PATTERSON TOWN BOARD MEETING
PATTERSON TOWN HALL
1142 ROUTE 311
PATTERSON, NY 12563
SEPTEMBER 12, 2007
MINUTES
PRESENT: MICHAEL GRIFFIN, SUPERVISOR
GERALD HERBST, COUNCILMAN
ERNEST KASSAY, COUNCILMAN
GINNY NACERINO, COUNCILWOMAN
EDMOND O’CONNOR, COUNCILMAN
ANTHONY MOLÉ, TOWN COUNSEL
EILEEN CORBLEY, DEPUTY TOWN CLERK
Supervisor Griffin called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. with 12 in the audience.
Salute to the Flag and Roll Call.
WATERSHED AGRICULTURAL COUNCIL – PRESENTATION
Mr. Mr. Andrew Hubbard, Watershed Forester, Watershed Agricultural Council, stated the Watershed Agricultural Council is a private 501C3 not for profit located on Hilltop Hanover Farm in Yorktown Heights, New York. We have some funding support from New York City DEP, US Forest Service and the Department of Agriculture. The Watershed Agricultural Council was founded because of the 1986 passing of the Safe Water Drinking Act. Congress passed the act saying that all surface water bodies either had to be filtered or source water protection strategies had to be developed. In the New York City Watershed where we stand today, this water is currently unfiltered and source water protection strategies are being implemented. I wanted to discuss a few of those with you tonight.
The mission of the Watershed Agricultural Council is to support and promote the economic viability of agriculture and forestry while protecting water quality within the watershed. Here’s just an example of some farms that have some issues with nutrients, pathogens, sediments, possibly some fuel storage issues and possibly even some issues from pesticide, herbicide uses of things like that. Our goal is to filter those water quality problems out. One of the ways we do that is through thoroughly low cost best management practices. On the bottom you see a logging skidder going across a brook. That brook is not a DEC classified stream; it does not need a permit from the state or the town in that particular town so we lent them an arched culvert which acts as a bridge to cross that. The water flowing underneath that arch is just as clean as the water upstream. Had that machine driven through the water it would be creating a lot of sediment into the water. The picture with the grass – there’s a lot of overland flow going across that grass that used to flow down into a large barnyard that had several cows, several horses wandering around. Heavy rains would flow down in there, pick up sediment and nutrients, manure and things like that and that would flush out into the Titicus reservoir down in North Salem so just a water diversion ditch was installed thus keeping the barnyard much dryer during heavy water fall. It’s fairly simple, generally low cost. That top right hand picture with the barn – that’s actually a dumpster pad. That’s one of our larger, more expensive best management practices on a farm. That’s a $150,000.00 to $200,000.00 project. That keeps manure that had been stored there trucked off to an area where it’s composted instead of leaving it in or near a brook where nutrients and sediment can get into the brook.
We’re currently in the Croton Watershed or East of Hudson Watershed. It’s approximately ¼ million acres covering southern Dutchess, most of Putnam and northern Westchester and a little bit of Fairfield in Connecticut. The Western Watershed, the Cat-Del Watershed is a little over 2 million acres. These two watersheds provide clean drinking water for 9 million people in New York State every day to a tune of about 1.3 billion gallons so it is important. This is the largest unfiltered water supply in the US and
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probably in the world when you think about how high the quality is. Water that’s supplied in a country like India or Pakistan is not going through the rigorous standards that water in this part of the world does.
60% of the land in the Croton Watershed where we stand right now is forested. That’s according to 2001 satellite data. 18% of the Croton Watershed is developed and about 4% of this watershed is active agricultural land.
We are working with over 30 farms on over 6,000 acres and over 40 forest land owners probably approaching 6,000 acres in the forest land owner department right now. We also steward easements, agricultural easements on several properties within the watershed and we are looking to assist municipalities with forestry and agriculture issues in the future. That’s the reason I’m here tonight is just to let you know that we are here and if you ever have any issues with forestry or agriculture within the Town of Patterson by all means, give us a call. It’s free to talk to us; we are private, not for profit. We have a forest land owner in this room who we’re working with on some land that they own in the watershed.
The Town of Patterson is completely in the New York City Watershed. 62% of this Town makes the classification for forest land. It’s quite a bit of forest land; probably more than people think. Agriculture is at about 6% and the developed land is only 13% of the Town of Patterson. The great swamp helps that obviously. If you pull out the great swamp you would probably be about 20% which is about the average for this watershed, however the great swamp obviously knocks out quite a bit of potential housing land. The most interesting statistic to me on this page is the bottom one and that’s the percent ownership; 94% of the land in the Town of Patterson is privately owned and that’s pretty common in this area. A lot of people think the State owns a big chunk but it’s not the case. The vast majority of the owners in this region are non-industrial private people like all of us who own 1 acre or 150 acres. It’s not the state, it’s not the federal government and it’s not the army in this area.
This is an air photo of the Town of Patterson. The yellow lines are the property tax lines. You can see around the lake in the southeastern corner; I’m sure all of you have been over there; you know the Town a lot better than I do. It’s densely residential. The areas with the blue and green stars are areas that we have existing forest management plans. We are working with those landowners. The areas with red are properties that we have whole farm plans. We are at around 500 acres of forest management plans in Town in that neighborhood with agricultural properties that have whole farm plans on them and have at least some level of (inaudible) management practices installed on them so we are currently working in Patterson and we’d like to do more in the future.
Some of the benefits that all of this privately owned land offers to the residents to the Town of Patterson, the County, the watershed, the State is ecosystem services. There are a lot of benefits that every one of us is enjoying off of other people’s large forested properties; it provides water quality and obviously that’s important to the 9 million people drinking the water, it also provides nice clean water to canoe in in the great swamp for Patterson residents and good fishing and things like that. The vast majority of wildlife in this country spends a good portion, if not all of it’s time, in a forested environment. Keep in mind that of the 62% of this Town that’s forested, 94% of that is privately owned so there is potential for that land to be developed to be other things so it’s important that we understand the value that the private land owner provides to the rest of the community. Open space, same thing; forest land or agricultural land demands very little in terms of services. Forest land doesn’t send children to school; it doesn’t particularly need a fire department or a police department so the taxation rate on forest land owners is far higher than the services that that forest land demands. If that land is developed it’s different but as open space holders in this part of the country are greatly over taxed.
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Managed forests equal healthy forests. The slide on the lower left hand corner is an unmanaged forest that had a fire go through there quite some time ago. It’s basically a mono culture of burnt American beech; it’s pretty stagnant. There’s no growth on the under story, it’s not good wildlife habitat, it’s not particularly good for water quality and it’s not particularly good for aesthetics or anything like that. The other two pieces are areas that are considered a working landscape; they have timber harvests every 10 to 15 years. New York City DEP is charged by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to supervise and to oversee land views in this area considered as forest management. These other two pictures are a preferred land use within this watershed because forest management maintains open landscape and it also stimulates growth of trees and things that are good for water quality and wildlife and air.
