OBSERVER Photo by J.M. Lesinski Hanover Highway Superintendent Steven D’Angelo announced he won’t be seeking re-election at the latest Hanover Town Board meeting Monday

HANOVER — Highway Superintendent Steven D’Angelo made a brief, but stirring announcement to the Hanover town board at their latest meeting Monday. “I’d like to announce to the town board that I will not be seeking re-election for highway superintendent,” D’Angelo stated at the start of his comments.

“I’ve been involved in many projects in the town and I’m proud to have been employed by Hanover,” D’Angelo said. “After 45 years, it’s really hard to give it up.”

Following his announcement, D’Angelo received numerous accolades from both the board and audience, as well as a full round of applause. “It’s been a difficult month here with our clerk announcing her retirement and now yourself,” Supervisor Todd Johnson noted of D’Angelo and Town Clerk Janine Salzman. “Between the both of you, we’ve got too much of a fountain of knowledge, wisdom, experience and not to mention, dedication, loyalty and commitment to our residents and our town.”

Prior to the meeting, a board workshop was also conducted, wherein GHD Engineer Paul McGarvey asked the board for a change order regarding the wastewater treatment project (currently in Phase 4). “We’ve come up with two separate issues that require some additional budgeting,” McGarvey began. “The first one has to do with additional work associated with the drain of the new building under construction, as well as the drying beds.”

McGarvey went on to say, “Right now the way it’s set up, that line would stay charged with sludge following transfer of sludge from one building to the other. Operation staff would like to have the ability to drain back to the head of the plant so that it doesn’t dry out and plug if it’s not used for six months or so, which is a very good idea. We strongly recommend that go forward.”

The second issue requiring attention involved the circulation of fresh air inside the building. “The second item has to do with some additional piping associated with the new air-blowers that are being installed,” McGarvey stated. “That also is recommended, mainly based on room classification to extend some of that piping to pull in fresh outside air.”

McGarvey then elaborated on the project’s contingency funding. “The current contract has a $10,000 contingency item in it, that number was reduced to quite a low number considering it’s over a million dollar project,” McGarvey noted. “These two issues by themselves have exceeded that amount of contingency, so it is our recommendation that if the town board likes, that this change order also include the transfer of some additional funds into the contingency to bring that up to $30,000.”

The contingency money, which has already been pre-approved by the board, is not a new charge for the town according to McGarvey. “In the bond resolution for this project, we have remaining around $255,000 in that contingency, so this money would come from that contingency pot,” McGarvey said. “We’re bonded up to a certain amount of money that’s already cleared…so we’d be taking $39,000 and change out of the $255,000. It’s not necessarily new money.”

Johnson then confirmed McGarvey’s statement, clarifying on the how. “It’s money that’s already been appropriated. It’s basically how we transfer the funds from the contingency to the project of the Phase 4 program with the change order request.”

McGarvey then added, “The $255,000 at the very beginning of this effort, we’re in Phase 4 now, there was contingency, but each time thankfully we’ve come under budget on each and every phase of this project, those extra proceeds have gone into that contingency to continue to build it up over the years of the project.”

The change order requested won’t incur any additional charges to the town, as Johnson further elaborated. “What we’re looking at is to increase the change order for Phase 4…using that money that we have in surplus that we’ve already originally budgeted, where we had the savings on the phases of the project,” Johnson stated. “Right now, it’s not any extra money that we’re looking to incur on the project or upon the sewer district.”

Closing out his comments, McGarvey noted that the project needs as much flexibility as possible as it draws to an end. “This allows us to be much more agile for issues that could potentially come up in construction,” McGarvey said. “We’re already a long way through it, but we’re getting to the real busy part now.”

Johnson also confirmed that the project was nearing its conclusion, “We’re in the homeward stretch, and these are some of the issues that we kind of anticipated six years ago were going to come up right at the tail end.”

During the public comment portion of the meeting, a citizen of Arkwright who often reads a slightly different version of the same speech at board meetings, and promptly leaves, delivered his usual stunt speech on the wind towers in Arkwright, and promptly left following his comments. The board subsequently had enough.

“It has nothing to do with this board meeting,” Attorney Jeffrey Passafaro stated, following the speech.

“I wish that I could comment back to Mr. Bruce, but every time he makes his spiel he always leaves,” Johnson then noted. “The unfortunate thing is, I don’t think the gentleman realizes, back in 2016 the Hanover board did approve a wind tower project for the Ball Hill Wind Farm, which is with the Town of Villanova.”

Johnson also added, while pointing towards adjacent bookshelves, “If anyone is interested, there’s probably about 16 years worth of documentation on those shelves, and I can find you more booklets in the storage room, where there’s documented research going on for the wind towers and adverse effects that would be within the Town of Hanover.”

Johnson then firmly concluded his comments on the matter, “It’s been approved, if they (Ball Hill) go forward they go forward, if they don’t, they don’t. That is the only comment that I will ever make on the wind towers and probably the only comment I will ever make during public comment. I think enough is enough about talking about wind towers. We have other things that we need to be looking at for the Town of Hanover and for other citizens. End of discussion.”

In addition to the passing of the change order, the town board approved a $1,000 contribution to the 2019 Forestville Basketball Program, which will now include Silver Creek students.

The board also approved the boat launch fees for 2019. The fees will remain the same as last year: Launch and/or fish cleaning – $7; Season Pass – $80 ($45 after July 31); $3 per canoe, kayak or any non-motorized water craft; $30 – seasonal pass per canoe, kayak or any non-motorized water craft.