Town of Charlton
Town Board Meeting
January 9, 2006
7:30 pm
The
Regular Meeting of the Town Board of Charlton, Saratoga County, New York held
at 7:30pm at the Charlton Town Hall, called to order by Supervisor, Alan
Grattidge.
Present: Councilman Gardner, Councilman Lippiello,
Councilman Salisbury, Councilman Verola, Supervisor Grattidge and Attorney,
Robert VanVranken.
A
motion made by Councilman Verola seconded by Councilman Lippiello to accept the
meeting minutes of the Town Board held on December 12, 2005 with the following
corrections:
Mr. VanVranken Esq.: Page 6, the following sentence should
read: We are saying we are granting the
water district extension pursuant to court order but we are doing it
conditioned upon the resolution of about 17 or 18 different items.
Mr. VanVranken Esq.: Page 6, the following sentence should
read: They have currently refused to sit
down with us and discuss these items.
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Abstain, Councilman Lippiello:
Aye, Councilman Salisbury: Abstain, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor
Grattidge: Aye
A
motion made by Councilman Verola seconded by Councilman Lippiello to accept the
meeting minutes of the Public Hearing, held on December 12, 2005 with the
following corrections.
Supervisor Grattidge: Page
1, the following sentence should read state Mark Chotkowski – 1119 Peaceable
Street – At this time I am installing at a customers house a coal fired
outdoor boiler.
Supervisor, Grattidge: Research from our Environmental Commission
found that stack height was very important in relation to other
buildings because of the down-draft effect that you get.
Roll Call Vote: Councilman Gardner: Abstain, Councilman Lippiello:
Aye, Councilman Salisbury: Abstain, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge:
Aye
A
motion made by Councilman Lippiello seconded by Councilman Verola to accept the
meeting minutes of the Public Hearing held on December 27, 2005 with the
following corrections.
Supervisor Grattidge: Would like all four letters in complete form
in the minutes of the Public Hearing on December 27, 2005.
Roll Call Vote: Councilman Gardner: Abstain, Councilman Lippiello:
Aye, Councilman Salisbury: Abstain, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor
Grattidge: Aye
A
motion made by Councilman Lippiello seconded by Councilman Verola to accept the
meeting minutes of the Agenda meeting held on December 27, 2005.
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Abstain, Councilman Lippiello:
Aye, Councilman Salisbury: Abstain, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge:
Aye
A
motion made by Councilman Gardner seconded by Councilman Verola to accept the
meeting minutes of the Organizational Resolution Meeting held on January 2,
2006.
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye,
Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge: Aye
ABSTRACT OF CLAIMS
The Town Board audited the
vouchers #1001-#1016 totaling $3552.45.
A
motion made by councilman Verola seconded by Councilman Gardner to except the
abstract.
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye,
Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge: Aye
TOWN CLERK REPORT
Town Clerk Heather Scribner
read the Town Clerks report. She
reported taking in $223.58 for the month of December $168.71 was disbursed to
the supervisor.
A
motion made by councilman Verola seconded by Councilman Gardner to accept the
Town Clerks report as read.
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye,
Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge: Aye
SUPERVISOR’S REPORT AND
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
December expenditures and
revenue:
General Fund
Revenue of $116,563.83 Expenditures
of $120,287.88
Highway
Revenue of $15,236.04 Expenditures
of $67638.89
Water District 1
Revenue of $8317.30 Expenditures
of $144,815.99
Water District 2
Revenue of $0 Expenditures of $375.93
Supervisor Grattidge stated
there are many different ways web site activity is measured. Mr. Acunto used home page viewing; there were
658 Views of the home page. There were
13,542 Hits on the web site
Mr. Kelley the Web Master
explains the differences, every element on a page, like images, would count as
a separate hit whereas if you have a page of plain text it would be one hit which
will equal the page. Hits are an
inflated number. Page usage is the more
accurate number. There were 10,329-page
uses of the site. Mr. Acunto was using
the home page, which is much lower.
“The activity on the web site as a whole is pretty good”. Mr. Kelley
further added if you go directly into a page you would not count home page
usage. Page usage counts all activity.
Page usage is what most people judge their web site activity.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Town Board will conduct
an annual audit on January 23, 2006 starting at 6:30pm. The audit will consist
of the following departments; Tax Collector, Bookkeeper, Justices, Town Clerk
and Zoning Administrator. Mr. Grattidge
said a report would follow at the February meeting.
The Town Board invited
Richard Moon, Building inspector to give an update on Outdoor Furnaces. Mr. Moon said he reviewed where we are in
accordance to building codes. Mr. Moon
read a past memo from Title 19 part 444 requirements of administration of Code
Enforcement that goes back to effective date November 1, 1989. He said he is
sure it goes back to 1983 but could not find the print at this time. Under 444.3 B Requirements for Permits,
covering the installation or extension of electrical systems which would fall
under the wood burning boilers also, section 444.3 B2 5 the installation of a
solid fuel burning heating appliance with a chimney and flue. Mr. Moon said it goes back to November 1,
1989 that you would need a permit for any installation on any wood burning or
solid fuel-burning device.
