit. Mr. McDonald suggested that the board verifies Mr. Phung has access to such funding before being rewarded grant money.

Ms. Oswald also noted that two Public Hearings must be scheduled for either grant before the application deadline of April 23rd. The first would address an overview of grant options, while the second would determine the specific use of the grant.
The first Public Hearing for these grants was scheduled for Monday, February 22 at 6:30 PM. Both speakers plan to attend.

In other business:
·    A $500 contract for Life Flight was approved.
·    Debbie Flemming will be the new IT Administrator for the town.
·    Charter Communications will now be the Internet Service Provider for the town.
·    Supervisor, Peter Glushko, stated the bond payments would be made on time.
·    The Water District Expansion is running into some bumps over DEC questions over past expansions, and the need to update records.
·    The water quality issue of trihalomethanes has been addressed and finally corrected, but another issue concerning surface water mixing with fallen leaves creating a “tea” is now being addressed .
·    A stop sign for Audrey Lane at Howard Drive was approved.
·    Town Councilor, Sue Polhemus, noted how impressed she was with the “green” projects at the Peru Library.
·    Mrs. Polhemus also noted a need to address the Town Hours, and suggested expanded or altered hours need to be considered to allow greater public access to town employees and services. The current hours are M-F 9AM-3PM.
·    Mr. McDonald noted the lack of Dog Control Reports, and suggested this be addressed. There has not been a Dog Control Report since January, 2009.

The meeting adjourned at 8:55 PM.