CLERMONT TOWN BOARD
OCTOBER 6, 2008
The Clermont Town Board held its regular meeting on Monday, October 6, 2008 at 7:00 P.M. Those in attendance were Supervisor Staats, Councilwoman O’Neal, Councilman Jones, Councilwoman Lent and Councilman Nolan.
Others present were Bob Desmond, Harry Harned, Bea Banks, Ray Tousey, Judy Neary, Elizabeth Mahar, Alberta Staats, Gregory Fingar, Roy Brown, Peter Fingar, Dennis Palazzo, Dagmar Payne, Ruth Hammer, Stephen Hammer, Phyllis Heiko and Mel Heiko. Also present was the Town Attorney, Andrew Howard.
Supervisor Staats opened the meeting with the salute to the flag.
Supervisor Staats opened the public hearing on Local Law #3-2008 establishing a real property tax exemption for volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulance workers pursuant to the provisions of Section 466-d of the Real Property Tax Law of the State of New York. The Clerk read the public notice. There were no questions from anyone present. The hearing was closed on a motion made by Councilwoman O’Neal, seconded by Councilman Jones.
MOTION: A motion was made by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilman Jones to adopt Local Law #3-2008 establishing a real property tax exemption for volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulance workers pursuant to the provisions of Section 466-d of the Real Property Tax Law of the State of New York. All in favor. So carried.
At next months meeting, if the County has adopted the Cold War Veterans exemption, we will present Local Law #4-2008 for adoption. This exemption is for those who rendered military service during the period September 2, 1945 through December 26, 1991 and provides a partial exemption under Section 3-subsection l, not to exceed $12,000.
Subsection – 2 deals with disability, and is a greater exemption determined by the VA or the Department of Defense. Councilwoman O’Neal asked if this becomes inactive if the County does not pass it. We cannot hold the public hearing if the County does not pass it.
MOTION: A motion was made by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilman Jones to set the public hearing date for Monday, November 3, 2008 at 7:00 P.M. on Local Law #4-2008.
ACKERMAN SUBDIVISION: Mr. Howard reported on the Ackerman subdivision on Route 9. He has been in contact with Mr. Ackerman’s attorney, Michael Jordon and the financial situation has improved for Mr. Ackerman. A meeting will be set up with Ray Jurkowski of Morris Associates, our engineer for the project. They will cover what is necessary to complete the work and the amount to be placed in escrow. There is some drainage to be taken care of and certification by an engineer that the work has been completed. Ray Jurkowski will do the certification. Mr. Howard will confirm a timetable and that the attorney has met with Mr. Jurkowski. He believes that the work will be done within thirty days. The Clerk will provide to our attorney, the escrow amount, which is due from Mr. Ackerman for our engineer and attorney fees.
MINUTES: September 2, 2008 minutes – Councilman Nolan asked for the following corrections:
1. Page 1, 3rd paragraph, add ‘to the County Coroners house’ after Buckwheat Bridge Road.
2. He believes that there was a committee appointed for the Zoning Update, page 3, 1st bullet and that his name was omitted, however the Supervisor and Councilwoman Lent noted that the Supervisor asked him to participate in the zoning review after the meeting had closed. Councilman Nolan maintained that he had been appointed to the committee in January and had asked for comments from the Planning and Zoning Boards. His committee had not yet held a meeting, as he had not received comments back from the boards due to circumstances. It was the consensus that these comments should be added to this months minutes.
3. Page 3 – 5th bullet – Add Jonathan Loyola’s name.
4. Page 5- 4th bullet – Questioned the spelling of ‘PARC’ Foundation but it is spelled correctly.
5. Page 6- 1st bullet –insert ‘Sequoia’ election machine.
6. Page 8 - insert Tara ‘Sullivan’.
A motion was made by Councilman Jones to approve the September 2nd minutes with Councilman Nolans corrections, seconded by Councilman Nolan. All in favor. So carried.
MINUTES: September 19, 2008 Budget Workshop Minutes
Councilwoman Lent asked for a correction adding to the fourth paragraph, insert ‘matching grants’ after Con Ed fund.
Councilwoman O’Neal corrected the spelling of Brownsfield to Brownfields in third paragraph. A motion was made to accept the September 19th minutes with corrections by Councilwoman O’Neal, seconded by Councilman Jones. All in favor. So carried.
CORRESPONDENCE:
RESOLUTIONS:
1. Resolution #58-08 to transfer monies in the Highway account to decrease Bridges D5120.4 by $1500.00 and increase Capital Outlay D5122.2 by $1500.00. A motion was made by Councilwoman O’Neal, seconded by Councilman Nolan to approve this resolution. All in favor. So carried.
2. Resolution #59-08 exempting certain referrals mandated by General Municipal Law Section 239-m. As was explained by the Clerk and Bob Desmond these referrals pertain to local decisions that the County Planning Board does not have to approve, The ZBA can still send anything to the County Planning Board if they do want their input. Councilman Nolan asked if the jurisdiction still remains with the ZBA, and it does. After review and further discussion, a motion was made by Councilman Jones, seconded by Councilman Nolan to approve. All in favor. So carried. Councilwoman Lent will put a copy of the resolution in the zoning ordinance.
