By Peter Calvert
Present: Supervisor Wayland ‘Bud’ Gladstone, Councilmen Shayne Moshier, Ritchie Gabriel, Thomas Hall, Dale Cole. Town Clerk Kimberly Tosi and Highway Superintendent John Bouton. Meeting called to order: 7 pm and adjourned: 8:36 pm.
COVID-19 Decisions: For safety reasons, June 9th Town Board Meeting will again be a tele-conference via Zoom open to the public. Statewide Notice: Primary scheduled June 23rd, 2020. Absentee ballots available to all requesting them. The Town Hall will begin to reopen in phases, with social distancing, limited visitors and masks required. Transfer Station Update– On Wednesdays and Saturdays Artie Short has been there to help direct traffic and this will continue as needed. **Reminder that the April 2020 water bill due date was extended to June 30th, 2020 without penalty. The Town paid all its warrants and bills and approved the Hauling Bid. Council decided to offer wooden railway ties for sale at $20 a donation price. Approved the Andes Library Construction cost of replacing unforeseen rotten boards below sink area at the price of $2,343.70 from the contingency budget. The Andes Thrift Store can reopen May 15 with limited visitors at a time and masks and social distancing.
Sadly, Andes August Community Day is cancelled. The difficulties in planning it are too great under these circumstances and the health risk uncertain. Also, the Memorial Day Parade is cancelled, Discussion took place when, and if, the Andes Pool will open this summer. Council members have heard other area pools may not open but the decision for Andes will wait for June Board Meeting. At the recent Cornell Cooperative Extension board meeting it was decided that 4-H Camp will be cancelled for this year.
Highway Department: Highway Superintendent Bouton reported the Highway team has been active repairing roads and clearing brush and fallen trees, as well as dealing with late season snowstorms.
Privilege of the Floor: Cindy Menges and Andy Cahill of Delaware River Solar presented a Power Point environmental impact and money-saving proposal to the Andes Town Council. The proposal would allow Town NYSEG meters to receive a portion of their electricity from Solar Power. Andes renters, business, and homeowners are also eligible, and information is at www.DelawareRiverSolar.com.
Basic details: Fixed discounted rate that will not change. Access to green energy the easy way. Uses the sun to generate electricity. Reduces the carbon footprint of the participant. No panels on your property and nothing to maintain. No added fees, and you can cancel any time at no cost. Supports local jobs.
Benefits for large commercial and demand meters: 5% discount each month off NYSEG or RGE kwh rate on demand meters. Benefits for residential and small commercial meters. 10% discount each month off NYSEG or RGE kwh rate on non-demand accts. Increased tax revenue for municipality. Entire Town of Andes Outreach Campaign: $100 gift card per account or donated to a community charity fund. Up to 5 accounts per customer at sign up. This is for any Andes resident with a NYSEG account who meets eligibility requirements. Project allows homeowners, renters, and businesses to participate in solar regardless of income, credit, or ability to install a solar array on their own property.
Estimated Savings: The Town of Andes currently has 10 electric meters that qualify for community solar. Approximately 575,649 kilowatt hours can be allocated to Delaware River Solar projects. Town NYSEG bill savings are estimated: Year 1 Savings: $2,031.64; 25 Year Savings: $50,791.03 (without a credit value escalator). Annual carbon offset: 897,297 pounds. These estimates assume a 5% discount to value of bill credits on demand meters and 10% on non-demand if these meters remain on the project for the 25-year lifespan of the project. The Council directed questions to the presenters and Bud Gladstone thanked them for the proposal. He indicated the Town Council will take it under advisement and it should be on the agenda for the June 9th Online Facebook/Zoom meeting that is open to the public.
Supervisor’s Report: The town has put the health of our residents first and worked to slow the spread of COVID-19. Thank you to the transfer station staff, both those who have complimented the town and those who have followed the social distancing measures at the transfer station. Bud Gladstone emailed Dave Warne regarding concerns over our contract with NYC DEP for our Wastewater Treatment Plant and spoke with Tom Suozzo of Cedarwood Engineering regarding the Water District Well Project. Well work will begin when the ground is dry.
Delaware County Soil and Water District would like to set up a meeting in June to discuss the ACS stream corridor restoration project. The Shavertown Hiking Trail has been closed due to issues with the pond as beavers have been too active and are threatening the human dam in place there, but work has been done by human workers to mitigate these overactive beavers.
On April 26th, we received approximately 750 face masks for distribution to town residents. Thank you to Kim Tosi for setting up the distribution on April 30th and to Artie Short for distributing the remainder at the transfer station. 75 face masks were also provided to the Andes school.~