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APPROVED Minutes of the December 3, 2013 Meeting of the Asharoken Board of Trustees

 Incorporated Village of Asharoken

Board of Trustees Regular Meeting

Held on Tuesday

December 3rd, 2013 7:30 P.M

At the Northport Power Plant

Approximate Attendance (28)

                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                               

Officers Present:

Greg Letica, Mayor

Pam Pierce, Deputy Mayor

Melvin Ettinger, Trustee

Laura Burke, Trustee

Ian Jablonski, Trustee

 

Officials & Appointees Present:

Nancy Rittenhouse, Village Clerk

Bruce Migatz, Village Attorney

Emily Hayes, Treasurer

Ray Mahdesian, Officer- in- Charge

Doug Adil, Superintendent of Buildings

Marty Cohen, Conservation of the Environment

 

The Pledge of Allegiance was said.

Proof of publication was made.

 

Trustee Ettinger made a motion to approve the regular board minutes for November 4th, 2013, seconded by Trustee Burke.

 

Trustee Jablonski                                            AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Deputy Mayor Pierce made a motion to approve the board’s work session minutes for November 12th, 2013, seconded by Trustee Jablonski.

 

Trustee Jablonski                                            AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Mayor Letica presented proclamations to Steve Trombetti and Eric Maffei to honor them for all their hard work and dedication on the website that helps serve the residents.  Mayor Letica read the proclamation and they were congratulated by the entire board.

 

 

 

Mayor’s Report:

Mayor Greg Letica reports, “I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Hanukkah and enjoyed the time together with their families.

During the month of November there have been three significant developments in the ACOE restoration of the Long Island Sound beach.

On November 26th I heard from Sue McCormick, Chief of the Coastal Erosion Management Program at the NYSDEC. She reports that the DEC is working on 23 ongoing projects on Long Island and NYC. She advised that they have only four staff members, including her, at NYSDEC managing all of these projects and the projects have a cost of over $2 Billion. The same group also manages the State's Coastal Erosion Hazard Area Permit Program which includes the Great Lakes. Sue McCormick noted that they are more than overloaded.  She noted that Asharoken has the same high a priority as all of the other Feasibility Study’s they are working on and if at all feasible, it will be expedited.  She understands the vulnerability of our coastline.   She also advised that at this point in time our Feasibility Study will be one of the first completed and that Asharoken’s was the first Feasibility Cost Share Agreement that was amended which has reduced the village’s local share for the study.  She also pointed out that apparently the Army Corps of Engineers just received funding to move forward with the completion of the Feasibility Study this past September.

The reason that Asharoken was the first community to have its Cost Share Agreement amended, saving Asharoken $225,000, is a result of the priority that the Board of Trustees places on the Asharoken Beach Restoration Project.  On June 7th the NYSDEC requested that Asharoken pass a resolution agreeing to the change in the cost share agreement and in response the Village Board held a special meeting on June 14th, 2013 to approve the resolution. The village board had the resolution back to the NYSDEC as quickly as was possible.

The village has a meeting set up with the NYSDEC on December 6th, 2013 at which time we are expected to discuss, among other topics, a schedule of milestone dates.  This schedule, which I have been pushing the USACE and NYSDEC to produce since September, will give Asharoken a clearer idea of how the Asharoken Beach Restoration Project will progress.  I would like to thank Deputy Mayor Pam Pierce for her hard work in assisting this effort. Although the Beach Restoration Project continues to be the top priority for the village, and everyone would like to see it done sooner than later, the realities of life are clearly stated by Sue McCormick. Real progress is being made but patience will also be required.

On November 7th the Huntington Town Board unanimously passed a resolution, which I had proposed originally to Supervisor Petrone, supporting the USACE Beach Reconstruction Project.  This resolution is a critical step because it acknowledges that Huntington has many residents that will benefit from the Asharoken Beach Restoration Project and that the project’s scope is not limited to Asharoken. The resolution was sent to all of our federal and state elected officials as well as the head of the NYSDEC.  I am thankful to Supervisor Frank Petrone and Council members Mark Cuthbertson, Susan Berland, Eugene Cook and Mark Mayoka for their support. A copy of the resolution is available on our web site.

On October 28th the village received correspondence from Suffolk County offering to sell the village a beach lot which the county has foreclosed on.  This parcel of property is ideally suited to provide a beach access point that the USACE and NYSDEC will require to restore the beach.  The cost of the parcel, which is deductible from the village cost share of the Beach Restoration Project, is $792.47 and therefore the village board at the November 12th meeting decided to move forward to acquire this parcel. The next step in the process will be to do a title search pending board approval this evening.

