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Town Board – December 2021

TOWN BOARD MEETING MINUTES
December 6, 2021

The Clermont Town Board held their regular monthly meeting on Monday December 6th, 2021 at 7PM at the Town Hall. Those present were Supervisor Raymond Staats, Councilman Robert Desmond, Councilman Kris Gildersleeve, Councilwoman Dawn Brownson and Councilwoman Lindsey Lusher Shute. Additional members of the public were also present.

Supervisor Staats asked to open the meeting with a moment of Silence for the sudden and unexpected passing of our Code Enforcement Officer, Sam Harkins.

(Page 2 intentionally left blank in Memory of Samuel Harkins)

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

CLIMATE SMART PRESENTATION:

  • Presented list of Taskforce Members
  • Updated Board on activities of Taskforce
  • Looking for additional members
  • Request for Appointment of CSC Coordinator-David Szlasa for two-year term retroactively to January 15th, 2021 to January, 2023. Motion to nominate by Lindsey Lusher Shute, Seconded by Dawn Brownson. All in Favor. So Carried.
  • Presented Board with information for Car Charging Station options (3). Our park has a special situation in regards to running electric.

Red Hook and Tivoli Supervisors would be available for questions/concerns. Supervisor Staats will contact Germantown regarding theirs. Supervisor Staats would like a presentation from this company and a preparation of costs for a Lease option. Request a presentation at the February Meeting.

MINUTES:

The minutes of the November meeting were previously distributed to the board and accepted as edited. Motion to accept edited version by Dawn Brownson, Seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in favor. So Carried. October minutes were updated after a discrepancy was noted in regards to the name of one speaker. Motion by Councilman Gildersleeve, Seconded by Councilwoman Brownson. All in favor. So Carried.

COMMUNICATIONS:

  • TOWN CLERK’S REPORT: The Town Clerk read the town clerk’s report for November and presented the Supervisor with a check for the General Fund for $756.53 and for Trust and Agency in the amount of $500.00.
  • MAIL REVIEW: The Town Clerk reported correspondences distributed to the board members prior to the meeting.
  • Department of Transportation: Speed Limit Study for Hill and Dale Road and Buckwheat Bridge Road. DOT response is that neither road requires a reduction in speed limit. Supervisor Staats will contact the County to see if we have an opportunity to appeal.

WEB COMMITTEE: Mary Howard indicated she was aware of a Climate Smart Committee presentation, however there was nothing posted regarding this on the town website. The CSC does have someone that will be able to provide this to Councilman Gildersleeve for posting on the website.

Councilwoman Lusher Shute has noted that a Town Newsletter has not been done although it was started at the beginning of the Pandemic.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

  • Councilman Desmond spoke of Sam Harkins and how he will be missed by the Town of Clermont as well as numerous other towns.
  • The Highway department continues to work with other local highway departments. Livingston assisted with mowing some of our road. Councilman Desmond reported additional highway equipment being repaired.
  • Supervisor Staats reported that he will be meeting with the new Germantown Supervisor and Highway superintendent to discuss the inter municipality agreement and has every reason to believe that we will continue to work with our neighboring towns as in the past. Update after the first of the year.
  • Councilwoman Lusher Shute reported on the Park Committee.

Port a potty enclosure-After trying to work with multiple contractors unsuccessfully. The Park committee approached the highway department for assistance in creating the enclosures. Ellen has compiled a list of materials needed and costs. The highway department would install the enclosure in the spring. The supplies would need to be ordered now because they are currently backorders for supply chain issues. Additional costs would be for gravel and fastening materials. The estimate indicates 50 Tons. Supervisor Staats indicated that 50 Tons seems excessive. Approved for ordering. Motion made by Councilwoman Brownson, Seconded by Councilwoman Lusher Shute. All in favor. So Carried.

Kiosk (2)- Two estimates received. Timber homes Vermont-it is a kit that gets shipped and the town assembles and installs. $8300.00 total. Justin- Monkey and the Mule provided estimate for $2500 per Kiosk including materials and installation. Committee preference would most likely be with Monkey and the Mule. Motion made by Councilwoman Lusher Shute for approval of 2 (two) Kiosks from Justin-Monkey and the Mule for total of $5000. Motion Seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in Favor. So Carried.

MOU-Presented by Dianne O’Neal This agreement would enable us to access more local funding sources as a 501c3. The agreement was discussed in detail. Agreement was provided to Town Attorney with a small amendment. Motion to approve signing of MOU by Councilman Gildersleeve, Seconded by Councilwoman Lusher Shute. All in Favor. So Carried.

