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1996-01-08 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING JANUARY 8, 1996 4:30 P.M. MTG#2 RES. 43-46 (DO NOT USE COMPUTER COPY USE BOOK COPY) BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT SUPERVISOR FRED CHAMPAGNE COUNCILMAN BETTY MONAHAN COUNCILMAN THEODORE TURNER COUNCILMAN CONNIE GOEDERT COUNCILMAN CAROL PULVER TOWN ATTORNEY PAUL DUSEK TOWN OFFICIALS TOM FLAHERTY, JIM MARTIN, JOHN GORALSKI, P AUL NAYLOR, RALPH VANDUSEN PRESS POST STAR DISCUSSION HELD Supervisor Champagne-Opened meeting. Spoke to the Board regarding the hiring of the building maintenance mechanic. Noted the board should have received three top candidates that Chuck Rice has interviewed, noting now he is making a recommendation for that position. The position has already been approved now it is just a matter of now the rate of pay and individual. Councilman Monahan questioned if she has seen the other resumes? Councilman Goedert noted she hasn't seen them. Councilman Pulver noted that she hasn't seen the resumes, but has no problem with the person that Mr. Rice has recommended. Councilman Turner noted he doesn't have a problem with the recommendation. Noted this is a position that has been left vacant for the last six months noted Mr. Rice is anxious to get the position filled if we can get someone in the position fine, can also wait until the next regular meeting. It was the decision of the board to hold this resolution until they contact Mr. Rice regarding the questions concerning this position. Supervisor Champagne noted Mr. Rice was out of the building but has left a message for him to contact the board regarding this matter. PARILLO PROPERTY REZONING - FOREST PARK MOBILE HOME PARK ATTORNEY JOHN RICHARDS AND MR. PARILLO PRESENT ATTORNEY RICHARDS-Spoke to the board regarding their application for the expansion of the mobile home park, noting they would like to resubmit their application want to make sure they address all the concerns. Map presented to board showing the layout of Forest Park noted they are concerned with the parcel on the corner of VanDusen and Pitcher Roads. Attorney Richards noted the store is not owned by Mr. Parillo. Asking to extend the mobile home overlay zone. There is an existing house and two garages, the house would be strictly used in connection with the park. Attorney Richards presented to board members letters from residents of the park complementing Mr. Parillo on the work he has done in upgrading the park. Mr. Parillo noted the improvements to the park since his purchase. Noted the additional eleven lots in conjunction with the hundred and eighty-six that exist in the park isn't a significant amount. Attorney Richards noted they have talked to the planning department and have addressed their concerns. Councilman Goedert questioned if there is a park manager on duty all the time that lives in the park? Mr. Parillo, no a manager will live there to address primarily complaints. Mr. Parillo noted that he has never had a written complaint from the board of health since he has been in the business. Councilman Pulver noted her concern with what the neighbors will see from Pitcher Road. Mr. Parillo noted lot seven will remain identical to what it is. Noted he will not be taking down any trees on the road for approximately seventy-five feet. They will only be able to see one mobile home if they see any. Mr. Parillo noted he could flag where the buffer will begin if the board wanted him to. The buffer area will be at least what it is now and possibly more as you get down towards the corner. Councilman Monahan noted they have talked about making the buffer much deeper. You have to get into some deep buffering when you get towards the corner lot. Mr. Parillo noted he would be willing to put stockade fencing up if the board is not happy with the buffer. Councilman Monahan noted that the one garage that is there is bisecting two lots. Executive Director, Mr. Martin questioned if one will be taken down? Mr. Parillo, not subdividing anything. Councilman Monahan noted there are three different lots coming out of this area. They have talked about changing the lines so this wouldn't happen, noting the restrictions should be written in that this will not have a mobile home on it in this area. Attorney Richards noted they will check the square footage, Mr. Parillo noted it is not a problem. Councilman Monahan noted there will have to be a restriction that the house is only used for a park manager's home. Mr. Parillo, doesn't have a problem with it. Supervisor Champagne noted there was a concern that waste was being dumped in a ravine, questioned if this has been solved Mr. Parillo noted it was pine needles and brush they have permission from ECON as long as the pine needles originate on the property, are not dumping them in the stream. John Goralski, Code Compliance Officer noted he has looked at the property and they are maintaining the setback from the stream. Attorney Dusek noted his concern with as the board addresses this is that you want that house to be