Town of Mount Hope Town Board Meeting September 8th, 2020

TOWN BUDGET MEETING & TOWN BOARD MEETING

                       TOWN OF MOUNT HOPE, SEPT.  8, 2020                

                                      www.townofmounthope.org

 

The town board budget meeting & town board meeting of the Town of Mount Hope was held at the Mount Hope Town Hall on Sept. 8, 2020 at 5:30pm with the following present: Supervisor Chad Volpe, Councilman Matt Howell, Councilman Brian Carey, Councilman Chris Furman, Councilman Jim Jennings and Town Clerk Kathleen Myers.

OFFICIALS PRESENT:   Police Chief Rickard, Deputy Police Chief Maresca, Building Inspector Musial, H’way Supt. Hassenmayer.

 

Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Supervisor Volpe called the meeting to order at 5:30pm. Town Clerk gave board members their 2021 budget packets. Public notice was available on the desk for anyone who wants to see it. We’ll meet with 4 department heads tonight. The budget says workshop on it. He’s not ready to give board the tentative until he has discussions with the board.

 

POLICE:

Chief Rickard came before the board to discuss his 2021 budget request. He explained his budget goes up due to contractual raises. The officers get another $1/hour. He did a .75 cent raise for Maureen & Marie. Level of service is identical.  Personal services is the raises. Uniform allowance goes up $50 next year. Contractual is the same as this year. Equipment – we’re proposing to cut our computer replacement to 1 computer from 3. The car is what we do every year. We’re replacing the 4 yr old car. All the cars are Explorers. 154 will be replaced. Supervisor: what we’re gonna do with the Durango – we’re gonna keep that in house. Next year when a car comes available, we’ll have a few options. We’ll either take the newer one and surplus one of the older ones or possibly giving one to the court to do errands and stuff. FORD gave us $750 credit for parts. Chief: explained the personal services has $55,328 comes back as revenue from the school district. Councilman Carey asked how’s it working with the elementary school. Chief: they’re back only online. We’ll be back 4 days per week starting the 21^st. Councilman Furman asked about the contract with the school – is that just a set amount of money we get no matter how many days per week? Chief: they get charged per 8-hour block.  Councilman Carey asked when the FT’s are going into effect. Chief: the list was certified 2 weeks ago. We have started the canvass. We have 60 days from when we got it. He’s hoping for the 2^nd meeting in October to have 2 people. If we don’t, I’ll at least have an answer for you. Councilman Howell: part of that we also made changes in the contract to help you guys to get more coverage on a shift. Where are we year to date now? Chief: this is not a great year to use. The Governor, in April, suspended the earnings cap and the hours cap for the officers. When school closed, Sean, Tom & Jamie now can work unlimited hours and make unlimited money which they have done. So, we have not, in fairness, had the open shifts but you’re gonna be able to. The earnings/hours cap expired September 4^th. So, they won’t be able to do that moving forward. We had an open shift last Monday. Because of COVID it is not a fair comparison. Councilman Howell: with the changes we made, did it seem to help before we had the exception? Chief: no, I think Sean was really the difference. He was laid off from his other job that shut down.  He further explained the certified list is only good for 60 days. The 60 days is the law. What happens is Chad calls up civil service and asks for the certified list. They send him the list. There’s 1-100 & 7-95’s. That’s 8 people. You can only pick 1 out of the top 3 and ties.  We now have to send them a form letter. They have 14 days to return that to us. If they don’t respond to me, they’re off the whole county list; they’re done, they’re out, they can’t get hired anywhere. We had 2 of those people. I spoke to the county – they’re saying there’s mail issues. We’ll have to talk about this. It’s not my concern. We then have to do an interview of the 8 people and then we have to hire from that 8. If we get down below 8 people and there’s only 2 people interested in the job after talking to us, then we can open it back up to the 90’s. There’s about 60-70 90’s. We then have to send them a letter. Give them 14 days. You’re still locked in to 60 days. After 60 days the list is no longer good. The problem is then we have to go back and send letters to the people that told us no initially. We have to start at the top again. Hopefully, the 2^nd time they’ll respond right away – no I don’t want the job. The other difference is, because this is a competitive position, they have to pass medical. They make the background include the psych. The county pays for the medical. They don’t have to do the agility test. They’ve done it.  Discussion on the process. Chief: if anyone wanted to leave before the waiting period is done, they would have to reimburse the town all their costs for the 1^st year including the field training costs.

 

BUILDING INSPECTOR:

BI Musial explained she went on a 4% scale – still leaves us below what she thinks is the average salary is for our job. We haven’t slowed down at all. Even though we didn’t have construction going on for almost 2 months, we were still inspecting some projects that were still allowed to continue. Our budget this year is 97. We’re looking to go up to 96. Deb had a little bit of a bump this year. I want her to go up by 4% for next year. That would be her salary at 5425. I still kept $1,000 for Adam McCarey in case we need him – on call. We updated our computers a couple years ago. It’s difficult having Deb in there updating all our systems and her not having a computer.

