PATTERSON TOWN BOARD MEETING
PATTERSON TOWN HALL
1142 ROUTE 311
PATTERSON, NY 12563
May 9, 2012
AGENDA
Code Compliance - April
Code Enforcement - April
Dog Control Officer -
E.C.I.-
Putnam Lake Fire Dept. - None
Patterson Fire Dept. - None
Bid Opening Minutes - Highway Sweeper – April 20, 2012
Public Hearing Minutes - Putnam Lake Park District - February 13, 2012
Town Board Meeting Minutes - April 11, 2012
Town Board Meeting Minutes - April 25, 2012
a. Appoint Director of Recreation and Parks - Resolution
b. NYDEC Letter - Putnam Lake Dam Report
c. NYS DOT Bridge Rehab – Route 311
d. Code Amendment Fences - Discussion
e. Assessor’s Request - Verizon Account
f. MS4 Annual Report
g. Executive Session - Legal
a. PAB Request(s)
b. Appointment to BAR to Fill an Unexpired Term
c. Park Maintenance Request(s)
a. Dorset Hollow Water System
b. Conference Request(s)
c. Budget Transfer(s)
a. Recreation Refund Policy - Adoption
b. Boniello - Revised Payment Plan - Resolution
c. Levine Fill Permit
d. Town Code Amendment - Code Violations / Site Plans
a. Putnam County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day
b. Golden Age Seniors Request - Aqua Turf
PATTERSON TOWN BOARD MEETING
PATTERSON TOWN HALL
1142 ROUTE 311
PATTERSON, NEW YORK 12563
May 9, 2012
MINUTES
PRESENT: MICHAEL GRIFFIN, SUPERVISOR
KEVIN BURNS, COUNCILMAN
CHARLES W. COOK, DEPUTY SUPERVISOR
ROBERT MCCARTHY, COUNCILMAN
GINNY NACERINO, COUNCILWOMAN
ANTOINETTE KOPECK, TOWN CLERK
DONALD M. ROSSI, TOWN COUNSEL
Salute to the Flag and Roll Call.
Supervisor Griffin called the Patterson Town Board meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. with 16 in attendance.
PRESENTATION – PUTNAM COUNTY YOUTH BUREAU – REALITY CHECK
Ms Dianne Warren stated thank you for allowing us to speak with you tonight. I am with the Putnam County Youth Bureau. I coordinate their Reality Check program which is our Youth Against Tobacco Program. I am joined tonight by Maureen Kenny who is the Director of Power Against Tobacco serving Putnam, Orange, Westchester and Rockland Counties and three of our members from Henry Wells Middle School, Jerome Wells, Mackenzie Ruby and Sophie Lester. We all have a few things to say and a brief video and a power point presentation.
Ms. Warren showed the video.
Ms. Warren stated that was a video we created last year with local talent. The voice over is a Brewster High School graduate Ashley Berry and some other students who are involved in our program. What we are here to talk about is tobacco marketing in stores and how that effects young people.
The tobacco industry spends over one million dollars to market and sell their product. Tobacco is the only product that when used as directed will kill you. To give you an idea about tobacco marketing expenditures I have a chart here that compares the expenditures of the tobacco industry to alcoholic beverages, junk food and soda. If you add the other two together tobacco advertising is more than double the amount of the other two. There appears to be a reason for this and I will read a couple of industry quotes from the tobacco industry:
Ms. Warren stated Point of Sale marketing is really the last place that the tobacco industry is focusing all of their marketing. They can no longer market on television. A lot of magazines that are read by youth are saying no more and refusing that kind of advertising but what the tobacco industry knows is that young people frequent convenience stores on a regular basis. If you ask teenagers how frequently they go to a convenience store, seventy-five percent would say once a week. If you ask a child walking out of a store what they saw when they were in there, they are twice as likely to recall tobacco marketing than adults. The fact is we as adults go into a store we are sometimes not aware but kids are very aware of it. At a very young age they become brand loyal. A five year old can tell you what a Marlboro cigarette is or pick out what the product is trying to market. Adults we know from research don’t start smoking; it’s the kids that start smoking. Ninety percent of smokers started when they were children. We have some solutions and we have some other examples of this type of marketing and I would like to call the ladies from Henry Wells to speak about it.
