Minutes
City of
REGULAR MEETING
The regular meeting of the Beacon City Council held at
the
Council Members Present: Deanna Leake,
Council Members Excused: Eleanor Thompson
Also present were: City
Administrator, Joseph Braun
City
Attorney, Gerard Pisanelli
The media was represented by: Goldee Greene, Beacon Free Press
Michelle
Lee,
Residents at beginning of
meeting: 80 (filled to capacity)
Public Hearings: - Adjourned from
1.
Proposed
Local Law A: Changing the Zoning of Property from R1-10 One Family Residence
District to R1-40 One Family Residence District.
2.
Proposed
Local Law B: Changing the Zoning of
Property from R-1-40 One Family Residence District to R1-80 One Family
Residence District.
3.
Proposed
Local Law C: Changing the Zoning of
Property from R-1-40 One Family Residence District to R1-120 One Family
Residence District.
Mayor Clara
Lou Gould’s Comments: This
hearing is being adjourned until
City Attorney,
Gerard Pisanelli’s Comments: It should be noted that these represent
three separate laws pertaining to three different areas.
Public
Comments for this Hearing:
Tom Baldino,
To: Beacon City Council, From Steve Gold, regarding
Hiddenbrooke dated April 4, 2005.
I am working this evening so please accept these
comments in the record and be distributed to the Council for their
consideration.
I would first like to express that the property at
Hiddenbrooke is unique and any steps that can be taken to preserve it for the
enjoyment of Beacon residents should be fully explored. It would be best used
for recreation so residents can walk its grounds and enjoy its magnificent
beauty.
The first consideration should be to include it into
the city's future master plan. To permit multi‑unit houses on the scale
that is being presented would cause a clear impact on the cities roads,
services and schools. To proceed without looking at the larger scale of the
City as a whole may present future unforeseen consequences that would be
detrimental to everyone's quality of life. Therefore I support a building
moratorium as outlined by Councilman Lee Kyricou.
Second, with the large volumes of run off that would
be created by development on this property because of the high elevation in
parts, it would appears necessary to require a full environmental impact
statement and not accept a negative declaration.
Third, if the City has not yet adopted a local
law that would require certain developments to be clustered based on
terrain and the preservation of esthetic or historically significantly
property, it should adopt such a law immediately and before approving any other
zoning in the city. This law should then be applied to require a clustered
development on the level parts of the property leaving the elevated two thirds
free from development.
Fourth, County Executive Steinhaus has previously stated
to former Councilman Steve Gold that funds are available for purchase of
properties in the City of
The following
letter from Lou Sebesta,
To the members of the Beacon City Council:
RE: Public Hearing on
Consideration of Building Moratorium for Hiddenbrooke Site
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I appeal to you to seriously consider enacting a
moratorium on implementation of development plans for the Hiddenbrooke site and
all other significantly large parcels of land in the city until a collaborative
review and updating of our long obsolete Comprehensive Plan can be undertaken.
Such a moratorium is of the most critical essence at
this time, because land use planning for large parcels has such long term and
significant impacts on the future environmental, economic, and cultural well
being of our community. Our old plan is impossibly outdated and inapplicable to
the drastically changed character and needs of our current and future
community. Therefore, we should not proceed at this time along the guidelines
of our old plan, particularly in regard to large open space parcels.
Rather, we need to undertake a collaborative process
to review our existing environmental resources and update our vision for
Beacon's future in a revised Comprehensive Plan in light of new information and
state of the art thinking on green and sustainable development. Only after that
process is complete should such large scale and far reaching land use decisions
be entertained.
Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely,
The following is a letter addressed Mayor
Clara Lou Gould dated
Thank you for all you have done to help make Beacon
the remarkably finer city it is today.
My wife and I bought our first house in Beacon in
1972 and still own it today, though we live in Union Vale.
In 1972 Beacon was run down and had problems. We
chose to live there because we wanted our children to be raised in what we
considered a hard working community which just happened to be down on its luck.
Our hope was that change would occur for the better and we would be there for
it. It did, ever so slowly.
We also chose Beacon because my wife was raised
there and especially because of the amazing natural beauty which existed in and
about the city.