                                                                        73

What we’re going to do is I had a laptop that I had for the building department that we purchased when I 1^st started that I thought I would use with the 1^st system we went with. It never worked out. So, we’re gonna repurpose that for her. She has completed and put in to the new system 16, 17, 18. She’s working on 19. That’s almost everything since I started in the building department. Once she gets us through 19, she’ll back to the years before 16. The BICES system (the old system) kind of is having a lot of hiccups. Sometimes you can get in and sometimes you can’t.  At least we’d have a baseline. I’m expecting that eventually BICES will stop working. We’ve printed what we need for Deb to do what we need but it makes easier if we can go in to BICES system. IPS is current. If we lose BICES, we’re done. Since we’re gonna use the old computer, we’re gonna get her hooked up with IPS(BAS), there’s a cost associated with it. The IPS system is with BAS.  Councilman Jennings asked the cost of that and if it is licensed. BI Musial: yes, it is. Supervisor: it’s $695. Musial: it’s $350 for maintenance but it’ll be waived this year and we’ll have to pick it up next year. Jennings: is the laptop compatible with BAS? Musial: it is. We bought a good one so it’ll totally work with the system. It’s Windows 10. BI Musial cont. her report: plus, we have trainings. She spoke re: Jason’s engineering fees have been going up because of the projects that we have. When we took over the building department was losing money. We are certainly well above & ahead this year without any major projects other than Dollar General. Right now, we’re at $92,000 that’s as of today, from what we have waiting to be put in the system. We have Dollar General is going to be permitted soon. That’s included in that amount. What’s not in that amount is the solar system from Finchville (Kowalczik) – that’ll be a nice hunk of change. We’ve already surpassed our budget for this year with money intake. Councilman Howell: the engineering fees, have budgeted for this in the past? Musial: I didn’t normally. Supervisor explained the budget modifications. Musial: as of today, we are ahead in permits. This time last year was 134 permits. This year at this point, we’re at 149. The title searches – we are ahead. Myself and Heidi – this isn’t the only job we do. Julie trains the guys next door. Heidi does our newsletter. She fills in for Angie when she’s not here. I think we’re worth 4% – I ‘d like it to be a little bit more if possible. Councilman Carey: lotta houses going up, lotta houses selling, how’s it working out in your department for making sure they had building permits before they sell. Musial: what we did was, at the end of August, we kinda split it. Julie is doing all the new stuff. Heidi is specifically working on all the title search & all the permits that have to be done with those issues. Mostly, the title searches are on Heidi. Supervisor: they both have the same certifications. They can cover each other. Carey: what are we doing, going forward, to clean up the crap in people’s yards? Musial: I condemned his house. He didn’t move out. Now it falls on the board to send him an eviction notice and go through the process of going to court. Courts are closed. David can get things rolling. Everything we needed to do is done.  APS were contacted. He didn’t want the help.  

 

COURT:

Justice Goldsmith explained courts are back in business. He held court 4 times since they opened up. There’s a lot of no shows on V&T’s. He put 3% for salaries. All the equipment was reimbursed through the court system. All computers are new in the court building. That’s also through the court system. Other than that, we’re gonna try to get things rolling again. We had requested at one time to use the community center for court and because people are showing up for traffic tickets, it wasn’t necessary. We’re not getting the volume. Supervisor: do you feel caught up? Goldsmith: I don’t think we’ll truly be caught up until we can sanction people for not showing. We are carrying a good size group of no shows. I’m moving them from calendar to calendar. He explained evictions and dog cases are town cases. The next night is completely criminal cases. Both judges handle both cases. Supervisor: how many arraignments on average do you & Joe do? Goldsmith: right now, I’m doing arraignments for Mount Hope, Deerpark, Greenville & Minisink. They are virtual arraignments. Computer at my house was provided by the office of court administration. It’s done via skype. Usually takes an hour.

 

TOWN CLERK:

Town Clerk spoke to board re: budget request. She explained that she put in a little additional than the 3% – it was about 6% for herself and Paula. In addition to the town clerk duties she collects the town taxes Jan, Feb & March. They also maintain the books for the Howells Cemetery for the old section and once the closing happens for the new section, we’ll have that added responsibility. The old section requires a lot of attention. The records are horrific at best. Board members were invited to stop at the office to view them. She’s hoping the new section will go smoother. Maybe there will be a computer program to do it. We’ve had to take numerous trips over there to try to figure out headstones. Councilman Carey asked how it could be fixed. Town Clerk: I don’t know. Back then, everything was done by hand. There’s writing in the margins Councilman Carey: asked re: the old section. Town Clerk explained the old section has 3 sections. Section 1 is very old – 1800’s. Section 2 a little newer. Section 3 is the newest section. It is pie shaped. She agreed that we inherited this because the old association went bankrupt. Happens to a lot of other town clerks. Supervisor: the new part is going to be planned out and have placards. Carey: when the new section opens, can we shut the old section down? Supervisor: not if they’ve already bought there. Town clerk added that she was never provided any deed copies. Councilman Furman asked how many are sold but not occupied. Town Clerk: I don’t know. Section 1 is full. No more should be going in there. Section 2 we’re fairly certain that who is there is supposed to be.

