Town Board Meeting

CLERMONT TOWN BOARD

AUGUST 3, 2009

 

The Clermont Town Board held its regular meeting on Monday, August 3, 2009 after public hearings on three local laws. Those in attendance were Supervisor Staats, Councilwoman O’Neal, Councilman Jones, Councilwoman Lent and Councilman Jones. Also present were Andy Howard, Town Attorney, Ray Jurkowski, Town Engineer and sixteen residents.

Town Attorney, Andy Howard prepared a long form EAF relative to the local laws, which was read. A motion was made by Councilman Jones, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal to declare a negative declaration. All in favor. So carried.

Minutes: Councilman Jones asked that on page 2 –Community House be changed to reflect that ‘a second lightening arrestor could be mounted on one of the trees east of the building with proper grounding at a modest cost’. A motion was made by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilman Jones to approve the minutes of July 6, 2009 with correction. All in favor. So carried. There was discussion on lightening rods on the Town Hall, St. Luke’s church and the highway garage. Councilman Jones will get quotes for next month.

The Town Clerks report for July was read. A check for General Fund in the amount of $494.10 and Trust and Agency in the amount of $300.00 were presented to the Supervisor. A motion was made to accept the Clerk’s report by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal. All in favor. So carried.

CORRESPONDENCE:

  1. A notice was put in the paper and on the website to fill a vacancy on the Planning Board created by a resignation.
  2. Town Clerk’s office will be closed on Saturday, August 15th but open on Monday, August 17th from 5:00 to 6:30 P.M.
  3. Letter to Amidon Builders requesting prevailing wage paperwork was prepared by Andy Howard and sent to Mr. Amidon.
  4. Water analysis was done by Smith labs on Community House well and was clear.
  5. Letter from Ethics Committee on results of ethics complaint by Councilwoman Lent against the Town Board and Councilwoman O’Neal on email which she considered confidential and ended up on the front page of the Broadside newsletter. The letter stated that there was no violation, as emails are not considered confidential, as they can be the subject of a FOIL request. The committee recommended amending the Code of Ethics to clarify what is confidential information. Supervisor Staats asked that any emails be labeled as confidential in the future if you feel that it should be confidential.
  6. Web Committee: Dagmar Payne asked if the mention of the Food Pantry made it onto the website. It was added onto the website with the BBQ information.

 COMMITTEE REPORT:

  1. LOCAL LAW NO. 6: Councilwoman Lent has sent Local Law #6 relative to Planned Residential Units to our engineer’s office for review. It will be reviewed by our attorney and must be sent to Columbia County Planning.
  2. U.S. SERVICEMEN PLAQUES: Councilman Jones has transcribed the names of servicemen from the panels at the Community House and would like to complete the records of the servicemen from Vietnam, Desert Storm, etc. Suggested asking at the County Veterans Administration office.
  3. RECREATION: Councilman Jones expressed the need for more recreation in town and he and Bob Elliott submitted a list of potential recreation facilities. A meeting was set for Monday, August 17th at 6:30 P.M. with the Planning Committee at the Community House.
  4. NYSERDA: Councilwoman O’Neal has received notice from NYSERDA that they have issued a request for proposals for weatherization for town buildings. We will be applying for storm windows for the Community House and insulation for two buildings. She asked for Dagmar Payne to assist, as well as, Councilman Jones. The report is due on August 24, 2009.
  5. GENERATORS: Town Engineer, Ray Jurkowski will be meeting at the firehouse with the electrician, members of fire company, Supervisor Staats and James Potts. The pad is set and the electrician needs to complete the wiring. A decision must be made on location of LP gas, so that the generators can be installed at Community House and Town Hall. Councilwoman O’Neal reported that this would complete step 1 of the Emergency Preparedness Plan and step 2 will begin.
  6. HISTORY COMMITTEE: Councilwoman O’Neal reported that Mary Howell has been contacted by a descendent of Captain Tinklepaugh, who built the Munro house on Hickory Hill, and has a portrait which is being donated to the Town.
  7. CLERMONT TO CLERMONT: Councilwoman O’Neal reported that Clermont State Historic site is working on Clermont to Clermont and Clermont State Parks trail along the river which will be held on October 10th.

OLD BUSINESS:

  1. DATA COLLECTION: The Supervisor reported that data collection is approximately 35 to 40% complete. He has met with ORPS and our Assessor and we are on schedule for next year’s taxes. A public meeting will be scheduled in October to explain where we are in the process and cards will be sent out to residents for their comments. Councilman Jones would like to know how many new buildings or addition permits were issued last year and this year by our building inspector.
  2. HIGHWAY GARAGE UPDATE: Resolution #40-09 has been amended from the last meeting to use funds from the General Capital reserve fund, which was set up for buildings, rather than from the General Fund balance. A motion was made to adopt amended Resolution #40-09 by Councilman Jones, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal. Councilwoman Lent abstained due to the balance of accounts, not the subject of the Highway garage addition/renovation. Motion passed, 4 ayes, l abstention. The Supervisor asked Councilwoman Lent if she has any figures for the board to review.
  3. AUDIT: An auditor from the Comptroller’s office will not be coming until sometime in September. (Add: Supervisor Staats asked again for Mrs. Lent to provide the numbers or discrepancies she had.) Councilwoman Lent noted that there was a reserve balance of $790,000.00 at the end of 2008 in the paperwork received from the board and the accountant. A new balance sheet for the Highway Garage showed $852,000.00 and at the beginning of 2009 the balance was $936,000.00.
  4. BALLFIELD: Supervisor Staats has no report on the use of the ballfield on Route 9, owned by the Saulpaugh family. He agrees that the Planning Committee should meet and bring back recommendations to the board.

