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DRAFT Minutes of the November 1, 2016 Meeting of the Asharoken Board of Trustees

 Incorporated Village of Asharoken

Board of Trustees Regular Meeting

        Tuesday, November 1, 2016 7:30pm

             At the Village Hall

Approximate Attendance (25)

                                                                               

DRAFT                                                                                

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

Barry Bradley, Sanitation Operator

Doug Adil, Superintendent of Buildings

Raymond Mahdesian, Officer-in-Charge

Marty Cohen, Chairman for the Conservation Board

 

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 October 4, 2016, seconded by Trustee Ettinger.

 

Trustee Jablonski                                           AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Mayor’s Report:

Mayor Letica reported, On October 18th the Village received a copy of the NYSDEC’s response to the ACOE regarding the ASDRP.  The DEC made the argument that at this point it would make no sense not to finish the study.  The study is 95% complete and almost $4,000,000 has been spent to date leading the DEC to write “ Terminating the Feasibility Study at this point in the process would mean that these tax payer dollars were spent in vain”.  The Village will await further news from the DEC and ACOE prior to taking any additional steps. Please keep in mind that this ASDRP project will not happen unless this Village signs a Partnership Agreement with the State and this will never occur until a full survey or poll from all of you has taken place.  If in fact the ACOE allows the NYSDEC to complete the Feasibility Study the biggest benefit from this study is not for us but for the future community resident’s and their homes.  It would be selfish and short sighted of us to say no to something that could help the next generation of Asharoken homeowners.

The groin project went very well; we ultimately repaired and created a much safer beach by removing a lot of the hardware from the 1950 groins on both the west and east side of the beach.  Many thanks to Deputy Mayor Pam Pierce for organizing and monitoring this project every step of the way.  Chesterfield Associates worked very hard and did a phenomenal job. Pam will report on this in detail.

The National Grid Sand Replenishment is moving along very well.  I will leave the details of both projects to Deputy Mayor Pierce to report on. Mayor Letica thanked Pam for all her hard work on both of these projects and on the many windy and cold days on the beach.

The Environmental Review Board hearing was held on October 24th, for two dock applicants; Giunta at 241 Asharoken and Ackeson at 255 Asharoken. The Board received notification from Chairman of the ERB Doug Vaughn requesting that the Village Board retain an environmental consultant to independently review the submissions made in order to assist the ERB in their recommendation. A resolution has been put on the agenda. The cost of the consultant will be paid for by the applicants.

Our newest part-time police officer Frank Tricamo was sworn in last week.  We welcome Frank to our police force.

The Village advertised two police cars; (Grand Cherokee Jeep and Chevy Tahoe) all sealed bids were received on October 14th at 2pm.  Both bids came in higher than anticipated. The Board will consider a resolution tonight to accept the bids.

A reminder that the Holiday Party will be this Saturday evening at 7:00pm at the Northport Yacht Club, Carole has informed us we are up to 110 guests attending.  This is a wonderful evening to meet old and new neighbors and friends. Mayor Letica thanked Carole Casamassima for making it all possible, she dedicates so much time and does tremendous job, to bring our residents together but also to support our Fireworks tradition. Very sad to report that we lost two long time residents; Ronald Ronzoni and Andrew Carlson.

 

Trustees:

Deputy Mayor Pierce reported that she spent time photographing the beach anticipating Hurricane Matthew especially near the seawall.  She photographed the entire beach because of the National Grid Sand placement.  She reported that the three concrete groin exposed steel pieces were removed and all of the five timber and steel groins were removed by Chesterfield Associates. She monitored and worked with the contractor on the placement of sand by National Grid.   On October 27th she participated in the annual inspection of the seawall.  She reviewed the resident’s correspondence considering docks and deer, reviewed the vouchers and ERB transcripts.

 

Mayor Letica noted that the groin project should have been worked on a long time ago; parts of these groins were very dangerous, he noted that the village has now made this section of the beach safer.

