Town Board Meeting July 3rd, 2023
OFFICIALS PRESENT: D. Bavoso- Attorney, Police Chief M. Maresca.
Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Supervisor Howell called the meeting of the town board Town of Mount Hope to order at 7:30pm.
MOTION TO ACCEPT PRIOR MEETING MINUTES:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Furman that the minutes of the June 20, 2023 meeting are accepted as submitted. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Jennings, Furman; carried.
CORRESPONDENCE:
1. Urban County Qualification Cooperation Agreement
2. Community Development Block Grant Cooperative Agreement for Municipalities FY 2024-2026
3. 2023 Collector’s Settlement and satisfaction from Orange County Dept. of Finance
4. Highland Avenue bridge closing from OC DPW
5. Correspondence from assessor’s office re: grievance hearings for 2023
6. Letter from Wayne Howell Planning Board Chair re: recommendation for a moratorium on battery storage sites
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilmember Davis: no report
Councilmember Furman: Concert series starts tomorrow night from 7-8:30pm at the park. MV youth football league extended the sign-ups. He looked at pricing for treadmills for the gym. He looked at Nordic track. He suggested we buy one and get one of the ones we have serviced. Supervisor will speak with Dean about this. Councilmember Furman noted that the centers are fully stocked with supplies.
Councilmember Jennings: Next village meeting is July 6 at 7:30pm. They have a public hearing scheduled for that. He congratulated F.O.T.O.S. on their grant from T-Mobile.
Supervisor Howell: reported that everyone received an email today from the OC DPW that the bridge work will begin on July 7.
POLICE DEPARTMENT:
Chief Maresca introduced the 2 new police hires for approval: Joshua Louks & Christopher Murphy. He is recommending them for part time non-competitive hire effective today. Chris is already certified. Joshua is a graduate of phase one in Ulster. He will start phase two this Thursday then he will be able to start his field training. He has 2 new candidates for the administrative assistant position. They will be in for another interview this week. he hopes to have a decision by next meeting. National Night Out is August 1 from 6:30-8:30 at the town park. Hoping to get a flyer ready this week. He sat with Matt & Chris on this. He’s bringing back the Junior Academy August 21-25. Hoping to get the flyer ready for that as well. There will be a max of 25 kids. It’s for kids entering 6th grade through 10th grade. Community yard sale is August 5. He worked with Diane on getting a permit for that for the one way.
VILLAGE REPORT:
Trustee Clouse reported the start date for the bridge work is July 7. He thanked the town offices that were able to attend the event at the old school for the T-Mobile grant. He thanked T-Mobile for their generous grant of $50,000.00. That will be used for the old school parking lot.
URBAN COUNTY QUALIFICATION COOPERATION AGREEMENT:
Supervisor Howell reported this is a new process for this grant. The attorney read the document and has no problem with the board adopting same.
MOTION TO ENTER INTO THE URBAN COUNTY QUALIFICATION COOPERATION AGREEMENT:
MOTION offered Councilmember Furman 2nd Councilmember Jennings to enter into the Urban County Qualification Cooperation Agreement and authorize the town supervisor sign the agreement. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Jennings, Furman; carried.
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COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT FOR MUNICIPALITIES FY 2024-2026:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Furman that the Supervisor of the Town of Mount Hope is authorized to renew, renew & amend and/or execute a Cooperation Agreement FY 2024-2026 and send notice of this election to the US Department of Housing & Urban Development at the NY field office. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Jennings, Furman; carried.
MOTION TO HIRE PART TIME NON-COMPETTIVE POLICE OFFICERS- JOSHUA LOUKS & CHRISTOPHER MURPHY:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Furman to approve the hiring of Joshua Louks and Christopher Murphy as part time non-competitive police officers effective July 3, 2023. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Jennings, Furman; carried.
NATIONAL NIGHT OUT AGAINST CRIME:
Supervisor Howell reported this is a community relations program. We do fireworks display at the end of the night. As it is on a Tuesday, our concert series will be at the pavilion. He asked for approval for the fireworks display.
MOTION TO ALLOW FIRE WORKS DISPLAY AT NATIONAL NIGHT OUT ON AUGUST 1, 2023:
MOTION offered Councilmember Furman 2nd Councilmember Jennings to approve the fireworks for August 1, 2023 in conjunction with Night Out Against Crime pending required documentation from the fireworks operator. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Jennings, Furman; carried.
BATTERY STORAGE FOR UTILITY/ELECTRIC:
Supervisor Howell noted the letter from planning board chairperson re: recommendation for a moratorium on installation of battery storage sites. Information has been provided to the attorney who will draft the procedure to file for a moratorium. Reason stating health and safety. He hopes to have this drafted up for the next board meeting on the 17th.
MOTION TO ACKNOWLEDGE/ACCEPT COMPLETION OF PROBATIONARY PERIOD FOR CHIEF MARESCA:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Furman that the board acknowledges the completion of probationary period and will file the proper documentation with Orange County Civil Service. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Jennings, Furman; carried.
MOTION TO AUDIT THE CLAIMS:
MOTION offered Councilmember Jennings 2nd Councilmember Furman to approve the bills (Abstracts 25/ 26):
ABSTRACT 25:
GENERAL A: #296-303 $ 36,939.52
GENERAL B: #76-79 $ 8,703.69
HIGHWAY: #114 $ 20,751.51
SEWER: #60-62 $ 1,948.62
ABSTRACT 26:
GENERAL A: #304-313 $ 6,340.50
GENERAL B: #80-84 $ 2,363.00
HIGHWAY: #115-119 $ 11,894.49
SEWER: #63 $ 2,226.25.
All in favor: Howell, Davis, Jennings, Furman; carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE UPDATED FEE SCHEDULE FOR THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilman Furman to approve the updated fee schedule for the building department effective as of July 3, 2023. All in favor: Howell, Davis, Jennings, Furman; carried.
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Brian Carey congratulated Mike Maresca on his 5-year anniversary.
Diane Loeven put yard sale flyers in the hallway entrance. Yard sale meeting scheduled for 7/12/23 – she asked if the Chief or someone else would be available to attend. Chief will attend. She reported that July 18/19 there’s an overnight trip for the senior group. They will park here.
BOARD COMMENTS:
Councilmember Davis requested executive session for the vacant board seat.
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MOTION TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Furman to enter into executive session at 7:50PM to discuss the vacant board seat. All in favor: Howell, Jennings, Davis, Furman; carried.
MOTION TO RECONVENE REGULAR MEETING FROM EXECUTIVE SESSION:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Furman to reconvene regular meeting from executive session at 8:16pm. THERE WAS NO ACTION TAKEN IN THIS EXECUTIVE SESSION. All in favor: Howell, Jennings, Davis, Furman; carried.
MOTION TO APPOINT KERI LEE CAREY TO THE VACANT TOWN BOARD SEAT:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Furman to appoint Keri Lee Carey to fill the vacancy on the town board. All in favor: Davis, Furman – NAYS: Howell, Jennings; this motion not carried.
Supervisor Howell added that he thinks there’s a potential for conflict of interest with relation to the former board member seat, Mr. Carey. He thinks it’s risky for the board to enter that candidate. With the election coming in November, it would be the best fit for the residents to vote.
MOTION TO ADJOURN MEETING:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Jennings to adjourn the meeting at 8:19pm. All in favor: Howell, Jennings, Davis, Furman; carried.
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 17, 2023 at 7:30pm at Town Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen A. Myers, RMC
Town Clerk
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