State of New York
County of Fulton
Town of Caroga
Minutes of the regular monthly Caroga Town Board meeting held Wednesday October 11, 2017 at the municipal building located at 1840 State Highway #10 at 7:00 pm with the following persons in attendance by Roll Call:
Supervisor Beth Y. Morris- Here
Council Member John Glenn – Here
Council Member Anthony Sturchio - Here
Council Member Jeremy Manning – Here
The flag salute followed. The reading of the minutes of the September 13, 2017 meeting was waived by Supervisor Morris and seconded by Council Member Sturchio.
Other town department representatives in attendance were Steve Putman – Highway Superintendent, Don Travis – building maintenance, Judy Aldinger Deputy Town Clerk, Gene Centi – Weed Harvesting coordinator. There were 30 members of the public in attendance.
Supervisor Morris was approached by a gentleman who had a very serious concern. He asked that a letter be read and recorded into the minutes of the meeting.
On Sunday October 8, 2017 my wife and I were prevented from walking on state owned snowmobile trail of Morey Road Caroga NY.
Please be patient while I describe our history with the trail starting in 1989 when I purchased (a) seasonal building at 124 North Shore Road West Lake.
My family would walk that trail on the weekends we would visit Caroga Lake. As my son, now 37 years old and I eventually started bicycling that trail. It was a challenge we enjoyed. In the fall I would use this trail with my hunting friends to access the woods during black power and riffle season on a sometimes daily basis. This trail has been ‘just short’ of a four season entertainment for my family and friends for all these years, or at least until October 2013. Doing the math, that is 24 years.
On opening day of black powder season, October 2013, my wife and I drove in order to access the places we carefully scouted out at 5:45 am. We had walked the trail five days prior to opening day. All looked A OK for opening day. That morning at 5:45 am we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. That land I thought was state access was posted. I don’t hunt on posted land and sadly we went back to our house trying to figure out what plan B was.
Around 2 pm we decided to revisit the area to maybe get a phone number from the posted signs to ask permission. We ran into Mr. Johnson, who said he was the new owner of the land we hunted on for all these years. He told us he came across our hunting spots and asked us to remove our gear within a few days or he would take our belongings. We did so the following day. The Johnson’s and us had a civil conversation. If it was his land then it’s his land. Mr. Johnson had indicated that quite a confrontational discussion with two other separate hunters that day who use the trail to access state hunting land for years. I don’t know who these men are. Because of the heated discussions Mr. Johnson told my wife Beth, and I he would do everything he could, including getting in touch with the land owners on both sides of the snowmobile trail to shut this trail down. That was in 2013.
This letter is about using this trail for approximately 24 years, which we can no longer do. He also said he would use the trail for logging access.
Isn’t illegal to block access to state land? I believe it is. I have used this trail as a matter of convenience and safety. I have no health problems except for my knees. If I got a deer, I jeopardize my health by dragging it that far, therefore I would drive in and park out of the way.
At present (as of October 8, 2017) Mr. Johnson had the trail blocked off in three areas. First yellow tape (which was down when we walked that day) second an iron fence that swings and padlocks. Third a rope across the trail where he sits to defend what he thinks is his land. Also there are posted signs with his name on the opposite side of the trail from the land he says he owns. It is illegal to post land that isn’t yours. (I’m no lawyer.)
In my opinion, Mr. Johnson, unilaterally changed the rules of this trail. Which means he has no right. He is also abusing people’s longstanding rights to use this trail as access to state land for their individual pleasure (snowmobiling, hiking walking introducing families to the beauty of the Caroga Lake area and the Adirondacks)
I request this letter to be shared (read) to the town board of Caroga, NY and be forwarded to the town contacts for New York State.
I can be contacted anytime and welcome your feedback and request to be made aware of any progress or setbacks regarding this matter.
I am fearful that one of these confrontations with the Johnson’s could become tragic for someone. Tempers prevail over common sense unfortunately.
John Plumer
518 469-0283
Gene Centi director of the weed program addressed the town. He stated Mr. LaMere came out to do an evaluation of East and West Caroga lakes. Our annual assessment was also done by Lawrence Eichler. “Steve (LaMere) is a certified lake manager with the North American Lake Management Society. He was the first CLM in NY and one of the first dozen nationally-certified professional lake managers in the country. He has performed research on or managed over 100 lakes and ponds in the state during his 29-year career.
