Town officials hope that the sun’s rays will have save electricity costs at the Town Hall.
The Town Board on Wednesday voted to send a request for proposals install a photovoltaic array on the roof of the municipal center on Glenridge Road. The plan would involve installing 44 solar panels capable of generating 13,500 kilowatt-hours of electricity. The exact cost savings were not available from the town.
In addition, there will be a kiosk inside town hall that will display real-time and historical data of how much power the building is using and how much is being generated by the solar unit.
Acting Director of Operations James MacFarland said the bids will be due at the end of the month.
This is all covered under a $100,000 grant the town received from the New York Power Authority to design and install a solar generator for a town building. A study showed that the municipal center was the optimal site.
In other business, the town voted to increase fees for use of town fields and facilities. MacFarland said many of these fees had been in the range of $10 or $20 per hour.
Now, at Indian Meadows Park, the fee to rent the baseball fields for three hours will be $100 or $150 if it is prepped with lines and bases. The baseball pavilion can be rented for a minimum of two hours at a cost of $50 an hour for a group of 25 to 50 people and $100 per hour for a group of 50 or more.
The rate for the soccer and Pop Warner fields is $50 per hour, the softball fields is $20 per hour and the playground pavilion is $10 per hour.
At Maalwyck Park, the soccer fields can be rented for $50 an hour.
MacFarland pointed out that people only need to pay the fee if they want to rent it at a specific time.
“Anybody can go and take their chances. The field may be used for something else or it may not be prepared.”
These are competitive rates and are justified considering the upgrades that have been made to the facilities, MacFarland said.
“There’s much more demand. There’s also more cost.”
Also on Wednesday, the board:
u Scheduled a public hearing on April 21 at 7:30 p.m. to change the speed limit on Hoffman Hill Road Extension from 40 miles per hour to 30 miles per hour and place a stop sign at the intersection of Alder Lane and Willow Lane with the stop sign on Willow Lane.
u Scheduled a public hearing on April 21 at 7:30 p.m. on the creation of a Small Claims Settlement Board. This would allow claims of $500 or less to be settled by a board consisting of the town attorney, comptroller and director of operations.
u Authorized Police Chief Michael Ranalli to accept a COPS grant that would allow the town to receive a new records management and computer-aided dispatch system for the next three years. The grant includes all software, software licenses, necessary interfaces and data conversion and installation and training. The Albany Police Department is the lead agency on this project.
In addition, Supervisor Chris Koetzle announced that he will hold weekend office hours on the first Saturday of every month from 8:30 to 11 a.m. People can call 688-1200 or send an e-mail to [email protected] to make an appointment.
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