1142 ROUTE 311
MINUTES
PRESENT: MICHAEL
GERALD HERBST, COUNCILMAN
ERNEST KASSAY, COUNCILMAN
GINNY NACERINO, COUNCILWOMAN
ANTHONY MOLÉ, TOWN COUNSEL
ANTOINETTE KOPECK, TOWN CLERK
Supervisor
Salute to the Flag and Roll Call.
Mr. Griffin stated without objection I would ask the Clerk to file the reports as read.
Patterson Fire Department – None
Code Compliance Officer – July
Code Enforcement Officer – May, June, July
Dog Control Officer – July
E.C.I. Officer – None
MINUTES
Mr. Kassay made a motion to approve the following minutes:
Bid Opening – Proposed Concrete Sidewalks,
Town Board Meeting –
Public Hearing – Local Law No. 7 of 2007 – June 27, 2007
Town Board Meeting –
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
AUDIT OF BILLS
Mr. Herbst made a motion to approve the following bills chargeable to 2007:
General Fund $30,508.84, Highway Fund-Item 1 General Repairs $29,768.53, Highway Fund-Item 3 Machinery $7,051.93, Highway Fund-Item 4 Miscellaneous $515.42, Highway Fund-Employee Benefits $1,003.66,Highway Fund-Debt Service $119,714.89, Patterson Light District $20.49, Putnam Lake Refuse District # 1 $28,522.02, Patterson Refuse District # 2 $28,078.21, Patterson Park District $484.58, Alpine Water District $150.00, Dorset Hollow Water District $1,542.40, Fox Run Water District $757.03, Front Street Sewer District $465.00.
Total Abstract $248,583.00
Seconded by Mr. Kassay. Roll Call Vote: Mr. Herbst; yes, Mr. Kassay; yes, Mrs. Nacerino; yes, Mr. O’Connor; yes, Mr. Griffin; yes. Roll Call Vote Carried.
WYNDHAM/WINDSOR WOODS SUBDIVISION UPDATE
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Mr. Ray Merlotto stated where is Wyndham/Windsor Woods subdivision.
Mr. Griffin stated Wyndham is the new development by
Mr. O’Connor stated the question there is they are having some work done on roads and drainage prior to acceptance of the roads by the Town which is scheduled to be some time in September. Our Attorney and Town Planner have been going back and forth with the developer.
Mr. Anthony Molé, Town Attorney, stated they are looking to dedicate the road to the Town. In doing that, the Town had their engineers look at the road and the subdivision to make sure everything is done according to the plans before the Town takes the road as a Town road. It was discovered by the engineer, who has been going there with the Planner, that some of the things such as drainage had to be corrected. We’ve had a number of meetings with the developer and between all of them they’ve all come up with a plan as to what has to be done to remedy whatever needs to be remedied or just tidy up the subdivision.
Mr. Griffin stated let’s be clear; those are the public improvements. They are the road, the road system, the drainage…
Mr. Molé stated everything that would affect the roadway.
Mr. Griffin stated you have a couple of homeowners that have individual property problems that I know you discussed with representatives of Wyndham Homes and what was your general take on that.
Mr. Molé stated there was one in particular that the developer agreed to work with the homeowner to alleviate, I believe, a drainage issue that would ultimately affect the roadway; the Town wanted that taken care of and the developer agreed to work with the homeowner to do that. The Town Planner and the Town Engineer came up with a plan that would accomplish that and they were in agreement with the plan as far as I understand it. The road dedication we plan to have on September 12th during a Town Board meeting. Everything should be completed by then, if not it gives us another two weeks before the end of September before we can actually dedicate it. We plan to have the road dedicated this year prior to the winter.
Mr. O’Connor stated we were hoping to get – it is the one lot that the developer has agreed to do work on regarding drainage that is not just on the road and we’d like to know if there are more people that might have the same concerns.
Ms. Diane Neekirk,
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care of the yard, he has slipped, twisted ankles, hurt his knee, he’s had torn meniscus in the past and he’s afraid of re-injuring it again so I’m not looking for large maintenance, I’m just looking for help to make sure it’s no longer a safety hazard for my family.
Mr. Griffin stated the Town Planner and I were out there.
Ms. Neekirk stated I actually took a couple of pictures. They don’t actually display it that well because it’s hard to capture on film but it’s almost to a point where I can almost reach out and it’s about a foot away from the distance of my arm stretch where the slope of the hill is so there it’s at a significant angle whereas I’m really just looking for help and/or the Town to support me on how do I take next steps, what kind of recourse do I have with the builder so that’s really why I’m here. In addition to that there are some drainage issues around the house as a result of this slope so we had them come out about three or four times now to rectify that. They continue to seep into sink holes. I have another complaint into them now. They are supposed to be coming out yet again to fix that so my concern is if they do come out and re-slope the hill, I want to make sure it’s done properly and not increase the drainage issues around the house as well.
Mrs. Nacerino stated when you purchased your home did the builder indicate that he would take care of this property for you.
Ms. Neekirk stated not really. What happened was I had asked for them multiple times to get a site plan and elevation plan and they never provided it to me. When they finally did the home was already blasted so the foundation for the home was already blasted and at that point we were already in contract. There was not much that we could do; it kind of felt like my back was up against the wall. Prior to even closing I had expressed my concerns to them and honestly I told them that if it was pre-built I wouldn’t have bought the home because of my concerns about safety. I’m actually coming to them about a year after we moved in because when we first moved in we had the end of summer last year and the grass had not really started to take so there was no maintenance required and now that we’ve been in there, we’ve gone through the spring season and have grass and we’re starting to maintain it and this is when it’s really, really surfacing as a concern…
Mrs. Nacerino stated but did you select this parcel.
Ms. Neekirk stated I did select it but…
Mrs. Nacerino stated and not aware that it sloped so significantly.
Ms. Neekirk stated it did not at the time. The slope is actually the result of the blasting of the foundation of the home.
Mr. Kassay stated the stone wall, is that the end of your property.
Ms. Neekirk stated yes it is. so that’s basically it, I just wanted to reach out to the Town to find out if there is any type of recourse or anything that can be done to help assist in this matter. I also know one of my neighbor’s is here with similar complaints. Another neighbor of mine, about two houses down from me, he has similar issues with drainage. He unfortunately was not able to be here but was hoping that I would express that on his behalf. I know on our road recently we’ve had a landslide between homes but there are trees and there is foundation there that you would have thought would have stopped the mud; it hasn’t so my obvious concern is we don’t have trees in our backyard, how safe is that hill at that angle, what can be done to rectify that.
Mr. Dave Raines, acting Building Inspector, stated I’ve been out to several lots with similar problems but specific to (inaudible), the approved site plan for this lot showed a 3 to 1 slope for this embankment; it’s built to about a 1 to 1 slope, it was blasted out as about (inaudible) straight and that’s the problem. The other issue is the house was also pushed back from the original site plan approval so it’s much closer to the base of the
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slope. The water issue is generated from that in that the house is in a lower elevation due to the way it was blasted and we have the water basically coming off two sides and it’s really not draining anywhere; it’s settling behind the house. I’ve spoken to the principals at Wyndham Homes as I know Mr. Griffin has and there’s not been a lot of movement in this case. Their position is that you bought the house that way. They do acknowledge that you’ve brought these concerns to them. I’m not sure what recommendations I have for the Board other than to continue to work with them prior to accepting the road because that’s really our only leverage with Wyndham Homes to assist the homeowners there. I don’t want to say it’s a safety issue but it’s certainly a safety issue to maintain it. It’s really an impossibility to safely maintain it unless you get a goat. There’s really no way to traverse the slope with a weed whacker or any other equipment; you have to let it grow in. It’s definitely problematic. The other homeowners are working with – they are going to do the work on their property and the drainage basins have already been put in in the right of way so they just need to bring their swale out so there is a fix there as long as those other folks are willing to maintain that swale out to the right of way and then all the water is going to be managed off that. Unfortunately here this is really subject to their back yard; it’s nowhere near any right of way. I have no recommendation for the Town Board other than to continue to work with the principals of Wyndham to see if they can cut that slope back to a point where it’s manageable or at least bench it.
Mrs. Nacerino stated what recourse do we have as a Town when a developer says the slope is one grade and then it is another and that is blatantly ignored and something is done quite the opposite of what was stipulated. What recourse do we have and how do we avoid and alleviate these types of problems in the future.
