Town Board Meeting February 22nd, 2022
OFFICIALS PRESENT: Deputy Police Chief Maresca & Attorney D. Bavoso.
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 February 7, 2022 meeting are accepted as submitted. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.
CORRESPONDENCE:
1. Request from Lions Club to use pavilion for egg hunt on April 2, 2022 (rain date April 3rd) & waive fees
2. Official undertaking resolution
3. Request from town clerk to attend conference in April
4. Request from Lions Club to use pavilion for fair and waive fees
5. Supervisor’s report January 2022
6. Letter from Assessor re: Forest Hills subdivision/money in lieu of parklands
7. Palmer’s Ark January impound report
8. Net quotes for town park
9. New bond received from Atlantic Specialty Ins. Co. for Howell Solar
10. Bid results for HVAC bid on 2-22-2022
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilman Jennings: village held their meeting last week. They had a public hearing for their Spectrum agreement which they approved. The next village meeting is March 3, 2022 at 7pm. Total fire calls for 2021 for Otisville was 296 calls : 187 was medical / 109 were fire. Dean’s guys were supposed to go pick up the generator. Mike Romano reached out to him that the youth center will need to be closed for a couple days in April or May to do some installation with the generator. Easter egg hunt will be April 2 with rain date of April 3.
Councilman Furman: no ZBA this month. HV sewer – last week we had a power outage. It was back within a couple hours. He appreciates all that Mike Brock does there. Football meeting on March 5 and he will attend. DCO has the vehicle and has been in contact with himself & Matt. He ordered stickers for the car to get lettered.
Councilwoman Davis: planning board has 2 public hearings March 16: one for a 3 lot subdivision and a 2 lot subdivision.
Supervisor Howell: DCO recommends we have a backup for shelter of dogs. Primary is Middletown Humane Society. They are in discussion with Pets Alive on Derby Road. He received a notification from the US Census Bureau for a boundary & annexation survey which he completed. This verifies our municipal boundaries. Last meeting, we had technical difficulty with recording and going online. We have new equipment in the camcorder so hopefully there are no issues.
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT:
No report.
POLICE DEPARTMENT:
No report.
VILLAGE OF OTISVILLE:
Trustee Loeven reported on their Spectrum contract. They re-upped the contract for 10 years with no changes. The DCO has agreed to continue to write an article for the village newsletter. She asked if our primary impound was Roeder’s Ark. Supervisor Howell: no. They tried to negotiate a contract for this year but…it’s Middletown Humane Society.
HVAC BID RESULTS:
Supervisor Howell reported that we had no submissions for the HVAC system for the building on Baker Street. He spoke to David today. They are going to separate this out into 2 packages: parts & materials package and a labor package. The reason for the bid is because we projected the cost to be over the $30-35,000 in the procurement policy. He will start working on bringing some contractors in to look at this project.
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MOTION TO APPROVE LIONS CLUB PARK GROUNDS USE FOR FAIR:
MOTION offered Councilwoman Davis 2nd Councilman Furman to approve the Otisville country fair to use the park grounds for the fair on August 25-28th, 2022. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman. ABSTAIN: Jennings. Motion carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE LIONS CLUB REQUEST TO USE PAVILION AT PARK FOR EASTER EGG HUNT:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilwoman Davis to approve April 2 (rain date April 3) for the use of the pavilion at the park for the Easter egg hunt. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman. ABSTAIN: Jennings. Motion carried.
MOTION TO WAIVE FEES FOR EASTER EGG HUNT AT TOWN PARK:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilwoman Davis to waive fees (deposit & rental) for the use of the pavilion at the park for the Easter egg hunt on April 2 (3). All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman. ABSTAIN: Jennings. Motion carried.
