Bethel pursues new town barn

Price tag is $4 million

By FRITZ MAYER

KAUNEONGA LAKE, NY — The stock market is reeling, banks are falling and the world teeters on depression, but this might be a good time to build a new town barn.

At the Town of Bethel meeting on October 9, supervisor Dan Sturm said at this particular time interest rates on municipal bonds are extremely low; therefore, the board should move forward with its plan to construct a new town barn.

Sturm said the current town barn is deteriorating and is “beyond repair.” He added that the “health, safety and welfare of the highway department is compromised” by remaining in the current facility.

Councilman Robert Blais agreed that the new building was much needed. He also said that enough money would be included in the bonding to build a new salt shed as well.

Councilman Ted Yeomans said the new facility would be a good morale booster for the department.

Sturm said that the town would be getting funds from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSEDA) because of energy efficient attributes of the new building. He said, for instance, that the building would be heated with radiant heat, with a system that would be supplemented by solar-thermal heating. He added that town vehicles, which are currently kept outside and kept warm in the winter with heat blocks, would be housed inside the new barn, which would add to the life of the vehicles. Doing away with the heat blocks would further save the town money.

Sturm said, “The barn will be up to 30 percent more efficient than the same facility built in Liberty three years ago.”

The board voted four to zero in favor of moving forward with the bonding, which will allow for up to $4 million in funds. The resolution was done under rules allowing for a “permissive referendum,” which means the matter would be put to a vote of town residents only if a significant number of residents oppose the plan, and petition the board for a public vote.

In other news, Sturm reported that the NY Department of Transportation, after being contacted by assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, agreed to perform a speed reduction study for Route 17B, specifically for the area that runs between Smallwood and the Citgo Station.

Sturm said the effort marked the 16th time since 1996 that the town board had asked for a reduction of speed on that stretch of road.

There was also a discussion about imposing fees or royalties on companies wishing to use town roads for the purpose of carrying out seismic testing in connection with natural gas exploration in the town.

Blais said that seismic testing had taken place in the town 17 years ago, and there had been some minor problems. It was his position that if companies were going to use town roads to gain information that was useful to them, the companies should be required to pay substantial fees.

County lawmaker Dave Sager, who was on hand for the meeting, expressed the view that if it were possible, the town should prevent the companies from performing the tests at all. He said the information the gas companies gained from these tests would not be made available to the town or property owners and would give the gas companies an advantage when negotiating drilling leases.

Because activities related to gas drilling are governed by the state and not the town, many familiar with the issue believe it is unlikely that the town could prevent the testing, but it is possible that the town could put in place a moratorium, as the Town of Tusten did last month, while creating a permitting process for the testing.

Sturm said the town lawyer was looking into the moratoriums passed by other towns and that various options would be further explored.