The 2007 paving scandal at the Rod and Gun prompted Colonie officials to adopt a new policy that would require the town to deposit spoils a composite of dirt, tree bark and debris at a designated dumping spot.
The policy, which was put in place by the Town Board at the Thursday, Nov. 6, meeting, states that should a dumping spot not be available, the spoils can be distributed to private landowners at no charge to the landowner after heads of several town departments, including the Department of Public Works, agree, `so long as such disposal is found to be in the public interest of the town.`
`This policy will be used by all departments in the town and has been accepted by the state comptroller,` Supervisor Paula Mahan said.
The unanimous decision came nearly six months after state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released a report that stated the previous town administration did not act in the best interest of taxpayers when they permitted spoils to be deposited and used in a spring 2007 paving job at the private West Albany Rod and Gun Club. The audit also concluded that the paving job was completed using town employees and town materials at a cost of $48,000 to taxpayers — a significantly higher price tag than alternative options, according to DiNapoli.
In his June 18 report, the comptroller used the term `improper` but not `illegal` because, he said, while the actions of the administration were not against the law, they were completed in a fashion that was not in the best interest of taxpayers of the town. DiNapoli also suggested in his report that the town create a policy that would prevent similar situations from occurring in the future.
`In summary, we concluded that town officials did not handle the disposal of these spoils as economically as possible, or conduct the disposal in a transparent manner to provide accountability to taxpayers,` DiNapoli wrote in the audit.
Since June, the current administration, which took over the reins in January, has taken administrative action against two town employees, Public Works Operations Supervisor William Neeley and Highway Maintenance Supervisor Thomas Romano, for their alleged involvement in the Rod and Gun club paving project.
Under the new policy, landowners would need to complete a request for spoils. A list will be drawn up of those individuals who have completed a request and would be made public on the Town of Colonie Web site and through the Department of Public Works.
When there is not a designated dumping spot for excess spoils, the Commissioner of the DPW will be responsible for choosing who gets the excess spoils based on order of the list.
The policy also states, `The Town of Colonie does not warrant the use of this material for structural fills. Environmental licensing may be required, and once placed on the property is the sole responsibility of the property owner.`
None of the board members questioned the policy when it came to a vote at the Nov. 6 meeting. Three of the council members on the current board also sat on the previous Town Board at the time when the paving job occurred.
One of those Republican board members, Brian Hogan, said he wasn’t sure why the previous administration didn’t have a spoils policy in place.
`It just never came to the Town Board, I guess,` said Hogan.
He said he believes the previous administration did have a certain form they followed to dump spoils, even though the issue of an actual spoils policy was never voted on.“