Public Hearing April 9 on Proposed Richmondville Short-Term Rentals Law

RICHMONDVILLE — The Town of Richmondville Board has set a public hearing for Thursday, April 9 on the town's proposed new law regulating short-term rentals.

The date was set at the board's March 12 meeting. The public hearing will be part of the board's next monthly meeting starting at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 9 at Town Hall, just off Podpadic Road.

At the Thursday, March 12 meeting, the town board went over the proposed local law that had been drafted by the Town Planning Board after many weeks of work and submitted to the town board for consideration. Town Supervisor Jeffrey Haslun, Councilmen Eric Haslun, George Horning and Todd Sperbeck and Town Attorney Marvin Parshall reviewed the short-term rentals law and agreed to some changes that will be incorporated before the April 9 public hearing.

Penalties for violations were lessened to possible fines of $350 to $750 for a first violation, and $750 to $1,500 for second violations and more. There will be an annual short-term rentals permit fee of $125 and annual inspections will be required, among other provisions in the proposed law. The town board could vote to enact the law on April 9 following the public hearing.

Jeffrey Haslun said he didn't want the law to be overly punitive in terms of fines for violations and other aspects.

"Our impetus is to make them safe for occupants so that hopefully they come back," he said. "Hopefully, the process will be that owners will want to remediate any problems."

Town Clerk-Tax Collector Maggie Smith estimated there are 20 short-term rentals being operated in the Town, and officials have often talked about the need for a law regulating them.

In other news from the March 12 meeting, a resident spoke during Privilege of the Floor, saying that he was there representing the Trout Haven community and someone there who was being harassed, and it was still going on despite efforts to stop it. The resident who spoke said State Police have advised attaching a "Neighborhood Watch" sign to posts for already existing speed limit signs, something that could possibly discourage the harassment.

Town officials said they would have to look into the legality of that before committing to it.

During her report, Smith and board members thanked Deputy Clerk Joan Radliff for all her hard work, including her recent putting together of metal shelving for the town's added storage space in the recently-completed addition to Town Hall. Smith said the job was made harder for Radliff as some parts had been bent during shipping.

On another subject, Smith again mentioned how difficult Schoharie County's new website has been to work with for town clerks across the county.

"The new website has been a complete nightmare," Smith said. "And it's hard getting help from the county because they are short staffed. All these changes are affecting us (town clerks) tremendously."

Jeffrey Haslun responded "whenever there is a change, there is a learning curve to be dealt with."

Highway Superintendent Brian Manchester noted during his report that he and his crew have been repairing shoulders and also made a couple of truck repairs. He added that salt he had ordered in January recently arrived, and he recently made a trip to Albany to inspect the chassis for the town's new plow truck.

Near the end of the March 12 meeting, the board approved a cyber insurance policy that has an $856 annual premium and features $250,000 in liability protection against hacks and other forms of cyber security breaches.