Supervisor Kelly opened the meeting for public comment on agenda items and there were none.

Transcription

1 Supervisor David P. Kelly opened the Regular Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Pawling at 6:15 PM October 9, 2013 at Pawling Town Hall, 160 Charles Colman Blvd., Pawling, New York. Present were Councilmen Montemarano, Upham, DeRosa and approximately 8 interested citizens. Councilman Johnson was absent. The motion to enter Executive Session was made by Supervisor Kelly at 6:15 PM for attorney client privileged discussion, seconded by Councilman Upham, motion passed unanimously. The motion to return to the regular order of business was made by Supervisor Kelly at 6:50 PM, seconded by Councilman Upham motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS Supervisor Kelly opened the meeting for public comment on agenda items and there were none. MINUTES The motion to approve the minutes of September 4, 2013 and September 11, 2013 was made by Supervisor Kelly, seconded by Councilman Montemarano, motion passed unanimously. CONSENT AGENDA Resolution Authorizing Billing for Pawling Water District #2 Whereas, Pawling Water District #2 bills need to be approved by the Pawling Town Board, and Whereas, the bills have been prepared and submitted in the amount of $14, for the period of July 1, 2013 through September 30, 2013 by the Water District Clerk, now therefore, be it Resolved, that the Pawling Town Board hereby accepts the billing as recommended for Pawling Water District #2. Resolution Refund Escrow Account- H.G. Fairfield Whereas, the Supervisors Office received a letter form H. G. Fairfield requesting a release of their funds held in escrow, and Whereas, it has been confirmed by the Bookkeeper that the amount of $ as per the August 31, 2013 bank statement which has been placed in a Money Market account under the name of H.G. Fairfield, now, therefore, be it Resolved, that the Town Board of the Town of Pawling hereby authorizes the refund the balance of the escrow account in the name of H.G. Fairfield as per the latest banking statement for the month of September Resolution Reappointment Fire Commissioner Whereas, the Pawling Fire District is overseen by the Board of Fire Commissioners that are appointed jointly by the Town of Pawling and Village of Pawling, and Page 1 of 8

2 Whereas, the Town of Pawling representative Commissioner David Denzel s term expires at the end of 2013, and Whereas, Mr. Denzel has expressed an interest in continuing service to the Board of Commissioners, and Whereas, the Board of Commissioners has passed a motion in full support of David Denzel for an additional term as a Fire Commissioner, now, therefore, be it Resolved, that the Town Board of the Town of Pawling hereby reappoints David Denzel to a new five (5) year term ending on 12/31/2018. Resolution Planning Board; Restoration Bonds Whereas, the Planning Board of the Town of Pawling is currently reviewing the application of O.A. Papaleo / Advance Auto Parts on Route 22, and Whereas, the Planning Board is recommending to the Town Board to accept an increase in the Restoration Bond from $5,000 to $15,000, increasing the amount by $10,000, now, therefore, be it Resolved, that the Town Board hereby accepts the recommendation of the Pawling Planning Board on the above matters relating to O.A. Papaleo / Advance Auto Parts and orders the Restoration Bond to be increased to $15,000, and, be it, further Resolved, that the new Restoration Bond shall be filed with the Town Clerk in accordance with Town Law. MOTION: SECOND: Supervisor Kelly Councilman Montemarano Councilman Montemarano requested that Resolution be moved to the nonconsent agenda. Supervisor Kelly and the Board agreed. ROLL CALL VOTE: Councilman Johnson ABSENT Councilman DeRosa AYE Councilman Montemarano AYE Councilman Upham AYE Supervisor Kelly AYE NON-CONSENT AGENDA Resolution Payment of Bills for the Town of Pawling Whereas, The Town of Pawling Bookkeeper has reviewed and prepared the vouchers for the payment of bills and has offered them for review, and Whereas, the vouchers have been approved in accordance with the Town of Pawling policy, and Whereas, the vouchers have been numbered through , now therefore, be it Page 2 of 8

