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2009-01-12 SP MTG#2 473 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 01-12-2009 MTG. #2 SPECIAL TOWN BOARDA MEETING MTG. 2 January 12, 2009 RES. 28-29 7:00 p.m. TOWN BOARD MEMBERS SUPERVISOR DANIEL STEC COUNCILMAN ANTHONY METIVIER COUNCILMAN RONALD MONTESI COUNCILMAN JOHN STROUGH COUNCILMAN TIM BREWER-ABSENT (Noted that Councilman Brewer was on speaker phone to hear the discussions) PRESENT Director of Building and Codes Dave Hatin Zoning Administrator Craig Brown Town Counsel Cathi Radner SUPERVISOR STEC-Opened the Meeting SUPREME COURT ACTION – UNSAFE STRUCTURE Dave Mullen Property - 275 Bay Road Director Hatin-Gave brief history of the property, the Fire Marshal’s Office has been after Mr. Mullen to clean up the building, secure it and make it weather tight and bring it into compliance with the property maintenance code since July of 2006. In March of 2007 a court summons was issued to seek compliance through the court. On October 23 st 2008 Mr. Mullen was fined $950.00 to be paid by December 1, 2008. As of December th 19 Mr. Mullen has signed an affidavit confessing judgment which basically allows the Court to send a letter to the County Clerk assessing the fine to the property to become a tax lien against the property. I am asking to go to the next level the Supreme Court Action where we can force him to do something or we can then be authorized to do it ourselves. Ultimately if nothing is done with this building it will be structurally unsound and be sleighed for demolition. Right now the best thing the town could hope for because there is quite an expense to demolish and clean up the property is to secure the building if he fails to do so. The Town Board at a later date may want to demolish this, my hope is Mr Mullen will find a buyer. Noted new graffiti to the building in the last month or so. Councilman Montesi-Inquired if the taxes are paid on the building? Director Hatin-I do not believe that they are. We are looking for an order to go to Supreme Court. Town Counsel Radner-Two things you can do…noted a conversation with Fire Marshal Palmer he felt it was structurally unsound and that it could not be made structurally sound, now he is not an engineer but he thought it was a fire hazard and created a danger and the building should be demolished, the Supreme Court would have the power to order. Dave is suggesting to seek an order to have the property made sound, and order to make it secure. As your Counsel we would be looking for a resolution from this Board offering the Supreme Court Action and authorizing permanent and temporary injunctive relief. Councilman Brewer-Questioned if we were to go one step further and be demolished would we have to prove to the court that it is unsafe or unsound? Counsel Radner-Mullen could produce evidence to the Court indicating that no it is not an unsafe structure and it can be made sound. It is not all or nothing the Court is allowed 474 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 01-12-2009 MTG. #2 to order lesser level of relief than what we request. We would not have to offer proof to start the action no, to ultimately prevail yes. Councilman Montesi-This may be a mute question if he hasn’t paid taxes for three years and it is going to go up for auction this spring. Director Hatin-There may be some environmental issues that may come to light if we demolish this that could cost several thousands of dollars. Councilman Strough-You have been in contact with Mr. Mullen? Director Hatin-In Court at least a dozen times. Supervisor Stec-Requested that a resolution be ready for the next meeting, securing the building. MEETING WITH CEMETERY COMMISSION Will be held at a later date. TOWN’S VOLUNTEER BOARDS TERM DATES Supervisor Stec-Spoke on the term of office for Planning Board, Zoning Board, Cemetery Commission and Board of Assessment Review Members - there are issues on the stager of the terms. Town Counsel Radner-Noted that late in 2008 questions came up about which Planning Board and Zoning Board Members terms were set to expire, as we were looking at the terms it became evident that there was a problem. The terms that people thought were ending weren’t ending and so at Dan’s direction we dug a little further to find out what was going on and got a chart together of who was serving what term. It appeared that errors had been made because instead of the seven staggered terms that there should be there were members of the Board who’s terms were going to be expiring the same year and other years nobody’s term would expire. We found similar problems existed with the Board of Assessment Review and Cemetery Commission. We are fairly certain that Parks and Rec. terms are set right. The terms that are off are not the same reason in all cases, my understanding what happened