Town Board Meeting May 20th, 2024
OFFICIALS PRESENT: Attorney Scott Bonacic, H’way Supt. Hassenmayer, Chief M. Maresca.
Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Supervisor Rickard called the meeting to order at 7:30pm. He asked for everyone to silence their electronic devices.
7:30 PM PUBLIC HEARING RE: PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #3-2024 ELECTIONS – ENACTING A TEMPORARY INCREASE IN TERM LIMITS FOR THE POSITIONS OF TOWN SUPERVISOR & TOWN CLERK OF THE TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE:
Supervisor Rickard noted the legal ad is on the table. He explained the law. It’s subject to mandatory referendum. If this gets approved by the board, it’ll be on the ballot for all town residents in November on the regular ballot. The next time the town supervisor and town clerk run, it would go to 3 years. After that, it reverts back to 2. The law is being challenged by a few different municipalities and towns, not us. It’s a one-time extension of the term which would make it from one year to 3 years. After that is goes back to a 2-year term.
Councilmember Carey thinks it is necessary to do this.
MaryBeth Horzepa thinks it is a good idea.
MOTION TO CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING:
MOTION offered Councilmember Jennings 2nd Councilmember Davis to close public hearing at 7:32PM. All in favor – Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
7:32PM PUBLIC HEARING RE: RESTORE NY GRANT:
Supervisor Rickard noted the legal ad is on the table. Lucy Joyce spoke re: RESTORE NY grant. She passed out a paper explaining what the proposal is. This is regards to the old barn arch roof. CCE actually owns the property but the town has an irrevocable license and easement to the property and is responsible for the barn. It’s my understanding the town doesn’t need the barn anymore for storage of equipment. We’re very concerned about the roof – a big gash just came out of it about a month or so ago. We’re hoping to get that patched soon. It’s a beautiful iconic barn. The community and extension love it. We see this opportunity for the RESTORE NY grant to restore and refurbish the barn to a new use – a gleaning hub. We have a very extensive gleaning program. We run 2 refrigerated fleet vehicles and we act as a mobile refrigerator for food pantries and soup kitchens. We deal with the smaller units. We also deal with Otisville pantries. This would be for cold and cool refrigeration. It’s also close to the Access supports living garden. This could be a beautiful way to restore the barn, preserve the barn and have it to a very useful purpose. It’s a grant that the town has to apply for but CCE would work on and do the actual construction and management.
Supervisor Rickard: we ran this by Millenium, who we signed an agreement with, they’re actually going to be writing the grant and Cornell is going to reimburse us the cost to write the grant. We are putting stuff together. The grant is due on Thursday.
Lucy Joyce: you might remember, we applied last year. We were denied. But, Supervisor Rickard and myself were on the phone and we had a good breakdown. We’re hoping the Millenium person is savvier at these kinds of grants than I. We’re hopeful that it could be very competitive.
There were no board comments.
Supervisor Rickard is in favor and thinks it’s a great program with great possibilities. One of the pieces is we might be able to do some kind of combination project with the football league so we can get some outdoor bathrooms there as well.
MOTION TO CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Davis to close public hearing at 7:37PM. All in favor – Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
RESTORE NY COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE MUNICIPAL GRANT PROGRAM RESOLUTION:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Furman to accept the resolution as read – complete resolution at end of these minutes.
All in favor – Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
50
MOTION TO ACCEPT PRIOR MEETING MINUTES:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Furman that the minutes of the May 5, 2024 meeting are accepted as submitted. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE TOWN CLERK:
1. Surplus & destroy deputy town clerk old computer tower, monitor and keyboard
2. Supervisor’s report April 2024
3. Certificate of Attendance for Board of Assessment Review training for T. Leichliter & D. Varcoe
4. Letter from OC DOH re: Extension of approval for CCE 4H park
5. Budget modifications
6. OC Mortgage tax receipts for April 2024
7. Resignation from Elizabeth Kulynych, Deputy Town Clerk, effective immediately
AT THIS TIME, Supervisor Rickard explained the CCE 4H letter from OC DOH regarding their sewer leech fields were reapproved for another 2 years.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilmember Davis: She and Mike tested the speakers and projector. Everything went well. She would like to do a test run this Friday evening around 8-8:15pm. She asked about approving the drinks and popcorn for movie nights. Dates for the movies are: 5/31, 6/14, 6/28, 7/12, 8/9, 8/23.