Supervisor Staats made the following report on the 2009 Preliminary budget:
He prepared a spreadsheet showing the appropriations and revenues from 2005 to present. He reported that revenues have been heading in a downward trend and that the sales tax and mortgage taxes were overestimated in 2008. The sales tax revenue was estimated at $230,000, and is projected to be $108,000. We are approximately $50,000 short in sales tax revenues this year. Mortgage tax was estimated at about $80,000, the projected is about $55,000 resulting in a shortfall of $25,000. Interest income estimated at $20,000.00 but the projected is about $7,000.00. A line item for museum charges of $3000.00 was included in the budget but there was nothing collected, resulting in another shortfall. There were items not included in the revenues of $11,000.00 for tobacco money and $9500.00 for the AIM payment for 2008, which did offset the revenue deficit. Overall we are about $75,000.00 short in revenues. The accountant was not utilized last year and would have recommended last year to increase taxes in order to preserve the reserve balances. We will need an additional $30,000 to $40,000 from reserve funds to cover this years budget shortfall. Supervisor Staats has reduced the 2009 budget figures back to less than the 2007 budget numbers. He has eliminated the budget officer salary from the budget. The Town Clerk and the Highway employees are the only salary increases in the 2009 budget. The highway garage project has been temporarily suspended. The accountant has advised the Supervisor that if we continue in this way for the next four or five years, we will deplete our funds. He suggested that increases could be made over the next few years to slowly increase the budget figures as the economic situation improves without placing a burden on the taxpayers. Councilwoman Lent does not feel that the unexpended balances are correct as submitted. She would like the accountant to clarify the difference in the two proposed budget copies, where the unexpended balances are drastically different on both draft copies. She also stated that the mortgage tax revenues and sales tax revenues were dropped significantly from 2006, 2007 and 2008. The mortgage tax should have been dropped by $10,000 in the 2008 budget but after discussion, it was found that it was not. She also feels that there is a discrepancy in the interest, which was said to have been counted twice by the previous board. Our accountant said that you cannot count interest in the General account as revenue, but Councilwoman Lent checked with the Comptroller’s office and you can count the interest in the General account as revenue. You still have to count the interest in General, Highway and the Con Ed fund separately but you include it. Supervisor Staats reported that there is a reserve fund balance of $335,000 in the General fund, not including the Con Ed or Capital buildings. We are talking about using $50,000 for Highway from the balance of $135,000, $82,000 from General fund which will leave a balance of $250,000. There was discussion about where funds were going to come from for the Highway Garage. According to Councilwoman Lent no money was ever budgeted for the Highway garage for 2008 because they were going to pursue grants. She feels there should be a general idea of what is going to be left in the various accounts by the end of the year. Supervisor Staats explained how the accountant arrived at the figures, the appropriations, less revenues, amount raised by tax $113,000, balance that is left is what we are going to have to take out of the bank. It is estimated that we will have $22,000.00 from this years budget which is unexpended. Councilwoman Lent questioned the assessed value, but there is a note that it is the incorrect number for 2008. Supervisor Staats stated that it is the actual assessed value number for this year’s budget. Councilman Nolan stated that this relates to the equalization rate, which the funds for the reevaluation has been one of the items cut from the budget. There was other discussion on items, which were taken from the budget. There was discussion on interest rates and trying to get the best interest that we can on our funds. The Supervisor will set up a date for our accountant to come down before the end of October.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Harry Harned – The previous board never discussed funding or entered the planning stage for the garage. Nothing was appropriated, no discussions were held on how to fund it. It was to be looked into this year. Councilman Nolan said that he had suggested a proposed schedule because he thought that something was going to happen because of the condition of the building, but no funding was set aside. Councilwoman O’Neal asked why there was money spent for Dan Wheeler on a design for the garage? Dennis Palazzo said that no one said where the money was going to come from at that point, the first we heard was from this board. Councilman Nolan objected to this comment because the money had to come from somewhere and said it was irresponsible for the previous board not to have an idea where the money was coming from.
MOTION: A motion was made by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal to hold a public hearing on the Preliminary Budget on Monday, November 3rd at 7:00 P.M. before the regular town board meeting. All in favor. So carried.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilwoman Lent reported on the Zoning Update: She met with the Zoning Board on their meeting night to discuss the changes they are requesting. They discussed the format of the ordinance, use tables, numbering pages, index and sectioning of ordinance. Janice will do this work in Dan Wheelers office and the costs would be very minimal. Jay Trapp of Wheelers office and Patrice Perry of the County Planning will attend the October Zoning Board meeting and go over other issues, such as, clarifying uses, wind power, solar panels, outdoor furnaces, Phase II storm water, temporary CO’s, etc. There was discussion on where the money was going to come from to cover this expense. There is $1300 left in the engineer’s account and there are funds in the Zoning Board budget. Councilman Nolan pointed out that some of these issues are very complex, such as wind power, and there are issues in terms of the zoning ordinance. He asked if Dan Wheelers office was going to bring sample ordinances to the meeting. Councilwoman Lent reported that Dan will bring several examples but Charlie Larsen gave her information on some of these issues and she has given them to Dan Wheeler. Supervisor Staats will contact Dan Wheeler for an estimate.Councilwoman Lent has been trying to contact Bill Black, Director of Emergency Management regarding high band radios to be purchased with the grant money from Berkshire Taconic Community Fund.
