Minutes of the Charlton Environmental Conservation Commission Meeting – April 25, 2006

1.   The meeting was called to order at 7:09 pm with members Marv Schorr, Midge Dube, Lane Jastrebski, Doug Ranaletto, Teddi Smith, Bob Killeen and Town Board liaison Doug Salisbury in attendance.

2.   Minutes of the March 27, 2006 meeting were approved without change.

3.       The status of some current business was discussed, including Founder’s Day, the new Town Hall, Sunday on the farm (Smith’s - Midge commented that there will be room for informational booths at the event), and the County Water Committee (Teddi - the Alplause study on water quality shows slight traces of fertilizer and farm runoff).

4.       Marv discussed the stream blockages and flooding behind Wally Hughes house, and the storm water management (MS4) program. Marv showed pictures of the flooding on the weekend of April 22-23, 2006 and of the debris dumped in the stream area downstream of Hughes -wooden pallets used for a bridge, propane tanks, construction debris, plastic pipes, etc. Blue Neils, County MS4 Coordinator is drafting an action plan. 

5.       Comprehensive plan – Marv gave an update on the status of the draft plan and the procedure that will be followed for presenting the plan to the Town.  

6.       Charlton Seniors – Midge discussed the proposed Senior’s van and some of the speakers scheduled for the Senior group. On May 10 there will be a talk on emergency preparedness, and then talks on antiques and one room school houses will follow later in the spring.

7.       The roadside cleanup on April 29 will start at 8 am from the highway department garage. The tree give away will start at noon until 1 pm at the same garage.

8.       Outdoor open burn law discussion – At the request of the Town Board, Marv is preparing a letter of recommendation to the Town Board on proposed changes to the law. When the law was first passed many combustible materials were not being recycled. Thus, outdoor burning was a common method of disposal, and a law requiring a permit was viewed as a way to control the burning. Today the waste haulers will pick up many of those materials (e.g., cardboard and yard wastes) in addition to plastics and paper. As a result, open burning of these items should not be necessary. There was a discussion on making it clear on the permit what can and cannot be burned in open outdoor fires. Open burning of brush, leaves, waste from crops, tree limbs, etc., can occur with a permit, but there is a ban on burning tires, plastic, foam furniture and hazardous materials.  It should be made clear that the person who does the burning is to be held responsible for the safety of the burn, while the person issuing the permit, the Town Clerk and the Town, are held harmless. It appears that the need for a strict law requiring a permit may no longer be required in its current form.

9.   The application from Jim and Sherry Barnes for a variance from the ZBA on side lot setback was reviewed. The minimum side lot setback of 40 feet will be met, but the total combined side setback of 100 feet will not. The actual combined setback is 85 feet. The lot size is almost double the 2 acre minimum. but the width (road frontage) is only 178+ feet. It was concluded that there will be no significant environmental impact.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

M.M. Schorr, Chairman

cc: ECC members

Town Board members