REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING
May 2, 2011
7:00 pm
The Town Board met this date as per Resolution #2 with the following members present: Supervisor Stanley, Councilman Bartlett, Bernstein, Jordan and Malloy.
Supervisor Called meeting to order
Roll Call
Pledge of Allegiance to our Flag
Motion by Councilman Jordan to accept the minutes of the April 4, 2011, Regular Town Board Meeting, and April 19, 2011, Special Town Board meeting seconded by Councilman Malloy, all in favor, motion carried.
Supervisor Stanley – Supervisor’s Report – Month of April
COMMUNICATIONS
Month OF 5/11
SAFARI: Following last month’s Town Board meeting the Town of Shandaken received a permit from the DEC to proceed with our project slated for the Stony Clove in Phoenicia. While there are some conditions that have to be met prior to construction, we do not see these as impeding our expected time frame for work to commence. Milone & MacBroom, our engineer for the project, has started working and we hope to amend our application to further address stream channel reduction caused by the Simpson Mini Park adjacent to the bridge on Main St. Both Eric Hoffmeister and I are looking to be in the stream in August, generally when there is less chance for disturbance to the stream in the drier months.
The entire SAFARI Group will be meeting later this month to go over a proposal for an RFQ looking for a consultant to assist us in our efforts to better recognize areas of high concern for the Town. The consultant will be paid from a grant awarded us through the Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program.
Sweet Sue’s: There is another meeting slated with the CWC tomorrow morning. Sue has a few options available to her. We are continuing to try and find feasible solutions for her dilemma, but ultimately the decision on what is the best option is Sue’s.
Zoning: As I’m sure most of you are aware. The Town Board is considering extending the Highway Business Zone, currently ending at the corner of Rte. 28 and Rte. 212 in Mt. Tremper, to cover adjacent parcels on Rte. 28. The proposed amendment would re-zone properties on the South side of Rte. 28 from The Cottages at Rockcut Ledge to the Tonche Bus Garage. Along the North side of Rte. 28 the proposal would re-zone from Rte. 28 frontage 250 feet into each lot down to Car Craft Towing, just past Alyce and Roger’s Fruit Stand. We will be setting up a special meeting to discuss this issue through resolution tonight. Another topic to be discussed is the creation of a new law to address Farm Stands in Town. The Town welcomes your emails and comments on the proposals.
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Parks & Rec.: We have two resolutions tonight, one to change the meeting date from the first Wednesday of each month to the second Monday. The other resolution is to advertise for Summer Camp Counselors and Junior Counselors.
Phoenicia Biz: There are several interesting ideas being floated around including a proposal for a “Turkey Trot,” a foot race encircling Phoenicia, to take place around Thanksgiving. The next Phoenicia Business meeting will take place at the Festival of the Voice office in the 1890 House on Main St. at 7pm.
Shandaken Day: Shandaken Day is returning to Parish Field in Phoenicia this year Saturday, August 27. This year we are celebrating the Hamlets of Chichester and Woodland Valley, along with Phoenicia, of course. Anyone interested in assisting with the event may join us at the Ice Cream Station on May 16th at 7pm.
Highway: The Highway contract is up for renewal at the close of this year. The Town will be working over the next few months to negotiate with the Highway Department to discuss our options.
Freeman: Brenda Williams from the Freeman contacted us to inform the public that they are currently compiling information for the Central Catskill’s Discover Section due out May 26th. They are offering “greatly reduced rates” because of an arrangement with the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce. If you are interested in advertising please contact Brenda at the Freeman offices at 331-5000 ext. 467, or at bwilliams@freemanonline.com . The deadline for submission is this Friday, May 6th.
Swing set: We have a replacement swing set for the Phoenicia Park and Heather Roberts has rallied the volunteers to have a construction party this Saturday at 1pm, all are welcome to attend.
