This site requires that JavaScript be enabled, but either your browser does not support JavaScript or it is disabled.
To access this site, please upgrade your browser, or turn on JavaScript.

[MESSAGE JSNF-285-09]

DRAFT Minutes of the March 3, 2020 Meeting of the Asharoken Board of Trustees

 Incorporated Village of Asharoken

Board of Trustees Board Meeting

         Tuesday, March 3, 2020 6:30pm

             Village Hall

Approximate Attendance (13)

                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

William Raisch, Emergency Manager

Joe Affrunti, Harbormaster

Marty Cohen, Chairman of the Conservation Board

 

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 4, 2020 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 of Assessment Review minutes for February 18, 2020 seconded by Trustee Burke.

Trustee Jablonski                                           AYE

Trustee Burke                                                  AYE

Trustee Ettinger                                              Abstain

Deputy Mayor Pierce                                    AYE

Mayor Letica                                                     Abstain

Motioned Carried.

 

Mayors Report:

Mayor’s Report;” In January 2019 the Village of Asharoken and Town of Huntington wrote to the New York State Department of Conservation (NYSDEC), our non-federal sponsor, requesting that the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) provide a Locally Preferred Plan (LPP) to replace the failing seawall and restore the beach in front of it.

 

The NYSDEC then wrote to the USACOE on the Village and Town’s behalf requesting that the Seawall Project Study be resumed to finalize a Locally Preferred Plan (LPP) needed to restore the seawall area.  The Village and Town received a formal response on February 18, 2020 from the NYSDEC stating that the USACOE has made a determination not to move forward with creating a Locally Preferred Plan to restore the seawall area.

 

The reason the USACOE decided not to work on the LPP was because they determined that only fixing the seawall area, as opposed to restoring the entire beach from the power plant to Bevin Road, did not provide a sustainable comprehensive solution. The USACOE offered the Village the option to reconsider its decision to reject the full beach reconstruction project and fix the seawall area as part of that.  This 600,000 cubic yard beach replenishment plan, extending from the power plan to past the sea wall, was overwhelmingly turned down by the residents in 2016 due to issues of public beach access, liability considerations, cost and other factors. In a conference call in December I informed the USACOE that the Village was not going to reconsider its decision on the NED plan.

 

In their letter, the USACOE provided the Village and Town with several alternative Courses of Action (COA) for the seawall area. Asharoken, in conjunction with the Town of Huntington, will look into all of these COAs to seek a resolution to the failing seawall and eroding beach seaward of it.  To that end, the Village and Town have organized a meeting in March to explore the Courses of Action (COA) the USACOE suggested.

 

I would like to thank Congressman Tom Suozzi who has actively supported the seawall project since 2017 and work tirelessly to seek a solution to replace the failing seawall.  Congressman Tom Suozzi was instrumental in organizing the March meeting where we will discuss the other options available to the Village and Town.

 

The Village and the Town of Huntington are committed to restoring the seawall and the beach.   This will likely be a lengthy process and we will do our best to explore every option available to solve the problem.

 

The Village received notice from the NYS Department of Parks and Historic Preservation that the new outboard motor for the police boat has been approved and will be paid for in full by NYS Parks and Historic Preservation.  KG Marine has started work to replace the engine on the boat.  Thanks again to Harbormaster Joe Affrunti for securing the new engine for the Village.

 

The Village has continued work on the Commercial Vehicle Parking law and has begun to prepare a list of guidelines for skeet shooting.

 

The Village has begun working on the five year Hazard Mitigation Plan 2020-2025. Every municipality must submit their plan to Suffolk County. The Federal Stafford Act requires that municipalities have an approved and current Hazard Mitigation Plan to receive Hazard Mitigation grants. As disasters occur thru Suffolk County; FEMA puts aside 15% of the total damages that have occurred from previous declared disasters to be made available for municipalities having an approved Hazard Mitigation Plan for implementing their own previous documented projects.

The importance of the plan for our Village is to identity our risks; for example the seawall, the eroded beach dune, concentrated flooding in a particular area, etc. The overall plan also identifies evacuation plans, access to shelters and areas for temporary housing.

 

Regarding the Fireworks five year contract; we have a resolution tonight for approval to enter into an agreement with Fireworks by Grucci, he thanked Marty Hakker for his hard work.

National Grid update: We are told by

 National Grid that the new gas line project will most likely begin the last week of March, as soon as we have more specific dates we will pass them along.

