TOWN BOARD MEETING TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE, AUGUST 6, 2018
The town board meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Mount Hope was held at the Mount Hope Town Hall on August 6, 2018 at 7:30pm with the following present: Supervisor Chad Volpe, Councilman Matt Howell, Councilman Brian Carey, Councilman Jim Jennings and Town Clerk Kathleen Myers.
NOT PRESENT: Councilman Cambareri
OFFICIALS PRESENT: P. Rickard: Police Chief, M. Maresca: Deputy Police Chief, D. Bavoso: Attorney, D. Hassenmayer: Highway Supt.
Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Supervisor Volpe called the meeting to order at 7:30pm & asked audience to silence cell phones.
MOTION TO ACCEPT PRIOR MEETING MINUTES:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2ndCouncilman Carey that the minutes of the July 16, 2018 meeting are accepted as submitted. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Jennings; carried.
CORRESPONDENCE:
- ZBA resolution re: Steve Hoffman – approved
- July 2018 impound report Palmer’s Ark
- Letter from Rose Phillips re: Gold award project
- Building Inspector reports June & July 2018
- Road closing notice from the County of Orange re: Mount Hope Road (Corwin) bridge
- Letter from EFC re: aeration system summary
- Letter re: Turn the Towns Teal
- Resignation from Stuart Carver effective May 23, 2018
- Mortgage tax receipts from Orange County for June, May, April
- Hidden Valley Water Co: flushing the mains on August 8th
- Letter from Rockland Paramedic Svcs. requesting an endorsement
- Letter from OC Planning Dept. re: Cypress Creek Renewables
- Hold Harmless Agreement signed off July 27, 2018
- Complaint re: 426 New Vernon Road
- Recreation Center fire alarm system bid results from July 25, 2018
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilman Jenningsreported the village is moving along with their projects at the fire house with the doors and the roof. The DCO vehicle is almost ready. It will be in this year’s parade on Saturday. The ZBA approved Mr. Hoffman’s variance. The planning board will be meeting Aug. 15.
Councilman Carey reported the Minisink youth football fundraiser will be Aug. 7 from 6-9pm at Rita’s. Community Day: Otisville Boy Scout Troop 1 did the parking at the event. They collected $1,000 more than last year. The total they collected was $2,253.33.
Councilman Howellreported the comprehensive plan committee is very close to having a draft prepared at the committee level. We have a couple final adjustments to make. At that point once they’re happy with the draft, they’ll bring that to the public. There’s another meeting but he’s unsure of the date. The Veteran’s Day ceremony will be Nov. 10, 2018. There’s a couple more details to work out. They will put out advertising details like last year.
Supervisor Volpereported about the packet he handed out to everyone. The 2ndpage shows the community day expenses and then the 2 pages following that is the income coming in. He stated the net profit is $1,446.42 after all expenses. He has already reached out to Bob Decker to do CPR, First Aid, AED training – he will do 2 in the fall and 2 in the spring. Our proceeds will allow us to have free education for anyone that lives in Mount Hope. He has a date for another NARCAN class. It would be great to get as many people as possible educated on how to use it.
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT:
Supt. Hassenmayer reported the oil/chip is finished for the year. Today they assisted T/O Crawford with a truck. They are ready to stripe the roads. As most of you know Ed VanLeuvan hasn’t been with us since March and he is usually our paint machine expert. We have to break in some new guys this year. It won’t be easy but we’re gonna attempt to do it ourselves. He noted the fundraiser for Ed at the end of the month. It’s August 25 at the senior center from 1-5. Advance ticket sales. The guys have done a lot of work at the pool building. They’re probably gonna get back there tomorrow. They’ve also been mowing the sides of the roads.
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HIGHWAY DEPT. CONT.:
He has a request from his clerk to go to computer training for EXCEL basics class in Middletown October 16 for $79. After reading the brochure, he would like her to go for 2 days the 2ndday is beyond the basics for $128 total for the 2 days. Both classes are in Middletown. He reported on a request he received for a pavilion rental open to the public event fundraiser for a scholarship. LuAnn Lewis is in audience to answer any questions.
