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2007-02-12 SP MTG6 154 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 02-12-2007 MTG. #6 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING MTG. #6 February 12, 2007 RES. 90-94 7:00 p.m. TOWN BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT SUPERVISOR DANIEL STEC COUNCILMAN ROGER BOOR COUNCILMAN RICHARD SANFORD COUNCILMAN JOHN STROUGH COUNCILMAN TIM BREWER GUESTS: Representatives of West Glens Falls EMS Mr. Kyle York Ethics Board Members Representatives of North Queensbury Fire Co. Supervisor Stec-Opened the Meeting Reviewed the order of the agenda, changing the discussion of PCB’s in the Hudson River to after the discussion on WGF EMS Paid Staff and billing. RESOLUTIONS RESOLUTION GRANTING ADDITIONAL INTERMITTENT LEAVE WITHOUT PAY TO EMPLOYEE IN TOWN CLERK’S OFFICE RESOLUTION NO.: 90, 2007 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Roger Boor WHO MOVED ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. Tim Brewer WHEREAS, Kim Rivers is a full-time Records Clerk working in the Town Clerk’s Office, and WHEREAS, by Resolution No.: 507,2006, the Queensbury Town Board authorized the granting of intermittent leave without pay to Ms. Rivers so that Ms. Rivers could help care for her terminally ill sister, and th WHEREAS, by letter dated February 8, 2007, Ms. Rivers shared with the Town Board that her sister’s health has continued to deteriorate and requires care, and WHEREAS, Family Medical Leave Act does not apply because the family member (Ms. River’s sister) is not in the category of family members covered by the Act, and WHEREAS, Ms. Rivers has requested to be allowed to take additional intermittent leave to care for her sister, and 155 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 02-12-2007 MTG. #6 WHEREAS, the Town Clerk, as Ms. River’s Department Head, has indicated a willingness to allow such intermittent leave without pay, and WHEREAS, the Town Leave Policy allows sick leave only for an employee’s own illness or for the illness of a minor child and Vacation Leave must be scheduled in advance and thus there appears to be little paid leave available to this employee to address her current situation, and WHEREAS, the Town Board is appreciative of the employee’s situation and need to care for this ill family member and, within its discretion, wishes to allow her to do so, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board authorizes Kim Rivers to take intermittent leave without pay, subject to Department Head approval, over the next sixty (60) days, and BE IT FURTHER, RESOLVED, that the Town Board directs the Accounting Office to treat this leave in the same manner as Family Medical Leave Act leave for purposes of calculating accruals and benefits, and BE IT FURTHER, RESOLVED, that employee must make request to her Department Head, the Town Clerk, for leave when it is desired to be taken, and BE IT FURTHER, RESOLVED, that the Town Clerk is not required to allow such leave if the functioning of the Department will be unacceptably compromised by any particular grant of time, and BE IT FURTHER, RESOLVED, that the leave without pay authorized by this Resolution may be taken in increments of one hour or more and any particular leave is subject to approval by the Department Head, and BE IT FURTHER, 156 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 02-12-2007 MTG. #6 RESOLVED, that the Town Supervisor and the Town Fiscal Manager are authorized to take all actions necessary to effect this Resolution. th Duly adopted this 12 day of February, 2007, by the following vote: AYES : Mr. Boor, Mr. Sanford, Mr. Strough, Mr. Brewer, Mr. Stec NOES : None ABSENT: None Discussion held: Councilman Sanford-Is this the same individual that we made provisions for a few months ago? Town Clerk Dougher-Yes. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING FIREWORKS DISPLAY AT WEST MOUNTAIN SKI CENTER ON FEBRUARY 16, 2007 RESOLUTION NO.: 91, 2007 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Richard Sanford WHO MOVED ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. Tim Brewer WHEREAS, Alonzo Fireworks Display, Inc., on behalf of West Enterprises, has requested permission to conduct a fireworks display as follows: SPONSOR: West Enterprises PLACE: West Mountain Ski Center th DATE: Friday, February 16, 2007 TIME: 10:00 P.M. (approx.) NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Queensbury Town Board hereby authorizes and directs the § Town Clerk, in accordance with New York State Penal Law 405, to issue a fireworks permit to Alonzo Fireworks Display, Inc., on behalf of West Enterprises, subject to the following conditions: 1.An application for permit be filed which sets forth: A. The name of the body sponsoring the display and the names of the persons actually to be in charge of the firing of the display. B. The date and time of day at which the display is to be held. 157 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 02-12-2007 MTG. #6 C. The exact location planned for the display. D. The age, experience and physical characteristics of the persons who are to do the actual discharging of the fireworks. E. The number and kind of fireworks to be discharged. F. The manner and place of storage of such fireworks prior to the display. G. A diagram of the grounds on which the display is to be held showing the point at which the fireworks are to be discharged, the location of all buildings, highways, and other lines of communication, the lines behind which the audience will be restrained and the location of all nearby trees, telegraph or telephone lines or other overhead obstructions. 