Town of Mount Hope Town Board Meeting March 16, 2020
The town board meeting of the Mount Hope Town Board was held at Mount Hope Town Hall, 1706 Route 211 West, Otisville, on March 16, 2020 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., Dep. Police Chief Maresca, Attorney David Bavoso, Engineer Jason Pitingaro.
Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Supervisor Volpe called the public hearing to order at 7:30PM. Supervisor Volpe stated that as of to day and for the next few meetings probably will be in this fashion where we are not going to be open to the public. However, we’ll try our hardest to get it online and viewable as soon as possible.
7:30pm: PUBLIC HEARING FOR MS-4 STORMWATER LAW:
Supervisor Volpe opened the public hearing and noted the ad in the newspaper was on the front table. Engineer Jason Pitingaro explained the need for the public hearing. Jason Pitingaro informed the board that every year we need to complete the MS-4 – it includes a number of minimum control measures. This is documentation of the towns activities throughout the year including the activities that the town itself has done mostly through the highway & building departments & the activities of contractors & developers throughout the town. We try to maintain the water quality of the waterways in Mount Hope & the greater region. It’s a program that’s mandated by NYS and we go though this each year and we work with Julie & Dean on doing this. There’s training involved and Julie usually provides it to members of the highway department. That was completed on March 11th. The report was done and submitted to Kathleen 2 weeks ago. Tonight is supposed to be a public hearing to receive public comments from the public regarding this. Per Kathleen, no one has come in to look at this. Supervisor Volpe asked if there were any changes from last year. Jason: there aren’t many. We noted a couple stop work orders due to violations through the building department but those were due to clearing and erosion type things that had gone on. Last year there were noted septic failures – there were none this year. Not much other changes. The measures that Dean & his department have done were similar or the same as last year. Supervisor Volpe asked what the time restraint is to get this filed. Jason: supposed to file by end of March. He suggested there may be some flexibility based on the current situation with the state of emergency. He recommends that after he makes the update with the date of the training we go ahead and file this at the end of March. You have had time to receive comments. You could receive questions for 2 weeks & still be able to file by the end of March. Supervisor: if the board is okay with it – he’d like to leave public comment open until March 30. We don’t have another meeting until April. Anything that comes through, Kathleen can forward in an email to the board and Jason. Jason: the hearing can be closed but you can receive written comments and if anything substantially changes the report – he will make the changes before the report is submitted or if there’s a comment that requires a response, he will provide it through the board that they can decide whether or not to issue to that person who made the comment. Atty. Bavoso recommends written comment period to have March 27 cutoff. Councilman Howell asked Jason if this provides him with enough time to file it electronically? Jason: as long as it is postmarked by the end of March, we won’t have an issue.
MOTION TO CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Howell to close public hearing at 7:36pm and the Town Board will accept written comments until close of business March 27, 2020. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
7:36pm: PUBLIC HEARING FOR PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #4-2020 ENTITLED: AMENDING LOCAL LAW #4-2020 AMENDING SECTION 160-5 OF THE TOWN CODE OF MOUNT HOPE TO ALLOW ALCOHOL IN TOWN FACILITIES:
Supervisor Volpe opened the public hearing. Notice is on the table. We went over this earlier in the year. This is an amendment allowing the proper documentation at the issuer’s level. When somebody comes in & fills out & has the proper paperwork – a good example is we actually had someone come in that did not have the proper paperwork & thought they did and Kathleen sent it to our insurance agent and we were told this is not exactly what we are looking for. In the event that anything like that happens before so that the town board doesn’t have to vote on it – that’s basically the only change that we are looking for in this local law so that the residents do not have to wait for a town board meeting to know whether or not they got the date.
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They will not be allowed to go on the schedule until all of the documentation including the non-refundable deposit is presented. He would like to table this until next meeting to vote. He will put this on the agenda for next meeting.
