The Colonie Town Board conducted its annual organizational meeting, Thursday, Jan. 8, setting the stage for the town’s upcoming business.
Many individuals were reappointed to town posts, but the position of sole assessor was filled with a new face, having Ron Monfils replace Chris Semon, who retired in December.
David Rosenthal, former superintendent of schools for the North Colonie School District, was appointed to a five-year term on the Zoning Board of Appeals, while James Campbell was reappointed chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals for an additional one-year term.
Michael Burick was appointed chairman of the Sign Review Board, while Victoria Breen and Dan Pekrol were appointed as members.
On the Planning Board, Jean Donovan was reappointed to a second term as Planning Board chairwoman. Last year, Donovan pledged to give up her salary as chairwoman, with the money going towards paying off the town’s $19.4 million deficit.
Timothy Lane and Elena Viada were appointed to three-year terms on the Planning Board while another vacancy on the Planning Board was filled with Michael Sullivan. Sullivan’s appointment came after Lane resigned from the position to which he was appointed to during a Special Town Board Meeting in December. The position was originally occupied by Terry Cosgrove in December, before Cosgrove resigned.
According to the Town Director of Operations Peter Gannon, after Cosgrove resigned, the Planning Board needed a member to replace Cosgrove immediately in order to have a quorum, as they were expecting a presentation from a company non-local to the area. So we had a Special Town Board Meeting and appointed Tim Lane, he said.
But Lane decided he wanted to serve a three-year term, so after the presentation, Lane resigned from his appointed position on the board and has now been appointed to a three-year term, leaving the unexpired term of one year open for the appointment of Sullivan.
Anne Kuthy, formerly an English teacher in the North Colonie Central School District, was reappointed to a five-year term on the Library Board of Trustees, while Jason Kramer will fill the unexpired one-year term of Naomi Glover.
Craig Apple was appointed to the Highway Safety Committee, while Ellen Rosano, Keith Woodward and Robert Ulrich were all appointed to two-year terms on the Conservation Advisory Council.
Robert Tengeler was appointed to a three-year term on the Board of Ethics and Fran O’Rourke was appointed chairwoman of the Board of Ethics for a one-year term.
Aside from the appointments, the organizational meeting included many designations. The Colonie Spotlight was designated the town’s official newspaper, while several other designations for fee schedules and companies for services were assigned throughout various departments in the town.
One hundred and eight resolutions were on the agenda for the organizational meeting, most of which were adopted. A complete list of the designations can be found on the town’s Web site, www.colonie.org.
The board also adopted a measure that would allow the supervisor to execute an agreement with the Village of Menands to provide fire inspection services for this year to any buildings located within the village.
`We talked to the village and this is what they want,` said Supervisor Paula Mahan.
Another resolution granted Colonie Justice Peter Crummey a new advisory role in the Colonie justice system, and another sought to mend the lease dispute between the Town of Colonie and Colonie Senior Service Centers Inc.“