He is also certified by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists as a Board Certified Environmental Scientist in Surface Water Resources. Currently there are only three professionals in New York State that possess this certification.
He is the President of the environmental consulting practice, Adirondack Ecologists, LLC, is the Region 5 Director and Environmental Policy Analyst of the New York State Conservation Council, Inc. (NYSCC), and serves as a Board Member and legislative chairman for the New York Sportsmen’s Advisory Council.
Mr. Centi presented a 92 page report in 3 ring binders to the board. Mr. LaMere gave an overview: He noted he is a consultant. He gets paid to give advice and management information. He noted he has no horse in this race and so none of the things that he will be discussing are services that he personally developed nor is he associated with anyone who does that. He comes in with his toolbox, looks at every lake individually and tries to figure out what is going what is causing the problem. What is the nature of the problem and how best to fix the problem. He then gives advice. He was interested to take a look at these lakes they are distinctively different. West Caroga Lake is 20 ft. deeper than East Caroga. The sediment on West Caroga is naturally sand. The shallower East Caroga has a lot of rich nutrients there are 13 active milfoil sites on East Caroga. There are two significant in size in the South East corner of West Caroga. The large amount of Milfoil is contained in East Caroga.
Mr. LaMere first took a look at the operation (of the weed harvester). He was very impressed with how they were doing the suction harvesting. He did suggest more buoying for the safety of the divers. He shared his observations this evening.
He recommended having a steward program at public launch sites – any means of entrance into the lake. There should be someone who is trained to look for invasive species. Every boat should be checked during a certain time period. There is a three prong approach to managing invasive species. The first is to prohibit the species from coming in. (Not just aquatic plants but microorganisms)
#2 is an active scout program – people who are trained -preferably volunteers, looking in the lake on a regular basis – at least once every couple weeks. Each lake should be partitioned into zones. They are the eyes to see problems. Mr. LaMere stated when he was traveling around West Caroga he saw a dozen or more other sites that are not documented. They are just getting going. If left unattended you will be battling a nasty situation. A buoy system can be taught to anyone.
3rd is contending with what we have now. We have a DASH unit now. He visits the sites and from the information from the Director Mr. Centi we are kind of keeping our heads above water. Long term you are going to probably lose the battle. Not that because what is being done is wrong - it is not enough.
He recommended adding a second DASH unit with additional divers to make sure the sites are being hit. He stated East Caroga Lake is not that big. He noted milfoil can grow 2 inches a day. It spreads latterly and grows up fast. Any fragmentation of the plant will sprout and grow. From mid-July to mid-August milfoil can auto-fragment produce its own roots. They float around for 3 or 4 days then settle and sprout. He saw a lot of regrowth. Because some of the spots were so dense (300 stems per meter sq.) He noted the marina is a vector point for the spread of milfoil for the rest of the lake where we don’t have it. It was stated it is difficult to find divers. If you can’t find them he recommends purchasing a small mechanical harvester. It only gives the weeds a haircut. You might be able to go down 4 – 5 feet. It won’t remove any milfoil but it give us breathing room where the plants are getting high. You can take the top of the plant off before it has a chance to fragment while you are working on the DASH unit across the lake. We have to stay on top of every location. Using the mechanical harvester actually creates more of a problem than it solves if you don’t collect fragments. You might not even want to do it if you don’t have a detail out there of trained volunteers who are going to be down wind of the operation some are static others are moving around in light water craft and others in pontoon boats keeping up with the machine getting the majority of the fragments. They will fragment anyway. Hand harvesting is different than DASH. With hand harvesting you bag them. Suction is faster. Hand harvesting cost 2 - 2 1/2 times more to accomplish the same thing as what we are doing now. He did not recommend we do hand harvesting. Aqua logic is doing DASH they are good. That may be the way to go if we are having trouble finding divers.
