Town of Rochester Town Board held the Regular Meeting on March 2, 2023 at 6:40 pm
Immediately following public hearings at the Harold Lipton Community Center
15 Tobacco Road, Accord, NY
To View the Meeting
Livestream Broadcast on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg7ykop50cWmqPFUpgDjRSQ
PRESENT:
Councilwoman Erin Enouen Councilman Adam Paddock
Supervisor Michael Baden Town Clerk Kathleen Gundberg
ABSENT:
Councilman Coleman Councilwoman Smiseth
Supervisor Baden called the meeting to order.
Congratulations to Councilman Coleman & Molly on the birth of their child.
ACCEPTANCE OFAGENDA:
Resolution #136 -2023:
Motion: Councilwoman Enouen
Second: Councilman Paddock
The Town Board accepts the agenda, as prepared by the Town Supervisor with addition under Supervisor Discussion: zoning coordinator request.
Aye: 3 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Coleman, Smiseth-absent
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Bea Haugen-Depuy: I request that the board moves public comment to after the resolutions. There are times when resolutions come up that the audience may have a question to and there is no longer a public comment period. I’m interested in the zoning coordinator resolution and the administrative constable job description. I hope you have included these employees in the discussion in which their job description may change.
TOWN BOARD OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND TO PUBLIC COMMENT:
Supervisor Baden stated the zoning coordinator request came from the zoning coordinator looking to do additional training. The administrative constable job description we have discussed with the employee in the administrative role and are reviewing the description to see if it qualifies for a new job title.
CHANGE IN ABSTRACT 2-2023:
Resolution #137-2023:
Motion: Councilman Paddock
Second: Councilwoman Enouen
The Town Board amends resolution 135 of 2023, authorizing payment of Abstract 2-2023 General Fund. The corrected amount of payment is 63,457.43.
Aye: 3 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Coleman, Smiseth-absent
SUPERVISOR’S FINANCIAL REPORT:
February 2023 report – Filed with the Town Clerk
February 2023 Financials
Revenue February 2023
General Fund $ 668,864.83
Highway Fund $ 1,498,732.09
Expenditures
Abstract 14-2022
General Fund $2,428.77
Highway Fund $6.14
Abstract 2-2023
General Fund $63,457.43
Highway Fund $99,931.25
Street Lighting Fund $278.82
Ambulance Fund $3,875.00
Escrow Fund $3,820.02
Total Expenditures February 2023
General Fund $
Highway Fund $ 161,705.40
SUPERVISOR’S CORRESPONDENCE REPORT:
KAFAS: Installation dinner invitation
Catskill watershed annual meeting
CEO complaint from resident to Town regarding violations
YMCA bicycles for recycling program
Cyber security training
Cornell cooperate Ext.: annual seedling sale
UCPB 3/15: building a better record
Pace land use program
Housing advisory committee: housing sart community
SUPERVISOR’S UPDATE:
Grant Updates
NY Rising – Alligerville Firehouse, Harold Lipton Community Center: we are closed out and everything is in the state hands at this time.
BridgeNY – Boice Mill Road Bridge: finalizing survey of properties and scheduled for a mid march conference call.
LGRMIF – Building Dept./Code Enforcement record conversion: It was a success, no records are missing.
Ulster County Agricultural District Inclusions: can apply until March 30th .
Ulster County Hazard Mitigation Plan: have a consultant to identify migigation plan.
UC Real Property Report: Town of Rochester is the lowest taxes in the County.
EMS contracts: signed with Marbletown First aid. KAFAS referred their contract to their new attorney and expects it to be signed soon.
NYS EMS whitepaper:
Sylvan Glades Water District: NYS Public Service Dept. is involved, a temporary operator has been assigned.
2022Recycling Report: Hwy, Transfer Station and CEO reports have ben filed. We are third in the Ulster County. We received our second bench and recycled 1,000 lbs of plastic.
ATTORNEY FOR THE TOWN REPORT:
Will discuss items further down the agenda
TOWN CLERK/ TAX COLLECTOR REPORT:
Tax Collection: Total collected $ 6,532,755.39 remaining balance to collect is $ 1,706,500.01.
I have satisfied the Town Tax Warrant and have paid $2,400,000.00 to the County. I did receive a letter from the County reducing the state land properties because the Ambulance districts have not been approved by the office of Real property tax services. 62 bills were corrected and I am waiting to hear back from the Deputy Commissioner on how we will handle this. It is a reduction in $ 3,626.84. Again a big thank you to my deputies Christina and Courtney for all their hard work, attention to detail and positive attitudes the bring to the Clerk’s office.
Town Clerk: for the month of February $ 31,770.70 was collected.
