Incorporated Village of Asharoken
Board of Trustees Regular Meeting and Public Hearings
Tuesday April 7th, 2015 7:30pm
At the Northport Power Plant
Approximate Attendance (20)
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
Raymond Mahdesian, Officer-in-Charge
Barry Bradley, Sanitation Operator
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 March 3rd, 2015 seconded by Trustee Burke.
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
Mayor Letica discussed the village budget and thanked Emily Hayes, Treasurer and Nancy Rittenhouse, Village Clerk for all their work on the village budget. He reported that next year’s tax increase is 1.58% second lowest tax increase since 2004. This is the lowest two year average tax increase since 2003-2004. The increase falls below the NYS 2% tax cap law, all eligible residents will receive tax rebates. He noted that the budget is a spending document for next year and pointed out the major changes in the budget. He noted that we are working on our efficiency plan required by NYS for residents to be eligible for tax rebates in the following year. We have made many achievements these past several years; we began the construction of our new Village Hall, we improved the drainage north of Bevin Road by reworking the curbing and slope of the roadway, we repaved 1700LF of Asharoken Avenue while keeping tax increases very low for two years and significantly increased our reserve accounts as well.
Village Clerk, Nancy Rittenhouse read the public notice for the Budget public hearing.
Mayor Letica opened up the Public Hearing.
During public hearing for the village budget 2015/2016, eleven questions and comments were presented.
1. Comment on Building Permit fees received.
2. Question on the expense line item for tax grievance refund.
3. Question on local share for the beach restoration project.
4. Question on professional fee expense line item.
5. Question on fire & police retirement expense line item.
6. Question on the attorney used in village court.
7. Question on budgeting amount for building permits.
8. Question on the feasibility study reserve.
9. Question on the inter-fund transfers
10. Question on legal expenses for the beach restoration project.
11. Question on reserve amount for the coastal engineer.
Mayor Letica made a motion to close the public hearing, seconded by Trustee Ettinger.
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
Village Clerk, Nancy Rittenhouse read the public notice for the public hearing for Local Law #2 of 2015.
Mayor Letica noted that the village does not need to override the tax cap since the levy remained under the 2% tax cap, therefore repealing local law #1 of 2015 with local law #2 of 2015 will occur.
Mayor Letica opened up the Public Hearing.
No comments were made
Mayor Letica made a motion to close the public hearing, seconded by Trustee Ettinger.
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
Mayors Report:
Mayor Letica reported, “On March 23rd the Village received a Memorandum for the Record (MFR) from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) containing comments on the Village’s draft Public Access Plan for the Asharoken Storm Damage Reduction Project. The Village is carefully reviewing the MFR and will be preparing a full response. The Village is waiting to get a tentatively selected plan showing the ACOE’s plan to restore the beach. Once Asharoken receives the plan I will invite the ACOE to present it to the village.
The ACOE’s comments were generally supportive of the plan especially since the ACOE agreed with the Village’s assumption of low recreational use. The ACOE is seeking additional information to support the assumption of low recreational use and the Village’s proposal not to have parking at the middle three access strips from the road to the beach. Secondly, the ACOE is requesting a modification of the agreement between the Town of Huntington and National Grid for the use of the boat ramp parking lot. Finally, the ACOE is looking for more definitive locations of the public access strips. Deputy Mayor Pierce has begun work to collect need information to support our claims and I have reached out to National Grid and TOH to set up a meeting to discuss changes to the boat ramp parking lot agreement.
Matt Chlebus, from the NYSDEC reported the following via email today about the progress of the beach restoration plan: “State has been working in conjunction with the Corps to complete the Engineering Appendix and move toward a recommend plan. The Corps has provided the State with several alternatives; however we have not yet identified a recommended plan. My goal is to have a tentatively selected plan identified that we can forward to the village for review sometime in late April”.
On March 13th I attended a meeting at the Huntington Town Hall to discuss the deer situation in Asharoken and Eaton’s Neck. Attending were: Supervisor Petrone, Assemblyman Andrew Raia, a representative from the office of State Senator Marcellino, Peter Scully and others from the DEC, President of the POENB and Eaton’s Harbor Corp. After a lengthy discussion about all of the options to control deer populations it was decided that POENB and EHC would work together to write a survey and petition to determine if there was a political consensus on how to manage the deer herd. I stressed that there have been increasing MVAs with deer and increasing numbers of serious tick borne diseases, thus it is critical to respond to the expanding deer population before a point of no return is reached. This meeting was a good first step because unless Asharoken works in concert with its neighbors deer management will never become an effective reality.
