Town Board Meeting May 6th, 2024
OFFICIALS PRESENT: Police Chief Maresca, H’way Supt. Hassenmayer, Attorney Scott Bonacic.
Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Supervisor Rickard called the meeting to order at 7:30pm.
MOTION TO ACCEPT PRIOR MEETING MINUTES:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Furman that the minutes of the April 15, 2024 & April 29, 2024 meeting are accepted as submitted. All in favor: Rickard, Davis, Carey, Furman, Jennings; carried.
CORRESPONDENCE:
1. Budget modifications from the Supervisors office
2. AED request from Chief Maresca
3. Certificate from OC Dept. of Planning re: Jeanne Zoll completed land use & planning course
4. Annual financial report for 2023
5. Spring 2024 trash report
6. Building Dept. April 2024 report
7. Mount Hope Seniors meeting schedule, trip schedule & Newport, RI trip flyer
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilmember Jennings reported C. Furman, Mayor Carey and himself met with Greenville ambulance Corp. It was a good meeting; I know there were a lot of questions going around. Inquired with Supt. Hassenmayer when he thought the basketball courts would be done. Hassenmayer: I do not know. Too much going on to give a schedule. Councilmember Jennings asked Dean if he got the gutter quotes. Hassenmayer: no.
Councilmember Furman referred to a park committee. If the board is ok, he would like to move forward. Supervisor Rickard: Yes. Furman: I did speak with Football and Ken from Little League. Supervisor Rickard would like to get someone from Football, Little League, Dean and the 4H.
Councilmember Carey: Myself, Jim and Chris attended the Little League opening day and parade. It is always good day and the fields looked nice. Most of us attended the Highland Avenue bridge opening last week. I know everyone was happy to see it open. I attended the Arbor Day tree planting at the village park, that was also a nice day. The DMV will be at the Village of Otisville Friday, May 10. Sunday, Otisville Fire House will be having a pancake breakfast for Mother’s Day from 8:00-12:00
Councilmember Furman: The DMV will not be at the Town Hall this month as they have scheduled service. We are set-up for them on June 14th.
Councilmember Davis: planning board meets May 15th at 7pm. She would like to meet with the police chief on Friday to work on the speakers.
Supervisor Rickard: Dan (cleaning person) started. Everything is working out well. Some key issues were addressed. Helen has also started. She is working out great. She’s been sending out invoices for planning and attorney fees that haven’t been billed out since 2023 – over $6,000. He discussed getting authorization to spend up to $500/month at Amazon for cleaning/office supplies. We need to set a public hearing on May 20th for the Restore NY grant.
MOTION TO SCHEDULE A PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE RESTORENY GRANT:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Carey to schedule a public hearing for the RESTORENY grant on May 20, 2024 at 7:30pm. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO PREAUTHORIZE $500/MONTH FOR AMAZON FOR CLEANING/OFFICE SUPPLIES:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Furman to preauthorize the spending of up to $500/month from Amazon for cleaning/office supplies. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; carried.
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HIGHWAY:
Supt. Hassenmayer reported the CHIPS money will be about the same – $150 less than last year. He has 2 kids lined up for summer help: Drew Jashembowski (returning from last year) & Mason Hahne. He needs approval to hire. They would both start on/around June 20th. They would both work 4 – 10’s. He was notified last week that the bridge on Spruce Road that goes over the Shawangunk Kill has been yellow-flagged. It needs work. The steel girders have rusted and become thin over the bearings. He asked the engineer to step in and help with this. He’d like to put a 5-ton weight limit on the bridge.
MOTION TO PUT 5 TON WEIGHT LIMIT ON THE SPRUCE ROAD OVER SHAWANGUNK KILL BRIDGE:
MOTION offered Councilmember Furman 2nd Councilmember Carey to create a 5-ton weight limit on the Spruce Road over Shawangunk Kill bridge. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO HIRE DREW JASHEMBOWSKI & MASON HAHNE AS SUMMER HELP IN THE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Furman to hire Drew Jashembowski & Mason Hahne as summer help effective 6/20/2024. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; carried.
