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Minutes of the Regular monthly Caroga Town Board meeting held Wednesday August 9, 2017

State of New York
County of Fulton
Town of Caroga

Minutes of the Regular monthly Caroga Town Board meeting held Wednesday August 9, 2017 at the municipal building located at 1840 State Highway #10 at 7:00 pm with the following persons in attendance by roll call. The flag salute followed.

Supervisor Beth Y Morris - Here

Council Member John Glenn - Here

Council Member Anthony Sturchio - Here

Council Member Jeremy Manning - Here

Other town department representatives in attendance were Steve Jennings – Manager, Pro and Greens keeper of the Nick Stoner Golf Course, Steve Putman – Highway Superintendent. There were 34 members of the public in attendance.

Supervisor Morris noted the passing of Jack Holliday and asked for a moment of silence.

RESOLUTION #2017-076 to commemorate Kenneth Holliday was offered by Supervisor Beth Y. Morris and Seconded by the Entire Board at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on Wednesday August 9, 2017 at Caroga Town Hall 1840 State Highway 10 Caroga Lake New York,

WHEREAS, the Town of Caroga Board held its regular monthly meeting on August 9, 2017, and

WHEREAS, Mr. Kenneth Holliday did serve as Highway Superintendent of the Town of Caroga January 1st 1986 until December 31, 1999, and

WHEREAS, Mr. Kenneth Holliday was a member of the Caroga Volunteer Fire Company, and a member of the Caroga Historical Society, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the town Board of the Town of Caroga for themselves and the for the people of the Town of Caroga did hereby express its deepest regrets and profound sympathy in the passing of Mr. Kenneth Holliday who will be missed by his family, friends and community as a whole and be it further RESOLVED, that a respective moment of silence was observed by the board and all in attendance and a copy of this resolution shall be furnished to the members of the Holliday family.

A roll call vote was called:

Supervisor Morris - Aye

Deputy Supervisor Glenn – Aye

Council Member Sturchio – Aye

Council Member Manning – Aye

Supervisor Morris made a motion to waive the reading of the minutes of the July meeting. The motion was seconded by Council Member Sturchio. All board members were in favor of the motion.

Public Speaking: Supervisor Morris asked that comments be directed to the board and be kept to 3 minutes.

Judy Aldinger of Green Lake Road thanked Mr. Putman for the work being done on Green Lake Road. She also noted the parking problem has been elevated with his help.

Kent Kirch of Hilly Road wanted to share some information. He heard comments after the last meeting about the Sherman’s Advisory Committee recommendations about the CAC Caroga Arts Council proposal. The comments were about the CAC being a nonprofit organization vs a full profit business. He read the definition of a non- profit organization. “A nonprofit organization is a business granted tax exempt status by the internal revenue service. Nonprofits pay no income tax on the donations they receive, any money they earn through fundraising. In economic terms a nonprofit uses its surplus revenue to further achieve its mission or a purpose rather than distributing its surplus income to the organizations shareholders or investors as profits or dividends.” He noted the 501C3 is the most common and it is set up to do charitable educational, scientific, religious and literary work. He used the example of the Red Cross and reviewed there financial status. Locally the Paul Nigra Center, Lexington Center, Glimmer Glass and Tanglewood are also non-profits. He stated there are no shareholders, or investors to pay. No taxes are paid and they can spend and invest all their cash to further their cause. Being a nonprofit is not an indication of how much money an organization generates or how much it will spend. Nonprofits have no more or less potential than a full profit company in terms of their economic impact. The CAC has said they will likely pay town taxes to support the town as a thank you for the residents for their support. Mr. Kirch thought this information was important for people to understand.

Kim Hart thanked the board and all the volunteers that have stepped up. She has experienced joy this week with people being in a positive mindset. She knows there have been a lot of back and forth. But people are excited about the future. This has had a huge impact in the community.

Joyce Barrett stated tonight they (Caroga Lake Music Festival) are performing at Proctors GE Theatre. This is promoting our town in a very good way.

Shirley Holliday asked what improvements have been made to the golf course. She stated at every meeting the focus is not on what has to be fixed at town hall or improvements at the golf course. She would like the board to work on these things.

