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TOWN OFROSENDALE                                                        DRAFT

TOWN BOARD MEETING&PUBLICHEARING

MARCH 5,2008

 

The meeting was called to ordersby Supervisor McDonough at 7:32 p.m. at theRosendaleCommunityCenterwith the Pledge to the Flag.

 

PRESENT:CouncilwomanManna Jo Greene

Councilman Robert Gallagher

Councilman Kenneth Cluen

Councilman Richard Minissali

SupervisorPatrickMcDonough

ALSO PRESENT: Tim Morrison, Chairman Cable Commission; Dan Baker, Assessor and abouttwenty residents.

 

PUBLIC COMMENTS: Jack Gouldsbury made a public apology for hisconduct at the last Town Board meeting.

 

APPOINTMENTS&RESIGNATIONS: Resignation of CherylSchneider from the Economic Development Commission. A motion was made to accept the resignationof Cheryl Schneider from the Economic Development Commission; seconded byCouncilwoman Greene with thanks and regrets. Roll Vote: 5 Yes.

Appointment of Kenneth Cluen asDeputy Supervisor. A motion was made bySupervisor McDonough to appointment Councilman Cluen as Deputy Supervisor at asalary of $1,200.00 per year payable at $100.00 per month; seconded byCouncilman Minissali. Roll Vote: 5 Yes.

Appointment of Dennis Kaye asChairman of Economic Development Commission. A motion was made by Supervisor McDonough to appoint Dennis Kaye asChairman of the Economic Development Commission; seconded by CouncilmanGallagher. Roll Vote: 5 Yes.

Appointment of Kyle Frano andOwen O¡¦Connell as temporary full time police officers until the Countyeligibility list comes out. A motion wasmade by Supervisor McDonough to appoint Kyle Frano and Owen O¡¦Connell astemporary full time police officers; seconded by Councilman Gallagher. Roll Vote: 5 Yes.

 

PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSEDTIME WARNER FRANCHISE CONTRACT:

The Notice of Public Hearing wasread by the Town Clerk at the request of Supervisor McDonough.

Tim Morrison reviewed how theCommission arrived at the current contract; they gathered accepted franchisecontracts from other communities and tried to embellish them to the Town¡¦sbenefit. Tim said we don¡¦t have muchroom to negotiate on these contracts but we were able to get a greater distance,250 feet, for service runs; most of the contract is dictated by FCCregulations. Tim stated that ourattorney said that this contract is ¡§written in English¡¨ unlike most. Tim asked that he be advised of any commentsfrom the public so that he can ¡§short stop¡¨ any problems. Councilman Gallagher stated that under thenon-profit organizations eligible for free service, theBrooksideSchoolwas omitted; Supervisor McDonoughand Tim will take care of looking into the matter. Ken Oldehoff asked how long the contract willrun; he was told the standard ten (10) years; Supervisor McDonough stated thatthe contract left the term blank at this point. Tim stated that NYS is trying to grapple with franchise agreementsstatewide. Question was raised abouttechnology; the response is that technology is not mentioned in the contract asit deals with television not high speed internet and telephone services.

Tim continued that the franchisefee of 2% will continue since the Commission feels that this is a direct feepassed on to the consumer; we could raise or lower the fee with a letter to TimeWarner at will. The fee presently goesinto the General Fund but Tim said that it can be used to promote and supportpublic access services; the franchise fee is only on basic and extendedtelevision services, not roadrunner.

The Public Hearing was left openat this point.

 

2. A resolution authorizingacceptance of the Time Warner Franchise Agreement will be presented nextweek.

 

3. Presentation: Eileen Camasso, Superintendent of RondoutValley Central School District, gave a presentation on the Capital BuildingProject for the district which is to be voted on March 11thfrom 6:00a.m. until 9:00 p.m. at the High School Gym. Ms. Camasso stated that this proposition will add additional educationalspace in the form of science labs and music rooms; the proposition if acceptedwill come back as a tax neutral project or tax negative; the district isapplying $1.164 million dollar surplus from the close out of old capitalprojects which will make the project tax negative. Ms. Camasso stated that NYS is giving taxbreaks of 65.5% in aid; this would result in the district making $800,000.00over the 15 years of the bond. Ms.Camasso encouraged everyone to get out and vote on March 11th.

 

4. Discussion: WebsiteConsultant: Supervisor McDonough statedthat he would like Amy CoteƒU to be appointed as our website consultant for 3-5hours per month at $20.00 per hour.

