|
|
|
Regular Meeting October 15, 2002 Charlton Town Board Saratoga County New York
After the pledge to the flag, the invocation was given by Town Clerk Gail Hanchar. At the regular meeting of the Town Board of Charlton, Saratoga County, New York held at 7:30 P.M. at the Charlton Town Hall, called to order by Supervisor Acunto, there were present:
. . . . . Councilman Grattidge
Councilman Lippiello was excused.
Motion made by Councilman Schroeder, seconded by Councilman Grattidge that the minutes of the September 9, 2002 Town Board Meeting and the September 30, 2002 Agenda Meeting be accepted as received. PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
ABSTRACT OF CLAIMS:
General Fund: Abstract of Claims totaling $50,721.14. Motion made by Councilman Schroeder, seconded by Councilman Grattidge.
Highway Fund: Abstract of Claims totaling $43,415.10. Motion made by
Water Fund: Abstract of Claims totaling $1,936.25. Motion made by
Vouchers for the month were #865-#1014.
TOWN CLERK'S REPORT:
Gail Hanchar read the Town Clerk's Report. She reported taking in $161.40. Motion made by Councilman Grattidge, seconded by Councilman Schroeder. PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Gail stated that she has a $100.00 cushion in the Town Clerk's checking account should she receive a bad check, etc. Since NYS Department of Environmental Conservation is now taking all monies owed up front, including any "voids", and because she may again be responsible for the deposit of any zoning monies, she asked that an additional $400.00 added to her checking account as an added cushion.
Motion made by Councilman Schroeder, seconded by Councilman Mitchell, A Motion that an additional $400.00 be added to the Town Clerk's checking account as an added cushion, be approved:
Approved:
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR (Agenda Items):
John Simoni asked what "ADA" stood for in the portion of the meeting designated for resolutions. Fred replied it stood for American Disabilities Act. John asked if the Hire/Fire Policy included highway. Fred said it did. John asked if the highway superintendent had a copy to review. Fred replied he did. John asked if the highway superintendent had an opportunity to discuss the policy with the Town Board. Fred said the Board had looked at it for several months. They had discussed it in public and that Ron had been to all of the meetings. John said that he hoped that because Ron had the majority of the personnel that the Board would have sat down with him and gone over it line by line to make sure he was in agreement with it. Fred said he had not heard any comments from Ron. Ron said he had not been asked for any comments. Ron stated that he did not think this policy should include the highway department. John asked who would be appointed to the Water District Study Committee in the resolution proposed for tonight. Fred said members of the committee would be Steve Caine, Richard Lupi, Chuck McLoughlin, Bob Lippiello and John Morgan. John stated that the board had received other applications from qualified people and asked if the applications were reviewed. Fred replied that they were.
SUPERVISOR'S REPORT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
September review of revenue and expenditures:
Major expenditures:
Major revenue:
In response to the letter that went out to area residents, Supervisor Acunto reported that he had spoken with the constables about the problems in Elmer Smith Park. Our constables were not aware of many of the situations.
Supervisor Acunto attended the NTSAC Conference last month. One of the major issued discussed was the mandated medicaid aid to counties. There is a potential of the increase to Saratoga County being almost $2,000,000 just to meet the state mandates. A resolution was passed at the conference asking the legislature to cap the mandated medicaid payments to the counties at the 2001 base level.
Several members of the Town Board and town residents attended a public statement hearing held by NIMO regarding the transmission line which will go through a portion Charlton. Supervisor Acunto spoke stating he felt NIMO should go for site plan review and to the ZBA because of the way our ordinance was written. The attorney for NIMO wrote a letter to the administrative law judge basically saying that because NIMO is a public utility, he felt they did not have to abide by our zoning ordinance. Supervisor Acunto discussed this with our town attorney. A draft letter
from the town attorney was given to the town board to be discussed later in executive session. Mr. VanVranken raises the issue that if the project was longer than 10 miles they would need an environmental impact study. They have chosen a transmission line of 9.16 miles.
