The town board approved the purchase of a plow-equipped dump truck at $140,000 at its meeting Monday Dec. 13. Highway Superintendent Don MacLachlan said the town would save $24,000 by buying this particular truck, which had been sitting on the lot at Stadium International in Syracuse. He also said now was an opportune time to buy.
“There’s new regulations coming for emissions and fuel which are going to raise the cost of the trucks anywhere from 10 to 20 thousand dollars,” MacLachlan said. The highway department has seven dump trucks, which tend to get replaced every 10 years – in this case, the outgoing truck has been used by the town for 11 years. Money for the purchase was included in the approved budget for 2011.
The purchase approval had nothing to do with the current weather conditions, though the record-breaking snow was heavy on MacLachlan’s mind as it continued to fall that night. “It’s been busy. Not much sleep,” he said. “We start all over tomorrow.” ‘Dog Law’ passes
The town board held a public hearing to consider adopting a local dog law – the result of New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets handing all dog licensing responsibilities over to towns. The town has been issuing licenses for years. The state’s main tasks were sending out the initial license renewal reminder, and keeping track of dogs in a database. The state’s database will shut down, but the town of Marcellus already has its own in place. “It basically gives us the authority to do things that we’ve been doing on behalf of the state,” Supervisor Dan Ross said. The town raised the yearly licensing fee from $5.50 to $6 for altered dogs and from $13.50 to $14.50 for unaltered dogs. Town Clerk Karen Pollard said the town wanted to be prepared for additional postage fees incurred by the town. “Postage seems to be going up every year anyway,” Pollard said.
No one spoke in favor of or against the dog law, which was passed unanimously by the board.
Saying goodbye to Mr. Wilson
Deputy Supervisor Frank Wilson, 77, passed away Friday Dec. 10 after a brief battle with cancer. Wilson was Marcellus Town Supervisor from 1994 to 2003. “With the unfortunate passing of Mr. Wilson we are without a deputy supervisor,” Ross said. The board appointed Councilor Tom Lathrop to Deputy Supervisor.
Wrapping up the year
The board scheduled its year-end meeting for 5 p.m. Wednesday Dec. 29, to be followed by its organizational meeting for 2011.