Town Board Meeting - March

CLERMONT TOWN BOARD

MARCH 2, 2015

The Clermont Town Board held their regular meeting on Monday, March 2, 2015 at 7:00 P.M. at the Town Hall. Those in attendance were Supervisor Raymond Staats, Councilman Robert Desmond, Councilwoman Dawn Brownson, Councilman Evan Hempel and Councilman Kris Gildersleeve. There were five others present, as well as, Katie Kocijanski of the Register Star. One of our residents present is working on his Eagle Scout badge on citizenship.

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

Supervisor Staats introduced Terese Fuchs and Martin Overington. They are on the committee of community members who researched the needs of the Germantown Central School District. They met with other organizations and community groups over a period of time. They then took their findings and recommendations to the School Board. In addition to an auditorium, there are many other projects, which are included in the proposal. The actual cost of the project is $11,382,056 and will be paid for through State Aid, the Capital Reserve Fund and Property taxes. A referendum for residents of the District to vote on the Capital Project will be held on Tuesday, March 10th from 12:00 PM to 9:00 P.M. at GCS. An informational meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 3rd at 6:30 P.M.

MINUTES: A motion was made by Councilman Desmond to accept the minutes of the February 3rd meeting, seconded by Councilwoman Brownson. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made by Councilman Desmond to accept the minutes of the special meeting of February 4th, seconded by Councilman Hempel. All in favor. So carried.

TOWN CLERK’S REPORT: The Town Clerk presented the Supervisor with a check for the General Fund in the amount of $446.98 and for Trust and Agency in the amount of $750.00. A motion was made by Councilman Hempel to accept the Clerk’s report, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.

CORRESPONDENCE:

  • Columbia County Department of Health Rabies Clinic schedule has been posted on the town website and on the sign board.
  • Letter of resignation from Aldo Dusman from the Planning Board. Supervisor Staats thanked Aldo for his years of service on the board.
  • Pine Plains Central School District – Superintendent Handler would like to attend our next meeting to present their budget. Supervisor Staats will contact Mr. Handler and also Germantown and Red Hook School Superintendents to ask if they would like to attend.
  • There was no business for the Webmaster.
  • Supervisor Staats provided board members with the budget and revenue reports through 2/28/15 and financial reports for 2014.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

  • TOWN HALL FURNACE: Councilman Desmond reported there was a problem with the town hall furnace and the heat was off. A bid was accepted from K & H Fuel Oil for a new furnace. They have been waiting for the weather to improve before taking out the old furnace. The Supervisor said we might have a new furnace by the end of this week. The Community House furnace needed servicing, which was done.
  • HETTLING PROPERTY: Councilman Desmond did some research and there is an agreement, which was made when the Town was given the property to post a sign which would say "Hettling Park at Clermont". This will be done after the remediation is complete.
  • VILLAGE GREEN COMMITTEE: Councilwoman Brownson reported that the next meeting of the Village Green Committee will be April 7th at 7:00 P.M. at the Town Hall. Anyone interested in volunteering is invited to attend.
  • EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLAN: Councilwoman Brownson is working on updating the Plan and should have it to be approved at the next meeting.

OLD BUSINESS:

  • DEC: The Town Board met with DEC on February 4th to discuss the remediation of the property. Last week, Supervisor Staats and Councilman Desmond met with them so that they could take samples of the soil, which may be able to be used on the contaminated part of the property. The town will have to pay for 10% of the total cost. If we use our own materials, it would help to reduce the expenses. It may be necessary to do a budget amendment, because we did not prepare for this at budget time. May be looking at putting in a softball field to be used by other organizations.
  • TOWN HALL FURNACE: K & H Fuel has ordered the furnace and expects delivery on Tuesday. We will need a new 20-amp line for a new circuit and an emergency shutoff in the basement.

NEW BUSINESS:

  • 2014-Year End Update: In the General fund the revenues exceed the expenditures by $8,713.00. The General fund balance was increased from $326,000.00 to $335,000.00. We budgeted to use a total of $60,000 from the fund balance between General and Highway but between the two we only used $4000.00. The Highway did exceed its budget by $4,761 because of the difficult winter. The highway fund balance went from $152,398 to $147,637 and that is a significant fund balance. The Highway Superintendent has been very conservative with expenditures. This year has been a difficult year for sand and salt use also. Councilman Desmond commented that the highway department has been doing a terrific job. Supervisor Staats also thanked the highway department for all that they do, the hours spent on the roads and the repairs to our buildings.
  • COMMUNITY HOUSE: The filter on the furnace was plugged up and the registers were closed up or blocked off. There is a problem with the heat exchanger but that will be fixed in the spring.
  • EASTER EGG HUNT: The Village Green Committee will hold the Easter Egg Hunt on Wednesday, April 1st from 5 to 6 PM.

SUPERVISORS REPORT:

  • The County Highway Dept is having a significant overrun on sand and salt, which will affect their budget. The roads are heaving from the cold. It will take a lot of work this spring to repair them.
  • PINE HAVEN: Two bidders gave their proposal last week in detail for the purchase of Pine Haven Nursing Home. Other supervisors were impressed with their presentations. The bidders are committed to improving the home by putting money into it. Supervisor Staats was not able to attend the meeting. He believes that the County should keep the home. There is another meeting scheduled for March 11th.

ABSTRACTS:

A motion was made Councilman Gildersleeve to approve Highway abstract #3, vouchers #14-25 in the amount of $19,607.03, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made by Councilman Hempel to approve General abstract #3, vouchers #51-79 in the amount of $9,065.74, seconded by Councilwoman Brownson. All in favor. So carried.

PUBLIC COMMENTS:

There was no public comment.

A motion was made to adjourn by Councilman Desmond, seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve at 7:40 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Helen Shannon, RMC

Town Clerk

　

　

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