Barre town supervisor responds to criticisms in recent letter to editor

Posted 12 July 2017 at 12:49 pm

Editor:

In a recent letter to the editor, statements were made regarding items from a Town of Barre board meeting that need some clarification.

Solar energy installations intended for private use require only a proper building permit.  The Town has no interest in receiving any revenue from private installations. However, if a large commercial installation were proposed and constructed, it would be treated like any other commercial project such as wind farms, cell towers and the like.  The Town regularly receives fees from commercial installations in the Town e.g., National Grid.

Water meters belong to the customer and, as such, are the responsibility of the homeowner to maintain them. If the meter becomes inoperable or is damaged, the homeowner will need to replace it at their cost.

The Town received additional CHIPS funding in the amount of $64,454.  Any money received from the State of New York as CHIPS funds must be spent on road repair and cannot be used to offset any taxes. CHIPS funding accounts for the lion’s share of road repair funding in all towns of Orleans County. The State of New York requires towns to validate that CHIPS funds are spent on road repair

Respectfully

Mark Chamberlain

Supervisor, Barre