Now that the coldest February and snowiest March are in our rear view mirror, construction on village has re-commenced. Yesterday morning the footings for the foundation were poured and the foundation wall forms were being erected today. Trustee Ettinger will have more to say on village hall.
On March 11th the village commenced single stream recycling. As with any other new service there has been a learning curve but week by week it is working better. I would like to remind everyone that recycling can’t be placed curbside in a plastic bag. It must be placed in a bin or trash can.
At the request of a Cove Road resident I met with National Grid to discuss the possibility of extending gas service to other parts of the village. Presently the gas line terminates at Bevin Road. Unfortunately, the only way that gas service could be extended would be for residents of the roads being served to pick up the full cost of installation beyond a distance of 100’ per house which National Gird provides. This likely would make these projects cost prohibitive.
I sadly note the passing of Jay Iserman. Jay was a long time Asharoken resident and prominent attorney practicing in Huntington. He served the village for many years as Chair of the Board of Zoning Appeals. I send my condolences to his wife Edie and his extended family.
I reached out to Assemblyman Andrew Raia during the month to assist the village in securing our Hazard Mitigation Grant for Village Hall. This grant request is for approximately $73,000. Assemblyman Raia wrote an eloquent letter of support for the village and offered all he could to expedite the grant once his letter was received.
Finally, I would like to conclude with an assurance that spring really has arrived. Our village snowbirds, the Osprey, have returned and are checking out their nests. Joining them are a few early Piping Plovers. In spite of the bad winter weather they all arrived right on schedule.
Trustees:
Deputy Mayor Pierce reported that she reviewed the budget, monthly vouchers and March minutes. She has been gathering the information required by the public access document plan and attended a webinar for the tax freeze credit. She noted that she received six phone calls regarding the single stream recycling program. She thanked the webmasters, Steve Trombetti and Eric Maffei for all their hard work on the website.
Trustee Ettinger reported progress on the village hall project. The progress has slowed down due to the weather in March and also because of a setback with one the subcontractors. He noted that we re-worked the parking area in and around the trailers and installed the construction fence. The foundation forms have been installed and will pour the walls shortly. During the month we have weekly meetings with RAVCO Construction. He noted that he attended a training session at the Suffolk Academy for the new license plate camera that will be installed in our village. He noted that he had numerous meetings regarding the budget with Officer-in-Charge Mahdesian, and reviewed the Memorandum for the Record (MFR) and monthly vouchers.
Trustee Burke reported that she reviewed the monthly vouchers, March minutes and village communication correspondence. She reported that Joan Hauser has retired as newsletter editor and she will be involved organizing the “Asharoken News”. The 2015 newsletter for January –March was distributed and she is compiling information for the next newsletter.
Trustee Jablonski reported that he reviewed the monthly vouchers, March minutes and village budget and ACOE Memorandum for the Record (MFR). He wrote an article for the next newsletter. He has been reviewing the four poster tick program for permits and has exchanged emails with the NYSDEC biologist and the pesticide department to better understand the overall program.
Village Attorney: Bruce Migatz noted that the Planning Board meets April 14th to discuss the sketch plan. He noted that the Zoning Board is meeting on April 20th.
Officer-In- Charge: Officer-In-Charge Ray Mahdesian reported that no burglaries occurred in the month of March. A letter of commendation was received for Police Officer Josephson for the aid he rendered to a resident.
Treasurer: Treasurer Emily Hayes reported that the total amount of vouchers for the month of March was $43,978.09. This includes an annual bill for workers compensation in the amount of $18,645.29. A separate resolution to approve the vouchers and related budget transfers will be made.
Sanitation: Sanitation Operator Barry Bradley reported on Big Blue which is running well. Trash pick-up was 25.92 tons, single stream recycling was 5.87 tons, totaling 31.79 tons.
Superintendent of Buildings: Doug Adil submitted a report for the meeting but was not present.
Conservation of the Environment: Nothing to report.
Resolutions:
Resolution (2015-25) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board approves the budget transfers for the month of March 2015.
Trustee Ettinger made a motion to approve, seconded by Trustee Jablonski.
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
Resolution (2015-26) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the vouchers for the month of March 2015 in the amount of $43,978.09
Deputy Mayor Pierce made a motion to approve, seconded by Trustee Jablonski.
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
Resolution (2015-27) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby approve local law (#2 of 2015) repealing local law #1 of the year 2015 which authorized the Board of Trustees to establish a property tax levy in excess of the limit established in General Municipal Law } 3-c.
Mayor Letica made a motion to approve, seconded by Trustee Ettinger.
