Town officials approved a $1.1 million bond anticipation note to purchase new highway equipment at their regular Town Board meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 13.
According to town officials, the 15-year bond will pay for two snowplow-sander trucks, a loader, a brush truck, a dump truck, a backhoe and five sander units.
Many of the vehicles in our fleet are 15 to 20 years old, and we haven’t made purchases of highway equipment for many years, said Town Supervisor Steven Tommasone. `Those old vehicles are simply breaking down more frequently, getting too costly to repair. It’s a law of diminishing returns.`
Tommasone also said the town was able to roll the new bond into an existing bond to secure an interest rate of approximately 4 percent. He said the decision was made out of necessity.
Tommasone voted with the three other board members in attendance to approve the funding. The board’s lone Democrat, John Silva, was absent.
Councilman John Mertz echoed Tommasone’s sentiments.
`We try to run this town on a shoestring, but the realities are we live in the Northeast and we need to take care of our roads,` said Mertz.
Rotterdam police will also be purchasing new vehicles.
The board authorized the purchase of three patrol cars to be paid from the town’s unappropriated surplus fund balance in an amount not to exceed $95,000.
Tommasone said the department would purchase three marked patrol vehicles ` two sedans and one SUV-type vehicle.
Mertz had been a proponent of the plan to add only patrol cars to the fleet.
`We’re pleased to provide the funding for new cars, especially patrol cars,` said Mertz. `We always put public safety first.`
According to Tommasone, all of the cars coming out of the police department’s fleet have more than 100,000 miles on them.
`These cars coming out of the fleet don’t just die,` said Tommasone. `They may go to the highway department or the Department of Public Works if there is a chance for someone to upgrade to a better car.`
The town also appointed and promoted Patrick F. Farry, of the Rotterdam Police Department, to the position of investigator. The position comes with full employee benefits and an annual salary of $65,599.
Town settles with former assessor
The four board members in attendance all agreed to execute a termination agreement with John Macejka Jr., which pays the former town assessor for accumulated vacation leave in exchange for an agreement that he will not to bring litigation against the town in the future.
The town will pay Macejka approximately $8,000 cash for 259 vacation hours he racked up while employed as Rotterdam’s assessor between July 2003 and December 2007. Tommasone said the $8,000 payout is approximately $1,500 more than what Macejka would have received under the terms of Rotterdam’s CSEA contract.
As part of the agreement, Macejka absolves the town of all legal liability to him during his term as assessor. Tommasone said the board had been advised by town attorneys to pursue this course of action in order to avoid costly legal fees.
`We wouldn’t have settled for anything, but we live in a litigious society,` said Tommasone. `The agreement puts the town on the offensive instead of the defensive.`
Tommasone also said that Craig Surprise, the new town assessor, was still working on aspects of the property revaluation project begun by Macejka last year.
In December, Tommasone appointed Surprise, a former Columbia County assessor, to a six-year term, effectively replacing Macejka. Tommasone said he appointed Surprise because the town needed to move in a new direction.
Other board members concurred that the agreement with Macejka was necessary.
`As an attorney I can appreciate litigation costs,` said Mertz. `We’re paying a small amount, all things considered.“