POLICE DEPARTMENT:
Chief Maresca reported he received the full timer list today. Charlotte will send canvass letters out tomorrow. They are looking for one but possibly 2 full time officers.
VILLAGE OF OTISVILLE:
Trustee Clouse noted the military banners for the veterans are going up. They look beautiful. Everybody is talking about the bridge.
MOTION TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Jennings to enter into executive session at 7:42pm to consult with the town attorney about possible litigation. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO RECONVENE REGULAR MEETING FROM EXECUTIVE SESSION:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Furman to reconvene the regular meeting from executive session at 8:10pm. NO ACTION WAS TAKEN IN THIS EXECUTIVE SESSION. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; carried.
2024 ORANGE COUNTY TOURISM GRANT:
Supervisor Rickard noted that we were notified by Orange County that we received the full $5,000 tourism grant. It will pay for performers and a sign to be built on Mount Hope Road. And it will help with digital advertising for the series.
HIDDEN VALLEY SEWER:
Supervisor Rickard noted that H2O took over last week. He’s been there 3 times – and he’s spoken to Rebecca a couple times. The consulting is really a service agreement as opposed to a consulting agreement. Rebecca told him that all the readings from the plant are within limits. The plant is running well as far as they are concerned. There are definitely infiltration issues. He spoke with Jason and they will cap the pipe that is believed to be around 13,000 gallons of clean water coming in to the system. Hopefully that will be done within in the next few days by TAM. There is now a lock on the pump station. They need garbage pick up at the plant. There’s quite a bit there now. They’d like a can or dumpster.
AMBULANCE SERVICE UPDATE:
Supervisor Rickard reported the guys from Greenville are sitting here. They have offered to provide service for the remainder of the year for no cost. Starting in January the cost would be $150,000. We did some numbers internally – if nothing else was increased by one penny, that would be a 6.5% tax increase. His opinion is to have a sit down with the ambulance guys to have further discussion. We have to make sure that we can afford it. Ambulance: that’s what Greenville pays us. Call volume is about the same in Greenville as Mount Hope. The supervisor will be in touch for further discussion.
PHONE RFP’S:
Supervisor Rickard recommends going with ITC with the WAN option for $13,004 for a one-time purchase. The monthly cost would be $665.74. This includes town hall, police & court. It would not include highway. It was the cheapest and best package. This will come out of some of the ARPA money. Currently there is $32,963 left in ARPA.
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MOTION TO ACCEPT THE BID FROM ITC FOR THE NEW PHONE SYSTEM:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Furman to accept the bid from ITC for the new phone system with the WAN option for $13,004 being paid out of ARPA funds. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; carried.
JEAN RIDGE ROAD COMPLAINT:
Supervisor Rickard: last year we had an ‘employee error’ at a location on Jean Ridge Road. At the time, the previous town supervisor committed the town to paying to fix the errors. Upon coming on board, I submitted this to the insurance carrier because we do have coverage for that. They denied us for 2 reasons: one is we never notified them of the loss and 2 is that our policy prohibits us from settling losses without their approval. We consulted with our attorney on this.
MOTION TO PAY JOSEPH KAUFMAN:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Furman to pay Joseph Kaufman $22,942.71 out of “B” reserve. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE THE UNIFIRST CONTRACT FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT:
MOTION offered Councilmember Furman 2nd Councilmember Jennings to approve & sign the Unifirst contract with the police department. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE THE SUPERVISOR’S BUDGET MODIFICATIONS:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Furman to approve the following:
Decrease B8160.1 Ref/Garb PS $82,660.00
Decrease B9030.8 Social Security $6,323.49
Decrease B9060.8 Health Ins. $20,000.00
Increase B9901.9 Interfund transfer to expense to highway $108,923.49
Increase DB8989.1 Home & Community PS $82,660.00
Increase DB9030.8 Social Security $6,323,49
Increase DB9060.8 Health Ins $20,000.00
Increase DB5301.9 Interfund transfer revenue from B $108,923.49
Decrease A3120.4 Police Contr. $5,372.01
Increase A3120.2 Police Equip $5,372.01.