on the lot with all the mobile homes, you want one owner to own the whole thing. If you break out the lot and have the house follow the configuration of the buffer lines you will create a separate lot. does not think you can restrict the property under the constitution you could sell it. If you tie the house in with the entire mobile home lots that are being created your restriction will be no subdivision. Attorney Richards to meet with Executive Director, Mr. Martin to work out the mechanics. LAND DEDICATION FROM GROSS (MAP SHOWN SHOWING LOCATION OF PROPERTY) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MR. MARTIN -Spoke to the board regarding the donation of property to the town in lieu of payment for recreation fees. It is a long linear piece given the particular location and what it allows to be done it is potentially of some interest. Mr. Goralski noted there is one lot between this parcel and the river. At the end of this parcel going on to their right-of-way and then under the northway this would allow for access under the northway with pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Especially of interest is the proposed Hudson River Park is on the other side of this. Executive Director, Mr. Martin noted the Recreation Commission has seen this and recommends taking it. The piece is only forty feet wide it would never be wide enough for a town right-a-way. Executive Director, Mr. Martin noted this is in the early stage what would happen he would get the boards opinion on this take it back to the Planning Board and they would review this and would make a recommendation on acceptance the Town Board to make final recommendation. Discussion held among board members regarding the proposed Hudson River Park. Councilman Goedert questioned what would be the dollar amount on recreation fees? Mr. Goralski noted they are in phase one with eight lots, $4,000. Councilman Monahan questioned if they are going to treat this as the rec fee in phase one? Mr. Goralski, phase one at this point. Mr. Goralski noted to get under the underpass they would have to get NYS DOT approval and Federal Highway Commission. Councilman Goedert noted the property that the town would be getting would be of no use if you couldn't get the right- of-way. Councilman Goedert recommended getting the permission of DOT first before accepting the land. Executive Director, Mr. Martin noted the interest of the developer is that he would like to get on with the final approval of the subdivision. If the board wanted to try and put this in some kind of holding pattern maybe we could do that. Supervisor Champagne noted if he gave the board the $4,000 with the understanding if the board gets approval he would get his money back. Mr. Goralski noted that the developer would like to come in in February for final approval. Attorney Dusek noted the first step would be to ask the developer first to see if he is interested. Councilman Goedert asked if he is due to pay the rec fees on this? Executive Director, Mr. Martin he has to donate the land and the town has to accept it or if the town does not want to accept it then he has to pay the fee. Councilman Monahan questioned if three board members are in agreement to doing this, board members all in agreement. DISCUSSION HELD TOM FLAHERTY, WATER SUPERINTENDENT-Spoke to the board regarding a conflict in the Town Code between two sections of the law. Noted the sections in conflict are Section 173.15 and Section 183.29. Questioned which section applies? Attorney Dusek noted under the law the more restrictive one would apply. Attorney Dusek noted one of those is the subdivision regulations which is the problem and subdivision regulations are the Planning Boards regulations they are the towns regulations but they imminent from the Planning Board. Although it is a conflict and it should be resolved it is not a serious as it might initially appear. He would be bound by the more restrictive law which is the two thousand feet. Executive Director, Mr. Martin noted the developer is prepared to do that. Mr. Goralski questioned if this is something that the town wants to do? Board, yes. Mr. Flaherty recommended clearing this up so the Planning Board is reading the same law. Attorney Dusek questioned which one would be the towns policy? Mr. Flaherty, Water Superintendent, Section 173.15 is more restrictive. Attorney Dusek to amend the subdivision regulations to bring it into compliance. HIGH WATER USER RATES (PRESENTED REPORT TO BOARD BULK RATE DISCOUNT) TOM FLAHERTY, WATER SUPERINTENDENT-Spoke to the board regarding report. Noted the purpose of this report is to generate discussion and it is not cast in stone. Received request from a large water consumer in the area to take a look developing bulk rates for purchase of water. In their first attempt of this they took a look at nine of the largest customers to see what the affect on the district would be. Took the production cost of .75 per thousand and added .10 per thousand charge to cover transmission maintenance cost as we did with Hudson Falls and included an