LuAnn Lewis explained they will be having a fundraiser for a fine arts scholarship in Adrienne Butvinik’s name and we want it to be open to the community so everyone can attend. We would have a 50/50 raffle. Laura Bendlin added that some of Adrienne’s art work would be raffled off. There will be live bands. They are looking in to food trucks. We have no experience in finding food trucks – they have that to figure out. They are seeking approval from the town to proceed with this. Supervisor Volpe will give a list of some of the food vendors from community day. As far as the use of the pavilion, it is his recommendation that there is no charge. He explained that they would be better off with the food trucks as they will have the board of health approval. The supervisor will give them a copy of the form letter he uses for applications. Mrs. Lewis: The event is on Sept. 29 in the afternoon – rain or shine. They are hoping to have everything pulled together this week as they are both going away. Supervisor asked them to get a flier to them. Supervisor also noted that Dominick is on vacation – that’s why he’s not here today.
POLICE DEPARTMENT:
Chief Rickard reported the County Rte 11 closure/detour has received a tremendous amount of complaints. One person reported that 2 cars drove through his front lawn. There were about 30 tickets written today. The sheriff’s office spoke to him today. They sent a couple deputies for tonight. And then over the next couple days too. He spoke to county DPW supt. who sent an engineer out today and they are looking to move the detour. They did not realize there are bus stops on that road. That will be taken into consideration. Hopefully they will get the detour issue resolved. They will continue with enforcement. People thanked them today. There’s a 12 ton weight limit on the side roads. They spoke with Dick’s concrete. They keep running the trucks through there so they’re gonna re-route them. The yard sale went well. Better than past years in terms of traffic. Savannah Dooley started. Last week was her 1stweek out of the academy. She’s training with Sgt. Briceno then she’ll do other field training. He asked for approval to send Sgt. Briceno to IMPACT training Conference Sept. 16-18. There’s no cost. Supervisor Volpe added that he’s received a lot of positive response for the speed trailer. He asked if the police department is. Chief: yes, a lot of positive feedback. It’s been on Grange because we have gotten probably 50 complaints of speeders with the detour. It will be moving tomorrow. Councilman Jennings asked if it works both directions. Chief: it does not. It is one dimensional. Supervisor Volpe asked with the fair- do we traditionally close down Finchville? Chief: Finchville is closed between Mount Hope Avenue & Mill Pond Road. We allow local traffic to come up to the ball field but the road is closed. That helps us with control of the fair. Supervisor thinks it is a huge issue with the detour. Chief Rickard met with Ed & Sue tonight. They said they made special signs up to assist with the fair dealing with the detour so there will be additional signage out there. He suggested seeing what happens after the 1stnight. Supervisor Volpe is concerned with people trying to navigate the town. Councilman Jennings added that they could go around the parking lot. It’s not like we would make them stop and go all the way around Finchville. We can route then through the parking lot to keep going through. Further discussion ensued for re-routing traffic. Councilman Howell asked where the new detour will be. Chief is not sure. The county DPW has been directed to look at alternatives to the detour. Chief asked H’way Supt. if the town or county can set an emergency or special speed limit without going through the regular state request? The County on their own – changed the weight limit on that road Mill Pond & Grange without the board or H’way Supt. authorization. Can they do the same for a speed limit? Supt. Hassenmayer doesn’t believe you can without going through the state unless it is an emergency situation. Chief: Signs on Mill Pond/Grange are now 12 ton weight limit. That was done by the county. Julie was here last week looking for the record. They just changed it on their own. Councilman Howell asked if – for the 4 days of the fair – if they’re coming from Highland, go up Seybolt, Mountain Road, Homestead, Finchville and out that way and the same way to come around to avoid that whole loop? Could we have signs for the days of the fair? Chief: at this point, to leave as is in place until Monday. We’ve gone through this for 2 weeks. We’ll put on extra officers. The sheriff’s office will send deputies to sit there when they can. We’ve had someone sit on Grange since this has been in effect. Mill Pond gets some – Grange has gotten the worst of it. He suggests doing the best they can until Monday. Councilman Carey stated to Dean that the guard rail looks awesome. Chief: it was great for Little League season as well.
