Town of Essex
Special Meeting
February 10, 2012
3:00 p.m.
The Special Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Essex, County of Essex in the State of New York was held at the Town Hall, 2313 Main Street, Essex, NY, on the 10th day of February, 2012, at 3:00 p.m.
PRESENT:
Sharon Boisen Supervisor
Claire LaPine Councilwoman
Mark Wrisley Councilman
Harold MacDougal Councilman (4:15 pm)
ABSENT:
Dr. James LaForest Councilman
OTHERS PRESENT:
Catherine DeWolff, Town Clerk, David Lansing, Code Enforcement Officer,
Dennis Tarrantino, Attorney at Law
Supervisor Boisen opened the Special Meeting at 3:05 p.m. at which time the Supervisor made a motion to enter into Executive Session to discuss a legal matter, seconded by Councilwoman LaPine. Roll call vote to enter Executive Session: 3-Yes: Boisen, LaPine, Wrisley 0-No
On a motion to exit the Executive Session and re-enter the Special Meeting by Supervisor Boisen, seconded by Councilwoman LaPine the motion is carried by Roll Call vote: 3-Yes Boisen, LaPine, Wrisley 0-No
Councilwoman LaPine advised the Town Clerk that the Town Historian, Shirley LaForest, will remove her items from the Town’s vault when she returns from her trip south. Mrs. LaPine also mentioned that she had a request for a calendar and that she forwarded the information in an email to Shirley.
Introduction of an Amendment to Local Law #2 of 2009. Supervisor Boisen advised the Board that this is on the Agenda for next week’s meeting, however, we could get started on it now.
On an aside, the Supervisor advised the Board that she had purchased a chair for her use here at the Town and inquired about payment options for the chair. Supervisor Boisen let the Board know that the chair was expensive and if she had to pay the entire amount she would, however, the chair is for her use here at the Town Hall. There was a general discussion regarding the Supervisor’s chair. Councilwoman LaPine asked if there was money in the budget for it. The Supervisor responded in the affirmative. Councilwoman asked what line item it would come out of in the budget. The Supervisor said that Equipment is $500 and contractual is $5,000. Councilwoman said you could take the $500 out of Equipment but then you’d still be short the hundred. The Supervisor said that the funds could be transferred to cover that amount. Councilpersons agreed that you do need furnishings here at the Town offices and that chairs don’t last forever. There was further discussion regarding the chair. Councilwoman LaPine said take the $500 out of Equipment and the other $100 out of Contractual, as long as it was still under the Supervisor’s thing. Councilman Wrisley concurred. The Supervisor thanked the Councilpersons.
Supervisor Boisen advised the Board that we need a Resolution introducing the Amendment to Local Law #2 of 2009. We talked about this last year and we did do it, however, it was never carried out and we will also need to hold a public hearing.
RESOLUTION #37 -2012
On a motion by Supervisor Boisen to introduce the Amendment to Local Law #2 of 2009, better known as the Parking Law, seconded by Councilman Wrisley, the following Resolution to introduce is:
ADOPTED: Yes-3 Boisen, Wrisley, LaPine No-0
The Supervisor advised that we will set the date for a public hearing at 6:45 p.m. on March 15, 2012, our next meeting date and we will advertise that.
Supervisor Boisen told the Board that the Highway crew has volunteered their time and talent to put a walk-up window in the Town Clerk’s office thereby making the office of the Town Clerk more accessible to the public. There was discussion of how to close and/or lock the opening and the costs involved. The Town Clerk advised that she would like to include in the project of the window a better work space that could be put along the wall in her office similar to shelving that would eliminate the bulky desk that is not user friendly. The Highway crew thought they could also do this as well. Councilwoman LaPine asked about the cost and said that she would not decide on this until we had an idea of the cost of same. Councilman Wrisley asked why the cost could not come out of the Wright’s Inn account as it was an update to the building. It was agreed that the Town Clerk will look into the cost of supplies to do the work and report back to the Board.
The Supervisor brought up the Records Management Grant that the Town Clerk gave information on and advised that the deadline for the grant had been extended to February 15th. Councilwoman LaPine said that she called Peru, Mr. Gallucia, who was on the list of references of the Grant Writer, Alden Stevens. She advised that the man was quite competent and that he did not need supervision, and that he was quite professional. Mrs. LaPine said that she felt good after talking to the gentleman about it. Supervisor Boisen said that she spoke with Essex County Planning Dept., who advised her that we would need 30% more space for our needs and discussed whether using the upstairs space for such needs. There was a discussion of what could be done to better use the space upstairs. The Town Clerk, Catherine DeWolff, described to the Board what the Grant writer would do for us as he would implement the grant using the funds that may be awarded to the Town. The Town Clerk stressed the need for better organization of the Town’s files and purging of old records, something that has not been accomplished in recent years. The Grant Writer would accomplish this with this round of grant awards. Supervisor Boisen asked whether the grant might cover renovations for a larger vault space. The Clerk responded that this was not part of what would be written for this grant but could be added in future years. The Supervisor added that in March, Historic grants may become available on a matching basis and that this would give us more options for better utilizing our space.
At 4:15 p.m. Councilman MacDougal joins the meeting.
There was a general discussion of the most cost effective way to repair and utilize the space upstairs. The Board brought Mr. MacDougal up to speed on the discussions that had ensued. There was more discussion as to renovating the upstairs.
Supervisor Boisen asked the Town Clerk whether we could have the grant writer add a renovation project to the current grant proposal. The Town Clerk advised that this was not part of what was going to occur in this round of the grant writing process as the grant writer explained to her that we (the Town) need to start small and work our way up from there in upcoming years. As the grant writer explained it to her, he would organize our files into a workable indexing system so that we can find them and purge old files that are no longer needed or required and provide better shelving space in our existing vault to better utilize the space.
The Supervisor asked the Board if we are interested in applying for this grant with the gentleman, Alden Stevens, and that we would be committed to have him do the job? Councilman MacDougal asked if we would be committed to having the grant writer do the job. The Town Clerk answered in the affirmative. Mr. MacDougal clarified that this is not a matching grant. The Supervisor asked for a motion to go for the Records Management grant using the grant writer, Alden Stevens, as the administrator. Councilman MacDougal said he thought we should do it.
Resolution 38-2012
ACCEPTANCE OF THE APPLICATION FOR A RECORDS MANAGEMENT GRANT TO BE WRITTEN AND ADMINISTERED BY ALDEN STEVENS
On a motion by Councilman MacDougal, seconded by Councilman Wrisley the Resolution is
ADOPTED Yes-4 LaPine, MacDougal, Wrisley, Boisen No-0
Whereas, the Town of Essex, NY, has agreed by a unanimous vote of the Town Board, duly elected officials representing the residents of the Town of Essex, NY, at a Special meeting held on February 10, 2012, to allow professional grant writer, Alden Stevens, to write a grant on behalf of the Town of Essex for a State of New York Local Government Records Management Grant for the 2012/2013 grant cycle, by which, should such grant be awarded to the Town for the purpose stated above, Alden Stevens shall administer said grant.
The Supervisor asked if there was anything further to come before the Board. Councilwoman LaPine said that Frank had stopped her on the way down to the meeting to ask when the Fire Company was going to get their check. The Supervisor advised the Councilwoman that the checks were mailed today.
With nothing further to come before the Board, the meeting is adjourned at 4:37 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Catherine DeWolff, Town Clerk
