The regular meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Mount Hope was held at Town Hall on June 15, 2015 at 7:30pm with the following present: Supervisor Chad Volpe, Councilman Matt Howell, Councilman Gary Ketcham, Councilwoman Janet Sutherland, Councilman Dominick Cambareri and Town Clerk Kathleen A. Myers.
OFFICIALS PRESENT: Chief P. Rickard, D. Hassenmayer H’way Supt., Town Atty. D. Bavoso.
Supervisor Volpe called the regular meeting to order at 7:30PM, following the Pledge of Allegiance. He asked for everyone to silence their cell phones.
RESOLUTION TO APPROVE PRIOR MINUTES:
MOTION offered by Councilman Cambareri seconded by Councilman Howell to approve the minutes from the June 1, 2015 meeting as presented. All in favor – Howell, Ketcham, Volpe, Sutherland, Cambareri; carried.
CORRESPONDENCE:
- Insurance bond – tax collector
- MHFC report 6-15-2015
- Hidden Valley Drinking Water report dated 5-28-15/ rec’d 6-2-15
- Mount Hope ZBA resolution re: R. Wilson
- Eagle Scout insurance certificate
- Supervisor’s report May 2015
- Planning Board minutes 5-20-2015
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
POLICE DEPARTMENT by Chief Rickard:
Chief Rickard reported the new car is in service. The old car has over 100,000 miles on it. He would like to surplus it and sell it on the auction site. $3,000 should be a fair price. He stated that the UTV came last week. It will be moved to the barn at the park. The auction starts June 18 through 7-2-2015 and the ATV will be put on there. He would like to go to bid for a pole barn. He received 3 quotes but they vary from $20,000-$34,000. He requested executive session on police personnel. He requested approval to attend the IACP conference in Chicago Oct. 24-29.
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT by Supt. Hassenmayer:
Supt. Hassenmayer reported that fiber mat was done last week. They have to do nova chip on Shoddy Hollow Road. We have oil/chip to do on Carboy Road & Schoolhouse Road. All used equipment was put on auction site from 6-18-15 thru 7-2-15. He will have answers at next board meeting. Supervisor Volpe thanked him for the senior center parking lot. Dean added that it is temporary striping so people can use it. He wants to re-claim the old parking lot. Supervisor Volpe thanked them all and he added that he, Dean & Julie went to the emergency meeting at the county today. This will require a lot of work to make sure we have our plan in place. All the money from FEMA goes to the state then from the state to the county. If we are not a part of the mitigation plan then we won’t get any money. The county will have their plan and we’ll be annexed to it. Trouble spots with flooding that we have had or that we anticipate having an issue with, these are the things that need to go on our plan.
PLANNING BOARD:
Councilman Ketcham stated the meeting is Wednesday. The workshop for the solar panels went well. After the next meeting they will have the workshop for the wind power.
HIDDEN VALLEY: No report.
LITTLE LEAGUE:
Councilwoman Sutherland stated that the picnic and year end ceremony was postponed due to conflict with the pavilion. All Star tryouts start on the 29th.
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MOUNT HOPE FIRE:
Chief Doty read report. Report will be on file in clerk’s office.
SUMMER RECREATION:
Trustee Loeven stated there is a brief directors meeting tomorrow. Everything should be wrapped up at that meeting. She spoke with Officer Decker re: CPR training. She is waiting on some dates from him. Chief will contact him.
DIRECT ENERGY:
Supervisor Volpe asked the board members if they were okay with the changes made to the agreement. They were all in agreement with changes made.
RESOLUTION TO SIGN DIRECT ENERGY AGREEMENT:
MOTION offered by Councilman Ketcham 2nd by Councilman Howell to authorize the Supervisor to sign the agreement with Direct Energy. All in favor: Howell, Ketcham, Volpe, Sutherland, Cambareri; carried.
RESOLUTION TO APPROVE THE SUPERVISOR’S REPORT:
MOTION offered by Councilman Cambareri seconded by Councilman Howell to approve the Supervisor’s report for May 2015 as presented. All in favor: Howell, Ketcham, Volpe, Sutherland, Cambareri; carried.