Managed forests are healthy forests and they have better water quality. Vigorously growing trees will uptake more nutrients. That is very important in a watershed. If you have a lot of nutrients flushing from the soils every time it rains, you (inaudible) nutrients spikes within the water – it’s important. Diversity is always a good thing in a forest. If you have 100 acres of a mono culture, a similar type of forest, it’s more susceptible to insect disease, wildfire, wind throw, you name it, it’s more susceptible. If you have 100 acres with 10 or 15 different types of trees with four, five or six different age classes it’s able to withstand multiple different attacks of multiple different things without really having any major problems environmentally. Water quality benefits are better assured and that’s the key.
It’s also good wildlife habitat. New York Audubon has done a bunch of research on managed and unmanaged forests. They found higher bird populations, healthier and higher invertebrate populations like salamanders being managed forest because it’s a diversity of habitat. I wrote a plan for an Audubon club in Northern Westchester County; they were interested in improving habitat for forest interior birds. They thought they had me because I like to do forestry and I like to cut trees and things like that. I did some research on that and there’s a book written by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca that says that managed forests with fairly frequent civic cultural operations are better for forest interior birds because they like the diversity of tree heights and diversity of tree ages. You have an even aged forest in New York State that lets say it was logged in 1900, now every tree is 100 to 110 years old and there’s a very stagnant canopy, not much on the under story; another thing that report talked about too was to try to keep the deer population in check because if there’s too high a deer population, you don’t have a shrub or a sapling layer which forest interior birds like to use the whole forest from 1 foot to 100 feet. Now if it’s a forest that only has 100 ft. trees, a good component of its habitat is not there so it’s pretty interesting and there’s a lot of benefits to having diversity within the forest eco system, it’s really the key, no matter how it gets there whether it was from a windstorm or a chainsaw, that diversity is critical.
Open space is a big one in this area. There are areas of this Town that are built out. Landowners who have become involved with their forest have done stuff like sugar maple, cut firewood, taken the grandkids camping and things like that. It’s been proven that landowners who have become good stewards of their property make long term plans for their property when they retire and leave the area or when they die they just don’t leave it to be taken over by a developer. Right now there’s a couple of articles in the pamphlet that I gave you, but right now in the US a little over 60% of all US forests are privately owned of the entire country. That’s a high number considering how many million acres the Bureau of Land Management Forest Service, state governments and everything owned throughout the country. Of those landowners, the average age is 55 so there’s going to be a large turnover in private forest land happening over the next 5, 10, 15 and 20 years and it’s a little bit scary because there’s not a lot of stability there. When it’s owned by one person they could do almost anything they want with it; of course there’s got to be a decent real estate market, access and all that kind of stuff too but it’s a little bit alarming that that high a percentage of the forests in this country are essentially going to be up for grabs in the next decade or so.
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Not everything is rosy in forestry. I’ll show you a couple of pictures of things that didn’t work out too well. All the problems you’re looking at in here are based on poor timing, poor planning and just not caring. You see erosion, you see a bridge that was too small, a road that was washed out because there was a culvert that was just too small; really simple common sense things that people can do wrong which is the most time I spend at my job is trying to fix and eliminate problems like this from occurring in the first place. I work with private land owners, private loggers, private foresters on projects in the woods to do them right, for example nice clean log landing, a water bar and a bridge over a stream, soil stabilization where a truck is entering a road so it’s not all rutted up and muddy.
The most important program I run is forest management planning program. We have a landowner in the audience today who’s been approved for forest management plan for their property. Anybody in the Town of Patterson with 10 forested acres can enroll for free in my program. I’ll pay for the plan. I have money that backs up the plan so if you have recommendations written in your plan, I have money to back up those recommendations for (inaudible) planting trees, installing deer fence to protect regeneration in the forest, pruning old apple trees for wildlife; all different kinds of things like that so it’s neat, no one is going to get rich doing it but we’ll at least offset the cost and if you’re willing to put in a couple of Saturday’s on a weekend, I’ll pay you for it is what that comes down to. We also loan equipment to landowners and loggers i.e., planting bars, bridges to cross streams, I actually have eight 20 ft. bridges; that one bridge in the picture is a 30 ft. bridge and I have a 50 ft. bridge for loan if somebody needs to do a forestry operation on the other side of a river we could help to accommodate that. In September I have a forester training, in October I have a logger training and November I have a landowner workshop at Camp Clearpool in Kent, NY off Route 311 on November 10 or 11. We also have cost share funding for BMP’s. Every timber harvest that occurs within the New York City Watershed I have up to $5,000.00 to spend on silk beds, hay bales, grass seed, grabble, geo textile fabric, etc. There is no excuse for forest management not to be done well when it is done within this watershed. Those pictures I showed you of all the messy spots that I worked on within this watershed – all of those things could have been avoided but I pay to make sure that stuff is avoided; that’s what my job is.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.
Mr. Griffin stated so basically if I understand you, you support the model forest program.
Mr. Hubbard stated yes.
Mr. Griffin stated so what happened over in Kent when they wanted to do that in Mt. Ninham.
Mr. Hubbard stated there was misinformation out there. DEC is the lead organization on that. All the information was disseminated from DEC. I don’t know if anyone has ever worked with the DEC before, but they are unable to disseminate information for some reason. It has to go through the Governor and back and forth so what basically ended up happening was there was one small group of people who were opposed to the project, didn’t understand the project; they had an internet website, they had the ear of local reporters. DEC was never able to comment. I was unable to comment because I was not the lead agency. We just were in support of the project. That project is not dead; it may go through at some point. It just snowballed out of control.
Mr. Griffin stated without objection I would ask the Clerk to file the reports as read.
Putnam Lake Fire Department – None
Patterson Fire Department – None
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Code Compliance Officer – August
Code Enforcement Officer – August
Dog Control Officer – August
E.C.I. Officer – August
MINUTES
Mr. Kassay made a motion to approve the following minutes:
Town Board Meeting – July 11, 2007
Public Hearing – Addition of Street Lamp to Town Lighting District – July 11, 2007
Bid Opening – Liquefied Petroleum Gas – July 18, 2007
Town Board Meeting – July 25, 2007
Town Board Meeting – Special Meeting – July 31, 2007
Bid Opening – Putnam Lake Stormwater Improvements – August 6, 2007
Town Board Meeting – August 8, 2007
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 $56,454.51, Highway Fund-Item 1 General Repairs $6,547.90, Highway Fund-Item 3 Machinery $4,963.80, Highway Fund-Item 4 Miscellaneous $1,738.86, Putnam Lake Light District $1,004.86, Patterson Light District $1,154.38, Patterson Park District $3,006.90, Alpine Water District $530.00, Dorset Hollow Water District $786.40, Fox Run Water District $826.43, Front Street Sewer District $115.00, Capital Fund $805,969.47.
Total Abstract $883,098.51
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.
