Town Board

April 28, 2020

Zoom meeting

1. Outdoor dining permits

Acting on a suggestion from the Reboot Yorktown Task Force that would help local restaurants, the board voted for an emergency measure that will streamline the permitting  process for outdoor seating permits. The order will expire on December 21, 2019 and will include tables and structures.  Under the current code, the Building Department reviews permit applications involving up to 12 seats while the Planning Board reviews applications for 13 or more seats. The Planning Board process can take 6-8 weeks. Under the emergency order, all applications will be reviewed by the Building Department. The hope is that the outdoor setting will enable the restaurants to proide greater spacing between diners. once New York Pause restrictions are relaxed.

At the same time that the Building Department can now begin processing applications under the executive order in anticipation of the change in the Pause regulations, the board referred out amendments to the Town Code pertaining to outdoor seating permits that duplicate what was in the emergency order.

The restaurants will have to work with the State Liquor Authority which has separate rules about serving alcohol outside the restaurant.

Chamber president Serge Esposito  and Bob Giordano of the Small Business Association asked the board to extend the emergency order to other businesses that might be able to set up outdoor sales space, e.g., on sidewalks, but the consensus of the board was that expanding the order would require more vetting.

2. Lighting at athletic fields

(See Town Board 2-11-2020.) After a discussion of alternate language that reflected the fact that based on the fields’ locations, lights will be seen, the board agreed to amend the existing Lighting Code to read that the lights at athletic fields should be shielded “to the extent practicable.”  The amendments were referred out.

3. Fleet Management

Representatives of Safety Management Systems, Inc. discussed a proposal for the company to review maintenance, repair, inventory and other records and practices for the town’s departments that have vehicles.  The cost of the proposal was not mentioned.  Councilwoman Roker said that such a review was long overdue and Councilman Diana talked about the complexity of the systems in new vehicles. Supervisor Slater talked about the need to coordinate efforts in various departments, which he referred to as “silos” and said that the board needed to review the proposal and consider next steps.

4. New York-New Jersey Trail Conference/ Memorandum of Understanding

Representing the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference  (NYNJYC) Jane and Walt Daniels explained that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)  between the town and the Trail Conference covered which partner did what to maintain trails on town owned land and what the two do together.  Parks Superintendent Martorano had no issue with the MOU and the board thanked the Daniels for their work on the trails, Ms. Daniels suggested that the MOU include an appendix that would list the covered trails so that as new trails were added, like the Mohansic Trail, the Parks Department could simply add the new trail to the appendix and the Town Board would not have to officially amend the MOU.

In a separate item, the board voted to send a letter of support for a Trail Conference grant application to the Hudson River Valley Greenway for improvements to the Briarcliff Peekskill Trail that runs through a portion of Yorktown.

5. 102 Hitching Post Lane/Affordable Housing Unit

As part of the original subdivision dating back to the 1990s, when the 2-bedroom unit was set aside as an affordable unit, it had deed restrictions governing its resale price. The town was recently notified that the owner died and the family wants to sell the unit.  Ken Belfer, chairman of the Community Housing Board that oversees the affordable housing program, explained the provisions of section 300-39 of the Zoning Code that governs affordable units built many years ago.  He explained that based on the resale formula in the deed, he anticipates that the current selling price would be about $120,000; when the unit was sold in 1998, the cost was $109,963.

The consensus of the board was that it wanted to keep the units affordable and the board directed Mr. Belfer to work with the town attorney and the Housing Board to follow the necessary steps to sell the unit.

6. Featherbed (Colangelo) subdivision, Jacob Road/sewer issue

Background: After the Planning Board approved a preliminary 6 lot subdivision plan that included a hook up to the Peekskill Sanitary Sewer System, the applicant sought county Department of Health (DOH) for the sewer plan that included the installation of a low pressure sewer line that would connect to an existing manhole on Catherine Street, roughly where the Seabury Home is, plus the installation of a pumping system at each of the six lots. 

Mr. Riina, the project engineer, explained to the board that the DOH wants the town to own the 500’ line from the subdivision to the existing manhole and also be responsible for maintaining the line  that will be installed in the private road that will provide access to the six lots.  A second issue with the DOH requirements is who should pay for or provide emergency generators for the pumps.

The DOH requirements led to an extended discussion of  three possible options for meeting the DOH requirements and the extent to which the town should assume any of the responsibility, what the homeowners should be responsible for and who should pay for what. It was recognized that how the board handled the issue could/would set a precedent for how to roughly 90 low pressure sewer connections that will be required for the new Hallocks Mill sewer district would be handled.

Mr. Tegeder said that given the new DOH requirements for low pressure sewer lines, and its implications for the town, maybe six lots were not practical for the subdivision; maybe fewer lots should have been approved. In response, Mr. Riina said that sewers were essential as septic systems, even for 3 lots was not possible.

No decisions were made although there appeared to be a reluctance on the part of the board to assume some of the responsibility; Supervisor Slater said that the town should not be in the rooter router business.  Mr. Riina was advised to continue discussions with the DOH and the Planning Board and report back to the Town Board.

7. Illington Road stormwater permit

Because the plan to construct a single family house on the undeveloped lot involves moving in excess of 200 cubic yards of soil, the Town Board is the permitting authority.  Mr. Quinn said he was okay with the plans that involve removing 29 trees, not all of which have to be counted as per the Tree Law because some involve the septic fields.  He explained that the applicant would remove 400 inches of trees (calculated based on thedbh of the trees to be removed) and that as mitigation he proposed so replant 13 trees and pay $2,400 into the town’s Tree Fund.

The application was referred out.

8. Stockpiling supplies

In an item not on the agenda, the board supported an initiative to stock pile masks, gloves and gowns for employees for possible future needs.

In a related announcement, Supervisor Slater advised the board that the County had delivered  donated cloth masks that the town will distribute to essential businesses and seniors

9. Selected Resolutions

Legal fees. In an item not on the agenda, the board approved the payment of roughly $14,000 to the Oxman law firm for services provided last year.

Tax Certiorari: The board approved a settlement with the owners of the State Land property on Route 202  covering the years 2014-2020. (One council member voted against the resolution but it was not possible to identify who that person was.)

Worker’s Compensation. The board approved a series of budget transfer from various funds to cover 2019 worker compensation costs.