Mr. Raines stated what the process is when we do a site walk as far as the building department permits being issued is concerned, if the foundation is placed, we do an inspection then at that point we have to bring the site plan out and say that this isn’t where the house is supposed to be or the blasting was improper. In this case the recourse would have been to not issue the C of O until the developer…
Mrs. Nacerino stated so did this slip through the cracks.
Mr. Raines stated it wasn’t acknowledged. The C of O was obviously issued. I don’t know when the CO was issued in 2006 but it was issued. I believe it was issued the first week of August possibly. I could be mistaken though.
Ms. Neekirk stated it was at the end of July.
Mr. Raines stated so it was issued in July of 2006. I’ve been through the file and again I was out there with Mr. Griffin, Mr. Williams and the Town Engineer. It’s clearly a 3 to 1 slope on the site plan which is probably the most extreme slope we should really have when it’s that close to a residence so it’s (inaudible) traverse like a 1 to 1 as she said you lean up and it’s parallel to you. The normal recourse when we have had situations recently where we couldn’t issue C of O’s because the site work was not in compliance with the approved Planning Board Resolutions.
Mrs. Nacerino stated so ultimately where does the responsibility lie in a case like this where a gross mistake occurred and these people have to suffer because of it. Where’s the negligence lie.
Mr. Raines stated I don’t know that there’s negligence but I think there’s responsibility both on the part of the code enforcement official in issuing the C of O and responsibility to the homeowner to say this is not what I wanted. Again, when we look at a slope when it’s unfinished, when it’s not grown in, it may not look like a 1 to 1 until the foliage grows in and just like these houses that close in the winter and there’s snow and frost and all of a sudden now you see that the contours are different, the drainage, the slope is different you know, February vs. July. The other piece out here is we have 5 or 6 lots that are settling tremendously to where there is a foot deviation from where the finished line
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is on the drawing, even on an as built, so if you see an as built on your house a year ago, the elevations have changed because they have settling almost a foot, 18” around their house. Another problem is it looks like all the water is draining from the front, a year later all the water is draining around the back and that’s not something that can be picked up on in a final unless you walk on real spongy soil so that’s more of a workmanship issue with not compacting the soil or using loose fill or when we get these 2” or 3” deluge of rain and the ground settles and it pockets but in this case it needs to be looked at very carefully when we issue the C of O’s to insure that setbacks are appropriate and that the contours and the swales are appropriate. The Planning Board spends a lot of time looking at each and every lot here.
Mr. Molé stated Dave probably has the information, but I would be interested in finding out which lots in particular overall have these problems where what was actually built on the site is not in conformance with the site plan because we are working with the developer right now as far as road dedication goes and addressing some of those issues that we have all the lots and all the information then we can bring it up to them and then we can move forward that way.
Mr. O’Connor stated would I be wrong in thinking that anything that interfered with the dedication of the road would cause more problems.
Mr. Griffin stated well you’d give up any leverage you could possibly have with the developer at that point but at the same time most of these guy’s are structured as an individual corporation for each project so walking away from it isn’t going to be a huge potential problem for them.
Mr. Joseph Armisto stated I’m a neighbor of Diane and Scott Neekirk. I have some of the same issues in a sense that at the time we signed contracts we went out to look at the site plan and the grading seemed reasonable at the time. Once they got done putting the foundation in it appears that the grading had changed. I brought it up during the course of the building of the property and said I’m getting the sense that the backyard is a little bit steeper than what it originally looked like on the site plan and they said oh, no, no, no it’s fine. You go through the process and you’re excited about building and buying a house. Lo and behold when the house was finished they also raised the issue and said to our contact person that the grading seems awfully steep, are you going to put another retention wall in the back side there to change the grade and they said no that it was approved by the inspector, you have a CO and there’s nothing we could do about it. In similar circumstances, I have to cut the back yard with a push mower which at times I am sliding down the hill and it poses a safety issue just because once again I have to maintain the property. I believe that once the property was sited out and when they blasted out the side of the hill that I live on, the house was set deeper than what it was projected to be thereby changing what that grading was supposed to be on the back side of the property. Dave had mentioned that when you would walk on the property on that back slope it was a little bit spongy and that was the case for quite a while and we’ve seen a little bit of settling with that back side of our hill so in supporting the fact that living next to Diane and seeing what she’s going through as well as raising the issue and having correspondences going back and forth with the builder suggesting that this needs to be looked at and having responses that basically said it’s to code, it was inspected, it was approved, if you want to change the grading or bring in some fill or build your own retaining wall in order to rectify the situation. I think throughout the process when you’re leaning on people and their professionalism and you know I don’t believe the acting inspector is around at the time I closed on my house in May and the CO was issued probably just about that time.
Mr. Griffin stated Mr. Raines had nothing to do with it.
Mr. Armisto stated that’s why I’m saying and raising the point that in a certain degree I’m still a little bit dissatisfied in a sense that it was overlooked. I have minimal amount of recourse, if any, just because I’ve raised the issue and it was supposedly signed off on
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and that was it. In my eyes the experience was a little bit clouded just because I had something I wasn’t expecting when I originally signed up. If there is any action to be taken, or something that could come of it, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts and comments. I’m more than willing to walk the property with anyone that would like to come out and see what the grading looks like and any suggestions that might be offered.
Mr. Griffin stated Anthony, I think we’re probably going to ask you to give us a memo on this.
Mr. Molé stated I’ll talk with Stantec and see if they’ve taken a look at the property, and I’ll talk with Dave and see where we are.
Mr. Griffin stated that brings us to a conversation we had a couple of meetings ago with the Board about how do we want to review these projects. Building Inspector’s in the past look at the house, look at the carpentry, look at the masonry, look at the plumbing and don’t do a lot of the review of the site work. The question is, especially on a project as difficult as this one, do we start looking at bringing the Town Engineer in on individual sites.
Mr. Molé stated I think to review it in this context would probably be necessary. I’m not sure Dave is comfortable making that kind of assessment on the property as far as whether the grading is appropriate pursuant to the site plan or is that something you feel the engineer’s should be involved in.
Mr. Raines stated I’m not sure what you’re asking for. Currently when it’s reviewed if there’s any slopes that are significant or retention ponds or retaining walls then I give it to the Town Engineer to look at and then (inaudible) part of the building permit process it will indicate that Town Engineer or the engineer of record on the job needs to sign off on x, y and z. If you’re asking going back to these, no, I don’t have a comfort level and that is something that would have to be evaluated by the Town Engineer or maybe the engineers of record on these jobs. Moving forward, any deviation from the norm, we do have the Town Engineer come out. In most cases, the engineer of record for a job is (inaudible) stamp plans or the site division plan will them sign off that the work is done to the standards and to insure that the homeowners get what they sign up for.
Mr. Griffin stated Dave, if you look through your files on this project, were any of these changes approved or signed off or okayed by the project’s engineer, not the Town’s engineer.
Mr. Raines stated I haven’t found of the three significant ones that were brought forward, no. There were no changes made, no adjustments. There’s clear deviations on the property where they brought the swale out to the road, the driveway…
Mr. Griffin stated
Mr. Raines stated I’m sorry, the Hopkins property, driveway is nowhere near where it is on the site plan and the house is way back, pushed all the way back so that they have a significant front yard and almost no rear yard. That was quite clear and the result was that it’s into the bank of the neighbor’s and then water comes down and (inaudible) gets flooded out every time it rains. The issues with the settling that’s going to happen significantly, especially when there’s blasting and fill put in because a year or two years go by as you have the seasonal change here in New England you’re going to get the settling. That’s a whole separate issue which is going to happen. It’s a buyer beware thing when you buy a house and you close and seasonally you’re going to see a different product 6 months later. To answer your question, I don’t have a comfort level with going back to these but moving forward we have brought in and will continue to bring in engineers to evaluate. In most cases it’s the engineer of record because they are the ones that made this proposal to the building department. In this case if we are going to take
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any action we need to bring in and have each evaluated and also maybe go back to the engineers that did the site work here, the site design to indicate whether this was done to their design.
Mr. Griffin stated so Anthony you’re going to give us our options on this.
Mr. Molé stated sure.
Mr. Griffin stated we will keep in touch and prior to the road dedication we’ll let you know what our options are and what we could possibly do and we’ll probably try and sit down and have another meeting with the project manager and his engineer to see what we can actually get these guys to agree to.
Mr. Molé stated I don’t know if you’ve spoken to the other homeowners, you mentioned before, who have similar problems; if you could have them submit their information to the Town Hall as far as their name and their lot we could have a look at those.
