GERMANTOWN–The town Planning Board changed the date of its July meeting to Monday, July 23 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall. Board chairman Stephen Reynolds said July 17 that planners might take up Primax Properties’ proposal for a Dollar General retail store on Route 9G; “it depends on how much progress the new town attorney has made,” he said.

When former Town Attorney Tal Rappleyea resigned, he was in the midst of drafting a list of conditions of approval for the project that Primax would agree to if planners approved the project. Mr. Rappleyea was town attorney for the long life of the Primax proposal, which began in late 2014.

Corinne Smith, a partner at Whitbeck, Benedict & Smith, LLP in Hudson, was appointed town attorney at a special Town Board meeting July 2.

In other business at its July 10 meeting, the Town Board:

• Tabled until the spring of 2019 a revaluation of assessments for town properties. The equalization rate is “about 85%” assessor Ralph DelPozzo told the board. “The state wants us to get at 100%.”

Of the 1,100 properties in town, 110 have veterans’ exemptions, 312 have the Basic Star exemption, 24 have agricultural exemptions and a little more than 200 have Enhanced Star (65+) exemptions

• Set a public hearing for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 14 before the next Town Board meeting for comment on a new fee schedule for building permits and Planning Board fees

• Postponed a decision on guidelines for alternates to the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals. Ms. Smith was asked to assist in drafting a new Local Law on this

• Declined to draft a noise ordinance, finding that it would be too hard to enforce

• Agreed to discuss and decide upon at the July 18 meeting a grant application from the Waterfront Advisory Committee to Hudson River Valley Greenway for $8,000 to survey and clean up a town-owned property half a mile north of Cheviot Park. Proposed as Ice House Landing Park (formerly the site of an ice house), the land could be made into a pleasant, undeveloped park with a landing for kayaks and canoes, said Kaare Christian, reporting for the committee. The town’s matching commitment would be an in-kind contribution, not funds

• Learned that the town grounds passed an inspection by the Columbia County Health Department on June 19 but the Wastewater Treatment Plant did not do so well in an unexpected inspection by NYS Public Employees Safety and Health. PESH will issue a report this summer, and in the meantime, sewer superintendent George Sharpe Jr. said he was working on some changes that PESH wanted

• Learned that Germantown Hose Company #1 is preparing to host the Columbia County Volunteer Firefighters 93rd convention and parade July 28. Roads will be closed during the 5 p.m. parade step off. The evening will offer entertainment and fireworks

• Learned that summer camp had started on July 9 with more than 180 day campers, and the June 30 fireworks drew about 1,500 people.