Mr. LaMere stated we did not know all of the factors that are making the milfoil grow. He noted the two lakes do not have any municipal sewage. We don’t know who may have a problem. He looked at the topography and noted we need to prevent some of the nutrients coming in from natural sources and from cultural sources like septic systems. He knows this in an unpopular topic. It is not something we should ignore. At the very least we should start a very active education campaign. If you don’t want to get intrusive and require an ordinance for regular septic system testing… at least get into an active education program. Have events/presentations for anyone that wants to learn about buffer strips – using vegetation to intercept nutrients. Septic system maintenance, the importance of water quality and clarity and the things you can do to help or hinder those attributes of our lake. It is all part and parcel. Everything we do out there is going to improve or make worse the milfoil problem. When you remove biomass – you are preventing more plants from getting into the lake going to the bottom decomposing and releasing phosphorus. Phosphorus is the biggest problem nutrient in the north eastern US. Anything we can to do to reduce the parts per billion going into the watershed will help the lake and clarity and the milfoil problem.
He noted milfoil is a perennial it spreads by underground creeping stems and by fragmentation. Invasive species that spread by seed is very difficult to control. It can stay dormant for a couple of years before it begins to grow. It was noted that we also have brittle naiad. If we open up a big area invasive species are the first thing to go in and take over. In some area it would be better to put down benthic barrier to manage it. Our current permit allows us to do this. We have to do this in an intelligent fashion so we don’t make areas of the lake amenable to the spread of invasive species.
On West Caroga because of the spotty infestation that are not being treated those are places perfect for “Flash diving.” Go in with bags and pick the plants and you are done. Those area are inappropriate for DASH.
One thing that is critical is the reporting structure. It should be formatted in such a way that all the locations are GPS marked. The reporting structure should be tabulated site by site to allow a comparison from year to year at each site as to the cost, and the benefit analyst of how much was spent. Now you can start to see what makes sense in a shallow spot or a deeper spot. The average spots in East Caroga are 7 -9 feet. That is perfect for DASH. If we get on with berries in June you can get three uses out of each panel over the course of the season. There is a lot of bang for your buck with benthic barriers. Mr. LaMere stated he would help put out RFP for dive firms. He stated he should be involved in helping us with the report. As hard as Gene is working and as good a job he is doing, he understands it has come a long way from where it used to be. There are still sufficient deficiencies in the reporting structure.
Questions:
Council Member Manning noted volunteers were mentioned following the harvester. Did he mean employees? Mr. LaMere thought it would be better to use volunteers. It is cheap. It gives lake association folks the opportunity to be intimately involved with the program. There should be a protocol from training to actual implementation. You have to make sure they are under the town insurance – that may or may not make sense. It is not difficult to scoop up fragments with a net. Every lake he has been involved with that uses volunteers – he hasn’t found a problem finding volunteers. He thought a group of 15 would work. This would be for the mechanical harvester Mr. Centi noted as the fragment problem on the harvester has been improved. They are getting 75 – 80% of the fragments. Council Member Manning wondered if we got the mechanical harvester and ran it every day would people be there every day to pick up fragmentations. It was a valid question. Continuity is the big issue. Mr. LaMere noted just like the CSLAP program have back up people. If you use a mechanical harvester you have to have this stuff in place. They are notoriously dirty for leaving fragments.
Mr. Smith noted with a mechanical harvester you are cutting the native weeds too. Mr. LaMere noted that is why there is a site by site evaluation. Mr. LaMere related that if there was a spot with Eurasian Milfoil and there is a native potamogeton – potamogeton reproduce by seeds. He would go in and does the work after the plants have dropped their seeds. You don’t want to cut the seed heads along with the milfoil because the milfoil will outgrow the potamogeton and then without the seeds you won’t have a replenishment of that plant in that area. He would recommend not doing the area at all or doing it very specifically so you are not impacting the natives. This would affect fishing – everything is interrelated. Mr. Centi stated you just don’t get on the machine and start driving around the lake and cutting everything. There is a science behind it.
