Citizens for an Informed Yorktown

 

 

Town Board

August 2, 2016

 

Closed Executive Session

 

Open Session

 

1. Roma Building

Councilman Diana and Town Attorney McDermott gave the following update on the Roma Building.  The town has issued a violation notice and the Supreme Court has said that if the landlord does not begin the remediation, the DEC will be able to step in and contract out to do the remediation and charge the cost back to the landlord. If the landlord does not respond to a letter by August 2nd giving the DEC access to the site, the DEC will return to court to get permission to access the property.

 

2. Town flags

Supervisor Grace announced that town flags, now on display along Commerce Street, are available for sale for residents to display at their homes. While he didn’t know the exact price, he estimated that they might be in the $20-$30 range.

 

3. Appointments

Landmarks Preservation Commission: Linda Briggs was appointed chairperson and Christine Sisler was appointed as a new member. Jean-Francois de Laperouse resigned from the Commission.

 

Ms. Briggs said that  so far 15 property owners have applied for the “Homes of Historic Distinction” plaques and that three more applications are pending.  (See Town Board, 6-23-2015.) For more information about the program contact Nancy Milanese in the Planning Department.

 

4. Puppy Mill Legislation/Public Hearing

Several people spoke in favor of the law and applauded the board for considering it, although two people, including the mayor of the Village of Mamaroneck, the first municipality in the county to adopt such a law, suggested that  the language dealing with home breeders be modified in order to eliminate the possibility of creating two classes of breeders.  The law, he said, should regulate where puppies are sold, i.e., retail stores, and not to restrict breeders.

 

Supervisor Grace said that the board had struggled with how to differentiate and balance puppy mills from legitimate home breeders and that the pro business board did not want to put undue restrictions on a business.  While he recognized the potential problem that had been raised by the Mamaroneck mayor, he said he preferred to pass the law as currently written and “see how this goes.”

 

The hearing was closed and the law adopted, without any changes, by a unanimous vote. A copy of the law is available on the town web site, www.yorktownny.org.

 

5. Zoning amendment regarding site plan violations/public hearing

The board opened and closed the hearing and voted to approve the amendment that gives the building department the authority to issue a violation notice if the conditions of an approved site plan are not being complied with.

 

Although there were no comments during the hearing, during Courtesy of the Floor, Howard Frank asked the town to look into the number and condition of containers located behind the CVS  building on Commerce Street.

 

6. Hallocks Mill pump stations

The board voted to advertise for bids for the upgrades of  the Walden Woods and Jefferson Valley pump stations.

 

7. Pinesbridge Monument

 In two separate votes, the board approved the transfer of $67,500 from the contingency line in the budget to the special projects line in the Planning Department budget for the construction and installation of the monument and authorized the supervisor the sign a commission agreement with the  artist.

  

8.  Culvert  review

The board approved an agreement with WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff  for $4,000 to conduct a review of the town’s 25 town owned culverts and prioritize the ones that could be eligible for funding in a $20 million state grant program. Based on the consultant’s findings, the town anticipates submitting five applications by the August 31st deadline.

 

9. Courtesy of the Floor

Hilltop Service Station. James Heller advised the board that the owner was showing no respect for the Town Board, for the town code and the residents of Yorktown by continuing to park used cars for sale along Route 6 and erecting several signs without permission from the town. “Where does it end?” he asked the board . In response, Supervisor Grace said that the town was working with the owner and that the station “looks fantastic.”  Councilman Bernard  acknowledged that the owner hasn’t followed town codes, adding that he and Councilman Diana would be meeting with the owner and his consultant next week  to go over the conceptual site plan.

 

Grant funds

$175,000 East of Hudson (See Town Board, July 19, 2016): Susan Siegel, the person writing this summary, asked what “constructive uses” the town was considering for the $175,000 that was available from the East of Hudson Fund.  She suggested the funds could be used for catch basin repair, cleaning detention ponds and streams and possibly for the Hallocks Mill pump station project. She noted the October 31st deadline for applying for the funds. Supervisor Grace said the town would be exploring the “highest and best” use of the money.  

 

Fluoridation: In response to Ms. Siegel’s question about the status of the needed installation of new fluoridation equipment at the Catskill plant and whether the town was applying for a $50,000 planning grant by the August 31st deadline, Supervisor Grace recounted the delays that have taken place with the project, adding that “sometimes, these things don’t happen overnight.”  He said that the town engineer was now working on the application.

 

Mohansic Trail Connection: Dan Strauss asked the board to fund the $20,000 request from the Yorktown Trial Committee that would supplement the $7,500 Hudson Greenway grant the town received for the construction of a trail link between Route 118 and Baldwin Road. In response, Supervisor Grace said that there were some legal issues that had to be looked into but that the board had agreed to consider the request. The committee will meet with the board next week.

 

Route 202 ball fields: Dan Strauss also asked the board to spend the $130,000 needed to supplement a state grant that would be used to rehabilitate the fields.  In response, Supervisor Grace said that he was currently looking into whether the Highway Department could do some of the drainage work in order to save money; a staff meeting to discuss this possibility was scheduled for the next day.  Using town staff for special projects, he said was good for the morale of town employees as well as saving money.  He also said that there were some cost inconsistencies in the low bid that had to be reviewed and that more vetting was needed on the existing irrigation system.

 

10. Miscellaneous

Highway Department budget transfers. Two budget transfer items on the agenda were postponed to the August 9 meeting. No reason was given.

 

Spectra pipeline: The board authorized the supervisor to sign a hold harmless agreement with Spectra  for blasting activities.

 

Affordable Care Act. The board authorized the supervisor to sign a one year agreement with the CPI-HR  for $16,000 for consulting services related to compliance with the Affordable Care Act.

 

Temporary Building permits for Kia Dealership: The board authorized the building inspector to grant temporary building permits for three temporary structures at 3805 Crompond Road.

 

Conference attendance: The board authorized the attendance of the assessor at an upstate training  conference.  

 

 NOTE: the next regular Town Board meeting will be September 6th.