Town Board
January 15, 2019
Absent: Councilman Diana
CLOSED SESSION
Personnel: Highway Department
Litigation and Negotiations: Town Engineer, Town Attorney
OPEN SESSION
1. Recreation Commission
(See Town Board 12/18/2018.) The supervisor announced that based on NYS Town Law, the Recreation Commission has the power to set fees for the use of town recreation facilities. The Commission has set $45/hour as the fee for the use of Granite Knolls fields for 2019.
2. Public safety issues
Councilwoman Roker announced that the committee will present a report at the board’s first meeting in February. The discussion will review the types of issues the committee deals with, including the criteria for the use of speed bumps, and the possibility of a traffic light at East Main Street and Stony Street. The town’s traffic consultant will be at the meeting.
3. Enbridge (pipeline) update
Representatives of Enbridge advised the board that the project is 90% complete but that under the approved plan, the company is obligated to review maintenance and restoration issues for five years. The company will make a second attempt to run the pipeline under the Taconic Parkway; if the work is successful, the project could be completed by February/March. If unsuccessful, the company will proceed with an alternate plan during the April-August time period.
4. Mohegan Avenue retaining wall
(See Town Board 12/4/2018.) During courtesy of the floor, Mohegan residents Shelley Reid and Ken Belfer both asked for an update on the project’s status, calling attention to the continuing deterioration of the situation and the fact that the highway superintendent had said that bid specs had been prepared in 2018 with the hope that a bid award could be made in February. In response, Supervisor Gilbert said he was aware of the situation, that the town had to “bite the bullet” in terms of the cost and that a decision would be forthcoming. He said the board hadn’t seen the bid specs yet.
5. Recycling
Residents were reminded that the town would not pick up recyclables left in plastic bags. During courtesy of the floor, Dan Strauss, who on his own does considerable clean up work throughout town, reminded residents that they can purchase recycle bins from the town for $4-$5.
6. Economic Development
When the subject was raised, Supervisor Gilbert said the issue was not a Democrat/Republican issue. He said that the owners of Yorktown Green think they have a viable anchor tenant for the KMart space if and when it becomes available; also, he has been advised that a food company may be interested in the vacant Food Emporium site.
Without any discussion, the board approved the rezoning for the office zone (“O”) to commercial (C-2).
8. Quinlan Street cell tower/ Resumed public hearing
(See Planning Board 1/14/2019 and Town Board 11/20/2018.) Based on meetings with town staff and first responders, the applicant walked the board through some tweaks to the original plan. The town and first responders will have two access points to the new tower in between the space leased to commercial companies. As the lease for the space has not been finalized, the board was not prepared to make public the financial terms of the lease; as the tower is on Water District property, the revenue will go to the Water District. The revised plan includes two storage sheds, one of which will be for use by the Water Department. The plan also includes landscaping; the Planning Board’s memo regarding landscaping was read.
The hearing was closed. A resolution authorizing the supervisor to sign the lease agreement is expected at the next board meeting.
9. Personnel
The town voted to terminate the employment Donald Curry.
10. Resolutions
Without any discussion, the board approved the resolutions listed in the agenda.