                                                                        74

 

Supervisor Volpe spoke to the board and noted that the .2 & .4 sections of the proposed budget will not be changing. He wanted to talk to them about the .1 sections. Councilman Howell stated that he had spoken to the assessor who has requested a digital camera for use for him office & when he goes out in the field. Supervisor Volpe stated that could be done. There was discussion over the data collector position. Last year Corey Baker was put in that position for 1 hour/week.  He was not able to do the work.

 

6:45pm THE TOWN BOARD WENT IN TO THE SUPERVISOR’S OFFICE TO DISCUSS THE .1 SECTIONS OF THE BUDGET.

 

7:25PM THE TOWN BOARD RETURNED TO THE MEETING ROOM FOR A 5 MINUTE RECESS BEFORE STARTING THE REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING.

 

Following the Pledge of Allegiance, the Town Supervisor called the town board meeting to order at 7:30pm.

 

AT THIS TIME, Supervisor Volpe asked the attorney if there as anything further to do with the proposed local law for the battery storage.  The attorney said to just close the public hearing and the board can vote on it. Neither the town clerk nor the Supervisor has received any correspondence regarding this law.

 

MOTION TO CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING FOR PROPOSED LAW #5-2020 CREATING REGULATIONS FOR THE INSTALLATION & USE OF BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS:

MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2^nd Councilman Howell to close the public hearing for proposed local law #5-2020 CREATING REGULATIONS FOR THE INSTALLATION & USE OF BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS at 7:35pm.  All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; carried.

 

MOTION TO ACCEPT THE PRIOR MEETING MINUTES:

MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2^nd Councilman Howell to accept meeting minutes as presented from August 17, 2020. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.

 

CORRESPONDENCE:

• 2020-2021 Snow & Ice agreement with the County of Orange
• 2020-2021 Snow & Ice agreement with the Town of Wallkill
• Resignation from PO Cody Hunt effective 1^st week in September
• Model resolution for records retention that has to be adopted
• Budget modification for the Town Clerk’s office
• Budget modification for the body camera reimbursement
• Email from C. Bond re: Roses Point cell tower located at 303 Otisville Road
• Thank you note from M/M Jensen to Town Clerk & highway dept. re: Howells cemetery
• Complaint re: 605 New Vernon Road
• Correspondence from the OC clerk’s office re: LiveOnNY – an organ donor program
• August 2020 impound report from Palmer’s Ark

 

BOARD REPORTS:

Councilman Howell:  Reminded everyone we have an opening on the planning board and Board of Assessment Review. Anyone interested can send a letter of interest to Kathleen or Chad. School has started virtually. Due to COVID, we need to cancel the Veteran’s Day parade. There will be a small service in house.

Councilman Jennings: Village meeting is 9-17-2020 at 7pm.There were 20 fire calls last month. The village and the railroad have come to terms with buying the property. Our planning board meets on 9-16 at 7pm. He asked Dean about netting for the poles. He will get that to him soon. He noted some fence posts by the bathroom at the big pavilion that are broken. Councilman Carey: that’s the only section of fence we did not replace when we replaced all the fence up there. Dean added that the new fence that the football league put up was busted over the weekend. There’s still some confusion as to where the village line and town lines are at the park. Dean stated that there’s a concrete monument in the corner by the panel box. The trees are probably right on the line.

Councilman Carey: 1^st day of school. God bless those doing online with Google Meets. Concert series ended last Tuesday. He thanked everyone. This will be the 19^th anniversary of September 11^th. The village election is next Tuesday from 12-9 at village hall. He asked about possibly putting an ad in the paper for the openings we have on our boards.

Councilman Furman: MVYFB has been practicing at Greenville park. Not sure if the season will happen. He’s had people ask about the meetings going on facebook live for those not wanting to be in a public place and/or still have questions for the board. He has no issue with doing it. Supervisor Volpe added that he had 2 people ask about it. He has no problem with it. In the past, he used his personal cell phone to do this.