ERNEST KASSAY
PUTNAM LAKE FIRE DEPARTMENT LETTERS DATED
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2007
Mr. Kassay stated I received a letter dated August 7, 2007 from Peter Maycott, Membership Chairman, that Cathy Winward, Interlaken Road, Putnam Lake, has joined the volunteer fire department. Also we have another letter dated September 7, 2007 from Peter Maycott stating that Carol Luby, Java Road, Putnam Lake has also joined the volunteer fire department.
BODINE PROPERTY – UPDATE
Mr. Kassay stated the Bodine property issue was brought to the Town Board’s attention on August 8, 2007. There was a lengthy conversation about what was happening. The code enforcement officer was here asking for direction from the Town Board and now the Town Attorney is involved in this as well. There was a slight scheduling problem with the Town Attorney’s office and the Building Department. I am going to table this until the Town Attorney and the code enforcement officer can meet.
BUDGET REQUEST – HIGHWAY
Mr. Kassay stated the Highway Superintendent, Charlie Williams, sent a memo to the Town Board on September 4th. He also sent a memo to the Town Comptroller on August 3rd. The Highway Superintendent is requesting that the State and Federal FEMA money
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in the amount of $127,869.62 be moved to the general repair line 5110.400DA.
Mr. Kassay made a motion to authorize the Highway Superintendent’s request to move the State and Federal FEMA money in the amount of $127,869.62 to the general repair contractual line 5110.400DA.
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
BUDGET CORRECTION REQUEST 1
Mr. Kassay stated budget account correction request 1 entails certain account lines in the accounting department are going to be changed due to certain new programs that are utilized in the Comptroller’s computer.
Mr. Kassay made a motion to approve the following transfers:
From: 8310.200FP, Patterson Fire – Cont. $663,315.00
To: 3410.400FP, Patterson Fire – Cont. $663,315.00
From: 8310.499FP, Accounting Charge $1,000.00
To: 3410.499FP, Accounting Charge $1,000.00
From: 9010.800FP, LOSAP $49,800.00
To: 9025.800FP, LOSAP $49,800.00
Seconded by Mr. Herbst. All In Favor: aye. Carried
BUDGET CORRECTION REQUEST 2
Mr. Kassay stated this is the same criteria as budget correction 1.
Mr. Kassay made a motion to approve the following transfers:
From: 8110.400GFS, Sewer – Contractual $14,000.00
To: 8130.400GFS, Sewer – Contractual $14,000.00
From: 8110.499GFS, Accounting Charge $400.00
To: 8130.499GFS, Accounting Charge $400.00
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
GINNY NACERINO
RECREATION REQUEST – POSTAGE METER
Mrs. Nacerino stated the recreation department requests to purchase a postage meter. At the present time what occurs at the recreation center is that all mail to be mailed and metered comes to the Town Hall thus resulting in Town employees wasting a lot of time, making trips to Town Hall unnecessarily. There is money allocated in the budget for a postage meter and in an effort to utilize time more efficiently and also have a metered postage meter at the facility.
Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to allow the purchase of a Pitney Bowes meter, which is on New York State contract, for 57 months for $131.00 per month plus the postage.
Seconded by Mr. Kassay.
Mr. Griffin stated any discussion.
Mr. O’Connor stated I haven’t looked into it at all. I know what it is, but don’t people come over here from the recreation center anyway.
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Mrs. Nacerino stated well I guess they do, but this is an effort to get the – first of all they do mailings so it’s an effort to get mailings that might be delayed because something might be prepared late in the day and have to wait until the next day’s mail. It’s an effort to eliminate unnecessary trips to the Town Hall because they have to meter mail and the rec. center is growing; there’s more mail to be done so to have them come here every day to meter the mail is counter productive in terms of being cost efficient and time efficient.
Mr. O’Connor stated is that the total cost. That’s about $1,600.00 a year.
Mrs. Nacerino stated it’s the total cost for the purchase of the equipment.
Mr. O’Connor stated is that purchase or rental.
Mrs. Nacerino stated this is a rental. Of course that does not include postage which varies with the amount of mail that is generated at any given time from the rec. center.
All In Favor: aye. Carried.
RECREATION RESIGNATION
Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to accept the resignation of Renee Barnes. Renee Barnes is a part time employee which is relocating.
Seconded by Mr. Herbst. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
RECREATION REQUEST – NEW HIRE
Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to go with the recommendation of Melissa Brichta to hire a recreation assistant by the name of Kim Dulitz at the rate of $10.00 per hour. Kim will be replacing Renee Barnes in the position of part time recreation assistant.
Seconded by Mr. Herbst.
Mr. O’Connor stated I was reading the résumé. She lives in Pawling. I hope they are looking for people that live in Patterson.
Mrs. Nacerino stated I did notice that as well.
Mr. O’Connor stated I would personally like to ask whether or not a search has been made for people who live in the Town of Patterson who are ready, willing and able to do the job. I know not everybody lives in Patterson but if we don’t hire them, who will. I’m sure they are not hiring Pattersonians up in Pawling.
Mrs. Nacerino stated I can’t answer to tell you the truth, I really cannot answer that. All I can say is in the future we can try to post positions to Patterson residents and try to encourage people from Patterson to fill these positions. Again, the rec. center is a center that needs to run at all hours and all times and we need bodies to man these particular shifts and sometimes that’s easier said than done too. People might not necessarily because they live in Patterson, be conducive to their schedule so I could ask Melissa if you wish how this particular candidate did become the recommended person and in the future strive to pick people from Patterson.
Mr. O’Connor stated I know it’s a quick thing sort of because the woman has left and they need somebody and also it’s only a part time job and it’s not that much money, but I just hope that we have a policy of trying to hire from within as they say.
Mr. Griffin stated I do know they post a lot of these jobs on the bulletin board down there so that anybody who uses the facility could see that a job was posted.
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Mrs. Nacerino stated we could also strive to put something like that on our website so if we have any vacancies within the Town, have them post it on the website as well.
Mr. O’Connor stated I’m sure both of us can talk to Missy or whoever is in charge of things like this.
All In Favor: aye. Carried.
RECREATION – VOLUNTEER DISCOUNT
Mrs. Nacerino stated one of the biggest programs for the fall and winter that the recreation department has is a bowling program. The bowling program encompasses the children that attend Matthew Paterson, Kent Elementary, Kent Primary, CV Starr in Brewster, George Fischer Middle School and HH Wells in Brewster. In the past we have always had volunteers; mom’s whose children participate in the program and offered a discount. The chaperones spend approximately four hours of their time for six weeks and have always been offered a discount up front. We were trying to figure out a way where we could still offer the discount to the parents whose children participate and become chaperones but ensure that they will stick with the program; continue to chaperone for the entire length of the program. If we had to hire a person for the program, the least amount would be $10.00 an hour so that would wind up being quite expensive. What we have decided to do is to offer a discount of 50% to the chaperones but that would not be until the end of the program so the parents would pay the full fee contingent upon that they do fulfill the requirement as they stipulated they would and if they did not then the discount would be pro-rated.
Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to offer a discount of 50% for the middle schools that would result in a refund of $67.50 at the end of the program and for the elementary schools $57.50. That would be prorated if their attendance was not for the entire program.
