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Village Board of Trustees Minutes 11/05/2012
                                        Board of Trustees
                                                        Village of Tarrytown
                                                        Regular Meeting No. 20
                                                        November 5, 2012
                                                        8:00 p.m.

PRESENT:  Mayor Fixell presiding; Trustees Basher, Butler, Hoyt, McGee and Zollo; Administrator Blau; Village Treasurer Hart; Village Attorney Shumejda and Village Clerk Booth

ABSENT:  Trustee McGovern

The meeting began with the Pledge to the Flag.

REPORTS

Mayor Fixell stated the following:
  • It has been a remarkably difficult and exhausting week for many people in the Village in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.   On behalf of the Board of Trustees, he thanked the Village staff, DPW staff and the department heads.   He thanked the Police Chief and the Police Department, the Fire Department, the Ambulance Corp, our Administrator, who worked day in and day out every day and the staff at Village Hall for doing an outstanding job.   The Village employees worked incredibly hard through this horrible storm.  Unfortunately, there are currently residents still without power.   He also thanked the Library who stayed open late which provided a haven for those without heat and the COC who provided overnight accommodations until Sunday for people who didn’t have power.
  • The Board has instructed the Administrator to draft legislation to waive building department fees for any damage that came from Hurricane Sandy.       
  • Four members of the Tarrytown Fire Department went down to Westbury, Long Island to help out with relief work, Captain Sean Scogna, Jr., Lt. Robert Hoyt, Jr., Miguel Valle and Paul Cappello.
  • The Fire Department is holding a Hurricane Sandy drive at the Main Street Firehouse tonight and tomorrow evening at Consolidated Engine to collect clothes/work gloves etc.
  • The Village’s Pilgrim Run, a 4-mile race, will take place on Sunday, November 11th. The race begins and ends at Hackley School.  Registration time is from 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.  The race will begin promptly at 10:30 a.m.
  • Village Closed – The Village will be closed on Monday, November 12th in observance of Veterans Day.  There will be no garbage pickup.  Garbage collection will resume on Tuesday, November 13th.
  • Election Day - Tomorrow, polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.  If you want to know where to vote, you may contact our Village Clerk at 631-1652 or call the Westchester County Board of Elections at 995-5700 or visit the Westchester County website westchestergov.com.   Administrator Blau noted that he received a press release from the Board of Elections, stating that voters should vote at their normal polling places, despite the storm and its aftermath. Voting will proceed as usual on Tuesday, November 6, 2012.  Trustee Zollo noted that the Governor announced today that if you were displaced due to the storm and you want to vote in the election, you can go to any polling place and vote in the national and state elections.  All that is required is to complete an affidavit.
Trustee Butler stated that he heard from many residents that our Halloween Parade was a great time and the best we ever had.  He thanked the Recreation Department, Recreation Advisory Council and all the other organizations that
helped to put the event together.

VILLAGE ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

Warming Shelters – The Village will continue to provide warming shelters at the Library, Village Hall, COC and Senior Center.

Gas Stations with gasoline update – Mobile Gas Station received 9,300 gallons of gas and will be open on a 24-hour basis, the Hess Gas Station received 3,000 gallons of gas and will also be open on a 24-hour basis and the Shell Gas Station is closed at the present time.  Sleepy Hollow gas stations are now open because they now have power.  Mayor Fixell stated that there is a Facebook site called 10591where people exchange a lot of information.  He recommends it as a good source of information for both villages.

Hurricane Sandy – I wanted to take this opportunity to report on the relationship between the municipalities and Con Edison after the disaster and how Con Edison makes decisions regarding the restoration process.  Immediately after the hurricane hit Westchester County, municipalities can request a staff person from Con Edison known as a municipal liaison.  That person comes to the Village and works directly with our emergency management staff in addressing the immediate needs of the Village.  The municipal liaison working with the Village came in on Tuesday morning and we still have our liaison.  The immediate municipal needs include clearing of streets to enable emergency vehicles access through the Village, removing trees from power lines, providing power for water and sewer related pumping and treatment plants, traffic signals at major intersections and other municipal emergencies.  Con Edison assigned one bucket truck and crew to every municipality in Westchester County to address the municipal emergency work.  

I want to note that the Village’s public works staff cannot cut trees that are on power lines until the power lines are deactivated.  Only Con Edison staff can deactivate the power lines and they must then provide assurance to Village staff that the power lines are de-energized.  During the process of addressing municipal emergency work, Con Edison also performs damage assessment throughout the system so that the company can plan for the restoration work.  In addition to the municipal work, high priority work for Con Edison includes hospital and nursing home restoration.  

