Town Board Meeting Minutes
Posted on: 9/19/2007
Date of Minutes:
04/23/2007
TOWN OF
At 6:05 PM
Supervisor Block opened this meeting with Council members Dod Crane, Paul
Niedercorn and Linda Souers present.
Counsel Warren Replansky also present.
Ellen Silverstein absent.
On motion by
Paul and second by Dod the Board went into Executive Session to interview
candidates for the Board of Assessment Review.
At 6:50 on motion from Linda and
second by Paul the meeting was unanimously reconvened.
Announcements:
Storm
damage costs should be documented and reported by all property owners to town
clerk Joan Winne at 876-3409 as soon as estimates or actual costs have been
determined in order to supply
loss information to support the County application for federal disaster relief.
Rhinebeck
Summer Recreation Program Registration Day will be Saturday April 28, Town
Hall, 9:00 am to noon.
The
Rhinebeck Recreation Department is seeking applicants to serve as 2007 summer
Pool coordinator. Call Recreation Director Karri Wolfe for details at
876-4637.
County
legislator Joel Tyner will host a forum on “Being Green” at town hall at 6 PM
on Friday, April 27
“Open
Book” for homeowners to review property assessments in the Assessor’s Office
will be held Monday, May 7 through Saturday, May 12. Call Donna in the
Assessors’ office for details and times at 876-4805.
Presentation
Emery
Ruger, Chair, Rhinebeck Board of Assessors, again reviewed this year’s property
assessment process. See notes from April
9th meeting minutes.
Proposed
Actions
1. Paul
motioned and Dod seconded to approve contract with General Code to supply
electronic codification of Rhinebeck town laws for inclusion on the new town
web site for $2,365 initially and then an annual update fee of $550
thereafter. Linda questioned if the
annual fee remained the same no matter the number of local laws and Steve said
yes. Paul feels it is time to move in
this direction. All were in favor.
2. Paul
moved and Linda seconded to authorize Gary Slater to purchase a lowering
device, safety chains, and a double eagle grass set for the town cemetery. Paul explained that this device lowers the
caskets into the actual grave. Motion
carried unanimously.
3. On
motion from Paul and second by Dod Ryan Dowden was unanimously hired for the
third summer to serve as laborers for the summer months at the town cemetery at
$10.50 per hour.
4. Paul
moved and Linda seconded to accept Park Committee recommendation to accept the
2000 Greenway trail improvement grant originally prepared by Winnakee Land
Trust. All were in favor.
5. Paul
motioned and Dod seconded to approve a retainer agreement with
attorney Michael Zarin of Zarin & Steinmetz to serve as special
counsel on zoning and planning issues.
Rates will be $162 to $338 per hour.
Mary Myerson asked why the Town is hiring another lawyer and Steve
explained we need his expertise. Motion
carried unanimously.
6. Linda motioned and Dod seconded to approve
following pay scales and summer staff at the pool as recommended by Recreation
Committee.
Senior guards Amanda Byrnes, Katie
Tueble (WSI), Miranda Kogan and Greg Marvin(WSI) at $10 per hour.
Full time guards: Tom DeVries, Rick Reilly, Sara Jane Weisburg,
Derek Jung, Chris Kirker at $9.00,Sam Kogan, Craig Bassett, Megan Lancto at
$8.50 and Rebecca Tueble(WSI) at $9.50.
Part Time: TJ Bynes and Nick Legname
at $8.50
Substitutes
Elizabeth Marvin at $8.50
Swim Instructors Nancy Rifenburg,
Sarah Rifenburg and Rebecca Tueble at $10/hour
Swim Team: Amanda Decker at $12/hour, Lisa Kristofik,
Chrissy Cunningham and Will Wagner at $8.50
Cashiers: Joann Plass, Kelly Sherrod, Laura Boyle at
$9.50. All were in favor.
7. Paul motioned and Linda seconded to approve
purchasing and installation of toilet partitions for pool house from Knickerbockers
Partition Corp. of
$1,700 installation. Linda explained
that 3 quotes were received. All were in
favor.
