Workshop
Minutes
City
of
WORKSHOP MEETING
The City of
Those in attendance were: Mayor Clara Lou Gould,
Council Members:
Lee Kyriacou, Elizabeth Foster, Charles Kelly, Phil Shea, and Steve Gold
Also in attendance were: City Administrator, Joseph Braun and City
Attorney Gerard Pisanelli.
Excused: Eleanor Thompson
Workshop Agenda
Stormwater Management - Guest Speaker: Barbara Kendall, Watershed Special Projects
Coordinator -
The following items were discussed in her slide
presentation:
Local Stormwater Management Programs to Protect
Water Resources and Enhance our Communities.
Environmental Priority of Stormwater. 90% of
remaining water quality problems are from nonpoint sources.
Water Quality Impacts - Water quantity impacts from flooding: Loss of life, damage to property,
flooding: How Will we Meet
this Challenge? Federal
Stormwater Regulations.
Phase
II Administered by NYSDEC with two General Permits, MS4 Permit Applies to
Certain Areas.
MS4 Program Responsibilities Six Minimum Control Measures in the
following order: 1,2,3,6,4,5.
1. Public
Education and Outreach. 2. Public Participation and Involvement. 3.
Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination. 6.
Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping for Municipal
Operations. 4. Construction Site Runoff Control. 5.
Post-Construction Runoff Control.
Goal: Keep
and treat water on-site before discharging to local waterways.
How do we require these at the local level? Use Stormwater Local Law - City of
The following two Schedules A and B are taken from
the fifteen page City of Beacon Local Law for Stormwater Management and Erosion
and Sediment Control which can been seen in its entirety at the City Hall.
The following schedules A and B are two documents
from the entire 15 page Local Law to amend the Zoning Law/Subdivision Law of
the City of
Schedule A
|
Stormwater
Management Practices Acceptable for Water Quality (From: |
||
|
Group |
Practice |
Description |
|
Pond |
Micropool Extended Detention Pond (P-l) |
Pond that treats the majority of the water quality
volume through extended detention, and incorporates a micropool
at the outlet of the pond to prevent sediment resuspension. |
|
|
Wet Pond (P-2) |
Pond that provides storage for the entire water
quality volume in the permanent pool. |
|
|
Wet Extended Detention Pond (P-3) |
Pond that treats a portion of the water quality volume
by detaining storm flows above a permanent pool for a specified minimum
detention time. |
|
|
Multiple Pond System (P-4) |
A group of ponds
that collectively treat the water quality volume. |
|
|
Pocket Pond
(P-5) |
A Stormwater
wetland design adapted for the treatment of runoff from small drainage areas
that has little or no baseflow available to
maintain water elevations and relies on
groundwater to maintain a permanent pool. |
|
Wetland |
Shallow Wetland
(W-l) |
A wetland that provides water quality treatment entirely in a shallow
marsh. |
|
|
Extended
Detention Wetland (W-2) |
A wetland system that provides some fraction of the
water quality volume by detaining storm flows above the marsh surface. |
|
|
Pond/Wetland
System (W-3) |
A wetland system that provides a portion of the water
quality volume in the permanent pool of a wet pond that precedes the marsh
for a specified minimum detention time. |
|
|
Pocket Wetland
(W-4) |
A shallow
wetland design adapted for the treatment of runoff from small drainage areas that has variable water levels
and relies on groundwater for its permanent pool. |
|
Infiltration |
Infiltration
Trench (1-1) |
An infiltration practice that stores the water quality
volume in the void spaces of a gravel trench before it is infiltrated into
the ground. |
|
|
|
An infiltration practice that stores the water quality
volume in a shallow depression before it is infiltrated into the ground. |
|
|
Dry Well (1-3) |
An infiltration practice similar in design to the infiltration trench, and best suited for treatment of rooftop
runoff. |
|
Filtering Practices |
Surface Sand
Filter (F-l) |
A filtering practice that treats Stormwater by settling out larger
particles in a sediment chamber, and then filtering Stormwater through a sand
matrix. |
|
|
Underground Sand
Filter (F- 2) |
A filtering practice that treats Stormwater as it flows through
underground settling and filtering chambers. |
|
|
Perimeter Sand
Filter (F-3) |
A filter that incorporates a sediment chamber and filter bed as
parallel vaults adjacent to a parking lot. |
|
|
Organic Filter
(F-4) |
A filtering practice that uses an organic medium such
as compost in the filter in place of sand. |
|
|
Bioretention (F-5) |
A shallow depression that treats Stormwater as it
flows through a soil matrix, and is returned to the storm drain system. |
|
Open Channels |
Dry S wale (O-l) |
An open drainage channel or depression explicitly
designed to detain and promote the filtration of Stormwater runoff into the soil
media. |
|
|
Wet Swale (O-2) |
An open drainage channel or depression designed to
retain water or intercept groundwater for water quality treatment. |
Schedule B
SAMPLE STORMWATER CONTROL FACILITY MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT
Whereas, the Municipality of____ ("Municipality")
and the__________ ("facility
owner") want to enter into an
agreement to provide for the long term maintenance and continuation of
stormwater control measures approved by the Municipality for the below
named project, and
Whereas, the
Municipality and the facility owner desire that the stormwater control measures
be built in accordance with the approved
project plans and thereafter be maintained, cleaned, repaired, replaced and
continued in perpetuity in order to ensure optimum performance of the
components. Therefore, the Municipality and the facility owner agree as
follows:
1.
