Unsafe building law, welcome center also discussed
Just weeks after passing a more robust ethics law, the New Scotland Town Board is considering amending it to allow town employees or officers to escape a representation clause should they leave town employment before the end of the year.
The law in its current form forbids former officers or employees of the town from representing anyone coming before the town for a period of two years after their employment ends. The revision would allow anyone leaving town service on or before Dec. 31, 2010, to be exempt from that rule.
Some already working for the town have said the provision is like changing the rules midstream, said Town Attorney Michael Mackey, so the revision will allow them to opt out if they wish.
It gives them a window of opportunity to think about it and make up their mind, he said.
The provision is of particular concern for licensed professionals like engineers, builders or attorneys who might sit on review boards and still have clients who need to appear before the town.
Assessment Board of Review member Roselyn Robinson said this part of the ethics law might discourage experienced professionals from lending their service to the town.
`Sometimes these are the most qualified people you want on boards,` she said.
The Town Board agreed to study this element of the law, but did not take any action at a Wednesday, July 14, meeting.
`It’s a pretty lengthy and really a pretty complicated document,` Councilman Richard Reilly said.
The town is also seeking residents who would like to serve on the Board of Ethics.
The board terms are for three years, but on the first board two members will serve until the end of the year, two until the end of 2010 and one will serve until the end of 2011. There is a limit of three consecutive terms.
The law states one member of the board is to be a town employee, but not an elected official. Other members can be politically active, but not serve as an officer for a political party.
The deadline to submit a letter of interest to the town supervisor’s office is Monday, Aug. 2, at 5 p.m.
In other business:
The town is considering an `Unsafe Building Law` that would give town government the power to require the rehabilitation or removal of structures deemed unsafe or dangerous by the town’s building inspector.
The law states among the menaces imposed by such dilapidated buildings is they `serve as an attractive nuisance for young children who may be injured therein, as well as a point of congregation by vagrants and transients.`
Existing state and town codes aren’t strong enough to force the rehabilitation of degrading structure in town, said Supervisor Thomas Dolin, who added his office has long received complaints about vacant, crumbling structures.
`[The building inspector] said we didn’t really have a very good legal basis to proceed under our current laws,` he said.
Also, the law would allow the town to seek reimbursement or put a lien on the property should the town be forced to do the work to stabilize or demolish the structure itself.
`The building code doesn’t allow you to recover the cost,` Dolin said.
Under the proposed law, the building inspector would forward cases to the Town Board, which would rule on a course of action.
A public hearing on the law was set for Wednesday, Aug. 11, before the regularly scheduled Town Board meeting.
Local businesswoman Thea Snyder is hoping her Corner Gateway small business service store can be a different kind of resource for the town.
She appeared before the Town Board Wednesday to propose using part of her store located at the corner of routes 85 and 85A as a welcome center for the town. It would provide resources not only for visitors, but for longtime residents, she said.
`I’ve been a resident of New Scotland for 13 years now, and I still know nothing about it,` she said.
Using a conference room a her business’s premises, she hopes to compile information on town resources, area attractions and local businesses into one place, and also place that information onto overlay maps.
`The philosophy of doing this is very collaborative and very inclusive…to provide a gateway, if you will, to existing information and resources so people can find it,` she said.
She said she’s already spoken with the New Scotland Business Builders and the New Scotland and Clarksville historical associations, and is seeking permission to use the town logo for the welcome center.
The New Scotland Town Board heard a preliminary proposal from a representative of a national organization that builds senior housing.
Peter Sokaris, of St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church, spoke on behalf of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, which has a branch that endeavors to construct senior housing in communities across the nation by drawing on federal Housing and Urban Development monies.
The AHEPA usually constructs buildings of 50 apartment units, and will add more if there’s more demand. They are rented at 30 percent of the resident’s income, with any remaining cost subsidized by the government.
`There is a need for this in every community,` especially given an aging populaiton, Sokaris said.
He said Peter Baltis had agreed to donate five acres of land along Route 85 to such a project.
Dolin said the major obstacle facing such a development would be a lack of water and sewer infrastructure.
`The proposal is a modest proposal. We just want you to look at it to see if it’s feasible,` Sokaris said.
The board delayed having a discussion on making a $500 donation to the Friends of the Voorheesville Library and an update on the size cap law as Councilman Daniel Mackay was absent.“