Town Board Meeting March 15th, 2021
The town board meeting of the Mount Hope Town Board was held at Mount Hope Town Hall, 1706 Route 211 West, Otisville, on March 15, 2021 at 7:30pm with the following present: Supervisor Chad Volpe, Councilman Matthew Howell, Councilman Brian Carey, Councilman Jim Jennings, Councilman Chris Furman and Town Clerk Kathleen Myers.
OFFICIALS PRESENT: D. Hassenmayer H’way Supt., Attorney D. Bavoso, Police Chief Rickard
Following the Pledge of Allegiance, the Supervisor called the meeting to order at 7:30pm.
MOTION TO ACCEPT PRIOR MEETING MINUTES:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Howell that the March 1, 2021 meeting minutes are accepted as presented. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
CORRESPONDENCE:
- Quotes for playground equipment near football field
- Liquor license application – copy to town clerk – re: The Last Shot Pub & Grub LLC, 2 Robbins Rd
- Supervisor’s report for February 2021
- Surplus equipment request from Police Chief Rickard
- Budget modification from police department
- Letter from Jen D’Esposito re: use of youth center for OMHPC church service through June
- Palmer’s Ark impound report for February 2021
- February mortgage tax receipts from Orange County
- January/February call history reports from Otisville Fire department
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilman Howell reminded village residents that the election is tomorrow, March 16, from 12-9 and there is a proposition on the back of the ballot re: fire department service award program. He noted the burn ban from March 15 through May 14.
Councilman Jennings reported there are 44 cards issued by the library. The courts will be starting back up on April 1. He noted the letter from Mr. Bach stating he will be sending out plea bargain letters. He sent out 101 plea bargains. Planning board meets on 3/17 at 7pm. Village meeting will be on March 18 at 7pm. Little league opening day will be April 24. He did some research for playground equipment at the football field. He noted a winter sale of the equipment. Maybe we could re-visit this in the fall.
Councilman Furman reported there’s no ZBA meeting this month. There has to be some maintenance done at Hidden Valley. He spoke with Mike Brock & Darren. They are getting some quotes together for the board & he hopes to have that for the next meeting. He thanked Dean who was out there with the engineer; they were getting a high flow of water. They think they found the problem. He’s getting estimates to repair that situation. He welcomed the new Police officer, Christopher Mazzella.
Councilman Carey reported the village election is tomorrow 12-9 at village hall. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone. Senior center project is done.
Supervisor Volpe added that he received a letter today from the Otisville Lions Club requesting to use town property on Mount Hope Road to put up signs from July 17th through August 24th.
MOTION TO ALLOW OTISVILLE LIONS CLUB TO USE TOWN PROPERTY TO PUT UP SIGNS FOR THE FAIR:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2nd Councilman Furman to allow Otisville Lions Club to put up sign on town property on Mount Hope Road from July 17 through August 24th for the fair. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT:
Supt. Hassenmayer spoke re: Weather Works. He ended the other weather program with DTN. They did the weather for 20-25 years. Their price went up. He found Weather Works out of New Jersey. Their fee is $1,600. He can have up to 10 contacts receive emails through their email. He next discussed replacing a truck. He has 2 trucks with dump bodies that are rotting out. He contacted 2 truck builders that he’s used in the past. It will come in at less than $100,000. The budget this year will pay for them. He will tweak the numbers and advise the board next meeting.
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He asked permission for 3 employees to have flagger & other highway safety training. He wants to send Brandyn Howell, Chris Santos & Corey Williams to Broome County on April 13 for flagger training, to Redhook on April 17th for Roadside drainage. They are ½ day classes. It’s $30/day for all 3 guys. They did in-house training today. Julie did MS-4 updates. They also did forklift, PPE & hazmat training for all the guys. He spoke re: manholes in Hidden Valley.
MOTION TO APPROVE TRAINING FOR THE HIGHWAY MEN:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Howell to approve training for Brandyn Howell, Chris Santos & Corey Williams on April 13 & April 17 for flagger training and roadside drainage training for $30/day for 3 guys. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MONEY FROM STATE FOR STIMULUS:
Supervisor Volpe stated that part of the new stimulus package coming out – he has totals on what municipalities are receiving but he has no guidance on how it can be spent. The Town of Mount Hope is going to get $720,00.00. That being said, there’s nothing broken down about the village. Some of that money will go to the village. He doesn’t know what the guidelines are going to be. He would rather see a new truck than anything. Maybe a new speed trailer. He hopes to have more info at next meeting.
POLICE REPORT:
Chief Rickard reported that there is ongoing issues with the heating system in his building. Steve Dodd recommended having an engineer come in to give specs on a whole new system. He explained his budget modification. He spoke re: the broken copier that he’d like to declare as surplus. Christopher Mazzella was sworn in today.
MOTION TO APPROVE POLICE BUDGET MODIFICATION:
MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2nd Councilman Howell to approve the modification as follows:
Increase revenue A1560 Police Fees by $600.00 and
Increase expense A3120.4 Police contractual by $600.00. (refund check from Motorola)
All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE SURPLUS EQUIPMENT REQUEST FROM POLICE DEPARTMENT:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Jennings to approve surplus of:
SHARP MX-M260 Digital Multifunctional System Copier/Scanner/Printer and try to sell. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
SHODDY HOLLOW ROAD PROPERTY:
Attorney Bavoso explained the contracts are out. We are waiting for the purchaser’s attorney to send us back comments. We will keep you posted.