Upon completion of the majority of the municipal emergency work, Con Edison commences the restoration process.  The restoration work started in earnest on Thursday.  Schools and polling places became priority restoration projects.  Con Edison determines the order of restoration based upon the amount of work required, the time required to perform the work and ultimately the number of customers to be restored based upon the work.  Thus, if it takes 3 hours to perform restoration work at a location and 150 customers will be restored, that work will be completed before a 3 hour restoration project that will energize 50 customers.  Con Edison works its way through the listing of outages, using this general principal to direct their restoration staff.  

During the aftermath of the hurricane, representatives from the Village have been participating in daily conference calls and briefings with both the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services and Con Edison.  Prior to Sunday, there were two Con Edison conference calls daily.  During those calls, especially the ones with Con Edison, all of the municipal representatives continue to convey the dire need to direct Con Edison resources to their particular communities.  Regardless of the pleading, yelling, cajoling or other actions by municipal representatives, Con Edison will not change the manner in which they direct their restoration efforts.  There is a reason why this is the case.  The manner in which the restoration process used to work, the larger communities and the communities with the greatest amount of political clout were getting priority over other municipalities in the County.  A number of years ago, Con Edison and a group of municipal managers and administrators created a committee to develop a plan to address electrical emergencies.  I was a member of this committee.  It was conveyed to Con Edison and ultimately incorporated into the Con Edison plan all municipalities must be treated equally in the emergency response process.  Thus, the Village will continue to convey to Con Edison the outages in Tarrytown and express the importance of restoration efforts in the Village; however, it will not prompt a change in the restoration efforts of Con Edison.    At this time, Tarrytown has 14% of Con Edison customers without power.   We have a Con Ed crew coming tomorrow to work in the Irving area and hope we can restore power for those residents.  The Village is working with the Con Edison liaison on the outages and will continue to work on them until everyone’s power is restored.

PUBLIC HEARING – PUBLIC ACCESS TO RECORDS (adopted)

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Board of Trustees of the Village of Tarrytown will hold a public hearing on the 5th day of November, 2012, at 8 PM, in the Municipal Building, One Depot Plaza, Tarrytown, New York 10591, to hear, discuss and to act upon a proposed amendments to Chapter 233 entitled “Public Access to Records” of the Code of the Village of Tarrytown. A summary of the legislation is available at Village Hall. The complete text of this legislation follows:

A LOCAL LAW to amend §233-1, 2 and 3 of Chapter 233 entitled “Public Access to Records” of the Code of the Village of Tarrytown.

SECTION 1.  LEGISLATIVE INTENT AND FINDINGS OF FACT.

A.      Findings of Fact.
Staff has reviewed the law concerning public access to Village records and has recommended to the Board of Trustees that the Chapter 233, “Public Access to Records” be amended to provide greater specificity in regards to the Records Access Officers for the Village and to create a new records appeals officer.  The Board believes that it is in the best interest of the Village to amend the Chapter to provide greater specificity in the Code which will make the Chapter more understandable to the public.
B.     Legislative Intent.
It is the intent of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Tarrytown to amend the   language of Chapter 233, entitled "Public Access to Records” of the Code of the Village of Tarrytown, Sections 1, 2 and 3 to provide greater specificity as to the Records Access Officers for the Village and to establish a new Records Access Appeals Officer.  
 
Material to be deleted appears in parenthesis [  ], material to be added is in bold typeface.
SECTION 2.  Amendment to §~233-1. Records Access Officer for Police Department Designated; Availability of police [and other village] records.
The Chief of Police shall serve as the Records Access Officer for the Police Department.  Such [police] records of the Police Department as may be made available pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law of the State of New York will be made available for inspection and copying at the office of the Chief of Police at Police Headquarters at One Depot Plaza. [All other village records that are to be made so available pursuant to the statute will be made available for inspection and copying at the office of the Village Clerk in Village Hall at One Depot Plaza.]
SECTION 3.  Amendment to §~233-2. Records Access Officer Designated for Village Records; Availability of Village Records.
The Village Clerk shall serve as the Records Access Officer for the Village, with the exception of records of the Police Department which shall be subject to the provisions of §~233-1hereinabove.  Such records of the Village as may be made available pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law of the State of New York will be made available for inspection and copying at the office of the Village Clerk at One Depot Plaza.  [The Village Clerk, One Depot Plaza, Tarrytown, New York, (914) 631-1652, shall be designated as the records access officer hereunder.]
SECTION 4.  Amendment to §~233-3. Records Access Appeals Officer Designated for Village Records; Appeals.

The Village Administrator shall serve as the Records Access Appeals Officer for the Village for appeals [The right to appeal] by any person denied access to a record by either the Records Access Officer for Village records or Police Department records.  [or the Chief of Police shall be to the Mayor, One Depot Plaza, Tarrytown, New York.]  In the case of a denial of records from the Village Administrator’s Office, the Board of Trustees shall serve as the Records Access Appeals Officer.
 