 

                                                                        75

 

Someone would have to monitor facebook as we are meeting. He leaves his phone in his office on meeting nights. He has no issue with it. Councilman Carey: if we want to do facebook live, I think we should get rid of the video. The video we upload to youtube. With facebook, if someone says something in this meeting & someone in facebook world doesn’t like what they said they can report it to facebook and they have the option of taking it down. You can watch the video on our website or youtube. Chris had 3 people ask him. Chad had 2 people ask him. Councilman Carey doesn’t agree to put this on facebook live for 5 people. It doesn’t make sense to do both. Councilman Howell doesn’t agree with the duplication aspect. He thinks either/or is fine. Supervisor Volpe uploads the video after the meeting. After that, Brian takes it from youtube and puts it on the facebook page. The next day it gets put on the website. If this is something we decide to do, I think it should be a town owned device. Councilman Carey asked the attorney what happens if he uses his phone to video something here and someone wants to FOIL request it. Can they FOIL my phone since I used it? Atty: yes. Carey: so by Chad using his phone….Atty: if he’s doing it on behalf of the town, then yes. If he was a member of the public and recording for himself then it’s not FOIL-able. If he does it for the town for town use, then yes, it is FOIL-able. Councilman Jennings thinks we should do it until COVID is over. He asked about the tablets purchased for the building department and if we could use one of them. Jim will look in to this. Councilman Furman reminded village residents to get out and vote on Tuesday.

Supervisor Volpe: The gym opening was postponed. According to NYS health department, we’ve just passed 30 days of having less than 1%. He was told the gym requirements are going to change if we hit 60 days. We can give an update once that happens. He asked Dean if the little league batting cages are ours. Dean: They were installed by the little league. They’re on village property. He will look for the park maps.

 

HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT:

Supt. Hassenmayer reported the nets for the little league were quoted at $450 each plus shipping. Village & town of Montgomery had a tornado touch down.  Our highway guys went over to assist in their clean-up. Their village mayor and town supervisor thanked our guys for all they did. The salt shed is filled up and ready for winter. The new salt contracts are the same as the last few years. The county and T/O Wallkill contracts are up $100/mile. He recommends the board accepts them. He will order the little league nets tomorrow. Ketcham fence has not been there yet to do the posts. Jim will check with them tomorrow. Jim asked Dean about the loops on the tops of the poles. The guys did those.

 

MOTION TO APPROVE 2020-2021 SNOW & ICE AGREEMENT WITH COUNTY OF ORANGE:

MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2^nd Councilman Jennings to authorize the town supervisor to sign the 2020-2021 Snow & Ice Agreement with the County of Orange for certain county roads for $4,900/mile for a total of 9.18 miles.  All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; motion carried. (Copy on file in Town Clerk’s office)

 

MOTION TO APPROVE 2020-2021 SNOW & ICE AGREEMENT WITH TOWN OF WALLKILL:

MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2^nd Councilman Howell to authorize the town supervisor to sign the 2020-2021 Snow & Ice Agreement with the Town of Wallkill for certain Wallkill roadways for $4,900/mile for a total of .92 miles.  All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; motion carried. (Copy on file in Town Clerk’s office)

 

CARBOY BRIDGE UPDATE:

Supt. Hassenmayer updated the board on the Carboy bridge replacement. The county has the old bridge out and begun shoring up the banks for the new one. It’s moving along on schedule.

 

POLICE DEPARTMENT:

Chief Rickard noted the resignation from Cody Hunt effective September 4. He needs the Supervisor to be authorized to sign the SRO agreement with the school. Night Against Crime has been cancelled for this year. Body cameras have been received last week. Dave Hoovler, District Attorney, cut the check for us for his share, $5,000. He hopes to have the draft policy ready for the next meeting. September is suicide prevention month. Coffee with the Chief is on 9-15-2020. Orange County Mental Health has a task force and they will attend his coffee with the Chief on the 15^th at 10am at the town park. He would like to have the police awards at the October 5^th meeting. He suggested the meeting be moved to the senior or youth center so the officers can bring their families.

 

MOTION TO ACCEPT RESIGNATION FROM POLICE OFFICER CODY HUNT:

MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2^nd Councilman Jennings to accept resignation from Police Officer Cody Hunt effective 9-4-2020.  All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.

 

 

 

                                                                        76

 

 

MOTION TO AUTHORIZE THE TOWN SUPERVISOR TO SIGN THE CONTRACT FOR THE 2020/2021 SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER WITH MINISINK VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT:

MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2^nd Councilman Carey to authorize the town supervisor to sign the contract for the 2020/2021 School Resource Officer with Minisink Valley School district. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; motion carried. (Copy on file in Town Clerk’s office)

 

MOTION TO CHANGE THE MEETING PLACE FOR THE OCTOBER 5, 2020 MEETING:

MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2^nd Councilman Furman to change the October 5, 2020 meeting from the Town Hall to the Mount Hope Youth/Recreation Center located at 9 Baker Street, Otisville NY at 7:30pm.

All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.

 

Supervisor Volpe added that we will be getting a new police car that was ordered earlier this year. The retiring police car will be re-purposed to town hall. You’ll see a voucher going through for what the value is. That money will go back into the police budget with an internal transfer.

 

VILLAGE OF OTISVILLE:

Trustee Loeven: the railroad has accepted their offer. They hope to be in contract within the month. Village election has absentee ballots available. You can download them from village website. She will check with Christine for the little league maps.

