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APPROVED Minutes of the March 1, 2016 Meeting of the Asharoken Board of Trustees

 Incorporated Village of Asharoken

Board of Trustees Regular Meeting

        Tuesday, March 1st, 2016 7:30pm

             At the Village Hall

Approximate Attendance (35)

                                                                               

                                                                                                               

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

Emily Hayes, Treasurer

Bruce Migatz, Village Attorney

Doug Adil, Superintendent of Buildings

Barry Bradley, Sanitation

Raymond Mahdesian, Officer-in-Charge

Marty Cohen, Chairman for the Conservation Board

Duck Island Harbor Revitalization

 

The Pledge of Allegiance was said.

 

Mayor Letica requested, proof of publication, Village Clerk confirmed.

 

Deputy Mayor Pierce made a motion to approve the regular board minutes for February 2nd, 2016, seconded by Trustee Ettinger.

 

Trustee Jablonski                                            AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Mayor Letica reported,The focus of the Village this month was on Asharoken’s response to the USACE on the ASDRP project.  The Village held a presentation with Aram Terchunian, our Coastal Engineer on February 3rd to review his comments to the Board of Trustees regarding the proposed plan.  The meeting was also opened to questions from the audience.  On February 10th the Village submitted its response to the NYSDEC and the USACE.  This document was over 100 pages and contained an enormous amount of supporting documentation from stakeholders in the project that do not live in Asharoken.

I do not know how to adequately thank Deputy Mayor Pam Pierce for her efforts to produce this document.  She has been fully immersed in the beach project for the last 3.5 years and her expertise really became evident in our response.  Pam has invested hundreds of hours on the beach project and I am certain that without her dedication to this critical project the Village could never have had such an impressive response.

The New York State Comptroller has issued the results of the statewide financial stress test of local governments.  Once again Asharoken received the best rating of “No Designation”.

I attended the Northport Harbor Water Quality meeting on February 4th.  The meeting was organized by Stephanie Quarles and the Ladies Committee of the Northport Yacht Club.  The speakers were extremely informative and highlighted how much the water quality in Northport Bay has improved in the last couple of years.

I would like to thank the Huntington Highway Department and Superintendent Gunther for their help in removing trees that fell down in two storms that we had this month. Additionally, they back filled along the shoulder of Asharoken Avenue near Bevin Road.  National Grid has offered to remove the fallen tree and repair the fence across from 65 Asharoken Avenue.

I would like to thank Michael Mere for his gracious offer to repair the Asharoken entrance sign that was damaged earlier this month.  Souls for Soles left a collection box for shoes in the lobby of Village Hall.  Please go through your closet and donate all of your old shoes that you are no longer wearing.

We received a donation for Village Hall in the amount of $5000.00.

Finally, I would like to extend my condolences to the Yule Family.  Last Sunday, Ed Yule passed away from the complications of a stroke.  At 54, Ed was too young and too vibrant to leave this world.  Ed was a passionate and determined attorney who took particular interests in cases when people were bullied by corporations or government.  He always stood up for the little guy and made sure that his or her rights were respected.  Ed loved living in Asharoken and nothing made him happier than reeling in a giant striped bass under a moon lit night.

Trustees:

Deputy Mayor Pierce reported that she attended our public meeting on the ASDRP plan given by our Coastal Adviser and also attended the Northport Water Quality meeting. She reported on the completion of the Village’s response to the USACE and NYSDEC. She participated in the Board of Assessment Review and reviewed the vouchers and the minutes.  There were two events that she attended; one was a press conference given by Suffolk County officials on open water dumping into LI Sound.  And the second was a public hearing held in September by officials and coastal scientists who pointed out that dumping material into the LI Sound is not a good idea. Deputy Mayor Pierce also reported that she attended a meeting early in the day run by the EPA on LI Sound Dumping.  She pointed out that the last line of defense is to let Governor Cuomo know that we are not in favor of this. The Governor must decide on this action by May 10th.  Mayor Letica asked Deputy Mayor if she could draft a sample letter to be used by the residents and both suggested that the Board send in its own letter as well.

