TOWN BOARD MEETING, TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE, SEPTEMBER 17, 2018
The regular meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Mount Hope was held at Town Hall on September 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 Kathleen Myers, Town Clerk.
OFFICIALS PRESENT: Deputy Chief M. Maresca, D. Bavoso –Town Attorney
Supervisor Volpe called the meeting to order at 7:30PM, following the Pledge of Allegiance. He asked for everyone to silence their cell phones.
MOTION TO ACCEPT PRIOR MEETING MINUTES:
MOTION offered Councilman Cambareri 2ndCouncilman Howell to accept the minutes from the Sept. 4, 2018 meeting. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.
CORRESPONDENCE:
- Lazier subdivision road dedication
- 2019 Fire Protection Contract Between the Village of Otisville & the Town of Mount Hope
- 2018-2019 Intermunicipal Agreement for the Control of Snow & Ice on Certain Town Roads with the Town of Wallkill
- (2) Highway dept budget modifications
- Supervisor’s office budget modification
- EZ Pass resolution for approval
- Building dept report for August 2018
- Police dept report for August 2018
- Thank you letter from Otisville Country Fair committee
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
BOARD REPORTS:
COUNCILMAN JENNINGS reported 21 fire calls for the month of August, the overhead doors at the fire house have been completed. The village gave us permission to use their park for the parade. FYI to Diane that he will not be able to attend their meeting on this Thursday because he will be at the town planning board meeting at 6:00pm.
COUNCILMAN CAMBARERI – no report
COUNCILMAN CAREY reported on the smart meters. They should be sending cards out 45 days in advance. He has seen the vans in the Slate Hill area.
COUNCILMAN HOWELL reported the Veterans Day parade will be Nov. 10th. The committee is still finalizing the final draft from the planning company for the comprehensive plan. There’s no progress yet for bringing that back to the public.
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT:
H’way Supt Hassenmayer is away. Supervisor Volpe reported that the tennis and basketball courts paving is done. The striping company is a little back-logged. It may not get done until the end of the month. We received the agreement with the T/O Wallkill, after speaking with Dean today – he is good with that. He updated the board with the progress of the new community center. Dean met with engineer last week. They did specs were done for the outlets. Hopefully, the purchase for the electrical supplies will go through. Once the electric is done, if we’re going to do other wiring like cameras and security system then they will go in then the spray insulation then the sheetrock. The budget modification is in & puts us up to date with everything we’ve done at the community center. He needs executive session for a highway personnel issue.
POLICE DEPARTMENT:
Dep. Chief Maresca reported the School Resource Officer is doing very well. She is a good fit.
.
VILLAGE OF OTISVILLE: No report.
LAZIER SUBDIVISION ROAD DEDICATION:
Supervisor Volpe sees no reason to approve this until Dean gets back. Atty. Bavoso stated that the dedication isn’t going to be accepted until the road is built out but we can signal to the attorney for the applicant that the forms are acceptable.
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2019 BUDGET MEETING:
Supervisor Volpe explained he is having surgery tomorrow and would like to cancel next week’s budget meeting on Sept. 24th and reschedule to another date. After discussion the board agreed on October 2, 2018.
MOTION TO RESCHEDULE 2nd BUDGET MEETING:
MOTION offered Councilman Cambareri 2ndCouncilman Howell to reschedule a budget meeting on October 2, 2018 at 6:00pm at town hall. All in favor – Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.
2019 FIRE PROTECTION CONTRACT BETWEEN THE VILLAGE OF OTISVILLE & THE TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE:
Supervisor Volpe explained the fire protection contract. Atty. Bavoso stated that the only changes to the contract are the dates and the dollar amount. Supervisor: we raised the fire budget by a total of $15,000 and 80% of that will be paid for by the town and 20% by the village and that’s going to go into a new truck account. Every fire department has aging infrastructure and they’ve been able to do it the last 2 years for the same exact price. After talking with the Mayor it could be 5 years from now before a piece of equipment has to be bought & the village’s position would be if & when that happens they’ll bond it out. It would be great to have 30% or 20% of the truck. We came up with the # and ours is $11,000 – the $3,000+/- would be from the village. That money will go in a new created capital account just for that. Councilman Cambareri added that they were able to put some of the reserves into a truck account. Eventually when they do buy a truck and bond it – it’s gonna be part of our deal. Councilman Jennings: do we know how much reserves they have? Supervisor: it’s not the end of their budget year yet. Jennings: do we know how much is in the truck account now? Ms. Loeven will find out Thursday night.
