- Village of Schuylerville Workshop Meeting
Monday, December 1, 2008
Present: Mayor John Sherman and Trustees Whitney Colvin, Pamela S Foehser and James Miers and one Village resident.
The meeting was to start at 6:30 pm but did not start until 6:43 because the Board was in the office having a major discussion behind closed doors. I guess an executive session without starting a meeting and announcing what they would be in executive session for. So typical for the Village of Schuylerville Board under the poor leadership of Mayor Sherman.
I was able to ask who was taking minutes, as there were no clerks in attendance, and I was told by Mayor Sherman that he was taking minutes but he did not take one note during the meeting. It should be interesting to see what he comes up with – probably just the agenda which was only available to the Board. Mayor Sherman reminded me that this meeting has no public participation.
There was an announcement that there was a water main break in Victory in Schuyler Heights but also affected Timothy Lane and Monument Drive. I was really surprised when they discussed no need for a boil water alert. Jim Miers was setting up some kind of emergency contact of all the residents only in this area.
Discussion
Mayor Sherman: - The Ford truck is repaired.
- A request to the Village Board to approve harvesting the trees on the Easton Property to make some money. It was stated it would have to go out to bid. Whitney was reminded that the Village of Schuylerville always owned the property even though the Water Board had been given permission to use it. Whitney argued that the property was supposed to go back to the original owner and Mayor Sherman reminded him that the deed is to the Village of Schuylerville. The Mayor thinks he will get $5,000 - $6,000 but I remember the last time trees were harvested on the property and the income was closer to $30,000. Whitney is requiring that the Village Attorney look into the whole request first.
· All leaves are picked up but there will be one more pick up on Wednesday as there are still 4 piles in the area – so all the leaves are not picked up. After Wednesday, there will be no more leaf pick ups. - Alternate parking was published in the paper.
- Myers Lane holding pond needs no trespassing signs. Now that the holding pond has had remedial work it is actually holding water and the village needs to protect it.
- Earth Tech update – they are mapping sewer lines but nothing is available to show the board. Also, from Burgoyne to the American Legion is where the 3rd viaduct is located.
Trustee Foehser: - Public comments need to be limited to 3 minutes for everyone and the board should be using a timer.
- Employee handbook – job descriptions are needed and we need to compare village job descriptions with the town job descriptions. Everyone was in agreement and Mayor Sherman agreed to obtain county job descriptions as well. Interesting that Trustee Foehser kept referring to village meetings as town meetings.
- What is the status of the old town hall? Mayor Sherman stated there are negotiations going on and there are 2-3 people looking to purchase it.
- Status of the food pantry at the new town hall? The only present location is the garage which does not work for the volunteer who runs the pantry as there are no rest room facilities in there yet. (My question is – why are there so many food pantries in the Village of Schuylerville? You would think if they all combined their space and items, it would provide a much better food pantry to serve residents.)
- Morgan’s Run – winter parking issues. Mayor Sherman stated tickets would be issued starting this week. Written notices will be handed out to every door this week. The Morgan’s run road is much narrower than Myer’s Lane.
- The present tree that is used for the Christmas lighting is diseased and will be removed this spring. The disease is attacking lilacs and evergreens. Mayor Sherman is looking at replacing it with a blue spruce.
Sidewalks – there were/are issues with the area in front of the pantry (Marlene Bissell fell into the hole but she was ok and did not need medical care) and the sidewalk near Byron’s to the left of the monument. Mayor Sherman reminded everyone that sidewalks are the responsibility of the property owners.
