Minutes
City of
REGULAR MEETING
The regular meeting of the City of
Council
Members Present: Steve
Gold, Deanna Leake, Eleanor Thompson, Marlene Fredericks, Randy Casale and Sara
Pasti
Excused: Charles
Kelly
Also in Attendance was: City Attorney Richard
Wolf
Newspaper Represented by: Goldee
Greene, Beacon Free Press
Residents at beginning of meeting: 40
Public Hearings:
1. Proposed Local Law to Amend
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the City of Beacon will hold a public hearing
on Monday, January 7, 2008 at the City of Beacon Municipal Center, One
Municipal Plaza, Beacon, New York at 7:30 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the
matter is reached on the agenda, to consider a proposed local law to Amend
Beacon City Code Chapter 219 Water By Amending §219-15 & §219-29.
This local law would take effect immediately upon 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: None
Motion to close Public Hearing: Council Member Thompson. Seconded:
Council Member
Community Segment:
None
Reports
Text of the reports for
Mayor's Communications read by Mayor Steve Gold.
City Administrator Report of Activities: We are in
the process of selecting an administrator.
City Attorney Report of Activities –New Attorney will
be appointed this evening.
Mayor Steve Gold read his Report of Activities
Council Members gave their reports of activities.
First
Clark Gebman: I would like to welcome our new attorney, Mr.
Wolf. He is delinquent. Mayor, you are also delinquent. Mr. Gebman listed the items that he claimed
the city was delinquent in and stated that this has to stop.
Betty DiPompo - What is the
consideration of the Police Department?
Are we going to add more police dogs?
They sniff out the drugs. They
also prevent officers from being hurt.
We should do something to protect the children in Beacon.
Mayor Gold: We will discuss this at an upcoming workshop.
No further
comments.
New Business (1)
Appointment:
1. Resolution No. 01 of 2008 - Approve of Mayor's Appointment
of Richard Wolf as City Attorney effective immediately. Read by Mayor Steve Gold.
RESOLVED, that the Mayor’s
appointment of Richard Wolf as City Attorney of the City of
Motion to approve Mayor's appointment of city attorney: Council Member Thompson. Seconded:
Council Member Casale. On roll
call, all voted in favor. Motion
carried.
Mayor Gold:
asked Mr. Wolf to come forward and he took his seat at the council
table. Mr. Wolf is a graduate of Yale
and formally held the positions of Assistant Corporation Counsel, City of
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS
Resolutions:
Local Laws And Ordinances:
1. Second
Motion to table to next meeting because documents are
not ready: Council Member Casale. Seconded:
Council Member
2. Second
Motion to table to next meeting because Local Law
Document was not in packet: Council
Member Casale. Seconded: Council Member Thompson. All voted in favor. Motion carried.
Resolutions:
1. Resolution No. 02 of 2008 - Meritorious Award Presented
to Clara Lou Gould: Honored for
Exceptional Service to the City and the Community as the Nineteenth Mayor of
the City of
RESOLVED,
that the Mayor is hereby authorized to present to Clara Lou Gould, a
Meritorious Award to honor Clara Lou Gould for Exceptional Service to the City
and the Community as the Nineteenth Mayor of the City of
Motion to approve Meritorious Award: Council Member Thompson. Seconded:
Council Member Leake. All voted
in favor. Motion carried.
2. Resolution No. 03 of 2008 - Beacon Long Dock: City of Beacon Requests that the
A RESOLUTION OF THE
At a regular
meeting of the City of Beacon City Council, Dutchess County, New York, held at
City Hall, Beacon, New York on the 7th day of January 2008, the
following Resolution was introduced by Council Member Thompson and seconded by
Council Member Fredericks.