MOTION TO APPROVE HIGHWAY CLERK TO ATTEND COMPUTER TRAINING:
MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2ndCouncilman Howell to authorize Amy Hassenmayer, Highway Clerk, to attend Excel Basics training Oct. 16 & 17thfor $128 in Middletown. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE SGT. BRICENO TO ATTEND IMPACT TRAINING:
MOTION offered by Councilman Jennings 2ndCouncilman Howell to authorize Sgt. Briceno to attend IMPACT training Sept. 16-18 in Saratoga Springs NY. No cost. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Jennings; carried.
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VILLAGE OF OTISVILLE:
Trustee Loeven thanked the Chief & their staff for all their help on Saturday. She noted Officer Dooley – she stood out there in the beating sun all day with a smile on her face, handing our maps to everybody that came along. Several people mentioned what a help she had been. She really understood the goal/concept is that it will be a fun day for people and to bring people into the community that would otherwise not come.
SUMMER RECREATION:
Supervisor Volpe reported we are in final week of program. Double bounce houses this week. They had them today and will again on Friday. He asked Dean if there was availability for pick up from the summer camp. H’way Supt.: yes. Supervisor: I was hoping for Thursday and finish on Friday this week. H’way Supt.: ok. Supervisor: the art director won’t be there Friday so I’d like to have her stuff picked up on Thursday.
MOTION TO ACCEPT RESIGNATION FROM STUART CARVER FROM BOARD OF ASSESSMENT REVIEW:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2ndCouncilman Carey to accept the resignation from Stuart Carver from the Board of Assessment Review effective May 23, 2018. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Jennings; carried.
RESURFACING TENNIS AND BASKETBALL COURTS:
Supervisor noted that Dean is still working on getting prices for resurfacing tennis/basketball courts. Supt.: we had a contractor there last week. He hasn’t received his numbers yet as of today. Like I was telling some of the board members earlier, he is on the Orange County bid so if his numbers look good legally we could use him without getting any other quotes. It’s the same contractor that did the parking lots.
NEWSLETTER:
Supervisor has received some letters not all. Please send them to me within the next week or so.
RECREATION CENTER FIRE ALARM SYSTEM BID RESULTS:
Supervisor reported we had the bid opening for the recreation center fire alarm system. He asked for questions. He noted we are still moving along with – we’ve almost finished up the 1st$100,000.00 grant from Senator Bonacic. Fully executed – on my desk is the $125,000.00 from Aileen Gunther. Simply meaning as soon as we do work we simply send them the bill and we get reimbursed. We are in good shape to move forward and not use any tax payer money on the community center. Because they all met with our engineer and were all given the same specs, my opinion is to go with the lowest bidder, Joseph Warren Electrical for $23,978.00.
RESOLUTION TO ACCEPT BID FROM JOSEPH WARREN ELECTRICAL FOR THERECREATION CENTER FIRE ALARM SYSTEM BID:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2ndCouncilman Carey to accept the bid from Joseph Warren Electrical, bid amount $23,978.00, for the Recreation Center Fire Alarm System bid. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Jennings; carried.
ROSE PHILLIPS LITTLE BOOK BOX LIBRARY AND RESOURCE ROOM:
Supervisor Volpe noted: Rose Phillips is doing another little library out here. She has a lot of books. He told her about the future community center & on the right side will be pretty much for the youth to use, on the left side will be exercise equipment and a 16X18 room which will have a few computers in it with internet and also a small resource center – not a library. It will be what Rose does with these books on a much larger scale. You can take a book/leave a book. She would like to spear-head this and actually go out as her GOLD award project and see if she can get funding and for when we build the room she could possibly furnish it. She’s done great by furnishing the town and village with the little library. She’ll do another one out here. I’ve never met a little girl who likes to read so much and takes so much pride in other people doing it. He would like to take her there for her to visualize it. He will show her in the next month or 2. She did a couple fundraisers on her own last time and he mentioned to her that boy scouts have come several times to his rotary club for their Eagle project. He suggested to her to go to Lions, Rotary, Kiwanis and maybe they would help a little bit.
