PATTERSON TOWN BOARD MEETING
PATTERSON TOWN HALL
1142 ROUTE 311
PATTERSON, NEW YORK 12563
May 22, 2013
MINUTES
PRESENT: MICHAEL GRIFFIN, SUPERVISOR
CHARLES W. COOK, DEPUTY SUPERVISOR
ROBERT MCCARTHY, COUNCILMAN
ANTOINETTE KOPECK, TOWN CLERK
MICHAEL LIGUORI, TOWN COUNSEL
ABSENT: KEVIN BURNS, COUNCILMAN
Salute to the Flag and Roll Call.
Supervisor Griffin called the Patterson Town Board meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. with 11 in attendance.
AUDIT OF BILLS
Mr. Cook made a motion to accept Abstract No. 9 as written:
General Fund $34,149.54, Highway Fund $15,810.44, Waste Water Treatment Plant $17,796.61, Putnam Lake Light District $1,088.02, Patterson Light District $1,734.96, Putnam Lake Refuse District #1 $20,454.55, Patterson Refuse District #2 $136.21, Patterson Park District $3,883.75, Putnam Lake Park District $9,848.57, Alpine Water District $1,577.57, Dorset Hollow Water District $848.01, Fox Run Water District $1,102.28, Trust & Agency $300.00, Grand Total Abstract $108,730.51.
Seconded by Mr. McCarthy. Roll Call Vote: Mr. Cook, yes; Mr. McCarthy, yes; Mr. Griffin, yes. Carried 3-0.
MICHAEL GRIFFIN
BUILDING DEPARTMENT REQUEST – SOFTWARE
Mr. Griffin stated I met with the Building Inspector and the Fire Code Officer this afternoon and we had a lot of questions going forward with this so at this time we are going to table this request pending more research and budget considerations.
ILLICIT DISCHARGE LAW – DISCUSSION
Mr. Griffin stated with MS-4 our law has to be reflective with the state law. There have been some changes that had to be made in our law.
Mr. Rich Williams stated several years ago we were required to adopt a Local Law regulating illicit discharges. Illicit discharges are those discharges due to storm drainage system, owned and operated by the Town, which are not storm related discharges. Some of them are legal to be permitted such as discharges from road drains or curtain drains. Others such as discharges of soaking water are not. We needed to have a law. With the recent audit we went through with the DEC, I had an opportunity to take a second look at the law. While it passed muster with the DEC, my recommendation to the Town Board was to take a second look at the law and update it, make some modifications to bring it more in compliance with the DEC model law, which is what they are looking for us to have.
Mr. Cook stated I have a number of comments, but they relate to questions that you asked in this draft. Do you want to go through those tonight or do you want to meet with me separately.
Mr. Williams stated I will throw this out to the Board right now, I have floating around six or seven proposed amendments to the law. I don’t know if you want to schedule one specific night where we can go through everything. I will leave it up to you.
Mr. Griffin stated why don’t you guys set up a time to meet and we will go from there.
Mr. Cook stated that is okay by me.
Mr. Williams stated fine with me.
Mr. Cook stated I remember awhile back that there was a lot of time and effort spent by Rich Williams in doing things that helped the entire MS-4 family. I am wondering if there is any way we could get reimbursed for that.
Mr. Griffin stated there are things that we can apply to the East of Hudson benefit corporation for reimbursement. Some could involve Rich’s time and a lot of the work that has been done by the Highway Department. Those records are being worked on, as far as I understand. We just need to compile it all.
QUAIL RIDGE – UPDATE
Mr. Griffin stated I believe the update for this is in the lawyer’s court.
Mr. Mike Liguori stated right now I would say the ball is in our court. We originally thought that Danand Lane was on its own, meaning its own separate tax parcel, but it is not. It is part of the larger Quail Ridge open space piece. What I have done is made a recommendation that we acquire title to Danand Lane by a meets and bounds description, which means you have a description prepared by a surveyor and that way we can acquire title before June 1st, which is the date of when our proposed improvements are made and then have the Planning Board process a map showing that subdivision of that parcel.
Mr. Cook stated we can meet this June 1st date.
Mr. Liguori stated we can definitely do that. John Moses is the attorney for Quail Ridge. We were looking to try and close last Friday and as we were drafting the conveyance documents for the roads, it became obvious to us that Danand Lane was part of the overall piece. Had that not been the case, we would have closed last Friday. I hope we will be able to close sometime next week.
Mr. Cook stated good.
Mr. McCarthy stated the approvals will begin June 1st also.
Mr. Griffin stated that would be up to the Highway Superintendent. Most of the road work will fall on him for Quail Ridge and Danand.
