Incorporated Village of Asharoken
Board of Trustees Regular Meeting/Public Hearing
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016 7:30pm
At the Village Hall
Approximate Attendance (42)
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
Matthew Casamassima, ASDRP Committee Chairperson
Duck Island Harbor Revitalization
The Pledge of Allegiance was said.
Mayor Letica requested, proof of publication, Village Clerk confirmed.
Trustee Ettinger made a motion to approve the regular board minutes for January 5th, 2016, seconded by Deputy Mayor Pierce.
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 work session minutes for January 19th, 2016, seconded by Mayor Letica.
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
Mayor Letica reported, “The month of January was focused on the Asharoken Storm Damage Reduction Plan with several things to report. On January 19th Deputy Mayor Pam Pierce, Coastal Geologist Aram Terchunian, Rob Holmes from the beach Committee and I held a conference call with the ACOE and the NYSDEC. Everyone should have received a copy of the summary of this discussion that was prepared by Rob and added to by Aram. On January 26th Deputy Mayor Pierce, Village Attorney Bruce Migatz and I met with Supervisor Frank Petrone and Deputy Supervisor Pat Del Col to discuss the Town of Huntington’s assistance in the ASDRP. There are two important points to report from this meeting. First is that Huntington will continue to assist Asharoken in trying to get a reduced public access plan. Secondly, the Town can only assist in paying for the project if it provides benefits for all of the Town’s residents, i.e. public access on the beach.
The Village received three additional letters of support during the month from Congressman Steve Israel, Suffolk County Legislator Dr. William Spencer and The Board of Directors for Eaton Harbor Corporation Congressman Israel asked the ACOE to respond to Supervisor Petrone’s letter for reduced public access points in a timely fashion. The Village also has been working on its response to the ACOE that is due by February 10th. I would like to thank all of the residents of the Village who submitted their personal opinions to the ACOE.
Tomorrow night the Village Coastal Geologist, Aram Terchunian, will make a presentation to the Board on the ASDRP. The meeting will be held at the National Grid Power Plant and will begin at 6:30.
The Village’s tentative assessment roll is available for review daily from 9-3 at the Clerk’s office and the Village will hold its annual tax grievance day on February 16 from 11-3 at Village Hall.
I am happy to report that Asharoken received an additional donation of $7500 to support the beautification of Village Hall. This brings the total donations to approximately $368,500. The donor plaque is almost finished and will be installed prior to our March meeting. Village hall is essentially now complete with the replacement of the front door and new stair railing. Thanks to Mel Ettinger for overseeing these last two critical steps.
On January 15th Trustee Mel Ettinger and I met with Nadine Dumser to discuss her concerns about deer hunting in the Village. I would like to thank Nadine for sharing her opinion and collecting her neighbor’s feelings about this sensitive topic. The village will review this issue carefully.
The Village received a letter of resignation from John Wachter of the Planning Board. John and Christine have moved full time to Brooklyn and is no longer able to serve. I would like to thank him for his time and careful consideration of issues that are critical to the future of the Village. A replacement for John will be named at the March meeting. I would like to thank Tony Burke for organizing the food drive and also a big thank you to Emma Turner for collecting blankets to keep our veterans warm. Great job to Emma Turner. In March, Andy Giffin will once again be doing Soles for Souls a shoe drive to help needy people around the world. I am sure all of us have shoes that they can donate to this important cause.
Trustees:
Deputy Mayor Pierce reported that most of the items she worked on for the month of January were noted in the Mayors report. Deputy Mayor Pierce also added that she updated the other officials on the status of the ASDRP project.
Trustee Ettinger, reported that the village replaced the front door to the Village Hall. On January 8th he met with Deputy Mayor Pierce and Village Attorney, Bruce Migatz, to interview the coastal geologist prior to engaging him. He attended the monthly court session on January 13th. He met with a resident and Mayor Letica to discuss the deer issue. He attended the work session on January 19th; he also met with Officer-in-charge Mahdesian to prepare the 2016/2017 proposed budget. He met with Officer-in-Charge Mahdesian to prepare for the blizzard.
Trustee Burke reported that she attended the work session on January 19th; she reviewed the minutes, vouchers and correspondence from residents on the ASDRP project. She reviewed the transcript from the teleconference call and spoke with residents on various other issues.
Trustee Jablonski, reported that he reviewed the minutes and vouchers and transcript of correspondence and attended a deer tick management discussion at Decker’s Nursery.
