BY STEVEN JUPITER
PITTSFORD – The Pittsford Selectboard convened on Wednesday for its second meeting of July. The board started by accepting the evening’s agenda and the minutes from the previous meeting. Town Manager Brenda Fox-Howard then distributed materials regarding town expenditures for the Board’s approval.
Selectman Joe Gagnon inquired about a “sidewalk scoping study” that required a $1,456 payout. Ms. Fox-Howard explained that this amount would be reimbursed by a grant the town had received. There were no questions about any other expenses or payments.
Ms. Fox-Howard then presented her Town Manager’s report, focusing primarily on the West Creek Culvert, which is slated for completion by the end of August.
Fox-Howard addressed some concerns about the placement of the silt screen. It had been feared that the crew might have to drill into the ledge to install the screen, but it looks now like that can be avoided.
The main concern about the culvert was removing it from storage. Owners of neighboring land agreed to allow the crew to use their property, but leaving the culvert on the property would require building staging to hold it to avoid cracking. The Board agreed the best approach is to leave the culvert in storage until it’s ready to be installed.
Fox-Howard mentioned that there had been complaints about the illegal dumping of needles on Elm Street. She said she’d reminded town residents not to try to collect them in plastic bags because of the inherent biohazard risk. Instead, she urged people to put them in hard plastic, even soda bottles, if they couldn’t access “sharps” containers designed explicitly for needle disposal.
The discussion then turned to lighting at the Dollar General store. Work had been done to adjust the brightness of the exterior lighting, and Fox-Howard deemed the results satisfactory. Selectman Tom Hooker inquired about some land he believed Dollar General should be mowing but hasn’t been.
Fox-Howard brought up the need to fix the HVAC in the town offices. The system is getting old, and the regulators and thermostats are unreliable. Rather than spend money on new systems, it was agreed to clean the ductwork and repair or replace the thermostats. If these measures are unsuccessful, additional work will be undertaken.
Chair Malay indicated that the town had signed a contract with Richard Reed & Son. Fox-Howard then reminded Malay that she needed to sign the contract with the CPA for the town’s annual report, which was then produced and signed.
Chair Malay also agreed to attend a workshop run by the Rural Development Council on behalf of the selectboard.
The Board asked Fox-Howard to obtain estimates for cameras for the various covered bridges in Pittsford since they are often damaged by vehicles. Some discussion ensued about which bridges, or which parts thereof, belonged to Pittsford and which to Proctor.
DJ Outback Acres Solar recently submitted its 45-day notice for a hearing with the Public Utilities Commission. The company hopes to build a 10,000-panel solar array on 17.5 acres in Pittsford.
Fox-Howard explained to the board that approximately 100 old permits were recently discovered in the town offices that were never signed. The town will now have to inspect these projects to sign off on them, even though most of them were completed years ago.
The Board’s last bit of business was to announce they will not be taking any time off this summer and will conduct future meetings as planned.
