PATTERSON TOWN BOARD

PATTERSON TOWN BOARD MEETING

PATTERSON TOWN HALL

1142 ROUTE 311

PATTERSON, NEW YORK 12563

November 14, 2012

MINUTES

PRESENT: MICHAEL GRIFFIN, SUPERVISOR

KEVIN BURNS, COUNCILMAN

CHARLES W. COOK, DEPUTY SUPERVISOR

ROBERT MCCARTHY, COUNCILMAN

GINNY NACERINO, COUNCILWOMAN

EILEEN CORBLEY, DEPUTY TOWN CLERK

DONALD M. ROSSI, TOWN COUNSEL

Salute to the Flag and Roll Call.

Supervisor Griffin called the Patterson Town Board meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. with 15 in attendance.

REPORTS

Mr. Griffin asked the clerk to file the reports as read.

Code Compliance - October

Code Enforcement - October

Dog Control Officer - October

E.C.I. - None

Putnam Lake Fire Dept. - None

Patterson Fire Dept.-None

SUPERVISOR REPORTS

Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to approve the Supervisor’s Reports for September and October 2012.

Seconded by Mr. Burns. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.

MINUTES

Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to approve the following minutes:

Public Hearing - Code of Ethics - Local Law No. 6 - September 12, 2012

Public Hearing - Code of Ethics - Local Law No. 6 (cont’d) - September 26, 2012

Public Hearing - Veterans' Memorial Park Intro Local Law No. 7 - September 26, 2012

Public Hearing - Putnam Lake Park District Intro Local Law No. 8 - September 26, 2012

Public Hearing - Quail Ridge Road Dedication - September 26, 2012

Town Board Meeting Minutes - September 26, 2012

Annual Audit Minutes – January 18, 2012

Seconded by Mr. Cook. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.

AUDIT OF BILLS

Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to accept Abstract No. 20 as written:

General Fund $143,158.30, Highway Fund $168,744.29, Waste Water Treatment Plant $11,998.44, Capital Fund $71,247.00, Patterson Light District $42.01, Putnam Lake Refuse District #1 $20,454.55, Patterson Refuse District #2 $53,320.96, Patterson Park District $1,051.75, Alpine Water District $828.03, Dorset Hollow Water District $1,404.42, Fox Run Water District $2,154.44, Trust & Agency $24,162.29, Grand Total Abstract $498,566.48.

Seconded by Mr. Cook. Roll Call Vote: Mr. Burns, yes; Mr. Cook, yes; Mr. McCarthy, yes; Mrs. Nacerino, yes; Mr. Griffin, yes.

GINNY NACERINO

RECREATION REQUEST(S)

Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to approve the request for 125 flag football trophy’s from Crown Awards in the amount not to exceed $655.30. Two quotes were obtained.

Seconded by Mr. Burns. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.

Mrs. Nacerino made a motion to approve the request for flag football polo shirts from Steve Dinucci for an amount not to exceed $252.00. Two quotes were obtained.

Seconded by Mr. McCarthy. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.

KEVIN BURNS

BUDGET TRANSFER(S)

Mr. Burns mad a motion to approve Budget Transfer No. 57 through 60.

Budget Transfer No. 57

Increase: A.2006.414 Camp Programs $350.00

Decrease: A.2006.418 Gym Rentals ($950.00)

Increase: A.2006.437 Senior Programs $600.00

Revenue Accounts

Decrease A.7146.408 Sports ($950.00)

Increase A.7146.415 Concessions $350.00

Increase A.7146.437 Senior Programs $600.00

Expense Accounts-Contractual

Budget Transfer No. 58

Increase: SWF.0599 Appropriated Fund Balance $3,400.00

Use of Fund Balance

Increase: SWF.8310.400 Water Administration Contractual $5,400.00

Decrease: SWF.8320.400 Source of Power Contractual ($2,000.00)

Expense Accounts

Budget Transfer No. 59

Increase: SP.2003 Parks & Rec Charges $1,300.00

Increase: SP.2680 Insurance Recoveries $1,444.00

Increase: SP.2701 Prior Year Refunds $116.00

Revenue Accounts

Increase: SP.7110.400 Park Contractual $2,860.00

Expense Account

Budget Transfer No. 60

From: A.1670.200 Central Print & Mail Equipment $(2,220.00)

& Capital

To: A.1670.400 Central Print & Mail Contractual $2,220.00

To: A.3310.400 Traffic Control Contractual $20.00

Seconded by Mrs. Nacerino. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.

TOWN HALL – REPAIRS & PAINTING

Mr. Burns made a motion to approve the Non-bid procurement to paint the Patterson Town Hall by Top Hammer Construction in the amount not to exceed $6,374.00 and authorize the Supervisor to sign any documents.

Seconded by Mr. Cook. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.