Thank you to the Town of Woodstock and Supervisor Jeff Moran for the donation of the second monitor, we have had problems with not knowing if we are broadcasting, this shall alleviate that
problem.
Tonight we have the Onteora School Board here for a presentation on their budget. We also have the CWC here for an update on the sewer proposal and I would like to welcome Martin Donnaly Supervisor of the Town of Andes.
Scenic By Way – Councilman Bartlett
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Councilman Malloy – The Sound of Music
The production of the Sound of Music done at the Onetora High School was incredible, very nicely done.
Onteora
Dr. Phyllis McGill – Superintendent of Schools; Ann McGillicuddy – President Onteora School Board; Mike McCann- Board Member
Dr. McGill went over the following budget and budget information and then opened the floor for questions.
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Catskill Watershed Corporation
Nate Hendricks- Program Manager; Tim Cox – Corporate Council; Alan Rosa – Executive Director; Martin Donnally – Town of Andes, Supervisor; and from Lamont Engineers – Henry Lamont and Julie Barrone.
Mr. Hendricks – Spoke with reference to the articles in several local newspapers in regards to the Andes wastewater treatment plant which was implemented in the Village of Andes and then turned over to the Town of Andes, they were one of six communities that participated in the Cities new infrastructure program and in each of those communities there is obviously an operations and maintenance agreement which is executed between the Town and the City of New
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York, which will outline the commercial and residential subsidies that the City will pay for to operate the facility. So there were so many in accuracies and miss information in the local newspapers we thought it a good idea to bring forth the Supervisor of the Town of Andes, Martin Donnally to answer any questions that the Town Board or the residents might have.
Supervisor Donnelly – Mr. Supervisor, members of the Town Board and residents, I will try to answer your questions, I may not have all the answers, but I will try to answer them. Many newspapers write articles with many in accuracies. One thing the sewer charge is not $400 it is $161 per year. We have a great relationship with the DEP and our plant will go under a major reconstruction, we have a good system. If we had a relationship with CWC as we have now, most of the problems that we had would not have existed. The Village of Andes was ordered by the Court to dissolve December 31, 2003, we received the gift of the old village and accepted the plant in 2004.
The Town Board asked what happened at the plant that inspired the news paper articles?
Supervisor Donnelly – we had a newspaper reported come an ask a lot of questions and she did not understand that the wastewater treatment plant has holding tanks and a holding pond behind the plant and in October we had a lot of rain and the treated water ran out on the lawn but in no way was the community in any danger according to the DEC’s analogy.
Town Board – Were you fined.
Supervisor Donnelly – First they wanted $34,000 then it came down to $3,500.
Mike Ricciardella – in the paper it said that the cost would be $2.4 million to repair the plant, what is the City going to pay?
Supervisor Donnelly – they have agreed to pay $2.4 million. Mike Ricciardella had more questions, he wanted to know the process in which the DEP or the City agreed to pay.
Mr. Donnelly – the DEC issued a consent order and we were fined for failure to comply with the DEC regulations. But, because of the consent order the DEP had to step up to the plate, the total cost of the repairs was $2.65 million and the DEP agreed to pay $2.4 million and we are going for grants to pay the balance.
Tom Rinaldo expressed his concerns about our community having a sewer plant that fails and if it does, will the DEP be so kind as to pay the brunt of the cost or will the community pay for the cost. He would like the City or DEP to own the plant so that they will have the legal liability.
Supervisor Donnelly – If your plant is approved by your Town Board and working with the CWC you will have a quality plant and you will have quality people or operators operating your plant you should not have any problems.
Helen Morelli – Why did you take over the plant, and why did you have all the problems and who caused your problems? This could happen in Phoenicia and then the Town of Shandaken would have to pay.
Supervisor Donnelly – The plant was built by the Village of Andes by their architech, their engineer, etc. The Town was ordered by the Courts to take over the Village and all of its’ assets and the plant was part of that in 2003.
