Minutes
REGULAR MEETING
The regular meeting of the Beacon City
Council at
Also invited to attend: David H. Stolman, AICP, PP
President – Frederick P. Clark Associates, Inc.
Motion to enter Executive Session at
Motion to end Executive Session at
The meeting of the Beacon City Council continued at
Council Members present: Deanna Leake, Eleanor
Thompson,
Also Present: City
Administrator, Joseph Braun
City
Attorney, Gerard Pisanelli
The media were represented by: Goldee Greene, Beacon Free Press
Michelle
Lee,
No of Residents at beginning: 20
Public Hearings:
1.
Proposed Local Law to Amend
Chapter 211 by adding New Section 211-17 C Time Limit Parking. (Parking –
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Section
211- 17 shall be amended to add a new subsection as follows:
C. Schedule
XIII: Time Limit Parking. Beacon residents displaying a valid permit issued by
the City Administrator shall be permitted to park a vehicle for 6 hours between
the hours of
Name of Street Side Location
Ferry
Street both entire length excluding turn
around
River Street west entire length
The local law would take effect immediately upon its
filing with the Secretary of State.
Complete copies of the proposed local law are available at the
All interested persons and citizens shall have an opportunity to be heard on said proposals at the date, time and place aforesaid.
Public
Hearing Comments
Mayor
Clara Lou Gould read the following letter from the River Street Homeowners
Association signed by thirteen residents of
We, the residents of
Gloria
Toro,
Betty
DiPompo,
Waveney Harrington,
Angel
Toro,
City Administrator, Joseph Braun: Both sides of the street are currently restricted to four hour parking. With this change, we would issue a permit for only a Beacon Resident to park there. You will have to show proof that you reside in Beacon. Basically, instead of having general four hour parking for anyone, it will be six hour parking for Beacon Residents only.
Resident: If the four hours are working, why is it being changed to six hours? My concern is that you are taking the concerns of the commuters over the residents. If four hours is enough for the people who live here, why are you giving the commuters six hours?
No further comments
Motion
to close public hearing:
Community Segment: None
Approval of Minutes: The
Mayor requested a motion to approve minutes for the following meeting:
Motion to approve Council Meeting
Minutes:
Text from the following Reports for
Communications read by Mayor Clara Lou
Gould
City Administrator, Joseph Braun read his
Report of Activities
City Attorney Report of Activities – 1st
Meeting of the Month
Mayor Clara Lou Gould read her Report of
Activities
Council Reports of Activities gave their report of activities
Comments on Agenda Items Only
The following letter was distributed to the
council signed and read by Michael Lanari dated
In the 2nd quarter of 2004, Cablevision was caught
red-handed giving away, unbeknown to this
council, the cable news to towns not party to the 15 municipality MOU contract. After Cablevision refused to correct the situation
this City Council by a vote of 5 to 1 passed
resolution No. 139 exercising the City of Beacon's negotiated right to pull out
of the cable news MOU upon serving Cablevision with 1
years notice. The actions required on
Cablevision's part for Beacon to entertain re-entering the MOU are made very
clear in this resolution and a letter from the city attorney
putting Cablevision on notice, dated
In
simple terms, here are the required actions:
1. Charge the towns getting the cable news signal for
free or
2. Shut off the news signal to the towns not paying
In 3 days it will be one year since Beacon gave first
formal notice to Cablevision on this issue. During
this period, absolutely nothing has been done to solution these specific items, both of which Cablevision has the means and
wherewithal to make happen. Equipment to block channels or
programs is commonplace in the broadcasting industry and is used regularly across this nation to comply
with regulatory mandates.
If this were a situation with say the planning board
and/or their consultants where a developer
seeking project approval was asked to address a list of items and the developer took no action on these items prior to the following
meeting would such a project be allowed to move forward? If the
building inspector delivered a list of items to be addressed prior to a Certificate of Occupancy being
issued on a new home or addition, would it be
if no action were taken prior to the inspector's next visit? The answer in both cases is that the projects would stop dead in
their tracks until the requested actions were taken.
Beacon
has clearly spelled out what is needed to consider re-entering the news MOU. Has Cablevision come back to the table carrying with
them anything you asked for? Absolutely not! No further
consideration should be given by this council to the News MOU until Cablevision complies with your resolution
No. 139 requested actions.
Respectfully
Submitted,
MICHAEL H LANARI
BEACON NY
Don Gallo: I would like to
ask that the Council live up to their agreement that the MOU be turned off this
year if certain things were not done.
The resolution tonight is like amending a law that is not being enforced
in the first place. I think that you
should keep your promise and live up to your resolution.
