Wednesday, June 10, 2015

6/4/15 Special East Greenbush Town Board Meeting

The EG Town Board held a Special Board Meeting on 6/4/15 to consider nine resolutions authorizing about $600,000 in change orders to essentially return the Waste Water Treatment Plant to its 3/11/15 pre-spill condition and push the renovation project’s completion date back 151 days to 11/25/15.

The resolutions were initially introduced at the 5/20/15 Board Meeting; however, Councilpersons Deb DiMartino and Mary Ann Matters would not act due to the lack of documentation and justification supporting  the resos and the change orders.

CPs DiMartino and Matters held a public meeting with Delaware Engineering and The Chazen Companies, the WWTP renovation design and construction management consultants, to discuss their concerns and questions on 5/27/15.  The few issues remaining after that meeting were apparently resolved and the resos were unanimously adopted today (6/4/15).

At the beginning of the Special Meeting, CPs DiMartino and Matters reiterated their complaints about the lack of information coming from Supervisor Langley. 

Why does he refuse to share, especially when calling the WWTP situation “an emergency” and unsuccessfully imploring Delaware and Chazen to do the same on 5/20/15?  He doesn’t play well with others, I guess.

Supervisor Langley’s most recent cover-seeking “Supervisor's Report” states “I agree that everyone who is in the position to make decisions should have the ability to ask questions”.  They evidently ask the questions – you just don’t give them the documentation and justification needed to do their jobs!

One of CPs DiMartino and Matters concerns was possible financial exposure if the insurer doesn’t reimburse the spill-related costs of Delaware and Chazen - costs which wouldn’t be known until after the work was done.

I suggested that the Sewer Funds generally have sizable positive fund balances which might be used for these ‘soft’ costs if not reimbursed.  There it is, in both the Delaware and Chazen resolutions: “covered by Sewer fund balance for the portion of the current proposal estimate limit denied by insurance”.
 
It’s not rocket science, Supervisor Langley, just communication, cooperation, working together and, most importantly, adult behavior! 

Pete Stenson
East Greenbush

41 comments:

  1. Whistling Past the CemeteryJune 10, 2015 4:11 PM

    Excellent post Pete !

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  2. Super letter, Pete!

    I see Poorman is going to primary Langlost! What a pair they are! Third of four Deputy Supervisors. KL sure can pick 'em!

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  3. Firing Poorman was a very good decision. That guy is bad news. He would be a very poor choice for our town government. He is a dishonest person and can't be believed in. Poorman does not respect our town work force and will NOT be getting my support if he should win the primary against the current Supervisor.

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  4. Word is Cristo's nose is getting bent out of joint because he is losing control of MAM to Poorman. Poor MAM just can't keep track of who she is suppose to be taking her orders from.

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    1. Cristo is a has-been. He was never anything of any substance. His views were somewhere out on right field and no one believed anything that came out of his mouth.
      He ruined many friendships trying to cover up his dirty dealings and now sits back in SCHODACK and dreams of what could have been .The town was correct sending him packing and the county found out he was nothing but trouble as well. Fiacco and Danaher want nothing to do with him because he's nothing but a sh*t magnet , attracting negative controversy and all kinds of attention they didn't want.

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  5. Anonymous 6:31 AM- the way Langley fires people is quite humorous, the lack of respect to call upon someone to his office when letting a paid employee go.... No, instead his new Deputy Supervisor sent him an email. What a absolute JOKE Langley!!! He has no managerial skills, he's not respected nor is he capable of running this town any longer. Langley must go!!!

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    1. If you're not an asset you're a liability. It's that simple. If Langley fired you, you most likely deserved it.

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  6. I applaud Langley for firing Poorman. He's an untrustworthy bum.

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  7. Some people in town will never learn. Their collective memories are short and narrow. How could anyone forget how totally useless Mike Poorman was when he served on the board ? The man is completely incapable of serving the public without injecting venomous politics into his decisions.
    Poorman was bad back then and he's clearly worse now !

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  8. Is there any truth in what you say? could you please enlighten us on what he has done wrong when in political power for those who aren't privy. Or is this just talk & not holding any truth because of this blog being a democratic forum? If there is information that is known please do share, so that all of us can make a informed decision come election time on all candidates running for office. Thanks for your time.

