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Town of Charlton Saratoga County Town Board Meeting
March 9, 2009
7:30pm
The Regular meeting of the Town Board of Charlton, Saratoga County, New York was held at Charlton Town Hall and called to order by Supervisor Grattidge at 7:30pm.
Present: Councilman Gardner, Councilman Lippiello, Councilman Salisbury, Councilman Verola, Supervisor Grattidge, Town Clerk Brenda Mills, Attorney Robert VanVranken.
Supervisor Grattidge lead the pledge of Allegiance.
OPENING OF BIDS
Town Clerk Brenda Mills confirmed that the Legal Notice to Bidders was published in The Gazette on January 23, 2009. Three bids were submitted. Councilman Lippiello opened and read the following bids:
GCS/General Control Systems, Inc also included an optional price (not required for bid) of $6,185 for an accumulator tank.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Councilman Verola and seconded by Councilman Lippiello to accept the meeting minutes of the Town Board Meeting held on February 9, 2009.
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye, Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge: Aye Approved
A motion was made by Councilman Verola and seconded by Councilman Lippiello to accept the meeting minutes of the Town Board Agenda Meeting held on February 23, 2009.
Supervisor Grattidge noted an error in procedure made on February 23rd when a motion made by Councilman Verola and seconded by Councilman Gardner to cancel Party in the Park was tabled without a vote.
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye, Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge: Aye Approved
ABSTRACT OF CLAIMS
A motion made by Councilman Verola seconded by Councilman Lippiello to accept General Fund Claims No. 1138 -1197 in the amount of $226,280.50 as set forth in the abstract No.105.
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye, Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge: Aye Approved
TOWN CLERK REPORT
Town Clerk Brenda Mills reported taking in $146.50 for the month of February, $86.93 was disbursed to the Supervisor and $59.57 to government agencies.
A motion was made by Councilman Verola, seconded by Councilman Gardner to accept the Town Clerk’s report.
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye, Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge: Aye Approved
SUPERVISORS REPORT
January Revenue and Expenditures: (not available at last meeting)
February Revenue and Expenditures:
WEB SITE ACTIVITY The overall number of visits to the Town of Charlton Web Site during the month of February is: Entire site; 107,993 Average per day; 2,523, Page views; 70,647, Average per day; 2,523.
SUPERVISORS REPORT
For the month of February I attended 9 Town meetings and 11 County meetings. Some of the highlights of the month:
-Attended numerous meetings concerning The New Town Hall Project -Attended a focus group meeting of the Farmland Protection Plan -Attended 2 meetings with FEMA and SEMO concerning the December 11, 2008 Ice Storm damage and Town clean up costs -Attended the 2 day meeting of NYS Association of Counties in Albany -Attended the Capital Region/ Hudson Valley Agriculture Economic Development Summit at HVCC
COMMUNICATIONS
The Office of Real Property has sent notification that the equalization rate for the Town of Charlton for the 2009 Assessment Roll is 65.78%.
Supervisor Grattidge said that the Board of Supervisors has notified him that the Veterans float is available for the parade this year. The Board supported him in requesting use of the float.
Supervisor Grattidge said that there is vacant land on Hillandale Drive that is on the Saratoga County auction list. The land is drainage land and also is where the water line comes from Charlton Road and hooks onto the water main. The price to the Town would be the same as the back taxes which are $487.40.
A motion was made by Councilman Salisbury and seconded by Councilman Verola to put on the agenda for tonight the approval of purchasing the vacant land. Vote: All Ayes, No Noes. CARRIED.
The Charlton Fire District #1 sent a preliminary report regarding the fire on March 6th at the New Town Hall. The Town Board will take this information to the Owner’s Rep. Supervisor Grattidge stated that there was no structural damage to the building, but there was smoke damage. A company that specializes in fire clean-up was on-site today with testing equipment. There was smoke damage to the meeting room, as well as some smoke damage on the second floor. They are talking about a 3-step program for cleaning the building and the heating ducts, the walls, etc. The first floor will be sealed with a sealer, and then repainted. The second floor will be cleaned and repainted. At this point, the contractors still have work that can be done in the building and are not impacted by the fire. The cleaning company said that it will take their crew about 2 weeks to complete the clean-up.
DEPARTMENT & COMMITTEE REPORTS
Zoning - For February, 4 permits and 1 Certificate of Occupancy were issued.
ECC – Marv Schorr said that the Roadside Clean-up and Tree Distribution will be April 25, beginning at 8am. He confirmed with the Town of Milton that the Hazardous Waste collection has been cancelled for 2009. He will put alternative solutions in the spring newsletter.
Highway - Brush pick-up from the winter ice storm will be April 20th to April 30th.
Constables – For February there were 28 patrols, totaling 1749 miles. They answered 12 complaints, 5 911 calls, 1 EID call, 2 accidents and issued 7 tickets.
Newsletter – Quotes were received from several different printers, and Palmers Press was selected.
Water – Dennis Russell said that the water reports were sent out, and things are running smoothly.
Explore 400 - The Town has received an Explore 400 banner, commemorative pins, and flyers from New York State.
Records Advisory – The Board met last month and discussed ideas for moving records to the new Town Hall.
