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[MESSAGE JSNF-285-09]

APPROVED Minutes of the August 2, 2016 Meeting of the Asharoken Board of Trustees

 Incorporated Village of Asharoken

Board of Trustees Regular Meeting

        Tuesday, August 2, 2016 7:30pm

             At the Village Hall

Approximate Attendance (30)

                                                                               

                                                                                               

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

Barry Bradley, Sanitation Operator

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.

Trustee Ettinger made a motion to approve the regular board minutes for July 12th, 2016, seconded by Deputy Mayor Pierce.

 

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 July 15th Trustee Laura Burke and I had a conference call with the ACOE, NYSDEC and the New York State Department of State regarding the ASDRP. The agenda was to discuss public access.  The Corps has not made any final decisions but the impression from the call is that the Corps will be asking for 5 access points with parking at each.  Laura and I thoroughly reviewed all of the previous requests for a relaxation of the public access requirements as compensation for the public benefit of protecting the road to Eaton’s Neck.  This seemed to be falling on deaf ears.  I requested that once the Corps makes a decision that they inform the Village in writing.  To date, the Village has not received any response to this request.  Once the Village has the response it will be made public as have all the other pertinent ASDRP documents.

On July 22nd Deputy Mayor Pierce and I had a discussion regarding the ASDRP with Garrett Armwood from Congressman Steve Israel’s office.  He confirmed that the Corps was leaning toward asking for 5 access points with parking.  He also said that the Congressman’s office was rather surprised at this change of direction by the Corps.  This sentiment was expressed in the press release that Congressman Israel issued.  Garrett felt that at this time the best approach is to take a wait and see attitude, with a response to follow the letter from the Corps. Congressman Israel and Huntington Town Supervisor Frank Petrone had worked very hard on behalf of the residents of Asharoken and Eaton’s Neck to find a compromise solution that would allow the ASDRP to move forward.  Unfortunately, it appears that even their political clout may not have been enough to get the Corps to agree to less draconian public access.

On August 1st Deputy Mayor Pierce and I met with representatives from National Grid to discuss the 45,000 cubic yards of sand replenishment expected to start on or about October 1st.  Pam and I asked that the priority area for placement be between houses 100 and 200 as this is the most erosion prone area.  Pam had a prior conversation with the Village’s coastal engineer Aram Terchunian who concurred that this was a good idea. The sand will come from both dredging and upland sources. National Grid as part of the bid process will attempt to get sand that is the proper grain size.  The project should take approximately three months to complete. 

Trustees:

Deputy Mayor Pierce reported that during the month of July she met with a contractor on the concrete groins on the eastern end of the Sound Side beach.  She attended a special meeting on July 27th.  She and Mayor Letica met with National Grid on the sand deposit this fall. She reviewed the minutes, financial audit, vouchers and minutes of the special meeting regarding the police grievance.

 

Trustee Ettinger he noted that during the month most of his time was spent on matters relating to the police grievance and police vehicles.  On July 27th he met with Officer Mahdesian to review the police grievance.  On July 13th he noted that the department accepted delivery of the two new police vehicles.  On July 20th he attended the court session and on the July 27th attended the special meeting regarding the police grievance.  On July 29th he joined Officer Mahdesian to pick up the new police vehicle.  He noted that the second car will be delivered next.  He reviewed minutes, vouchers, FOIL’s, and resident correspondence.

 

Trustee Burke reported that she reviewed the minutes, the vouchers and attended the special meeting on July 27th.  She participated in the conference call with the Mayor and representatives with ACOE.  She thanked the Observer for the editorial that supported Asharoken.  She reported that the Village now has a new back up sanitation driver, resident Eric Flood who has passed his written and driving test.  Mayor Letica pointed out that this is great for the village to have a reserve back-up driver.  He thanked Trustee Burke for organizing and making this happen.

 

Trustee Jablonski reported that he reviewed the minutes, vouchers, and special meeting minutes.  He reviewed the financial audit.  He noted that Pace Analytics’ will be sending collection materials and the dredging committee will be following up with the instructions and taking samples.

 

Treasurer: Nancy Rittenhouse, Village Clerk gave the treasurers report. The total vouchers for the month of June totaled $50,311.60.  Included in the vouchers were expenses for $8,721 for road striping and $7,075 for the annual audit.

