UNOFFICIAL MEETING MINUTES summarized by Olive Alexander and Sharon Boisen
Meeting was called to order
Supervisor Gardner Present Councilwoman LaPine Present Councilman Garvey Present Councilman Wrisley Present Councilman MacDougal Absent
Salute to Flag and Pledge
The town clerk summarized the reading of the meeting minutes from 07/10/14. Motion to accept as presented approved. Councilwoman LaPine requested she get a copy of the minutes a day before the meeting so she has time to read them. From the public Sharon Boisen stated that the law says they should be made available within two weeks of the date of the meeting. The supervisor replied that we cannot tell the town clerk what to put in the minutes.
An agreement with the Close/Mallett families was approved. Copy was not available for the public.
Authorization to hire Ann Holland to perform the SEQR process of the Proposed Zoning Revisions at the rate of $125/hr., not to exceed $3000, which Ms. Holland agreed to redo for the project at that price. Councilman Wrisley questioned the sequence of the process having not seen the current proposal. He feels the town board should be in agreement before the SEQR process begun in order to know that no additional changes will be made causing them to redo the costly SEQR. The supervisor stated that Jim Van Hoven has the proposed revisions just about ready for town board approval. The public was dis allowed to ask questions at this time. It was concluded that the sequence should be, town board review and in agreement, public hearing(s) take place, agreed upon changes made from public hearing discussions made and town board resolution of approval to begin SEQRA, SEQRA performed, then adoption of the revised law. The contract with Ms. Holland was approved but a start date was not determined or approved as they are not ready for her services at this time.
Authorization for the town clerk to develop and advertise RFP’s (request for proposals) for Fuel Oil, Insurance, Furnace Cleaning and Repair and Beggs Park Dock Maintenance was approved.
Outsourcing payroll: After a discussion of an RFP for outsourcing, Richard Teitelbaum (member of the public present), suggested the town put out an RFI (request for information) allowing the town board to become better educated in the payroll process before determining if they are interested in putting out an RFP. Authorization for RFI was approved. Councilwoman LaPine stated she is uncomfortable with sending confidential work outside of the town. Mrs. LaPine also questioned clerk to the supervisor, Catherine DeWolff, that payment of such outside work would be deducted from her salary. Ms. DeWolff confirmed she had agreed her salary would be reduced by the annual costs to the town. The intention of considering outsourcing payroll is to prevent the clerk to the supervisor from having to prepare payroll. Anita Shapiro voiced concerns over such contract as it is difficult to go back to doing payroll in house and companies know this once you switch they increase fees etc. as œ they have you over a barrel.
The town board authorized the town clerk to prepare monthly vouchers, accounts payable and receivable, and water and sewer billing to relieve the clerk to the supervisor from this work. (This comes after in 2012, the then town clerk, Catherine DeWolff, requested the town board resolve to have this work be performed by the supervisor’s office so as town clerk she would not have to do it.)
The town board passed a resolution to hire Peggy Staats as Planning Board Secretary. Mrs. LaPine questioned the resignation of Catherine DeWolff as Planning Board Secretary and advertisements for the open position. The town clerk receded to his office and returned allegedly provided supporting documents to Mrs. LaPine. Copies were not provided to the public.
Update from the supervisor on the water project:
Well drilling went about 500 feet, approximately 425 feet hard rock 75 feet sand. Sharon Boisen questioned if there was water located. The supervisor responded that there was not sufficient water quantity. The supervisor refused to take any further questions from the public at this time. A special meeting next Thursday, 8/21/14, 3pm at the town hall was scheduled.
***Resignation was received from Derrick Wrisley as Waste Water Treatment Plant Operator (WWTP) assistant. (Following is excerpt from the recording of the meeting) Jim Morgan has volunteered to fill in as Water Assistant. Tina Gardner will handle both jobs at the WWTP. There is an ad in the paper for assistant, two week response given.
(Editorial note: Mr. Morgan will need to become certified in order to meet Department of Health requirements. The water district residents will have to assume these training costs. **per Tina this won’t be necessary as it will be for a very short period**. There will be costs to the Sewer District for WWTP Assistant Training )
There is an ad in the paper for a certified WWTP operator assistant.
Supervisor stated we are not selling the beach… a harbor master is needed…..Willsboro and Essex both need one and will look into shared services…not next week but probably next year. Bonnie Monoski (member of the public present) asked if the moorings would be available to Essex residents only….the supervisor said he does not know….Olive Alexander strongly urged the supervisor to read the shoreline revitalization laws and harbor management laws before going any further.
County report from the supervisor: Essex, Westport, Willsboro and Chesterfield is about tourism. County is working with towns to increase tourism. Next meeting with county and interested business owners and residents is September 11th. Cemetery, county home: request has been made for county to regain ownership. Transfer station: RFP going out now…. there’s a possibility of the town leasing the transfer site land.
Supervisor’s financial report tabled because it’s not yet completed.
Town clerk report accepted after much discussion of concern from Councilwoman LaPine regarding timeliness of deposits. Additional concern from her regarding conflicts in the report, $18,000 reportedly taken into the town clerk’s office for tickets sold to the town of Willsboro and deposited to supervisors account. Additionally the town clerk reported that he did not deposit checks on a weekly basis but he deposited cash daily. Reports and bank statements were not available for the public.
Zoning officers report approved by town board. No copies for the public were available and zoning officer was not present to read her report.
Payment of the bills was approved, though Councilwoman LaPine has questions for the highway superintendent, Bradley French, who was not present. She will ask him later.
During the public comment agenda item Mr. Ed Douglas was introduced. He was prepared to discuss with the town board the town beach and the need to not sell it. The supervisor replied again that they are not selling the town beach. Mr. Douglas voiced his concerns over a meeting he had with Chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee, Councilman Harold MacDougal (absent), as Harold MacDougal told Mr. Douglas indeed they were looking into selling the town beach. Mr. Douglas was seeking assurance tonight that this would not be the case. The supervisor laughed and advised Mr. Douglas they were not selling the town beach, never, at least he could speak for this town board but not for boards in the future, say 20 years from now. After Mr. Douglas was allowed to share his concerns the supervisor advised they would take public comments but only 2 minutes per person. Emily Phillips shared her support for the use of the town beach as she lives nearby and enjoys seeing people using the beach respectfully. Ms. Phillips stated there are no 2 am parties and no misuse from her vantage point. Bonnie Monoski and Ed Monoski spoke in favor of the town owning and maintaining the beach. Some discussion ensued about the duties of a harbor master. Richard Teitelbaum spoke in favor of the town owning the town beach. Matt Durrant spoke in favor of the town owning the beach. At this time the supervisor indicated that he would allow only one more comment from the public. Sharon Boisen asked where we could find the proposed zoning revisions on line, the supervisor suggested she come to the town and obtain a hard copy, as they must have one, Jim Van Hoven has it if not. Ms. Boisen stated she wanted an electronic copy. The supervisor replied that may not be possible. No public comments were allowed after this time and the town board resolved to enter into executive session to discuss the highway union contract.
It appeared as though all members of the public left the building at this time.
(Please note: that an audio recording of this meeting supporting the above summary is available upon request)
