MINUTES OF March 18, 2008 REGULAR MEETING of the Town of Rochester PLANNING BOARD, held at the Town Hall, Accord, NY.
Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chairman Tapper.
PRESENT: ABSENT:
Shane Ricks, Vice Chair Anthony Ullman
Melvyn I. Tapper, Chairman Don Dunn, Alternate
Leon Smith Robert Rominger
David O’Halloran
Anthony Kawalchuk
Also in attendance was the Planning Board Liaison, Tavi Cilente.
Pledge to the Flag
DISCUSSION ON PLANNER
Chairman Tapper wanted to talk about the brochures and packets that the Board received from Praetorius & Conrad, Planit Mainstreet, and Clark Patterson Lee Associates.
Mr. Ricks noted that he spoke with Richard Praetorius on the phone from Praetorius & Conrad for about 20 minutes. Mr. Praetorius seemed like a real down to earth guy and he was working on some pretty big projects in Kingston and the firm over all had plenty of experience. They don’t have a Planner on staff, but he didn’t think there would be anything different about what would be done with just using an Engineer. After talking to Mr. Praetorius, Mr. Ricks had a good feeling about his abilities to be the Planning Board’s consultant.
Mr. O’Halloran spoke with Dan Shuster from Stone Ridge about being the Planning Board’s consultant. Mr. Shuster was really busy right now and said if it was a small amount of work, he might be interested. He didn’t have an Engineer on staff, so he’d have to hire one from a separate firm. He said if it was just here and there that the Planning Board needed him he might be able to take it on, but he was really busy. Mr. Shuster also did not think that the Planning Board needed a consultant to sit at every meeting. Mr. O’Halloran was on the Planning Board a few years ago when they were first looking for a consultant and he remembered that his only hesitation then was that he wasn’t very comfortable with hiring a firm that didn’t have a full staff that could handle Planning aspects and Engineering review.
Mr. Ricks also stated that he was hesitant with having a Planner, Engineer, and the Planning Board all in different offices instead of just communicating between 2 offices.
Mr. O’Halloran felt that this was why Planning Board’s typically steer towards bigger firms.
Chairman Tapper spoke with Dennis Larios of Brinnier & Larios, PE to see if they were interested in the position. Mr. Larios conveyed that the Planning Board should have a Planner as the first line of review and then if they needed an Engineer, they would be available for Engineering review. So, Praetorius & Conrad thought that they could do the Planning and the Engineering review and Mr. Larios felt that the Board needed a Planner for initial review.
Chairman Tapper also spoke with Alan Sorensen of Planit Mainstreet out of Sullivan County. He was the Planner for the Town of Ulster and sent in a packet to the Board, but for personal reasons was unable to attend tonight’s meeting.
Chairman Tapper continued that Clark Patterson Lee had both Planners and Engineers on staff and sent in a packet as well. They are a big outfit and from reading the information that they sent in, they do a lot of work in the City of Rochester, Coho, and Reneslear to name a few. The Chairman liked what he read about Planit Mainstreet as they deal with smaller Towns and would have more of a feel for a smaller Town like ours. He felt Clark Patterson Lee was more city geared.
Mr. Ricks stated that there were 7 members on the Planning Board and it was there job to make sure that an application followed Zoning and the Planner basically makes sure that the application follows the Comprehensive Plan. Jan Johannessen, the Town’s previous consultant from the Chazen Companies was more or less doing engineering review on everything.
Mr. O’Halloran noted that Planning Board Members and applicants would benefit from a larger organization. It would be more timely to have Planners and Engineers in the same company and it would be reviewed all at once. He felt that separate Planners and Engineers would have a slower turn around on what the Board needed. He also didn’t believe it was a concern that Clark Patterson Lee was geared more towards city review in the past. What ever company the Board chose would gear their review to whatever our Town needed.
Chairman Tapper noted that Planit Mainstreet quoted $135 an hour for their rates. Praetorius & Conrad also forwarded a fee schedule.
Mr. O’Halloran noted that Praetorius & Conrad sounded good, but were they good enough to function as both Planner and Engineer when they were only an Engineering outfit?
Chairman Tapper noted that he called quite a few consultants and went crazy trying to find a Planner and Engineer all in the same company.
The Board now discussed what types of things they would talk about and ask when interviewing consultants:
· Discuss thresholds for Planner review (the Town pays for the Planner to attend each meeting, so if they didn’t need them to attend certain meetings, this could save the Town money)
· The Board would want the consultant to attend 6 months worth of meetings for the consultant to see what our Town was all about before they came on a case by case basis
· Ask them to describe some of their major projects
· What input would a Planner be able to offer that an Engineer could not (this would justify to the Board the total need for a Planner)
· Discuss their take on SEQRA, especially their views on Positive Declarations and Negative Declarations
· Ask them how they get to know our Town—do they go through our records?
· Discuss current thresholds for Planner review and get their views on them
Chairman Tapper motioned to accept the February 19, 2008 Minutes. Mr. Ricks seconded the motion. No discussion.
Vote:
Smith- Yes Ullman- Absent
O’Halloran- Yes Rominger- Absent
Ricks- Yes Tapper- Yes
Kawalchuk- Yes Dunn(alt.)- Absent
Mr. O’Halloran motioned to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Chairman Tapper. All members present in favor.
As there was no further business, at 7:45pm, Chairman Tapper adjourned the meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Rebecca Paddock Stange, Secretary