RESOLUTION FOR OFFICIAL UNDERTAKING OF MUNICIPAL OFFICERS:
MOTION offered Councilwoman Davis 2nd Councilman Furman to adopt the following resolution approving the form of official undertaking of municipal officers of the Town, pursuant to Section 11 of Public Officers Law, and the manner of execution and the sufficiency of the Town’s insurance company surety:
RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Mount Hope, Orange County, New York, herein and hereby approves the below form of official undertaking of municipal officers of the Town as well as the manner of execution and sufficiency of the Town’s insurance company as surety under same:
TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE, ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK
OFFICIAL UNDERTAKING OF MUNICIPAL OFFICERS
WHEREAS, Matthew Howell, of the Town of Mount Hope, County of Orange, New York, has been elected to the office of Town Supervisor of the Town of Mount Hope; and
WHEREAS, Kathleen Myers, of the Town of Mount Hope, County of Orange, New York, has been elected to the office of Town Clerk/Tax Collector of the Town of Mount Hope; and
WHEREAS, Joseph Hosking, of the Town of Mount Hope, County of Orange, New York, has been elected to the office of Town Justice of the Town of Mount Hope; and
WHEREAS, John Goldsmith, of the Town of Mount Hope, County of Orange, New York, has been elected to the office of Town Justice of the Town of Mount Hope; and
WHEREAS, Dean Hassenmayer, of the Town of Mount Hope, County of Orange, New York, has been elected to the office of Superintendent of Highways of the Town of Mount Hope; and
NOW THEREFORE, we as respective officers above, do hereby undertake with the Town of Mount Hope that we will faithfully perform and discharge the duties of our office, and will promptly account for and pay over all moneys or property received as a Town Officer, in accordance with the law; and
This undertaking of the Town Supervisor is further conditioned upon that he will well and truly keep, pay over and account for all moneys and property, including any special district funds, belonging to the Town and coming into his hands as such Supervisor; and
This undertaking of the Town Clerk/Tax Collector is further conditioned that she will well and truly keep, pay over and account for all moneys and property coming into her hands as such Town Clerk/Tax Collector; and
The Town does and shall maintain insurance coverage, presently with Travelers Insurance Company in the sum of $150,000 per occurrence plus an additional $1,600,000 in coverage for the Tax Collector, to indemnify against losses through the failure of the officers, clerks and employees covered thereunder faithfully to perform their duties or to account properly for all monies or property received by virtue of their positions or employment, and through fraudulent or dishonest acts committed by the officers, clerks and employees covered thereunder.
All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE TOWN CLERK REQUEST TO ATTEND ANNUAL CONFERENCE:MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Jennings to approve the town clerk request to attend the NYSTCA conference at the Desmond Hotel in Albany NY, April 24-27, 2022; total cost $841.80 for registration & hotel. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE SUPERVISOR’S MONTHLY REPORT:
MOTION offered Councilman Jennings 2nd Councilman Furman to approve the January 2022 Supervisor’s report as presented. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.
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MS-4 DISCUSSION:
Supervisor Howell reported that part of our MS-4 stormwater preparation every year, the engineering company would need to update and file the report with NYS. Part of that requirement is to have a public hearing held for the purpose of the MS-4 stormwater plan. John Fuller, engineer would like the date for the public hearing to be March 21, 2022 at 7:30pm.
MOTION TO SET PUBLIC HEARING FOR MS-4 STORMWATER LAW:
MOTION Offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Jennings to schedule a public hearing for the MS-4 stormwater plan on March 21, 2022 at 7:30pm at town hall. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO AUDIT THE CLAIMS:
MOTION offered Councilman Jennings2nd Councilwoman Davis to approve the bills (Abstract #6 & #7):
ABSTRACT #6:
GENERAL A: #67-77 $ 15,441.32
GENERAL B: #9 $ 139.81
HIGHWAY: #26-33 $ 57,132.01
SEWER: #10-11 $ 390.00 AND
ABSTRACT #7:
GENERAL A: #78-91 $ 44,805.62
GENERAL B: #10-13 $ 8,845.35
HIGHWAY: #34-35 $ 27,153.27
SEWER: #12-15 $ 1,891.24.
All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.
SHODDY HOLLOW ROAD PROPERTY:
Supervisor Howell reported that we had 2 parcels for sale and one closed. 2nd parcel is in contract stage. The contract with the realtor Annie Hansen is up. He’d like to renew for 3 months.
MOTION TO AUTHORIZE RENEWING CONTRACT WITH ANNIE HANSEN:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Jennings to renew contract with Annie Hansen for 3 months -expiring on June 1, 2022. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.
FENCE POSTS & NET QUOTES:
Supervisor Howell spoke re: to spend excess of $20,000 for a one-time incident is a lot. Maybe they can have younger age groups at that field. Board agreed.
SPECTRUM UPDATE:
Supervisor Howell explained he’s been speaking with a rep from Spectrum re: Kohler Road service extension. There’s been no physical action in terms of the construction of that project, they won’t execute without a new field survey done which would be a cost estimate. A week ago, they authorized a field study to be done to re-evaluate the cost. A year ago, the estimate was $31,000 + to do the extension.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Diane Loeven spoke re: seniors will resume social and business meetings in April. Trips will resume in June or July. Thermometer at senior center reads extremely low. They will require of members & guests vaccination proof. Non-vaccinated people need proof of negative test. Councilman Furman received good compliment about Diane running the seniors.
BOARD COMMENTS:
Councilwoman Davis reported there was a board of election meeting for the school board. There was supposed to be a library presentation – rescheduled to March 10 at 6:30pm. She further stated the tinted window at youth center looks good.
MOTION TO ADJOURN MEETING:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Jennings to adjourn the meeting at 7:56pm. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Furman, Jennings; carried.
The next town board meeting is scheduled for March 7, 2022 at 7:30pm at Town Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen A. Myers, RMC/Town Clerk
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