The Town of Rochester Town Board held the Regular Meeting on May 4, 2023 Immediately following public hearing at the Harold Lipton Community Center, 15 Tobacco Road, Accord, NY 12404
Livestream Broadcast on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg7ykop50cWmqPFUpgDjRSQ
PRESENT:
Councilman Michael Coleman Councilman Adam Paddock
Councilwoman Charlotte Smiseth Supervisor Michael Baden
Deputy Town Clerk Christina Ferrara
ABSENT:
Councilwoman Erin Enouen (8:31pm)
Supervisor Baden called the meeting to order
ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA:
Resolution # 199 -2023:
The Town Board accepts the agenda, as prepared by the Town Supervisor.
SUPERVISOR’S FINANCIAL REPORT:
April 2023 report – Filed with the Town Clerk
2022 AUD – Filed with NYS Comptroller on May 1, 2023
4/1/2022 – 3/31/2023 ARPA report – Filed with US Treasury April 2023
March 2023 Financials
Revenue March 2023
General Fund $129,444.35
Highway Fund $104,715.94
Capital Fund $92,333.79
April 2023 Financials
Revenue April 2023
General Fund $ 60,676.57
Highway Fund $ 9,953.69
Expenditures
Abstract 4-2023
General Fund $59,740.69
Highway Fund $145,496.86
Capital Fund $0
Street Lighting Fund $1,389.83
Ambulance Fund $91,375.00
Escrow Fund $2,483.27
Total Expenditures April 2023
General Fund $148,963.90
Highway Fund $ 191,718.43
Capital Fund $0
Street Lighting Fund $1,389.83
Ambulance Fund $91,375.00
Escrow Fund $2,483.27
SUPERVISOR’S CORRESPONDENCE REPORT:
Supervisor’s Update
Rondout Vally Hall of Pride Ceremony: The Town Board recognized Kate Gundberg for receiving the 2023 Rondout Valley Hall of Pride award. Congratulations!
2023 Memorial Day Parade: the parade line up will be at 12:30 at Town Hall and will end at the firehouse. The Town will have a ceremony at Veterans Park at 12:00pm.
NYS Budget update: The NYS budget has been approved .
Grant Updates:
NY Rising – Alligerville Firehouse: working on the checklist of things to be completed planning on doing a walk through on Monday.
BridgeNY – Boice Mill Road Bridge: on progress. Design/survey/ test engineering beginning.
Agricultural District 2023 Applications: 2 applications were received. One on Queens Hwy and Cherrytown Road.
Ulster County EMS survey: the survey is up on our website and encourage residents to fill it out.
2023 Ulster County Public Auction: will be held on June 13th online. Auction packets are available at the Town hall on you can view them online.
O&W Rail Trail: received an email today from OSI representatives. Hoping for construction to start in June.
ATTORNEY FOR THE TOWN REPORT:
Been working with the Building Dept. on a potential violation issue and other topis to discuss in the Attorney to Client meeting.
TOWN CLERK/ TAX COLLECTOR REPORT:
For the Month of April: $ 51,265.73
Tax Collection: unpaid notices are out and the final day to pay to the Town is 6/1/23.
RESIGNATIONS:
Kiera Power- Planning Board/ZBA secretary
Jorge Santana- Constable
HIGHWAY SUPT. REPORT:
DEPT. UPDATES/ LIASION REPORTS:
Councilman Coleman:
EMS: Both Marbletown and KAFAS were at 100 % response rate showing the volunteer vs paid hybrid model is working. KAFAS sent a new report format thank you to Mr. Bollin for that.
ZBA: nothing new to report.
Spectrum/Charter: letter will be discussed later this evening.
Councilwoman Enouen:
Agriculture:
We (the town board) conducted 16 interviews for 7 seats on the newly formed Agricultural Advisory Committee. We had an amazing turnout of interested applicants from our community, and now the board has a very difficult task at hand to make the appointments.
Once the appointments are I am very excited to see this new committee at work!
Planning Board:
From Chair Grasso, “The planning board currently has 27 open applications and is working through them proactively. Three are slated for public hearing in May, while others are moving through the process nicely. Additional items that are pending include subdivisions, site plan and special use applications that the board will review when applicants submit the required documentation. Other items are awaiting the moratorium to be lifted to be considered at the Planning Board level.”
I’d like to acknowledge and thank Chair Grasso for doing the heavy lifting, filling in as the Planning Board secretary and being the chair. With the amount of applications before the planning board, doing both roles must be like carrying around weights in his suitcase! I know Chair Grasso, Chair Zurofsky and Supervisor Baden are working to make that appointment as quickly as possible. Under Chair Grasso, the planning board recently updated the table arrangement and it seems to have had positive results.
