TOWN BOARD MEETING TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE, DECEMBER 17, 2018

The town board meeting of the Town of Mount Hope Town Board was held at the Mount Hope Town Hall on December 17, 2018 at 7:30pm with the following present: Supervisor Chad Volpe, Councilman Matt Howell, Councilman Brian Carey, Councilman Jim Jennings, Councilman Dominick Cambareri and Town Clerk Kathleen Myers.
OFFICIALS PRESENT: Deputy Police Chief, M. Maresca, Attorney D. Bavoso, Highway Supt., D. Hassenmayer.

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 Cambareri 2nd Councilman Howell that the minutes of the December 3, 2018 meeting are accepted as submitted. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.

CORRESPONDENCE:
1. (3) budget modification amendments
2. Supervisor’s report November 2018
3. Letter from Judge Hosking re: audit of docket & records
4. Letter from Judge Goldsmith re: surplus/destroy battery backup
5. Proclamation for Mount Hope School Choice Week
6. Police Dept. monthly report November 2018
7. Email correspondence from Natalia Dasraj re: CPV

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilman Jennings reported as of Dec. 1st there were 153 library cards issued. 21 fire calls for the month. The village is looking into the use of the Sullivan County dump instead of the Orange County dump. Planning board meets 12/19/18 7pm.
Councilman Cambareri reported there’s a couple of price quotes for some work to be done at the sewer plant in Hidden Valley. One is a back up pump and the other is pipe work.
Councilman Carey reported the Christmas tree lighting on 12/8 had a great turn out. He thanked Santa, Otisville Fire, Howells Fire & Mount Hope Police for the escort coming down the street. Pictures are on facebook.
Councilman Howell – no report.

HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT:
Supt. Hassenmayer reported that the gravel bank mining permit will expire in June 2019. He contacted Clark, Patterson Lee. They’ve done our permits & mapping for years. They sent a proposal for next year; it’s about $14,000 for topo mapping and engineering services. This comes out of Dean’s budget. There’s possibly 10-15 years left of mining out there. This is a 5 yr permit.

MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINING PERMIT FOR THE GRAVEL BANK:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2nd Councilman Carey to approve Clark, Patterson Lee an estimated budget not to exceed $14,000 to renew our NYS DEC mining permit. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.

Supt. Hassenmayer reported they’ve been spending quite a bit of time at the new community center. They have 2 doors to install and windows were delayed. We probably won’t see them until mid-late January. Exhaust fan was put in. Windows are framed out. We could do the spray foam. Last 2 doors are the double doors for the main entrances. One was damaged in shipment. Discussion on doors. Foundations for old bathrooms were removed. We’re ready to move ahead with the slab. Supervisor Volpe explained we have one price from DeVries approx. $33,000. Need 2 more. Councilman Carey: how far out is the contractor that is gonna spray foam? If you call him tomorrow how long would he be? Supt. Hassenmayer doesn’t know. He wished everyone happy holidays. He told Dominick it was a pleasure working with him. Councilman Jennings asked about the dip/bump in the road on Rte 211 up the road. Supt. Hassenmayer will call again tomorrow.

POLICE DEPARTMENT:
Deputy Chief Maresca – no report.

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VILLAGE OF OTISVILLE:
Trustee Loeven spoke re: recycling. Orange County used to take our recyclables from us at no cost. This year – their dumping fees for regular garbage was going up by 25% & mixed recycling used to be free would now cost the village. Sullivan County has a fluctuating fee for recycling but right now it’s $40-some dollars a ton. They will use their site for recycling. They are flexible. She wished everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

AUDIT OF RECEIPT BOOKS:
Councilman Howell & Councilman Carey agreed on Sunday, December 23, 2018 to audit the receipt books. Town Clerk will advise all departments.

USPS RETURNED MAIL:
Supervisor Volpe explained that 1st meeting in November bills were paid. Checks went out. A week and ½ later we started getting calls that people didn’t get their money. Angie called the post office here in Otisville. The next day after the complaint was made to post office, we received every check back with yellow stickers on them saying the address was wrong. Not sure what happened. Complaint was also filed with postmaster general. He wanted everyone to know.

PELLELA ROAD BOND:
Supt. Hassenmayer explained this was actually from 2006-2007 before his reign. They did post a bond. It’s on the supervisor’s report. They walked away from the project. They did some drainage along the road with some piping & catch basins. He and Jason looked at it and felt that the work that was done was fine. We’d like to have ownership. Supervisor Volpe explained that Mr. Pellela came down on Friday with a notarized paper and we reached out to Glen who typed us the proper verbiage and recommended it go through a board meeting. The amount is $39,845.32 to close out their escrow account. Councilman Cambareri clarified with the attorney that this is all okay with him. Attorney stated yes.