additional .10 per thousand resulting in a bulk rate cost of .95 per thousand. Mr. Flaherty explained the five different illustrations of water rates that were presented to the board. After further discussion Mr. Flaherty recommended going with illustration number four, noted it would not affect the remaining consumers in the district that much. After further discussion it was the decision of the board to go with illustration number four. Attorney Dusek noted a public hearing would have to be held, Attorney Dusek to draft language. WEEKS ROAD ALIGNMENT Discussion held among board members regarding the Weeks Road alignment. Executive Director, Mr. Martin noted that the car wash on the corner wants to come in with a self-service operation, where they locate the building can be affected by the road. They want to know if the town is going to be proceeding with the project. Councilman Goedert questioned what the purpose was of realigning Weeks Road? Executive Director, Mr. Martin, to remove the dangerous turning movements that exist with the misalignment. Councilman Goedert questioned what would classify a dangerous turning element? Executive Director, Mr. Martin, two misaligned roads that are in close proximity to one another. Councilman Goedert noted that the light at Walmart has taken care of a lot of the problems with the residents of Robert Gardens getting out onto Route 9. Executive Director, Mr. Martin recommended to buy the property and at least keep the property and put it away for the future when you do have to do the improvement. Councilman Turner noted that you have to consider that once you buy that piece of property is there enough property there after you buy it if you don't ever use it can you sell it for any use that's allowed in that zone. Executive Director, Mr. Martin noted he sees projected growth rates there, sees background growth at two percent a year, if you apply that over a ten year term you are going to see an increase capacity. Councilman Monahan noted for the record her opinion is that you have to look ten years down the road. After further discussion it was the decision of the Town Board not to realign Weeks Road. Attorney Dusek to draft resolution to rescind old resolution. RESOLUTION ENTERING EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 43, 96 INTRODUCED BY: Mrs. Connie Goedert WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby adjourns from Regular Session and moves into Executive Session to discuss matters leading to the employment or retaining of a particular engmeer. Duly adopted this 8th day of January, 1996, by the following vote: Ayes: Mrs. Monahan, Mr. Turner, Mrs. Goedert, Mrs. Pulver, Mr. Champagne Noes: None Absent: None RESOLUTION ADJOURNING EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 44, 96 INTRODUCED BY: Mrs. Connie Goedert WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mrs. Carol Pulver RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby adjourns from Executive Session and moves back into Regular Session. Duly adopted this 8th day of January, 1996, by the following vote: Ayes: Mr. Turner, Mrs. Goedert, Mrs. Pulver, Mrs. Monahan, Mr. Champagne Noes: None Absent: None SIDEWALKS Discussion held regarding maintenance of sidewalks on Ridge Road. Councilman Turner noted he has receive complaints from residents of the area that the sidewalks are not being taken care of. Councilman Turner questioned the board as to how they want to handle this? Attorney Dusek noted you could develop a sidewalk district. You would build a district like you would for anything else it would have a separate tax base for that district that are benefitted by the sidewalks. Board discussed matter further, after further discussion there was not action taken. PENFLEX ISSUE Supervisor Champagne spoke to the board regarding payment to a Queensbury Central fireman for his 1994 points. After further discussion it was the decision of the Town Board to make payment. CROSSING GUARDS Councilman Goedert spoke to the board regarding the duties regarding the crossing guard position. Noted the time should be set for the crossing guards to be there and to set the locations of crossing guards. Questioned why the town is paying for church school, noted she is not opposed to the crossing guard position. Supervisor Champagne noted times have been set for the crossing guards also noted that the principal had requested a crossing guard for church school. Councilman Goedert, need to come to some conclusion as to who is requesting the added hours for the crossing guards, would like to see a standard operation. Councilman Monahan noted this should be stated in a previous resolution. Supervisor Champagne to look into the matter further report back to board. COLES WOODS Discussion held regarding annexing Coles Woods. Supervisor Champagne noted there has been a request from the city to discuss the annexation of Coles Woods. Supervisor Champagne asked Attorney Dusek to research the water tax if it were to be annexed. Attorney Dusek noted that under an annexation of this nature the improvement