Supervisor Staats asked if LaTorres ladder was returned, and it has been and was picked up by Jim Connolly.
Highway Garage – as was reported earlier, the Highway Garage will be put off until next year. The estimated cost for the garage was about $1,200,000. Councilman Jones has spoken with Superintendent Potts the Supervisor and they have discussed a wooden structure rather than steel as originally planned. He will work with Mr. Potts on this concept. Supervisor Staats stated that we have to reconsider because of the costs of the proposed garage.
Councilman Nolan stated that we still have the contaminated land issue, His concern is with the proposed driveway to the highway garage and the snowplows coming out onto Route 9, which is a bad intersection. With the buildings being so close to the corner, maybe we could look at this again. We had discussed a driveway entrance coming in from Route 9 and maybe we should consider this again. Maybe we should consider the building as a commercial use, on the front portion, given that there is a brownfields component. Councilwoman Lent suggested that the use committee, of which Councilman Nolan is the chairman, should meet and discuss any issues. Supervisor Staats suggested having his committee meet and discuss this. Do we know the status of the state money? Supervisor Staats said there may be no money next year, but there may be the next year. Councilwoman Lent asked if Kirk Moline had received everything he needed, in relation to the four-acre site? Supervisor Staats received an updated version on the scope of work from Randy Hough. The subdivision map needs to be filed. Councilman Jones would like to make use of the remediation material on the site, and take advantage of the offer from Mr. Lent to move the almost 20,000 cubic yards of material before we file the deed. However, we have to have the okay from DEC before anything can be moved. Councilman Jones does not want to loose the use of that material, and Councilwoman Lent said the offer would not be taken off the table for use of the equipment and manpower. Supervisor Staats will see if Kirk Moline can come down to speak to the board when he has everything together.
Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial - Councilman Nolan did try to reach Tara Sullivan about the Quadricentennial celebration and Councilwoman O’Neal also tried to get in touch with her. Councilwoman O’Neal did contact Ellen Thurston in Hudson. She explained that Columbia County has a committee headed up by Ruth Palunka,(Correction: Piwonka) and will meet this Wednesday. Grants were given out for $45,000 grants to Hudson and Columbia County. We can apply for a portion of $45,000.
Councilwoman O’Neal is going to attend the meeting and Clermont State Historic Site also goes to these meetings. There is an idea of having an exhibition of memorabilia from previous celebrations at the Community House. Grant does require a match and can be in-kind, but she must attend the meeting to find out what this entails. Supervisor Staats thinks that now the money has to be put up front and then there is reimbursement. There is also a meeting in Albany of the entire committee on October 20th. She will try to attend this meeting also. Judy Neary reported that she called Tara Sullivan and met with her the same night and gave Judy an incentive kit. She passed out many materials that Ms. Sullivan gave her. The town must be registered and it can be done online. Councilman Nolan will make a note of this. Judy would like to be involved in this effort, possibly a float for a parade at the barbecue. The Friends of Clermont have not registered as of yet. Councilwoman Lent asked if they are looking for a committee. Councilwoman O’Neal will report back at the next meeting and possibly form a committee.
Home Heating Assistance Program - Councilwoman O’Neal reminded everyone about applications about Home Heating Assistance, which are available on November 1st. You must get your name on the list if you were not on the list previously. Contact Patricia Moskaluk at OFA if over 65 and assistance is available, if under the age of 60 from Social Services. Supervisor Staats announced that there has been an increase in benefits this year from Social Services.
Academy Windows – Councilwoman O’Neal reported that the windows would be completed by next week. The question now is about storm windows. There needs to be more research. Dianne and Dennis Palazzo have donated tile for the two bathrooms. She will be asking for estimates on installation of tile and coordinating for getting hot water in bathrooms. Councilman Jones looked into the hot water lines for the bathrooms. It is a modest amount to run the hot water to the bathrooms because they are close together. He is also looking into a programmable thermostat for the Community House and the Town Hall to help reduce fuel costs.
OLD BUSINESS:
BENCH PLAQUES: Supervisor Staats will have the bench plaques installed on the benches. Joan DeLaurentis donated the benches in memory of her daughter, Gale DeLaurentis Fenn and her husband, Don DeLaurentis, who was an Assessor for Clermont.
KEEP FARMING: Supervisor Staats reported that Taghkanic and Gallatin are not interested in joining in with Glynwood Center. Councilwoman Lent will contact Virginia Kasinski about getting back half of our funds, which were paid for the Keep Farming Program.