Mr. Moon read the following
Bulletin from the Department of State.
This document is to clarify what extent out door wood boilers for
heating buildings are regulated by the uniform fire prevention and Building
Code.
The outdoor wood boiler is
an appliance and is accessory to the building being heated on the same piece of
property. As an outdoor appliance both
the Residential Code of NYS (RCNYS) section M1401.4 and the Mechanical Code of
the Mechanical Code of the New York State (MCNYS) section 303.6 require the
boiler to be listed and labeled for outdoor installation and installed in
accordance with the manufacturer’s installation instructions. The penetration of the building wall by the
pipes supplying the heated water to the building needs to be inspected. The
requirements for a building permit for the pipe penetrations in the building
wall are the jurisdiction of the individual local government.
The outdoor boiler is an
appliance and is not an accessory structure.
The codes regulate the location of an accessory structure relative to
the adjacent building and relative to the property line. The codes are silent relative to the
location of an outdoor appliance.
Therefore, the location of an outdoor wood boiler is a zoning
issue. Signed, Ronald E. Piester, RA,
Director, Division of Code Enforcement and Administration, Dated January 1,
2003.
Supervisor Grattidge said,
to make it simple, people need a building permit from your office for an
outdoor wood-burning furnace since 1989.
Mr. Moon replied, “YES”. Mr. Grattidge said, when it comes to your
office we use the Building Inspector and Zoning Administrator for that
process. Mr. Moon stated yes.
Supervisor Grattidge ask
Zoning Administrator Dave LaFountain, what is his interpretation on these
structures. Mr. LaFountain stated
clearly the building code requires a permit.
In the absence of a local law, it regulates under accessory uses in the
zoning ordinance in the Residential/Agricultural district. Right now, from my
interpretation, none would be aloud under current zoning in the Residential
district. Mr. Grattidge said they are
unique how they are classified, addressing this with a local law would clarify
Mr. LaFountains job at this point.
Correct said Mr. LaFountain.
Supervisor Grattidge asked
Mr. VanVranken Town Attorney to comment on what direction we are moving
in. Mr. VanVranken stated, if you want
to continue modifying the proposed local law or continue amending it, you have
to go through the process local law, public hearing etc.
Councilman Verola stated she
would like to gather more information before moving forward with any local
law. It might be wise to get some
information from the manufactures or from people who distribute them.
Councilman Gardner asked if
anyone knew how many wood burning boilers were in the area. Marv Schorr, ECC Chairman said three, none
of which have permits. Mr. Moon, Building Inspector said two have come in last
month for permits. Councilman Gardner
asks if there has been any complaint.
Supervisor Grattidge said the Zoning Office has requested we address
this issue because we are going to be getting more of these units installed as
the cost of energy rises. As far as complaints we have had a history of some
complaints concerning burning in the Residential area a number of years ago
that was addressed in the open burning ordinance. If we continue to be doing research, we should keep it on the
agenda and flush out any questions we have in the next couple of meetings.
Supervisor Grattidge said
next on the Agenda we would have to do a local law on the “Level K” Veterans
exemption. Vicky Hayner, Chairman of
the Board of Assessors said the county has approved an increase in the “level
K” which is another break down of values.
In order for us to pass it to the people of our town, the Town will have
to adopt a local law. A memo dating
11-28-05 from the Assessors is as read:
As I promised, following is
an explanation of the amounts at “Level
K” which the County has already approved. As you are aware, in order to give this to our residence, we have
to pass a Local Law accepting the new values.
The values for Level K are
stated at $36,000, $24,000, and $120,000.
The explanation of these values is as follows:
$36,000 is the 15% exemption (maximum value) for a
veteran who has served during defined periods of war or who have received
expeditionary medals.
$24,000 is the 10% additional exemption (maximum value)
for a veteran who served in a combat theater or combat zone.
$120,000 is the 50% (maximum value) exemption for a
veteran who receives a service a service-connected disability rating from the
Veterans’ Administration or the Department of Defense.
I recommend that we follow
the County and pass a Local Law allowing for the new maximum values for the
exemption.
Supervisor Grattidge said
for the Agenda meeting we would set February as a Public Hearing to act on a
local law “Level K” exemption. Mr.
VanVranken said he would have the proposal at the agenda meeting.
Council Verola said the Town
Board Newsletter dead line is January 17, 2006. All departments have their
notices. Please get them to the Town Clerk. John Kelley is working on
developing a site where everyone can send his or her information. It won’t be going to the Town Clerk. The newsletter will go out sometime in
February.