The public portion of the meeting was closed.

Assessor Report – Vicki Hayner stated in a written report that she is currently working on the 2018 assessment roll. The 2017 was completed and will be used for 2017-2018 School Tax bills and for the 2018 Town/County bills. Our final equalization rate was set at 63% for the 2017 assessment roll. While this equalization rate (level of assessment) will look different to people (as will their full market values) on their tax bills. Their taxes really shouldn’t change too much as that was the rate that the school and county used to apportion taxes last year.

Sales continue to be entered as they are received from the County. During the month of July we had 2 valid sales and 7 non-valid sales. These sales were 5 residential sales and 4 vacant land sales.

Building permits have been entered on the computer and have been coming in regularly. This will assist greatly in making sure we assess appropriately for new construction happening in the Town.

The assessor is in the office on Tuesdays between 8:00 am and 2:00 pm. Her email address is value411@nycap.rr.com

BTI - Mr. Delesky stated the permit ran out July 31st and they are done treating. He does not have a report on the number of gallons used but he know it is a lot more than last year due to the wet spring.

Clerk – Mrs. Gilbert submitted monthly reports for July. I have been working with Attorney Ferlazzo on a couple of law suits currently active in the town.

Code Enforcement & Sanitation – Mr. Duesler submitted a written report. He has conducted 34 inspections. There were 12 building permits and 3 sanitation permits issued from July 1st to July 31st. Revenues were $582.00. The supervisor noted John has a handle on blight. She stated it is not a quick as some would like but people are complying.

Blight - No Report Council Member Glenn stated we need to replace the code enforcement….Supervisor Morris stated she wanted to set up interviews and hire another part time Code Enforcement officer for approx. 10 hours a week.

Supervisor Morris stated she would like to set up a work session for August 22, 2017 to renew the town insurance policy. She would like to conduct interviews then. She will call 2 or 3 of the applicants.

A work session was scheduled for Tuesday August 22nd 2017 at 7 pm.

Dog Control – No report from the DCO. The clerk did present a delinquent report from January to the end of June. There are 9 dogs most of which are delinquent from the end of June. She would like the DCO to follow up and issue tickets. Supervisor Morris will call Mr. Dutcher tomorrow.

Golf Course - Steve Jennings reported that Culligan did a water test on the water at the clubhouse. It is very high in sodium. Copies were given to the board. It was 2156 parts per million. The normal range is up to 200.7. Mr. Jennings is gathering information on alternatives. He can’t clean up any of the machines at the maintenance building because you are spraying salt water on them. Culligan estimates the materials to fix the problem would be upward of $20,000. The monthly maintenance would $2,000 - $3,000 a month.

One possibility is to drill a new well. Hawk has been called. We currently have a dug well. Council Member Manning asked what the source of the salt was. Was it from the highway department? Mr. Putman stated his salt is in the barn in dry storage. Mr. Putman stated when salt is delivered the well is nearby. He does not mix it until he uses it. He stated NYS puts down 10 times more salt then we do.

Mr. Putman has a problem with the water in the highway barn. He showed the nasty water to the previous board. It has been a serious problem. He now draws water from the creek.

Supervisor Morris stated when he waters salt water is going on the course. Mr. Jennings stated he has sprayed the greens with salt water.

The board asked him to contact 3 well drillers for estimates for the work session. Lou Cataffo and Adirondack Drilling were suggested.

If a new well is drilled Council Member Sturchio suggested having the golf course and highway barn hooked up to it.

Mr. Jennings stated he waters the golf course from the stream. The pump station is 110 PSI it pumps 300 gallons a minute. The pump cost $50,000.00.

Highway Dept. – Mr. Putman spoke to the Code Officer about putting a canopy over the fuel pumps at the town barn. The pumps have had to be replace due to the exposure to the weather. The tanks have to be inspected by the state. The tanks would not need an ansul system as they are not too large. Mr. Putman suggested this be done.

