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DRAFT Regular Meeting July 11, 2005 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 Robert Lippiello Councilman Dorothy Mitchell Councilman Sandra Verola Supervisor Ferdinand Acunto
Councilman Grattidge was excused.
Motion made by Councilman Verola, seconded by Councilman Mitchell that the minutes of the June 13 Town Board Meeting and the June 27 Agenda Meeting be accepted as received: PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Approved: Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
ABSTRACT OF CLAIMS:
The total of the bills approved for the July abstract was $32,656.54. Vouchers for the month were #1554 - #1648.
Corrections for the July abstract: Voucher #1562 to Charlton Septic Service was for a total amount of $95.00. Voucher #1622 to Charlton Water Dist. had an account code change. Voucher #1626 to BFI was deleted.
TOWN CLERK’S REPORT:
Gail Hanchar read the Town Clerk’s Report. She reported taking in $182.45. Motion made by Councilman Verola, seconded by Councilman Lippiello. PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR (Agenda Items):
No comments.
SUPERVISOR’S REPORT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
June revenue and expenditures: General Fund – Expenditures of $55,369.86. Revenue of $17,324.72. Highway Fund – Expenditures of $27,083.66. Revenue of $82,428.24. Water District #1 – Expenditures of $9,246.20. Revenue of $1,608.83. Water District #2 – Expenditures of $174.66. No revenue.
Major revenue: General Fund - Safety Inspections of $2,747.00, Planning Board Fees of $1,300.00, Interest and Earnings of $2,400.00 and Fines and Forfeited Bail of $9,619.99. Highway Fund – Sales Tax Distribution of $81,462.00 and Interest and Earnings of $966.24. Major expenditures: General Fund – Legislative Contractual of $1,627.10, Buildings-Operation of Plant (for Mr. Vosburgh) of $4,675.86, Police Contractual (for radio repair) of $1,320.78, Ambulance Contractual of $3,000.00, Joint Youth Program of $3,000.00 and Drainage (for Legal Notice and Engineering-MS4 Program ) of $2,677.11. Highway Fund – Road Construction (for preparation of paving) of $1,437.80 and Machinery Contractual of $1,262.10. Water Fund – Transmission and Distribution of $2,785.00 and Engineering (for Little Troy alternate water) of $3,439.08.
Web site activity for the month of June was 798 hits.
The County GIS System is now accessible to everyone. The address is: www.maphost.com/saratoga or www.co.saratoga.ny.us
At the June Agenda, the Charlton Seniors requested the Town purchase a van for the seniors. The Board has decided a van will be purchased in 2006.
Supervisor Acunto stated his position of the Saratoga County Water System, a system that is taking the water out of the Hudson River and developing a county wide water system. “I support the project as it is intended. What concerns me is that there have been some major expenditures in preparation for the upcoming project. The problem is, as I look at the numbers, the system cannot support itself. There are not enough users (municipalities) that are signed on. To float the bond that would have to pay for this without enough users would mean an ad valorem tax to every tax payer/resident within the county even if you don’t use the water. Charlton is in that type of situation. We have our water source from the Town of Glenville. We are paying an ad valorem. Right now the way the system is designed, Charlton is not going to be able to be part of the county-wide water system but we might have to suffer an ad valorem tax because it would need to be made to pay the bond. I am on record as opposing it. Several other supervisors have stated the same. We are in the minority right now. I am not supporting any more funding of this project until I am assured that this system can pay its own way. By that I mean that the users will be able to support the system. If anyone has any concerns and feels that this is not a direction they would like to see me going in, I would be glad to talk to anyone.” Councilman Verola stated that it was her understanding that people who are currently in the water district in town would still have to pay the ad valorem tax for Saratoga County even though they are already hooked up to water. Supervisor Acunto said you would be paying two, the one we are already getting service from and the proposed County system.
Regarding the traffic light at Route 146 and Route 67, there was a double fatality at that intersection several weeks ago. The issue with the light has been that if there was a power surge or a loss of power, the light would go into a flashing mode of red in one direction and yellow in the other. Supervisor Acunto spoke with DOT and asked if it could go on flashing red in all directions. He also spoke with the Fire Department and the police with little satisfaction. He then went to the media and as a result, when there is a power problem, the light will flash red in all directions. It is now considered a primary intersection instead of a secondary intersection. As a secondary intersection, if there was a problem after 5:00 P.M. on Friday, it didn’t get repaired until Monday. Now it will be fixed within 4 hours of notification.