BUDGET ESTIMATE SHEETS:
Supervisor Volpe stated that the estimate sheets were given out for all of the departments – Kathleen sent them out last week. Next meeting or 2 we will schedule a couple workshops. Once he gets the sheets back, he will schedule some budget workshops.
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MOTION TO AUDIT THE CLAIMS:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2ndCouncilman Carey to approve the following bills (Abstract 16 & 17)):
ABSTRACT 16:
GENERAL A: #442-459 $24,240.92
HIGHWAY: #111 $11,875.50 AND
ABSTRACT 17:
GENERAL A: #460-491 $ 70,523.76
GENERAL B: #85-88 $ 2,629.39
HIGHWAY: #112-114 $208,946.00
SEWER: #61-64 $ 2,613.98
CAP RES GEN B: #6 $ 1,165.00
All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Jennings; carried.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
Mary Maurizzio asked if the board was going to decide on the Finchville Road – re-discuss. Supervisor: yes. He asked the board their thoughts. Councilman Jennings: we put a sign up and if they want to come through we can try it through the parking lot. People go pretty slow through there. Supervisor thinks he’s right but with the detour we’re gonna have people that don’t normally. That’s the only issue. If there wasn’t a detour, there would be no issue. Jennings: I say we see what happens the 1stnight. If we have any complaints, we re-visit it. Councilman Carey: how are we gonna re-visit it – we’re not having a meeting? Councilman Howell asked Jim, if Finchville & Mill Pond where the barricade is there, is that a manned station or a barricade? Jennings: the 1stcouple nights we have a security guard there for a few hours. Howell: maybe that should be permanent for the duration of the fair. Jennings: the first 2 nights there’s someone at both ends. Supervisor: we are gonna deal with people that don’t know the roads. All the local people we’re not gonna have a problem with. Jennings: the detour sign that the county put up points toward Grange. Maurizzio: are the police going to be there on Mount Hope Avenue directing? Chief Rickard: historically – we do not. The fair pays for us so that would be an additional cost. He asked Jim if a map could be passed out by the security people. Jennings: we could create something. Right now there’s nothing made up. Discussion further ensued.
Diane Loeven: we had the same concerns with people with the day of the yard sale. At every detour sign we put a yard sale sign. So that people looking for the yard sale would follow that detour. It would help if you had fair signs at every one of the detour signs. Then I think the people who don’t know their way around, will come in the way you want them to. Councilman Carey: asked if we need a motion for Friday – that you have our support for whatever happens? Atty. Bavoso: You don’t need a motion, it’s just a direction that if the police chief or highway department or other agent of the town deems it necessary to change that route, they’re allowed to do so. Ms. Loeven: asked Kathleen to put the flyer for Adrienne Butvinik fundraiser in the Voice. She noted that at the fair there will be an art raffle – there are more than 24 items. We have a new banner for this. There will be a senior trip on August 16 to Westchester dinner theatre. Also, when you’re dealing with Rose and figuring out what to do we have 100’s of books to consider.
BOARD COMMENTS:
Councilman Jennings:Last Saturday was a great event for the historical society tricky tray. It was a lot of fun. Hope to see everyone at the fair.
Atty. Bavoso: going back to traffic discussion, make sure that you both have the contact information for the organizers of the fair so that if a change needs to be made everybody will know about it.
MOTION TO ADJOURN MEETING:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2ndCouncilman Carey to adjourn the meeting at 8:20pm. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Jennings; carried.
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 20, 2018 at 7:30pm at Town Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen A. Myers, RMC
Town Clerk
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