MOTIONS, RESOLUTIONS AND AUTHORIZATIONS
A motion was made by Councilman Gardner and seconded by Councilman Salisbury that Resolution No. 57 – A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE SUPERVISOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH PUBLIC SECTOR HR CONSULTANTS, LLC (PSHRC) TO PROVIDE CERTAIN SERVICES TO THE TOWN BOARD OF THE TOWN OF CHARLTON REGARDING PERSONNEL APPRAISALS AND RELATED ITEMS be approved.
Discussion: Councilman Lippiello said he was very hesitant with moving forward with this, as it is a lot of money. He said that there were several things in there that we should be approaching, but he was not sure that $10,000 was an approach to it. He felt that some of these services and forms were available from other sources and for a lot less money. He can’t justify $5,000 for them to look at other private and public sector positions and tell us what our people are worth for the jobs that they are doing. Councilman Verola said that some of the things that we are asking them to do may not all need to be done this year in light of the budget. She would like to have the Wage and Salary program done. As far as the performance appraisals, there is probably some free information out there. Bob VanVranken said that he agreed with Councilman Verola that there probably is a free resource. Councilman Gardner said that this is a building block process. You need to get the job descriptions done, then the salaries. The performance appraisal is really more of training process for the people doing the appraisals. Councilman Salisbury said he felt that the whole package should be done. Councilman Gardner said that he felt if the Board tried to do this on their own, it would be too piecemeal. Councilman Salisbury said that he feels that the Board does not have the expertise to do it. Councilman Verola asked the Board if they thought they could go online and find an Employee Appraisal format to follow. Councilman Gardner said that they need job descriptions first, before you can do a wage review. There are approximately 13 employees and the charge for the job descriptions are $150 each description, so the cost would be about $1,950. Supervisor Grattidge said that he is concerned with the amounts of revenues coming in this year, and does not feel he can support this resolution tonight. Councilman Verola said that she knows that this is important to some of the members of the Board, so possibly we could do some of it ourselves and save money. Councilman Gardner said he felt that they needed to bring this to a vote. If it means pulling the appraisal out and talk about it at a later date, he can live with it. Councilman Salisbury said that you must get the job description done first or the wage comparisons are no good.
A motion was made by Councilman Gardner and seconded by Councilman Verola to amend the previously read Resolution No. 57.
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye, Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge: Aye Approved
A motion was made by Councilman Verola and seconded by Councilman Gardner that amended Resolution No. 57 – A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE SUPERVISOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH PUBIC SECTOR HR CONSULTANTS, LLC (PSHRC) TO PROVIDE CERTAIN SERVICES TO THE TOWN BOARD OF THE TOWN OF CHARLTON REGARDING JOB DESCRIPTIONS OF THE TOWN OF CHARLTON EMPLOYEES be approved.
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye, Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge: Aye Approved
A motion was made by Councilman Gardner and seconded by Councilman Verola that Resolution No. 58 - A RESOLUTION TO ORDER POSTED ROADS IN THE TOWN OF CHARLTON WITH A FOUR TON GROSS WEIGHT LIMIT ON A TEMPORARY BASIS be approved.
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye, Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge: Aye Approved
A motion was made by Councilman Lippiello and seconded by Councilman Verola that Resolution No. 59 - A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE SUPERVISOR TO REQUEST FROM THE POSTMASTER FOR THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE TO RETURN THE MAILBOX PREVIOUSLY LOCATED AT THE CURRENT TOWN HALL AND RELOCATE IT AT THE NEW TOWN HALL be approved.
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye, Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge: Aye Approved
A motion was made by Councilman Lippiello and seconded by Councilman Verola that Resolution #60 - A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE SUPERVISOR TO TAKE WHATEVER ACTION IS NECESSARY TO PURCHASE A CERTAIN PARCEL OF VACANT LAND LOCATED IN THE TOWN OF CHARLTON be approved.
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye, Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge: Aye Approved
A motion was made by Councilman Lippiello and seconded by Councilman Verola to approve the Park Permit application for seasonal use of the volleyball courts submitted by the Try-Athletes.
Vote: All Ayes, No Noes. CARRIED
Supervisor Grattidge said that he needed to address the issue of Party in the Park, as a motion to cancel the event was made at the February 23rd Agenda Meeting, but never voted on. Supervisor Grattidge said that there are items in the event budget that could be reduced. There is money available through a grant for Youth Week. There was a suggestion to raise the money for fireworks from private donations, and several donations have been committed. Councilman Verola said that she has a very hard time justifying a party and fireworks, when we are cutting things that are useful to the Town. She is opposed to using any taxpayer money for the party. If all of the money can be raised privately without using any Town dollars, then she is okay with it. A decision was made by the Board to continue with plans for Party in the Park and to raise the money for fireworks by donation.
A motion was made by Councilman Verola and seconded by Councilman Gardner to withdraw the motion made February 23, 2009 to cancel Party in the Park.
VOTE: All Ayes, No Noes, CARRIED.
COUNCILMAN REPORTS
The Councilman reported that February was a busy month with meetings and audits.
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR
Hearing none, the meeting adjourned at 9:04pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Brenda Mills Town Clerk |
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