Mr. Raines stated are we holding a bond on this.
Mr. Griffin stated yes, but only for public improvements. They’ve got a lot of work to do on the retention ponds; they have to clean out. The planting plans haven’t been met so they are obligated to fix that. Catch basins all have to be vacuumed out; there’s a whole litany of things but unfortunately we are not allowed to hold bonds on private property improvements from developers. Site plans you could do it but not – it’s only on parking lots, public improvement type issues and we also require a restoration bond should you start your project and then abandon it at some point along the way there will be money and the other is a snow bond that we are required to post every year that your road isn’t dedicated.
BROADVIEW – UPDATE
Mr. O’Connor stated I see that Mr. Capalbo is here from Broadview. I wish that Verizon was as attentive and responding as Mr. Capalbo is in attending these meetings. I’ve spoken with Verizon. I wouldn’t say I got the run around but I got a number of different phone numbers. I finally got through to a Natalia who I spoke with but only back and forth on voicemail and she is the market specialist who is preparing a Verizon, I won’t say counter proposal, but as to what they will do for us in light of what I sent them which was Mr. Capalbo’s proposal. It’s very difficult when what you’re dealing with is a machine. It’s one of the most unsatisfactory things of modern life. I spoke to her machine three times today telling her to fax me something and at close of business today, I did not get anything. That leaves us with either do we go ahead with the fact that they’re saying that Verizon has shown a lack of interest or do we wait one more time for Verizon to send us what they say they will or do we just say that the proposal from Broadview and the other companies that have said they do very well with them and the 42% saving was significant and go that route.
Mrs. Nacerino stated I think it would be in our best interest if we cannot get in touch with Verizon to perhaps have another company give us a quote so we can compare apples to apples.
Mr. O’Connor stated obviously Verizon is the most important because they are our company.
Mrs. Nacerino stated it is but we can’t make an informed decision if we don’t have anything to compare it to.
Mr. Kassay stated Ed, how long ago did you ask for that information from Verizon.
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Mr. O’Connor stated I’ve been asking for it back and forth for a month. As a matter of fact, it was only this week that they said to send everything to a different fax number. When I sent it to the different fax number, and that’s when I was talking to people, I did get a response from Natalia who gave me her direct phone number with her extension and she is a market specialist.
Mr. Herbst stated if she doesn’t get back to you Ed, why don’t you find out who’s above her and go over her head. That’s the only way you are going to get results.
Mr. Kassay stated the other way Ed, would be to send a letter giving them until August 15th or whenever you want, letting them know that if they don’t respond, we are going to change our company and move forward with someone else.
Mr. O’Connor stated I think the letter is a very good idea. It should state something along these lines: it seems like you are disinclined to change what we have or unable or unwilling to make a counter proposal. We take it that silence means you are not interested.
Mr. Thomas Capalbo, Broadview Networks, stated just two things I would like to say. I was speaking to Kelly and someone else in your office downstairs. They had said that Verizon had given you their government discount at the beginning of this year which was the price I quoted you at when I received those bills so if they had already given you the government discount, I’m not sure they could really give you any more discounts than they have already given you. Even if they give you a proposal that can be even better than they’ve given you already, those prices are basically the lowest mandated line charges that Verizon can give you without breaking their code of law as far as the line charges go. You guys are tax exempt and that’s really all the prices that you’re going to see over that. As far as getting a price quote from another phone company, a lot of the other companies that are out there are resellers of Verizon so basically they’re going to be taking Verizon’s services and discounting them minimally but really not going to be able to get to the same quote that I gave.
Mrs. Nacerino stated but we need to know that just for our own clarification.
Mr. Capalbo stated of course. I would just like to say also that just the attention that I’ve been coming here, being here also at the same point in time it’s very difficult when you’re not getting an answer from Verizon over the course of a month.
Mr. Kassay stated that’s why we want to have a letter sent where we give them a date to respond by or we move on.
Mr. Griffin stated there’s an escape clause built into this contract. The fact that Verizon has gone six weeks almost at this point without responding to our request, if that doesn’t tell you what Verizon thinks of your business then I’m not sure what else you need to know. If the Board wants to move forward with this we have an opportunity after a short period of time to go back to what we had. There is that as an option also.
Mr. Capalbo stated you do have the 90-day guarantee like I had said with (inaudible) so you do get to taste test us and again if you have that feeling that you’re not happy with what’s going on you can go back to Verizon.
Mr. Griffin stated have you had the opportunity to look through this, Anthony.
Mr. Molé stated it did make its way to me, however I didn’t draft a resolution because I thought it was only up for discussion tonight.
Mr. Griffin stated I’m curious as to if you looked at it and if this meets – I know when we went with Glacial there were a number of changes that needed to be made to the standard contract because municipalities have a different set of rules they have to follow. As
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much as I hate to keep putting this off, we still need you to go through this contract and make your changes. Unfortunately, we do not have another meeting in August so the next opportunity to move on this is going to be the second Wednesday in September.
Mr. O’Connor stated that would give a lot of time to do two things. One would be to send a letter to Verizon. Ordinarily I wouldn’t give them that much time.
Discussion ensued regarding the messages Mr. O’Connor left on Verizon’s voicemail, sending a letter to them, etc.
After much discussion, Board members decided to wait until Mr. Molé looked over the Broadview Networks contract and a possible response from Verizon until making a decision about the phone service.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE
Mr. O’Connor stated I believe you recall at the last meeting
or the meeting before I handed out a workplace violence policy for the Town of
Mr. Kassay stated if you were to exempt anybody with a New York State permit, somebody that is fully licensed to come into the building and you didn’t want them to come in here, I would think you would have to post whatever you have to post and then who would be responsible for enforcing the law that somebody doesn’t come in here with a weapon.
Mr. O’Connor stated we are not going to have any electronics.
Mr. Kassay stated in other words, how would you enforce the policy.
Mr. O’Connor stated they would be committing a violation
under the policy. How do you enforce any
policy. As far
as people who have a license to carry a weapon, are they exempt and I can only
go back to where I worked before and no one was allowed to carry a firearm on
any
Mr. Kassay stated so in other words you are saying active members of the law enforcement agency in some way, shape or form.
Mr. O’Connor stated yes, either outside police who are coming in for one reason or another, but we had our own police force, but I understand since we didn’t have a court, we certainly would have to put into the policy that our court officer does not carry a firearm but that could change; some of the judges think that perhaps he should and the judges, in the absence of an armed court officer, have taken it upon themselves to be armed and they are fully licensed to do so.
Mr. Kassay stated but according to the policy that you are
talking about, you wouldn’t want anybody but an active police officer to carry
a firearm then you’d have to let those individuals know that they can’t sit
anywhere in the courtroom with a firearm.
My suggestion would be if you want duly licensed by the State of
Mr. Ray Merlotto stated you’re denying people a right to defend themselves no matter where they are by passing this protection bologna because that’s all it is. As far as the court officers go, the last time I was in court, there’s more cops in there than people. There were troopers, sheriffs, so like where are we going with this. If a guy wants to go someplace and happens to have his firearm on him, he’s got to do what, go hide his gun in the woods, come in here and take care of business, go back out there and get his gun.
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If you’re licensed by the state, you’re fingerprinted, where’s the problem. He’s not the problem, but his licensed gun; it’s the guy that carries the gun because you pissed somebody off and they come in and pop you one. You know what, all the laws you pass are not going to stop that. So what do we need this for; just more money and time spent killing the clock in here. That’s what you’re doing.
Mr. O’Connor stated we were talking about mandates before. This is one of them. We have to have a violence in the workplace policy and give classes on it this summer.
Mr. Merlotto was speaking, however due to lack of microphone usage, unable to transcribe.
Mr. O’Connor stated we have to do the policy and the classes…
Mr. Griffin stated this is another state mandate.
Mr. O’Connor stated regardless of whether or not – the only
part of it that we were trying to figure out, the bone of contention is, how do
we work out the original boilerplate that I got from the state was that it said
except for police officers no one should carry a firearm. We do know that for us the courts need an
exemption from that. Mr. Merlotto said
there are often a lot of policemen in uniform and armed in the court room but
sometimes there’s not and there are people in the – we know we have armed
personnel in the court that are not uniformed court officers or uniformed
policemen. Both of our judges are
completely authorized to carry a firearm and they feel that that is appropriate
for them because they are acting as the armed court officer in the absence of
one. So we changed it to match
that. I know when
Mr. Kassay stated my opinion would be that if you have a valid New York state license to carry a concealed weapon that you be allowed to come into the building and wherever else you want to go because it’s your right to bear arms and I don’t think that we should attempt to put up any signs or anything like that because that could work against what you’re attempting to do with that subdivision.
