Minutes, News and Notes from the April 22nd, 2010 Town Board Meeting:
you may also get full, approved copies of the minutes by visiting the Town Hall
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The meeting was called to order at 7:01 PM
Supervisor Boisen led us in The Pledge to the Flag.
Councilman LaForest asked for a moment of silence for Gretna Longware.
Board member present on roll call were Supervisor Boisen, Councilman Sayward, Councilman LaForest, Councilman Wrisley and Councilwoman LaPine. Also present was Audrey Hoskins, Town Clerk.
Visitors: Rod Boula, Administrator Elizabethtown Hospital, Jane Hooper, Bonnie Bigelow, Grace Drummond, Don Hollingsworth, Mark Kupperman, Jim Morgan, Highway Superintendent, Paul Gray, Norma Goff, Dave Lansing, Rita Ann Fitzgerald, Patricia French, JaneTerLouw, Jan TerLouw, Karen Crowningshield, Marshall Crowningshield, Nancy Dougal, Lois Sayward, Deidre Myers, Alison
Hain, Jane Perry, Janice Moran, Peter Shultz, JD & Linda Duval, Donna Lou Sonnett, Bonnie Monoski, Ed Monoski, Emily & Stephen Phillips, Jamie Phillips, Ted Cornell, Don Bechta, Gary Heurich, Rob Ivy, John Bingham and Dianne Lansing.
Mr. Boula gave an update on Elizabethtown Hospital and the services they are offering. The construction project is finished. Fund raising was very successful. Another family practice physician was recruited Dr. Caputo. He stated the hospital now has mobile MRI which is at the hospital on Thursday. We have also started chemo therapy are using telemedicine in conjunction with it. We are looking to the future to add the telemedicine to our emergency room and satellite offices. We are now live with our electronic medical records. We have signed a new family practice physician Dr. DeMarco. In August Dr. Soladi will be starting at the hospital he is a pediatric physician and will be in Elizabethtown 2 days a week. We also have a retired OBGYN who will do GYN 2 days a week
starting in November. There is a weight reduction program starting at the
clinic this a physician program that Dr. Demero has embraced. We have a newsletter that we hope to have soon. The VA clinic is still looking for space to move into. The hospital can not give the amount of space they require. We have tired to keep the clinic at the hospital but been unable to do so.
Peter Schultz stated there would be a fiber optic network which he is involved with built in the next year in the Adirondacks that would help with connecting the medical services to telemedicine in the Adirondacks and also to Fletcher Allen in Vermont.
Alan Gardner asked if the Board needs any more information from him to be considered to do the electrical work at the pump station. They were satisfied with the paper work and would let him known when a decision is made.
Unfinished Business
Sewer update – Supervisor Boisen stated she had received additional information just before she came to the meeting. The lawyers who are working on the final paperwork for Rd called and will need to do additional research to satisfy Rd requirements. She stated that she and Councilman Sayward spoke with Wayne Ryan and Jim Duggan at AES this afternoon and AES agreed to pay for part of the cost of the research. Supervisor Boisen stated she has received an estimate of $3000 for the need research. Supervisor Boisen asked the Board to pass a resolution to have this work done. It needs to be done immediately.
Councilwoman LaPine asked where we are with the easements that the lawyers are working on for us. Supervisor Boisen stated they have gone through them and 44 are correct. The deeds need to be researched to see who is on them
To get the correct signatures in the rest of the easements and this research needs to be done in Elizabethtown. Some changes were made by owners on their maps and this caused problems with the easements. The easements need to be done but the project can start without all of them being signed. Supervisor
Boisen stated this $3000 has nothing to do with the easements. Councilwoman
LaPine asked what happens if the project is started and some people do not sign their easements. Supervisor Boisen stated we would have to use eminent domain procedures.
Mark Kupperman addressed the sewer issue. Mr. Kupperman stated that the State’s problem was with our storm drains going down Station Rd, School Street
and Elm Street. We were in violation in 2003 of section 8, 11and 16 of the State article 17. Basically the raw waste from homes on School Street, Station Rd. and Elm Street are going into the storm drains then into the lake. It was stated the Town Hall is hooked up to the septic behind it. Councilwoman LaPine stated ECHO wanted all the homes on those streets to be hooked but for some reason it was not feasible. There was further discussion on the storm drains and the pollution to the lake. There was discussion on the new sewer system and
alternatives to the new system. Supervisor Boisen stated she would look into
the storm drain issues.
Supervisor Boisen and the Board discussed Resolution # 17.The problem
is AES asked for a 10% bid bond and this a violation of State statue. The State statute allows you to only ask for a 5% bid bond. This can cause all kinds of legal issues for the Town.
Steve Phillips stated that since AES is doing the administration of the project that he feels they are responsible to research everything. He said that the reason for the 5% is so that smaller companies have the chance to bid this kind of project.
Supervisor Boisen stated that AES said they have used the 10% bid bond for 22 years. This is industry standard. AES was not aware of this and are glad to know about this.
