MONTHLY TOWN BOARD MEETING
CATSKILL TOWN HALL
APRIL 6TH, 2004 7:30 PM
Attending: Supervisor, Joseph F. Izzo
Councilman, Joseph Hanusik
Councilman, Chuck Balsano
Councilman, Joseph Leggio
Councilman, Robert Antonelli
Town Clerk, Karen D. Sprague
Attorney, James Wagman
Also Attending, Assessor, Susan Golden
Code Officer, John DelVecchio
Comptroller, Sandy Misevcis
Supervisor Izzo opened the meeting with a moment of silent prayer, and the Pledge of Allegiance.
MINUTES TO BE ACCEPTED:
03/03/04 Monthly Town Board Meeting
Motion Councilman Joseph Hanusik
Second Councilman Chuck Balsano
Ayes 5, Nays 0, Absent 0, Motion Carried
03/17/04 Public Hearing #4-2004
Motion Councilman Robert Antonelli
Second Councilman Joseph Leggio
Ayes 5, Nays 0, Absent 0, Motion Carried
03/17/04 Monthly Town Board Committee Meeting
Motion Councilman Robert Antonelli
Second Councilman Joseph Hanusik
Ayes 5, Nays 0, Absent 0, Motion Carried
03/31/04 Special Meeting #2-2004 (Pass Resolutions)
Motion Councilman Robert Antonelli
Second Councilman Joseph Hanusik
Ayes 5, Nays 0, Absent 0, Motion Carried
RESOLUTIONS:
RESOLUTION #19-2004 Local Law No. #1-2004
Junk Storage Law
(Passed at the Monthly Committee Meeting 3/17/04)
RESOLUTION #20-2004 Transfer of Funds
Landfill Administration
(Passed at the Monthly Committee Meeting 3/17/04)
RESOLUTION # 21-2004 Local Law No. #2-2004
Backyard Burial Law
(Passed at the Monthly Committee Meeting 3/17/04)
RESOLUTION # 22-2004 INCREASE IN AMBULANCE CHARGES.
Councilmen Antonelli and Leggio, presented the following for consideration and adoption,
WHEREAS, the Town of Catskill Ambulance Service has been in operations for two years and four months, and
WHEREAS, the Town of Catskill Ambulance Service has not adjusted Ambulance Charges since January 2002, and
WHEREAS, the costs of providing this ambulance service has increased
due to changes in Insurance reimbursement, medical supply cost, wages and other operation expenses, so
THEREFORE, the Catskill Town Board hereby approves the Patient Charge schedule for the following services.
Councilman Joseph Hanusik, seconded this motion.
Ayes 5, Nays 0, Absent 0, Motion Carried
RESOLUTION #23-2004 FUNDING FOR CATSKILL COMMUNITY CENTER.
Councilman Robert Antonelli, presented the following for consideration and adoption,
WHEREAS, the Catskill Community Center offers activities, of benefit to the youth of the Village and Town of Catskill, and
WHEREAS, the Catskill Community Center has requested funding from the Town of Catskill in the amount of $2,500, and
WHEREAS, the Town Board wishes to fund this request within a contractual agreement between the Catskill Community center and the Town of Catskill for youth services, so
THEREFORE WE, the Catskill Town Board hereby approve the Catskill Community Center’s request for $2,500, subject to a contractual agreement for youth services within the Town of Catskill.
Councilman Joseph Leggio, seconded this motion.
Ayes 5, Nays 0, Absent 0, Motion Carried
RESOLUTION #24-2004 OUT TO BID FOR NEW AMBULANCE
Councilman Robert Antonelli, presented the following for consideration and adoption,
WHEREAS, the Town of Catskill wishes to purchase a Type 2, Class One, Configuration A - ambulance to support the Town of Catskill Ambulance Service, and
WHEREAS, this Ambulance service is in the best interest of the residents of the Town of Catskill, now
THEREFORE WE, the Catskill Town Board hereby authorized the Catskill Town Supervisor to go out to bid to purchase a new Ambulance.
Councilman Joseph Hanusik, seconded this motion.
Ayes 5, Nays 0, Absent 0, Motion Carried
RESOLUTION #25-2004 APPLICATION FOR JUSTICE COURT
ASSISTANCE PROGRAM GRANT
Councilman Robert Antonelli, presented the following for consideration and adoption.
WHEREAS, the Town Justice Court is applying for a Justice Court Grant, and
WHEREAS, the Town Court Clerks Office is in need of a Computer w/screen and a new desk, two(2) file cabinets with locks, and a book shelf, so
WE THEREFORE RESOLVE, to approve the submittal of a grant application for a Justice Court Grant.
Councilman Joseph Leggio, seconded this motion.
