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[MESSAGE JSNF-285-09]

APPROVED Minutes of the January 7, 2014 Meeting of the Asharoken Board of Trustees

 Incorporated Village of Asharoken

Board of Trustees Regular Meeting

Held on Tuesday

January 7th, 2014 7:30 P.M

At the Northport Power Plant

Approximate Attendance (27)

                                                                               

                                                                                                                                               

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

Barry Bradley, Sanitation Operator

Bill Raisch, Emergency Manager

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 December 3rd, 2013, seconded by Trustee Jablonski.

 

Trustee Jablonski                                            AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Trustee Jablonski made a motion to approve the board’s work session minutes for December 17th, 2013, 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 announced the public hearing for the proposed Local Law1-2014 authorizing a property tax levy in excess of the limit established in General Municipal Law} 3-c for the fiscal year beginning 6/1/2014. Village Clerk, Nancy Rittenhouse read the public notice. 

Mayor Letica opened the public hearing and asked for any comments from the public.

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.

Mayor Letica announced the second public hearing on the proposed Fire & EMS five-year contract between the Village of Northport and the Village of Asharoken.  Village Clerk, Nancy Rittenhouse read the public notice.

Mayor Letica opened the public hearing and asked for any comments from the public. 

Four (4) comments were made by the public.

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, “Deputy Mayor Pierce and I met with Ron Pinzon from the USACOE and Sue McCormick from the NYSDEC.  We were given a preliminary/draft milestone schedule and a preliminary/draft design of the beach restoration.  The schedule calls for construction in the 2015-2016 dredging window.  I would caution that this is a very optimistic appraisal and that the village will do all it can to keep the project on this schedule.

The Board of Trustees approved a resolution to go forward with the purchase of a foreclosed beach lot.  This lot will be used as an access point to the beach as is required by the USACOE and NYSDEC in order to restore the beach.  The cost of the lot was $792.47 plus a title search fee of $225.  The village is awaiting approval by the Suffolk County Legislature.

The Bevin Road sluice area that suffered damage during Sandy was repaired and the costs reimbursed by FEMA.

 

The village is still awaiting a final answer as to how much funding it is entitled to for damage done to village hall in Superstorm Sandy.  The village is continuing to finish the architectural plans of John Ross’s design and complete the bid package for the new village hall.

I attended the inauguration of Supervisor Frank Petrone, Council Members Mark Cuthberson and Tracy Edwards as well as incoming Highway Superintendent Pete Gunther on Sunday January 5th.

The village received a plaque thanking it for its efforts to protect nesting Piping Plovers and the village also hosted a Snowy Owl on  Dec. 28th.

Trustee Reports:

 

Deputy Mayor Pierce reported that she attended the meeting with the ACOE and the NYSDEC in the first week of December.  She also attended a meeting for municipalities provided by the new electric company, PSEG on December 9th, 2013.  Much of what was presented has been in the local media since the takeover from LIPA on January 1st.  She noted that their priorities are tree trimming and storm response which is becoming more centralized.  They will be reducing the number of liaisons from 80-25 and will have four district managers in place.  In addition PSEG noted that they will have a new state of the art “Outage Management System”.  Deputy Mayor Pierce noted that she attended the Santa visit, the Board of Trustee’s work session and the Huntington Inauguration.  She reviewed the Ashroken police 2013 annual report, the latest draft of the water quality IMA, the fire & EMS fire contract, the board minutes.  She continues take photos of the sand placement and the changing contours of the beach as a result of the latest storms.  She noted that residents should take a look at the TOH storm survey which is located on the home page of the TOH website.

 

Trustee Ettinger wished everyone a happy and healthy new year.  He noted that he was involved in several meetings involving police matters and village hall reconstruction meetings.  He thanked Rich Pandolfi for his work with part of the bid package.  He participated in a conference call with FEMA on December 5th   .  He met with tech support staff regarding the generator on December 6th.  He attended the Santa visit on December 15th and the Board of Trustees work session on December 17th.  He attended village court and reviewed the vouchers for the month.

 

Trustee Burke reported that she attended the work session on December 17th; she worked on village communications including the Jan/Feb. newsletter, she reviewed the Fire & EMS contracts and reviewed the vouchers for this month.

 

Trustee Jablonski reported that he continues to work on the shoulder area on Asharoken Avenue near parking lot 13.  He is continuing to follow up with Suffolk County Water Authority to have them re-locate the water supply vault.  Participated in the board of trustee’s work session and reviewed the beach restoration plan. He reviewed the vouchers.

 

Village Attorney:  Village Attorney Bruce Migatz noted that the zoning board met last month regarding a special use accessory renewal at 141 Asharoken Ave. which was granted.

 

Treasurer: Emily Hayes reported that the total vouchers for the month of December were $146,412.38, which includes the expenditure for the fire contract.

 

Officer-In- Charge:  Officer-In-Charge Ray Mahdesian reported that on December 12th an Asharoken police car was involved in a minor accident, being struck by an unlicensed violator.  There were no reported burglaries in the village for the month of December.