Seconded by Mr. Herbst.
Mr. Griffin stated how many chaperones do we plan on using per program.
Mrs. Nacerino stated I think there’s about four.
Mr. Griffin stated ok so it’s not like every single kid in the program could…
Mrs. Nacerino stated no, but there is a ratio of adults to children.
Mr. Griffin stated that’s fine, I just – do it on a first come or Patterson resident basis or something else. I just don’t want 20 kids in the program and 18 mothers’ sign up to get the discount.
Mrs. Nacerino stated no and we want to avoid people saying yes I’ll be there and I’m only going to pay half price from the get go and then fall short of their promise so this is a kind of a win-win situation for us. It’s cost effective to have chaperones and they will get their refund due to them at the end of the program.
Mr. Griffin stated as long as we limit it to a reasonable number, the necessary number and not everybody and their sister signs up and says oh, I’ll be there and get a discount.
Mrs. Nacerino stated well I believe the ratio – depending on the amount of kids enrolled and tallied…
Mr. Griffin stated as long as it’s a consideration then that’s fine and then it will be first come, first serve.
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Mrs. Nacerino stated that’s not one to one that’s for sure.
Mr. Kassay stated will Missy be monitoring that.
Mr. Griffin stated someone will be monitoring that.
Mrs. Nacerino stated they have assigned people to take care of the program.
Mr. Griffin stated each program has a director so that it would probably be the responsibility of the program director.
MIKE GRIFFIN
BURDICK BARN/STEPHEN KURSH
Mr. Griffin stated we got a letter on August 28th from Mr. Kursh stating that he thinks he’s finished with the work at the barn site. I went out to the site with the Town Engineer on August 24th. We reviewed the work; Tom McGinn wrote a memo. We have since passed it on to Mr. Kursh. If you look at the photo’s you can see there is a lot of masonry debris still on the site that really wasn’t properly cleaned up in a workman like manner. At this time, I’m recommending to the Board that we do not take any action on the release of Mr. Kursh’s bonds so that we get the opportunity to get this site cleaned up properly and get all the debris moved off of the slabs and into piles or someplace that we can bury or cover and re-vegetate. At this time I’m recommending that we take no action.
CORNWALL HILL ESTATES/STONEWALLS
Mr. Griffin stated counselor, I see you sent the agreement to the people over in Wyndham homes. Have you sent the same things to – I have a memo here from Mr. McGinn, lot 5, lot 8, lot 4, lot 15, lot 13 and 6 so I assume you sent similar notices to all the people in…
Mr. Molé, Town Attorney, stated I’ve been in contact with some of the other people. There were people on the other subdivision that are on the first one. Cornwall has a few more lots than we have in Deerwood with a similar problem, however in Cornwall, they actually stand less – they are less of an encroachment than on Deerwood. The reason I had the Board put it on the agenda this evening is to let me know whether the Board is acceptable to allow stone walls to remain with the similar license agreement that we did in Deerwood and if you give me the go ahead then I’ll prepare those and have them ready for the next meeting.
Mr. Griffin stated if the Highway Superintendent is satisfied that those encroachments aren’t going to present a problem for road maintenance or snow plowing or any of those types of things then I certainly am not going to raise an issue with it. My personal opinion I would say go ahead with similar agreements.
Mr. Kassay stated I agree with you Mike and it’s minimal.
Mr. Molé stated and they are pretty far from the road bed; it’s not like they’re on the right of way.
Mr. Kassay stated and of course the Town is released of all liability.
Mrs. Nacerino stated I live in that development so I took a close look at each individual lot cited in Mr. McGinn’s memo and I don’t see any problem with it, especially that Deerwood Subdivision if it’s contingent upon the same licensing agreement and all the public improvements, roadway and drainage, are complete I don’t see why we shouldn’t move forward with that.
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Mr. O’Connor stated as long as there’s a shoulder and it makes the highway department happy, I’m happy.
Mr. Herbst stated I agree.
Mr. Griffin stated ok then I would say proceed with Cornwall Hill sending out the…
Mr. Molé stated we’ll put that on next meeting’s agenda for dedication.
Mr. Griffin stated yes, if we don’t he’s not going to make it this year.
DEERWOOD – WYNDHAM HOMES – ROAD DEDICATION
Mr. Griffin stated we still do not have those agreements in place at this point, but do you still want to go ahead.
Mr. Molé stated well the license agreements can’t be signed until we accept the road for dedication and the deed is recorded. We have to own it to actually grant the license.
Mr. Griffin introduced the following Resolution for Establishment of a Maintenance Bond for the Deerwood Subdivision
R0907-03
WHEREAS, the Planning Board of the Town of Patterson approved an Application to subdivide a parcel of land entitled the Deerwood Subdivision, which parcel of land is located along Old Road, and
WHEREAS, Wyndham Homes, as a developer of the Deerwood Subdivision, established a performance bond in the amount of $1,403,000.00 to guarantee construction of the public improvements shown on the subdivision plat, and
WHEREAS, the Town Engineer and Patterson Highway Superintendent have now certified that the public improvements have now been completed, except for landscaping of the stormwater basins, and
WHEREAS, pursuant to §138-14.F(1) the Developer is required to establish a maintenance bond with the Town of Patterson in the amount of 10% of the initial performance bond amount to ensure the soundness and integrity of said public improvements for a period of one year from the date of their completion, and
WHEREAS, the maintenance bond shall also include, and be used for installation of the stormwater basin landscaping, should said improvements not be completed by Wyndham Homes, as Developer of the Deerwood Subdivision, within one year of the date of this resolution;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby establishes the amount of the maintenance bond sufficient for the Deerwood Subdivision, pursuant to the Town Code of the Town of Patterson as $140,300.00, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the bond 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. Roll Call Vote: Mr. Herbst; yes, Mr. Kassay; yes, Mrs. Nacerino; yes, Mr. O’Connor; yes, Mr. Griffin; yes. Roll Call Vote Carried.
Mr. Griffin introduced the following Resolution for Performance Bond Release for the Deerwood Subdivision
R0907-02
PATTERSON TOWN BOARD SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 PAGE 11
TOWN BOARD MEETING
WHEREAS, the Planning Board of the Town of Patterson approved an Application to subdivide a parcel of land entitled the Deerwood Subdivision, which parcel of land is located along Old Road, and
WHEREAS, Wyndham Homes, as developer of the Deerwood Subdivision, established a performance bond in the amount of $1,403,000.00 to guarantee construction of the improvements shown on the subdivision plat, and
WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Patterson reduced said performance bond on April 13, 2005, upon recommendation of the Patterson Planning Board and Town Engineer from $1,403,000.00 to $396,000.00, and
WHEREAS, the Town Engineer and Patterson Highway Superintendent have now certified that the public improvements have now been completed, except for landscaping for the stormwater basins, and
WHEREAS, pursuant to §138-14.F(1) Wyndham Homes has established a maintenance bond with the Town of Patterson in the amount of $140,300.00 to ensure the soundness and integrity of said public improvements for a period of one year, and
WHEREAS, said bond amount shall also cover the cost of installation of landscaping for the stormwater basins;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby directs that the performance bond or security posted for the Deerwood Subdivision in the amount of $396,000.00 be released.