3 Resolved, that the Pawling Town Board hereby accepts the vouchers as prepared and on the recommendation of the Bookkeeper and hereby authorizes payment of said vouchers for the Town of Pawling on this date in the amount of $365, MOTION: SECOND: Supervisor Kelly Councilman Montemarano Councilman Montemarano said in reviewing the bills, he noticed some bills from one of the Town s engineers relative to costs incurred for development of the map, plan and report for the sewer district. His recollection from the Board s action in January of this year was that there would be a new sewer district with two landowners, Castagna and Elm Street. The Town Engineer would estimate an escrow account for the development of the map, plan and report and the commencement of the map, plan and report would commence only after both entities provided their escrow monies as required. His understanding is that the cost of the map, plan and report was approximately $50, One of the entities paid their $25, fairly immediately and as far as he knew, the Town is still waiting for the second entity to pay their portion of the escrow. There has also been some discussion about Elm Street withdrawing their petition. He did not know if they were still in and how that effects what work might have been done already on the map, plan and report. Supervisor Kelly said as he stated in earlier meetings, Elm Street had noted in a Sewer Commission meeting that they were withdrawing from the process of joining together with Castagna on paying for or having anything to do with that line, and would withdraw their petition. He had not gotten a letter from them but as of October 1 st, Castagna had requested that they would pay for the whole line to take flows from their property and move toward the East Main Street property, and that they would pay for the whole project themselves. It was understood at those meetings from Mr. John Gutleber, President of Castagna Realty, that they would be paying the cost for the map, plan and report and work being done through the process of developing the tenancy agreement, and understanding that the Town had representation at those meetings. Mr. O Rourke is here tonight and can speak to this if he is prepared, but Mr. Gutleber understood that he would be paying the full cost of the map, plan and report and all associated costs. The resolution was done in order to set up the escrow accounts separate from Castagna and Elm Street to fund their portion of the map, plan and report. As Castagna would like to move forward, they have paid the money to move forward with the map, plan and report and discussions and that money was for the potential district and these are costs that are associated with that. It is logical that they would be paying those costs. Mr. Richard O Rourke, attorney for Castagna Realty, said he would like to back up because obviously, early on the whole intention with this thing was that the special district would include, at least at the beginning, the Elm Street property and the Castagna property. Both entities filed a petition for the formation of the special district. His recollection was that the Town Board essentially said that was fine and it would move forward but it is subject to the deposit of $25, by Castagna and $25, by Elm Street. Then as time went on, from what they understood verbally, there was a representation by Elm Street that they were going to comply and put up the $25, He did not think they ever did. Supervisor Kelly said no, they did not. Mr. O Rourke said he wasn t aware that some work had been performed on it, and obviously he felt they were entitled to see the invoices to see what work was performed, but the whole concept initially was for this to be a joint district. He did not know what work was performed, he is not criticizing and he is sure work was done. The issue is that at the time the work was performed, it was based upon the understanding of everyone that the cost would be split between Castagna and Elm Street. Clearly, most recently, we have learned that apparently Elm Street, again verbally, has stated that it does not wish to proceed with the special district. He is not aware of whether they have ever withdrawn their petition. Supervisor Kelly said they have not. Page 3 of 8