LIQUOR LICENSE FILED:
Upskate Partners LLC
5164 US 209
Accord, NY 12404
Veteran’s Honor Roll:
Currently working on updating and refurbrishing the original Town of Rochester Honor Roll that was displayed on Main St. Accord in the 1950’s. I am looking for residents of the Town of Rochester, who served as a veteran,regardless of when they became TOR residents, are eligible to be listed in TOR archives. If you have any service-related photos or documents of family members that you are willing to share, please contact me and I will scan them, return the originals to you, and build an archive of the records, plus a database of all veteran’s names collected.
HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT REPORT:
Thank you to the crew for the job on the roads with the last couple storms. The $ 100,000.00 CHIPS money that was corrected should arrive around mid march.
DEPARTMENT UPDATES/ LIAISON REPORTS:
Councilman Paddock:
Rec Dept.: 3/17 St Patricks Day luncheon 11-1pm sign up at the Rec dept. 4/1: Easter Egg Hunt at the Accord Town park. Earthday clean up with be April 15th & 22nd. The paint classes continue to be a big hit.
Constabulary: The Constabulary answered 15 direct calls for service and other duties in February of 2023.
These included:
• 10 Neighbor to Neighbor and Quality of Life Complaints
• 3 Resident Traffic Complaints (Whitfield Rd, Rochester Ctr., Samsonville Rd., Cherrytown Rd.)
• 2 Environmental Complaints, (Whitfield Rd, Rochester Ctr.)
• 12 New Building Department Violations
• 0 New Court Cases Opened
• 9 Court Proceedings Remain Open
• 0 Court Proceedings Closed
Interesting Occurrences:
Early in the month, a relative of a resident called because they hadn’t heard from nor been able to reach
their elderly relative for 3 days, and the weather had been poor. We worked with the NYSP to determine
all was well. Turned out, power and telephone outages had made communications difficult. We assisted
KAFAS with a difficult patient. Upon arrival the individual was agitated and uncooperative. After
speaking with him for a few minutes, he calmed down and agreed to be transported to the hospital for an
evaluation recommended by the EMT’s. A large rental property was condemned and an order to vacate
had been issued. If various safety and structural repairs were not completed the residents would be
displaced. We made arrangements with several County, State and Federal agencies to assure the
residents had some place to go if the need arose. Thankfully, after speaking with the owner, repairs were
begun and no one had to be displaced at this time. We continue to work closely with the building
department to monitor the situation. Several complaints regarding roaming pigs on other residents’
properties were received, both from other agencies and residents on or near Rt. 44/55. We had a
discussion with the animals’ owners and they are rectifying the situation. Short term rental properties
continue to generate many complaints, especially on Friday’s and weekends. We continue to work with
the building department on these issues.
Councilwoman Enouen:
ECC: taking over the plastic recycling at the transfer station. Big thank you to Rita Harkins who started this project and her dedicated work got us 2 benches.
Agriculture Committee: we are accepting applications for the committee. The RVGA had their annual meeting at the Community Center with the topic of solar panel structures: having crops grow under the panel for actual production.
CEO: 49 c/o & c/c’s issued, 20 building permits, 5 municipal searches, 10 violations, 24 home inspections, 3 addition, 25 short-term rental inspections, 13 fire safety. Collected $ 17,000.00 in fees for the month of February.Thank you to our constabulary for their help on a rental property. We had a plan in place if the tenants were going to have to leave.
Supervisor Baden:
Assessor’s office:
I have been and will continue to review the status of open building permits for new construction and renovations. I am inspecting properties and updating our records and assessments as necessary. All properties are assessed based on their status as of March 1, 2023 (taxable status date). We are continuing to review new building permits and C of C’s and C of O’s as they come in.
I have a back log of new construction to process this year, due to not being able to get building plans from the building department almost the entire year of 2022, and due to the extraordinary amount of phone calls, voicemails, and walk-in inquiries due to the 2nd notice mailing to all residential property owners, notifying them that they might be eligible for the senior citizen property exemption.
EXEMPTION RENEWAL APPLICATIONS
We have been in full swing exemption mode for the past 90 days, with a March 1st deadline to submit exemption applications. We have been calling property owners to remind them that their renewal applications are due and, also to provide any missing supporting documentation that is required
by March 1, 2023. We can hold applications for a couple weeks that have been submitted by March 1st, while we wait for any additional documentation that is needed. I will be reviewing all exemption applications to see if they meet the criteria that is required and approving and processing the ones that do qualify.
2021 EQUALIZATION RATE
Based on a review of sales by myself and ORPTS (Office of Real Property and Taxation & Finance) it appears that the current Equalization Rate of 100 % will drop to around 63% for the 2022 (still waiting on final determination from the state).
