REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING MINUTES March 17, 2009
A regular Meeting of the Town Board of Guilderland was held at the Town Hall, Route 20 McCormick's Corners, Guilderland, NY, on the above date at 7:30 pm. The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Roll call by Rosemary Centi, Town Clerk, showed the following to be present:
Councilman Redlich
Councilwoman Slavick
Councilman Pastore
Councilman Grimm
Supervisor Runion
ALSO PRESENT: Richard Sherwood, Town Attorney
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Supervisor Runion welcomed everyone to the evening’s meeting and asked for a motion accepting the minutes of the March 3, 2009 Town Board meeting.
MOTION #60 Councilwoman Slavick moved to ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE MARCH 3, 2009 TOWN BOARD MEETING. Councilman Pastore seconded the motion and it was carried by the following roll call vote:
Councilman Redlich |
Abstained |
Councilwoman Slavick |
Aye |
Councilman Pastore |
Aye |
Councilman Grimm |
Aye |
Supervisor Runion |
Aye |
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD-
Dr. Donald Reeb, President of the McKownville Improvement Association, expressed his concern with Nanotech running stormwater into the McKownville area.
He suggested that the Town have an engineer look at the report by Mr. Thomas Yerkewecz, Director of the Fuller Road Management Corporation. (P 38A)
He was particularly concerned with the runoff sending stormwater into the Patroon Creek.
Maria Sbardella, former Senior Department bus driver, stated her concerns with what she felt were changes being made in the Senior Department particularly with transportation.. She read from a prepared statement. (P 38B)
Donald Albright, Chief Fire Inspector and Supervisor of Senior Transportation, explained that the number of seniors requesting rides has significantly diminished. On some occasions, there were only one or two people riding the bus and that Veterans and day care were no longer using the senior bus.
He further stated that it was a question of making sure that the buses had a number of people needing transporting.
Supervisor Runion stated that with the decrease in revenue generated from sales tax, steps were taken, such as renegotiations with labor unions, to balance the budget. He continued by saying that all departments were asked to look at their budgets to see what could be done to save.
He further stated that the budget had not been changed but adjusted. The current budget is balanced.
Further discussion was held regarding budgetary constraints and changes that could be made.
Agenda items:
Item #1 on the agenda, which was tabled from the March 3, 2009 meeting, concerned adopting a home rule message and authorizing the Supervisor to apply to the New York State Legislature for legislation authorizing the establishment of a third Judge in the Guilderland Town Court.
Supervisor Runion explained that he had received a letter form Judge George Ceresia suggesting that due to the large number of cases that were heard by the Guilderland Judges in the Guilderland Town Court, the Town should petition the legislature to be allowed to appoint a third judge.
Elaine Person, Leesome Lane, Vice President of RID, Remove Intoxicated Drivers for the Capital District, stated that she was appalled at Councilman Redlich’s comments of the March 3, 2009 town board meeting regarding the necessity of a third judge of the Guilderland town court due to the large number of cases.
She read from her letter stating that Councilman Redlich blamed the over- burdened court on the District Attorney’s DWI plea bargaining policy.
She said, “It was not the right or the will of the people that our Town Board maintain fiscal responsibility by ordering our loyal law enforcement to disregard the laws of our state and randomly choose to deliver a lesser and arbitrary form of enforcement.”
She further said, “ I strongly urge the sane members of the Guilderland Town Board to ignore the ridiculous suggestions of Councilman Redlich and let our police department and District Attorney do their jobs.” (P 39A)
Councilman Redlich suggested that court appearances be staggered. He stated the number of people in the Court makes Court move slower. He further suggested that traffic cases could be negotiated by mail and made other suggestions for lessening the overburdened courts.
Ms. Person stated that her complaint was about Councilman Redlich’s suggestion of ordering our police officers, legislating our police officers, to not issue tickets and not follow the law when charging DWI offenders.
Linda Campion, Clifton Park, President of the Kathleen A. Campion Foundation stated that she was speaking on behalf of her daughter and the other living members of her family. She said that it was her hope that the Town Board would come to the conclusion that not only enforcing to the fullest extent of the law, but prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law is really the only way the we can send a message that the act of impaired driving will not be tolerated.
Anna Russo, Gabriella Lane, Volunteer Activist for DWI, said, “ Anyone who has been victimized by crime can tell you that there is no meaningful prison sentence that can repay for the loss they have suffered but justice is not about retribution.
Laws, such as our highway safety laws, are there to safeguard the people of our State and community. The consequences for illegal acts express the degree of concern, care and outrage a crime demands. In the 60’s DWI was often changed to failure to stop at a sign or some lesser offense. The average fine was $11.00. At this same time, an individual could be fined $500.00 for killing a deer out of season. We do not want to return to those days.”