CHARLES COOK

NY ALERT

Mr. Cook stated we had a presentation on NY Alert and I think this is a good reminder after this storm and snowfall that folks should think about signing up for this. You can tailor it to your needs. The contact person in the Town Hall is Rich Williams and he can fill you in on all the details.

EMPLOYEE HEALTH INSURANCE – RESOLUTION

Mr. Cook stated this resolution is approving change in the medical coverage for part-time Elected Officials as defined by the New York State Retirement System.

Mr. Cook introduced the following Resolution Approving Change in Medical Coverage:

R-1112-01

WHEREAS, the Town of Patterson currently provides health plan benefits, either by the payment of premiums for medical insurance coverage or by a cash buy-out in lieu of receiving medical insurance benefits (collectively, “medical benefits”), to full-time employees and Elected Officials pursuant to, and as defined in, the Town’s Employee Handbook; and

WHEREAS, the Town Board desires to reduce the overall costs to the Town of providing medical benefits; and

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that as a method of accomplishing a cost reduction, the Town Board desires to amend Section 806 of the Employee Handbook to provide that “part-time” Elected Officials, as hereinafter defined, shall not be eligible for medical benefits effective December 31, 2013 and

FURTHER, BE IT RESOLVED, that consistent with the provisions of Section 805 of the Employee Handbook, and as otherwise authorized by law, the Town Board of the Town of Patterson hereby provides that effective as of December 31, 2013, Sections 805, 806 and 807 of the Town’s Employee Handbook shall be deemed amended to provide that part-time Elected Officials are not eligible for health plan benefits, either by the payment of premiums for medical insurance coverage or by a cash buy-out in lieu of receiving medical insurance benefits; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Employee Handbook shall also be deemed amended effective December 31, 2013 by including the term “part-time Elected Official” as a defined term in Section 200 thereof, and defining same as follows: Any Elected Official as determined by the New York State and Local Retirement Systems; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that except as specifically provided for herein, all other terms and provisions of the Employee Handbook shall remain in full force and effect; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Supervisor is hereby authorized to execute any and all documents to give full effect to this resolution.

Seconded by Mr. Burns.

Mrs. Nacerino stated discussion. On this resolution defining part-time Elected Officials is that just the Town Board or is that also the Town Judges.

Mr. Cook stated if they are judged by the retirement system as part-time it affects them.

Mrs. Nacerino stated we need to be more specific in the resolution. The language is pretty open-ended.

Mr. Griffin stated it’s not. I wouldn’t necessarily say that. Basically what we are doing is standardizing how we are going to look at Elected Officials. If the State of New York based on their qualifications for the retirement system says they’re part-time or full-time, then that is how they will be treated. It is very hard to require an Elected Official to work specific set hours. The original language in this was 35 hours per week. What is the threshold. For example Sally works a significant amount of hours, if she has three of four weeks where she doesn’t make her 35 hours do we list her as a part-time employee.

Mrs. Nacerino stated she was defined as full-time.

Mr. Griffin stated by the Retirement System. The State of New York doesn’t recognize any set hours for any Elected Official.

Mr. Burns stated I think the last paragraph says it shall also be deemed amended effective December 31, 2013 by including the term “part-time Elected Official” as a defined term in Section 200 thereof, and defining same as follows: Any Elected Official as determined by the New York State and Local Retirement Systems. If that language is in that section I think we should be good.

Mr. Rossi stated it should really say part-time Elected Officials.

Mr. Griffin stated the first part reads part-time Elected Official is defined and the second part says any Elected Official….

Mrs. Nacerino stated I just want to make sure the language is clear enough so it is not up for misinterpretation or reinterpretation when the time comes.

Mr. Burns stated so you think we need to define the law.

Mr. Rossi stated in answer to Ginny’s question, I don’t think we need to specify which Elected Official’s because the Employee Handbook already defines the term Elected Officials. Every Elected Official is included there but this qualifies it for all Elected Official’s. It should carry through to say any part-time Elected Official.

Mr. Burns stated can we make that now.

Mr. Griffin stated revise the motion to amend the resolution to include the word part-time anywhere it says Elected Official.

Mr. Rossi stated just in that next to last line in the first resolved clause on page 2.

Mr. Cook made a motion to revise the following Resolution Approving Change in Medical Coverage:

R-1112-01

WHEREAS, the Town Board desires to reduce the overall costs to the Town of providing medical benefits; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Employee Handbook shall also be deemed amended effective December 31, 2013 by including the term “part-time Elected Official” as a defined term in Section 200 thereof, and defining same as follows: Any part-time Elected Official as determined by the New York State and Local Retirement Systems; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that except as specifically provided for herein, all other terms and provisions of the Employee Handbook shall remain in full force and effect; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Supervisor is hereby authorized to execute any and all documents to give full effect to this resolution.

