& Albany County Post - The Altamont Enterprise

The Altamont Enterprise – Thursday, May 17, 2012 9Quick beavers and appealing pigstrouble the Knox highway crewBy Zach SimeoneKNOX — Matters relating toroads dominated discussions atlast week’s town board meetingin Knox, and an old dispute betweenneighbors resurfaced.Highway Superintendent GarySalisbury told the board of a petitionthat had been circulating torequest a reduction in the speedlimit on Ketchum Road.Salisbury told The Enterprisethis week that the request hasbeen forwarded to the New YorkState Department of Transportation.The speed limit is currently setat 55 miles per hour, but the limitis often exceeded, and traffic onthe road has increased with thespring weather.“If they did 55, it probablywouldn’t be so bad,” Salisburytold the board, adding that theanimals on the farms along theroad sometimes distract drivers,causing them to stop their carsin the middle of the road.“They’ve got pigs out in apasture,” Salisbury said of onefarm, “which is kind of unusual,and there’s a lot of them. Youwould not believe the people thatstop, and get out of their cars, togo see these pigs and stuff. Butthey stop right in the middle ofthe hill, and it’s bad.”This, combined with the increasedtraffic now that theEmma Treadwell Thacher NatureCenter is open, leads todangerous driving conditions.“Although they don’t alwaysend up giving you what you’relooking for, which is a reduction,”said Councilman Nicholas Viscioof the DOT, “they’ll improve signage…moreclearly identify theintersections.”Supervisor Michael Hammondthen proposed a resolution, “Requestinga study and a loweringof the speed limit on KetchumRoad to 30 miles an hour for theentire length of the road.”After a brief exchange withPeter and Linda Novello, theaudience heard that the townhas permission from the NewYork State Department of EnvironmentalConservation toexterminate a family of beaversthat sometimes plug up a culverton Whipple Road.“It’s basically a dyke for thepond,” Salisbury said this week.“There are beavers in there thatkeep plugging the pipe. So, weput a grate in front of it, andthey plug the grate instead ofthe pipe. So, we go and clean thegrate. But what’s been happeningwith the rain in these pastcouple weeks is, the beavers arequicker than we are.”During a heavy rainfall, Salisburysaid, any overflow fromthe pond typically flows intothe 15-inch culvert pipe underWhipple Road, and flows downinto another pond on the propertyof Roger and Verna Chapmanon Thompsons Lake Road. Theoverflow from the Chapmans’pond flows onto the property oftheir neighbors, the Novellos.“It’s a creek, and that’s the waythe creek runs,” Salisbury said.“This has been ongoing for manyyears. It’s just nature.”The Novellos argued that,when the beavers plug the grate,water builds up in the pipe,and eventually results in anincrease in water flowing ontotheir property when the grate isopened, and the built-up wateris released all at once.“The town has been damagingus,” Linda Novello told the board.“They’re opening up the grates,and the water’s coming onto ourproperty full force, with debris,and it’s causing damage and erosionon our property.”But, Salisbury disagreed thisweek; when asked how theclogging of the pipe affects theamount of water on the Novellos’property, Salisbury said, “Itreally doesn’t.”“What happens,” Salisburytold The Enterprise, “is, if thepipe gets plugged, the waterbuilds up higher, so, when weopen it up, that water comes out.So, it may not be raining out thatday, and they’ll get the waterthen. They’re going to get it nomatter what the condition is; it’sjust a question of when.”One problem, however, is thepotential damage to WhippleRoad if the beavers manage toclog the pipe itself, Salisburysaid.“If the pipe itself gets plugged,and we can’t get it open, thenwe’ve got a real crisis,” he said,“because the road’s pretty flat,and it’ll overflow the road 40 or50 feet wide, and then you’ll geterosion, and it takes the shouldersout.”Salisbury said this week that,while the DEC permit allows forthe removal of the beavers, hehas to get permission from thepond’s owner on Whipple Road.