SECTION 5.  EFFECTIVE DATE

This local law shall take effect immediately, as provided by law.

All interested parties are invited to attend and be heard.  Access to the meeting room is available to the elderly and the handicapped.  Signing is available for the hearing-impaired; a request must be made to the Village Clerk at least five days in advance of the meeting.

BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OF THE VILLAGE OF TARRYTOWN

Trustee Zollo moved, seconded by Trustee Butler, and unanimously carried, that the hearing be opened.

Mayor Fixell questioned whether anyone wished to address the Board on this matter.  No one appeared.

Trustee Basher moved, seconded by Trustee Zollo, and unanimously carried, that the hearing be closed.

Trustee Basher moved, seconded by Trustee Zollo, and unanimously carried, that the following resolution be approved:  Approved: 6-0       

BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees of the Village of Tarrytown does hereby amend the Code of the Village of Tarrytown, Chapter 233 entitled “Public Access to Records” to provide greater specificity as to the Records Access Officers for the Village and to establish a new Records Access Appeals Officer.

WHEREAS, a public hearing was held for the proposed action on November 5, 2012; and

WHEREAS, a notice of public hearing was published in the Journal News on October 18, 2012; and

WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees of the Village of Tarrytown is the only agency which has approval authority over the Proposed Action, and is therefore the Lead Agency for the Proposed Action.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS:

In accordance with Article 8 of the State Environmental Conservation Law and 6NYCRR Part 617, including without limitations the criteria set forth in 6 NYCRR Part 617.7(c) and based upon review of the Environmental Assessment Form and all other materials that were prepared for the Proposed Action, the Village Board of Trustees hereby determines that Proposed Action will not have a significant adverse impact on the environment, and hereby adopts a Negative Declaration.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees of the Village of Tarrytown hereby adopts Local Law No. 8 of 2012.

OPPORTUNITY FOR THE PUBLIC TO ADDRESS THE BOARD ONLY ON AGENDA ITEMS.  SPEAKERS SHALL HAVE THREE (3) MINUTES TO ADDRESS THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Mayor Fixell asked if anyone wanted to address the Board on agenda items. No one appeared.

RESOLUTION DESIGNATING OFFICES TO BE FILLED AND TERMS AT THE MARCH 19, 2013 VILLAGE ELECTION

Trustee Basher moved, seconded by Trustee Zollo, and unanimously carried, that the following resolution be approved:  Approved: 6-0     

WHEREAS, the next general Village election for officers will be held on Tuesday, March 19, 2013, and

WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees shall designate by resolution as well as have published the offices which are to be filled at the Village election and the terms thereof.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees of the Village of Tarrytown hereby designates the following offices as vacant at the end of the current official year to be filled at the Village election on Tuesday, March 19, 2013, for the following terms:

                        Mayor          Two-year term            
Trustees (3)           Two-year term each
                                                
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Village Clerk is hereby directed to publish this information in the official newspaper of the Village.

AUTHORIZATION TO SUBMIT GRANT APPLICATION

Trustee Hoyt moved, seconded by Trustee McGee, and unanimously carried, that the following resolution be approved:  Approved: 6-0       

BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees of the Village of Tarrytown does hereby authorize the Tarrytown Village Justice to submit a Justice Court Assistance Program grant application to the New York State Court System for the purchase of (2) Taser X26cECS Electronic Control devices to be utilized in the Justice Court.  

SALE OF 75 NEPERAN ROAD – Resolution was removed from the agenda.

AWARD A BID FOR UNINTERRUPTED POWER SOURCE AT POLICE HEADQUARTERS

Trustee Basher moved, seconded by Trustee Zollo, and unanimously carried, that the following resolution be approved:  Approved: 6-0     

WHEREAS, sealed bids were opened on October 19, 2012 for Uninterrupted Power Supply at Police Headquarters

WHEREAS, two bids were received and the bids received are listed below:

  • Morabito Electric Inc.                          $  41,400.00
  • Foremost Electric Corp.                                 $107,600.00
                        
and

WHEREAS, all of the bids have been reviewed by Village staff and staff has found no issues with the proposal submitted by the lowest responsible bidder, Morabito Electric Inc., and

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees of the Village of Tarrytown does hereby authorize the award of the bid for the uninterrupted power supply for the Police Department to Morabito Electric, Inc., Sleepy Hollow, New York per their bid of $41,400.00.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees of the Village of Tarrytown does hereby authorize and direct the Village Administrator to execute an agreement with Morabito Electric Inc. associated with this bid award.