Ayes 5, Nays 0, Absent 0, Motion Carried
RESOLUTION #26-2004 APPOINTMENT OF CAROL TROISE-
PEDERSEN AND ROGER MOORE TO
THE BOARD OF ASSESSMENT AND
REVIEW.
(Passed at Special Meeting on 3/31/2004)
RESOLUTION # 27-2004 AWARD BID FOR PUMP STATION AT
SMITHS LANDING
(Passed at Special Meeting on 3/31/2004)
Low bidder was $137,002.00 and an alternate bid of $20,475.00 for the flow meter part of the Pumping Station, which was required by the Department of Environmental Conservation. We have reduced the price of paving by $12,500.00, which the Town of Catskill Highway Department will do.
COUNTY RESOLUTIONS:
RESOLUTION # 136-2004 Approving Reimbursement to
Community Colleges
This is the Community College charge back for fall of 2003, winter of 2004 and the spring 2004 semester. The Town of Catskill’s portion was $6,844.20.
CORRESPONDENCE:.
A letter was received from Mack Schlefer of 83 South Jefferson Ave. Catskill; NY informing us of his support of the proposed Law that would regulate Junk Storage.
A Meeting Notice was received from the Greene County Planning Board informing us of their meeting on April 15, 2004 at 7:30 at the Cairo Office Building.
A correspondence was sent to Mr. & Mrs. Glenn Schierhold, from Upland, California acknowledging their donation of $75.00 to the Ambulance Service in memory of Victoria Iapichino. We sent a copy of this to Mr. John Iapichino.
An correspondence was received from Kay Stamer, Greene County Council on the Arts, to attend a reception for their 2004 Decentralization and County Initiative Program on April 10, 2004 from 4:00-5-30pm at the Catskill Mountain Foundation, Main Street, Hunter, NY.
A correspondence was received from the Greene County Department for the Aging, in regards to their 12-month service report for 2003. This report describes the types and amounts of services provided to the older residents of Greene County for the year.
A letter was received from the Kiskatom Fire District letting us know of their progress in their program to post reflective address numbers at all residences in their Fire District. They also request that the Town of Catskill modify its codes to require that prior to receiving a Certificate of Occupancy for any new construction the owner must post the address of the building, so that the numbers are reflective and can be seen from the road.
By identifying the address of the building, it will help all emergency responders.
A notice was sent from the Columbia-Greene Workforce announcing the Job Fair on Wednesday April 21, 2004 at the Columbia-Greene Community College from 10:00am - 3:00pm.
A brochure was received from the Catskill Central School District including their calendar of events and different functions taking place.
A letter from the Catskill Police Department requesting the Town of Catskill Ambulance’s participation in their yearly program which will take place on Thursday April 29, 2004 @ 8:30 am. This program is designed to educate the students about the dangers and consequences of impaired or intoxicated driving. Our ambulance service will be participating.
A correspondence was received from Senator James L. Seward with information regarding the senates plan to make Health Insurance more affordable.
A copy of a letter from the New York State Department of Conservation that was sent to John Mulleady, from Home Depot was received regarding their SPDES GP-95-01 Permit.
A correspondence was received from David Vipler, from Catskill, New York expressing his support for the new Junk Storage Law,
A correspondence was received from Kay Stamer; Greene County council on the Arts, announcing that a total of $20,900 in Arts in Education awards, through the Twin Counties Partnership was awarded to 14 schools that applied for funds. Schools receiving awards were: Berkshire Jr. High School, Chatham High School, Taconic High School, Cairo Durham Middle School, Catskill Elementary and Catskill Middle School, Coxsackie Athens and Windham Ashland Jewett School.
A letter was received from the Governor’s Office for Small Cities, reporting that they have received the final application, for imminent threat funding from the Town of Catskill in the amount of $129,999.08. Based on the information provided, it does not appear the proposed activities are eligible for funding through the GOSC. They also thanked the staff at the Town for the effort, in providing the necessary documentation necessary to complete their review.
We did receive a $10,000.00 Grant from Greene County Rural Health Network, Inc., for the Town of Catskill Ambulance Service. That will be used for educational and training purposes. A voucher has been submitted.
A correspondence was received from the Greene County Chamber of Commerce, with an invitation to attend a get together at Pegasus Restaurant on Thursday April 8, at 6:00 p.m.
Thank you letter to Ms. Kira Pospesel, for donation to the Town of Catskill Ambulance Service, in memory of her father.
Letter from Assemblyman Dan Hooker, in regard to the State Budget being late for the 20th year in a row. Mr. Hooker has co-sponsored a bill that requires that legislators be fined a days pay for every day the state budget is late.
REPORTS:
Town of Catskill Budget Analysis & Revenues for December 2003(Year End Report)
Town of Catskill Comptrollers Budget Analysis & Revenue Report for January and
February 2004.