Seconded by Mr. Herbst. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
Mr. Griffin introduced the following Resolution for Consent to Laying Out Highway
R0907-01
WHEREAS, Wyndham Development at Windsor Woods, LLC, a New York limited liability company with offices at 185 Route 312, Suite 301A, Brewster, New York 10509, has offered for dedication to the Town an improved right of way known as “Collinwood Drive, Apple Hill Road, Teal Land and Quail Lane” together with all associated drainage and sight distance clearing easements for dedication to the Town, and
WHEREAS, Curtiss, Leibell & Shilling, P. C., Town Attorneys, have received all documents required to transfer title to the Town and has deemed said documents satisfactory, and
WHEREAS, the Town Highway Superintendent and Town Engineers have certified the road as ready for dedication, and
WHEREAS, the Town Highway Superintendent has requested the consent of the Town Board in laying out the highway known as “Collinwood Drive, Apple Hill Road, Teal Lane and Quail Lane”;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby consents to the request of the Town Superintendent of Highways of the Town of Patterson to make an order laying out the lands to be released for highway purposes in accordance with the provisions of the Highway Law and other statutes applicable thereto, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby accepts ownership rights to the right of way known as “Collinwood Drive, Apple Hill Road, Teal Lane and Quail Lane” as well as all drainage improvements and easements and sight distance clearing easements associated thereto.
PATTERSON TOWN BOARD SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 PAGE 12
TOWN BOARD MEETING
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.
Mr. Griffin made a motion that we authorize the Town Attorney to proceed with the licensing agreement for the properties in question in the Deerwood Subdivision.
Seconded by Mr. O’Connor. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
NEW COURTHOUSE PROPERTY – DISCUSSION
Mr. Molé stated I spoke with the attorney for the owners last week. He was waiting for, and hasn’t contacted me since, a final approval from the bank for the foreclosure sale, for the short sale. On the other side, what he told me about the vacant third parcel was that the Jeanniton’s were working directly with the Town on that and that he wasn’t working with me on that so I don’t know if they’ve contacted the Board or if you are still interested at this point.
Mr. Griffin stated they requested a rather large sum of money that the Town was not willing to…
Mr. Molé stated that’s up to you.
Mr. Griffin stated I would prefer that all of these negotiations be handled through their attorney. I will send a letter to the Jeanniton’s to that effect.
Mr. Molé stated and I’ll contact Mr. Kronick again to make sure we’re proceeding with the short sale.
Mr. Griffin stated there was some question because at one point the bank seemed to indicate on the deeds that the third parcel was part of…
Mr. Molé stated the third parcel was part of the description for the mortgage which is part of the problem the Jeanniton’s had with their mortgages because apparently, according to the Jeanniton’s, that parcel is not supposed to be part of the mortgage property. From what Mr. Kronick tells me now is that the bank is stating that the two large parcels are the parcels to be transferred in the short sales. They are not referring to that third, smaller lot. If we do have the two larger ones, we can go forward with that; then it makes their lot a little easier to fall into place for a number of reasons.
Mr. Griffin stated do you want to add anything to the discussion, Rich.
Mr. Rich Williams, Town Planner, stated sure. That constitutes an illegal subdivision and we’ve been down this road before.
Mr. Griffin stated ok then why don’t you and Anthony and I get together and we’ll figure out exactly what we put in the letter to the Jeanniton’s to tell them that they don’t have the third parcel to sell.
RFP WINTER MAINTENANCE – SIDEWALKS
Mr. Griffin stated I’m not sure how this wound up on my agenda; usually it’s on yours.
Mr. O’Connor made a motion to authorize the Town Clerk to advertise for bids on the sidewalk maintenance for snow removal in the Hamlet of Patterson.
Mr. Griffin stated if anyone is interested you can submit a sealed bid by October 3rd at 10:00 a.m. at the Town Hall.
Seconded by Mr. Herbst. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
PATTERSON TOWN BOARD SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 PAGE 13
TOWN BOARD MEETING
GERALD HERBST
HISTORICAL SOCIETY REQUEST
Mr. Herbst stated we have a letter here from the Historical Society requesting some money 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, “The Vignettes of Patterson Past”, will be ready to go to press on September 15th. The book will include chapters of Patterson’s history through mid-twentieth century and an atlas of Patterson maps. The layout, design and compositions have been done by Olsen Graphic Solutions of Patterson. The printer has been chosen to be Josten’s Press of Passaic College, PA. We are pleased with what we have seen of their work and are confident that the product will be worth the wait. We have received a grant from Assemblyman Willis Stephens for funding early expenses. Prepublication sales have given us additional funds, however we still need roughly $10,000.00 to pay for the total cost of the correction.
Mr. Herbst made a motion that we grant them $5,000.00 toward their expenses as per the 2007 budget.
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
Mr. Griffin stated we are all looking forward to the actual copies of the book.
Mrs. Nacerino stated how are individual sales going to be generated. If people want to purchase this book, how are they going to be able to do so.
Mrs. Jane Cronin, Historical Society, stated they can come here to the Town Hall and purchase it through me. The library is offering to do the same and we will be sending out mailings to people that have shown interest. We will probably advertise in the newspaper.
Mrs. Nacerino stated Jane, how much is the book per copy.
Mrs. Cronin stated $25.00. $20.00 for members of the Historical Society.
Mrs. Nacerino stated you have $5,000.00 and now $25.00 because I would like to purchase a book.
VACATION REQUEST
Mr. Herbst made a motion to grant the request as written to use compensatory time.
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
ASSESSORS REQUEST – COMPUTER
Mr. Herbst stated we received a request from the assessor’s office regarding purchasing some equipment. He would like software components and a hand held computer.
Mr. Griffin stated it’s a hand held computer for field work where they can do data entry. They want to tie it in with Systems Development Group. They are doing the software that is going to allow us to put all the assessing information on the website very shortly and what this will do is it will allow the data collectors in the field to update all the records and then it can be electronically downloaded into the database at Town Hall. It will have the proprietary software from SDG that we are currently using. I believe that portion of the purchase request is about $6,500.00.
PATTERSON TOWN BOARD SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 PAGE 14
TOWN BOARD MEETING
Mr. Herbst stated yes and there is another request for a computer for the workstations that will shift the older computers from one person down there will get a new computer inside and then her computer which is a little bit older will go outside for the public to use because the one that’s outside is not in the best shape at all. That would be a total of $2,379.00.
Mr. Herbst made a motion that we grant the request contingent on the fact that the money is in the budget.
Seconded by Mr. Kassay.
Mr. Griffin stated we do know that the money for the work station, the $2,379.60 is available and that is being purchased off a State bid. The $6,500.00 is the amount in question that as to exactly where in the assessor’s appropriations that money is to be found.
All In Favor: aye. Carried.
