Town Board Meeting April 4th, 2022

The town board meeting of the Town of Mount Hope Town Board was held at the Mount Hope Town Hall on April 4, 2022 at 7:30pm with the following present: Supervisor Matthew Howell, Councilwoman Amanda Davis, Councilman Jim Jennings, Councilman Chris Furman and Town Clerk Kathleen Myers. NOT PRESENT: Councilman Brian Carey.
OFFICIALS PRESENT: Police Chief P. Rickard, Deputy Chief M. Maresca, Attorney D. Bavoso, Highway Supt. D. Hassenmayer.

Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Supervisor Howell called the meeting to order at 7:30pm.

MOTION TO ACCEPT PRIOR MEETING MINUTES:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Jennings that the minutes of the March 21, 2022 meeting are accepted as submitted. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.

CORRESPONDENCE:
1. Letter of Interest from Jennifer O’Keefe for the planning board vacancy
2. Surplus & destroy lists from various town departments
3. Email from Kevin Egan at Spectrum re: Kohler Road service extension
4. Resignation letter from Michael Taylor, Planning board member, effective March 24, 2022
5. Resignation letter from Barry Moore, Planning Board member, effective March 28, 2022
6. Resignation letter from Arthur Bongiorno, Police officer, effective April 11, 2022
7. Conservation easement with Mountainview III, LLC
8. Letter from Little League re: invite to walk in Little League parade on 4/23/2022 at 11am
9. Letter from HV Water re: flushing of mains on April 19, 2022
10. Email from OCDPW re: Rote 17M being under construction effective April 4, 2022 from New Hampton through to the Route 17 ramp in Goshen
11. Flier for the Summer Youth Police Academy to be held July 11-15, 2022
12. Quote from Jeff Sniffen Construction re: seamless gutters on HV water plant

AT THIS TIME, the Town Clerk stated that she received a call from someone that uses the youth center gym. She wanted to know if it would be okay to leave extra bottled water there in case anyone forgets one. After a brief discussion the board agreed it would be fine.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Supervisor Howell noted that Councilman Carey will not be here tonight but he did have something to report on. The summer concert series – we’re working in conjunction with the T/O New Windsor and hope to have further information at the next board meeting.
Councilwoman Davis: no report.
Councilman Furman noted the quote from Jeff Sniffen Construction for the gutters at the HV water plant.
Councilman Jennings: The town Easter parade will be on April 15 at 2pm. Same route as last year. Otisville & Howells fire departments will be there. Little league has 217 kids signed up so far. Little league parade is April 23 at 11am. There is no rain date for this. Their picture day will be April 19. The village meeting will start at 6:30 this week. There’s a public hearing on the proposed 22-23 budget.

HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT:
Supt. Hassenmayer requested permission to attend Highway school in Ithaca June 6-9, 2022. Registration is $110. Hotel cost will be $442. Councilman Jennings asked Dean if he knew about the netting for the batting cage; little league said they reached out to Dean. Dean stated that he has not heard from them.

POLICE DEPARTMENT:
Chief Rickard reported that the copier that they have at the station has broken down. The repairman said they can’t get parts for it. To replace it with the same machine would be $5,402. The supervisor is going to check with Toshiba on a copier. Chief Rickard acknowledged the resignation from Art Bongiorno. The fax machine broke & there’s no value to that. The Summer Youth Police Academy will start with registration on Wednesday 9-3 and the next 2 Wednesdays. They will put it on their social media and website. He would like it on our website. The flier has a QR code to scan and the applications will come up. They are looking to fill the spots with first with 25 town residents; 30 will be the max. They will also go to BOCES to do their ropes and natural life course. He is working with Brian Monahan (at the school) to see about getting a bus to take them to BOCES and possibly the 911 center. He’d like to have the police awards on May 16 at the board meeting. After brief discussion, they agreed to moving the meeting to the senior center. Notice will have to be made to the newspaper.
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He further mentioned that they are still working on the police reform. Right now, they are working on the wellness program for the officers. The next phase for them will be peer support. He hopes to have the policy on officer wellness and peer support ready for the 5/16 meeting. He met with Senator Skoufis (and Kaminsky from Long Island). They informed the Chief that the bail reform is what’s really holding up the state budget. There will probably be some slight modifications.

