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APPROVED Minutes of the March 5, 2019 Meeting of the Asharoken Board of Trustees

 Incorporated Village of Asharoken

Board of Trustees Regular Board Meeting

         Tuesday, March 5, 2019 6:30pm

             At the Village Hall

Approximate Attendance (10)

                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                                               

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

Doug Adil, Building Inspector

Barry Bradley, Sanitation

Raymond Mahdesian, Officer-in-Charge

 

The Pledge of Allegiance was said.

Publication of meeting was confirmed.

 

Trustee Ettinger made a motion to approve the Regular Board Meeting minutes for February 5th, 2019 seconded by Deputy Mayor Pierce.

 

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Trustee Jablonski                                           AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  Abstain

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Deputy Mayor Pierce made a motion to approve the Board of Assessment Review minutes for February 19th, 2019 seconded by Trustee Burke.

 

Trustee Ettinger                                              Abstain

Trustee Jablonski                                           Abstain

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Mayor’s Report;” Tax grievance day was held on February 19th, 21 properties filed grievance applications. The Board of Assessment reviewed all the applications, denied 20; and granted one adjustment to one property. During the month the new signs for the seawall area were installed by Parker Landscaping. I would like to thank the Town of Huntington for designing the project plan; Patrick Parker for the installation and Trustee Ettinger for his supervision of the entire project.

I had a call from Northport Deputy Mayor Kehoe; he called to offer the use of Northport Villages catch basin vacuum machine.  We are in the age of Shared Services. This is the time of the year that we typically clean out our catch basins. I asked Village Clerk Rittenhouse to contact him and get a cost to perform that work. We may be able to get a rebate from New York State for the money we save from sharing services with another municipality.

During the month we received a notification that Governor Cuomo modified his executive budget to now include AIM funding. AIM funding is something that the Village gets from NYS every year. We typically get $4,200 originally it was not going to be including in the State budget. This was overturned, but the mechanism used by Governor Cuomo still left some doubt that it was really going to be reinstated. NYCOM asked local municipalities to reach out to the Governor’s office and our local state officials to reinforce that the AIM funding is important. AIM funding is Aid Incentive for Municipalities.

We did a lot of work on the tentative budget for 12/31/2020. Next week we have a Special Meeting on Tuesday, March 12th at 4pm to present the tentative budget to the Board of Trustees for review and make any necessary changes. In April we will have our public hearing on the proposed budget.

Lastly we had the passing of two residents; a long time resident John Ruggiero, he left his architectural impact on the village by restoring homes with light beige bricks. George Uss was Catherine Burch’s significant other, who passed away suddenly. He was a super nice guy always had a smile on his face. We would like to send out our condolences to both families, this is a big loss for the Village.

 

Trustees:

Deputy Mayor Pierce reported that she spoke with two residents regarding the seawall status. She attended the Board of Assessment with both Mayor Letica and Trustee Burke. She noted that she reviewed the minutes, vouchers, property violation information and preliminary department budgets.

 

Trustee Ettinger reported that he spent time with Officer- in-Charge Mahdesian reviewing police related matters. They reviewed and refined the budget. He noted that he worked on the new signs installed by the seawall area. During the month continued to work on the installation of some street lights at the seawall area. We received quotations for purchasing them and installing them. He reviewed the minutes and the vouchers.

 

Trustee Burke; she reported that she participated in the Board of Assessment Review. She noted that she reviewed the violation report on 3 Bevin Road, the vouchers, preliminary department budgets, minutes and village correspondence.

 

Trustee Jablonski reported that he reviewed the minutes, vouchers, and violations on 3 Bevin Road and preliminary department budgets for the month.

 

Village Attorney: Attorney Diana Prevete filled in for Attorney Bruce Migatz; she reported on his behalf and noted that neither the Zoning Board nor the Planning Board held a meeting in the month of February. She noted that on the pending article 78 preceding against the board of trustees challenging the denial of the dock permit, no decision from the judge has been made as of yet, still pending.

 

Village Treasurer: Emily Hayes Treasurer reported that the vouchers for the month of February were $40,985.64 and noted that there was nothing unusual to report. The Village did receive from NYS our share of Public Safety money in the amount of $58,489.00. There will be a separate resolution to approve the vouchers and budget transfers.

 

Police Report: Officer Mahdesian; he reported that 33 summonses were issued, 1 arrest and no burglaries. Some weather & deer related issues.

 

Sanitation Operator: Barry Bradley reported that big blue is running well. Total tipping fees for the month of February were $1276.80. Trash tonnage 15.96, paper & cardboard 3.09 tons; glass 1.15 tons, plastic and metal .63 tons.

 

Building Inspector: Doug Adil reported that he investigated and reported on violations that exist at 3 Bevin Road. He reviewed some as-built drawings for work done at 413 Asharoken, provided a clarification of an installation of a new HVAC system which requires a permit and provided code requirements to an architect designing a new 2-car garage on Asharoken Avenue. He performed 8 inspections.

 

Regarding Violations at 3 Bevin Road:

Mayor Letica noted that the village had planned on having a hearing on the noted violations at 3 Bevin Road. After reviewing the notice that we issued to the homeowner we felt that it needed to be modified to be in compliance with our ordinance. We delayed the hearing so we can re-issue the notice to the homeowner and plan on holding the hearing at the next board meeting.