PROCESSING SALES
We continue to process sales as they come in from the county.
Town Clerk Gundberg: HPC: met on 2/27 and discussed upcoming projects and events for the 2023 year.
The Commission asked if we could find out the status of the Palentown School house: especially repairs to the foundation.
Also it was requested if the Town would be able to clean the hamlet signs and paint those that need the fresh paint. They would be willing to give the listed locations and prioritized signs. Events for the year are July 1- Stone house tour, Sept. 2- Back to school Palentown school event, Oct-7 Heritage Day, Oct-21 Historic Barn tour.
TOWN BOARD MEMBER TIME-OTHER MATTERS:
Councilwoman Enouen:Courthouse: regarding the issue of lighting, the clerks are there light at night and it’s dark so I would like to see us install a sensor light or change the fixtures to dark sky lighting. Councilwoman Enouen also asked if the Board budgeted for shredding service.
Supervisor Baden stated the Board needs to get two quotes.
RESOLUTIONS:
ACTION ON MINUTES:
Resolution # 138-2023:
Motion: Councilman Paddock
Second: Councilwoman Enouen
The Town of Rochester Town Board accepts the minutes of the February 2 Business Meeting.
Aye: 3 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Coleman, Smiseth-absent
ACCEPTANCE OF DONATION:
Resolution # 139-2023:
Motion: Councilwoman Enouen
Second: Councilman Paddock
The Town of Rochester Town Board accepts donation of $93.14 from St. Pauli Textiles.
Aye: 3 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Coleman, Smiseth-absent
ACCEPTANCE OF DONATION OF GOODS:
Resolution #140 -2023:
Motion: Councilwoman Enouen
Second: Councilman Paddock
The Town of Rochester Town Board accepts donation of 2 basketballs and a basketball pump totaling $48.49 from Bethany Dennin.
Aye: 3 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Coleman, Smiseth-absent
APPOINTMENT TO SENIOR AND YOUTH RECREATION COMMISSION:
Resolution # 141 -2023:
Motion:Councilwoman Enouen
Second: Councilman Paddock
The Town of Rochester Town Board appoints Jessica Knapp to serve as a member of the Senior and Youth Recreation Commission for a term ending December 31, 2023.
Aye: 3 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Coleman, Smiseth-absent
MEETING DATE CHANGE:
Resolution # 142-2023:
Motion: Councilwoman Enouen
Second: Councilman Paddock
The Town of Rochester Town Board sets the March 2023 Workshop Meeting date to be held Thursday March 23, 2023 at 6:30pm at the Harold Lipton Community Center, 15 Tobacco Road, replacing the meeting originally scheduled March 9, 2023 at the same time and location, and requests the Town Clerk circulate notice of the meeting change.
Aye: 3 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Coleman, Smiseth-absent
BUDGET MODIFICATION 2022 / REQUEST FROM TOWN CLERK:
Resolution #143-2023:
Motion: Councilwoman Enouen
Second: Councilman Paddock
On request of the Town Clerk, the Town of Rochester Town Board authorizes the Town Supervisor, as Budget Officer, to hold over unexpended funds allocated in the 2022 General Fund Budget and increase 2023 General Fund, budget lines revenue A599, Appropriated fund balance by $6,968 and General Fund, Expenditure A1460.440, professional services by $6,968.
Aye: 3 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Coleman, Smiseth-absent
CATSKILL WATERSHED CORPORATION 2024 BALLOT:
Resolution # 144-2023:
Motion: Councilwoman Enouen
Second: Councilman Paddock
The Town of Rochester Town Board authorizes Supervisor Baden to cast the Town’s ballot for Richard Parete (Town of Marbletown Supervisor) to serve the 4 year term as Board of Directors to the Catskill Watershed Corporation.
Aye: 3 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Coleman, Smiseth-absent
APPOINTMENT OF PLANNING BOARD CHAIRPERSON 2024 :
Resolution # 145-2023:
Motion: Supervisor Baden
Second: Councilwoman Enouen
The Town of Rochester Town Board appoints Marc Grasso to serve as the Planning Board Chairperson for a term to end 12/31/2023.
