Regular Meeting of the Village of Carthage Board of Trustees

Held in the Board Room of the Carthage Municipal Building

January 17, 2012

ATTENDANCE:

Members: President G. Wayne McIlroy, Deputy President Michael Astafan and Trustee Kathleen Latremore. Excused: Trustees Linda Smith-Spencer and Rebecca Vary.

Guests: Jeremiah Papineau, Managing Editor from Northern New York Newspapers.

CALL TO ORDER:

President McIlroy called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Motion by Trustee Latremore and seconded by Deputy President Astafan to approve the minutes of the January 3, 2012 regular meeting as presented by the Clerk/Treasurer. Motion carried unanimously.

PUBLIC FORUM:

None.

CORRESPONDENCE:

Motion by Trustee Latremore and seconded by Deputy President Astafan to approve the request of the American Legion Post 789 to conduct a Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 28, 2012 to begin in West Carthage at 10:00 am and to proceed through State Street in Carthage to include closing North Washington Street, South Washington Street, North James Street, and South James Street during the event. Motion carried unanimously.

President McIlroy provided an overview of the letter received from the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) in regards to their public water system inspections of our joint water system. He commended Water Superintendent, Ernie Prievo because of his attention to water conservation which attributes to our low percentage of unaccounted for water while operating an older system. The letter will be discussed in greater detail at the Carthage/West Carthage Joint Water Filtration meeting January 18, 2012.

OLD BUSINESS:

President McIlroy briefly addressed the draft of the local law regarding dogs in public areas tailored by Attorney Gebo using the example from the City of Watertown. President McIlroy advised the Trustees to wait to see what the City of Watertown does as they were holding their public hearing January 17, 2012. No action was taken therefore the board asked the Clerk/Treasurer to hold this issue over until the February 6, 2012 regular board meeting.

Attorney Gebo is optimistic we will come to a resolution in the next few weeks now that the insurance companies are involved regarding the Village of Carthage v. Gentry Russell and Walter Gurdak. No action was taken therefore the board asked the Clerk/Treasurer to hold this over until the February 6, 2012 regular board meeting.

Insurance Services Offices, Inc. (ISO) submitted a letter regarding our Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule Survey (BCEGS) results. The BCEGS resulted in a new classification which is a regression from Class 4 to Class 5 which affects the new construction of one and two family residential, commercial, and industrial properties. The board requested the Clerk/Treasurer to respond by checking the option which states we have reviewed the results of the survey for Carthage and feel our building code enforcement effort at present represents our best interest and we can request a new survey if we institute changes that would effect our classification.

PUBLIC HEARING:

President McIlroy called the public hearing to order at 7:10 pm. He explained the proposed local law to override the property tax cap for the coming fiscal year. No one wished to comment on the local law therefore motion by Trustee Latremore and seconded by Deputy President Astafan to close the hearing at 7:12 pm. Motion by Trustee Latremore and seconded by Deputy President Astafan to accept Local Law #1 of 2012 to override the two percent property tax cap for the upcoming fiscal year 2013. Motion carried unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS:

Carthage Coordinated Development Group, LLC is in the process of having their attorney develop the paperwork necessary for the Village to acquire the Village Green to include the maintenance of the property.   No action was taken therefore the board requested the Clerk/Treasurer to hold this issue over until the February 6, 2012 regular board meeting.

Per the request of Trustee Latremore, the DPW put up fencing on Armory Hill, as they have done in the past, for the safety of the children who slide on the hill during the winter months. The fence has since been torn down. The board requested the Clerk/Treasurer to look into who owns the building and notify them of their liability by allowing the children to slide down the hill and also contact the State Police who currently reside in the building.

NEW BUSINESS:

President McIlroy opened the discussion regarding National Grid’s easement request for line relocation for safety purposes. Deputy President Astafan and President McIlroy voiced their concerns regarding the location of the easement area which is near Cemetery Street. The board requested Attorney Gebo to contact National Grid to set up a meeting to include Attorney Gebo; a Village board representative; John McHugh, Community Development Coordinator; and Steve Gamble, Missing Link Snowmobile Club President. No action was taken therefore the board requested the Clerk/Treasurer to hold this issue over until the February 6, 2012 regular board meeting.

President McIlroy opened the discussion regarding the agreement with Lewis County General Hospital (LCGH) Occupational Medicine Substance Abuse Testing. There was some confusion as to who we were currently receiving this service from as it is a requirement for employees who possess NYS Class B driver licenses. The Clerk/Treasurer confirmed that LCGH is currently providing this service for us. The board requested the Clerk/Treasurer to research this issue and forward the current Employee Assistance Program contract to Attorney Gebo for his review. No action was taken therefore the board requested the Clerk/Treasurer to hold this issue over until the February 6, 2012 regular board meeting.

Attorney Gebo explained the Franchise Agreement with Time Warner Cable to Provide Cable Services. Deputy President Astafan had a few concerns that he will email to Attorney Gebo for him to look into. Motion by Trustee Latremore and seconded by Deputy President Astafan to hold a public hearing on February 21, 2012 at 7:10 pm regarding the Franchise Agreement with Time Warner Cable. Motion carried unanimously.