4 Mr. O Rourke said Castagna wants to get going and when Castagna was told to put up the $25,000.00, they did it immediately. He wanted clarification of exactly where they are now. Right now, as it stands, there are two petitions. Going forward with the map, plan and report was based upon both petitioners putting up the money. Elm Street s petition has not been withdrawn and they have not put up the $25, He is not sure how to handle that. Castagna will pay its proportionate share of this but he felt he needed some clarity. Castagna is going to go forward with the map, plan and report. They know that the special district is going to be formed. He felt that if this was going to be paid out of the escrow account, they should see the bills. He is sure if the work has been performed, it was done at a time we were all proceeding with an understanding. At this juncture, going from this point forward, there is absolutely no question, they will pay for everything and do whatever it takes to get this special district formed to include the Castagna property. He just wanted to clarify that. Supervisor Kelly said for clarification purposes, was Mr. O Rourke s best understanding that his firm s engineer and the Town Engineer have discussed the line, the size of the line, the placement of the line, whether east on Route 22 or west on Route 22 from back to the beginning of the year. The Town Engineer has been involved in meetings at various locations to discuss those parameters, concerns about size of piping and flows and other things. Mr. O Rourke said those pipes were to service not only Castagna s property but also Elm Street s property. That was the whole premise of all of this. There is no question that work has been performed and knowing the Castagna organization, subject to review of the bills, they will live up to their word. Supervisor Kelly said Councilman Montemarano brings up a good point. The Pawling Joint Sewer Commission attorney has requested correspondence from Elm Street regarding what has been said at meetings and that they are out of the district. Supervisor Kelly said he can send a letter asking Elm Street to send a letter stating whether they are in or out of the district. He went under the premise that we were continuing the momentum on the project, at the beginning of the year there was momentum, there was a point where it went stagnant due to lack of payment but from his office, he continued waiting for them to pay what they were required to pay. Even as of yesterday he met with principals of Elm Street about paying for their portion and they still refuse to pay their portion. They are just looking for reservation agreements at this point. In January, it was requested to set up the escrow account, to draft against the escrow account. There were conversations that things were going to proceed behind the scenes to move forward with background work on the map, plan and report. To date there is probably $4, of that work against the $50, project that was background work that was billed in probably January or February. We thought as a group that Elm Street was going to pay so work moved forward with the intent of charging the money against the accounts when the money was deposited. Morris & Associates was asked to proceed lightly behind the scenes and get some minor things done in the winter time and they were hoping to get a map, plan and report going in the spring and that never materialized. So that part of the project ceased because we knew Elm Street did not pay the money. At that point, everyone agreed that work behind the scenes should stop. Councilman DeRosa said to clear it up, the $4, that was encumbered by both Elm Street and Castagna is being paid by Castagna. Mr. O Rourke said that is what they are being asked to do. Councilman Montemarano said the vouchers he saw were approximately $7, Mr. O Rourke said he hasn t seen any of the vouchers. Councilman DeRosa said he didn t have a problem with it if Castagna doesn t have a problem with it. Supervisor Kelly said under normal course, charges would be assessed against their escrow, they would be sent copies of the bills, they would audit the bills and if they had questions, they could ask. The $7, includes other meetings Mr. Setaro was invited to or part of discussions or direct conversations with Castagna/Jucca s engineers. Mr. O Rourke said Elm Street s engineers were involved. The problem he is having with this is that the funding opportunities to fund this pipe, those expenses were undertaken by Castagna. The agreement going forward with the special district was a collaborative effort supposedly that is to be funded by Elm Street and Castagna. The Town Board authorized this to go forward subject to the escrow payments of the $25, Elm Street did not live up to that agreement. The concern they have is that Page 4 of 8

