Town gets itself in order for the upcoming year

NORTH EAST -- The Town Board held its annual organizational meeting on Monday, Jan. 3, at which time it went through a list of appointments, authorizations, designations and other decisions. Throughout the mandated session, various issues were addressed.

The Town Board will continue to meet on the second Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at Town Hall. The Millerton News will remain its official newspaper, with The Poughkeespie Journal as its alternate. Morris Associates will continue as the town’s engineering firm.

Attorney appointment

Warren Replansky remains the attorney to the town, although there was some discussion about that decision when it was first raised at the table. Town Supervisor Dave Sherman asked for a motion to appoint Replansky and was met with silence.

“Is there a problem?� Sherman asked.

“I know there has been in the past some concern over it,� Councilman Dave McGhee said. “I don’t know what the board wants to do but I’m willing to meet up with him and appoint him for a month and then talk with the rest of the board about it.�

The rest of the board offered little, so Sherman suggested they table the matter and speak with the attorney later on in executive session, to which the board agreed. Later in the meeting, after executive session, the board reconvened and appointed Replansky for the year. McGhee did not return calls for a comment before press time. Councilman Steve Merwin, however, spoke about the matter later in the week.

“In order to talk to him in private we postponed appointing him,� Merwin said. “I didn’t have any issues. We just wanted to talk about certain things we couldn’t talk about in public, but everything was fine.�

Merwin was then asked if he was pleased with Replansky’s performance.

“For the most part,� he said. “Everybody has their own opinions. His job, like ours, can’t make everybody happy.�

Sherman also spoke about his feelings on the attorney’s performance later in the week.

“I have been very pleased with Warren; I think he’s provided good service to the town over the years and will continue to do so,� Sherman said. “I think he’s been very fair and straight forward with the Town Board and it doesn’t matter if somebody has a different political view. He plays it straight.�

The decision to reappoint Replansky was unanimous (with the exception of Councilman Carl Stahovec, who was absent due to illness).

Building Department

posts debated

The next point of contention arose when the supervisor asked for a motion to reappoint Ken McLoughlin as the town’s building inspector and code enforcement officer and Mike Segelken as the deputy building inspector and code enforcement officer. After a moment, no motion was made.

“Both these gentlemen have been working with the town,� Sherman said to his board.

Merwin recused himself because of legal issues McLaughlin is involved with concerning his family. McGhee suggested keeping the two men in their positions until further consideration could be made regarding them. He then said the following:

“You already know my feelings,� McGhee said. “The last eight or nine years little has been done. Our secretary knows more about what’s going on than he does [McLoughlin]. I’m voting no. I don’t want to appoint him; I want Mike Segelken to take over.�

“I’m voting no, too,� Councilman Tim Shaffer said.

“Tim, I’m glad you have an opinion because I haven’t heard from you and didn’t know where you get your opinions from,� Sherman said. “Let’s table this then. Steve, you can vote on that.�

Merwin declined, restating that he had recused himself.

“Well, let’s table it then,� Sherman repeated. “I’m surprised by the board’s actions.�

Once again, after executive session the board returned and readdressed the matter. It reappointed Segelken as deputy building inspector and code enforcement officer; it decided to take no action regarding McLaughlin.

The board then moved on to the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). It reappointed Julie Schroeder as the ZBA’s chair and appointed Patti Lynch  to a five-year term, to end on Dec. 31, 2015.

It next discussed the Planning Board position of Henry Klimowicz (a seven-year term) and his chairmanship (a one-year appointment); it decided not to reappoint him to either (see related article on front page).

Following that, a few remaining appointments were made, the annual salary list and wage rates established and some residual housekeeping items addressed before the organizational portion of the meeting drew to a close. Before that happened, however, the board moved into an executive session. When it returned, it addressed a number of the issues it had previously tabled. It also spoke about some other matters. One such issue had to do with committee assignments.

Committee dispute

The board committees that raised interest were the Highway Committee and the Personnel Committee. Merwin, who works for the village of Millerton’s water and highway department, said he should use his knowledge and be appointed to the town’s Highway Committee.

“I wasn’t very happy with the fact of the committee appointments,� he said. “Tim Shaffer and I were supposed to switch, because I was on personnel and Tim was on highway, but Dave [Sherman] had a problem with it and it’s asinine. I’m a much better fit on highway; I know about machinery and road maintenance and if anything would be a huge asset, but obviously he doesn’t feel the same way. That will be up to the board at the next meeting.�

Sherman said he believes there should be a “degree of separation� between the village and the town highway departments. Additionally, he said, it’s not up to the board members to simply switch their committee assignments on the fly, especially after one member requested the position.

“Mr. Shaffer asked last year very specifically to be on the Highway Committee,� Sherman said, adding he doesn’t want to see any conflicts on any of the committees. “And for myself, just as Mr. Merwin would like to serve on that committee, I would like to serve on there as well. There may be others, too. It’s not just one person’s desire that is the controlling factor.�

The supervisor added that every member’s expertise is utilized whether on a committee or not, as the committees report to the Town Board, which discusses and debates department matters at board meetings, taking full advantage of everybody’s knowledge and experience.

“There’s plenty of opportunity to comment and provide guidance,� Sherman said.

The matter was tabled and will be raised again at the Town Board meeting on Thursday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.