Town of Mount Hope Town Board Meeting October 19th, 2020
OFFICIALS PRESENT: Highway Supt. Hassenmayer, Chief Rickard, Dep. Chief Maresca (7:50pm) & Attorney D. Bavoso.
2021 PRELIMINARY BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING:
Supervisor Volpe opened the public hearing at 7:30pm following the Pledge of Allegiance The notice is on the table. Extra budget copies are on the table.
Councilman Howell noted a point of interest on our part. The supervisor has had a plan the last 3 years to bring our employee salaries up to a median level. A lot of our clerks/hired personnel had been, in comparison to other municipalities, on the lower side of the pay scale. We’ve now accomplished getting them up to a median pay rate based on their experience & service to the town. This way it gets everybody to what we as a board have come up with a decent rate on their salary and to be able to accomplish that this year. This is a completion on our part for the task that Chad’s taken the last few years and saving a couple dollars for the tax payers.
Councilman Jennings: we worked hard on it and it’s a good budget.
Councilman Furman is happy with the budget. There’s no increase. There’s still things that are gonna be happening in this town. There’s equipment being replaced. There’s no one losing their job. I’m happy with the budget.
Councilman Carey thanked everyone including Chad, too. We sat down, came up with some stuff. Obviously, the supervisor does the majority of the work – we just come to an agreement. But when you look at the newspaper or online, you see what other municipalities are going through – like the Town of Wallkill. I think they’re 3 million dollars short next year for their budget. It’s phenomenal we didn’t get affected too much. He just wanted to thank everyone for participating.
Supervisor Volpe added to a few things that Matt brought up. Basically, as we have people retiring we’ve realized that we are hiring somebody at a rate where a person that’s been here for 10 years is making maybe .25 cents more an hour and it’s slowly got to the point that the board members that have been here have known this is something I’ve wanted to do it’s just we couldn’t do it all in one year. The highway & police union contracts – once those were set up and done then we worked on all the non-union – it’s taken a little bit to see where we can squeeze all this in. Supervisor began going through a few items on the budget. Last year was the 1st year that we started collecting taxes in house – that was a savings. It’s now done through the town clerk’s office. The seniors weren’t able to do very much of anything due to COVID so we were able to accommodate most of it and increase that line to $16,000 for next year. Veterans services went up a little; historical society depends on so much fundraising. A few new lines. He’s very hopeful that we will have our cemetery expansion done. Hopefully next year we will actually start selling plots and it will be mapped out a lot better and easier to accommodate. Basically, like the board has said, we’ve cut nothing. We are still doing concerts next year. We plan on community day next year. Everything we’ve done to help little league; both of our clean-ups – we’re not cutting anything. The board deserves a lot of credit for that but also the department heads really….he speaks with Dean and Paul daily. They’re the biggest departments. They really keep their budgets under control. It’s a group effort. Dean came up with a couple changes for the summer kids. He realized he was better off to make these changes.
He opened the public hearing up to the public at this time.
Diane Loeven congratulated the board on the budget. She asked about the superintendent of highways budget. That’s Dean & Amy? Supervisor: yes. And, also his deputy. She noted the seniors’ line and thanked him for taking that in to consideration. They were not able to use any of their budget this year because we weren’t able to do anything. She mentioned to Chad that they had the year planned out but noticed that there was a considerable increase in the Leprechaun coaches. Anticipating that next year may be higher, we had asked for an increase. She thanked them for their support on that. She continued with the ‘B’ budget. She noted refuse/garbage (p. 10) that over the past 2 years it has tripled in personal services. She wanted to know what goes in to that. Supervisor: aligning & allotting things into proper lines. That reflects ½ of the gentleman that does our cleaning for the year to get paid out of the ‘B’ portion. And, it reflects the 20 days of our highway guys to get paid form here for just the clean-up days. She asked about the new section just below the prior one. Supervisor: that is a new section. This is a portion of Angie’s salary. The highway, planning board & zoning board and building department are all ‘B’ items done by my “A” bookkeeper. My “A” bookkeeper is doing salary/retirement stuff for all these “B” type items. I have less flexibility in “A”. We realized – why don’t we create a line. Currently, we don’t have any fulltime in “A”; all of them are in “B”. Those are the ones that have the questions about their retirement. It consumes a lot of her time. We just moved a portion of it.
MOTION TO CLOSE 2021 PRELIMINARY BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2nd Councilman Carey to close the public hearing for the 2021 Preliminary Budget at 7:40pm. All in favor: Howell. Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.
MOTION TO ACCEPT THE PRIOR MEETING MINUTES:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Jennings that the minutes of the 10-5-2020 board meeting are approved as presented. All in favor: Carey, Howell, Jennings, Volpe, Furman; carried.
