Last week the Plattekill Town Board reminded the public that the annual Plattekill Day is fast approaching. It will take place on Saturday, September 21 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Town Park. The rain date is for Sunday, September 22.

There will be a car show, live music, craft and food vendors, face painting, a hayride, a dive tank and a drone demonstration. A pie eating contest is scheduled for 11:30 am and at 1pm the town will honor their Citizen of the Year.

In other news Supervisor Dean Dew read a letter he received from Roseann Daw, Ulster County Commissioner of Finance, informing the town that the county has purchased a new tax system through Systems East Incorporated called Total Collection Solutions [TCS]. The county is encouraging towns in the county to adopt TCS software to replace the old system that will not be supported by the Ulster County Information Services. The letter noted that the new system, “creates a more unified tax collection system throughout the county and we create a smoother process at tax settlement time.”

The county pointed out that when Plattekill is preparing their annual town budget, “please keep in mind there will be a yearly maintenance and support fee. This will be your town’s responsibility to pay after year one, maintenance of $135 annually if license purchasing with bulk licensing, otherwise it would end up being $595. A demonstration of the system was held on May 9 at the Esopus Town Hall and a second one will take place in October.

DePew said the town has budgeted for it in anticipation of this happening.

“We’re kind of being forced to do it and it makes more sense to do it now than it is two years from now and have our cost increase for that yearly maintenance,” he said.
The board voted to approve changing over to the TCS system. DePew said, “It’s a sign of the times and it’s an opportunity and it is where we are.”

During public input many residents voiced concerns about loud events taking place at Liberty View Farms in Clintondale that is run by Billiam van Roestenberg, a long-standing issue in the town. DePew said the board is aware of this and indicated they will be looking at it in the coming weeks. The Southern Ulster Times will be submitting Freedom of Information requests to receive copies of any complaints and to determine what has been done in the past by the Building Inspector and what action he will be taking in the future. The paper will also be reaching out to the local fire department for their concerns as well as to von Roestenberg for his comments on the matter. Often documents requested through FOIL take a few weeks to receive.

The old playground equipment at the town park has been removed and donated to the Library. The concrete foundation for the Pickle Ball court is in and is surrounded by a fence as well as the foundation for the GaGa Pit. The new equipment is in the process of being installed.
The board will be reviewing Requests for Proposals to have an engineering assessment done on the town hall building. The town received three base quotes: Tinkelman Architecture for $67,750; Barton & Loguidice for $19,800 and from GPI for $28,800. The board scheduled a public workshop meeting on September 10th to discuss these quotes.

DePew said in recent months they have been having issues with the air conditioning system at the town hall. Highway Superintendent Robert Wager has received three quotes to replace two central units; Northeast Climate Solutions in the amount of $15,500; T. Webber for $16,440 and Home Depot for $21,758. The board held off approving any of the quotes and wants the bidders to submit more detailed itemized estimates to the town to allow for a better comparison.