This agreement binds the Municipality
and the facility owner, its successors and assigns, to the maintenance
provisions depicted in the approved project plans which are attached as
Schedule A of this agreement.
2.
The facility owner shall maintain, clean, repair, replace
and continue the stormwater control measures depicted in
Schedule A as necessary to ensure optimum
performance of the measures to design specifications. The stormwater control measures
shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following: drainage ditches,
swales, dry wells, infiltrators, drop inlets, pipes, culverts, soil absorption
devices and retention ponds.
3.
The facility owner shall be
responsible for all expenses related to the maintenance of the stormwater
control measures
and
shall establish a means for the collection and distribution of expenses among
parties for any commonly owned
facilities.
4. The facility
owner shall provide for the periodic inspection of the stormwater control
measures, not less than once in every five-year period, to determine the
condition and integrity of the measures.
Such inspection shall be performed by a Professional Engineer licensed
by the State of
5.
The facility owner shall not
authorize, undertake or permit alteration, abandonment, modification or
discontinuation of
the
stormwater control measures except in accordance with written approval of the
Municipality.
6.
The facility owner shall undertake necessary repairs and
replacement of the stormwater control measures at the direction of the
Municipality or in accordance with the recommendations of the inspecting
engineer.
7.
The facility owner shall provide to
the Municipality within 30 days of the date of this agreement, a security for
the maintenance
and continuation of the stormwater control measures in the form of ( a Bond, letter of credit or escrow account).
8. This agreement
shall be recorded in the Office of the
9.
If ever the Municipality determines that the facility owner has failed
to construct or maintain the stormwater control measures in accordance with the project plan or has failed to undertake
corrective action specified by the Municipality or by the inspecting engineer,
the Municipality is authorized to undertake such steps as reasonably necessary
for the preservation, continuation or maintenance of the stormwater
control measures and to affix the expenses thereof as a lien against the property.
10.
This agreement is effective_ .
Revaluation /
Reassessment - Kathy Martin, Assessor
John Watch, MJW Consulting, Inc and Beacon Tax
Assessor Kathy Martin gave a short presentation.
Mr. Watch shared a copy of an actual bill of a
reassessment for a resident in another county where the tax was reduced. Not all taxes will be reduced. Some will go up. The reassessment does not raise one extra
dollar of tax revenue. It is critical
that everyone understand this. It is
structurally designed to make sure all property owners are paying their fair
share. Over the last 20 years the city
has gone through growth and revitalization that includes new construction and
housing development. Different parts of
the city have appreciated. Over time as
the market changed and as people bought and sold homes some taxes ultimately
varied greatly for similar properties.
Through the years, because of these changes, some homeowners are now
paying either too much or not paying enough.
When a property owner looks down the street at a house which is exactly
like his and discovers that the other house is paying a lot less tax than he
pays, he has the right to have this corrected.
If your house is better than the one next door, it will be worth a lot
more. The assessor does not set the tax
level. His job is to make sure everyone
pays their fair share. Star exemptions
are set by the state. If you have any
questions, please call the toll free number (866) 814-7114 and someone will
call you back in a short time. The
reassessment will go into effect
Building Department - Amend Chapter 119 of the City Code to Reflect
Changes in the State Code Administration Law.
