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1994-06-13 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING JUNE 13, 1994 MTG. #30 RES. 282-283 TOWN BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT Supervisor Fred Champagne Councilman Betty Monahan Councilman Dr. R. George Wiswall Councilman Carol Pulver Attorney Paul Dusek TOWN BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT Councilman Nick Caimano DISCUSSION PROPOSED RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING QEDC TO BE AGENT FOR THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY, IN CONNECTION WITH SITE PLAN APPLICATION Supervisor Champagne-The Town Board is asking QEDC to serve as their agent during the site plan process for the properties in the process of being sold to QEDC which would then be sold to Columbia Development. Resolution introduced by Supervisor Champagne, Seconded by Mrs. Carol Pulver DISCUSSION Councilman Monahan-Re: application Concerns: To put the applicant on notice that the application must be complete, in good form. I have grave concerns about this application, the original environmental impact statement was submitted before Columbia Reality had permission to go in and do tests on the land so that we know therefore that answers to the questions on the impact statement regarding anything that would require test holes and etc. was only done apparently from maps and that for the best of my knowledge we still do not have that type of information to back up the application. We are bringing to the attention of the Planning Dept. and the Planning Board that all areas of this application would be checked very carefully including the time of the application and the information submitted to back it up. I will also note for the record there is a question whether or not there is a Federal protected plant on site and that needs to be verified. Attorney John Lemery-Representing Native Textiles, noted that site plan application is filed by Columbia, has been sent to the Queensbury Engineers for their review, once the comments come back Columbia has to address the comments to the satisfaction of the Planning Board. Native Textiles has ordered a Phase I environmental impact statement but a limited phase II impact statement, because my clients are not going to build 116,000 sq. ft. manufacturing plant on any piece of land that has any kind of a problem with it. Councilman Monahan-Noted that staff has sent a list of items that require more information. Executive Director Martin-Noted we have a letter from Rist Frost dated June 9th which outlines their concerns, the engineers on behalf of Columbia have that. Councilman Monahan-My concern is that the staff comments be addressed. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING QEDC TO BE AGENT FOR THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY, IN CONNECTION WITH SITE PLAN APPLICATION RESOLUTION NO.: 282,1994 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Fred Champagne WHO MOVED ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mrs. Carol Pulver WHEREAS, the Town of Queensbury is currently in the process of arranging for the sale of a parcel of land to the Queensbury Economic Development Corporation (QEDC), said parcel of land being located off Corinth Road in the Town of Queensbury and having been the subject of previous resolutions, and WHEREAS, the QEDC is in turn, arranging for sale of the property to the Columbia Development Corporation, and WHEREAS, the proposed contract between Columbia Development Corporation and the Queensbury Economic Development Corporation sets forth various contingencies including the condition that Columbia's obligation to purchase the property shall be contingent upon the issuance of site plan approval by the Town of Queensbury, and WHEREAS, the contract between the Town of Queensbury and the Queensbury Economic Development Corporation indicates, among other things, that the Queensbury Economic Development Corporation's obligation to purchase the property shall be conditioned upon all contingencies in the contract between the Queensbury Economic Development Corporation and Columbia being met, and WHEREAS, in order for Columbia to secure site plan approval of its proposed use of the property, it is necessary for the Town of Queensbury, as owner of the property, to authorize an application for site plan review, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury, as owner of the aforesaid property, hereby authorizes the Queensbury Economic Development Corporation, and specifically, its President, to be the agent authorized to apply for site plan review, and to complete such applications and other documents as may be necessary to apply for site plan review from the Planning Board of the Town of Queensbury, and BE IT FURTHER, RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury, in