“I’m working on trying to findout exactly who owns it,” Salisburysaid of the pond. He said ofthe beavers, “They can be shotwith a permit, but usually whatwe try to do is trap them. It helps,but it doesn’t always solve it.”Peter Novello also complainedto the board about his neighbors,the Chapmans, with whom hehad ongoing disputes since the1990s, though Linda Novelloattempted to restrain her husband,who became angered withthe board.The Novellos and the Chapmanseach own 15 acres of largelyopen, rural land on ThompsonsLake Road; there are no otherneighbors in sight.Since the early 1990s, theNovellos had complained tothe town board about vehiclesstored on the property belongingto their neighbors, Rogerand Verna Chapman. They hadaccused Chapman of dismantlingvehicles on the property,eventually leading the townto create a junk vehicle law in2000, which included a guide forenforcement.The town’s zoning and code administrator,Robert Delaney, haslong characterized the Novellos’complaints about Chapman as a“neighborly dispute.”Town Attorney John Dorfmanhad said that Delaney had drivenby the Chapmans’ property andobserved a number of vehiclesin violation of the zoning ordinance.Roger Chapman told The Enterprisein 1999 that he beganmoving junk vehicles as soon ashe was served with papers fromthe town asking him to do so.Chapman, accused of dumpingsolid waste on his ThompsonsLake Road property, and of havingan illegal house trailer, wascleared of those charges by theKnox Town Court in 2003.Then-Judge John Rodd, whohad cleared Chapman, cautionedthe town against charging Novelloin the future, if the charges aresolely based on the complaints ofhis neighbors, the Novellos.But Supervisor Hammondsaid then that the town wouldnot change the way it handlescomplaints from residents.At last week’s meeting, Novellotold the board of Chapman, “He’sgot new vehicles hiding underthe brushes.” The board wouldnot discuss the issue further, askinginstead that Novello againtake the issue to Delaney.Novello would not commentfurther this week.Taking the oath: Ken Guyer raises his right hand as he is sworn into office as the New Scotlandhighway superintendent. Town Clerk Diane Deschenes, left, administered the oath on May 14.By unanimus voteGuyer moves up to top town highway postBy Tyler MurphyNEW SCOTLAND –– The townboard unanimously approved theappointment of deputy highwaysuperintendent, Kenneth Guyer,to the department’s top postWednesday.Supervisor Thomas Dolinstarted by saying, “We receivedthree resumes from three candidatesand interviewed them.”The other two candidates for thepost were Joseph Iacobucci andWayne LaChappelle.“I thoughteach of the candidateswere,all in somedegree, able tohold the positionand eachhad skills the others didn’t. Afterreview of the merits of each one,I came to the conclusion KenGuyer had the best qualifications.So, he gets my vote,” saidDolin.Guyer had been named deputysuperintendent in early Marchafter long time highway superintendentDarrell Duncan wasappointed to a county post ashead of Public Works.Coucilmen Doug LaGrangealso endorsed Guyer. LaGrangebriefly considered running forthe office but retracted his possiblecandidacy a few days later.At the time fellow board trusteesand members of the publicquestioned LaGrange’s possibleconflicts of interest and pointedout the application process hadalready ended by the time hehad inquired.Other board members alsospoke before casting their vote.“I echo those comments andendorse Guyer,” said CouncilwomanPatricia Snyder.“For at least me personally, thishas been a very enlighteningexperience. I learned it’s a bigjob that probably needs to be“At present, it’s a jobno one person could possibly do.”revisited in how the responsibilitiesplay out.”Snyder said she would likethe board to take up the issue ofpossibly creating a new publicworksposition to take over someof the highway superintendent’sresponsibilities.Dolin said the position hadmore duties than neighboringmunicipalities. He said previousboards had added responsibilitiesto the highway office over theyears and they had grown to beunmanageable.The town is still working withfederal and state agencies torepair flood damages from thesummer’s tropical storms and toGeorge W. FruehSons SUMMER FILL-UP SPECIALFuel OiL$3.60/gallonCall for Today’s PriceCash Only 436-1050pay for them. In conjunction withthe restructuring and disasterrelief, officials are also operatingin a smaller political window ofopportunity between elections.“At present, it’s a job no oneperson could possibly do,” Dolinsaid.The board tabled approvalof a tentative, annual salary of$57,000, to work out details forthe appointed post.Since Duncan vacated theposition about a year into histerm, his nextregular electionwould havebeen in November2013. Guyerwill servein the appointmentuntil that time when hewill have to run for the positionin a regular election. The winnerof that contest will then serve afull two-year termDolin said Guyer’s increasedfamiliarity with municipal administrationand understandingof the department made him abetter candidate. He noted Guyerhas worked for the highway departmentfor 12 years.“I have great confidence in youassuming this position, you’vejust proven over the last fewmonths how you intend to actin this position and with thisboard,” added Councilmen DanielMackay.PAVINGWe Take Pride in the HomeownerRESIDENTIAL-COMMERCIALFULLY INSURED-FREE ESTIMATESLevernois & Sons, Inc.4204 Albany StreetAlbany, NY 12205456-6364