Town Board meeting - May

CLERMONT TOWN BOARD

MAY 4, 2015

The Clermont Town Board held their regular meeting on Monday, May 4, 2015 at 7:00 P.M. Those in attendance were Supervisor Raymond Staats, Councilman Robert Desmond, Councilwoman Dawn Brownson, Councilman Evan Hempel and Councilman Kris Gildersleeve. Others present were Susan Brown, Superintendent of the Germantown School District and two residents.

Supervisor Staats opened the meeting with the salute to the flag. He introduced Superintendent Brown to give a presentation on the Germantown School District budget, which comes for a vote on May 19th from 12 noon to 9 P.M. at the school. The proposed budget is $14,502,850.00 and election of two board members. The increase in tax levy is 1.37%. There will also be a vote on the Capital Projects on June 11th, which is split into two propositions.

MINUTES: The minutes of the previous meeting were accepted on a motion made by Councilman Desmond, seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in favor. So carried.

TOWN CLERK’S REPORT: The Town Clerk read the April report and presented two checks to the Supervisor for General Fund in the amount of $607.50 and Trust & Agency in the amount of $2,560.00. A motion was made by Councilman Desmond, seconded by Councilwoman Brownson to accept the Clerk’s report. All in favor. So carried.

CORRESPONDENCE:

  • Newsletter from Columbia County Office for the Aging.
  • Letter from NYS Office of Real Property regarding Cyclical Aid Certification for reappraisal of the 2014 assessment roll. The town will receive a check in the amount of $2,176.45 for review of 955 parcels. The letter commended our Assessor for maintaining a system of real property tax administration that meets the highest standards set by the State. Supervisor Staats thanked our Assessor, Cheryl Kaszluga, for her work in meeting this standard.
  • The Supervisor provided budget and revenue reports through April 30, 2015.
  • Web Committee: Councilman Hempel reported that our site was taken off line by

G-tel because we had an older version that was vulnerable. It was brought back online the next day.


COMMITTEE REPORTS:

  • BALL PARK: Councilman Desmond is seeking approval to purchase signs for the park to request that the field not be used for dogs. Use of the area around the field is allowed.
  • PAVING: Nevis Road has been paved with an inch and a quarter of blacktop, per the budget.
  • CAMP PALATINE: The Germantown Park Commission will open Camp Palatine on July 6th to August 14th. Clermont makes a donation to the park so our residents get a reduced rate, $75.00 for Clermont and Germantown residents per child. The deadline is June 27th for applications.
  • The Supervisor asked Councilman Gildersleeve if he would look into a backstop for a new softball field. He will report back at the next meeting.
  • BANK OF GREENE COUNTY GRANT: Councilwoman Brownson reported that the grant to the Bank of Greene County was approved for $350.00 for the purchase of a locking cabinet for use by the Village Green Committee in the Community House. She also reported that our videographer, Fred Cartier, donated a cabinet to the Community House. Supervisor Staats thanked the Bank of Greene County for their donation. This is the third year in a row that they have donated.
  • The Village Greene Committee will meet on May 8th about the Community Day barbecue to be held on August 15th. Kimberly Peacock has reached out to certain businesses and they will be selling tickets for the barbecue. Anyone interested in volunteering is welcome to come to the meeting. Tickets are on sale now.
  • HISTORIAN: Councilwoman Brownson has been meeting with Germantown Historian Susan Raab about the Path through History event. They are planning a route through Germantown and Clermont, which will stop at various locations. They will stop here and Councilwoman Brownson will be giving the history of the buildings.
  • COUNTY ROAD SIGNS: Supervisor Staats has gotten a quote of $1432.94 for 15 signs from the County. This is to eliminate conflicting speed limit signs on Commons Road. Our Highway Superintendent thinks that we should proceed with purchasing from the County. A motion was made to approve the purchase by Councilman Desmond, seconded by Councilwoman Brownson. All in favor. So carried.
  • COMMUNITY HOUSE REPAIRS: Supervisor Staats will update the list of repairs, which was previously made for the Community House. Councilman Desmond suggests that we put this out to bid for next month.
  • MILL ROAD BRIDGE: Supervisor Staats will be asking the county committee to meet and look at a turn-a-round on property that Greg Fingar is willing to donate on Mill Road.
  • DEC/BROWNFIELDS: RFP has been put out for surveying and they will be awarding a bid. They have said that they are on schedule for a June start date. Councilman Gildersleeve asked if there has been any other discussion on the entrance for Route 9. Morris Associates has started to work on it but needs the topographical work done.