2. Proof of insurance be received which demonstrates insurance coverage through an insurance company licensed in the State of New York, and that the Town of Queensbury is named as an additional insured and that the insurance coverage contain a hold harmless clause which shall protect the Town of Queensbury; 3. Inspections and approval must be made by the Queensbury Fire Marshal and the The Sponsor Chief of the West Glens Falls Volunteer Fire Company, Inc. and/or entity performing the fireworks display shall finalize all display arrangements in a way and timeframe to ensure that all Fire Marshal and Fire Chief inspections can be conducted during normal business hours only so that all such inspections can be completed during daylight hours. 3. Clean-up of the area must be completed by 10:00 a.m., the following day, and all debris must be cleaned up including all unexploded shells, and BE IT FURTHER, RESOLVED, that the permit or letter of authorization by the Town Clerk shall, in accordance with New York State Penal Law §405, provide: the actual point at which the fireworks are to be fired shall be at least two hundred feet from the nearest permanent building, public highway or railroad or other means of travel and at least fifty feet from the nearest above 158 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 02-12-2007 MTG. #6 ground telephone or telegraph line, tree or other overhead obstruction, that the audience at such display shall be restrained behind lines at least one hundred and fifty feet from the point at which the fireworks are discharged and only persons in active charge of the display shall be allowed inside these lines, that all fireworks that fire a projectile shall be so set up that the projectile will go into the air as nearby (nearly) as possible in a vertical direction, unless such fireworks are to be fired from the shore of a lake or other large body of water, when they may be directed in such manner that the falling residue from the deflagration will fall into such lake or body of water, that any fireworks that remain unfired after the display is concluded shall be immediately disposed of in a way safe for the particular type of fireworks remaining, that no fireworks display shall be held during any wind storm in which the wind reaches a velocity of more than thirty miles per hour, that all the persons in actual charge of firing the fireworks shall be over the age of eighteen years, competent and physically fit for the task, that there shall be at least two such operators constantly on duty during the discharge and that at least two soda-acid or other approved type fire extinguisher of at least two and one-half gallons capacity each shall be kept at as widely separated points as possible within the actual area of the display. th Duly adopted this 12 day of February, 2007, by the following vote: AYES : Mr. Sanford, Mr. Strough, Mr. Brewer, Mr. Stec, Mr. Boor NOES : None ABSENT: None DISCUSSION: WGF EMS-PAID STAFF AND BILLING Sandy Boucher-We are looking to add an administrative position which would be a higher level EMS provider, showed job description, have three applicants, two were very qualified, noted that the pay is low. Councilman Brewer-Questioned if they would be coming back next year for an increase in pay? Sandy Boucher-No, I do not believe so, maybe down the line, looking at cost of living raises, jump it a lot, absolutely not. We have not gone any further until we meet with the Town Board to see if we can go forward with this. We have worked on forming a new corporation for the paid staff, our accountant and lawyer are working on that, so it eventually will be Queensbury Emergency Services so the paid staff and billing will all come under that corporation. Councilman Sanford-Questioned the need for the creation of a separate corporate entity to house the paid people why the need for that rather than creating it as a separate division? 159 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 02-12-2007 MTG. #6 Sandy Boucher-Because you cannot work for someone you volunteer for and a lot of our employees are volunteers for our organization so we rent our employees through Keena right now. So, we want it to be a separate entity so that we can rent them through Queensbury Emergency Services. We have talked to our accountant who is willing to do the payroll, presently we are paying for seventeen paid staff for Keena who charges $260. by weekly per paid period with six of the seventeen direct deposit the rest get a paper check. In workers comp insurance we also checked into our insurance company who carries our workers comp to get a separate policy to go with the new corporation and we were quoted at 8.8% where Keena will charge 10% for next year. In the long run we are trying to save some money for the town hopefully brings in more money so that we can build a paid staff to start doing transports for our residents instead of having them have to do it with other agencies. Councilman Boor-How many officers in the Corporation? Sandy Boucher-The goal is to be made up of the three organizations, two representatives of each organization. Representative EMS-Administratively it is giving us the ability to oversee our own people through the non for profit corp. of Queensbury Emergency Services that will be in control of the sitting officers from all three organizations together that oversee this and will handle paid staff. Instead of outsourcing this it will be in sourced saving you money and giving you a better product. Councilman Sanford-One of the advantages of what we have now they handle it all, if you switch over to the employment situation then how are you going to address benefits like health care? Representative EMS-It would done in a pool as they do now, all the other neighboring agencies outside of Warren County they hire themselves, they pay through their own corporations. Once the Corporation is formed they will control the paid staff thorough