Newfield seeks summer camp director

Newfield’s Town Board discussed issues facing the summer camps in the town, including the need for a new summer camp director, at its March 11 meeting.

Supervisor Michael Allinger announced the vacancy on the behalf of Austin Kuczek, the town’s recreation director. Allinger added that he hopes to get more candidates to apply to the posting on the county website before it closes March 18 and encouraged people to refer possible candidates.

Town Bookkeeper Blixy Taetzch said that no one had applied for the position as of the day before the meeting. She said that she is unsure whether applicants are required to have a bachelor’s degree or not, but they must be at least 21 years old and have at least 24 months of experience supervising children, which will limit the number of candidates.

Allinger said that while Kuczek cannot fill the role of camp director because he does not have enough experience supervising children, Kuczek told Allinger that he has two interested candidates for the position who have not applied yet.

Board member Christine Laughlin said that she had also spoken to prospective candidates but suggested that the town may need to consider shortening the duration of the camps. She said that reducing camp to a month might work better, especially if it means that camp could start after the Fourth of July and not be interrupted by the holiday weekend.

She also proposed taking the COVID-19 pandemic into account and running two three-week camp sessions instead, depending on the restrictions from the county.

“We need to look outside the box a little bit instead of just doing it the way we’ve always done it,” Laughlin said.

Taetzch said she agreed with Laughlin that the camp director will likely have to take COVID-19-related restrictions into account and made note of that in the job posting.

“Things are going to have to be different,” Taetzsch said. “So, hopefully, that person will be involved in helping figure that out.”

Newfield to purchase truck

The Board passed a motion to purchase a new truck for the town’s highway department during its March 11 meeting.

Highway Superintendent Kevin Berggren gave the Board a report about the current status of the highway, water and sewer departments.

Berggren said that the truck replacement will fit the department’s 10-year plan, as the truck that will be replaced is 11 years old. He said that since the truck is “the one that we’ve been putting all the money into,” it will be good to get rid of it.

Laughlin and fellow Board member Casey Powers agreed, noting that the truck that will be replaced often needs repairs.

According to Berggren, the department can finance the purchase. He asked to purchase the truck before next year’s budget is solidified, citing that Town Attorney Thomas Smith approved of doing so.

Berggren said the town will have to pay for the truck in the next fiscal year and will not receive the truck until the middle of 2022.

According to Berggren, the old truck cost just over $243,000, plus a separate cost for a $7,300 extended warranty. He said the new truck will be $242,800 with the $7,300 warranty built into the purchase price, resulting in the town saving about $7,500.

“I never used to be a big believer in the extended warranties,” Berggren said. “But with the new emissions and all that, I think it’s well worth it.”

Berggren put the order in for the truck the day after the meeting. He said that because steel prices are rising, he hoped to buy the truck before the price rose by 15 to 20%, which he said is a substantial amount of money when buying a truck that costs over $200,000.

The Board unanimously passed the motion.

In Brief:

Town sets building permit fee for Verizon tower

The Newfield Town Board unanimously voted to pass a motion charging Verizon Wireless a $750 building permit fee and a $300 special use fee for the Danby Road cell phone tower.

Newfield History and Activity Center holds open house

The Newfield History and Activity Center will hold an open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 20. According to Jon Armstrong, a volunteer for the Historical Society, the event will feature quick walkthroughs of the center, and high school students will film virtual tours of the Center. The Center is located next door to the Library, which is at 198 Main St. in Newfield. Learn more at https://newfieldpubliclibrary.org/events/nhac-open-house-2.