She further stated that there was a lot to consider in hiring a third judge. The Town of Guilderland has very skilled and very professional police officers. She suggested that the Town Board ride with them. They know when to stop and give tickets out for DWI.
She said we need the third judge to keep our highways safe for our children. (P 40A)
Joanne Biance-Clark, DWI victim, commented on Councilman Redlich’s statement that it was an inconvenience that there were too many drunk drivers in the courtroom. She asked if Councilman Redlich understood what the victims had to go through? She asked that he put the victims first.
Councilman Redlich said, “I have not proposed, nothing I said, was to let drunk drivers walk.
Nothing that I said was illegal.
The specific proposal, number one, was on a blood alcohol content of .05, State Law says that .05 was not impaired.”
He further stated that our police should follow the law. He stated that prosecutors routinely dismissed cases that are .05 or less. The answer was to go to the State Legislature and change the law. The answer was not to crowd our courts with cases that will be dismissed.
He stated that he was very sympathetic to the harm that drunk drivers cause but that his proposal was to get the drunk drivers into treatment, to get them into counselling and to protect our highways but the system that the District Attorney’s office had adopted had created more hearings and more cases got lost because he did not allow for plea bargaining.
Ed Frank, Westphall Road, stated that his appearance was to reinforce what the other speakers had said regarding the impact of drunk drivers.
He read a letter from Elizabeth Martin, Volunteer Activist for Albany County Remove Intoxicated Drivers, Michele E. Martin Memorial Trust, and Capital District Coalition for Crime Victim’s Rights and the Albany County District Attorney’s Task Force on DWI. (P 40B)
Mr. Frank stated his position that strict enforcement of DWI laws will decrease drunk driving.
He suggested that the Town Board should attend a Victim Impact Panel and that as a team they should come up with a better way then what was suggested by Councilman Redlich to decrease congestion in the Courts. He further stated that a third judge would be a first step and that it would be an advantage to the residents of the Town of Guilderland.
Leslie Stone, Guilderland Center, stated that as a volunteer for a rescue squad and fire department, she sees the damage that drunk drivers cause. She further stated that the law needs to remain strict.
She also felt that the Town Board should not be telling the Police Department how to do their job.
Supervisor Runion read a letter into the record from Doris Aiken, President of RID U.S.A Inc. (P 40C) and an e-mail from Leonard J. Crouch, Administrator, Albany County Stop DWI. (P 40D)
Supervisor Runion also read a letter from the Albany County District Attorney’s office regarding the recommendation of Third Judicial District Administrative Judge Ceresia that the Town of Guilderland establish a third judge in the Guilderland Town Court.
He read that Councilman Redlich’s suggestion that the Guilderland Town Board could reduce the caseload in Guilderland Town Court by directing the Police Department not to enforce the Aggravated DWI statute and instead, issue tickets for Common-Law DWI even when a motorist is found to be operating a vehicle with a B.A.C over .22. would violate the constitutional separation-of-powers doctrine. (P 41A)
Councilwoman Slavick thanked all of the speakers who came and spoke concerning the impact of drunk drivers.
Supervisor Runion also thanked those who came and spoke on their experiences regarding the impact that drunk drivers had on their lives.
He stated that he had received a letter from Judge Ceresia with statistics relative to his opinion that a third judge is warranted in the Guilderland Town Court. (P 41B)
Supervisor Runion reiterated the statistics that Judge Ceresia mentions in his letter.
He stated that a high percentage of the cases that our Town Court deals with are criminal matters and not traffic infractions. Based on that high volume it is Judge Ceresia’s recommendation that the Town Board look at the establishment of a third Judge or making one of our Judges full time.
Supervisor Runion stated that based on the economy of scale, it was his recommendation that the Town hire a third judge.
He read the total receipts of the justice court and noted that it operated at a profit.
Supervisor Runion stated that, with the addition of a third judge, most of the backlog of cases would be eliminated. The elimination of the backlog would pay for the third judge. This would also help to eliminate overtime conditions and provide more efficiency within the Court system.
He said, “ You can’t base everything you do on dollars and cents. We have an obligation as a government to provide a service to the people of this town and this community. Sometimes it costs money to do so”.
He also stated that the Town Board needed to give the recommendation of the Third Judicial Administrative Judge a great deal of weight.
He said, “Public safety has to be priority number one, or else this community is not going to succeed.”
Supervisor Runion made the motion.
MOTION #61 Supervisor Runion moved TO ADOPT THE HOME RULE MESSAGE AND TO AUTHORIZE THE SUPERVISOR TO APPLY TO THE NYS LEGISLATURE FOR LEGISLATION AUTHORIZING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A THIRD JUDGE IN THE GUILDERLAND TOWN COURT.
Councilman Redlich stated he had reviewed the number of cases and revenue of Guilderland, Bethlehem and Rotterdam Town Courts. He further stated that based on the numbers he did not see the need for a third judge.
