Town of Essex NY

Town Board Meeting April 9, 2015

Unofficial Meeting Minutes

Supervisor: Edward Gardner

Town Council:

James LaForest (Appointed during this meeting)

Claire LaPine

Bryan Garvey

Mark Wrisley

Deputy Town Clerk: Patricia Gardner

The meeting was called to order by Supervisor Gardner who led the attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call was taken by the Deputy Town Clerk, all members of the Town Board were present.

Approval of Meeting Minutes of the Special Emergency Meeting of February 21, Regular Board Meeting of March 12, and the Special Emergency Meeting of March 27 (there does not appear to be any notification, to the public, of the March 27 meeting).  (The minutes were not read aloud and no copies were provided to the public.) The minutes of all three meetings were approved. Councilman LaPine thanked the Deputy Town Clerk for providing the minutes in advance of this meeting for Town Board Review.

Ronald Jackson was invited by Supervisor Gardner to inform the Public of work currently ongoing, reference the establishment of a Non-Profit Corporation (?) to combine the Willsboro and Essex EMS groups.  This will allow billing of Insurance for services provided.  Work began on this about three years ago and there have been roadblocks.  Mr. Jackson is now requesting a letter of support from the current Supervisor.  Local Fire Departments are not allowed to bill for services and since our EMS is currently part of the Fire Department a separate entity must be established to allow billing.  Mr. Jackson stated he would be remiss if I didn™t tell you that down the road we will have paid firefighters.  Expect that the budget for the Fire Department will be roughly equal to that of the Highway Department budget.  He will be back to the Town Board in September to provide budget requirements for the new EMS entity.  He expects that both Willsboro and Essex taxpayers will be assessed the same amount per $1,000.00 of assessed value for the service.  Questions asked as to why this is not a separate district.  Mr. Jackson stated that it would be too complicated. Supervisor LaPine asked how much will have to be in Budget:Mr. Jackson stated roughly $14,000.00.  Will decrease the Fire Department Budget and will be included in the Town Budget.  Councilman Garvey asked how this could affect the tax cap: Mr. Jackson stated this could be a problem. When asked if this could be accomplished by establishing a new District Mr. Jackson stated it would be possible but they would need to start all over again.

The floor was opened to the Public.

Donna Sonnet, representing Essex Initiatives, read the following letter that provides information about some of the events planned for the Fourth of July: Essex Commerce Com. 4th of July letter

Sharon Boisen asked Supervisor Gardner for updates on the Water Project.  The Supervisor stated that there were ongoing contract negotiations with the Hickory Hill property owners.  Mrs. Boisen asked if anything else was being worked on and the Supervisor replied no.

The following motions and Resolutions are in the order they were listed on the Agenda.  Some were presented out of this sequence.

Motion to Amend Resolution 17-2015 – Extend term to 12/31/2015 Approved by All

Motion to Amend Resolution 44-2014: Corrected to contract with Bill Kissell as attorney for the Water Project. (This was originally discussed at the June 12, 2014 Town Board Meeting and the Resolution approved the Supervisor to sign an agreement with Attorney Kissel to provide legal services for the Capital Water Project.  Rate to be $275.00 per hour plus expenses.) After many questions and discussions it was determined that the original resolution/agreement was never sent to the financing entity, as required by law, and that the wording of the agreement failed to include the wells. Approved by All

RESOLUTION 41: to Amend Abstract #2015-2 (tabled from previous meeting, pending explanation) Approved by All

RESOLUTION 43: Verizon Wireless Contract (for Cell Tower) Councilmen questioned this, is it an option or what.  Supervisor Gardner did not know.  Much simultaneous discussion, mostly mumbled, as the Town Board read the contract to determine what changes are being made.  (Audio of the Video ended during this discussion)

RESOLUTION 44 to establish pay for Town Appointed Town Clerk (There is no audio to document this Resolution.  Feedback from attendees believe that a rate of $13.00 per hour was agreed to.  There was no explanation of the termœAppointed.  Unknown if the Town Board actually appointed one of the Deputy Town Clerks to Appointed Town Clerk at another meeting.

RESOLUTION 45 to fill unexpired term of Harold MacDougal: Appoints James LaForest to the unexpired term of Harold Mac Dougal, ending 12/31/2015 (Expect Jim will resign from the ZBA) Dr. LaForest stated he will not run for this office in November and if elected will not serve. (There is no evidence Councilman MacDougal™s resignation was ever accepted.  When first announced, earlier this year, the Supervisor indicated that he was waiting for a written statement of resignation from the Councilman.) Approved by All

RESOLUTION 46 to appoint Alicia Kelly to an unexpired term on the Board of Assessment Review (BAR). (I could not locate a legal notice to advertise this as a vacant position – Pay is $100.00 per day worked). Approved by All

RESOLUTION 47 to authorize the Supervisor to request missing Petty Cash: An audit performed by Patricia Gardner and confirmed by Cathy DeWolff revealed a shortage of $77. (+).  This amount will be requested of the Town Clerk, via correspondence. Payment to be made immediately or amount will be withheld from salary.  Councilman Garvey asked question about withholding Clerk pay after one month without report.  Salary to be addressed later in this meeting.  Approved by All

RESOLUTION 48 Standard Work Week (for Retirement Purposes).  Approved by All

RESOLUTION 49 to correct Tax Levy on three properties: (Water/Sewer) Payment was made after the date due.  The Town Clerk attempted to change this and it was done incorrectly. Only way to correct is to approve resolution and send to the County Treasurer. Approved by All

RESOLUTION 50 to increase the 2014 Highway Budget: Amount was provided for the Insurance portion ($17,000.00 +/-) but not for the Snow Removal portion.  No one was able to provide an explanation for this.  Supervisor talked with Cathy Persons last month.  Council man LaPine asked when Cathy Persons would be coming back, Supervisor stated we can call her. Resolved to Table this resolution, approved by all.

RESOLUTION 51 to decrease the salary of the current Town Clerk: Requested the Town Clerk salary be reduced by 2/3 and consider these funds be distributed to the Deputy Town Clerk.  There were multiple questions regarding current Benefits being paid and the legality of doing a reduction in salary.  Councilman Garvey would like to include a request for resignation in this letter. (It was not clear if this was reviewed by an attorney.  Supervisor Gardner did state that this has been done in Ticonderoga.) Request will be mailed to the home address on file for the Town Clerk.  Approved by All

RESOLUTION 52 to adjust water and sewer billing on 2 parcels that (No audio or video available for this resolution.  Attendee feedback is that these are charges from a year ago reference work done by an independent contractor and the charges were removed from the Resident™s bill.

RESOLUTION 53 to pay Abstract #4 2015 Approved by All

REPORTS:  No reports were provided for the Public nor were they read aloud

Town Clerk: Approved February

Supervisor: Approved

Supervisor County Report: Supervisor Gardner announced there would be an informational meeting tomorrow at 11 AM (April 10) to discuss the drainage project.  The county, AES and Sheehan (contractor) will be attending. This meeting is open to the Public.  (Actually the meeting began at 10 AM and was concluded prior to the scheduled time.)

Highway Superintendent: Approved (Councilman LaPine requested future reports include more detail)

Wastewater Treatment Operator: Approved

Water Superintendent: N/A

Code Officer Report: Approved

(Audio and Video ended here so no additional information available)

The Acoustics throughout the meeting were poor.  It was difficult to hear and/or understand the conversations fully.