Mr. Veghte asked if there was grant money the town could apply for. Mr. LaMere stated there are some but they give relatively short notice. You usually have about 30 – 45 days to respond to the grant. He urged the town to be on the NY Contract Explorer. Mr. Centi knows the grants on the DEC website are for $5,000 to $15,000. You can sign up to get notification for every grant that comes out in NYS. Mr. LaMere suggested having a boiler plate already done. If the town needs help let him know. It is what he does. Use him. Some of what he does he will charge us for. There will be a lot that he is not. The reason he is doing what he is doing is because he is a 5 generation Adirondacker. He did not like what he was seeing going on – a lot of invasive and environmental degradation. He is not a tree hugger.
Kim Hart saw on Senator Tedisco website that Caroga Lake would be classified in a way that made them eligible for state, federal, and other funding. Mr. LaMere noted there is less federal funding than there is state funding. He thought the state options might be better. Don’t just wait for grant opportunities go to our state legislators. Make sure you are a nice pest, so if there is some legislative line item money they think of the town. Mr. LaMere suggested having a committee that worked with Gene. Everyone would be communicating and doing something to be prepared. We are competing with all the other lake associations trying to do the same thing. Mr. Centi noted there is lots of money out there for steward programs.
Kent Kirch thanked Mr. LaMere for all of the information. He learned a lot. Mr. Kirch believes we should pursue all funding. He wondered how the Town of Caroga measured up to other similar towns with the same issues. Mr. LaMere thought the town is in the upper 30% we cannot compete with Lake George. So far he applauds the amount of money the town has put in along with the citizenry in support of the town. Honestly the lakes and ponds in the summer are the tourism dollars an important economic factor in the businesses in town. Mr. LaMere stated the more we can be self-sufficient the better we are. Local government does it better than the state or a private firm. We will save money.
Linda Gilbert stated she thought adding another prong approach that being educating school age children. She wondered if drawing down the lake over the winter helps to kill invasive weeds. Mr. La Mere stated no it would not, when you do a drawdown the foliage, perennial plants get hit the hardest. The annuals are isolated and not impacted by a drawdown or herbicide application. If you draw down the balance my go to milfoil and not the native species. This might also allow brittle naiad to come in. They have seen this happen in other lakes. At a meeting held here a few weeks ago. Peck Lake which they draw down is seeing more weeds around the shorelines.
Linda Gilbert asked what impact weather has on this. How does the amount of sunlight and increased water temperature factor into the weed problems. She stated we just came off a very bad year. What we are seeing is the results of a previous bad year. Over time that can change. Mr. LaMere stated you are 100% right. Not all past sins are forgiven. Because of wet spring and lower temps in the summer and now warmer weather nutrients could be going into the lakes. This causes things to grow faster. Milfoil won’t die back the next year if the roots have amenable conditions.
Joyce Barrett asked about the state campground septic system. She heard that years ago the problems there caused a lot of problems. She asked if they have improved. They have been working on it. Mr. Centi noted they replace the system soup to nuts. Mrs. Barrett wondered how they would help us now that they have done damage. Mr. Centi stated he is working on this.
Council Member Glenn suggested they could do a comprehensive sewer program. The state is liable they should be accountable.
Mr. LaMere noted sometimes you get more with honey then you do with vinegar. Sometimes you have to be tough. Lee Walrath oversees this area and Ed Snizek is the supervisor. He can help us get to these people.
Jim Selmser stated the state (campground) has made a million dollar investment in the town. Mr. LaMere stated if the problems became worse as a result the nutrients getting in there – certainly they are aware of the situation. It doesn’t hurt to make them more aware of it. Legislators put the thumb on Departments when the voters speak up.
It was asked if there were any fish that would eat the weeds. Triploid grass carp do. They are sterile carp who eat weeds. The problem with them on Caroga Lake is they are considered a last option. They have to be kept in the lake they cannot escape or you won’t get a permit. It is a liability exposure. They prefer native succulent vegetation over fibrous exotics (milfoil) so the fish will eat everything else in the lake first and then eat the milfoil.
Council Member Glenn asked if he would be available for a work session. He stated he was and is only an hour and 10 minutes away. Mr. LaMere was given a round of applause.