 

Trustee Ettinger, reported that he spent time working on the upgrades to the village computer system and the implementation of the villages email system. He noted that during the month we installed the backup system for the police server, the new firewall for the police and office computers, the new antivirus system and finally we completed the implementation of the new email system. On October 14th he witnessed the opening of the seal bids for both police cars.  On October 19th he met with Absolute plumbing for the annual performance backflow test.  He participated in the swearing-in of our new police officer Frank Tricamo.  He reviewed the DEC letter, correspondence from residents; he reviewed several FOILS’ and the vouchers for the month.

 

Trustee Burke reported that she reviewed the transcripts from the ERB meetings, the related correspondence, the vouchers, the minutes, and met with a resident to discuss issues regarding the seawall.

 

Trustee Jablonski reported that he reviewed the minutes, vouchers, the ERB transcripts and correspondences from residents.

 

Village Attorney:  Bruce Migatz reported that the Zoning Board had a hearing on October 17th; there was one application on the agenda, applicant Francine Herships at 477 Asharoken Avenue. The applicant was seeking to raise the existing dwelling which was under repair from Sandy. FEMA regulations required it to be raised; the dwelling was a prior non-conforming dwelling with only a 4.9’ side yard setback.  The applicant was seeking to raise the building on the existing foundation maintaining the same 4.9’ setback and the ZBA granted that application.  The Planning Board did not meet. Duck Island Corporation, in October filed an amended subdivision map; there was discussion at the last public hearing that it might occur.  The neighbor to the east Mr. Jon Small had requested that Duck Island Corp convey to him a small triangle piece of property along the road that would make his lot a conforming lot and a little more than one acre in size with the required 100’ frontage. Duck Island Corp did submit an amended map, so technically it is a three lot subdivision.  That amended map and amended EAF was sent to the Villages consultant VHB Engineering for review and will report back to the Planning Board before they schedule the next hearing.  The ERB met on October 24th on the two dock applications, they received plethora of information from both sides; the applicants and residents who are opposed to the docks. The information was highly technical from each expert. Each expert had different views, one said black and one said white, some agreement but a lot of disagreement.  The ERB members felt that they needed an unbiased independent environmentalist consultant to review both submissions and advise the ERB members of their opinion on the opinions of the other experts.  The consultant is not retained to make the decision on behalf of the ERB as to whether there won’t be adverse impacts but to guide them to interpret the information that has been submitted.  The village code authorizes the village to retain at the expense of the applicant, consultants to help interpret the information that has been submitted.  That resolution is on the agenda for tonight.

 

Treasurer: Emily Hayes reported on the vouchers for the month being $45,884.88, the vouchers include a payment for the groin repair project totaling $16,500.00.

 There will be a separate resolution to approve the vouchers and budget transfers.

 

Officer-In- Charge:   Officer-In-Charge Ray Mahdesian reported that the department had a good month, we had two speeders over 60 MPH, 38 summonses and 5 arrests this month.  We received our check from Operation Shield in the amount of $2128.00 for our marine participation.  Our new officer Frank Tricamo completed the hiring process and received his orientation.

 

Superintendent of Buildings: Doug Adil reported that he reviewed construction plans for a home on Asharoken Avenue; he provided information to a homeowner who has a pool in construction. He reviewed the transcripts from the previous ERB meeting, he wrote up a draft letter delineating permit requirements and operation/maintenance requirements for DIC storm water improvements.  He provided information to a homeowner on Bevin Road regarding an acceptable pool barrier, drafted final letter to Duck Island Corp regarding compliance with Chapter 44 of the code and he performed eleven inspections.

 

Sanitation Operator: Barry Bradley reported that Big Blue is running well.  Total trash tons was 22.95, single stream 7.05 tons for total tonnage for the month being 30.76 tons. Yard waste 64 bags and 15 families participated.

 

 Conservation Board: Marty Cohen noted that the board made two visits to homeowners who were interested in getting permits to remove trees.

 

Resolutions:

Resolution (2016-129) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board approves the budget transfers for the month of October 2016.