MICHAEL GRIFFIN IN FOR KEVIN BURNS (ABSENT)
HIGHWAY REQUEST(S)
Mr. Griffin introduced the following Resolution Approving Purchase of Vac-All Truck to be Reimbursed by Putnam County:
R-0513-03
WHEREAS, the Patterson Town Board has received a request from the Town of Patterson Highway Department for the purchase of a Vac-All Truck meeting the specifications set forth in a certain proposal prepared by Arkel Motors Inc. dated May 22, 2013 relating to the cab and chassis, and a proposal from Long Island Sanitation Equipment Co. dated April 9, 2013 relating to the vacuum/sweeper portion of the truck, both of which are annexed hereto and incorporated herein by reference; and
WHEREAS, the Town Board wishes to authorize the purchase of said Vac-All Truck to the provided that the Town is fully reimbursed for the cost thereof by Putnam County (the “County”) as set forth in the Putnam County Executive’s “Notice of Preliminary Decision for Use of East of Hudson Funds” (the “Notice”), a copy of which is annexed hereto and incorporated herein and hereby made a part hereof; and
WHEREAS, the Notice provides for reimbursement for purchase of the Vac-All Truck up to $260,000;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby authorizes and approves the purchase of the Vac-All Truck at a cost not to exceed $260,000 upon a final, binding commitment by the County agreeing to reimburse the Town for said purchase in full; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby authorizes and directs the Supervisor to execute any and all documents necessary to give effect to this Resolution.
Seconded by Mr. Cook. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
PLPAB REQUEST(S)
Mr. Griffin made a motion to approve the PLPAB request to appoint Andrew Bates as Lifeguard Supervisor at $14.00 per hour.
Seconded by Mr. McCarthy. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
Mr. Griffin made a motion to approve the budget for the swim team from June 24, 2013 to August 9, 2013 and the total expenses are $3,508.00, as proposed by the PLPAB.
Seconded by Mr. McCarthy. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
Mr. Griffin made a motion to approve the Putnam Lake Piranha Swim Team registration form for the PLPAB.
Seconded by Mr. Cook. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
Mr. Griffin made a motion to approve the Connecticut Resident Registration form for the PLPAB.
Seconded by Mr. Cook. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
Ms. Dede Lifgren, Putnam Lake Advisory Board Chairman stated we had the bids for the lawn go out and I was wondering if we could accept the bid that came in. It was the only one we received.
Mr. McCarthy stated yes it is on the agenda.
Ms. Lifgren stated the beach is now going to be used presumably by more residents and we are concerned about speed that the cars are coming around there. We will be having a lot more cars parked there. We were interested in having a seasonal speed bump put in. I spoke with Russ briefly about it. Could you consider that for that road. Right now it is marked at 15 miles per hour but they are exceeding it.
Mr. Griffin stated I don’t have a problem with it. You can get a proposal and we will approve it at the next meeting.
Ms. Lifgren stated we had our Health Department inspection today and we passed with flying colors. They were very excited about the improvements. We will be opening for Memorial Day. We plan on going to the market for residents to get their beach bracelets and boat tags.
PUTNAM LAKE DOCK – DISCUSSION/REMOVAL
Mr. Griffin stated it came to our attention that someone put a dock in the lake without any approvals or discussion with any Town Board members. Subsequently, there was a lot of effort made to find out whose dock it was. We found it belongs to a gentleman that lives over there who has been told by ECI that the dock needs to be removed. I spoke with him today, hopefully I didn’t overstep my bounds, since I have very little enforcement authority, but he is deploying for his military reserve service shortly. He is also a New York City Fireman. He asked if he could have a little bit of time and we agreed on 30 days and then he would have it removed. If there are no objections, I would ask that we have Ted Koslowski issue him a notice of violation with 30 days to remedy.
Mr. Cook stated ok.
Mr. Griffin stated anyone else contemplating putting a dock in the water in Putnam Lake, check with the Town before you do anything. At some point, we are going to have to work with the Town Attorney, Town Planner and Codes Enforcement as to how we are going to satisfy 30 encroachments. There will have to be agreements, easements, licensing etc.
PUTNAM LAKE LAWN BIDS
Mr. Griffin introduced the following Resolution for Acceptance of Bid for Seasonal Lawn Maintenance and Landscaping of Putnam Lake Park District:
R-0513-04
WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Patterson has duly advertised for bids for the provision of seasonal lawn maintenance and landscaping of Putnam Lake Park District, consistent with the Town’s Procurement Policy; and
WHEREAS, Colonialtown Landscaping LLC of Patterson, New York has submitted the lowest bid proposal dated May 19, 2013; and
WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Patterson wishes to accept the aforementioned bid proposal submitted by Colonialtown Landscaping LLC, which includes a bid amount for the 2013 season of $9,125;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby accepts the bid of Colonialtown Landscaping LLC for seasonal lawn maintenance and landscaping of Putnam Lake Park District for the 2013 season; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby authorizes and directs the Supervisor to execute any and all documents necessary to give effect to this resolution.