Town of Catskill Cemetery Report for the month of March 2004.
Town of Catskill Code Enforcement Report for the month of March 2004.
Town of Catskill Highway Report for the month of March 2004.
Town of Catskill Ambulance Report for the month of March 2004
* Copies of all reports are available at the Town Clerk’s office upon request.
Supervisor Izzo stated that he finds it incredulous, that New York State can’t find any money to help people who have had their homes and property destroyed by a tornado.
Not only can the State of New York not find any money for them, but the Federal Government can’t find any money either. FEMA denied the applications that were submitted to them for funding. Its interesting that you listen to the State of New York, and the Governor’s Office, stating how they are doing everything they can for people in New York. Obviously they are not, because New York State is the Town of Catskill, Kiskatom and Leeds and all the small municipalities in the area. When you can’t find money to help people who have lost property and had their homes damaged, because of information that may or may not meet a specific guideline, and then the State of New York is not doing its job. If we had the money we would have funded it ourselves. This Board has indicated in the past, do not go to the County of Greene
or to the State of New York for any funding that you may need to help your Town. The only people who are going to help your Town is the Town itself.
This is evident in the letter we got from the Governors Office and the information from FEMA. Supervisor Izzo said he is clearly not happy with this letter, and feels that the applicants who submitted all the paperwork and all the time it took for us to go through the process. It took us eight or nine months, four letters, they had to sign affidavits that their property was actually damaged and that they received no reimbursement from other areas. They had to sign all this stuff and then they come back and say they don’t have any money. Supervisor Izzo said it just boggles the mind, that in this day and age the State of New York can not help the people in the State of New York. Supervisor Izzo said he finds it unthinkable, and that’s all he’s going to say on this issue.
Supervisor Izzo asked the Board Members if they had anything to say? Councilman Antonelli asked what was going on with the purchase of the Irving School? We are under the understanding that the school does the seeker. Their attorney is telling them that the Town needs to do the seeker. Supervisor Izzo indicated to Dan Vincelette that we need to find out who has to do the seeker. Its not that neither wants to do it, we need to find out who is supposed to do it. The process is moving forward. The School District passed a resolution last week officially closing Washington Irving School and from that date, there are 30 days for individuals who would like to file a petition to put this up for a vote. Our understanding is that the petitioner would need over 800 signatures. There are over 8,000 voters in the Catskill School
District. We will see what transpires in thirty days. Councilman Leggio asked, what would happen after the 30 days? If there are no petitions and the residents of the Catskill School District do not wish to have a vote on the sale then the process would move forward. The School Board and the Town Board will complete the sale at that time. Councilman Leggio said that when we talk to the attorney we should have him check to make sure their are no other contingencies that are going to come up to push the project back. Supervisor Izzo said that he spoke to Dan Vincelette, prior to speaking to the School Board and he was not aware of any other issue that may hold this project up, other than the potential for a referendum.
Councilman Leggio wants to know where we stand with the property for the Ambulance? Supervisor Izzo said that he indicated to Dan Vincelette that he is to proceed with the closing of the property.
Councilman Antonelli said that he spoke to School Superintendent Charlotte Gregory about a possible referendum for the school project, and asked if it could happen in May when they have elections? She didn’t know, and said the other clarification would be that they would have to give 45 days notice. This may make it a special election.
Councilman Leggio said that he saw that they were beginning to tear down the building in Palenville today. The contract states that they are to be completed tomorrow. What happens tomorrow when it’s not completed? Councilman Leggio said, unless the guy is Houdini, there is no way he’s going to get it done by tomorrow. Town Attorney James Wagman asked if the building was down yet, and was told it was down. Code Enforcement Officer John Delvecchio said that one of the three buildings are down, but there is no way he will be completed by midnight tomorrow. Councilman Leggio said that he doesn’t know how we are going to handle this, because when we put a bid out, there’s a date that they have to start and a date that they have to finish. If people are not going to abide by the contracts that we set forth, then why do we even
bother with the bidding process? Town Attorney James Wagman stated that the contracts are drawn up and the dates are put in, and then signed by the contractor. The date of completion is tomorrow, and time is the essence. Councilman Leggio asked; what are we going to do? Attorney Wagman said we have a few options. One is that we can let him know he has not performed per the contract. If the contractor gets most of it done we could extend the time frame for a few days or we can have someone else complete the work. Councilman Leggio said that this is his point, you don’t show up the day before to start the project when you had thirty days to do the job. What happens to all the other bidding processes that we do. We don’t want to set a precedent for further bidders to say, Oh don’t worry its the Town of Catskill, they don’t care, don’t worry take your time. Attorney James Wagman said that generally we don’t have this issue. Our contracts state to start on or around when a
particular date is in place. We can say if the job is not completed, the contractor did not perform under the contract, and there are other laws that come in to play. We will see what he gets done, and if its not complete then we will let him know that he did not complete the job in a timely fashion and has to stop working. There are other options to this too. We either don’t pay him and have someone else come in or give him more time. Councilman Leggio said, his point is there is no way he can fulfill the contract, so tomorrow what is Code Enforcement Officer John Delvecchio going to do. Town Attorney James Wagman said that we usually don’t run into these problems with unsafe building situations, Contractors usually comply. If Code Enforcement Officer John Delvecchio and the Town Board feels that he misfiled the letter of the contract then he is terminated. Code Enforcement can put a stop work order on the project. Town Attorney Wagman said that he is not here to defend the guy,
he is just saying that he has one more day to complete the job. The contractor was told time is of the essence and that is the end of it, he should have started sooner. Councilman Balsano asked if we could put penalty information in the next contract, to cover this problem. Attorney James Wagman said if someone doesn’t complete the contract then that’s the end of it, and it would be a good idea to put penalty information in the contracts from now on. Councilman Leggio doesn’t want to see problems in future bids, where someone can come back with, you did this for so and so in the past. Councilman Leggio said that we have had this problem before.