Tim Cox – CWC’s corporate attorney, added that the Village of Andes dissolved and the Town took it over, there is a sewer district in the Town and anyone outside of that sewer district does not have any responsibility to the district. That is state law and it can’t happen under state law.
Mr. Cox had a discussion with Mike Ricciardella about the contract with DEP for the operation and maintenance and who pays for what.
Discussion with members of the audience and CWC with regards to who pays what when there is a problem, also discussed was the clarity of the contract with the city and who owns the plant.
End of discussion, the Town owns the plant, but the residents in the sewer district are responsible for paying 15% of the cost and the City is responsible for paying 85% of the cost.
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Henry Lamont of Lamont Engineering – to give an update on their progress with their approach with the project, they are looking at the least complex, low tech options first, because they are generally cheaper to operate and maintain. They know how important to the community the operation and maintenance costs are, it is necessary to keep them as low as possible. The first option they explored is a septic maintenance district, but only 15% of the residents in Phoenicia can support such a system, so this option was eliminated. A Community Septic was also explored but with most of the land in the sewer district area in the flood plain, that option was out too.
Julie Barrone of Lamont Engineering – Explained the windshield survey and with that they determined that the wastewater flow estimate for Phoenicia would be 162,000 gallons per day the previous study completed 10 years ago determined 185,000 gallons per day. Now that we have this, we can start designing and cost estimating for the different alternatives as well as looking at the existing design of the collection system and the wastewater treatment plant. Based on our study we don’t see why that plant could not be built and operated well. The cost of that project is estimated to be between 23 and 26 million dollars, that has figured in a 7 year inflation since it was bid in 2006. We also feel that the MBR’s have a less operation cost.
Henry Lamont – explained the wetlands study and said that he agrees with the DEP, that it would not have the capability of handling the sewerage from Phoenicia. Wetlands is a cheaper system to treat the secondary, but it would be just an extra cost here. He went on to discuss secondary treatment (wetlands) with some members of the public who were not Phoenicia residents. Another option we looked at briefly was pumping to Pine Hill. Pine Hill does not have the capacity to take what Phoenicia would be pumping to them. Pine Hill is extending their district and they have some obligations to Belleayre. So now we are going to start our review of package plants. Mr. Lamont opened it up for questions from the audience and most of the residents (not from Phoenicia) were concerned about Pine Hill not taking the Phoenicia sewerage, they had many questions about Roxbury going to Grandgorge plant, and why not Phoenicia and Shandaken going to Pine Hill. They did not like the answers.
Ambulance Report – Supervisor Stanley
Richard Muellerielle
Capitan Administrator, Shandaken Ambulance
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Police Report – Councilman Bernstein
Phoenicia Water Report – Al Peavey
Supervisor Stanley stated that we are trying to prioritize the projects that need to be done and we have Candace (Balmer) looking for grants for us to accomplish this. The next meeting is June 15th at the new library at 6:30pm.
Pine Hill Water Report – Councilman Bartlett
There is a meeting scheduled for May 12th , 6:30 at the Pine Hill Community Center, that is Thursday.
Recreation – Martie Gailes
The time on your resolution should be 6:30pm, and other than that we had an organizational meeting and I think we are off to a good start.
Museum – Councilman Jordan
They are continuing to work on their reorganization, they are looking at the applications for director and at different ways to raise funds for the benefit of the museum.
Public Comments on Resolutions
Many from the audience had comments on Resolution #72, most said that it was premature to schedule a Special Town Board Meeting to discuss issues in Mt. Tremper, namely rezoning.
