By Peter Calvert
Town Board Meeting, May 12, 2026
Board and Staff: Supervisor Ritchie Gabriel, Councilmen, Deputy Supervisor Bud Gladstone and Jason Mondore (Excused: Thomas Hall and Dale Cole). Support Staff: John Bouton, Highway Superintendent, Carol Ames, Town Clerk.
Privilege of the Floor: Susan Cole, Library Board Chair, presented the urgent need for gutter replacement at the library. The current gutter system blocks up with ice and leaves, and water goes where it should not go and does what it should not do. Estimates range from $2,150 for closed gutters and $1,190 for standard gutters. Local contractors have not replied to work requests, so a national company will be used. Fundraising is ongoing to cover expenses to protect the Andes Public Library property and one May event will be a “Mad Hatter Tea Party”. Of course, the ever-popular Garden Tour fundraiser will be held in the summer.
Supervisor’s Report: Installation of the two new pressure pumps will occur soon for the Gladstone Hollow water system. New York City will cover the entire $24,407 cost as prevention protection for the Pepacton Watershed. Ritchie Gabriel and Bud Gladstone also attended an intensive water quality tour and conference. NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), NY State Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Labor and Health Departments from the State all sent key representatives. The event showed the importance of partnerships concerning the watershed. Andes Community Day will be the first Saturday in August, the First.
Town Clerk Carol Ames brought news from the Andes Cemetery. Prices charged for burials, cremations and plots sold will be increasing, as the current costs are below market rates. A discussion on the issue was moved to next month by the Board to allow further investigation of the prevailing rates.
Highway Superintendent Report: Finally, the new truck has arrived. It has arrived. 3 years in the waiting since being ordered, with supply chain shortages derailing delivery at every turn, and at a cost of $314,000, this robust all-wheel drive 2025 Freightliner marks a significant upgrade in the Andes Highway Fleet. It will be able to spread sand through a spinning unit in the middle of the chassis, behind the rear wheels of the truck, thus avoiding sand blasting towards the windshields of cars following patiently on icy roads. The sand distributing at that spot also provides additional traction for the rear wheels of this ten-wheel truck going up hills or the front wheels climbing steep grades. It is versatile enough be a 365-day truck and thus will aid non-winter seasonal repair work, with three “coal chutes” to facilitate precision road patching and an additional chipper hitch for “oil and stone” road grading.
State DOT permits needed for installing 2 electronic, solar-driven, flashing, speed alert signs are arriving soon, and the placement of these 2 signs will be able to be done by the highway department on Route 28 approaches from Delhi and Margaretville.~