The Town Board and its attorney, Justin Rider, met on Monday for a regular business meeting — held in an unusual matter. There was no public allowed at the meeting.
The board met at its regular time and regular place, and the meeting was recorded for replay on YouTube, via a link at www.highlands-ny.gov. The 45-minute session featured a period, Supervisor Bob Livsey said, of “thank yous” … to everyone from the town’s highway department for the work they’ve been doing, to the local first responders, to the residents who work “on the front lines in hospitals”.
Livsey took a minute to pay tribute to the sanitation workers, especially, quoting from the Irish Rovers song ‘My Old Man is a Dust Man’, which honors “unsung heroes”, like those who collect and dispose of garbage.
In business, the board approved bids on its upcoming sewer expansion project — TAM will be the general contractor with a bid of $2,292,000, and Ray Pantel Electric will handle the electrical component with a bid of $647,000. Livsey said work could begin as early as next week.
In a personnel matter, the board hired two part-time employees for the Sewer Department, Robert Runge and Jeffrey Mancuso. Combined, the two will work a total of 16 hours per week, at $30.05 per hour. They replace Bob Held, who resigned last month.
The board also approved the use of virtual meeting technology for an upcoming Planning Board session.
In a final matter, the board decided that when water bills go out in May for Fort Montgomery residents, the window to pay them without penalty will be 60 days instead of the typical 30, due to the current economic situation in the U.S. That means, instead of being due on June 1, they’ll be due July 1, he said.