HIGHWAY GARAGE: We are looking at other options
DEC UPDATE: It is still being worked and the Supervisor will follow up.
SPEED LIMIT SIGN on County Route 6: Supervisor Staats met with Bernie Kelleher of County Highway last week. A sign crew was on site and the sign has been approved but it has not been put up yet. He has also asked that several spots on County Route 6, which need to be repaired, as they are very bad.
NEW BUSINESS:
Family Sweets Business on County Route 6 and Route 9 has opened up. He has met with the Shaw’s twice and they have taken care of all their paperwork with the Planning Board.
SUPERVISORS REPORT:
OCKAWAMIC PROPERTY: The County will be holding a vote this month on purchasing the property for County offices. They are also looking at developing the County Courthouse for the District Attorneys offices.
COUNTY PROJECTS: Supervisor Staats is also on the committee to rate projects in the County in order to get state funding. The projects are the Kinderhook bike trail 1st; Clermont Historic Site dock project, 2nd; Germantown Path project, 3rd; Gate House, 4th.
CENTRALIZED ASSESSMENT UNIT: The County is seeking to have a unified assessment within the County. This may take four or five years to take effect.
ELECTION DAY – Tuesday, November 4, 2008 at the Town Hall from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
Councilwoman Lent asked about the Annual financial report for 2007, which the Supervisor gave to the board in June, and if our accountant or the state comptroller did this report. Supervisor Staats believes that Brian probably sent this to the State.
ABSTRACTS:
A motion was made to approve General Fund abstract #10, vouchers #291-321 in the amount of $7,118.90 by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal. All in favor. So carried.
A motion was made to approve Trust and Agency abstract #10, vouchers #60-62 in the amount of $687.50 by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilwoman Lent. All in favor. So carried.
A motion was made to approve Highway abstract #10, vouchers #108-120 in the amount of $13999.54 by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal. All in favor. So carried.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Judy Neary has spoken to one of the men working on the windows and he explained that the metal strip above the windows, would not help in the snow, that storm windows are needed to protect the windows or they will be destroyed within a year. Councilwoman O’Neal and Councilman Jones have looked into it and have spoken to Stacey Matson-Zuvich at OPRHP and the storms recommended were about $1000 a piece. They have asked how the State would feel about regular aluminum storms and screens on the rear and sides, or the farmhouse storms which is cut to fit out of a solid piece of wood and has two panes of glass. Councilman Jones spoke to the man doing the job and he said to check with Custom storm windows.com which provides low cost storm windows. The way the windows are you could attach a simple storm window by hooks. The north and west sides are most prone to driven snow and these sides could be done first. Councilwoman O’Neal should have figures for the next meeting.
Judy Neary asked about re-assessments of parcels, which appears to be four and five years away. We are paying way too much in school taxes. She has spoken with three school districts and the assessor and we are paying way too much in taxes because we are at 67% assessment. There was discussion about Councilman Nolan’s role as school liaison and requesting the schools to attend our board meetings before budget time. The funds for the reevaluation have been cut from the upcoming budget. Councilwoman O’Neal checked the Office of Real Property website and the town can grieve its equalization rate. Bob Desmond said that the assessor doesn’t think that our rate is incorrect. Supervisor Staats has talked to Germantown about doing the reevaluation together. There was also discussion about incremental payments of school taxes. This has to be adopted by a County and then sometimes the school districts will follow.
Bob Desmond – Asked if a public hearing on Cold War Veterans Exemption is scheduled. It will be held on Monday, November 3, 2008 at 7:00 P.M. Bob also asked what is going to be done to the roof of the garage while you are waiting to build the garage. It will be tarped for the winter. Councilman Nolan asked about trusses being put across the top. Supervisor Staats said that it would cost anywhere $10,000 to $25,000 to put up trusses and close off the roof.
Councilman Jones asked if we are going to invite the schools to come to a meeting. Councilwoman Lent said it should be in May before the budgets are voted on. Councilman Nolan will contact the schools and request that they visit the Town Board in May. There was further discussion about equalization rates. Bob Desmond has requested information from the Red Hook school to do with unfunded mandates, which they say is the reason for the increases, but they cannot produce the information. It was also suggested that the Assessor be present at a meeting to let people know what the equalization rate is so that they know ahead of time.
A motion was made to adjourn at 9:54 P.M. by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilwoman O’ Neal. All in favor. So carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Helen Shannon, RMC
Town Clerk
OCTOBER 6, 2008
The Clermont Town Board held its regular meeting on Monday, October 6, 2008 at 7:00 P.M. Those in attendance were Supervisor Staats, Councilwoman O’Neal, Councilman Jones, Councilwoman Lent and Councilman Nolan.
Others present were Bob Desmond, Harry Harned, Bea Banks, Ray Tousey, Judy Neary, Elizabeth Mahar, Alberta Staats, Gregory Fingar, Roy Brown, Peter Fingar, Dennis Palazzo, Dagmar Payne, Ruth Hammer, Stephen Hammer, Phyllis Heiko and Mel Heiko. Also present was the Town Attorney, Andrew Howard.