district would cease to exist, however, the property itself would still be liable for the current debt load for capital improvements that are currently on the property. After further discussion it was the decision of Town Board to look into this matter further to see what the benefits would be to the town. MONUMENT RESTORATION Discussion held regarding the restoration of the monument. Supervisor Champagne asked the board if they wanted to sell a piece of the monument in order for the city to pursue a grant in order to get their study underway. Attorney Dusek noted the presumption as it stands now is that the town is the owner. Research should be done to make sure there are no records that did transfer interest to the city. Attorney Dusek to contact Marilyn VanDyke regarding this matter. MMA STUDY Discussion held regarding the MMA study Town Board members noted their concerns with the report. Councilman Goedert noted you need to come to some conclusion on how to get the final draft of the study. Councilman Monahan, the board should look at whether the study that was done is what the Town Board wanted accomplished. Councilman Pulver questioned the amount of calls in the report noting her totals were not the same. After further discussion it was the decision of the Town Board to write down their concerns with the report and report them back to the Supervisor. Supervisor to summarize them and put them in a letter back to MMA. Supervisor Champagne to call fire companies asking them it they have concerns regarding the report to note them and report back to Supervisor. 1996 PRIORITY ISSUES Discussion held regarding list of priority issues for 1996. Supervisor Champagne noted at the committee meetings he would like to see a agenda going into the meeting, would like to see some minutes coming out the meeting, would like to see it reported back to all members of the board. It was noted that if a major issue comes up at a committee meeting that concerns ones ward then the council person for that ward should be present. Town Board members noted keeping minutes to a meeting would be no problem, but hard to do an agenda, the meetings should be open for discussion. After further discussion it was the decision of the board that before anything gets put on workshops it will come recommended from the committee chairman. Supervisor Champagne recommended board members to put together five or seven priority items that are seen on that list or ones that you add to the list will write a plan around that for 1996. PROPOSED NEW AGENDA FORMAT Discussion held among board members concerning new format for agenda. Attorney Dusek recommended that under plan discussion items to break in down into old business, new business. Under new business noting every single matter that is called by a board member goes under the new business items. Under old business the items scheduled to go in there would be the same items that had been previously up for discussion. Then on Monday evening when you get to the plan discussion items this is where you could entertain resolutions or motions as to not to discuss certain items, postponing them because the list is to long. You would carry over the items that were listed and not discussed to the next meeting under old business. You would also have a town board member section on the agenda for purpose of discussion. Councilman Pulver recommended doing the committee reports at the workshop meetings. After further discussion it was the decision of the board to follow this new agenda format. (Councilman Pulver excused herself from meeting) RESOLUTION ENTERING EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 45, 1996 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Theodore Turner WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mrs. Connie Goedert RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby adjourns from Regular Session and moves into Executive Session to discuss matters leading to the appointment of a particular person\legal professional services, matters concerning employment history of particular person, one matter attorney/client privilege, one matter proposed acquisition of real property. Duly adopted this 8th day of January, 1996 by the following vote: Ayes: Mrs. Goedert, Mrs. Monahan, Mr. Turner, Mr. Champagne Noes: None Absent: Mrs. Pulver (Councilman Pulver re-entered meeting) RESOLUTION ADJOURNING EXECUTIVE SESSION AND TOWN BOARD MEETING RESOLUTION NO. 46, 96 INTRODUCED BY: Mrs. Carol Pulver WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mrs. Connie Goedert RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby adjourns from Executive Session and moves back into Regular Session, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Board adjourns its meeting. Duly adopted this 8th day of January, 1996 by the following vote: Ayes: Mrs. Pulver, Mr. Turner, Mrs. Monahan, Mrs. Goedert, Mr. Champagne Noes: None Absent: None No further action taken. On motion the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully Submitted, Darleen M. Dougher Town Clerk Town of Queensbury