 

Village Attorney:  Bruce Migatz reported that the Planning Board met on July 26th it conducted a public hearing on the Duck Island Corp subdivision application.  The village’s representative from VHB engineering was present.  The application was deemed complete; meaning that all the comments from VHB and the Planning Board were completed and satisfactory as to form.  The Planning Board classified the action as a Type I action under SEQRA pursuant to the Village Code it is deemed a Type I action. VHB will be conducting the required coordinated SEQRA review with other involved agencies, such as ZBA, BOT and SCHD and NYSDEC and any others that might be an interested party. There was discussion at the hearing to amend the map regarding the adjoining property owner.  Nothing was committed at the hearing.  Mr. Migatz noted that he spoke with applicant’s attorney Mr. McCarthy who advised him that the applicant will be amending the map to convey approximately 200 sq. ft. of land to the adjacent neighbor Mr. Small, in order to increase his street frontage of his lot.  The hearing was adjourned without a definite date pending the SEQRA review by VHB engineering.

The ERB met on July 25th it was a continuation of a public hearing on the dock applications for 241 and 255 Asharoken Avenue.  Mr. Ken Savin attorney for Mr. Robert Holmes submitted at the hearing documents and testimony in response to the prior submissions from the applicant at the June meeting.  Since these documents were submitted that night of the 25th, Mr. McCarthy requested additional time to respond and Mr. Savin requested additional time to respond to his response. Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Savin agreed to work out a schedule. The next ERB is scheduled for August 22nd, unless Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Savin need additional time.

The ZBA did not meet this past month.

 

Officer-In- Charge:   Officer-In-Charge Ray Mahdesian reported that the village had 18 summonses and 1 arrest this month.  The first of our two new 2016 Tahoes has been placed in service. The department thanked Mayor Letica and Commissioner Ettinger, and the Village Board for the new additions to the police fleet. No burglaries in the village for the month of June. 

 

Conservation Board: Marty Cohen had nothing to report.

 

Sanitation: Barry Bradley reported that Big Blue is running well, trash total was 31.13 tons, single stream 8.89 tons for a total of 41.34 tons and a monthly cost of $2561.94.  Barry noted that Eric Flood passed his CDL road test.  Mayor Letica pointed out that we now have a back –up driver for the sanitation truck.

 

Resolutions:

 

Resolution (2016-113) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board approves the budget transfers for the month of July 2016.

Motion was made by Trustee Jablonski 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 (2016-114) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the vouchers for the month of July 2016 in the amount of $50,311.60.

 

Motion was made by Deputy Mayor Pierce 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 (2016-115) Be It Resolved that the Village Board does hereby approve transferring the remaining funds from First National Bank of Long Island (Building Fund Acct 0169) to the First National Bank of Long Island Reserve Acct (0169) assigned to Infrastructure in the amount of $133,281.48.

 

Motion was made by Mayor Letica 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 (2016-116) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the tent permit for the Fredericks family at 33 Bevin Road from August 19th, 2016 to August 21th, 2016.

 

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 (2016-117) Be It Resolved, that the Village Board does hereby approve the Village Clerk and/or Court Clerk to prepare an application to the 2016-2017 Justice Court Assistance Program (JCAP) grant for funding of court furnishings and equipment, not to exceed $30,000.00.

 

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.

 

Amendment to Resolution (2016-91)

Resolution (2016-118) Be It Resolved, that the Mayor of the Village of Asharoken does hereby appoint Laure Nolan as Village Special Assistant District Attorney for the Village of Asharoken at an hourly rate of $200.00 for the term to end July 2017, subject to Board approval.

 

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.

 

Mayor Letica opened up the meeting for Public Session.

During public session, six questions or comments were presented.

1.    Comment was made about a correction on which attorney he had at the ERB hearing.  Village Attorney Migatz noted that he was reporting on what was said at the hearing. He commented on the ERB board members and also commented on parcels near Carter’s Bight and how they relate to parcels in the Ida Smith area.    

2.    Question about ASDRP project and what the next step will be. She also asked about hiring counsel.

3.    Question on the new installation of the water main by the SCWA.

4.    Question on when the SCWA will be restoring the road.

5.    Question on a resolution from July and future expenditures from the infrastructure reserve.

6.    Question on the cost to dredge the sand from LI Sound as an alternative to the ASDRP project.

 

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 August 2nd, 2016 Regular board meeting of the Board of Trustees was adjourned at approximately 8:15pm.              

Signed: _____________________________________________

                Nancy Rittenhouse, Village Clerk