OYA/SWEETMAN P.I.L.O.T.:
Supervisor Volpe explained the proposed P.I.L.O.T. for Sweetman has been re-negotiated. They have agreed to $6,000/megawatt like everyone else. He needs permission for him to sign the P.I.L.O.T. agreement.
MOTION TO AUTHORIZE THE SUPERVISOR TO SIGN THE P.I.L.O.T. AGREEMENT WITH SWEETMAN:
MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2nd Councilman Furman to authorize Supervisor Volpe to sign the P.I.L.O.T. agreement with Sweetman Solar.All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
DECOMMISSIONING AGREEMENT:
Supervisor Volpe explained the decommissioning agreement needs to be approved. He received everything from Jason: (read into record) OYA Shoddy Hollow Road project was approved at last meeting. His office reviewed the decommissioning bond estimate and found everything to be complete. This amount would have to be posted as a bond and a letter of credit with the town. Glenn can give additional feedback.
MOTION TO APPROVE DECOMMISSIONING AGREEMENT:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2nd Councilman Furman to approve OYA Shoddy Hollow Road project decommissioning agreement for $271,975.00. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
2021 SUMMER CAMP:
Supervisor Volpe asked the board’s thoughts. After discussion, all agreed to wait until next year.
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MOTION TO APPROVE SUPERVISORS REPORT:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2nd Councilman Carey to approve the February 2021 supervisor’s report as presented. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
CHURCH YOUTH GROUP REQUEST:
Supervisor Volpe spoke re: church group request to continue having their meetings at the youth center on Sundays unless we get a rental request. Their request for Thursdays to have meetings they just need to know they will not have exclusivity.
MOTION TO SCHEDULE MS-4 PUBLIC HEARING:
MOTION offered Councilman Jennings 2nd Councilman Howell to schedule a public hearing for the MS-4 Stormwater on April 5, 2021 at 7:30pm at the town hall. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO SCHEDULE PUBLIC HEARING FOR PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #1-2021 ENTITLED: AMENDMENT TO ZONING REGULATIONS RE: CONSERVATION SUB-DIVISION REGULATIONS:
MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2nd Councilman Howell to schedule a public hearing on April 5, 2021 at 7:35pm at town hall for proposed local law #1-2021 entitled AMENDMENT TO ZONING REGULATIONS RE: CONSERVATION SUB-DIVISION REGULATIONS.
All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
“A” TO “B” LOAN:
Supervisor Volpe (when property was sold to Cornell and repayment) read into record: “January 25, 2011 the town board then bought a piece of property that Cornell was on. They paid $550,000 for it. The town board paid for it out of the “B” account which is a slap from the comptroller’s office. (Since he’s been in office, they’ve tried to pay this back.) We don’t have “B” parkland. It should have been paid out of “A” parkland & it wasn’t. We started doing monthly payments. We sold Cornell the property – we put all that money towards the $550,000. In an ongoing effort to pay the remaining balance of the sale of the property, the town has sold a piece of property and taking the proceeds to reduce the balance. The remaining balance is $161,891.79 that “B” loaned to the town back in 2011. The property we just sold – after closing costs, we paid $84,540 this month from “A” to “B”. We now have a balance of $77,351.79; with a potential of another parcel, we are confident it will be paid off before the year end & we will satisfy all of the transactions and the removal of this transaction from the state comptroller’s report.
MOTION TO AUDIT THE CLAIMS:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2nd Councilman Carey approve the following Abstract 9 & 10:
ABSTRACT 9:
GENERAL A: #115-139 $ 55,066.14
GENERAL B: #15-16 $ 6,094.51
HIGHWAY: #34-42 $ 41,955.17
SEWER: #16-17 $ 3,665.19
CAP RES GEN A POLICE #1 $ 1,440.00
And
ABSTRACT 10:
GENERAL A: #140-155 $ 30,310.10
GENERAL B: #17-20 $ 4,731.96
HIGHWAY: #43-48 $ 40,883.50
SEWER: #18-19 $ 543.14.
All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings. Motion carried.
POLICE AWARDS:
Chief Rickard announced the police awards will be May 17. He suggested we try the senior center for the location.
BOARD COMMENTS:
Councilman Jennings asked Brian to post the Easter parade on facebook. He asked if the police were arranged for the parade. Supervisor: yes. He wished Matt a happy birthday.
Councilman Howell confirmed the clean-up dates are April 14-24. It will be on facebook and the website.
MOTION TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Carey to enter in to executive session at 8:08pm to discuss a building department personnel issue. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings. Motion carried.
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MOTION TO RECONVENE REGULAR MEETING FROM EXECUTIVE SESSION:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2nd Councilman Furman to reconvene regular meeting from executive session at 8:40pm. THERE WAS NO ACTION TAKEN IN THIS EXECUTIVE SESSION. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings. Motion carried.
MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2nd Councilman Carey to adjourn the meeting at 8:40pm. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Jennings, Furman. Motion carried.
The next meeting is scheduled for April 5, 2021 at 7:30pm at the town hall meeting room.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen A. Myers, RMC
Town Clerk
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