A motion was made by SupervisorMcDonough to hire Amy CoteƒU as website consultant for 3-5 hours per month at$20.00 per hour; seconded by Councilman Minissali. Roll Vote: 5 Yes.

 

5. Discussion: Noise Ordinance and Waste Haulers. A problem has arisen with haulers in the Townpicking up in some areas between 3:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. in residential areaswhich violates our noise ordinance; we need to strengthen our enforcement. New Paltz prohibits garbage collectionbetween 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.; Councilwoman Greene suggested perhaps we shouldconsider having the time no earlier than 6:00 a.m. during the week so as not tobe to restrictive of the haulers. Supervisor McDonough said that in order to change the hours we would needto conduct a public hearing; we could do that by resolution next week. Jennifer Metzger ofMountain Roadaskedabout barking dogs around 4:00 a.m.; that would be covered between the noiseordinance and the dog control law she was told.

 

6. Land Use LeadershipAlliance(LULA)Training. Jennifer Metzger will beattending; Supervisor McDonough stated that he had planned to attend but sinceattendance at all four sessions is required he will have to forgoattending. Supervisor asked if there wasanyone else interested in attending; he asked Jennifer to check with members ofRCCE.

 

7. Authorizing the Assessor toUndertake a Town-wide Reassessment of Real Property. A short discussion took place. A resolution will be presented next week toauthorize going forward.

 

8. Contract AuthorizingCommercial Valuation Services. Aresolution will be put forth next week to authorize Michael Dunham to provideservices for determining values for all commercial properties in the Town ofRosendaleforimplementation in the 2009 assessment roll. Assessor Dan Baker stated that this will help to make the assessment ofcommercial property more equitable with the residential properties and help allproperty owners to ¡§pay their fair share¡¨.

 

9. Contract Authorizing ComplexCommercial Appraisal of Criterion Atlantic Property (IMAR). Discussion followed about Iron Mountain(IMAR) and their annual challenge to their assessment. Councilman Minissali asked if we could justwrite a letter to the CEO of Iron Mountain and explain what an expense this isto the Town and ask them to cease the challenge; Dan Baker explained that theyare entitled to challenge their assessment just like any other land owner. A resolution will be presented next week toenlist the services Don McGrath&Company for a fee not to exceed$5,000.00.

 

10. Purchase of a Vehicle by thePolice Department. A resolution will bepresented next week to authorize purchase of a 2008 Ford Crown Victoria fromWarnock Fleet and Leasing for a total cost of $22.222.00; the first payment, $11,625.35, to be paid from the Police Equipmentbudget. This purchase will be under theterms of NYS Bid process.

 

11. Discussion: Hiring Two newPart-time Police Officers: ChiefDiBattista has begun background checks on two officers, currently servingpart-time with the Ellenville Police Dept., since the last Police Commissionmeeting was cancelled, therefore no decision was made. Supervisor McDonough said he would like tohave a decision before the Police Commission meeting on the 4thTuesday of the month at 3:30 p.m. at the Community Center. Supervisor McDonough said that there isconcern that part-time officers have been working 40 hour shifts for too longand fears we could get in trouble with theUnion.

 

12. Draft Copy of the Route 32Corridor Design Guidelines and Standards. A copy of the draft document dated November 2007 was included in Boardfolders for review.

 

13. Quality CommunitiesInitiative Grant: Zoning Code Review Committee: Supervisor McDonough stated that grant money is available and we shouldlook into applying; we should be looking at non-conforming areas of theTown. C.T. Male has stated that theywould assist us in applying for the grant which must be completed by thefall.

 

The Environmental Commissionraised question about the karst related to Wild Rose Development and having theTown Board intervene; a response from Supervisor McDonough stated that we areawaiting a legal opinion on whether the Town Board can weigh in to influence thePlanning Board on this matter; it is believed that they Town Board can not.

 

A motion was made by SupervisorMcDonough to hold the public hearing on Time Warner open to written comment onlyuntil March 12th; seconded by Councilman Cluen. Roll Vote: 5 Yes.

 

AUDIT OF BILLS:

GENERAL FUND VOUCHER¡¦S #200-239TOTALING $10,103.02

HIGHWAY FUND        ¡§            # 39- 47        ¡§           $ 9,780.92

SEWER FUND              ¡§            # 29- 35        ¡§           $ 4,475.12

 

A motion was made by SupervisorMcDonough and seconded by Councilman Gallagher to pay the bills. Roll Vote: 5 Yes.

 

A motion was made by CouncilmanCluen to adjourn at 9:33 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Gallagher. Roll Vote: 5 Yes.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Joan S. Jordan

Town Clerk