WHEREAS, Long Dock is being
developed by Foss Group Beacon, LLC (FGB) and The Scenic Hudson Land Trust,
Inc. (SHLT) in response to the desires of the City of Beacon; and
WHEREAS, the City of Beacon City
Council adopted Resolution No. 173 on December 18, 2006 which directed that
letters be sent to the Dutchess County EDC,
WHEREAS, at the City of Beacon City
Council Workshop Meeting of January 2, 2008 reports were given to the Council
concerning these matters by FGB, SHLT, EDC and County Planning stating why
these public funding mechanisms are required to finance a funding gap for the
project;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the parties to this
process are requested to meet with the City Council at its next Workshop
Meeting to review the status of these activities.
The foregoing
was put to a vote, which resulted as follows:
Motion to comply with Beacon Long Dock's
Request: Council Member Thompson. Seconded:
Council Member
3. Resolution
No. 04 of 2008 - Official Newspaper of City of
RESOLVED, that
the Mayor’s appointment of Poughkeepsie Journal, be hereby approved.
Motion to accept official newspaper: Council Member Casale. Seconded:
Council Member Leake. On roll
call, all voted in favor. Motion
carried.
Mayor Gold:
There were other submissions and they will be discussed later at a
workshop.
Local Laws And Ordinances: None
Ratifications /
Appointments:
1.
Resolution No. 05 a, b, c, and d: City of
a. APPROVE appointment of Jay Sheers – Chairperson for a three-year term on the Planning
Board. Term to expire
Motion: Council Member Pasti. Seconded: Council Member Leake.
Discussion:
Council
Member Thompson: This position should be
on a rotation basis. This is a powerful
position. This gives other members an
opportunity to chair.
Mayor
Gold: It is important to make this a
three-year term. We can work on making
this a yearly appointment. We will
accept a resignation after a year and give someone else an opportunity to serve
as chair.
On
roll call, all voted in favor. Motion
carried.
b. APPROVE appointment of George
Mansfield to the Planning Board for a three-year term. Term to Expire
Motion: Council Member
c. APPROVE appointment
of Jim Svets to the Planning Board for a three-year term. Term to Expire
Motion: Council Member Leake. Seconded:
Council Member Pasti. On roll
call, all voted in favor. Motion
carried.
.
d. APPROVE appointment of Mark Wildonger to
the Planning Board as Alternate Member to fill an unexpired term (Jim
Svets). Term to Expire
Motion: Council Member
Pasti. Seconded: Council Member Leake.
Discussion:
Council
Member Casale: This person may have a
conflict of interest with Scenic Hudson.
Do we have any other applicants that applied for this job?
Mayor
Gold: It is not uncommon for members of
the Planning Board to recuse themselves.
Council
Member Pasti: In a small community you
have a lot of people who hold positions where this may occur.
On
roll call, there were six votes in favor and Council Member Casale voted
"no". With a vote of
"six" in favor and "one" against, motion carried.
2. Resolution No. 06 of 2008 - Ratifications
from Lewis Tompkins Hose Company:
Remove Terry Wilson from
Active Status to Exempt Status
Motion to ratify:
Council Member Thompson.
Seconded: Council Member
Casale. On roll call, all voted in
favor. Motion carried.
Other Appointments: - City Employees
Deputy Building Inspector - Dave Buckley -
Motion to approve:
Council Member Thompson.
Seconded: Council Member
Discussion:
Council Member Casale: I thought this was civil service and I
thought that how it worked is that you are in a civil service job until you
leave.
Mayor Gold:
This will be looked into. All of
these appointments should be tabled. Mayor
Gold asked for a motion to table:
Council Member Casale.
Seconded: Council Member
Announcements:
1. Tribute to Clara Lou,
2. There were
two different types of earrings found and a Bible was also found at the
Inaugural.
Last
Lou Amoroso,
Mark Gebman: If I had my choice, honorable council members
and Mr. Wolf, we would take all the incriminations and look for forgiveness and
then we would set the record straight.
We would muster all the courage to come to the most beautiful resolution
you can imagine. Do what would be the
best example of leadership and help solve the most pressing issues that we
face.