Attended the Chamber of Commerce brunch last Sunday; it’s great to meet other elected officials.”

Trustees:

Deputy Mayor Pierce reported that she attended the Board of Assessment Review on February 18th; along with Trustees Jablonski and Burke. She met with the ACOE for the annual seawall inspection on February 19th. She reviewed the minutes for the board and BAR meeting, monthly vouchers, commercial parking, and fencing for Village Hall, Skeet Shooting requirement, letter from the ACOE and fireworks contract. She noted that last year the TOH introduced fees to put forth for moorings within the waters of the Town and Villages; and pointed out that they are having a public hearing next Tuesday to discuss.

 

Trustee Ettinger reported that he worked with Officer-in-Charge Mahdesian on police matters.  He noted that he worked on the court system requirements. Court is now held twice a month instead of once of month.  He noted that he worked on the police fiscal budget for 5/31/21 and solicited proposals for the police lights for the new police vehicle. The department received three proposals; the cost for the new police vehicle and lights are fully covered by the insurance proceeds.  He noted that he reviewed the fireworks contract, fence for village hall, skeet shooting requirement, commercial parking, and minutes for the board and BAR meeting and monthly vouchers.

 

Trustee Burke reported she reviewed commercial parking law and is continuing to research; she reviewed the skeet shooting guidelines, minutes, monthly vouchers, fireworks contract, and police report and participated in the Board of Assessment Review process on the 18th of February.

 

Trustee Jablonski reported that he participated in the Board of Assessment Review process on the 18th of February. He reviewed the minutes, monthly vouchers, proposals and correspondences.

 

Village Attorney: Attorney Migatz reported that neither the planning board nor the zoning Board met in the month of February. He reported that he received an email from the Mayor forwarding an e-mail from a resident on the Dock Appeal. The email stated, “in December 2019 an index number for the dock appeal was issued by the appellate division which indicates that this appeal is going forward; why didn’t Attorney Migatz report this at either the January or February 2020 village of Asharoken monthly meetings. I presume he has filed a notice of appearance and ought to receive communications; I appreciate you looking into this matter. The status of this appeal should be reported at each meeting starting on March 3rd.”

Per Attorney Migatz, Nothing has happened with this appeal. The index number is a docket number that the appellate division assigns to an appeal automatically once the notice of appeal is filed. Assigning a docket number doesn’t mean the appeal is going forward; it just has a docket number. You don’t file a notice of appearance in the appellate division. Nothing to report until the appeal is perfected. I have said in prior meetings that they have six months to perfect the appeal; they can get extensions of time. I will inform the board when the appeal is perfected, but at this time it has not been perfected and therefore nothing for me to report.

 

Village Treasurer: Emily Hayes reported that the vouchers for the month of February were $40,678.88.  Included in the vouchers is an invoice for Fireworks by Grucci for $10,625.00 for ½ of the total cost of the fireworks. There is one parcel left that has taxes outstanding. There will be a separate resolution to approve the vouchers and budget transfers for the month.

 

Police Report: Officer Mahdesian reported that the department had a safe and quiet month.  The department issued 28 traffic summons and no arrests this month.

 

Sanitation Operator: Barry Bradley reported that big blue is running well. Total tipping fees for the month of February were $1339.20. Trash tonnage 16.74, paper & cardboard 3.1 tons; glass 1.07 tons, plastic and metal .85 tons.

 

Building Inspector: Doug Adil reported on the following; met with a homeowner to review drawings; he re-reviewed construction drawings for 225 Asharoken as well as 499 Asharoken for a deck replacement. He met with an architect to discuss site planning and code requirements for an new home, he met with a prospective buyer to discuss village building requirements to develop a vacant property on Duck Island, and met with a prospective buyer to discuss an existing home on Duck Island. He reviewed construction drawings for proposed alterations at 119 Asharoken and performed 10 inspections.

 

Emergency Manager: Bill Raisch noted a lot of information on Coronavirus is out there; this is transferred easily; this is two to five times communicable than the average flu. The result of the virus can either be experienced as a common cold or as severe as pneumonia. For the short term listen to CDC, if you get sick contact your doctor and use good hygiene.

 

Chairman of the Conservation Board: Marty Cohen reported that the board issued one tree permit.