providing the aforementioned authorization, does so with the following understanding: 1. that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury, by this resolution, does not in any way, indicate that the Planning Board should or should not approve the site plan, but rather, leaves the approval, disapproval, or approval with modification of the site plan, to the sole discretion of the Planning Board, in accordance with the appropriate laws, regulations, and its customary practices and procedures; 2. that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury, by this resolution, does not in any way indicate that the Environmental Assessment Form and application that has been filed for site plan approval is complete and/or correct; and 3. that the cost of the filing of the application and all other fees and costs associated therewith, including, but not limited to, engineering fees, survey fees, legal fees, filing fees, environmental audit fees, and other fees shall be payable by the Queensbury Economic Development Corporation or the Columbia Development Corporation, in such manner as they shall agree, and that there shall be no cost or charge to the Town of Queensbury. Duly adopted this 13th day of June, 1994, by the following vote: AYES Mrs. Monahan, Dr. Wiswall, Mrs. Pulver, Mr. Champagne NOES None ABSENT: Mr. Caimano DISCUSSION REGARDING ROAD TO SERVICE COLUMBIA DEVELOPMENT AND A PARCEL THE TOWN OWNS Attorney Dusek-Noted Mr. Naylor will not be able to put in the base road he would be able to put the top coat on...suggest that the Town hire an engineer to prepare the work for putting in the base road, to tell us how long this will take to get all this done and get the documents prepared so we can go out to bid if necessary... It was agreed by the Town Board that Mr. Naylor be contacted regarding the selection of the engineer for this project. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE RETAINING OF ENGINEER RESOLUTION NO. 283.94 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Fred Champagne WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mrs. Carol Pulver RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby retains an engineer approved by the Town Highway Superintendent and be it further RESOLVED, that funding for such engineer will not exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000). Duly adopted this 13th day of June, 1994 by the following vote: AYES: Dr. Wiswall, Mrs. Pulver, Mrs. Monahan, Mr. Champagne NOES: None ABSENT: Mr. Caimano DISCUSSION PRESENTATION BY REPRESENTATIVES OF EDWARDS, WILLIAMS, MCMANUS, RICCIARDELLI AND COFFEY P.c. REPRESENTED BY DONNA FARRAR AND CAROL GREEN Presented the Town Board with the Independent Auditor's Report General Purpose Financial Statements dated December 31, 1993 and the Reports on Internal Control Structure and Compliance with Laws and Regulations dated December 31, 1993 The Town has received a clean opinion...Report will be formerly accepted at the next regular Town Board Meeting. DISCUSSION HIGHWAY GARAGE ENGINEERING Supervisor Champagne-Just for the record, what has happened over the last two times that we have asked for quotes we have found everything coming in from soup to nuts and there has been no narrowing if you will of the numbers that would give us any indication as to the service that we getting for the costs, we have asked the engineers to explain further detail and answer questions from the Board. PRESENTATION BY PAUL CUSHING (Report on file) Councilman Monahan-When we do a rehab of the building do we have to bring it up to New York State Energy Code or OSHA? Mr. Cushing-When you do a portion of the building anything in that area has to be part of the code also noted Health Dept. codes... Reviewed the history of the garage... spoke on proposal as submitted, noting that other items may want to be looked into such as the 20+ year old existing hot water boiler, noted he would identify the problems. Councilman Monahan-What is basic design work? Mr. Cushing-Noted one of the outgrowths of heating loss calculation it would tell you the size of the furnace needed and associated duct work...another would be if used radiant heat that would be identified...this would not be selected or drawn out or how the piping would work not that detailed not ready to go to bid. Supervisor Champagne-Questioned if the structural part of the existing building adequate to make the changes? Mr. Cushing-Noted the building is designed for a 50 lb. snow load. Supervisor Champagne-You are going to do a complete analysis of that building and stop at the point where you put bid specifications together and drawings. Mr. Cushing-Yes. Supervisor Champagne-Questioned if we get to the point where we want specifications and drawings, then what kicks in at that point? Mr. Cushing-You are somewhere, you