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Resolutions
RESOLUTION 71 OFFERED BY Councilman Bernstein
WHEREAS, The Department of Audit and Control require Town Boards to sign and inspect all vouchers coming into the town for payment, to number and total amounts from each fund.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board authorize the following vouchers paid:
General Fund $ 54,301.77
Highway Fund $ 32,303.39
Phoenicia Water District $ 6,018.61
Pine Hill Water District $ 286.93
Phoenicia Lighting District $ 1,007.88
Chichester Lighting District $ 141.48
Pine Hill Lighting District $ 575.10
AND MOVES ITS ADOPTION
Seconded By : Supervisor Stanley
ROLL CALL 5 Ayes
RESOLUTION # 72 OFFERED BY: Councilman Jordan
WHEREAS, The Town Board will hold a Special Town Board Meeting on May 24, 2011; at
6:00 pm at the Shandaken Town Hall,
THEREFORE be it resolved that a Special Town Board meeting be held to discuss a zoning amendment in Mt. Tremper.
AND MOVES ITS ADOPTION
Seconded by: Supervisor Stanley
ROLL CALL 3 Ayes 2 Nays (Bartlett and Malloy)
RESOLUTION # 73 OFFERED BY: Supervisor Stanley
WHEREAS, The Parks & Recreation Board has met and found it to be more convenient for all members to meet at a different time and date,
THEREFORE be it resolved that Section 38A-6 B of Local Law 1 of 2011, be amended to read:
“The regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board shall be held on the Second Monday of each month at 6:30 pm in the Shandaken Town Hall unless otherwise determined in advance by the majority of the Parks and Recreation Board. The board may vote to schedule workshop meetings at any of the parks in the Town one week prior to or following their regular monthly meeting.”
AND MOVES ITS ADOPTION
Seconded by: Councilman Jordan
ROLL CALL 5 ayes
RESOLUTION # 74 OFFERED BY: Councilman Malloy
WHEREAS, Plans are being made for the summer recreation program, and
WHEREAS, camp counselors will be needed,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Clerk advertise to receive applications for Camp counselors and Junior camp counselors for the summer recreation program, as soon as possible.
AND MOVES ITS ADOPTION
Seconded by: Councilman Bartlett
ROLL CALL 5 Ayes
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RESOLUTION # 75 OFFERED BY: Councilman Bartlett
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING WAIVER OF 30 DAY NOTIFICATION REQUIRED
BY THE NEW YORK STATE LIQUOR AUTHORITY
WHEREAS, Jeron Diner Corp., Phoenicia Diner, 5681 State Route 28, Phoenicia, NY 12464,
has applied for a liquor license renewal, and
WHEREAS, Jeron Diner Corp., has requested that the Town waive the 30 day notification required by the New York State Liquor Authority in an effort to expedite the granting of a liquor license to Jeron Diner Corp., and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Shandaken does hereby grant the request of the Jeron Diner Corp., and does hereby waive the thirty (30) day Liquor License notice requirement to the Jeron Diner Corp., Phoenicia Diner, at 5681 State Route 28, Phoenicia, New York.
AND MOVES ITS ADOPTION
Seconded by: Councilman Malloy
ROLL CALL 5 Ayes
Public Comment
More Discussion on the process of setting up a Special Town Board meeting and why.
Supervisor then read a previous statement from the beginning of the meeting, “The Town Board is considering extending the Highway Business Zone, currently ending at the corner of Rte. 28 and Rte. 212 in Mt. Tremper, to cover adjacent parcels on Rte. 28. The proposed amendment would re-zone properties on the South side of Rte. 28 from The Cottages at Rockcut Ledge to the Tonche Bus Garage. Along the North side of Rte. 28 the proposal would re-zone from Rte. 28 frontage 250 feet into each lot down to Car Craft Towing, just past Alyce and Roger’s Fruit Stand. We will be setting up a special meeting to discuss this issue through resolution tonight. Another topic to be discussed is the creation of a new law to address Farm Stands in Town. The Town welcomes your emails and comments on the proposals.”
More Comments—
Motion by Supervisor Stanley to adjourn the meeting with a moment of silence in memory of Florence Mikolajczk, Sue Minkel, John J. Staiger, JoAnne Myers, John Frasier and Ray Shultis,
Seconded by Councilman Malloy, all in favor, motion carried.
