Minutes January 16, 2018
REGULAR MEETING – VILLAGE OF NORTHVILLE
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
The Village Board met Tuesday, January 16, 2018 at 7:00 PM at the village offices.
Present: John Spaeth, Mayor
Steve Collins, Trustee
John Markiewicz, Trustee
Matthew Ginter, Trustee
Sue Sedon, Trustee
Wendy Reu, Village Clerk
Nathanial Matthews, Treasurer
Excused:
Mayor Spaeth called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Motion to approve the minutes of the December 19, 2017 Regular Meeting was made by Trustee Markiewicz, seconded by Trustee Sedon, and passed by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz. Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
PUBLIC HEARING – Mayor Spaeth opened the Public Hearing at 7:01 p.m. for
Local Law #1 Extending Cold War Veterans Exemption.
Section 1. Purpose
The purpose of this Local Law is to amend Local Law No. 2 or the year 2009, so as to eliminate the ten year limitation therein contained, as authorized by the NYS Real Property Tax Law.
Section 2. Amendment
Section 4 of Local Law No. 2 of the year 2009 is hereby amended by adding a sub-paragraph which is to read as follows:
- Pursuant to subsection 2(c)(iii) of s/s458-b of the NYS Real Property Tax Law, the exemption authorized shall apply to qualifying owners of qualifying real property for as long as they remain qualifying owners, without regard to such ten year limitation.
Section 3. Effective Date
This local Law shall take effect immediately upon its filling with the Secretary of the State and shall be applicable to all assessment rolls prepared pursuant to the first taxable status date occurring on or after the effective date of the Local Law.
As there was no one from the public present, Mayor Spaeth indicated he would keep the Public Hearing on Local Law #1 of 2018 open until the end of the Regular meeting.
PUBLIC COMMENTS – No members of the public were present at the meeting.
REPORT OF COMMITTEES:
Streets – Trustee Ginter reported that the skid steer would be delivered this week.
He indicated that the new highway employee was working out very well. After a brief discussion, Trustee Markiewicz made a motion to remove Jason Baker from temporary status and appoint him permanently to the highway department. The motion was seconded by Trustee Ginter and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz. Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
Water – It was reported that usage increased from 2,169,000 gallons in December 2016 to 2,392,000 this year. Water testing and operations were normal.
Mayor Spaeth presented the proposed water rate schedule that the Board had worked on at the previous meeting. It was reported that the usage rate would increase from $ 2.48/1,000 gallons to $ 3.17/1,000 gallons. After reviewing the rate schedule, Trustee Ginter made a motion to adopted the rates as presented. The motion was seconded by Trustee Markiewicz and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz. Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
Mayor Spaeth indicated that he would draft a press release for the paper and have the information also posted on the website so the public could be made aware of the need for the increase of the water rates.
Fire – Fire Department Report for December 2017
| Village of Northville (0) | |
| Town of Northampton (2) | Trees on wires 1
Brush/Debris Fire 1
|
| Town of Edinburg (6) | Chimney Fire 1
Structure Fire 1 Standby 3 Alarm Activation 1 |
| Town of Benson (1) | Cellar Pump Out 1 |
| Town of Hope (1) | Structure Fire 1 |
| Mutual Aid Given (7)
Mutual Aid Received (2) |
|
| Schoharie County (1) | Search and Rescue 1 |
Total Man-hours reported were 204.07
Mayor Spaeth reported that Chief Ellsworth is out for three months due to medical issues and that First Assistant Chief Owen Jensen would be acting Chief during that time and would be submitting the monthly department reports.
Joint Youth – Trustee Sedon reported that the Family Ball would be held in February.
Marketing- Carla Kolbe provided a report on December/January events around the Village. She reported that The Adirondack Country Store was named Fulton County business of the year.
Park Use Requests – Mayor Spaeth reported that a request was received from the Rotary Club to host Northville Winterfest on February 24th at various locations around the Village, which may include the Waterfront Park. After discussion, Trustee Collins made a motion to approve the request with no fee. The motion was seconded by Trustee Markiewicz and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz. Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
Zoning Committee – Trustee Ginter reported that the committee had their first meeting and it went well. They discussed the process involved with making zoning changes and how they would get the word out to the public. He indicated that the next meeting of the committee would be on February 5th.
PAYMENT OF BILLS
Bills to be paid from the General Fund in the amount of $ 29,023.80, from the Water Fund in the amount of $ 3,274.94, and from the Joint Youth fund in the amount of $ 423.86 were presented for payment. Motion to approve payment was made by Trustee Markiewicz, seconded by Trustee Collins, discussed, and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
OLD BUSINESS:
Mayor Spaeth reported that the application for the shared services Records Management Grant had been filed. He indicated that the grants would be awarded in June.