Seconded by Mr. Cook. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
CHARLES COOK
ETHIC LAW MODIFICATION - DISCUSSION
Mr. Cook stated we have with us tonight the three esteemed individuals who serve on the Ethics Board and I would ask that the chairperson of that committee come up, Don Ferraro and introduce his colleagues.
Mr. Don Ferraro, Chairman of the Ethics Board stated with me is Martin Miller and Robert Gentile and they are members on the Ethics Board that you appointed. We are here this evening to report the progress we have made in establishing the Ethics Board procedures.
On February 11, 2013 we held our first Ethics Board meeting. All members present begin to plan and implement procedures for the operations of this Board. We reviewed the Town of Carmel Ethics Board and Local Laws and then developed procedures that we felt best suited the Town of Patterson.
Since our initial meeting we have held three additional meetings and have established a form that was reviewed and approved by the Town Board for the filing of ethics inquiries or complaints. That is now available at the Town Clerk’s office and on line at the Town of Patterson website. The Clerk’s office has also made available a mailbox in Town Hall that will receive all mail that is directed to the Ethics Board. The only people that will have access to this mailbox will be the members of the Ethics Board.
The Supervisors office has also made available to the Board a secure file cabinet in Town Hall for the storing and maintaining documentation. We have also had discussion with Mr. Cook, our Town Board liaison, and Town Supervisor Griffin to discuss other related operational issues. As a result of these steps, I am informing the Town Board that the Town of Patterson Ethics Board is now operation and is prepared to fulfill our function.
Finally, the Ethics Board is recommending to the Town Board an amendment to Local Law No. 17-5 to include one alternate member of the Ethics Board to service as a substitute when one of its members is unable to participate in an application or matter before the Board. The Alternate Member may sit as a non-voting member through all proceedings of the Ethics Board.
Mr. Griffin stated does any member of the audience have any questions or ethics issues you would like to bring up at this time. I am very impressed with the work you have done. We have three outstanding people on this Board. I had reservations in the past about establishing an Ethics Board. It has been on the books for as long as I can remember in the Town of Patterson, however, no one has ever been seated for the Board but I can’t think of three better people to have on the Board. We will let the attorney review this and put this on the agenda for the next Town Board meeting and schedule a Public Hearing.
MEDICAL INSURANCE FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS – DISCUSSION/RESOLUTION
Mr. Cook made a motion to table this discussion for Medical Insurance for Elected Officials until the next Town Board meeting.
Seconded by Mr. McCarthy. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
NYSDOT CHIPS FUNDING – NOTIFICATION
Mr. Cook stated they have reserved for us $135,311.16 for use in our local roadway work. This is up $20,000.00 approximately from last year. We are very happy to receive this notification. The Highway Superintendent assures me it will be well spent. Thank you Russ.
ROBERT MCCARTHY
PVPAB REQUEST(S)
Mr. McCarthy made a motion to approve the request by the PVPAB for the re-hiring of lifeguards for the Veterans Memorial Park Beach. The Start date is May 19th until September 1st, 2013. The names are as follows:
Thomas Jennings (head guard) $15.70
Kristin Gervasi (head guard) 15.30
Daniel Malinowski 15.00 (head guard rate increase)
Nicole Gervasi 15.00 (head guard rate increase)
Robert Zakharchuk 10.72
Nicholas Booth 10.50
James O’Connell 10.50
Daniel Romanello 10.50
Samuel Callahan 10.25
Christopher Ravo 10.25
Flora-Ann Xavier 10.25
Taylor Kiechele 10.10
Katherine Leonard 10.10
Seconded by Mr. Cook. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
GOLDEN AGE SENIORS REQUEST - TRIP
Mr. McCarthy made a motion to approve a trip to the Westchester Broadway Theater for the Golden Age Seniors not to exceed $2,595.00.
Seconded by Mr. Cook. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
SIGN ORDINANCE AMENDMENTS - DISCUSSION
Mr. McCarthy stated this is a proposal to amend the Patterson Town Code relative to signs. The basic changes include one creating three levels of signs, exempt signs, temporary event signs and permanent signs. Number two is requiring a phone number on all temporary event signs. Three, defining temporary event signs to include signs placed by a not-for-profit, tag sales and election signs. The proposed changes roll all the sign requirements into one section of the code. If the changes are generally acceptable, I would suggest the leading Chapter 124 Political Advertising.
Mr. Cook stated I have some questions. I was trying to find where it says permits are required for these signs.