Code Enforcement:
We (the town board) received one correspondence from CEO Jerry Davis requesting that we look at amending §140-13.1 Accessory Dwelling Units. It would be good for the board to take a look at that to see how we may address the concerns about the intent and application of that law.
Monthly Report for April
(Read the Department income for April + the Activity, left hand side of the first page.)
Transfer Station:
We have a slightly new layout at the transfer station. The Municipal Solid Waste bins 1-3 are now all on the lower level and the scrap metal bin is on the top level. This makes it easier to access with vehicles. I am hoping to work on some new signage for the bins, particularly the paper bin. There’s been a lot of cardboard in there lately – a directional sign to the cardboard bin might help!
I received correspondence regarding the platform that has partially been built near the TORExchange that the Rotary Club would like to complete that project if the Town Board would allow. If not, they request that they be able to remove materials they installed so they can repurpose them. I think this is a reasonable request and we should respond. Perhaps we can discuss next week if an answer is not obvious tonight!
Hybrid Transfer Station & ECC: The monthly pliable plastic AKA bag collection event is this Saturday at the Transfer Station from 11:30 – 3:30 pm! The collection days are scheduled for the FIRST Saturday of each month. All plastics will be inspected/approved by an ECC member. We are not allowing drop off at other times. Details are included in a news item on the website.
ECC:
The ECC co-sponsored a planting event on Earth Day. 25 participants attended and helped plant trees and learned about pollinators from local butterfly authority and legend Maraleen Manos-Jones.
The ECC has been in touch with Diane of the Catskill Native Nursery and she is hoping to begin installing the pollinator garden at the town hall in June. I will make sure that is coordinated clearly with the Town Hall and Supervisor Baden .They also had some ideas on naming the garden in honor of Maraleen Manos Jones, who is not a TOR resident but lives in Ulster County and has been very supportive of pollinator initiatives.
The ECC is requesting that the town authorize joining the New York State Association of Conservation Commissions. It is a $75 annual fee and would allow them to attend the annual conference. I have included a link to the website and will request that we decide on this at our next meeting.
SAVE THE DATE: The annual tire pull is Saturday, June 17th. We need boats & kayaks! If you have them and can attend or can lend, please contact the ECC at ecc@townofrochester.ny.gov
May Third Thursday: May 18th at 6:30 pm Local Farming with Bob Fade of Fiddlehead Farm of Rosendale NY. Third Thursdays are held on zoom, visit the ECCs page on our website or Facebook for more info.
The Pollinator Pathways has requested that they post our resolution to their website. The ECC is also moving forward with getting a chapter page on their website and map.
Website:
Update for the board and the public – the functional design has been approved and is now being fully developed by Revize. We created a site map this winter and Revize is going to create the site map based on that and select page templates for us. The next step will be content. There will be a training offered that hopefully myself, Supervisor Baden and Clerk Gundberg will attend initially to help us create a project plan for the site content.
We will be working with a blank site basically and creating fresh and revised content based on our current site and feedback from our departments, boards, and public. I hope that we will have a small but mighty content committee that will work together in an organized way. For transparency: Each editor of the website will also be offered trainings by Revize, but to create a plan we decided to have a smaller group (myself, Kate, Supervisor Baden) get a sense of it first so we can create a plan for creating, approving, and editing the content for the initial site launch, which is still a few months away.
I am excited for this next step.
I’d also like to acknowledge and thank Rich Miller, our website administrator, for his quick and responsive execution to all sorts of website requests! If the public isn’t aware of getting email alerts about our news and notices, I highly recommend Subscribing to the News – this is an great feature and a great way to stay in touch with the town and all the postings Rich publishes on behalf of our board and other town departments. The subscription link can be found under the “News” header.
Councilwoman Smiseth: housing committee: reviewed the presentation from Vin Martello on steps to take moving forward. Eldercare: new applicants. 6/15 eldercare abuse and resource day. Wear purple!
Councilman Paddock: Rec Dept.:Spring fling: 5/19, line dancing in full swing from 11-12pm at the community center. Summer program registration was filled within 45 minutes.
Constabulary: The Constabulary answered 12 direct calls for service and other duties in April of 2023.
These included:
• 9 Neighbor to Neighbor and Quality of Life Complaints
• 3 Resident Traffic Complaints (Whitfield Rd., Samsonville Rd., Cherrytown Rd.)
• 1 Environmental Complaints, (Rochester Ctr.)
