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.-( f~*f-A ^ * - , The Altamont Enterprise - Thursday, August 17,2006 13 Workers question highway merger By Tyler Schilling BERNE — \We need to set aside our fears, set aside our politics, help our residents, and save our tax dollars,\ Berne Su- pervisor Kevin Crosier said at last Wednesday night's town board meeting; Crosier has been pushing to consolidate the Berne Highway Department with the Albany County Department of Public Works. Berne residents and highway workers, however, ex- pressed concerns. \What happens to the people? That's my main concern,\ Berne board member Joe Golden said. \It's a brand new idea,\ Cro- sier said. The town and county consolidation would be the first day,\ Franchini said at Wednes- day's meeting in Berne. \We have guys out there while you're sleeping. For snowplowing, we have enough staff and we rely on our engineering department. We replace culverts on our own. We can provide a better service,\ he said. Franchini went on to say that he was proud of Albany County employees. \And most of our guys live in the town of Berne,\ Franchini said. Crosier also commended Berne's highway workers. \Our highway guys are asked to do a lot,\ he said. \I think by combining we can provide a bet- ter service. Our guys do a great job. Their guys do a great job.\ \What happens to the people?' in the state, according to the As- sociation of Towns. \In the 21st Century, the world is changing,\ said Crosier. \We need to look further down the road. We need to look at consolidation very seriously.\ Crosier later said that the town could be forced into consolidation if it didn't consolidate now. A report put together by the • town arid county outlines over $600,000 in expected savings and service improvements for Berne. The need to construct a salt storage facility, the need to re- place underground fuel storage tanks, along with the desire to save taxpayers' money led to the plan. According to the report, Berne has 79.25 road miles, a popula- tion of 2,846 in 2000 according to the 2000 census, and the second- highest ratio of road miles per 1,000 people (27.85) in Albany County. The report also says 47 percent of the roads within Berne are county roads. Ray Storm, Berne's highway superintendent, recently told The Enterprise he'd rather look into money-saving strategies than ask the board for more money. \We need to look at ways to keep taxes down,\ Storm told The Enterprise. Storm and Albany County's commissioner of public works, Michael Franchini, cite rising material and fuel costs as rea- sons to support the proposed consolidation. Albany County, which uses more materials and hires more workers, gets better prices on materials and doesn't pay as much as Berne for work- ers' compensation insurance, they say. \We provide service 24 hourr a Workers Have Concerns Berne highway workers raised concerns, including where s; and sand would be stored; diffei ences in snow and ice control methods between Albany County and Berne's highway depart- ment (Albany County uses pure salt, Berne uses a salt and sand mixture); the distance workers would be required to travel from Berne to the county supply building; changed routes; and which roads would be iriain- tained. \What we're doing now won't change,\ Crosier said. Crosier, Storm, Franchini, and Albany County Executive Mi- chael Breslin were all in agree- ment that the proposed consoli- dation is still in its genesis and therefore not far enough along to answer such operational ques- tions. Highway workers also ex- pressed concern about Berne losing its identity as a small, ru- ral highway department; losing control as money gets farther from the town; and the service- ability of roads. Workers also voiced concerns about Albany County's ability to plow private roads or lots, such as for a church. Townspeople at the meeting wondered if the consolidation would result in Berne residents being last in line for snow re- moval and road maintenance. Joe Welsh and his fellow Berne highway workers recently compiled a list of 49 questions about the proposed merger and presented the questions to Cro- sier. Welsh received responses to his questions but has concerns about the answers he was given. Welsh doesn't know who came up with the answers and isn't satisfied with the answers pro- vided. \The answers to some of these questions are ridiculous,\ Welsh told The Enterprise. \They jump around a lot and avoid the ques- tions.\ At last^Wednpsd^y's 'meeting, Breslin said, \If yo;u jyanj; to go over wtefti [the questions] one by one,vvjjeitlljdp it.\ , The board, Breslin, Franchini, and Welsh, scheduled an open meeting: to. answ,er highway de- partment einployeies' questions on Aug. 23 a t the East Berne firehouse. The meeting, due to scheduling conflicts, has been canceled but will be rescheduled at a later date, Welsh said this week. Other business In other business, the town board: — Heard from Youth Director Jane O'Shea that the summer program was a success, seeing a 17 percent increase in enroll- ment from last year. O'Shea said early advertisement as well N as / notrhaving^the program run over the Fourtjk of July weekend are reasons for its success. O'Shea informed the board that it would be wise to rethink bro- chures which were sent out to : residents as they were expensive ' and asked the board to consider increasing the $50 fee for each child next year; — Rescheduled Berne Heri- tage Days for Sept. 2. The town- wide celebration of its history was postponed from July 22 be- cause of heavy rain; — Heard that Jeff Thomas of Knox will donate $850 to the Friends of the Berne Library; — Approved replacing the transfer-station truck for an amount not to e v xceed $85,490.05. The board also ap- proved buying the truck's op- tions for an amount not to ex- ceed $26,294. The transfer- station truck will also need a hoist with an automatic tarping system, which the board will bid on at a later date, Patricia Favreau, Berne's town clerk, told The Enterprise; — Agreed to hire Richardson Pump Service to install a well pump at the town park for an amount not to exceed $2,325.65; — Heard from Crosier that World Changers is looking to help with any town projects. World Changers, a group of Christian volunteers, works with Albany County Rural JAlliance and comes to Berne each sum- mer for one week to work on a person's home; and — Heard that Jackie Murray, who kept the minutes for the zoning and planning boards, re- signed. Andrea Barnwell will now be appointed to the position. Engineering mentors needed for Future City challenge Engineers from all disciplines are being recruited to volunteer as mentors to middle-school students challenged to design a city of the future. Developed to foster students' interest in math, science, and engineering, the. Future City competition is a hands-on intro- duction to engineering disci- plines, including civil, electrical, chemical and mechanical engineering. The area competition will be held at Hudson Valley Com- munity College in Troy on Jan. 13, 2007. In addition to regional prizes, the local winning team will travel to Washington, D.C. in February of 2007 to partici- pate in the national competition. Mentors, needed for a few hours a week from September through January, will guide, with a teacher, teams of seventh- and eighth-grade students who will use SimCity 3000 software to design a computer model of a futuristic city. The teams will also build a large, three-dimensional tabletop model ;of their city using creative materials, such as recycled goods.' Each team will also write an essay about developing an energy strategy to include fuel cell systems to power a city of the future, write a narrative explaining a feature of their SimCity computer design, and give an oral team presentation. Thirteen schools are currently registered,for the 2006-07 com- petition, and many more are ex- pected to sign up once the up- coming school year gets under- way. At least one mentor is needed for every school in the competition. Last year, over 200 seventh- and eighth-graders from 19 local middle schools participated in the program. For more information, or to register as a mentor, visit www.futurecity.org , contact Rebecca Wolff, mentor recruit- ment coordinator at rwolfr®- mjels.com or e-mail Kevin Powers, Future City school and mentor committee chair, at fcc.albany@yahoo.com . *74& &&tc4ca& &otfaye , Gifts for the Home, Garden and Soul \A Little Paris in Voorheesville\ STORE WIDE SUMMER CLEARANCE SALE now in progress! ~ Hurry for best selections ~ Garden, Linens, Hats, Lingerie, Dishes, Prints, Bath &Body and Much More! 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