Supervisor Staats opened the meeting with the salute to the flag.
Supervisor Staats opened the public hearing on Local Law #3-2008 establishing a real property tax exemption for volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulance workers pursuant to the provisions of Section 466-d of the Real Property Tax Law of the State of New York. The Clerk read the public notice. There were no questions from anyone present. The hearing was closed on a motion made by Councilwoman O’Neal, seconded by Councilman Jones.
MOTION: A motion was made by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilman Jones to adopt Local Law #3-2008 establishing a real property tax exemption for volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulance workers pursuant to the provisions of Section 466-d of the Real Property Tax Law of the State of New York. All in favor. So carried.
At next months meeting, if the County has adopted the Cold War Veterans exemption, we will present Local Law #4-2008 for adoption. This exemption is for those who rendered military service during the period September 2, 1945 through December 26, 1991 and provides a partial exemption under Section 3-subsection l, not to exceed $12,000.
Subsection – 2 deals with disability, and is a greater exemption determined by the VA or the Department of Defense. Councilwoman O’Neal asked if this becomes inactive if the County does not pass it. We cannot hold the public hearing if the County does not pass it.
MOTION: A motion was made by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilman Jones to set the public hearing date for Monday, November 3, 2008 at 7:00 P.M. on Local Law #4-2008.
ACKERMAN SUBDIVISION: Mr. Howard reported on the Ackerman subdivision on Route 9. He has been in contact with Mr. Ackerman’s attorney, Michael Jordon and the financial situation has improved for Mr. Ackerman. A meeting will be set up with Ray Jurkowski of Morris Associates, our engineer for the project. They will cover what is necessary to complete the work and the amount to be placed in escrow. There is some drainage to be taken care of and certification by an engineer that the work has been completed. Ray Jurkowski will do the certification. Mr. Howard will confirm a timetable and that the attorney has met with Mr. Jurkowski. He believes that the work will be done within thirty days. The Clerk will provide to our attorney, the escrow amount, which is due from Mr. Ackerman for our engineer and attorney fees.
MINUTES: September 2, 2008 minutes – Councilman Nolan asked for the following corrections:
1. Page 1, 3rd paragraph, add ‘to the County Coroners house’ after Buckwheat Bridge Road.
2. He believes that there was a committee appointed for the Zoning Update, page 3, 1st bullet and that his name was omitted, however the Supervisor and Councilwoman Lent noted that the Supervisor asked him to participate in the zoning review after the meeting had closed. Councilman Nolan maintained that he had been appointed to the committee in January and had asked for comments from the Planning and Zoning Boards. His committee had not yet held a meeting, as he had not received comments back from the boards due to circumstances. It was the consensus that these comments should be added to this months minutes.
3. Page 3 – 5th bullet – Add Jonathan Loyola’s name.
4. Page 5- 4th bullet – Questioned the spelling of ‘PARC’ Foundation but it is spelled correctly.
5. Page 6- 1st bullet –insert ‘Sequoia’ election machine.
6. Page 8 - insert Tara ‘Sullivan’.
A motion was made by Councilman Jones to approve the September 2nd minutes with Councilman Nolans corrections, seconded by Councilman Nolan. All in favor. So carried.
MINUTES: September 19, 2008 Budget Workshop Minutes
Councilwoman Lent asked for a correction adding to the fourth paragraph, insert ‘matching grants’ after Con Ed fund.
Councilwoman O’Neal corrected the spelling of Brownsfield to Brownfields in third paragraph. A motion was made to accept the September 19th minutes with corrections by Councilwoman O’Neal, seconded by Councilman Jones. All in favor. So carried.
CORRESPONDENCE:
- The Clerk read the Clerk’s report and presented checks to the Supervisor for General fund $l,119.91 and Trust and Agency $1,263.60. A motion was made to accept the Clerk’s report by Councilman Jones, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal. All in favor. So carried.
- Germantown Library Open House on Saturday, October 25, 2008 at 9:00 AM
- Hudson River Heritage 20th Annual Country Seats Tour on October 18 and 19 in Hyde Park, Staatsburg and Clinton.
- Meeting of the Columbia County Historical Society on Saturday, October 18th at 10:00 AM at the James Vanderpoel House in Kinderhook.
- Public Hearing Notice – Town of Milan on 10/14/08 at 7:15 P.M. at the Milan Town Hall amending the Zoning Map.
- Columbia County Planning Department noticing the Town of a public hearing on Ag District No. 4 on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 7:00 P.M.to be held at the Clermont Town Hall.
- Stephen Hammer, Webmaster reported that Valstar has the new druple site online. He proposed a session to familiarize those who will be posting to the website. A decision should be made as to who has access to postings. There will be a meeting of the website committee on Tuesday, October 14th at 7:00 P.M. Bram Moreinis suggested that the Supervisor attend rather than bringing in everyone at once. The Supervisor reported that Bruce Bohnsack sent him an email about the Druple site being ready.
RESOLUTIONS:
1. Resolution #58-08 to transfer monies in the Highway account to decrease Bridges D5120.4 by $1500.00 and increase Capital Outlay D5122.2 by $1500.00. A motion was made by Councilwoman O’Neal, seconded by Councilman Nolan to approve this resolution. All in favor. So carried.
2. Resolution #59-08 exempting certain referrals mandated by General Municipal Law Section 239-m. As was explained by the Clerk and Bob Desmond these referrals pertain to local decisions that the County Planning Board does not have to approve, The ZBA can still send anything to the County Planning Board if they do want their input. Councilman Nolan asked if the jurisdiction still remains with the ZBA, and it does. After review and further discussion, a motion was made by Councilman Jones, seconded by Councilman Nolan to approve. All in favor. So carried. Councilwoman Lent will put a copy of the resolution in the zoning ordinance.
Supervisor Staats made the following report on the 2009 Preliminary budget:
He prepared a spreadsheet showing the appropriations and revenues from 2005 to present. He reported that revenues have been heading in a downward trend and that the sales tax and mortgage taxes were overestimated in 2008. The sales tax revenue was estimated at $230,000, and is projected to be $108,000. We are approximately $50,000 short in sales tax revenues this year. Mortgage tax was estimated at about $80,000, the projected is about $55,000 resulting in a shortfall of $25,000. Interest income estimated at $20,000.00 but the projected is about $7,000.00. A line item for museum charges of $3000.00 was included in the budget but there was nothing collected, resulting in another shortfall. There were items not included in the revenues of $11,000.00 for tobacco money and $9500.00 for the AIM payment for 2008, which did offset the revenue deficit. Overall we are about $75,000.00 short in revenues. The accountant was not utilized last year and would have recommended last year to increase taxes in order to preserve the reserve balances. We will need an additional $30,000 to $40,000 from reserve funds to cover this years budget shortfall. Supervisor Staats has reduced the 2009 budget figures back to less than the 2007 budget numbers. He has eliminated the budget officer salary from the budget. The Town Clerk and the Highway employees are the only salary increases in the 2009 budget. The highway garage project has been temporarily suspended. The accountant has advised the Supervisor that if we continue in this way for the next four or five years, we will deplete our funds. He suggested that increases could be made over the next few years to slowly increase the budget figures as the economic situation improves without placing a burden on the taxpayers. Councilwoman Lent does not feel that the unexpended balances are correct as submitted. She would like the accountant to clarify the difference in the two proposed budget copies, where the unexpended balances are drastically different on both draft copies. She also stated that the mortgage tax revenues and sales tax revenues were dropped significantly from 2006, 2007 and 2008. The mortgage tax should have been dropped by $10,000 in the 2008 budget but after discussion, it was found that it was not. She also feels that there is a discrepancy in the interest, which was said to have been counted twice by the previous board. Our accountant said that you cannot count interest in the General account as revenue, but Councilwoman Lent checked with the Comptroller’s office and you can count the interest in the General account as revenue. You still have to count the interest in General, Highway and the Con Ed fund separately but you include it. Supervisor Staats reported that there is a reserve fund balance of $335,000 in the General fund, not including the Con Ed or Capital buildings. We are talking about using $50,000 for Highway from the balance of $135,000, $82,000 from General fund which will leave a balance of $250,000. There was discussion about where funds were going to come from for the Highway Garage. According to Councilwoman Lent no money was ever budgeted for the Highway garage for 2008 because they were going to pursue grants. She feels there should be a general idea of what is going to be left in the various accounts by the end of the year. Supervisor Staats explained how the accountant arrived at the figures, the appropriations, less revenues, amount raised by tax $113,000, balance that is left is what we are going to have to take out of the bank. It is estimated that we will have $22,000.00 from this years budget which is unexpended. Councilwoman Lent questioned the assessed value, but there is a note that it is the incorrect number for 2008. Supervisor Staats stated that it is the actual assessed value number for this year’s budget. Councilman Nolan stated that this relates to the equalization rate, which the funds for the reevaluation has been one of the items cut from the budget. There was other discussion on items, which were taken from the budget. There was discussion on interest rates and trying to get the best interest that we can on our funds. The Supervisor will set up a date for our accountant to come down before the end of October.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Harry Harned – The previous board never discussed funding or entered the planning stage for the garage. Nothing was appropriated, no discussions were held on how to fund it. It was to be looked into this year. Councilman Nolan said that he had suggested a proposed schedule because he thought that something was going to happen because of the condition of the building, but no funding was set aside. Councilwoman O’Neal asked why there was money spent for Dan Wheeler on a design for the garage? Dennis Palazzo said that no one said where the money was going to come from at that point, the first we heard was from this board. Councilman Nolan objected to this comment because the money had to come from somewhere and said it was irresponsible for the previous board not to have an idea where the money was coming from.
