As is becoming more prevalent in this age of the coronavirus, the Plattekill Town Board held their first meeting last week on phone lines with audio only that allowed the public to listen in and to make comments at the appropriate time. All Town Board members participated.

Supervisor Joe Croce said he is involved in daily updates with Ulster County officials on the coronavirus pandemic.

“As of this morning [4-1-20] there were 222 confirmed cases in Ulster County and 36 of those 222 are in Plattekill, the most in the county. There have been 3 deaths and 2 of the deaths being residents of Plattekill,” he said. “I only give you these numbers to stress how important it is for everyone to follow the guidelines that are out there about staying home unless you absolutely have to; if you need food you certainly have to go out and get food or doctor prescriptions but it’s very, very important that we all stay home and if we do go out of our homes, practice social distancing, wash you hands and cover your cough and do whatever you can to sanitize common areas of your residences.”

In response to a query from Gladys Figueroa, Croce said Plattekill is participating in Project Resilience, a county program that distributes food to anyone in need on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

“The first day we did it, there were 46 and that jumped to 63, then 126, then 147 and tomorrow we have 161 to deliver,” he said. “If you know anyone who would like to participate with these meals they can go to the county website and their covid page where there is a form they can fill out with their information and would be added to the list and then we would start delivering meals to them,” he said. [Go to https://covid19.ulster countyny.gov/projectresilience and then click on Request Meal Assistance].

Croce said since people are home he urged that, “they sit down and complete the 2020 census.”

After public input the board discussed two bids they received for the town grass cutting work: Grass Masters bid $545/wk and Dick’s Landscaping came in at $500/wk Each of the bids would rise by about $50 if they have to do the field that is used by a soccer team.

The board has used Grass Masters for some time and were not familiar with Dick’s Landscaping. The board, however, decided to delay awarding the grass bid until their April 15th meeting to allow Highway Superintendent Bobby Wager enough time to request and review references from Dick’s Landscaping.

The board approved paying bills in the amount of $36,413.93 of the General Fund and $16,307.29 of the Highway Fund for a total of $52,721.22.

Before adjourning Councilman Dean DePew had the last word.

“I would like to send a great-felt appreciation to all of the town’s employees including the Highway Department, Linda and the men down there as well, for the great job that they do in helping us through these difficult times and I wish their families all well,” he said.