The garbage truck is drug up to the mountain at the land fill on Mud Road to dump. Several times the tires have been cut. The tires are expensive. He also noted the problem at the Caroga Transfer Station which required him to help clean up the overflowing dumpster. He is not doing this anymore. The supervisor has called the county on this and is waiting for a call back. It is over dumped and gets clogged up. The dumpster is not emptied properly.

The 2004 International dump caught fire last week. He was able to fix it and put it back into service. The Gradall broke while prepping the road for paving. This is a specialized machine and has to be repaired by Advantage Equipment. He has suggested getting an 8 wheel track hoe to replace it. The Gradall is too big for our roads. We use it mainly to clear ditches. Two cars have run into it. Mr. Putman suggested putting the Gradall out to bid with Auctions International. It has to be fixed.

Previously he spoke to the board about attending governmental auctions. He would like to look into this. Council Member Manning will contact the USDA highway grant. They like applications for heavy machinery and equipment. He will look for the forms again.

Lastly the board needs to commit on a salt shed.

Christopher Comeau gave the board two documents; one regarding lifetime insurance benefits and the other were items to be considered for the 2018 Budget. Council Member Manning will meet with the guys about insurance.

The clerk reminded Mr. Putman about the bid opening for the Nick Stock Road Box Culvert. They will be opened on August 22, 2017 at 9:30 am in the clerk’s office. The top has to be peeled off and gone so there is a clear shot on the headwalls. Those are what the beams and deck lay onto. Engineer Andy Bell will then come up and create blue prints to obtain bids to put a deck back on it.

Council Member Manning asked who he should talk to at the state about mowing on the State Highways. He noted problems seeing when pulling out from town roads onto the state highway. Mr. Putman recommended he call Mr. Uncer and Gavin Ragusa at the Fultonville office.

Mr. Putman wants to discuss with the supervisor the property the state wants to get rid of on the State Highway.

Lake Steward – Mike Durkee sent a report via email. Despite the rainy days, traffic at the West Lake boat launch and the boat wash station has picked up over the last month. Stewards at the boat launch have so far inspected 1159 boats and the boat wash stewards have inspected 136 boats, of which 47 were decontaminated. These totals are running a bit ahead of last season. We want to encourage more boaters to take advantage of the boat wash before coming to West Lake, where several of them have been advised to return for decontamination at the boat wash.

Stewards have found or boaters have brought in samples of weeds which were later determined to be native weed--no invasive weeds have been identified. The current season seems to have allowed abundant plant growth, so boaters and property owners are seeing more weeds than usual. We are ready to assess all weed samples that boaters find.

The CLCA funded a survey of the zooplankton in the Canada Lakes system, which was conducted by the Darrin Freshwater Institute at Bolton Landing. The summary report indicated that no invasive species were found, that the zooplankton types and numbers were typical of healthy lakes in our region, and that there was a good balance between prey and predator species.

We expect another busy period through Labor Day, after which we will reduce coverage at the boat launch but continue full coverage at the boat wash station through the end of September.

Town Hall – Don Travis asked if the board got a quote from Mr. Duesler about doing work on the stairs. The board did not receive it. Mr. Travis noted it was nice having the kids here for the past several weeks. Council Member Glenn asked if he had gotten any quotes to replace the ramp. He has not been successful in getting any other quotes – just the one. Supervisor Morris stated phone calls will have to be placed so it can be done before winter.

Weeds – Gene Centi reported to date 2852 bushels of weeds have been removed as compared to 1519 last year. The APA is tracking this by weight so that is 54108 lbs. (2900 lbs. last year) or 27 tons. They also picked up 98 lbs. of fragments. Last year we were not in control of the fragments. Council Member Glenn stated we are 2 to 1 this year.

In the last two weeks there have been some setbacks. One diver was sick, another injured his foot over the weekend, and another diver had a death in the family.

The divers found one area of concern on the lake with water quality (septic) the Code Officer checked it out and tested the area. Mr. Centi did E. coli testing and fortunately it all came back negative. It was just vegetation and sediment. It is a very shallow area.