Our sons attended Beacon schools through the fourth
and eight grades respectively. To this day they will say that their best
friends were made there, though they are now twenty‑eight and thirty‑one
years old. To this day, my wife and I will say that our finest neighbors and
friends are still the same people who live next to or across from 86 Depuyster.
Ave.
I tell you all this to lend credence to our feelings
about the division and development of the Hiddenboooke property. We are not
just owners of a piece of property shooting our mouth off. We loved Beacon
then; we love it now. And, we may well move back to this house, our first home.
But, Hiddenbrooke! For our thirteen years on
Our favorite family story features my oldest son,
then five years old and quite small of stature. Even at that age he was an avid
fisherman and devotee of the pond at
He somehow also discovered the pond in front of the
novitiate in Hidddenbrooke unbeknownst to us.
I had bought him a small version of a hunting jacket
with oversized pockets. Years later we learned that on more than one occasion
he would catch a fish in Hiddenbrooke and then stick it into one of those big
pockets and run as fast as his little legs would carry him to the pond at
But, I digress. Hiddenbrooke was and is now a
sanctuary. I trespassed as a runner in the wee hours only because of the return
in time its beauty and silence offered. Somehow those several hundred steps
from Depuyster transported me to the mountains of my grandparent's
Beacon has many natural gifts.
Hopefully some conservation group or philanthropist
will enter our dilemma and purchase it from the present developer so that it
may become the designated "forever wild" area it should have become a
long time ago.
Please do not permit this sacred spot to be
developed!
If a moratorium on development is needed‑ and
it is‑ for the creation of a new master plan for Beacon, Please do it!!! Time
we have. Another Hiddenbrooke we do not have.
I thank you for taking the time to read our
feelings.
Please feel free to share this with anyone and
everyone involved in this important decision.
And, please, if you have not visited Hiddenbrooke
early, early in the morning, do so. And, equally as important, the top of Mt
Beacon ‑ in case some developer comes to consider this fair game.
Dennis Pavelock,
Dick Murphy –I’m
here to support the moratorium. I am a
long time resident of the western end of town.
I see the value of the beautiful land up there and the need to preserve
as much of it as possible. I urge a
moratorium on development so we can look into its possibility.
Marcia Frahman,
Tony Beck,
Fritz Orhloff –
Last week I took a walk through Hiddenbrooke by the pond. We must save as much land as we can. The creek was never cleaned. There are trees growing right in the middle
of the creek and it creates a dam. The
developer is planning on putting four houses on one acre. That is too many.
Michelle Lee,
Reporter for the Poughkeepsie Journal – Why was the hearing postponed to
June?
City Attorney,
Gerard Pisanelli: We are still working
on SEQR, the environmental studies.
John
City Attorney,
Gerard Pisanelli: There is going to be a
preliminary presentation of this project at the Planning Board next
Tuesday. This will give the public an
idea of what they are planning to do.
Mayor Clara Lou
Gould: And as our City Engineer has
said, they do not know what they are going to do until the entire engineering
process has been done. This includes the
drainage situation and what can and cannot be done on that property.
Betty DiPompo, 6
Pierce Drive – The residents that came out this evening concerning this
situation all told you how they feel about this. I hope the city government pays attention and
does what they want.
Mayor Clara Lou
Gould reiterated that if anyone can think of anything more they would like to
say about this project to please write a letter to the Planning Board before
No further
comments
Motion to adjourn
hearing until
Community Segment: Dennis Pavelock, representative of
Concerned Citizens Coalition introduced Rick Price who gave a verbal
presentation of his artistic work producing beautiful Murals, which he would be
pleased to do for Beacon. He is
currently maintaining his freelance career in Beacon, NY, and serving the
Mayor Clara Lou Gould asked for a motion
to approve Council Meeting Minutes for:
Motion to accept minutes:
Reports: Text from the
following reports is at the end of these minutes for
Mayor’s Communications read by Mayor Clara
Lou Gould
City Administrator, Joseph Braun read his
Report of Activities
City Attorney, Gerard Pisanelli read his
Report of Activities – 1st Meeting of the Month
Mayor Clara Lou Gould read her Report of
Activities
Council Members each gave their Reports of Activities
Public Comments: Pertaining to This Agenda Only - None
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Resolutions:
Local Laws
and Ordinances: - To Remain Tabled
1.
Second
2.
Second
3.
Second
NEW BUSINESS:
Resolutions:
1.
