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State of New York

County of Fulton

Town of Caroga

Minutes of the regular monthly Caroga Town Board meeting held Wednesday July 10, 2019 at the municipal building located at 1840 State Highway #10 at 7:00 pm with the following persons in attendance by roll call:

Supervisor James K. Selmser - Here

Council Member John Glenn - Here

Council Member Jeremy Manning - Here

Council Member James Long - Here

Council Member Kent Kirch - Here

Other town department representatives in attendance were Steve Putman – Highway Superintendent, and Gene Centi – Lakes Management. Attorney Greg Dunn arrived at 7:40 pm. There were about 84 + members of the public in attendance. (Standing room only)

Supervisor Selmser opened the meeting at 7 pm by asking for the roll to be called. The salute to the flag followed. The supervisor anticipated there would be some public speaker with issues with the East Shore Road and invited the Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino to participate this evening.

Public – Nora Lamica from Ilion NY introduced her son, granddaughter, and mother Betty Foster they owned the property at 1796 State Highway 10 where the wood (chip) pile is. The family was very emotional about the condition of the property. They felt it is being treated like a landfill and see it as being in disrepair. The town purchased the property due to a contamination of MTBE. They would like to put a bench in memory of Mr. Foster and have flowers and a tree there. Supervisor Selmser stated he was sorry for the circumstances. The board will tend to it.

Several property owners of East Shore Road spoke about the problem of speeding on the road. It is a very populated area. People use it as a cut through morning and afternoons. Ideas to control the traffic were: temporary speed bumps, rumble strips, patrol car with a dummy inside, digital this is your speed signs (with cameras), stop signs, reduce the speed limit on the road, enforcement (tickets), increase patrols, and legislation to ticket the registered owner of a vehicle. The Sheriff explained his staffing and patrol situation. He also explained who responds to calls which emanate from the dispatch center.

The public wanted to know what could be implemented quickly, and what the long term solution is. The barriers worked great in keeping the traffic down. It was noted that other roads have speeding problems. Some speeding was attributed to delivery trucks like Fed Ex and UPS.

Mr. Putman Highway Superintendent noted when he attended schooling the state did not want speed bumps used. He noted years ago the town had a constable that wrote V & T laws. Other municipalities go through the Sheriff’s Department for part time patrols.

Sheriff Giardino offered to set up a meeting with DOT, the Highway Superintendent, and board members. The Sheriff stated there was a lot of confusion and they received calls when the barriers were in place. He does have some enforcement traffic money for patrols. The state wants to see the funds used for situations they are reacting to not prevention of. He noted the unmanned car has a short term effect.

Another noted dangerous traffic area is the stop sign at Washington Square and Route 10.

Mr. Putman stated the reason the barriers were taken down is that they were being disrespected. He observed the new traffic pattern for hours and found people going around the barriers, and speeding though the Sherman’s parking lot to avoid them.

Council Member Glenn recalls from his conversations with people on East Shore Road over the years the concerns are the volume of traffic and the speed that they are going.

Sheriff Giardino stated two things could be done immediately, beef up the patrols and meet with DOT for their help. Long term solutions were going to be other avenues. He invited the public to keep this situation on his radar. He wrapped up at 7:45 pm. (Applause)

Dave Rorick- asked if Mr. Abdella was taking Sherman’s back. Supervisor Selmser responded that “it is a matter decided maybe in court.” Mr. Rorick thought Mr. Abdella should pay the town the taxes back because he donated it. Mr. Rorick stated if the town doesn’t follow up on this he is going to go to the attorney general on this.

The public portion of the meeting was closed at 7:46 pm.

Department Reports:

Assessor – No Report

BTI - Mrs. Delesky reported for her husband that a lot of the streams the guys were treating early on have dried up. They will be out in the field treating until July 31.