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    1. #1- thblog is clearly NOT simply a Democratic forum, although I could see why you would think so.
      #2- its very simple...except for some insurance comparison he did to funnel town monies to one of his business clients, he simply sat and voted along party lines with Bob Seward and Jim Werking. He did NOTHING of any substance what so ever ! That folks, is a FACT !

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  9. I remember Poorman all to well. He comes on at first as very friendly, and persuasive. He gains your trust, and then before you realize, the real person comes out. He is a very arrogant and condescending person that has very little respect for others. This man should never be allowed to resurrect himself. He is an absolute bad memory for our town, unworthy of ever again holding a public office. Definitely a "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing"

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  10. Poorman or Langley deserve nor should they expect any favor amongst Town voters.
    The Republican party is a complete shambles. Thank you Chris Defruscio.

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  11. Both parties are shambles; what r u talking about? The Dems and Repubs can't find people in the Town that want to run; its a thankless job; why bother? Your only going to get knocked down to the ground; no one takes ya seriously. Then when you do get a candidate, they back out because they know how pointless it would be to even try to succeed. No one's going to give an inch; and when ya have a leader like we do; its just a NO WIN situation. They should bring in someone that NO ONE knows; clean slate; get rid of TB members; SUPE, DPW Commish - and start fresh. The nepotism will just keep going round and round and nothing will ever change; its who ya know; you don't have to think at these jobs; just show up.

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  12. Whistling Past the CemeteryJune 16, 2015 4:27 PM

    There once was a time when this Town held its head up high.
    There once was a time when the people actually trusted their town board and hardly no one showed up at town board meetings because they were boring.
    There once was a time when DPW and the PD had so many people looking for one or two openings that it took months and sometimes years to fill one slot because of how long it took to vet the candidates.
    There once was a time when there was no vacant buildings along 9&20 and the Town prospered. There once was a time when even a modest tax increase was tolerated.
    That folks, is what we need to get back too, plain and simple.

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    1. You were doing ok until you said raising taxes is ok. Raise yours, not mine thankyou.

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    2. Whistling Past the CemeteryJune 17, 2015 9:23 AM

      As I said , there once was a time....

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    3. There once was a time when foolish behavior and fake letters to the editor were not needed nor tolerated. What ever happened to civility ?

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    4. Councilpersons Matters and DiMartino are an embarrassment to the seats they occupy on our Town Board and now it's obvious that Mike P. has hitched his wagon to them. Regardless of party affiliations, the leaders of those organizations Democrats and Republicans alike should step in an put a stop to the kind of irresponsible article that appeared in this weeks local paper. Poorman, DiMartino, and Matters are acting in a totally irresponsible manner, making a mockery of our political process. Our committee Chairmans on both sides of the aisle should DEMAND civil behavior from their prospective candidates and sitting board members. This is our town not theirs.

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  13. how about all the grant money the town is about to lose

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  14. Debbie and Mary Ann Matters have no clue as to do what is right for this town. They are arrogant and don't deserve to hold the position. Voting no against receiving grant money just to try to make Keith look bad. They are disgusting. They should resign and never participate in politics ever again.

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  15. Mike Poorman you should be ashamed of yourself. I thought one time you were decent and now you have associated yourself with two council idiots.

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  16. I have been on the fence, but I now see that Deb and MA are very vindictive, petty people. I also see Langley is just a complete embarrassment. Now that Malone isn't running for anything, he is the most tolerable of the 4 sitting up on that dais, but he lost me long ago. This is shaping up to be quite a race between Jack and Dave, with both conducting themselves like gentlemen. After last meeting, I have to say, Dave seems to be very well versed in The DPW aspect of things, which is very important. I would give him the edge right now, but Jack is no slouch!

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    1. Deb DiMartino and Mary Matters are NOT working in the best interest of our town. They are both being guided by Mike Poorman, following his cheap, disingenuous campaign style in which is all he is capable of formulating. Poorman is nothing more than a cheap snake oil salesman and will tell you anything to gain your support. DiMartino, Matters, and Poorman have no vision or understanding of our town. They all need to be shown the door, and that includes our INCOMPETENT DPW Commissioner Corellis. Corellis is a complete FAILURE who doesn't have the ability to manage a real work force. He needs to go back to screaming at his one helper from the seat of his backhoe.

