CLERMONT TOWN BOARD

DECEMBER 1, 2014

The Clermont Town Board held their regular meeting on Monday, December 1, 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 three residents present and Katie Kocijanski of the Register Star.

Supervisor Staats opened the meeting with the salute to the flag.

MINUTES: The minutes of the November meeting were reviewed and a motion was made to accept by Councilman Gildersleeve, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.

TOWN CLERK’S REPORT: The Town Clerk read the report for November and presented a check for the General Fund in the amount of $513.72 and a check for Trust and Agency in the amount of $482.00 to the Supervisor. A motion was made by Councilman Hempel to accept the Clerk’s report, seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in favor. So carried.

CORRESPONDENCE:

• The Annual Village Green Holiday Caroling and visit from Santa will be held on Wednesday, December 10^th from 6:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. at St. Luke’s Church and the Community House.
• The County Treasurer’s Office advises that they will now accept credit/debit transactions for delinquent taxes, which are due to the Columbia County Treasurer.

• Web Committee: No report
• Supervisor Staats gave the Board members copies of the November budget and revenue report.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

• OCCUPANCY OF BUILDINGS: Councilman Desmond and John Fieser have been working on getting the occupancy numbers for the Town buildings. Councilman Desmond reported that the determined occupancy for the buildings is as follows:

Community House: 1^st Floor – 34, 2^nd Floor - 140

Town Hall: Meeting Room - l00, Court Room - 36

St. Lukes Church: 108

Councilman Desmond will get signs to be posted in each building.

• FIRE ON ROUTE 9: Councilman Desmond was at the fire at Route 9 and Pleasantvale Road, almost from when it started. There were five fire companies working together, Clermont, Livingston, Germantown, Red Hook and Tivoli and Clermont Highway Department. They did work well together and it was impressive to see the cooperation between them.

OLD BUSINESS:

• BINGHAMS MILL BRIDGE UPDATE: The Supervisor has asked the Public Works committee for the authority to use the County Attorney, Engineer and Highway department for construction of the turnaround area on Mill Road on property of Gregory Fingar. He argued that this should not be a town expense and will be paid for by the county because the county closed the bridge. This should alleviate the problems of the plow trucks turning around and school buses being able to use the road.
• BROWNFIELD FUNDING UPDATE: The paperwork has been submitted and we are now waiting to see if there is money available to start remediation of the twenty-acre parcel north of the Town Hall and Clermont Cemetery.

NEW BUSINESS:

• TheYear-End meeting will be held on Monday, December 29^th at 7:00 P.M.

• TOWN BOARD VACANCY: Interviews were held of two people who showed interest in replacing Edward Kahle who resigned. The two applicants were Dawn Brownson and Luke Kumburis and both are very qualified. The Board came to a collective agreement to appoint Dawn Brownson. A motion was made by Councilman Desmond to appoint Dawn Brownson to the Town Board effective January 1, 2015 for the term 1/1/2015 to 12/31/2015, seconded by Kris Gildersleeve. All in favor. So carried. Councilman Desmond stated that there were both well qualified people but Dawn has experience in writing grants and getting volunteers.

• MORTGAGE TAX: Supervisor Staats reported that a check in the amount of $12,960.39 was received for the second half of the year. This is below what we budgeted but it is short for the County also. Our sales tax revenue did increase and the Supervisor estimated that we would only be using approximately $13,000 from the fund balance for next year.

• COUNTY BUDGET: The Supervisor has not seen the County budget for next year, nor have other Supervisors. There is a meeting on December 15^th to review the budget, which only gives them one week to review and make any changes. He is very upset about the County budget process, as there are only about three Supervisors who have knowledge of the budget.

• BUDGET TRANSFERS: Resolution No.44 of 2014

Decrease appropriation A-7110.42 Brownfields $1372.00

Increase appropriation A-9010.8 State Retirement $1372.00

Decrease appropriation A-1990.4 Contingency $502.00

Increase appropriation A-9050.8 Unemployment $502.00

Decrease appropriation A-1990.4 Contingency $251.95

Increase appropriation A-5182.4 Streetlighting $251.95

A motion was made by Councilman Desmond to approve Resolution No.44 of 2014, seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in favor. So carried.

SUPERVISORS REPORT:

• COURTHOUSE: There was a dedication of the CourtHouse on November 14th and the Supervisor attended. He said that it came out very nice and encourages everyone to take a tour of it.
• PINE HAVEN HOME: The County received three bids for purchase of the nursing home a month ago. None of the Supervisors have seen the bids. There is an interview of the three applicants on December 15^th. He is hoping that they will provide these to be reviewed before the interviews.
• DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: There has been a request for a plan in the event of an Ebola Virus Outbreak and the Health Department has put together a plan and the Supervisor thanked them for their work.

• Supervisor Staats thanked the Village Green Committee and Tami Connolly and the volunteers for the Election Dinner. He also thanked the Election Inspectors who put in a very long day.
• The Holiday Party will be held on Wednesday, December 10^th from 6 – 7 with caroling at St. Luke’s and refreshments and a visit from Santa at the Community House.
• The Clermont Fire Department Childrens Christmas party will be held on Saturday, December 13^th 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. at the Route 9G firehouse.
• The Supervisor thanked the Highway Department for their work on the last storm and for the putting up the holiday decorations.

ABSTRACTS:

• A motion was made to pay General abstract #12, vouchers #316 – 338, in the amount of $17,125.55 by Councilman Gildersleeve, seconded by Councilman Hempel. All in favor. So carried.

• A motion was made to pay Highway abstract #12, vouchers #127 – 140 in the amount of $22,586.11 by Councilman Desmond, seconded by Councilman Hempel. All in favor. So carried.

The Supervisor has received the Insurance renewal policy. There is a decrease of $26 to $28 from last year. He will ask Mr. Fingar to come in at the year-end meeting to discuss increasing the crime coverage.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

• Ray Tousey asked why the bridge is not reopening. The Supervisor explained that the County thought this was a very low priority bridge. They changed the vote and decided that it is not a priority.

• Chris Nolan said that there has been another cat hit on Commons Road, because of speeding cars. He wishes that the bridge on the end of his road was closed. He thinks the signs should be addressed and more police presence. He also suggested that the Town request information on solar panels. He thinks there are enough companies who would do a study for free. He also thinks that New York State Legislators should address laws to allow for solar. Supervisor Staats said that three solar companies presented to the County for a solar farm. Mr. Nolan also congratulated and thanked Tami Connolly for the dinner on Election Day. He sent a letter to the Secretary that he is resigning from the Zoning Board of Appeals because of conflicts with his schedule. He will be sending a letter to the Town Board. Supervisor Staats thanked him for his service on the board. There is now a vacancy on the ZBA, if anyone is interested please contact the Supervisor, Town Board or Town Clerk.

Bob Desmond also mentioned that the County Highway was also at the fire.

A motion was made to adjourn by Councilman Desmond at 7:35 P.M., seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Helen Shannon, RMC

Town Clerk