 

MOTION TO APPROVE LOCAL LAW #5-2020 ENTITLED: CREATING REGULATIONS FOR THE INSTALLATION & USE OF BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS:

MOTION Councilman Howell 2^nd Councilman Carey to approve Local Law #5-2020 Entitled: Creating Regulations for the Installation & Use of Battery Energy Storage Systems.  (Copy attached at end of these minutes.) All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.

 

RESOLUTION FOR LGS-1 RECORDS RETENTION:

MOTION offered Councilman Furman 2^nd Councilman Howell to approve the resolution as read into the record by Town Clerk: (see end of minutes for complete resolution).  All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.

 

OUTSIDE STORAGE UNIT:

Supt. Hassenmayer explained that we opened the outside storage unit and there was water dripping from the ceiling. The dehumidifier was dead. He bought a new one at Home Depot.

 

MOTION TO APPROVE TOWN CLERK BUDGET MODIFICATION:

MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2^nd Councilman Jennings to approve the modification as follows:

Increase revenue A2770 unclassified revenue $717.00 AND

Increase expense A1410.4 Town Clerk Contr. $717.00. 

All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.

 

MOTION TO APPROVE BODY CAMERA REIMBURSEMENT:

MOTION offered Councilman Howell 2^nd Councilman Furman to approve as follows:

Approve $5,000.00 deposit into Capital Reserve General A for the reimbursement of body cameras from the Orange County DA’s office. All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.

 

MOTION TO AUDIT THE CLAIMS ABSTRACTS 34-36:

MOTION offered Councilman Jennings 2^nd Councilman Furman to pay the following bills:

ABSTRACT 34:

GENERAL A:             #480-487                  $48,460.26

GENERAL B:            #74-75                        $  5,321.59

HIGHWAY:                 #131                          $17,208.54

SEWER:                   #68-69                        $  1,241.27

ABSTRACT #35:

GENERAL A:            #488-497                   $  3,908.55

GENERAL B:            #76-77                        $     339.25

HIGHWAY:                #132-135                   $   9,268.42              

CAP RES POL:        #1                                $ 15,475.00

AND

ABSTRACT #36

GENERAL A:            #498-520                   $  55,552.03

GENERAL B:            #78-82                        $    5,553.45

HIGHWAY:                #136-138                   $  26,324.50

SEWER:                    #70-75                        $  12,074.91.

All in favor: Howell, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; Councilman Carey abstained from Abstract #36/Voucher #502; carried.

                                                                        77

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:

MaryBeth Horzepa: planning board meeting on the 16^th will be at the youth center.

Mary Maurizzio: asked if the body cameras were $5,000. Supervisor explained that was a reimbursement from the District Attorney towards buying them. The total cost is roughly $47,000 for 20 cameras. She questioned what the addition was. Supervisor explained it was for town hall to expand out the back of the building. She questioned the battery storage law. Supervisor explained the law. Copies are on the front desk.

 

BOARD COMMENTS:

There were no board comments at this time. Supervisor Volpe reminded everyone the next budget meeting is September 21.

 

MOTION TO ADJOURN MEETING:

MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2^nd Councilman Howell to adjourn the meeting at 8:25pm.  All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Jennings, Furman; carried.

 

 

8:37PM Budget Meeting continued:

 

Supervisor Volpe went through budget with board members line by line as follows:

He passed out his “workbook”. General A:

Town Board proposed for $12,000

Justices 3% across the board for .1

Supervisor will have to be adjusted due to #’s the board gave him

Accountant he left the same

Budget officer will have to be adjusted

Assessor – he explained that part of Angie’s salary was coming out of this budget. Assessor .1 went up 3%; Angie’s hours went down to 260 hours.

Town Clerk he put in for $54,450; Paula to $17.50 for 1200 hours

Attorney & Engineer stayed the same as last year

We still don’t have to pay for elections

Central Svcs is $2,500

Buildings .1 is Corey but now is split between A&B.

Central Garage staying with # Dean gave him

Central Communications is our fax line

Unallocated insurance is vehicle insurance & everything we get through Doug

Municipal Dues is Assoc. of Towns annual dues

Judgement & Claims stayed same

Contingency lowered a bit

Public Safety as used for COVID

Police: .1 is a factual #, .2 was lowered

DCO: .1 went up to be comparable; he explained Dr. Roeder’s contract of $5,500, he thinks it is excessive.  With Roeder it’s an annual fee vs. Middletown it’s on a per dog basis. He’d like for someone to talk to her. We can look into this for 2022.

Supt. of Highways he proposes giving him 4% to get him in range ($85904); Amy is at $19.16 = 4%.

Veteran’s Services went up $25

Programs for the Aging – received several emails from the seniors. Their budget will be zero for the year. They’ve been pricing things for next year. They asked if we could carry over $3000 from this year to next. They had no trips this year.

Playgrounds/Rec – this is where we bought the new playground from. The football playground set needs attention.