At the November 12th Village of Asharoken Board of Trustees work session the village reached an understanding with Mayor Doll of Northport to provide a five- year contract for FIRE and EMS protection.  The understanding calls for 3% increases per year.  To put this into perspective Northport had originally proposed a one or two year deal at 4% per year. Additionally, the increases over the four preceding years (2009-2012) averaged 6.25% and if you include the two proposed 4% increases the 6 year average would have been 5.5%.  This understanding will save the village money and provide budgeting guidance over the next four years. As required by NYS law there will be a public hearing on the contract at the January 7th 2014 meeting and hopefully a vote to authorize the mayor to sign it at that time.  Additionally, the village is working on a new five year agreement with Northport to provided municipal services, examples are police dispatching and road maintenance to run concurrently with the Fire & EMS Protection contract.  Thanks goes to Trustees Ettinger and Jablonski who helped make this new understanding possible.

At the same meeting, the board was joined by Dierdre Butterfield, Deputy Attorney for the Town of Huntington, Ed Carr, head of Maritime Services and Damon McMullen, Trustee Village of Northport.  We had a discussion about the IMA relating to water quality in Northport Bay.  Based on the discussion Huntington is going to make some modifications and additions to the document and return a new draft copy for our consideration.

On Thursday November 14th Deputy Mayor Pierce, Clerk Nancy Rittenhouse and I had a conference call with Mark Snyder and Jessica Schwartz from the office of Congressman Steve Israel.  We discussed the Asharoken Beach Restoration Project and asked them to continue to advocate on our behalf.  Additionally, we discussed the FEMA component of the village hall project.  Based on our conversation I was reassured that indeed both of the projects are on their radar screen and are actively being followed up on. 

The village had two meetings with representative from FEMA to discuss funding relating to damage to village hall from Super Storm Sandy. On November 21st Clerk Nancy Rittenhouse and I met with Jeremy Fannon and Tom Aoli , and on November 25th Trustee Ettinger, Deputy Mayor Pierce, Clerk Rittenhouse and I met with Jermey  Fannon and Ray Parker.  FEMA is taking a new look at our project  and will be getting back to us as soon as possible to let us know if we will be eligible for more funding than was originally assumed.  The Village Board has entered into a contract with Victor Cuneo, a local architect to assist us with finalizing plans for the Village Hall Project.  In addition according to FEMA a portion of Mr. Cuneo’s architectural fees will be reimbursable from FEMA.  In addition I asked Pat Delcol, Deputy Supervisor Town of Huntington, to see if she could assist Asharoken by having their engineering department help us with preparing our bid package for the Village Hall Project.  The village received a copy of the Town of Huntington front end boilerplate bid document.  Additionally, Lori Finger the Director of Purchasing of the Town of Huntington has offered her assistance as well.

The 45,000 cubic yards of sand placement by National Grid continues to move forward with sand reaching 228 Asharoken Avenue as of today.  I have been supervising the progress of this project almost daily and it should be done by January 1st, 2014.

A 500’ section of Asharoken Avenue had the double yellow line re-striped by the Northport Highway Department.

Last October Super Storm Sandy hit Asharoken and the year that followed was one of the most challenging the village has ever faced.  The Board of Trustees, Pam Pierce, Mel Ettinger, Laura Burke and Ian Jablonski, aided by many village volunteers to whom the village is deeply grateful, responded to the storm and tackled a complicated agenda of items during the subsequent twelve months.  I would like to recap the more significant accomplishments.

  1. The facilitation of a new cost sharing agreement between the Federal Government and New York State to allow the Feds to pay for the next one million and five hundred thousand dollars of the feasibility study. This saved the Asharoken tax payers $225,000.
  2. A coordinated multi-municipality/multi-agency response to Sandy resulting in opening the Asharoken Avenue , which was covered in sand and telephone poles at  6AM,  by noon the day after the storm.
  3. The 5000 cubic yard reconstruction, enlargement and re-planting project of the beach dunes. The net cost to Asharoken of this $145,454.00 project was only $2950.00.
  4. The repair of the asphalt roadway and 130’ of shoulder repair, total cost $24,045.00 100% reimbursable by FHWA.
  5. A completed design for the new village hall and the acquisition of both NYSDEC and Suffolk County Health Department permits.
  6. The ongoing placement of 45,000 cubic yards of sand on the sound side beach.
  7. Re-establishing a strong working relationship with the Town of Huntington officials. This resulted in a resolution unequivocally supporting the USACE Asharoken Beach Restoration Project, a coordinated coastal cleanup and assistance in preparing the bid package for the Village Hall Project.
  8. A five- year police contract and a ten- year Cablevision Contract.
  9. Updating the Hazard Mitigation Plan needed for future grants and the adoption of a comprehensive set of village policies.
  10. The application for three significant grants to support village hall.
  11. The purchase of two new police cars using reserve funds and reducing our repair costs.
  12. The coming year will certainly pose its own new challenges  but the Village Board and our terrific resident volunteers stand ready to meet these issues head on. At the top of this list is the need to progress on the USACE Beach Reconstruction Project as well as making the new Village Hall Project a reality.   Both of these projects are very complicated and require the cooperation and assistance of large and slow moving bureaucracies: FEMA, USACE and the NYSDEC.  Therefore, progress may be slower than everyone would like but progress will be made.

