The full report will be up on the Town website this afternoon.
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
In our campaign last year we made a
promise that the Town Supervisor would issue an Annual Report to the people of
the Town as part of our plan for increased transparency. This report fulfills that promise.
Human
Resources
*
Town employees hired exclusively on merit.
*
Created full time position of Human Resources
Manager.
*
Made conditional job offers to two police
officers.
*
Appointed a full time dispatcher, code
enforcement officer and assistant building inspector.
*
Appointed a new Assessor.
*
Assigned two police officers to the Detectives
Office.
*
Hired two new employees in the Department of
Public Works.
*
Developed comprehensive Workplace Violence
Prevention and Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination Policies and trained
all Town staff on the new policies.
*
Approved organizational chart and staffing plan
for the Department of Public Works.
Information
Technology
*
Replaced network servers, purchased 12 computers
(6 for Town Hall, 6 for Police Department) and a Point of Sale computer for the
Town Clerk.
*
Contracted to redesign and update Town website.
*
Contracted to index and reconsolidate Town Code
and add eCode 360 to the website.
*
Implemented structured cabling installation in
Town Hall.
Town Finances
*
Maintained positive fund balances in our
General, Highway, Sewer and General Water Funds.
*
Completed NYS-OSC audit of the Justice Court.
*
Had an independent audit by UHY, LLC of 2015
financial statement.
Began
single-purpose audit of 2013 Capital Project by UHY, LLC.
*
2017 budget includes 1.47% tax increase,
repayment of interfund borrowing and independent accounting of Generic
Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) fees.
*
Received $2,589,000 in grant funding.
*
Reduced reliance on consultants, including a 22%
drop in spending on engineering consultants.
Town
Board
*
Changes in public meetings: moved pre-board
meetings to evenings, added public comment to pre-board meetings, restored
question-and-answer format to board meetings, tightened requirement for
Financial Impact Statement in resolutions, tightened rules for late submission
of agenda items for board meetings.
*
Raised sewer rates by 69% in General Sewer
District, 50% in Hampton Manor Sewer District, and 35% in 3rd Avenue
and Couse Sewer Districts. Renegotiated industrial discharge permit with
Garelick Farms for a 35% increase in fees.
*
Passed a revised and strengthened Code of
Ethics.
*
Successfully negotiated new labor contracts with
the three unions that represent Town employees - East Greenbush Police Officers
Union, Local 1951, of Security and Law Enforcement Employees, Council 82,
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (term:
January 1, 2014 – December 31, 2018); CSEA Local 1000 AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Town of
East Greenbush Unit #8257, Rensselaer County Local 842 (term: January 1, 2014 –
December 31, 2018); The East Greenbush Emergency Communications Association,
Local 3708, Council 82 AFSCME, AFL-CIO (term: January 1, 2017 – December 31,
2019).
*
Worked with Hampton Manor community to improve
the quality of drinking water: held two public meetings, surveyed attitudes and
preferences, and evaluated the Hudson Avenue water tanks.
*
Demonstrated support for important causes,
raised awareness of issues such as breast cancer, domestic violence and
childhood cancer, and opposed the Pilgrim Pipeline and Kinder Morgan’s
Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline.
*
Implemented an Honor a Veteran program.
Departments
*
Saw a sharp reduction in lost commercial value
in tax certiorari cases.
*
Improvements to Hampton Manor Park: new
playground equipment; Clean the Park Event; replaced the gazebo; sponsored a
mural painted by students; controlled the goose population.
*
Successful summer camp with increased attendance
for the 3rd straight year.
*
Expanded programs for seniors.
*
Successful Music in the Park and Town Festival
programs.
*
Established a process for handling planning
applications in a fair and equitable manner.
*
Increased reliance on in-house staff and the
Planning Board as advisors to the Town Board on development issues, increased
the quantity of technical meetings on projects and reduced reliance on
consultants.
*
Revived the Luther Road sidewalk project.
*
Issued an RFP for engineering services and
selected eight firms based on specialty.
*
Formed a GEIS Committee to oversee accounting,
policy and project selection.
*
Developed the outline of a Rapid Action Plan for
Columbia Turnpike.
*
Facilitated the demolition of the Weathervane
building.
*
Replaced the heating system in the Police
Department.
*
Replaced the Ridge Road 800 MHZ radio antenna
system.
*
Required the Police Chief to seek accreditation
under the New York State Law Enforcement Accreditation Program.
*
Removed the underground fuel tank at the Highway
Garage.
*
Doubled the paving budget.
*
Entered cooperative agreements with Rensselaer
County for snow and ice removal, and East Greenbush Central School District to
help pave the Little League/Softball parking lot on Gilligan Road.
*
Declared a local state of emergency after
sinkholes developed on Hydor Drive and used trenchless technology to repair the
entire storm water system on the street.
Wastewater
Treatment Plant
*
Issued $1.6 million in bonds and notes to
finance the final phase of the plant upgrade.
*
Reached substantial completion of the upgrade to
the plant itself.
*
Bid and awarded a contract to Wm Keller &
Sons for $1,237,000 to complete the Outfall Piping phase of the WWTP project.
*
Closed on long-term financing for $15.6 million
with the NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation.
Appendices
This
report also includes six appendices:
Appendix
1 Justice Court Audit
Response Letter
Appendix
2 Fund Balance Analysis
Appendix
3 Cost to the Town of
Engineering Consultants in 2015 and 2016
Appendix 5 Town
of East Greenbush Vehicle Inventory
Appendix 6 2016
Paving List