VILLAGE OF OTISVILLE:
Trustee Loeven reported they have the public hearing on their budget April 7, 2022. Brian Lattimer officially assumes office today as a new trustee. The re-org meeting will take place on the 21st. She addressed the Police Chief – they’ve had some complaints with parking on Main Street not just overnight parking but parking all day long. Apparently it is some of the tenants that live above the store. Chief: is there a time limit on there? Loeven: there is. Now we have another sign we have to get. We installed signs on either end that say ‘no overnight parking’. Now we have to add that on street parking is only one hour. Chief: once the signs are up, we can enforce it. The owner of Mick’s market is the one complaining. Community Advisory Board (CAB) will not be meeting yet. The federal prison is back on code red.

YOUTH CENTER:
Supervisor Howell reminded the public that 14 years is the age cutoff for the exercise equipment at the gym. We ask that you pick up after yourselves in terms of garbage and the things that you bring in with you – use the trash receptacles or bring them home.

MOTION TO ACCEPT RESIGNATION FROM MICHAEL TAYLOR, PLANNING BOARD MEMBER:
MOITON offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilwoman Davis to accept resignation from Michael Taylor, planning board member effective March 24, 2022. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.

MOTION TO ACCEPT RESIGNATION FROM BARRY MOORE, PLANNING BOARD MEMBER:
MOTION offered Councilman Jennings 2nd Councilman Furman to accept resignation from Barry Moore, planning board member, effective March 28, 2022. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.
(Supervisor Howell added that Mr. Moore has been on the planning board for over 30 years from what we can see. He would like to put together something for him for our next meeting for his years of service to the town and its residents. He will get a certificate made up for him and sent to the house. That’s one of the longest lengths of volunteer service to the town and we thank him for his service.)

MOTION TO ACCEPT RESIGNATION FROM ARTHUR BONGIORNO, POLICE OFFICER:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilwoman Davis to accept resignation from Arthur Bongiorno, police officer effective April 11, 2022. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.

MOTION TO APPROVE SURPLUS AND DESTROY LIST WITH ITEMS FROM VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS:
MOTION offered Councilwoman Davis 2nd Councilman Furman to approve the following to surplus and destroy as the items are no longer working/valuable:
7 DAMAGED SECURTY CAMERAS MODEL # IB6335MV-W
SHARP AR-M162 COPIER
CANON IMAGE CLASS D550 COPIER (FROM PREVIOUS TAX COLLECTOR’S OFFICE)
FRONTIER MODEM MODEL #F2250
HP KEYBOARD MODEL #KUO316
HP TOWER SERIAL #:2UA3291456
CATV CONVERTER MODEL #DNQ5-3
CANON CANOSCAN FB620U
SIRIUS XM SPEAKER MODEL #SXABB1
BOX OF DIRECT TV PARTS
LG CORE QUAD TOWER NO9 00738
ASUS LAPTOP MODEL #X54H (FROM PREVIOUS TAX COLLECTOR OFFICE)
Dell 1350 CNW color printer (building inspector office)
TOSHIBA LAPTOP SATELITTE C855S5350 / SERIAL #:9C1678260
BROTHER INTELLIFAX 2840 – Serial #U63274J3J500153.
All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.

CONSERVATION EASEMENT WITH MOUNTAINVIEW III LLC:
Supervisor Howell explained this is the 1st we’ve seen this item. It’s something we adopted with our comprehensive plan/zoning update. This is a part of the planning board approval process which will deem a portion of the parcel of property ‘forever green’ – it cannot be developed outside of the items specifically listed in the easement. The final page will reflect the legal description for this once it’s put together. It will be inserted once prepared.
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MOTION TO ACCEPT THE CONSERVATION EASEMENT WITH MOUNTAINVIEW III LLC:
MOTION offered Councilwoman Davis 2nd Councilman Furman to accept the conservation easement with Mountainview III LLC subject to approval of “Schedule A”. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.

MOTION TO APPROVE HIGHWAY SUPT. TO ATTEND HIGHWAY SCHOOL:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Jennings to approve the highway superintendent to attend highway school in Ithaca, NY from June 6-9, 2022; registration $110 & hotel $442. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.

MOTION TO AUDIT THE CLAIMS:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilwoman Davis to approve the bills (Abstract #12, #13):
ABSTRACT 12:
GENERAL A: #146-160 $ 82,226.31
GENERAL B: #20-21 $ 5,587.78
HIGHWAY: #57-60 $ 38,227.30
SEWER: #25-28 $ 50,336.30
ABSTRACT 13:
GENERAL A: #161-172 $ 43,634.86
GENERAL B: #22-23 $ 13,160.04
HIGHWAY: #61-62 $ 28,439.30
SEWER: #29-30 $ 3,980.93
All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.