MOTION TO APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF SOFT DRINKS AND POPCORN FOR MOVIE NIGHTS:
MOTION offered Councilmember Furman 2nd Councilmember Carey to approve the purchase of popcorn and beverages up to $1,000.00 for movie nights at the park. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
Councilmember Carey: 1st meeting for the bicentennial planning is 5/29/2024 at 7:30pm at the youth center. At the village meeting, they awarded the contract for the new pole barn at the fire department. They are still looking for quotes for board room renovations. They are working on a local law for a burn ban in the village. Nice turnout for the Mother’s Day breakfast at the fire house. Attended the Otisville FD annual – it was a great night to celebrate the volunteers and their commitment to the community.
Councilmember Furman: City of Middletown owns several pieces of property in our town. They are not maintained. The biggest one that sticks to him is the old horse farm on Mount Hope Road. He would like to send them a letter. He asked about mowing around the Hidden Valley sign. Dean said it was taken care of. He spoke to the people watching the meeting from home – if you have an issue call any one of us. Last week was police week. He thanked the Chief and Deputy Chief for all they do. He attended the pancake breakfast. It was a great turnout.
Councilmember Jennings asked Dean about the gutters quotes? Dean has not been able to do it. He asked about the basketball hoops. Dean said until we get a dry spell and the grass slows down, we’ll get to it. There was discussion about renters taking down the flags at the senior center when they rent it for a function. There was a suggestion to add it to the renters contract. Discussion on alternate placement of the flags or possibly using a stand for them.
Supervisor Rickard attended the firemen’s dinner. It was a nice event and he thanked them for the invitation. It was nice to see the newly installed officers.
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT:
Supt. Hassenmayer stated they are trying to keep up with the mowing. They have patching to do on School House and Carboy before they are chip sealed this year. A drainage pipe needs to be changed on Otis before that is chip sealed. Trying to get that done this week. He leaves for vacation next week on Tuesday. Road mowing will start – with the guys taking their vacations now – most days I only have 6. If I have 2 on the road, that leaves 4 to do other mowing. The Heather Lane culvert is ordered. He historic house has an open house coming up and he’s hoping to get that mowed again. Supervisor Rickard thanked Dean and the guys for hustling. They’re all over cutting the grass. Dean informed the board that Andrew will fill in for him while he is gone. Supervisor asked if someone could grab the garbage at Hidden Valley. Dean will have someone get it tomorrow.
POLICE DEPARTMENT:
Chief Maresca informed the board that we were awarded a law enforcement technology grant from DCJS in the amount of $27,100.00. He’s looking to upgrade some computers and other equipment they have their eyes on. A couple weeks ago he and other chiefs from other departments attended a banquet with regard to abusive relationships and addiction issues. This is an all-female oriented group. The speed trailers are up. He asked about the pre-approvals he put in for. Supervisor Rickard said they were done already.
HIDDEN VALLEY SEWER:
Supervisor Rickard spoke to Sen. Skoufis about there being $23,000 left from a previous grant.
51
The cost to fix the manholes was $80,000. So, there’s a gap and he agreed to make up the difference in a grant that’s coming up. We’ll be moving forward with that. The pipe that was bringing water into this plant has been sealed. He goes there every couple of days. One of the problems that were identified is that the sewer backs up through the QR tank through a glitch in the design. Jason was never made aware of that. So, raw sewage backs up into the plant which is a sanitation issue. We got a quote to put a check valve in place which will prevent that from happening. He’d like to authorize TAM to do that work for both.
MOTION TO APPROVE PURCHASING CHECK VALVE FOR HIDDEN VALLEY SEWER PLANT:
MOTION offered Councilmember Furman 2nd Councilmember Carey to authorize spending $3800.00 per check valve required at the sewer plant. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
SPRUCE ROAD BRIDGE:
Supervisor Rickard sent everyone the report from Jason on the Spruce Road bridge. It sounds pretty extensive and might need a full replacement. We have to do enforcement action. We have to do a local law limiting the weight so the police can issue tickets if necessary. We are introducing this local law and need to schedule a public hearing.
