News

Town, highway workers sign contract

By David Gordon

GREENVILLE — Greenville Supervisor Kevin Lewis signed a new contract with the town’s union workers, following Town Board approval.

The workers, members of Teamsters Local 294, had been working under an expired contract for about a year, Lewis said. The new contract runs from Jan. 1, 2008 through the end of 2011. The 2008 pay scale, retroactive to Jan. 1, is $1 per hour over the previous contract, with a 4 percent per year raise over the next four years. The contract specifies a foreman’s pay at $17.02 per hour in 2008, increasing in steps to $10.32 in 2011. A senior MEO (machine equipment operator) earns $16.38 in 2008, which increases to $18.81. The MEO scale is $15.95 this year, increasing to $18.12 in 2011. The truck driver scale is runs from $14.08 to $15.98, and a laborer’s rate is $12.96, increasing to $14.72.

The contract calls for 12 paid holidays and five personal days. Health insurance coverage is on a sliding scale, with an employee starting before January of this year receiving fully paid health insurance after 20 years. An employee working up to 10 years receives 80 percent paid health insurance; he or she must pay 20 percent. Employees starting after January of this year reach a top of 95 percent paid health insurance after 20 years service.

The 20-page document also covers vacations, grievance procedures and other working conditions.

Highway Superintendent Richard Hempstead said the contract is “well-deserved.” The pay scales are in line with other towns and the Greene County Highway Department, he said.

Dog Control Officer Melissa Rosa and Brian Mulligan, a Community Partners volunteer, showed the signs that will define the areas in the Town Park where dogs will be allowed to run off their leashes. Signs to be posted at the park entrance display a map, which indicates where the off-leash areas are. Smaller signs say “dogs on leash” on one side, and “off-leash area.” These will be placed along the border between the areas where leashes are required and the free running area. Rosa said the privilege of letting a dog run loose does not mean the owner doesn’t need to keep the dog under control. Owners are also expected to clean up after their dogs if possible; picking up after a dog that runs off across the fields may be too difficult.

The majority of the park’s 163 acres will be available as no-leash areas. Twenty-five to 30 acres, which contain the ball fields, children’s playgrounds and other amenities, will be off limits. The remainder, about 125 acres of the western part of the park, will be available for loose dogs.

Facilities director Leroy Bear reported that bathrooms in the park, a Girl Scout Gold Award project, are completed. The only work remaining is the connection of electricity, necessary before they can be used. Town employees will do this work. Bear also discussed the creation of a small playground for younger children. This playground, to serve children in the 2 to 5 age range, would be placed so parents could watch their older children playing ball on the park’s fields, Lewis said. Bear has been evaluating equipment for a small-children’s park.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has approved the town’s plans for expansion of its sewer plant and the addition of a second sand filter. Bids for the foundation work were to have been opened at Monday’s meeting, but an error in the cover sheet gave contractors until Thursday to bid. The bid opening will be Thursday, September 18; the board will hold a special meeting at 7 p.m. Friday to approve the contract for the winning bidder.

Lewis suggested that constructing the shell of the sewer building expansion might be done by the town’s own work force. This would ensure the work gets done before the weather makes construction impossible. It is also important to get the plant upgraded as soon as possible. The town is working under a DEC consent order requiring the upgrade.

Bear did have some good news on the utilities front. A pump that was removed from the town’s water filtration plant B and declared surplus is just what the Town of Canajoharie needs. Greenville will receive $4,600 for the pump, which represents a reduced price because the customer is another town, Bear said.

Lewis explained that the town’s engineer, Alan Taverner, also does work for Canajoharie. “When they needed a pump, he said ‘I’ve seen a pump like that somewhere,’ and he came to us.”

Following a public hearing on Sept. 5, at which the board agreed that planning board chairman Jim Kudlack has missed too many meetings and should be removed, the board appointed Kathleen Whitley-Harm to the vacancy on the board. The board also appointed James Watkins as the alternate. The board voted recently to amend its law to provide for alternates on town boards.

Planning board deputy chairman Peter O’Hara said the board had selected the two candidates. Lewis noted that the board can recommend the people it wants, but the Town Board has to approve the appointments.

The renovation of a former church as a cultural arts center is moving along, Leroy Bear reported. He received bids from Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams and G&H Lumber. G&H offered to donate half the cost of the paint, and that made their price easily the low bid. The paint will cost the town $1,900, with G&H providing $1,700. The paint, a new type, is environmentally friendly, Bear said. The paint job started at the rear of the building, so the Columbia-Green prisoners could learn to use the paint, which is thicker than the general run of paints. They will have developed their skills by the time they paint the front of the building. Bear expects the work, which is being coordinated by Girl Scouts, to be completed by Oct. 18 or 19.

Reader Comments

Submit a Comment