have paid about 25%-35% of the full payment, including construction process through to the end. HAANEN ENGINEERS-MR. THOMAS NACE ADN MR. RUCINFKI Mr. Thomas Nace- Introduced the architect Mr. Ron Rucinfki...noted a large portion of the project is architectural.. . We are looking at is to come up with a study that is definitive that looks at the problems that you have identified and tells you what the alternative solutions are to those problems, what we think is best for you and come up with some ball park costs. Mr. Rucinfki -We would do the level of architectual engineering study that is necessary to give you the basis for making a decision. Our proposal does not contemplate designing anything, but getting you to where you can make a logical decision with a range kind of estimates that this is clearly the better way to go or that is clearly the better way to go. Heating System-Gas is available...Three Choices for Heating System-Gas fired unit heaters, Gas fired furnaces with some kind of air duct distribution, or radiant heating system. Unit heaters will be the cheapest way to go and the gas fired furnaces will be the most expensive way to go at least in the short term, the infra red heating system will be medium first cost and the most energy efficient. Discussed ventilation-diesel exhaust system ... or general ventilation ... suggested adding more insulation the same as is already present... Repairs to roof- new insulation system on top of the roof which would give you a new roof at the same time. Spoke to the Board regarding a gutter system on the roof... Councilman Monahan-Questioned once we start to touch the building, don't we have to bring it up to code? Mr. Rucinfki-The Building Code kicks into effect if the alterations improvements exceed 50% of the replacement value of the building and I cannot imagine that we would hit that threshold but there might be some things that you want to do because it is prudent to do so. Mr. Nace-At this stage most of the work is Ron's I have a fairly good relationship with the Town I feel, I have not personally put any money into it, my time for this study is gratis because I feel some obligation to the Town I want to continue to work for the Town and so it is primarily Ron's fee. PRESENTATION BY JIM WELLER Mr. Weller-Spoke to the Town Board regarding the proposa1...noted this is a unique project, being small and a renovation...recommended to first identify what the program will be, what are the objectives and goals, what kind of money do you want to spend, how extensive do you want to be with the project, what kind of considerations do you want to give to it and once you have a program together you might go the second step and actually do an RFP or solicit proposals for construction documents then move onto construction...noted he was not sure what the Town was asking for..we do not know what we are getting into at this point. I do not know if you want to fix the building up to get through the next two winters or you want to fix the building up to get through the next twenty years or are you happy with the appearance of the building or the function of the buildings or have all the problems been identified over there, or if you need a new building? I do not know what the Town's short term and long term objectives are. Supervisor Champagne-Noted we have not specifically decided what it is we want in terms of scope of work. We are trying to take what is now cold storage and trying to put some heat in there to a level so the men can work under trucks they can do the necessary maintenance...to do that is probably a roofing system it's insulation its freeing up the doors, that is the immediate direction we need to take. Mr. Weller-Noted there are several ways to do that... 1. Heating Evaluate the systems, including costs etc. Step one would be the evaluation of what we have got and what you want and establish a budget and program and step two to prepare the documents to go to bid. Town Board held discussion as to whether to completely repair the existing garage or to renovate modestly and then build possible two other highway garages in different locations in the town, no decision was made... DISCUSSION JOB ASSESSMENT PROJECT MR. MIKE FOLEY PERSONNEL OFFICER FOR THE TOWN OF COLONIE MR. BOB HOWARD EMPLOYEE RELATIONS TOWN OF COLONIE Mr. Mike Foley-Spoke to the Town Board regarding a job evaluation. Job evaluation is not job performance, it deals specifically with the scope of the job you do. We would review the job descriptions, to a certain level, this is an academic exercise, then it would be followed with interviews and discussions with all the Town Department Heads to review positions and the scope of the project. Our activities are limited to non-unionized non organized positions. After speaking to Dept. Heads and having a general sense of