Roll Call:
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Resolution (2015-28) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby approve a special meeting for April 21st, 2015 at 2:00 pm at the village hall trailer to discuss the village budget for fiscal year end 5/31/2016.
Trustee Ettinger made a motion to approve, seconded by Mayor Letica.
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
Resolution (2015-29) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby approve the scheduling of a public hearing on Tuesday, May 5th, 2015 to discuss the annual MS4 storm water report.
Mayor Letica made a motion to approve, seconded by Deputy Mayor Pierce.
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
Resolution (2015-30) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby appoint the following election inspectors; Denise DeAcetis as Chairperson, Marian Milliken, and Hillary Candelora for the June 16th 2015 Village Election.
Mayor Letica made a motion to approve, seconded by Trustee Ettinger.
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
Resolution (2015-31) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby authorize the Mayor to sign the 2015 agreement between the Village of Asharoken and Landscaper Patrick Parker to service the grounds for the village not to exceed $3500.00 from May 2015 to November 2015.
Mayor Letica made a motion to approve, seconded by Trustee Ettinger.
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
Resolution (2015-32) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board, does hereby accept the donation from the “Asharoken Building Fundraising Committee” in the amount of $5800.00 for the new village hall project.
Trustee Ettinger made a motion to approve, seconded by Deputy Mayor Pierce.
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
Resolution (2015-33) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the services of Breakwater Marine in the amount of $5000 for the tugboat and $3500 for the barge for the fireworks display on July 4th, 2015 (rain-date July 5th), subject to village attorney’s approval as to form.
Mayor Letica made a motion to approve, seconded by Deputy Mayor Pierce.
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
Resolution (2015-34) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby authorize the Mayor to sign the Fireworks Performance contract between the Village of Asharoken and Fireworks By Grucci, Inc. for $17,500.00, village attorney approved as to form.
Mayor Letica made a motion to approve, seconded by Trustee Ettinger.
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
Resolution (2015-35) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby appoint Joseph Affrunti as the Fireworks Safety Officer for the 2015 fireworks display.
Mayor Letica made a motion to approve, seconded by Trustee Ettinger.
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
Trustee Jablonski recommended that the barge be centrally located for this year’s fireworks display.
Mayor Letica opened up the meeting for public session.
During public session, twenty-three questions and comments were presented.
1. Comment on the placement of the barge and piping plovers.
2. Question on the license plate camera system. Trustee Ettinger explained where and how the camera is installed. The information will be compared to a data base that is provided to us by Suffolk County Police Department.
3. Question on how long the data is kept from the license plate system.
4. Comment was made about potential savings with a payroll service.
5. Question on the wiring to the building, Trustee Ettinger noted that all the wiring is underground.
6. Question on the Memorandum of Record and public access.
7. Question on continuing to reach out to our representatives regarding the importance of the roadway and coast guard facility.
8. Question on the mid three access points.
9. Question on low recreational use.
10. Question on the four poster tick program.
11. Comment on not turning over property rights and the strategy on public access.
12. Bruce Migatz noted that the board has not proposed anything, has not made any deals and has not endorsed any plan. The board has a fiduciary responsibility to investigate. Your concerns are valid, but the board must at least explore the plan and respond to the ACOE by coming up with a public access plan.
13. Question on the public access plan documents, Mayor Letica noted that the entire plan was placed on the website.
14. Question on the increase deer population.
15. Question on the total accounting of the village hall project.
16. Question on single stream and shredded material, Mayor Letica pointed out that shredded material can only be placed in clear plastic bags.
17. Comment on the concerns of public access and a broader view of the community as a whole.
18. Question on a Breezy Point article and its repair of the beach. Mayor Letica noted that the village looked into Breezy Point and their project is funded by a Hazard Mitigation Grant not an ACOE project. The village explored this; the sand placed at Breezy Point is being used to protect public property.
19. Comment on if the restoration project does not go through.
20. Question on a meeting with Congressman Israel.
21. Thank you to Mayor Letica regarding the “do not park signs”.
22. Comment was made that the sound side owners get emails and letters and the bayside does not. Mayor Letica noted that all the residents get the same information both sound and bay side residents.
23. Comment was made on the marine police and patrol services.
Mayor Letica made a motion to close the public session, seconded by Deputy Mayor Pierce
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
Mayor Letica made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Deputy Mayor Pierce.
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
The April 7th, 2015 Board meeting of the Board of Trustees was adjourned at approximately 9:25 pm.
Signed: _____________________________________________
Nancy Rittenhouse, Village Clerk