Resolution No. 33 of 2005 -
RESOLVED, that the City Council
having jurisdiction over the City of Beacon Fire Department authorizes the
participation of the Beacon Fire Department in the Dutchess County Mutual Aide
Plan, and certifies to the Dutchess County Legislature through the Dutchess
County Emergency Response Coordinator that no restrictions exist against
“outside services” by such Fire Department named herein within the meaning of
Section 209 of the General Municipal Law, which would effect the power of said
Fire Department to participate in such plan and be it further;
RESOLVED, that this resolution supersedes all previous like resolutions, and be it
further;
RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be filed with the Dutchess County Office
of Emergency Response.
Motion to
authorize the participation of the City of
2.
Resolution No. 34 of 2005 - Ratify Traffic Safety Committee Recommendations: Ratification of Traffic Safety Committee
Determination to place stop signs at various intersections in the City of
WHEREAS,
the Traffic Safety Committee has held a public hearing to receive public input
for a series of proposals to install stop signs at various intersections of the
City of
RESOLVED,
that the determination of the Traffic Safety Committee to require the following
actions be hereby ratified:
1. Install
‘Stop Sign’ on
2. Install
‘Stop Sign’ on
3. Install
‘No Stopping’ sign while school is in session during the hours of
4.
No parking here to corner 30 feet back both sides on South Cedar at
5.
No parking here to corner 30 feet back northeast corner of DeWindt at
South Cedar. (Added at Meeting)
Motion to amend
resolution to add No. 4 and 5 regarding 30 feet from corner: Council member Fasano. Seconded:
Motion to ratify
Traffic and Safety recommendations:
Council Member Kyriacou.
Seconded: Council Member Fasano.
All voted in favor. Motion carried.
Local Laws
And Ordinances:
1. Resolution No. 35 of 2005 - Proposed Local Amending Chapter 223,
Zoning, of the City of
Motion to set public hearing for
Ratifications:
Appointments/Announcements:
Appointments
to Committee to Review Comprehensive Plan Review:
Planning Board
Zoning Board
Conservation Advisory Committee
BACA – Sara Pasti
Historical Society – Joan VanVoorhis
Residents:
Todd Spire
John Stella
Patricia Dunne
Thomas Skipwith
Javier Guillen
Gary Wood
Thomas Baldino
Catherine C. Allgauer
Randall Martin
Youth Representative – Paul Salvas recommends:
Brian Debronsky
Joseph Fiege
Council Member
Kyriacou: I was not at the workshop.
This looks like a wonderful list. My
only comments would be that the youth representatives should not be both
male. You might want to add the School
Board and
Final
Tom Baldino,
Agencies Fight Over Report on Sensitive Atomic Wastes
By MATTHEW L. WALD
WASHNGTON, March 29 ‑
A semisecret debate is raging between the National Academy of Sciences and the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission about the vulnerability of nuclear wastes to
terrorist attack and about how secret the debate should be.
The academy, under orders from Congress, produced a
study last summer about whether the spent‑fuel pools at nuclear reactors
were vulnerable to terrorist attacks. The pools hold most of the radioactive
material ever produced at the reactors, far more than the reactors themselves.
After the attacks of
Academy officials say they have hit a roadblock in
releasing their report. By law, the academy, which Congress charters,
coordinates the work of academic experts from around the country, and it is
supposed to make its findings public. In cases like the nuclear waste one, it
is supposed to work with the relevant federal agency to develop a version of
its report that has no information that would be useful to terrorists.
The academy sent a draft to the regulatory
commission in November. But the two have not agreed on what information to
release. A commission official said the problem was if aggregation."
Although no secret facts appear in the academy version, piecing together the
material disclosed would provide useful information.
This month, the academy took the unusual step of
sending its version to members of Congress, with classified information removed but still including "safety sensitive
information."
A few days later, the commission sent several
lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, a rebuttal to the classified report. A
spokesman, Eliot Bremer, said this was not a response to the academy, but
because Congress wanted to know what actions the commission would take.
According to the commission, the academy panel had
"identified some scenarios that are unreasonable."
The rebuttal, sent by Nils J. Diaz, chairman of the
commission, said using those situations could "lead to a misinterpretation
of the actual risk, and this can cause confusion."