Ms. Jerome Wells stated I am from H. H. Wells Middle School and I go to Realty Check. I am going to talk to you about what tobacco does to children and how it risks your life. People get addicted to it and it’s like someone who gets addicted to candy or drugs. They can’t stop. Seventy people die in New York every single day but marketing still continues. That makes people die even more. When you smoke it leads to lung cancer. What lung cancer leads to is death. You don’t want to die. You wouldn’t want to risk your life for that. You would rather stay on the safe side and don’t smoke. Just don’t smoke.
Ms. Wells explained her poster boards and power point presentation.
Ms. Maureen Kenny stated thank you again for inviting us here tonight. I just wanted to reiterate that these girls represent a whole group of children and young adults all over the state and really all over the country that are speaking out against tobacco marketing to kids. The tobacco industry has a lot of money to spend to market their deadly products to kids and they need children to be their replacement smokers to replace those seventy people a day that are dying in New York because of tobacco use. They have demonstrated and I understand they are going to continue to demonstrate that there is a problem. What can we do about this problem. There are solutions as Diane said. In 2009, President Obama signed into law the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. That was wonderful because it allowed the FDA to regulate tobacco products. What is even better is it allowed municipalities and local government such as Patterson to do more to restrict tobacco marketing to youth. There are options and the options fall underneath the clause in this new FDA act. Municipalities can restrict the amount of tobacco marketing that’s seen in a store. One example of this is a few weeks ago in the Village of Haverstraw they passed an ordinance that restricts the visibility of tobacco products in the retail environment. There are other options as well such as licensing. Our coalition is working with Realty Check and working with municipalities to look at the options that are available and to speak with you and offer technical assistance to you, if you are interested. Thank you.
Ms. Wells stated ninety percent of smokers start when they are teenagers. Six thousand children start smoking every year. Smoking causes wrinkles and turns your teeth yellow. Smoking turns your eyes yellow. Women who smoke grow facial hair. You only live once, make the right choice.
Ms. Warren stated thank you very much. If you have any questions, we would be happy to answer them.
Mr. Burns stated can you have the ladies come up and hold the posters for the camera. Nicely done ladies.
Mr. Griffin stated I’m pleased to report that no members of the Town Board smoke and at this point, I don’t believe we have any smokers in the Town Hall. We are a smoke free environment. How do we make smoking uncool so it’s not the thing to do. What kind of a campaign could be started.
Ms. Warren stated that is a really good question. There is a lot research on that and Reality Check is all about that. That is why Reality Check was started about ten years ago with that research in mind. Kids have heard all of the scary stories about tobacco just as you would say to them put your seat belt on. They understand it but when it comes right down to it, tobacco is so normalized in their environment that they very often do chose to smoke. What we work on is counter marketing. The tobacco industry wants kids to think of it as rebellious. So our job is to work with young people and have them understand that there really isn’t anything rebellious about doing exactly what a multi-billion dollar industry is asking them to do and exposing the lies of that industry and the ways that they have traditionally encouraged kids to smoke. The environment that kids are exposed to is so essential. From a very young age children are exposed to it when they walk into a store. If you look at tobacco packaging it is very similar to candy. Sometimes it looks like a video game advertisement. The tobacco industry does spend over one million dollars now making it look that way. With the very little resources we have it is very important that we find other strategies. You won’t be able to reach everyone with advertising and marketing. If we could keep it out of view from them, then we have cut off that one line that the tobacco industry has of getting and reaching them. Education is very important.
