Gallatin during Covid –19.

As a Town, we’ve been very fortunate to date to have no reported infections and no deaths, although part of that zero infection number is no doubt due to the lack of testing in the area. We are traditionally an independent and hearty stock and that self-reliance serves us well right now. Saying that, we now look at another month of state mandated isolation and I wanted to emphasize a few points as we spend another thirty days together in Gallatin by being apart.

1.    The Town Hall is officially closed but informally open for safe business. We have ordered more hand sanitizer, which has been a popular item these last two weeks and will continue to help our local businesses and farms with resupply, as they need. If you need some, come to the Town Hall parking lot and there’s a table set up outside. We ask that for now you fill only a small 8-ounce bottle or two for home use. We also have some people volunteering to make masks if someone needs one. Masks will be the mandated fashion rage for the near future.

2.    We have been able to keep Town business going at full speed and a phone call to the Town Hall at 518.398.7519 will allow you to conduct most essential business tasks via email, mail or drive up window style. We are formally here Monday, Friday and Saturday 8 to 12 but are informally here for clerk and supervisor business most days and will answer the call. The state has issued the equivalent to a “stop work” on construction projects that employ large crews working closely together but our code enforcement officer can still issue permits at a safe distance/mail etc.. and will conduct inspections for work done by those exempted from the governors order, such as one-man or family run businesses that are still at work. During inspections, I ask you to be accommodative of safety in allowing the area to be open and empty for at least 4 hours before any inspection. I want to thank Lisa,Rene and Jake for spending more time than usual seeing to the Town business. Also a big thank you to Lisa DeLeeuw and Pat Odell (our  “elder” reps) for calling and checking in on the Gallatin elders- for needs or a quick chat. If we missed you and you have a need or a question – call us at the Town Hall number above.

3.  Our Gallatin Highway crew is working at full capacity and handling many long-term “to do” list items while they await new planning on road maintenance for this year. That will be the subject of a later post on budgets during Covid. Jack Gomm has our four-man crew of Bobby, Todd, Tyler and Joe using different vehicles and working at safe distances and we have had no issues to date. It would be helpful if it would stop hailing and snowing in April, but we are thankful for a relatively mild winter- budget wise – and look forward to completing a lot of work this season. I thank the crew for their dedication and commitment during this period, nary a word about a sick day or a day off or a complaint.

4.  Our agreement with G-Tel on fiber led to the installation of a small equipment hut on our Highway Garage property. In return we now have free high-speed broadband at the Gallatin Town garage, Town Hall and Courthouse. In addition, a reminder that G-Tel has been nice enough to provide a free high-speed hotspot at the Gallatin Town Hall parking lot. If you’re having any problems at home with broadband connections please feel free to park here – we wont think your stalking – work video meetings or a family movie drive in style- we will make popcorn for you in the microwave if we are here.

5.  FOOD PANTRY… We have a good amount food donated (Thank you residents!). We want to encourage more pickup. Town Hall is a no judgment zone and food is located in a separate hall with separate entrance/exit so come pick up for your house’s need or for a friend/family you may know has some need but cannot or does not want to come to Town Hall.  In the local area we have Ancram to the East which has a local neighbors program and Pine Plains to the south where the local church has a non-denominational pantry in the basement and Elizaville- our nearest pantry to “Gallatin-West” which is a long standing pantry. Elizaville is an amazing multi-decade passion project for three dedicated women, which has now wound down to once a month for a few hours and no longer participates in regional pantry stocking programs. Gallatin’s gifted grant writing Clerk recently got a $750 grant from the Bank of Greene County towards site planning at the Conservation site (See budget email for updates there) that I am asking the Town Board to consider re-purposing towards a more permanent food pantry here at Town Hall (the bank is fine with idea). I think a food pantry needs time for folks to get used to coming to on a regular basis and to get stocked under the regional programs as well as through private resident donations. This small grant could be a seed to install some permanent storage cabinetry in the Town meeting room to be opened on Saturday mornings each week. We could then look to expand to refrigerated donations from local farms and produce growers as we see demand and we have volunteers. Food for thought so to speak….

John C Reilly
Town of Gallatin Supervisor
Columbia County Health Department Update

As of 3 PM on April 16, 2020:

-10 community members have passed away from COVID-19
-102 positive cases of COVID-19
-49 of the 102 cases have recovered from COVID-19
– 10 of the positive cases are hospitalized, 3 of those are in the ICU
-We have received 779 test results completed for Columbia County residents
– 76 residents are under mandatory quarantine and 10 under precautionary quarantine
-There are 6 residents with suspected, not tested cases