Agenda Meeting Minutes

August 30, 2004

Those present: Fred, Dot, Alan, Bob and Sandy

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 P.M.

Following this meeting there will be an executive session with the Town Attorney to discuss a contract.

Sandy Cross from the Office of the Aging will be at the next Town Board Meeting to give a presentation.

Supervisor’s Report and Announcements:

We will approve the Town Board Minutes of August 9 and tonight’s Agenda Meeting.

We will approve Abstract of Claims and Town Clerk’s Report.

Report of August expenditures.

Web site activity.

The Town Board will hold the 2005 Budget Workshop on October 18 at 7:00 P.M. at the Town Hall.

The Town Clerk’s Saturday office hours will resume beginning September 11.

The Town Hall will be closed on September 6 for Labor Day.

Fred will attend the NYS Association of Counties Conference in Syracuse.

Fred read an article about a robbery in West Charlton in 1882. $800.00 and $150,000.00 in bonds were taken.

Fred reported that we had an alarm system malfunction at the Town Hall. This has happened before. It took a few days to get it repaired. We were not happy with the service. Fred suggested that we see what other companies are available. Sandy will look into it.

Fred said that some time ago it was decided there would be a meeting with the Town Board, Planning Board Chairman, ZBA Chairman and the Zoning Administrator to go over procedures, processes and concerns. This meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 29 at 7:30 P.M.

There was a visual survey by our new insurance company on August 25. There were no problems.

Fred stated that there was an article in the paper regarding balancing the State budget. One of the ways they found they could do this was by pirating our justice court fund. Any tickets that are reduced in any justice court from the original charge, all money would go to the State. None of it will come to the town. It could have anywhere from $40,000 to $50,000 effect on the town. Fred said he has spoken with the County District Attorney and the Association of Towns Counsel and there doesn’t seem to be anything that can be done. This will begin September 1.

Our request for a speed reduction on Crooked Street has been denied.

At the Town Board meeting there will be a budget transfer of $900.00 from Contingency to Tax Collector Contractual for software for the tax collector.

Comprehensive Plan:

Steve Caine reported that they will be going to the next phase of working on a Vision Statement and goals and a possible public meeting in November.

Highway:

Ron asked for permission to go to a Thruway Auction on September 8 to bid on a tractor. If it isn’t in good condition he will not consider purchasing it. If it is in good condition, it is supposed to be worth $8,000.00 - $15,000.00. He said he has about $28,000.00 left in his equipment budget. He will check the amount with Kathy.

Councilman Reports:

Dot – Would like a resolution at the Town Board Meeting that would Proclaim Constitution Week. She will check on the dates. The Saratoga Chapter of the DAR is meeting at the Schoolhouse during Constitution Week and will ring the bell.

Heather Scribner will no longer be doing the newsletter. The deadline for articles is

September 16. Fred suggested Dot contact Susan York.

Bob – There will be a meeting tomorrow night with the Veteran’s Board Committee.

The Burnt Hills Community Library is requesting an increase in our giving to them for the 2005 Budget year of 4.5%.

We had a request from Lee DeGraff for a water tap for new house that will be built on Old Stage Road.

Motion made by Councilman Lippiello, seconded by Councilman Grattidge, A Motion to grant permission to tap the transmission line on Old Stage Road for the property #247-2-20.1, be approved:

Bob said that since this is on an existing transmission line, it is a simple tap and we can grant that permission. If it was an extension of any sort, it would require an application for an extension. Fred said that they have frontage and an address of Old Stage Road. If they had an address of Lake Hill Road, they would not be eligible for this water line because they would not be on the street where the water line is. There are several other lots in that subdivision and it looks like they will have an address of Lake Hill Road. They will not be eligible to come into the water district without a water extension.

Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes

Councilman Lippiello Yes

Councilman Mitchell Yes

Councilman Verola Yes

Supervisor Acunto Yes

Sandy – Everyone has an estimate from United Bat on bat-proofing the building. The price is $1,117.00. She has not called others. United Bat only deals with bats. Some of these bats are endangered species. There is an opening behind the chimney where they are getting in. Fred said this would be an emergency repair. The bat guano is at least a foot deep. The squirrels have been trapped and removed. Sandy said she feels we need to deal with this as soon as possible. It is a health hazard. The guano does carry diseases. It is where we store our records. Sandy has contacted someone about cleaning up the guano. She is meeting him Thursday morning. Fred said he has contacted the insurance company. We have a $1,000.00 deductible on damage from rodents. The question is per event. He has a quote of $1,117.00 from United Bat, a cost of $430.00 from Schmidt & Schmidt to seal the gap between the chimney and the building, $450.00 for the squirrel proofing and the repair of the alarm was $235.00. We have a recommendation from United Bat that a fan be installed in the back wall to get the toxic air out.

Motion made by Councilman Lippiello, seconded by Councilman Grattidge, A Motion to approve the contract with United Bat Control of New York, 470 Stage Road, Charlton, New York not to exceed $1,117.00 to remove the bats and bat-proof the Town Hall, be approved:

Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes

Councilman Lippiello Yes

Councilman Mitchell Yes

Councilman Verola Yes

Supervisor Acunto Yes

There was further discussion regarding the repair of the chimney. Fred suggested that if United Bat can/will seal the chimney for less than $430.00, we will have them do it. If it is over the $430.00, we will have Schmidt & Schmidt do the job.

Motion made by Councilman Grattidge, seconded by Councilman Mitchell, A Motion to have work done not to exceed $430.00 to complete the seal up of the chimney at the back of the Town Hall, be approved:

Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes

Councilman Lippiello Yes

Councilman Mitchell Yes

Councilman Verola Yes

Supervisor Acunto Yes

Sandy said that Kathy requested the purchase of an Adobe Acrobat Pro Reader 6.0 for $447.00 and 2 APCC’s, BK600 UPS for each assessor’s workstation. Sandy found an Adobe Pro for $150.00 but it doesn’t come with something Kathy needs. Kathy found it somewhere else for $137.00.

Motion made by Councilman Verola, seconded by Councilman Lippiello, A Motion to purchase the Adobe Acrobat Pro 6.0 for the bookkeeper for the best deal we can find at a cost not to exceed $447.00 plus shipping and to purchase two APCC’s for the assessors. The total cost is not to exceed $606.00, be approved:

Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes

Councilman Lippiello Yes

Councilman Mitchell Yes

Councilman Verola Yes

Supervisor Acunto Yes

Fred said he has been keeping track of what we have been spending on computer hardware and software this year, much of which was not budged. He asked the two representatives on the Computer Committee what impact would it have on the town if we did not purchase any more hardware or software equipment for the rest of the year. We still have a printer coming for the assessors. Sandy and Kathy would like to get a group of people together who have a handle on computers and look at what we have and determine what we need to make this town function. Sandy said she would like to put a hold on all computer spending with the exception of equipment just ordered and excluding any maintenance. The Board agreed they would make no more software or hardware purchases for the rest of the year.

Alan – He received a letter from Steve Caine regarding the new town hall project. He will discuss any issues with Steve. Alan said that Ron had had some problems with culverts because of the heavy rain.

Steve Caine – Steve shared some thoughts about the proposed Town Hall project.

“In my mind for a new Town Hall to become a reality and meet its expectations two principles or goals need to be declared and established as the operating principles for creating the new building.

They are:

1. Every effort should be made to make a new Town Hall functional and comfortable for those that work in it and

2. Every effort should be made to ensure the design of the building respects our town’s character and enhances our environment. To reach these goals, it appears to me, the approach to developing the building’s design needs to follow sequential steps that place exterior shape and design at the forefront of the process or at least done in parallel with the internal, functional room layout design. Placement of the building on the lot and future expansion should be driven by these goals as well.

I believe the paid personnel and all those that volunteer and spend a great deal of time in the Town Hall deserve to work in a facility that is safe, secure, well lit and roomy enough. It also should provide pleasant surroundings and be appropriately heated and ventilated. These individuals are providing great service to this community and our townspeople owe them a debt of gratitude. At a minimum, we should provide them a decent facility to work in.

Properly done, a new Town Hall can add a great deal to the community. As you so well know, this town has a great sense of its rural and period character. If period, rural and small town character are emphasized in the placement, shape, design and landscaping of a new Town Hall, our townspeople will have great pride in it and I think it would also help set a positive tone that would carry over into other aspects of town life and its conduct of business. A great new Town Hall would certainly leave a wonderful legacy for future citizens.

Creating a design and building structure that both meets its functional requirements while also enhances the character and environment of our unique community is certainly a challenging endeavor.

I am not an architect, but some principles involved in the art of science of it seem pretty straightforward. It would seem that striking the right balance between function and design is one of the biggest challenges. It is intuitively obvious that money is a big player. In my mind, the best illustration of the interplay of function, design and cost is the low, elongated and flat-roofed box or house trailer. It certainly is the most graphic display of meeting a functional requirement with minimal consideration of exterior design. The net result is providing someone a home that meets a functional requirement at the least possible cost. The obvious result is a building shape and design that Charlton has outlawed for use on a permanent basis.

There have been public buildings constructed before in our town that, which in my mind, were designed to meet function requirements, but in the end, express little or no regard for keeping them in harmony with the town’s character. I can only assume it was an effort to save money, or at the time, the town was not as sensitive to how it looks as it is now. I am thinking about the abandoned gas station on Stage and Imperial Lane and our Fire House in the Hamlet.

From what I have heard and learned through various sources, the people of Charlton would want a new Town Hall to be a building that respects and complements the character of the town. Public buildings that have a “shape” that best exemplify this notion are like the two-story, peaked-roof Charlton Tavern or the Ballston Town Hall. Their general shape and visual roofline probably represent the most desirable end of a scale. The other end of the scale is probably represented by one-story, low and elongated, flat-roofed looking buildings (box or mobile home-like), as seen in the gas station and fire house. From what I have learned and heard, a building shape and proportion much closer to the two story, peaked roofed building design is much more desirable than a single story flat roofed looking building that, yes, meets its functional requirements, but due to a desire to limit costs, does not enhance or maintain Charlton’s character because it’s elongated and low shape and visual roof line are more like a box, house trailer, gas station or firehouse.

My personal view is that for a great many reasons, in the long term, the best thing for Charlton is to spend the money to make this Town Hall something we could be proud of –design that enhances our town’s character as well as meeting the functional requirements our public servants and the general public deserve. Or, put another way, for those that have gone before us and those that come after, a new Town Hall should display the pride our citizens take in Charlton’s unique period and small town character. I think there are many that would say, and I am one of them, that this Town Hall should enhance and generate pride in our town or not be done at all.

I note that in your July 21 Town Board Committee Meeting you have already started discussing in detail room sizes and their relationships to each other and also the dimensions of the building. I also saw where you were discussing building placement and the notion of setting it back 100’ so that you could expand it towards the road. I think all the planning and discussion and even money that has gone into the Town Hall so far are beneficial because learning has gone on and ideas, many of which I am sure will be used, have been exposed.

That said, I would like to go back to something I mentioned at the beginning, the two principles or goals I mentioned and the approach to attaining them. I think it is fine, establishing room sizes for functional purposes but I wonder how room relationships can be determined, if the ultimate shape and size of the building have not been determined? I would also like to describe how I would like to see the priority of “respecting and enhancing the town’s character” play in the approach to lot placement and expansion and probably everything else. I would like to see the best possible building front designed for the new Town Hall. And, I would like the front of the building placed on the lot in the most effective way possible to enhance the town’s character. Expansion ideas should then be developed after those two priorities are respected. It is a different approach than what I have read about. This building will be here for years and we should do the best we can to adapt other factors to the fundamental priorities.

An element of the Comprehensive Planning Process you have chartered and are paying for is a recently completed Community Image Survey. The purpose of the survey was to evaluate townspeople’s preferences for buildings, streets, residential development, signs and general landscapes. While building design was the primary element, the survey also allows analysis of the preferences for other critical factors that influence “character” including signs, landscaping, placement of utility poles and wires, sidewalks, road widths and setbacks, building height, building spacing, building style and so on.

The great utility this survey offers is that it is “from the people” and is an objective analysis of what our townspeople visually prefer and dislike. If you have not yet seen it, I can say, it will not surprise you. It confirms through pictures a lot of what our townspeople have verbally expressed and we have documented through the written survey. The beauty of this type analysis is that experts can pull from the pictures the elements of spacing, height, setback, shape, etc. of what our townspeople like and do not like.

I have provided a black and white copy of the survey results to each one of you. You can also find a colored version of it on the town website, under Comprehensive Planning Project. I will also provide the Board a color copy should you want to provide it to an architect you contract for designing the Town Hall.”

Bob Killeen, Jr. – He stated that he is concerned about the primary and who is going to be doing what concerning running and moving the voting machines as he is involved in the primary and cannot do a lot of the work on the machines. Fred said that the County has made arrangements for someone to come in and set up the machines. Bob said he was aware that someone was coming in to set up the voting machines but he is concerned about moving the machines from underneath the stairway, moving a machine to West Charlton, moving a machine to Charlton Heights School, numerous phone calls that will need to be made, arranging for machine inspection and letting the workers into the buildings for set ups. Lynn said that Gail had spoken with someone at the County and Bob can move the machines but could not do anything else. Bob said that three people will be doing the work that two have normally done. He asked if he would be paid for the work that he does as far as moving the machines. Fred said Bob is salary and he will get paid.

Motion made by Councilman Lippiello, seconded by Councilman Verola, A Motion to adjourn to an executive session, be approved:

Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes

Councilman Lippiello Yes

Councilman Mitchell Yes

Councilman Verola Yes

Supervisor Acunto Yes

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Gail Hanchar

Town Clerk