Mr. Burns stated how do you combat the Hollywood effect. You think of the old movies and you want to be that person smoking that cigarette on the screen and I think there is a lot of that in the marketing as well. Seems to me between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. they run ads about a guy having his lungs replaced, which hits home for me. Those are very graphic but I don’t know if that resonates or not.
Ms. Warren stated our programs are funded through the New York State Department of Health which also funds the New York State Quit Line and those ads you see are to drive smokers to the quit line. Youth will see them and they talk about them and it’s alarming to them but they are not designed to get kids to stop smoking. It is designed to get people who smoke to stop smoking.
Mr. Griffin stated kids are going to say “that is not going to happen to me.” The only way you are going to stop kids from smoking is to make them understand that it is just for losers.
Ms. Warren stated it’s true and to do whatever we can do to combat the industry messaging which is “smoking is cool”. They will never come right out and say smoking is cool, but they make it cool by putting it in the hands of celebrities and Hollywood and featuring it in movies. They will never admit to that. We are working on that as well, a smoke free media campaign. We don’t think that when a five year old sees a tobacco marketing piece that he is going to say I am going to smoke when I’m twelve. If you ask them they will say I will never smoke. Unfortunately, all of those kids that we spoke to that we have educated and told them it was bad for them or not cool when they get to that age they have been bombarded with imagery and with this message that there is something really attractive with this that they do smoke.
Mrs. Nacerino stated isn’t that their objective to plant it into their subconscious at a very young age.
Ms. Warren stated that is what it is. They were studying and they still study adolescent brains and five year olds to see what makes them tick and they find a way to get those bright colors out or attractive cartoonish models in the magazines and the packaging that looks just like candy.
Mr. Cook stated would it be possible to get a set of posters to put into the Recreation Center for a short period of time.
Ms. Warren stated absolutely.
Mr. Griffin stated when they put a warning on a package that states if you use this it can kill you, kids you should take that advice. I wish they would put that on all the energy drinks and products because that is another thing you shouldn’t be using either.
Ms. Warren stated we will be at the Safety Expo on Saturday reaching out to young people and their parents. We have school programs and a lot of different media campaigns and things like that.
Mrs. Nacerino stated thank you for coming this evening.
Ms. Warren stated thank you.
Mr. Griffin stated good job ladies. Keep fighting the fight because smoking is the worst thing you could ever get into.
REPORTS
Mr. Griffin asked the clerk to file the reports as read.
Code Compliance - April
Code Enforcement - April
Dog Control Officer - None
E.C.I. - None
Putnam Lake Fire Dept. - None
Patterson Fire Dept.-None
SUPERVISOR REPORTS
None
MINUTES
Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to approve the following minutes:
Bid Opening Minutes - Highway Sweeper – April 20, 2012
Public Hearing Minutes - Putnam Lake Park District - February 13, 2012
Town Board Meeting Minutes - April 11, 2012
Town Board Meeting Minutes - April 25, 2012
Seconded by Mr. Burns. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
AUDIT OF BILLS
Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to accept Abstract No. 8 as written:
General Fund $163,974.94, Highway Fund $96,416.08, Waste Water Treatment Plant $26,727.82, Patterson Light District $24.13, Putnam Lake Refuse District #1 $20,454.55, Patterson Refuse District #2 $41,675.81, Patterson Park District $4,373.43, Alpine Water District $1,442.66, Dorset Hollow Water District $3,633.23, Fox Run Water District $487.51, Trust & Agency $3,033.75, Grand Total Abstract $362,243.91.
Seconded by Mr. Burns. Roll Call Vote: Mr. Burns, yes; Mr. Cook, yes; Mr. McCarthy, yes; Mrs. Nacerino, yes; Mr. Griffin, yes.