Supervisor
Grattidge stated, at the county level he has attended one board meeting and two
committee meetings. He is on the
following committees: Buildings and
Grounds, Equalization and Assessment, Public Safety and Social Programs.
COMMUNICATIONS
A letter was received from
NYS Office of Real Property Services.
Supervisor Grattidge read:
Congratulations your
municipality has demonstrated successful completion of an annual reassessment
on your 2005 assessment roll, consequently, you will be receiving $5.00 per
parcel in State Aid. This is your 2nd
year your municipality has received aid under this program, which is an
impressive accomplishment for your municipality. By your successful completion of an annual reassessment, the
taxpayers in your community are receiving the benefits of equitable assessments
that reflect current market value. Your
municipality should be proud of your exemplary efforts. Thank you for achieving the highest levels
of quality assessment administration.
Supervisor Grattidge
received a letter from Daniel Maguffin, 25 Craw for Drive. The letter read:
I am a new resident of
Charlton, having moved to Crawford Drive this past summer.
I must share my
disappointment with you on the deplorable job of snow plowing I witnessed this
morning. When I departed my house at
6:30 am. this morning there was not a single indication that a plow had even
come near Crawford Drive and neighboring streets. No plow, no sand, nothing.
I expected that a plow would
have passed through the area at least once during the overnight or early
morning, given the forecast.
Please share with me the
common practices and policies of the Charlton Highway Department as it relates
to snow removal and clearing so that I know what to expect in the future. Was there a specific reason or circumstance
this morning that delayed plowing or is this standard operating procedures for
the Department. I look forward to your
reply. Thank you Daniel Maguffin
Supervisor Grattidge said
everyone knows what a good job our highway department does. He asked Highway
Superintendent Ron Gavin to talk about the policy on snow plowing. Mr. Gavin stated they are not called in
unless there is about 3-4 inches of snow or whatever prevails. The sheriff department and County will call
and we get out there. I spoke with Mr.
Maguffin this morning and told him we didn’t receive the letter until January 6th. He is the last person on that route. We have
four trucks in town each truck has a route. He is the last road before everyone
heads back. Mr. Gavin said he invited him for coffee.
Supervisor Grattidge
announced an invitation from the Burnt Hills School Social Studies Department.
They would like to extend an invitation to participate in a Government Festival
on February 15, 2005.
DEPARTMENT & COMMITTEE REPORTS
ANIMAL CONTROL
Dog Control Officer Lee Bramer stated he had 7 calls in
the month of December one was dog bite, one was a loose dog found at a door
step of a resident. Three calls were
for questions and 2 calls from dogs running loose. A call was made to remind them of our local leash law. He then said, a dog at 4 months old is
required to be licensed and will have to have their rabies prior to that
point. It is a state law cat’s get a rabies
vaccine. There is no way to follow that
up with an exception if a cat bites someone.
If you don’t have their rabies the cat will go to the County Facility
for a 10-day quarantine. That would be
the same as for a dog. Councilman
Verola asked, is it a 3year or 1year rabies vaccine for your cat? Mr. Bramer said to check with your
veterinarian.
ASSESSMENT BOARD OF REVIEW
Not active
ASSESSORS
Chairman Vicky Hayner stated
in December they sent all the renewal forms for senior exemptions and agricultural
exemptions. If you didn’t receive
yours, contact the Assessors Office. They are due back with income information
by March 1st in order to be processed in the 2006 roll. Assessor Robert Cromie and Assessor Wesley
Weaver have started looking at the split-levels in the town. They are doing a
study on that style of house. We are
looking at what the state has given us and making sure that is working. The tax
rolls are finalized March 1st and Grievance Day is in May. If you are in the process of building a
home or have a building permit, the last week in February we will be doing our
rounds to see how far that has progressed.
We do proportional assessments on how far you are along. If you don’t have a CO before March 1st
a proportional assessment is done.
CONPREHENSIVE PLAN
Chairman David Wood stated
they have been meeting for approximately two years and are getting very close
to what will be a final presentation.
The plan now is making summaries. Some of our members in the front row have
been helping us a lot in this process, especially in the last 2-3 months. The summary is being prepared and should be
ready in a week or two. We would like the Town Board, Zoning Board and Planning
Board to review it also. If there are any suggestions, we would like to get
those suggestions in early so there is a chance to make some alterations before
the public hearing. The Comprehensive
Plan and the Town Board will have to hold a public hearing, assuming it would
be in late winter or spring. If there
are any questions, we meet the 1st Monday of the Month or feel free
to contact any of the board members.