Mayor Spaeth gave an update on the Third Street property. He stated that at the last meeting, the Board wanted to explore grant opportunities for recreational uses at the property. Mayor Spaeth indicated that there were no smart growth grants available this year that would assist with creation of a recreational area that the NCS students proposed for the property. Trustee Ginter stated he had been thinking about the property and other uses that might fill a need that the community has. He suggested opening discussion with St. Mary’s about building a larger facility on the Third Street parcel. Trustee Markiewicz stated he felt it was a good idea to open communication with St. Mary’s. Trustee Sedon asked what costs would be entailed with hanging onto the property longer and it was reported there was no cost. Trustee Collins felt the Board should explore all the options presented.
Mayor Spaeth reported that an RFP for administration of the Northville 5 & 10 grant would be drawn up and sent out.
Trustee Ginter asked for the status of the memorial for Officer Robert Johnson. Mayor Spaeth indicated that he would be getting an update from Bill Coffey regarding plans for the memorial in the Waterfront Park.
NEW BUSINESS:
Mayor Spaeth presented a request from Office for Aging for a $ 600.00 contribution toward the Senior Nutrition Program. Trustee Sedon made a motion to approve the contribution of $ 600.00 toward the nutrition program. The motion was seconded by Trustee Markiewicz and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
Mayor Spaeth reported that Carl Ingalls has submitted a letter of resignation from the Zoning Board of Appeals. The letter was accepted with regret and Mayor Spaeth stated that the Village was very appreciative of the many years that Mr. Ingalls served on the Board. Mayor Spaeth stated that he was working on finding a replacement for the vacancy on the ZBA.
Mayor Spaeth presented a letter of resignation from Code Enforcement Officer Dave Edwards. Trustee Sedon asked what the process was for getting a new code enforcement officer. Mayor Spaeth indicated that Dave is the fourth code officer under his term. He stated that in the past, we have advertised for the position. He continued by stated that we are asking a lot from a code enforcement officer for the amount of money that is budgeted to the position. He suggested a solution might be splitting the job into two parts; a Code Enforcement Officer who has full certification and deals with the construction aspect of the job, and a Code Compliant Technician who would require less training but would handle inspections and code compliancy issues. He indicated that several municipalities use their fire department members as Code Compliant Technicians (CCT). Mayor Spaeth stated this situation works well because in the event of a fire and an inspection is necessary before a residence could be inhabited, the CCT could perform the necessary inspection right away. Mayor Spaeth stated that he has been looking into the possibility of contracting with the Town for Code Enforcement. He suggested putting $ 9,000.00 as the contracted amount for the Town to provide code enforcement services and establishing a wage for the Code Compliant Technician. After continued discussion, Trustee Markiewicz made a motion to split the Code Enforcement position into a Code Enforcement Officer and a Code Compliant Technician and to approach the Town to contract for Code Enforcement based on a percentage equal to but not greater than $ 9,000.00. The motion was seconded by Trustee Sedon and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Mayor Spaeth, Trustee Collins, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: Trustee Ginter
Trustee Markiewicz made a motion to talk with the Fire Department members regarding training a Code Compliant Technician whose salary would not exceed $ 9,000.00. The motion was seconded by Trustee Sedon and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Mayor Spaeth, Trustee Collins, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: Trustee Ginter
Mayor Spaeth reported that there was a vacancy on the Zoning Committee and he stated that Don Hoffman was willing to serve on the Committee and he made that appointment.
Trustee Ginter stated that if the Town approves the proposal for providing Code Enforcement and this is his last meeting, he wanted to Board to know that he doesn’t regret any of the eight years he has spent on the Board. He stated all of the people that work and volunteer for the Village are great people.
At 8:06 p.m., Mayor Spaeth closed the Public Hearing regarding Local Law # 1 of 2018 on a motion by Trustee Markiewicz, seconded by Trustee Sedon and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
Trustee Markiewicz made a motion to approve Local Law #1 0f 2018. The motion was seconded by Trustee Collins and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Mayor Spaeth, Trustee Collins, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
Mayor Spaeth reminded the Board that on March 20, 2018, Village elections will be conducted. Based on this, the March meeting of the Board of Trustees will be held on Monday, March 19th with a Budget Workshop at 6:30 p.m. and Regular meeting to follow.
ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business before the Board, motion was made to adjourn by Trustee Ginter, seconded by Trustee Collins and passed by voice vote with no one dissenting. The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Wendy L. Reu
Clerk