Some ideas put forward by the academy "lacked a
sound technical basis," including having reactor operators move more fuel
from the pools to dry casks, said the rebuttal,
which was sent to Senator Pete V. Domenichi the New
Mexico Republican who is chairman of a Senate subcommittee on energy and water.
Among engineers, those are fighting words. The
rebuttal's characterization is "an incomplete and, consequently, less than
accurate description of what our classified report had to say," the
executive officer of the academy, E. William Colglazier, said in a telephone
interview.
In separate interviews, two of the scientists who
provided peer review of the academy study
and an author of the study agreed. All three said they could not talk about
what the report said because it remained classified at the insistence of the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
When nuclear fuel is taken out of the reactor, it
has to stay in the pool because it generates so much heat. After about five
years, it cools enough to be put in a sealed cask of steel and concrete.
The casks are filled with inert gas to prevent rust. The fuel warms the gas, which
transfers its heat to the exterior of the cask. Nearly half the reactors in the
The commission has repeatedly said cask storage and
pool storage are equally safe. On March 14, Dr. Diaz told reporters at the
National Press Club, "I don't see them as a significant radiological
risk."
At many plants, the pools are belowground or nearly
so, making attacks difficult. But at some reactors, the plants are well above
grade. In Mr. Diaz's rebuttal, he refers to a recommendation by the academy
that plants be analyzed individually to evaluate their vulnerability and that
at some the commission "might determine that earlier movements of spent
fuel from pools to dry storage would be prudent."
Frank N. Von Hippel, a
"I found
it peculiar that the N.R.C. said they did," Dr. von Hippel said.
A declassified version might explain the apparent
discrepancy. Mr. Bremer, the commission spokesman, said his agency sent a new
draft to the academy on Tuesday.
Yucca Safety – Tom Baldino
THIS WEEK
Federal Scientists Falsified Yucca Safety Evaluations
Reporting by Roddy Scheer
In what could be a crushing blow to Bush
administration plans to store the nation's nuclear waste at Nevada's Yucca
Mountain, the Energy Department has announced that federal scientists may have
misrepresented findings regarding the potential for water to seep into and
jeopardize storage facilities at the controversial site.
Without revealing any more specifics, Energy
Secretary Samuel Bodman reported last week that ff certain employees of the
U.S. Geological Survey ... may have falsified documentation of their work"
on Yucca Mountain from 1998 to 2000.
Ever since
Meanwhile, opponents of developing Yucca Mountain
for nuclear waste storage ‑ including environmentalists and most Nevada
residents‑‑contend that water could seep into the mountain, corrode
the metal waste storage canisters, and contaminate the water supply on which
nearby communities, such as Las Vegas 90 miles away, depend.
The Bush administration has been pushing for the
creation of new nuclear power plants as a key aspect of its beleaguered energy
plan. But new facilities can only be created if the government has a
satisfactory method of storing the radioactive waste generated. Indeed, if
Dennis Pavelock,
Marcia Frahman, 19 North Street - I would like to thank Council Member Antalek regarding what the houses look like with all the garbage and trash in their yards I live next door to a man who lives at 17 North Street who has garbage and junk in his yard. He has been cited and gone to court but the trash still has not been cleaned up. If anybody has any ideas, I would appreciate hearing them.
Craig Wolf,
John Berry – In answer to Council Member Antalek - the Boy Scout Troup that I am connected with will be cleaning the Madam Brett Homestead of debris within the next two weeks. We do that every April when the snow melts. It is six acres and we usually get a ton or so of debris off of that property every year. Maybe some of the residents will follow suit.
No further comments
Budget Amendments: Council Action Budget
Amendments –
1. Amend
the General Fund Budget Insurance Recovery Revenue (A 1325.R2680.00)
in the amount of $3,905.00 to be transferred
to Fire Department Repair of Equipment
(A 3410.X4472.00).
This amount represents the amount received on
Motion
to Amend the General Budget Insurance Recovery Revenue:
2. Amend
the General Fund Balance (Code: A909)
for the Fire Department in the amount
of
$48,000.00. These funds are to be
transferred to the following:
A
3410.X2500. $48,000 Purchase of Bunker Gear
Additional
funds are needed to cover the cost of equipment for new
volunteers
and to replace old, worn equipment of current volunteers.