Joe Schaus - Stage Road - He believes the feeling is to put the line across the stream so it is further back in the woods and that would take it off of Jim Crawford's property. Another 8/10ths of a mile would put it past the proposed site next to Charvale Pool, the alternate site. Joe feels NIMO doesn't want to revise anything because it would cost them time and money.
The Charlton Garden Club will be doing plantings around the town entrance signs. Stacy Fenton will hopefully be enlisting the help of the rotary club in doing some sod removal, etc.
There have been requests for more traffic patrols on Sweetman Road and in the hamlet. Cars were drag racing on both lanes of Sweetman Road. Supervisor Acunto spoke with the mother of one of the participants.
"Roadrunner" has been installed in the assessors office and been networked to the town clerk's office. The wiring has been placed in the zoning administrator's office. That computer is not capable of handing "Roadrunner". Money is in the budget for a new computer for Kathy and the zoning administrator will get her old computer.
Supervisor Acunto received a letter from the Serapilios on Charlton Road saying they were concerned about some trees that were leaning toward their property. Ron looked at them and said they would need to come down.
The Charlton Fire Department's Ladies Auxiliary will hold a garage sale on October19th.
COMMUNICATIONS:
Supervisor Acunto received a letter from the Town of Milton that will be discussed in executive session because of possible litigation.
We received a letter from the West Charlton Volunteer Fire Department thanking us for helping resolve the Route 67 and 147 traffic light emergency activation situation with DOT.
ANIMAL CONTROL:
Lee has had a number of calls.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION COMMISSION:
The Hazardous Waste Collection was held in September. It was very successful. Between the towns of Ballston, Milton and Charlton there were a total of 461 vehicles. That same day Halfmoon, Clifton Park and Waterford had their 8th annual collection with a total of 473 vehicles. There were 117 vehicles from Charlton which represented 25% of the total. Ballston had 26% of the vehicles and Milton 49%. The total cost of the project was $43,281.00. There is a 50% reimbursement from the state. The cost to Charlton was $10,825.00. After state reimbursement it will be about $5,400.00.
The first meeting of the Zoning Ordinance Review Committee was held in September. They discussed what their goals were and what might result in changes to the ordinance. The committee pretty much agreed that it was not a given that there will be changes to the Zoning Ordinance. What might result in changes would be changes to state and federal laws and input from boards and committees stating that things aren't working right or causing problems. The general consensus at the meeting was that the document has served us very well so far.
HIGHWAY:
The highway crew has been working on the shoulders on Western Avenue and Packer Road, trimming trees, picking up brush and getting the plows ready.
HISTORIAN:
Laura attended the 9/11 Remembrance Day at the county and placed articles from Charlton in the 9/11 time capsule.
HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION: A meeting was held on September 16. LandWorks from Middlebury, Vermont will be working with the commission regarding improvements for the hamlet. On October 22 at 7:00 P.M. there will be another meeting with results from the study. John Mesick will attend that meeting. He will be talking about the new town hall. They are almost through all the steps they have to take for the grant. After the study is completed, there will be a meeting with all the residents of the Historic District.
PARK COMMITTEE:
Copeland had a problem with painting the tennis courts. It hasn't been done yet. Bernie will call George and find out what is going on.
PLANNING BOARD:
They will be having a meeting on October 21 at 7:30 P.M.
RECORDS ADVISORY BOARD:
The Board is sponsoring a program tomorrow night entitled, "Charlton's Response to 9/11".
WATER
Nothing major is happening. Everything is running smoothly. We have heard nothing from Mr. Bordeau in the last 30 days.
ZONING:
There will be no perc tests or installation of septic systems after November 15.
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS:
At their meeting this month they will hear a request for a variance. The meeting will be Wednesday, November 13 at 7:30 P.M.