Village Attorney: Bruce Migatz noted nothing new to report.
Treasurer: Emily Hayes reported on the vouchers for the month of January was $49,469.98. She also noted that we received a JCAP grant of $9000.00
Officer-In- Charge: Officer-In-Charge Ray Mahdesian reported that the village had 35 summonses this month. No arrests concerning the residents of the village. The Department investigated one grand larceny crime this month. The department covered the storm and brought in extra officers, no injuries and no serious emergencies.
Sanitation: Barry Bradley reported that Big Blue is running well, Trash total was 18.75 tons, single stream 6.8 tons for a total of 25.55 tons and a monthly cost of $1,500.00.
Superintendent of Building: Doug Adil reported that he performed eleven inspections. He responded to a residents concern regarding a presence of a pipe leading from a property to the beach. He reviewed the final RAVCO requisition and reviewed the fire sprinkler plans submitted for a home on Asharoken.
Conservation Board: Marty Cohen noted nothing to report.
ASDRP Committee Chairperson: Matthew Casamassima reported that to date the committee has made several recommendations which the board has chosen not to pursue. The Committee spent hours reviewing the entire Corps proposal as reflected in the informational handouts at the December 9th meeting, as well as an recruitment of residents from Eaton’s Neck to underscore the fact that this is not solely a Village problem. He noted that serious issues were raised during the teleconference with the ACOE and the Village. The teleconference call made it clear that the Tentatively Selected Plan offers no guarantee of performance and has few firm cost estimates, yet obligates the Village in Perpetuity. The Village Board must obtain a firm cost estimate and define guarantee of performance from the USACE before it can move forward. He pointed out that the Village must persuade the Town and the County to fulfill their obligations to safeguard their residents by joining with us as local sponsors. Without the financial support from the Town and the County the Public Access debate becomes secondary to the fact that we simply cannot afford the project as proposed, especially with the financial variables undefined. The committee will submit a series of detailed recommendations to the Village Board to deal with the issues raised by the proposal and teleconference with the ACOE and NYSDEC. For reasons above, at present the committee noted that the proposed plan is not in the best interest of the Village. If the Corps, our potential co-sponsors, and the DEC remain intractable, then we advise the Board to reject this proposal.
Duck Island Harbor Revitalization: Jean Bonawandt reported that she met with the Water Quality Committee at Huntington Town Hall and they provided a Bathometric survey at no charge. She noted that we have a meeting coming up with DEC and GHI to find out where they want the core samplings taken from and how many.
Mayor Letica noted that Stephanie Quarles has organized a Water Quality meeting on Thursday, Feb. 4th.
Environmental Review Board: Doug Vaughn, noted nothing to report.
Mayor Letica noted that a public hearing is scheduled on the proposed local law No. 1 of the year 2016 authorizing a property tax levy in excess of the limit established in General Municipal Law 3-c.
Village Clerk, Nancy Rittenhouse read the publication of the Public Hearing.
Mayor Letica noted that the NYS tax cap is based on either 2% or the rate of inflation whichever is less. This year it is .12% it is essentially zero, which is challenging. Additionally between now and the time the budget is adopted, there is no telling what could occur, examples a major storm, major repair to our sanitation truck. Without passing the law the village wouldn’t be able to compensate for these unknowns, this provides a safety net for the Village. The override law provides the Village the flexibility to arrive at a budget that best suits our needs as a village, which shouldn’t be constrained by an arbitrary number that was created by the Governor; we are a village so we can run our own finances and do what’s best for us. We have done the same procedure for the last three years and this is the only prudent and smart way to work on next year’s budget. All of our budgets have been below the cap, prior to passing the budget the village can repeal this law, and the residents will be eligible for a tax rebate if they are in the proper tax bracket. We are going to do all we can to reach a budget that falls within the parameters of this law. It’s good for the residents not to have a large tax increase.
Mayor Letica opened up the public hearing to the residents.
One comment was made on the override law 1-2016: the resident suggested a budget that services the taxpayers. She also noted that excess funds from the general fund were used to build Village Hall. She noted that money should be set aside in a contingency for future repairs of Village Hall and to minimize spending and focus on Village infrastructure and the ASDRP project.
