Town Board Meeting - February

TOWN OF CLERMONT

FEBRUARY 3, 2015

 

The Clermont Town Board held its regular meeting on Tuesday, February 3, 2015 at 7:00 P.M. at the Town Hall. This meeting was changed due to inclement weather on Monday, February 2nd. Those in attendance were Supervisor Raymond Staats, Councilman Robert Desmond, Councilwoman Dawn Brownson, Councilman Evan Hempel and Councilman Kris Gildersleeve. There was also two residents present and Katie Kocijanski of the Register Star.

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

The Supervisor requested a motion to move into Executive Session to discuss personnel appointments for the Planning and Zoning Board. A motion was made by Councilman Desmond at 7:05 P.M. to move into executive session, seconded by Councilman Hempel.

A motion was made by Councilman Desmond to come out of executive session at 7:30 P.M., seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve.

MINUTES:

A motion was made to accept the Organizational Minutes of January 5, 2015 by Councilman Desmond, seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made to accept the Regular meeting minutes of January 5, 2015 by Councilman Gildersleeve, seconded by Councilwoman Brownson. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made to accept the minutes of the Audit and Review of Policies meeting of January 17, 2015 by Councilman Desmond, seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in favor. So carried.

TOWN CLERK’S REPORT:

The Town Clerk read the January report and presented the Supervisor with checks for the General fund in the amount of $1,418.01 and Trust and Agency in the amount of $325.60. A motion was made by Councilman Hempel to accept the Town Clerk’s report, seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in favor. So carried.

CORRESPONDENCE:

  • A letter of resignation was read from Robert Queirolo from the Planning Board. Robert has served for many years on the Planning Board and the Supervisor and Board thanked him for his service.
  • Building Inspector John Fieser submitted his report for 2014 as follows:

Freedom of Information Requests 4

Order to Remedy Violations 6

Appearance Ticket l

Subpoena to testify at Court l

Building Permits issued 34

Certificate of Occupancy 23

Municipal Search letters 30

Building Permit Summary

New Homes l

Solar Panels 6

Barn, garages, decks, sheds 27

  • WEBMASTER: To post the Village Green Barbecue and Tractor Pull information when available.
  • The Supervisor provided Board members with the Budget and Revenue reports through January 31, 2015.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

  • HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT: Councilman Desmond commented on the recent storms and that the Clermont Highway Department have been very busy keeping our roads clear of snow and doing a good job. There was a problem with one of the trucks, but they have a spare, which they did not end up using.
  • GRANT FOR COMMUNITY HOUSE: Councilwoman Brownson completed a grant application to the Bank of Greene County requesting a locking cabinet for the Community House. The Village Green Committee has been requesting this so that emergency supplies can be stored in the event of an emergency situation. The grant request was for $350.00 and we should know in 90 days.
  • GRANTS: Councilwoman Brownson received grant information from Mary Howard for grants from NYSERDA and NY Power Authority. She will see if there is anything that can be requested for the garage.
  • The next meeting of the Village Green Committee is Tuesday, February 10th at 7:00 P.M. The Village Green BBQ is scheduled for Saturday, August 15th.

OLD BUSINESS:

  • CLERMONT FEE SCHEDULE: At the review of policy meeting the board discussed changing the language to add escrow fees for the ZBA for $150.00 at the time of application. Councilman Desmond motioned to amend the Fee Schedule - Resolution #35-15 to include an escrow fee at the time of application to the Zoning Board of Appeals in the amount of $150.00, seconded by Councilwoman Brownson. All in favor. So carried.
  • VETERINARY CONTRACTS: In has been discussed to put a maximum amount of time for the shelters to hold a dog brought in by Animal Control Officer, Desiree Webber. The board is suggesting a ten-day maximum. Supervisor Staats has spoken with Desiree about this and the state requires a five-day hold. A motion was made by Councilman Desmond to amend the contracts with Pine Plains Veterinary and Round Top Animal Hospital to limit the sheltering for a maximum of ten days, seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in favor. So carried.
  • QUOTES FOR TOWN HALL FURNACE REPLACEMENT: Bids were opened at the January 17th special meeting for replacement of the oil burner in the Town Hall.
  1.  
    1. Valley Energy - $4,350.00
    2. K&H Fuel - $3,300.00

A motion was made by Councilman Desmond to accept the bid from K&H Fuel for $3,300.00, seconded by Councilman Hempel. All in favor. So carried. This was budgeted for in the 2015 budget, Account 1620.4.

