The regular meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Mount Hope was held at Town Hall on Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 7:30pm with the following present: Supervisor Chad Volpe, Councilman Matt Howell, Councilman Brian Carey, Councilman Dominick Cambareri and Town Clerk Kathleen Myers. Not Present: Councilwoman Janet Sutherland.
OFFICIALS PRESENT: Chief Rickard, H’way Supt. Hassenmayer, Attorney D. Bavoso.
Following the Pledge of Allegiance Supervisor Volpe called the meeting to order at 7:30PM. It was noted that the change of meeting notice was available at the front desk. He asked for cell phones to be silenced.
MOTION TO ACCEPT PRIOR MINUTES:
MOTION offered by Councilman Cambareri 2nd by Councilman Howell to accept the minutes from April 17, 2017 as written. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri; carried.
CORRESPONDENCE:
1. Highway department budget modification
2. Roof quote from Garland/DBS Inc.
3. Letter from O&R re: Dig Safely
4. Letter from O&R re: Street lighting options
5. Community Advisory Board minutes April 18, 2017
6. Letter from NYS Ag & Mkts re: dog control inspection report/satisfactory
7. Complaint re: 2279 Mount Hope Road
8. Letter from Office of Comm. Dev. Re: CDBG grants 2018/2019/2020
9. Roeder’s Ark impound report April 2017
10. Highway dept. trash report April 2017
11. Building dept. report Feb. 2017
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
SUPERVISOR VOLPE GAVE COUNCILWOMAN SUTHERLAND’S REPORT (She was unable to attend): She attended the ZBA meeting. They are ok with meetings being videotaped. She went to planning board meeting. They do not want meetings taped. She also received a complaint re: corner of Carboy & Otis Roads and people dumping there. She has 3 prices for fencing for the dog park. We’ll wait until she comes back in case anyone has questions.
COUNCILMAN HOWELL: Master plan committee will meet May 18 at 5pm @ town hall. He is starting on the veteran’s day ceremony.
COUNCILMAN CAREY: He asked if the planning board can make the decision to not tape meetings. Atty. Bavoso: yes. Carey: can it be over-ruled by the town board? Atty: no. It is up to that board as an agency to determine how their meetings are going to be recorded and how minutes are kept. There’s nothing that can require them to be filmed. Just like the town board doesn’t require filming. As long as they keep accurate recording of meeting (minutes) they are covered under the open meetings law. Councilman Carey spoke re: Summer rec: early registration is over as of 5/2/17. Now there will be a fee if the parents decide to sign their kids up for summer camp. Counselor applications are due to the supervisor’s office by May 5. Little League opening day was April 23 due to weather. Football meeting for 5/3 was cancelled. He reached out to Devan’s Gate but there was no answer. Facebook page is going great. Community day food vendors are at 14 or 15. Supervisor would like to cut off the food vendors. He wants it to be profitable for everyone that’s there. Mr. Carey stated he has a personal issue and will excuse himself from meeting at 8:30pm. Supervisor Volpe added that he was able to secure the fire trailer simulator for community day; it will require a resolution. Kids can go in and learn what to do if there is a fire in their home. Councilman Howell asked if it comes with personnel to operate it. Supervisor stated no. The village has a meeting tonight. He sent over a letter to them asking if Otisville could man it. They may need some assistance from Howells. We also have a fire truck exhibit that day.
COUNCILMAN CAMBARERI added to summer rec. There are a lot of people registered already. The program has expanded the hours to after/before hours. The directors have met and started on their curriculum. There is still open registration. There are 7 returning counselors. They have 8-9 more looking to be counselors. Sewer plant: will be getting a final report fairly soon.
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SUPERVISOR VOLPE added that they already had 12 credit card payments for the summer recreation program. He spoke re: Orange & Rockland will be putting meters on everyone’s houses. They are hoping to start within 60 days. This for electronic meter reading so that no one has to come to your house to read your meter. They are about ¾ done with Rockland County. They will transition to Orange County. There will be different contractors involved in this. Brian will go to this meeting regarding the meters in the supervisor’s place.
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT:
Supt. Hassenmayer informed the board that the CHIPS funding for this year will be $121,120 up from $85,650. The money will be paid in 2 different ways: PAVE NY & Extreme winter monies. He would like to re-hire Joey Musial, Logan Crance & Colin Scott for the summer help at $10/hour. He will have more names for the nest meeting. Spring clean-up was busy. We filled 19 pallets of electronics, 5 dumpsters of metal, 19 garbage dumpsters. Trash report shows monies collected for different items. The guys have been cleaning ditches, cutting shoulders. Next week they’ll start Hidden Valley to prepare it to be re-paved. Next Wednesday will start a fiber-mat process out there; paving will follow. He received a request for a pavilion rental for a public use. That person is here to speak to you tonight.
MOTION TO HIRE SUMMER HELP FOR HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT:
MOTION offered by Councilman Cambareri 2nd by Councilman Howell to approve highway supt. to hire Colin Scott, Joey Musial & Logan Crance for summer help for the highway department at $10/hour. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri; carried.
