Just over half the bill will be footed by a grant from the EPA. Bruno frames it this way: “It was really a matter of pay $366,632.19 now or pay in excess of $814,738.19 in the near future, because if we did not act now, the town would lose the grant.”
Gaetana Ciarlante, a Glasco resident who is running for town supervisor, disagrees with that logic. “Just because you’re getting them for half-price doesn’t mean you need a new one,” she said.
Ciarlante has been critical of the town’s decision to pursue the project, which also included a sludge grinder and emergency generator for the Glasco sewer plant, and restoration and recoating of the water tank. The total cost is $2.3 million, with grants paying for 55 percent and the town borrowing the rest. Ciarlante objected to the town’s decision to hold a single public hearing on Feb. 6, which she described as a “bitterly cold frigid night,” before deciding to do the project.
“It’s always cold in February, is she saying we shouldn’t have February meetings?” said Myers, in response. “Town business goes on when it’s cold.”
Myers and Ciarlante squared off for the Republican nomination—which Myers won on the second ballot—and will face each other in the Aug. 28 Conservative Party Caucus. Myers said a lot of the concerned phone calls she received came from Glasco residents who became worked up after speaking with Ciarlante, who has been campaigning door-to-door.
“I don’t want to make it a political thing,” said Myers. “It sounds like [Ciarlante] is.”
Ciarlante denied this. She said she has been campaigning, but it’s the residents, not she, who bring up concerns about the meters. “People ask me about it,” she said. “I’m not going around trying to scare people. But people aren’t stupid, they know what a smart meter is.”
The meters are manufactured by North Carolina-based Sensus. The model is iPERL.
-Additional reporting by David Gordon
Thanks Will & David for fleshing out this story so thoroughly. I’ve been following the letters to the editor, and much appreciate that you’ve painted in the rest of the picture. Also glad to hear the town is holding another meeting. A major change without everyone in the loop is bound to be met with resistance, whether or not the change is widely seen as good, wanted or necessary.
The photo of the electric meter on Town website (chosen by Town Web-Master – Mike Campbell) to go with the Water Department’s announcement of public meeting is inaccurate. He was notified by the Water Dept. of this and provided a new photo. The photo will change to accurately depict what the water meters look like.
The water meters are being replaced- to comply with a change in federal law, requiring replacement of meters that contain lead/lead components beginning January 2014.
There is no law that requires citizens to get smart meters. Kelly Myers is absolutely WRONG about this. She is lying to the Saugerties citizens to get them to accept these dangerous devices without question. WHY are you doing this to the constituents who elected you, Kelly? WHY? If the feds were so concerned about the very minute amount of “lead” (which is in the form of brass and only in the fittings) WHY are they not concerned about the mass majority of lead in the PIPES? Kelly was NOT ABLE to answer that question, nor were her hired smart meter sales people who are eating up your tax money. None of them could answer the “lead” queston. Thats becasue it is nothing but an excuse. SAY NO TO SMART METERS and SAVE YOUR HEALTH! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4JDEspdx58
The anti smart meter people are nuts. Keep fighting them. Let science and reason win, not crazy beliefs. Did you know people who believe smart meters are dangerous are twice as likely to believe in unicorns? Seriously. OK, not really I made that up, but still they are nuts. Please send harassing emails to [email protected].
Hey Wes, hate to be the source of your demise, but the PRO smart meter people like you are not only clueless, they are also hypocrites. What happened to the 1st amendment? Out the door with the 2nd, I presume? Kelly Myers didnt stick up for Saugerties on the 2nd amendment, so why whould she do anything to protect us from people like you who want to take away our choices and freedom of speech? If you want a smart meter, go ahead and get one! Soon you will be crying. And we will be saying “Told ya so… Too bad you were not ‘smart’ enough to listen.” I am keeping my dumb meter, along with my health. You can watch and weep the first 60 sec of this video as your red blood cells turn into mush, like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4JDEspdx58
Cant get much more “scientific evidence” than blood cells from exposed victims.
Fight them tooth and nail. Up your wes
“Smart meters” can be hacked. Look at what’s going on in England.
Why smart meters might not be so clever after all
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/18/smart-meters-uk-hacking-electricity
Kelly Myers: If you keep this up and try to impose smart meters on the people of Saugerties your gonna lose the election. You got in because you promised to help the people stop Dickenson’s Keep and once in, you did basically nothing to stop it. It was a small group of concerned citizens that stopped that project. You showed up at a couple meetings and were as quiet as a church mouse, not a peep out of you to defend this town. And now you are going OUT with this smart meter issue. Who would support someone who is trying to compromise the health of the citizens, whether because you didn’t do your research, dont understand the implications, or because you and that board of yours have collectively become prositutes to grant money? It is you who needs to smarten up. Don’t any of you people do any research before you spend hundred$ of thousand$ of other people’s money? Don’t you see that people across America are getting sick from these devices? People like you who don’t do their research and don’t care about the people you are affecting should not run for office. People like you who impose dangerous health compromising devices on the townspeople should be fired immediately.
Except of course there is precisely zero scientific evidence that smart-meters in any way “compromise the health of citizens”.
Put away the tin-foil hats, everyone, please.
Science? Science? We don’t need no stinkin science. Can’t you tell by how wide-eyed we are that we are true believers. You Derek are a Herbert. Some of you will recognize the reference – so beam me up Scotty.
A couple of Luddites in the town.
Where is an independent 20 years scientific study of these meters? The people who arrogantly call those who are concerned tin hatters etc are the very ones that live on their cell phones, smoke, use stinky toxic dryer sheets, eat lunch meats filled with nitrates and salt and absolutely have no clue why they get cancer or why anything else happens the way it does. I do not want any change in meters. Don’t we have other things to spend money on in this town? Education. A town swimming pool, a dog park, etc. I always say when something like this happens, FOLLOW THE MONEY TRAIL and you will find the reason for something that is purchased that will ultimately harm people.
Additionally, some people are indeed sensitive to these meters and should not be forced to endure them by the town.