Councilman Robert Antonelli made the suggestion that come tomorrow if the project is not done, Code Enforcement shuts the job down, he gets his stuff out of there and we hire someone else to complete the job. Attorney James Wagman said we can do that. Councilman Antonelli said that way we are showing everyone, when we say it has to be completed in 30 days we mean what we say. The next lowest bidder would be taken. The Town has always represented reasonableness. Code Enforcement Officer John Delvecchio said that the Town of Catskill has been more than reasonable with this man. One day before the contract was going to expire, this man was issued a demo permit, because he could not produce the necessary documentation that was needed for the insurances that were required to complete the job. John Delvecchio he said that he
doesn’t know whats going to occur tomorrow, but someone is going to instruct him as to what he is going to do. Supervisor Izzo said, lets end this, first of all the contract says that he has until April 7th, tomorrow is the 7th. He would suggest Code Enforcement Officer John Delvecchio go to the jobsite tomorrow, talk to the individual and find out where he stands and how much work it will take to finish the project. If he can’t finish the project, then come back to the office and call the Town Attorney and indicate to him what you were told. It may be easier to extend it for a couple of days to get it done, if this is not feasible then obviously we would stop work on the site, and then decide whether to go to the next lowest bidder and have the work done and we bill the homeowner. If the homeowner has a problem with what we have done, then they can contact an attorney. Meanwhile our work is done; if the homeowner doesn’t pay it becomes a lien on their property taxes. If the taxes
aren’t paid the county can deal with it. When we get to that point we will make a decision then.
Supervisor Izzo asked if anyone had any more questions or comments to make. A woman asked a question about the water in the Village. Supervisor Izzo said that any questions that she had she should be directing them to the Village of Catskill. She also mentioned a property that she said is a total mess. Code Enforcement Officer John Delvecchio said he is well aware of this property and that the property owner has all kinds of citations against her, and it will run its course, then the next step is the court. John stated that this woman has no regard for the law. This is a step by step thing where she needs to comply within a time period.
Councilman Leggio asked what ever happened to hiring an Assistant Part-time Supervisor for the ambulance, as he was out for surgery during this meeting. Ambulance Administrator Matt Liebowitz said that he was told last week that it would be ok to hire someone.
Mr. Hawthorne had some comments to make about the School sale. He feels that the Town Board should notify the School District, that the people in the town want to see the Town have the building. Everyone in the Town has paid for that building in School Taxes, and he doesn’t understand why we have to pay a dime. They should turn it over to us for $1.00, because we are going to have to maintain that beast from then on. Supervisor Izzo said we have already had that discussion. The school falls under the State Education Law, which requires that the property be sold at a reasonable, assessed value. Our offer is what we consider to be a reasonably priced offer. Councilman Antonelli said he had the same feeling, but the State Education Law says that it has to be sold at a fair market value price. The State even went one step
further and said they own the school. Supervisor Izzo said the issue is a School District issue, The school district does not own or encompass the Town of Catskill. It encompasses the Town of Cairo, and Town of Athens. There are residents in that area that may have a different view then we have. We considered that, and thought that it may be a possibility but it was indicated to us that it was not. Even if we decided that we could take the property by eminent domain, the main law requires us to pay what is a reasonable price for that building. We have made an offer, and will have to wait the 30 days. If there are no petitions against the sale then the School Board has the right to sell the building by their own vote.
Councilman Robert Antonelli, Made a motion to adjourn
Supervisor Izzo adjourned the meeting at 8:25PM
Respectfully Submitted,
Karen D. Sprague
Town Clerk
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