what everyone is doing in the Town we would then create two different committees with your assistance and guidance, one committee composed of Town Board Members to participate in the job evaluation of the Department Heads and then we would envision a second committee that would be dealing with positions other than Department Heads and they would be composed of Town Officials and perhaps the Town Board. First phase review of the job descriptions, review the department, information on budgets annual reports, organizational charts... Councilman Monahan-Review of job descriptions, a lot of these employees do not actually do what their job descriptions are they do more than their job descriptions, which way do you look at that what they are actually doing or what the job description says they are supposed to be doing? Mr. Foley-We do both. We would take the existing job description as well as the additional information that would be in existence to understand the various departments and functions. Then we would talk to the persons boss and ask what they do, how closely does the job description really identify what people are doing. Mr. Howard-Theoretically we assume the job specs are correct, we can made minor modifications...that is another way of keeping the people aspect out of it and deal only with the job spec. Supervisor Champagne-This will identify if the person is working out of job classification. Mr. Foley-The job description, is generic description of what the person is all about. Described the committees that will be formed, noting that they will have training, then a couple of days sitting down with the committee and evaluate all the jobs. Phase III, if the people disagree with the findings of the committee and our recommendations you will have an opportunity, a mechanism where every town employee governed by this system would have an opportunity for appeal. The culmination would be a report back to the Town Board as to the findings of the evaluation. What we would report back would be the relative standing of jobs in the Town. What we would not be reporting at this point in time we would not come back with specific salary recommendations. From that the town would be in a position to review the salary structure as they wish. Supervisor Champagne-What we are asking them to do is to high low, from the Senior Planner or Attorney to the cleaner, everyone of those jobs in between has a value to this Town, that job will be valued in terms of the high low, a numerical value. Then we as a Town Board will come in and agree with the spread of dollars from high low or do you want to set a high for a salary for everyone. We will be able to set a salary based on the value of that job. Councilman Monahan-We have to have rational between the Union and Non Union salaries... Mr. Foley-Re: Salaries One of the issues that we will do in terms of the report, we will ask for two or three job descriptions of union positions and we will evaluate them and give a statement as to the relativity of these particular positions. Mr. Howard-Described the various ways to handle union vs non union with the same classifications... Supervisor Champagne-I have sent them job descriptions, budgets for each department, number of employees under each department, that will serve as a basis for putting together formulas, to me it is the most objective methodology that I have seen evaluate or assess job value. Councilman Monahan-Questioned job performance. Mr. Howard-We are dealing with only the job not with the person. Mr. Foley-Described the point system used, noted it would be different from the formula used in Colonie. Each job will require at least one hundred separate decisions. The final product of the Town Board will be the consensus of people within your organization as well as ours. Councilman Monahan-How many communities have you done this for, and of those communities how many are still using them? Mr. Foley-I have done seven or eight, we have done collectively four the communities are married to them. Mr. Howard-Requested that whoever is responsible for maintaining the system when it is set up be on the committee so they are trained. Requested a time frame for the process. Supervisor Champagne-Hope to have it in operation by the first of August if approved by the Board. DISCUSSION REGARDING IMPROVEMENT TO HIGHWAY GARAGE Town Board decision to talk to Highway Supt. Naylor to see where he see the future of his department to be. DISCUSSION JOB ASSESSMENT PROJECT Town Board decision to have a resolution prepared to hire Mr. Foley and Mr. Howard at Monday nights meeting. DISCUSSION FUNDING LAKE GEORGE OPERA! ADIRONDACK BALLOON FESTIVAL Councilman Pulver-I am really not in favor of it, we have turned down a lot of other things that have been just as worthy for the reason we are taking public money for private