Town Board
September 24, 2019
Note: The October 1 & 8 board meetings have been cancelled.
closed session
Personnel at John C Hart Library
Litigation and negotiations
Rental rates at the ACCC
OPEN SESSION
1. Library
The board accepted the retirement resignation of Library Director Patricia Hallinan appointed Jennifer O’Neill as her replacement.
2. Westchester County Emergency Services/Mohansic Golf Course
Representatives of the county explained plans to upgrade the cell tower and associated building at the golf course as part of a seven year plant to upgrade emergency services for fire and EMS responders. The system does not include police services, although it might sometime in the future. In response to Supervisor Gilbert’s question whether the county would compensate the town if the town went ahead and enhanced its police radio services before the county did, the county representatives said that before the town proceeded with any upgrades, it should make sure its plans comply with what the county is doing. Supervisor Gilbert also explained that he has had discussions with other supervisors about a shared response to updating emergency services radio equipment. (See Town Board 4-23-2019 and 5-14-2019.)
3. Economic and Business Revitalization Committee
(See Town Board 4-23-2019.) Members of the committee advised the board that the town had revised 11 responses to the RFP to develop a branding plan for the town that would create a sense of pride in the town, foster economic development and investment opportunities in the town. After reviewing the proposals, which ranged in price from $25,000 - $70,000, the group has narrowed the selection to two vendors, each in the $30,000 range. The group hopes that the Board will interview the two vendors at an October 22nd work session.
As explained by the committee, the vendor’s initial task would be to develop a strategic plan for how, going forward, the town could market itself. The Board could appropriate funds to implement portions of the plan over time and it would be up to the board to decide how much money it wanted to spend.
Supervisor Gilbert asked that the committee provide the board with the proposals from all 11 vendors and Councilman Lachterman asked that when the vendors are interviewed with the board they provide additional information of what some of the measures in a strategic plan might cost, e.g, for advertising or printing. He also wanted details on how the vendors’ interactions with other municipalities had achieved demonstrable results.
4. Railroad Station Rehabilitation
Planning Director Tegeder advised the board the construction is scheduled to begin in October and should take about four months to complete. The board passed a resolution authorizing an additional $12,431 for the project bringing the total to $488,817. Approximately $300,000 will be reimbursed by the state pursuant to a grant the town received in 2007-2008.
As a follow up to last week’s discussion, the owner of AAA Carting and Kim Angliss Gage, the department head who oversees the garbage contract, answered questions about service issues. The vendor explained that that according to the contract, the company is required to send notices to residents only when there is a change in their collection days, not a change in time, an issue that Councilman Lachterman raised. The vendor also disputed Councilman Diana’s comment that residents were being disturbed by 4:30am collections; according to the contract, collection is supposed to start no earlier than 6am and that his workers are not on duty at 4:30am. Ms. Gage said that as issues have arisen, they have been addressed, including reminding drivers that they should be more careful when handling the recycling bins. She added, that the next time the town purchases bins, she will use a different vendor who uses a more durable plastic.
Satisfied with the vendor’s services, the board voted to extend the existing contract for an additional year on the same terms and conditions as in the original contract.
6. Battery Storage Facilities.
(See Planning Board 9-23-2019.) Explaining why the town needs to consider a new local law regulating battery storage facilities, Mr. Tegeder advised the board that two different applications for battery storage facilities were being processed by two different boards under different town laws and Stewart Glass, Supervisor Gilbert’s assistant explained that the town has received interest from other parties about constructing similar facilities on four town owned properties. The board was most concerned about the safety of this relatively new type of facility and wanted more information from the two pending applicnts about their safety protocols and the need for the town’s first responders to be trained in how to handle problems that might arise at these facilities.
The board appeared to agree that existing town laws did not adequately cover these new facilities and Mr. Tegeder noted that NYSERDA has provided towns with a model law on how to regulate them. He also pointed out that the facilities are exempt from paying taxes and that the applications would need to enter into a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement with the town. To date, neither applicant has raised this issue.
7. Qualify of Life Committee
(See Town Board 3-26-2019.) As a follow up to an earlier discussion, Town Attorney Abbate advised the board that he has drafted a local law amending the law that created the committee in 2016. His draft changes the composition of the committee to include five public members instead of one and reduces the number of town staff to one. It was not clear if the position of the one staff person was specified. Supervisor Gilbert noted with five public members, the different interests of different parts of Yorktown could be represented. Councilman Diana, who had originally proposed the creation of the committee, said that the prior board were never able to interest any member of the public to serve on the committee. He had no objection to the proposed change in membership. The board voted to hold a public hearing on the proposed amendments but did not specify the date of the hearing.
8. Miscellaneous resolutions
Legal settlement. In an item not on the agenda, the board voted to accept a settlement in the lawsuit involving Yorktown Garden Supply. No details were made available.
Sewage treatment plant. The board approved a resolution to hire Tighe & Bond, at a cost not to exceed $14,300, to study how flows to the treatment plant can be reduced and also how to meet the new phosphorous discharge and temperature limits that would be required in a new SPDES permit.
GIS Mapping. The board approved a contract with Stellar Services for an amount not to exceed $14,450 to update and digitize the town’s GIS mapping files for water, sewer and storm piping and provide training and support to town staff.
Street Fair. The board gave its consent to the Chamber of Commerce’s application for a temporary liquor license to sell wine and beer at the fair.
Worker’s Compensation. The board authorized a transfer of $70,794.34 from the Yorktown Sewer district fund balance to the town’s worker’s compensation account.
ACCC. The board approved a reduction in the rent at the ACCC from $1,896 to $400 for SPARC, an organization that provides recreational services to disabled people.