All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO PURCHASE 3 AED’S FROM CINTAS:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Jennings to authorize the purchase of 3 AED’s from Cintas $5,372.01 for the police department. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO AUTHORIZE THE PURCHASE OF CULVERTS:
MOTION offered Councilmember Furman 2nd Councilmember Carey to purchase culverts for Hidden Valley for $48,029.38. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO SURPLUS & DESTROY LAPTOP COMPUTER:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Davis to surplus and destroy an ASIS laptop computer Model #Q524U notebook PC. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE PURCHASE OF NEW COMPUTER FOR ASSESSOR & DEPUTY TOWN CLERK:
MOTION offered Councilmember Davis 2nd Councilmember Furman to authorize the purchase of a new computer for the Assessor & Deputy Town Clerk from state bid contract $1,142.74 each. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO AUDIT THE CLAIMS:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilman Furman to approve the bills (Abstract 15, 16 & 17):
ABSTRACT 15:
GENERAL A: #209-211 $ 4,700.88
HIGHWAY: #24 $ 778.17
SEWER: #32 $ 588.62
ABSTRACT 16:
GENERAL A: #212-227 $ 4,381.16
GENERAL B: #43-46 $ 8,467.26
HIGHWAY: #25-29 $ 1,571.54
SEWER: #33 $ 287.70
AND
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ABSTRACT 17:
GENERAL A: #228-239 $ 10,715.83
GENERAL B: #47-50 $ 7,958.57
HIGHWAY: #30-31 $ 146.17
SEWER: #34-36 $ 7,623.35.
All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
2023 ANNUAL REPORT:
Supervisor Rickard stated that the 2023 Annual Report has been filed with the State Comptroller’s office. Anyone can view it. There is one on file in the town clerk’s office.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
JOHN/VAL RICHICHI requested an update on 278 Brola Road. Attorney Bonacic updated them. There was a meeting with town attorney, Mark (asst. building inspector), town engineer, property owner with 2 family members, developer, 2 attorneys representing the building and the property owner & environmental engineer (they did the testing). Property owner wants to resolve the issue. 9 samples were taken – one was the most contaminated. The plan was to remove the contaminated area as opposed to all the materials. Agreed upon was that they would take on the expense of testing all the surrounding wells. TOPO snapshots were recommended by the town engineer to determine how much material was actually brough onsite. They will have another meeting with the date to be determined.
MIKE CAREY wanted to follow up with the requirement of a building permit sign when applying for a permit. He’s noticed he hasn’t seen them anymore. He is referring to the development going in on the corner of Schoolhouse Road, Pine Grove, Route 211. Supervisor Rickard will speak with the building inspector.
MARYBETH HORZEPA: Pocketbook BINGO on 5/18 at Pocatello FH. She is still selling LOTTO calendars.
DIANE LOEVEN discussed the senior schedules that Kathleen mentioned in correspondence. She spoke re: the HVAC in the senior center needing to be upgraded. Hometown Helpers is having an appreciation luncheon. She asked for support for Liz and Kathleen to attend this function.
MOTION TO AUTHORIZE CLOSING TOWN CLERK’S OFFICE FOR HOMETOWN HELPER APPRECIATION LUNCHEON:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Furman to close the town clerk’s office on Monday, May 20, 2024 from 11:30am to 2:30pm. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
MIKE MEERE asked for clarification for the service agreement for Water Solutions for Hidden Valley. Do they come out and fix stuff? Supervisor: they are the ones that come fix things. They built a lot of the parts in that plant and part of the plant. He calls himself a consultant. It’s a service contract.
BOARD COMMENTS:
COUNCILMEMBER CAREY – Happy Mother’s Day.
COUNCILMEMBER FURMAN – Happy Mother’s Day.
COUNCILMEMBER JENNINGS – Happy Mother’s Day.
SUPERVISOR RICKARD – Happy Mother’s Day.
MOTION TO ADJOURN MEETING:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilwoman Davis to adjourn the meeting at 8:45pm. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; carried.
The next meeting is scheduled for May 20, 2024 at 7:30pm the town hall, 1706 Route 211 West, Otisville NY.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen A. Myers, RMC
Town Clerk
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