EDMOND O’CONNOR
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE POLICY
Mr. O’Connor stated as we know we have to have a workplace violence policy in effect. We have to have both the policy written and handed out and I’d like to start classes on it as soon as possible. The only issue that came up in the past was firearms and I think that pretty much what it said originally in the second draft “except for police officers and court personnel and other personnel as designated by the Town Board, possession of firearms is prohibited even if you have a license.” It is generally accepted these days that people feel uncomfortable when a person that they work with unnecessarily is armed during work. I’d like to adopt it as it is written, give it out to our employees and give them time to go over it so they understand it and then have classes on it using videos that we get from PERMA.
Mrs. Nacerino stated this seems a little vague if we’re going to tighten it up a little bit. Should it read except for police officers and court personnel and other “authorized” personnel.
Mr. O’Connor stated they are authorized when – what do you mean by authorized.
Mrs. Nacerino stated what does any other personnel mean.
Mr. O’Connor stated other personnel goes with before as designated by the Town Board. It’s not court personnel as designated by the Town Board and any other personnel; it’s court personnel and other personnel as designated by the Town Board.
Mrs. Nacerino stated ok.
Mr. Kassay stated are you going to have a log of whose authorized and who isn’t.
Mr. O’Connor stated yes it will be.
Mr. O’Connor made a motion to have a workplace violence policy in effect and to start classes as soon as possible.
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
WAIVER OF FEES POLICY
Mr. O’Connor introduced the following Resolution for Waiver of Fees Policy
PATTERSON TOWN BOARD SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 PAGE 15
TOWN BOARD MEETING
R0907-04
WHEREAS, the Town of Patterson receives application fees for activities related to land use including but not limited to area and use variances, site plans, subdivisions, fill permits, land development permits and building permits (hereinafter land development fees), and
WHEREAS, the Town of Patterson receives fees for public assembly and the use of facilities including the Maple Avenue Veterans Memorial Park and the Patterson Recreation Center (hereinafter use fees), and
WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Patterson from time to time receives a request to waive said payment of land development or use fees, and
WHEREAS, The Town Board of the Town of Patterson finds it is in the interests of the Town to establish a policy regarding the waiving of the payment of land development or use fees,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby establishes this policy regarding requests for the waiving of fees as follows:
1. The right to waive land development or use fees is hereby expressly reserved to the Town Board. No Elected Official, Board or member thereof, committee, employee, or agent shall have the right to waive a fee which has been duly established by the Town Board of the Town of Patterson.
2. All requests for a waiver of one or more fees must be in writing and addressed to the Town Board of the Town of Patterson, and should include the following information:
a. The name, address and phone number of the organization or individual making the request.
b. The name, address, and phone number of a contact person.
c. The type of fee and the amount of the fee for which the waiver is requested.
d. A description of the project or activity for which the waiver is requested.
e. The mission or basic purpose of the organization requesting the waiver.
f. The specific public benefit that will be served by the activity or project for which the waiver is requested.
3. In considering a request for a waiver of land development fees, or use fees, the Town Board reserves the right to grant or deny all requests, and may waive all of the fees so requested, or only a portion of the required fees, or only the land development fees related to any specific project or activity, or only the use fees related to a specific project or activity.
4. In determining whether the Town Board shall grant a waiver of all, or a portion of the fees the following factors shall be taken into consideration:
a. Is the project or activity sponsored by a not-for-profit, charitable, religious, patriotic, philanthropic or similar organization that operates within the Town of Patterson in a benevolent manner, and one which promotes the general welfare of the community.
b. Will the project or activities provide a charitable, civic, educational, or similar positive benefit to the community.
c. Will the proposed project, or activity be open to, or available to, the general public;
d. Will the project or activity support fund-raising activities of a charitable, religious, patriotic and philanthropic organization located in the Town of Patterson.
PATTERSON TOWN BOARD SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 PAGE 16
TOWN BOARD MEETING
e. Is the waiver of fees requested for an activity sponsored by an educational or governmental entity.
f. Is the waiver of fees requested for a project that received public funding.
5. No waiver shall be considered for reimbursement of the actual and direct expenses incurred by the Town for the use of facilities, which would otherwise be reimbursed by the permit holder or user.
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
Mrs. Nacerino stated I’m glad to see that we now have something that we could use as a guide; that we have some parameters and again, as you stipulated, this is not a law, it is case by case but it gives the Board the ability to make an informed decision when these requests come forth.
Mr. O’Connor stated I think it’s clear enough so that people can read it and see whether or not they meet the criteria.
RENTAL REGISTRATION – LOCAL LAW
Mr. O’Connor introduced the
following Resolution Introducing Local
Law I-7 and Providing for Public Notice and Hearing
R0907-05
BE IT RESOLVED that an amendment to Patterson Town Code Chapter 129, entitled "Rental Registration Law”, is hereby introduced by Edmond O’Connor, as Introductory Local Law #I-7 of the year 2007 before the Town Board of the Town of Patterson in the County of Putnam and State of New York, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of the aforesaid proposed Amendment, which is attached hereto, be laid upon the desk of each member of the Board, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Board will hold a public hearing on said proposed Amendment at the Town Hall, in the Town of Patterson, New York at 7:30 o'clock P.M. on September 26, 2007, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Clerk publish or cause to be published a public notice in the official newspaper of the Town of Patterson of said public hearing at least five (5) days prior thereto.
Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
OTHER BUSINESS
Mr. Griffin stated councilmen, we have a resolution here for Mr. Trippodo based on the public hearing. What’s the next step here. Before we do anything to demolish his house, I really think we need to make arrangements to see what options are available for housing for him. We had him in the old soldier’s home and he chose not to stay there. They had him in a shelter and he chose not to stay there; he is now back living apparently in a house with no water, no electric, no nothing.
Mr. Molé stated does he have any family locally.
Mr. Griffin stated he has a niece but they’re all kind of throwing up their hands because he’s very combative. He came over here, this 80 year old guy and he started yelling at Cheryl and then he tried to beat me up. It’s a very sad situation. He’s 84 or 85; he’s a WWII veteran and he’s very combative, very defensive. We’ve had numerous discussions with the Putnam County Senior agencies and everything else and they are
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very unhelpful. I think we have a little more research do to as to exactly where we can try and find Mr. Trippodo housing before we take any action. Should we hold off on the resolution to the next meeting.
Mr. Molé stated you don’t have to adopt the resolution tonight. You can hold off until the next meeting.
Mr. O’Connor stated I’ve been there a couple of times looking for him and he’s not there or at least he doesn’t come out. His neighbors tell me that they’ll hear, at odd times of the day, circular saws running so I don’t know if he’s trying to fix everything himself or he has this obsession that he can get this house back into condition not to be turned down. As you said, his nephew the state policeman was active at first but I haven’t heard from him in awhile.
Mr. Griffin stated he’s been very difficult to deal with and I think, from what I gather from discussions with the relatives is, they’re kind of throwing up their hands. At this point I think we’re running out of options but I think we need to talk to Social Services, Office of the Aging and a few other groups perhaps.