Supervisor Boisen stated we need to find out when the stature of limitation began for the bids. The time limit is four months and we need to research and find the
date and Hiscock and Barclay can do this for us.
Supervisor Boisen stated unfortunally these things were handled without specialized legal consul. Councilman Sayward asked if there were other problems and Supervisor Boisen state yes and Audrey and I have been handling these for months, providing information to the lawyers. Lois has also been working on gathering information. All the issues are not completely resolved but this bid bond issue is the biggest that needs to be resolved as quickly as possible. Councilman Sayward stated AES has been in business for 22 years and have done hundreds of contracts and they have never had a problem like this.
What leads us to believe that we were the first and were going to be the big offender? Councilman Sayward said that it seems like every meeting there is a problem and we are delayed another 2 weeks and one of these days this money is going to go away and there will be no sewer system. Councilwoman LaPine asked what is the budget for lawyer fees. Supervisor Boisen stated she believes it is $15,000.
RESOLUTION # 17 of 2010
4/22/10
THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION WAS OFFERED BY Councilman LaForest, WHO MOVED ITS ADOPTION.
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Essex hires Hiscock & Barclay for additional research regarding the bidding process of the Sewer Project, which took place in December 2009. The maximum cost for said research is $3000. This is necessary for Rural Development paperwork to be completed.
THIS RESOLUTION WAS DULY SECONDED BY Councilman Wrisley, AND WAS ADOPTED.
ROLL CALL:
Supervisor Boisen – yes
Councilman Sayward – yes
Councilman LaForest – yes
Councilman Wrisley – yes
Councilwoman LaPine – yes
Grange Hall update
Ted Cornell gave an overview of the updates to the Grange Hall. We have just
Completed a volunteer work week. The hall has been patched and repainted.
The office project downstairs has been started. The downstairs has been prepared for painting. There will be more volunteer work done on the bathrooms, front hall and the foyer. The septic system was discussed. Tom
LaBombard needs to get the paper work to DOH so they can sign off on it,
Then the project can move forward. We are still waiting for Verizon to come and move their line. Dave Lansing who has spoken with Verizon stated they are trying to locate the cable they need to use to move the line. Supervisor Boisen stated that Kevin Hall said there is a deed issue. At some point we will need to
resolve this. Supervisor Boisen stated that on Monday she would take the map and meet with the county attorney and see if we can get the county to give us
some property for the well. Ted stated at the Civic Association board meeting it was decided we would like to put out an RFP for a designer / architect again.
We want to put a cap on this of $9000.
Supervisor Boisen stated she would like Ted to bring this to the May 13th meeting.
Karen Crownigshield asked what is being done to have the smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors installed in the Grange Hall. Dave Lansing stated
this is being worked on.
Mowing
Eugene Benway will be mowing the Town properties again this summer. James Morgan, Highway Superintended purchased a new riding lawn mover and a push mower. There was $2500 budgeted for this and he spent $2078. Supervisor Boisen stated that Jim had been mowing the lawns at the fire house as a volunteer and he would no longer be doing this. Dianne Lansing state this is the fire commissioner’s responsibility and they will find some one.
Harbormaster position
Supervisor Boisen asked the Board what there feelings are about appointing
Some one to this position and renting moorings. Councilwoman LaPine
stated she had talked with Jim Kinley and Willsboro does not deal with moorings.
They do not collect fees and do not have a harbormaster or dockmaster. The
water front laws were discussed. Councilwoman LaPine wanted to k now when the Town started collecting fees for moorings. Lois had researched this and it was started in 2006. Stan Tuller started in July of 2004 as dock master. Since
2006 we have only collected $625. Ten fees since 2006 have been collected.
The Town of Essex’s position is dock master not harbormaster. Peter Schultz stated he has a mooring in front of his house and no one has asked him to pay a fee. Supervisor Boisen stated there are many inconsistencies in who was charged and how much they were charged for moorings. A number of audience
Members were concerned over the Town’s labiality for the mooring. Supervisor
Boisen stated the Town has liability insurance to cover the moorings we have permitted. Supervisor Boisen stated we need to define this as to who has moorings, who has been charged and how much they have been charged. Councilman LaForest stated he has problems charging a mooring fee to people who own lake front property. Supervisor stated it is in the Town law that lake front property owners are to be charged for moorings. Supervisor Boisen stated we can consider amending the law. Councilman LaForest stated we need to revisit this section of the Zoning Law and make an adaptation.
Marshall Crowningshield stated the Coast Guard can help with the property
Line in Lake Champlain is.
Bonnie Monoski stated they pay for their mooring.
Mary Ann Schultz was concerned about the maintenance of the moorings and would the Town be responsible for this and if there was a problem a boat
caused damage it would impact the Town insurance.
Councilman LaForest stated what we need is to review the law and to establish a procedure on mooring fees. He stated we need to right from the get go there is no mooring fees for moorings in front of people who own Lake Front. We could limit it two per lake front property. He would be willing to work on this. Councilman Sayward stated we need to research the authority of the army corps of engineers, DEC and the Coast Guard before we get too far into the mooring business
.Don Hollingsworth stated the Zoning Law is a good document that needs to be tweaked. Don asked if the Zoning Law review committee is going to taken this on. Councilman Sayward stated we had not intended to but we can. Mr.