Pam Wetherbee:
I was happy to hear about the Police Report. An incident happened in my area that was
connected to the gunshots mentioned in the Mayor Gold's Correspondence. Gang related activity in my neighborhood is
of great concern to me. I hope the
Police Department gets this under control.
Also, I am very excited about Long Dock.
Council Member Casale: I want to thank Mike Lanari for the difficult
job he did as a member the Planning Board.
It is a thankless job.
No further comments.
Budget Amendments requiring Council Action for
1. Amend the General Fund Balance for the
Attorney Department (Code: A1420.450409) in the amount of $2,763. This is to cover the following expenses for
the case of Richard Sassi Civil Service Law Section 75 hearing.
2. Amend the General Fund Balance for the
Attorney Department (Code: A1420.450414) in the amount of $16,362. This is to cover expenses for the case of
Richard Sassi vs. the City of
Budget Amendments: Items 1 and 2 - Council Member
Thompson. Seconded: Council Member Leake. On roll call, all voted in favor. Motion carried.
Review of Bills:
Total disbursements as of January 7, 2007: $377,382.80
Next Workshop:
Next Council Meeting:
Motion to Enter into an Executive Session regarding
Litigation at
Motion to End Executive Session at
Motion to adjourn meeting at
Text from Reports of
Date:
RE:
Highlights
Thanks to the efforts of our dedicated board,
hard-working staff and loyal friends and supporters, several endeavors began in
past years have come to fruition in 2007. Highlights of our successes include:
Collaboration with
Completion of Building One, our first
"green" facility at Denning's
We plan to formally dedicate Building One with a
public celebration in the spring; however, over the next few months we will be
giving a series of "sneak preview" tours. Please let us know if you
are interested in participating in one of these tours.
Commencement of planning and design for The Center
for Advanced Environmental Technology, which will become the centerpiece
laboratory and next facility on the Denning's Point campus. Croxton
Collaborative Architects, leaders in green building design, have been selected
to head that process, with input from scientists and engineers from
We are proud to announce that several distinguished
individuals have joined our Board of Directors, including John C. Cavalier,
retired Chairman, Mapinfo Corporation; Stephen J. Friedman, President,
We also recruited three prominent and respected
professionals for key staff leadership positions. Marc Moran, Chief Operating
Officer, was previously Regional Director of the NYS Department of
Environmental Conservation. Liesi Hotaling, Chief Education Officer, is a
nationally recognized curriculum developer and former Assistant Director for
the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education at Stevens
Institute of Technology. Shirley Hartman, Chief Development Officer, is a
highly successfully development professional who has held key fundraising
positions at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, The Sage Colleges and the
National Audubon Society in New York State.
With this much momentum, new energy and leadership,
we are eager and enthusiastic about plans for 2008. -Please visit our website
at www.thebeaconinstitute.org
for the latest news about the REON initiative, educational programming, events
and the formal opening and dedication of Building One in the spring.
On behalf of The Beacon Institute, we extend all
good wishes to you and yours for a joyous holiday season and happy, healthy and
prosperous 2008.
Date:
RE: Channel Deletion
Cablevision has received notification that
Nickelodeon Gas (iO Channel 124) will discontinue its service effective
In turn, Nickelodeon will expand to full time its
popular teenage program TheN, which includes music videos. TheN, which
currently airs in the evenings on iO Channel 123 will now air full time on iO
Channel 124. Nickelodeon's very successful pre-school programming Noggin will
expand to 24 hours on its current iO Channel 123.
Customers will be notified of the programming
change through bill messages and banners on iO Channel 100. In addition,
customers can always find the most current channel lineup for their community
on our website www.cablevision.com.
If you have any questions, as always please feel
free to call me.
Date:
RE: DC
Please find enclosed in the above matter for filing
in your respective offices a copy of the NYS Board of Real Property Services
Form RP-412-a, Industrial Development Agencies Application for Real Property Tax
Exemption, for this transaction. A copy of the relevant
Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (‘PILOT’) Agreement is attached to the form.