Summer Rec was left the same

Library – talked about charging for library cards. We pay $75/card. We could continue where no one pays or have a small fee ($25) to get one. Kathleen will call to get a # on the cards.

Cemetery – this will start in 2022

PILOTS: Howells, Pierson, Willis, Devan’s Gate; Kathleen sent over the paperwork to Glen for Horizons Seniors. His intention for 2022, is to pull Horizons Seniors (Devan’s Gate) pilot. They pay $14,400 for both buildings. Dennis said their average tax for that building would be $41,000/year. When it started, for building #1 – it was $300/apartment. Building #2 was $450/apartment. When it was set up, they got federal & state funding for low income seniors. Not section 8. Discussion ensued.

Clerk fees – up $100

Police fees = SRO

 

                                                                        78

He went over revenues.

General B:

Building Department: Heidi @ $25.25/hr @ 25 hours/week ($32,825); Julie (yr 6) 32 hrs/week @ $27.59 ($45,910); 350 hrs for Deb Taylor @ $15.60/hr ($5460); $1,000 for Adam McCarey.

Planning Board: clerk to $19.08/hr @ 520hrs = $9,922; 520 hrs @ $20.75/hr = $10,790, Chari = $3830

Refuse/Garbage is partly Cornelius

Admin: (newline): Angie will get paid out of here for 640 hours

One month of hospital/medical will come from “B” due to guys working for the town clean-up

“B” to “D” – to keep Dean’s line under control

He went over the revenues.

He reviewed the Hidden Valley sewer portion of budget.

 

He went back to the front page. He and Matt met with Otisville Fire. He doesn’t have Howells Fire yet.

6.2832% for 2021.

 

MOTION TO ADJOURN MEETING:

MOTION offered Councilman Carey 2^nd Councilman Howell to adjourn the meeting at 10:00pm.  All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Jennings, Furman; carried.

 

The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 21, 2020 at 7:30pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Kathleen A. Myers, RMC

Town Clerk

                                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                           

 

                                                                        79

 

 

LGS-1 RESOLUTION FOR RECORDS RETENTION

RESOLVED, By the Town Board of the Town of Mount Hope that Records Retention and Disposition Schedule (LGS-1), issued pursuant to Article 57-A of the Arts & Cultural Affairs Law, and containing legal minimum retention periods for local government records, is hereby adopted for use by all officers in legally disposing of valueless records listed therein.

FURTHER RESOLVED, that in accordance with Article 57-A:

(a) only those records will be disposed of that are described in Records Retention and Disposition Schedule (LGS-1) after they have met the minimum retention periods described therein;

(b) only those records will be disposed of that do not have sufficient administrative, fiscal, legal, or historical value to merit retention beyond established legal minimum periods.  All in favor: Howell, Carey, Volpe, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

80

 

Town of Mount Hope

Local Law #5 of 2020

Battery Energy Storage System  Law

 

Statement of Purpose:

 

This Battery Energy Storage System Law is adopted to advance and protect the public health, safety, and welfare of Town of Mount Hope by creatingregulations for the installation and use of battery energy storage systems, with the following objectives:

 

• To provide a regulatory scheme for the designation of properties suitable for the location, construction and operation of battery energy storagesystems.
• To protect the health, welfare, safety, and quality of life for the general public;  
• To ensure compatible land uses in the vicinity of the areas affected by battery energy storage systems;
• To mitigate the impacts of battery energy storage systems on environmental resources such as important agricultural lands, forests, wildlife andother protected resources; and
• To create synergy between battery energy storage system development and other stated goals of the community pursuant to its Comprehensive Plan.
• The following shall be added to the Zoning Law of the Town of Mount Hope.

 

Legislation:

 

1. Definitions

 

ANSI: American National Standards  Institute

 

BATTERY: A single Cell or a group of Cells connected  together electrically  in series, in parallel, or a combination  of both, which can charge,discharge, and store energy electrochemically.  For the purposes of this law,  batteries  utilized in consumer  products are excluded from these  requirements.

 

BATTERY ENERGY  STORAGE  MANAGEMENT SYSTEM:  An electronic system that protects storage batteries from operating outside theirsafe operating parameters and generates an alarm and trouble signal for off normal conditions.

 

BATTERY  ENERGY STORAGE  SYSTEM: A rechargeable energy storage system consisting of electrochemical storage batteries, batterychargers, controls,  power conditioning systems and associated electrical equipment designed to provide electrical power to a building. The system istypically used to provide standby or emergency power, an uninterruptable power supply, load shedding,  load sharing, or similar capabilities. A batteryenergy storage system is classified as a Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 Battery Energy Storage System as follows:

                                                                                                           

COMMISSIONING: A systematic  process that provides documented confirmation that a battery energy storage system functions according to theintended design criteria and complies with applicable  code requirements.

 

DEDICATED-USE BUILDING: A building that is built for the primary intention of housing battery energy storage system equipment. It shall beconstructed in accordance  with the Uniform Code, and it complies with the following:

 

 

ENERGY CODE: The New York State Energy Conservation  Construction Code adopted pursuant to Article  11  of the Energy Law, as currentlyin effect and as hereafter amended from time to time.