Clerk/Tax Collector/Registrar – The tax collector’s books were presented for audit in May. The June monthly report was given to the board. I received a report about the phone system from the court clerk who is having difficulty checking messages remotely. One in ten times the message will loop over and over. She has to come into the office to retrieve messages when this happens. Messages are (still) getting cut off. The following minutes were worked on by the clerk and Council Member Long for the board to adopt; 2/3, 3/13, 4/10, 5/8, 5/22, 5/29, & 6/12.

RESOLUTION #2019-059 to adopt the town clerk’s minutes of the 2/3, 3/13, 4/10, 5/8, 5/22, 5/29, & 6/12 meetings was offered by Council Member Long at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on July 10, 2019 at Caroga Town Hall.

WHEREAS, the town clerk worked on the final draft of the minutes of five monthly meetings and two work session meetings for approval by the board with Council Member Long today, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Caroga Town Board does hereby move to adopt the minutes of the Feb 2, 2019, March 13, 2019, April 10, 2019, May 8, 2019, May 22, 2019, May 29, 2019, & June 12, 2019 meetings.

Seconded by Council Member Kirch

Adopted by a vote of 5 Ayes; Selmser, Glenn, Manning, Long, Kirch

At the May meeting the Town Clerk stated that the town board had held an illegal meeting. The Town Clerk was incorrect; there is one exception to the open meeting law and that if the town wants “to confer with the town attorney.” Then they do not have to let anybody know there is a meeting going on. Just wanted to put that on the record.

Code Enforcement & Sanitation- Mr. Duesler submitted a written report. He has been extremely busy. In the past month he brought in $3,011.00 with a valuation of $509,680.00. Council Member Kirch met with John & Jennifer yesterday. He reported on the following statistics: in 2015 - 148 permits were issued, in 2018 there were 243 permits issued that’s a 64% increase in permits issued. There are 11 new homes in various stages being built in town in the last year. If you look at permit fees in 2019 year to date it is a little over $7,000.00 vs $6,300.00 last year. That is despite the fact that we have free permits for window, door, & siding replacement. That is up 19% from last year. Council Member Kirch thought there was more activity but more compliance also in getting permits. The code office continues to do a really good job. Council Member Kirch also sees significant improvement in blight. It is not anywhere near where any of us want it to be and it is not happening as fast as we want it to be but he see significant change on 29A and South 10 around Mussey Road.

Council Member Long reminded people since he is seeing denied permits and permits referred to the Zoning Board of Appeals or Planning Board the procedures are on line on how to get a permit, what paper work is required. He encouraged people to look at the online resources at townofcaroga.com.

Dog Control - Mr. Dutcher reported to the clerk that he had 13 calls for the month.

Golf Course –No report from Mr. Jennings. The supervisor noted the receipts were a little bit ahead last month. We are equal to where we were same time last year. He noted the wet spring but thought we were finally catching up and making progress.

Highway- Mr. Putman reminded the board to keep moving forward with the salt shed. The electric project at the town board needs to be kept going on with. A plumber is needed for the sink in the restroom. It is leaking underneath the drain and a plumber is needed to install the faucet for the eye wash station at the barn. So then we will be up to OSHA standards. Mr. Putman noted the ceiling in his office is falling in. He noted the new labor law poster is needed at the barn. Supervisor Selmser stated Linda was working on that today.

Supervisor Selmser noted there is a tentative date of the end of August for delivery of the new plow truck. It will have been a year before we are going to receive it.

Town Hall Building- Supervisor Selmser stated we are missing a custodian with Don Travis retiring. The board needs to make a decision on how they will handle that position in the future. One possibility is to have a highway employee transferring into the building or working part time. He was not sure if that was still a possibility. He thought he was still interested. Mr. Putman suggested talking to him because he did not know if he was still interested with the recent happenings. Council Member Manning suggested putting this out for advertising too.

