Milo defers action on fence law

MILO—Milo Councilman Gene Spanneut motioned to table a proposed fence law after concerns were raised during a public hearing held Monday, June 17 during the board’s regular meeting. During the public hearing, resident Bill Laffin said he had discovered three problems and loopholes within the proposed regulation that need to be addressed before adoption.
Laffin referenced the town’s 2008 fence and hedge law, saying the current legislation does not contain any regulations pertaining to hedges or other living fences. He said if passed, the town would revert back to some of the same issues they had before 2008.
Laffin said the proposed legislation also did not provide a standard as to the finish applied to a fence. He said the finish of fence should keep within some sort of public decorum. Laffin also said there was also an issue with the allowed height of a fence, with the current law allowing a fence no higher than four feet, while the proposed regulation has a loophole for each individual panel.
Upon hearing these recommendations, Spanneut suggested tabling any action on the law in order to send it back to committee to have those issues addressed.
“I don’t see if there would be any harm in postponing it until it can be reviewed in regards to previously mentioned issues,” Spanneut said.
Councilman James Harris agreed, saying “we might as well make it as right as we can before adoption so we don’t have to go back and make any changes.”
In other business:
• Jack Young and several other residents of Country Estates Road spoke during the public comment segment of the meeting asking the town for help regarding the poor condition of their road. Young said the road is privately owned by Bucky Lane and is in need of repair. He said Lane had told him he was planning to turn the road over to the village by June 1, but nothing ever came of it, and it is in inappropriate condition for the town to take over.
Supervisor Leslie Church said since it is a private road, there is nothing the town can do to repair it and it is not the town's place to step in. She said Lane is the only one who would have the legal standing to begin the dedication process, and it would need to be brought up to town specifications before the road was brought under town control. Church said the residents should be seeking communication with Lane on this issue or seek legal assistance.
• The board approved the scheduling of leak detection services to be conducted by Cindy Stephan for water district one at a cost no greater than $2,000. Wayne Ackart said the water district has had continuing problems with materials used for connection of water service, namely corrosion affecting the saddles, causing leaks in the system. He said Stephan has equipment to ultrasonically listen to detect the location of leaks so the town can repair them before a "catastrophic failure" occurs.
• The board declared a loader as surplus equipment to be sold on a municipal auction website.
• Patrick Grimaldi was appointed town assessor for a term beginning Oct. 1, 2013 and ending Sept. 30, 2019.
• The board authorized the town attorney to proceed with legal action against the property owner of 569 East Lake Road for property maintenance violations.