Town Board Meeting

CLERMONT TOWN BOARD

DECEMBER 6, 2010

 

The Clermont Town Board held its regular meeting on Monday, December 6, 2010 at 7:00 P.M. Those in attendance were Supervisor Raymond Staats, Councilwoman Dianne O’Neal, Councilman Desmond, Councilman Jones and Councilwoman Moore.

Others present were Louise Kalin, Historian and seven residents.

The meeting was opened by Supervisor Staats with a salute to the flag.

MINUTES:

  • The minutes of the regular meeting held on 11/1/10 were approved on a motion made by Councilman Desmond, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal. All in favor. So carried.
  • The minutes of the public hearings held on 11/1/10 were approved on a motion made by Councilman Jones, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.
  • The minutes of the special meeting held on 11/22/10 to open bids for the sale of the 2002 Ford pickup were approved by Councilman Jones, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.
  • The year-end meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 29th at 6:00 P.M. to pay the bills.

CORRESPONDENCE:

  • The Town Clerk read the report for November and gave a check to the Supervisor for the General Fund in the amount of $1,225.45. A motion was made to approve the Clerk’s report by Councilman Desmond, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal. All in favor. So carried.
  • The Columbia County Health Department will be giving free influenza vaccinations on December 9th from 5:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. at the Hudson Jr./Sr. High school.
  • The Greenport and Kinderhook Solid Waste stations will be open Friday, December 24th from 7:30 AM to 12:00 PM. All stations will be closed on December 25th and January 1st and January 3rd.
  • Winter Festival – Columbia County Historical Society, Kinderhook on December 9th & 10th.
  • Webmaster – no report
  • The 2011 Training School and Annual Meeting sponsored by the Association of Towns will be held February 20 – 23rd in NYC.
  • The Supervisor acknowledged receipt of a letter from Edward Cassidy regarding comments, which were made at the November meeting to his wife. This will be made a part of the minutes.
  • The Holiday Party will be held on Friday, December 17th at 6:00 P.M. with caroling at St. Lukes and refreshments and a visit from Santa at the Community House.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

  • Councilwoman O’Neal reported that all the paperwork for garage work has been submitted. There have been nine trees planted around the Community House and she thanked Angela Goetz for her help and Councilman Jones for getting a good price on the trees. She also thanked the Highway department for picking up the trees and planting them. Councilman Desmond has heard positive comments about the trees and he commented on the holiday lights. He does have concerns about planting bushes to close to the pavement due to visibility concerns. It will be taken into consideration.
  • Councilman Desmond responded to concerns which were raised at the November meeting about the assessment process and the Board of Assessment review. He has looked at sample assessments and found in his opinion that some were a little high, some were a little low, but overall the assessment roll appeared to be generally equitable. He cannot substitute his opinion because the Assessor has more training in this area. He found that of 980 parcels in the revaluation, 59 went to the Board of Assessment review. 17 received a lower assessment, 42 had no change and by stipulation, 15 were lowered by the assessor and ratified by the BAR. Ten residents filed for Small Claims Assessment Review and the results were reported last month. He has reviewed hearing notes and evidence relating to the property which prompted the criticism at last months meeting. There were significant pieces of evidence including the purchase price, assessed value, which was less than purchase price and the appraisal which showed it to be lower than the assessed value. A comparison of similar homes in the same neighborhood indicated a fair and equitable process. Councilman Desmond believes that the Board of Assessment Review did do their job.
  • Councilwoman Moore is waiting to hear from the Red Cross about training and because the Fire Company will have new officers appointed this month will wait for a new memorandum to be signed.
  • The Organizational meeting will be held at the first meeting of the year.

OLD BUSINESS:

  • Ballfield: The second load of sand was put down on the field and was paid for by the Little League. Thanks to the highway for doing the work. This will be our field for our children.
  • Bridge Update: Route 9G bridge is open. Pleasantvale Road Bridge is approved and there should be a contract to go out to bid. The Supervisor does not know if it will be awarded before the end of the year. This bridge is not designed for the heavy traffic that it has been used for. Once repaired the tonnage will be five tons. They may have to use some measures to curtail the traffic on the bridge.

NEW BUSINESS:

