Month of May...
Town Board meeting 5/12/08 2008
The meeting's routine business included; renewal of Beth's Country Store's beer liscense, approval of closing main street for Riverfest, accepting bids for rock (road paving and repairing), extension of parking lot lease with Bank of America for $1 per year for 5 years, authorized part time employee for Water/Sewer dept (this position was given to Charlie Weiland, who was Planning Board chair, and who is now UDC rep. I don't believe the position was advertised) , authorized Planning Board Chair Ed Jackson to attend day long training at Suny New Paltz regarding new state laws that affect local planning/zoning, information on Alert New York, which is a web based emergency information system, approval of increase in mileage reimbursement rate for town employees from 48cents to 54 cents a mile.
At that point, the Board reseated itself at a u-shaped table to discuss putting on the ballot in November a proposal to abolish the elected position of Highway Superintendent, and create an appointed position of Commission of (the new) Department of Public Works, which would consist of Highway, Water, and Sewer functions. The appointed position would likely be for five years, and would be Scott Birney, now in charge of Water/Sewer Department, and he would then appoint George Kinch, current elected Highway superintendent, his assistant.
There was about 15 to 20 people in the audience. We watched as the Town Supervisor made a case to the Board members for putting this proposal up for a public vote in November. He cited a NYS sponsored study which found that that these positions should be appointed because of the expertise involved. IMPORTANT; The main rationale for doing this is to save money "down the road" it would not reduce taxes. During the public comments, at least three people asked for a estimated dollar figure on how much would be saved...the only response was that it would save on overtime, because employees could be shifted from one job to another. The holder of this new position would be protected from being replaced by Civil Service Law. Basically, it appears the Supervisor wants a detailed job description, with qualifications specified, and its supposed to save money.
Lots of comments...many concerned with cronyism...pointing out jobs filled (see Charlie Weiland above) without being posted, and people who applied ignored. Concerns about politics, questions about the dollar savings, and BIG QUESTION why can't the DPW being created, and be headed by someone elected by the public???? Also BIG QUESTIONS from many people about who will be taxed for what? ie, someone who has a well being charged for the running of Water/Sewer functions....that's really unavoidable because we will all pay the quite generous salary of the Commissioner. Chris strongly expressed his opinion about the Board taking this power to choose who runs the Highway Department (which accounts for the town's highest expenditure, and most critical function) away from the citizens of Tusten, and putting it in the realm of political appointment. We now have direct accountability...every two years, we elect a Highway superintendent...if we don't like his performance, we can vote him out.
Members of the Board expressed their opinions...some were skeptical, but all agreed to put it on the ballot. So, there will be more...much more, on this before November election.
By Major Chaos
Planning Board meeting 5/19/08
Attending were every member of the Board including alternates, the Town Engineer, and the Code Enforcement Officer. there was a Public Hearing regard the request for a special use permit for Jane Luchsinger, who lives on Rt 52 in Lava, to use a portion of her home as a B&B. She presented all paperwork, and was granted the permit.
New business:
The listing Real Estate broker, and a Mr. Bloom, a propective buyer,
came before the Board with a proposal for a "healing center/spa" for
a property on Lackawaxen Road, which used to be an AirstreamRV park.
the seller is a Mr. Salter. Its a 30 acre property with 18 rooms,
and 23 bathrooms, 2 pole barn structures, and a ranch house. the
clientele was presented as people with brain injuries, spinal cord
injuries, autism, etc. these clients or patients would be staying
for undetermined lengths of stay, and receiving treatment from
massage and physical therapists. the facility would be "hooked up"
to a doctor, and the staff would include an RN. Mr. Bloom said he did
not want to apply for an adult home or nursing home lisence. His
answers to the Boards questions about staffing, lisencing, staff to
client ratios, were very unclear and he often said the treatment was
"secret" Tthe name of his group is Futures Unlimited.
Code Enforcement asked if his residents could get out of the building on their own in case of fire...He said no. So the Board said no, because the property is located in the R-1 districted which does not allow for any kind of Skilled nursing or treatment facility.