Seconded by Mr. Burns. All In Favor: Aye. Carried.

Mr. Major stated you determine part-time as someone that is working less than 30 hours. If a Councilperson submits their hours as they are required to do if they are in the pension system when they are first elected, and they chose that to document that they are working full-time when the other three clearly aren’t working full-time, would that part-time Town Councilperson based on the fact that they documented hours at 30 hours a week, would they then in-fact be entitled to health insurance.

Mr. Burns stated it depends on how the pension system views them. If the pension system views them as a full-time employee then, yes.

Mr. Griffin stated yes, that is basically the way it would work. If the Board so chooses for medical you could probably request an Elected Official who is eligible for medical insurance keep a time sheet just like every other employee. I keep a time sheet.

Mr. Cook stated I don’t and I think that you are clearly a full-time employee of the Town and we are clearly part-time.

Mr. Major stated then why don’t we just say, as it relates to the Town of Patterson, Councilpersons are considered part-time employees regardless of the number of hours that they should elect to document.

Mr. Burn stated it is kind of a slippery slope, Bruce because you might have a retired person who would take this job who would legitimately put in 30 hours a week in this job. I can’t, I practice law, and I have a day job. I’m comfortable by defining it by the retirement system.

Mr. Major stated you are creating a hazard. The hazard being if someone wants health insurance that they may be inclined to document hours that may not be appropriate, seeing that there is really no oversight for those hours. I think as a group if you are ending the in-lieu of then you should be ending the health insurance as well, period. Kevin you have health insurance. If you decide you want to document 30 hours should you then be entitled to the in-lieu of. We have one retired individual on the Council. He clearly could come and sit here and document 30 hours. Would he be entitled to the in-lieu. I think it is at a point in time where Council people, and you know I pulled hours from Council people who have submitted their hours for pension purposes and I have collected three. Two of them clearly part-time and one was full-time. All I am suggesting is that I think you are creating a bigger problem and I think what you should do is say as it relates to the Council people, it is designated a part-time position regardless of how many hours you elect to donate to the Town, this way no one gets the in-lieu of and no one gets health insurance.

Mrs. Nacerino stated the same argument can be made for the Judges as well (inaudible) as part-time Elected Official’s.

Mr. Major stated absolutely.

Mrs. Nacerino stated I agree with you in the terms that the language seems a little vague. Push comes to shove and we are trying to interpret it or define it are we going to run into problems.

Mr. Major stated I will give you an example; you have a Code Enforcement person who is part-time. As he is driving around Town going to the A&P or wherever, if he’s looking around he can say “I’m looking for violations”, even though I’m technically not on the clock. He too can create 30 hours. All I’m suggesting is I think it is in the best interest of this Council to end it completely and make it no in-lieu of or health insurance because clearly we know it is a part-time position.

Mr. Edmond O’Connor stated I know there is a resolution on the books because I introduced it years ago which clearly says “that the four members of the Town Board are part-time employees”, period. If you are going to play with that, then that one should be revoked.

Mr. Burns stated we went back and read it and it wasn’t quite as clear as we all thought it was.

Mr. O’Connor stated which one was that.

Mr. Burns stated the one you introduced. Believe me Ed, we read it and this is part of the problem.

Mr. O’Connor stated I wrote it and I remember reading it and it says the four members of the Town Council are part-time employees.

Mr. Burns stated if we are going to modify this resolution anymore, I would suggest that since there is no urgency we table this until the next meeting.

Mr. Cook stated all we have to say is the Town Board considers Town Council people and Town Judges as part-time Officials.

Mr. Burns stated you are going to put Town Judges in there too.

Mr. Cook stated they are part-time Officials too.

Mrs. Nacerino stated why not.

Mr. Burns stated I don’t know what their hours are.

Mr. Cook stated that is why we are trying to go by the retirement system.

Mr. Burns stated exactly, I don’t know what the retirement system does as far as Judges.

Mr. Griffin stated for the first 90 days of your term you have to document the time you put in. As it stands right now there is no one on this Town Board with the exception of myself that is consider full-time for the retirement system.

Mr. Burns stated and the Judges.

Mr. Griffin stated neither are the Judges.

Mr. Major stated you had one Councilperson that submitted they were working 30 hours a week for the 90 days.

Mr. Griffin stated and it was submitted to the State and the State came back and said they are not full-time and it was rejected.

Mr. Major stated then leave the hours out and just indicate that if the Council people are in-fact part-time people then they are part-time people. As it relates to the Judges, you may want to confer with the Office of Court Administration for further determination but I think clearly as it relates to the Council people leave the hours out because you are creating a potential hazard.