 

Trustee Ettinger, reported that much of the month was spent with the General Contractors final documentation.  On February 6th he met with RAVCO Construction and received the closing documents, the contractor was paid his final payment.  The maintenance responsibilities are still outstanding.  He attended the presentation at National Grid by the Coastal Engineer.  On February 16th he participated on the Board of Assessment Review with Assessor Paul Wotzak, Deputy Mayor Pierce, Trustee Burke and Mayor Letica.   He met with Officer-in-Charge Mahdesian on next year’s budget.  On February 19th and 22nd he did minor work at Village Hall.  On February 23rd he installed the Donor Board with Paul Rittenhouse.  He reviewed the Board of Trustee meetings, correspondence, vouchers and expressed his condolences to the Yule Family.

 

Trustee Burke reported that Ed Yule, coach for the Northport Little League team had the most wins ever.  They loved coach Yule- he had such enthusiasm and every kid loved him.  We are all going to miss him.  She noted that she attended the Water Quality Meeting, the speakers were excellent.  She attended the Coastal Engineer presentation and the Board of Assessment Review held on Grievance Day.  She reviewed the minutes, vouchers and began working on the next issue of the newsletter.

 

Trustee Jablonski, reported that he attended the March 3rd meeting and reviewed the minutes and the vouchers.

 

 Village Attorney:  Bruce Migatz noted that the Zoning Board and the Planning Board did not meet last month.  Pending before the Planning Board is the Duck Island Corporation sub-division.  On February 10th we received the applicant’s response to the Village’s consultant’s comments that were sent to the applicant in August of 2015.  We just received their response and sent them to VHB for review.  Once we get back the response we will continue the public hearing on the sub-division application.

 

Treasurer: Emily Hayes reported on the vouchers for the month of February which were $36,906.35. She also noted that we have approximately $7260 in outstanding property taxes.

 

Officer-In- Charge:   Officer-In-Charge Ray Mahdesian reported that the Village had 33 summonses and 6 arrests this month.  Most of the efforts were spent on the highway, with downed trees and splash over.  Asharoken Avenue had to be closed on February 17th between approximately 10:30am and 12:30pm for a tree that was hanging over both lanes of Asharoken Avenue. He also discussed phone scams and noted not to give out any information to these individuals.

 

Sanitation: Barry Bradley reported that Big Blue is running well, trash total was 21.55 tons, single stream 5.68 tons for a total of 27.23 tons and a monthly cost of $1,724.00.

 

Superintendent of Building:  Doug Adil reported that he performed ten inspections.  He met with a resident to discuss potential emergency backup generator and propane tank locations.  He met with a builder to discuss permit requirements for proposed alterations to a home on Asharoken Avenue.  He met with a homeowner on Bevin Road to discuss permit requirements for a proposed alteration to the residents existing pile foundation.

 

Conservation Board: Marty Cohen reported on Arbor Day.  He noted that the Village received a $1000.00 grant for an Arbor Day celebration.  Arbor Day is April 29th; the Village is planning on having a celebration on April 30th at 2pm.  We will be planting several trees and providing information to hand out on trees and the importance of Arbor Day.

 

Duck Island Harbor Revitalization: Jean Bonawandt reported that she contacted George Harmin from NYSDEC and spoke with Carl from the Nature Conservancy. They would like to place oxygen monitoring stations in the Harbor but they don’t have the funding. Mayor noted that he will call George.

 

Mayor Letica noted that before we go to resolutions, he wanted to clear up a few things that were mentioned last month by a resident.

FSA Program: The first item that was brought up was the Flexible Spending Account (FSA) for our employees.  The information by the resident was incorrect.  The cost is $900 not $1000, but when the employees participate in the FSA program neither the employees nor the Village has to pay payroll taxes on the contribution amount, so the Village saves approximately $700, the net cost to us is approximately $200.  He noted that we have fantastic employees in this Village who all go above and beyond to get the job done.  This is a excellent  benefit to offer our employees at very small cost.

 

Duck Island Corporation Sub-division: Regarding Duck Island, John Rittenhouse is not subdividing his property, there is no application submitted for a sub-division on his property.  The only sub-division application submitted is with Duck Island Corporation which makes up all of the property owners on Duck Island.  The Duck Island Corp. wants to sub-divide a parcel of land and create a buildable lot to help fund an improved roadway leading to Duck Island. 

 

New Water Main: The new water line going out to Duck Island which is on private property was inadequate; SCWA installed a new water main to Duck Island at their own cost.  The owners had to pay for their line from their property line to their home.