The following is a memo addressed to Joseph Braun from Tim Dexter dated
The Department of State has revised 19NYCRR Part 1203, which addresses
the minimum standards for the administration and enforcement
of the Uniform Code for each municipality throughout the
State. Each community must provide for administration and
enforcement of the Uniform Code by local law. Part 1 203 sets
minimum program requirements that must be included in the local law. In order to comply with this requirement we must amend Chapter 119 of
the City Code to reflect the changes outlined in the attached law. The attached proposed local law was based from a sample provided from the
Department of State.
There are many new requirements, which will require more record
keeping, administrative duties and actual field inspections. Many of the
changes that are found in the proposed law simply codify how we currently do
business. There are three changes that are noteworthy.
•
The ability for us to issue Temporary
Certificates of Occupancy, which is currently not
permitted.
•
The requirement for us to inspect all
structures other than one and two family homes within our community in
intervals that is consistent with local conditions not to exceed three years.
What this means is we will be required to inspect every store,
office and other commercial buildings at least every three years.
• The requirement for operating permits (Section 10) for certain
types of occupancies such as buildings containing one or more areas of public assembly with an occupant load of 100 persons or more. This will require places like churches, clubs (K. of C., Elks, fire companies)
with areas for 100 persons or more to obtain an operating permit.
The operating permit will require an inspection by the
department prior to issuance. I recommend the council consider establishing a
fee to cover our costs to issue operating permits.
The minimum State standards are effective
Speaker: Tim Dexter: This is something that is mandated by the
state and the minimum standards that our city must have. The state gives us the building fire codes
and this council sets the guidelines by local law. I worked on this law with City Attorney
Pisanelli and took those requirements and put them together in one
document. There is a section that
explains that we have to establish an office or a person. As noted in my memo to Joe Braun, above,
there are three areas of importance. The
biggest one is the operating permit.
This will include primarily organizations that include more than 100
people. The council asked me to notify
all the people who would have to have an operating permit. There are twenty-seven parcels that fall
under this category. We sent them a
letter informing them of the change. I
would like to recommend that there be an annual fee. This should be best managed by us. Depending on how long and how bad a place is
should determine the fee. It is up to
the local law to set a fee and the duration.
If there is a violation, we can suspend or revoke the permit depending
on the violation. We should not issue a
permit until all violations are corrected.
Most of the churches are in compliance.
I think one year is better than three years. This helps us to determine the people who do
not need us anymore. At the present
time, we have to inspect any place where there is assembly of people each
year. If a permit expires and it had not
been inspected, technically you cannot operate.
If you are in violation, you can be charged up to $1000.00 a day.
Council Member Kyriacou: Annually is
too frequent. We might consider giving
yearly inspections only to those who are creating a problem.
Tim Dexter: I make my
recommendations based on my 20 years experience with the city. We are allowed to charge a fee for operating
permits. I can put together a schedule
very quickly on what should be charged.
Council Member Gold: Unless we
charge everyone, we should not charge these people.
Tim Dexter: An overwhelming majority of
places cooperate. I know immediately if
I am dealing with a smart aleck. Most
are reasonable. We can discuss fees
further later in the year. Almost every
other community charges fees. We do not
charge any fees for annual fire inspections.
Consensus vote that we change the law with no fees.
Yearly Inspection: 4 votes for
once a year with no fees and 3 votes for every three years with no fees.
List of Priorities - Council List of
Priorities for the year. Since there
would be a shortage of time, Mayor Clara Lou Gould asked that the council
members give her their priorities on the list of Pending Workshops.
Proposed Local Law to
Amend Chapter 17 Conservation Advisory Commission,
Section 17-3 Membership to Allow Alternates. § 17-3. Membership. [Amended
The Commission shall
consist of seven members who shall be appointed by the Mayor, with the advice
and consent of the City Council. The
first four appointees shall serve two-year terms, and the final three appointees
shall serve for one year. Successors of
all seven initial appointees shall serve two-year terms. Persons residing within the City of
Mayor
Clara Lou Gould:: We
have a CAC in place right now. If we
allowed alternate members, we can also have a couple of people on those committees.
They would be ready to take over. Jerry,
can we do that?
City
Attorney Pisanelli: In the description, you are supposed to
advise the Planning Board. This should
go through a workshop.
Mayor
Clara Lou Gould:: This will be put on the agenda for a workshop on
Vacant
Buildings: See attached Code from the City of
Council
Member Foster: Several people asked what we can do about the
vacant buildings in Beacon. A couple of
weeks ago someone mentioned that
Tim
Dexter: If there are no
violations and you have the doors locked, it follows the code.
