Incorporated Village of Asharoken
Board of Trustees
Held on Monday
January 4th, 2010, at 7:30 P.M
At Village Hall
Approximate Attendance (17)
Officers Present:
Patricia Irving, Mayor
Peter Masterson, Deputy Mayor
John Elefante, Trustee
Officials & Appointees Present:
Nancy Rittenhouse, Village Clerk
Emily Hayes, Village Treasurer
Ken Savin, Village Attorney
Ray Mahdesian, Police Officer in Charge
Charles Brown, Village Justice
Doug Adil, Superintendent of Buildings
Heidi Hayden, Highway Superintendent and Zoning Board Chairman
The Pledge of Allegiance was said.
Mayor Irving called the Meeting to order.
Proof of Publication, noted.
Approval of the Regular Board Meeting minutes for 12/07/09, Trustee Elefante made a motion to accept the minutes, seconded by Deputy Mayor Masterson.
Mayor Irving AYE
Deputy Mayor Masterson AYE
Trustee Elefante AYE
Motioned Carried.
Mayors Report:
Sand on the Beach: Mayor Irving reported that the Army Corps is still reviewing National Grid’s plan and our comments.
Seawall: Mayor Irving reported on a copy of a letter the Village received dated December 14, 2009 addressed to the USACE from the NYS DEC requesting Rehabilitation Assistance from the USACE for damages that occurred to the Seawall during the Nov. 12 – 15, 2009 Nor’Easter Storm. They concurred with our request for FEMA funds.
Mayor Irving coordinated a meeting with the POENB a civic association for Eaton’s Neck. The POENB would like to assist the Village with the Seawall efforts.
Asharoken Ave Road Improvement Project: Mayor Irving reviewed and signed the contract for engineering services by Nelson and Pope for the Seawall Shoulder restoration.
Storm Water Grant at Bevin and Asharoken Ave: Mayor Irving noted that the Village has not yet received the approval for the Catch Basin Contract amendment from the State.
New Village Hall: Mayor Irving reported on her visit to the East Williston Village Hall. The East Williston Village Hall is in the process of a large renovation.
Catch Basin Project (Behind Village Hall): Mayor Irving reported on the status of the DEC application, the application was sent back to the DEC with additional requested back-up.
Legal Matters: Mayor Irving reviewed all legal matters with Village Attorney, Ken Savin.
Web Site: Mayor Irving reported on the detailed activity report submitted by Steve Trombetti. The detailed activity report is at Village Hall.
Huntington Town Taxes: Mayor Irving noted that the Huntington Town bills have been mailed out and are due January 10th, 2010. The Huntington Town Taxes are payable twice a year. The Village of Asharoken tax bills are mailed out once a year.
Attended as your Mayor: Mayor Irving attended the Town of Huntington Inaugural Ceremony for Frank Petrone, Mark Cutherberton, Mark Mayoka and Highway Superintendent William Naughton. This event was held on Sunday, January 3, 2010 at the Jack Abrams Intermediate School in Huntington Station.
Mayor Irving attended a Mayor’s luncheon hosted by Herb Morrow which included Mayor’s Leland Heir, George Doll and Town of Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone. Inter-municipal cooperation continues to be the topic of discussion with our neighboring Villages. She noted that she continues to reach out to the Huntington Township for assistance with the seawall, sand on the beach and partnerships for possible grants.
Mayor Irving attended the Northport American Legion Hall Christmas party. She had the opportunity to meet with newly elected Huntington Town Councilman Mike Mayoka, Northport Judge Senzer and the Northport Fire Chief, Beefy Varese.
Mayor Irving joined Santa Claus on his trip through our Village. She noted that our Village police and the Northport Fire Department did an outstanding job traveling through our streets.
Meetings and Events: Mayor Irving attended the Long Island Infrastructure Workshop at Suffolk Community College hosted by Congressman Tim Bishop (Federal-Aid Project Development Process). She met with Gerry Petrella of Charles E. Schumer’s office regarding Sand on the Beach.
She met with Deputy Mayor Peter Masterson to discuss various Police matters and review preliminary budget items for 2010. She met Jeff Kropp, Huntington Harbor Master
Correspondence (filed with our Village Clerk):
Mayor Irving noted that the Village of Northport sent our Village notification for their public hearing on their proposed Historic Preservation Legislation. She noted the date time and place of hearing. She received and reviewed An Ethics Guide for City and Village Officials from NYCOM.
Trustee Reports:
Trustee Elefante attended and reported on the Santa visit that took place on December 13th. John thanked the Northport Fire Department and the Asharoken Police Department for assisting with Santa’s visit. John also thanked Steve Silverman and our Webmasters for their involvement.
Trustee Elefante attended the L.I. Infrastructure workshop held on December 14th. The workshop focused on the roles of government and 13 project phases in the Federal Aid Project Development process. John noted that it was estimated that Federal Aid projects average about 5 years from planning to completion. He noted that on December 22nd, he and Highway Superintendant Heidi Hayden submitted recommendations for the 2010-2011 budgets. On December 30th he reviewed the proposals for computer support and he reviewed and approved the vouchers for the month of December 2009.
Deputy Mayor Masterson reported on his review of the 2010-2011 police budget. He is working with Officer in Charge Ray Mahdesian on the police budget and is making every effort to control costs without compromising the safety of our village. He organized two meetings with Britanna regarding the donated docks and noted that he is trying to find the best solution in order to utilize the docks for our Police Boat.
He organized several visits for the staff and officials to visit East Williston Village Hall. The East Williston Village Hall is in the middle of a renovation and Deputy Mayor Masterson is gathering ideas and various plans that will assist the Village with their own Village Hall renovation. He attended the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting held on December 14th and attended several traffic court sessions.
Village Attorney:
Village Attorney, Ken Savin reported on his discussions with Mayor Irving about the seawall and noted on the meeting he and Mayor Irving had with the POENB.
He reported on the Multi-Modal Transportation project and reviewed and approved the contract submitted by Nelson and Pope.
He attended the Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting that took place on December 14th, 2009.
He reported on notification of price increases with Verizon and Cablevision and noted that the actual increases were minimal for residential customers.
He attended the Village court this month.
He toured the new Village Hall in East Williston for the Village Hall expansion committee.
He reviewed various correspondence regarding Village building permits.
He attended the LI infrastructure workshop, sponsored by Congressman Bishop.
He noted that the Village is still waiting for a decision regarding the pending Healthcare litigation as well as the Northport Fire Department EEOC complaint.
He noted that several Small Claim Assessment review cases have come up and hearing dates are scheduled for the month of February.
Treasurers Report:
Vouchers for the month of December 2009: Requested approval for vouchers in the amount of $29,001.20 and related budget transfers. Emily Hayes reported on a meeting that will be scheduled with Trustee Elefante to discuss the preliminary review of the proposed budget for year end 05/31/2011.
Motion was made by Trustee Elefante to approve the Treasurers Report and December 2009 vouchers of $29,001.20 and related budget transfers, seconded by Mayor Irving.
Mayor Irving AYE
Deputy Mayor Masterson AYE
Trustee Elefante AYE
Motioned Carried.
Village Justice:
No report.
Police Department:
Officer in Charge Ray Mahdesian reported on his activity report for 2009. He noted that the 2009 yearly totals are Traffic summonses 504, Village summonses 52, Speed summonses 176, and arrests 44.
Sanitation Report:
Nancy Rittenhouse, Village Clerk reported for Barry Bradley, and all is as usual.
Highway Report:
Heidi Hayden noted that she is working on the highway budget with Trustee Elefante.
Zoning Board of Appeals Report:
Heidi Hayden reported on the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting that took place on December 14th, 2009. The ZBA Variance that was presented at the meeting was not approved; the final decision will be available at Village Hall. She noted it was a difficult decision for the ZBA to make, and requested that the Board of Trustees review the specific Village Code.
Superintendent of Buildings:
For the month of December Doug Adil performed several inspections for ongoing projects.
Doug noted that he attended the Village Hall Expansion Committee; this was an initial design meeting with the architects and the entire committee. Doug noted that the architects are obtaining test boring proposals and requested that the Village expose three areas of the existing foundation to determine what portions of the existing Village Hall building can possibly be maintained and/or added on to.
Doug noted that he worked on the road stabilization project, the engineers are moving forward to develop a design that will rehabilitate the shoulder area near the seawall, to minimize the wash over of sand onto the roadway.
Village Clerk, Nancy Rittenhouse and Officer O’Connor:
The Village Clerk and Officer O’Connor presented a recommendation for an IT Consultant that will assist in providing the Village and the Police Department with the best backup system as well as an offsite backup system. In addition, the new PC that will work as the server will enable the Village to begin scanning documents, once the software update has been approved and purchased. In the future this will minimize file storage costs.
Resolution (2010-1) Be it Resolved: To authorize the mayor to approve the services and purchase of computer hardware from Axe Creatives for information technology for Village hall and Police Station computer systems for the amount not to exceed $3000.00 Subject to Village Attorney’s approval.
Motion was made by Mayor Irving to approve, seconded by Trustee Elefante.
Mayor Irving AYE
Deputy Mayor Masterson AYE
Trustee Elefante AYE
Motioned Carried.
Public Session:
A resident missed the Mayors report and asked about Sand on the Beach, Mayor Irving offered to discuss this issue after the meeting.
Mayor Irving made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Deputy Mayor Masterson.
Mayor Irving AYE
Deputy Mayor Masterson AYE
Trustee Elefante AYE
Motioned Carried.
Officers Not Present:
Joseph Affrunti, Trustee
Avrum Golub, Trustee
The January 4h, 2010 meeting of the Board of Trustees was adjourned at approximately 8:15pm
Signed: _____________________________________________
Nancy Rittenhouse, Village Clerk