MOON FESTIVAL:
Viviana Galli requested to rent the large pavilion at the park for a whole weekend from Sept. 15-17 for the Moon Festival. They are expecting more people than last year. They have the liability insurance and food vendors among other things. Supervisor asked if the event is one day or 3. Galli: it’s one day. They need Friday for set up, Saturday is the event & Sunday would be the rain date. Supervisor asked board if they had questions. He will set up a meeting between himself, Ms. Galli & police. Galli: they will take care of the garbage. Supervisor asked if they will use the boy scouts for parking. Galli: that’s still in talks. Councilman Carey asked if she heard about the community day and if they would be interested in having something there. Galli: They are interested.
MOTION TO APPROVE MOON FESTIVAL PERMIT FOR SEPT. 15 – SEPT. 17, 2017:
MOTION offered by Councilman Cambareri 2nd by Councilman Howell to approve the Moon Festival using the park from Sept. 15-17, 2017 pending insurance and all requirements of the board are met. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri; carried.
(Councilman Carey asked if they set up on Friday, will they have someone staying overnight at the park to monitor. Galli: yes.)
OTISVILLE FIRE:
Supervisor noted that everyone should have received the report. It was for March 2017.
POLICE DEPARTMENT by Chief Rickard:
Chief Rickard reported: need a resolution from the board authorizing the Chief to sign the agreement with Orange County to use the OC fire safety trailer; the term of agreement to commence on 7-1-17 thru 7-31-17. We have to pick it up. Hopefully the firemen agree to staff it. There’s a training day that whoever runs it will be the person. We are also responsible for the cost of the items used in the trailer. Atty. Bavoso: make sure you understand that you’re providing the liability insurance coverage for that month. Chief: this is a standard contract. Atty. Bavoso suggested changing it to one day. Councilman Cambareri suggested changing the contract to one week because we probably have to pick it up a couple days in advance. Chief will check with them.
MOTION TO APPROVE O.C. FIRE SAFETY TRAILER:
MOTION offered by Councilman Carey 2nd by Councilman Howell to approve the contract pending narrowing down the time to one week. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri; carried.
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POLICE DEPARTMENT cont.:
Chief Rickard requested authorization to sign a lease agreement with NYCOMCO for radios from May 1, 2017 through April 30, 2018. This is a continuation of police radios through NYCOMCO. They didn’t raise their rates. It’s $1,205. He reminded the board that the police awards will be at the next meeting. He spoke of the police protective grant – a grant that Orange County submitted for the police agencies thru NYS homeland security grant/school safety grant. Mount Hope, everything was pro-rated – our allotment was: 4 ballistic helmets, 4 ballistic vests & 1 rifle. Those items were ordered. Chief spoke re: arraignments update. The meeting with Judge Scheinkman happened. In 45 days he’s putting this new plan into effect. Orange County will be the test county.
Under the current law he is allowed to designate town/village justices to be acting city court judges. They’re going to create 3 regional courts in the 3 cities. He is then going to designate town/village judges to be city court judges for the open times which will be each evening between 6pm & midnight. Between those hours we’ll be required to bring our defendants to one of the cities. Port Jervis will probably be the easiest in terms of volume. One problem we might run into is if there’s an arrest ie: 10:00pm we will then be responsible for sitting with this person until 9am when one of the city courts open up. They recommended doing an inter-municipal agreement with one of the cities to lodge our prisoners. We have to explore this. He requested executive session for a personnel issue.
MOTION TO APPROVE LEASE AGREEMENT WITH NYCOMCO:
MOTION offered by Councilman Cambareri 2nd by Councilman Howell to approve the lease agreement with NYCOMCO for $1,205/month from May 1, 2017 thru April 30, 2018. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri; carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE SIGNING CONTRACT FOR COUNTY FIRE TRAILER:
MOTION offered by Councilman Howell 2nd by Councilman Carey to authorize Chief Rickard to sign the contract with the county for the use of the fire trailer. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri; carried.
VILLAGE OF OTISVILLE:
Supervisor stated that Diane emailed him before our meeting. The village has their meeting tonight. He noted that he emailed her requesting use of their light tower for community day and requesting their garbage truck with an operator for community day & requesting that the fire company man the fire trailer.
F.O.T.O.S.:
Supervisor is happy that the vote went this way and happy with the turn out. He asked the attorney for the next step. Atty. Bavoso stated he has been in touch with the buyer’s attorney. They are drafting the documents. They should be ready for Monday/Tuesday. He recommends the board to authorize the supervisor to sign the documents on behalf of the town.
MOTION TO APPROVE SUPERVISOR TO SIGN CONTRACT/GO TO CLOSING FOR FOTOS:
MOTION offered by Councilman Cambareri 2nd by Councilman Carey to allow Supervisor Volpe to sign appropriate documentation at the closing to turn over title to the FOTOS. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri; carried.