Mr. O’Connor stated that would include visitors and employees.
Mr. Kassay stated anybody that has a valid
Mr. O’Connor stated I know you’re point and I agree with it because…
Mr. Kassay stated and besides it doesn’t address the illegal weapons…
Mr. O’Connor stated that’s right.
Discussion ensued with Board members regarding carrying legal, registered firearms.
Mrs. Nacerino stated I don’t know if I agree and I have a
question. I just recently went to
Mr. Kassay stated no.
Mrs. Nacerino stated so then we should be…
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Mr. Kassay stated so then we could do that. Let’s get a metal detector, let’s hire somebody…
Mr. O’Connor stated they have one at the court.
Mr. Kassay stated have somebody at a public building to do that.
Mrs. Nacerino stated but if the logic is for protection…
Mr. Kassay stated that’s not the reason why.
Mrs. Nacerino stated then what is the reason why.
Mr. Kassay stated the reason is for them to keep a better
handle on who’s coming in. I’ve gone to
court over the years as an active police officer in
Mrs. Nacerino stated but you’re defying the logic you’re just putting forth Ernie because that – I’m just trying to wrestle with this because I don’t completely understand it…
Mr. O’Connor stated so am I.
Mrs. Nacerino stated I don’t know if I would agree that everybody who was licensed to carry a gun should be allowed to walk through these doors and I think what the sample is is the Town of Greenburgh which if you’re licensed to carry a gun, you’re not just walking through those doors and there’s a valid reason why they’re doing it that way and I think that maybe we should raise to the standards.
Mr. Kassay stated so what you’re suggesting is that we put a metal detector at the entrance of…
Mrs. Nacerino stated no I’m not, I’m just saying adopting a policy is not illogical.
Mr. Herbst stated the whole idea of this is we don’t have metal detectors and somebody that’s licensed to carry a gun should be allowed to carry it. I agree with that because anybody that wants to come in here and shoot up the place isn’t going to worry about whether he’s breaking the law of carrying a gun without a license or even with a license, he’s going to do it.
Mrs. Nacerino stated what position does that put the Town in in a sense…
Board members and audience members speaking at once, unable to transcribe.
Mr. O’Connor stated just for clarification, this policy primarily is addressed to Town employees because if we say that that means that someone in the recycling center who has a license can come to work armed as part of his regular…
Mrs. Nacerino stated I don’t agree with that.
Mr. O’Connor stated just what he does; that’s what we’re asking the policy to be.
Mr. Griffin stated the policy should be the Town employees, unless they are police officers, aren’t allowed to carry a gun. Or unless you’re a judge.
Mr. O’Connor stated that’s what the policy was originally.
Mr. Merlotto stated regarding Mrs. Nacerino’s concern about Greenburgh, you have to understand a lot of this all came
about from September 11th and the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act is the demise of
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What we’re talking about here is if he’s licensed to carry a firearm, he should be allowed to carry his firearm. He doesn’t have to advertise he’s carrying a firearm. When you go to the County building it’s the same thing, you can’t walk upstairs into the courts without going through the metal detector but you know what, it’s a moot point because if somebody wanted to get in there…
Mrs. Nacerino stated I realize that.
Mr. Merlotto stated so let’s not start to do what Greenburgh is doing in our happy little Hamlet of Patterson. We don’t need metal detectors; we don’t need security guards…
Mrs. Nacerino stated no, we don’t, but if we’re trying to ensure the safety and welfare of everybody in this building it’s just another layer.
Mr. Merlotto stated listen I feel a lot safer without the guy at the door.
Mr. O’Connor stated this goes back to our regular Town
employees. There is the school of
thought that says that it’s a sense of intimidation if the clerk sitting next
to you, that you work with on a regular basis, has a 45 automatic tucked under
her arm…So do we change this to read Town employees with the exception of a
designated few that might work in the court that none of the others are
permitted to bring a firearm to work.
That’s basically the policy of the City of
Mr. Peter Hansen stated I’m thinking about what should be discussed in executive session and not in the public are things like safety and security and so I am of the opinion that you don’t want the general public to know what your policy is regarding firearms in the building.
Mr. O’Connor stated but it has to be a public policy.
Mrs. Nacerino stated yes.
Mr. Hansen stated it’s an employee policy. It’s workplace violence. If somebody wants to F.O.I.L. for it they can do so but it doesn’t have to be debated in a public forum.
Mr. O’Connor stated it has to be distributed and classes given on it.
Mr. Hansen stated fine, I understand. I just don’t think it’s necessary to debate this in a public forum. I don’t think it’s in your best interest.
Mr. O’Connor stated obviously we are not going to clear this up tonight, but we will work on it. It is a pubic policy.
Mr. Kassay stated I didn’t have a problem with any of the sections of the policy except that one.
REQUEST
Mr. O’Connor introduced the following Resolution for Supporting a Septic Maintenance Program
R0807-01
WHEREAS, the County of Putnam and the Towns of Carmel, Kent, Patterson, Putnam Valley and Southeast signed the New York City Watershed Memorandum of Agreement (“MOA”) to protect the water supplies of the City of New York for use by City of New York residents and non-residents, and
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WHEREAS, pursuant to the MOA, the City of New York has paid to Putnam County thirty million ($30,000,000.00) dollars of East of Hudson Water Quality Funds (“EOH” Funds) to support a program of water quality investments in Putnam County, and
WHEREAS, failing and substandard sewage treatment systems pose a continuing threat to the quality of the New York City water supply, as well as a concern to health and safety of the owners of such systems, to their neighbors and to the communities at large, and
WHEREAS, the Putnam Lake subdivision was established at a time when many of these homes and their subsurface sewage treatment systems were designed for seasonal use, and have not been improved to meet the demands imposed by the year round use they currently experience, and
WHEREAS, until recently the Health Department regulations regarding subsurface sewage treatment systems permitted the construction of systems which do not meet the current design standards for onsite septic disposal systems, resulting in homes on very small lots, and with very limited, substandard and inadequate subsurface sewage treatment systems that pose a potential safety hazard for the house and neighbor’s water supply, and
WHEREAS, it is in the best interests of the Town of
WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Patterson wishes to encourage a program whereby these failing or substandard subsurface sewage treatment systems are upgraded and improved using current technology, and
WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Patterson finds that a program which addresses the maintenance, operation and improvement of subsurface sewage treatment systems would be in the best interest of the health and safety of the residents of the Town of Patterson as well as those served by the New York water supply, and
WHEREAS, a program which addresses the maintenance, operation and improvement of the existing subsurface sewage treatment systems would result in additional benefits including the creation of a data base on the number, operational practices and condition of subsurface sewage treatment systems in these stressed areas, and
WHEREAS, the design and installation of subsurface sewage
treatment systems is regulated by the Putnam County Health Department, an
agency of the
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson [entreaties, prays, petitions, requests,] the Putnam County Legislature provide funding from the East of Hudson Water Quality Funds to create a program of rebates to property owners for septic tank pumping, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson [entreaties, prays, petitions, requests,] the Putnam County Legislature to provide funding from the East of Hudson Water Quality Funds to create a program of rebates to property owners for subsurface sewage treatment system improvements and enhancements, including, but not limited to, expanded systems, filters and aerobic treatment systems that would provide improved performance on small lots, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson [entreaties, prays, petitions, requests,] the Putnam County Legislature and the Putnam County Department of Health to establish a program whereby expansion of a house by more than 20% of the building coverage must also have installed a subsurface sewage treatment system which meets all of the current regulations and requirements, or must
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meet the most stringent effluent standards possible considering lot size, along with other enhancements and periodic inspections, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of
Seconded by Mr. Herbst. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
WAIVER OF FEES POLICY
Mr. O’Connor stated we’ve been discussing a policy on people
requesting waivers of various fees. Did
everyone get a copy of the latest formalized proposal. I would like the Board to think about this
further. The fees are waived for various
projects that are done by non profit type organizations for the good of the
Town of
AWARD BID –
Mr. O’Connor introduced the following Resolution for Acceptance of Bid for
R0807-02
WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of
WHEREAS, bids were received for the project that was advertised, and
WHEREAS, Alfredo Site Development Corp. has submitted the lowest responsible bid to perform the Putnam Lake Stormwater Improvements for the sum not to exceed Four Hundred Thirty Eight Thousand Four Hundred Eighty Five ($438,485.00) Dollars and
WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby accepts the bid of Alfredo Site Development Corp. to perform the Putnam Lake Stormwater Improvements for the sum of Four Hundred Thirty Eight Thousand Four Hundred Eighty Five ($438,485.00) Dollars, in accordance with the specifications and bid proposal with respect thereto, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of
Seconded by Mr. Herbst. Roll Call Vote: Mr. Herbst; yes, Mr. Kassay; yes, Mrs. Nacerino; yes, Mr. O’Connor; yes, Mr. Griffin; yes. Roll Call Vote Carried.