MOTION TO APPROVE CLOSING PELLELA ROAD BOND ACCOUNT:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2nd Councilman Carey to close the Pellela bond account and issue a refund in the amount of $39,845.32. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.

MOTION TO SURPLUS & DESTROY BATTERY BACK UP FROM COURT:
MOTION offered Councilman Cambareri 2nd Councilman Jennings to surplus & destroy the following battery backup from the court office:
APC Battery back-up Model #: BN900M/Barcode #4B1801P22066.
All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.

SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK PROCLAMATION:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2nd Councilman Carey to approve the SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK PROCLAMATION as read. See full proclamation at end of these minutes. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.

MOTION TO APPROVE SUPERVISOR’S MONTHLY REPORT:
MOTION offered Councilman Cambareri 2nd Councilman Howell to approve the November 2018 Supervisor’s report as presented. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.

MOTION TO AMEND (3) PRIOR BUDGET MODIFICATIONS:
MOTION offered Councilman Cambareri 2nd Councilman Howell to amend police budget mod from 10-23-18 to read:
Increase Revenue line unclassified A2770 by $170.00 & increase Police Contr. A3120.4 by $170.00
AND amend police budget modification from 11-29-18 to read:
Increase revenue A1520 by $11,760.00 & Increase expense line Police Equip A3120.2 by $11,760.00
AND amend highway budget modification from 10-18-18 to read:
Increase revenue Ref/Garbage B2130 by $885.00 and increase Ref/Garbage B8160.4 by $885.00.
All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.

MOTION TO AUTHORIZE BOARD TO REVIEW BILLS ON DECEMBER 21, 2018:
MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2nd Councilman Howell to authorize the board members to come in to review and the sign the final bills for the year ending 2018 on or about December 21st. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.

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HIGHWAY UNION CONTRACT:
Supervisor Volpe explained some of the language has been changed and they are ready to sign the contract. He thanked Matt & Dean for their input.

MOTION TO APPROVE HIGHWAY UNION CONTRACT EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2019 THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2022:
MOTION offered Councilman Cambareri 2nd Councilman Carey to approve& authorize the Town Supervisor to sign the highway union contract effective January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2022. (Copy on file in Town Clerk’s office.) All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.

FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS:
Supervisor asked if everyone received their packets he left for them. He asked for questions. Councilman Cambareri asked if the community center should be separated from this due to it being a part of the grant. Supervisor: it should probably be separated from it. The police department should be one. Councilman Cambareri believes we should have a couple more quotes on this. Supervisor has not contacted any other companies. Councilman Cambareri: this is an impressive package but thinks it should be tweaked a little. He thinks we need a comparative price. Councilman Carey agrees with separating out the community center.
Councilman Cambareri asked Joel (Vetsch) if this system is widely used. Mr. Vetsch: yes, Frontier actually installs 6 per day. Councilman Howell agrees with Dominick. And he agrees that we need other quotes to compare it to. Councilman Jennings agrees that more quotes are needed. Supervisor Volpe: more quotes & breakdown the price. Councilman Jennings asked if a data closet was allocated for the community center. Supervisor Volpe: yes. Keep in mind some of the prices will come in higher due to new year 2019. Councilman Carey asked if the wiring was looked at in the buildings. Mr. Vetsch: yes.

MOTION TO AUDIT THE CLAIMS:
MOTION offered Councilman Cambareri 2nd Councilman Jennings to approve the following bills (Abstract 27):
GENERAL A: #769-825 $ 94,210.58
GENERAL B: #129-133 $ 14,008.73
HIGHWAY: #195-211 $ 33,380.06
SEWER: #101-104 $ 7,403.92
All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.

8:01pm CONTINUE PUBLIC HEARING FOR PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #1-2019 REPEALING CHAPTER 193 & REPLACING CHAPTER 250 OF THE TOWN CODE OF THE TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE:
Attorney Bavoso explained: the board has to do a motion to re-enter that public hearing, hear if there are any comments from the public, make a decision if you want to close it or keep open to see if written comments in.

MOTION TO OPEN PUBLIC HEARING:
MOTION offered Councilman Cambareri 2nd Councilman Carey to continue/re-open the public hearing at 8:01pm for Proposed Local Law #1-2019 Repealing Chapter 193 & Replacing Chapter 250 of the Town Code of the Town of Mount Hope. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.