CONSTABLES
For the month of December
there were 28 patrols, 5, 911 calls, traveled 1881 miles, issued 18 tickets and
responded to 5 accidents
ECC
Chairman Marv Schorr
reported there was no meeting in December. The board has provided comments to
the ZBA on a variance application. At the January meeting, the last Tuesday of
the month, it will discuss comments received by the Town Board from the Hearing
of the Outdoor Wood Burning Furnaces. A follow up letter will be sent to the
Town Board. In addition, a follow up on Wally Hughes letter to the Editor on
pollution and the class D stream that runs through Komar park, the Supervisor
and Wally Hughes were asked to attend January’s meeting.
E-GOVERNMENT ADVISORY
Councilman Lippiello said
they are meeting in two weeks. In
December more of the Town Forms were made available on the web site. The ability to file those forms was
discussed, but at this point we are going to take our time for people to become
used to using it in the first place.
There is a place on the web page to sign up for the Town Newsletter. If
you want to put your email address in there that is the only place it would
go. You will then receive an email
version of the Town Newsletter and your name removed from the mailing list.
EMERGENCY PLANNING
Council Gardner has received
some information from the past chairman.
He will be contacting the fire commissioners and setting up a time to
meet.
HIGHWAY
Highway Superintendent Ron
Gavin said they started out with a good December, a lot of little snow
storms. We’ve been working on replacing
culverts in between time, doing a little work on the new town halls drainage
system. Working on vehicles and getting
vehicles inspected.
HISTORIAN
Historian Laura Linder
welcomed the new Deputy Historian Dorothy Mitchell. Ms. Mitchell would help in assisting in genealogy and getting
records ready for the new town hall. Ms
Linder said she is working with the Saratoga County Green infrastructure Plan,
the Charlton historic resources, currently there are 64 listed. She will be meeting with Sara Laport, on
Monday afternoon January 23rd.
All Historians of Saratoga County met on December 15th to work on the
overall historic cultural resources focus group for this infrastructure plan
for the county.
Any students doing historic
research, there are awards for you. In
the past BHBL School have received awards in using primary local historic
records.
Available at the State
library are microfilm newspapers dating back to the first newspapers.
Chuck Arnold is requesting
any historic photos of The Peper store once located at the corner of Eastern
Avenue and Route 147, Mr. Arnold is especially interested in stagecoach
stopping photos. Ms. Linder said if any
one has any historic photos of the town, we would like to make copies to be put
in our collection. So, we have more
information on Charlton then from now.
The Charlton Historical
society is having a movable feast on February 4th. It is three-course meal served in local
homes, if interested call Mary McDonald the cost is $15.00 a person.
HISTORIC DISTRICT
Councilman Verola said James
Poirer, Chairman Historic District, could not be present. She spoke with Mr. Poirer, he said a letter
has been sent regarding the Springer Pump Factory to a realtor. Laura Linder, Historian said she believes
the house has been sold and the people who were interested in the property have
contacted me but we haven’t spoke yet.
The Historic District web
site is complete and should be up and running soon. The next meeting is on January 18th the third
Wednesday of each month.
JUSTICES
Councilman Lippiello read
the following report from Justice Larry Bascom.
From Justice Bascom during
the month of December, 46 cases for penal law, 42 vehicle and traffic law. Fine and surcharges received and deposited
total $2,790.00, a bad check fee received and deposited $15.00 and to the state
went $2790.00.
Justice Vernon Ketchum said
this is the first time we have reported to the Town Board and he would speak to
Judge Bascom on marrying the reports together.
The report read:
During the month of December
the Justice Court reported 30 motor vehicle and Traffic cases to the State
Comptroller. A total of 1895.00 in
fines and $1000.00 in mandatory surcharges were collected and forwarded to the
Comptrollers Office. Additionally, The
Court presided over one Felony case and four misdemeanor cases in
December. All were adjourned to future
dates.
Previous 2005 Activity:
Month
|
No Of Cases
|
Dismissals
|
Fines
|
Surcharges
|
Totals
|
|
January
|
34
|
5
|
2310
|
1100
|
3410
|
|
February
|
26
|
6
|
1595
|
985
|
2580
|
|
March
|
45
|
6
|
3195
|
1535
|
4730
|
|
April
|
39
|
10
|
3145
|
1325
|
4470
|
|
May
|
30
|
6
|
1415
|
935
|
2350
|
|
June
|
27
|
4
|
1915
|
935
|
2850
|
|
July
|
24
|
3
|
2155
|
550
|
2705
|
|
August
|
20
|
0
|
1725
|
825
|
2550
|
|
September
|
18
|
0
|
1420
|
605
|
2025
|
|
October
|
17
|
5
|
945
|
450
|
1395
|
|
November
|
29
|
5
|
1910
|
705
|
2615
|
|
December
|
30
|
4
|
1895
|
1000
|
2895
|
|
Totals
|
339
|
54
|
23625
|
10950
|
34575
|
|
10,000 Bail Collected
during 2005 and returned in January
|
LIBRARY
Councilman Lippiello said he
spoke with Anna Jane the librarian, she is looking forward to working with the
new liaison Councilman Salisbury. There
was no meeting in December; the next meeting is on January 25th.