RE:
Winter Parking
I am writing on behalf of the Traffic Safety
Committee in order to get a long standing complaint rectified. For the eighteen
years that I have chaired this committee, we have debated the winter parking
ordinance on an annual basis. The current ordinance has been in place for
several years now, and continues to not suite our needs. Although the ordinance
may appear sufficient on face value, it is not.
As you can tell by traveling city streets after a snow storm, many of the streets look like a serpentine race track because of the Department of Public Works' inability to push the accumulated snow off the main traveled portion of the roadway due to vehicles remaining on the street during snow removal operations. Frequent times vehicles get blocked in by the windrows left by the city plows which causes vehicle owners to shovel the snow surrounding their vehicles back into the street, often times after plowing operations have ceased. The snow that remains where these vehicles were parked often freezes and cannot be readily removed at a later time.
The problem with the existing ordinance is twofold.
First, it is rarely enforced. The language is very clear when vehicles should
not be permitted to be parked on the street. Parking summonses are written
haphazardly which needs to be changed to consistent enforcement. Secondly, the
intent of the ordinance is not taken into account when enforcement does occur.
The purpose of the ordinance is to have vehicles off the streets for snow
removal. The only way to accomplish this is to tow them during a snowstorm when
the highway superintendent makes the request of the police department. The
usual response to this request is that there are no provisions in the ordinance
to do so. In my twenty-six year law enforcement career, I have never heard of
this excuse anywhere other than in Beacon. There are no provisions in the law
that provide for towing a disabled vehicle off the road, yet it is done on a
regular basis. To remedy this, a clear message must be sent to the police
department that when a request is made by the highway superintendent or his
designee to have vehicles towed off the roadway for snow removal purposes,
vehicles should be immediately ticketed and towed off the roadway.
Towing of vehicles raises another concern.
Unfortunately, the City contracts with one tow company who controls what he
does for the City and when he does it, instead of the City dictating the terms
of the agreement. The tow company usually comes out after the storm has stopped
and removes only a small number of vehicles. He then complains that he does not
have a secure storage facility and for some reason, the City feels obligated to
allow him to store these vehicles in Memorial Park. We have tried to address
this on many occasions to no avail. Throughout my tenure on this committee, I have
brought on a few different occasions, the towing policy that I crafted for my
department that served the
Lastly, I truly believe this is a safety concern
for both pedestrians and motorists as well as for the fire department and
ambulance corps when responding to calls for service. Most importantly I
believe it to be a major concern for those city plow operators that must
navigate our city roads in blinding snowstorms and when they are tired.
Unfortunately, they do not have the luxury of remaining at home when it snows.
Since we have had no luck bringing about much
needed change during the past administration, I would ask that you consider
what I have written and if you have any unanswered questions, please feel free
to contact me so that your questions or concerns can be discussed. I think the
time has come that we address this concern without delay, which I believe, will
also enhance the quality of life in Beacon.
Date:
RE: Commendable Actions – Shots fired at South
Davies Terrace
I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the outstanding
efforts put forth by the officers who responded to the shots fired call at
South Davies Terrace on
Date:
RE: MS4
As part of the Dutchess County Local Stormwater Law
Grant awarded by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(NYSDEC) for which you are a participating MS4, the Dutchess County Soil and
Water Conservation District (DCSWCD) has reviewed the City of Beacon's
"Stormwater Management and Erosion and Sediment Control" regulation
and "Storm Sewer System Regulations to Prohibit Illicit Discharges,
Activities and Connections." Based on our review, we have the following
suggestions that you may want to consider.
1)
"Stormwater Management and Erosion and
Sediment Control"
a.
In Article 6, Section it is unclear who will
be responsible for writing, distributing, and enforcing violations and
penalties within the City of
2)
"Storm Sewer System Regulations to
Prohibit Illicit Discharges, Activities and Connections"
a.
