After tabling the motion twice, the Ballston Town Board unanimously voted at its Tuesday, Sept. 2, meeting to renew a junkyard license for Kyle Dieterle, who operates a junkyard on 551 Eastline Road in Ballston.
Town zoning enforcement officer Anton Rohrmeier said that the junkyard was in compliance, and board members who had driven past the property earlier in the day agreed. The motion had been tabled in the past because there were cars parked in front of the entrance.
There’s not a car out there, said Rohrmeier. `Everything’s moved, and the gate’s closed.`
Concerns were raised about the enforcement of the junkyard license in general, however. Councilman Timothy Szczepaniak said that even if a junkyard’s entrance is clear one day, it could be blocked the next, and that could create problems.
`If we had emergency personnel respond, how are they going to get to those properties?` he asked.
Rohrmeier said that he does not have the authority to suspend licenses; he can only take the offenders to court. He noted that the Dieterle junkyard has been down that road on several occasions to no avail.
The board agreed that while the license for the Dieterle junkyard should be renewed, the larger matter of enforcement deserves more study.
The Town Board also passed two resolutions to improve Jenkins Park. One authorized the expenditure of $10,000 to purchase and install playground equipment from the Miracle Recreation Equipment Company. The money will be drawn from a fund the Jenkins Park Advisory Board pays into regularly.
The playground is for children ages 2 to 12 and is expected to be ready for an October installation, for which volunteers will be needed. Szcepaniak suggested that Ben Baskin, board president of the Ballston Area Community Center, be contacted. The BACC installed a new playground using volunteer labor in June.
Jenkins Park will also be seeing the installation of stone dust for a path on the east side of ball field three at an estimated cost of $1,150 after a unanimous vote on Tuesday evening.“