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  17. I may have lost some IQ points after listening to Gilbert embarass himself (again), so forgive me if I missed this but what are you r alking about? They didn't vote anything down, only Malone and Langley did when they voted against the appointment of Guy Warner to the Ethics Board. To which Malone was overheard to saying he wasn't voting for Guy because he wanted something for the appointment, classic. There was no resolution with regards to grant money being turned down.

    BTW, Pete you handled yourself well when Ed inappropriately called you out for nothing that was his business.

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    1. There were two resolutions involving grant applications that DiMartino and Matters voted no on. Deb and Mary, along with Poorman are obstructionist trying to shut down growth and prosperity.

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  18. 9:28AM

    I think 12:47 is referring to:

    Resolution 108-2015 to Apply for the 2015 Local Government Efficiency Grant for Infrastructure Rapid Response Team; and

    109-2015 to hire Chazen Companies to Assist in Grant Writing and
    Project Implementation.

    Not approving them means we don't even have the chance of getting any grant money.

    BTW, Thanks. One of my many rules is "Consider the source."

    Pete Stenson


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  19. So, I hear the Republican Party raised all the money to get DiMartino elected, and carried her petitions, and now she is double crossing the Party Chairman and the very committee that endorsed her, and got her elected. Doesn't say much for her character. It's no wonder Corellis has one foot on the banana peel. Gotta think the volunteers on the Rep. committee don't think much of DiMartino.

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  21. 6pm: the way I heard it is the Rep Committee members don't think much of Langley! The few volenteers who are left are finding out how strong the rejection of Langley will be when the try to get signatures for Langley on petitions.

    Good luck with trying to get DiMartino to take responsibility for Langley's failures.

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  22. CP Matters and CP Dimartino are no more qualified to be board members than pre-school children. They should resign NOW! Voting no for free money to the Town for grants is totally absurd. Both have spouses that have stolen from the good people of the State of New York.

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    1. Matters is clueless. She takes notes from her husband. She isn't allowed to think, only what he tells her to do. She receives text messages during the board meetings from him telling her exactly what to do. She carries crib notes from him to the dais so she can sound somewhat intelligent-(rarely) .
      We elected a pinhead and nothing more. She is incompetent and ignorant.

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  23. Folks,

    Berating others anonymously only says something about yourselves.

    Mary Ann and Debbie were sold the SWF bill of goods the same as many voters were.

    Follow the leader and everything will fine, but step out of line and you'll pay dearly for it.

    I think Mary Ann and Debbie are doing what they think best. No, they aren't perfect or infallible, but who among us is?

    I've supported them and criticized them. But at least they know who's doing it.

    Pete Stenson

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    1. I have to disagree with you on one point Pete. I do not believe that either of them is doing what they think is best.
      I do openly think they are simply following orders from Rick Matters and Mike Cristo. They have been having discussions with both for months and thus, they stall almost everything.
      Thats classic Cristo and Rick Matters. They can't deny they have been meeting with them, they were caught several times.
      Cristo was sent packing from Town as well as the County for good reason, He betrayed all who supported him on every level.
      That is a fact and if Deb and MAM are following his lead - GOD help us all !
      Rick Matters failed to run for his post again because he clearly saw the writing on the wall......sad state of affairs we're all in.

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  24. Pete--chances are the majority of those comments are Elroy Gilbert and Keith because, truly, they are self-supporting. Nobody else supports Keith, Ed, & Chris. Larry is playing everyone and can't be trusted. He wants to be on everyone's team but never forget whose ticket Larry is running on--Larry is linked with Keith and he can't escape it. And the third guy, the young boy running with Keith and Langley nobody knows his name.

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  25. I always wondered why Rick didn't run again?

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  26. Maybe if Keith minded TOWN business and not residents' PERSONAL business he may have accomplished something but, he didn't. Such an oaf.

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  27. Matters - both of them , are perpetual stallers of the worst kind. They get backing from disgruntled residents who would rather stall than proceed on any town business. That empowers their foolish point of view and inaction.
    Sadly , it will cost us all extra cash for this foolish procrastination of MAM.

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    1. Couldn't agree more ! MAM is no savior for EG. She has proven to be inept at her duties and responsibilities.
      If indeed she is following Poorman and/or Cristo , she ddeserves exactly whats bound to happen to her political career.
      Down the toilet !

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