would be on the Board of Assessment Review at one point by a single resolution two people were appointed to the Board I believe they were expanding the number of sets on the Board instead of setting up the initial terms so that they would stagger two people were appointed at once, served a consecutive term came up for renewal where again appointed by a single resolution to set a consecutive term. The law that set up these various boards, a separate statue for each one the laws intent for there to be a staggered term and when the Boards are first created they are supposed to have initial terms. If you have a five member board when they are first created you have one person serving a one year term, one person serving a two year term one person serving a three year term and so forth and once each term is up for renewal the person appointed is appointed for a full five year term. When we discovered we had these boards that were not staggered appropriately then the question was what do we do about it? We put the Planning Staff to work and a rather lengthy chronology of what had happened, who was appointed when and we traced back when the errors were made. The errors go back quite a long way. Based upon that we found what the staggering should be. There is a case in 1896 that said when you have these errors that result in the terms not being proper the right thing to do to make sure the people are serving the right terms is to create a genealogical cart of the appointments and determine who should be serving what terms, basically undo the errors in going forward. The Planning Board and Zoning Board we were able to determine who should be in what seat serving what period of time the Assessment Board of Review Board it is not so clear cut because of the initial simultaneous appointment. We would recommend that you do something like a coin toss something that is even handed, draw straws something that is fair to determine whose terms should be extended and who should be left alone. For the Cemetery Commission 475 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 01-12-2009 MTG. #2 they have not done the dig thorough yet to my understanding to find out who should be in what seat. Councilman Montesi-noted he had received the changes in the expiration date of the commission membership…turned it over to Town Counsel. Supervisor Stec-Is there anything in the law that says how long is the Alternates term? Counsel Radner-Seven years..not staggered…noted the mistake may have been made with an alternate being first appointed and then converted to a permanent member… Councilman Strough-Noted that alternates started in 1999. Zoning Administrator Craig Brown-Reviewed for the Board the term of offices…brought before the Board a Chart of the Board Members showing who they replaced and when they were on the Boards. The Planning Board was fairly easy, the Zoning Board we went back to the 1990’s when there were five Zoning Board Members and the stagger was still off then so we went back to 1999, 2000 when the alternates started. We made assumptions made on original appointment dates of the original members and worked forward from there. BOARD OF ASSESSMENT REVIEW It was the decision of the Board to have the Town Supervisor, Town Assessor, Town Clerk be present and a flip of a coin will decide the terms of office for two members of this Board, Jenkins and Davison. We will notify each member and the Chairman of the Board as to what is going on. A resolution of the Town Board will set the term of office of each of these members. CEMETERY COMMISSION Awaiting for more information from the Cemetery Commission. PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD TERMS Supervisor Stec-Questioned raised what about votes and participation in the past from people that had screwed up terms? Town Counsel Radner-There is a presumption that person is in a proper position of authority so if it is later determined that there was some error in their appointment it does not undo all the lawful actions that they took while they were filling that seat with the appearance of regularity. Everything that has happened to date is fine, but now that we have found the problem and identified the problem we are kind of vulnerable and we should clean it up to go forward. Supervisor Stec-When there are past resolutions that the Town Board passed that have errors, then they can be corrected by a Town Board resolution. Councilman Montesi-Questioned who will fill the expired positions? Supervisor Stec-Noted that he felt that the positions in both the Zoning and Planning Board will be filled soon, but the alternate will fill the vacancy in the mean time. I have already briefed the Chairman of the two boards on what was being proposed. Will also call on the two individuals that their terms have expired and ask if they are