 

Harbormaster: Joe Affrunti reported that he has been working on getting an engine for two years he put in a request with NYS Department of Parks and Historic Preservation and was approved. He worked with the mayor and put out RFP’s, the lowest proposal came from KG Marine. Currently the new engine is being installed and the police vessel will be ready for the upcoming season. The boat schedule has been submitted to officer in charge Mahdesian. Mayor Letica noted that Joe was also responsible for getting the police vessel free from NYS Department of Parks and Historic Preservation.

 

Resolution (2020-18) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board approves the budget transfers for the month of February 2020.

Deputy Mayor Pierce made a motion 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 (2020-19) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the vouchers for the month of February 2020 in the amount of $40,678.88.

 

Trustee Jablonski made a motion 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 (2020-20) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby approve the scheduling of a public hearing on Tuesday, April 7th, 2020 on the tentative budget for fiscal year beginning 6/1/2020.

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 (2020-21) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby authorize the Mayor to sign the 2020 agreement between the Village of Asharoken and Landscaper Patrick Parker from April 2020 to November 2020 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 $4,760.00.

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 (2020-22) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the installation of black chain link fencing with black privacy slats to store village highway equipment by Continental Fence Company for a cost of $3,000.

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 (2020-23) Be It Resolved that the Village Board authorizes the Mayor to sign the proposal from Pursuit Emergency Vehicles for the purchase and installation of lighting & special equipment for the 2020 Dodge Durango for a cost of $7,288.53.

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

Resolution (2020-24) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby approve the purchase of a new police Motorola radio (APX8500 800MHZ mid Power Mobile Radio) to be installed in the new police vehicle (Dodge Durango) for a cost of $4044.60; the funds will be transferred from the Police Reserve Account.

Trustee Ettinger made a motion 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 (2020-25) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby approve the transfer of funds of $4044.60  from the Police Money Market Special Reserve Account #5059 to the Money Market Account #5018 for $4044.60.

Deputy Mayor Pierce made a motion 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 (2020-26) Be It Resolved, that pursuant to the provisions of Village Code Section 67-3 authorizing the Board of Trustees to impose such terms and conditions as the Board of Trustees deems reasonable on a permit for the use of firearms, all permits for the use of firearms for the purpose of skeet shooting, previously issued or to be issued, are conditioned to limit skeet shooting to the period of November 1 through March 31.

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 (2020-27)

Whereas, the Town of Huntington has been assigned by New York State as Vital Statistics Registration District #5153, and the Village of Asharoken has been assigned by New York State as Vital Statistics Registration District #5144, and

Whereas, the Village Clerk has requested the approval of the Village Board to formally consolidate the Town and Village into one primary registration district, namely the District of the Town of Huntington under Vital Statistics Registration District #5153, and

Whereas, the formal consolidation of the Registration Districts would benefit the public by eliminating questions as to which district records should be filed and not result in the loss of services to either municipality,

NOW, therefore be it RESOLVED, by the Village Board of the Village of Asharoken that consolidation of the Town and Village Registrar functions under the Town’s registration number (Vital Registration District #5153) is approved, pending necessary approvals of all other required entities, including the Town of Huntington, Suffolk County and New York State Department of Health.

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 (2020-28) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby authorize the Mayor to sign the five –year performance contract between the Village of Asharoken and Fireworks By Grucci; the total fireworks performance contract is as followings; 2020 contract amount $21,250; 2021 contract amount $22,500, 2022 contract amount $23,500, 2023 contract amount $24,250 and 2024 contract amount $25,000 approved as to form by Attorney Migatz.

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 (2020-29) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby approve the adjustment to the fiscal year 5/31/20 budget  to increase the Other Government Aid account (A3089.000) for $445 and increase the municipal Court Equipment and Capital expenditure account (A1110.200) for $445 due to receiving the Justice Court Assistance Program (JCAP) grant.

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

Old Business: Firearms & Commercial Parking

Mayor Letica noted that we addressed a time limit for skeet shooting and Attorney Migatz is working on a draft amendment for commercial parking.

 

Public Session:

1.       A resident commented about the fence company being used by the Village.

2.       A resident asked the board to keep the public apprised of the courses of action regarding the seawall.

3.       A resident asked if the board is open to other considerations outside of the courses of action proposed by the ACOE.

4.       A resident asked about the reserve funds for the feasibility study; the Mayor indicated that the funds will remain in the reserve account.

 

Mayor Letica made a motion to exit 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 March 3, 2020 Regular board meeting of the Board of Trustees was adjourned at approximately 7:15pm.               

Signed: _____________________________________________

                Nancy Rittenhouse, Village Clerk