• 4 New Building Department Violations
• 0 New Court Cases Opened
• 9 Court Proceedings Remain Open
• 0 Court Proceedings Closed
Interesting Occurrences:
This month, we had a number of issues regarding individuals remaining unlawfully within a condemned
dwelling, these are ongoing and we continue to work with the building department to solve them.
Dumping of large junk items and household trash continue to be an issue. We’ve had an increased
number of complaints regarding traffic flow and speed on several Town roads. Short term rental
properties continue to generate many complaints, especially on Friday’s and Weekends. The local
swimming hole traffic and parking issues are beginning again, we continue to monitor the situation with
the assistance of several vigilant Town residents. Neighbor to neighbor complaints have remained
decreased this month and all have been defused without further action necessary
Supervisor Baden: Assessor: tentative roll completed and filed on 5/1/23. 21 million in new assessed value added to the tax roll showing a 5 % increase in assessed value. Big thanks to our Assessor. Grievance Day will be held 5/25/23 from 4-8pm.
Town Clerk Gundberg: HPC: Howie Slotnik will start work on the historic marker
sign restoration.The Tom Quick sign. And Colonial fort sign.
The Commission is working on Hamlet talks and oral history project: Putting together old family lore and history of the hamlets.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Sue Bruck:
I would like the email between Chris Kelly and Supervisor Baden shared with the Board where he discusses my husband Tim and myself.
• A social media and email policy for elected officials. There currently is not one in place. This should include
• A code of conduct for elected officials as it pertains to communications with and about other agencies and town residents and visitors. It is my understanding that we have a consultant available who can handle these tasks. Include any ramifications for breaking of these policies and codes. I have been advised that the malevolent actions Supervisor Baden is making in his professional capacity are not addressed by our Ethics Committee and that the town board is unclear how to move forward. Having policies in place will give you guidelines to follow.
• A mandatory anger management course for Supervisor Baden lasting no less than 12 weeks and a certificate of completion received by the Town Board for public review no later than August 31, 2023. A certificate of completion is not a HIPAA violation. It is what is required after court mandated anger management classes. it is clear that Supervisor Baden continues to have issues dealing with his anger. He is putting his personal vendetta ahead of town safety, and is unable to perform certain town business with an even temperament.
• I am requesting that the town board review the Constabulary’s duties absent of Supervisor Baden’s input. It appears that the restriction that Supervisor Baden and the town board placed on the Constabulary was for a limited time and should have ended as of February 29, 2020. The limitation was put in place while the constabulary was under review. The results of that review were released in the report dated March 3, 2020 which showed not only glowing reviews, but underscored that this department should not be run by resolutions. You’ll see tonight that there are two resolutions about the Constabulary. They are needless and waste town board member’s precious time.
• It is time for the Constabulary to be put back into force the way that it is meant to be, without Supervisor Baden’s interference. There’s no reason that calls to the Constabulary be run through Supervisor Baden. We do not rely on supervisor Baden for healthcare or fire emergencies. Those agencies like the constabulary are filled with highly trained people. Supervisor Baden is not one of those people and was not elected to be Chief Constable. Supervisor Baden is inconsistent and biased when enforcing laws making him more of a threat than an asset. He has made himself more important than any other Town board member and more important than any resident or visitor when it comes to the Constabulary answering calls. That is proving to be a liability for our town and can easily be corrected.
• Chief Miller needs to be returned to the conversations about his department immediately. It is dangerous and expensive to exclude him. Our town deserves the protection that his department and its officers are ready and able to provide.
• I am asking that supervisor Baden recuse himself regarding any business I have with the town. He has made it clear than he cannot conduct business in a professional manner where I am concerned and I do not want to be victimized by him any longer.
• I have supporting documentation for the requests that I am making this evening and I am glad to provide that to the town board absent Supervisor Baden. Please let me know what you need. Thank you for your time
TOWN BOARD MEMBERTIME -OTHER MATTERS:
The Code Enforcement Officer request will be discussed at the workshop meeting.
RESOLUTIONS:
ACTION ON MINUTES:
Resolution # 200-2023:
Motion: Councilwoman Smiseth
Second: Councilman Coleman
The Town of Rochester Town Board accepts the minutes of the April 4 Public Hearings, April 4 Business Meeting, April 13 Workshop meeting, April 15 Workshop meeting, and April 27 Audit meeting, as presented
Aye: 4 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Enouen-Absent
ACCEPTANCE OF DONATIONS:
Resolution # 201-2023:
Motion: Councilwoman Smiseth
Second: Councilman Padock
The Town of Rochester Town Board accepts donation of $94.04 from St. Pauli Textiles and $500 from Arlene Levine for the St. Patrick’s Day luncheon.