 

IFC:  International Fire Code.

 

NEC: National Electric Code.

 

NFPA:  National Fire Protection Association.

                                                                                                            81

PARTICIPATING PROPERTY: A battery energy storage system host property or any real property that is the subject of an agreement thatprovides for the payment of monetary compensation to the landowner from the battery energy storage system owner (or affiliate) regardless of whether  anypart of a battery energy storage system is constructed  on the property.

 

SPECIAL  FLOOD  HAZARD AREA: The land area covered by the floodwaters of the base flood is the Special  Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) onNFIP maps. The SFHA is the area where the National Flood Insurance Program‘s (NFIP’s) floodplain  management regulations must be enforced and thearea where the mandatory purchase of flood insurance applies.

 

UNIFORM  CODE: the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code adopted pursuant to Article  18 of the Executive Law, ascurrently  in effect and as hereafter amended from time to time.

 

2. Applicability

 

1. The requirements of this Local Law shall apply to all battery energy storage systems permitted, installed, or modified in the Town of MountHope after the effective date of this Local Law.
2. Modifications to, retrofits or replacements of an existing battery energy storage system that increase the total battery energy storage systemdesigned discharge duration or power rating shall be subject to this Local Law.

 

3. General Requirements

 

1. Building permit, and an electrical permit shall be required for installation of all battery energy storage systems.
2. Issuance of permits and approvals by the Planning Board shall include review pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (ECL Article 8 and its implementing regulations at 6 NYCRR Part 617 (“SEQRA”) and all applicable provisions of the Town Code of the Town of Mount Hope, including, but not limited to, Chapter 108 contained herein.
3. Battery energy storage systems, all Dedicated  Use Buildings, and all other buildings or structures that (1) contain or are otherwise associated  with a battery energy storage system and (2) subject to the Uniform Code and/or the Energy Code shall be designed, erected, and installed inaccordance with all applicable  provisions of the Uniform Code, all applicable  provisions  of the Energy Code, and all applicable  provisions ofthe codes, regulations, and industry standards as referenced in the Uniform Code, the Energy Code, and the Town Code of the Town of Mount Hope.

 

 

4. Permitting Requirements for Battery Energy Storage Systems

 

Battery Energy Storage Systems are permitted upon site plan review by the Planning Board in the LB, LB-2, and B-1 zoning districts and subject to theapplicable fire prevention code and site plan application  requirements set forth in this Section.

 

1. Applications for the installation of a Battery Energy Storage System shall be:
   1. reviewed by the Code Enforcement and if necessary the Town’s Engineer for completeness. An application shall be complete when it addresses all matters listed in this Local Law including, but not necessarily limited to, (i) compliance with all applicable  provisionsof the Uniform Code and all applicable provisions of the Energy Code and (ii) matters relating to the proposed battery energystorage system and Floodplain,  Utility Lines and Electrical Circuitry,  Signage, Lighting, Vegetation and Tree-cutting,  Noise,Decommissioning,  Site Plan and Development,  Special Use and Development,  Ownership Changes, Safety, Permit Time Frameand Abandonment.  Applicants shall be advised within 10 business days of the completeness  of their application or any deficienciesthat must be addressed prior to substantive  review.
   2. subject to a public hearing to hear all comments for and against the application.

• referred to the Orange County Planning Department pursuant to General Municipal Law§ 239-m if required.

1. upon closing of the public hearing, the Planning Board shall take action on the application within 62 days of the public hearing,which can include approval, approval with conditions, or denial. The 62-day period may be extended upon consent by both thePlanning Board and Applicant.

