JEFFERSONVILLE  — The Town of Callicoon heard an update from Code Enforcement Officer Kris Scullion regarding two unsafe properties at 797 North Branch Callicoon Center Road and 659 North Branch Callicoon Center Road. 

According to Scullion, the seven junk cars that were on the property at 659 North Branch Callicoon Center Road were successfully removed by Dick’s Auto Sales which sent in the lone demo bid. Four cars were on Mauer Road and the other three on County Road 123. 

Town Supervisor Tom Bose noted during their regular board meeting on Monday, October 14, that the removal of the junk cars didn’t cost the town anything and that the property’s neighbors are now happy.  

For the other property, an asbestos inspection had to be completed prior to the town accepting any contractor’s bid. While the board had received one demolition bid last month, from K. Klein and Sons, the demolition process now requires changes following the asbestos inspection. 

Scullion said that McLoughlin Properties out of Newburgh completed the inspection and after taking samples all over the house, there was asbestos found on the pipes as well as the insulation in the basement. Also coming back positive for asbestos was some of the tar and shingles on the roof. 

The demolition process now has to be changed to include asbestos abatement as well, which Scullion said contractors must have a license for. The Code Enforcement Officer said that he met with one contractor at the house, Haven Property Solutions based in Slate Hill. He noted that another contractor in Monticello visited the site while he wasn’t there. 

It was determined by the gentleman who met Scullion there from Haven Property Solutions, that since the roof is in such bad condition, he can’t strip the shingles off of it without taking the whole roof down. 

Scullion said that all the work that would need to be done in taking the insulation out of the basement, including cleaning everything else out of the basement and then trying to get the roof off, it was determined that it would be more than to demo the whole house. 

“So he said you just haul the whole house and cart it away to a landfill that accepts asbestos,” Scullion said. “Line the beds and trucks with plastic, put the whole house in there, take it away and take it to a landfill that accepts asbestos.”

He said that he asked for bids on it from the three contractors he was in contact with that had asbestos licenses and received one back, from Haven Property Solutions. The board opened the sealed bid that they received from this contractor and the total price was $87,765. Scullion said that he tried to get a more local contractor, with the one in Monticello the closest to the town, but did not get a bid back in time for the meeting. 

Town Attorney Marvin Newberg said that it would be no cost to the town as they would get reimbursed after the demo was complete. If it didn’t get paid on the tax bill, the town would receive a chargeback and the county would have to deal with it. 

The bid is good for 30 days and the board decided to table moving forward with accepting it to allow Newberg to review the bid package. Scullion noted that the contractor would have to get permission from the state as well as alert the landfill that it’s going to for permission to dump it. 

The board tabled the resolution for their November 11 meeting and will decide then whether or not to accept this bid and move forward with the demo. If they don’t accept the bid next month, the process of receiving bids would start over. 

Speed limit

reduction request

Per Bose, a property owner spoke to Town Clerk Kim Klein about reducing the speed limit on County Road 125 at the intersection of Callicoon Center Road and Sander Road. Bose said that the town has received complaints about people driving too fast on that road. He said that if the two were to move forward on doing a resolution to request a speed limit reduction, it would go on to the county and then the state for approval. 

“My personal opinion of this is that it’s not going to do any good,” Bose said. “It’s already a county road, it’s posted at 55 and if it were posted at 30, people are still going to travel too fast. People don’t pay attention to the signs and I think it’s a waste of time. If you do put signs up, it has to be enforced.”

Bose noted that the county has a great Sheriff’s Office and Department that are occasionally on the town’s roads, but having someone there at all times to do radar is not realistic in his opinion. 

While he believes speeding is a problem, Bose said that the speed limit reduction request would not work because he doesn’t believe the state would even approve it. 

However, the board ultimately voted to at least give it a chance and push the resolution up to the County Department of Public Works (DPW) and let Commissioner Ed McAndrew and his team look at the possibility of a speed limit reduction.