Joe Guanari: A member of
the Howland Public Library Board of Trustees – I would like to thank the City
Council for considering the parking for the Howland Public Library. The library feels that this is a key vote for
the library. By taking care of the
parking problem, it will allow us to focus our resources to the new library. We
still have to face the voters on a referendum – We feel that this vote tonight
will put us over the top. Our County
legislature, John Forman is here this evening if you have any questions.
Dennis Pavelock – No. 3 and No. 5 – Another classic case of
reckless disregard for the Beacon residents.
I want the Council to stand by their original resolution. I received a call from a resident regarding
the appraisers who are appraising property for parking: They are going through the people’s
properties. They do not cooperate with
the residents. They keep referring them
to City Hall. He gave a resident’s name
and phone number and asked that they please call this resident to let her know
what is going on
Terry Pendleton: I have not
changed my mind about Cablevision from last year. 2nd: Parking for the Howland public Library. I spoke to the council about pulling three
parcels from the tax rolls. Tomorrow the
vote for the school budget will increase our taxes in double digits. I understand that there is some funding
coming out of
Roger Connor – Cablevision:
Going back to Resolution 139 from last year. We had several workshop meetings prior to the
resolution going to a vote. I first
received the letter from the city asking us to block the program from the
communities that are getting the service for free or have them pay for it. At the time, I expressed to the council that
that this is not a cablevision decision.
This decision was made by all the communities involved. We could not make the decision to block or
charge these communities. I went back to
all the other municipalities and the result was to leave things as they
are. Those communities were never
involved in cablevisions program at that time.
Other communities are looking at our program and this will generate more
income. This helps the bottom line for
the people who are paying for it. The
business community has been supportive of this program.
No further comments.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Resolutions:
Local Laws
and Ordinances:
1.
Resolution No. 48 of 2005 - adopting Local Law No. 03 of 2005 - to Amend Chapter 211 by adding New Section 211-17 C
Time Limit Parking. (Parking –
BE
IT ENACTED by the City Council of the
City of
SECTION 1. TITLE
This
local law shall be entitled “A Local Law Adding Section 211-17 C in order to
establish Time Limit Parking for City of
SECTION 2. PURPOSE
AND INTENT
This
local law is intended to establish parking areas for City of
SECTION 3. AMENDMENT
Section
211- 17 shall be amended to add a new subsection as follows:
C. Schedule
XIII: Time Limit Parking. Beacon residents displaying a valid permit issued by
the City Administrator shall be permitted to park a vehicle for 6 hours between
the hours of
Name of Street Side Location
Ferry Street both entire length excluding turn around
River
Street west entire length [as amended below]
SECTION 4. EFFECTIVE
DATE
This
local law shall take effect immediately upon its filing with the Secretary of
State.
Motion
to amend Proposed Local Law to withdraw
Motion to adopt Proposed Local Law as Amended:
NEW BUSINESS:
Resolutions:
1. Resolution
No. 49 of 2005 - Authorizing a
Partial Refund for 2004 Real Property Taxes –
WHEREAS, application for Alternative Veteran's
Exemption was filed on February 25, 2003 and accepted subject to receiving the
deed for real property located at 23 Helen Court, Grid No. 6055‑04‑737126,
and
WHEREAS, the deed was received and processed on March
14, 2003, at which time due to clerical error the Office of the Assessor failed
to record the Veteran's exemptions on the tax rolls, and
WHEREAS, the amount levied and paid for 2004 county
and city taxes was $1,668.38 which with the Veteran's exemptions as provided
under 458‑a RPTL should have been $1402.33, and
WHEREAS, the Dutchess County Real Property Tax Service
and the Office of the Assessor recommend that the application for a correction
be approved,
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the application
for correction of the 2003 tax roll to reflect the Veterans exemption for
BE IT RESOLVED, that notice of said approval and a
partial refund in the amount of $266.05 for overpayment of the 2004 county and
city real property shall be issued to Michael F. Kozak and Danielle M. Kozak,
the owners of real property located at 23 Helen Court.
Motion to partially
refund real property taxes –
2. Resolution
No. 50 of 2005 - Approval of Mayor’s
Appointment of City Engineer – Arthur Tully of Lanc and Tully Engineering and
Surveying, P.C. read by City Administrator, Joseph Braun.
WHEREAS, the City has advertised for
bids for engineering services for the City of
NOW THEREFORE
BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council approves of the Professional Service Contract to
Lanc & Tully Engineering and Surveying, P.C. with Municipal Rates effective
until
Principal $
95.00
Professional Engineer $ 95.00
Project Manager $
90.00
Land Surveyor $
70.00
Engineer, Sr. $ 80.00
Engineer $
70.00
Engineering Technician, Sr. $ 80.00
Engineering Technician $ 60.00
Surveying Technician $
60.00
Construction Technician $ 55.00
Survey Field Crew, 2-Men * $105.00
Survey Field Crew, 3-Men * $158.00
Clerical/Secretarial $ 38.00
Principal (Court - Min. 4 Hours) $180.00
* Subject to prevailing wage rates.