82

1. No Battery Storage Energy System shall be proposed within Special Flood Hazard Areas.
2. Setbacks. The setback requirements for any Battery Energy Storage System and Battery Energy Storage Management System shall be twice the amount of the setback requirements of the Zoning District in which it is located as enumerated by the Schedule of District Regulations of the Town of Mount Hope.
3. Utility Lines and Electrical Circuitry. All on-site utility lines shall be placed underground to the extent feasible and as permitted by theserving utility, with the exception of the main service connection at the utility company  right–of–way and any new interconnection equipment,  including without limitation any poles, with new easements and right–of–way.
4. Signage.
   1. The signage shall be in compliance with ANSI and shall include the type of technology associated with the battery energy storagesystems, any special  hazards associated, the type of suppression system installed in the area of battery energy storage systems, and24-hour emergency contact information,  including reach-back  phone number. As required by the NEC, disconnect and otheremergency  shutoff information shall be clearly displayed on a light reflective surface. A clearly visible warning  sign concerningvoltage shall be placed at the base of all pad–mounted transformers  and substations.
5. Lighting of the battery energy storage systems shall be limited to that minimally required for safety and operational purposes andshall be reasonably  shielded and downcast from abutting properties.  All lighting shall be consistent with the rules and regulations of this Chapter.
6. Vegetation and tree–cutti Areas within 10 feet on each side of a Battery Energy Storage System shall be cleared of combustible vegetationand other combustible growth. Single specimens  of trees, shrubbery, or cultivated ground cover such as green grass, ivy, succulents,  orsimilar plants used as ground covers shall be permitted to be exempt provided that they do not form a means of readily transmitting  fire.Removal of trees should be minimized  to the extent possible.
7. The 1 hour average noise generated from the battery energy storage systems, components, and associated ancillary equipment shallnot exceed a noise level of 60 dBA as measured at the outside wall of any Non-participating Residence  and Occupied Community Building.Applicants may submit equipment and component manufacturers noise ratings to demonstrate compliance. The applicant may be required toprovide Operating Sound  Pressure Level measurements from a reasonable  number of sampled locations at the perimeter of the battery energystorage system to demonstrate compliance with this standard.
8. Screening. Adequate screening, as determined by the Planning Board, shall be required as part of the Planning Board approval.
9. Decommissionin
   1. Decommissioning Plan. The  applicant  shall  submit  a  decommissioning   plan, which shall include: (i) the anticipated life of thebattery energy storage system;(ii) the estimated  decommissioning costs; (iii) how said estimate was determined; (iv) the  method  ofensuring  that  funds will  be  available  for  decommissioning   and restoration; (v) the method that the decommissioning cost will bekept current; and (vi)   the   manner    in   which   the   battery    energy    storage   system   will   be decommissioned, and the Siterestored.
   2. Decommissioning  Fund.   The   applicant,   or   successors,    shall   continuously maintain  a fund  or bond payable to the Town ofMount Hope in a form approved by the Town of Mount Hope for the removal of the battery energy storage system, in an amount tobe determined  by the Town of Mount Hope for the period of the life  of the facility. This fund  may consist of a letter of creditfrom a State of New York licensed-financial institution. All costs of the financial security shall be borne by the applicant.
10. Site plan For a Battery Energy Storage System site plan approval shall be required. Any site plan application shall conform to the requirements of the Zoning Law of the Town of Mount Hope.  The following additional information shall be provided as part of the site plan review procedure:
    1. Commissioning Plan. Such plan shall document and verify that the system and its associated  controls and safety systems are in properworking  condition.  Battery energy storage system commissioning shall be conducted  by a New York State (NYS) Licensed Professional Engineer or NYS Registered Architect  after the installation is complete but prior to final inspection and approval. Acorrective  action plan shall be developed  for any open or continuing issues that are allowed to be continued after commissioning. Areport describing the results of the system commissioning and including the results of the initial acceptance testing  required inAppendix 1 shall be provided to Planning Board prior to final inspection and approval and maintained at an approved  on-sitelocation.
    2. Fire Safety Compliance Plan. Such plan shall document and verify that the system and its associated controls and safety systems are incompliance with the applicable  fire prevention code.

83

• System and Property Operations and Maintenance Plan. Such plan shall describe continuing battery energy storage systemmaintenance and property upkeep,  as well as design, construction,  installation, testing and commissioning information.

1. An Emergency Operation  Plan.

 

 

5. Safety

 

1. Site Battery energy storage systems shall be maintained in good working order and in accordance  with industry standards. Siteaccess shall be maintained,  including snow removal at a level acceptable to the local fire department  and, if the Tier 3 Battery Energy Storage System is located  in an ambulance  district, the local ambulance  corps.
2. Battery energy storage systems; components, and associated ancillary equipment shall have required working space clearances, andelectrical circuitry shall be within weatherproof enclosures  marked with the environmental rating suitable for the type of exposure incompliance  with NFPA

 

 

6. 6. Enforcement

 

Any violation of this section shall be subject to the same enforcement requirements, including the civil and criminal penalties, provided for in the zoningor land  use regulations of Town of Mount Hope.

 

 

7. 7. Severability

 

The invalidity or unenforceability of any section, subsection,  paragraph, sentence, clause, provision,  or phrase of the aforementioned  sections, as declaredby the valid judgment of any court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional, shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other section,subsection,  paragraph,  sentence, clause, provision, or phrase, which shall remain in full force and effect.

 

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE TO THE EXTENT THAT THIS LOCAL LAW MAY CONFLICT WITH APPLICABLE PORTIONS OF THE TOWN LAW OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, IT IS THE STATED INTENTION OF THE TOWN TO EXERCISE ITS AUTHORITY TO SUPERSEDE AND AMEND, AS GRANTED UNDER THE MUNICIPAL HOME RULE LAW OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, SECTION 10.  THE TOWN HEREBY PROVIDES NOTICE THAT IT IS EXERCISING ITS AUTHORITY TO SUPERSEDE AND AMEND PURSUANT TO MUNICIPAL HOME RULE LAW OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK SECTION 22.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                        84