PARKS
Chairman George Eggleston
stated we are awaiting a matching grant to rebuild the pavilion at Elmer Smith
Park. A new backstop was put in on the
southern end of the area and repaired the warming shelter. We will be meeting this month.
PLANNING BOARD
Councilman Verola read the
monthly report from the planning board. The report read:
2005 was an active
year in which 18 subdivisions/lot line changes were approved, resulting in the
creation of 18 new lots in the Town of
Charlton.
The Town of Charlton
Planning Board last met on Monday, November 21, 2005. During this meeting,
three public hearings were held, three subdivisions approved and three new
applications heard.
1)
Banker Trust
(224-1-4.1): Four lot subdivision of 100 acres owned by Judy Rae Banker on
Route 147. Public hearing held at 7:45. Subdivision approved - resolution
2005-16. Subdivision has been subsequently rescinded by the applicant as the
100 acre parcel has been sold intact.
2)
Loukes (247-2-27.1,
247-2-41): Two lot subdivision, with minor lot line change of 59 acres owned by
Odorless Sanitary Cleaners on Stage Road. Public hearing held at 8:00.
Subdivision approved - resolution 2005-17.
3)
Concilla (235-1-6.1):
Two lot subdivision of 6.73 acres owned by
Helen Concilla on Western Avenue. Public hearing held at 8:15. Subdivision approved
- resolution 2005-18.
4)
Mischler (245-1-5.2):
Lot line change transferring 6.3 acres owned by William Mischler on Charlton
Road to adjacent property owners. ,
5)
Nigriny
(247-1-50.12): Two lot subdivision of 5.3 acres owned by John and Regina
Nigriny on the corner of Sweetman and Jenkins Roads. The request does not meet Charlton’s zoning ordinance setback
requirements and is being referred to the ZBA for an Area Variance.
6)
DeNooyer
(235-1-44 & 235-1-67.2): Two lot subdivision with minor
lot line change of 80 acres owned by James DeNooyer on Sacandaga Road. The
application has been accepted by the Planning Board as complete and the Public
Hearing will be held at 7:45 PM on 1/16/06.
7)
Heflin/Durst
(255-1-40.1,41, 43.1, 43.2, 43.3): Twenty three lot subdivision of 87 acres
owned by Gary Heflin and Dean Durst on Swaggertown Road. The subdivision
application was accepted by the Planning Board in June, 2005 and is in the
preliminary review phase working on engineering details. The application
stipulates town water for all lots therefore requiring extension of the Town
water district.
RECORDS ADVISORY BOARD
Chairman Heather Scribner
said they will be a meeting in February.
She welcomed two new members to the board Gail Hanchar and Dorothy
Mitchell.
TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Chairman John Tasse said
they reviewed a portion of the new town hall drawing, draft 1 as it relates to
networking, fire alarm systems, security systems and public address
systems. We provided guidance on the
computer network specifications and recommended that the town board look into
contracting other systems including public address. It is recommended to look
for an outfit that could give us a design that the Technology Committee could
review because it is not included in the architects contract. Also, provided comments on the electrical
drawings that were provided.
We have been reviewing
software for the justices and Mr. Eggleston found that we could get grants for
the software. We are going to pass this
on to Judge Ketchum to see if he can inflate some of the cost.
Paul St. John, Technology
board member is working on software for the Highway Department.
TOWN HALL
Councilman Verola stated the
architect is working on completing the drawings so we could go to bid late
January or early February. The
Technology committee has made recommendations on the electrical wiring. Ms. Verola said she contacted a burglar and
fire alarm company and will be meeting tomorrow. We will receive an estimate on
wiring for the burglar and fire alarm.
Supervisor Grattidge said he would be setting up a meeting with Tec II,
who handles our phone system. Also, working on gathering information to hire an
owner representative before we go to bid.
WATER DISTRICT
Councilman Lippiello read
the following report submitted by Water Superintendent John Morgan.
Month of December: Daily Chlorine Samples 31, Monthly Lab
Chloroform Sample 2, and Pump Hours- a. 15.5 hours b. 26.1 hours, Gallons per
Month Used 1,981,200 Daily average 63,910, UFPO -Under Ground Facility
Protection Organization (Locations for cable, gas main, water lines etc.) 3
Maintenance work performed,
1 Alarm drop at pump station, 1 water shut off and 3 curb box location.
8/31/05 thru 12/6/05 Little
Troy job complete and in service
#2 pump down for maintenance
and rust problem
Mr. Morgan said in regards
to the #2 pumping base plate there is a baring that goes down 6 foot into the
ground, it is starting to deteriorate.
Although we do not have any leaks going through the system at this time,
to replace it unfortunately we would be looking at some substantial money.