Mr. Griffin stated the rules are set by the State. The State says that every Elected Official to be in the retirement system must keep a log if they want to be in the retirement system. Elected Officials aren’t required by the State of New York to keep any set hours. Plain and simple. If this Board wants to start deciding who is part-time and who isn’t, I would be uncomfortable because now you are arbitrarily deciding that if a Judge who is retired wants to be for a good part of the week putting in the time, we are not going to accept he is putting in the time.

Mr. Major stated I think you missed my point.

Mr. Griffin stated no, I’m not missing your point. You want us to arbitrarily decide who is part-time and who is not based on our opinion not the State of New York’s.

Mr. Major stated but you are also saying you are tying it to hours of 30 hours a week and yet you are saying even though a Councilperson submitted 30 hours a week which constitutes full-time under the pension system, that in-fact the pension system said even though you submitted 30 hours you are still only part-time.

Mr. Griffin stated the 30 hours was reduced. It wasn’t submitted as 30 hours.

Mr. Major stated so I was given the wrong FOIL request.

Mr. Griffin stated you may have not been given the final information of what was submitted and what was recognized by the State. I can tell you right now to the best of my knowledge no one on this Town Board other than myself is recognized by the State as full-time.

Mr. Major stated so why don’t you just say part-time employees period, designate who the six part-time Elected Officials are and leave it at that.

Mr. Griffin stated there is more than part-time. The State will recognize a portion thereof. If you put in 24 hours a week, they will consider that ¾ credit. It is not as cut and dry as you would like to make it. If you just want to deny it, that’s one thing. If you just want to say we are not giving it to the Judges and Council people, then say that. Don’t try to finagle full-time, part-time or other time.

Mr. Major stated well that’s what I want to say.

Mr. Griffin stated then that would be up to this Board to say point blank we are not giving Judges and Council people medical benefits.

Mr. Major stated you are probably better off doing that than playing with hours.

Mr. Griffin stated I agree. Rather than gerrymander the rules and have the state set it up, it would be much cleaner to just say we are not giving it to you under any circumstances. We don’t care if you work 75 or 100 hours, you will not get it and that is a decision for this Board to make.

Mr. Major stated good, thank you.

Mr. Rossi stated there are not hours specified in the resolution.

Mr. Griffin stated we spoke about that and I don’t think that we should set fixed hours to say if you don’t make your 30 or 35 hours per pay period you are out the door.

Mrs. Nacerino stated we have to be consistent. When I was first elected every Councilperson was retired and spent a great deal of time here. It would be unfair to say you can’t be here anymore than “X” number of hours. When you ran for the position or the Judges position it is a part-time position. Most Judges’ are lawyers and they work full-time in their law practice. Up until now it did have medical benefits. That is the only thing we are revising.

Mr. Burns stated I have no problem just for the Council people. I’m a little more leery doing it for the Judges just because I do not know how much time they put in and I could see where a Judge could be sitting on the bench 12 hours a week and be working at home writing decisions on cases 12 hours a week. I would consider that working. My coming to Town Hall and sitting in Mike’s office and talking about what is going on in Town, I can’t say that is working. I have no problem with the resolution as written now as defined by the New York State Retirement System.

Mr. Cook stated I’m comfortable with the resolution.

ROBERT MCCARTHY

RECYCLING – UPDATE

Mr. McCarthy read a memo from Frank Farrell regarding the Recycling Center. From October 21, 2012 to November 2, 2012 we made two trips to the transfer station with a total of 21.88 tons of garbage. The week after hurricane Sandy we made seven trips to the transfer station for a total of 74.92 tons. The next several weeks it will continue to be heavy due to spoiled food. With a 29% increase in tipping fees, perhaps the Town could find a way to recoup this money.

Mrs. Nacerino stated from FEMA.

HURRICANE SANDY – UPDATE

Mr. McCarthy stated 89% of all NYSEG’s customers lost power. 90% of Patterson lost power. The majority of residents had power restored by Saturday. 18 transmission lines were damaged, 42 distributions lines were damaged, 600 poles had to be replaced and that was just the Brewster division. Patterson Highway did another great job and removed more than 80 trees from Town roadways. A special thanks to Russ and the crew. The Recreation Center was opened Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the weekend. Hundreds of people used the facility for everything.

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mr. McCarthy announced the following events:

Putnam Lake Fire Department’s parade is on December 1, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

Swing in Patterson, World War Two Big Band Dance on December 1, 2012 at the Patterson Recreation Center. Tickets are $30.00 with dinner at 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., $20.00 without dinner 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Breakfast with Santa from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Patterson Recreation Center, $3.00 per child and $5.00 for adult. Reservations required.

5^th Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony and Christmas Caroling on Friday, December 7, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at the Patterson Town Hall and then to the Patterson Firehouse to visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus for cookies and milk and story time.