MOTION TO APPROVE THE 2019 FIRE PROTECTION CONTRACT BETWEEN THE VILLAGE OF OTISVILLE & THE TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE:
MOTION offered Councilman Cambareri 2ndCouncilman Howell to authorize the Supervisor to sign the 2019 fire protection contract with the Village of Otisville. (complete copy is on file in the Town Clerk’s office) . All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE THE 2018-2019 INTERMUNICIPAL AGREEMENT FOR THE CONTROL OF SNOW & ICE ON CERTAIN TOWN ROADS WITH THE TOWN OF WALLKILL:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2ndCouncilman Carey to approve the 2018-2019 Intermunicipal Agreement for the Control of Snow & Ice on Certain Town Roads with the Town of Wallkill for $4,800/mile for .92 miles. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried. (complete agreement on file in Town Clerk’s office)
MOTION TO APPROVE THE HIGHWAY DEPT BUDGET MODIFICATIONS:
MOTION offered Councilman Cambareri 2ndCouncilman Jennings to approve the following modifications:
Increase Unclassified Revenue D2770 by $499.99 and increase Machinery Contr DB5130.4 by $499.99 for payment from Travelers Insurance for reimbursement for box truck storage box damage AND
Increase Scrap Metal A/C DB2650 by $219.46 and increase Machinery Equip Contr DB5130.4 by $219.46 for payment from SIMS Metal Management for scrap metal collected. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE THE SUPERVISOR’S OFFICE BUDGET MODIFICATION:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2ndCouncilman Carey to approve the following modification:
Increase Revenue A4098 Other Gov’l Aid (Grants) by $25,888.50 and Increase Expense A1620.4 Buildings Contr by $25,888.50 for DASNY reimbursement. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH NYS THRUWAY AUTHORITY TO SELL E-Z PASS TAGS: (read into record by Town Clerk)
WHEREAS, the Town of Mount Hope Clerk’s Office or any other approved municipal location wishes to retail E-Z Pass Tags through the NYS Thruway Authority’s E-Z Pass On-The-Go Program;
WHEREAS, the Town of Mount Hope Clerk’s Office or any other approved municipal location will purchase E-Z Pass tags for the cost of $21.00 per tag from the Thruway Authority and sell the Tags at a cost of $25.00 per tag, allowing the Town of Mount Hope to keep $4.00 per sale, and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Mount Hope hereby authorizes the Mount Hope Town Clerk’s office or any other approved municipal location to enter into an agreement with the NYS Thruway Authority to sell E-Z Pass Tags provided all legal requirements are complied with.
Moved by: Councilman Howell
Seconded by: Councilman Carey
Ayes: 5 Nayes: 0 Abstentions: 0
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MOTION TO AUDIT THE CLAIMS:
MOTION offered Councilman Cambareri 2nd Councilman Howell to approve the bills for Abstract 20:
GENERAL A: #560-590 $ 56,695.72
GENERAL B: #99-103 $ 4,407.31
HIGHWAY: #133-142 $ 42,255.51
SEWER: #74-79 $ 3,627.15
CAP RES GEN A: #1 $ 40,000.00
All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
Kathie Yedziniak asked when are we getting the EZ Pass. Town Clerk: application has to get sent in&as a part of the process then we get them.She wished the Supervisor good luck with his surgery. She asked about the budget meeting that she was not able to attend and asked for information about it. The Supervisor explained that it was a workshop and all the department heads put down what they’re going to need for the year. The town board discusses whether or not it’s feasible. The town board was given all of that in writing and we’ve discussed it. The next step is at the next meeting we go through it and slice it.
