Land purchases

A couple of land purchases were the major topic of interest at Monday's City Council meeting. The first was for 1.13 acres east of town needed for a gas distribution pipeline that the City is planning. Presently the City taps into the gas trunk line south of town and that is its sole connection. It would like to add a second connection in the Pleasant Ridge area that would become the primary connection. It has been negotiating for the purchase of a small plot of land for about six months and has come to a verbal agreement to pay $24,900 for two plots of land (and if I understood correctly, it is $24,900 for each of the two). The Council approved going ahead with this purchase.

The second site that the City wants to purchase is 46 acres adjacent to the sewage plant. This is land that sold at the Farm Credit auction of SJC land and the acres that the City wants appear to be mostly wooded. The purpose of the purchase is to provide sites for future water wells. The company that helped the City with the last water well thinks there are a couple of promising well sites on the land. The Council had been polled about the purchase before the meeting and the vote at the meeting was to ratify the poll. The City Attorney will now draw up the necessary papers to purchase the land.

In other items, the gas tracker for May will be a 12¢ increase per hundred cubic feet. The Council transferred $50,000 from the general fund to the rainy day fund. It appointed Kevin Armold to the Rensselaer Central School Board. He had been serving the last months of the term of Jacob Ahler and was the only applicant for the four-year position. The Council approved the Mayor's holiday of July 5, so there will be no City services on that date. Lenny Larson was given a watch for 30 years of service. The Council approved the recommendations of the Tax Abatement Board and also approved an abatement for IMPA's Solar Park #2 that had not been considered at the Abatement Board meeting.

The Council approved the purchase of a truck for the Park Department. The low quote was $26,423 from Feldhaus Chrysler. The Electric Utility is purchasing a new aerial truck and the trade-in on the old truck was given as $20,000. The Utility sought bids to sell it directly and received a bid from a construction company willing to pay $22,510. The Council approved the selling of the truck to the construction company.

The crews for bulk pickup filled 25 garbage trucks with 190 tons of garbage and picked up 61 tires, 19 loads of brush, 38 loads of grass and yard waste, 27 boxes of electronics, and 18 loads of scrap metal.

55 to 58 trees have been cut down of the 84 to be removed. I asked the Street Superintendent after the meeting where the large trunks were going that I had seen loaded on semis. He did not know. My guess is that it is going to a sawmill somewhere. Ash is used in making furniture. It can impersonate oak.