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1992-04-13 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING APRIL 13,1992 7:00 p.m. MTG.#37 RES.216-221 BH. 9-10 TOWN BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT Deputy Supervisor Nicholas Caimano Councilman Betty Monahan Councilman Susan Goetz Councilman Pliney Tucker Town Attorney Paul Dusek TOWN BOARD MEMBER ABSENT Supervisor Michel Brandt Deputy Supervisor Nicholas Caimano opened the meeting, announced that Supervisor Brandt was unable to attend the meeting due to illness... RESOLUTION CALLING FOR BOARD OF HEALTH RESOLUTION NO. 216, 1992 INTRODUCED BY: Mrs. Susan Goetz, WHO MOVED ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. Nick Caimano RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby moves into the Queensbury Board of Health. Duly adopted this 13th day of April, 1992 by the following vote: ALL THOSE IN FAVOR: AYES ALL THOSE OPPOSED: NONE ABSENT: Mr. Brandt QUEENSBURY BOARD OF HEALTH Discussion held regarding the application of Donald A. Piper requesting a sewer variance - it was agreed to hold a public hearing on April 27, 1992 RESOLUTION TO SET PUBLIC HEARING ON APPLICATION FOR VARIANCE OF SANITARY SEW AGE DISPOSAL ORDINANCE FOR DONALD A. PIPER RESOLUTION NO.: 9, 92 INTRODUCED BY: Mrs. Susan Goetz WHO MOVED ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. Pliney Tucker WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury is, by operation of Law, the Local Board of Health for the Town of Queensbury and, as such, is authorized under Section 5.035 of the Sanitary Sewage Disposal Ordinance of the Town of Queensbury to issue variances to such Ordinance, and WHEREAS, Mr. Donald A. Piper has applied to the Local Board of Health of the Town of Queensbury for two (2) variances from certain standards of the Sewage Disposal Ordinance set forth in Section 3.050-5, such standard providing as follows: APPENDIX A TABLE I - HORIZONTAL SEPARATION DISTANCES FROM WASTEWATER SOURCES TO STREAM WELL OR LAKE OR WASTEWATER SUCTION WATER PROPERTY LAKE GEORGE SOURCES LINE (a) COURSE(c) DWELLING LINE AND TRIBS. Seepage Pit 150' Seepage Pit" 100' and WHEREAS, Mr. Piper has indicated a desire to place the seepage pit: 1) 62' from his own well, rather than placing it at the mandated 150' distance; and 2) 80' from a stream, lake or water course (Clendon Brook), rather than placing it at the mandated 100' distance; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Local Board of Health for the Town of Queensbury will hold a public hearing on April 27, 1992, at 7:00 p.m., at the Queensbury Activities Center, (reasonably accessible to persons with mobility impairment) 531 Bay Road, Town of Queensbury, Warren County, New York, to consider the application for two (2) variances of Mr. Donald A. Piper to place the seepage pit: 1) 62' from his own well, rather than placing it at the mandated 150' distance; and 2) 80' from a stream, lake or water course (Clendon Brook), rather than placing it at the mandated 100' distance; on property situated on the south side of Pitcher Road, Queensbury, New York, and bearing Tax Map No.: Section 125, Block 2, Lot 11, and, at that time, all persons interested in the subject thereof will be heard, and BE IT FURTHER, RESOLVED, that the Town Clerk of the Town of Queensbury be and is hereby directed and authorized, when in receipt of a list of neighbors within 500 feet of the subject property, to publish and provide Notice of said Public Hearing as may be required by law, and authorized to mail copies of said Public Hearing Notice to the adjoining neighbors. Duly adopted this 13th day of April, 1992, by the following vote: AYES : Mrs. Goetz, Mr. Caimano, Mr. Tucker NOES : None ABSENT: Mrs. Monahan, Mr. Brandt RESOLUTION ADJOURNING FROM BOARD OF HEALTH RESOLUTION NO. 10, 92 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Pliney Tucker WHO MOVED ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mrs. Susan Goetz RESOLVED, that the Queensbury Board of Health hereby adjourns and the Regular Town Board moves back into session. Duly adopted this 13th day of April, 1992 by the following vote: ALL THOSE IN FAVOR: Ayes ALL THOSE OPPOSED: Noes ABSENT: Mrs. Monahan, Mr. Brandt QUEENSBURY TOWN BOARD RESOLUTION TO TRANSFER FUNDS RESOLUTION NO.: 217, 92 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Nick Caimano WHO MOVED ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mrs. Susan Goetz WHEREAS, certain departments have requested a transfer of funds, and WHEREAS, said requests have been approved by the Town of Queensbury Accounting Office and the Chief Fiscal Officer, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the funds be transferred as listed below: TAX RECEIVER DEPARTMENT FROM AMOUNT TO 01-1330-4010 (Office Supplies) 01-1330-2001 (Misc. Equipment) $ 673.00 01-1330-4010 (Office Supplies) 01-1330-4060 (Service Contracts & Warranties) $ 360.00 LANDFILL DEPARTMENT FROM AMOUNT TO 910-8160-4400 (Misc. Contractual) 910-8160-1002 (Misc. Payroll Account) $1,500.00 910-8160-4400 (Misc. Contractual) 910-8160-1600 (Solid Waste Facility Operator) $1,550.00 Duly adopted this 13th day of April, 1992, by the following vote: AYES : Mrs. Goetz, Mr. Caimano, Mr. Tucker NOES : None ABSENT: Mrs. Monahan, Mr. Brandt DISCUSSION HELD: Proposed establishment of new position of Planning, Zoning and Codes Administrator...accepted changes in Job description: Change Town Supervisor/Town Board to only Town Board through out the document...Under Qualifications change first line to read: Graduation from an accredited four year college or university with a Bachelor's degree...also add after the word responsible: administrative/supervisory experience in municipal community or regional planning/zoning or administrative/supervisory community planning/zoning experience in a non municipal position; or also add to next paragraph .. administrative/supervisory community planning/zoning experience or administrative/supervisory community planning/zoning experience in a non municipal position Regarding salary: Attorney Dusek-To establish a position you have to provide a budget for it of some kind I put the thing in parathesis just so nobody would automatically assume that is what the salary is, I did that to protect you so you would have flexibility in what you set for the salary. Councilman Monahan- I just want to say in passing this resolution or voting on this resolution as far as I am concerned does not mean that I am in agreement with the flow chart that Mike issued the other night, I am definitely not in agreement with the flow chart. Councilman Caimano-I believe the flow chart is in the state of flux... RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ESTABLISHMENT AND CREATION OF NEW POSITION OF PLANNING, ZONING & CODES ADMINISTRATOR RESOLUTION NO. 218,92 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Nick Caimano WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mrs. Susan Goetz WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury is desirous of reorganizing its Planning, Zoning and Building & Codes Enforcement Departments, and establishing or creating a new position, while eliminating other positions, and WHEREAS, a job description for a Planning, Zoning and Codes Administrator has been presented to this meeting, and WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury is specifically desirous of establishing and creating the position of Planning, Zoning and Codes Administrator, and WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury is also desirous of requesting that Civil Service Commission classify the aforesaid position as a noncompetitive class Civil Service position, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby authorizes and directs that the Town Supervisor forward a copy of the proposed job description, together with a new position's duty statement to Warren County Civil Service and request Warren County Civil Service's assistance in reviewing the position and requesting a noncompetitive classification from the state Civil Service Commission, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Supervisor is hereby authorized, as part of the submission of the job description, to set forth reasons why it is felt that the position should be of the noncompetitive class, which reasons should include the fact that the position is desired to be created as an appointed position which serves at the pleasure of the Town Board and Town Supervisor, that recruitment is expected to be difficult based upon the required qualifications and knowledge, skills, abilities and personal characteristics, and upon the grounds that the person hired will be assisting in the development of Town policy, AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that after acknowledgment of receipt of the new position by Warren County Civil Service, the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby authorizes the establishment of the position, as provisional and, hereby further authorizes the Town Supervisor working with the Director of Accounting Services to establish a new account line item for the position and to arrange for a transfer of funding to the new account line in accordance with the terms and provisions of this resolution, all to occur only after Civil Service has acknowledged receipt of the position statement, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that after acknowledgment by Civil Service, the budget for the new position shall be set in an amount not-to-exceed $42,000 (which shall not necessarily be the salary for the person occupying the position) with the appropriations for the aforesaid new account to come from transfer from Planning Account No. 8020 and Building and Codes Account No. 