8. Dod motioned and
Linda seconded to approve purchasing of Rahn model PHGL6506-C3 point hitch
groomer with heavy duty and springtime scarfier and finishing broom for
maintenance department from Keil Equipment for $2,127 including shipping. Meg Crawford asked if the Town couldn’t
borrow the schools since there is collaboration between us now. Linda explained theirs is used too much and
an older piece of equipment. We also
have 3 fields to maintain. Motion passed
unanimously.
9. Paul motioned and Dod seconded to approve
Abstract 4B, vouchers 356-466, and checks 2268, 2274-2328 for $132,011.30. All were in favor.
10..Dod motioned
and Paul seconded to approve Cap proj #78 Cemetery Abs 4, Vou 6 ck 2273 for
$126.00, Cap Pro #43 Stone Church Fields ABS 4, Vou 4 Ck 2272 for $329.50, cap
proj #38 Parks/Rec ABS 5, vou 6-7 cks 2270-2271 for $1,935.00 and cap proj #31
Town Hall Improvements, ABS 3, vou 4 ck 2269
11. Dod motioned
and Paul seconded to set public hearing to consider local law to expand Board
of Assessment Review from three to five members on May 14th at
6:50.
523 1 B allows for this Board to be from 3-5 members. The new opinion from the State is that we
need to pass a local law not just a resolution to increase the membership. Dod stated that on Grievance Day there will
actually be two 3 member bodies for the citizens to come before. The two panels will hear all grievances and
then the permanent members on the BAR will vote on each case. All were in favor of setting public hearing.
12. Dod then
motioned with Paul seconding to appoint Robert Long to the BAR through 9/30/11
pending passage of the local law. All
were in favor.
Basketball court
re-surfacing: Linda stated one bid was
received today and due to the irregularity of information sent out we should
possibly rebid this project.
must give notice and re-bid but he will double check with the Association of
Towns legal department. On motion from
Linda and second by Paul the basketball surfacing will be re bid subject to
determination. The new bids will be due
May 11th at 3:00. Motion
carried unanimously.
Workshop: Celebrating Earth Day a day
later
Steve thanked
all those here tonight for participating in this workshop. We need to protest our environment and he is
thrilled so many people have shown an interest.
Meg Crawford, chair, Rhinebeck
Conservation Advisory Council, feels that the CAC is Rhinebeck’s primary
watchdog. We now have 9 members on the
committee and introduced Carol Smith, Gloria Fox and Ryan Dowden to the
audience. This past year we have
received a grant for a bio-diversity study and that mapping is telling us all
of our eco systems. Now we want to work
on a tree and wetland ordinance. We need
to protect our aquifers. We need lots of
input and would love to have an ad hoc committee.
Jeff
Irish, Hudson
Valley Clean Energy, said that Rhinebeck was the first town in
paneling. A little over 2 years ago the
Town Board had the foresight to install panels at the Town pool. Solar electricity converts sunlight into
electricity on site. There are no moving
parts so it is completely silent. The
Town’s system has a 25 year warranty with a life expectancy of 50 years. So far it has produced 5,973 kilowatt hours
per year. It has provided 88% of the
electricity at the recreation park with only 12% coming from
Hudson
Bob Fox, nationally
recognized "green" architect discussed his work on the Bank of
America Tower, under construction in mid-town
the world. His favorite saying from when
he grew up in Red Hook was “leaving the campground better than you found
it.” We need to think of our climate as
a closet in which the most dangerous monsters come out. We are running an uncontrolled experiment on
our only home. Think globally and
locally.
population but we use 24% of the world’s resources. Global temperatures could
climb 2-3 degrees by the year 2100. Sea
levels are rising. We need to change the
level of CO 2.
He is currently
working on the new Bank of America building on 6th and 42nd
streets in
building. He showed slides of the
project. It is made of transparent glass
which allows for views both in and out.
The flooring is granite. It is
perfectly located to commute on public transportation. We are capturing water on the roof and
storing it in the basement. The building
has 9 ½ foot ceiling with glass from floor to ceiling. He urges Rhinebeck to adopt LEED standards
and take a leadership role. LEED stands
for Leadership in Energy Environmental Design Think carefully and stay
informed. We must decrease the production
of oil and CO 2 output.
Adjourn:
At 9:45 on motion from Linda and
second by Dod this meeting was unanimously adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Cunningham
Town Clerk