KINDERHOOK–The Village Board opened three bids for the Village Hall roof project at the regular meeting last week. The three companies that submitted proposals included a base bid that would fix the lower portion of the main roof and options for related work that must be added to complete the project.
Debrino Caulking Associates from Castleton base bid came in at $374,742; Carey, from Kingston, came in at $291,500 and Mid State Industries, from Schenectady, bid $398,811. With the added work, each bid substantially higher.
The board plans to discuss the bids at a special meeting March 25 and award the contract for the roof repair project at the annual organizational meeting Monday, April 6 at 6 p.m.
Bids on the proposed project, which the board estimates will total around $600,000, were initially requested last summer, but the lowest bidder pulled out and the board decided at that time to rebid the project instead of accepting a higher bid.
Turning to another matter last week the board passed a local law to override the state limit of 2% on tax levy increases. The override applies to the 2015-16 fiscal year, which begins in June. The board will start the budgeting process later this month with special budget meetings March 23, March 25 and, if needed, March 30 at 6 p.m.
As winter comes to end, the board talked about 13 properties where water pipes froze. Trustee Dale Leiser, the village water and sewer commissioner, said that there were no water main breaks but the Department of Public Works had been dealing with thawing the supply pipes that lead to the customers.
A discussion of whether to purchase new software for the assessor’s office was also part of the March 11 meeting agenda. Tom Griffen, the town’s assessor, handles assessments in the village, and Mr. Griffen and Kinderhook Town Supervisor Pat Grattan have suggested the village buy its own copy of the assessment software that the town currently uses. The cost of the program is $1,500 plus a yearly maintenance charge of $400.
Reacting to this request from the town officials, village Code Enforcement Officer Glenn Smith said atthe village meeting, “I would like to see them become more formally involved financially.”
In a phone interview after the meeting, Mr. Smith said it would be more efficient if the village had the same software and the town would probably save money if village assessment data was compatible with the town data. Mr. Smith said that with the new software he could input data that Mr. Griffen needs for assessments instead of having Mr. Griffen duplicate the field work Mr. Smith has already done. “It would save the assessor from doing a lot of field work,” he said.
Trustee Rich Phillips said that he had spoken to Mr. Grattan about sharing the software costs and Mr. Smith said he would look into grants that might cover the cost of the purchase. After the meeting, he suggested the town could pay for the annual software fee if the village made the original purchase. He also felt that both the villages–Kinderhook and Valatie–should use the software.
“I do think the town should bear some of the costs,” Mayor Carol Weaver said at the meeting. Mayor Weaver participated in the meeting from Florida via an online video conference connection.
Also at the meeting:
- The board announced that the annual Easter Egg Hunt hosted by the village Recreation Commission will take place on Saturday, March 28 at noon at the Vanderpoel House. This will be followed by pictures with the Easter Bunny at the bandstand sponsored by the Kinderhook Elks Lodge #2530
- The mayor said that all but one property owner had paid their sewer bills. The village connected several properties in the business district to the Valatie sewer plant last fall.
- The village will host a Home and Garden Day April 18, which will include historic home tours.
The next village meeting will be Wednesday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m. in the Village Hall.
To contact reporter Emilia Teasdale email eteasdale@columbiapaper.com.