  • Councilman Gildersleeve reports he has anti-virus for all town computers. Councilman Gildersleeve would like to attend some of the 2022 training and will report at the January meeting
  • Councilwoman Brownson has tried unsuccessfully to reach out to the person supplying the purple heart signs and will try to reach out to a new vendor. Councilwoman Brownson has reached out to the regional branch director of the Office of Parks and Recreation to check on the status of our grant application. Applications are in the final stages of review however no date has been set on announcements. The bike racks are in. The Iroquois grant should be in on December 15th which was for more money than what was spent on the Kiosks. Swing Tiles at the park. There are pieces that need to be replaced as they do not appear to be repairable. We do have replacement tiles. Supervisor Staats does not believe that the warranty has been voided, in the past the representative did view and confirm the warranty was still in place. We are in need of replacing blocks-We will need to find out how.

OLD BUSINESS:

  • Supervisor Staats has requested that Andy Howard draft and send a letter that we want to remain an interested party in the Red Wing Mining and we want to be included in all correspondences. Milan is keeping on top of this however we will continue to follow their lead and feel Milan will remain the Lead agency.
  • Park Donations: Thanked Several individuals for their donations.

CPL Associates $500.00
Jennifer Phillips $250.00
Amy Parrella $250.00
Staats Contracting $1500.00
Fingar Insurance $1200.00
Louise Kalin $250.00
Dianne O’Neal $250.00
Alexander Abel $1000.00
Total $5200.00
Plus, Matching Donation from Mary Howard $5000.00

NEW BUSINESS:

  • Video recordings-Would be Live streaming as well as videos. Future versions could potentially have audience comment. The package includes 2 cameras, one towards board one covering audiences. 2-3 Microphones. He will not install-We would need a contractor to install. $250.00 base price per month, additional camera $35.00 per month. Money is placed in the budget. We will need specifics regarding installation. The town would need to set up the dates of streaming. Councilwoman Lusher Shute will contact and firm up the needs with the company. Month to Month contract, company would own equipment and does the maintenance. Board members are concerned with the change in installation included vs. not included. Both Councilman Gildersleeve and Councilwoman Lusher Shute will reach out to their contacts for more information. Further discussion over next Board meetings.
  • Park Rules and Regulations-Committee has reviewed and made small alterations. Park committee agrees a permit is not required. It will only require a copy of approved application. Motion to approve made by Councilwoman Brownson, Seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in Favor. So Carried. Posting should be done on website.
  • Pilot-Solar Project-Comments/Suggestions. Noted template not completely updated (Name-Address) and spelling error noted. Supervisor Staats will have this updated. Motion to Approve made by Councilman Desmond, Seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve. All in Favor. So Carried.
  • Update on Mortgage Tax -Check received $66,812.95. Much higher than anticipated, budgeted a total of $40,000.00.
  • Comprehensive Plan-Supervisor Staats has asked Mary Howard to help initiate the plan. She has agreed to get us in the correct direction. She would like to start with a request for qualifications to assemble a set of planners. Original comprehensive plan initiated in Early 70’s and updated in 2006. There have been so many changes since then. Mary Howard will plan and submit number of volunteers needed at January Board meeting.

SUPERVISORS REPORT:

Decrease in Budget for the county will be voted on at next county level meeting.

Sales Tax-County up several Million Dollars, we are up close to $100,000.

Councilwoman Brownson questioned the plan to move Emergency Management out of the Sheriff’s office. Supervisor Staats supports the move as most other counties have them separated. Although the timing looks suspicious it is the right thing to do.

Ray Jurkowski has left Morris Assoc. and will be the Public Works commissioner of Columbia County starting possible January 1st.

ABSTRACTS:

A motion was made by Councilwoman Brownson, seconded by Councilman Desmond to approve General abstract #12, vouchers #285-313 in the amount of $21,896.55 to be paid. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made by Councilman Lusher Shute, seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve to approve Highway abstract #12, vouchers #102-112 in the amount of $24,445.69 to be paid. All in favor. So carried.

A motion was made by Councilman Gildersleeve, seconded by Councilwoman Brownson to approve General prepaid abstract #12A, vouchers #278-284 in the amount of $596.63 to be paid. All in favor. So carried.

PUBLIC COMMENT: None

Year End meeting to be held on Tuesday, December 28th 7PM, Insurance provider will also be present.

Motion for Board to adjourn to Executive Session at 9:13PM by Councilman Gildersleeve, Seconded by Councilwoman Lusher Shute. All in Favor. So Carried.

Board returned from Executive Session at 9:50PM motion to adjourn by Councilwoman Lusher Shute, Seconded by Councilman Gildersleeve.

Respectfully submitted,
Tracey J Gallant
Town Clerk