RESOLUTIONS:
Councilman Grattidge asked that the adoption of the ADA Policy, Hire/Fire Policy, Employee Dispute Resolution Procedures be tabled until next month so the Town Board could have a meeting with Ron.
Motion made by Councilman Grattidge, seconded by Supervisor Acunto, that Resolution #91,
Councilman Schroeder said that we had lost a potential member and he would like to have someone who is not involved in town government but straight out of the water district serve on the committee.
Councilman Mitchell stated that that had been mentioned by several people during the Privilege of the Floor at other meetings. She feels it would be appropriate to look at someone else for the committee.
Supervisor Acunto said he thought that it had been discussed and there was consensus on the appointments to the committee.
Approved:
Supervisor Acunto said that we were short a member and would not have a vote tonight and it would be tabled. Councilman Schroeder said that was incorrect. It is not tabled. According to Robert's Rules, if a vote doesn't pass it is defeated. The motion is dead.
Motion made by Councilman Schroeder, seconded by Councilman Mitchell that Resolution #91,
Approved:
Motion made by Councilman Schroeder, seconded by Councilman Grattidge that
Approved:
Motion made by Councilman Schroeder, seconded by Councilman Grattidge that
Approved:
Motion made by Councilman Schroeder, seconded by Councilman Grattidge that
Approved:
Motion made by Councilman Schroeder, seconded by Councilman Mitchell that Resolution #95,
Approved:
Councilman Schroeder - No report.
Councilman Grattidge - Expressed words of encouragement to Tacky Crawford who was involved in a trailer explosion on Sunday and will need a number of operations.
Councilman Mitchell - No report.
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR:
Laurie Fowler of West Line Road submitted a signed petition to the Board requesting a speed reduction. The speed limit is currently 55 MPH. The speed is 40 MPH 1/8th mile up the road in the Town of Glenville. The residents of West Line Road would like to see a 40 MPH speed limit the length of the road.
Motion made by Councilman Grattidge, seconded by Councilman Mitchell that Resolution #96, A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE TOWN BOARD TO FORWARD A REQUEST FOR A SPEED REDUCTION ON WEST LINE ROAD TO SARATOGA COUNTY DPW, be approved:
Approved:
John Simoni - Presented to the Board facts and reasons why the Friedman development is not in the best interest of the community. People on the committee have checked with the Department of Health regarding the plot plan. Only the Town Board can hold a hearing and seek information from DOH. DOH can only respond to the Town Board if you think there are some iniquities in the plot plan that is on file. Glen Bruso is responsible for our area. Currently DOH will no longer sign plot plans for perpetuity. That is all gone. They have finally woke up. That is the case with the Friedman development. That is something, that when it was so called "approved", it was forever. Now they will limit it to five years. That alone should tell the Board there is some good reasoning for that. They have horror stories such as we have in our community right now.
With all the research I have been able to do, there was never a final commitment by Town Board resolution authorizing water. (Changed tape) There is nothing that they are guaranteed or should have. It is something we have to work through. Again, we don't feel it is in the best interest of the town to extend this water district.
I did some research on some of the things Mr. Friedman signed with the Planning Board. One was the transfer of 38.4 acres of land referred to in the minutes of the Planning Board stating, "The transfer shall be completed prior to the stamping of the official map". From what I understand, that land was never transferred. I don't think the Town Board has really come to a conclusion whether they even want that land. That was sort of left out there hanging. There was no dialogue, and I was on the Board then, saying this is what we want. There was a lot of discussion if should it be forever wild. Should it be a nature conservancy? We don't want it. Let the homeowners take care of it. This definitely states that before it is signed, the land should be transferred and I don't think that land was ever transferred. This is another issue that you, as Board members, need to consider.
Back to the moratorium issue. I know it passed but since this proposed extension of the water district would be the largest impact that I could ever think of that ever happened to the water district, I still find it hard to digest why that would be exempt. It seems to me you should reverse your position. It seems to me that moratorium should include everything and not exempt a possible 49 units which would be the largest impact. One of the questions I have for the Board is that if you do go forward, are you going to allow a public referendum on this issue? You have the ability to write a law saying this is subject to a public referendum. I would like to know if you intend to do that.