On July 27 at 7:00 P.M. there will be a concert in Gideon Hawley Park sponsored by the Historical Society and the Town.
We received a request from a private agency asking us to put an advertisement on our web page. Our policy is that we will not allow any advertising or links on the web page for commercial purposes. The web page is strictly for Town business. We will accept links to other municipal organizations.
We have received notification from New York State that Senator Farley has been able to get a $20,000.00 grant for the Town for a generator or any other Town project that we see as a priority. If it is for a specific piece of equipment, they need to know make, model, name, etc. Supervisor Acunto feels we might be better served to earmark that money for some other project within the construction of the Town Hall. Sandy and Alan will discuss it report at the Agenda Meeting.
COMMUNICATIONS: We received notification from DOT that they have received our request for a speed reduction on Maple Avenue and Featherbed Lane.
We received a thank you note from the Bagdan family thanking the Town Board for our resolution recognizing dairy farmers.
The Board is invited to meet with the Fire Commissioners on July 21 at 7:00 P.M. at the fire house. They would like the Town Board to review the plans for their new fire house.
The Town Clerk’s Office and Bookkeeper’s Office will be professionally cleaned on Wednesday. We had an air conditioner put in the bookkeeper’s office. Both offices were affected by dirt and dust and insulation falling from the ceiling.
ASSESSMENT REVIEW BOARD:
Eva Butler reported there were 16 complaints dealing with 19 properties. Four were reduced. The rest remained unchanged. They approved 19 stipulations. There was 1 correction due to a clerical error.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN:
Nan has finished going over the recommendations for the sub-committees regarding the strategies for the 14 goals. Currently a system for on-line voting by the committee members for the strategies is being set up. They will be meeting the lst Monday in August.
CONSTABLES:
For the month of June there were 23 patrols, answered 3 911 calls, covered 1,654 miles, issued 29 tickets and investigated 2 accidents.
ECC:
They met in June and considered 2 variance requests from the ZBA. They will be heard tomorrow night.
E-GOVERNMENT:
The CMS server is up and running. John Kelley is getting it configured to fit our web site. He wants to pilot it himself for a while to make sure everything is alright. As we feed in areas one by one, this will allow individual committees to update their section of the web site without having to go through the web master. There will be various levels of access to the web site where someone could post it and someone else would have the authority to allow it to go live onto the web site. Our next meeting is August 10.
EMERGENCY PLANNING:
Hank Coghill has resigned from the committee due to lack of activity. The Committee is planning to meet this month.
HIGHWAY:
We will be awarding a bid for a gas-powered tamper. Paving will hopefully begin the beginning of next week. It will depend on the Cady Company being on site. They have been held up by the weather. We will be doing DeGraff Road, Lasher Road and Dawson Road. In previous years the Highway Department had been picking up brush left at the roadside. We have now contracted with County Waste. Every Thursday they will pick up leaves and brush from all residents at no charge. Since that has started, we have been getting phone calls from residents saying they have larger brush. The Town gravel bank on Route 67 can accept larger brush but not stumps and logs. It is available to any Town resident. Call the Highway Department before dumping brush so they can tell you where they want it to be placed.
HISTORIAN:
On June 29 the Historians of Saratoga County and County Historian met with the Local Government Records Management Officer for our area, Dave Lowry, to teach Historians about the care of their records and town records. The County is currently working on gathering more information on the Underground Railroad and the role of Saratoga County in that era of history and learning more about the black experience in Saratoga County. The annual Solomon Northup Day is July 16. On July 1 Historians within Saratoga County were invited to Brookside Museum for a story swap. They each brought a news article from their town from 100 years ago and talked about what was going on. There is have an exhibit at Brookside called “Jumping Through Hoops” about the fashion industry in Saratoga County. There is a “Dressing for the Racetrack” exhibit at the Schenectady Museum. The theme this summer for the Saratoga County Fair is “Health, History and Horses”. Last weekend the Charlton Historical Society held a garden tour. The Historical Society Museum on Maple Avenue is open each weekend. The Saratoga Plan has a dinner meeting on July 14. They will be recognizing the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors for developing a county-wide green infrastructure plan. This a topic among historians as they have been asked to work with their town’s Comprehensive Plan which involves open space. The historians have a booth at the Saratoga County Fair. On July 20 at 7:00 P.M. at the Charlton Town Hall, the Historic District Commission is having John Sherer, the Clifton Park Historian, talk about historic districts and historic work in the Town of Clifton Park. It is open to the public. This year’s annual Capital Area Archives Dinner will be held October 6. The topic will be Inadequate Record Keeping-Ethical Dilemma’s. The Professor of History from Boston College will be presenting his work in Religious Archives of the Catholic Church in the Boston area.
HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION:
They will be meeting on July 20 at the Town Hall.
LIBRARY:
They held their annual meeting a week ago. They will have a regular meeting the end of the month.
PARK COMMITTEE:
They have been working on a grant proposal. There will be a resolution. Supervisor Acunto received a request from the Capital District Transportation Committee to update our parks on a map. George said we have an aerial photograph supplied by a volunteer.
RECORDS ADVISORY BOARD:
They met last week. We have concerns regarding the condition of the room upstairs and the quality of the air for anyone working up there with our records. Heather will be getting an estimate of what it would cost to have the room cleaned. We also discussed the possibility of putting plastic on the walls that are open to the studs to keep the records cleaner. At our next meeting we will review the different types of grants that are available and determine which one would be most appropriate. The Town has a contract with Susan Lombardi to research grants. We may use her in the process. We want to get our records cleaned and in good order before they go to the new building. We will be attending classes.
TECHNOLOGY BOARD:
John Kelley attended their last meeting. They reviewed backing up the Town Clerk’s records. They are working on a technology plan and a budget request for 2006. John Kelley will donate a CD burner for the Town Clerk’s Office for backup. Ron Gavin asked the Board to review a maintenance package system for his equipment.
TOWN HALL:
Councilman Verola expressed her thanks to Senator Farley for his contribution to the Town Hall. She has also been in contact with Congressman Sweeney’s Office and is waiting to hear from them. We should have the final report on the archeological dig early in August.
WATER:
Clean up has begun where the push will go under the Alplaus so the companies can get in there and see what has to be done when they look at the site for bidding. We are checking the chlorination on a daily basis.
ZBA:
They have two hearings tomorrow night starting at 7:30 P.M.
ZONING:
For the month of June building fees were $2,663.00. Zoning fees were $550.00.
RESOLUTIONS:
Motion made by Councilman Lippiello, seconded by Councilman Verola that Resolution #101, A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ADVERTISING FOR SEALED BIDS FOR INSTALLATION OF AN ALTERNATE WATER DISTRICT TRANSMISSION LINE ACROSS THE ALPLAUSKILL, be approved:
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Absent Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
Resolution #102, A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE SUPERVISOR TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT FOR THE INSTALLATION OF A MONITORING SYSTEM AND MONITORING SERVICE AT THE WATER DISTRICT PUMP STATION, be approved:
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Absent Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
Motion made by Councilman Lippiello, seconded by Councilman Mitchell that Resolution #104, A RESOLUTION APPOINTING DONALD SCHERMERHORN, JOEL LANDIS AND KEITH FITZGERALD AS FINANCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS, be approved:
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Absent Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
Motion made by Councilman Lippiello, seconded by Councilman Mitchell that Resolution #105, A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE SUPERVISOR TO FILE A GRANT APPLICATION FOR FUNDING FROM THE NYS OFFICE OF PARKS, RECREATION AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION, be approved:
Councilman Lippiello stated that the $13,869.00 is a matching grant which we will be responsible for next year. One of the major components of it is a new pavilion to replace the one in Elmer Smith Park. Also included is a backstop for a new ball field, repair work on the warming shed, picnic tables and park benches.
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Absent Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
Motion made by Councilman Verola, seconded by Councilman Mitchell that Resolution #106, A RESOLUTION TO AWARD A BID FOR A PLATE TAMPER FOR THE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT, be approved:
Approved: Councilman Grattidge Absent Councilman Lippiello Yes Councilman Mitchell Yes Councilman Verola Yes Supervisor Acunto Yes
COUNCILMAN REPORTS:
Councilman Verola – Nothing more. Councilman Mitchell – Nothing more. Councilman Lippiello – John has been busy getting the material ready to go for the bid that went out tonight. Supervisor Acunto – At our last Agenda Meeting we appointed a Broker of Record for health insurance.