NEW BUSINESS:

REVENUES:

  1. Received a check for Local Municipal Support in the amount of $11,498.67, which is a portion of the tobacco settlement and is budgeted revenue.
  2. Received a check from FEMA in the amount of $45,217.20 for the Winter Storm of December 2008. He thanked Highway Superintendent James Potts for pursuing this with a good result.
  3. Previously placed $500,000 into a CD at Kinderhook Bank and will now be moving it back into the Money Market account.

RESOLUTIONS TO TRANSFER FUNDS:

  1. Resolution #38-09 was approved last month to move $1000.00 from General Fund A5132.41 Garage Heating Oil to A5132.42 Garage Electric due to a shortage in the Garage electric account and will be signed.
  2. Resolution #41-09 authorizing transfers due to unexpected costs for Local Laws:

Decrease A1010.4 Town Board $1000.00

Increase A8010.4 Zoning $1000.00

Decrease A7110.41 Park $5,000.00

Increase A1420.4 Attorney $5000.00

A motion was made by Councilwoman O’Neal; seconded by Councilman Nolan to approve Resolution #41-09 dated August 3, 2009 for budgetary transfer as described. All in favor. So carried. Supervisor Staats said that we are in line with our revenues for sales tax and mortgage tax to date

BUDGETARY: There was discussion on recent newspaper articles regarding our accountant, Brian Fitzgerald, and other towns. The Supervisor stated that it is the responsibility of the town board and Supervisor to approve a budget. Councilwoman O’Neal is grateful for Supervisor Staats vigilance and is confident that we have a fiscally solid town. Budget requests will be going out to departments for next year’s budget.

BROWNFIELDS: There have been four responses back from the Lead Agency letters that were sent out on a potential recreation park and location for a new highway garage. They are not interested in being lead agency. At this point, the board would pass a resolution that they will assume lead agency. A long form EAF has been prepared. Ray Jurkowski will provide answers to Part 2 and Part 3 and board can act on negative or positive declaration. Councilman Nolan has some comments on Part 2 which he will email to Ray. Councilman Nolan motioned that we declare ourselves lead agency for Parcel R, Parcel SC, Parcel HG and G-tel Project, seconded by Councilman Jones. Councilwoman O’Neal abstained. Motion passed 4 ayes, 1 abstention.

GERMANTOWN PARK: Susan Rifenburgh was appointed the representative to keep us informed about the Germantown Park programs. The Supervisor has asked her to inquire about the fees, which are charged to Clermont residents for the summer park program, when we are donating $6000.00 per year from our budget. She will have information at the next meeting.

SUPERVISORS REPORT:

  1. HUMAN SERVICES: DSS possibly staying in Hudson with the purchase of One City Center. They will also be moving DSS employees to other buildings in the City. It was also reported that for the homeless we spend 1.2 – 1.4 million dollars to house seventy people.
  2. OCKAWAMICK: Will be used for engineering department, tourism, and other departments that don’t have as much traffic from the public.
  3. PINE HAVEN HOME: Recommendation from committee that Pine Haven will stay in Philmont. They will either renovate and/or put a new addition up.
  4. REAL PROPERTY: Judy Neary was at last County meeting. Report was done on County taxes not school taxes, as Judy has been requesting. The report stated that there would be a loss to the County in interest and penalties if they change the payment structure.
  5. PLEASANTVALE ROAD BRIDGE: Received notification from County Highway: that the bridge load on Pleasantvale Road will be reduced from 10 tons to 5 tons.
  6. VILLAGE GREEN BBQ: Tickets are on sale for the barbeque which will be held on Saturday, August 8,2009.

ABSTRACTS:

A motion was made by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal to approve General fund abstract #8, vouchers 197 to 227 in the amount of $26,722.57. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal to approve Trust and Agency abstract #8, voucher #6 in the amount of $315.40. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal to approve Garage Capital Projects abstract #1, voucher #1 in the amount of $2,156.29. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal to approve Highway abstract #8, vouchers #88 to #94 in the amount of $3,995.50. All in favor. So carried.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

Charlie Larsen commented on the zoning updates, which he feels is well worth what was spent. He also reported that the Fire District got about $4000.00 from FEMA. The Village Green BBQ is on Saturday, August 8, 2009, with the tractor pull starting at 10:00 A.M. and the History Committee will be holding a bake sale to raise money for the Community House.

Dagmar Payne made a statement to clarify that the 66% increase in taxes amounted to a $20.00 increase on her town taxes.

A motion was made to adjourn by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal. All in favor. So carried.

Respectfully submitted,

 

Mary Helen Shannon, RMC

Town Clerk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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