EXTENSION OF MORATORIUM 2024:
Resolution # 146 -2023:
Motion: Councilman Paddock
Second: Councilwoman Enouen
Whereas on June 2, 2022 the Town of Rochester Town Board adopted Local Law 3 of 2022: Moratorium declaring “for a period of one hundred eighty (180) days from the effective date of such local law,
Whereas, the effective date of this local law is deemed as being June 7, 2022, the date filed with the NYS Department of State, and
Whereas, 180 days was determined to be the date of December 4, 2022, and
Whereas, the Town of Rochester Town Board, with adoption of Local Law 3 of 2022 allowed for “The time period set forth in this section may be extended by two additional periods of up to three (3) months, by resolution of the Town Board, upon a finding of necessity for such extension”, and
Whereas, on December 1, 2022 with resolution 473 of 2022 the Town of Rochester Town Board extended the moratorium by three (3) months, and
Whereas, the Town of Rochester Town Board continues to work diligently and timely toward the adoption of code revisions, and
Therefore, the Town of Rochester Town Board, pursuant to Local Law 3 of 2022 extends Local Law 3 of 2022 until June 4, 2023 with the adoption of this resolution.
AMENDMENT TO DECEMBER MINUTES:
Resolution # 147-2023:
Motion: Supervisor Baden
Second: Councilwoman Enouen
The Town Board of the Town of Rochester amend Resolution # 473-2022 to read as;
Whereas on June 2, 2022 the Town of Rochester Town Board adopted Local Law 3 of 2022: Moratorium declaring “for a period of one hundred eighty (180) days from the effective date of such local law, the Town Board hereby declares a moratorium prohibiting;
Aye: 3 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Coleman, Smiseth-absent
COURTHOUSE BATHROOM CONTRACT:
Resolution # 148-2023:
Motion: Supervisor Baden
Second: Councilwoman Enouen
The Town of Rochester Town Board authorizes Supervisor Baden to sign contract subject to changes made by Attorney Christiana with M & T Advance Construction Solution P.O. Box 554 Accord, NY 12404.
Aye: 3 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Coleman, Smiseth-absent
TOWN COURT FINANCIAL REPORT:
Councilwoman Enouen and Councilwoman Smiseth reviewed the court financials and will present to the Board at the workshop meeting for approval.
ARCHTOP REQUEST FOR MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT:
Resolution # 149-2023:
Motion: Councilman Paddock
Second: Councilwoman Enouen
The Town of Rochester Town Board authorizes the Town Supervisor to sign contract with Archtop Fiber LLC 300 enterprise dr, KINGSTON, NY, 12401.
Aye: 3 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Coleman, Smiseth-absent
ZONING COORDINATOR TRAINING PROGRAM:
Resolution # 150-2023:
Motion: Supervisor Baden
Second: Councilwoman Enouen
The Town of Rochester Town Board pay for the NYS Code Enforcement Basic Training Program not to exceed $ 500.00 and for the Town Board pay for the hours of training not to exceed 40 hours per week.
Aye: 3 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Coleman, Smiseth-absent
LIBRARY KIOSK:
Resolution # 151-2023:
Motion: Supervisor Baden
Second: Councilwoman Enouen
The Town of Rochester Town Board accepts the proposal from the Rondout Rotary club for a library kiosk at the Town Pavillion.
Aye: 3 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Coleman, Smiseth-absent
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
The Board agreed to wait until the April 6, 2023 meeting to review and /or vote on proposed Local Law 3 NYS Stretch Code, proposed Local Law 4 Amendment to Chapter 65, Building Construction as per NYS new model law, the Volunteer Fire Company and Ambulance Tax Reduction law and Ethics law amendment.
SCHEDULE AND ADVERTISE FOR PROPOSED LOCAL LAW 5 -2023: FIREFIGHTER/EMS TAX EXEMPTION:
Resolution # 152-2023:
Motion: Supervisor Baden
Second: Councilwoman Enouen
The Town of Rochester Town Board has scheduled a public hearing on proposed local law # 5 -2023: Amending Chapter 128 Taxation: volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulanceworkers eligible for real property tax exemption for April 6, 2023 at 6:30pm at the Harold Lipton Community Center, 15 Tobacco Road Accord, NY 12404 and for the Town Clerk to circulate notice.
Aye: 3 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Coleman, Smiseth-absent
ADMINISTRATION CONSTABLE JOB DESCRIPTION:
It was agreed to discuss the description with our HR and Constables and bring it back to the Board.
MUNICIPAL PARKS AND RECREATION GRANT:
The Board discussed the Municipal park and recreation grant received from Legislature Hewitt. The Board discussed different ideas and Supervisor Baden stated that he would be in touch with MedenBach and Eggers to look in to permanent bathrooms.
ADJOURNMENT IN MEMORY OF;
Elizabeth Young
William Carelli
Eileen Kladakis
Maria Piatek
Lydia Berrios
Robert Pennacchio Sr.
Eric Heins Sr.
The people of Ukraine
All suffering worldwide from the COVID-19 virus
Motion : Councilwoman Enouen
Second: Councilman Paddock motion carried
The Town of Rochester Town Board adjourned the meeting at 10:00pm.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
KATHLEEN A. GUNDBERG
TOWN CLERK