Mr. Centi and Council Member Sturchio went to Ft. Ann and watched their harvester. They use a company to do the work. There is no accountability no sense of urgency. It is like Mr. LaMere said. They are going to come over and look at our system next year. Mr. Centi noted the biggest negative of DASH is the fragments from any report he reads in the country. They can be controlled. They saw GPS being used. It is very effective. Mr. Centi though school education is great idea. He will get information to the science teachers at the school. Mr. Centi has learned a lot. There is timing and science involved.
Mr. Centi briefly reviewed with the board the types of documents in the book:
It included a budget for next year,
Information on a mechanical harvester,
GPS system
The 2015 CSLAP Report and the
2017assessment done by Larry Eichler,
The Lake Hadlock Milfoil Control Project
NYS Invasive Species Information
Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Foundation Aquatic plant management techniques
He stated he will have to submit another budget. The numbers are going up because the numbers were never right to begin with. The hours scheduled to work did not equal the budget. Mr. Centi presented information on a new mechanical harvester for $54,900 there is a used on for $47,000.00 the cost of the trailer is $27,000.00. There is a feature that unloads the weeds. The total cost would be $82,800.00.
The CSLAP for 2016 has not been published yet. Mr. Long stated he has a copy of it he can forward to Mr. Centi.
Public Speaking -
Kent Kirch of Hilly Road noted that 18 months ago he requested that volunteers be allowed to paint and refurbish the info booth at Sherman’s.
It would be a small signal that things are happening – making some progress. At the time there were a number of reasons that the answer was no. “Now that we’ve had some success with volunteers working the Sherman’s property it seems like a good time to continue to do that. The volunteers would sign a waiver. The cost would be born by the people working on it. They would paint and landscape around the building this weekend.
Once it is done Mr. Kirch stated he would like to have a small event there to have some use of the Sherman’s property. He would like to invite all the candidates running for office in Caroga to meet and greet and have one on one conversations with the public.
Kim Hart stated that in looking toward the election she can’t find anything on line. This would give local candidates a place to meet one on one.
It was asked what was the towns opinion was on people voice recording conversations.
Billy Bishop asked since the paving is almost done when will the signs be taken down on the side roads. He did not think they needed them every 50 ft.
Department Reports:
Assessor’s Report – Written report submitted by Vicky Hayner - She continues to maintain the 2017 roll. Sales continue to be entered as received from the County. During the month of September there were 7 valid sales and 2 non-valid sales. The sales represent 8 residential sales and 1 vacant land sale. Building permits have been entered and have been coming in regularly.
Assessor Hayner requested that the town board pass a motion or resolution to relieve the assessor from having to sit with the assessment roll on a Saturday in May. She explained that this is an old way of making the assessor available and in the recent past (for all of the Towns) no one comes in. In today’s world, the assessor can be reached fairly easily either by visiting during office hours, leaving a phone message or emailing. “I am diligent in responding to messages so it is not necessary to have additional time for availability.” She appreciated the board’s consideration of this request.
The assessor is in on Tuesdays between 8:00 am and 2:00 pm. Her email address is value411@nycap.rr.com.
Supervisor Morris stated the assessor is here one day a week. This is one day a year. She makes $24,500.00 a year. She thought she should be here in May if the public wants to talk to her. Council Member Sturchio agreed. The supervisor noted she does answer her emails but still thought she should be here. It is for four hours. All board members agreed. Supervisor Morris will let her know on Tuesday that she needs to be here.
BTI – No Report
Clerk/Registrar – Linda Gilbert submitted the September monthly report. The clerk worked with the Assessor and Code officer to put together a Welcome letter that will go out to all new property owners. The Deputy Town clerk also worked on this project.
For the November 7th election the clerk usually delivers the voting materials that morning. Since the inspectors have to be here at 5:15 am I am suggesting the inspector get the keys to the building prior to Election Day. The bag would be locked away for them to access when they arrive. This way Mr. Travis does not have to open the building. The keys would be returned by the end of the day.
Code Enforcement & Sanitation – Supervisor Morris read the report stating that Mr. Duesler conducted 34 inspections totaling $1,871.00 for the month of September. He issued 32 building permits and one demo permit.