Councilman Pastore asked if a third judge would not reduce overtime?
Councilman Grimm asked how the Town would see more revenue.
Supervisor Runion stated that a third judge would handle the backlog of cases which would generate fines and revenues and should substantially support whatever costs would be incurred with a third judge.
He further explained that it would allow the Court to work within the scheduling of the Police
Department and reduce overtime. He also stated that it should be a better system.
Councilman Grimm asked how we could justify a third judge when budget cuts were being made?
Supervisor Runion stated that by the time we get to appoint a third judge the economy might be better. This only gives us the authorization to appoint a third judge.
Councilwoman Slavick stated that the Board must weigh the expense against the service of justice being served.
Carol Williams, Siver Road, stated that the number one priority for Guilderland should be the safety of our citizens, number two, justice for those charged and number three revenue.
She asked for a vote on the issue.
Councilman Grimm stated there are statistics to support both sides and that the Board should be concerned with the numbers but that they were not the only consideration.
Councilman Pastore stated that the Board should also consider in these poor economic times might create a greater need for a third judgeship because the crime rate traditionally goes up in troubled times. We are keeping our options open and that would benefit our residents.
Councilwoman Slavick seconded the motion and it was carried by the following roll call vote:
Councilman Redlich |
Opposed |
Councilwoman Slavick |
Aye – said, “I am not changing my position from two weeks ago. As I said, we had Judge Ceresia, he came, he looked at the Court, he and his staff reviewed and analysed our statistics. He made a recommendation and I believe we should go with his recommendation, I defer to his recommendation. Also, I would like to thank Judge Randall and Judge Bailey for the many, many hours that they put in night and day to serve in our Court and to take care of all those cases.” |
Councilman Pastore |
Aye – said, “ I am in favor of the motion. Throughout my tenure on the Board we have seen a lot of motions come before us, often times different in the total tally. I was very hopeful this evening that this particular vote before us would be a unanimous vote in favor of the third judgeship. I spoke last meeting about the deference that I, in particular, and in my view, all the members of the Board, should give to individuals who are more expert than are we when they render opinions based upon facts. I think that Judge Ceresia’s written letter that we referred to last meeting, was very concise, and was very compelling. He also supplemented that
letter recently, in response, apparently, to a letter that Councilman Redlich had written to him. I afforded the members of this Board some additional time to do their own investigation and to review the statistics, both in favor, and against the proposed third judgeship. I am no less convinced now, than I was two weeks ago, for the necessity of a third judgeship. I think that there have been some troubling remarks that have been made, it’s been an extremely emotional night for the members of the audience as well as the members of this Board, me in particular. But, I think that we have to stay with the concept of public safety. Supervisor Runion very aptly noted that when it comes to public safety there is no price that we should pay, that we should not be concerned with numbers. I do heartily disagree, Mr. Redlich, with your notion that whether it is a .05 or an Aggravated DWI, that certain policies that are currently in effect, that have
been promulgated, that have been legislated, that have been well- considered by the Albany County District Attorney, should be reviewed by this Board. I do not believe that, with respect to the issuance of tickets by our police, that we have any discretion, whatsoever, as members of this Town Board to question that.” |
Councilman Grimm |
Aye – said, “ Guilderland is going to be tough on drunk drivers whether we have two judges or three judges because we are not going to send the wrong signal to what has really been a profound tragedy in the American landscape. The issue of whether to have two or three is a separate issue. It is an issue of affordability. Of course we should look at the numbers, we should judge the numbers based on affordability. If the judge vote were tonight I would say no because of the economy, everybody is cutting back. I think it is reasonable to say this just authorizes the State; we get authorization from the State to consider this at a later point. I think
that is the most reasonable course of action right now.” |
Supervisor Runion |
Aye – said, “I talked about the public safety issue and I talked about the economy of the position but I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about Board members trying to influence policy decisions of police departments. That is an extremely dangerous situation. When Town Board members or a Town Board, which is the lowest form of government, we are dictated to by Federal and State law what we have to follow and what we have to enforce, we have no discretion otherwise. For us to start talking about adopting policies that would require our police department to either enforce or not enforce certain laws, regulations or restrictions takes us one step closer, to what I would
describe, as a police state. That’s wrong, that’s not what we’re here to do. And frankly, I would not sit here on a Board that would do such a thing. So, I want to send a message out to the public that I will not, under any circumstances, listen again to any comments, which direct or attempt to direct our police department on how they do their jobs. We put them through years of training, they go through years of experience, and that is what we have hired them to do, to enforce the law. That is their job, which is their discretion, it is not mine and it is not a Town Board member’s. |
BREAK: 9:37 PM
RETURN: 9:49 PM
Item #2 on the agenda concerned a resolution and authorized the Supervisor to sign an agreement for multi-modal aid in the sum of $200,000.00 with the NYS Dept. of Transportation for Route 20 (Stuyvesant Plaza) storm drainage project.