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
Chairman Maggie Schmidt read
the following report:
As of September, the
decisions made and the minutes from the main meetings have been reported to the
Webmaster to be included on the Charlton Website. Please take note that we don’t always have meetings if there is
no hearing scheduled for that particular month.
The Charlton Zoning Board of
Appeals reviewed 7 cases in 2005.
April- J& J Services-
Putnam, Swaggertown Road, Area Variance for a pre existing lot: Granted
May- David Taplin, Cortland
Drive, side lot setback Area Variance: Granted
July- Waring, Stage Road,
Area Variance for a sub division: Granted
July- Ormsby, Stage Road,
area variance for a wrap around porch: Granted
Septmeber-Sczerba, Wait
Road, Area Variance for a sub division: Denied
October-Ron Muscanell,
Crooked Street, Area Variance for a subdivision: Granted
November- Cabrera, Cortland
Drive, Area Variance for a carport: Granted
The board will be attending
a training session sponsored by the Saratoga County Planning Department on
January 25th.
We will be hearing a case
tomorrow eve, which is January 10th. It is the Nigriny Property at 138 Jenkins Road. They wish to subdivide their property. The frontage and acreage are adequate; the
problem is the setback from the pond, which is on the primary property. We also have to look at the status of the
existing barn on the original property.
Next month we will be
hearing a case for West Charlton United Presb. Church for sign variance. The date will be February 14th.
ZONING ADMINISTRATOR
Dave LaFountain said he
issued 5 permits, 8 C/O and took in $513.00 for the month of December. In 2005, 123 building permits were issued.
TOWN CLERK
Town Clerk Heather Scribner
read the following update from the NYS Department of Agriculture and Market Dog
Licensing:
Effective January 15, 2006,
no dog license may expire after expiration date of the dog’s rabies
vaccination. If your dog is due for
a rabies vaccination booster during the next year, you must have it boostered now
in order to have a full year license.
If you choose not to have your dog vaccinated now you will still need to
pay the full annual fee and you will need to renew your dog again after it has
been vaccinated
The night hours of the Town
Clerks Office has changed to Tuesday evening from 6pm-8pm.
RESOLUTIONS
A motion made by Councilman Lippiello, seconded by
Councilman Verola that Resolution No. 60 A RESOLUTION
TRANSFERING FUNDS BE IT RESOLVED, that the Supervisor is authorized to make the
following transfer of $2,750.00 from Account #A-1990.4 Contingency to A-9060.8
Health Insurance for additional premium, be
approved:
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye,
Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge:
Aye Approved
A motion made by Councilman Lippiello, seconded by
Councilman Verola that Resolution No. 61 A RESOLUTION TRANSFERRING FUNDS BE IT
RESOLVED, THAT THE SUPERVISOR IS AUTHORIZED TO MAKE THE FOLLOWING TRANSFER OF
$56.00 FROM ACCOUNT A-1990.4 CONTINGENCY TO A-8540.4 DRAINAGE-CONTRACTUAL FOR
MS4 be approved:
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye,
Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge:
Aye Approved
A motion made by Councilman Verola,
seconded by Councilman Gardner that Resolution No. 62 A RESOLUTION TRANSFERRING
FUNDS BE IT RESOLVED, THAT THE SUPERVISOR IS AUTHORIZED TO MAKE THE FOLLOWING
TRANSFER OF $443.00 FROM ACCOUNT A-1190.4 CONTINGENCY TO ACCOUNT A-3120.4
POLICE-CONTRACTUAL FOR GASOLINE be approved:
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye,
Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge:
Aye Approved
A motion made by Councilman Verola,
seconded by Councilman Lippiello that Resolution No. 63 A RESOLUTION
TRANSFERRING FUNDS BE IT RESOLVED, THAT THE SUPERVISOR IS AUTHORIZED TO MAKE
THE FOLLOWING TRANSFER OF $546.00 FROM a-1990.4 CONTINGENCY TO A-1460.4 RECORDS
MANAGEMENT-CONTRACTUAL FOR GRANT WRITER be approved:
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye,
Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge:
Aye Approved
A motion made by Councilman Lippiello,
seconded by Councilman Gardner that Resolution No. 64 A RESOLUTION TRANSFERRING
FUNDS BE IT RESOLVED, THAT THE SUPERVISOR IS AUTHORIZED TO MAKE THE FOLLOWING
TRANSFER OF $45.00 FROM ACCOUNT A-1990.4 CONTINGENCY TO ACCOUNT A-1010.4 TOWN
BOARD-CONTRACTUAL FOR LEGAL NOTICES be approved:
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye,
Councilman Lippiello: Aye, Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye,
Supervisor Grattidge: Aye Approved
A motion made by Councilman Lippiello, seconded by Councilman Verola that
Resolution No. 65 A RESOLUTION TRANSFERRING FUNDS BE IT RESOLVED, THAT THE
SUPERVISOR IS AUTHORIZED TO MAKE THE FOLLOWING TRANSFER OF $1810.00 FROM
ACCOUNT A-1990.4 CONTINGENCY TO ACCOUNT A-1010.4 SUPERVISOR-PERSONAL SERVICES