I would like to wish everyone great holiday season and a very healthy and happy new year.

Trustee Reports:

 

Deputy Mayor Pierce reported that she followed up on the final review process for the Hazard Mitigation Plan.  She noted that she attended two meetings; one with FEMA and the second was a phone conference with Congressman Israel’s staff members.  She noted that during the month she reviewed several documents; the IMA agreement, Victor Cuneo’s architectural contract, Fire & EMS five-year contract and both minutes for the regular meeting and the work session meeting for the month of November.  She had discussions pertaining to fence codes with Trustee Burke and reviewed the vouchers for the month of November.  She also noted that she observed the sand placement and took photographs of the on-going sand placement project.  She wished everyone a happy holiday and a happy new year.

 

Trustee Ettinger reported that he participated in several of the following meetings.  The village hall reconstruction meeting held on November 6th.  He met with John Ross on November 13th to discuss the transition and open items relating to the construction drawings.  He thanked John for all his work in helping with coordinating the transition.  On November 21st he attended the village court session.  On November 25th he attended the FEMA meeting and November 26th he met with Officer-in-Charge Ray Mahdesian and Officer Josephson regarding village policies relating to the police department.  On November 30th he attended a retirement event for the Huntington Bay Chief.  He reviewed the vouchers for the month of November.  He extended his best wishes for a wonderful holiday and a happy new year.

 

Trustee Burke reported that she attended the work session on November 12th.  She discussed several issues with a resident regarding fence codes.  She reviewed the vouchers for the month of November.  She worked on various village communications.  She thanked Mayor Letica for all his work and she noted that she appreciates his effective management style and leadership. 

 

Trustee Jablonski reported that he attended the board’s work session held on November 12th, he reviewed several contracts.  He performed research on deer and deer fencing.  He wished everyone a happy holiday.

 

Village Attorney:  Village Attorney Bruce Migatz noted that there was nothing to report this month.

 

Treasurer: Emily Hayes reported that the total vouchers for the month of November were $217,781.63.  Included in the vouchers was the annual mandatory pension payout.  The village paid this expenditure in December to take advantage of the discount in the amount of $1679.00.

 

Officer-In- Charge:  Officer-In-Charge Ray Mahdesian reported that the members of the police department are certified as breath technicians renewed their licenses in November at the Suffolk County Police Academy.  He noted that on November 8th the department assisted in a house fire in Eaton’s Neck.  On November 11th the department assisted in a water rescue.  On November 17th a motor vehicle accident occurred.  He noted that the two new police vehicles have been order that were previously approved by the board.  No reported burglaries in the village for the month of November.

 

Superintendent of Buildings: Doug Adil reported on driveway replacement at the apron fog line area.  He noted that he discussed with a homeowner on the need for a variance for a front yard issues.  He discussed underground propane tanks with a homeowner.  He attended the Village Hall reconstruction committee meeting and he performed 14 inspections for the month of November.

 

Board of Zoning Appeals Chairman: Bruce Migatz reported that the board has a meeting on the calendar for December 9th for one case, a special use permit for accessory structure.

 

Conservation Board: Marty Cohen noted nothing to report.

 

Resolutions:

 

Resolution (2013-234) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the vouchers for the month of November 2013 in the amount of $217,781.63.

 

Trustee Ettinger made a motion to approve, seconded by Deputy Mayor Pierce.

Trustee Jablonski                                            AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Resolution (2013-235) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board approves the budget transfers for the month of November 2013.

 

Mayor Letica made a motion to approve, seconded by Deputy Mayor Pierce.

Trustee Jablonski                                            AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Resolution (2013-236) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the scheduling of a public hearing on Tuesday, January 7th, 2013 to discuss the proposed five year Fire & EMS Service contract.

 

Trustee Jablonski made a motion to approve, seconded by Mayor Letica.