Aye: 4 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Enouen- absent
REQUEST TO APPLY FOR REQUEST TO APPLY FOR A GRANT:
Resolution # 202 -2023:
Motion: Councilman Paddock
Second: Councilwoman Smiseth
On request of the Recreation Director, the Town of Rochester Town Board approves the Recreation Director to apply for a grant on behalf of the Town to the Rondout Valley Education Foundation of up to $3,000 for programs which support initiatives outside the classroom that will fulfil the mission of the RVEF to enhance educational opportunities for the children of the Rondout Valley School District.
Aye: 4 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Enouen-Absent
AUTHORIZING THE USE OF TOWN HIGHWAYS:
Resolution # 203-2023:
Motion: Councilman Coleman
Second: Councilwoman Smiseth
The Town of Rochester Town Board authorizes the Town Supervisor to sign the proposed agreement authorizing the use of certain Town roadways for the charity bike ride event “The Ride for Mental Health” to be held June 24, 2023 and June 25, 2023. A Certificate of Liability Insurance certificate naming the Town of Rochester as an additional insured party has been presented.
Aye: 4 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Enouen-Absent
CALL FOR ABRASIVE SAND BIDS:
Resolution # 204-2023:
Motion: Supervisor Baden
Second: Councilman Paddock
The Town Board requests the Town Clerk post advertisement seeking sealed bids for abrasive screened sand for winter road use. Specifications of bids are available at the Town Clerk Office and on www.townofrochester.ny.gov. Bids are due on or before Wednesday May 31, 2023 at 11:00am at the office of the Town of Rochester Clerk, PO Box 65 / 50 Scenic Road, Accord, New York 12404 where they will be opened and read aloud. A non-collusion form and certified testing results shall be included as a part of the bid package. The Town Board has the right to reject any and all bids.
Specifications
1. The sand shall be hard with 100% passing 3/8″ screen, not more than 15% passing #50 mesh and not more than 4% passing #200 mesh and must be readily usable in spreading equipment.
2. Certified testing results shall be submitted as a part of the bid package.
3. Bid prices shall be priced per ton; variations will not be accepted.
4. The bidder’s attention is called to the fact that if scales are not available at plant site, the bidder must state conversion factor-weight per cubic yard on bid conversion sheet.
5. Sand is to be made available for pickup by trucks designated by Town of Rochester authorized entities and operated by authorized personnel.
6. Bids shall be guaranteed valid for a period of 2 years from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2025.
Aye: 4 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Enouen-Absent
REQUEST FROM FRIENDS OF HISTORIC ROCHESTER:
Resolution # 205-2023:
Motion: Councilwoman Smiseth
Second: Councilman Coleman
On request of the Friends of Historic Rochester, the Town of Rochester Town Board agrees to co-sponsor the Friends of Historic Rochester Heritage Day to be held October 7, 2023 and authorizes the use of the Harold Lipton Community Center, Town Hall, and Town Park facilities and properties. The Town Board further authorizes the Town Supervisor to utilize the Town insurance policy as an additional insured policy for the purposes of the closure of Main Street, Accord from Scenic Road to Granite Road for the event, at no additional cost to the Town, provided a COI is received from all vendors and/or organizations who will be utilizing the closed road. The Town Clerk, Recreation Director, and Town Supervisor shall coordinate with Friends of Historic Rochester on this.
Aye: 4 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Enouen-Absent
ELECTRICAL INSPECTOR DESIGNATION:
Resolution # 206-2023:
Motion: Councilman Coleman
Second: Councilwman Smiseth
On request of the Building Department, the Town of Rochester Town Board authorizes the addition of Logan Millington, LM Electric and Consulting Corp., 26 Warren St. #2, Marlboro, NY to the list of Town of Rochester approved 3rd party electrical inspectors.
Aye: 4 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Enouen-Absent
REQUEST FOR PARKING LOT STRIPING:
Supervisor Baden stated he would get quotes and bring them back to the Board.
PEACE OFFICER TRAINING ACADEMY REQUEST:
Resolution # 207 -2023:
Motion: Councilman Paddock
Second: Councilman Coleman
On request of Constable Miller, the Town of Rochester Town Board authorizes the sponsorship of a Peace Officer training academy allowing Constable Miller the ability to schedule Academy training with a minimum of 7 recruits to begin on May 22nd through July 2nd, 2023 at no cost to the Town except compensation for Constable Miller at his hourly rate of employment. Two Town of Rochester constables will be participating in the academy training.
