Town Board Meeting Minutes
Posted on: 11/14/2007
Date of Minutes:
10/22/2007
PRESENT: Steven
Block, Supervisor
Councilwoman
Linda Souers
Councilman
Paul Niedercorn
Councilman
Dod Crane
Councilwoman
Ellen Silverstein
Attorney
Warren Replansky
At 8:00 pm the Supervisor called this meeting to Order with
full Board in attendance.
Announcements
The Town Hall offices, Transfer Station and Highway
Department will be closed on November 12, 2007 in observance of Veterans Day.
The next regular Town Board meeting will be held on Tuesday,
November 13, 2007 to begin at 8:00 pm.
The Zoning Review workshop that was scheduled for tonight
was cancelled and will be rescheduled for 5:00 pm on Tuesday, November 13,
2007, before the Town Board meeting.
Rebuilding
formerly know as Christmas in April, is beginning its 17th year of
providing home repairs for low income home owners in our county. Applications are available in the Town
Clerk’s Office and must be filed by November 30, 2007. Sally Mazzarella stated Rebuilding Together
is a wonderful program and she would like the Board to be proactive in
identifying potential recipients, perhaps by reaching out to the local churches
and senior citizen groups.
Kathy Kinsella, Highway Superintendent stated the Highway
Department hosted a “Bike Rodeo” in conjunction with the recreation department
and police department on Saturday, October 20, 2007. Ms. Kinsella stated the day was a huge
success with about 25 youths in attendance, the members of the police
department did a great job. Ms. Kinsella
also thanked the highway department staff who donated their money to purchase
gift certificates to give a prizes and Bob Wyant and Brian Hansen for donating
their time to set up and take down the course.
Old Business
1. Consideration of Highway Department Purchase of new
International Truck
Kathy Kinsella stated this purchase, if approved, will be
made through State Bid Contract. Transfers within the Highway Department budget
of existing unexpended funds will facilitate this purchase.
Paul Niedercorn motioned and Dod
Crane seconded to authorize for the Highway Department to purchase an
International 7400 heavy-duty class 8 truck complete with dump body, plow and
wing not to exceed $125,000. At this
time the Board is not considering the budget transfers as part of this
approval.
All Board members were in
favor. Motion carried.
2. Consideration
of Highway Department purchase of new F250 Pick-up truck with plow
Kathy Kinsella stated this truck will replace an existing
highway truck with 77,953 miles. Ms.
Kinsella stated she has researched the resale value and estimates the truck to
be worth $12,500.00. The cemetery
department can’t take possession until this truck is replaced. Ms. Kinsella stated the funds to purchase
the new truck would be from left over funds within the Highway Budget and from
the sale to the cemetery.
Linda Souers questioned if the cemetery has this money in
their budget. Paul Niedercorn stated the
money would come from the Capitol Funds.
Sally Mazzarella questioned why the funds are still available and was
not spend during the 2007 year. Ms.
Kinsella stated they have been able to save some money by doing some of the
work in house and the Fox Hollow bridge work took much longer than anticipated
therefore some of the slated road improvements will be slated for next
year.
Paul Niedercorn motioned and Dod
Crane seconded to authorize the Highway Department to purchase a For F-250
pickup truck, with plow, not to exceed $25,000. to replace the current truck
that if authorized, will be purchased by the
by the Board at a later time.
All were in favor. Motion carried.
3. Consideration of Cemetery Department to
purchase the 2002 For F-250 from the Highway
Department.
Steve Block questioned Paul Niedercorn if the Cemetery
Department is in agreement with the timing of waiting for the new truck to be
ordered. Mr. Niedercorn stated they
really don’t have a choice.
Paul Niedercorn stated the Cemetery Department would need to
purchase a dump body for this truck; funds are also available in the Capital
Funds.
Paul Niedercorn motioned and Dod
Crane seconded to authorize the Cemetery Department to purchase the 2002 Ford
F-250 from the Town’s Highway department for $12,500.00.
All were in favor. Motion carried.
New Business
1. Paul Niedercorn motioned and Linda
Souers seconded to authorize contract with
for the production of the Town’s Open Space Map for an amount not to exceed
$600.00. All were in favor. Motion carried.
2. Consideration of request made from the
Phase I Board of Managers of the Gardens at Rhinebeck for maintenance and
plowing of
in the absence of a developer to continue those responsibilities. Bill Carroll, President of the Phase I Board
of Managers stated the Gardens Complex was to be completed in 3 phases, after
completion the road was to be turned over to the Town. Plowing a private road can become a huge
financial burden for the Town. Only
Phase I is completed and construction has stopped and it appears the property
is in foreclosure. This leaves the
burden to keep the road clear of snow and ice on the homeowners of Phase
I. Warren Replansky stated the Town is
prohibited by law to maintain or plow a private road; the Board doesn’t have
the power to care for this road until it is developed to the Highway Road
Specifications and the Town has accepted the road. Sally Mazzarella questioned if the letter of
credit held by the Town is enough to complete the road. Warren Replansky stated the Town’s engineers
are unsure if the amount held is adequate to complete the required improvements
and reminded the Board the road shouldn’t be brought up to specifications until
all construction is complete. Linda
Souers questioned who has been plowing the road. Mr. Carroll stated it has been cared for by
the developer. Dod Crane asked if the
Homeowners Association have a formal agreement for road maintenance with the
developer or if it is outlined in the offering plan. Warren Replansky suggested the Homeowners
Association attorney contact him along with an estimate of cost for plowing and
maintaining and he will contact the developer’s bank to attempt to resolve this
issue.
Proposed
Actions
Linda Souers
motioned and Paul Niedercorn seconded to approve check disbursements
Abstract 10B –
V1112-V1154 for $35,369.79; check numbers 2836-2867.
Open
Discussion
Linda Souers stated the new sand for the sand volleyball
court has been ordered, after much research the sand was found locally at a
cost of $45.00 per ton.
The Supervisor asked if anyone from the Public wanted to
speak.
The following members of the PANDA subcommittee individually
made statements in favor of the changes to PANDA since January 2007 while
berating Board Member Paul Niedercorn and the past volunteers of PANDA, Joe Ely and Michael Collins; Paul had
requested to see the financial statements of PANDA at a prior meeting. Kathy Hammer, president; Bill Nieves; acting station management; Dan
Pickering, Mark Durand, Jeff Romano, and John Vincent. Andy Novak questioned why Mr. Niedercorn was
requesting the financial information from PANDA when it is clear to her the
information is part of an on going legal investigation. Warren Replansky stated after receiving
direction from the Committee on Open Government it is clear this information
must be released as requested under FOIL by Joe Ely; this information will be
provided when it is available.
Sally Mazzarella stated volunteers are to be revered and
respected for the work they have done; when a mistake happens it needs to be
addressed and then move forward.
Executive Session
Paul Niedercorn motioned and Dod Crane seconded to enter
into executive session at 10:00 pm. for possible pending litigation. All were in favor. Motion carried.
Paul Niedercorn motioned and Dod Crane seconded to return to
the regular meeting at 10:10 pm. All
were in favor. Motion carried.
Adjournment
Paul Niedercorn motioned and Dod Crane seconded to adjourn
this meeting. All were in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 10:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Joan Winne