SUMMER CAMP:
Supervisor Howell explained that we’ve been quite diligently advertising for directors and adult staff to run the camp. Probably over 10 interested parties – we’ve received 4 applications. We are looking for 5 based on what we feel the youth attendance would be – the needed amount of adult supervision to run the program & we’ve not reached that as of today. We should not administer the camp. He doesn’t think it should be partially staffed for safety reasons. We will try it again in 2023.

SPECTRUM SERVICE EXTENSION:
Supervisor Howell explained the Spectrum service extension for Kohler Road. We were sent a contract late Friday. He sent it over for David to review. He has a couple of items for us to be made aware of. He asked if the board had any questions. Councilman Furman: just to be clear, this is just for the cable to be run down Kohler Road. The individual homeowner would be responsible to get it to their homes. Supervisor Howell: this would extend from installation locations in between 37 Kohler Road to 98 Kohler Road. It will get the cable service on the road then the individual homeowners – it would be up to them to make the final connections at their residence. He read the attorney’s comments:
-The term of the agreement will last from the date of signing through 90 days until Spectrum receives final payment.
-The total cost will be $35,629 which when we made the initial authorization and funding appropriation on 8-9-2021, the town board at the time authorized $34,000 from the American Rescue Plan funds to be set aside for the installation of the set service extension. The current quote they provided will be an additional $1,629. We have the option to use the 2nd amount of funding or we could – that would be my recommendation being that’s where the bulk of the funding came through. Our next funding from the federal government should come, we’re hoping, summer of this year based on their detail of that.
-We will make 2 payments as the contract outlines; 50% of the payment upon signing the contract & the other 50% within 15 days of written notice of the project activation. It would be a split payment. We’ve got the bulk of it set aside so now hopefully this is a 1-year expectation to have the project completed. That gives us time for the next funding to come in and cover the remaining balance.

MOTION TO ACCEPT SPECTRUM OFFER FOR SERVICE EXTENSION:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Jennings to authorize the supervisor to sign the Spectrum agreement for the Kohler Road extension. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.

DANGEROUS PROPERTY SBL 10-1-46:
Supervisor Howell asked the town clerk if she received any correspondence regarding the dangerous property at 10-1-46? She received no correspondence. There are 5 companies that responded to the demolition ad. The bid opening is April 18, 2022.

SHODDY HOLLOW ROAD PROPERTY:
Supervisor Howell updated everyone that the property we had for sale on Shoddy Hollow Road – the proposed buyer has decided not to purchase the property. It will be put back on the market.

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PUBLIC COMMENT:
Rose Phillips spoke re: resource room at youth center. She still maintains the room as much as she can. She has replaced the toys, games, sensory items and books that have been broken/taken from the room with her own money. As for the chair that was broken – she will be replacing the chair. She thanked the board for all the opportunities they have given her as she will be leaving for college late in the summer. The board thanked her for doing these things.
Diane Loeven asked about the Kohler Road project. Spectrum is anticipating it will take a year to complete this project? Attorney Bavoso: yes. They expect it to be done within a year. Optimistically, he thinks by the end of fall. She asked if the 2nd payment is due prior to your getting the 2nd funding from the federal government, can that money be reprogrammed & then put back in to the town budget so that it’s not holding it up. Supervisor: before I give an answer, I want to look at it because the federal government has quite a few lengthy publications on that. I know right off the bat you cannot use that money to replenish a capital reserve fund.

BOARD COMMENTS: NONE

MOTION TO MOVE MAY 16, 2022 TOWN BOARD MEETING TO SENIOR CENTER ON BAKER STREET:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Jennings to move the meeting place of the town board meeting on May 16, 2022 at 7:30pm from town hall to the Mount Hope Senior Center, Baker Street, Otisville. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.

EASTER PARADE:
Supervisor Howell: we will start advertising on line our Easter parade which is April 15, 2022 at 2:00pm. Keep a look out for the Easter Bunny to come around and visit everybody.

MOTION TO ADJOURN MEETING:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilwoman Davis to adjourn the meeting at 8:05pm. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.

The next meeting is scheduled for April 18, 2022 at 7:30pm at Town Hall.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathleen A. Myers, RMC
Town Clerk

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