Trustee Miers:· - Request to know if Mayor Sherman is going to be appointing another Trustee and the answer was yes. There is a male interested and will be appointed at the next meeting. Further discussion on whose terms are up and it was stated Mayor Sherman’s, Trustee Foehser and Trustee Mier’s. (However, the new person who is going to be appointed on December 10th will also be a term that will need to be voted on as there is still 2-3 years on the term. Elective offices, which have been filled by appointment for part of the unexpired terms thereof, shall further be filled for the remaining part of such terms by election at the general village election, if any, regularly scheduled to be held prior to the end of the period of such appointment. In the event no general village election is scheduled, a special village election shall be held on the third Tuesday of the month preceding the end of the period of such appointment. Such special elections shall be noticed, held and conducted in the same manner as a general village election.[1])·
- Question regarding allowing the DPW to have the day after Thanksgiving off. Answer – it’s in the employee manual. ·
- Veteran’s Day confusion regarding allowing DPW to choose another day off instead of taking the holiday. Whitney agreed that Veteran’s Day is a day to show support for veterans and should be honored. Mayor Sherman argued that the DPW did not want to change their garbage day but they finally agreed not to allow employees to make this decision. No more options at this point. ·
- Village of Victory sewer bill – is a meeting being set up to discuss with Mayor Sullivan and Mayor Sherman said it still needs to be set up. Trustee Miers wanted to know what steps the Village of Schuylerville is taking to resolve the lack of payments from Victory. Mayor Sherman stated they do not want expensive litigation and he is following the advisement of the village attorney. Trustee Miers stated the village has enough documentation to prove its case. Further discussion on what Victory is responsible for – anything inside the fence which includes the new roof, infrared equipment and odor control. There is also proof that the Village of Victory is presently exceeding their flow rate of 70,000 per day limit. The mill is requesting sewer and any decisions have been placed on hold.
- Recent Saratoga Street arrests appear to be drug related and the Dove Gate Inn was vandalized the same night with drive by paint ball attacks. Further discussion on enforcing the Village curfew – with thoughts of including adults over the age of 18.
- Village owned property off of Chestnut and Green Street – appears to be a hangout and has some type of clubhouse. It was suggested to put no trespassing signs on the property. · Status of the Zoning Board – Mayor Sherman stated it will be discussed at the Village meeting on December 10th. Attorney Bartholomew will be in attendance. The Zoning Board will take at least 1 year. Trustee Miers stated that the Planning Board needs a Zoning Board and the Village should place a moratorium on further development until the Zoning Board is in place.
Trustee Colvin:
- Status of leaf machine. Mayor Sherman said there are issues with the engine/head gasket and suggested they send it to BOCES. Concern that DPW is using the Packer to pick up leaves and the additional use will wear it out earlier. ·
- Consolidation of services – with NYS cutting back on everything it is time to sit down with the Town of Saratoga and the Village of Victory to discuss combining services. Trustee Colvin stated that people in the village are looking toward dissolving the village and he does not agree. Mayor Sherman to prepare a letter to the Town of Saratoga and the Village of Victory to at least sit down and start discussing. Mayor Sherman stated the Town is short on help and has been cooperating very well with the Village of Schuylerville. Trustee Miers stated that we need formalized agreements. Mayor Sherman stated that the Town of Saratoga and the Village of Victory are not cooperating or working well together but there are no issues between the Village of Schuylerville and the Town of Saratoga.
- Paper copies – suggestion that instead of making copies for each Board member that the documents be copied once and circulated. Example was the Sewer SOAR book. We need to reduce wasted paper and we should be more efficient. Email attachments instead of making copies. Documents could also be scanned in and sent by email.
- Plowing and sanding the school was discussed – the school will be charged for 1ton of salt and 1 hour of DPW time each time they have to plow and salt. ·
- Grants – the Fire Department received a grant for $10,522 for equipment and training and Trustee Colvin stated the Fire Dept. needs to let the Board know when they apply for grants before they apply. Mayor Sherman to write a letter to all Department Heads. ·
- Signs on Ferry Street need to be changed – Attorney Bartholomew was to look into this and they don’t have any information yet. There should be parking on one side but not the other.
December 10th agenda items:
DPW updateEaston Woods – Attorney Bartholomew to update the Board on any legal issues
Appoint new Trustee
Announce new 3 minute timeframe for public comments/questions
Combined services
Employee Handbook
Employee Insurance Co-pay’s
Earth Tech review for inspection andtree root problems The meeting ended at 7:42 pm.
[1] http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi
