CLERMONT TOWN BOARD MEETING

 

June 5, 2006

 

The Clermont Town Board held its regular meeting on Monday, June 5, 2006.  Those present were Councilman Harned, Councilwoman Lent, Councilman Staats and Councilman Nolan.  Supervisor Banks was absent. There were fifteen residents present and Richard Roth of the Independent.

 

Deputy Supervisor Harned called the meeting to order with a salute to the flag. Supervisor Banks is recovering from recent surgery and is coming along well.  Deputy Supervisor Harned noted a change in the minutes from May on page 2 that ‘transfers cannot be made from the General fund to the Fire fund’.  Councilwoman Lent made a motion to accept the minutes with correction, seconded by Councilman Staats.  All in favor.  So carried.

 

COMMUNICATIONS:

·        NYS Real Property Tax Service- tentative equalization rate is 80.18%

·        Town Clerks report - Check to the town in the amount of $3,001.  A motion was made by Councilwoman Lent, seconded by Councilman Staats to accept the clerk’s report.  All in favor.  So carried.

·        The monthly budget report, which was sent for this month, was for the incorrect period, January through April.   The Supervisor will get a corrected report for next month.

 

 

OLD BUSINESS:

·        Received report from John Fieser, as requested by Councilman Nolan, on the number of new dwellings for which building permits were issued in 2005.  Of the 52 building permits, 14 were for new construction.  Councilman Nolan suggested getting a summarization from John every six months.

·        Councilman Nolan noted that the Red Hook School Board will be meeting regarding the school expansion for anyone that is interested in attending.

·        Councilwoman Lent reported that the work on the roof at the Clermont Academy would be done by the end of August.  Thirty thousand dollars will be moved from the Con Ed funds to the General fund to pay invoices with reimbursement to the Con Ed fund when the money is received.  We will receive $50,000 from the state. Councilwoman Lent motioned to move $30,000 from the Con Ed fund to the General fund to pay applications for the Community House.  Seconded by Councilman Staats.  All in favor.  So carried.

·        Marilyn Kaplan has inspected the ceiling in the Community House and found that the type of ceiling boards would be very costly to replace, as they would have to be handmade.

·        The Zoning review committee will meet on Monday June 19th and the Keep Farming Grant committee will meet on Thursday, June 15th. 

 

 

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·        Councilman Harned reported that the minutes will be brought up to date on the website and there are no issues with Bram on the changes that were made on the website regarding the April 3rd steering committee meeting.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

·        Councilwoman Lent has spoken with Greg Fingar regarding coverage for public officers.  There is a $2500 deductible, one million-dollar limit in policy, three million-dollar umbrella, currently provided for in our coverage.  Councilwoman Lent introduced Resolution #07-06, which confers the benefits of Section 18 of the Public Officers Law of the State of New York to town officers and employees.

A motion was made by Councilwoman Lent to accept the resolution.  Councilman Nolan would like additional clarification about wording in the Public Officers Law regarding ‘willful act of an officer’, which was not mentioned in our resolution.  The resolution was tabled.

·        Councilwoman Lent introduced Resolution #8-06 supporting the efforts of surrounding communities to reestablish air monitoring programs to assess the current air quality and particulate matter generated from the existing cement processing facilities west of the our communities.  A motion was made to accept this resolution by Councilwoman Lent, seconded by Councilman Nolan.  All in favor.  So carried.

·        Councilman Nolan suggested supporting the Town of Stuyvesant’s objections to DEC allowing tire burning in Ravena.  The board would like more information from the Town of Stuyvesant on this issue.

·        Vouchers on this month’s abstract for Behan Planning Associates will be paid out of the General fund and reimbursed by grant money received from Hudson Valley Greenway.   Should have the report by the July meeting.

·        The vouchers for C.T. Male for work on the Hettling property will be paid from the General fund and reimbursed to the General fund when funds are received from DEC.  Councilman Nolan asked if $15,000 was spent on the attorney for the LaMunyan site.  He is still trying to determine the balance of the fund based on the figures provided by Supervisor Banks and other info.  He also provided a copy of the Town of Red Hook budget as a sample of a town budget.

 

PUBLIC COMMENT:

·        Robert Desmond noted that the Board of Assessment review has few changes to recommend to assessments so that the tentative rate, which was reported tonight, should remain at 80.18.  He also noted that there is an improvement at the board meetings and much less negativity. 

·        Judith Neary reported that a draft proposal from the Red Hook Special Needs Committee will be submitted at the Mill Road School to the Board of Education on June 8 at 6:30 P.M.  She found that this committee was a very dedicated, efficient and industrious group of people who worked to find what the needs of the schools are.

·        Rebecca Sethi reported that she would be doing the draft of the voucher to send for reimbursement to the Hudson Valley Greenway.

 

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A motion was made by Councilwoman Lent, seconded by Councilman Staats to approve General fund abstract #6, vouchers 133-169 in the amount of $40,082.23.  All in favor.  So carried.

 

A motion was made by Councilman Harned, seconded by Councilman Staats to approve Highway abstract #6, vouchers #44- 56 in the amount of $2730.84.  All in favor.  So carried.

 

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

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Mary Helen Shannon

Town Clerk