Mayor Letica had a question regarding the report that was issued by the Superintendent of Buildings. He had asked why a structural engineer was needed; the Superintendent noted that the house is filled with debris to the point where it is questionable how structurally sound the house is. There is evidence of moisture infiltration and some mold as things get wetter they get heavier. The wood weakens overtime; it would benefit the village to understand better if this structure is hazardous in anyway. You would have to determine the loading by visually seeing the material that exists. Mayor Letica noted that our Village Attorney is investigating the transfer of deed. The Superintendent noted that we may have to wait until the purchaser comes forward and discuss what their plan is regarding the house. Mayor Letica concluded that the Village will re-notice the violation and have a hearing on both violations next month.

 

Resolutions:

Resolution (2019-14) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board approves the budget transfers for the month of February 2019.

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

Trustee Jablonski                                           AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Resolution (2019-15) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the vouchers for the month of February 2019 in the amount of $40,985.64.

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 (2019-16) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby approve the scheduling of a public hearing on Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019 on the tentative budget for fiscal year beginning 6/1/2019.

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

Trustee Jablonski                                           AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Resolution (2019-17) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby authorize the Mayor to sign the 2019 agreement between the Village of Asharoken and Landscaper Patrick Parker from April 2019 to November 2019 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 $4,600.00. (No Change in Proposal)

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 (2019-18) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board, does hereby approve E-Z Cesspool to clean out the catch basins in the Village of Asharoken in the amount not to exceed $3,750.00.

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

Mayor Letica noted we should pass this resolution and find out what Northport Village comes back with as far as cost.

Trustee Jablonski                                           AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Resolution (2019-19) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the proposal from Duck Island Builders to repair the roof leak located at two south corners of the cupola; labor and materials not to exceed $4750.00.

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

Trustee Jablonski                                           AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Resolution (2019-20) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the proposal from Duck Island Builders to repair the damaged sheetrock ceiling in the lobby of Village Hall; labor and materials not to exceed $1500.00.

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 (2019-21) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board authorizes the Mayor to sign the contract between the Village of Asharoken and Suffolk County Board of Elections for the leasing of premises (Asharoken Village Hall) to be used by SCBOE on Primary and General Election days in 2019 and 2020 as a polling place.

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.

 

New Business:

Dune Restoration: Mayor Letica noted that we looked into hiring D & F Stone to give us an estimate to bring in upland sand approx 1,100 CY of sand to repair the dune. Marty Cohen has assisted with this project; and Andy Mendelsohn had suggested that there is a lot of sand on the other side of the seawall in the “overwash” area.  Our plan is to mine the sand in the over wash area and distribute the sand to the dune restoration area. This should save the village money. We have applied for a NYSDEC permit, we met with Andrew Walker with the DEC to help minimize some of the requests, but have not heard back from the DEC. The marked up application from the DEC is requiring delineating the wetlands which will cost $950, provide a survey and engineer plans. The surveyor cost will be $3500, and the engineer will cost $7500.

If we hire D & F Stone to remove and place the sand in the damaged dune area it will cost approx. $3400 a day, for five days will be $17,000 plus the cost for the plans will be a total of $29,000.

Discussion took place about removing sand from the hillside across from the Village Hall and from Coast Guard Cove. Mayor Letica asked Village Clerk Rittenhouse to reach out to the DEC to go their requested items to see if any adjustments can be made.

 

Street Lights: Mayor Letica noted that the cost to install (3) street lights 25 Watt LED lights Dusk to Dawn. The cost for the PSEG is approx. $200 a year. The cost to install the lights is $2325.00.

Trustee Jablonski noted that the signs at the seawall are sufficient. Trustee Ettinger noted that the street lights will make the area safer especially during storms and washovers.  The board discussed this topic and concluded to put forth a resolution to purchase the street lights and have the option to turn them off.

 

Resolution (2019-22) Be it Resolved that the Village Board does hereby approve the services from New York Trenchless to provide material and install and energize three 25 watt LED street lights near the seawall area to provide safe illumination of the area for motorists; the cost for material and labor not to exceed $2,325.00

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.

 

Sexual Harassment Training: Mayor Letica noted that NYS mandates that all employers come up with a required training plan on an annual basis. Trustee Jablonski noted that he will oversee this training program.

 

Mayor Letica opened up the meeting for public Session:

Three comments & questions were made.

1.       A resident noted that the training is on video.

2.       A resident asked if we are having a public hearing regarding the seawall. Mayor Letica noted that we will when we get to that point.

3.       A resident commented about a suggestion about repairing the dune, by pushing up the sand from the beach to repair and restore the dune. He also talked about the restoration of beach in other areas of the country. He asked about the ideas of repairing the seawall and where they are coming from; such as raising the road and installing groins.

 

Mayor Letica responded and noted that the village will be going with the best method. The large beach project was going to allow a onetime dredge permit. We may not be able to dredge on a regular basis, we have to find out what the ACOE is going to suggest.

 

Mayor Letica made a motion to close 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 Deputy Mayor Pierce.

Trustee Jablonski                                           AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

The March 5, 2019 Regular board meeting of the Board of Trustees was adjourned at approximately 7:50pm.               

Signed: _____________________________________________

                Nancy Rittenhouse, Village Clerk