WHITE LAKE — The simmering rancor between Bethel Highway Superintendent Bill Crumley and some of the Bethel Town Board boiled over again during Wednesday's meeting.

This time, the fight was over a 3,000-gallon tank Crumley had purchased to dispense calcium chloride on town roads for both dust and snow control.

Supervisor Dan Sturm and councilwomen Vicky Vassmer-Simpson and Lilly Hendrickson took issue primarily with two facets: that the $4,250 purchase wasn't solicited via the town policy of three written quotes, and that the equipment will be putting a chemical compound on roadways.

“I want no part of it,” Sturm declared, with the board majority threatening not to pay the vendor who supplied the equipment.

A frustrated Crumley explained that calcium chloride isn't that different from salt, except that it's cheaper to use, and less will be spread on roads in the winter.

“The DEC [NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation] says it's OK,” he added.

Crumley characterized it as an environmentally-safe and cost-efficient solution, but Sturm preferred the town stick to sand, especially now that it has use of a new town-owned sand mine in Smallwood.

As for the lack of competing quotes, Crumley blamed Sturm, saying the supervisor had told him just to make a couple of calls and do research online.

“I was under the impression that's all I had to do,” Crumley stated during the meeting. “Shame on me for taking him at his word!

“This is a $4,250 purchase,” he continued. “We spend that in a day sometimes!”

“None of us knew the tank was coming until it was delivered that day,” complained Sturm, noting that the snow removal budget is $45,000 in the red, and the calcium chloride would cost the town 94 cents a gallon.

“That is my issue: we didn't have enough discussion before we did this,” remarked Vassmer-Simpson.

Crumley is empowered to make various purchases and provide highway services as he sees fit, but it's the town board that pays the bills, and on Wednesday, there was little support to pay this particular bill.

Councilman Bernie Cohen moved to table the matter until the next meeting, which Vassmer-Simpson initially seconded, then rescinded. Councilwoman Dawn Ryder subsequently seconded Cohen's motion to table, but it failed 3-2.

Ryder then moved to pay the bill, but she found no one willing to second her motion. Thus the bill remains unpaid.

The following Friday, Sturm indicated the matter will again be brought up at the July 8 meeting. He'd had a chance to talk with Crumley on Thursday and discovered the substantial cost of removing the tank to send it back.

Characterizing the discussion as a fruitful one, Sturm seemed inclined to now keep the equipment on the one town truck, albeit with an intent not to expand the system at this point.

“Hopefully, by the next town board meeting, we'll have everything resolved to everyone's satisfaction,” he said.

Yasgur Road gets noise permit

The annual gathering of Woodstock fans and music-lovers on the former Max Yasgur farmstead earned the needed noise permit at Wednesday's meeting.

Unanimously issued by the town board, the permit covers not just the Friday-Sunday festival on Jeryl Abramson's property in Bethel but the Thursday prior, in order to conduct sound checks.

Yasgur Road Productions can exceed typically permitted noise levels (albeit with speakers tilted toward the ground and pointed away from neighboring properties) on the following days and times:

• August 13, 10 a.m.-midnight

• August 14 and 15, 10 a.m.-2 a.m.

• August 16, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Road to Toronto remains a bumpy one

Also at Wednesday's meeting, Sturm announced the town board had sent a letter complaining about the condition of the privately-owned but publicly-accessible road leading to the Toronto Reservoir's dam area access.

“The road is so bad that a car could not possibly get to the public access area, let alone a fire truck or other emergency vehicle,” the letter stated. “It is vital for this road to be up to a driveable standard for public access, emergency vehicles, visitors, and dam security and maintenance crews. The access must be maintained as cited in NYS Fire Code Section 503.”

Addressed to North American Hydro Holdings Senior Vice President of Operations and Maintenance Robert Gates, the June 15 letter was re-sent June 26, with no response, according to town officials.

The letter was also sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Friends of Toronto, an advocacy group focused on maintaining public access to the hydroelectric reservoir.

“Soon you won't have to fish on the lake,” wryly joked Friends of Toronto member Bob Barrett of Smallwood. “You'll be able to fish out of the potholes!”