3620 and with the 1991 Town Budget to be amended accordingly, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Supervisor, after receiving the appropriate acknowledgements from Civil Service, is hereby authorized to advertise for the position as provisional and set up times for interviews of applicants by the Town Board. Duly adopted this 13th day of April, 1992, by the following vote: AYES : Mr. Caimano, Mr. Tucker, Mrs. Monahan, Mrs. Goetz NOES : None ABSENT : Mr. Brandt TOWN OF QUEENSBURY JOB DESCRIPTION PLANNING, ZONING & CODES ADMINISTRATOR Under the supervision of the Town Board, the Planning, Zoning & Codes Administrator is responsible for the administration, organization, supervision and evaluation of the Planning, Zoning & Code Enforcement Departments, as well as providing professional assistance in the preparation of comprehensive plans for land use, zoning and economic development and assisting the Town Board in the development of policy and future goals. The position shall be a Town Board appointment and the appointee shall hold office at the pleasure of the Town Board. QUALIFICATIONS: Graduation from an accredited four (4) year college or university with a Bachelor's Degree in planning, government, landscape architecture, urban and environmental studies or engineering and a minimum of four (4) years of responsible administrative/supervisory experience in municipal community or regional planning/zoning or administrative/supervisory community planning/zoning experience in a non municipal position; or A Master's Degree in any of the above planning/zoning related fields and one (1) year of responsible administrative/supervisory community planning/zoning experience or administrative/supervisory community planning/zoning experience in a non municipal position REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Thorough knowledge of principles, practices, methods and techniques of municipal planning; good knowledge of sociological, economic, environmental, design and research factors involved in municipal planning; good knowledge of local zoning ordinances; ability to read and evaluate plans/ blueprints; ability to read and interpret Town policies, laws, ordinances and codes; ability to establish and maintain satisfactory cooperative relationships with civic leaders, public officials and the general public; ability to supervise staff, to maintain accurate files and records with fiscal experience in project budgeting, to be able to learn/work with computers and to demonstrate initiative, resourcefulness, tact, good judgement and physical conditions commensurate with demands of the position. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Supervise the work and function of the Planning, Zoning and Code Enforcement Departments in accordance with the policies/directives, established by the Town Board. 2. Responsible to oversee the preparation of the Planning, Zoning and Code Enforcement Department's annual budgets and to administer the three (3) respective Department budgets in accordance with the legal requirements and the adopted policies of the Town Board. 3. Recommend employment of, supervise and evaluate all full and part -time personnel within the Planning, Zoning and Code Enforcement Departments. 4. Develop and insure that a continuing cooperative planning and working relationship is maintained by the three (3) departments with area civic, school, government and private agencies, as well as the general public. 5. Provide professional assistance in the preparation of comprehensive plans for land use, zoning and economic development, including the collection and analysis of all related statistics and data. 6. Study and analyze, on an ongoing basis, the effectiveness of all Planning, Zoning & Code Enforcement Department services and make recommendations to the Town Board with regard to changes. 7. Serve as the technical advisor to the Town Board on all matters relating to planning, zoning and code enforcement. 8. Insure that the Planning & Zoning Departments provide the necessary technical expertise to the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals, respectively. 9. Responsible to monitor the availability oflocal, state and federal financial assistance/grants-in-aid for planning development and initiate such application as authorized by the Town Board. 10. Interface the operation of the Planning, Zoning and Code Enforcement Department's with other Town departments, in order to insure effective coordinated Town services. 11. Assist the Town Board in determining the future planning/zoning needs of the community and coordinate the development/adoption of intermediate and long range goals and development of policy and objectives to meet those community needs. 