CLERMONT TOWN BOARD

OCTOBER 2, 2017

The Clermont Town Board held their regular meeting on Monday, October 2, 2017 at 6:45 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 two others present. A public hearing was scheduled for this evening on Local Law #1 of 2017 at 6:45 P.M. to consider increasing the limits for Alternative Veterans’ Exemptions for qualifying veterans and adding the Gold Star Parent clause for those qualifying. Supervisor Staats opened the public hearing with a reading of the public notice read by the Town Clerk. There was one person present in favor and it was mentioned that September 24^th was Gold Star Parents Mothers Day so this is appropriate. The hearing was closed at 6:50 P.M.

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

A motion was made by Councilman Desmond to move into executive session at 7:00 P.M. to discuss ongoing negotiations, seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made to come out of executive session at 7:20 P.M. by Councilman Desmond,seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in favor. So carried.

MINUTES:

A motion was made to accept the minutes of the August 7, 2017 meeting by Councilman Desmond, seconded by Councilwoman Brownson. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made to accept the minutes of the September 5, 2017 meeting by Councilwoman Brownson, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made to accept the minutes of September 25, 2017, the budget workshop, by Councilman Gildersleeve, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.

TOWN CLERKS REPORT: The Clerk read the September Clerk’s report and presented the Supervisor with a check for the General fund for $1,324.51 and for Trust & Agency for $1,167.29. A motion was made to accept the Clerk’s report by Councilman Hempel, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.

CORRESPONDENCE:

• Web Committee: Phyllis Heiko said that the website is not easy to navigate or to find the meetings schedule. Councilman Hempel responded that he will try to get the meetings up sooner. There are minor updates which will be made but won’t change the way we view it. Asked who hosts the website and what the capacity is, he responded that it is hosted through G-tel but he doesn’t know the capacity. Supervisor Staats said we will get the videos up as soon as possible, but changing the website would take money which we have not budgeted for.

• Supervisor Staats gave the board members the budget reports for September 30, 2017.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

• DEC: Councilman Desmond reported that the silt fence has been taken down on the property.

• COMMUNITY HOUSE: Councilman Desmond said that in the past, we have talked about a new walkway in front of the Community house. He has spoken to the Highway Superintendent and this would be a good time for them to do it as they have time.

• CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: Councilman Gildersleeve has gotten the laptop, printer, Office suite and email address for the Code Enforcement Officer. He will meet with him.

• ELECTION DAY DINNER: The Village Green will meeting this Wednesday at the Community House to discuss the Election Day Dinner.

• IROQUOIS COMMUNITY GRANT: Councilwoman Brownson thinks that this grant will cover some of the costs for the park. She said that November 1st is the cutoff date. There is also a grant from NYS Parks and Recreation which she just got the information on.

• Germantown Cupboard is looking for volunteers. This is a food pantry organization which serves Germantown and Clermont.

OLD BUSINESS:

• DEC: Supervisor Staats did try to contact DEC again last week advising him that we would like to get this wrapped up. Hopefully he will have an answer by next month.

• SOFTBALL FIELD: The Columbia Softball League has reported that there is a declining interest in softball. Supervisor Staats said that at this point it would be better to plant the field and it can be used for soccer and as an open field. The clay can be used at the little league field. He is suggesting that at this time we will leave it an open field.

• SCENIC HUDSON: The Supervisor received an email from Scenic Hudson that they have been working on a comprehensive plan and we should have it this week.

• TRAFFIC SIGN REQUEST: A request was made at last months meeting for a stop sign at Nevis Road and County Route 4 (Lasher Road) and the County highway department checked it and they don’t see a problem with this. On the speed limit reduction on Nevis Road, the County thinks that this would be a more difficult change. The speed limit is currently 40 MPH.

NEW BUSINESS:

APPOINTMENT: The Zoning Board Secretary, Tami Connolly, has resigned from the position. A motion was made to appoint Desiree Webber as ZBA Secretary by Councilman Gildersleeve, seconded by Councilman Hempel. All in favor. So carried.

LOCAL LAW NO. 1 OF 2017:

Following the public hearing, a motion was made by Councilman Gildersleeve, seconded by Councilwoman Brownson to adopt Local Law No. 1 of 2017. A roll call vote was held, Gildersleeve, aye; Councilman Hempel, aye; Councilwoman Brownson, aye: Councilman Desmond recused himself as he is a Veteran; Supervisor Staats, aye: Passed.

2018 TENTATIVE BUDGET:

There was a request by the Highway Superintendent to purchase a new mower with a 6 foot mower deck for $8600.00. Supervisor Staats adjusted the budget to reflect additional money in the Park Reserve. The adjusted total is $13,500. The only salary increases were for the Tax Collector of $100.00 and for the Highway Department, 1 ½% increase. Councilman Desmond noted that with the last census we increased the population so it increased our sales tax that we get

PUBLIC HEARING ON 2018 BUDGET: A public hearing will be held on Monday, November 6^th at 6:45 P.M. prior to the regular meeting. A motion was made to accept the tentative budget by Councilman Gildersleeve, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made to accept the tentative budget as the preliminary budget by Councilman Hempel, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.

COMMUNITY HOUSE WALKWAY: Supervisor Staats thinks we should use blacktop, concrete or blue stone. If the highway department is going to do this then we should work with blacktop or concrete. The board agreed that concrete would be the better choice. A motion was made to approve by Councilman Desmond, seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve for under $500.00 to come from the contingency account 1990.4.

SUPERVISORS REPORT:

• Supervisor Staats said that the County revenues are exceeding what was budgeted so he will vote against an increase to taxes if it comes up. They are going to bid for a new building at the Highway department. They need additional space for the sign shop, etc. They are looking to replace steel deck bridges in the County in four or five years and this would include Pleasantvale Road.

ABSTRACTS:

• A motion was made by Councilman Desmond to approve General abstract #10A, vouchers #260-279 in the amount of $$5,212. 69, seconded by Councilman Hempel. All in favor. So carried.

• A motion was made by Councilwoman Brownson to approve Trust & Agency #8, vouchers #25-29 in the amount of $931.70, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.

• A motion was made to by Councilman Hempel to approve Highway abstract #10, vouchers #105-112 in the amount of $5,810.54, seconded by Councilwoman Brownson. All in favor. So carried.

• A motion was made to approve General Abstract #10, Prepaid, Vouchers #257-259 in the amount of $196.57 by Councilman Gildersleeve, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.

PUBLIC COMMENTS:

Phyllis Heiko has compiled information on Noise for the zoning regulations. We are having more people move into town and more events are being held. She feels we should have more in zoning to address this issue. She said that Red Hook’s zoning fits more closely to ours. Also, she did see someone come out of the park on County Route 6 at night. She spoke to Sgt. Finn of the Hudson Police Department and she told her the things that they have on their signs and then they are subject to arrest.

Sara Takacs thanked the board for having the ditch filled in. She thanked Dawn for working on the grants for the parks. She asked if the plan from Scenic Hudson can be put on the website for people to see.

She asked about the increase in taxes and Councilman Desmond explained that the Red Hook School taxes went up because our equalization rate went down. The problem is that the State does a calculation on the properties and caused our equalization rate to drop. Our Assessor will be doing a data collection to bring our rate up to 100%.

A moment of silence was observed for the victims and families of the tragedy in Las Vegas.

A motion was made to adjourn at 8:15 P.M. by Councilman Gildersleeve, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Helen Shannon, RMC

Town Clerk