Mr. O’Connor stated they can’t have a wrecking ball go over there when he’s in the back. Nobody knows when he’s there.
Mr. Griffin stated not only that but the conditions he’s living under right now are…
Mr. O’Connor stated it must be terrible.
Mr. Griffin stated most people would never be allowed to stay in the house, but the Board of Health for some reason, has recently walked away from all of these things. I think it’s something that we really need to take into consideration before we send anybody over there to demolish the house.
Mr. Herbst stated I do know that in the not too distant past he had something like 30 feral cats around there that he was feeding and it was quite a mess. I think that has probably been cleaned up by now, but God knows what’s inside the house because nobody has really gotten in there to see it.
Mrs. Nacerino stated I think we certainly have exhausted all our options and you know it is a quality of life issue for the surrounding neighbors.
Mr. O’Connor stated even that of the neighbors, to their credit, are more concerned about the poor old man than they are about the eyesore across the street. He’s their friend. He’s been there a long time.
Mr. Molé stated the problem with the house is that it’s not only an eyesore, but it’s structurally unsound.
Mr. O’Connor stated I know that, but as far as the neighbors are concerned it’s been an eyesore for a long time.
Mrs. Nacerino stated rodents and feral cats and…
Mr. O’Connor stated but with all that they’re still concerned with him.
Mr. Herbst stated I just wanted to state that the recreation center is equipped in emergencies to handle people to come in and stay there if we have a power failure for a long length of time or any kind of heavy storm that sets off power. I’m going to be working on something where I would like to get particularly senior citizens who won’t be in a position to get out of their own houses – I understand the sheriff does this so I’ll get the phone numbers from them and we will call them in the event of heavy storms and
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TOWN BOARD MEETING
power outages just to make sure they are ok and if they can’t get out then we’ll make arrangements to get over there, my car is 4-wheel drive, and I’ll gladly go over there and pick up as many as I can and they can stay in the shelter as long as they have to. We have showers; we have the generator that I understand is gas-run so that we won’t lose power. We have a kitchen and we’ll have food and they’ll be able to stay and be taken care of. I’ll be working on that.
Mr. O’Connor stated I was talking with the building inspector and Cheryl. He’s clearing up a backlog of building permits that have been open for a long time. This one is not open that long but he’s about to cancel it for lack of completion. I spoke to the homeowner and she showed me letters between her and the County. She has had two contractors, one of which she got from the County list, and the reason why she does not have a CO for the porch and other things was that they both seemingly were more adept at getting money up front and then not finishing the job than they were at finishing the job. This poor woman is not well and she’s a single mother of two and it’s a small house. I talked to the building department and they would be more than happy not to do anything that costs things but to not cancel her building permit for this project. She has now applied through the County to have a loan to get it done. I think we should keep the building permit open while she is attempting to do that. The fact that it hasn’t been done in a timely fashion was certainly not her fault. I feel that a number of people have let her down, including the two contractors off the list.
Mr. O’Connor made a motion that we authorize the building department to keep this single building permit open for at least one more year until such time as she can make arrangements with the County to try and get a new contractor.
Seconded by Mr. Herbst.
Mr. Griffin stated is that a waiver of a fee.
Mr. O’Connor stated no because the fee has been paid. If it were cancelled she wouldn’t have a building permit.
Mrs. Nacerino stated is there a stipulation of time.
Mr. O’Connor stated the building permit is good for one year; I would like to extend the permit for another year because she’s actively trying to get it done. Her money has been taken by ne’er do wells and that’s a problem for her so she’s applied for a loan through the County. They have funds for that.
Mr. Kassay stated the building department is obviously aware of this situation.
Mr. O’Connor stated yes.
Mr. Kassay stated I don’t know whether or not the code enforcement officer would extend that for another whole year. I don’t know what the circumstances are yet. Is there any way to speak to him and ask him to send us a letter. I know what time of year is coming up and he may just want to extend the permit for 3 months with the weather holding up and then if there’s need for another extension because of the hold up that would be fine, but to just give it carte blanche without knowing all the circumstances and not having a recommendation from the code enforcement officer, I’m a little reluctant.
Mr. O’Connor stated I got it all verbally, but I can get in writing.
Mr. Herbst stated do you know if she used people that were licensed by Putnam County. That would help considerably; you just have to go to the County and they’ll go after them.
Mr. O’Connor stated what does go after mean.
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TOWN BOARD MEETING
Mr. Herbst stated I had a case where I hired a roofer and then I called Putnam just to be sure. He was licensed by them and they said right at this moment they had two cases pending against him. I called him and I asked him if he wanted me to be number three and he said no and I said then return my check because I had given him $800.00 as a down payment. The next morning he came and returned the check. They were after him and they did get him to satisfy the people so they will step in because they will remove his license.
Mrs. Nacerino stated I agree with Ernie that we would like to have a written recommendation from Dave Raines for two reasons, to give it a cap of time – stipulation of time and secondly we don’t want to set precedent where everybody gets an extension of their building permit for wayward contractors and that’s all too often in many cases throughout Putnam County so everybody might have a story and unless it’s case by case where the building inspector does feel that it’s deserving then we would agree to that recommendation.
Mr. O’Connor stated actually this came to me originally through the building department, not through her so I’m sure that’s not a problem.
Mrs. Nacerino stated but it’s good to have a paper trail.
PUBLIC RECOGNITION
Mr. Robert Odell stated Ms. Nacerino, how much would a new postage machine cost.
Mrs. Nacerino stated it’s a rental.
Mr. Odell stated I know, but for about $1,600.00 a year how much would it cost to buy it.
Mrs. Nacerino stated I would have to research that and get back to you because I do not have that information available to me right now. The recommendation was for a lease or a rental which we do with – many of our Town equipment is leased or rented rather than bought. Some of the reasons and the logic behind that is equipment gets old, it gets outdated and at the end of a lease you could turn it in and get a new model rather than get stuck with something that you pay for and it becomes antiquated in a very short period of time.
Mr. Odell stated ok, how much mail does the rec. center generate.
Mrs. Nacerino stated well one of the reasons why this would be a good idea in my opinion is that the mail that’s generated from the rec. center varies depending on the mailings that they have for programs and such. Since they come now and meter the mail at Town Hall that also takes away from the personnel at the rec. center to come here, meter the mail, stand at the meter machine, run through mail and if it’s a large mailing that takes them away from their job at the rec. center and also commingles the mail and the postage with the rest of the Town Hall. In having a separate meter, that insures that we could keep track of the mail that’s generated and the amount of money that is expended through the rec. center alone. We are not able to determine that now because all the mail is commingled into one.
Mr. Odell stated exactly and that’s the point because if they came up with a bill for a month of $200.00 the first month, you don’t know if that’s the normal flow.
Mrs. Nacerino stated to ensure safety; we do have just authorized personnel with a password being allowed to use this meter machine. It’s not going to be carte blanche for anybody who wants to just put their bills through the mail at night when nobody is looking or anybody just going up and using the meter machine; it would be carefully monitored through authorized personnel.