ROOF QUOTE – GARLAND INC.:
Supervisor explained estimated cost to be $65,000.00. He would like to authorize the purchase of materials needed for this project, and for us to do the work ourselves and to have the company engineer oversee our work. Supt. Hassenmayer explained the material on the roof is in good shape – it’s the seams that are coming unglued.
MOTION TO ENTER INTO CONTRACT WITH GARLAND INC. FOR THE TOWN HALL ROOF REPAIRS:
MOTION offered by Councilman Carey 2nd by Councilman Howell to use the Garland Inc. for the roof repairs not to exceed $70,000.00 for labor and materials. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri; carried.
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MOTION TO APPROVE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT BUDGET MODIFICATION:
MOTION offered by Councilman Howell 2nd by Councilman Cambareri to approve the budget modification for the highway department as follows:
Increase Unclassified Revenue D2770 by $414.91 & Increase Machinery Equip. C/E DB5130.4 by $414.91.
All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri; carried.
MOTION TO SURPLUS POLICE VEHICLE AND PUT ON AUCTION SITE:
MOTION offered by Councilman Howell 2nd by Councilman Cambareri to surplus the Crown Vic 2008 (Car #659) and put it in the auction site. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri; carried.
RESOLUTION TO AUDIT THE CLAIMS:
MOTION offered by Councilman Cambareri 2nd by Councilman Howell to approve the following bills:
GENERAL A: #222-256 $ 58,370.54
GENERAL B: #32-35 $ 1,786.28
HIGHWAY: #66-72 $ 34,567.61
SEWER: #32-36 $ 5,577.85
CAP RES GEN B: #6 $ 6,640.00.
All in favor: Howell (abstained from voucher #223 in General A), Carey, Volpe, Cambareri; carried.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
Gary Benedict spoke re: garbage/litter on the corner of Carboy Road & Otis Road. He spoke to building inspector several times a couple months ago & last year. Nothing has been done. She said she had a problem getting in touch with the owner of the property. He has pictures. He wants to sell his house and it’s not advantageous to selling his home. He spoke re: community day & wreaths across America. He would like to set up a table. Supervisor stated the forms are on the table in the hallway. He asked Mr. Benedict who owns the property in question. Benedict does not know. He has previously filled out complaint forms. Supt. Hassenmayer added that Julie has spoken with him also. Highway dept may have to clean it up because she hasn’t had luck in getting in touch with the owner. If they clean it up, the cost could be added to the taxes. Atty. Bavoso stated this is possible under the unsafe building. He will look into the code.
Jerry Cook spoke re: conservation board & longevity/membership. It grows, it shrinks. He asked for the name of the hydrogeologist. Supervisor would like for the hydrogeologist to come to a board meeting.
Mary Maurizzio congratulated FOTOS committee. She asked who is insuring the old school. Supervisor/Atty.: we won’t own it anymore. Their responsibility. She asked who town liaison was for planning board and ZBA for 2016. Supervisor: Matt was ZBA and Janet was for planning board. She asked how many ZBA meetings Matt recalled attending. Councilman Howell believed there was 3 meetings. He spoke with the chairman before & after the meetings.
Chris Furman agrees with videotaping meetings. Councilman Carey added he would like to get a meter put on webpage. Supervisor stated it’s there. It was discussed that Monroe, Wallkill & Middletown also tape meetings. Supervisor added: it’s being transparent. It’s a bedroom community. Councilman Carey suggested Mr. Furman go to planning board meeting to express his opinion.
Jerry Cook asked the name of the hydrogeologist. Councilman Howell stated that KC Engineers are working with Hansen & VanVleet.
Frank Ketcham stated that he was at planning board meeting and their concern is who would operate the camera/tapes in & out. Councilman Carey stated there are no longer tapes. All you do is press one button for on/off. Ketcham thanked the board on behalf of FOTOS and himself for giving the people the opportunity to vote for the 3rd time to keep the school. He thanked the citizens that came out to vote. This is to become a community center for everyone. A lot of the program will be volunteerism & donated things. Anyone willing to come along and help will be welcomed.
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RESOLUTION TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION:
MOTION offered by Councilman Cambareri 2nd by Councilman Howell to enter into executive session at 8:25pm for a particular police personnel matter. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri; carried.
(Councilman Carey left at 8:40pm)
RESOLUTION TO RECONVENE REGULAR MEETING FROM EXECUTIVE SESSION:
MOTION offered by Councilman Howell 2nd by Councilman Cambareri to reconvene regular meeting from executive session at 8:55pm. NO ACTION WAS TAKEN IN THIS EXECUTIVE SESSION. All in favor: Howell, Volpe, Cambareri; carried.
BOARD COMMENTS:
Councilman Cambareri is happy with results of the school. It’s a win-win for you guys and the taxpayers.
RESOLUTION TO ADJOURN MEETING:
MOTION offered by Councilman Cambareri 2nd by Councilman Howell to adjourn the meeting at 8:55pm. All in favor: Howell, Volpe, Cambareri; carried.
The next meeting is May 15, 2017 at 7:30pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen A. Myers RMC Town Clerk
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