Council Member Long made a motion to put out an ad in the paper of record. The clerk asked for the hours and rate of pay. Supervisor Selmser and Council Member Long stated they will put that together. Council Member Glenn suggested having a highway worker do work in other buildings. Supervisor Selmser stated that was the intent and it was good to have flexibility to increase some of the responsibilities. Council Member Glenn was talking about creating a new position and coming up with a job description for that person. Supervisor Selmser stated the board needs to put their heads together before we can advertise. A couple of us can put something down on paper before we advertise. The supervisor stated it was pretty much a necessity to have someone available 10 – 15 hours a week. Council Member Kirch stated we have an employee who has worked for the town, a good candidate do we have to advertise? The supervisor stated the appointments are made on a yearly basis. The board can figure that into the budget. The board can make that appointment next year to include other needs. Council Member Manning stated the board can meet in executive session on this.

Youth –Council Member Manning reported he spoke to Colleen today. She is requesting another small storage shed (4 x 4) across the street. She keeps materials in there for the program and is maxed out and filled up right now. Supervisor Selmser asked if it had to be across the road. She would like it there it is convenient. It is something to look into.

Lakes Management Program- Mr. Centi did not have good concrete numbers to report. The weather is finally working with them. They are about even with last year. Earlier in the year the plant growth was not as high in April as it was the previous year. They are getting volume but not 8 ft. plants they are getting 3 & 4 ft. plants. Poundage is a little lower. As of last week growth is at the surface level now. They will finish a second sweep around East Caroga this week then they will go over to West Caroga Lake. Mr. Centi would like people to use the term invasive aquatic plants. When the term weed is used people tend to think we can pull all the weeds in the lake and we cannot. They are only authorized to pull the Eurasian Milfoil at this point in time. He has had calls about various methods to removed plants from the lake. He has lots of information on this and is willing to meet with lake associations or groups to talk about these things. He spent 1 ½ hours talking to the APA today. Mr. Centi noted the DASH (diver assisted suction harvesting) is the best way to do this. He noted you never get rid of milfoil once you have it. It is recommended to talk about controlling nutrients and septic systems and shoreline growth that affecting the lake. We have a living lake, so we can’t do things like you can with other lakes.

Last month Mr. Centi was asked about dredging. He mentioned it to APA and DEC they will send information but in their second breath they asked; how much money do we have. It is a very expensive process to dredge a lake or any parts of a lake. There are environmental restrictions. He will pass on the information once he gets it.

Mr. Centi noted the boaters have been respecting the flags for divers down and has not had any problems this year.

Council Member Kirch noted the white code pickup was previously used by code office. Now has a newer 4 wheel drive vehicle. Mr. Centi could use the white pickup for the Lakes Management program if a hitch was put on it.

RESOLUTION #2019-060 to reassign the white pickup from the code office to the lake management program was offered by Council Member Kirch at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on July 10, 2019 at Caroga Town Hall.

WHEREAS, the Code Office now has a 4 wheel drive vehicle to use, and

WHEREAS, the Lakes Management Program was sharing the 4 wheel drive vehicle but have realized that the white pickup previously used by the code office could be utilized if a hitch was put onto that truck, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Caroga Town Board does hereby authorize the reassignment of the white pickup to the Lakes Management Program for hauling the trailer and rig as needed.

Seconded by Council Member Glenn

Adopted by a vote of 5 Ayes; Selmser, Glenn, Manning, Long, Kirch

Mr. Putman will assist in the installation of the hitch.

Supervisor’s Report- Supervisor Selmser reported looking over the attorney bills – everything was audit checked and the amount they owed us back was listed on the last statement was $210.00 which was netted off the charged being paid on their next payment.

Balance sheets were handed out to the board members. Cash in the general account totaled $1,211,000.00 vs $882,000.00 for the same time last year. That is an increase of $328,000.00 conversely the highway area balance is about $103,000.00 less than what it was at the same time last year.