FIRE DISTRICT REFUND:
Supervisor Volpe explained as of last meeting the town received a check from the Mount Hope Fire District which was dissolved. The simplest task would have been to apply that next year to next year’s budget for the fire protection which would obviously offset the taxes. To give an example: if the fire contract was $325,000 we have a $50,000 credit then the residents in the district would have been taxed $275,000. That would be the simplest thing. After talking to David, Kelli (our accountant) and the Comptroller’s office – what happens is we had just applied for all the residents, because we stayed within the tax cap this year, we received a refund from the state. If we apply the $50,000+ to next year’s budget – we will be fine for 2016. In 2017 when we don’t have the $50,000 to offset it, it will show an increase for like 20% which means every resident would not get a refund. That said,.. we already got a list from the county from what everyone paid. We will minus what was paid to dissolve it (stamps, envelopes, paper) and the rest will be divided out in checks to the residents of that district.
RESOLUTION TO APPROVE TAX COLLECTOR BOND:
MOTION offered by Councilman Ketcham 2nd by Councilman Howell to approve the Fidelity Bond for the Tax Collector – original to be sent to County Clerk (copy on file in Town Clerk’s office). All in favor: Howell, Ketcham, Volpe, Sutherland, Cambareri; carried.
RESOLUTION TO SURPLUS 2010 CROWN VICTORIA:
MOTION offered by Councilman Howell seconded by Councilwoman Sutherland to surplus the 2010 Ford Crown Victoria VIN#2FABP7BV3AX141191 and sell to Village of Otisville. All in favor: Howell, Ketcham, Volpe, Sutherland, Cambareri; carried.
RESOLUTION TO ALLOW POLICE CHIEF TO GO TO BID FOR A POLE BARN:
MOTION offered by Councilwoman Sutherland seconded by Councilman Ketcham to allow the Police Chief to go to bid for a pole barn (40’X52’) pending the final specs. All in favor: Howell, Ketcham, Volpe, Sutherland, Cambareri; carried.
RESOLUTION FOR POLICE CHIEF TO ATTEND CHIEF’S CONFERENCE IN CHICAGO:
MOTION offered by Councilwoman Sutherland 2nd by Councilman Ketcham to authorize the Police Chief, Paul Rickard to attend the Police Chief’s conference in Chicago from October 24th through 29th, 2015. All in favor: Howell, Ketcham, Volpe, Sutherland, Cambareri; carried.
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RESOLUTION TO AUDIT THE CLAIMS:
MOTION offered by Councilman Cambareri seconded by Councilman Ketcham to approve the following bills:
GENERAL A:#276-316$ 59,258.94
GENERAL B:#41-44$ 4,152.42
HIGHWAY:#92-95$ 34,568.75
SEWER:#45-50$ 11,172.75
CAP RES GEN A: #10-11$ 12,818.02
MOUNT HOPE FIRE: #3$ 490.00.