that, all the HR through that, Karrie Gerrard has offered to do the payroll for us it will save us having to go through that third party. We have a lot of confusion with Keena because Keena doesn’t know the intrinsic nature of our organization; if we do it ourselves we get better service. Councilman Brewer-I want a total of everything that it is going to cost you to do whatever you are going to do. Sandy Boucher-The goal tonight both of us have full time jobs being the President and Captain of the organization it is pretty much a full time job and family is on the outside, doing the paid staff being responsible for all the paid staff is a business. Councilman Brewer-Requested a break down of costs of Keena . Councilman Strough-How many hours involved in the administrative position? Sandy Boucher-Forty hours a week, includes EMS calls. Representative EMS-two to four hours a day administrative duties. Councilman Strough-Spoke on using existing personnel to do the administrative duties, keep the same number of people. Representative EMS-At present we schedule help, do the interviews, trainings…noted training is site specific. The program is beneficial to the Town monetarily and beneficial to the Town in the service we provide to the constituents of the Town and our neighbors. Councilman Sanford-I would like to look at it over a five year period of time and see what we are getting involved with in terms of the rapid rate of growth that we are seeing here in terms of the expansion of EMS squads vis-a-vis what they were five years ago. 160 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 02-12-2007 MTG. #6 Representative EMS-Five years ago we did 1300 calls to day we are at 2000, that is just 911 emergency calls. Sandy Boucher-The position that we are looking for can start right now going through Keena that would elevate a lot of stress from all three agencies for the scheduling and the call ins that is the position that we need to start. Would like to have the position in place st by April 1. DISCUSSION: HUDSON RIVER PCB’S –KYLE YORK Mr. Kyle York-Presented documents to the Town Board regarding PCB’s in the Hudson River. Reviewed the history of PCB’s in the Hudson River since 1988. Nimo is responsible for the clean up. Shore to be cleaned up first and the river will be done later. Summer of 1996 the shoreline PCB’s were removed and moved to Model City. EPA is monitoring the river. 2001, Elliot Spitzer hearing on Water Resources and Environment House Infrastructure Committee, Mr. Davis of his office stated the New York State Attorney General’s Office has experience with the public health issues of PCB’s contaminated sediments these include the Niagara Mohawk’s site at Queensbury and the Hudson River Super Fund Site at Fort Edward. Our experience has led us to conclude that removal of contaminated sediments is necessary to protect public health. We also believe that dredging is cost effective because it reduces the long term burden imposed by the contaminated sediments. Noted that this site is left for DEC to clean up. Foster Wheeler in 2001 submitted their first progress report, they say sediments have migrated since the mapping and additional sampling is needed. It is migrating toward your water intake. Spoke on how the PCB’s in Queensbury are affecting down stream projects. Questioned when the public hearings will be held for the Queensbury site and who is on the CAC, does it exist? Requested that the Town Board study the documents as presented. Supervisor Stec-Requested another set of documents, will have our Town Counsel review them. DISCUSSION: ETHICS CODE AND MEMBERSHIP Councilman Strough-Passed out draft of the code, if any of the Town Board Members have any comments get those to me by Friday and on Friday I will amend it and send it on to legal and we wait for comments back from legal and will have a public hearing at a later date. Supervisor Stec-Questioned the Board if they wished to reappoint new members before the new code is passed? Councilman Strough-We have to do the code first. Supervisor Stec-Reviewed his recommendations for the code 1. Full Board to Appoint Members 2. Some of the membership criteria is too restrictive DISCUSSION: LIGHTING DISTRICTS Councilman Brewer-Presented to the Town Board a map of the various lighting districts in the Town of Queensbury. In my Ward there are streets that only half of the street is in the lighting district, when they did the districts there was no development in the area, spoke on the growth in Ward 4 and 3, I want to expand the districts. Will speak to the Attorneys for the exact process. If anyone has an issue with any part of a lighting district let me know. DISCUSSION: CLUP TOWN BOARD INPUT 161 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 02-12-2007 MTG. #6 Supervisor Stec-Spoke to the Board regarding placement of sidewalks and where they would and would not be appropriate. Did not like the idea of paying a premium for green energy. Densities may not be appropriate to discuss in the Comp. Plan it may be more appropriate in the Zoning Code. Want to dedicate a few minutes to discuss a time line. Part of our next steps if we are going to change it what we need to do with the public hearing on the old draft, I believe we will need to close that then set a new one for the ones that include our new final version changes, that will involved concluding this public thth hearing I would hope on our March 5 meeting. At the March 5 meeting if we are ready with the changes we want to make set a public hearing for the new version. Sr. Planner Stu Baker-The Town Board needs to conclude the public hearing on the th current draft dated September 6., I handed our a new draft dated today that incorporates a number of changes suggested by Board Members, those are outlined . The map