Trustee Jablonski                                            AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Resolution (2013-237) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board, does hereby approve the scheduling of a public hearing on Tuesday, January 7th, 2013 for a proposed local law authorizing a property tax levy in excess of the limit established in General Municipal Law}3-c for the fiscal year commencing 6/1/2014.

 

Trustee Ettinger made a motion to approve, seconded by Trustee Jablonski.

Trustee Jablonski                                            AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Resolution (2013-238) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board authorizes the Mayor to enter into a contract with LaMay and Sons Inc. to repair the Sluice area on Bevin Road damaged by Sandy, not to exceed $3,500.00.

 

Trustee Jablonski made a motion to approve, seconded by Mayor Letica.

Trustee Jablonski                                            AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

 Resolution (2013-239)

WHEREAS, Suffolk County Division of Real Property Acquisition and Management has offered to sell to the Village of Asharoken a certain parcel of land designated as lot 0401-004.00-01.00-081 for the purchase price of $792.47, and WHEREAS, the Village of Asharoken is interested in acquiring title to said parcel of real property 0401-004.00-01.00-081; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT

RESOLVED, that the Village Clerk is hereby authorized to order a title report for lot 0401-004.00-01.00-081 in order to determine marketable  and insurable title to said parcel of land.

 

Mayor Letica made a motion to approve, seconded by Trustee Jablonski.

Trustee Jablonski                                            AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Resolution (2013-240) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the transfer of $4,300.00 from the Building Reserve Fund account #5059 to the Money Market account #5018 for the initial architectural fee payment of $4,300.00.

 

Trustee Ettinger made a motion to approve, seconded by Deputy Mayor Pierce.

Trustee Jablonski                                            AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Resolution (2013-241) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the adjustment to the fiscal budget for year end 5/31/2014 for an increase in the Start-up Income (A1000.000) and an increase in the Buildings Expense account (A1620.400) for $4,300.00.

 

Mayor Letica made a motion to approve, seconded by Trustee Ettinger.

Trustee Jablonski                                            AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Public Session:

Mayor Letica opened up the meeting to public session.

During public session twenty-two issues/comments were communicated to the Board.

Issues/comments that were brought to the Board’s attention were the following:

1.       Inquiry of the purchase of the beach lot and its location.

2.       Inquiry of FEMA projects.

3.       Inquiry on the involvement of the Town of Huntington with the beach restoration project.

4.       Inquiry of the DEC meeting and whether it is a public meeting.

5.       Inquiry of the work performed by the side of the road across from the seawall. Mayor Letica noted that Trustee Jablonski is working on expanding the shoulder area.

6.       Inquiry on sand placement by National Grid.

7.       Inquiry on the total contract from the architect.  Mayor Letica noted that if the village utilizes all sections of the contract the total cost will be approximately $19,000. 

8.       Inquiry on the budget for the village hall project.  Mayor Letica noted that we will be hearing back from FEMA shortly and are moving forward slowly and gathering all the information.

9.       Inquiry on what is needed to finish the plans.  Mayor Letica noted that the committee is looking into modular structure using John Ross’s design to minimize labor costs.

10.   Inquiry on the number of alternate designs on the proposed village hall.

11.   Inquiry on the confirmation of how much sand was placed by National Grid.

12.   Inquiry on the maintenance cost of the new village hall.

13.   Inquiry on additional meetings for the residents to discuss the proposed village hall, the IMA agreement, etc. Mayor Letica noted that we will have a town hall meeting when we have most of the information to provide the residents.

14.   Inquiry on the wind turbine and public input.  Village Attorney Bruce Migatz noted that a wind turbine is not a permitted accessory use and will require a variance from the Zoning Board. 

15.   Inquiry about how the ZBA board functions.

16.   Comment about the proposed village hall, the size and the maintenance, and raising the existing village hall.

17.   Inquiry on the design of the sluice area and thanked the board for their appreciation for his work.

18.   Inquiry on the status of Sandpiper Farm.  Mayor Letica noted that the assessment has not changed.

19.   Inquiry about the roadway.

20.   Inquiry about fixing the sluice area, adjusting the jetty, etc.

21.   Inquiry on the village hall and informing the residents of the operating expenses. Mayor Letica noted that these will occur.

22.   Inquiry on disclosing resident’s donations to village hall.

 

Mayor Letica made a motion to close public session, seconded by Trustee Ettinger.

 

Trustee Jablonski                                            AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Mayor Letica made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Trustee Ettinger.

Trustee Jablonski                                            AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

        The December 3rd, 2013 Board meeting of the Board of Trustees was adjourned at approximately 8:50 pm.

                Signed: _____________________________________________

                Nancy Rittenhouse, Village Clerk