interested in reappointment. RESOLUTION CORRECTING TERM DATES FOR MEMBERS OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY’S PLANNING BOARD AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS 476 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 01-12-2009 MTG. #2 RESOLUTION NO. 28, 2009 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Ronald Montesi WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. Anthony Metivier WHEREAS, it has been determined that a series of errors were made in the appointment of various members of the Town of Queensbury’s Planning and Zoning Boards such that, these Boards are required by law to be set up so that each year one Member’s term expires and instead, on such Boards there are Members serving consecutive terms that will end at the same time and in other years no Member’s term will expire, and WHEREAS, New York State Case Law dating back to the 1890s suggests that when errors of this nature occur, the proper thing to do is to “make something of a genealogical chart of the appointments” to determine who is serving what terms, and WHEREAS, Town Planning Staff was able to create such a chronology for the Planning Board and based upon Planning Staff Notes and hiring Resolutions, the following chronology was determined: 1.Planning Board Member Tanya Bruno replaced former Planning Board Member Metivier who was appointed beginning in 2001 and whose term should thus have expired December 31, 2008. As such, Planning Board Member Bruno is in the seat that is now available for reappointment. 2.Planning Board Member Thomas Seguljic replaced Planning Board Member Strough, whose term expired December 31, 2002. Planning Board Member Seguljic was reappointed. Thus, Planning Board Member Seguljic’s term should be ending December 31, 2009. 3.Planning Board Member Thomas Ford replaced Planning Board Member Sanford, whose term expired December 31, 2010 and Planning Board Member Ford’s term should thus be expiring December 31, 2010. 4.Planning Board Member Gretchen Steffan replaced Planning Board Member Ringer, whose term expired December 31, 2004. Thus, when last appointed, Planning Board Member Steffan’s term should have been until December 31, 2011. 5.Planning Board Member Steven Traver replaced Planning Board Member Vollaro, whose term expires December 31, 2012, having served a previous term until 2005. Planning Board Member Traver’s current term should be ending December 31, 2012. 477 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 01-12-2009 MTG. #2 6.Planning Board Member Donald Sipp replaced Planning Board Member Goetz who, in turn, replaced Planning Board Member McEwan, whose term was from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2013. Thus Planning Board Member Sipp’s term should be expiring December 31, 2013. 7.Planning Board Chairman Chris Hunsinger served a term which expired December 31, 2007 and was correctly reappointed to the term ending December 31, 2014; and WHEREAS, a similar review was made for the Zoning Board of Appeals and to the best of the Town Planning Staff’s ability to recreate the chronology, the current terms should be expiring as follows: 1.Richard Garrand, Jr.’s term expired December 31, 2008. As such, Zoning Board of Appeals Member Garrand is in the seat that is now available for reappointment. 2.George Drellos’s term expires as of December 31, 2009. 3.Joan Jenkin’s term expires as of December 31, 2010. 4.Brian Clements’s term expires as of December 31, 2011. 5.James Underwood’s term expires as of December 31, 2012. 6.Joyce Hunt’s term expires as of December 31, 2013. 7.Roy Urrico’s term expires as of December 31, 2014; and WHEREAS, since the Town’s Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals will th convene before January 26, the date of the Town Board’s next regularly scheduled Town Board meeting, and State Case Law provides for reconstruction of how terms should be assigned, the Town Board wishes to adopt a Resolution correcting the term expiration dates for its Town Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals members, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Queensbury Town Board, in accordance with the preambles of this Resolution and as provided by State Law, hereby corrects its terms of the Town of Queensbury’s Planning Board members as set forth above and as follows: 1.Planning Board Member Tanya Bruno’s term expired December 31, 2008 and as such, that seat is now available for reappointment. 2.Planning Board Member Thomas Seguljic’s term expires as of December 31, 2009. 478 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 01-12-2009 MTG. #2 3.Planning Board Member Thomas Ford’s term expires as of December 31, 2010. 4.Planning Board Member Gretchen Steffan’s term expires as of December 31, 2011. 5.Planning Board Member Steven Traver’s term expires as of December 31, 2012. 