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CORRESPONDENCE:
1. Budget modification from Police dept.
2. Budget modification from highway department
3. Fall trash report 2020
4. Impound report September 2020 from Palmer’s Ark
5. Letter of interest from Sheena Mathew re: ZBA alternate
6. Letter of interest from Jeff Boyd re: planning board alternate
7. Letter of interest from Jan Muller re: BAR vacancy
8. Supervisor’s report September 2020
9. Memorandum of Agreement between Town of Mount Hope & OC Sheriff Dept re: pre-arraignment detention
10. Letter from OYA Solar re: solar energy project for 194 Pine Grove Road
11. Letter from NYS Ag & Mkts re: municipal shelter inspection report 10/2/2020 – satisfactory
BOARD REPORTS:
Councilman Carey reported that the little league coin drop brought in over $1400.00. On Nov 14, little league will hold a registration for the 2021 season. Early voting starts on October 24th through Nov.1st. There are 7 different locations: City of Middletown Senior Center, City of Newburgh Activity Center, Cornwall Ambulance building, Warwick town hall, Village of Montgomery senior center, Monroe town hall, Delaware Engine Co #2 (City of Port Jervis). Nov. 3 is election day. All districts in Mount Hope & Otisville will vote at the senior center on Baker Street in Otisville.
Councilman Furman reported the MVYFL is up/running. He thanked their board for continuing to keep kids interested in sports. There’s a ZBA meeting on Nov. 4 at 7pm. October is breast cancer awareness month. “Just don’t talk about it – do something about it.”
Councilman Jennings reported the planning board will be meeting October 21 at 7pm. Last week he, Chris Furman and the board members met with the candidates for the vacancy on the planning board. After speaking with planning board chairman, he recommends Jeff Boyd to fill the vacancy. Councilman Jennings found out we have no internet, so we will not be streaming facebook live tonight. Hopefully next meeting. The village is having the Patriot tree lighting on Dec 7th at 5:30pm. The Christmas tree lighting will be on Dec 5th at 5:30. They are working on grants to fix the sidewalks in the village.
Councilman Howell reported on the firehouse renovations. The outside painting is complete. The Veteran’s Day ceremony will be closed door ceremony on Nov 14th at 11:30am at the youth center. No public is permitted. He would like to have some way to stream it online.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
HIGHWAY DEPT.:
Supt. Hassenmayer reported that the fall clean-up was busy. They had 40+ pick-ups for seniors. The #’s are about the same as spring clean-up probably a little less. Budget-wise we will be fine. This week a large culvert in Hidden Valley that was replaced will be paved over. The guys will be helping the village with their paving. The lumber for the work to be done at Hidden Valley hasn’t been ordered yet.
POLICE DEPARTMENT:
Chief Rickard reported that the budget modification is for reimbursement from Meghan Ede re: Phase 2 training with the Ulster County Police Academy. Body cameras have been confirmed 11/9/2020. The company will be here. The lockers will be delivered this Thursday. There’s still a little plumbing to do. He needs approval for the memorandum of agreement with the county for pre-arraignment detention. Our local judges can no longer do arraignments. We are looking for a way for the prisoners to be held in the event we have someone that’s a mandatory hold. This is their standard agreement. David looked at it. I don’t think he disliked it but certainly it’s very 1-sided against us. Taking it is better than the alternative. Supervisor Volpe added that it doesn’t cost us anything. Chief Rickard gave an example of what has already happened. He asked for approval for Manuel Medeiros for full time competitive police officer position; tentative start date Nov. 9, 2020. He’s #1 on the town residency list. Because it’s a competitive position, there’s some different rules that apply. The county will have to do some medical stuff on their end which they can’t do until we approve this. Councilman Howell referred to the non-competitive vs competitive requirements. He asked if we have the same pre-employment requirements? Chief stated the difference is in agility which is the same numbers but the county administers the test. They only administer it once at the beginning. He has passed it – we can’t re-give it. Councilman Howell confirmed if that would satisfy ours. Chief: it satisfies ours. We are not allowed to supersede theirs. Chief added that the background is done. The psychological is done. The additional stuff is medical. The county will do the drug testing & the medical. Then they will tell us the results. Chief next spoke re: Halloween curfew. He advised that everyone should review the CDC guidelines for Halloween. The guidelines require and the Governor requires that you stay 6’ away from anyone that’s not in your household. People distributing candy should not distribute it directly. They should set up a station outside their house where people can just take it. He will put this on their facebook page with all the guidelines.
VILLAGE OF OTISVILLE:
Trustee Loeven informed the board that the Baker Street road sign and the pole are on order and the goal is for it to be replaced by election day.
MOTION TO APPROVE THE 2021 TOWN BUDGET:
MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2nd Councilman Howell to approve the 2021 Town Budget as presented. All in favor: Carey, Howell, Jennings, Volpe, Furman; carried.
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MOTION TO APPOINT JEFF BOYD TO THE PLANNING BOARD ALTERNATE SEAT:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Jennings to appoint Jeff Boyd to the planning board alternate vacant position effective immediately. All in favor: Carey, Howell, Jennings, Volpe, Furman; carried.
