Board Votes Down St. Paul's Roof Repairs

Trustees voted 5-2 against an $11,300 expenditure to perform roof repairs and close up the clock tower's south side at St. Paul's.

Several areas of the roof were peeled away and the south side of the clock tower - a wooden frame structure - completely fell out during Tropical Storm Irene. These damaged areas are now open to the elements so when it rains, it pours inside the building, he said.

Trustees Nick Episcopia, Laurence Quinn, Dennis Donnelly, Brian Daughney and John DeMaro were the five nay votes while mayor Don Brudie and deputy mayor John Watras voted in favor of the repairs (trustee Andrew Cavanaugh was not present.)

"I don't believe we should be making those repairs," Daughney said.

Trustee Donnelly agreed, adding: "In the past with the budgets we've passed we eliminated skating at Hubbell's Pond, we reduced the amount of senior trips, we had fewer concerts at the gazebo this year, we delayed fixing up the roller hockey rink ... I think this expenditure of money could be used in a lot better places."

Daughney said that unless the damage was causing a safety issue, he thought it "silly" to spend the money. Ocker, however, said that although officials erected more permanant fencing around the clock tower wing, loose materials could still fall from the building.

Ocker said the suggested plywood would be painted to match the other clock face.

Trustee Episcopia suggested deferring the item altogether to get estimates as to what a fabricated clock face would cost and look like. "I don't think it's a particularly good idea to go there and stick a piece of wood which I believe is the plan where the clock was. I would prefer to defer the item and to see if we can find a fabricator to either replace the clock or to make some sort of clock face to match the other side. No one's looking to make Big Ben or tell time but at least when someone drives by and they look up they don't see a piece of wood. I'm talking strictly aesthetics," he said.

Episcopia assured this wasn't the start of "some slippery slope to go spend $20, $30 or $40 million on something we're not sure people even want."

His motion, however, failed by a 4-3 margin (trustees Donnelly, Daughney, DeMaro and Quinn voted against).

According to village clerk Brian Ridgway, officials will now inquire whether or not village staff can make the fix on the clock tower.