PATTERSON TOWN BOARD SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 PAGE 20
TOWN BOARD MEETING
Mr. Odell stated and who has the oversight.
Mrs. Nacerino stated that would be Melissa Brichta and probably one Town employee.
Mr. Odell stated and how about a member of the Board.
Mrs. Nacerino stated well I would then. At this time it’s hard to determine what the amount is that is generated for mail expenditures but this would give us that indication and we will be able to forecast next year based on the numbers used and based on how much mail is going out. Of course that will vary depending on programs, new programs or whatever.
Mr. Odell stated oh yes, it’s going to vary.
Mrs. Nacerino stated well it’s not anything that’s any different. Right now it’s just commingled into one thing; it’s not that any less mail or any more mail will be generated; it’s just that it’s a better tracking system.
Mr. Odell stated but right now they have to come here with mail where it’s in front of a lot of people when they do it. Over there, there’s only one person with oversight.
Mrs. Nacerino stated this will be authorized with a password and I can assure you that the people that are authorized to do that are trusted employees.
Mr. Odell stated very good, thank you.
Mr. Tom Conrad stated Mr. O’Connor did you consult the current procedure law to see who is a police officer and a peace officer, because that tells you exactly in there who can carry firearms.
Mr. O’Connor stated we’re not talking about who can carry firearms; we’re talking about who can carry firearms here. I did not consult them.
Mr. Conrad stated to give you an idea, a policeman on duty can carry a firearm. Anybody with police policy doesn’t need a permit.
Mr. O’Connor stated if he’s a sworn police officer.
Mr. Conrad stated right, so that could be the start for your policy.
Mr. O’Connor stated it does say specifically “police officers”.
Mr. Conrad stated I understand that but you’d be surprised who are police officers in New York State for example a New York City fire marshall is a police officer.
Mr. O’Connor stated so if he is a police officer in the State of New York, he’s a sworn police officer, then he would be…
Mr. Conrad stated that’ll help you, I think.
Mr. O’Connor stated I understand the term police officer covers a number of titles that are…
Mr. Conrad stated so is peace officer. To get a look at it, just go over to one of the judges. They have a copy of the CPO, which is the Criminal Procedure Law. It’s right in the beginning; it gives you the run down of who’s…
Mr. O’Connor stated thank you.
PATTERSON TOWN BOARD SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 PAGE 21
TOWN BOARD MEETING
Mr. Joseph Tierney stated I received this letter in the mail from the candidates pertaining to the primary from Mr. Griffin, Mr. Herbst and Mr. O’Connor. The first paragraph, last sentence reads “we have constructed many new facilities such as the recreation center, Club Court Park, the court house and the community room that were funded mainly through State grants”. Is that the court house on Route 311 right here. How old is that.
Mr. Griffin stated 1995.
Mr. Tierney stated you guys have been in charge since 1995 at least.
Mr. O’Connor stated I haven’t been here for the whole time. Mr. Griffin has.
Mr. Tierney stated so everything had State grants on it, but this new court house, is it going to have State grants do you know.
Mr. Griffin stated it better. Currently we have $250,000.00 of State grant for the soft cost of the design and construction management for first phase and we have a number of applications pending with also the State courts so when we get all the grants from the State (inaudible) for the justice court computers and all of that we have a number of grants that are pending through those programs as well. This building was built with almost $1 million worth of grants. The rec. center in total was a $3 million project and we borrowed less than $1 million to build it because of the grants and things we were able to put together.
Mr. Reg White, Patterson Historical Society, stated I would like to thank the Town Board for their support of the Historical Society. You’ve been very generous in years past in supporting us and in particular for the support of our forthcoming book so I just wanted to thank you publicly.
Mr. O’Connor stated I think the Historical Society does great work and this book primarily will help to put Patterson even more on the map if it’s not already.
Ms. Janet Cassidy, Patterson Historical Society, stated I second Reggie’s thank you. We heard that with the new court house building there was some talk of the Historical Society perhaps having space in it. We would like to go on record as expressing interest in that if that were to come to pass and that if it were to happen we would like to be involved in the planning and talk to you about what our needs might be for that. I don’t know if there’s any substance to that rumor, but that’s what we’ve heard.
Mr. Griffin stated it’s true. We’ll be happy to talk to you, but most of it is already laid out. There’s an office space that will be in there and there’s also a conference room that you will have access to and any time you want to stop by the office, I’ll be happy to show you the proposed plan. I spoke to Senator Leibell and he was anxious to see that you got better facilities and guaranteed dedicated office space which is what we’ll – there is a portion of that laid out in the new courthouse that you will have access to at any time you’d like, however the way the courthouse is laid out you will not have access to the courtrooms.
Mr. O’Connor stated or the courtrooms will not have access to you, which is more important.
Mr. Griffin stated well actually, you are going to share the bathrooms, the public restrooms.
Ms. Cassidy stated we’d like to come by and see what your plans…
Mr. Griffin stated by all means, if you want, as soon as we break up we can go downstairs and I could show you the plans right now, if you’d like.
PATTERSON TOWN BOARD SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 PAGE 22
TOWN BOARD MEETING
Mr. White stated is there any display space.
Mr. Griffin stated partially, but until we fill the walls in here, I don’t even want to talk about it. I’ve been asking you for pictures. Everybody loves the downstairs, now we want to do the same thing for upstairs.
Mr. White and Ms. Cassidy stated we’re almost done.
Ms. Keasbey stated what happened to all those wonderful drawings of Mike Garland.
Mr. Griffin stated they are in my office and they will be part of the next round of…
Ms. Keasbey stated they should be part of some display because they are really wonderful.
Mr. Griffin stated it goes with the dedication in the back so we were looking at the possibility of maybe that wall being part of that. There are wonderful pictures, cartoons and caricatures in there but they are safe and sound in my office. They are part of the next phase that will be incorporated into the displays that we start up here. We are looking for historical pictures at this point in time. We’ve gotten wonderful feedback from the pictures in the hallway downstairs and we’d really like to have Town Hall be sort of a gallery and history of the Town so that people, when they are here, can kind of get a sense of what the place used to look like and go from there. I have some pictures of Front Street about circa 1995 that I don’t think – they are pretty horrible pictures so I’m not sure we’re going to put them up, but we would be very interested in carrying on with the program.
Ms. Cassidy stated we already have some people appointed to work on that.
Mr. Martin Miller, President, Patterson Library, stated I would like to thank, on behalf of our board, the Town Board for working with us over these many years and the acquisition of this building. As Supervisor Griffin stated in the paper, it is a win-win situation for the residents of the Town. When the justice court is finally built, the Patterson library will be able to renovate and expand and it will serve the residents in a much better, more modern way. Thank you very much to all of you for working with us and we hope to keep this relationship on the positive note that’s it been for the last number of years.
There being no further business, Mr. Herbst made a motion to adjourn the Town Board meeting at 9:00 p.m.
Seconded by Mr. O’Connor. All In Favor: aye. Carried.
Respectfully submitted,
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EILEEN CORBLEY, DEPUTY TOWN CLERK