 

 

Motion was made by Deputy Mayor Pierce 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 (2016-130) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the vouchers for the month of October 2016 in the amount of $45,884.88.

 

Motion was made by Trustee Jablonski 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 (2016-131) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby accept the audited Financial Statements for year end 5/31/2016, the Financial Statements have been filed with the Village Clerk, published and available for inspection.

 

Motion was made by Mayor Letica 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 (2016-132) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby accept the audit for the Justice Court of the Village of Asharoken covering the period of October 1, 2015 through September 30, 2016.

 

Motion was made by Trustee Ettinger 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 (2016-133) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby adopt the following schedule for monthly regular meetings for the calendar year 2017 meetings to begin at 7:30pm at the Asharoken Village Hall, One Asharoken Avenue, Northport, NY 11768, subject to change.

Regular Meeting, Tuesday, January 10th, 2017

Regular Meeting, Tuesday, February 7th, 2017

Regular Meeting, Tuesday, March 7th, 2017

Regular Meeting, Tuesday, April 4th, 2017

Regular Meeting, Tuesday, May 2nd, 2017

Regular Meeting, Tuesday, June 6th, 2017

Regular Meeting, Tuesday, July 11th, 2017-Organizational Meeting

Regular Meeting, Tuesday, August 1st, 2017

Regular Meeting, Tuesday, September 5th, 2017

Regular Meeting, Tuesday, October 3rd, 2017

Regular Meeting, Tuesday, November 14th, 2017

Regular Meeting, Tuesday, December 5th, 2017

 

Motion was made by Deputy Mayor Pierce 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 (2016-134) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby adopt the following schedule for monthly Special/work session meetings for the calendar year 2017 meetings to begin at 4:00pm at the Asharoken Village Hall, One Asharoken Avenue, Northport, NY 11768, subject to change.

 

Special/Work Session Meeting, Tuesday, March 21st, 2017

Special/Work Session Meeting, Tuesday, June 27th, 2017

Special/Work Session Meeting, Tuesday, September 19th, 2017

Special/Work Session Meeting, Tuesday, November 28th, 2017

 

Motion was made by Trustee Ettinger 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 (2016-135) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the transfer and payment of $16,500.00 from the Infrastructure Reserve Account #5059 to the Money Market Account #5018.

 

Motion was made by Deputy Mayor Pierce 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 (2016-136) Be it Resolved that the Village Board does hereby approve the adjustment to the fiscal budget for year end 5/31/2017 to increase the Public Works Other account (A1490.495) for $16,500.00 and increase Start Income (A1000.00) for $16,500.00.

 

Motion was made by Mayor Letica to approve, seconded by Trustee Jablonski.

Trustee Jablonski                                           AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Nancy Rittenhouse, Village Clerk presented to the Board the results of the Police car bids for both the 2004 Grand Cherokee Jeep police car and 2004 Chevy Tahoe police car.

 

Resolution (2016-137) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby accept the bid from Daniel Twitchell in the amount of $5,377.00 for the 2004 Grand Cherokee Jeep police car.

 

Motion was made by Trustee Ettinger 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 (2016-138) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby accept the bid from Tim Kirchner in the amount of $4,600.00 for the 2004 Chevy Tahoe police car.

 

Motion was made by Trustee Ettinger 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 (2016-139) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the services for Parker landscaping for the 2016/2017 winter season snow removal  for village hall parking area and entrances in the amount of $150.00 per snow fall of 1” to 6” and $250.00 for 6” to 12”.

 

Motion was made by Trustee Jablonski 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 (2016-140) Be It Resolved, that the Environmental Review Board has requested that the Board of Trustees retain a suitable qualified expert in a prompt and timely manner  to review the submissions presented by Attorney Michael McCarthy representing the two dock applicants (Ackeson & Giunta) and submissions presented by the opposition Attorney Fred Eisenbud representing Mr. Robert Holmes; the cost of the expert is to be paid by the dock applicants pursuant to Village Code section 125-22.6.B.