5 was the agreement that was established. The petition is still pending. Elm Street is still discussing with the Town and still trying to hook up to sewer, meanwhile Castagna is paying for it. His concern is what s fair is fair. He felt the fair thing to do was to allow Castagna to see the invoices that are being proposed. If the time and meetings being charged was back in January and February, that was at the time that the Town Board had said they were moving forward, this is Elm Street and Castagna, the petition was pending, Elm Street participated in the discussions, they just never put up the money. In fairness, perhaps one way of looking at it is, the time and bills incurred in January and February, Castagna should be responsible for half of that. He is being very candid with the Board. Councilman Montemarano said he thought the Board wanted to be fair. He felt the Town Board would like to follow up on what they unanimously voted for back on January 9 th, which says Resolved, that new Escrow accounts are set up with the Town of Pawling Bookkeeper solely for said purposes and no work shall commence until such time that both escrow accounts are funded by an amount set forth by Morris Associates. That is the issue that caught his eye looking at the vouchers. Supervisor Kelly said the amount was set, both parties understood what the amount was. He had no problem with removing these bills from this set of vouchers. Councilman Montemarano felt they ultimately had to be paid and he did not have an issue with that. The people who will be funding these invoices are apparently at this point in time unaware any work has been done on the map, plan and report. Mr. O Rourke said he is aware of that resolution but never received a copy of it. He respectfully requested a copy of the resolution, along with the invoices so they can look at them. He recognized that work was performed by Morris Associates and almost everyone was acting in good faith. Castagna and Morris Associates did what they were asked to do. Another party was told to do things and they did not do it. Morris Associates did work but it wasn t just for Castagna at that time. He didn t realize this discussion was going to happen tonight and he was glad it did. Councilman Montemarano asked if the vouchers in question could be pulled from the abstract in order for them to be reviewed and moved ahead as quickly as possible. Supervisor Kelly expressed concern that there were vouchers included in these of current work that has been agreed to as part of this that Morris Associates should be paid for. Mr. O Rourke said he had no objection to that. He is talking about the period of time in January and February, where everyone was moving along and thought there was full participation. There is no question that most recently, they are living up to their obligations and moving forward. The concern they have is that if there are still discussions going on with Elm Street, his concern is that Castagna is funding everything, and funded the applications for the grants. He felt the Board saw the picture and enough had been said. Councilman Montemarano said there are three categories that are exhibited in these vouchers, the map, plan and report, the Route 22 SEQRA process and the Route 22 special district and some of them go back to May of The map, plan and report items come up to a total of $5, Supervisor Kelly said now, because of different terminology and the request for a tenancy agreement, Morris is now billing that as the phase one sewer line so there is different terminology. Supervisor Kelly introduced an amendment to Resolution to add in the Resolved, to withdraw any invoices and dollar amounts directly related to the map, plan and report for Morris Associates from this resolution, seconded by Councilman DeRosa, motion passed unanimously. ROLL CALL VOTE ON RESOLUTION : Councilman Johnson ABSENT Councilman DeRosa AYE Councilman Montemarano AYE Councilman Upham AYE Supervisor Kelly AYE Page 5 of 8

6 Resolution Local Law Number of 2013 Entitled Chapter 157, Outdoor Wood Burning Furnaces Local Law Number of 2013 Entitled Chapter 210, Wind Energy Facilities Notice of Circulation and Public Hearings Whereas, the Town of Pawling is considering enacting a Local Law on Outdoor Wood Burning Furnaces and a Local Law on Wind Energy Facilities, and Whereas, the Town Board has reviewed the creation of these Local Laws, and Whereas, the Town Board has held a Public Hearing for the Outdoor Wood Burning Furnaces on June 5, 2013 and has officially noticed such Local Law prescribe by Municipal Law, and Whereas, a Public Hearing must be scheduled and the Local Law for Wind Energy Facilities must be circulated in accordance with Municipal Law, now, therefore, be it Resolved, that the Town Board authorizes Local Law Number of 2013, Entitled, Chapter 157, Outdoor Wood Burning Furnaces and Local Law Number of 2013; Entitled, Chapter, Wind Energy Facilities to be released for circulation to all interested agencies and that a Public Hearings for each above Local Laws be set for November 13, 2013 at 7pm at 160 Charles Colman Blvd, Pawling, NY. MOTION: SECOND: Supervisor Kelly Councilman DeRosa ROLL CALL VOTE: Councilman Johnson ABSENT Councilman DeRosa AYE Councilman Montemarano AYE Councilman Upham AYE Supervisor Kelly AYE Supervisor Kelly made a motion to table Resolution , based upon information that the Planning Board needs to declare Lead Agency and there are SEQRA documents that need to be done. He would entertain a motion on November 13 th to remove this resolution from the table, as long as the Town Board has the necessary documentation, seconded by Councilman DeRosa, motion passed unanimously. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING EVENT Supervisor Kelly asked the Board if they wished to make a donation to the Chamber of Commerce Christmas Tree dedication. Following discussion, the following motion was made: The motion to donate $ to the Chamber of Commerce, seconded by Councilman Upham, motion passed unanimously. BUDGET PRESENTATION Budget Message from Town Supervisor David P. Kelly: The 2014 Proposed Tentative Budget was presented to the Town Clerk on September 30 th with a 1.29% rate increase town wide over the 2013 Adopted Budget. This budget reflects a.37 of 1 percent under the New York State property tax cap. The 2014 budget was prepared providing the residents of Pawling with a priority based budget. Page 6 of 8