 

Funding Village Hall: A resident made a comment, that the Village funded the new Village Hall by understating revenues from building permit fees in the budget. This is simply false.  An Analysis was done and in the past three years our budgeted building fee revenues has been consistent, and in fact the budget under the Irving Administration also showed building fees substantially higher than what was budgeted.  You don’t know what projects will be submitted or how many and you can’t over estimate your revenues. We funded Village Hall by donations, FEMA reimbursements, State Grants and the Justice Court Assistant Program and previous building reserves.

 

Resolutions:

 

Resolution (2016-22) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the vouchers for the month of February 2016 in the amount of $36,906.35

 

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 (2016-23) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board approves the budget transfers for the month of February 2016.

 

Deputy Mayor Pierce 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 (2016-24) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board, does hereby accept the donation from the “Asharoken Building Fundraising Committee” in the amount of $5000.00 for Village Hall.

 

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 (2016-25) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby approve the scheduling of a public hearing on Tuesday, April 5th, 2016 on the tentative budget for fiscal year beginning 6/1/2016.

Deputy Mayor Pierce 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 (2016-26) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby approve the scheduling of a public hearing on Tuesday, April 5th, 2016 for local law (#2-2016) repealing of local law (#1 of 2016), authorizing a property tax levy in excess of the limit established in General Municipal Law }3-c. 

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 (2016-27) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby approve the change in time for the Board of Trustees Special Meeting held on March 15th, 2016 to begin at 4:30pm at Village Hall.

 

Trustee Jablonski 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 (2016-28) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby approve scheduling of a special meeting on Wednesday, April 20th, 2016 at 4:30pm at Village Hall to approve the tentative budget for fiscal year beginning 6/1/2016.

 

Deputy Mayor Pierce 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 (2016-29) Be It Resolved that the Village Board authorizes the mayor to sign the polling place contract between the Village of Asharoken and Suffolk County Board of Elections for the Presidential Primary on April 19th, Primary Election on September 13th and General Election on November 8th, 2016.

 

Deputy Mayor Pierce 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 (2016-30) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby authorize the Mayor to sign the 2016 agreement between the Village of Asharoken and Landscaper Patrick Parker from April 2016 to November 2016 to service the village grounds, clean-up sand at the corner of Bevin Road and around catch basins north of Bevin Road, total contract not to exceed $4640.00.

 

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 (2016-31) Be It Resolved that the Mayor does hereby appoint the following uncompensated individual, Laurie Kefalidis to the Planning Board to expire on 7/1/2017, taking over for John Wachter, subject to board approval.

 

Deputy Mayor Pierce 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.

 

Mayor Letica opened up the meeting for Public Session.

During public session, seven questions and/or comments were presented.

1.       A comment was made on the ASDRP report; he thanked Deputy Mayor Pierce for all her work. He commented on how important the ASDRP project is for the Village and for the only roadway providing access.

2.       A comment was made on the ASDRP project and supported the main roadway being open 24/7 but does not support the project. He pointed out that the project lacks cost caps.  He presented several questions to the board, regarding responses from the USACE on the plan and public access points. He asked the process of decreasing the assessed value and asked about who paid for the waterline to Duck Island.

3.       A comment was made on skeet shooting on the beach near a passerby.

4.       A comment was made on the assembly room and people exiting the room.  Doug Adil, Building Inspector reported that one door in front of the building allows for the proper egress per code.

5.       A comment was made on the snow fence if it will be removed.

6.       A question was asked on the two point access plan presented by Supervisor Petrone.

Mayor Letica pointed out that he and Deputy Mayor Pierce met with Supervisor Petrone last fall, communicating that we need to get rid of public access; Supervisor Petrone suggested a two access plan.  He then met with Congressman Israel and the USACE and made the suggestion of a two access plan.  During our Dedication Ceremony both Supervisor Petrone and Congressman Israel sat down with us and communicated their meeting with the USACE regarding the two access plan it came from them and they moved forward with it. Mayor Letica noted two years ago that the board submitted access plans to the USACE and NYSDEC that included the least number of access points; these were turned down by the USACE and NYSDEC.

7.       A question on Grievance Day and a quorum; Mayor Letica pointed that the Board of Assessment Review is reconvening on March 15th, 2016.

 

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

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 Trustee Ettinger.

Trustee Jablonski                                            AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

                The March 1st, 2016 Regular board meeting of the Board of Trustees was adjourned at approximately 8:35pm.              

Signed: _____________________________________________

                Nancy Rittenhouse, Village Clerk