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR:
Marv Schorr – Imperial Lane – On behalf of the Charlton Seniors he thanked the Town Board for the action taken on a van. Marv explained that the Office of the Aging will reimburse the Town 75% of the cost.
John Tasse – Sweetman Road – Asked if Saratoga Lake is off the table as a source of water for the Saratoga County Water System. Supervisor Acunto stated that the County’s proposal is for the Hudson River. The city is pushing Saratoga Lake. Marv Schorr said that in order for it to be self-supporting, enough towns have to buy into it and then the need for an ad valorem tax would go away.
John Tasse asked what the purpose of the second water line would be. Councilman Lippiello said the line has been under the Alplaus for 30 years. There is some concern that it might start to deteriorate. If there is ever an emergency, we have isolated the northern half of the town. This is a secondary line to bring water up over the creek. This would be a second path parallel to the exiting path.
John Tasse asked if we have specifications for the Town Hall in hand yet for people to look at. Councilman Verola said that she and Alan will be meeting with Mr. Vosburgh hopefully next week and try and get to the specifications. Because of the archeological dig, it has put a hold on everything.
John feels we should appoint someone in the building trade as Clerk of the Works. They could go through the specs. and see where we could save some money. I am almost positive $7,000.00 is a lot of money for a generator. Maybe we could not put historical siding on right off. Maybe there are ideas to get the price down by going through the specs. before the building cycle. Supervisor Acunto said the Board has had discussions about that and at what time to bring a clerk of the works, etc. in. It has to be part of the funding package that will be put out to the public to vote on. Councilman Verola said that when we get the specifications we will definitely ask someone to look at them.
John asked that as a result of the audit, was there any global evaluation of the Town’s ability to do what it is planning to do with the town hall. Was there any review of cash flow? Supervisor Acunto said no. That audit was done for the year 2004. It had nothing to do with projections. It is on file in the Town Clerk’s office. John asked if as a result of the audit, we can execute the town hall and still meet the bills? Supervisor Acunto said that was not part of the audit but we hired Jeanine Caruso to look into that. She did a presentation at a Town Board Meeting and prepared a package for us.
John asked what specifically is the new Finance Committee? Supervisor Acunto said they are an advisory committee made up of people who have a finance background who will be in a position if the board wants some advisory opinions. We have to prepare for GASB #34 which will soon be part of our annual audit. Kathy will need some help in putting that together.
John asked what the status was of the chlorine sampling. There was a concern. Supervisor Acunto said it has been fluctuating. Councilman Lippiello said John as been taking samples. North of the tank there is chlorine in the water but it is low. John met with the state engineer. She has asked him to continue with the testing and reporting. She will pass the results on to her supervisor. The bacterial tests have all come back fine. At the last Agenda Meeting we approved funds so John could begin working with EDP should we need a chlorination system.
John asked if there had been any news on the lawsuit for Crooked Street? Supervisor Acunto said it is at the appellate level. We are waiting.
John said that since his wife was the former Zoning Administrator, they have gotten about 15 calls over the past month of people trying Leslie in desperation because they can’t reach Dave. They say the phone acts like it is disconnected. They get no answer. They aren’t getting a voice mail. This was an issue with Dave when he got fired the first time from that position, that he wouldn’t get back to people. Supervisor Acunto said his phone hasn’t been ringing.
Laura asked if there would be a way of putting the Charlton Directory on line since we currently do not have anyone doing it? Supervisor Acunto said he is concerned because there could be many people that would not want that information on the web page. Councilman Mitchell said they had planned on doing it last year but it didn’t happen due to illness. She will check on it.
