By JOSHUA THOMAS

C-S-E Editor

MINDEN — Last Thursday evening, Fort Plain Mayor Guy Barton attended the Minden Town Board meeting, asking the board to consider a joint town and village application for grant funding to build a sand, salt and fuel depot.

“I’m here to ask the town board if they are interested in applying for a sand/salt/fuel depot, as we did in the past,” said Barton, referring to a previous failed application attempt. The previous application, created by the Grant Writers, will be re-submitted by Doug Greene, senior planner at the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development and Planning, “at no cost to either community,” according to Barton, continuing, “I think it’s an ideal opportunity.”

The application will be updated to reflect current salt, sand and fuel costs, and must be submitted by March 13, 2013.

Supervisor Thomas Quackenbush noted that the Fort Plain Central School District should be approached to apply alongside the town and village, as “A three-way effort is better than a two-way effort.”

He explained, “when it comes to handing out these grants, they like to see the consolidated effort.”

Councilmember and Fort Plain School Board President Todd McFee noted that the Board of Education would be interested in hearing a proposal.

While the Minden Town Board didn’t have a resolution on the agenda, the entirety of the board voted to add one, then accepting the resolution to apply for consolidated grant funding.

The town board also sealed the six month contract for shared code enforcement with the village, which the village board approved at their meeting last Tuesday. Each member of the board voted to accept the contract except for Councilmember Steve Heiser, who voted against the intermunicipal code enforcement resolution.

The town board also accepted a resolution — not unanimously, as Councilmember Steve Heiser voted against it — to pay a veterinary bill for a dog injured while in the possession of Minden Dog Control officer James Brownell.

The town agreed to pay the total of $517.80, which covers the cost of original x-rays, along with secondary x-rays, to make sure the unlicensed dog, which fell out of the back of a town vehicle after being captured by Brownell following an escape from its property, is properly recovering from its injuries.

“This is in full satisfaction of the request from a town resident, and this drops the issue,” said Quackenbush.