Attorney Gebo explained the draft of the local law to expand the residency requirement for Village Acting Justice. Motion by Deputy President Astafan and seconded by Trustee Latremore to hold a public hearing on February 6, 2012 at 7:10 pm. Motion carried unanimously.

Motion by Trustee Latremore and seconded by Deputy President Astafan to authorize a budget transfer for Code Enforcement Officer Services from account A.3620.0100 to A.3620.0400 for $6,000. Motion carried unanimously.

The Treasurers Report was reviewed and there were no questions. The General Fund cash balance is $1,108,719.54 with Reserves of $149,877.36; Water Fund cash balance is $99,592.82 with Reserves of $46,786.78 and the Sewer Fund cash balance is $61,466.78 with Reserves of $30,451.79.

Motion by Deputy President Astafan and seconded by Trustee Latremore to approve payment of payrolls and bills as follows: General Fund P/R 01/03/12, 01/05/12 and 01/12/12 $28,345.66; Water Fund, P/R 01/03/12, 01/05/12 and 01/12/12 $4,431.78; Sewer Fund, P/R 01/05/12 and 01/12/12 $5,068.42; Joint Fund P/R 01/03/12 and 01/11/12 $10,912.03 and General Fund Abstracts, $54,747.12; Water Fund Abstracts, $35.97; Sewer Fund Abstracts, $0; and Joint Fund Abstracts, $0. Motion carried unanimously.

PRESIDENT McILROY UPDATE:

President McIlroy opened the discussion regarding the new law requiring certain records be made available to the public prior to open meetings. The board reviewed the information compiled by New York Conference of Mayors (NYCOM) and Attorney Gebo provided a brief overview. Attorney Gebo suggested utilizing our existing website and in addition to our existing process of posting agendas and minutes, he suggested to include action items such as public hearing notices, and to add a statement to the agenda to include if you require more information regarding items on the agenda prior to the meeting you may contact the Clerk’s Office during normal business hours.

President McIlroy explained that previous Clerk/Treasurer’s used a rubberized stamp to sign Village checks which is no longer an acceptable process. He further explained that the Village requires two signatures for each check and how time consuming it is for the Clerk/Treasurer to manually sign all Village checks and feels the Clerk/Treasurer’s time could be better spent. Our accounting software company, KVS, has a program which will provided digital signatures for checks which is acceptable by NYS Comptroller’s Office. Motion by Trustee Latremore and seconded by Deputy President Astafan to purchase digital check signing software from contingency not to exceed $1500.00. Motion carried unanimously.

Chief Rockhill submitted a request to replace one of their police vehicles which is outdated, unreliable, and should have been replaced over a year ago. The funds have been reserved in the Police Capital Fund but we have been waiting for a state contract price since the beginning of 2011. Chief Rockhill stated a contract has been awarded to Rensselaer County for a fully equipped Police package 2013 Ford Police Interceptor Sedan for $32,980.00 and would like to “piggy back” on their contract. Attorney Gebo stated he would look into the possibility for us to use Rensselaer County’s contract to also purchase a like police vehicle. Motion by Deputy President Astafan and seconded by Trustee Latremore to allow Chief Rockhill to use Rensselaer County’s contract to purchase a 2013 Ford Police Interceptor Sedan for $32,980.00 from the Police Capital Fund providing Attorney Gebo advises it is legal to do so. Motion carried unanimously.

President McIlroy asked the Clerk/Treasurer if we had received feed back regarding the Village’s handicap accessibility survey submitted to Bernier and Carr, as they renovated the Court Room and Recreation Building or Northern Glass, who is submitting a quote for replacement doors on the Municipal Building. The Clerk/Treasurer stated she would follow up with them again as she has not received any feedback.

The WPCF meeting will be held at the Village of West Carthage Municipal Building on Wednesday, January 18, 2012. President McIlroy stated we are still waiting for an additional quote to replace the outdated server in the Clerk’s office. President McIlroy and the Clerk/Treasurer discussed the extreme number of copies required for bi-monthly board meetings and conferred the possibility of purchasing IPads which has been successful for the Village of West Carthage. President McIlroy requested the Clerk/Treasurer to look into possible grant funding for this purpose.    

ATTORNEY GEBO UPDATE:

Attorney Gebo stated his items were covered during the regular board meeting.

LIAISON REPORTS AND COMMENTS:

Trustee Latremore stated she was interested in attending the 23^rd Local Government Conference on March 29, 2012 at Jefferson Community College. She also suggest that we should extend the offer to Village Planning Board members as they are required to obtain four hours of training annually and feels it would be beneficial to all board members and the Clerk/Treasurer.

MEDIA QUESTIONS:

None.

EXECUTIVE SESSION:

None.

ADJOURNMENT:

Motion by Deputy President Astafan and seconded by Trustee Latremore to adjourn at 8:05 pm. Motion carried unanimously.

Respectfully Submitted,

Kristy L. O’Shaughnessy

Village Clerk/Treasurer