CLERMONT TOWN BOARD
OCTOBER 6, 2014
The Clermont Town Board held their regular meeting on Monday, October 6, 2014 at 7:00 P.M. at the Town Hall. Those in attendance were Supervisor Raymond Staats, Councilman Robert Desmond, Councilman Evan Hempel and Councilman Kris Gildersleeve. There were 13 others present.
Supervisor Staats opened the meeting with the salute to the flag.
MINUTES: A motion was made to accept the minutes of the September meeting by Councilman Desmond, seconded by Councilman Hempel. All in favor. So carried.
A motion was made to accept the minutes of the Budget Workshop of 9/22/14 by Councilman Hempel, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.
TOWN CLERK’S REPORT: The Clerk read the report for September and presented the Supervisor with a check for General fund in the amount of $455.40 and a check for Trust & Agency for $200.00.
A motion was made to accept the Clerk’s report by Councilman Desmond, seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in favor. So carried.
CORRESPONDENCE:
- A letter of resignation from the Town Board was read from Edward Kahle. The Supervisor said that he will be missed and that we appreciate him and the work that he did while on the board.
- The Supervisor provided the board with the budget and revenue report through September 30, 2014.
- NYS Office of Real Property Services has notified the town that our Assessor, Cheryl Kaszluga has completed all her schooling and is now certified.
- NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets has completed their annual inspection of Pine Plains Veterinary Associates with whom we contract for dog impoundment and received an excellent report.
- NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets has completed their annual inspection of our Animal Control Officer, Desiree Webber’s reporting and premises and received an excellent report.
- Columbia County Office for the Aging Fall/Winter newsletter.
- Web Committee – Councilman Hempel reported that the Exemption Report for 2014 and the Election Day Dinner information have been posted. The update to the videos is working well. Councilman Desmond asked how many views the videos on the website are getting. Councilman Hempel reported 8000 views as of starting to post the videos and probably 30-40 views per month on the website.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
- PARK: Councilman Desmond reported that the swings are complete at the park and people have been using them. The plan is to eventually put in more equipment. We installed a rubberized tile fall surface, rather than pea gravel or wood chips. He would like to see how it is after use and settling. Eventually, more playground equipment will be installed for 2-5-year olds and for 5 to 12-year olds. Councilman Desmond, Staats Contracting and the Highway department have put in a lot of time and work and he would like to recognize them for that work. Superintendent Potts thought that we should get a few picnic tables for the park. He asked for a motion to buy two picnic tables not to exceed $500.00. The motion was made by Councilman Gildersleeve, seconded by Councilman Desmond. Councilman Hempel asked if they would get used now, but Councilman Desmond said they can be brought inside in November and put back out in the spring. This expenditure will come from the Parks line in the budget, 7110.41. There is a $5000.00 balance in the account. All in favor. So carried. Also, Councilman Desmond asked about Desiree Webber wanting to buy a microchip scanner next year. She has the funds in this year’s budget if she wants to get them this year.
- PARK: Councilman Gildersleeve asked if the flagpole light has been installed in the park. Supervisor Staats thanked Councilman Gildersleeve for getting the light and said that Superintendent Potts has asked the telephone company for their help with a bucket to put it up.
- COMMUNITY HOUSE PIANO: At last months meeting, a motion was made to sell the piano in the Community House to Erich Kress. We have received $200.00 for the piano.
OLD BUSINESS:
- BINGHAMS MILL/MILL ROAD BRIDGE: Supervisor Staats said that at the public works meeting the resolution to either repair or replace the bridge was pulled because of the petition which was submitted to not reopen the bridge. It will come back up at the next meeting. The Committee asked that the three towns gather information. Residents from Livingston and Clermont are attending tonight. Supervisor Staats welcomed them and asked for their comments.
Mike Hamilton, resident of Mill Road, Livingston said that he realizes that the Supervisor has been working for a long time on getting the bridge reopened and it is appreciated, even though we disagree. He is going to use 1 million dollars as the figure for the cost for replacing the bridge. The people on the roads are the most affected by the bridge being reopened or not. There are advantages and disadvantages to the bridge being closed. He doesn’t believe the distance is a valid argument, because it is a sixteen second savings in driving time. Do we need the bridge and is there a benefit to opening it? He believes that the school bus issue on the Clermont side can be answered because the Fingar’s have said they would donate a portion of land for a turn-a-round and the zoning issues can be resolved by the towns to protect the building rights of the landowners. The Red Hook School bus does a three-point turn on the Livingston side and it is much safer without the traffic. The emergency services happen to be very close to either end of the road. They believe that there could be some method, as used on Spook Rock Road, to allow emergency vehicles to cross. Councilman Desmond asked if the bridge is closed to cars, how can heavier emergency vehicles be allowed to cross. It has been researched and Mr.Hamilton said that there are about 400 cars per day crossing the bridge.
Ryan Anderson reiterated what was said and he has talked to construction workers and at the cost of tearing down the bridge, the money could be spent on strengthening it for emergency vehicles or in the event a road is closed due to an accident.
Supervisor Staats said that they looked at fixing the bridge just for emergency traffic, which would cost about $400,000 to fix it or $500,000 to replace it, but would only last for 20 years. The County is looking at fixing it with a longer longevity. If this bridge could stay closed and not raise taxes, he would argue for it, but if the money isn’t spent on this bridge, it will be spent elsewhere. He also stated that 400 cars is about the average for any county road.
The Supervisor has heard a lot of support from Livingston, Germantown and Clermont residents in support of opening the bridge.