MOTION TO SCHEDULE A PUBLIC HEARING FOR PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #4-2024 RE: VEHICLE WEIGHT LIMITS:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Davis to schedule a public hearing on June 17, 2024 at 7:30pm for proposed Local Law #4-2024 re: Vehicle Weight Limits. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE LOCAL LAW #3-2024 ELECTIONS – ENACTING A TEMPORARY INCREASE IN TERM LIMITS FOR THE POSITIONS OF TOWN SUPERVISOR & TOWN CLERK OF THE TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Furman to approve LOCAL LAW #3-2024 ELECTIONS – ENACTING A TEMPORARY INCREASE IN TERM LIMITS FOR THE POSITIONS OF TOWN SUPERVISOR & TOWN CLERK OF THE TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
MOTION TO CREATE BUDGET LINES FOR PAYCHEX ADMINISTRATION FEES:
MOTION offered Councilmember Furman 2nd Councilmember Carey to create the following budget lines for Paychex administration fees:
BB 1989400 Contractual
DB 1989400 Contractual
SS 1989400 Contractual.
All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE BUDGET MODIFICATIONS:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Furman to approve the following budget modifications:
INCREASE:
AA 1989400 $2100.00
BB 1989400 $1000.00
DB 1989400 $2500.00
SS 1989400 $50.00
DECREASE:
AA 1910400 $2100 Unallocated Insurance
BB 7310400 $1000.00 Reallocating based on no summer program
DB 5142400 $2500 Snow Removal Contr.
SS 9030800 $50.00 reallocating based on switching to contractual services; social security
INCREASE:
SS8130400 $19834.50 balance of wages unspent
DECREASE: SS 8130100 $19834.50
INCREASE: AA1620100 $13600.00
DECREASE: AA 1620400 $13600.00
INCREASE: A1010.4 Town Board Contr. $267.87
A1620.2 Buildings Equip. $8516.06
DECREASE: A1110.4 Court Contr. $267.87
A1620.2 Buildings Contr. $8516.06.
All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
52
MOTION TO SURPLUS AND DESTROY OLD COMPUTER PIECES:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmemebr Jennings to surplus then destroy the following:
HP computer tower serial number 2UA0191GWL
Dell keyboard model # SK8110
ACER monitor model # AL1916C, serial # ETL490830700802FAC423F.
All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
CCE:
Supervisor Rickard: CCE had asked – there’s a well across the street from the barn that we were talking about. We don’t know what kind of water that would produce. They asked to do a well test at their expense.
MOTION TO AUTHORIZE CCE TO DO A WATER FLOW TEST ON A TOWN WELL ON FINCHVILLE TURNPIKE:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Furman to authorize CCE to do a water flow test on a town well on Finchville Turnpike at their expense. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
MOTION TO AUTHORIZE TOWN SUPERVISOR TO SIGN AMENDMENT TO HIGHWAY CONTRACT:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Jennings to authorize the town supervisor to sign the amendment to the highway contract – to increase the buyout to $126 from $100 and next year to $131. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
MOTION TO ACCEPT THE SUPERVISOR’S MONTHLY REPORT:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Carey to accept the Supervisor’s report for April 2024 as presented. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
MOTION TO AUDIT THE CLAIMS:
MOTION offered Councilmember Jennings 2nd Councilmember Furman Carey to approve the following bills (Abstract #18 & #19):
ABSTRACT 18:
GENERAL A: #240-261 $ 16,253.35
GENERAL B: #51-53 $ 1,173.48
HIGHWAY: #32-37 $ 1,808.09
SEWER: #37-40 $ 2,124.28
AND
ABSTRACT 19:
GENERAL A: #262-286 $ 12,316.93
GENERAL B: #54-55 $ 955.00
HIGHWAY: #38 $ 55.31
SEWER: #41-43 $ 1,400.56
ARPA: #5 $ 2,346.46.
All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
MOTION TO ACCEPT RESIGNATION FROM ELIZABETH KULYNYCH, DEPUTY TOWN CLERK:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Jennings to accept the resignation from Deputy Town Clerk, Elizabeth Kulynych with regret effective immediately.