FOR HEATHER SCRIBNER PAYROLL be approved:
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye,
Councilman Lippiello: Aye, Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye,
Supervisor Grattidge: Aye Approved
A motion made by Councilman Lippiello, seconded by Councilman Verola that
Resolution No. 66 A RESOLUTION TRANSFERRING FUNDS BE IT RESOLVED, THAT THE
SUPERVISOR IS AUTHORIZED TO MAKE THE FOLLOWING TRANSFER OF $.50 FROM ACCOUNT
SW-8340.4 SOURCE OF SUPPLY-CONTRACTUAL TO ACCOUNT SW-8340.1 SOURCE OF
SUPPLY-PERSONAL SERVICES FOR PAYROLL ADJUSTMENT be approved:
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye,
Councilman Lippiello: Aye, Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye,
Supervisor Grattidge: Aye Approved
A motion made by Councilman Verola, seconded by Councilman Gardner that
Resolution No. 67, A RESOLUTION AUTHORINZING INTERMUNICIPAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN
THE TOWN OF SARATOGA AND THE TOWN OF CHARLTON FOR THE BUS TRANSPORTATION TO THE
2006 ASSOCIATION OF TOWNS MEETING IN NEW YORK CITY IN FEBRUARY 2006be approve:
Roll call vote: Councilman Gardner: Aye, Councilman Lippiello: Aye,
Councilman Salisbury: Aye, Councilman Verola: Aye, Supervisor Grattidge:
Aye Approved
COUNCILMAN REPORTS
Councilman Gardner- He said
Overwhelming.
Councilman Lippiello said
thank you to all those who said yes, as we made those resolutions for the New
Year. It is amazing all the people who
step up and offer their time and say I will do what I can do to help the
Town. Welcome to our two new board
members and Heather Scribner as our Town Clerk. Last week the board attended a three-day workshop. We all came away with some new information,
once again when you listen to some of the other towns you say Charlton is in
good shape. You hear questions like,
what do you do when they won’t come in for the audit? These are town employees who have a legal responsibility to come
in and towns are fighting that kind of fight.
Councilman Salisbury said he
is missing one report from Judge Bascom.
Supervisor Grattidge said he would make a copy. He says it is a pleasure to be here and
hopefully I can do a good job for everyone here.
Councilman Verola welcomed
our two new board members our new Town Clerk and Supervisor. Ms. Verola said I look forward to working
with you.
PRIVLAGE TO THE FLOOR
John Tasse, Sweetman Road-
Relative to the town hall plan, do we have a schedule when more will be coming
in. Supervisor Grattidge said, at this
time I haven’t seen any more revised drawings.
They are expecting to get some information from their engineer next
week. As Ms. Verola indicated, we need
to work on the alarm system design also the sound system. We need to work on our end before we get
more drafts from the architect. Mr.
Tasse asked if the plan for the retention basin would be the same design. Supervisor Grattidge said at this point we
are going to use the open design, it has a 3-1 gradual slope and it will be
lawn when it is done. It is performing
the same function as the other system. This
was the original design they first came in with, the other was an alternate
design. Because of cost restraints and
the infrastructure of the actual settling basin we decided to go back to the
open basin design.
Mr. Tasse said, relative to
the Heflin – Durst subdivision, they are going to want water, is the towns
strategy going to approve or disapprove water before the planning board hears
it? We don’t want to find ourselves in the same spot as the other Crooked
Street subdivision. Supervisor
Grattidge said Heflin – Durst subdivision has to rise to at least the
preliminary approval with the planning board before the town board can consider
the water extension. Mr. Robert
VanVranken esq., said the SEQR review is the cut off you have the preliminary
approval, generally a lot layout, a SEQR, has been completed and basic
engineering. Then come back to the town board for the water district extension
application process. I believe Mr.
Tabner has communicated this to the attorney for Heflin-Durst. Mr. Tasse said when they submit their SEQR
form in front of the preliminary plan then the town board can review it. Mr. VanVranken said not when they submit it,
when the process is at a point where they have considered all the thresholds
aspects of the SEQR review, then they can come back to the town board. Supervisor Grattidge said you couldn’t
create a water district with out engineering design work and preliminary
approval of a planning board. It was determined that we can’t act on a water
district extension until the SEQR process has been followed. Mr. VanVranken said one way or the other you
have to do it, you either do it at the town board level as part of the water
district level or do it at the planning board level as part of the subdivision
application. The thinking is the
planning board has that expertise.