MICHAEL GRIFFIN

2013 FINAL BUDGET ADOPTION - RESOLUTION

Mr. Griffin introduced the following Resolution for Adoption of Final Budget for 2013:

R-1112-02

WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Patterson is currently in the process of finalizing a budget for the 2013 fiscal year, and

WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Patterson has met at the time and place specified in the Notice of Public Hearing on the Preliminary Budget has heard all persons desiring to be heard all persons desiring to be heard thereon, and

WHEREAS, the General Fund appropriation reflected in the Preliminary Budget has been amended from $3,909,017.00 to $3,909,017.00 and

WHEREAS, the Highway Department appropriation reflected in the Preliminary Budget has been amended from $2,732,772.00 to $2,732,772.00 and

WHEREAS, the Putnam Lake Fire Protection District appropriation reflected in the Preliminary Budget has been amended from $465,700.00 to $494,070.00 and

WHEREAS, the Patterson Fire Protection District appropriation reflected in the Preliminary Budget has been amended from $853,626.00 to $904,898.00 and

WHEREAS, the Patterson Hamlet Sewer District appropriation from the Preliminary Budget has been amended from $391,590.00 to $391,590.00 and

WHEREAS, the Patterson Library appropriation reflected in the Preliminary Budget from has been amended from $606,111.00 to $606,111.00 and

WHEREAS, the Putnam Lake Lighting District appropriation reflected in the Preliminary Budget has been amended from $21,150.00 to $21,150.00 and

WHEREAS, the Patterson Lighting District appropriation reflected in the Preliminary Budget has been amended from $24,000.00 to $24,000.00 and

WHEREAS, the Putnam Lake Refuse appropriation reflected in the Preliminary Budget has been amended from $257,230.00 to $257,230.00 and

WHEREAS, the Patterson Garbage District appropriation reflected in the Preliminary Budget has been amended from $1,051,264.00 to $1,051,264.00 and

WHEREAS, the Dorsett Hollow Drainage District appropriation in the Preliminary Budget has been amended from $3,325.00 to $3,325.00 and

WHEREAS, the Deerwood Drainage District appropriation from the Preliminary Budget has been amended from $2,050.00 to $2,050.00 and

WHEREAS, the Patterson Park appropriation reflected in the Preliminary Budget has been amended from $99,550.00 to $99,550.00 and

WHEREAS, the Putnam Lake Park District appropriation reflected in the Preliminary Budget has been amended from $129,758.00 to $129,758.00 and

WHEREAS, the Alpine Water District appropriation reflected in the Preliminary Budget has been amended from $33,240.00 to $33,240.00 and

WHEREAS, the Dorsett Hollow Water District appropriation in the Preliminary Budget has been amended from $26,525.00 to $26,525.00 and

WHEREAS, the Fox Run Water District appropriation from the Preliminary Budget has been amended from $57,611.00 to $57,611.00 and

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the 2013 Budget as amended and revised is hereby adopted as set forth in Schedule “A” which is attached hereto and made part hereof.

Seconded by Mr. Cook. Roll Call Vote: Mr. Burns, yes; Mr. Cook, yes; Mr. McCarthy, yes; Mrs. Nacerino, yes; Mr. Griffin, yes.

Mr. Griffin stated this budget reflects a 1% increase year over year. We are very happy to be able to present that because a lot of Towns aren’t able to come close. The State Retirement System has significantly increased the contribution for Tier 4 members. It is now $0.21 out of every dollar that has to be contributed to the State Retirement Fund. The medical plan, NYSHIP has informed us that we can expect a 12% increase year over year so that had to fit in under a cap. Unfortunately the Highway Department we had to take one person out of there. We put some money in for temporary help. We are still looking at the possibility of revising how we do garbage pick-up. That will take a little more time. It was a difficult budget but fortunately because of the grant for the court house it gave us a little flexibility as to what we are doing. It also helped us to significantly reduce our Fund Balance usage. We had been using $289,000.00 last year, we are doing $155,000.00 this year. At the rate of $289,000.00 we would have exhausted our Fund Balances in a little over 3 years. This will give us another 4 to 5 years at least before Fund Balances will be used up. In that time we are hoping there will be some economic recovery and revenues will come back to some reasonable level and it would be nice to get some interest on our money.

Mr. Burns stated I give commendations to you and Trish and everyone else who worked on it because I think it was a tremendous task to try to do what we were trying to do.

Mr. Griffin stated we worked very hard to keep it as low as possible. We did budget some money for raises for the Highway Department. Hopefully we can settle our contract. We did give some modest cost of living increases for the employees. Most of the Town Hall employees have gone two years where they didn’t get any raises and were also asked to contribute quite a bit to the medical benefits. We would have liked to keep it at zero but we did feel that the employees did need some consideration as well. The cost of fuel and blacktop has gone way up and equipment needs to be replaced. Russ has done a great job managing his budget and keeping up with the paving.