is in the process of being updated. Also noted that Councilman Stroughs addendum is being worked on, I am about half way through, it will be part B. Councilman Strough-That will be approved along with the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, noted that the Town Historian is also working on part B. Supervisor Stec-Hope to set the new public hearing in April. Sr. Planner Baker-We have got to get the draft in a final form that the Board is happy with. Councilman Sanford-Questioned if the green energy should be taken out of the document? Noted he did not see a down side of leaving that in. Supervisor Stec-Five years from now somebody may interpret that we intended to buy green power. Requested that the Board give their changes to Stu so he can up date the document. DISCUSSION: NORTH QUEENSBURY FIRE DISTRICT SEQRA – LONG FORM/SHORT FORM Councilman Sanford-Questioned if anyone on the Board had an objection to the use of the long form? Supervisor Stec-I do not have a strong preference one way or the other. Is there a strong objection one way or the other from North Queensbury? Representative of North Queensbury-Our Attorney has done seven switch over for districts and they have all used the short form. Councilman Strough-I have been four years working with SEQRA on the Planning Board, generally speaking short forms are used for things with low to the low moderate impact, long forms are used for things that are moderate to potentially large impact. The creation of a fire district what kind of an impact might it be on this community, would it be small, moderate or large, that is a judgment call. I would say that the potential for an impact of a fire district has at least a moderately large potential for an impact on the community given taxes and completely new arrangement not that I am opposed to it or anything else. Councilman Sanford-Is there a material difference between the short and the long form? In my opinion primarily it facilitates discussion and I am looking at this in terms of the long form the last two questions in the long form more adequately go into the things that the fire district would impact. That is why I feel it is important to this town. I certainly would not want to see this town short cut with what could be one of the more important decisions we have to make in the year. Again, based on my understanding is probably pretty much how everybody on this Board feels perhaps more comfortable with a long 162 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 02-12-2007 MTG. #6 form and it certainly is our prerogative it is the Town Board SEQRA review and the law as provided by our Attorney specifies that it is the Town Board’s discretion whether they wish in an unlisted action to use short or long form. Councilman Brewer-I think the long form is more thorough I do not think it is a detriment to either party. If anyone was to question us we did thoroughly examine the SEQRA. Board agreed that a Long Form. should be used. Supervisor Stec-When we set the public hearing, and have the public hearing we will take comments, at that same night we will walk ourselves through if we get to that point through this SEQRA Part II, you will provide information for Part I which you already have, if we need anything else staff, our Attorneys or one of us will certain contact you. Discussion held regarding if Comptrollers sign off will or will not be necessary. Councilman Sanford-It is my understanding that if you are not taking on additional debt you will not need sign off. Noted that Town Counsel will be contacted on this and also the Fire Company will be contacting their Attorney. Supervisor Stec-Noted that they will be contacting the Fire Company to coordinate a date for the public hearing. DISCUSSION: WORKERS COMP. Supervisor Stec-Re: Worker Comp. for $750. more if we wanted to add disability insurance to the scope of Regent work. Councilman Sanford-I do not have a problem with adding that to the scope of review. Supervisor Stec-Noted a resolution will be prepared to increase the amount of the contract. RESOLUTION CALLING FOR AN EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 92, 2007 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Tim Brewer WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. Roger Boor RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury moves into an Executive to interview candidates for the Queensbury Recreation Commission. th Duly adopted this 12 day of February, 2007 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Sanford, Mr. Strough, Mr. Brewer, Mr. Stec NOES: None ABSENT: None RESOLUTION ADJOURNING EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 93, 2007 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Roger Boor WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION 163 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 02-12-2007 MTG. #6 SECONDED BY: Mr. Richard Sanford RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby adjourns is Executive Session. th Duly adopted this 12 day of February, 2007 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Sanford, Mr. Strough, Mr. Brewer, Mr. Stec NOES: None ABSENT: None NO ACTION TAKEN DURING EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION ADJOURNING SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING RESOLUTION NO. 94, 2007 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Richard Sanford WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. Tim Brewer RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby adjourns its Special Town Board Meeting. th Duly adopted this 12 day of February, 2007 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Sanford, Mr. Strough, Mr. Brewer, Mr. Stec NOES: None ABSENT: None Respectfully submitted, Miss Darleen M. Dougher Town Clerk-Queensbury