Blight – Council Member Glenn stated someone made a comment that the board discussed bringing in a second part time codes enforcement officer. He thought this should be done during the summer months the beginning of May to the end of October. The second person could be out there doing on site visits as well as blight. Supervisor Morris stated it is a good idea. However once we start the budget process we have wait to see where the money is. Supervisor Morris has talked about this for the past several months. “I don’t know what we have in our general fund.” When annual reports are filed general fund balance transfers over into the next year. Because no annual reports were filed since 2014, she doesn’t know what is in the general fund balance is. The budget is going to be really tight till she knows what we have. The 2015 was filed and she is working on the 2016. She hopes to have that done in the next two weeks. We can’t file it until we know the state accepts the 2015. We have to tighten our belts until we find out what the town finances are. She stated it is a great idea we do need a second code officer. John has done a really good job.
Dog Control – No Report
Golf Course – Mr. Jennings was not here. So Mr. Putman was brought into the conversation. The golf course and the highway department will be having a well drilled together. The three quotes were reviewed by Mr. Putman. The least expensive is $8,805.00 it would be divided between the two departments. The garage item line comes out of the General fund. These are just quote – not advertised. Mr. Putman asked if Provost was contacted. Mr. Putman will call them tomorrow. Supervisor Morris stated there was money in the budget and she wants them to have clean water at the garage and golf course.
Highway – Mr. Putman reported that Green Lake Road is about done. He will pull the no parking signs for the winter. He contacted the state for better signage for Kane Mt. however it was very small. Today a car was parked blocking the whole driveway to the parking. True to form Mr. Putman spoke to them when they were going to their car with one word, “Really.” The supervisor asked him to stay around for the executive session.
Lake Steward Program – Mr. Durkee reported in a written report that the stewards inspected 1971 boats at the West Lake boat launch and provided information about preventing the spread of invasive species to 3510 boaters and visitors. The boat wash inspected 244 boats and did decontamination on 111 boats and trailers and provided advice to 543 boaters and visitors. Boats and boaters continue to increase at both locations. The volunteer lake inspectors conducted their annual shoreline surveys of the Canada Lake system down to Stewart's landing and found no evidence of AIS. Canada Lake Conservation Association provided support to the stewards by supplementing hours of the paid stewards at the boat launch. Mr. Durkee thanked the council for their continued support of the steward program and thanked the residents and boaters for their cooperation.
Youth – Supervisor Morris stated that the town received 2 violation notices because water tests not done in July and August. We did not receive a fine. Next year we will make sure it is done.
Supervisor’s Report – Supervisor Morris knows a lot of people record our meeting she cannot tell them they can’t. If people want to record they can record. We do not have the authority to tell them they can’t.
Kent was asking about working at the visitors… here is the thing Mr. VanGorder was here there is a problem with that. He does not recommend it. She knows how important it is to some of you so she will contact Mr. VanGorder tomorrow and let him know by the end of the day. Council Member Manning reached out to Workers Comp. Their response was – Bill’s concern was could somebody come back on us for a workers comp claim as a volunteer, they have never seen it before. The volunteer indemnifies the town on the waiver. Workers Comp. would fight any claim. Under federal law no one can waive there workman’s comp right. The supervisor again stated that the insurance company strongly does not recommend it. Council Member Manning asked if he was OK with it is the board OK with this happening? Supervisor Morris stated if Mr. VanGorder gives the go ahead then we can go ahead and do it. She noted that this opens up volunteers for everything. She will get an email so it is in writing. She will forward the email to the clerk.
Supervisor Morris has a quote from Apollo for the heating system. Copies were given to the board members. The quote is for $10,079.00. The boiler will be replaced and some repairs that are needed.
RESOLUTION #2017-093 to authorize installation of a new boiler was offered by Supervisor Morris at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on Wednesday October 11, 2017 at the Caroga Municipal Building.
WHEREAS, Boiler #1 which heats ½ of the town hall building is not working, and
WHEREAS, the board received a quote from Apollo Heating of 868 Burdeck St., Schenectady, NY 12306 to install a new boiler and to do the necessary repairs in the amount of $10,079.00 now therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the funding will come out of A1620.2 in the amount of $3,000.00 and $7,079.00 would come out of A1620.4.
Council member Sturchio seconded the motion.