In the past month the supervisor had a conversation and attended a meeting with Jessica Waldorf from NY Power Authority on Monday. They have had some back and forth conversation re: the one legal document the town attorney had some issues. As of Monday that is coming back to her this week and he expects, before the end of the week, to have something to give back to the town attorney that it is satisfactory to sign. Work sessions are intended to be held for design of lighting systems. It would be a combined meeting in Johnstown sometime in early August.

Old Business: - Museum request for a donation of golf for four and carts. The clerk explained that this was on the June agenda and was never acted upon.

RESOLUTION #2019 -061 to donate golf for four and carts to the Caroga Historical Museum was offered by Council Member Glenn at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on July 10, 2019 at Caroga Town Hall.

WHEREAS, the town received a correspondence last month from the museum requesting a donation from the town for golf for four and two carts from Mr. Jennings to raffle off at their annual craft fair, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Caroga Town Board does hereby authorize the donation of four golf passes and Mr. Jennings does desire to donate 2 golf carts for the raffle on Saturday July 20th 2019 at the Caroga Historical Museum.

Seconded by Council Member Long

Adopted by a vote of 5 Ayes; Selmser, Glenn, Manning, Long, Kirch

Council Member Kirch left a booklet for each board member to see. There were 10,000 printed, 8,000 were placed in the Father’s Day edition of the Leader Herald. 2000 are being handed out around town. On the last two Fridays in July and the four Fridays in August the newspaper will run a full page ad of four of the businesses being highlighted from the booklet. He thought the businesses have done a nice job of stepping up the program. He will see what can be done next year to make it even bigger and better. Council Member Kirch thanked the board for supporting it.

Supervisor Selmser noted the CLVFC Chief Howard Dutcher made a request for permission to use the Sherman’s parking lot and beach for a kayak poker run on August 3, 2019 from 7:30 am – 3:30 pm. The supervisor stated last year they found they didn’t use the town beach they used the Balboaa property. Supervisor Selmser stated they will need insurance coverage which should not be a problem.

RESOLUTION #2019-062 giving permission to the CLVFC to use the Sherman’s parking lot and beach for a kayak poker run on Aug. 3, 2019 from 7:30 – 3:30 pm was offered by Council Member Glenn at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on July 10, 2019 at Caroga Town Hall.

WHEREAS, the town received a correspondence from Howard Dutcher Chief of the Caroga Lake Volunteer Fire Company Inc. asking for permission to use the Sherman’s parking lot and beach for a kayak poker run on Aug. 3, 2019 from 7:30 – 3:30 pm , now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Caroga Town Board does hereby authorize the use of the Sherman’s parking lot and beach for the kayak poker run at the above stated day and time.

Seconded by Council Member Long

Adopted by a vote of 5 Ayes; Selmser, Glenn, Manning, Long, Kirch

New Business:

Council Member Long stated he received a correspondence from The Caroga Historical Museum requesting to borrowing a Ferris Wheel Chair. It would be one chair on loan for display. Supervisor Selmser asked if it was for a period of time. Council Member Long stated, “Obviously we can take it back at any time.”

RESOLUTION #2019-063 to loan one Ferris Wheel chair to the Caroga Historical Museum an indefinite loan with us being able to pull it back at any time was offered by Council Member Long at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on July 10, 2019 at Caroga Town Hall.

WHEREAS, Council Member Long stated he received a correspondence from The Caroga Historical Museum requesting to borrowing a Ferris Wheel Chair, and

WHEREAS, the town board discussed the loan to the museum, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Caroga Town Board does hereby move to loan one Ferris Wheel chair to the Caroga Historical Museum, an indefinite loan, with us being able to pull it back at any time.

Seconded by Council Member Manning

Adopted by a vote of 5 Ayes; Selmser, Glenn, Manning, Long, Kirch

Council Member Long stated he wants to attend a Common Ground Alliance meeting in Lake Placid on July 24, 2019. He stated there are a lot of issues (to be discussed) from invasive species to broad band infrastructure that he thinks may be helpful to the town. He is requesting reimbursement for mileage and the $35.00 registration fee.