12. Perform other Town of Queensbury related duties as assigned by the Town Board. Discussion held: Attorney Dusek requested an amendment to a resolution which set a public hearing for Collins rezoning, noted tax map number error...tax map listed at 104-1-4.2 should be 4.22 RESOLUTION CORRECTING TAX MAP NUMBER RESOLUTION NO. 219, 92 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Pliney Tucker WHO MOVED ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mrs. Susan Goetz RESOLVED, that the Town Board authorizes the change in the numbers on all notices from 4.2 to 4.22. Duly adopted this 13th day of April, 1992 by the following vote: ALL THOSE IN FAVOR: AYES ALL THOSE OPPOSED: NONE ABSENT: Mr. Brandt DISCUSSION HELD REGARDING POLES FOR BANNERS...Town Clerk notified the Town Board that Wheller Signs noted that in order to have the wires placed an extra fee of $85.00 is needed... Councilman Monahan recommended a change order to include the wires for the poles...agreed to by the Board... RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING CHANGE ORDER RESOLUTION NO. 220, 92 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Pliney Tucker WHO MOVED ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mrs. Susan Goetz The Town Board authorizes a change order requesting wires to be placed on the poles to be set at the corner of Bay and Quaker Road for banners in an amount to be $85.00. Duly adopted this 13th day of April, 1992 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Tucker, Mrs. Monahan, Mrs. Goetz, Mr. Caimano NOES: None ABSENT: Mr. Brandt DISCUSSION REGARDING TOP SOIL Town Clerk-noted that an individual had come in for a refund on the unused portion of the tickets for top soil...The Town Board recommended that Mr. Coughlin be contacted and that on any unused tickets the individuals could receive top soil at the landfill.. DISCUSSION HELD REGARDING ETHICS LAW Councilman Goetz-I had a call from Dean Beckos..he was wondering in the disclosure if there could be a two tier system, disclosure for employees vs disclosure for volunteers boards... Councilman Caimano-Read the following from Mr. Davidson-Ladies and Gentlemen, I have recently have applied for and been appointed to the Board of Assessment Review. I support the proposed Ethics Law and I believe it should apply to Board Members such as myself. Some of the wording may require refinement and clarification the only area that I see requiring more substantial revision is 14.5-F on page 4. It should be revised to allow a persons firm to deal with Boards other than that Board on which the person serves or even possibly with the Board on which the persons serves with disclosure guide lines etc. Most of the opposition to a strict Ethics law seems to come from a particular sector of the community, business interests. There are many qualified persons in Queensbury outside the Businessman Association. Various Boards should be comprised of qualified individuals of the community including business persons. Perceived qualifications due to a particular, should not supersede the need of board, comprised of disinterested individuals the effect of a good ethics law will be to prevent occurrence and appearance of conflict of interests. Disclosure forms provide an individuals with a guide to help him identify and avoid real and perceived conflicts. This gives an individual a tool to help protect the reputation as well as protecting the citizens of the Town. The Ethics legislation should not be diluted to satisfy the interests of the Queensbury Businessman's Association. The fact that this group was formed indicates a special interest toward goals of that segment of a large community. This should not prevent its members from community service but without a good ethics law including disclosure appearance of conflict of interests for its members that do choose to serve could be more likely to occur. Thank you for consideration of my views in this issue. Then he thanks us for appointing him to the Assessment Review. One big point that he makes is a point that was made by Bruce Carr regarding the appearance before other boards of people in your own firm whatever that firm happens to be, that seems to be something that we can deal with. It comes in two forms, Bruce Carr is not an owner, he is not a partner in that law firm and it would seem a penalty to penalize the other people, members of that law firm, I just do not know if we want to do that. Part B of that is inspite of the fact that this is a small town should we in fact prevent people from appearing in front of all boards for a year or simply in front of the Board on which they serve? Councilman Tucker-Would we not accomplish what we are trying to accomplish if we said that Mr. Carr could appear in front of all boards except the board that he had served on and his firm could appear in front of all boards. Councilman Goetz-...say he was on the board and somebody appeared before, from his firm, I would think we would be abstaining anyway... Town