Printing will be charged extra. All charges are
portal to portal. The above rates include the cost of long distance telephone
calls, mileage driven within 100 miles of our office, and regular postage
costs.
RESOLVED, the Mayor is authorized to
appoint Arthur Tully of Lanc & Tully, Engineering and Surveying, P.C.,
Motion to approve appointment of City Engineer: Council Member Fasano. Seconded: Council Member Kyriacou. On a roll call vote, all voted in favor. Motion carried.
3. Defeated: Rescission Of
Resolution No. 139 Of 2004 And Notification Of City Of
Beacon’s Intent To Terminate The City’s Involvement In The Memorandum Of
Understanding For Cable News Effective July 23, 2006 Unless Certain Criteria
Are Met read by City Administrator, Joseph Braun
WHEREAS, the City of
WHEREAS, Cablevision has expressed a
willingness to work toward bringing those municipalities currently receiving
the Cable News free of charge into the Memorandum of Understanding as paying
customers,
NOW, THEREFORE
BE IT RESOLVED, the City Council hereby votes to rescind Resolution No. 139 of 2004 and
votes to put Cablevision on Notice that Beacon’s participation in the
Memorandum of Understanding will end on
RESOLVED, a representative of
Cablevision shall appear at a City Council workshop in April of 2006 to report
on whether or not those municipalities currently receiving the Cable News free
of charge have joined the Memorandum of Understanding as paying customers.
Motion for
the Rescission of Resolution No. 139 of 2005 unless certain criteria are
met: Council Member Antalek. Seconded: Council Member
Leake.
Note:
Resolution No. 139 of 2004 terminates the
City's participation in the Memorandum of Understanding with Cablevision for
cable news as of
Council Member Kyriacou: The reason we are doing this goes back to the
original motion regarding the MOU, which was passed over a year ago. I was the one who insisted on this. That clause has given us the power to
negotiate with Cablevision. We are the
one community that acted on it. About 10
months ago we agreed to withdraw because of the communities that were getting
this service free of charge. The
consensus was to wait and see how this was working out. I would like acknowledgement that Cablevision
is working to bring those communities in as paying customers.
City Attorney, Gerard
Pisanelli: The resolution that I prepared
was based on what I heard. Basically
this is an attempt to hold their feet to the fire. The only issue is to get them to pay.
Mayor Clara Lou Gould: The people that I have spoken to are happy to
get the news even though the eastern end is getting this free because they are
getting an opportunity to see Beacon on television.
Council Member Thompson: If you can block us if we withdraw, why can’t
you block those that are getting this free? You say that the cost for the
Beacon News is being reduced, yet you are increasing the cost of cable. I said this before and I am saying this
again, I still think you are playing with us.
On a roll call vote, There
were four “No” votes and Council Members Kyriacou and Antalek and Mayor Clara
Lou Gould voted “Yes” to extend MOU until
4. Resolution No. 51 of 2005 – Proclamation Supporting the 2005 Click It or Ticket
Mobilization.
Whereas, when ranked by specific age, motor vehicle crashes continue to be the
leading cause of death in the United States for ages 3 through 33; and
Whereas, in 2003, 59 percent of all 18‑ to 34‑year‑old
passenger vehicle occupants who were killed in crashes were not wearing safety belts. Sixty‑two percent of
the 18‑ to 34-year‑old male passenger vehicle occupants who were
killed in crashes were not wearing safety belts, while 52 percent of the 18‑
to 34‑year‑old female passenger vehicle occupants were not buckled
up; and
Whereas, in 2004, safety belt use by
pickup truck occupants was about 70 percent, among the lowest for any
demographic group. Safety belt use in rural areas was a little better at 76
percent, but still below the national average; and
Whereas, in 2002, the economic cost
of police‑reported crashes involving drivers 15 to 20 was about $40.8
billion; and
Whereas, lap/shoulder safety belts,
when used, reduce the risk of fatal injury to front seat passenger car
occupants by 45 percent and the risk of moderate‑to‑critical injury
by 50 percent. For light‑truck occupants, safety belts reduce the risk of
fatal injury by 60 percent and moderate‑to‑critical injury by 65
percent; and
Whereas, use rates in jurisdictions
with stricter belt enforcement laws continue to exhibit generally higher use
rates than those less able to enforce their laws; and
Whereas, in fatal crashes, 74 percent
of all passenger vehicle occupants who were involved in a fatal crash in 2003
and were restrained survived; of those who were not restrained, only 42 percent
survived; and
Whereas, it is estimated that between
1975 and 2000, safety belts prevented 135,000 fatalities and 3.8 million
injuries, saving $585 billion in medical and other costs. If all vehicle
occupants had used safety belts during that period, nearly 315,000 deaths and
5.2 million injuries could have been prevented ‑ and $913 billion in
costs saved; and
Whereas, traffic safety advocates across the Nation and in this community are
working with the mayors and elected officials to increase safety belt awareness
and drive up belt use ‑ especially among teenagers and young adults,
pickup truck drivers, and those living in rural areas ‑ as part of the 2005 Click It or Ticket Mobilization; and
Therefore, be it resolved, that The City of Beacon proclaims its wholehearted support for the 2005 Click It or Ticket Mobilization, in New York and pledges to increase awareness of the benefits of using safety belts on every trip, every time.