He has had conversations with Leigh Walrath on of the APA about the current DASH (diver assisted suction harvesting) program. He is very, very satisfied with what is going on in Caroga. He has discussed mechanical harvesting too. Before we can move ahead with that a lake study has to be done. An assessment will cost about $1,500. A study will cost upward of $3,000. They discussed using a lake harvester, using a lake harvester in conjunction with DASH, and using a commercial DASH harvesting program. He will make an appointment to see the program in operation.

Mr. Centi noted the need for lake stewards on East and West Lakes. He heard about an aggressive weed found on a trailer at another lake recently. He noted there is a full time state employee at Northampton doing inspections. He believes the state should have one at the Caroga Campground.

Lastly Adirondack Scuba has offered to give a certification class at Caroga. It is a one week course.

If there are milfoil patches please mark them with plastic bottles. The divers went over to West Caroga on Friday. They found West Caroga to be in remarkably good shape. There used to be a patch of milfoil by Sherman’s and the trailer park the size of a football field. It is down to a couple of patches now.

Youth – Coleen Ricciardi – Youth Director noted the program was popular this year. They had almost 70 kids sign up. They are from 1st grade to 8th grade. The majority were year round residents with summer residents as well. They took field trips to Glimmer Glass State Park, Thatcher Park, and a nature preserve. The weather canceled a couple of swimming days. Summer enrichment had 24 students enrolled. 98% of them attended the summer rec. program. The transportation department has been very flexible. Mr. Jennings golfed with the kids. The state inspected the program while they were at Pine Lake. Anything she wasn’t doing was because she was not aware she was supposed to be doing it. We were 95% there. She is looking forward to next year. She thanked Mr. Travis for all he does. The lifeguard Patrick Groom allows us to go the Pine Lake. Mr. Ruby liked what he saw and suggested a BBQ at Sherman’s before the music festival on August 19th to benefit the Summer Youth Program. It will take place from 3pm until they are sold out. We are not sure if Patrick Groom will be back next year. Supervisor Morris thought he could be the aquatics director. Adam Wilson is going to obtain his lifeguarding certification. The program ends Friday at the Firehouse. There will be 7 stations for the kids. They will have lunch there. Tomorrow is Albany Pine Bush Nature Preserve.

Supervisor’s Report –Supervisor Morris noted the need to make a resolution to dissolve the Sherman’s Committee. It was not done last month.

RESOLUTION #2017-077 to dissolve the Sherman’s Committee was offered by Supervisor Beth Y. Morris at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on Wednesday August 9, 2017at Caroga Town Hall 1840 State Highway 10 Caroga Lake New York,

WHEREAS, the Town of Caroga Board held its regular monthly meeting on August 9, 2017, and

WHEREAS, the Sherman’s Committee was appointed on February 10, 2016 and

WHEREAS, the committee put in countless hours to bring recommendations to the Town board on the Sherman’s property, and

WHEREAS, the board does than each and every member for the time and commitment to the project, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Caroga Town Board does hereby move to dissolve the Sherman’s Committee this evening.

Council Member Manning seconded the motion.

Adopted by a vote of 4 Ayes, Morris, Glenn, Sturchio, Manning

Supervisor Morris and Bookkeeper Shannon Wager have worked hard over the past several weeks to get a handle on what has been going on in her officer for the past several years. This is a huge undertaking and Mrs. Wager is not a municipal bookkeeper. She also has another full time job. At the last work session Joanne Young was hired. She is the bookkeeper for the Town of Oppenheim. She will not be at the town board meetings because she is also the Town Justice and holds court on Wednesday nights. She has experience and has experience cleaning up a similar problem. Her schedule will be flexible. Supervisor Morris is trying not to bring in and outside financial service. That would cost $125.00 an hour. Supervisor Morris stated before she leaves her seat she will have the 2015 and 2016 Supervisor’s Audit done.

Council Member Glenn thanked Shannon for all her work.

New Business:

There will be a book sale at Town hall on August 25 & 26. Soft cover will be 10 cents and hard cover 25 cents. Linda Stevens thanked everyone for all of the donations. If anyone is interested in helping to sort and organize the books for the sale please let her know. The hours of the sale are Friday 10 – 4 and Saturday 9 – noon.