Supervisor Acunto - Personally I haven't given it any thought.
Councilman Schroeder - We haven't had a discussion on that yet. We will certainly bring it up.
John Simoni - It should be, hopefully, an issue that is put on your agenda to discuss to let the people in the water district decide if they want that water district extension. You can do that when you draft the law and resolution. Some dialogue that I have been hearing is that our attorney is assisting the Friedman/Bordeau people in filling out their water application. Is that a true statement?
Supervisor Acunto - Not that I am aware of. I don't know why they would be.
John Simoni - I didn't know either. That is why I wanted to clarify it. We have not allowed our attorney to work to assist them in filling out the application. I would be concerned if that was the case.
Councilman Grattidge - I think Mr. Tabner does when a petition is formed. He does write the petition to make sure it is written in a way that would be acceptable to the Town.
Councilman Schroeder - I think that's what he said when he was here.
Supervisor Acunto - I think he reviewed the petition. I don't think he physically wrote it. I interpreted it that their attorney would write it and it would be reviewed for accuracy and then given the next step. It is something I can check out.
John Simoni - I would not want to see our people telling them how to do it. Grants are available. The Town of Ballston received a 50% grant for their additional water tower. We don't need developers to do things for us. We can do it ourselves and possibly get some grants if we need a solution to the capacity of the water district.
I was reviewing the Town Attorney's letter in response to whether the Friedman development should be exempt from the moratorium. One of the sentences is, "In spite of the many inconsistencies and lack of clarity involved in the approval process, the plot plan" so he is acknowledging there are many inconsistencies in this whole thing. Whenever I ask questions, it is the Town Board that can hold a hearing and sit down and say, "Did the Planning Board authorize the chairman to sign that plot plan"? We can't find those minutes. You are the people that can ask all these questions and dig into it and hopefully come up with a solution.
The Department of Health also states, "Individual household systems are not considered by the department as suitable subdivision development using individual residential waste water treatment systems". They are not allowed. I am a little confused because our town engineer talks about - if they are property designed and constructed and maintained -- That is a lot of ifs. The DOH is saying they don't care how they are designed, how they are constructed or how they are maintained, we don't want them because in close proximity lots a lot of things can happen. Fluid can rise out of them, etc.
Another thing that we need a governing board like yourselves to look into, I reviewed the plot plan map and the confusing part of this is the Brian Frear from the DOH signed off on this. I understand there should be water lines on the map. I have been told there are no water lines on the map. You must have the Health Department sign off and say this is the right size pipe, this is this, this is that. Again, another inconsistency that tells us that maybe this plot plan is not a real good plot plan. Ten years have gone by. Many things have happened with the water system in town. In my mind, if it wasn't for that archaic law, any responsible community would want it to go back to square one for the protection of the community.
The Subdivision Regulations talk about, "before the Planning Board grants final approval for a subdivision plot, subdividers should follow the procedure set forth in either Sub-paragraph 1
Joe Schaus explained that he now has a watermelon patch next to his property using herbicides and pesticides. For years rice straw was grown there which is a non-pesticide and non-herbicide product. Buhrmaster has used an apple orchard sprayer next to his house to apply pesticides. Joe has photographs showing the drift from the sprayer into his house and his windows. Joe would like to propose an amendment to the town's Right to Farm Law stating that if someone is going to plant a crop that takes herbicide and pesticide usage and there is a house within 200 feet of where that will be applied, a buffer zone be established of 200 feet from that building's property line to the field and a study be done to see if the soils will percolate that herbicide or pesticide into the wells. Supervisor Acunto said they will discuss it at the next Agenda Meeting.
Mary Gallup - Crooked Street - Expressed concern over where the proposed gas line in going as they already have one line near their home and three electric lines. They wrote a letter to the Public Service Commission and NIMO. They received a call from NIMO and they are coming out to talk to them about their concerns.