MOTION TO ADJOURN PUBLIC HEARING:
MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2nd Councilman Howell to adjourn public hearing at 7:39pm and to accept written comments until April 6, 2020. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO ACCEPT PRIOR MEETING MINUTES:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Jennings that the March 2, 2020 meeting minutes are accepted as presented. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
CORRESPONDENCE:
- Budget modification – Supervisor’s office
- Letter from OC Board of Elections thanking town for use of town hall for elections
- Insurance cert from Otisville Lions for the Easter egg hunt
- Building department report January 2020
- Otisville fire dept. call report for February 2020
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Councilman Jennings reported the planning board meets 3/18 at 7pm closed to public. The village meeting is 3/19 at 7pm but will be closed to the public.
Councilman Furman reported he received his census packet in the mail. He encourages everyone to sign up with NIXEL program when they get the access card application for the youth center. He receives messages via City of Middletown. He appreciates all the updates from Chad. He told the public to stay calm, take a deep breath. We’ll get through this. He’s received emails & texts. Take care of family and check on your elders.
Councilman Carey has passed out applications & received some requests for the access card applications and put them on facebook. He emailed them to people also. He wished Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone. The village election has been postponed until April 28. There is a burn ban in effect from March 16 through May 14. He learned the Otisville fire dept is taking the training class how to handle if they go to someone’s house that happens to have corona virus. Summer rec director applications were due March 13. After discussion, they will be extended through March 27. Counselor applications can be accepted. He asked the Supervisor about the CPR/AED classes and asked if they will be postponed. Supervisor noted that the county executive announced that at 4:00 every day that we’re gonna have an update. They are very informational. Every day we are closing down more and more things. Right now, April looks awesome but it could possibly change. He will keep everyone informed. Councilman Carey noted the town bulk trash drop off (April 15 through 25 no Sundays) is the same time as the village trash days (April 20-24).
Councilman Howell noted the Howells Fire Dept fundraiser is for purchasing house number signs. He is getting information on how to make this available to the public so they can purchase the signs for their number. Supervisor Volpe added that this would be great information to add to our newsletter this year.
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT:
Supt. Hassenmayer noted there haven’t been any trash day bids yet. The county raised their price for TV’s to $20 from $10. He checked on prices on the electronic – they should be the same as last year. We’re still waiting on an answer for tires. The police car bid closed Sunday night. We used Absolute Auctions. It closed at $6200. They removed all the lights and sirens and the light bar off the roof. He received a bid from the auction site of $225 but he got a letter from Howells fire dept that they could use it for their brush truck and they’re willing to pay $235 for the light bar. That makes the total $6435 for the police department. He recommends this. He will have to refuse the bid on the auction site but sell it privately to Howells fire dept.
MOTION TO SELL THE FORD EXPEDITION ON THE AUCTION SITE:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2nd Councilman Carey to sell the FORD Expedition through the auction site for $6,200.00. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO SELL THE LIGHTBAR TO HOWELLS FIRE DEPT:
MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2nd Councilman Howell to refuse the 1st bid for the lightbar and accept the bid from Howells Fire Dept. for the light bar for $235. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
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MOTION TO RAISE TV PRICE FOR BULK TRASH DAYS:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Howell to raise the price for TV’s for bulk trash days to $20 from $10. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
Supt. Hassenmayer continued & reported the stove hood is in and if it rains tomorrow it will be put in. He needs to pick it up in Middletown. He is still waiting on furniture. He has contractors coming to look at the cracks in the floor and see what their recommendations are for it. Supervisor Volpe thanked the highway guys for all their work there. Supt. Hassenmayer walked around the park today. He had guys down there putting trash cans out. They’ve got more work to do – what’s the board’s thoughts on the playground? Should we be looking in to spraying them down with something? Supervisor Volpe noted that surrounding municipalities have closed theirs. There was discussion on sanitizing the equipment. Every time I think they’re overreacting, they come up with a bunch more stuff we should/shouldn’t be doing. There was discussion on the conference call about little league starting in 3 weeks. If things keep going like this – none of it is gonna happen. Councilman Carey asked if there is something we can spray on it. Supt. Hassenmayer doesn’t know but he’s seen that the school buses were sprayed down before the schools closed. Carey: I saw some places online today that some places are closed. The parks aren’t closed but the playground equipment is. He doesn’t want to see anyone not go to the park; it’s wide open & fresh air. Supervisor: you’re not gonna be able to police that. Carey: I don’t want to see the playground equipment closed. Dep Chief Maresca: I think if you spray it though, someone with the virus touched it – all the spraying doesn’t matter now. Discussion. Dean will reach out to the transportation director to see what they use for the buses.