7 Much needed and expected services provided by the Town to our residents are not recommended to be reduced or altered. There are no new or added fees within this budget. Expenditures in most to all departments are held at or below the 2013 level. With conversations with Department Heads or other Elected Officials during this budget process, nearly all requests for additional expenditures were not able to be funded for the 2014 fiscal year. The property tax cap of 1.66% has once again handcuffed the Town s ability to grow new programs, increase maintenance projects or the ability to restore certain budget lines to levels that were slashed just a few years ago. Just a few key points I would like to bring up tonight, these are in no special order. Repairs to the facilities in buildings and grounds are up slightly to just over $28,000. We received a bill from Dutchess County for our Workman s Comp coverage with a 179% increase. My office continues to work with the Finance Office of the County to reduce and justify this large increase. Computer purchase dollars were moved out from every department budget and put into a central line item. This will allow the repair / replacement to be based on age and performance of the unit, not just because I think it s operating slowly. We pay our consultant to monitor this for us. In 2014, we will replace nearly 10 computer units due to age. We currently have 5 units over 9 years old. Lastly, in working with many department heads and listening to our discussions over the past few years, it is clear that we have no clear plan on the Town owned buildings and facilities. I will propose a Capital Projects List to the Board within the next few months. This list will offer extensive look at the repairs / replacement / demolition to or within our buildings. I will at the same time offer a bond to the Town Board for consideration to complete the first two years of this 5 year plan. It has come time to take a stance on how we value the appearance our town. I want to thank all of the department heads, elected officials, and town employees, but would like to thank Kelly, Todd and Jerry for their help and insight while developing this Tentative Budget. This year was a challenge, with the Property Tax Cap, it s only going to get harder and tighter to develop future Town operating budgets. I look forward to working with all of you over the next month to finalize the 2014 budget, I will set up special budget meetings to review and discuss the proposed Tentative Budget. If I can answer any questions at any time please let me know. Thank you. The motion to move the proposed tentative budget to the tentative budget was made by Supervisor Kelly, seconded by Councilman Montemarano, motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT John Daley, Highway Superintendent said the Village Highway Department has asked to bring their leaves to the Transfer Station, as they lost the location they were bringing them to for years. He asked the Board how they felt about this request. Following discussion, Supervisor Kelly made a motion to approve this request based on the Village covering any costs incurred during the operation of the leaf pick up, seconded by Councilman Montemarano. Councilman DeRosa said he would like to add that this would be under the supervision of the Highway Superintendent. The motion passed unanimously. Joseph Schoicket from 56 Route 292, Holmes said he was in front of the Board last week and since then, he has received another Stop Work Order. He feels that this is harassment and it continues for him. He is told that he now needs to get a timber harvesting permit. He talked this over with Zarecki & Associates and he no longer wants to timber harvest at this time and so there is no need for the permit. All he wants is to access his property. He has a couple of different issues. In 2007, he came into Town Hall and spoke with Tom Llanes, Building Inspector, who said what he wanted to do was fine. Since then, he has found swastikas in his driveway, and he is Jewish. In June, Walter Artus, Town Consultant was on his property to do an inspection and he said he didn t see anything wrong. He wants to put up a wind turbine and has received grant money from the State of New York to do that, which would supply his property with electricity. He has paid thousands of dollars to make his property beautiful and has helped his neighbors throughout the years. He is being harassed and needs help. He has complied with everything he needed to do and he needs help from the Board. Page 7 of 8

8 Supervisor Kelly said Mr. Schoicket s counsel should contact the Town Attorney. He said this project needs to be referred to the Planning Board for a timber harvesting permit. The application was provided by Mr. Schoicket s engineer, and it said timber harvesting and that is why it needs to be referred to the Planning Board. Mr. Schoicket said once the application is referred to the Planning Board like it should have been, then does he get to move forward. Supervisor Kelly said it will be under review and he does not get to make the determination of where Mr. Schoicket will go from there, the Planning Board will handle the timber harvesting application. Mr. Schoicket asked if he could schedule a meeting with Supervisor Kelly. Supervisor Kelly said yes, Mr. Schoicket should call him and schedule an appointment. The motion to adjourn was made by Supervisor Kelly at 7:45 PM, seconded by Councilman Montemarano, motion passed unanimously. Town Clerk Page 8 of 8