LOCAL LAW FLOOD PLAINS – DISCUSSION

Mr. Griffin stated Rich can we set this for a Public Hearing.

Mr. Williams stated no, not at all. I gave you a memo. Essentially the DEC is adopting a new flood (inaudible). Along with that we do have to adopt a revised Local Law referencing those maps and making other changes that have been incorporated. The DEC has provided us with a model law. I revised our current law that is Chapter 91 to reflect the DEC changes. If you are comfortable with it and the Town Attorney is comfortable with it, the next step is to send it to the DEC which has to be done by December 4 for their review of our Local Law. Then we can adopt it in February.

Mr. Griffin stated if we don’t make the changes and adopt it then people aren’t eligible for flood insurance in the Town.

Mr. Williams stated they would cancel our ability to have flood insurance.

Mr. Griffin stated and the other change that I think is beneficial is in the past the Director of Codes Enforcement has been doing the flood plain reviews and now it will be done by the Town Planner, which I think is helpful and a beneficial change.

Mr. Williams stated why don’t you take some time and review it and at the next meeting you can authorize the submission to the DEC.

PUTNAM LAKE PARK ADVISORY BOARD – UPDATE

Mr. Griffin stated Counselor do we have an agreement.

Mr. Rossi stated we do.

Mr. Griffin stated I will sign it and then we will ask them to sign it.

Mr. Rossi stated we have a fully negotiated agreement with the PLCC for the transfer of the PLCC’s New York State property to the Town. I have those documents in execution form for you to sign Mike after the meeting tonight. Then we will get them to the PLCC’s attorneys.

Mr. Griffin stated ok, then the PLCC will sign off on it.

Mr. Rossi stated I hope so.

Ms. Dede Lifgren, Park Advisory Chairperson stated I would like to give an update on some of the things that are going on. We have scheduled our first Advisory Board meeting on November 29, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at the New Life Church in Putnam Lake. They are open to the public. We are planning a website for the Park District so everyone will be aware of what is going on. If the Board is in agreement I would like to give monthly updates. We would like to organize a communitywide lake clean-up. Depending on the weather it will be on December 1^st and 2^nd. We got into the CSlap program. That is the Citizen State Wide Assessment Program. It’s a cooperation of two organizations, the New York State Federation of Lakes and the DEC is a program to train volunteers to monitor and test the water. It is a five year program. It is a very difficult program to get into. There are 7,500 bodies of water in New York State and only 125 get accepted into the program. It also does all of the analyzing of the chemical compounds and the makeup of the water for free. The program is from May through October.

Mrs. Nacerino stated will you be posting all the minutes on the Town website.

Ms. Lefgren stated we can. So the liaisons will be Kevin and Bob.

Mr. Griffin stated I have one other item I would like to bring up. I received a call from Nick Orlando today. He is the gentlemen who runs the garbage company and does the pick-up in Putnam Lake and due to some problems they are having they are looking to split the lake up into a Wednesday and Thursday pick-up. As soon as we know the names and addresses everyone will be notified. Fliers will also be put out. As of January 1, 2013 everyone will know what day their garbage will be. They still have the cheapest price in Putnam County.

Mr. Griffin stated the company we have been dealing with on this side of Town has been sold. They have been bought out by a company in North Carolina and they are no longer willing to abide by the current agreement. They had agreed to a contract extension which they never signed. They will still pay us for recyclables but they are going to charge us to move the containers around. That is a slightly added expense. Frank Farrell did a pretty good job negotiating it down to the point we will get a little more for the recyclables and will pay a little less for what they originally wanted per pull. Rich I see you shaking your head.

Mr. Williams stated yeah I’m shaking my head. We put this out to bid, they accepted the bid, we gave them a contract and they refused to sign the contract and here we sit now. I’m very disappointed because I have been pushing to get this contract signed for a long time. Now I find out the reason they didn’t sign it is because they knew they were going to pull the rug out from under us and everyone sits here like so what. That is terrible.

Mr. Griffin stated ok, so when they won’t sign the contract we put it out to bid there is only one source for the recyclables, they all go to Hudson Bayler. Every company I spoke to goes to Hudson Bayler. We are doing the best we can with what we have to work with. We are obligated under State Law to pick-up recyclables.

Mr. Williams stated Mike I understand what you are saying but if we put something out for bid and someone accepts the bid then they are obligated to sign the contract. The fact that they refused to sign the contract put us in the position we are in and we should have pushed harder for him to sign the contract. Then we would have had a legal document that we could have fallen back on.

Mr. Burns stated how did they accept the bid, verbally or in writing.

Mr. Williams stated in writing. We have a signed award.

Mrs. Nacerino stated what recourse do we have.

Mr. Rossi stated this is the first I’m hearing of it.

Mr. Griffin stated it just came up. We were just notified that Hudson Baylor was sold.