MOTION: A motion was made by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal to hold a public hearing on the Preliminary Budget on Monday, November 3rd at 7:00 P.M. before the regular town board meeting. All in favor. So carried.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilwoman Lent reported on the Zoning Update: She met with the Zoning Board on their meeting night to discuss the changes they are requesting. They discussed the format of the ordinance, use tables, numbering pages, index and sectioning of ordinance. Janice will do this work in Dan Wheelers office and the costs would be very minimal. Jay Trapp of Wheelers office and Patrice Perry of the County Planning will attend the October Zoning Board meeting and go over other issues, such as, clarifying uses, wind power, solar panels, outdoor furnaces, Phase II storm water, temporary CO’s, etc. There was discussion on where the money was going to come from to cover this expense. There is $1300 left in the engineer’s account and there are funds in the Zoning Board budget. Councilman Nolan pointed out that some of these issues are very complex, such as wind power, and there are issues in terms of the zoning ordinance. He asked if Dan Wheelers office was going to bring sample ordinances to the meeting. Councilwoman Lent reported that Dan will bring several examples but Charlie Larsen gave her information on some of these issues and she has given them to Dan Wheeler. Supervisor Staats will contact Dan Wheeler for an estimate.Councilwoman Lent has been trying to contact Bill Black, Director of Emergency Management regarding high band radios to be purchased with the grant money from Berkshire Taconic Community Fund.
Supervisor Staats asked if LaTorres ladder was returned, and it has been and was picked up by Jim Connolly.
Highway Garage – as was reported earlier, the Highway Garage will be put off until next year. The estimated cost for the garage was about $1,200,000. Councilman Jones has spoken with Superintendent Potts the Supervisor and they have discussed a wooden structure rather than steel as originally planned. He will work with Mr. Potts on this concept. Supervisor Staats stated that we have to reconsider because of the costs of the proposed garage.
Councilman Nolan stated that we still have the contaminated land issue, His concern is with the proposed driveway to the highway garage and the snowplows coming out onto Route 9, which is a bad intersection. With the buildings being so close to the corner, maybe we could look at this again. We had discussed a driveway entrance coming in from Route 9 and maybe we should consider this again. Maybe we should consider the building as a commercial use, on the front portion, given that there is a brownfields component. Councilwoman Lent suggested that the use committee, of which Councilman Nolan is the chairman, should meet and discuss any issues. Supervisor Staats suggested having his committee meet and discuss this. Do we know the status of the state money? Supervisor Staats said there may be no money next year, but there may be the next year. Councilwoman Lent asked if Kirk Moline had received everything he needed, in relation to the four-acre site? Supervisor Staats received an updated version on the scope of work from Randy Hough. The subdivision map needs to be filed. Councilman Jones would like to make use of the remediation material on the site, and take advantage of the offer from Mr. Lent to move the almost 20,000 cubic yards of material before we file the deed. However, we have to have the okay from DEC before anything can be moved. Councilman Jones does not want to loose the use of that material, and Councilwoman Lent said the offer would not be taken off the table for use of the equipment and manpower. Supervisor Staats will see if Kirk Moline can come down to speak to the board when he has everything together.
Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial - Councilman Nolan did try to reach Tara Sullivan about the Quadricentennial celebration and Councilwoman O’Neal also tried to get in touch with her. Councilwoman O’Neal did contact Ellen Thurston in Hudson. She explained that Columbia County has a committee headed up by Ruth Palunka,(Correction: Piwonka) and will meet this Wednesday. Grants were given out for $45,000 grants to Hudson and Columbia County. We can apply for a portion of $45,000.
Councilwoman O’Neal is going to attend the meeting and Clermont State Historic Site also goes to these meetings. There is an idea of having an exhibition of memorabilia from previous celebrations at the Community House. Grant does require a match and can be in-kind, but she must attend the meeting to find out what this entails. Supervisor Staats thinks that now the money has to be put up front and then there is reimbursement. There is also a meeting in Albany of the entire committee on October 20th. She will try to attend this meeting also. Judy Neary reported that she called Tara Sullivan and met with her the same night and gave Judy an incentive kit. She passed out many materials that Ms. Sullivan gave her. The town must be registered and it can be done online. Councilman Nolan will make a note of this. Judy would like to be involved in this effort, possibly a float for a parade at the barbecue. The Friends of Clermont have not registered as of yet. Councilwoman Lent asked if they are looking for a committee. Councilwoman O’Neal will report back at the next meeting and possibly form a committee.
Home Heating Assistance Program - Councilwoman O’Neal reminded everyone about applications about Home Heating Assistance, which are available on November 1st. You must get your name on the list if you were not on the list previously. Contact Patricia Moskaluk at OFA if over 65 and assistance is available, if under the age of 60 from Social Services. Supervisor Staats announced that there has been an increase in benefits this year from Social Services.
Academy Windows – Councilwoman O’Neal reported that the windows would be completed by next week. The question now is about storm windows. There needs to be more research. Dianne and Dennis Palazzo have donated tile for the two bathrooms. She will be asking for estimates on installation of tile and coordinating for getting hot water in bathrooms. Councilman Jones looked into the hot water lines for the bathrooms. It is a modest amount to run the hot water to the bathrooms because they are close together. He is also looking into a programmable thermostat for the Community House and the Town Hall to help reduce fuel costs.