Mr. Merlotto stated $900,000.00 and $438,000.00 isn’t that a big discrepancy.
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Mr. O’Connor stated it sure is.
Mr. Merlotto stated so what are we getting. By the way, is this guy hiring apprentices. Is he paying union scale. Does he have legal people working for him or don’t we know that.
Mr. Griffin stated yes we do.
Mr. Merlotto stated you do, you checked him out.
Mr. Kassay stated yes. I checked with the Planner.
Mr. Merlotto stated who checked him out.
Mr. Kassay stated he did all the checking, he checks everything.
Mr. Merlotto stated that’s the problem here. You guys are depending on one guy too much to give you answers and you’re burying us in this town.
Mr. Kassay stated Ray, we delegate things to people and until they prove that they are not responsible enough to hold that position then we’ll deal with it. All this information went out before that law was adopted.
Mr. O’Connor stated the work on this started in March. We have letters going back to February with
the State of
Audience member stated did Insite do the plan on this.
Mr. Griffin stated yes, they drew the plan, they put the bid specs. together and they have completely reviewed the contractor’s qualifications. I had a meeting with the contractor this morning and he fully understands that he is required to pay prevailing wage and follow all New York State Department of Labor laws. Because the apprentice program wasn’t adopted, it wasn’t part of the bid specs. and it was never presented to any of these guys that they were going to have to do it. It is difficult to enforce that at this point.
Mr. Merlotto stated ok.
The septics.
How do we put stormwater filtration and salvation before septic
improvements in
Mr. O’Connor stated I didn’t understand the question.
Mr. Merlotto stated why does stormwater filtration have priority over septic improvement.
Mr. Griffin stated because
Mr. Merlotto stated well this money is coming from the City or from the State.
Mr. Griffin stated this was (inaudible) funds. When Bob Bondi wanted to buy Tilly Foster Farm,
he sat down and that was approved by our
Mr. O’Connor stated I have been involved with this for a long time, both here and when I
was with the City. The City wanted to have a filtration
avoidance plan and all sorts of other things.
They wanted to have new watershed regulations which include everything
from fishing boats to whatever. In order
to entice the counties involved in the watershed into signing off on it, they
promised them money for water quality projects.
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spending it. The County, in its wisdom, has spent the money almost entirely – they gave us $800,000.00 for stormwater projects out of $39 million and we all know what they spent the money on. They bought Mahopac Airport and turned it into soccer fields for Carmel, they bought Tilly Foster Farm, the bought McGregor Golf Course and turned it into Putnam National Golf Course so now all the money is gone but in order to buy the golf course, the City said you could only use $5 million of the water quality money to do that; they said well we need $11 million so they borrowed the rest from the water quality fund. They ultimately have to pay it back and my hope is that when they pay – the City is not going to give them any more money, but when they do pay that money back that they borrowed from the fund, it will be available, I hope, for the original intent and purpose of the money which is to do things like having septic districts and to improve the quality of water.
Mr. Herbst stated that’s if they pay the money back.
Mr. O’Connor stated the have to pay it back.
Audience member stated he gets to buy that property for $1.00 if it goes into any…
Mr. Griffin stated yes it does.
Mr. O’Connor stated the County’s idea was by buying these large open spaces they would indirectly improve the quality of water because people would not have houses on them. One would think that they could have – I’m not saying get rid of the golf course, but if they were to lease the golf course to a golf company, the yearly rent on a golf course might cover this.
Mr. Merlotto stated the reason I’m asking is because the primary
water source is the
Mr. O’Connor stated Catskill-Delaware system is right.
Mr. Merlotto stated then there’s the…
Mr. O’Connor stated Croton.
Mr. Merlotto stated Croton.
This is considered (inaudible) so what’s this big concern over
stormwater to spend this money and not do something to improve what’s in the
Mr. Griffin stated would you like to know the real reason.
Mr. Merlotto stated sure.
Mr. Griffin stated the real reason is
quality improvements and everybody
said ok if I have to do that so I can buy the farm so I can get reelected then
I’m going to do that. That’s how that
money got to be earmarked for these projects.
Ed brought out a good point the other day and I thought it was really
interesting; the City of
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running down the hill to the people in the middle of the hill and contaminating their wells, the people in the middle of the hill, their water is running down to the people in the bottom of the hill and contaminating their wells but yet we’re only going to fix the first 200 ft. away from the Lake so what does that tell you. It tells you they don’t care what you’re drinking, they care what New York City is drinking so that’s why Ed is pushing the septic maintenance repair program because it’s a much more important water quality improvement for us and not for New York City.
Mr. O’Connor stated Mr. Bondi is only interested in
approximately 200 houses that are potentially eligible under his current plan
and it has to be a failed septic and the definition of failed septic is actual
poop on the grass so we might now wind up doing 2 or 3 of these 200 and there
are 1,300 houses in Putnam Lake and they’re contributing to the ground water
and then they tell me that the State says the nitrates are coming from
fertilizer not from septics. I have been
here for 50 years and I have never seen a Chem Lawn truck in
Mr. Merlotto stated my personal opinion, I’ve lived in the
Audience members speaking at once, unable to transcribe.
Mr. Herbst stated just to give you an idea of what we were dealing with at this meeting; it was mentioned about e-coli and I said to Mr. Bondi, you’re talking about nitrates, what about e-coli, which is just as dangerous. He said oh that’s covered; when you sell your house, you have to clear that up. I said what about the people who are not selling their houses and living with this.
Mr. O’Connor stated I had two houses that I was dealing with the past month who did work and both of them inspected their own septic system and found out that they had iron tanks installed back in the 1950’s and there was no bottom to the tank, it rusted away years ago so their septic tank was just a funnel into the ground.
ERNEST KASSAY
HARMONY ROAD UPDATE
Mr. Kassay stated on August 1st I went to check
the complaint to do with no speed signs.
The road is 8/10 of a mile in its entirety in the Town of
RELEASE OF PERFORMANCE BOND – BRADLEY COOK, LLC
Mr. Kassay introduced the following Resolution for Release of a Performance Bond for Bradley Cook, LLC
a.k.a. The
R0807-03
WHEREAS, Bradley Cook L.L.C. own a parcel of land at 2933 Route 22 identified as Tax Map No. 14.-1-27, and
WHEREAS, the Bradley Cook L.L.C. has posted with the Town of
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Practice Site Plan, last revised
WHEREAS, a motion was made and carried by the Patterson Planning Board at its July 12, 2007 meeting recommending that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson release the bond being held for the above-mentioned site, and
WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby releases the performance bond in the amount of $405,000.00 held as surety and guarantee to construct various improvements on the lot, as shown on a site plan entitled New England Equine Practice Site Plan, last revised December 30, 2004.
Seconded by Mr. Herbst. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
RELEASE OF PERFORMANCE BOND – STEPHEN KURSH/BURDICK BARN
Mr. Kassay introduced the following Resolution for Performance Bond Reduction for Stephen Kursh
R0807-04
WHEREAS, Stephen Kursh has entered into a contract to remove a barn and silo, hereinafter the “Project”, located at the intersection of Bullet Hole Road and Ice Pond Road on property owned by the Town of Patterson, being formerly part of 410 Bullet Hole Road , and identified as tax map #34.-5-5, and
WHEREAS, Stephen Kursh has posted with the Town of Patterson a cash bond in the amount of $35,000.00 held in the Putnam County National Bank to ensure completion of the project, and
WHEREAS, Stephen Kursh has removed a portion of the structure of the barn from the site, including the upper floors and exterior framing; and
WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby directs that the performance bond or security posted by Stephen Kursh in the amount of $35,000.00 is further reduced by $10,500.00 to $24,500.00, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the bond or security posted for the project be subject to prior approval by the Town Attorneys, CURTISS, LEIBELL & SHILLING, P.C., as to sufficiency and form.
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
Mr. Raines stated we do have a substantial punch list and I want to make sure that I’m able to sign off before the remainder of the bond is released.
