Children’s group focuses on community

By: 
Leslie Silverman
A new children’s group in the Town of Keystone being led by Stacy Dean and Chris Miles is focused on community projects. 
Dean and Miles addressed the Keystone Town Board at its Sept. 1 meeting. The pair has been helping with the Keystone recreation program this summer and are now working with children weekly after school.
Dean and Miles are medical missionaries who approached the board about painting the propane tank outside of City Hall. 
“They’re really great kids,” said Dean. “We want to instill in them  building community and bringing everybody together.”
The board approved $315 for painting and brushes for the project, which will come out of the promotional fund.
The board discussed allocating the $61,337.53 it received in coronavirus local fiscal recovery funds  for the town’s SCADA system.
“We spent $80,000 on our SCADA system which preserves the security of our water system. It also allows our staff, that if they should end up with Covid, to work from home,” said finance officer Cassandra Ott. Ott feels there is a strong argument that coronavirus local fiscal recovery funds could be used for this and the board approved this pursuit.
A public meeting for review of the town’s FEMA flood study project is set for Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. Mitigation ideas, flood risk and prevalence are topics to be discussed. The floodplains have changed a bit due to better mapping techniques. 
A public meeting to address fire mitigation in the town will take place in either September or October.
The board discussed moving forward with the Bullion Street water project. The project is “on the docket” for next year, according to Ott. It is legally possible to do a special assessment for the neighborhood and it is possible for the people to reject the special assessment. The road is a public right of way. Neighborhood residents are being charged for the water and sewer they use. Residents have water pressure issues and the sewer needs manholes every 300 feet. It is unclear what exactly needs to be done to fix all the issues.
The town has gotten “quite a bit” of sales tax in August, according to Ott. The BBB is “also doing well” and is “just shy of the average.” The paid parking lot averaged $395 per day  in 2021.
The public works department washed the other side of Winter Street and began to put rocks around the community center. The town’s new SCADA system  will be turned over to the department next week. Due to a shortage during Covid public works superintendent Jerry Przybylski bought bridge sealer preemptively for application this fall. 
The town board is increasing its communication with city staff by holding meetings twice a month. The meetings will be with rotating board members to increase communication and allow an opportunity for staff to get to know members who are new  to the board.
The utility certificate for the Roy Street bridge project was approved by the board. There had been questions about the relocation of utilities at a previous meeting which the town’s engineer addressed. The town will not be responsible for moving private utilities. 
The second reading of the town’s  ordinance regarding licensing and regulation of cannabis establishments  was read. The town board had previously decided on no more than two dispensaries within town limits that will need to operate year round. 
The first reading of the 2022 appropriation ordinance was approved. 
No action was taken when the board went into executive session for personnel reasons.
A sealed bid from MH Builders in the amount of $50 for a  surplus trailer. 
The next Keystone town board meeting takes place Sept. 15 at 6 p.m.
 

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