Robert Queirolo asked if Supervisor Staats has the report on the weight limit. Supervisor Staats said that the bridge is very poor and you can put your hands through the steel members. Robert is trying to find out if the weight limit would support. One of the Livingston neighbors said that County Route 31 is in terrible condition to drive on and he would rather see it repaired than spend 1 million on a bridge. Several years ago the Town Board passed a motion to get the bridge opened up.
- COMMONS ROAD SIGNS: A resident asked for a review of the signs on Commons Road and the County found several recommendations. Superintendent Potts has reviewed these with the Supervisor. The county estimated $1,305.40 for just materials. Superintendent Potts can probably do the speed limit signs and curve signs. He could do some of them and over a few years, the rest. Councilman Desmond asked if we should let the County do this. Councilman Gildersleeve asked if there was anything that should be done immediately and not put off. Superintendent Potts will judge the priority of the signs.
NEW BUSINESS:
- RESIGNATION – TOWN BOARD: The Board will seek candidates to fill the open position on the Town Board by an advertisement in the paper and posting on the website. Anyone interested should notify a town board member, Supervisor or Town Clerk by November 3rd. We can set a schedule for interviews after the November meeting. An appointment can be made in December so that the term can start on January 1st, 2015.
- TENTATIVE BUDGET: Supervisor Staats said that there is no increase in this budget to the taxpayers. He told the board that he added less appropriated reserves of $30,000 on the summary page because a line for an equipment shed was added for $30,000 in the Highway account 5132.2s on page 6. Councilman Desmond asked about the tax rate on page 1. Supervisor Staats answered that it is because we changed the amount coming out of fund balance. On page 11 we have added total appropriated reserves $30,000.00. Bob explained that $14,000 came from the building reserves that was left after the work to the garage. He also said that $16,000 came from the Con Ed fund, which is for recreation or infrastructure. Evan worked on seeing if he can reduce the appropriated fund balance so that we will be better prepared if we hit another downturn. Raymond explained about the estimated use of the fund balance was $60,600 for this year. We will probably use a portion of this fund balance, but in the new budget we are expecting to use $84,000 fund balance. This is mainly due to the highway expenditures for ice, sand, fuel, increase in improvements, etc. Councilman Hempel has some ideas on how the fund balance could be reduced to bring it down to the $60,000. should be reduced. He went over some ideas that he has for doing this. Supervisor Staats was called away from the meeting and Deputy Supervisor Desmond resumed the discussion.
- The planning board contractural line 8020.4 could be reduced from $5000 to $2500, most of which is used for the attorney. He feels that they do not need the attorney at every meeting.
- The full time highway workers were receiving a 1 ½% increase in this budget in highway budget 5110.1, but because they were given the benefit of turning in their sick time if it is over the maximum, he feels they should not be given a raise this year.
- Parks contractural expense 7110.41- Reduce from $5000 to $3000 because we have been getting donations and grants, which should pay for anything needed in the next year. The $3000 would come from the parkland reserve fund.
- Street lighting 5182.4 – Would like to see this reduced, however, at this time there isn’t enough information to know by how much. There are four or five lights in front of the town hall, church and Community House and also two actual street lights that are being paid for also.
- Germantown Library 7410.4 – He would like to cut this $2000 from the budget, as we have no contractual obligation. If revenues increase we could put money towards it next year.
- Nevis Road repaving 5112.2 – He would like to reduce the amount budgeted by $15,000 for repaving to Nevis Road because it appears to be in good condition and there is no urgency. Possibly a third of the road, rather than half could be done this year. Councilman Desmond said that the reason that our roads are in such condition is that our Highway Superintendent does schedule them in order to keep them in good condition. Councilman Desmond would hate to start second guessing the highway department, because he knows them to be extremely frugal. Councilman Hempel thinks that in this budget, everyone gets everything that they ask for, but we have to start reducing somewhere. Councilman Desmond would like to talk to the Highway Superintendent before we make any decision. Councilman Gildersleeve appreciates what Councilman Hempel is trying to do, but he does not think that there will be any impact unless we can reduce the paving budget.
Another budget workshop will have to be held to discuss these changes with the Supervisor. Tentatively scheduled a workshop for October 13 at 7:00 P.M.
- BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING: The public hearing on the budget will be Monday, November 3rd at 6:45 P.M. Another budget workshop will be held and to discuss any other town business that may come up on a date to be determined.
BRIDGE: After hearing the comments from earlier in the meeting about the bridge being closed, Councilman Desmond and Councilman Gildersleeve believe that we should maintain the infrastructure that we have. Councilman Gildersleeve did not hear any reasons why the bridge should be kept closed, other than we want it closed.
Councilman Hempel feels that the savings from not opening the bridge would be spent somewhere else in the County. The expectation is that the repair or replacement net cost would be closer to ½ million than 1 million.
ABSTRACTS:
A motion was made by Councilman Gildersleeve to pay Highway abstract #10, vouchers #101 to 117 in the amount of $34,094.27, seconded by Councilman Hempel. All in favor. So carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Hempel to pay General abstract #10, vouchers #256 to 283, in the amount of $6,652.80, seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in favor. So carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Gildersleeve to pay Trust and Agency abstract #2, voucher #3, in the amount of $730.40, seconded by Councilman Hempel. All in favor. So carried.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
None
A motion was made to adjourn by Kris, seconded by Evan at 9:05 P.M. All in favor. So carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Helen Shannon, RMC
Town Clerk