Adopted by a vote of 4 Ayes: Morris, Glenn, Sturchio, Manning
Council Member Sturchio stated he was waiting on a quote for a Generac generator. It was supposed to be here tonight. He will try to have it for the budget meeting.
The Supervisor has two more resolutions which she did now in case people leave early.
RESOLUTION #2017-094 relating to Morey Road was offered by Supervisor Morris at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on Wednesday October 11, 2017 at the Caroga Municipal Building.
WHEREAS, the Town of Caroga is desirous of having Morey Road and the Morey Road Extension open for the 2017-2018 snowmobile season from the paved section of Morey Road to allow access to the New York State Trails;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board of the Town of Caroga does hereby authorize the Town Attorney to continue and to commence any actions or proceedings necessary and appropriate to reinstitute the status quo which existed for decades concerning access to the State of New York snowmobile trial which was accessible from Morey Road until blocked by individuals along said roadway.
DATED: October 11, 2017
The motion was seconded by Council Member Sturchio
Adopted by a vote of 4 Ayes: Morris, Glenn, Sturchio, Manning
Supervisor Morris stated this is one of the things that the person sitting in this chair in a leadership role have to do at times, things that are uncomfortable. She promised she would try to get as much money back as she could. This is what she will continue to do until December 31, 2017.
RESOLUTION #2017-095 relating to a former employee failing to reimburse the town for insurance premiums was offered by Supervisor Morris at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on Wednesday October 11, 2017 at the Caroga Municipal Building.
WHEREAS, a former employee has failed to reimburse the Town of Caroga for insurance premiums paid under COBRA on his behalf;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board of the Town of Caroga does hereby authorize the Town Attorney to file a civil action against Ralph Ottuso for damages related to the payment by the Town of insurance premiums that have not been reimbursed. DATED: October 11, 2017
The motion was seconded by Council Member manning
Adopted by a vote of 4 Ayes: Morris, Glenn, Sturchio, Manning
Old Business: - None
New Business: - None
Correspondence:
1) Lassellsville & Mayfield Seniors thanked the town for use of the Glenn H. Harris Park
2) The 3rd Quarter Workers Comp. Assessment report is on file in the clerk’s office.
3) Save the Date AOT trainings Newly Elected Officials will be held 1/10 – 12, 2018 in Albany.
4)2018 Adirondack Park Save the date Local Government Day April 18 & 19 2018
Supervisor Morris discussed the bill from the Johnstown Public Library. She spoke to Council Member Manning about this and has gone back and forth about it. The invoice is for $2,500.00 for library services. Moving forward, though she is going to OK payment but she is not happy Caroga is the only town in Fulton County that does this. It was noted that the library is in discussion with the school to roll into them. So we may not have to do this anyway. Council Member Manning wanted to reach out to board member Steve VanArnam to let him know what the boards discussed. Supervisor Morris stated if the town decides to give them money it should not be $2,500.00. The supervisor was going to prepay this invoice. She asked if we had to make a resolution since the resolution was made in January. The clerk explained that just because it is in the budget….It was decided to pay the bill next month.
At 8:34 pm Supervisor Morris made a motion to enter into an executive session to discuss regarding proposed, pending, or current litigation. She invited the highway superintendent and Tim Mitchell. Supervisor Morris stated after Mr. Putman and Mr. Mitchell exit the meeting the board will be discussing the medical, financial, credit or employment history of a particular person or corporation, or matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal or removal of a particular person or corporation. Council Member Sturchio seconded the motion. All board members were in favor of the motion.
At 10:04 pm Steve Putman Highway Superintendent leaves. One person is still in attendance.
At 10:28 pm Supervisor Morris made a motion to exit from the executive session. Council Member Sturchio seconded the motion. All board members were in favor of the motion.
Supervisor Morris stated there were no resolutions as a result of the executive session.
Supervisor Morris noted to the clerk that she needed to set a meeting with the Highway Department for negotiations. The work session was scheduled for October 16th at 7 pm.
Supervisor Morris made a motion to pay the bills as presented for audit, accept the minutes of the September meeting and Sept. 20th and October 5th work sessions. Council Member Sturchio seconded the motion. All board members were in favor of the motion.
At 10:30 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
Caroga Town Clerk
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