Aye: 4 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Enouen-Absent
APPOINTMENT OF EMPLOYEE:
Resolution # 208-2023:
Motion: Councilman Smiseth
Second: Councilman Paddock
The Town of Rochester Town Board appoints Sheilyn Duran-Picon to the part-time, probationary, provisional position of Constable at a rate of $16.00 per hour on an as needed, as available basis, such employment to begin upon NYS DCJS certification and subject to acceptance of the appointment by Ulster County Personnel.
Aye: 4 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Enouen-Absent
ESTABLISHMENT OF WORKING HOURS:
Resolution # 209 -2023:
Motion: Supervisor Baden
Second: Councilman Coleman
Discussion: Supervisor Baden stated this request was brought before him to have the constables arrive at 8:30 to check cameras, set up , get in uniform. By doing this and applying the exemption we will adhere to the NYS labor law where after 6 hours of work an employee must take a ½ hour break. We have no say over the court clerks hours their hours are set my the justices and they’ve been about this repeatedly and they continue to work through their lunch but this is a solution of the constables. It would cost $ 35.00 per week.
The Town of Rochester Town Board establishes the working hours of 8:30am – 4:00pm for constables serving in the capacity of justice court security on a Monday through Thursday basis. The constable shall remain at work so long as any town court personnel remain in the building and the 4pm ending time shall be extended on an “as needed” basis when required. The Town Supervisor is further requested to seek voluntary agreement by the constables working these shifts to allow the Town to apply the “One Employee Shift” exemption under Section 162 of the NYS Labor Law regarding guidelines for meal periods.
Aye: 4 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Enouen-Absent
DISCUSSION : POSSIBLE RESOLUTION:
WEDDING OFFICIANT- ONE DAY LICENSE FEE :
New York State implemented a $ 25.00 one-day license fee for those looking to officiant a wedding that are not ordained or a marriage officer. The marriage has to take place in the Town and the fee stays with the Town.
AGRICULTURE ADVISORY COMMITTEE:
The Board will candidates at the workshop meeting on the 11th.
COURTHOUSE CONSTRUCTION:
Attorney Christiana stated that she reviewed changes made for the additional costs were unforeseen and change order can be made.
REQUEST BY ASSESSOR FOR UNBUDGETED ATTENDANCE TRAINING:
Resolution # 210-2023:
Motion: Supervisor Baden
Second: Councilwoman Smiseth
The Town Board authorizes the Assessor Aide to attend 7/17 & 7/18 Cornell Seminar. This includes class, hotel and travel mileage.
Aye: 4 nay: 0 abstain: 0 motion carried
Enouen-Absent
MUNICIPAL PARKING LOT:
Attorney Christiana stated, “in order for the law to be effective it has to be filed. There is no records stating that it was filed. The only thing that I can think of is that it was done within days of Hurricane Irene and it slipped through the cracks. If the Board wants to move forward we would have to have a new public hearing to pass the law. There are some provisions to clarify and discuss and possible changes that the Board may consider .”
Councilman Coleman and Councilwoman Smiseth agreed to honor the previous administration and use the 2011 law as a base line to correct the issues that happened.
Supervisor Baden stated that if we adopt the law we need to answer the questions that went unanswered. I remember what was going on at that time and we are now the elected board and if we cannot enforce the law why create it.
The Board agreed to discuss it further at the workshop meeting.
• Councilwoman Enouen joined the meeting at 8:31pm
REQUEST FOR PERMIT FOR ASSEMBLY : HIDEAWAY CIRCUS:
Supervisor Baden stated that he was approached with the traveling Circus. The idea was to use the Accord speedway but dates are not working out and it was asked if there was any other locations in Town. It was suggested to check with the school.
REQUEST BY AMERICAN TOWER-CELL TOWER LEASE AMENDMENT:
Supervisor Baden presented the Board with an amendment lease from American Tower. After review the Board agreed to do nothing with the request.
JUSTICE COURT REPORT:
Supervisor Baden asked the Board if they want to send a addendum to the State or rewrite the report. The Board agreed to leave it the way it is, it shows that an issue was addressed and rectified.
PRESENTATION OF LOCAL LAW: LIGHTING:
Supervisor Baden gave the board samples of Rhinebeck and Town of Ulster lighting codes and asked the Board to review.
FOIL POLICY:
Supervisor Baden asked the Board to review the sample FOIL policy presented.
ADJOURNMENT IN MEMORIAM :
Motion : Councilwoman Enouen
Second: Councilwoman Smiseth
The Town Board adjourns the meeting at 9:15pm in the memory of;
Lester McCandless
Richard VanDemark
Peter Scott
Lois Gross
All suffering from gun violence
The people of Ukraine motion carried
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
KATHLEEN A. GUNDBERG
TOWN CLERK