Mr. Griffin stated absolutely; you and Tom McGinn or someone from Stantec.
Mr. Raines stated we are at the critical point now regarding grading issues and containing the…
Mr. Griffin stated the silo is a big part of the project and that is still standing.
REAL PROPERTY SERVICE LETTER DATED
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Mr. Kassay stated we received a letter from the Office of
Real Property Services that was addressed to the Supervisor and it also
pertained to the rest of the Town Board.
This is something nice to report for a change. It has to do with the Town Assessor regarding
New York State Office of Real Property Services’ (NYSOEPS) Excellence in Equity
Award. This has been awarded to our
Assessor, Chris Boryk and the Town of
HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT LETTERS DATED
Mr. Kassay stated we received a few memos from the Highway Superintendent. The first memo is an updated FEMA April northeaster to report to our Town Comptroller as follows: We have finally finished working on FEMA from getting reimbursed for monies laid out due to the April northeaster. Our total reimbursement for labor, materials and equipment is $124,145.26 plus a 3% administration fee which totals $3,724.26 for a grand total of $127,869.62.
Mr. Griffin stated New York State Emergency Management Office, Fiscal Officer stated the following: Dear Fiscal Officer, the State Emergency Management Office will be processing a payment of $4,379.23 for the severe storms in inland and coastal flooding of April of 2007. The Federal share is $3,188.76 and the State share is $1,062.92 plus the administrator share of $127.55 for a total amount of $4,379.23.
Mr. Kassay stated he’s not going to be a happy camper.
Mr. Griffin stated unless there’s another check coming, I don’t know what to tell him because he’s not getting $127,000.00.
Mr. Kassay stated the next memo was to me from Charlie regarding H. Ted Baumann Park guide rail. I want to thank Charlie and the highway department men. They did a superb job spreading the safety surface throughout the park. The guide rail couldn’t be fixed because they don’t have the post for it. I have to call the company and set up an appointment for them to do the repair. The other memo is something I have been working on for quite a while regarding the stop signs where they are on State roads that intersect with Town roads and also the one on Leibell Place and Town Hall. It says that the DOT and the highway department have been going back and forth with phone calls. They are waiting to do paperwork on their end meaning the State’s end. The work orders are in; however no date has been set for the installation. We are going to give them until after Labor Day and then we will call them again.
BUILDING DEPARTMENT REQUEST – BODINE PROPERTY
Mr. Kassay stated we received a memo from Alan Jacknick, Code Compliance/Dog Control Officer regarding the Patt Ross Bodine property which is located at 932 Route 311. Obviously, there are serious violations there and it’s all stated in the memo i.e., the dates, what the violations were, etc. Our acting Code Enforcement Officer is also involved in this.
Mr. Raines stated the property at 932 Route 311 is owned by Patt Ross Bodine. There are some special issues there but the (inaudible) is that the property has numerous violations; there’s yards and yards of garbage that has been there for more than a year, there’s a dumpster on site that is not full, it’s partially full, there’s abandoned vehicles, there’s rodent infestation, etc. I turned this over to Alan to see if he could run with it. He’s trying to make some headway, but he has gotten nowhere. What the Code Enforcement Officers are asking is that the Town Board go to the County whether it be through social services or some other entity to see if we could get some assistance for this
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woman because there doesn’t appear to be any resources to do anything. There’s a bit of absenteeism on her part. She’s in and out of medical facilities, she has a special needs child and it’s affecting the surrounding properties in a tremendous fashion and there’s nothing else we could do. We’ve gone through the Town court system and there’s no relief. The calls are mounting, the conditions are getting more serious especially with the heat now and we need to do something to clean it up. I don’t know what resources are available but I’m urging the Town Board to maybe tap the County and bring somebody in and try to address this situation. The County Health Department has helped this much as they have with the other half dozen situations that are similar that we’ve had to spend a ton of time, money and energy on to try to clean up but this one is really beyond being able to find a relative or family to help out. This is really a bad situation. The photos don’t do it justice. If you ride your bike or jog by, there’s a choking odor. I’ve gotten nowhere with the County Health Department; there’s all kinds of documents and transmittals in the file from both Paul Piazza and myself and now Alan. I don’t know where to turn.
Mr. Kassay stated Anthony, can the Town Attorney’s office look into what legal ramifications we have.
Mr. Molé stated when was it before the justice court.
Mr. Raines stated April, January and going back.
Mr. Molé stated do you know where it ended up.
Mr. Raines stated there were promises made to clean it up, no fines were levied. She wasn’t able to come to court for legitimate reasons i.e., caring for a special needs child who’s in and out of institutions, she herself has many health problems.
Mr. Griffin stated if the Town’s going to clean it up and re-levy it in her taxes, we’re going to have to go to County court to get that done.
Mr. Molé stated it’s different than an unsafe structure…
Mr. Griffin stated yes, but the Town Justice’s don’t have adjunctive powers. They can’t order any cleanup of the property. They can fine them for not doing it, which is going to get us nowhere. If we’re going to get the property cleaned up and then re-levy it into her tax bill to get it paid for, the only way we can do that is we have to go through County court.
Mr. Kassay stated is she indigent.
Mr. Raines stated I don’t know. I know that resources are extremely limited.
Mr. Griffin stated the only option we have to clean that up and not at taxpayers expense is to go to County court, get a County judge to order it remediated and then when she doesn’t pay the bill then it’s re-levied into her tax bill.
Mr. Kassay stated how long do you thing something like this could take. Are we talking about 3, 4 or 5 months down the road.
Board members speaking at once, unable to transcribe.
Mr. Griffin stated the County doesn’t want to be involved. I’m not sure what the County Health Department does anymore other than look at your septic system.
Mr. Kassay stated is there a way to find out what relatives she has because (inaudible). Maybe we should take that approach.
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Mr. Raines stated I went that route and…
Mr. Kassay stated and you can’t reach out to anybody; there’s nobody to reach out to.
Mr. Raines stated I’ve worked on this quite a bit before turning it over. I don’t know what else to do.
Mr. Merlotto stated why don’t you go to Social Services.
Mr. Raines stated I did and they said this is a Town problem.
Mr. O’Connor stated we are not saying she’s in arrears on her taxes or anything; she just won’t clean up.
Mr. Molé stated I will look into this and get back to the Board.
GINNY NACERINO
RECREATION REQUEST – COMMUNITY DAY
Mrs. Nacerino stated just to let everybody know, our annual community day this year will be celebrated on September 9th.
Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to enter into contract for professional services with Dave’s Cast of Characters, we use them every year, for a fee of $8,090.00. This fee includes a D.J., gameworld, trackless train, Nemo bouncer, bunjiball, treasure of the carribean, generators as needed, a clown with balloon animals, a coach show and three costumes.
Seconded by Mr. Kassay. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
RECREATION REQUEST – SALARY ADJUSTMENT
Mrs. Nacerino stated two weeks ago we had a resignation from Marge Picciano who was our camp director at the camp which is a 4-6 week program at the recreation center. At that point in time we appointed Keesha Tousant to replace her but we were remiss in adjusting her salary accordingly.
Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to pay Keesha $9.50/hr. effective from July 30th.
Seconded by Mr. O’Connor. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
RECREATION REQUEST – PERSONNEL
Mrs. Nacerino stated we have a letter from Lucy Gipson who has sent in a letter of resignation.
Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to accept Lucy Gipson’s letter of resignation.
Seconded by Mr. O’Connor. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
RECREATION REQUEST – REFUND REQUEST DISCUSSION
Mrs. Nacerino stated we have a memo from Cathy Bookless for a camp refund for a parent who signed her child up for camp but the child has special needs and medical conditions which would not be conducive for this child to be enrolled in the camp and so therefore the parent is requesting a refund.
Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to award the refund for the camp based on medical reasons.
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Seconded by Mr. O’Connor. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
RECREATION REQUEST – CARNIVAL
Mrs. Nacerino stated due to the shifting of the camp director this year and the change in staff mid cycle we have not taken measures to provide the carnival which is an annual event of the recreation center for the children on the last day of camp. This memo says not to exceed $625.00, but in looking at all the quotes it has come to my attention that the cheapest one would be Party Central which would be $200.00 for an inflatable bouncy ball for the kids for the carnival and an inflatable slide which is $250.00.
Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to approve the carnival for an amount not to exceed $450.00.