6.Planning Board Member Donald Sipp’s term expires as of December 31, 2013. 7.Planning Board Member Chris Hunsinger’s term expires as of December 31, 2014; and BE IT FURTHER, RESOLVED, that the Town Board, in accordance with the preambles of this Resolution and as provided by State Law, hereby corrects its terms of the Town of Queensbury’s Zoning Board of Appeals members as set forth above and as follows: 1.Richard Garrand, Jr.’s term expired December 31, 2008 and as such, that seat is now available for reappointment. 2.George Drellos’s term expires as of December 31, 2009. 3.Joan Jenkin’s term expires as of December 31, 2010. 4.Brian Clements’s term expires as of December 31, 2011. 5.James Underwood’s term expires as of December 31, 2012. 6.Joyce Hunt’s term expires as of December 31, 2013. 7.Roy Urrico’s term expires December 31, 2014; and BE IT FURTHER, RESOLVED, that the Town Board authorizes and directs the Town’s Community Development Department to take any action necessary to devise a recordkeeping system so that it is clear in the future which membership terms are being filled, and BE IT FURTHER, 479 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 01-12-2009 MTG. #2 RESOLVED, that the Town Board authorizes and directs the Town Clerk and/or Town Supervisor to take any actions necessary to effectuate the terms of this Resolution, including the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals members’ execution of any needed revised Oaths of Office. th Duly adopted this 12 day of January, 2009, by the following vote: AYES : Mr. Metivier, Mr. Montesi, Mr. Strough, Mr. Stec NOES : None ABSENT: Mr. Brewer Supervisor Stec-Will inform both Boards of the term changes. APA Councilman Montesi-When we get the Zoning draft done I was going to hand carry it up there with Stu they will give us a three or four hour review in case there were any questions. They said they could give us a turn around of two or three weeks. RE: corner property...300’ discussed if a building is over 3000 sq feet above first floor with office or store on the first floor and above it two stories you have to have elevators and sprinklers and handicapped accessibility. Zoning Administrator Brown-Noted that it is not solely based on square footage the use is as well. Councilman Metivier-Spoke on the cost of elevators and promotion of the properties. Discussion on Corner property 300’ Councilman Strough-The Comprehensive Land Use Plan calls for 600’. Councilman Brewer-Noted it was changed to a 1000’ two years ago, it was a lot less than that, the Planning Board has the authority to approve or deny all we are doing is setting a line 300’ and I think that is the fair thing to do. Councilman Strough-All the Main Street programs by what we are hearing tonight all over New York State would be jeopardized by what we are doing. I think we need more information. Supervisor Stec-Will ask Stu Baker to obtain more information on this. Councilman Brewer-Asked for support for 300’ Councilman Montesi-I was happy with the 300’ I was unhappy with going half and half on the next 300’. Supervisor Stec-I prefer where we landed between three and six commercial residential. Councilman Metivier-I like the idea of mixed use up until the point we discovered, now we have a problem with elevators…I would be in favor of 300’ if we couldn’t do anything with the elevators. Councilman Strough-We have commercial space and we have plenty of residential space throughout the town we do not want to be giving up with zoned for commercial use to residential uses. 480 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 01-12-2009 MTG. #2 Supervisor Stec-Will request more information from Dave Hatin on how the effects second and third floor residential use on Bay Road but also Main Street. Will also call on Mike Hill… Councilman Montesi and myself will be meeting with West Glens Falls and South Queensbury fire companies on Thursday afternoon… Councilman Montesi-Whatever WGF fire did in terms of transferring assets, North Queensbury did to. Supervisor Stec-They did that with accounting not real estates I do not know if they have or looking at doing it., again we may find out that what they did was allowed, it is just the issue we have is something like that, that important, you might want to talk to the town first. RESOLUTION ADJOURNING TOWN BOARD MEETING RESOLUTION NO. 29,2009 INTROUDUCED BY: Mr. Ronald Montesi WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. John Strough RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby adjourns its Town Board Meeting. th Duly adopted this 12 day of January, 2009 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Metivier, Mr. Montesi, Mr. Strough, Mr. Stec NOES: None ABSENT: Mr. Brewer Respectfully submitted, Miss Darleen M. Dougher Town Clerk-Queensbury