Attorney Dusek-reviewed State Ethics law... Councilman Caimano-Mrs. Dougher writes on several points, the first point is; I am a member of the current Cemetery Commission and have been on the Commission since September of 76, before this I served the Town as confidential Secretary Bookkeeper for four Town Supervisors. The commissioner is not a paid position, nor do they receive mileage or benefits, I expect to sign a declaration that I will not use my position to promote any benefits for myself, however, I do not feel that I should be required to reveal the source of my income nor my spouses nor should I list property owned by me. A listing of property owned by any person certainly can be found on the tax rolls. The last sentence is true and I certainly understand her position. The problem comes in and this is really what, it seems to me we are running into, people that have been around a long time and are basically honest and do not understand the reason for this. But if you look at that on bear bones it is certainly germanin if she owned a piece of property or her husband owned a large amount of stock, or actually owned a company that could do business with the cemetery commission somebody ought to know that. I think that is what we are running into. Councilman Monahan-..J think it would be valid to say you own stock in any funeral home, crematorium or anybody that supplies services to them...only ask those questions that relate to the job that they have it is none of our business if they own 500 shares of IBM... Councilman Caimano-Her second paragraph talks about section D under prohibited activities, I think there is a mis-understanding,...she said, if someone in the Town Office is extremely kind to me and I want to send a small gift as acknowledgement such as a box of candy I would not expect this gift to be returned...J think that is handled well in there anyway, I think you can do that without fear... Councilman Monahan-No, we put a thing, in that said if you got flowers you are supposed to put it out in the main office..J thought was a little ridiculous... ASKED FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS Mr. Sutton-I think the Business Association, I do not think we came down of the code of ethics very hard, Dave and I and Mike do not have a problem with it as written, although a majority of the board have a problem with some of the disclosure that you are talking about here so I really do not think that you have a problem. Mr. Turner-I agree with Mrs. Dougher, it is not necessary, if I own a house why should you have to know that? ... Councilman Goetz-Spoke to Wilton regarding their Ethics Law.. . question arose of who was watching the watch dog, they do not have any special set up... Councilman Tucker-Questioned why the Town Board couldn't look at their disclosures... Councilman Caimano-We should be out of the loop... Councilman Goetz-...this is a tool to help everybody avoid trouble, Wilton has emphasized how important it is to pick good people on those boards, his suggestion is it be a unanimous among the Board people who is to serve... Councilman Caimano-Noted that the Board has to look at the provision regarding whether or not you cannot appear before any board, I am not sure about that... Councilman Monahan-I was differentiating between volunteer and people who have been paid by the Town, I have a problem educating people and then letting them, with our money and our paycheck and letting them go out and act as a adversary the day after they leave working for the town... Councilman Goetz-Noted that Wilton also noted that we should be fair in the disclosure and not get too detailed. .. Questioned Wilton regarding anonymous complaints, they have had none, they have all been in writing... Mr. Dave Kenny-Anyone that has a business in Town has got a conflict of interest, 90% of the things that come before the Town are business, any business person has a conflict of interest if you ask me...ifI am the Town Attorney or if I am the Town Engineer and I leave you are saying that I cannot go before the Board for a year, that is not an advisory position... Councilman Monahan-Sure it is because you are using a lot of the stuff that you learned while you were working with the Town to go back and fight them. Mr. Kenny-We are here to help the public hopefully, if this man can help the public get an application approved and he is not hurting the Town what is wrong with it? We are here to protect the people and help the people hopefully our rules and regulations are strong enough that when someone leaves town and goes to work he can help the public with the education, I hope we do that sure... Mr. Sutton-We are getting bogged down in the ethics where I think there is enough checks and balances in the Town with the groups that have been formed when there is a problem you are going to hear about