  • BIDS: The highest bidder for the 2002 Ford pickup was received from Joseph Palumbo for $5002.00. A motion was made by Councilman Jones, seconded by Councilman Desmond to award the bid to Mr.Palumbo. All in favor. So carried.
  • BUDGET TRANSFERS:
  1. Resolution #50-10 amending Resolution #46-10 regarding the Livingston Fire District Assessments. A motion was made to approve by Councilwoman O’Neal, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.
  2. Resolution #51-10: To transfer from D5130.4 to D5110.4 $300.00. A motion was made to approve by Councilwoman O’Neal, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.
  3. Resolution #52-2010: To transfer from Capital Projects D9950.9 to Highway Capital Reserve Equipment Fund $25,000.00. A motion was made to approve by Councilwoman O’Neal, seconded by Councilman Desmond. All in favor. So carried.
  4. Resolution #53-2010: To transfer from A1420.4 $1400.00. Increase Parks A7110.41 $600.00; Increase Supt. Of Highways A5010.4 $100.00; Increase Central Communications A1650.4 $700.00. A motion was made to approve by Councilwoman O’Neal, seconded by Councilwoman Moore. All in favor. So carried.
  5. Budget Amendment #3-2010: To Machine Equipment DA5130.2 $4,100.00 from Highway Capital Reserve DA5301 $4,100.00. A motion was made to approve by Councilman Desmond, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal. All in favor. So carried.
  • HISTORIAN: The Supervisor received a letter from Louise Kalin, Town Historian requesting to purchase a laptop. She got a price quote from Staples for a Toshiba laptop. The total cost is $919.00 with warranty, backup and anti-virus. Councilman Desmond asked if there was money in the equipment line for this purchase and there is. A motion was made by Councilman Jones, seconded by Councilman Desmond to approve the purchase. All in favor. So carried.
  • The Mortgage Tax check, which will be received, is for $20,808.50. This reflects an increase from last year at this time.
  • CD from Kinderhook Bank has come due. Invested $400,000.00 in CD at 1%, received $2937.26 in interest for 3 quarters. The Supervisor is meeting with the Bank of Greene County for any alternative investment possibilities, and will look at what can be invested for next year.

SUPERVISORS REPORT:

  • PINE HAVEN HOME: The Supervisor is on the subcommittee for the Pine Haven facility and the plans are nearing completion. They are working on location and positioning of building on thirty plus acre lot. The plan is to have a facility built by mid to late 2013.
  • DSS: There has been much discussion on where to put people for temporary or emergency housing. The long term is to have housing, but that is in the future. They are looking at low rent apartments.
  • COUNTY BUDGET: The County budget is looking like it will be a zero percent tax increase. The Supervisors meet this Wednesday to vote on the budget. The Supervisor has pushed for a zero percent tax increase.
  • COUNTY OFFICE SPACE: The former Walmart building in Greenport is being considered for consolidating county departments. A public meeting will be held on Friday at 5:00 P.M. at the Hudson Elks Club. Councilman Desmond asked if they will sell Ockawamick. It is being looked at but they might be able to use part of the building for county office space.
  • ELECTION: Supervisor thanked everyone for being involved. There were no problems here with the new machines, but there were incidents around the county.
  • HOLIDAY PARTY: December 17th 6:00 P.M. Caroling, refreshments and visit from Santa. The Highway Department put up the holiday decorations.
  • Andy Howard, Town Attorney, could not make it tonight to the meeting to talk about concerns that Mr. Quintero brought up at the last meeting regarding the William Cole subdivision of five acres on Route 9G. Supervisor Staats did speak with the attorney and he is familiar with this. When the Supervisor discusses this with him, he will get in touch with Mr.Quintero.

ABSTRACTS:

  • A motion was made by Councilwoman O’Neal, seconded by Councilman Desmond to approve Highway Abstract #12, vouchers #111-133 in the amount of $19,733.62. All in favor. So carried.
  • A motion was made by Councilwoman O’Neal, seconded by Councilwoman Moore to approve Trust and Agency abstract #6, vouchers #9 and 10 in the amount of $265.75. All in favor. So carried.
  • A motion was made by Councilwoman O’Neal, seconded by Councilwoman Moore to approve Capital Project abstract #10, vouchers #21 and 22 in the amount of $1407.91. All in favor. So carried.
  • A motion was made by Councilwoman O’Neal, seconded by Councilwoman Moore to approve General abstract #12, vouchers 337-376 in the amount of $18,602.47. All in favor. So carried.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

  • Edward Cassidy: Commented about the way his wife was spoken to at the last meeting, in particular by Councilman Jones, and asked for an apology. Councilman Jones apologized if he hurt her feelings and said he was sorry.
  • Eileen Cassidy asked why someone else could comment from the audience when no one else can. Supervisor Staats explained that if he addresses someone in the audience, they can comment, but we don’t want comments when we are in the meeting. Mrs. Cassidy feels that the boards behavior in unacceptable and not what the residents expect.
  • Mr. Quintero asked if work would stop now on the Cole property until the attorney looks into this. The attorney was going to address this tonight but he was not able to attend.
  • Chris Nolan thanked the board for the way the campus looks with the building being painted, etc. There is bipartisan support for solar energy in relation to what the county is doing. The Walmart store could benefit from solar installation because of the flat roof, as could the Town Hall because it is south facing. There are several companies locally which install solar, Sun Dog Solar/Solaqua, HudsonValley Clean Energy, Payneless Energy in Clermont. It might be beneficial to look into this and budget for in future years. Councilwoman O’Neal said we did apply to NYSERDA last year but the energy use is very low and the payback was low for our town buildings.

A motion was made to adjourn by Councilwoman O’Neal, seconded by Councilman Jones at 8:02 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Helen Shannon, RMC

Town Clerk

 

 

 

 

 

 

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