Mayor Letica responded to the concerns; he reported that his administration has invested in infrastructure by repaving two substantial sections of Asharoken Avenue using Consolidated Highway Improvement Funds (CHIPS) program along with the village’s highway reserve funds. Regarding Village Hall, the Village began the project with start-up funding of $137,000; these funds came from the reserve accounts only and the remaining balance in the Village Hall project fund bank account is approx. $61,000. To date only $76,000 has been used from reserves to fund the VH project. Mayor Letica pointed out that the Village is waiting to receive confirmation on additional FEMA funding for Village Hall. He noted that the computer software and other furnishings were paid for using grant funding. Mayor Letica noted that we are doing our best to come up with a budget next year which will be conservative and modest. We have significant funding set aside in our reserve accounts, which we have maintained for years and will continue to do so in a very fiscally prudent way and will continue to do so next year.
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.
Resolutions:
Resolution (2016-11) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the vouchers for the month of January 2016 in the amount of $49,469.98.
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 (2016-12) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board approves the budget transfers for the month of January 2016.
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 (2016-13) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board of the Village of Asharoken, does hereby approve the local law 1-2016 authorizing a property tax levy in excess of the limit established in General Municipal Law}3-c for the fiscal year commencing 6/1/2016.
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 (2016-14) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board, does hereby accept the donation from the “Asharoken Building Fundraising Committee” in the amount of $7500.00 for beautification of 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 (2016-15) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby appoint a committee of the Board of Trustees to include, Mayor Letica, Deputy Mayor Pierce, Trustee Ettinger and Trustee Burke and Assessor Paul Wotzak as the Board of Assessment Review for the purpose of reviewing any complaints regarding the 2016/2017 assessments filed on or before Grievance Day, February 16th, 2016 and to be reviewed during the hours from 11am to 3pm at Village Hall, One Asharoken Avenue, Northport, NY 11768.
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 (2016-16) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the purchase of ten stacking guest chairs from Staples, for the village hall meeting room, not to exceed $800.00.
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 (2016-17) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the purchase of a Court interface program that converts data from the police data program to the court data program from Impact Inc., not to exceed $2000.00.
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.
Board members; the bids were opened on January 20, 2016 at 2:04pm at the Village Hall, Deputy Mayor Pierce was present and witnessed the opening of the bid envelope, only one bid was presented. The bid was for $501.00.
Resolution (2016-18) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby accept the bid from Emily Hayes in the amount of $501.00 for the Powerland Generator.
Trustee Jablonski made a motion to approve, seconded by Mayor Letica.
Trustee Ettinger noted that the portable generator was purchased for $1300 and was a temporary generator that was used to support the police and village hall trailers in case of an emergency. It was never intended to be used for the new building. “We have always intended to purchase an adequate generator to power the new Village Hall.” A resident claimed that the minutes read differently, Trustee Ettinger corrected the resident. “We advertised the portable generator originally for a minimum bid of $750.00 we received no bids. We re-bid the portable generator for $450.00, we received one bid.”
Trustee Jablonski AYE
Trustee Burke AYE
Trustee Ettinger AYE
Deputy Mayor Pierce AYE
Mayor Letica AYE
Motioned Carried.
Resolution (2016-19) WHEREAS, the Village Clerk of the Village of Asharoken delivered to this Board of Trustees the following account of all taxes remaining due and unpaid for the year 2015/2016, together with a description of the lands on which said taxes are unpaid:
|
Name of Owner 2015/2016 Real Prop. Taxes |
Dist/Section/Block/Lot |
Taxes |
Penalty |
Pub. Fee |
Total |
|
Hansen |
0401-008-02-008-000 |
$4092.20 |
$491.06 |
$7.50 |
$4590.76 |
|
Blower |
0401-003-02-091-000 |
$3171.46 |
$380.57 |
$7.50 |
$3,559.53 |
|
Ward |
0401-004-01-061-000 |
$58.46 |
$7.01 |
$7.50
|
$72.97 |
|
Ward |
0401-004-02-045-000 |
$29.23 |
$3.51 |
$7.50 |
$40.24 |
|
McLaughlin |
0401-007-02-039.001 |
$876.90 |
$105.23 |
$7.50 |
$989.63 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
WHEREAS that this Board has examined said account, and compared it with the original tax rolls, and hereby certifies it to be correct.
|
Name of Owner 2015/2016 Real Prop. Taxes |
Dist/Section/Block/Lot |
Taxes |
Penalty |
Pub. Fee |
Total |
|
Hansen |
0401-008-02-008-000 |
$4092.20 |
$491.06 |
$7.50 |
$4590.76 |
|
Blower |
0401-003-02-091-000 |
$3171.46 |
$380.57 |
$7.50 |
$3,559.53 |
|
Ward |
0401-004-01-061-000 |
$58.46 |
$7.01 |
$7.50
|
$72.97 |
|
Ward |
0401-004-02-045-000 |
$29.23 |
$3.51 |
$7.50 |
$40.24 |
|
McLaughlin |
0401-007-02-039.001 |
$876.90 |
$105.23 |
$7.50 |
$989.63 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NOW, THEREFORE, this Board, pursuant to Article 14 of the Real Property Tax Law of the State of New York, determines to collect the amount of such unpaid taxes levied or assessed for the year 2015/2016 by a tax lien sale in accordance with procedures authorized by the Board of Trustees in the manner and after the form and resolution, certified by the Clerk, shall be transmitted forthwith to the Treasurer of the Village with the account, affidavit, and certificate of such unpaid taxes and is authorized and directed to cause to be published in the official paper of the Village, once each week for three consecutive weeks, a list as shown in the tax roll, with the amount of the tax, penalties, and charges thereon, excepting there from such parcels of property on which the Village holds and owns one or more unredeemed certificates of tax sale; and also a notice that the said real estate will, on a day subsequent to the expiration of said three weeks to be determined by said Village Clerk and specified in said notice, be sold at a place in said Village to be designated by said Village Clerk, to discharge the tax, penalties, and charges aforesaid, which may be due thereon at the time of such sale, and that the said Village Clerk, at the time and place specified in said notice, proceed with the sale of said real estate upon which such taxes are unpaid, as set forth above, and continue the same from day to day until the sale is completed. That such real estate shall be sold subject to any unpaid assessments thereon levied by the Village of Asharoken and also subject to any unpaid tax liens purchased and held by the Village.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in all cases where no bid shall be made on a lot or parcel of land so offered for sale for an amount sufficient to pay the said tax, penalties, and charges, the said premises shall be deemed to have been sold to and purchased by the Village of Asharoken, New York
Mayor Letica suggested waiving the reading, and pick up from this point.
The Village Clerk has advised that the tax sale referred to in the foregoing resolution would be held on Tuesday, March 15, 2016, at 10am to 12 noon, at the Village Hall, 1 Asharoken Avenue, Northport, New York, and that publication of the list of properties to be sold would commence on or about February 18, 2016, and be it further resolved that the Village Board reserves its right to authorize and direct the Village Treasurer on behalf of the Village to reject any and all bids for parcels of lands listed in the annual tax lien sale to be held as set forth herein and, and to bid in and purchase if necessary the same for the Village.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Village Board reserves the right to withhold any and all said tax liens from sale and/or to cancel said tax lien sale.
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 (2016-20) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby approve the adjustment to the fiscal year 5/31/16 budget to increase the Other Government Aid account (A3089.000) for $9000 and increase the municipal Court Equipment and Capital expenditure account (A1110.200) for $9000 due to receiving the Justice Court Assistance Program (JCAP) grant.
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 (2016-21) Be it Resolved that the Village Board does hereby grant a permit to Craig Bonawandt located at 387 Asharoken Avenue for use of firearms pursuant to 67-2(a).
Mayor Letica pointed out that the only constraint would be to use steel, copper or stainless shots.
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, six questions and/or comments were presented.
1. A comment was made on the importance to move forward with the ASDRP project. The resident pointed out the costs of the project but importantly noted a higher cost not to do the project could put the village at risk.
2. A comment was made on the current proposal for the ASDRP project that it is a guesstimate by the ACOE. The resident commented on 50- year projects and how few of them come in on time and on budget by the ACOE and NYSDEC. He commented that the village cannot afford to be the only local sponsor.
3. A question was asked if questions were going to be allowed at the presentation.
4. A question was asked if a public hearing will take place, Mayor Letica indicated that there will be one when we have a final plan. The resident also noted that if more funding is secured than public access discussion could become a compromise.
5. A question was asked who owns Asharoken Avenue, and made a comment about toll booths.
6. A comment was made that if the beach becomes public our property values will go down.
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 February 2nd, 2016 Regular board meeting of the Board of Trustees was adjourned at approximately 8:30pm.
Signed: _____________________________________________
Nancy Rittenhouse, Village Clerk