it.... Mr. Kenny-There was some recommendation that a committee be formed, a member of the Planning Board and Zoning Board, individuals from the Town Board and business people and private citizens to sit down and review this code and draft recommendations... Councilman Goetz-That was suggested, that is why we set the two weeks, the people that had definite thoughts on it have them draw up what they would have and send it to us... Councilman Monahan-That is not what Dave is saying, get ourselves out of this, I agree, I think we spent way too much time on this with no result what so ever, I do not think what we are accomplishing is that important... .I agree that some other group could do this better, at least come back with ideas... Mr. Sutton-On this other position, questioned if there would be a public hearing on that and the flow chart? Councilman Monahan-I would hope sO..J would hope that before anything is implemented down there it would come before the public.. .I do not like the flow charts that I have seen... Councilman Caimano-Mike has not finished with his draft yet, ...1 disagree with Betty, I like it, it puts the point of focus where it belongs on a group of people one of the problems we have is that there are too many people who report and look for reportability to the Supervisor and things bog down and things get out of sight and out of whack of the Supervisor and the Board, a revision of the way the town sets up would have more focuses where you guys...consolidation... Councilman Monahan-What I am saying, my objection to the flow chart is the amount of hours per week its figures that certain segments of those departments need rather than other, and I think that is where it is wrong....the other concern is about putting supervisors above supervisors, I think we have all had a problem looking at Queensbury School what we saw there, we have more supervisor's over there then we have people dealing directly with the children.. .I would hate to see Queensbury getting top heavy with supervisory, it is wasteful and actually slows the process down..J would like to see a lot of public input... Mr. Kenny-Is there a time frame on the new position? Councilman Caimano-Not a time frame... Mr. Kenny-An lot of the employees of the Town think that there job is to protect the Town of Queensbury in whatever they envision that to be, and to me the people that work for the Town of Queensbury, they are working for me as a citizen... Councilman Goetz-That is going to be the purpose of setting up the job is that the Town Board will set the policy with input from everybody and then those employees will be a unified policy...the Town Board will not be telling the Department heads how to run their departments on a a day to day basis specifically but we all have to have a unified overall policy... Mr. Baird-You are going to consolidate all the head departments and have one overseer? Spoke to the Board regarding his project where two departments are disagreeing on whether or not a survey should be done... Councilman Caimano- The answer to your question is by re-organizing and streamlining there will be a focus on where the problem will finally come to a head... Councilman Monahan-The Town Board will have to do their job by doing the right policies and procedures and getting those clarified... Councilman Tucker-I have gotten prices regarding the cleaning of snow off of sidewalks 9.8 miles at least $80,000 per year and they would have to have another tractor at $20,000....we better pass a law where people have sidewalks in front of their property take care ofthem... Councilman Goetz-Pliney and I met with the resident engineer from Washington County about the River Street proposal on Sidewalks he agreed to start the permitting process, we are in the process of helping him type up the application... Councilman Tucker-He wants a commitment letter from the Town that if we start the job it will get done... Councilman Goetz-He gave us a time period from April 15 to October 1st. ... we emphasized to him we were not totally committed to the volunteer part of it, we have to weigh that carefully... Councilman Tucker-When we get going we will bring the water dept. down there and do something with the tap... RESOLUTION CALLING FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 221, 92 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Pliney Tucker WHO MOVED ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. Nick Caimano RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby moves into Executive Session to discuss matters leading to the appointment of company or person to be hired by the Town. Duly adopted this 13th day of April, 1992 by the following vote: ALL THOSE IN FAVOR: AYES ALL THOSE OPPOSED: NONE ABSENT: Mr. Brandt No action taken. On motion the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Miss Darleen M. Dougher Town Clerk