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VACANCY:
Councilman Furman explained this vacancy. There was an opening last year and someone has since been appointed.
BOARD OF ASSESSMENT REVIEW VACANCY:
Councilman Howell explained there’s only been 1 interested prospect. That was Jan Muller. There’s also Ms. Mathew that was interested in a different board. He will make arrangements to have them both come interview.
MOTION TO APPROVE THE SUPERVISOR’S MONTHLY REPORT:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Carey to approve the September 2020 Supervisor’s report as presented. All in favor: Howell, Jennings, Volpe, Carey, Furman; carried.
MOTION TO HIRE MANUEL MADEIROS AS FULL TIME COMPETITIVE POLICE OFFICER:
MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2nd Councilman Furman to hire Manuel Madeiros as a full-time competitive police officer, tentative start date 11-9-2020, pending passing everything with OC civil service. All in favor: Howell, Jennings, Volpe, Carey, Furman; carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE POLICE DEPARTMENT BUDGET MODIFICATION:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Howell to approve the following:
Increase revenue Police Fees A1520 by $500.00 AND
Increase expense A3120.4 Police Contr. by $500.00. (Meghan Ede reimbursement for police academy)
All in favor: Howell, Jennings, Volpe, Carey, Furman; carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT BUDGET MODIFICATION:
MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2nd Councilman Jennings to approve the following:
Increase B2130 Refuse/Garbage revenue by $1177.00 And
Increase B8160.4 Refuse/Garbage contr. by $1177.00. (2020 fall clean-up)
All in favor: Howell, Jennings, Volpe, Carey, Furman; carried.
RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE THE POLICE CHIEF TO SIGN THE MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT WITH THE ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE FOR PRE-ARRAIGNMENT DETENTION:
MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2nd Councilman Howell to authorize the Police Chief to sign the Memorandum of Agreement with the Orange County Sheriff’s office for pre-arraignment detention. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Jennings, Volpe, Furman; carried.
ROSE PHILLIPS:
Ms. Rose Phillips thanked the board for allowing her to use the youth center for her story hour. Her 1st story time was a success. Ms. Phillips thanked the community for support for her project. She announced to everyone that she was approved for her GOLD AWARD project. She added that the STUDY BUDDY program is up and running. She is going to make a flyer to let everyone know the resource room is available for use because she’s heard that people don’t know it is open yet.
MOTION TO AUDIT THE CLAIMS:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2nd Councilman Furman to approve Abstract #41 & Abstract #42:
Abstract 41:
GENERAL A: #581-593 $ 5,707.40
GENERAL B: #93 $ 43.96
HIGHWAY: #157-162 $ 3,460.05 AND
Abstract #42:
GENERAL A: #594-611 $ 51,514.15
GENERAL B: #94-96 $ 17,919.93
HIGHWAY: #163-167 $ 30,306.11
SEWER: #86 $ 1,413.94.
All in favor: Howell, Carey, Jennings, Furman, Volpe; carried.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: none
TOWN BOARD COMMENTS:
Councilman Howell: the last meeting here at town hall had some questions/comments/concerns regarding an appointment to a vacant seat for the planning board. At the time of the vacancy there were 3 interviews – there was 4-5 people in one position. Just for our side that the transparency/openness…we didn’t just pick a name out of a hat without going through any type of process. We had 3 interviews. Jim & Chris sat through those.
Councilman Jennings congratulated Rose Phillips on her GOLD AWARD project.
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Councilman Furman noted that if anyone is interested in any of our boards, even if we don’t have an opening, feel free to send a letter of your intent. We have been trying to advertise.
Councilman Carey congratulated Rose on her achievement. Dollar General is going up. He’s hoping to see a building in the next couple weeks.
Supervisor Volpe referred to a letter read in correspondence with regard to a solar farm on 194 Pine Grove Road. It’s not even before the planning board yet. He reached out to Glen about it. This isn’t even at the planning board stage yet. Councilman Carey added that there are people going door to door trying to sell solar. He’s seen comments on facebook. Chief added that they have to have a permit. He has no permits on file. Supervisor Volpe noted the Howell (no relation to Matt) solar farm on Mount Hope Road is also putting up signs soliciting people to join their power grid. They are not in compliance to operate yet. He thanked David for reaching out to the library for us. They’re under the understanding of how renewals have to be for the library cards where they come down here. David had been working on that. He asked the attorney about Spectrum. Atty. Bavoso has to reach out. He’s been a little behind on everything. He’s down a couple people at the office. A few people on Kohler Road have reached out to Chad and he forwarded them to David so we can keep up on them. Supervisor noted that Paul reached out to Doug Hutchings on us doing the repo’s here and sitting here overnight if they were impounded. There is no additional cost to us.
MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT:
MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2nd Councilman Carey to adjourn the meeting at 8:15pm. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Jennings, Volpe, Furman; carried.
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 2, 2020 at 7:30pm in the town hall meeting room.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen A. Myers, RMC
Town Clerk
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