All in favor: Howell, Ketcham, Volpe, Sutherland, Cambareri; carried.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
- Dodd: The Mount Hope Fire Company would like to lease some land from the Town of Mount Hope where the old Bilinski homestead was. There’s 13 acres over there. Some of it is wetlands. Some is not buildable. We’d like to lease some land. Not looking for an answer this evening. Supervisor Volpe asked the attorney because it’s listed as parkland what is the procedure? Atty. Bavoso: no matter what, you can submit a request in writing to the board as to what you want to do as a proposal. L. Dodd: so what I am saying here this evening doesn’t matter this month? Atty. Bavoso: it can but if you put something in writing it’s easier to have for the Town Board of record what you’re requesting. L. Dodd: would like the minutes to reflect what I’ve said and my request. Supervisor Volpe: Is there an issue because it’s listed as parkland? Atty. Bavoso: I think there is. Unless it’s gonna be used for a park purpose it’s gonna be tough. That’s why I want something in writing to state exact location. L. Dodd: So the Town of Mount Hope can’t lease the land other than park purpose? Atty. Bavoso: if it’s dedicated as parkland then yes; which is what that is. L. Dodd: would like the minutes to reflect that, too. There’s other buildings being built on parkland. Councilman Howell asked what the proposed use for the leased land? L. Dodd: Like to put up a fire house to serve the community. As of right now we are up to almost 700 calls. L. Dodd: Gave copies of Article 78 to board. This weekend, Matt Wood, who is part of Otisville Fire Company; he’s scared of what he (Lou) is going to do to him. This is the court orders of the article 78. The Judge ruled that what they did to us was arbitrary and capricious. The Judge rules we are back in the Otisville Fire Company, the ones on this lawsuit. The Judge ruled that how they threw us out was arbitrary & capricious. They have so many days to bring a hearing, the board of directors, to file charges against us again and toss this out from what we’ve earned. Matt Wood is under assumption that he’s (Lou) after him for $75,000 personally. We have never sued for money. The Otisville Fire Company, the counter claim, which isn’t what the Judge ruled on, they’re suing us for $50,000 apiece. We are not suing anyone for any cash. He presented the legal documents that he received from his attorney from Honorable Jane Slobod to the Town of Mount Hope so that if you folks get asked these questions, you have the facts. He called Matt and talked to him. (Attorney asked Town Clerk to make copies for him.)
- Loeven: She reminded the board that the Hometown Helpers Volunteer Recognition luncheon is this Wednesday. Also, (to Dean) there is a 3 day trip coming up July 7-9. Not too many going. Supt. Hassenmayer suggested if they would want to park inside the gate he would make arrangements for that. She will stop down and see him.
- Prisco: asked about the status of the old school and is the board going to consider the recommendations of the committee? Supervisor Volpe: has never received anything from them. Councilman Cambareri: the committee met right before this meeting. They have a list of questions to be submitted to the engineers to be answered. He will drop that set of questions off to them and will meet them one more time to answer those questions.
- Dodd: he spoke of the children wanting to go to summer rec. Are those kids spoken about earlier going? Sutherland: no. Mr. Dodd: Can any organization step up and take care of things needing to be taken care of there? Ms. Loeven: yes. This particular person was not a resident of Otisville and that was the reason they didn’t get anything from the Lions club.
BOARD COMMENTS:
Councilwoman Sutherland: Asked what the criteria for the scholarship for the summer recreation program. She was approached by a couple people on the baseball field, with the new money which came from the Rotary. The way it was explained to her was it was originally $250. When she talked with Chad about it he said it was $500. There’s 1 family in particular that really could have used that money. This family was not considered due to standards/criteria.
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BOARD COMMENTS CONTINUED:
The individual that received the money who was never registered and received a phone call saying she received the money. Ms. Loeven: that’s not true. Councilwoman Sutherland: what’s the criteria, since the Rotary is new now, in giving money, how this was determined. It’s her understanding that there was $500, & what’s the criteria for the other $250? She works with families who cannot afford to have their kids go. She knows the Lions and Kiwanis require letters. The woman is going around the baseball field saying she got a call that she’s getting money from the Rotary and didn’t ask for it. Ms. Loeven: you said there was a family that was desperate and did not get a scholarship. I have no idea who that is. There was one family who had requested a scholarship. They were turned down by the Lions. They went to the Rotary and they were the 1st persons she contacted offering the money. However, they were not able to do it unless we could cover all of it. When the Rotary