NEW BUSINESS:

  • BROWNFIELD REMEDIATION: Clermont received a grant award from NYS for Brownfield Remediation in the amount of $616,738.00. This will be handled by the State and we have a lot of questions. There will be a meeting on February 4th at 11:00 A.M. at the Town Hall with a representative from DEC, our Attorney Andy Howard and Kirk Moline from C. T. Male. The town cost will be 10%. We are hoping to use our fill from the back portion of the property, which is needed in the front portion of the property. We hope to iron this out tomorrow.
  • PLANNING BOARD VACANCY: A motion was made by Councilman Desmond to appoint Nathan Hempel to fill the position of Robert Queirolo for the remainder of the term through 12/31/2019, seconded by Councilwoman Brown. Councilman Hempel abstained. Motion passed.
  • ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VACANCY: A motion was made by Councilman Desmond to appoint Donald VanWagner to fill the position of Chris Nolan for the remainder of the term through 12/31/2016, seconded by Councilwoman Brownson. All in favor. So carried.
  • ALTERNATE TO ZBA: A motion was made by Councilman Desmond to appoint Phyllis Heiko as the alternate to the ZBA, replacing Donald VanWagner, appointed yearly, seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in favor. So carried.

SUPERVISORS REPORT:

  • SALES TAX: The Supervisor has not received the Sales tax check so he will let everyone know next month.
  • PINE HAVEN NURSING HOME: The meeting scheduled to meet with two bidders to buy Pine Haven was cancelled due to weather. The Supervisor still has concerns and will be asking questions. He feels that the County has made a commitment that they want to sell Pine Haven.
  • OCKAWAMICK SCHOOL: A payment of $500,000 was received for Ockawamick School, which the County had purchased and will be put in a tax stabilization account to use for future tax increases.
  • CERTIFIED HOME HEALTH AGENCY: The County has also sold the Certified Home Health Agency and received $75,000.00.
  • COURTHOUSE: The courts have been moved back into the courthouse after renovations and he believes that everyone is happy with it.
  • COUNTY MANAGER POSITION: This is an issue, which has been brought up in the past. With this system you have someone present everyday, full time to make decisions for the County but you do loose your town representation. There would no longer be Supervisors, but legislators instead.
  • The Supervisor commented on the Highway department’s good job on the roads.

ABSTRACTS:

A motion was made by Councilman Gildersleeve to approve General abstract #2, vouchers #18 – 50 in the amount of $6,634.30, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made by Councilman Desmond to approve Highway abstract #2, vouchers 5-13 in the amount of $8,214.89, seconded by Councilwoman Brownson. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made by Councilwoman Brownson to approve Trust & Agency abstract #1, vouchers #1 & 2, in the amount of $760.00, seconded by Councilman Hempel. All in favor. So carried.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

  • Animal Control Officer Desiree Webber brought in the pet scanner which the Town purchased for her. This is used to check animals, which are found, for a microchip. She recently held a microchip clinic at Dr. Tucker’s office and had a good number of people and 19 pets attend. She explained the importance of microchipping your animal and registering the chip, which only costs $11.00 for a lifetime. The microchip itself is free and done by a veterinarian. She is hoping to attend when the Columbia County Health department holds their rabies clinics and get more microchipped at those events. Councilman Gildersleeve asked if there is information, which could be handed out by the Town Clerk when residents get their dog license. She will get something together.
  • Mary Helen Shannon thanked Desiree for helping out her family members by coming and taking their dogs when they had a fire in the house during a snowstorm. She was right there to help and it is very much appreciated. She also thanked Clermont Fire Department volunteers who came out at 3:00 AM in the snow and their quick response, which made all the difference for something that could have been a lot worse.
  • Councilman Desmond commented that Clermont Fire Department is starting a Junior Firefighter program for ages 14-16 and are seeking members. They also are always looking for members ages 18 and up. If interested contact Mary Helen Shannon and she can put you in touch with the Fire Chief.

A motion was made by Councilman Desmond to adjourn at 8:10 P.M., seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Helen Shannon, RMC

Town Clerk

 

　

　

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