Supervisor Runion explained that this is money that has been earmarked by Assemblyman McEneny for the Town to help with a project that will attempt to alleviate some of the flooding that occurs on Route 20 in the vicinity of Stuyvesant Plaza.
The improvements will improve the ability of the McKownville reservoir to hold storm drainage water; it will create a park like setting for McKownville residents around the reservoir and it will take into account a ten-year storm event. The project will be funded partially by the $200,000.00 multi-modal money; an additional $100,000.00 by DOT as a Betterment Project and Stuyvesant Plaza has agreed to donate $100,000.000. The Town will also receive $100,000.00 from the NYS Department of Parks and Recreation through a grant.
MOTION #62 Councilman Redlich moved to ADOPT THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION AND AUTHORIZING THE SUPERVISOR TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT FOR A MULTI – MODAL AID IN THE SUM OF $200,000.00 WITH THE NYS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR ROUTE 20 (STUYVESANT PLAZA) STORM DRAINAGE PROJECT.
RESOLUTION NUMBER 62
Authorizing the implementation, and funding in the first instance of the State Multi-Modal Project-aid (and State administered federal program-aid) eligible costs, of a capital project, and appropriating funds therefore.
WHEREAS, A Project for the Drainage System Improvement along State Route 20 (Western Avenue) and behind Stuyvesant Plaza near the vicinity of the former McKownville Reservoir, Town of Guilderland, P.I.N. 1MA088.30A ( “the Project”) is eligible for funding ( under Title 23 U.S. Code, as amended, and ) New York State’s Multi-Modal Program administered by the NYS Department of Transportation (“NYSDOT”); and
WHEREAS, the Town of Guilderland desires to advance the Project by making a commitment of advance funding of the non-local share and funding of the full local share of the costs of the Project; and
NOW, THEREFORE, the Town Board, duly convened does hereby
RESOLVE, that the Town Board hereby approves the above-subject project; and it is hereby further
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby authorizes the Town of Guilderland to pay in the first instance 100% of the federal and non-federal share of the cost of the Preliminary Engineering and Construction work for the Project or portions thereof; and it is further
RESOLVED, that the sum of $200,000.00 (Two hundred thousand dollars and no cents) is hereby appropriated from General Fund and made available to cover the cost of participation in the above phase of the Project; and it is further
RESOLVED, that in the event the full federal and non-federal share costs of the project exceeds the amount appropriated above, the Town Board of the Town of Guilderland shall convene as soon as possible to appropriate said excess amount immediately upon the notification by the New York State Department of Transportation thereof, and it is further
RESOLVED, that the Supervisor of the Town of Guilderland be and is hereby authorized to execute all necessary Agreements, certifications or reimbursement requests for Federal Aid and/or Multi-Modal Program Funding on behalf of the Town of Guilderland with NYSDOT in connection with the advancement or approval of the Project and providing for the administration of the Project and the municipality’s first instance funding of the project costs and permanent funding of the local share of federal-aid and all Project costs that are not so eligible, and it is further
RESOLVED, that a Certified Copy of the Resolution be filed with the Commissioner of Transportation of the State of New York by attaching it to any required and/or appropriate Agreements executed in connection with the project between the Town of Guilderland and the State of New York; and it is further
RESLOVED, that this Resolution shall take effect immediately.
Councilwoman Slavick seconded the motion and it was carried by the following roll call vote:
Councilman Redlich |
Aye |
Councilwoman Slavick |
Aye |
Councilman Pastore |
Aye |
Councilman Grimm |
Aye |
Supervisor Runion |
Aye |
MOTION #63 Councilman Redlich moved to APPROVE THE REQUEST OF ADAM GREENBERG TO APPLY FOR WATER EXTENSION TO SERVICE PROPERTY LOCATED WITHIN THE TOWN OF GUILDERLAND ON WORMER ROAD. Councilwoman Slavick seconded the motion and it was carried by the following roll call vote:
Councilman Redlich |
Aye |
Councilwoman Slavick |
Aye |
Councilman Pastore |
Aye |
Councilman Grimm |
Aye |
Supervisor Runion |
Aye |
No action was taken on an agenda item to consider scheduling a public hearing to re-zone 2026 and 2028 Western Ave. from Local Business to Business Non-Retail Professional.
MOTION #64 Councilwoman Slavick moved to ADJOURN THE MARCH 17, 2009 TOWN BOARD MEETING AT 10:10 PM. Councilman Redlich seconded the motion and it was carried by the following roll call vote:
Councilman Redlich |
Aye |
Councilwoman Slavick |
Aye |
Councilman Pastore |
Aye |
Councilman Grimm |
Aye |
Supervisor Runion |
Aye |
Respectfully submitted,
Rosemary Centi, RMC
Town Clerk
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