POLICE REPORT:
Dep. Chief Maresca asked the public to not panic. Remain clam. Recommends not panic buying. Shop normal. Take it one day at a time. It’ll eventually pass.
MOTION TO APPROVE SUPERVISOR’S BUDGET MODIFICATION:
MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2nd Councilman Howell to approve the modification as follows:
Increase revenue A4089 Other General Gov’t Aid by $76,925.26 and
Increase expense A1620.4 Buildings contractual by $76,925.26.
Increase revenue line A4089 Other General Gov’t Aid by $12,377.65 and
Increase expense line A1620.4 Buildings Contractual by $12,377.65.
All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
2020 CENSUS:
Supervisor Volpe: cancelled – maybe next meeting. Reiterate to people to fill it out.
2019 ANNUAL AUDIT:
Supervisor Volpe informed the board members that the 2019 Annual Audit has been completed and filed with the state. There’s a copy in the Town Clerk’s office if anyone from the public would like to see it.
MOTION TO AUDIT THE CLAIMS:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Jennings approve the following Abstract 10 & 11:
ABSTRACT 10:
GENERAL A: #145-168 $ 69,810.30
GENERAL B: #16-18 $ 3,384.30
HIGHWAY: #39-45 $ 24,829.66
SEWER: #17-19 $ 3,959.26
And
ABSTRACT 11:
GENERAL A: #169-192 $ 22,430.61
GENERAL B: #19-21 $ 2,100.71
HIGHWAY: #46-50 $ 10,932.29
SEWER: #20-22 $ 54,962.40. (SAM grant reimbursement)
All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings. Motion carried.
BOARD COMMENTS:
Councilman Carey: Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
Councilman Jennings: reported that the little league had a concern with the garbage cans at the park & the netting on the 3rd base side line – the cable is broken. Dean will look at it.
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AT THIS TIME, SUPERVISOR VOLPE SPOKE ON COVID-19:
Supervisor Volpe: Within a week/week and a half, every town that does have a Dial-A-Bus – that’s going to be discontinued. Ironically, what they are pushing for is what we already have – where we have the Hometown Helpers. They’re actually pushing for people to – whether it’s through the church – to say they need help, whether it’s picking up prescriptions and maybe having a buddy system where that person goes out and picks up their things. That could be a problem because technically you can’t pick up someone else’s medication. The outlook – the #’s keep going down. Today we did the executive order following Gov. Cuomo which allows us to still have a meeting to run our government, also, to be able to safeguard our employees. Moving forward our employees for town hall will be here but we encourage everyone to call or email. Every service you need from here, you should still be able to get it. It’s just they’re looking at any municipality that stays open – they’re looking at you keeping a log for each person that walks in to the building in the event that somebody has something. That’s a lot of backtracking. It is the recommendation that we lock the door. We’re gonna limit contact until further notice. There will be a sign on the door. He has to put something on the website. The youth center grand opening has been postponed. And by direction of the county we closed our senior center. Any information he receives he will send to everyone. Councilman Jennings will advise when a decision is made about Easter egg hunt postponement date.
MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Howell to adjourn the meeting at 8:06pm. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Jennings, Furman. Motion carried.
The next meeting is scheduled for April 6, 2020 at 7:30pm at the town hall meeting room.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen A. Myers, RMC
Town Clerk
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