The Board encouraged Mr. Bloom to learn about what kinds of state lisencing is required to run such a business, and look for somewhere where zoning would allow him to operate. the town accepted $1,000 in escrow money to pay the Town Engineer for being at the meeting which costs $500..(why $1,000???got me)
By Major Chaos
Minutes of Conservation Council meeting of April 28, 2008
Town of Tusten Conservation Council
Meeting No. 4
April 28, 2008
Attendees:
Linda Slocum
Helle Henriksen
Kathy Michell
Cathy Patane
Kevin McClurkan
Angelo DeVagno
Absent:
David Holland
James Stratton
Susan Sullivan
Other
Attendees:
Barbara Arrindell, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability
Barbara Arrindell of Damasus Citizens for Sustainability, www.damascuscitizens.org, attended the meeting and made a brief presentation to the group about her organizations efforts in opposition to the potential gas drilling in eastern Pennsylvania and extending into Sullivan County. Barbara left behind education material on the environmental impact of the exploratory drilling. She also offered to attend and participate in a public meeting in Narrowsburg regarding the drilling if she were to be invited.
A discussion followed about he potential impact in Sullivan County and the Town of Tusten and what could be done to minimize the environmental impact of such drilling in our town with the knowledge that once leases are signed there is no Federal regulation whatsoever on the drilling or exit strategy for the energy companies once they have completed the drilling and extraction process and leave the area.
Linda Slocum suggested that the Conservation Council write to the Delaware River Basin Council and ask them to take an official position on the topic as they have not done so to date.
Kathy Michell shared her research the county planning office and reported on the base map she recommends the Council use moving forward. It would show the tax lot information, rivers, ponds, lakes and roads as the baseline information. She will order a copy of this map for each member of the council.
Kevin shared information on the Environmental Resource Mapper function from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation web site. There are other mapping features available on the DEC site as well. See attached handout. An example mapping, also attached was executed in the area of the Sklar Property mentioned at the last meeting by Ed Jackson. The sample mapping of this site showed the presence of rare plants, animals and significant natural communities. The sample mapping also noted that a NYS DEC permit may be required when these conditions exist for a property. It was suggested that the council officially report this fact to the ToT Planning Board regarding this property.
The DEC web site Environmental Mapper has accessible layers that map Wetland Checkzones, State Regulated Freshwater Wetlands, Rare Plants, Rare Animals, and Significant Natural Communities. The information that accompanies a search for each of these layers is general in nature but does indicate the existence of these ‘hits’. It was suggested that the group become familiar with the mapper and the other resources available on the DEC site for future reference.
More research is in order to determine how to gain more detailed access to the ‘hit’ information, determining the quality and accuracy of the information and how current the information really is that is contained in the mapper. Kevin agreed to look further into this as well as make contact with Dr Pammer at the county planning office to compare notes on their mapping work and the mapping information on the DEC site.
It was suggested that a link to the ToT mapping information at the county level would be a real benefit for land owners and the Council in the future-that the Town of Tusten have its own GIS link.
Open Space was not mapped on the DEC site. A discussion followed about how to start to map open space. Helle suggested we need an open space plan or vision to help accomplish this and the group agreed. Helle’s research lead her to three open space plans or visions that she thought were good examples of how to think about ‘open space’. She would like the group to review and discuss at the next meeting. They were for the Town of Beekman, NY, Gardiner, NY and Ogden, ID. Material attached.
Kevin will follow up with the county planning office on where the county wide open space plan due to be completed this year currently stands and get back to the group. He will also ask what the process, procedure and cost of adding GIS layers that map and indicate the environmental resources of interest to the Council to fulfill our obligations.
Driveway and Logging permits were also discussed relative to the long driveway and clearing recently completed on the Lang property. The discussion covered topics from clear cutting, ridgeline issues, runoff and water management, DEC permitting requirements and what constitutes a driveway and a road. It was generally agreed that the current Driveway Permit is vague and allows a wide range of results and that it should be the Councils recommendation that it be revised to have more narrow and specific requirements for what constitutes a driveway as opposed to a road or a street and the obligations of the property owner when applying for the permit. It was further suggested that this may be include in the Zoning Committee’s work underway currently.
It was further agreed that the current Clearing/Logging Permit allows for a wide range of interpretations and is very lax on best practices and environmental impact regulation. It was acknowledged that managed logging and clearing can be a benefit if managed with a forestry plan under supervised best practice procedures.
There is still no volunteer to serve as Secretary for the Council. Susan Sullivan has offered to make a draft of the minutes for the meetings going forward and Kevin will review, complete and issue the minutes.
The meeting adjourned at 9:00pm.
The next meeting is scheduled for May 26, 2008 but the date will not work as it is Memorial Day. Kevin will work with Kathy to find an alternate day when the meeting room is available. May 19th or June 2nd was suggested. Kevin will get back to the group with alternative dates for consideration.
Prepared by:
Kevin McClurkan