Sherman Property Rules – Supervisor Morris spoke to the town attorney on this briefly. She stated we are not going to make Sherman’s a town park right now. There has been no decision on the property. Basically on town property there are no alcoholic beverages, if you make a mess clean it up. No smoking on town property. Council Member Manning reviewed 15 town properties on line. Since there has been a presence for the past few weeks… there really haven’t been any issues. He wondered if it didn’t make sense to post property rules. What he found to be listed were: No littering, No fires, Automobiles parking restrictions, No fireworks, No smoking, leash and cleanup after your pets, No swimming, and No hunting/discharging of firearms. Council Member Sturchio wondered about bikes and skateboards. Council Member Manning stated it depends … he did not see a problem with bikes on the property. He thought alcohol was debatable. Some places allow it. He did not see why we would have to ban it.

Supervisor Morris stated we are not making it a park yet. The supervisor wanted to check with our insurance agent also on this. Council Member Manning noted you can google town parks and images of signs will come up. He spoke to some people in Massachusetts who oversee a town park. They recommended not having too many regulations at first. You don’t want to ban good behavior. You want to allow things.

Correspondence:

The 2nd Quarter 2017 Workers Compensation Report is available from the Town Clerk.

Fulton County Resolution #271 passed to authorize the sale of surplus computers to the Town of Caroga. The Supervisor will get one of the computers for her office. Software and 2 monitors will need to be purchased.

RESOLUTION #2017- 078 Retirement Reporting was offered by Supervisor Beth Y. Morris at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on Wednesday August 9, 2017at Caroga Town Hall 1840 State Highway 10 Caroga Lake New York. Council Member Manning seconded the motion. WHEREAS, the NYS Comptroller’s Office has contacted the town regarding missing information on previously adopted resolutions, now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Town of Caroga hereby establishes the following standard work days for elected and appointed officials and will report the following days worked to the New York State and Local Employees Retirement System based on the record of activities maintained and submitted by these officials to the clerk of this body.

Title

Last Name

First Name

Standard Day

Last 4

SS#

Term Begins/ends

Employee time keeping Y/N

Days /Months

Town Clerk

Gilbert

Linda

8

1674

1/1/14 -12/31/17

Y

24.48 days/month

Bookkeeper

Hillier

Lita

6

4537

1/1/17 -6/19/17

Y

19.61 per month

Council Member

Sullivan

Robert

6

0631

1/1/2012 – 12/31/15

Y

8.75 per quarter

Town Justice

Subik

James

6

6818

1/1/16 0 12/31/19

Y

4.89 per month

Town Supervisor

Sullivan

Robert

6

0631

1/1/16 – 8/1/16 resigned

Y

12.79

Assessor

Hayner

Victoria

6

0813

11/8/16 – 9/9/19

N

4

Adopted by a vote of 4 Ayes; Supervisor Morris Council Member Glenn

Council Member Sturchio Council Member Manning

Supervisor Morris made a motion to pay the bills as presented for audit, and to accept the minutes of the July 12, meeting & July 26 work session. Council Member Glenn seconded the motion. All board members were in favor of the motion.

RESOLUTION#2017-079 to accept the resignation of Shannon Wager was offered by Supervisor Beth Y. Morris at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on Wednesday August 9, 2017at Caroga Town Hall 1840 State Highway 10 Caroga Lake New York

WHEREAS, Shannon Wager of 2991 State Highway 29A PO Box 27 Caroga Lake NY was appointed Bookkeeper/Budget Director and Secretary to the Supervisor on June 21, 2017, and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Wager has worked diligently to keep up the day to day duties as Bookkeeper, Secretary/Budget Director, and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Wager submitted her letter of resignation dated 8/7 2017 stating the position required much more of her time than anticipated, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the town Board of the Town of Caroga does hereby accept the resignation of Shannon Wager with regrets.

The motion was seconded by Council Member Manning.

Adopted by a vote of 4 Ayes, Morris, Glenn, Sturchio, Manning

At 8:12 pm Supervisor Morris made a motion to adjourn. Council Member Glenn seconded the motion. All board members were in favor of the motion.

Respectfully Submitted

Linda M. Gilbert, RMC, CMC

Town Clerk

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