Town Board

January 3, 2012

(Organizational Meeting)

1. Courtesy of the Floor

Explaining that he hadn’t discussed this with the other board members yet, Supervisor Grace stated that he wanted to do away with the 3 minute time limit on Courtesy of the Floor comments which he felt was offensive.  In recommending that the time limit be eliminated, he asked the public to be considerate of others whose items were on the meeting agenda and possibly delay their comments until the second Courtesy segment at the end of the meeting. While encouraging people to speak, he also encouraged them to “keep it short.” He noted that the absence of a time limit worked well in the pre television era. Councilman Bianco suggested that Supervisor Grace might want to think about the change.

During the first Courtesy of the Floor segment, Ed Ciffone asked the board to look at the town’s $4 million surplus. Supervisor Grace said that while philosophically he had a problem with carrying over a surplus and having present residents pay for future expenses, he said that the surplus should be kept to a minimum. He thanked Mr. Ciffone for the work done by the UTY.  Councilman Bianco stated that Mr. Ciffone’s $4 million figure was wrong and that the surplus was actually $2.5 million. Councilman Patel noted that the surplus number is subject to change and that the town needed a surplus to deal with unanticipated expenses.

2. Organizational resolutions (selected list only)

Without discussion, the board passed the following resolutions:

1. mileage reimbursement  of 55.5 cents per mile to town officials and employees who use their own car in the performance of their official duties.
2. blanket authority for the Supervisor to approve contracts without the prior approval of the Town Board of not more than $12,500 or to exceed $50,000 in any given calendar year.
3. appointed Councilman Murphy as Deputy Supervisor.
4. designated the Journal News as the town’s official newspaper.
5. adopted a calendar of meetings for 2012. (There will be an occasional Wednesday meeting due to holidays and elections.)
6. set annual salary for Mary Capoccia, executive assistant to the Supervisor, at $73,743.
7. appointed liaisons to the following town advisory boards and committees

Liaison to ABACA:
Liaison to the ALS Commission: Councilman Murphy
Liaison to the Cable Committee: Supervisor Grace
Liaison to Chamber of Commerce: Councilmen Murphy & Bianco
Liaison to the Community Housing Board:
Liaison to the Conservation Board: Councilman Bianco
Liaison to the Fire Prevention Board: Councilman Murphy
Liaison to Library Board of Trustees: Councilman Patel
Liaison to the Open Space Committee: Councilman Bianco
Liaison to Planning Board: Councilmen Paganelli & Patel
Liaison to the Police Advisory Board: Councilman Paganelli
Liaison to Recreation Commission: Councilman Paganelli
Liaison to the Senior Advisory Committee: Lisa Grace &  Councilman Patel
Liaison to the Teen Advisory Committee: Lisa Grace & Mary Capoccia
Liaison to the Tree Conservation Advisory Commission: Councilman Bianco
Liaison to the Utilities Oversight Committee: Councilman Patel
Liaison to the Zoning Board of Appeals: Councilman Murphy

Liaison for Community Outreach: Bruce Apar

Liaison to School Districts:
Croton School District: Councilman Patel
Lakeland School District: Councilman Bianco
Ossining School District: Deputy Town Clerk Quast
Yorktown Central School District: Councilman Paganelli

3. Other resolutions

Without discussion, the board passed resolutions authorizing the Supervisor to sign the following:

1. A 2012 agreement with Norwest for therapeutic recreational programs
2. Agreements with the following sports clubs: Mohansic Girls Basketball, Shrub Oak Athletic Club and Yorktown Athletic Club
3. Agreements with the following senior clubs: Jefferson Owners Corp., AARP Chapter 3297, New Horizons, Shrub Oak Senior Citizens Club, St. Patrick’s Seniors, and Yorktown Senior Club Chapter 1 and 2. (Prior to the vote, Town Attorney Koster asked that this item be taken off the list of resolutions to be voted on but Supervisor Grace said, “we’re okay with them.” In the board’s pre session meeting, the attorney had raised insurance issues about the agreements.)

4. Conference Attendance

The board approved the attendance of Parks & Recreation Superintendent Jennifer Fava to attend the NYS Recreation and Parks Society meeting (she’s  president of the organization) in Saratoga, NY and to use a town vehicle for the trip. Her expenses are expected to be covered by the Society and any properly incurred expenses not funded by the Society will be covered by the town.  

5. Courtesy of the Floor

1. Gil Kaufmann asked about the mileage rate resolution and wanted to know if employees were given the money to commute to work. Supervisor Grace responded No and explained that the mileage reimbursement was seldom used as most often when employees who had to travel on town business used a town vehicle.
2. Mr. Kaufmann also wanted to know if the Jefferson Owners Corp. had presented adequate documentation about the travel club. Councilman Bianco responded that it had.