The Peru Gazette

Peru – The Town of Peru is attempting to continue its most essential services during the coronavirus crisis. Supervisor Brandy McDonald, whose full-time employment schedule has been curtailed, said he is at the Town Hall several hours each week and responds to calls via cell phone (518-593-3078). He sometimes responds to as many as 50 calls daily. Water and sewer payments are being processed and Town Clerk Dianne Miller is processing quarterly tax payments. Dog Control Officer Dave Drollette is continuing his normal activities and coordinating dog licensing. Call him at 518-578-2217. Call 518-643-2745 to leave a message for any of the Town Hall personnel. They will do their best to get back to you. Click here for direct numbers

McDonald said some construction projects are continuing. Building permits are being issued and inspections performed. Contractors and developers have had many questions regarding the “essential work” permitted by Governor Cuomo’s ‘PAUSE’ Executive Order. Normal staffing is permitted on projects classified as essential such as service stations, convenience stores and low-income housing. Only one person is permitted to work on a non-essential project at a given time. McDonald said the state is requiring the Town to strictly enforce the Executive Order.

Town Board meetings are continuing although they are closed to the public and limited to 5 persons being present. Authorization of bids for a new town hall roof is on tonight’s meeting agenda. Bids for the multi-million dollar sewer system upgrade project are expected to be advertised on April 18th.

Water-Sewer Superintendent Courtney Tetrault said his department is working two crews and rotating shifts. Each crew has a licensed water and wastewater operator on shift to meet requirements for DEC and DOH. He commented, “ We try to distance ourselves from each other when possible and have restricted access to our facilities to employees only unless necessary. Crews have been instructed to clean vehicles and work areas when their 3-day shift is done and before the next crew comes on. We are primarily concentrating on running the facilities and making sure our Dig Safe locates are done. We are also concentrating on maintenance of our facilities and any emergencies that come about.”

Water meters are not being replaced unless absolutely necessary and back-flow testing requirements have been put on hold. Grounds clean-up may be delayed. Larger maintenance projects which require confined space entry have been put on hold.

The Highway Department is working split shifts. Superintendent Michael Farrell commented, “We switched to four ten-hour days. We are working Monday-Thursday 6 AM-4:30 PM. We have three people working Monday and Tuesday and the other three working Wednesday and Thursday. Yes, it has an impact on what we can do and still maintain social distancing.”

Sand-sweeping roads on the outskirts of village has been done. Farrell said, “We don’t have the personnel to sweep the village and sub-divisions. It takes all six men to run the sweeping equipment and that’s with no flagging people. We are taking all the plow gear off the trucks and servicing them for summer work. We will be doing a few ditch jobs on back roads and trying to get salt delivered or held in storage if that’s necessary.”