Alison Millerasked for clarification of the new fire truck account that being created. Cambareri: the village is creating it. Miller: we are putting money into it. Cambareri: it’s part of their budget. Miller: correct but don’t we contract fire protection? What if the V/O Otisville at the time that a new fire truck is needed is not our contracted fire service? What if Howells or Pocatello or someone else has a lower bid and we have a fire protection contract with them and we’ve put a whole bunch of money to the village for them to buy a new truck? Supervisor: 1. It’s being ear-marked exactly for that. In the event that our relationship is terminated, it would be clearly marked where the money came from. We’re not putting the cart before the horse but we are being pro-active. Miller: if our contract is terminated, what would happen to that money? Supervisor: if there was no truck purchased, we would try to get the money back. Discussion on what happened in Greenville.
Bavoso: there is an inherent risk if that relationship were to fall apart, but the sums here are much more incremental. Councilman Howell: either way, whether we pay for it now or pay for it later, we gotta pay for it.
Miller: We may not have to pay for it if we don’t have a contract with Otisville. Bavoso: will talk to Howard about this and see what the options are.
Mike Taylor: Is it easier to look at it that the fire protection district costs went up $15,000 and they’re being smart enough to put $11,000 away for a truck down the road? Miller: we’re assuming that we’re going to have a contract with them. Taylor: we pay the contract to them for fire service so if they’re saying our cost for fire service for you guys went up $15,000 – of that $15,000 we’re taking $11,000 & put it in the bank so that when we get a new truck if you guys are the servicing agent (inaudible). Miller: I understand what you’re saying, we’re still assuming.
Diane Loeven:I just wanted to point out what Alison is saying it made it sound like it was a huge amount of money. It’s not like hundreds of thousands of dollars that’s being put away. It’s $11,000 that the town is contributing. The bottom line is, the town contracts for fire service and we provide that service. The village determines how much money is necessary to do that. The village & town have a wonderful relationship in that we actually break down the whole budget and it’s agreed upon beforehand. Many places that is not the case. It’s because of the transparency that it’s making people nervous. The reality is if the contract was done the way it is with a district it wouldn’t even be an issue because the line items are not contractual. Supervisor: it was 100% my idea. That’s how I’ve been able to go all this time without raising taxes. I will have David reach out and see if there’s a separate contract we could write up to show that there’s monies from both municipalities going for a particular reason and in the event that we sever our ways then we get our 80% back & they keep their 20% and that would fix the issue. He would like to see the number a lot more than $15,000.
BOARD COMMENTS:
Councilman Howell stated that the Howells fire district would like to know if we are interested in more property on New Vernon Road. I think 1 acre is a good start if we call that phase II because the current plot is at or near capacity. One acre will give us growing room. If we add an additional acre or 2 we could call it phase III. He asked David to prepare the extension for the resolution to continue the solar moratorium and have it ready for the next meeting. He asked David to look in to the town setting a court fee so if someone goes through the court for example getting a speeding ticket, this way we can get a set amount of money per transaction/person to help cover our cost. David called it a surcharge. Howell: the court loses about $1,000/week so if we can do something to hopefully turn that around; for 4 years or so we’ve had a downward trend. We can do something to turn that around. Supervisor: we’re just looking to break even.
Councilman Carey: we are not a fire district in the aspect that people are being taxed at a certain rate. Supervisor we’re a fire protection district which means yes. David: fire protection is coming out of your normal town taxes.
Councilman Cambareri – no report
Councilman Jennings – no report
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MOTION TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2ndCouncilman Carey to enter into executive session at 8:05pm for a personnel matter regarding the highway department. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO RECONVENE REGULAR MEETING FROM EXECUTIVE SESSION:
MOTION offered by Councilman Cambareri 2ndCouncilman Howell to reconvene regular meeting from executive session at 8:19pm. NO ACTION WAS TAKEN IN THIS EXECUTIVE SESSION. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO ADJOURN MEETING:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2nd Councilman Carey to adjourn the meeting at 8:19pm. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Cambareri, Jennings; carried.
The next meeting is scheduled for October 1, 2018 at 7:30pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen Myers, Town Clerk
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