Read Mark's Letters to the Editor

Find brief summaries below of every town board meeting since January 2008

July 6, 2010 Guilderland Town Board Meeting

The only agenda item was the motion to accept pension credits for elected and appointed town officials. Those credits are based on work log calendars that those employees are required to submit. However, Supervisor Runion did not provide those logs to town board members.

Councilmen Grimm and Redlich said approving the credits without reviewing the logs would not be responsible and therefore they abstained on the vote. The Board's majority members voted in favor of the credits and the motion carried, 3-0.

Note: Two days after the meeting, the town's human resources director notified board members a mistake had been made in the pension calculations and the matter would have to be revisited at the next board meeting.

June 15, 2010 Guilderland Town Board Meeting

The Board unanimously approved the following items:

- a request to fund replacement of the roof at the water department building at 6011 State Farm Road. The estimated cost is $15,000.

- the hiring of Kim Edick as Senior Keyboard Specialist, a civil service position. It is a shared positon between the Water Department and the Receiver of Taxes office.

- re-locating easements in order to accomodate the planned construction of the new firehouse for the Westmere Fire District

Supervisor Runion also withdrew his request to cancel the July 6th board meeting when Councilman Redlich pointed out the law requires the Board to meet at least once a month (no other meeting was planned for July).

May 18, 2010 Guilderland Town Board Meeting

New Senior Housing:

The Board voted 4-1 to approve the Mill Hill Subdivision (Michael's Group project). The development plan was changed, from 24 townhouses and 88 condos, to 74 townhouses.

Supervisor Runion was the only member to vote against the senior housing.

Councilwoman Slavick said, "residents do want to stay in Guilderland and this will give them the opportunity for somewhere to go when they sell their houses." Councilman Pastore said, "I think that is conducive to seniors and their lifestyle."

Councilman Grimm pointed out that because condos are not taxed on their full assessed value the way townhomes and single-family homes are, the condo tax break would have shifted the tax burden to everyone else in town.

Easment Approved for Hamilton Union Church:

The Board unanimously approved an easement over a property known as the Schoolcraft House. The easement is for parking and for access to the Hamilton Union Church parking lot through the Schoolcraft House property.

Jane Springer, Hiram Eberlein, and Wayne Goodnow spoke regarding this issue and the advantages to both the Church & Schoolcraft House.

May 4, 2010 Guilderland Town Board Meeting

Drainage Districts Defeated:

A controversial proposal to create new "drainage districts" was defeated 3-2 when Supervisor Runion surprisingly voted against his own proposal. Councilwoman Slavick said the reversal "shocked" her.

Councilman Grimm said the proposal would have created "a whole new layer of government, created a new tax, and added to the cost of the homes." He also stressed the need to make homes more affordable in Guilderland.

Councilman Redlich said "there were too many layers of government" in New York State already...We do not need to create more governments."

Public Hearing on Zoning Changes:

A public hearing on proposed zoning changes took place. All town board members agreed the zoning committee's proposals should be sent back to the committee for more review and modification.

For summaries of previous meetings, click here

Mark Grimm home page

 

 

 

.