RIPLEY — The Ripley Town Board accepted a letter of resignation from Shaun Waters, water and sewer superintendent, at its recent regular meeting.

“I have been given an opportunity that better meets the needs of my family,” Waters said.

Waters also submitted a request that his remaining hours of sick time, which exceed 100 hours, be added to the town employees’ sick bank. The bank exists for any employee who gets injured or needs sick pay beyond what they already have available. The board passed a resolution to honor Water’s request to add his hours to the employees’ sick bank.

The board also passed a resolution appointing water operator Andrew Strine as acting water and sewer superintendent, with a corresponding pay increase, effective Saturday, Aug. 15.

In a related matter, Doug Bowen, town supervisor, asked for board approval of a motion to obtain a separate cell phone for Strine, not to exceed $50 a month. It was noted that Waters used his personal phone and received reimbursement. Board members approved the acquisition of a cell phone for the acting water and sewer superintendent.

Bowen also asked for approval to post for a full-time water and sewer laborer and to post for temporary full-time laborers for water district #4. Board members approved tha postings, with applications due back by Sept. 3.

In other matters, Town Justice Vera Hustead submitted a letter asking for board permission to apply for a J-CAP (Justice Court Assistance Program) grant.

According to the New York State Unified court System, “This program was established by the Legislature to provide a means by which towns and villages may obtain limited State funding to improve operation of their Justice Courts.” Hustead told the board that the grant money will be used primarily for COVID-19 related expenses.

Bowen asked the board to approve moving $18,000 from Assessor’s Personal Services to Assessor’s Contractual Services because Ripley now shares an assessor with Westfield.

Board members accepted both Hustead’s and Bowen’s requests. The board also accepted a dog control officer inspection report, which was completed on July 3. The report shows that DCO services in Ripley are satisfactory, Bowen said.

In other business, Bowen told the board that two bids came in for the zero turn mower.

“We put out to bid the old zero turn mower at the cemetery,” he said. “We got one $450 bid and one $50 bid, so I’d like to award it to the individual who bid $450.” Board members approved the sale of the mower.

Bowen also gave board members an update on the town’s water and sewer projects.

“We are waiting for a response from upper state levels,” he said. “We should know as early as the end of next week so we can have a pre-construction meeting.”

Bowen said that work is nearly complete on Water district #5. Only the final pressure testing remains to be done, he said. Submittals for Water district #4 are being reviewed by Tom Becker at Rural Development, he added.