CHATHAM–The Village Board will issue a request for bids on repair to the firehouse. The project includes repairs to the roof and doors.
At the board’s regular meeting Thursday, June 11, members also discussed issues that have arisen in connection with the state Department of Transportation sewer and road project in the village, which is still set to conclude in this fall.
“This is a big nut, but it’s a long time coming,” Fire Chief John Howe said of the work on the firehouse. All board members agreed that the roof is in need of repair and that the doors need to be fixed and secured. Trustee David Chapman noted that the firehouse is 40 years old. “It’s time for maintenance like that,” he said.
Mayor Paul Boehme said that the project would not require “an insurmountable amount of money, and we can pay for it over time.”
The village and the chief will craft a description of the scope of work over the next two weeks and then put the specifications out to bid. No estimates of the cost were announced at the meeting. Officials hope the work will start this fall.
The mayor also announced that the village came in $30,000 under budget on laying pipes on Railroad Avenue and Spring Street. Work the village did to improve drainage on School Street is complete and officials said they anticipated the street would should be paved this week, weather permitting.
Mr. Boehme gave an update on the state road and sewer upgrade project in the village, saying that crews would continue work on upper Hudson Avenue. A Colarusso and Son of Greenport is the main contractor for this project.
During the discussion, Trustee Lael Locke brought up a petition local business owners and village residents sent to the state requesting rounding or smoothing of the edges of the new curbstones. The state has not responded to the petition, which was sent to state officials about two months ago.
Kathy Stumph, a Main Street storeowner, said she has had at least two patrons tell her their tires had been cut but sharp edges of the new curbstones. Ms. Strumph was surprised the village had not heard anything from the state about the petition. “Will the state acknowledge that we’re human beings and do something?” she said. She said that waiting so long for the state to respond to the petition only leads to more frustration.
Mr. Boehme promised to follow up with the state about the sidewalks.
At its next meting June 25, the board will discuss legislation that would permit so-called projecting signs in the village. This would allow businesses to install signs that hang perpendicular to the buildings. The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Tracy Memorial.
The board also adopted a resolution to have only one meeting a month, on the second Thursday of the month, in the months of July and August.
