The Peru Gazette

File Photo

By Donald McBrayer

The Regular Town Board Meeting was held on Monday evening, October 25th at 7 PM.
The entire board was in attendance.
A recording of the meeting can be found at:
http://d1091839.domain.com/PeruTown/TBM-10-25-2010.WAV

The Agenda contained twenty-seven Items including:

• Agreed to start the process of buying the old school house on the Rock Road from Allen Dixon. Town Historian Ron Allen informed the board Mr. Dixon has offered to sell the historic building and a small parcel of land to the town for $1.00 and a promise to install a plaque indicating the building was the Lyons School House. Allen says it is probably the best preserved wooden school house in the town, and the opportunity to purchase it will not only preserve a valuable part of Peru’s history, but will also make the property eligible for grants and placement on the National Historic Registry. Town Attorney Don Biggs was directed to start drafting the paperwork required for the transfer.
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• Addressed the October 24th Letter to the Editor in the Press Republican by Bonnie Lamica. The letter can be found at: http://pressrepublican.com/0203_letters_to_the_editor/x1099037738/Letters-to-the-Editor-Oct-24-2010. Mr. Glushko informed the Board that no such person seems to exist as far as he can tell. A Bonnie Lamica does not appear on phone listings or the voting registry, and nobody seems to know who she might be. Glushko strongly objected to the content of letter saying it’s absolute nonsense. He defended the staff of the Town Hall saying they are not on cell phones and using profanity, and invited anyone who wishes to see first-hand the professionalism of the Town Hall staff to please come by anytime. Glusko stated, “I’m not going to let people get away with taking pot-shots at us.” The Press Republican is being contacted to attempt to track down who actually penned the letter.
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• Minutes for the Regular Meeting on October 7th, and Special Meeting on October 21st were approved and can be found at: http://www.perutown.com/min10.htm
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• Passing a Resolution for fund transfers to cover overages in the General Fund for costs of the new printer and several other small items in the amount of $9,629.17, Water Fund for purification chemicals in the amount of $2,352.31, and Youth Fund primarily for the cost of the new fence in the amount of $5,988.74.
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• Passing a Resolution to increase the Health Insurance Buyout option from $2,500 annually to $3,000. Councilor Brandy McDonald pointed out that with the cost of $12,000 for an annual family plan the savings when offering the buyout is considerable. Currently the town has five employees that take the buyout option.
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• Discussed the ongoing watershed issue on Spitfire Drive. The Town Hall has received two letters from a resident on Spitfire Drive suffering from ongoing flooding on his property. Highway Superintendent Mike Farrell expressed discouragement with the situation. Farrell pointed out that no solution seemed viable because of the amount of ledge, steepness of slopes, and limited options for easements. He said houses should never have been allowed there to begin with. Town Supervisor Peter Glushko said a solution must be found.  Glushko said, “either we’re going to be paying a lot of money to get this done, or pay a lot of money in court.” Ideas ranging from blasting, using jackhammers, to installing larger culverts are being explored.
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• Passed motions to make several changes to the Planning and Zoning Boards. Mark Lukens and Kara McBrayer will be replacing Betty Corrow and Peter Trout on the Planning Board. Eric Blaise has been removed from the Planning board due to numerous absences. And, Lawrence Bosley has been made a full-time member of the Zoning Board. After these changes the Planning Board and Zoning Board will each have one Alternate Position available. Anyone interested in serving on either board should write a letter of interest to the Code Enforcement Office, or the Town Board.
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• Gave an update on the beaver dam problem on Wescott Road. A trapper has been hired and has been issued a nuisance permit to trap and remove beavers that have built several dams along the streams along Westcott Road. Five beavers have been trapped so far. Three dams have also been removed. The beavers and dams on Summit Drive will also be removed. A member of the audience jokingly suggested relocating the beavers to Spitfire Drive to divert the floodwaters there.
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• Scheduled a Special Town Board Meeting for Wednesday, October 27 at 8:30PM to set Public Hearing date for the 2011 Budget.
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• Scheduled a Workshop for the Revised Dog Law on Monday, November 15th at 6:00PM.

The Meeting was Adjourned at 9:15 PM.