Council
Member Gold: Can Jerry research this for us? There is a law where plywood needed to be
painted when it covered a window.
Tim
Dexter: We inspect vacant buildings only
periodically. I do not like those
buildings because people break into them and can start a fire.
Council
Member Foster: Can't we inspect a building for lack of
occupancy?
Tim
Dexter: If the council is in favor of this
Council Member Foster: Is it
possible to get the vacant buildings registered and inspected and if they do
not comply can we charge them a fee?
Council Member Kyriacou: I am not
sure that the negative works.
Council Member Foster: At a
minimum, can we start inspecting them?
Tim Dexter:
The Newburgh law is comprehensive and well thought out. Do we want to adopt it? They spent a lot of time putting this together.
Council Member Kelly: Regarding
Liz's problem, I fear unintended consequences.
This may burden people that we do not want to burden. Can you look at whom this may affect?
Council Member Foster: Can this be
for a business or storefront areas only?
Council Member Kyriacou: What if it
was focused on
Mayor Clara Lou Gould: As a first
step, the mayor asked Tim to review the Newburgh Law and report back t the
council.
Council Member Gold requested that Mrs. Hughes be allowed to voice her
problem at this time.
City
Administrator, Joseph Braun: Right now there are two other driveways
across the easement on the paper street.
Mrs.
Hughes: I asked that the snow be plowed from the
City
Administrator, Joseph Braun: Addressed the Council: If we plow one driveway, we will have to do
it for everyone. If she wants to extend
her driveway, we can give her an easement, which would solve her problem and not
cost her anything.
Mrs.
Hughes said that at the time
she built her house, her only option was to put her driveway into the paper
street. She wants to purchase the
property because she is concerned that if she accepted an easement, the city
may take it back because she was told that the easement is revocable. The city may not want to sell this property
in the event that a street will be constructed in the future
Council
Member Kyriacou: An easement on a deed cannot be revoked. I propose that we send a letter to the other
two owners to ask if they would like to purchase the piece of property that is
in front of their property. If she
accepted the easement, it would solve her problem and will not cost her
anything.
Mayor
Clara Lou Gould:: Do
we have the wording for an easement?
City
Attorney Pisanelli: It will be put in writing so Mrs. Hughes can
see it.
Council
Member Kyriacou suggested that it
be drafted for all the affected owners and told Mrs. Hughes that she may want
to have her attorney to look at.
Special Use Permit See revised Amended
Special Use Permit for
Council Member Kelly: I would
like to go over this request so it is clear in my mind. It first came to us for offices on the first
floor. The problem was that it required
eight parking spaces. Her variance was
denied. She came back and sought
approval for one office space. After
that approval she discovered that she was in the historical district. Because of that, she was able to get a
Special Use Permit for her original request.
Tim Dexter said that the variance would be granted.
City Attorney Pisanelli: It is a big
improvement to the neighborhood.
This will be placed on the agenda for a Public
Hearing on
Grant Writer - Authorize Mayor to sign Proposal with Susan Roeller Brown for Grant Writing Services.
This
will be put on the agenda for
Council Member Gold: The
way I read this she will provide from 3 to 6 applications which may take up to
250 hours at a cost of $75.00 per for a total of $18,000.00.
City Administrator, Joseph Braun: Hopefully, the amount that she may bring in
should surpass that amount. The contract
is only for one year and if her performance is not satisfactory, we will not
renew the contract.
This
will be on the council meeting agenda for
The following is a letter to Joseph Braun
from Lanc & Tully Engineering and Surveying, P.C.
dated
Dear Mr. Braun:
Our office is
currently working on the plans for the reconstruction of
The second concern
is with the installation of a typical 24-foot wide road, with sidewalks and
curbs, along the south side of the road. Along this section of
At this time we would ask that the City Council weigh
in on the layout of this section of the road, to determine as to how the reconstruction of this section of road
should proceed noting the two concerns
expressed above. We have also included a copy of the proposed reconstruction
layout proposed for
The
street cannot handle sidewalks on both sides of the street. My recommendation is that we use the area off
street 9D. Sidewalks will not work on
Byrne Grant: The following memo addressed to City
Administrator, Joseph Braun from Helen Sullivan of the City of Beacon Police
Department dated