Seconded by Mr. O’Connor. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
TECHNOLOGY F.O.I.L. – UPDATE
Mrs. Nacerino stated I would just like to bring to everyone’s attention that Antoinette and I have been working together to update the procedures for F.O.I.L. requests. Although there’s not too much wiggle room to modify this, we have spoken to Peter Riebold and more and more people are requesting F.O.I.L. requests through the email. Peter has set up on Antoinette’s webpage a specific link for F.O.I.L. requests at www.pattersonny.org/TownClerk.htm. This will ensure that F.O.I.L. requests are received in a timely fashion and are tracked in a timely fashion. It also has provided an auto response so anybody who is seeking a F.O.I.L. request will automatically get a confirmation that their F.O.I.L. requests were received and has been brought to the attention of the Town Clerk so we’re moving forward with that and we also will update our hard copy paperwork accordingly as well. This will also be accessible on the Town website. This should improve services greatly.
Mr. Merlotto stated the last time I requested a F.O.I.L. it cost me $.25 per page. I was here with Mr. Neubauer who brought in these wonderful machines that were printing papers out at $.003 per page. Why do I have to pay a quarter for my own Town when it’s costing you less than a penny to print.
Mr. Griffin stated because we are paying the person who’s doing the printing and the research that goes into it. Do you have any idea how much money we lose on F.O.I.L. requests, Ray.
Mr. Merlotto stated if you didn’t create the problems, you wouldn’t have all the F.O.I.L. requests.
Mrs. Nacerino stated the Town Clerk just said that the fee is set by the State and it’s also that you’re paying a processing fee which is above and beyond the isolated price of just the sheet of paper; you’re paying for the staff, your paying for the research. Some things that are F.O.I.L.’ed take several days for the Town Clerk to comply and get that information back and are backdated for a very long period of time. This is all valuable time that employees have to devote to processing the F.O.I.L. requests so that is incorporated into your $.25 per sheet.
Mr. Merlotto stated as long as it’s not just a random fee that you arbitrarily put up.
Audience members and Board members speaking at once, unable to transcribe.
Mrs. Nacerino stated it’s a State approved…
Mr. O’Connor stated I know it’s State approved because the State was afraid that people would say ok it’s $200.00 per page.
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Mrs. Nacerino stated but what I’m trying to clarify is it’s not just for the sheet of paper that you’re getting; it’s for the whole processing fee.
Mr. Griffin stated hours and hours of research sometimes to get F.O.I.L. requests processed. It’s a monstrous losing proposition.
Mr. Merlotto stated part of business.
Mr. Griffin stated you need to understand that when you start going off the wall about your taxes; what goes into your taxes. When somebody comes in and files a F.O.I.L. request and want hundreds of pages of documentation, we have to send somebody down to the County archives to pull it back and go through box after box after box to comply; that’s a losing proposition for the Town.
Mr. Merlotto stated on the Town’s business.
Mr. Griffin stated exactly. We’re just trying to let you know where your tax money is being spent.
Mrs. Nacerino stated and what goes into some of the requests that are made. That’s just for your clarification. I’m happy to report that the Town is taking a proactive stand in trying to improve services.
MICHAEL
TOWN COMPTROLLER SOFTWARE REQUEST
Mr. Griffin stated Town Comptroller software request from Patricia Brooks as follows: after careful consideration and thorough research it is my recommendation to purchase accounting software from KVS Information Services. Our current DOS based system has not been updated since prior to Y2K and is inadequate for the accounting needs of the Town. Total amount needed to purchase KVS Enterprise Version software is $32,000.00. Budget lines that this would be allocated from are the following accounts: accounting equipment 1315.200a, personal contractual line 1430.400a, $12,000.00.
Mr. Griffin made a motion that we approve the accounting department’s request to purchase new software for an amount not to exceed $32,000.00.
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. Roll Call Vote: Mr. Herbst; yes, Mr. Kassay; yes, Mrs. Nacerino; yes, Mr. O’Connor; yes, Mr. Griffin; yes. Roll Call Vote Carried.
NEW COURTHOUSE MEP ENGINEERS
Mr. Griffin introduced the following Resolution for Authorization to Sign Agreement with Fellenzer
Engineering LLP for Engineering Services
R0807-05
WHEREAS, the Town of Patterson has requested proposals for engineering services in connection with the new courthouse to be constructed by the Town, and
WHEREAS, Fellenzer Engineering, LLP,
12601, has submitted to the Town a proposal to provide the
aforementioned services to the Town of
WHEREAS, the Town has consulted with its professional consultants in regard to the proposal submitted by Fellenzer Engineering, LLP, and
WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of
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WHEREAS, at this time the Town Board of the Town of Patterson desires to engage the services of Fellenzer Engineering, LLP for the aforementioned project, and
WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby accepts the terms of the aforementioned proposal submitted by Fellenzer Engineering, LLP, a copy of which is attached hereto and made a part hereof, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the
Town Board of the Town of
Seconded by Mr. Herbst. Roll Call Vote: Mr. Herbst; yes, Mr. Kassay; yes, Mrs. Nacerino; yes, Mr. O’Connor; yes, Mr. Griffin; yes. Roll Call Vote Carried.
Mr. Merlotto stated this new courthouse, do we have an end result figure at the end of the bond what it’s going to cost us as taxpayers for the interest or do we have $2 million laying in the safe downstairs that we’re going pay for this thing with.
Mr. Griffin stated no, we don’t have any money in the safe. We’re going to borrow a portion of it yes.
Mr. Merlotto stated and $2 million is just an estimate.
Mr. Griffin stated at this time, yes. Until you have an engineer, you don’t really know exactly what it’s going to cost.
Mr. Merlotto stated if it’s anything I would say a quarter like the County courthouse…
Mr. Griffin stated oh it’s not even going to be a (inaudible) like the County courthouse.
Mr. Merlotto stated it’s going to be more then.
Mr. Griffin stated no. The County courthouse is four floors. This building is going to be about 7,000 sq. ft. on one floor.
Mr. Merlotto stated what is the end result that is going to cost my grandson to pay this tax bill in the end because it’s going to go that long.
Mr. Griffin stated if it’ll be a 20 year bond at the current rate of borrowing, it’s about 4 ½ to 5%, if we borrow $2 million we’ll probably pay them back $3.5 million.
Mr. Merlotto stated you think it’s really going to cost only $2 million.
Mr. Griffin stated I have no idea what it’s going to cost,
Ray. Until we go through the process
given to us by the State of
Audience member was speaking, however due to lack of microphone usage, unable to transcribe.
Mr. Griffin stated would you like to see the proposal.
Audience member was speaking, however due to lack of microphone usage, unable to
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transcribe.
Mr. Griffin stated basically it’s the design, it’s the bid specs.
Audience member was speaking, however due to lack of microphone usage, unable to transcribe.
Mr. Griffin stated well the architect recommended these guys. We checked them out, we looked at their resumes.
Audience member stated does it include the architect.
Mr. Griffin stated no, the architect fees are a separate cost. This is just strictly for the mechanical, engineering and plumbing and what that includes is all the design work, the bid specs., qualifying the contractors, site supervisions, punch lists, final as builts, etc. and they will oversee it for an amount of $34,000.00.
Audience member stated ok so they supering the job.
Mr. Griffin stated they’re supering their end of the job to an extent. They will be on site to review the work on a periodic and regular basis. They are not going to be there every single day, but they are going to review…
Audience member stated their just doing the mechanics.
Mr. Griffin stated the mechanical, the electrical and the plumbing.
Audience member stated why not hire a G.C.
Mr.
Audience member stated you can’t hire the…
Mr. Griffin stated no, absolutely not. Absolutely not. That has been a bone of contention for municipalities for all time. In the private sector, you could build that courthouse for $1.2 million. It’s going to cost us $2.5 million because Wick’s law – and then the best part of it is they all get to do this: oh well that’s not part of my contract, you have to talk to the plumber; well where’s the plumber stuff stop and where’s the electricians stuff start. Does he wire the controls or do you wire the controls.
Audience member was speaking, however due to lack of microphone usage, unable to transcribe.
Mr. Merlotto stated this is a public works job. Aren’t we supposed to have a clerk of the works.
Mr. Griffin stated well we can have a clerk of the works or we can have a project manager. A clerk of the works is simply a scribe. They sit down and write down who showed up and more or less what people did. A project manager will go out there and say well guys you’re supposed to fill the blocks solid every four courses. A clerk of the works is very limited in the scope of what they do. A project manager is a far different, much more involved situation.
Mr. Merlotto stated who was the project manager for this building.