RESOLUTION #2019-064 to authorize Council Member Long to attend a Common Ground Alliance meeting in Lake Placid was offered by Council Member Glenn at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on July 10, 2019 at Caroga Town Hall.

WHEREAS, Council Member Long stated he would like to attend a Common Ground Alliance meeting in Lake Placid on July 24, 2019 as he felt the topics to be discussed may be helpful to the town, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Caroga Town Board does hereby move to authorize Council Member Long to attend the Common Ground Alliance meeting in Lake Placid with the town reimbursing him for mileage and the registration fee of $35.00.

Seconded by Council Member Manning

Adopted by a vote of 5 Ayes; Selmser, Glenn, Manning, Long, Kirch

The clerk asked to attend a records management training in Wilton on July 25th 2019.

RESOLUTION #2019-065 for the Town Clerk to attend training was offered by Council Member Kirch at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on July 10, 2019 at Caroga Town Hall.

WHEREAS, the town clerk informed the board of an upcoming records management training on July 25, 2019 being held at the Town of Wilton sponsored by the NYS Archives, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the board does hereby move to authorize the clerk to attend the training.

Seconded by Council Member Long

Adopted by a vote of 5 Ayes; Selmser, Glenn, Manning, Long, Kirch

Town Clerk- Linda Gilbert acknowledged and thanked everyone who responded to the fatal accident in the parking lot at town hall. Gene Centi was first on the scene, I called upon John Duesler – Code Officer, Betsy & Elise from the clinic were there, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department, State Police, Ambulance Service, DEC Conservation Officer, CLVFC & my deputy Judy Aldinger we were all there and experienced this. The board thanked everyone, applause was given by the public.

RESOLUTION #2019-066 to allow the use of the meeting room by a bridge group was offered by Supervisor Selmser at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on July 10, 2019 at Caroga Town Hall.

WHEREAS, the clerk informed the board that the same group of bridge players would like to utilize the meeting room again on Thursday afternoons during the summer months, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the town board does hereby move to allow the use of town hall meeting space so they may play bridge.

Seconded by Council Member Glenn

Adopted by a vote of 5 Ayes; Selmser, Glenn, Manning, Long, Kirch

Council Member Kirch thought the time has come to address the carpet in this building. He does not smell it but hears everyone talking about it. He thought the source was mildew in the carpet. He suggested getting bids to pull it up, see what is under it, and if necessary put something else down. Supervisor Selmser suggested getting quotes, but it was better to make a resolution. The clerk’s office has been done once. Supervisor Selmser remembered doing this before. Council Member Long stated he was not opposed to replacing the carpet but thought the mildew resides in the decking under the membrane in the roof. Mr. Centi suggested using carpet tiles. Council Member Kirch thought tile should be put down. Mr. Centi stated there is a safety issue in public buildings.

RESOLUTION #2019-067 to solicit bids for the removal of the carpet in the hallway and the two offices was offered by Council Member Kirch at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on July 10, 2019 at Caroga Town Hall.

WHEREAS, the Caroga Town Board discussed the carpet in this building and noted the mildew smell, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the board does hereby move to solicit bids for the removal of the carpet in the hallway and the two offices and also estimates (quotes) for replacing the tile if it is needed. Bids will be received until the end of the month.

Seconded by Council Member Long

Adopted by a vote of 5 Ayes; Selmser, Glenn, Manning, Long, Kirch

Council Member Long made a motion to pay the bills as presented for audit, seconded by Council Member Manning. All board members were in favor of the motion.

Council Member Manning noted there was a letter from CAC asking a donation of two rounds of golf at the Nick Stoner Golf Course for their silent auction on July 27th 2019.

RESOLUTION #2019-068 to donate two rounds of golf was offered by Council Member Manning at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on July 10, 2019 at Caroga Town Hall.