Kevin Stone, 724 Charlton
Road said concerning with the local law passed reducing the planning board size
to five members, I would like to read a letter signed by a few residents: We the residents of the Town of Charlton,
including past and present members of the Town of Charlton Planning Board, do
not believe that it is in the best interest of the Town of Charlton to reduce
the Planning Board size from 7 to 5. We
urge the Town Board to rescind Local Law #2 of 2005 and restore the Planning
Board membership to 7 at the earliest possible date. Sincerely, Kevin Stone,
Eileen Stone, Steve Caine, Connie Wood, Jay Wilkinson, John Kadlecek and John
Tasse. Mr. Stone said there was one
other planning board member who expressed interest in signing; I was unable to
directly connect with.
Mr. Stone said, in the town
board meeting minutes, he stated a five-person planning board work more
efficiently and Councilman Grattidge received a good response from the planning
board. Mr. Stone said none of the planning board members knew this was being
discussed prior to the December 12th meeting. Majority did not find
out about the resolution until after the meeting, either by reading minutes or
hearing about it by chance. The
statement said that the planning board felt it was good, I don’t think it applies
to the planning board. It applies to
individuals possibly not the planning board.
I have spoken with planning board members and most of them feel this is
not a good move for the planning board.
The underline point that was made was efficiency and some of points in
favor are, it is easier to get 3 out of 5 a quorum. But in fact it is less likely you can get a 3 out of 5 quorum
than a 4 out of 7 quorum. Another point made, meetings could run more efficient
with a 5-member board. Having attended
and lead many meetings in my career, having 5-7 members makes no impact. What makes a difference on meeting
efficiency are leadership, controlling the meetings and making sure it stays on
schedule. Another argument made
reducing meeting size will reduce discussions and opinions. In a democracy that
concerns me. If the concern is too much
discussion and controversy back and forth, that is controlling the
meeting. If long meetings were cause by
lack of preparedness of members again, reducing size would not necessarily have
any impact. Fixing the problem
understands the cause, if the problems are long meetings and discussions not
made exceedingly. Mr. Stone stated, “I
don’t see how this decision is going to impact at all”. Supervisor Grattidge said the planning board
would work through the decisions whether it were 5 or 7 members in an efficient
manner. The chairman tends to do the
lion share getting prepared for the meetings, and then the members attend the
meetings. Mr. Stone said quality of the
planning board work is far more important than efficiency. The town boards statement to the
Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee has been it is important to do it right
than quickly. The quality of work
should be taken into account.
Councilman Lippiello said we are please with the quality of the planning
board work. You take efficiency, we
have people who come in for a meeting with the planning board and are not being
heard until 11:00, 11:30 at night. We
think it is not doing the applicant a service or the people who are
volunteering their time to work on the board.
We are concerned with the efficiency aspect and the convenience to our
citizens. Mr. Stone replied I agree, I don’t see any strong argument why
reducing the size would address that problem.
I commend the board for trying to address the problem, my concern is,
that it is an important change that could affect quality. It was implied this
was an experiment and could be changed. What are some things you will be doing
to watch this? If you don’t rescind, I
am asking you to report on this at the next town board meeting
Paul St. John 140 Crane
Street said congratulations to the new Town Board members, Supervisor and Town
clerk. As a past chairman and member of
the planning board, the chairman does 90% of the work. The time levels, number of permits and
reports has changed dramatically over the past years. Give the town board a
chance to go over this. They will do a very good job, you don’t have to demand
of them whether there will be an evaluation period, this will manifest it self,
these people will check up.
Mr. St. John said to Water
Superintendent John Morgan, in regards to a new pump, a few years ago it came
up about the valves. You don’t crank the valves down each year you don’t crank
them back, they were replaced because they froze up. Mr. Morgan said they are cycled every two years. The reason for
the new pump, it is 35 years old and deteriorating.
Laura Linder, 2116 Route 67
asked, what are the hours the Town Clerks Office is open? Town Clerk Heather Scribner stated the Clerk
hours are Monday-Friday 9am-1:00pm, Tuesday 6:00-8:00pm and Saturday
9:00-12:00pm. Ms. Linder said the
American Flag is supposed to be the tallest flag in the building. Could someone give us a stump that would be
large enough for the flag to sit on, otherwise we would need a need a new pole
for the flag.
John Fettke, Eastern Avenue
asked, has there been any thoughts given to energy conservation in the new town
hall? What kind of money could you get
back from the state if you were to do solar panels? Councilman Verola said the architect is looking into this. It was
discussed early on. Mr. St. John
suggested the architect go to NYSERTA.
The last building I worked on we received $438,000 back for the energy
research. If you comply with them they
would give you money for energy improvements.
Supervisor Grattidge set the
next meeting date, Agenda Meeting January 30, 2006 at 7:30pm.
The Meeting of the Town
Board was adjourned at 9:13pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Heather
Scribner, Town Clerk