No County Money for Salt Shed

BROOME - At the latest Broome Town Board meeting on Wednesday, members discussed the salt shed roof, as well as a new phone system and an appointment to the vacant councilman position.

Following on their interest from last month, Town Clerk Amy Wayman and Town Supervisor Bill Smith both set out to learn more about the original salt shed roof agreement and if the county could be on the hook for half of the repair payments.

While they didn’t find anything past an old grant opportunity in the paperwork, Supervisor Smith attended the highway committee and broached the subject there, where he learned that there were no funds available in this year’s budget.

“They acknowledge and understand that the county should pay half,” he said. “They just don’t have the money.”

According to Supervisor Smith, there used to be an item in the budget that totaled to $100,000 for helping the municipalities, but that’s been removed.

While the county now knows about the issue and can budget in the future to assist in the repair costs, that would still be a year out, and so the Board turned to other options they can consider in the meantime.

“There’s no water running through it,” said Highway Superintendent Jason Wayman. “It might last a year, it might not.”

After a short deliberation, the Board decided to have Codes Officer Randy Wood inspect the roof to see how long it might last, and they plan to revisit the issue in the future.

In other news, Town Clerk Wayman found a new way to save on taxpayer dollars involving the monthly phone bill.

Contacting MIDTEL, she learned that if they switch to a VOIP system for their official phone lines, the Town could save up to $100 every month, bringing that bill down to around $312.

While installing the hardware would be a one-time purchase of up to $1195, the savings would pay for itself within a year.

And while the system does come with an automated hub if someone were to call the clerk’s office, every other number would still connect directly to whatever branch of the Town the caller is trying to reach.

Seeing no downsides to the approach, the Board approved a motion to begin work on transferring to the new system.

Finally, the Board discussed the vacant position at their table that is left in the wake of former councilwoman Grace Meyer’s resignation.

Having opened the floor to any interested parties from the community, members received two applications since the announcement last month.

After a brief discussion in executive session, they gave the role to resident Vinny Piraneo, who attended the Board meeting in person to accept the position.

“Thank you very much,” he said as the other members congratulated him. “I can’t wait to be more active in the community, and I’m interested in learning about how this all works.”