AWARD FOR CONSTRUCTION OF CONCRETE CURBS AND CONCRETE ISLANDS AT MCKEEL AVENUE PARKING LOT

Trustee Zollo moved, seconded by Trustee Basher, and unanimously carried, that the following resolution be approved:  Approved: 6-0     

WHEREAS, the Village developed specifications to obtain proposals for the construction of concrete curbs and concrete islands in the McKeel Avenue Parking Lot; and

WHEREAS, since the estimated price of the project was less than $35,000, pursuant to the Village’s Procurement Policy, the Village was required to obtain written proposals for the project as opposed to sealed bids; and

WHEREAS, the Village received four (4) responses to the specification and request for proposals and are listed below; and

  • JNC Construction & Landscaping Inc.             $24,570
  • Landi Contracting Inc.                          $24,800
  • Vernon Hills Contracting                                $25,570
  • Bradhurst Site Construction                     $27,620
and

WHEREAS, the Engineer’s Office has reviewed the proposals and contacted the two low proposers to assure that the proposals submitted by the proposers provided for payment of prevailing wages pursuant to New York State law; and

WHEREAS, after numerous attempts to contact JNC Construction & Landscaping Inc. to verify that the proposal provided for the payment of prevailing wages, the Village received no response to the Village’s attempts to contact the contractor.
        
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees of the Village of Tarrytown does hereby declare the proposal from JNC Construction & Landscaping Inc. to be non-responsive.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees does hereby authorize the Village Administrator to execute an agreement with Landi Contracting Inc. per their proposal of $24,800 for the construction of concrete curbs and concrete curbs and concrete islands in the McKeel Avenue Parking Lot.

TAX CERTIORARIS - TRADE ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT, INC.

Trustee Basher moved, seconded by Trustee Zollo, and unanimously carried, that the following resolution be approved:  Approved: 6-0     

BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees of the Village of Tarrytown does hereby approve the settlement of the tax certiorari case with Trade Association Management, Inc., for property located at 25 North Broadway, as outlined in the Village Attorney’s memorandum dated October 25, 2012; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees may fund this tax     certiorari from a future financing resolution.

TAX CERTIORARIS - CARROLLWOOD

Trustee Basher moved, seconded by Trustee Hoyt, and unanimously carried, that the following resolution be approved:  Approved: 6-0      

BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees of the Village of Tarrytown does hereby approve the settlement of the tax certiorari case with Carrollwood I, II, III and IV properties, as outlined in the Village Attorney’s memorandum dated October 25, 2012; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees may fund this tax certiorari from a future financing resolution.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES HELD ON OCTOBER 15, 2012

Trustee Basher moved, seconded by Trustee Zollo, and unanimously carried, that the following resolution be approved:  Approved: 6-0     

BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees of the Village of Tarrytown does hereby approve the minutes of the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees held on October 15, 2012 as submitted by the Village Clerk.  

APPROVAL OF AUDITED VOUCHERS

Trustee Zollo moved, seconded by Trustee Basher, and unanimously carried, that the following resolution be approved:  Approved: 6-0     

BE IT RESOLVED the Board of Trustees hereby approves the Audited Vouchers included in Abstract No. 8 and hereby orders the Audited Vouchers to be paid in the following amounts:

                        General         $    655,918.50
                              Water                208,827.26
                        Sewer Fund                               0.00
                        Capital               860,119.91
                        Library                 10,595.57
                        Trust & Agency               17,176.83
                        Total                       $ 1,752,638.07

The Board was polled all voting “aye” with the exception of Trustee McGee who recused herself from Voucher Number 2012238326 and 20122238333 and Trustee Hoyt who recused himself from Voucher Number 2012238468.   Motion carried.   6-0

OPPORTUNITY FOR THE PUBLIC TO ADDRESS THE BOARD.  SPEAKERS HAVE FIVE (5) MINUTES BEFORE YIELDING TO THE NEXT SPEAKER; THEN THREE (3) MINUTES FOR ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Lori Semeraro, 205 Martling Avenue, stated the following:
  • She thanked the Police, DPW and the Fire Department for doing a great job during the storm.  She appreciates that members of the Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow Fire Department went to Long Island to help out and that the Tarrytown Fire Department are collecting goods for Long Island.   
  • She doesn’t understand the Village’s lack of documentation for four of her FOIL requests.
  • The Halloween Parade had a wonderful turnout and a lot of people participated, but she feels that there was a huge safety issue on Main Street.  The vendors were not properly barricaded off from the public.  Administrator Blau stated that whenever we try something new, we do an assessment after the fact and we will make modifications and improvements as we go forward.  We will take your concerns into account as part of our assessment.  
Chief of Police Brown stated that they also do an assessment of each Village event that involves the police department.  It was observed that the vendors did encroach onto Main Street and also the crowds did move the barricades.  We will address those issues for next year.   

ADJOURNMENT

Trustee Basher moved, seconded by Trustee Zollo, and unanimously carried, that the meeting be adjourned at 8:37 p.m.


Carol A. Booth
Village Clerk