 

Sanitation: Barry Bradley reported on Big Blue which is running well.  Trash pick-up was 29.77 tons, Co-mingle was 3.20 tons and News and Cardboard was 3.54 tons, totaling 41.18 tons.

 

Emergency Manager: Bill Rasich noted that this is the time that we should be walking thru key issues and following up with another table top exercise as well as updating the Emergency Management Plan.

 

Mayor Letica added that he met with Pete Gunther and discussed storm preparation for the village.

 

Harbormaster: Deputy Harbormaster Bradley reported that the police vessel has been covered for the winter.

 

Superintendent of Buildings: Doug Adil reported on various consultations, such as constructing a tennis court and the need for drywells.  He noted he had a discussion with a resident regarding the effect of wind turbines on radio and TV frequencies.  He also noted that he reviewed plans for a buried propane tank and the importance of insuring that the tank is not buried in a floodplain area. He performed 12 inspections for the month of December.

 

Conservation Board: Marty Cohen noted nothing to report.

 

Planning Board:  No report.

 

Resolutions:

 

Resolution (2014-01) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby authorize the Mayor to sign the five-year Fire & EMS service contract between the Village of Northport and the Village of Asharoken commencing January 1st, 2013 through December 31st, 2017 to be paid on an annual basis approved as to form by the Village Attorney.

 

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.

 

Resolution (2014-02) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the vouchers for the month of December in the amount of $146,412.38.

 

Deputy Mayor Pierce 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.

 

Resolution (2014-03) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board approves the budget transfers for the month of December 2013.

 

Deputy Mayor Pierce 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.

 

Resolution (2014-04) Be it Resolved that the Village Board, does hereby approve in accordance with the provisions of the Election Law of the State of New York, the 2014 Annual Village Election in the Village of Asharoken shall be held on June 17th, 2014, and be it further resolved that the offices to be filled at said election and the terms thereof are as follows:

 

Trustee, two (2) years

Trustee, two (2) years

Mayor, two (2) years 

Justice, four (4) years

 

Be It resolved that the polling place will be held at the Eaton’s Neck Fire House, 55 Eaton’s Neck Road, Northport, NY 11768 during the hours of 12 noon to 9:00 pm, subject to change.

 

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

Trustee Jablonski                                            AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Resolution (2014-05) 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 Consolidated Highway Aid account (A3501.000) and an increase in the Highway Repair expense account (A5110.451) for $13,750.00.

 

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 (2014-06) 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 Emergency Reimbursement Aid account (A4095.000) and an increase in the Emergency Disaster expense account (A8760.000) for $3,500.00.

 

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.

 

Public Session:

Mayor Letica opened up the meeting to public session.

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

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

1.       Inquiry on wind turbines and the application submitted.  Village Clerk, Nancy Rittenhouse noted that the wind turbine application to the BZA was removed from the January 13th BZA calendar due to an incomplete application.

2.       A resident shared information on wind turbines.

3.       Inquiry of considering revising the village code to include wind turbine.

4.       Comment was made on the affects to your property from another property owner, such as light.

5.       Comment on the need for more discussion among board members and scheduling of work sessions. Inquiry on the beach restoration plan and the sand placement by National Grid.

6.       Mayor Letica noted that he has already contacted the ACOE in order to schedule a site visit and noted that it is important to come up with a long term plan that will work to restore the beach.

7.       Inquiry on the type of sand that was placed on the beach and the amount of sand that was dredged vs. upland sources.

8.        Inquiry of the placement of sand dredged from the coast guard cove to put in front of the seawall.

9.       Deputy Mayor Pierce pointed out that the resolutions that were approved during the work sessions was important to approve, for example in December 2013 the resolution to purchase the Beach Lot from Suffolk County enabled the village to move up the transaction by approximately 4-6 weeks. The work session prior to December was the hiring of Victor Cuneo to speed up the village hall project.  The work sessions help provide a positive impact on the village and these work sessions work with the board member schedules.

10.   Inquiry on board member’s soliciting input from the public prior to passing resolutions. 

11.   Mayor Letica noted that the agenda and other pertinent documents have been placed on the website prior to the meetings.  Deputy Mayor Pierce noted that the format of the agenda has been consistent for the last 20 years. 

12.   Inquiry on the property tax cap.

13.   Inquiry on a proposal from Governor Cuomo regarding incentives given when a municipality stays within the 2% tax cap and has shared services.

14.   Inquiry on the proposed jetties.

15.   Comment on West Hampton Dunes beach placement.

16.   Inquiry on open meetings law and how the board conducts their business.

17.   Inquiry on sections of the minutes being bold “faced”, machinery on the beach by Duck Island and graffiti on the retaining wall of private property.

18.   Inquiry on a blight law. Village Attorney noted that this falls under the NYS penile law, you need to call the police for these matters.

19.   Inquiry on the Morgan Estate issue.

 

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 January 7th, 2014 Board meeting of the Board of Trustees was adjourned at approximately 8:45 pm.

                Signed: _____________________________________________

                Nancy Rittenhouse, Village Clerk