gave them money the stipulation was the scholarship is not given for individuals. It’s given to the program in general. The entire $500 could not be given to one individual. That’s part of what I think you are saying. Half was as good as we could offer. Dominick and I talked about this, nobody else was approached until she said no I can’t do it. Sutherland: what was the criteria? Loeven: because the Rotary said it was not be used for one individual; it was to be divided among the program. Sutherland: (to Chad) I thought you had said when the Rotary gave the money it was given to the rec program to determine who got it. Supervisor Volpe: correct; when the Rotary gave the money, the lady that had written the letter wrote for $1,000 but the Rotary year had already closed. Our year starts July 1st with a new president. Our budget was already done. We couldn’t do $1,000. The club didn’t want to give to one person. We don’t know if they’re telling the truth. The Rotary thought the safest thing to do was the people that were there are at registration should be able to decide who was needy. The Rotary doesn’t just do Otisville or Mount Hope. It wasn’t fair to give to them and then find out maybe it wasn’t a hardship. We gave the money to the village and we were done. Sutherland: the discrepancy is that this woman who received the $250 wasn’t registered. Loeven: That wasn’t true. The reason that was decided to break it down was because the Rotary said we don’t give to individual people; we give to the program. We offered her half of it right up front. When she got back to me she said they couldn’t do it. Sutherland: She actually put a dollar amount in that letter? Loeven: yes. Now we have $500 to divvy up accordingly. The other thing the Rotary said was, if you have someone that wants to register & can’t come up with the money that would be a criteria for offering them assistance. So we did have 1 family, I guess it’s the 1 you’re talking about, who applied during registration who asked that we take post-dated check. We don’t do that. And she said I’ll have to take the application back for now. She came back again during late registration wanted to re-apply. We went through the whole thing and set a date to meet me and the date came, I called to verify she was coming and she said she didn’t think she could have the money. I (Diane) told her that just yesterday the Rotary gave us money to be divided up among people might need it and you would be able to get half…plus the late fee. It wasn’t that she never applied. She applied twice and took the application back. Sutherland: Just so you know that’s not what’s being said out there. If the Rotary is going to be doing this every year maybe the Rotary should ask for a letter of hardship. That’s where church and school gets involved. Loeven: as you know, the commissioners got out of that business several years back. It should be the organization making the decision. It really needs to be the organizations involvement. Sutherland: so the director and the nurse were part of the decision as well? Loeven: The director, Dominick and myself. Sutherland: so Mrs. Emanuele was a part of this. Loeven: absolutely.
Councilman Cambareri: to go along with the seniors, the plumbing was repaired over the weekend. The 2 doors work now but have to call a lock smith. They were actually broken. I have to see about repairing the panic hardware and rekeying.
Supervisor Volpe: He and Paul are working on hooking up 911 with the proper information so that I don’t get the 4:30am calls from the building inspector. That should be taken care of ASAP. Paul will get it taken care of when he receives the numbers. Councilwoman Sutherland asked if Al ever find out about the homes being numbered on Annie’s Way? Is there a way to notify the community that they really need to have their homes numbered? Volpe: he received the law but won’t see him (Al) again until Wednesday night. Ms. Loeven: suggested to put in the Otisville Mount Hope Voice.
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RESOLUTION TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION:
MOTION offered by Councilwoman Sutherland 2nd by Councilman Howell to enter into executive session at 8:15pm to discuss police personnel. All in favor: Howell, Ketcham, Volpe, Sutherland, Cambareri; carried.
RESOLUTION TO RECONVENE REGULAR MEETING:
MOTION offered by Councilwoman Sutherland 2nd by Councilman Ketcham to reconvene regular meeting at 8:24PM from executive session. NO ACTION WAS TAKEN AT THIS EXECUTIVE SESSION. All in favor: Howell, Ketcham, Volpe, Sutherland, Cambareri; carried.
RESOLUTION TO HIRE NICK IANUZZI AS A POLICE OFFICER:
MOTION offered by Councilman Cambareri 2nd by Councilman Ketcham to hire Nick Ianuzzi as a part time non-competitive police officer pending his background check as of July 1st. All in favor: Howell, Ketcham, Volpe, Sutherland, Cambareri; carried.
RESOLUTION TO ADJOURN MEETING:
MOTION offered by Councilwoman Sutherland seconded by Councilman Howell to adjourn the meeting at 8:27pm. All in favor: Howell, Ketcham, Volpe, Sutherland, Cambareri; carried.
The next meeting is scheduled for July 6, 2015 at 7:30pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen A. Myers
Town Clerk
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