All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Mike Meere: he thanked Dean and the crew for helping in Hidden Valley. He confirmed the check valve quote. Supervisor stated the part has to be ordered. Meere: would like for all warranties to be kept on file at the town. He spoke about the manholes and Jason’s methodology for them and written reports. Supervisor Rickard spoke with Assessor and there are 102 homes on the tentative assessment .
Marybeth Horzepa: June 9 Pocatello ladies auxiliary is having a fundraiser yard sale, 10-3. And, June 16 they’re having a pancake breakfast.
Phil Adamson: thanked everyone for the veterans banner project. He listed all the donors for the hardware for the banners. 101 banners were installed. Special thanks to: Bobby Walter, Troy Geiss, Brandyn Howell and Frank Jashembowski for installing the banners. They did a great, great, great job. A special thanks to Heidi Phillips for all her work with the computer stuff.
MOTION TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Jennings to enter into executive session at 8:20pm to consult with the attorney on a personnel matter and invite Kathleen & Mike in separately. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
53
MOTION TO RECONVENE REGULAR MEETING FROM EXECUTIVE SESSION:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Furman to reconvene regular meeting from executive session at 9:10pm. THERE WAS NO ACTION TAKEN IN THIS EXECUTIVE SESSION. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
MOTION TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF TO USE UNMARKED POLICE CAR:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Davis to authorize the deputy police chief to use an unmarked police car to and from work or when he’s on official business. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
MOTION TO ADOPT THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT FOR THE POLICE CHIEF:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Jennings to adopt the terms and conditions of employment for the police chief. All in favor: Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings, NAY: Davis; motion carried.
BOARD COMMENTS:
Councilmember Carey reminded everyone of the school budget and school board election tomorrow.
Supervisor Rickard received a letter from NY Ag & Markets that the shelter did not pass inspection. It might be because we don’t have a current contract with them. He will reach out to them. He also noted he spoke to the police chief and we spoke to Senator Skoufis and Assemblyman Brabanec to see of we can get legislation to authorize John Zhu to take the civil service exam – currently he is passed. They are going to do that – the only caveat is we cannot adopt a formal resolution until the bill has been assigned a # in the senate & assembly.
MOTION TO ADJOURN MEETING:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Jennings to adjourn the meeting at 9:13pm. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
The next meeting is scheduled for June 3, 2024 at 7:30pm at the Mount Hope Town Hall, 1706 Route 211 West, Otisville, NY.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen A. Myers, RMC
Town Clerk
54
RESTORE NY COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE MUNICIPAL GRANT PROGRAM RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the Town of Mount Hope is eligible for grant funding under Round (8) of the Restore NY Communities Initiative Municipal Grant program, and
WHEREAS, the Town Board has considered proposals that qualify for funding under the program and selected one project to be included in an application that will be submitted to Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) as follows:
Redevelopment of the former dairy barn at 316 Finchville Turnpike, Otisville NY 10963. The project will renovate an existing vacant structure. In the goal to repurpose the building as a Gleaning Hub & Nourishing Center for Cornell Cooperative Extension, serving the residents of Orange County that experience food insecurity.
WHEREAS, this project is consistent with all local plans, the proposed financing is appropriate for the project, the project will facilitate effective and efficient use of existing and future public resources so as to promote both economic development and preservation of community resources and the project develops and enhances infrastructure and/or other facilities in a manner that will attract, create and sustain employment opportunities in the Town of Mount Hope.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby supports and will sponsor an application for Restore NY funding for the Former Dairy barn restoration, 316 Finchville Turnpike, Otisville, NY 10963 and will administer the grant in accordance with all applicable rules and regulations established by ESDC, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Supervisor is authorized to sign the applications and any agreements required by ESDC for grant funding that results from the application.
MOTION OFFERED: Councilmember Keri Carey
SECONDED BY: Councilmember Chris Furman
AYES: Councilmember Amanda Davis, Councilmember Keri Carey, Town Supervisor Paul Rickard, Councilmember Chris Furman, Councilmember Jim Jennings.
NOES: none
Dated: May 20, 2024
55