Town Board

June 11, 2019

 

1. Announcements

Supervisor Gilbert made the following announcements:

Water bills: Can now be paid online. Use link on either the Tax Receiver or Water Department pages.

Septic  pump outs: Properties in the Peekskill Sanitary Sewer District are eligible for a $300 country reimbursement every three years or a $275 reimbursement every six years for septic system inspections. Contact the supervisor’s office for more details.

 

2. Shrub Oak code enforcement issues

(See Town Board 5/28/2019.) Councilman Diana announced that two illegal buildings at the Getty station were demolished and that  plans have been prepared to demolish the uninhabited house on the Augish property at New Road.  He said that the owner of the Mohegan Auto and Tire will be “moving ahead” with removing some fencing and replacing dead shrubs but that the delay installing new signage, as per the site plan approval, is because the issue has to be negotiated between Gulf, the station owner and the town.  Supervisor Gilbert said that he hopes to meet soon with the out-of-town owner of the vacant tire building to discuss the status of the property.

 

3. NYSEG tree removal

Councilman Lachterman advised residents that if, for safety reasons, NYSEG wants to remove trees that are actually on their property and not in the right-of-way, the homeowner should try to work the issue out with the utility company.

 

4. 2018 Audit

A representative of O’Connor Davies presented a summary of the town’s 2018 audit.  The town is in good financial shape. (Note: Although not stated at the meeting, it is likely that, following past practice, a copy of the audit will be available online.)

 

5. 2398 Trelawn St/Public hearing for wetland and stormwater permits

The board opened and closed the hearing and voted to approve the permits so that the property owner can construct an in-ground swimming pool and garage.  There were no comments from the public.

 

6. 3083 Oak Street/ Public hearing for wetland and stormwater permits

The applicant wants to demolish an existing 250 sf house and replace it with an1,100 sf raised ranch that would be in the wetland buffer. The plan includes removing 13 trees in the area for the proposed septic field and bringing in 370 yards of fill on the one acre site.

 

The Conservation Board noted that a tree permit is needed, along with a mitigation plan, although the town engineer said that a tree permit was not needed as the removal involved a septic system.

 

In response to Councilwoman Roker’s question why the applicant wants to replace the 250 sf structure with an 1,100 sf one, the applicant responded that he plans to see the property. Councilman Lachterman noted that the deck on his house was about 250 sf.

 

The board adjourned the hearing pending the applicant’s return to the Conservation Board in order to work out more details about the landscape plan.

 

7. Courtesy of the Floor

Shared services: Sheralynn Goodman noted that Supervisor Gilbert had attended a county meeting about the potential for towns to save money by sharing services. Potential services mentioned by Supervisor Gilbert included  solar initiatives, communications and the availability of used vehicles and equipment.

 

Tree & Solar law public hearings:  In response to a question from Paul Moskowitz Supervisor Gilbert stated that the public hearings on the two laws would be held on July 2.

 

Housing set aside law: In response to a question from Paul Moskowitz on when this proposed law would be set for a public hearing, Councilman Roker said that the issue first had to be discussed in a work session.

 

Solar energy. In response to comments from Trish Sullivan-Rothberg, Supervisor Gilbert explained that his office had looked into installing solar panels on the roofs of town buildings through a partnership with vendors but that the existing condition of the roofs made any such partnership unworkable.  He added, though, that now that the roofs are being replaced, solar might be possible.

 

Maintenance at town parks. Matt Slater thanked town staff for their work at Blackberry Park and suggested that the town post a park maintenance schedule online so that residents would know in advance when town staff would be working on  parks in their neighborhoods.  While she appreciated the positive comments about town employees, Councilwoman Roker explained that the maintenance work at Blackberry had been scheduled but had been delayed because of the  rain and  Supervisor Gilbert and Jay Kopstein explained the many  drawbacks of posting a planned maintenance schedule.   

 

8. Tax Certiorari

In an item not on the agenda, the board approved a tax certiorari settlement for 3550 Lexington Ave, (North Westchester Restorative Therapy & Nuring Center) for the years 2014-2018. The assessment was reduced from $145,200 to $138,063 for 2018.

 

9. Hunterbrook Pump Station

The board approved a transfer of $52,000 from the Hunterbrook Sewer Reserve Fund to purchase an additional spare pump, a new grinder and electrical supplies and temporary lighting stands that could be used during power outages after Town Engineer Quinn explained that there are recurring problems at the facility, especially after heavy rains, that are creating the need for continual staff overtime.  Before making the purchases, which the engineer described as a “bandaid,” the engineer explained that he would first do a flow study to determine if the facility, built in 1999, is functioning beyond its design capacity and may need to be expanded. The properties that are part of the district are still paying off the 30 year bond that paid for the facility.  It was noted that when the facility was designed, it did not contemplate Lowe’s  or the expansion at the Field Home.

 

10. Appointments

In an item not on the agenda, the board approved the appointment of a junior account in the Finance Department.

 

11. Selected resolutions

Grant application:  The board authorized the submission of a $500,000 water quality grant application for stormwater GIS mapping. The application is for a consortium of northern Westchester towns but Yorktown is taking the lead in submitting the application. If awarded, the money would be distributed among the towns based on the number of miles of road in each town.   The mapping is part of the DEC stormwater requirement.

 

As part of the discussion Supervisor Gilbert explained that the town had looked into another grant possibility but after weighing the amount of available funds and the fact that the town would not be eligible for some of the points used to determine competitiveness, the town decided it did not make sense to apply for the grant.

 

Highway Department: The town approved a $116,250 budget transfer in the Highway Fund for the purchase of a new compact excavator asphalt hot patcher dump trailer. Also approved an extension of the pavement marking bid and readvertised a bid for road milling.

 

Tax refunds: The board approved a lengthy list of refunds for penalties on late payment of school taxes as a result of an executive order from the governor’s office.  The late payments were a result of adverse weather conditions.