Gerry Belisle – Stage Road – Read a letter from the Charlton Democratic Committee asking the Town Board to state its position on the following issues: (1) slowing the pace of development in Charlton until the Comprehensive Development Plan is finished and (2) policies governing the issuance of building permits for parcels within the town. To elaborate on each issue: (1) Steve Caine, Chairman of the Comprehensive Planning Committee, indicated hope that a draft document could be out the end of the year. Would the Town Board consider placing a moratorium on new construction until the adoption of a Comprehensive Development Plan? To allow a rush to build in order to escape possible restrictions once the Comprehensive Plan is adopted would be short-sighted and could result in what the majority of Charlton residents consider undesirable development. (2) This concern relates to potential violations of DEC identified wetland development regulations within the town and the serious question of issuance of inappropriate permits. Presently at least two instances of questionable, and possibly inappropriate, building permit approvals are known. In some cases the minimum requirement of 2 acres for new building has been disregarded or easily waived. For the property at the southeast corner of Division Street and Route 67 NYSDEC has written, “A DEC permit will not be issued for this site, as it would, in essence, validate an illegal activity.” Is the Town Board satisfied with the performance and actions of the currently appointed Building Inspector and Zoning Board Administrator?
Marv Schorr stated that there is no date for the completion of the Comprehensive Plan that has been agreed to by the Comprehensive Planning Committee. The Town doesn’t administer the wetlands laws, the State does. Supervisor Acunto said that the Board had a meeting with DEC on that particular project and they have given out a permit for that parcel. We will address these and make some kind of response. I’m not promising it will be in the next 30 days.
Suzanne Voigt – Dawson Road – A few months ago she brought to the Board’s attention that there was a bridge in Mill Pond Park that had boards that were about to give way. They have given way. The bridge is missing three boards. She said she was told by Mr. Grattidge that he would look into it. She told him a month ago that the boards had given way. George said he spoke with Ron after their April walk through. Councilman Lippiello said the Board was concerned if people were taking horses through that area. The bridge was not made to take horse traffic. Suzanne said that had always been a horse path through there and was used by bikes, snowmobiles, etc. The Board will speak to Ron about it.
Ray Simboli – Old Stage Road - Asked if the Board would consider a finite date for the Comprehensive Plan so that it doesn’t remain open-ended.
Councilman Mitchell feels the Comprehensive Plan is moving forward. They have gone through all of the recommendations and will be voting on those. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Councilman Verola asked if it would be advisable to put a completion date on the project. Marv Schorr stated that if you look at the overall process, the plan would only be a series of recommendations. Assuming the Town accepts the Comprehensive Plan, the Zoning Ordinance Review Committee then has to take that work and change the Zoning Ordinance. That could take a couple of years. The last major revision to the Zoning Ordinance took three years. I don’t think you want to put a building moratorium on for three or four years. Even if you set a date for completion of the Comprehensive Plan, and I don’t know why you would want to do that other than for closure, you still have the whole process of changing the Zoning Ordinance to implement the recommendations of the plan which is what the plan is, a series of recommendations. Councilman Verola said there would also be public hearings involved with the Town Board.
Ray Simboli said that since there are a lot of things that need to happen, he would suggest we start thinking about dates and setting goals. (Changed tape.) The whole community was involved with the survey. People were excited. The more time that goes by and nothing is acted upon or reported upon, we will start loosing that energy. Supervisor Acunto said he does not feel we are loosing energy. The Comprehensive Plan Committee is meeting religiously and all of their work is on the web page. Councilman Lippiello stated that we had professional help with the initiation of this and it was not one of her recommendations that they establish a completion date.
Marv stated that the Comprehensive Planning Committee wants to work as expeditiously as possible. The Comprehensive Plan is supposed to be a 20-year plan. It will be what we want to see Charlton look like 20 years out in time.
Suzanne stated that if you wait 5 to 10 years to get it done you aren’t going to have the Charlton to work with that you want in 20 years.
Resident – I do a lot of long term work with different groups all around the country and it is advisable to have some kind of a time frame when you are talking about long term planning.
Marv said we have a time frame of roughly 18 months.
Suzanne said she became concerned at the Historical Society Meeting with the farmers. They said they had “x” amount of acres and they rent “x” amount of acres. It became apparent that without the rented acres, they cannot keep farming. They are loosing some of that leasable land and can’t afford to buy it. The only way they could afford to buy it would be through grants. The only way you can apply for most grants applicable to farm land purchases is if the Town has a Comprehensive Plan. We are fighting a time issue. We will loose the Charlton we love.
After everyone had the opportunity to speak who wished, the meeting was adjourned at 9:15 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail Hanchar Town Clerk |
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