Mr. Rossi stated it is just a matter of assessing whether or not it is worthwhile to sue them. If you would like us to take a look at it we will.

Mr. Griffin stated why don’t you review it and see what we can do.

OTHER BUSINESS

Mr. Burns stated if you are like myself, we first saw the devastation that occurred as a result of this hurricane when our power came back on Thursday and we had no idea of the impact on Staten Island, Long Island and the Rockaway’s. One of the things my wife and I wanted to do was help. There is a need to go down and clean and help people out. Jim McQuade is a New York City Fireman who lives in my neighborhood who is very tied to the Rockaways and he actually asked us to contribute supplies to bring down to the Rockaways. He has a pick-up truck and brings these supplies to people each day. He lives on Sommerset Road if you would like to donate. Whatever you donate will go directly to the people on the front lines and not a big corporation.

Mr. Burns stated I would like to personally thank the Recreation Center because it was wonderful to have a hot shower each day and the people I work with were happy I was taking a shower each day. God Bless the Recreation Center it was a great help in this storm and a huge asset for this Town.

Mr. O’Connor stated I would like to offer our congratulations to the newest member of the Putnam County Legislature. Congratulations Ginny.

Mrs. Nacerino stated thank you.

Mrs. Nacerino read her Environmental Tip.

PUBLIC RECOGNITION

Mr. Martin Miller stated Kevin regarding what you have said some of our members have gone down to help and they have been turned away because so many people have been turned away. Before you make an effort to help out make sure you have something do instead of just going down.

Kudos to our Elected Officials, Town Board and staff for handling Sandy. It was mentioned that it was nice to go to the Recreation Center to get some dry ice, charge your phone and thank you to the Highway Department, Russ and his crew in clearing our streets as fast as they did. My neighbors really appreciated it. I think all of us realize how lucky we were in the Town of Patterson.

Thank you also in keeping the budget almost the same as last year.

Meg Cariney stated I would like to commend Mike Griffin and Linda, Rich and Susan for the many trips they made to Putnam Lake bringing dry ice and water. The people of Putnam Lake couldn’t thank you enough. It was absolutely terrific. Regarding events, the VFW is having the Rag-A-Muffin Day on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. in Putnam Lake and it is open to everyone. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be there as well.

Ms. Cari Weizenecker stated Mathew Paterson did a big collection of food, clothes, money and they made several trips to the affected areas damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

I would like to talk about the renovations at the park. We are going to have a park meeting on January 16, 2013 and we are wondering if the RFP will be done by then.

Mr. Williams stated I don’t know if we will get it done by then.

Ms. Weizenecker stated we would like someone to be there at the meeting. Ginny will be leaving so Bob can you be there. We would like to get it started by March or April so we can have it done by the time the park will open on Memorial Day. We were hoping to have a grand opening to see the renovations. We will be increasing the fees for soccer and lacrosse but I will submit a letter to you for the next Town Board meeting.

Mr. Bruce Major stated Mike you indicated that one health plan is going up by 12%, what about the MVP plan.

Mr. Griffin stated that is only going up by 18%. That is what they requested from the State. I don’t think they will get it.

Mr. Major stated how will that affect the formula. Is that now costing more than the other plan.

Mr. Griffin stated no, it is a high deductable. It is still $3,000.00 to $4,000.00 cheaper.

Mr. Major stated the backlog on summonses over at the court house, I know I keep following up on this but I’m just curious did they finally clean it up.

Mr. Griffin stated they have assured us that it will be done by the end of the year.

Mr. Major stated this year.

Mr. Griffin stated yes. One of the things that was specifically discussed with the court when we agreed to give them additional hours for the court clerks, you remember we replaced one part-timer with one that is working 30 hours, and they stated with the extra help they would be able to complete this by the end of the year. They may be a week behind because of the storm but it will be close to the end of the year.

Mr. Major stated come January will that extra help be gone.

Mr. Griffin stated no, they have asked that the help stay on. If you look at the dockets and the case load the courts have increased dramatically. Their revenues, if you look in the budget, have increased dramatically. Their numbers are up probably $60,000.00 or $70,000.00 year over year. They are very busy. It is 30 hours but it is part-time. There are no benefits, holiday, sick time or anything like that.

Mr. Major stated that sounds like a positive. This was something that was raised before the election and we called it campaign signs and now we call it campaign refuse. I must commend Ginny and the person that ran against Ginny I don’t see their signs but I do see Mr. Katz and a few others sign. You spoke about having a law and I hope you don’t wait until next Election Day. I realize the people who are having the tag sales they create two or three signs. The election people have a lot more. I think they were supposed to be cleaned up by this past Sunday, I would hope you would put forth a law that would punish them if they don’t clean up their mess.