WHEREAS, the town board received a letter dated July 8, 2019 from the Caroga Arts Collective asking for a donation for two rounds of golf at the Nick Stoner (Municipal) Golf Course for their silent auction on July 27th 2019, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Caroga Town Board does hereby move to donate two rounds of golf at the Nick Stoner Golf Course to the Caroga Arts Collective.

Seconded by Council Member Long

Adopted by a vote of 5 Ayes; Selmser, Glenn, Manning, Long, Kirch

At 8:21 pm Supervisor Selmser made a motion to go into executive session to discuss any or current litigation. Council Member Long seconded the motion. All board members were in favor of the motion.

At 9:00 pm Council Member Long made a motion to exit from the executive session. The motion was seconded by Council Member Kirch. All board members were in favor of the motion.

The clerk noted the town received a document dated June 13, 2019 from Attorney Sal Ferlazzo re: Semen Demkiw and Sofia Demkiw v. The Town of Caroga. The document was signed on June 25th 2019 by Supervisor Selmser.

RESOLUTION #2019-069 authorizing the town supervisor to sign the settlement agreement in the case of Semen Demkiw and Sofia Demkiw v. The Town of Caroga was offered by Council Member Long at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on July 10, 2019 at Caroga Town Hall.

WHEREAS, the town board received a letter dated June 13, 2019 from Attorney Sal Ferlazzo re: Semen Demkiw and Sofia Demkiw v. The Town of Caroga with a settlement agreement attached referencing index #04148, and

WHEREAS, by this agreement the parties intend to settle all causes of action and claims in a matter that involved moving a pipe, and

WHEREAS, Supervisor Selmser stated that he has verified that the pipe has been moved, and noted that he did proceed but it needs to be part of our records, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Caroga Town Board does hereby move to authorize Supervisor Selmser to sign the settlement agreement.

Seconded by Council Member Manning

Adopted by a vote of 5 Ayes; Selmser, Glenn, Manning, Long, Kirch

Council Member Long offered the next resolution.

RESOLUTION #2019-070 to respond to Balboaa Land Development’s notice of claim by telling him we are waiving the 50 H requirement and we are awaiting his suit and we are authorizing the firm of Dunn & Dunn to prepare a legal response to that suit was offered by Council Member Long at the regular monthly meeting of the Caroga Town Board held on July 10, 2019 at Caroga Town Hall.

WHEREAS, the town board met this evening with the Town Attorney Greg Dunn, and

WHEREAS, the board desires to defend against that claim, and as part of that defense we file for a declaratory judgement to determine whether the donation agreement is binding, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Caroga Town Board does hereby move to respond to Balboaa Land Development’s notice of claim by telling him we are waiving the 50 H requirement and that part of the town’s defense is to file a declaratory judgement to determine if the donation agreement is binding.

Seconded by Council Member Manning

Adopted by a roll call vote:

Council Member John Glenn - Yes

Council Member Jeremy Manning - Yes

Council Member James Long - Yes

Council Member Kent Kirch – Yes

Supervisor James K. Selmser – Yes

Supervisor Selmser thought we made a decision on the referendum but stated it could be put back on the table. Council Member Glenn asked due to the most current events is the referendum going forward? Council Member Long stated if George failed to file we cannot induce George to file, if he does not file… Council Member Kirch answered Council Member Glen’s question – we discussed in there we decided and Attorney Dunn agreed there were some reasons to go ahead with the referendum if it is successful it could eliminate a lot of legal costs for us. If it is not successful it doesn’t hurt the process we are going to start.

At 9:06 pm Council Member Long made a motion to adjourn. Seconded by Council Member Manning. All board members were in favor of the motion.

Submitted,

Linda M. Gilbert, RMC, CMC

Town Clerk

General #’s 189 - 213 $13,467.54

Highway #’s 107-124 $ 9,928.41

General Park #’s 22 – 27 $1494.42

Prepaid #’s 148 – 168 $23,404.76

Copyright © James McMartin Long 2017–2024