Motion to add Proclamation to the
agenda for
Motion to proclaim the City
Council’s wholehearted support for the 2005 Click It or Ticket Mobilization in
Resolution No. 52 of 2005 – Parking for Howland Public
Library – read by City Administrator, Joseph Braun.
WHEREAS,
the Howland Public Library is planning the construction of a new library at
WHEREAS, the
need for additional parking for the new library is an important component of the construction of said new library; and
WHEREAS, the
City is being asked to support the purchase and construction of a
RESOLVED, the
City Council supports the purchase and construction of a South
Cedar Street parking lot in concert with the
construction of the new Howland Public Library at
Motion to add to Agenda for
Council
Congressman John V. Forman: A $500,000.00 grant is in the works of being approved by the President per Sue Kelly. My understanding is that the federal funds are a sure thing. My concern in the Library prospective is if in the unlikely event that these funds do not come across, we would respectfully ask that this amendment not be added to this resolution.
Motion to approve Amendment
contingent on receiving federal funds:
Council Member Kyriacou. Seconded:
Motion to approve resolution for Howland Public Library Parking: Council Member Fasano. Seconded: Council Member Kyriacou. On a roll call vote, there were six “Yes votes and Council Member Thompson voting “No”, On a vote of six “yes” and one “no”, motion carried to approve resolution.
Local Laws And Ordinances:
Ratifications:
1. Resolution No. 53 of 2005 - Beacon Engine:
read by City Administrator, Joseph Braun
Robert
Gooding transfer from Exempt Status to Active Status effective
Motion to ratify: Council
Member Fasano. Seconded:
Appointments/Announcements: None
Last
Joseph Guaineri: Again, on
Behalf of the Howland Library, Thank you for your support.
Dennis Pavelock, My first comment regarding the dog warden that I
addressed this a while back and I was told that the animal budget was cut. They need training for this problem. We are receiving grants for parking lots,
historic buildings, to protect our trails but not our residents. Why does the city not want to have
drills? Beacon is getting a lot of
tourists. Petitioning by the residents just
seems to be falling on deaf ears. I am
coming back to City Hall more to get this out of the bottom of the filing
cabinet. You will see me a lot more in
the future.
Tom Baldino,
Shannon Murphy,
Shannon Murphy agreed to research grants that are available
funding of these kinds of properties as long as she has the Council’s
support. The Council agreed to fully
support
No further comments
Budget Amendments: Requiring Council Action –
1.
Amend the General Fund Balance (Code:
A 909) in the amount of $1,400.00 for the Farmer’s Market expense
(Code: A 7989.X4160.00.
Motion
to Amend the General Fund Balance for the Farmer’s Market:
2.
Amend the General Fund Balance (Code:
A 909) in the amount of $5,000.00 for the Advertising expense
(Code: A 1010.X4460.01) to cover
expenses incurred to advertise an auction of the Ski Lodge property.
Motion to Amend General Fund Balance for the Advertising expense for
the Ski Lodge: Council Member Leake. Seconded: Council Member Fasano. On a roll call vote, all voted in favor. Motion carried.
Review of Bills: Total Disbursements as of
Next Workshop Date:
Next Council Meeting:
Adjournment – Motion to adjourn Council Meeting at
Text from Reports of
Mayor’s Communications for May 16, 2005
RE: 100th Cardiac Catheterization Performed
Good news! St. Luke's
Thanks to the support of our friends and neighbors,
SLCH won approval from
Our next major project is the proposed construction
of a multi-level parking garage at our
RE: Parking - After 30 Years of Talking - It's Time
for Action
Since the 1970s, parking has been a challenge at St.
Luke's
SLCH had a choice - move and construct a new
facility or renovate our existing facilities. We chose to stay, moving ahead with a
10-year, $100 million plan for the renewal and expansion of our
Now, we're focused on building a multi-level parking
garage that will give our patients, visitors, and staff convenient access to our