endeavors. Councilman Monahan-I am in favor because I think it is self serving, and the self servingness is that it gives a lot of publicity to the Town, secondly it brings a load of sales tax in and I am willing to put some seed money in to help generate a lot of sales tax. Councilman Wiswall-I agree with Betty it is good publicity for the Town... It was the consensus to put a resolution together for Monday night. DISCUSSION PEGGY ANN ROAD SPEED LIMIT Supervisor Champagne-I have a letter to Fred Austin in 1990 that said there is no way we can reduce Peggy Ann Road Speed Limit... Councilman Pulver-Noted that in a letter from Mr. Jenkins-speed limit on Peggy Ann is 30 mph noted not much purpose in lowering it to 35 mph ... a better approach more survaliance and enforcement in the area by the Sheriffs Patrol, also a four way stop at Arbutus and Lupine can also be done at the Town's option. DISCUSSION RECREATION COMMISSION Councilman Pulver-Noted she had been present at the last Recreation Commission meeting and there was no discussions regarding changing it from Commission to Committee, the meeting before that they said that they will discuss it at their next future meeting which was last months meeting, I do not know when they discussed the Recreation Commission to a Committee. At the last meeting they said they would like to meet with the Town Board to discuss this and I said fine, I thought we were going to discuss and get their input, they want alternating terms, and the things that we had discussed previously...I was under the impression that we were going to change this law and I thought we had made that clear, we are going to make the change what we would like is for you to give us your input in how to make this the best law we can make. They are under the impression that if they say they do not want it they are not going to get it. I do not know when they discussed this. DISCUSSION CONTROL LIGHT FOR CROSSING GUARDS Supervisor Champagne-Noted Mr. Daley has requested the purchase of crossing guards lights...$350.00 a pIece.. . Town Board requested that a resolution be prepared for Monday night. DISCUSSION HELD Proposed hiring procedures handed out to the Town Board Members. DISCUSSION RECREATION Councilman Pulver-Requested that the Supervisor find out what the people are doing that are being hired by the Recreation Dept. Supervisor Champagne-We will ask Harry to put together for his program, how it is staffed, what they pay, the hours they work... Councilman Pulver-Showed the Board what was presented by Mr. Hansen at budget time. Requested the number of people that participated in a program, and the costs to put said program on. DISCUSSION Supervisor Champagne-Gave a memo to the Town Board Members ... proposed schedule getting in Board information for the Agenda DISCUSSION Councilman Dr. Wiswall-Re: Lights at Ramada Inn...Poles and lights belong to the power company...high pressure sodium lights will replace existing lighting. DISCUSSION TOWN ATTORNEY Attorney Dusek-Spoke to the Town Board regarding the revolving loan fund through DEC, questioned if the funding for the North Queensbury Sewer Dist. and the County Line project, will it be ready for funding between 7-1-94 and 6-30-95 or next year. With the revolving fund you are not committed to anything we have been keeping it alive in the future in case you do undertake this project...Ifyou think you are going to need funding in late 95 or early 96 you should stay and tell them to put us on for 95. Town Board requested that No. Queensbury be taken off and County Line and Bay Road be put on. Town Attorney Dusek-Notice to Town Board - There is a public hearing scheduled for June 20th, 21st. and 22nd. concerning amendment to the SEQRA regulations, written comments can be made ... Town Attorney Dusek - Received a letter from Mr. Robertson of Glens Falls Electric concerning erosion of soil toward the brook at the front of the building.. contacted Mr. Shaw, he has visited the site, Mr. Shaw noted he felt it was Warren County's responsibility... I will send this information to Fred Austin and a copy of Tom Lawson Office... Councilman Monahan-Requested that the Attorney notify Mr. Robertson of what was being done. DISCUSSION Councilman Monahan-Gave update on the Glen Lake Watershed management, we have to establish those committees formally and we have to locate money. DISCUSSION Mr. Martin-Gave correspondence to Town Board Members on proposal of property being donated to the Town. DISCUSSION Supervisor Champagne-Tomorrow night the Nimo committee is going to meet here, noted that anyone that would like to sit in on that is welcome, re: Hudson River the Environmental Committee, Thomas Flaherty and Ralph VanDusen to attend. On motion the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Miss Darleen M. Dougher Town Clerk-Queensbury