The
City should be aware that §7, §8.2, and §9.2 are all optional sections, not required
by NYSDEC. Given that these optional sections require additional actions be
taken by the City, DCSWCD implores the City to review these section once more
to ensure that the City is ready and willing to carry out the regulation as
adopted.
b.
If
the City decides to keep §9.2 in the regulation, it should be noted that §9.2.1.5
was included in the sample law as an instructional note from NYSDEC to the regulation
reader/writer. It should be removed from the City's regulation.
3)
General Comments
a)
DCSWCD would like to remind the City that
when referring to the NYSDEC stormwater permits by the reference of
"GP-02-02" or "GP-02-01" in the City's local stormwater
regulations, please be sure that the phrase "as amended or revised"
is included after each occurrence. The permit reference number will change in
future versions of the NYSDEC permit as will occur in early 2008.
b)
In the NYSDEC document "Model Local Law
to Prohibit Illicit Discharges, Activities and Connections to Separate Storm
Sewer System," discharges of unpolluted water from sump pumps are exempted
from the regulation. We would like to bring it to your attention that although
sump pump discharges are not usually significant contributors of pollutants
MS4s are taking on a significant risk in allowing these discharges into their
storm sewer system from buildings which also have petroleum or other hazardous
waste storage within them (example home heating oil tanks). In the case where
there is a failure or rupture of a storage vessel, it is almost certain that
this pollutant will be pumped by the sump pump into the storm sewer system
without much warning to the building owner/operator or the City. In this situation,
which has occurred recently within the County, the discharge occurs so quickly
the municipality has virtually no chance of containing the spill before it is
discharged from the MS4 owned outfall. As the discharge is coming from a
permitted MS4 outfall, the MS4 (i.e., the City of
c)
The aforementioned NYSDEC Model Law to
prohibit illicit discharges also allows for the discharge of de-chlorinated
swimming pool water into the City's storm sewer system. The City should
evaluate how this exemption will be enforced. A public education campaign
regarding the negative effects of chlorinated water on the environment is
recommended to promote compliance with this portion of the regulation.
d)
The City may also want to consider imposing
stricter fines and penalties. The current fines do not seem to be significant
enough to get the attention of violators.
Please review the above comments with the City's
Attorney to determine if any changes are necessary. Please do not hesitate to
contact us at (845) 677-8011, ext. 3, with any questions you may have.
Date:
RE: Commendable Actions
On the evening of January 4th/5th, PO
Conti and PO Hopper were assigned to a special detail to locate and apprehend
Andre Hendrix, a subject who had numerous File 5's from this agency. Hendrix
over the past several weeks had evaded arrest and fought with officers during
his flight from apprehension. Hendrix was wanted by this agency for charges
including Burglary 1, Criminal Contempt 1, Assault 3, Resisting Arrest, and
attempted Assault 2. During the course of the evening Officers Hopper and
Conti, along with Sgt Junjulas' squad saturated the streets and locations known
to be frequented by Hendrix. At approximately 0230 hrs. a short time after
checking
Park Use Permits – Approved by Julann Cobb
– Recreation Director
Request for Parade/Street Use Permits: Approved by Mayor
All above Requests
have been approved by the Mayor and a copy of Parade Permit has been forwarded
to: City Administrator, Chief of Police, Superintendent of Highways and Fire
Chief
Water/Sewer
Department -
1.
Water samples were collected for microbiological
examination by Environmental Labs of Marlboro, N.Y.
2.
Water lines were located on:
3.
Repaired a ruptured 6" cast iron water main on Dutchess Terrace.
4.
Performed interior plumbing repairs at the City Mechanic's Garage.
5.
Assisted the Highway Department with snow plowing
operations during recent storms.
6.
Cleared snow from around Water Plant areas, tanks and pump stations.
7.
Performed daily routine maintenance at the sanitary sewer lift
stations.
8.
Conducted cleaning and painting operations at the
9.
Cleaned sanitary sewer pipelines on
10. Performed maintenance and
repairs on vehicles and equipment.
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