Mr. Williams stated we are talking about tag sale signs and special event signs. They are going up right now. People are just putting them up and it is very difficult to regulate. It’s just easier to regulate them to say you can’t put them up too early or leave them up afterwards and you have to put a phone number on them. We will have some authority to go take them down.
Mr. Cook stated who enforces the compliance
Mr. Williams stated it is part of the Zoning Code. Any individual charged with enforcement of the Zoning Code would be responsible for this section.
Mr. Cook stated both that they are put up when they should be put up and taken down when they should be taken down.
Mr. Williams stated and all the other requirements besides phone numbers.
Mr. Cook stated in here it mentions the “Town Employees time to remove the signs.” Is that in the fee schedule. It says, “any directional or event sign which does not include a phone number, shall be deemed abandoned and roadside litter and may be removed by any Town Employee.” Is there a mechanism to charge the person who leaves these signs up.
Mr. Williams stated there is no mechanism. One of the reasons is if they don’t have a phone number or if we are not sure exactly who put them up, we don’t know exactly who to charge. Code Enforcement will be doing the enforcement but as far as picking up litter, I created a rebuttable presumption that if they don’t meet our requirements then the Supervisor would have the ability to tell a Town Employee to go pick up signs.
Conversation ensued.
OTHER BUSINESS
Mr. Cook stated did we ever rebid the stuff for Veterans Park.
Mr. McCarthy stated we are going to table it until after the summer.
Mr. Griffin stated we are not going to proceed with the work until more or less after the season. We are going to rebid it in June.
Mr. Williams stated you will have notice of rebid at the second meeting in June. Towards the end of the year we will award the bid and move on the improvements.
Mr. Griffin made a motion to approve 2013 Budget Adjustment Request No. 11:
Increase: SPL.2001.402 Park & Recreation Charges -
Swim Team $3,000.00
Revenue Account
Decrease: SPL.7110.100 Park & Personal Services $(7,178.00)
Expense Account
Increase: SPL.7110.102 Park Personal Services -
Swim Team $3,073.00
SPL.7110.402 Park Contractual – Swim Team $ 200.00
SPL.9010.800 Employee benefits – Retirement $2,495.00
SPL.9030.800 Employee Benefits – Social Security $2,207.00
SPL.9035.800 Employee Benefits – Medicare $ 516.00
SPL.9040.800 Employee Benefits – Workman’s Comp $1,246.00
SPL.9055.800 Employee Benefits – Disability $ 320.00
SPL.1980.400 MTA Taxes Contractual $ 121.00
Expense Account
Seconded by Mr. Cook. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
Mr. Griffin stated we sponsor a trophy for the Putnam County 4-H Fair. It will be held on July 26, 27 & 28, 2013. Normally we sponsor a trophy for about $40.00.
Mr. Griffin made a motion for the Town to sponsor a showmanship trophy “swine” for an amount not to exceed $40.00.
Seconded by Mr. Cook. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.
PUBLIC RECOGNITION
Mr. Major stated Mike, you were going to get some numbers on the septic.
Mr. Griffin stated I’m sorry, you didn’t get that, it was 271 pump outs and zero failures. I thought that had been emailed to you, I apologize.
Mr. Major stated that’s ok. I’m not surprised. It has been eight weeks since you folks had hired a consultant for Garbage District No. 2, how soon will his report be available.
Mr. Griffin stated honestly, I’m not really sure. We sent him information and he has requested additional information and I’m hoping within three weeks to a month we will have a report.
Mr. Major stated great. As it relates to the discussion on the health insurance, has a resolution been prepared and when will it be made available to the public.
Mr. Cook stated we have a resolution, it is a draft, so after we have our discussion and we put it on the agenda it will be available.
Mr. Major stated I would like to raise this issue again, I probably raised it a number of times over the years, insuring that resolutions are made available to the public on line in advance of the Town Board meetings. Certainly a few days in advance would be helpful. Clearly we know in the past, a resolution that arrives on your desk right before a vote can create problems.
Mr. Griffin stated Memorial Day parade steps off in Putnam Lake at 10:00 a.m. from the Castle and ends at the monument. There will be a second one at 1:00 p.m. at Maple Avenue. The public is invited. As a veteran honoring the soldiers, sailors, men and women who have sacrificed their lives for this country, it is probably one of America’s most important holiday’s because if it wasn’t for their sacrifices we wouldn’t enjoy the things we do have. It would be good to come out and honor those who have lost their lives for their country.
Mr. Griffin stated there is a young man who just opened a business up right next to the barber shop on Route 311. His name is Chris Olson and it is a computer service company.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Mr. Cook made a motion to adjourn the Town Board meeting at 7:45 p.m.
Seconded by Mr. Burns. All in favor: Aye. Carried.
Respectfully Submitted,
__________________________
Antoinette Kopeck, Town Clerk