Mr. Griffin stated I would like to have some teeth in that. Rich, Russ and I have been picking up signs. They are prolific to say the least. I’m not going to make any comment as to which party did a worse job of picking up their signs. We all know the Judges never pick up their signs. I would like to spend some time with the Town Attorney and Town Planner to see how we could re-craft this sign law. Personally I would like to see them get fined for not picking up their signs.

Mr. Major stated per sign.

Mr. Griffin stated yes, that would be fine.

Mr. Major stated now is the time to be doing it. I think the political party should be notified. The Town should be in a position to actually contact the Board of Elections, get the contact information for the people who are running, they should all be notified and I think a law can be crafted.

Mrs. Nacerino stated the worst offenders are the people who do not live in this Town like Mike said the Judges or some higher elected offices that are regional rather than local.

Mr. Miller stated I support Bruce on this. Twice a year Patterson Rotary picks up garbage on Route 22 from the Dutchess County line all the way down. We found signs in the ditches from a couple of years ago. I think this is a good idea.

Mr. Major stated it appears that recycling costs to Garbage District No. 2 are going to be affected. Have you come up with a dollar amount so that the residents within Garbage District No. 2 know what this additional cost will be next year and if we are going to start going into reserve funds I think the people should know exactly where we stand. I think we have to start looking at those time sheets to make a determination as to what the best way is to move forward as it relates to Garbage District No. 2.

Mr. Griffin stated we have three weeks done and I asked them to keep a month’s worth. As soon as we have them we will do a compilation of who is doing what and sit down with the Administrator and see what other options we have. There have been some suggestions to go to longer days or maybe do something different with the condos. There are a lot of things on the table and I’m not sure what the most practical is yet. We have to figure out ways to get all those costs under control. Right now we were able to cover the recycling costs with Fund Balance so there was no impact to the taxpayer’s in the District. Until we get this worked out with the Attorneys and get some sort of a written contract with these guys that they’re locked into, we are essentially at the mercy of the markets. Right now the recycling markets have dropped considerably. It’s not worth what it was 4 or 5 months ago.

Mr. Major stated maybe not next meeting but the following meeting we should get some results on that.

Mr. Griffin stated yes, also the Town has been working with a gentlemen, a Human Resource guy who has been working with us to negotiate the Highway contracts and he is also reviewing operations of the garbage district. He does this all over the State.

Mr. Major stated thank you.

Mrs. Nacerino stated Mike when is the 5 year contract up for Garbage District No. 1.

Mr. Griffin stated about 3 or 4 years.

Mrs. Nacerino stated so we are locked into those prices.

Mr. Griffin stated yes. The $15.00 a month is pretty solid for at least 3 or 4 more years.

Mrs. Nacerino stated we have to be careful that the prices don’t escalate in Garbage District No. 2 and remain steadfast in Garbage District No. 1.

Mr. Griffin stated we do have to look at options and there are some Union issues involved with District No. 2 versus District No. 1. Hopefully by the end of the year we will have some suggestions on how to revamp this.

Mr. Cook stated regarding Frank Farrell’s memo about the increases, is there any way that FEMA can help us with the additional costs. Are we preparing a package of expenses to go to FEMA.

Mr. Griffin stated yes. Margaux and Russ do a fantastic job managing our FEMA claims. Margaux is our resident FEMA expert. Rich will soon be our other resident FEMA expert because that is the kind of thing he does.

Mr. Cook stated can we plug in the additional….

Mr. Griffin stated we will have to ask. They went so far as to tell us to include this last snow storm in our request. We are in the process of seriously modifying what we had originally filed. The original application to FEMA that the County had to get in excess of $344,000.00 to qualify for a FEMA declaration we met. Now over the course of 6 to 8 weeks the claims will be more refined as you start to find more problems. The overtime and fuel is eligible with the snow storm. Rich and Paul Fava have been keeping track of all the fuel being used for the back-up generators. We are waiting for the electric and gas bill from the Recreation Center. My cell phone is going to be very high but I don’t know if that is eligible.

Ms. Cariney stated when will the other members be announced for the Putnam Lake Park Advisory Board.

Mr. Griffin stated once everything is resolved. Right now we want to make sure we have all our ducks in a row legally and then we can go back and revisit the issue of the appointments.

Ms. Cariney stated is that on December 3, 2012.

Mr. Griffin stated on November 28, 2012.

Ms. Cariney stated I meant the signing of turning over the property.

Mr. Griffin stated once the agreement is executed then it is pretty much resolved.

Mr. Rossi stated closing wise I think we have it on December 3 for the transfers.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business, Mr. Cook made a motion to adjourn the Town Board meeting at 8:50 p.m.

Seconded by Mr. Burns. All in favor: Aye. Carried.

Respectfully Submitted,

__________________________

Antoinette Kopeck, Town Clerk