MICHAEL GRIFFIN
APPOINT DIRECTOR OF RECREATION AND PARKS – RESOLUTION
Mr. Griffin introduced the following Resolution for Appointment of Matthew Chibbaro as Director of Recreation and Parks:
R-0512-01
WHEREAS, by Resolution No. R-0511-05 the Town Board of the Town of Patterson appointed Matthew Chibbaro as Interim Director of Recreation and Parks until such time as the appointment is of a permanent Director would be practicable; and
WHEREAS, the Town Board has determined that it is practicable, desirable and in the best interests of the Town and its residents to appoint Mr. Chibbaro to the position of permanent Director of Recreation and Parks; and
WHEREAS, the Town Board has further determined that given Mr. Chibbaro's educational and employment experience, including having successfully completed the NYS Civil Service Examination No. 67-590 on February 4, 2012, an annual salary of $58,006 for his services is
warranted;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby appoints Matthew Chibbaro as Recreation Director of the Town of Patterson to serve on a "full-time" basis for and in consideration of an annual salary of $58,006; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby authorizes the Supervisor to execute any and all documents necessary to give effect to this Resolution.
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
NYDEC LETTER – PUTNAM LAKE DAM REPORT
Mr. Griffin stated the Town Planner received a letter from the DEC. They have identified a few items of deficiency with the dam at Putnam Lake. Rich will work with Russ Goff, Highway Superintendent. Russ has been very helpful in the past. This is just to let everyone know we are working on this.
NYS DOT BRIDGE REHAB - ROUTE 311
Mr. Griffin stated for anyone who will be driving on Route 311 the DOT is pleased to inform us that NYS DOT will be completing a rehabilitation of Route 311 bridge over the Croton Reservoir in the Town of Patterson. This project is part of the New York Work Initiative. Construction is to start sometime after June and is excepted to last six months.
CODE AMENDMENT FENCES – DISCUSSION
Mr. Griffin stated the current Town Code restricts front yard fences to four feet. I am not entirely sure that is as good as we would want the ordinance to be. The Town Planner has offered some suggestions for modifications. I would ask that everyone read his memo and we will talk about it in the future. My personal opinion is if you can maintain setbacks and depending on your property a six foot fence could be entirely appropriate. Putnam Lake is too close to the road. I think we need to be very careful on how we craft that.
ASSESSOR’S REQUEST – VERIZON ACCOUNT
Mr. Griffin made a motion to approve the request of Christopher Boryk, Assessor for a Verizon Wireless Account for internet capabilities in the field at $40.00 per month, give or take.
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
MS4 ANNUAL REPORT
Mr. Griffin stated every year we have to file a report to the DEC. The bottom line is we have to do a report and it has to be done at a Public Hearing.
Mr. Griffin made a motion to set the Public Hearing for the Annual MS4 Report for May 23, 2012.
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
EXECUTIVE SESSION - LEGAL
Mr. Griffin stated he will defer his Executive Session – Legal until the end of the meeting.
GINNY NACERINO
PAB REQUEST(S)
Mrs. Nacerino stated the Town Board and the PAB came to the decision to order “Coffee Creek” for pavers and we will be seeking quotes and move forward with this at the next meeting.
Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to appoint the following Lifeguards for the Maple Avenue Park:
Michael McNulty
Thomas P. Jennings
Daniel Malinowski
Kristen Gervasi
Nicole Gervasi
Robert Zakharchuk
Nicholas Booth
James O’Connell
Daniel Romanello
Flora-Ann Xavier
Seconded by Mr. Burns. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
APPOINTMENT TO BAR
Mrs. Nacerino introduced the following Resolution for Appointment of Members of the Patterson Board of Assessment Review:
R-0512-02
WHEREAS, a vacancy exists on the Town of Patterson Board of Assessment Review for a term of five (5) years ending December 31, 2016; and
WHEREAS, the Town Board has duly advertized for and received applications for appointment to the Board to fill said term; and
WHEREAS, after considering all applications and conducting interviews of all applicants the Town Board has determined to appoint EDMOND O’CONNOR as member of the Board for a term of five (5) years which expires December 31, 2016 and until his successor is duly appointed and qualified;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby appoints EDMOND O’CONNOR as member of the Town’s Board of Assessment Review to serve until December 31, 2016 and until his successor is duly appointed and qualified.
Seconded by Mr. Burns. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
PARK MAINTENANCE REQUEST(S)
Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to approve one hundred cubic yards of wood carpet for a sum not to exceed $2,735.00. Several quotes were obtained and we are going with Universal Play Systems.
Seconded by Mr. Cook. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to add one item to her agenda.
Seconded by Mr. Burns. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
Mrs. Nacerino stated we held our 6th Annual Fashion Show and Wellness Expo this past Friday night and it was a huge success. One of our honorees is sitting in the audience, Cheyenne Alberti along with Laura Marchese. Approximately 150 people attended and a good time was had by all. This night could not be without the wonderful staff at the Recreation Center, Matt Chibbaro and all the staff that worked that evening. I would like to give special accolades to Christina Rizzo who worked tirelessly on this project. She was like a one man band and did everything from soup to nuts.
KEVIN BURNS
DORSET HOLLOW WATER SYSTEM
Mr. Burns stated we had some ongoing discussions about the murky red water which was okay to drink but we wouldn’t drink it. At the last meeting we discussed alternative methods to clean a tank that was recommended by the engineer. We now have a proposal. Several proposals were looked at and the most economical proposal was submitted by Underwater Solutions, Inc.
Mr. Burns read the letter from Underwater Solutions, Inc.,
Mr. Burns made a motion to approve the expenditure of $3,970.00 to use Underwater Solutions, Inc. to complete the sterile inspection and clean dive stations.
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
CONFERENCE REQUEST(S)
Mr. Burns made a motion to approve the four conference requests as submitted.
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
BUDGET TRANSFER(S)
Mr. Burns made a motion to approve Budget Transfer Request No. 21
Increase: DA.0599 Appropriated Fund Balance $ 72,997.00
Fund Balance Account
Decrease: DA.1990.400 Contingency Account $(100,000.00)
Increase: DA.5130.200 Machinery Equipment & Capital Outlay $ 172,997.00
Expense Accounts
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
CHARLES COOK
RECREATION REFUND POLICY – ADOPTION
Mr. Cook stated at the last meeting we discussed the refund policy and we received information from our new appointed Recreation Director.
Mr. Cook made a motion to approve the following:
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
BONIELLO – REVISED PAYMENT PLAN – RESOLUTION
Mr. Cook introduced the following Resolution Approving Amended Installment Agreement for Engineering Fees-Boniello:
R-0512-03
WHEREAS, Anthony Boniello (hereinafter referred to as “Boniello”) is the owner of a certain parcel of real property (hereinafter referred to as the “Premises”) located at 2180 Route 22 identified on the Patterson Tax Map as Sheet 35., Block 5, Lot 28; and
WHEREAS, by resolution dated March 8, 2006 the Planning Board of the Town of Patterson granted conditional approval of a Final Site Plan for the Premise; a condition of approval included a requirement for payment of all recreation, application, review and inspection fees; and
WHEREAS, Boniello has failed to make all payments due resulting in an outstanding balance of $13,143.79 as of the date hereof; and
WHEREAS, by resolution dated February 22, 2012, the Town Board of the Town of Patterson approved a payment plan whereby the outstanding principal balance of the fees, namely $13,143.79, would be paid in installments; and
WHEREAS, Boniello has failed to sign a proposed Agreement which incorporated said payment plan and has requested that the Town consider an alternate payment plan whereby Boniello would pay the outstanding principal balance in monthly installments of $1,000, with a final monthly installment in the amount of the then outstanding principal balance; an
WHEREAS, the Town Board is disposed to approve said alternate payment plan provided that Boniello executes and delivers to the Town an Affidavit of Confession of Judgment which will be filed in the Putnam County Clerk’s Office in the event Boniello fails to make all payments as contemplated herein,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby approves the proposed alternate payment plan as described above, including the execution and delivery by Boniello of an Affidavit of Confession of Judgment; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby authorizes the Supervisor to execute any and all documents necessary to give effect to this Resolution.
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
LEVINE FILL PERMIT
Mr. Cook stated there is an application before the Planning Board where a homeowner brought some questionable fill onto his property. He has been dealing with the Planning Board for about two years and things have not been resolved. The Planning Board is asking the Town Board to approve the Building Department to issue an appearance ticket of violation and ask that this homeowner provide a plan for removing the fill for both his and a neighbors property. There is also a step two. If things do not get resolved they ask that the Town step in and start proceeding at the Supreme Court level.
Mr. Williams stated just a slight correction. They are not asking the Town Board to direct the Building Inspector to do anything. The Building Inspector is going to issue an appearance ticket and proceed forward with this. They are also looking for the Town Board to consider taking an action against the property owner to expedite the process to have the fill removed and that would be an action by the Town Attorney and Supreme Court and also to recover whatever damages there might be.
Mr. Cook stated isn’t the process for the Building Department to issue the appearance ticket first.
Mr. Williams stated they could run concurrently. My recommendation would be we give the Building Department some time because we are not expending Town funds in pursuit of the injunction and the Town Attorney to see if we can get the property owners to remediate the site in a reasonable time.
Mr. Cook stated what is a reasonable time in your estimation.
Mr. Burns stated this memo suggests that this has been going on forever. Why don’t we take action now.
Mr. Williams stated my recommendation is that we do not move forward with the Town Attorney at this point, simply because it is going to cost the Town a considerable amount of money to go into the Supreme Court to force the property owner to take an action. We may be able to do that through the Building Department in a matter of a few weeks. I would say if this isn’t resolved in six weeks, we will need to consider other actions.
Mr. Cook stated in six to eight weeks we can revisit where we are.
Mr. Rossi stated I do agree that every effort be made to resolve it without having to go to the Supreme Court level.
TOWN CODE AMENDMENT – CODE VIOLATIONS/SITE PLANS
Mr. Cook stated the Planning Board and the Town Planner have provided us with changes to the Town Code that involves code violations site plans where individuals come in and are presenting new application to the Planning Board but yet they haven’t either completed or have violations on previous applications to the Board. There are changes before us that say you can’t come into the Planning Board or Zoning Board unless you have resolved all the issues. These would be changes to Section 154-133 and Section 64-19 of our Municipal Code.
Mr. Williams stated the next step is to draft an Introductory Local Law if you are comfortable with the language.
Mr. Cook stated we will
bring this up at the next Town Board meeting and we will set up a
Public Hearing.
ROBERT MCCARTHY
PUTNAM COUNTY HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE COLLECTION DAY
Mr. McCarthy stated Saturday, May 19, 2012 is Putnam County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day. The location is at Fahnestock Park, Canopus Beach parking lot, Route 301, Carmel, New York.
GOLDEN AGE SENIORS REQUEST – AQUA TURF
Mr. McCarthy made a motion to approve a trip for the seniors to Aqua Turf not to exceed $2,183.00.
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
OTHER BUSINESS
Mrs. Nacerino read her Environmental Tip.
Mr. Griffin stated I have a memo from the Town Planner regarding Special Use Permit Fees Livery and Taxi Cabs. The current fee for a Special Use Permit to allow an individual to have a livery or taxi cab is $500.00. Since we had some issues with some local residents there seems to be an issue for some of the small one car operators that they feel that the $500.00 fee is exorbitant. They would like a consideration for a reduced fee or a waiver of fees. I don’t believe we should waive the fee however I would be supportive of a reduced fee for a single car operator. Based on the Town Planners memo we can take into consideration either doing the $500.00 fee in two installments or reducing the fee to $250.00 for small operators.
Mr. Williams stated it came to me after we set the fee for the property owner but it is actually a violation so the fee would be double. The Town would be looking for $1,000.00 in an application fee to run a livery service for an in home operation on their residential property. I think that is really exorbitant. I would ask the Board to cut that back $500.00. We currently set accessory apartments at $250.00, which is a little more than an extensive review for the Town. I don’t see why we couldn’t do the same thing for livery services.
Mr. McCarthy stated it is $500.00 just to have a taxi. What happens with a regular contractor. What is the difference there. It’s almost unfair for a livery guy who has nice cars where I could have the jalopy mobile in my driveway.
Mr. Williams stated the difference is if you have a jalopy mobile in your driveway it is your own personal vehicle. As long as it is registered and in working condition you can do that, our Code allows you to do that. It is slightly different when you are running a limousine.
Mr. McCarthy stated for a one car operation. I could see if it was more cars. I don’t like seeing the extra fees if it is only one car.
Mr. Williams stated this was a Local Law that was adopted two years ago for Taxi’s and Livery’s. If you want to repeal the local law you can certainly do that.
Mr. McCarthy stated I just think it is unfair. It’s hard enough to do business.
Mr. Williams stated I’m sure you would agree that $500.00 is unfair.
Mr. Cook stated your memo states that the application fee is $500.00. The person that was before the ZBA was asking either to waive that or allow him to make payments.
Mr. Williams stated yes, that was their request.
Mr. Cook stated personally I would go along with the partial payment. Have him pay $250.00 and then another $250.00.
Mr. Griffin stated I would have to agree that it is a very minimal review. It is a bit of a sticky issue. For a guy who runs a small business, gets phone calls on his cell phone, goes to the airports, takes someone and picks someone up and has a car in their driveway a $500.00 fee is a pretty big chunk of change. I’m with Bob, I don’t like pounding on small businesses.
Let’s take a little time to think about this and bring this up at the Town Board meeting on May 23, 2012 but in the meantime I’ll make a motion to approve the partial payment.
Mr. Griffin made a motion to allow applicants to break the payments into two separate payments over the course of two months.
Seconded by Mr. Burns. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
Mr. Burns stated our community lost four members of the Sullivan family in a horrible fire that has occurred recently. My family had contact with the children, my wife is the school nurse at George Fisher. My son who is at Albany now knows Tommy, Jr. who is the only survivor of that family. They haven’t issued a report of what caused the fire and is a reminder to go home and check our smoke detectors. I think it would be appropriate to observe a moment of silence for the family and our prayers be with Tommy Jr. for surviving this horrific event. Thank you.
PUBLIC RECOGNITION
Ms. Cheyenne Alberti thanked Ginny and the Town Board for honoring her at the Fashion Show.
Mr. Bruce Major stated I have a follow-up on recycling. Frank Farrell wrote a memo on February 15, 2012 in which he set out certain phases. Have you moved into Phase II, III or IV. If people weren’t recycling flyers were supposed to be left at those individuals. If so, how many were issued. Phase III, if the flyer didn’t work a phone call was supposed to go to the individuals and I was wondering has that happened. Phase IV, have any violations been issued.
Mr. Griffin stated we are finishing up Phase II.
Mr. Burns stated I’ve gotten flyers but no calls.
Mr. McCarthy stated I have customers that have gotten phone calls.
Mr. Major stated the memo indicates that we are doing it for District No. 1 because District No. 2 recycling wasn’t up to the speed of District No. 1. It indicated that District No. 1 was seven percent higher than District No. 2. In looking at the numbers that were provided, the statewide goal is for a forty percent recycling rate. District No. 1 is only at thirty-six percent of the one hundred percent which would be the forty. So, they are only a little over a third of the way there. District No. 2 is at twenty-eight percent, a little more than a quarter of the way there. Has any consideration been given to also look at District No. 1 to ensure that everyone is recycling.
Mr. Griffin stated at this point in time I haven’t thought about putting a program together. Staff is limited and we are still trying to work on this side of Town which is the bulk of the residents. We could probably have conversations with the contractor to see if he would be willing to leave flyers or identify those that aren’t.
Mr. Major stated I think everyone has to be in the game.
Mr. Griffin stated understood.
Mr. Major stated about six months ago we were talking about the back log at the court with 1,700 summonses. You indicated it would take about six months. Do you have any idea where we are. Can you get back to us at the next meeting.
Mr. Griffin stated sure, I would be happy to get back to you. As far as I know, they have continued to work on it. It is a very slow process because everyone has to be given the opportunity to have their day in court.
Mr. Major stated I’m aware of that and I think six months was probably unrealistic.
Mr. Griffin stated the courts are doing just fine. Laura Roberts is much more aggressive in how we prosecute the tickets. We worked out a system that very few tickets get thrown out because of failure to appear. The system has been improved dramatically so that is a bigger reason for the increase in revenues. I will get numbers for you for the next meeting.
Mr. Major stated regarding the Park District on this side of Town, nowhere on the Town website does it list when those meetings are. I think it would be helpful if all Board meetings are listed on a calendar. What is being done about the facilities at the park.
Mr. McCarthy stated the facilities are opened now.
Mr. Burns stated we did a walk through as a Board and looked at the park and we are trying to finalize a Capital Improvement Plan. Cari is also working on a Capital Improvement Plan that we may or may not bond depending on how much money we are spending. Some of that has already taken place with the pavers and Bob has been looking at the facilities.
Mr. Major stated thank you.
Ms. Cari Weizenecker stated to clarify the locked bathrooms, we have to lock them at the frost and we don’t open them until the frost ends. This year we had a broken pipe so we had to repair that. The bathrooms did open on time at the end of April. Our rental season is technically May 1st through October 1st. Last year we stayed open because there was a wedding for a veteran. We have to worry about pipes freezing. I do appreciate the Board allowing us to get the pavers. It will look really good and allow for the handicapped, wheelchair and strollers to access. We are still working on quotes for the bathroom. I had a playground equipment company come and give us some ideas for new equipment. We are still waiting on the mold issue.
Mr. Griffin stated I understand you had someone at the park looking at the pond.
Ms. Weizenecker stated I did. We treated it for algae because it was already bad since we didn’t have a cold enough winter and while she was out she did the measurements of the pond. I don’t have the results yet.
Mr. Cook stated Cari when is your next meeting.
Ms. Weizenecker stated May 16, 2012 and everyone is welcome. The Boy Scouts are working on the trail. Rick Saracelli cut some trees down and we will be marking it further. The Girl Scouts will be planting flowers and if anyone wants to come and plant and work on the trails they are more than welcome to do that.
Mr. Griffin stated is there a butterfly garden.
Ms. Weizenecker stated I haven’t talked to them but it is not going to be in our park. They wanted to move it over to West Street. We would like to get some butterfly bushes in our garden too. If you could keep the ball rolling that would be great.
Mr. Cook stated who is working on the Capital Plan.
Mr. Griffin stated we all are.
Ms. Weizenecker stated I would like to thank the Highway Department and Paul Fava for all the work they did for us in the park.
Mr. McCarthy stated is there any way we can have the port-a-potties before and after the season.
Ms. Weizenecker stated we have never done that before but we also never had so many teams using the park. I can bring it up at the next meeting. It’s not in our budget but I guess we can add that into the budget. I would also like to apologize to the residents of Maple Avenue for parking on the side of the road. We seemed to have worked it out with Lacrosse. They are new to our fields.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
There being no further business, Mr. Burns made a motion to go into Executive Session at 8:50 p.m.
Seconded by Mr. McCarthy. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to close Executive Session at 9:20 p.m.
Seconded by Mr. Cook. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
Mr. Griffin called the meeting back to order at 9:20 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Mr. Cook made a motion to adjourn the Town Board meeting at 9:20 p.m.
Seconded by Mr. Burns. All in favor: Aye. Carried.
Respectfully Submitted,
__________________________
Antoinette Kopeck, Town Clerk