OLD BUSINESS:
BENCH PLAQUES: Supervisor Staats will have the bench plaques installed on the benches. Joan DeLaurentis donated the benches in memory of her daughter, Gale DeLaurentis Fenn and her husband, Don DeLaurentis, who was an Assessor for Clermont.
KEEP FARMING: Supervisor Staats reported that Taghkanic and Gallatin are not interested in joining in with Glynwood Center. Councilwoman Lent will contact Virginia Kasinski about getting back half of our funds, which were paid for the Keep Farming Program.
HIGHWAY GARAGE: We are looking at other options
DEC UPDATE: It is still being worked and the Supervisor will follow up.
SPEED LIMIT SIGN on County Route 6: Supervisor Staats met with Bernie Kelleher of County Highway last week. A sign crew was on site and the sign has been approved but it has not been put up yet. He has also asked that several spots on County Route 6, which need to be repaired, as they are very bad.
NEW BUSINESS:
Family Sweets Business on County Route 6 and Route 9 has opened up. He has met with the Shaw’s twice and they have taken care of all their paperwork with the Planning Board.
SUPERVISORS REPORT:
OCKAWAMIC PROPERTY: The County will be holding a vote this month on purchasing the property for County offices. They are also looking at developing the County Courthouse for the District Attorneys offices.
COUNTY PROJECTS: Supervisor Staats is also on the committee to rate projects in the County in order to get state funding. The projects are the Kinderhook bike trail 1st; Clermont Historic Site dock project, 2nd; Germantown Path project, 3rd; Gate House, 4th.
CENTRALIZED ASSESSMENT UNIT: The County is seeking to have a unified assessment within the County. This may take four or five years to take effect.
ELECTION DAY – Tuesday, November 4, 2008 at the Town Hall from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
Councilwoman Lent asked about the Annual financial report for 2007, which the Supervisor gave to the board in June, and if our accountant or the state comptroller did this report. Supervisor Staats believes that Brian probably sent this to the State.
ABSTRACTS:
A motion was made to approve General Fund abstract #10, vouchers #291-321 in the amount of $7,118.90 by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal. All in favor. So carried.
A motion was made to approve Trust and Agency abstract #10, vouchers #60-62 in the amount of $687.50 by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilwoman Lent. All in favor. So carried.
A motion was made to approve Highway abstract #10, vouchers #108-120 in the amount of $13999.54 by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilwoman O’Neal. All in favor. So carried.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Judy Neary has spoken to one of the men working on the windows and he explained that the metal strip above the windows, would not help in the snow, that storm windows are needed to protect the windows or they will be destroyed within a year. Councilwoman O’Neal and Councilman Jones have looked into it and have spoken to Stacey Matson-Zuvich at OPRHP and the storms recommended were about $1000 a piece. They have asked how the State would feel about regular aluminum storms and screens on the rear and sides, or the farmhouse storms which is cut to fit out of a solid piece of wood and has two panes of glass. Councilman Jones spoke to the man doing the job and he said to check with Custom storm windows.com which provides low cost storm windows. The way the windows are you could attach a simple storm window by hooks. The north and west sides are most prone to driven snow and these sides could be done first. Councilwoman O’Neal should have figures for the next meeting.
Judy Neary asked about re-assessments of parcels, which appears to be four and five years away. We are paying way too much in school taxes. She has spoken with three school districts and the assessor and we are paying way too much in taxes because we are at 67% assessment. There was discussion about Councilman Nolan’s role as school liaison and requesting the schools to attend our board meetings before budget time. The funds for the reevaluation have been cut from the upcoming budget. Councilwoman O’Neal checked the Office of Real Property website and the town can grieve its equalization rate. Bob Desmond said that the assessor doesn’t think that our rate is incorrect. Supervisor Staats has talked to Germantown about doing the reevaluation together. There was also discussion about incremental payments of school taxes. This has to be adopted by a County and then sometimes the school districts will follow.
Bob Desmond – Asked if a public hearing on Cold War Veterans Exemption is scheduled. It will be held on Monday, November 3, 2008 at 7:00 P.M. Bob also asked what is going to be done to the roof of the garage while you are waiting to build the garage. It will be tarped for the winter. Councilman Nolan asked about trusses being put across the top. Supervisor Staats said that it would cost anywhere $10,000 to $25,000 to put up trusses and close off the roof.
Councilman Jones asked if we are going to invite the schools to come to a meeting. Councilwoman Lent said it should be in May before the budgets are voted on. Councilman Nolan will contact the schools and request that they visit the Town Board in May. There was further discussion about equalization rates. Bob Desmond has requested information from the Red Hook school to do with unfunded mandates, which they say is the reason for the increases, but they cannot produce the information. It was also suggested that the Assessor be present at a meeting to let people know what the equalization rate is so that they know ahead of time.
A motion was made to adjourn at 9:54 P.M. by Councilman Nolan, seconded by Councilwoman O’ Neal. All in favor. So carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Helen Shannon, RMC
Town Clerk
Meeting: