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DRAFT Regular Meeting December 13, 2004 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 Alan Grattidge Councilman Robert Lippiello Councilman Dorothy Mitchell Councilman Sandra Verola Supervisor Ferdinand Acunto
Motion made by Councilman Grattidge, seconded by Councilman Verola that the minutes of the November 8 Town Board Meeting, the November 29 Public Hearing and the November 29 Agenda Meeting be accepted as received:
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
ABSTRACT OF CLAIMS:
The total of the bills approved at the Agenda Meeting was $130,110.59.
Vouchers for the month were #2084-#2229.
TOWN CLERK’S REPORT:
Gail Hanchar read the Town Clerk’s Report. She reported taking in $100.76. Motion made by Councilman Grattidge, seconded by Councilman Mitchell. PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR (Agenda Items):
No comments.
SUPERVISOR’S REPORT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
November revenue and expenditures: General Fund – Expenditures of $98,045.40. Revenue of $178,668.04. Highway Fund – Expenditures of $71,408.40. Revenue of $627.74. Water District #1 – Expenditures of $5,561.87. Revenue of $2,259.89. Water District #2 – Expenditures of $268.76. No revenue.
Major revenue: General Fund – Sales Tax Distribution of $75,527.00, Planning Board Fees of $6,300.00, Interest and Earnings of $1,821.00 and Mortgage Tax Received of $87,219.86.
Major expenditures: General Fund – Law Contractual of $12,058.18 (legal fees for the Article 78 proceeding and retainers), Records Management of $1,029.79, Police Contractual of $1,029.42, Safety Inspections Contractual of $4,039.00, Program for the Aging of $1,161.26, Ambulance Contractual of $2,431.25, Library Contractual of $12,451.25, Planning Contractual of $3,418.43 and State Retirement and Employee Benefits of $16,190.60. Highway Fund – Machinery Contractual of $3,794.07 and Snow Removal Contractual of $2,835.23. Water Fund – Transmission and Distribution Contractual of $1,143.10. There were 778 hits on the web site for the month of November.
The Town Offices will be closed December 24-27 and December 31.
The meeting to pass the Organizational Resolutions for the year 2005 will be held at 7:30 P.M. on January 3. Saratoga County has had the APA deem our application complete for the Emergency Communications Project. Now we are into the comment period which expires on December 16. We as a municipality have been asked to write letters or resolutions. I did send a letter for us. The Board of Commissioners of the APA are picked by a Governor. Many do not live in the Adirondack Park. Supervisor Acunto read the letter he had written. George Fox of Stage Road has donated a gift of a collection of limited edition color prints for the new town hall to be hung in a conference room or the supervisor’s office. Everyone has received a copy of the proposed Personnel Manual. The Board will review it. A copy will be sent to the Town Attorney for his response.
COMMUNICATIONS:
We have received a letter from NYS Department of Transportation acknowledging receipt of our speed reduction for Charlton Road and Eastern Avenue. We have received a letter from the Planning Board about concerns regarding the level of risk of potential accidents on Stage Road as a result of a small subdivision near Florence Avenue. Since this is a county road, the letter was sent to Joe Ritchey, Commission of the Saratoga County Public Works Department. Supervisor Acunto read Mr. Ritchey’s response. He said that the County has conducted a traffic evaluation on the section of highway in question and states in his letter: “We conclude that this stretch of highway is in conformance with the standards set forth by the NYS Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. It should also be known that County Road 53 from County Route 51 to County Route 54 is scheduled to be completely reconstructed in the year 2006.” We received letter of resignation from Peter Schrader from the Assessment Review Board. We received a letter regarding the water supply inspection. Everyone has a copy We received a $100.00 contribution for the new Town Hall. It is in memory of Majel Seeley from her friends Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Wood of Connecticut. We received a correspondence from the Department of Health acknowledging the receipt of our request to incorporate the 31 homes in Water Extension #5.
ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER:
It was pretty much an average month.
ASSESSMENT REVIEW BOARD:
We acknowledge receipt of the letter of resignation from Pete Schrader.
ASSESSORS:
Vicki reported that the assessor’s office has been busy. They have begun the process of evaluation. They will continue with their annual update program and stay at 100% market value for properties. Senior Exemption Renewal Forms and Agricultural Renewal Forms have been sent out. They are due March 1. In January they will be doing field reviews. They will be driving by and looking at properties. Vicki is available at the Town Hall Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9:00 A.M. to Noon and Tuesday evening from 7:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN:
Steve Caine gave the following presentation:
Comprehensive Planning: Dec 13, 2004 Presentation to the Town Board
- I am happy to report that on November 29 the Comprehensive Planning Steering Committee (CPSC) agreed on the final language of Charlton's Vision Statement and Goals. - The document and what it says clearly is the voice of the people. - Citizen inputs came from a town-wide "Visioning Workshop", a town-wide "Community Image Survey", four focus group meetings made up of seniors, teenagers, farmers and local business owners, interviews taken by our consultant, and a town-wide Written Survey that had over 700 responses, virtually an unheard of level of return. - On Nov 1 all townspeople were invited to attend a meeting to provide feedback on the draft Vision Statement and Goals. - All this information has been reviewed and discussed thoroughly by the members of your CPSC. - The group has worked diligently to gather this information and then ensure we did the best possible job to reflect what our town’s people told us they believe and want in the vision statement and goals statements. - I should remind you, members of the CPSC, where selected by the Town Board. Their appointments were based on the principle that they represented the diversity of the town.
What Does the Vision Statement and Goals do for us? And, what obligation do we have now that we have an objective expression of what our townspeople want for Charlton?
- With this Vision Statement and Goals we have been given a clearly defined end-state to strive for or a target to shoot at. - From now on, every thing we do in comprehensive planning, every measure we recommend, must clearly be aimed at achieving the end-state or vision our townspeople have described. - Keeping our eye-on-the ball means always referring back to our Vision Statement and Goals to ensure whatever policies, or implementing tools are recommended clearly provide us the best possible chances for attaining our desired vision and goals.
So, what is next?
I offer some "personal observations" on how we need to proceed through the next steps-- - We now face the very challenging task of figuring out how to attain our goals and ultimately Charlton's Vision. - The playing field we are about to step onto is as complex as any that involves human beings that live in a free society. - Although we now have a common "vision" of what we want for Charlton, each citizen has his or her unique set of interests and values, or what is important to him or her. Differences may involve how people feel about individual rights versus the rights of everyone in the community, they may involve economic interests like retirement, estate planning or more importantly just survival, they may involve different tastes or what one wants from a community or government and they may involve different perceptions of what constitutes a high quality life style. - With likely competing interests, is it possible to find a course of action or path, we are all willing to take, which in the end will get us to the future we want for Charlton -- our citizens' Vision? - My answer is Yes. Other communities have done it, and there is no reason we cannot. There are countless ways to approach the challenge we face. The key is to find the right combination of implementing tools, objectives, strategies and actions that Charlton citizens will support which provide us the best chance of attaining our vision. It’s not easy. It takes a will to do it, hard work and the self-discipline to follow some important operating principles I think we all have to strive to use. - I am referring to the operating principles of o openness -- keeping everyone informed of what is going on and what we have learned to date, o educating our committee, town officials, town volunteers, and most importantly our townspeople as much as possible -- we all need to learn and get as broad a background as possible on the potential options or possible means (tools) for attaining our vision and goals, o communicating -- the greater the number of townspeople, the more they engage in a dialogue about comprehensive planning, the more they will understand the various perspectives involved, the more they will be a part of this process, the better the outcome will be, o keeping an open mind -- not making decisions until we have learned as much as possible about the issues, and possible ways to resolve them, o only making fact based, informed decision -- making sure decisions are made using the most objective data and information available, while also understanding all the perspectives involved, and o not forgetting we are neighbors...
- It only makes sense that the greater the variety of tools you have available to apply to a task, the greater the likelihood of finding tools that fit for the specific set of tasks at hand. Some tasks, like those that involve complex issues, can only be accomplished by finding the right combination of tools to use for the specific situation. We will significantly diminished our chances of success unless we get to know "all that is out there in the way of available tools (e.g, programs and policies that could be used to attain our goals and vision) " and engage as many people in town to talk about them to learn what tools best fit our situation. - I am convinced Charlton can find a way, a course, a set of tools, or objectives and strategies to attain our citizens' Vision if we follow the fundamental operating principles just described: openness, educating, communicating, keeping an open mind, making only fact based, informed decisions and not forgetting we are neighbors....
In an effort to enhance openness, communication and education, the CPSC has diligently posted all our proceedings and products on the town web site under Comprehensive Planning Project. We have added a new section called simply “Please Read This Background Material.” - When the time for decision-making arrives, all of us -- and of utmost importance, our townspeople -- should be as familiar a possible with comprehensive planning related concepts and procedures. We need to know all the potential options out there and the potential pros and cons of each in order to ultimately recommend what our townspeople feel is the best approach to attaining their vision and goals. - On this section of the web site, we are posting such things as articles, the latest related happenings in the land use and other planning topics, examples of plans from other towns, and papers written on any relevant topics. Also included are web links to other sites that deal with planning related material. - This section of the web site is not meant to advocate a particular position, rather to educate us all, as much as possible, on as many perspectives and options we can. - All Charlton citizens are invited to share an article or paper or anything else on this portion of the site. To do so, they would have to send their input to our Webmaster, John Kelly at webmaster@townofcharlton.org.
Consultation with Alpha Geo Executive
- On Nov 30, I spoke with Supervisor Acunto about the CPSC’s desire to consult with a hydrological company, Alpha Geo on a ground water related issue, and the need for us to request for additional funds to do so. He asked me to make the request tonight. - The Comprehensive Planning Steering Committee would like to obtain Town Board funding for non-budgeted but important related work. - The town-wide written survey and other sources indicate that a great number of townspeople are concerned about preserving our environment, and specifically our ground water supplies. - During recent Planning Board sub-division proceedings, townspeople have expressed concerns that new development and well drilling could harm their supply of well water. - Goal 3 of the Vision Statement and Goals states: The Town’s environmental resources, particularly groundwater quality, quantity and availability are protected. - That said, our committee has the opportunity, and its members agree, that it would be prudent to consult with the top executive of Alpha Geo in order to get his expert opinion and recommendations on possible measures Charlton can take to protect current operational wells, if it is necessary, from new well drilling(s) interrupting or depleting adequate supplies. - The committee will formulate questions before the session and also supply maps and charts we have already obtained from our work. - The consultation costs $100 per hour and we anticipate approximately a two-hour ($200) discussion.
Comp. Planning Steering Committee Position on Town Board Taking Action on Cluster Zoning Before Completion of Committee Work.
On Nov 29, our Town Board liaison reported to our committee that the Town Board was considering taking up deliberations on whether to remove the “Cluster Provision” from our Zoning Laws. The CPSC has a definitive, clear position on this matter. I was instructed to present it tonight.
The Town Board chartered the Comp. Planning Committee to determine what Charlton citizens want their town to be like in the future, a vision, and to develop recommended goals, objectives and strategies for achieving that vision.
The Town Board and local citizens have already invested heavily in the Comprehensive Planning Process - The Town Board carefully selected a group of citizens to accomplish this task. - The Town Board hired a consultant to assist the committee for a fee of $21, 205 (which, I might add is an unique and outstanding bargain compared to what other towns are paying). - The Town Board budgeted $20,000 for 2004 for this work, and is allocating more funds for this effort in 2005. - Committee volunteers have spent countless hours working this task. - 100s of Charlton citizens have attended workshops, focus groups and participated in surveys.
The Comprehensive Planning process is well underway. We have determined what our citizens want Charlton to be in the future. The committee is now entering the critical phase of determining what measures to recommend that would help ensure the town achieves the expressed desires of our citizens.
- As stated earlier, on Nov 29, the Committee, based on comprehensive citizen input, adopted an agreed Vision Statement and set of general goals for reaching a vision. - Starting in January the committee will begin work on specific objectives and strategies, or the potential ways and means for achieving our townspeople's vision.
Since taxpayer money is invested in a planning process, and so many citizens have invested their time and effort in it, it would seem prudent for the Town Board to ensure and enable the Comprehensive Planning Committee to finish the work it was tasked to do.
- the Town Board chartered the Comprehensive Planning Committee to develop recommended policies for ensuring any growth that occurs is done in a way in which the essential nature and character of our town continues to meet our citizens' expectations and desires. - in all the tools used to determine what our citizens want, our townspeople expressed a strong desire to maintain our "Open Space," active farming, and rural character - because of this expressed desire, the Comp Planning Committee will be exploring all potential tools available, including "clustering" to attain the expressed goals of our townspeople. - the Comprehensive Planning process stipulates that the committee formulate for the Town Board a set of recommendations for tools and programs that can achieve the towns vision and goals.. - the public will review of our work before we submit our recommendations to the Town board. - there is also public review of the entire comprehensive plan before the a Town Board takes final action on it.
It should be well know that all of a town’s land use regulations (e.g. zoning laws) must be in accordance with a town's Comprehensive Plan.
It should also be well know that agencies that consider awarding grants for open space, farm and historic building preservation, want to see a town’s Comprehensive Plan? Why? Because they know a Comprehensive Plan has a vision that expresses the will of the people, and implementing tools such as zoning laws and other policies that are aligned and tailored to meet the town’s vision and goals. - Charlton’s Zoning Review Committee was chartered by the Town Board to review our town zoning laws and subsequently make recommendations on ways to improve it. - The Zoning Review Committee, realizing the work of the Comprehensive Plan committee could effect future zoning, reached agreement with the Town Board that it would not make any recommended zoning changes to the Town Board until the Comprehensive Plan was complete, and its recommendations considered by the ZRC. - The Town Planning Board is chartered by law and the Town Board to be responsible for ensuring our Zoning Laws are complied with in the subdivision process. - The position of our town’s Planning Board is the same as the Zoning Review Committee – that no action should be taken to consider changing the zoning laws until the work of the Comprehensive Planning Steering Committee is complete.
Taking all of these factors into account, the Comprehensive Planning Committee strongly believes it is in Charlton's best interest for the Town Board to withhold taking any action to consider or to change any elements of the Zoning Law, including clustering, until the Comprehensive Planning Committee has finished its work and presented its recommendations to the townspeople as a whole and then to the Town Board, thereafter.
Supervisor Acunto – Is there a time line as far as Alpha Geo Science because of weather conditions?
Dave Adams – Comprehensive Plan Committee – There isn’t a definitive time line. I have a great deal of respect for Sam Gowen, head of Alpha Geo Science. He will be willing to consult with us for a couple of hours at a rate of $100.00 per hour. We need to formulate our questions. The meeting would probably be in March of 2005. I think this timing would suffice for us to get input to use in formulating strategies to achieve the goals that Steve has just described.
Motion made by Councilman Lippiello, seconded by Councilman Verola, A Motion to allocate $300.00 for the Comprehensive Planning Committee to meet with Alpha Geo Science for up to three hours, be approved:
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
CONSTABLES:
For the month of November there were 30 patrols, answered 7 911 calls, covered 2,229 miles, issued 34 tickets and investigated 5 accidents.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION COMMISSION:
There is an opening on the Environmental Commission. Marv said he had a list from the last time there was an opening. He will contact those people and see if anyone is interested.
EMERGENCY PLANNING COMMITTEE:
Booklets are available at the Town Hall describing what to do in the event of an emergency. Councilman Lippiello asked if there was a plan if people had to be moved from a particular area. Councilman Verola said there was a plan for using the schools. Those types of things are being discussed by the committee.
HIGHWAY:
Ron has been working with a resident on Newman Road. He thinks he has worked it out. The road trip of the town planned with the Town Board has been cancelled until spring.
HISTORIAN:
Laura attended the Researching New York Conference at SUNY Albany. (Changed tape.) Currently students are working on the Student’s In Research Award which encourages students to use primary resources to work on essays in their everyday school work. Historians provide these primary research materials. We have a program with the Burnt Hills Ballston Lake Middle School using Charlton’s records in this regard. They have won this contest in the past. Jenna Smith of West Charlton has won the County DAR Annual Scholarship in Citizenship by proving her good citizenship and her work in the area political science. Jenna has grown up with this interest. She has helped with placing flags on graves of our veterans and spoken at our Memorial Day Service. She is also New York State’s number one participant in the New York State Dairy Bowl and represented New York State at the national level and came in 5th. Laura thanked Midge Dube and others for their notes to her after she was on TV on Veteran’s Day talking about Clark C. Poling. He was one of the four chaplains that gave up his lifejacket and his life in the sinking of the Dorchester during WW 2. New York State has decided to add a monument to the four chaplains. Laura displayed a book entitled, Schenectady Genesis, a book on the founding of Schenectady. Many of our early settlers came this way thorough Schenectady, particularly the Charlton folks. Tomorrow Schenectady County will be appointing a County Historian. They have not had an historian for several years. Laura was asked to help write the job description and interview the candidates and help select the person that has been chosen. There is a real emphasis now on heritage tourism. Charlton can benefit from this with our Country Store, our Historic District and Historical Society.
HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION:
Doris Stauffer reported that things have been quiet in the District as far as zoning is concerned. The hamlet continues to look better all the time and is lovely. Doris said she won’t be here for long but she is so proud of the people in this town and their support of the District and of the people who live there. Doris said that we have an ordinance that is somewhat vague and at times the people who are going to do something to their property misinterpret something that they read and it isn’t because they don’t want to get the permit but they don’t quite understand that they need it just by reading the ordinance. That is something that needs to be talked about and the wording changed so it will be easier for people to understand.
LIBRARY:
Their long-range plan is now on the library web site. We are going to put a link on ours to the library web site.
PARK COMMITTEE:
They are having a meeting Wednesday night to discuss future projects. Peter Schrader is working on plans for the pavilion in the park.
PLANNING BOARD:
We are not meeting in December.
TOWN HALL:
The architect is here tonight to give a presentation.
VETERAN’S RECOGNITION BOARD:
Estella will be contacting someone handling the Veteran’s Board in Schenectady for some information. They will probably meet again at the beginning of the year.
WATER DISTRICT:
We have received acceptance of inclusion of the 31 homes that we put in as Water District Extension #5. John would like approval from the Board to contact Jim Mitchell from EDP to pursue a design for an emergency crossing of the Alplaus Creek at Little Troy to give a closed loop to the water system in case of any break or serious problem of some kind. The water line crosses under the creek now. It is the only source of water north of that line. Councilman Grattidge stated that it is something we have talked about in the past and feels a plan should be formulated and then John can get more input from the board. The Board agreed that this is something that needs to be done and we should move forward with some engineering data.
Councilman Lippiello stated that John continues to take water readings. He is getting residual chlorine at all spots. He is not sure what DOH’s response will be at the end of the 60 days of reporting. His personal feel is that they will require us to add the chlorinator.
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS:
Maggie thanked the Town Board for approving the legislation for alternate members on boards. On November 30 the Saratoga County Planning Board had a meeting with all the Chairmen of the Zoning Boards of Appeals and Planning Boards of the county. They will be doing this a few times a year to keep everyone up to speed on things that are happening in the county and state. For several years the state has been considering mandating training for ZBA and Planning Board members. It won’t pass legislation. The County has set up a certification program for members of the ZBA and Planning Boards. It won’t be mandatory but it will be something that will be very beneficial. Their first conference will January 27. All members of our ZBA are attending and 5 members of our Planning Board are attending.
The ZBA has looked at the question of whether or not to put minutes on the web site. The Board will be placing their general meeting minutes on the web page but no minutes of any hearings will be on the web page. They will be putting the decisions on the web site.
ZONING:
For the month of November they issued 10 building permits, issued 7 CO’s and collected $1.340.00.
ZORC:
There will be an opening on the ZORC Committee when Doris moves. They would appreciate the appointment of a new member at that time. They will not be making any recommendations for changes to the Zoning Ordinance to the Town Board until after the work of the Comprehensive Planning Committee is completed.
RESOLUTIONS:
Motion made by Councilman Grattidge, seconded by Councilman Verola that Resolution #102, A RESOLUTION TO ADOPT LOCAL LAW #1 OF 2004, A LOCAL LAW TO PROVIDE FOR ALTERNATE MEMBERS OF THE TOWN OF CHARLTON PLANNING BOARD AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS, be approved:
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
Motion made by Councilman Grattidge, seconded by Councilman Verola that Resolution #103, A RESOLUTION TO APPOINT A VOTING DELEGATE OF THE ASSOCIATION OF TOWNS MEETING, be approved:
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
Motion made by Councilman Grattidge, seconded by Councilman Verola that Resolution #104, A RESOLUTION TO PURCHASE A 2005 POLICE CAR, be approved:
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
Supervisor Acunto stated that there will be some added expenses once the car gets here for decals, radio, lights, etc.
Motion made by Councilman Grattidge, seconded by Councilman Verola that Resolution #105, A RESOLUTION TO TRANSFER FUNDS, be approved:
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Yes Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
COUNCILMAN REPORTS:
Councilman Lippiello – Wished everyone a happy holiday season. Councilman Verola – Happy Holidays. Councilman Grattidge – We are looking forward to seeing Mr. Vosburgh’s latest work on the Town Hall. We would like input from any sources. Happy Holidays. Councilman Mitchell – It is time for the newsletter again. The deadline for the February Newsletter is Thursday, January 13. Congratulations to Jenna Smith on receiving the Good Citizen Award for the Saratoga Chapter of NYDAR and wish her well in the competition for the state organization. Congratulations on her successes at the Dairy Bowl. Best wishes to all for the holiday season.
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR:
John Tasse – Sweetman Road – DOH gave us a water inspection report. What was the content of that? Was there anything germane to the chlorine problem?
Councilman Lippiello – Last month we mentioned that DOH had an inspector come in and go through the system with John and asked him to check the chlorine levels for 60 days and report back on a regular basis. At the end of 60 days or whenever she chooses, she may respond to us with a direction to go such as to chlorinate or not to chlorinate depending on the numbers she sees.
John Taps – Is that what the inspection report said or did the inspection report say we were in violation of anything or was it just talking about what we would have to do to go forward on that?
Councilman Lippiello – The direction she gave us was to take chlorination readings for a period of 60 days and report to DOH. The low reading was what concerned her in several spots. John has been getting readings that have consistently shown chlorine in the system at the farthest end of it and it continues to show it. Bacterial tests show nothing.
Pat Culver – Charlton Road – I’m here about the medivac helicopter site that is at the end of LaRue’s driveway directly across from my house. Nobody seems to know anything about it. It is extremely disruptive. I have contacted both the LaRues and the Fire Chief, Dean DeCapria some 6 months ago. The LaRues were not willing to discuss it much. The Fire Chief was very pleasant and at that time told me he is not happy with the location of it and had, in fact, scheduled a meeting with Albert about moving it over to Valentine Road which is a much more sensible area for it. We are on a curve down there and a 55 MPH area to say nothing of the inconvenience it is to our home. I would like to give you this letter just as an official record that we have notified the Board of the problem.
Supervisor Acunto – Sandy, can you enlighten us on the medivac site?
Councilman Verola – There is a spot on the LaRue property where helicopters will land to pick up emergencies if there is an accident or……..(interrupted)
Pat Culver – But I don’t think people realize…….. Medivac is a great idea. Don’t get me wrong but it was implemented to airlift people that were seriously injured at the scene of an accident or in remote areas. What is happening down here is they are bringing victims from accidents way down on Route 50. They could be in Ellis Hospital by the time they drive them all the way out here. This past Wednesday they brought a person out here by ambulance. They remained in the ambulance for 25 minutes before they were even loaded on the helicopter. We had traffic backed up down past Sweetman Road. I was stuck in that line of traffic trying to get home. They wouldn’t let me get in my driveway. I couldn’t get in it anyway because they had volunteer vehicles parked up my driveway. This has happened twice at night. It’s ridiculous.
Councilman Verola – So you are suggesting a different location with it?
Pat Culver – Anywhere else.
Councilman Verola – I think these emergencies are being taken to Albany Medical Center and down-state to the burn unit if I am not mistaken.
Pat Culver – This was just an accident victim. In fact, the two victims that have been removed were car accidents. There was no fire involved. They should be getting to immediate treatment and then if the doctors in a hospital deem that they need further treatment or a specialized service, they can airlift them then. Where the Fire Chief wanted to put it down on Valentine Road is still on LaRue land, if it has to be there. There is nothing but a cornfield or hay field across the street and there are no power lines involved down there. It is also off the main road. You aren’t going to have ˝ mile of traffic back up.
Councilman Verola – That can be a problem but ……..(interrupted)
Supervisor Acunto – Why don’t you discuss it with the Fire Department and report back to Mrs. Culver and then the Board.
Pat Culver – OK because I’m not going to drop this. I want it out of there.
Supervisor Acunto – Thank you for bringing it to our attention.
Councilman Lippiello – Who establishes the site?
Supervisor Acunto and Councilman Verola – I don’t know.
Pat Culver – Al LaRue did.
Supervisor Acunto – Arbitrarily?
Councilman Lippiello – Did he offer his property?
Pat Culver – They did not even extend us the courtesy of mentioning it. I found out one night when a helicopter was shining its bright lights into my bedroom window and the beaters were going. Believe me, we are seniors and we don’t need the adrenaline rush.
Supervisor Acunto – Maggie, do you see this as something that should be going………(interrupted)
Maggie Schmidt – Sacandaga Road – I don’t know what Charlton’s general way of handling this is but I do know that being part of the fire company, when there is an emergency situation, whether it is a rollover or where there is a threat of life, there are certain situation where the fire companies are mandated to call in air lift.
Pat Culver – But Charlton also has 3 other landing sites.
Maggie Schmidt – Right. The fire company has to make a decision on the spot, whoever is in charge, as to the closest place where a helicopter can land………..(interrupted)
Pat Culver – I am not contesting the fact that medivac is a good thing. The location of that pad is horrible. I also run a business down there. My customers have to get in and out, too.
Supervisor Acunto – We may have to involve the Town Attorney in this for an opinion as well. Somebody will get back to you.
Marv Schorr mentioned that the Charlton Seniors will be starting their operations on January 14. The Organizational Meeting will be then. There are lots of activities planned. The organization will meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month in the Town Hall. We have a classes planned in wood carving and beginners bridge. Someone from the Attorney General Office will speak on protecting yourself from identity theft. There will be articles in the Town Newsletter and the Newspapers. Registration Forms are in the Town Clerks Office. Anyone 55 and over can join.
Dave LaFountain – Zoning Administrator - NIMO has contracted with a contractor to take down the power lines off the old towers along Route 67. They will be taking down the towers after the 1st of the year. Once the tower is gone we may be able to fix the road at the corner of Division Street and Route 67.
Dave Pohl – Crawford Drive – Will we get taxed on the cost of the new fire house? Is it a flat rate for each house or is it based on assessment?
Supervisor Acunto said that is not our purview. It is a separate municipality. You would have to go to a fire commissioners meeting and get numbers.
Vicki Hayner stated that there is a special district fee that the fire company turns into the county based on your assessment. She hasn’t seen any of the numbers for the coming year.
John Tasse – Since I learned this week that I would not be re-appointed to the Planning Board, I would like to thank the townspeople in Charlton for allow me to serve these past 12 years on the Planning Board. I would also like to express my disappointment in not being re-appointed. The reason I am disappointed is because I feel that the town would be best served by my technical background and my 12 years experience on the Planning Board. I would like to say that I really enjoyed working for the townspeople of Charlton in my capacity as a Planning Board member.
The Agenda Meeting will be held on December 27 at 7:30 P.M. Part of our Agenda Meeting will be looking at the vouchers.
Architect Paul Vosburgh gave a presentation regarding the new Town Hall. A complete copy of Mr. Vosburgh’s presentation is available in the Town Clerk’s Office.
Supervisor Acunto asked Mr. Vosburgh to elaborate on project mangers and general contractors.
Mr. Vosburgh – NYS has a WICKS Law which requires a minimum of 4 separate prime contractors with the construction of a municipal or public works project. You will have a general contractor, who typically also does the excavation and site work. You have an HVAC contractor that will put in one of the 4 systems or some other system that we talked about tonight. You will have a plumbing contractor who would take the water service from 5 feet outside the building as well as the sprinkler. The electrical contractor would basically handle the power, lighting, fire alarm, telephone and data communications. Those would be a minimum of 4 contracts that you would have. Municipal law also requires that the town provide a person or persons to administer or coordinate those 4 contracts. They would basically be the eyes and ears for the Town Board and myself because they would be on site all day every day. A little bit more involved role would be that of a construction manager where they may break the project down into a site work portion, into a concrete portion, into a framing portion and get separate prices for those and coordinate all of those separate contractors to complete the project, hopefully, at a slightly reduced cost from what a general contractor would charge.
Steve Caine asked what the major milestones would be.
Mr. Vosburgh – (Changed tape) Construction documents should be completed by July at the latest. We would have bid openings in or around September. That schedule is based on taking our time and not pushing the project aggressively. Right now we are a couple of weeks ahead of schedule and I think there are some potential cost savings to be realized if we can get the project together and put it out to bid before that, before any further increases in steel or before any further increases in drywall or steel pipe or any of the other things we might need.
Steve Caine – When will construction start?
Mr. Vosburgh – It could start as early as this spring or not until fall. It all depends on the pace of the project as we move through the design process.
Walt Schmidt – Is there a structural engineer involved in this project at the present time?
Mr. Vosburgh – Yes there is. I have just sent a contract out to (could not understand) in Saratoga.
John Tasse – Question on funding. (Could not understand)
Mr. Vosburgh – The process of (could not understand) is essentially that you need the services of a bonding attorney, someone that would set up the BAN for you which is your interim borrowing. As soon as we get a little bit further into the process, we will prepare a more detailed statement of probable construction costs and a time line with anticipated expenditures once we know when the project might go out for bid. Essentially you will start to need significant sums of money 1 to 2 months after construction starts.
John Tasse – When would you have a set of detailed design plans for the town’s review?
Mr. Vosburgh - That depends on the review process. This is a Schematic Design of the first phase. Assuming that we get approval and move forward it could be as early as spring.
Torben Aabo – Sweetman Road – All the materials that you are going to be proposing before you go out for bid, do they come out of standards that you are working within or do you specify what the materials must be?
Mr. Vosburgh – We will specify what the materials must be. We have had some conversations with the Historic District Commission. We were given some guidelines for material selections there and we have actually started to assemble product cuts and samples of the siding, windows and slate-like roofing. At our next meeting we will have a
table set up with actual samples of what might be used within the building.
Torben Aabo – Who is going to be the quality control person to make sure what you are specifying is actually being put into the building?
Mr. Vosburgh – That occurs in my office and is submitted at the shop drawing level. Contractors will make submittals on each of the materials they are supposed to use. That is the first step in the checking process. Then the construction manager or clerk of the works will also verify that the plywood that we specified is (could not understand) and then when I am out on site the first thing that I do is go around to the piles of materials and take notes and make sure that it is accurate.
Torben Aabo – How often are you going to be on site?
Mr. Vosburgh – Once a week.
Vewrn Ketchum – From a regulatory standpoint (something about storm water)
Mr. Vosburgh – I have retained (could not understand) We have had some preliminary discussions about underwater collections, retention and filtration strategies which we think are going to be necessary to develop a site as intensely as we have shown it on the site.
Councilman Lippiello – The water collection area is in the front? What will that actually be?
Mr. Vosburgh – What we had shown was out here in this green area. I suspect that we will start in the parking area where the slope comes down the hill. These green areas in between the parking stalls will act as collectors for storm water coming off the pavement above them. Then will in turn feed into other collection systems that occur around here and end up in another system before it goes across the street. There are going to be a series of green areas, sand filled trenches with pipe in them, etc. that will slow down the water and then release it.
Supervisor Acunto – Is there a way to estimate how much of a flow of water will be going across the road?
Mr. Vosburgh – I can’t estimate that but I know Jim Houston can. When we get together again I’m sure he can provide you with all the ten-year models and the 20-year models.
Councilman Lippiello - You talked about the driveway. Is it feasible, the stone set in oil for the driveway and the parking area, too?
Mr. Vosburgh - Is it feasible? Yes. Will you loose stone every year as you plow? Absolutely.
Supervisor Acunto – There is the issue of headlights not glaring into the Caine’s house coming out of the driveway. That has been a concern right from the beginning.
Mr. Vosburgh – Rightfully so. There are only a couple of things that we could do to prevent that. I think that would involve landscaping and/or realignment of the driveways. Even as you come out of a driveway and you turn left, I think the headlights are going to flash across or vice versa. Those concerns are real and we need to look to see what we can do.
Supervisor Acunto – How about the consideration of utilizing some more of the property where the gazebo is and enlarging the apron so that you have ingress and egress?
Mr. Vosburgh – We could certainly do that. That was my back up plan for the storm water if I didn’t have enough room on site. It is a potential. The only other thing I had thought about was if we had raised the grade of the driveway in here so that your lights were more or less pointing down rather than level or go up as you approach the road.
Councilman Lippiello – Are both driveways two-way?
Mr. Vosburgh – That is the intent in the current plan and it is something we are going to study when we start looking at the traffic and how to best do that. Based on my experience, I do recommend two means of ingress and egress for municipal buildings. I think it is the most prudent way to go.
After everyone had the opportunity to speak who wished, the meeting was adjourned at 10:00 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail Hanchar Town Clerk |
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