The Peru Gazette

The Town Board held their regular meeting on Monday evening. Everyone except Town Clerk Kathy Flynn (excused) was present.

There was a discussion on the repairs needed to the Highway Department Garage roof. The section of roof needing repair is 174 feet in length and is in the center section of the garage that was built in the mid 70’s. This section of the garage is a pole-barn structure and the current roof is metal. Town Councilor Kregg Bruno had examined the building and proposed replacing the damaged area with a new metal roof over the current trusses. When looked at by an engineer (not named) it was suggested the structure needed “beefing up” and the entire roof be replaced with an asphalt roof over plywood. This added weight would force a considerable restructuring of the underlying trusses and greatly increase the cost of the repair. Based on the engineer’s suggestions Highway Superintendent Mike Farrell expressed concern about the strength of the current structure and Mr. Bruno’s proposal of replacing only the damaged area with new metal. Mr. Farrell asked about liability should the roof collapse due to snow-loads. Town Councilor Brandy McDonald addressed this concern pointing out the current structure has seen decades of snow-loads, and has never shown signs of collapsing. Mr. Farrell still seemed uneasy about going against the engineer’s recommendations. Town Councilor Jim Douglas then asked Mr. Farrell if he would feel better if the Town’s Building Inspector Frank Slycord took a look at it. Mr. Farrell said if Mr. Slycord was comfortable with Mr. Bruno’s proposal he would be as well.

There was also a discussion on a Resolution to enact changes to the Town Zoning Fee Schedule.  The proposed changes would pass “professional” (mostly attorney and engineer) fees from the town to the applicant. This change is being proposed because of a recent trend of applicants seeking information and advise from the Zoning Attorney and Town Engineer generating higher than normal costs to the town. Town Attorney Don Biggs stated he felt it would be unfair to expect the applicants to cover all expenses, as the Resolution seemed to indicate, and asked where the threshold would be. After a bit of discussion, Town Councilor Sue Polhemus suggested the Town Board speak with the Zoning Attorney and Engineer to figure out what an average cost should be per applicant, then rework the Resolution based on that number. The Resolution was tabled.

There was an update by Park Coordinator Adele Douglas on the Heyworth/Mason Park project. New benches have been ordered and will arrive soon. Mrs. Douglas informed the Board that a fund raising effort was going to be conducted to dedicate one of the benches to past Town Supervisor Kenneth Jahn. Mrs. Douglas also asked when the path connecting the Heyworth/Mason Park to the Little Ausable Park could begin. This path would go under the bridge on Main Street and connect the two parks. Town Supervisor Peter Glushko said he would speak with the crews to schedule the work. Glushko suggested that a temporary rail be put in place to prevent people from falling into the river while the path is under construction. A chain-link fence will be in place when the path is completed.

Mr. Glushko also suggested better lighting be installed behind the Heyworth/Mason building to prevent vandalism and that “No Trespassing” signs be installed on the structure.

Glushko noted a number of “dog bombs” in the park  and suggested signs be installed reminding people to clean up after their pets. This led to quesions on the proposed dog park. Mrs. Douglas told the board that the State has signed off on the Dog Park being constructed in a flood plain and now FEMA has to do so as well. Once FEMA okays the Dog Park fencing will be installed. The entire park project is expected to be completed by summer’s end.

The Town Board also:

•  Set an Elmore SPCA Workshop date on Monday, April 16th at 7:00PM to work out issues with the relationship between Elmore’s and the Dog Control Office.
•  Set an Employee Handbook Workshop date on Monday, April 30th at 6:30PM.

 The Meeting was adjourned at 8:40PM.