VALATIE–The Town of Kinderhook has a new website. It was one of the topics discussed at the Town Board meeting July 8.
In November 2017 the board hired the company Revize to update the town’s website. Former board member Peter Bujanow, who volunteered to created the bid package to find a company to do the update and then reviewed the bids for the board, said at that time that a new town website should be launched in nine-to-twelve weeks. The board approved the bid for an initial cost of about $12,000.
The new website was launched June 26, 2019. The new website can be found at the same address as the old website: http://www.kinderhook-ny.gov.
At the regular board meeting on July 8 resident Ed Simonsen pointed out that the new website has town Planning Board minutes only through 2017 and that the town’s old website only had the minutes up to May of 2017.
Mr. Simonsen quoted state public office law saying that minutes must be available two weeks after a meeting. “That’s a lot of months with no minutes being [posted] on the website,” he said.
Mr. Simonsen said he knows the minutes exist since the Planning Board meetings did take place but “the public was denied access” to those minutes.
“Very frankly, somebody didn’t do their job,” he said.
Since that meeting the Planning Board minutes have been added to the website under Agendas & Minutes. The minutes for the Zoning Board of Appeals were not updated as of publication deadline. The Town Board has some minutes and most of the agendas available on the website up to April of this year. There is also a section of the website for posting the video recordings made at each Town Board meeting. They have not been uploaded yet.
At the meeting two weeks ago, Supervisor Pat Grattan said the new website “took a lot longer” than the board expected.
After the meeting, Mr. Bujanow, who is running for town supervisor on the Democratic ballot line, said that he was involved in creating the new website until April of this year, when he was asked to turn over all the information he had collected to Dee Voss, secretary to the supervisor and town bookkeeper.
Revize, the Michigan company that designed the new website, did not return calls or emails before deadline.
Also at the July 8 meeting:
• The board named Ms. Voss acting recreation director as the town continues to advertise for the position. Mr. Grattan said about 117 kids attended the first day of the town’s summer recreation program at Volunteer Park. He said new this year the county Health Department would host a program with the kids in the camp weekly
• Timothy Stever was appointed to the town ZBA
• Board member Phil Bickerton announced that the town had received a $30,000 state grant to fund a clean energy project. He said the town’s Smart Climate Committee “did well” on its work to get the grant and said, “We will investigate how to spend it”
• Board member Sally Hogan said the Bank of Greene County is hosting a grand opening of the bank’s new branch on Route 9 in Town of Kinderhook on July 27 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. “It’s great to have a new business moving to town,” she said.
The next board meeting will be Monday, August 5 at 7 p.m. in the Martin H. Glynn Municipal Building.
To contact reporter Emilia Teasdale email eteasdale@columbiapaper.com
