Pete Angie, who has served on the town of Ulysses planning board since 2021 and is the current chair for the board, has announced his resignation from his position, due to leaving the town. 

Angie’s current term on the board was through December of 2026, and his resignation was effective May 31. 

Taking his place will be Karl Klankowski, who was appointed as an alternate on the planning board last year. He has been in the town of Ulysses since 2021. He said he is willing to serve as the chair through the end of this year, but will be unable to attend the next two planning board meetings due to prior obligations.  

At the May 21 planning board meeting, Angie attempted to find a current member who would be willing to serve as the board chair, but most members were unwilling, except for Klankowski. 

“I’m pretty new to this game, but certainly willing to put the time in to make it work,” Klankowski said. 

Town Board Member Elizabeth Weatherby said she has worked with Klankowski on the steering committee and spoke on his qualifications for the position. 

“Based off my experience with Karl on the comp[rehensive] plan steering committee he is very thorough, he knows a lot about this town, probably more than some other folks that have lived there their whole lives,” Weatherby said. 

Klankowski was appointed unanimously by the board at the Tuesday, June 11 meeting and will serve as the planning board chair through Dec. 31, 2021. 

Town Supervisor Katelin Olson said that she was appreciative of Klankowski stepping up to the role and thanked him for his willingness to serve. Olson also thanked Angie for his service to the town and said that he served the town’s planning board during a very challenging time. 

Current Planning Board Member Rebecca Schneider thanked Angie for his service on the board at his last meeting on May 21. 

“It has been a total delight having you be our chair, our leader, and you have set a role model that is very hard to be as you have always maintained all of the details, you’ve done your homework very thoroughly,” Schneider said. “You have this wonderful calm, positive demeanor that makes each meeting go smoothly and pleasantly.”

“Thank you very much for your willingness to step in, we appreciate your public service, sometimes it feels more onerous than others,” Olson said. 

At the meeting, a member of the public who did not state her name said she had been on the planning board in 1998. She emphasized that she believes the workload of a planning board chair has increased over the past few years and that the town should consider paying planning board members. 

“It seems to me that it has been difficult to recruit and also difficult to retain the people on those boards, and I feel that the time has come, particularly with the comp[rehensive] plan adding to the work even more, for the board to consider stipends for the folks who serve on those boards,” she said. “I think you would have a much more diverse group [...] and that you’d get better product out of it.”