Hollingsworth stated that the law as is needs a peace officer to enforce it. The
Law needs to be rewritten. He stated that when he came here it was the boat owner’s responsibility to put in, maintain and insure your moorings. He feels this
is the way it should be? Mr. Hollingsworth stated he felt that some of the mooring in the Bay are too close together. The mooring need to be put in according to Chapman’s rules.
Councilman LaForest moved we charge the Zoning Law review committee be
requested to assume examination of the aspect of the law.
Supervisor Boisen asked the Board what they want to do in regards to moorings for this year.
Norma Goff stated that Stan Tuller has gone to Beggs and kept things under control with people docking and situations at the point. Ms. Goff feels that it is important to have some one with authority to go done there to help out in the community and I would like to see the position of dockmater continue
I am not sure this is going to happen and I’m not sure if and when you will establish this position.
Supervisor Boisen stated we need to determine what to do with this position.
If it is filled it needs to be clearly defined. This person needs to be a year round resident. Things come up all year. Peter Schultz asked if there could be a moratorium on moorings in the Town. Don Bechta stated the area of the moorings is 800’ x 1000’ in Whallons Bay. According to Chapman’s or any
other mooring source on spacing, if the water is 15’ and had a 35’ boat and
you applied the formulas there should be 100’ between boats. 50 or sixty
boats could fit in this area. There are 10 or 12 there now so you have a lot of room left to have a safe environment. The key is the depth of the water
because that dictates the length of the chain. You could have a requirement for boat length. Another thing to consider is the beach will be littered with dinghies
and you will need to decide if you are going to permit this.
Councilman Sayward recommended we pass a moratorium on the mooring issue for one month. Councilman LaForest stated we could put people on a list according to the date they have applied for a mooring. Councilman Sayward stated that we need to keep in mind if we are going to be in the mooring business, the Town will have to some how or other delineate the areas where
these moorings are going to be. Set a standard as to what the mooring has to meet. Mr. Bechta stated that you would not have to set a standard you would have to designate the area. The mooring configuration would have to be in accordance with generally accepted practices. The burden would be on the owner he has to comply with the spacing. The design of the mooring should
be placed on the owner’s shoulders. The Town that way assumes no responsibility what so ever. You would need to make sure you are far enough away from the shore.
Supervisor Boisen stated we also have to look at the fees for moorings.
Councilman Sayward stated we need to decide if we want to be in the mooring
business at all.
Supervisor Boisen stated we need to clearly define the position of dock master
if we are going to fill it. Councilwomen LaPine stated she would rather wait to fill this position. The list of duties Stan Tuller performed was discussed.
Motion made by Supervisor Boisen to pass a moratorium at Whallons Bay and any other Town riparian rights for an indefinite period of time specifically on new moorings. Seconded by Councilman Sayward. Roll call Supervisor Boisen-yes, Councilman Sayward-yes, Councilman LaForest-yes, Councilman Wrisley-yes and Councilwoman LaPine-yes.
New Business
Rock of Ages plaque for the Quadricentennial and grant money to pay for it. Supervisor Boisen stated the plaque is for the stone wall that is not finished. We can move forward and have the plaque done and hold on to it. We have received the grant money and it has been deposited. Councilman LaForest stated there was a committee on that and it consisted of Shirley LaForest,
Morris Glenn and Nick Mueller. They did the design work that was required to get the grant that Shirley received. It is to go on the wall by the first step and it
will cover most of this area. Councilman LaForest stated he feels we should go ahead and have it made and put on the wall. Councilman Sayward wondered how it would be affixed to the wall. Supervisor Boisen stated this is something
we would have to figure out. Councilman LaForest stated we should contact Rock of Ages and ask how they would recommend it being attached to the wall. Supervisor Boisen stated she would order the plaques.
Committee meetings – update.
Sewer Law Committee- We need to send a draft to Rural Development and at some point we need to pass the law between now and the end of the sewer project. We may have to make amendments when the project is completed. The law has to in affect by the end of the project.
Zoning/mapping
Councilman Sayward stated they were to have met with the APA yesterday but this meeting was cancelled. It has been rescheduled for April 29. We will be trying compare the Essex Zoning maps to the APA map. We would like to make a few changes and see if we can mold the two so they are a little bit closer.
Begg’s Park committee - Councilwoman LaPine stated they had not met.
Summer youth program and senior center
Summer youth program we are waiting we have presented Lori Lincoln our offer. She will present it to her Board at their May meeting.
Any other businesses from floor. Nancy Dougal started she feels its time we consolidated the fire districts. Disitrict #1 was not interested before basically because district #2 had a much higher tax rate. Now this has changed and district #2 has a much lower tax rate which would now benefit district one. It seems that it would benefit the tax payer in both districts if consolidation was looked into.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:15 PM.
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