Mr. Griffin stated Transitional Builders. They are a company
out of
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has a long standing reputation for doing municipal projects. They are very familiar with
Wick’s law and they have a very extensive resume and we used them on this building and the recreation center. It is debatable whether we’ll use them on this project or not. Their costs are a little higher than what we were really looking for.
LOSAP
Mr. Griffin stated Anthony, what do we have to do. The fire department wants to know if we’re willing to put this on a referendum.
Mr. Molé stated that’s up to the Board but if you wish to put it on a referendum, you’re going to have to hold a special meeting because you’re meeting dates don’t coordinate with the time frame. It has to be between 60 and 75 days from the general election.
Mr. Griffin stated right, that’s correct; we have to have a special meeting in order to put this on the ballot. The other question is do we have to have all the information from VFIS, etc. in place so that all has to be advertised and put in the public notice.
Mr. Molé stated right. You’ll adopt a resolution, give it to Antoinette and she’ll publicly notice it.
Mr.
Mr. Molé stated it should be between August 23rd and September 7th. That’s our window.
Mr. Peter Hansen stated can you explain LOSAP.
Mr. Griffin stated Length of Service Awards Program for the fire department is essentially a pension system. They acquire points vis-à-vis training drills, fires attended, etc. If they make a minimum of 50 points a year they are awarded – I believe right now we are paying them $20.00 a month for every year of service and it maxes at out $400.00 a month. They want to raise it to $30.00 per month which is what the State raised the cap to.
Mr. Hansen stated is the fire department part of the New York State Fire and Police retirement system.
Mr. Griffin stated no. They are a volunteer fire department and they are essentially a contractor to the Town.
GERALD HERBST
PARK ADVISORY BOARD
Mr. Herbst stated I have a letter from John Taylor,
Chairperson, Park Advisory Board as follows: When the County Health Inspector inspected
the facilities at
Mr. Herbst stated I think that our lifeguards and the Park Advisory Board is to be congratulated for that.
Board Members congratulated the Park Advisory Board for their hard work.
Mr. Griffin stated we are very lucky to have a guy like that. We are very lucky to have
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him.
Mr. Herbst stated the second request we have from the Park Advisory Board is they have two lifeguards that left because they went back to school and they moved up two more to be appointed to supervising lifeguards and their hourly rate should be adjusted to $17.00/hr. when they are performing this task. The lifeguards are Samantha Clune and Matt Callahan.
Mr. Herbst made a motion to approve the Park Advisory Board request for the lifeguards.
Seconded by Mr. Kassay. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY REQUEST – FUNDING
Mr. Herbst stated we got a letter from the Patterson Historical Society as follows: As many of you know, the Patterson Historical Society has been working hard for more than two years to write and publish a book of Patterson history. At long last, our book vignettes of Patterson past will be ready to go to press on September 15th.
Mr. Herbst stated they have some money that was granted by Will Stephens and they right now are short by $10,000.00 and they’re asking the Town for a donation but they don’t expect us to give them $10,000.00. They’ll keep looking for the money elsewhere as well so they can finish up their book.
Mr.
Mr. Herbst tabled this until the next meeting.
Mr. Griffin stated I assume they’ve accounted for the entire $5,000.00 grant from the State.
Mr. Herbst stated yes.
VACATION REQUEST
Mr. Herbst made a motion to grant the vacation request as written.
Seconded by Mr. O’Connor. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
OTHER BUSINESS
Mrs. Nacerino stated Jerry at the previous Town Board meeting we discussed having signs posted at the recreation center for not responsible for lost or stolen property…
Mr. Herbst stated Paul is taking care of that. He said he would.
Mrs. Nacerino stated are the signs posted as we speak.
Mr. Herbst stated he said he would.
Mrs. Nacerino stated ok could you follow up on that because I think it’s important.
Mr. Herbst stated yes, I do too and I will check with him tomorrow.
PUBLIC RECOGNITION
Mr. Merlotto stated Mr. Anthony Molé (inaudible) are you independent or are you
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working for the (inaudible) law firm.
Mr. Molé stated Curtiss, Leibell and Shilling.
Mr. Merlotto stated Rich Williams, is he a contract or a public employee.
Mr. Griffin stated he is a civil servant. Mr. Calbo made a point of calling for the test. Mr. Williams was number one on the test and he was subsequently required by the County to make him a civil service employee.
Mr. Merlotto stated very interesting. I never knew that. Live and learn; attend Town Board meetings and the things you find out. Now, being he’s a civil servant and public employee, how much does he earn. What was his salary last year on his W-2 form.
Mr. Griffin stated I would have to look that up because I wouldn’t want to guess on that.
Mrs. Nacerino stated you can F.O.I.L. for that with our new technology.
Mr. Merlotto stated I looked here on the front page and we have the Code Compliance Officer and the Code Enforcement Officer and the Dog Control Officer and the ECI Officer. Now, who’s the Code Compliance Officer, that was for the illustrious…
Mr. Griffin stated David Raines.
Mr. Raines stated no, Code Compliance Officer.
Mr. Griffin stated oh, Code Compliance; that would be Mr. Dapuzzo.
Mr. Merlotto stated he’s still on the employ.
Mr. Griffin and Mr. Raines stated yes.
Mr. Merlotto stated and you’re the enforcement officer.
Mr. Raines stated Code Enforcement Officer.
Mr. Merlotto stated he doesn’t comply and you’re going to enforce that. The Dog Control Officer is…
Mr. Griffin stated Alan Jacknick.
Mr. Merlotto stated but he also works as a code compliance officer.
Mr. Griffin stated he was filling in for Mr. Dapuzzo when he was out for his various surgeries.
Mr. Merlotto stated he’s no longer doing that.
Mr. Griffin stated he is doing minor special projects.
Mr. Raines stated yes, because we have more work than Mr. Dapuzzo can handle. He’s also working on (inaudible). He’s doing about 50% of what he would normally do in hours so Alan is picking up the other 50% of the hours.
Mr. Merlotto stated not only is he beating us, he’s also costing us more money but that’s ok. ECI Officer is who. Is that environmental control.
Mr. Griffin stated that’s Ted Kozlowski.
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Mr. Merlotto stated I’m glad you said that. Isn’t he a tree surgeon.
Mr. Griffin stated he’s civil service.
Mr. Merlotto stated I’m asking you about his status.
Mr. Griffin stated yes, he’s a head arborist for
Mr. Merlotto stated why did we let that guy cut that tree down by the park. What’s wrong with that tree that has to be cut down. Does it have a disease.
Mr. Griffin stated the pine tree. No.
Mr. Merlotto stated yes. You gave the guy the land so you wouldn’t have to cut it down but we’ll pay for the survey, the lot line adjustment and all that. Why didn’t Mr. Ted go there and look at the tree and say this is a good tree, you don’t have to worry about it but we don’t want that liability.
Mr. Griffin stated that’s exactly the problem because Mr. Ted went there and looked at the tree and said that the tree is…
Mr. Merlotto stated well if that’s the case, then we should have him, we…
Mr. Griffin stated do you want to tell the story or do you want me to tell the story. At the request of the Town Board, Ted looked at the tree and said…
Mr. Merlotto and Mr. Griffin speaking at once, unable to transcribe.
Mr. Griffin continued, stating a Town resident expressed an extreme concern that because this particular type of tree has a tendency under heavy snow loads to lose large branches or under heavy wind loads to fall over entirely. Because it was a white pine, and it’s a huge tree and it’s just right on their property line and it’s leaning that way and her house is over here, she came and she said that she was really concerned about this tree, can the Town do anything about it. I said sure, I’ll call Ted, he could go out there and look at the tree. He said the tree is very healthy but it is leaning towards her house and it does have a tendency when under heavy snow loads for the branches to break off and fall down and smash her car.
Mr. Merlotto stated whose tree was it, ours or theirs.
Mr. Griffin stated it’s ours.
Mr. Merlotto stated the Town’s.
Mr. Griffin stated right now.
Audience member stated how old is that tree.
Mr. Griffin stated we’re guessing 80 to 85, 90 or 100, I don’t know.
Audience member was speaking, however due to lack of microphone use, unable to transcribe.
Mr. Griffin stated interesting point.
Mrs. Nacerino stated it only takes the one time though.
Board members and audience members speaking at once, unable to transcribe.
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There being no further business, Mr. Herbst made a motion
to adjourn the Town Board meeting at
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
Respectfully submitted,
________________________________________________
ANTOINETTE KOPECK, TOWN CLERK