 

Motion was made by Deputy Mayor Pierce to approve, seconded by Trustee Ettinger.

 

Trustee Burke noted that there has been so much information presented at the ERB meetings from both sides; at what point do we expect a decision from the ERB members. She noted to pay for an environmental expert appears to be a burden to the applicants; should the board have asked them to do this several months ago.  Village Attorney Migatz noted that the Asharoken village code like most village codes authorizes the Planning Board, Zoning Board and Board of Trustees to retain experts to assist them interpreting the information given to them.  The ERB members have made a decision where they feel they need guidance in interpreting the information.  The information is very technical and they are looking for guidance.  The independent consultant only helps interpret the information and responds to questions that the ERB members may have. Once the ERB members make a recommendation, the Board of Trustees must do its SEQRA review. The ERB has to deal with a lot of the environmental information in order to make their recommendation; once they make their recommendation to this board you may need guidance as well during your SEQRA review. Retaining a consultant at this point is guidance for the ERB and will be guidance for this board. It is not unusual in other villages and town that the cost is on the applicant to pay for consultants.

 

Trustee Jablonski                                           AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              AYE

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     AYE

Motioned Carried.

 

Mayor Letica noted that the concrete shoulder by the crossover has several cracks in it; we had an engineer review the site and draw up plans several months ago.  Trustee Burke and Trustee Jablonski will be running this project.

 

Mayor Letica opened up the meeting for public session.

During public session, fourteen suggestions, comments or questions were presented.

1.    Comment was made on the dock applications; that there were many residents in opposition of the two dock applications and noted many deficiencies were found in the environmental documents that were submitted by the applicants.

2.      Question was asked if the Village can ask for compatible sand from National Grid for the sand placement project.

3.      Question was on the Duck Island Corp subdivision and placement of the road.

4.    Comment was made on several of his neighbors having plumbing problems since the SCWA project; he suggested calling your plumber for a pressure regulator.

5.     Comment was made on whether the village has considered other options for the Feasibility Study reserves.

Mayor Letica pointed out that the Village needs the Feasibility Study for the future. We may not use it now, but it should be available for the people in the future.  Mayor Letica pointed out that he has contacted SCWA regarding homes that had water issues and also noted that if you have a water issue contact the Village as well as the SCWA.

6.    Comment was made about the water issues in some homes, the water pressure should be between 65 and 80 lbs.

7.    Comment was made on Asharoken sand and also presented the newly sand deposited on the beach, and asked if it was tested.

Deputy Mayor Pierce pointed out that three years ago we had the same proportion of upland sand and dredged sand.  The dredged sand was from the discharge channel, not the intake channel.  In 2010 a sample was taken and had gone through a sieve test. The same sieve test is used today and is made up of medium and course sand and some silt which settles out and the color fades in time.  It also has to pass a contamination test by National Grid. This is used for the upland source.  The dredged sand will be courser than the upland sand.  National Grid only has a permit to dredge in one location, if there is not enough dredged material they have to bring in sand from upland sources.  Mayor Letica noted that they do a survey of how much dredged sand is available to determine how much upland sand they will need.

 

8.    Comment was made on the deer issues and hunting, pictures were handed out.

9.    Comment on the Feasibility Study.

 Mayor Letica noted that we are not under any obligation to construct the project if the Feasibility Study is completed.  The ACOE indicated that in order to complete the study the project must move forward; this is being approached by the DEC.

10.   Comment was made about public access. Mayor Letica noted that as a community we will decide whether we go forward with this, but we are better off having the study available in the future. 

11.   Question was asked about the people making the final decision. Mayor Letica pointed out its going to be up to the residents to determine if they want to do this project.

12.   Comment on a survey.

13.   Question on whether the village has to give the NYSDEC or the ACOE authorization that properties will be condemned.

14.   Question on whether you still stand by your decision not to condemn property.

 

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 November 1st, 2016 Regular board meeting of the Board of Trustees was adjourned at approximately 8:30pm.              

Signed: _____________________________________________

                Nancy Rittenhouse, Village Clerk