NEW BUSINESS:

  • ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COUNCIL: Ralph Arlyck is our representative on the Council. There are 19 or 20 members from the towns. Ed Simonsen of Kinderhook is the chairman and there are three non-voting members. There most recent discussions have been on the Kinder Morgan pipeline, which is primarily in Massachusetts, but is proposed to run through New Lebanon and Kinderhook. There was so much opposition they decided to put it in New Hampshire to Boston. The Dewey Landfill Site is another issue, which is primarily in Rensselaer but does run near the Valatie Kill. It does meet the guidelines. He would like to encourage the County to institute a Graphic Information System, which allows you to super impose maps on each other. The County has been working on it but it is not working yet. They award Good Earth Keeping Awards, which go to businesses or groups who have been protective of the environment. Climate change is another issue and some towns are looking at it in terms of their own communities. There is a resolution by the Town of Cooperstown in which they recognize that there is climate change and Mr. Arlyck submitted a sample resolution for the board to review. The

Citizen’s Advisory Council inventories the resources in the community. About half the towns in Columbia County have created this board. The board thanked Mr. Arlyck for his report.

  • 1ST QUARTER SALES TAX: Supervisor Staats reported that the first quarter sales tax received is $74,957.89, which is an increase from last year. The Mortgage tax check should be coming in, and will be lower than expected.
  • ROAD CONDITIONS: Supervisor Staats has spoken to the County Highway Superintendent about County Route 4 (Lasher Road) and County Route 33 (Church Ave) which are in bad condition. They are both on the list to have work done. Councilman Desmond mentioned that the west-end of Lasher Road in Clermont is very bad. Part of Nevis Road was paved and the rest will be paid next year. Supervisor Staats said that if anyone sees a hazard on the road to get in touch with someone so that it can be repaired.

SUPERVISORS REPORT:

  • FORECLOSURE PROCESS: Parcels from 2010 were reviewed and some of the parcels have been abandoned and in terrible shape. They hope to do 2011 also this year, which will get them closer to having only a three-year backlog.
  • Road work continues by the County. The Court House has been completed.
  • Pine Haven Home: There is not much to update on Pine Haven Home.

ABSTRACTS

A motion was made by Councilman Gildersleeve to approve General abstract #5, vouchers # 110-135 in the amount of $9586.31, seconded by Councilwoman Brownson. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made by Councilman Desmond to approve Highway abstract #5, vouchers #44-57, in the amount of $74,297.56, seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made by Councilman Hempel to approve Trust and Agency abstract #3, vouchers #4-9 in the amount of $506.00, seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in favor. So carried.

Supervisor Staats mentioned that there is fire ban in effect through May 15th but that could be extended. There are very dry conditions right now.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

Anna Marie Pintavalle – Resident of Turkey Hill Road. The Pintavalles are concerned about logging going on property adjacent to hers. There are 18 wheel trucks going continually on the road. She is asking if there is a time ordinance of when work can begin and end. She asked if signs could be put up for the weight limit allowed on a town road. She called DEC and they said they would look into it. The Supervisor said it could be looked into whether or not the road can be posted. He did talk to a deputy who had talked to the loggers. They expect to be done this week.

A motion was made to adjourn by Councilman Gildersleeve, seconded by Councilman Hempel at 8:00 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Helen Shannon, RMC

Town Clerk

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