Supervisor Volpe asked if anyone from audience had any questions or comments.
Ed Fairweather commented on the following: 1. Page 2 – Why are pigs outlawed and not considered part of Ag.? 2. Page 21 section A – no limit on ag. Vehicles – vehicles are not classified or clarified; maybe it should say ag. equipment. 3. Page 23 – open parking: ag. should be exempt for seasonal events because it states more than 10 parking spots. Porous surfaces are being designed into most new construction – reducing runoff.
4. page 25: organic materials being used for fertilization; he’d like to see fertilization, feed or fuel. 5. Page 41 – ag should be exempt from square footage on temporary/seasonal signs and should be held to the 32 sq. ft. stated elsewhere in the code. 6. Page 50 – the decommissioning of solar farms should be a minimum of 1 year with a max of 3 years. Most of these are controlled by an outside company. The farmer will have little impact on when the operating company will decommission. To obtain bids/contracts does seem feasible in the 3 month stated time frame. 7. Re: conservation easement district – code states a reasonable buffer zone will be established by the planning board. He thinks it should be defined as to what the buffer actually would be. He recommends the buffer include evergreen barrier. The attorney asked him to email the comments to him.
Councilman Howell asked re: project in front of zoning board currently in 2 different zoning districts. Attorney stated the map is updated. That entire lot will be included in the SR-1 zone.
Councilman Jennings – page 21 – 20 ft. commercial vehicles with respect to if the people are moving and it takes longer than 1-2 days. Attorney explained this is more to do with long term. Councilman Jennings asked re: unsafe/condemned buildings. Should it be the engineer or the building inspector? Attorney explained the condemnation process.
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MOTION TO CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING:
MOTION offered Councilman Cambareri 2nd Councilman Howell to close public hearing at 8:11pm and to accept written public comments until January 1, 2019. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.
Attorney Bavoso explained at this point we are waiting on the county comments to come back and that will also give him time to go over the items that were brought up tonight.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
Diane Loeven asked about the new phone system going in and if there’s been discussion about a land line going in the senior center. Supervisor said there could be. She commented on the post office returned mail and when the stickers go on them. Supervisor: they go on in Spring Valley.

BOARD COMMENTS:
Councilman Howell wished everyone Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. He wished Dominick good luck in his future endeavors – it was good working with you.
Councilman Carey wished everyone Merry Christmas. He thanked Otisville Fire for the party on the 15th. He thanked Dominick, he learned a lot from him & wished him luck. He also reported that he won’t hear on the tourism grant until February.
Councilman Jennings wished everyone Happy Holidays. It’s been a pleasure working with Dominick for the last year.
Councilman Cambareri thanked the people in the audience for their participation. When he was elected 5 years ago with Chad & Matt the town was in tough shape. The buildings were dirty and needed maintenance. The prior board lost their way – pursuing their own agenda instead of what’s good for the people of the town. He thanked Paul & Mike for their service to the town. Paul does a great job running the part time department. He thanked Dean. He runs the department with skill and knowledge gained with years of service. He asked him to thank the guys. He thanked Julie in building department for the turn around in the department since she has taken over. He thanked Angie Cangialosi for what she taught him about how the budget works. He thanked the legal team: Bill, David & Glen. He thanked the engineering firm. He thanked the Village of Otisville – they are a valuable working partner with the town. The Otisville fire company provided us with fire protection for 78 years. He thanked Chad and fellow board members. Every decision has been made in public forum. Public has been included in every decision along the way. We’ve had tax decrease the last 5 years. It’s in the best shape now.
Supervisor Volpe spoke re: supervisors report. We’re still on target to have $500,000.00 surplus this year.
To Dominick: he agrees with just about everything he said. It’s been a pleasure. He learned a ton from him. He thanked him for his service.

MOTION TO ADJOURN MEETING:
MOTION offered Councilman Cambareri 2nd Councilman Howell to adjourn the meeting at 8:20pm. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.

The re-organization meeting is scheduled for January 7, 2019 at 7:30pm at Town Hall.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathleen A. Myers, RMC
Town Clerk

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A Proclamation Commemorating Town of Mount Hope School Choice Week

WHEREAS, all children in the Town of Mount Hope should have access to the highest-quality education possible; and,

WHEREAS, the Town of Mount Hope recognizes the important role that an effective education plays in preparing all students in the Town of Mount Hope to be successful adults; and,

WHEREAS, quality education is critically important to the economic vitality of the Town of Mount Hope; and,

WHEREAS, the Town of Mount Hope is home to a multitude of excellent education options from which parents can choose for their children; and,

WHEREAS, educational variety not only helps to diversify our economy, but also enhances the vibrancy of our community; and,

WHEREAS, our area has many high-quality teaching professionals who are committed to educating our children; and,

WHEREAS, School Choice Week is celebrated across the country by millions of students, parents, educators, schools and organizations to raise awareness of the need for effective educational options;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Chad Volpe do hereby recognize January 20-26, 2019 as the TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK, and I call this observance to the attention of all of our citizens.

Dated: December 17, 2018

For the Town Board of the Town of Mount Hope

Kathleen A. Myers, RMC
Town Clerk

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