Dimmy Miner - Vines Road - Questioned the fact that there was no bond posted for the Friedman property. If there was no bond posted, was it legal to have the mylar signed? If there were stipulations to the signing of that mylar and it was not done, was it a legal signature?
Supervisor Acunto said he spoke with Mr. Tabner regarding bonds. The map, plan and report have gone back to Zee and Bordeau for modification. If and when the revised map comes forth, then there is a formal petition. When we get to the issue of bonds and money, before the public hearing is held, the report and petition from Bordeau will state what they estimate is the cost to do the water extension. At that point, and our engineers say the cost is correct, then Bordeau must put up some kind of a financial commitment. It can come in several forms but we get the right to tell them what we want. It could be a bond, a letter of credit, a CD or actual cash that covers the cost of the installation of the line, if it is approved, in case they go belly up and don't complete the job. No hearing is held until we have that money in hand. The bonding you are talking about sounds like something different.
Sandy Verola - Redwood Drive - That's not what Dimmy is trying to find out. In our Subdivision Regulations, going back to 1976, prior to a mylar being signed and final approval, a bond has got to be issued for the infrastructure of a subdivision because in the event that the developer goes bankrupt, if you don't have a bond in place for the infrastructure, the taxpayers are stuck paying for his work. There was no bond issued back in 1991 or 1993 when this mylar was improperly signed by the then chairman of the Planning Board.
Supervisor Acunto - You're talking about the construction of the roads.
Sandy Verola - The roads, the water lines, anything. It is in the Subdivision Regulations stating the amount has to be approved by the Planning Board, the Supervisor and the Town Board.
Dimmy Miner - It was improperly signed which means that it should go back to the Planning Board because it has not been properly signed and it is not a document, in my opinion, that would hold up.
Sandy Verola - There are many, many irregularities like that with this development. I think you are aware of some of them that would warrant going back to the Planning Board. I think you could probably verify that with the Department of State.
Bill Gallup spoke regarding the town web site. The complete minutes are there. Maybe you could give a synopsis of what is happening. Supervisor Acunto said Joyce Riedinger is our web master. What went into the web site was a collection of ideas from the Board and people who use the web site. Bill said he could not down load our forms. Why don't we use something different so everyone can down load forms.
Doris Stauffer asked if the Historic District Commission could have a very short executive session regarding personnel with the Town Board. It was decided to hold it after the next Agenda Meeting.
Laura reminded everyone that there will be more reenactments for the 225th Anniversary of the Revolutionary War. There will be one this weekend. This weekend is the Rug Show at St. Paul Church. On November 5 is the annual Apple Pie Festival at the high school. There will be a chicken and biscuit dinner at the church on election night.
Marv Schorr explained that the Hazardous Waste Collection was originally scheduled for the end of October which would have allowed us to get a notice in the Town Board Newsletter. The water at the fair grounds is shut off on October 1st, that is why the date was changed. The notice regarding the collection was placed in several papers. All of the publications were very cooperative. 55 people had signed up. After an article was placed in The Gazette, we jumped to 472. Marv would really like to see it coordinated with the Town Board Newsletter if we do it again next year. Galway is interested in joining us next year.
The next Agenda Meeting will be held on October 28 at 7:30 P.M. There will be a public hearing on the budget at 7:00 P.M. Following the meeting Mr. Mesick will have a report on the new town hall. After that there will be an executive session with the Historic District Commission.
The next Town Board Meeting will be Tuesday, November 12 because of the Monday holiday.
Motion made by Councilman Schroeder, seconded by Councilman Grattidge, A Motion to adjourn the meeting to an executive session to discuss litigation strategy and a personnel issue, be approved:
Approved:
The executive session was adjourned at 1:15 A.M. and reconvened at 4:30 P.M. on Thursday, October 18 and ended at 6:00 P.M.
Respectfully submitted, |
|
|