ACCORD – At the beginning of Rochester's December 1 town meeting, a moment of silence was observed to mark the passing of 29-year building department mainstay Brenda Striano, whose unexpected death left board members and colleagues at town hall in shock. Brenda's passing will necessitate some movements among staff, with Rebecca Paddock Stange moving from the planning board to Striano's position and Shaye Davis, court clerk and deputy town clerk, moving across to the planning board.

But then at the end of the meeting, long-term highway superintendent Wayne Kelder read a prepared note in which he announced his retirement, effective December 4. Councilman Tony Spano spoke for the board by thanking Kelder for his service and Mrs. Kelder for allowing the town to have her husband's services. Supervisor Carl Chipman added his own personal thanks to both Kelders.

"Wayne did a fantastic job here for 29 years and kept the roads in the best shape in Ulster County," Chipman said after the meeting. "It was a surprise to me, I did not expect that. But he's 75 years old, he was a farmer before he took this on, and he hasn't had a break in his whole life. I can see that it might be good for him to have some time off. And, we have new challenges involved in the budget process and it's going to be difficult to adjust."

The board held a special meeting on Monday, December 5, to start looking for a new highway superintendent and deal with the interim. In other, less tumultuous news, supervisor Chipman reported that efforts to obtain New York Rising funding helped get the bridge over the Mill Creek/ Rondout Creek junction just outside the hamlet of Accord on the list of forty bridges in New York State scheduled for replacement in the coming year. He explained that construction will get underway soon, following already-visible site preparations on lands the state has purchased. The bridge is scheduled to be finished August 2018.

Stage 1 of the replacement, Chipman added, will be the construction of a temporary bridge to one side of the eventual permanent bridge. Stage 2 will involve the actual construction of the new permanent bridge. The roadway and new bridge will be 18 feet higher than the current grade and involve the widening of Route 209. The risk of future flooding, the supervisor said, would be greatly reduced, though he added that he "wouldn't say never."

Planning board member Larry DeWitt also reported on progress toward getting a solar panel project installed on the old landfill site, noting the need for speed because of the queue for these proposals lining up to get connected to the grid. There are also crucial NYSERDA subsidies at stake, and the first tranche of proposals to be accepted will get 100 percent subsidies, the second tranche only 90 percent, and so on. Chipman said the town has experts going over the plans and the goal is to act on something in January.

Finally, the supervisor reported that an architect is about to begin work on the Alligerville Fire House project, which would create a 1,000 square foot communications center addition to the current building. Chipman said the plan is to go out to bid before the end of the year and should be completed by next summer.