Town Board meeting covers plethora of issues

PINE PLAINS — The Town Board meeting of Thursday, April 21, was relatively brief and without much controversy. That was all well and good, according to town Supervisor Gregg Pulver.“It was a very quiet night,” he said. “It’s very nice to go through the motions once in a while.”A visit from the assemblymanThe meeting kicked off with a presentation from state Assemblyman Marcus Molinaro, who was there to update the Town Board and those in the audience about the status of the recent state budget. Molinaro also clued in those present on some legislative issues that are down the pike, including the proposed property tax cap, which he spoke about at the previous week’s Town Board meeting in neighboring North East. The assemblyman has been speaking about mandates like health care and pension costs, among the largest growing components in the state’s budget, all while pitching the not-so-new idea of getting property taxes under control. The campaign for a 2 percent property tax cap is being bandied about Albany.According to Molinaro, there are options, like using the state’s purchasing power to drive down energy bills for municipalities, to help curb costs. Those ideas and others were among the topics he spoke about in Pine Plains and North East. He’s making his way through Dutchess County towns speaking about not only the proposed property tax cap but other legislative issues concerning residents at this point in time.Public hearings scheduledAfter the assemblyman’s presentation, the Town Board set up two public hearings for its next regular business meeting in May. The first public hearing is set for May 19 at 8 p.m.; that hearing is designed to adopt the town’s updated ethics law. The second hearing regards the town’s Conservation Advisory Council (CAC). Attorney to the Town Warren Replansky said he was dissatisfied with the existing law that created the town’s CAC, and because of that, Pulver said the board decided it wanted to revise the law. The public hearing to do so is set for May 19 at 8:15 p.m. Both hearings will be held at Town Hall. The supervisor said he expected neither to be “too dramatic.”Recycling plannedThe Town Board also discussed plans for future recycling efforts. The town is looking at Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for recycling for its residents.“Whether we get a waste management company in here to set up something for paper, glass and metal, which would work [is now being debated],” Pulver said, explaining that Replansky and his office will get the RFPs in order and the matter reviewed. “Then the rest of the Town Board will review things and talk about the issue at the next board meeting.”Pulver said the town had recycling years ago, back when the landfill was still in business sometime in the 1990s.“Now the thing is people have their own provisions,” he said. “I know that carting companies already are set up in the town that provide recycling services, so people have the option to recycle with their local carter, or to go to [the next town over, which is] Milan, so there are options.”Pulver said the town is also keeping the highway facilities open extra hours during the weekend, from 7 a.m. until noon on Saturdays, through the middle of May, for leaves and brush. The highway garage, located at 20 Highway Blvd., Pine Plains, is also open Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m., also for leaves and brush.For more information, Pine Plains residents can call Town Hall at 518-398-7155 or the Pine Plains Highway Department at 518-398-6662.