Workshop
Minutes
City
of
WORKSHOP
The
City of
p.m.
In
attendance were:
Mayor
Clara Lou Gould
Council
Members Present: Lee Kyriacou, Liz Foster,
Charles Kelly, Phil Shea, and Steve
Excused: Eleanor Thompson
Also
in attendance were: City Administrator, Joseph
Braun and City Attorney, Gerard Pisanelli.
AGENDA
Conservation Advisory Commission - See Document dated
The following letter is from the City of
Dear Council Members:
As directed by the City Council, the
Stormwater Runoff Committee has reviewed the proposed Stormwater Regulations.
General Comments
This is obviously a boilerplate type law that we were presented with.
This law lacks substance that is specific enough towards the
needs of the City of
Another
important issue is the Stormwater Management Officer. Is the City really considering giving Tim Dexter yet another task? His duties with the
City of
This law
doesn't deal at all with problems that arise from people dumping their water
onto their neighbors' property (such as roof runoff, or surface runoff from
improperly graded sites). There appears to be major flooding problems because
neighboring properties are routing water onto adjacent properties. Currently,
there does not appear to be a way to hold land owners accountable for these problems. This should be added into the current
law.
Christopher
Ericson referred the council to his letter above dated
Mayor
Gould: asked City Attorney Pisanelli regarding the
size of the property in the law.
City
Attorney Pisanelli: Pro rate the
suggestions made.
Mayor
Gould: You don't want to overload any code
enforcement officer and it should not be split.
Training the career firefighters to inspect buildings is a brilliant
idea.
Chris: I believe that this needs
to be explored a little bit more. Some
of this language as well as the definitions are vague.
Council
Member Kelly: In terms of qualifications of this person that
you recommend - would that person have to be an engineer?
Chris: I think an engineer is a good step. That person needs to know how water flows and
percolates, etc. The acreage should
definitely be reduced.
Council
Member Kyriacou: Will the 5 acres be new
construction or pre-existing?
Chris: Both
Council
Member Kyriacou: We need to be sure that we are
not imposing on the requirements.
Council
Member Gold: In a broad sense can we have an outline as to
what needs to be done? This could be put
up on our website.
Chris: I think that is possible. (Chris was asked if he had the proposal. He did not.)
At our
next meeting, we will be working on public service announcements and education
to the public.
City
Attorney Pisanelli: We need to ask the engineer
and Tim Dexter to coordinate things.
Naomi: (A commission member from the audience). One of the things that we need to find out is
why the five acres. That is very
important to find out. I think we need
a stormwater certified professional.
Chris: We have to get more specific.
Mayor
Gould: We really appreciate all the research you and
your commission have done.
University Settlement Camp - Use of Property / Buildings.
Julann’s thoughts on possibilities.
The following email from Julann Cobb, Beacon Recreation dated
Attached are my
"worksheets" for reviewing the USC potential uses. It would be great
if we can use these to come up with a collective view of
what the facility is now and what the potential can be. If we can get this out
to CC for everyone to add to before the meeting, that would be helpful.
First and foremost we need to
establish what the intention is of acquiring the property and determining how it will benefit the community. That's more of a philosophical
question, but it's very important that we find the common vision that everyone
agrees to work from.
It's clear to me that whatever is
chosen will require extensive long-term planning in which revenue potential will play a significant role. Even in the simplest terms of
ownership as a "passive" recreational facility, the facility will
cost a lot to maintain. While the costs of owning a passive use facility would
be lowest year over year, the taxpayer's perceived value of the facility would
be low in that most taxpayers do not appreciate a direct benefit
through passive use. The trick will be to find the most reasonable balance
between investment for the benefit of taxpayers' use, and investment for the
benefit of generating revenue.
I think an important piece of the
income puzzle will have to be economic development. Without too much change in our concept of what the space is for, we can combine
serving the recreation needs of the community with the
needs of our visitors. We can rent out the cabins, hold events that draw people
in, cater to hikers/bikers by operating a hostel, be a center for arts and
entertainment...there are so many things that the space naturally draws your
mind to that can be explored.
My major concerns with acquiring this
property, however, lie in what the facility does not provide. University
Settlement Camp will not meet the needs of the city to have a
workload The City Council must be dedicated to appropriately staffing parks and
recreation in order
for anything to be accomplished. All
of the brainstorming and ideas will be pointless if we do not have the appropriate resources or staff to carry them out.
Hope all this is helpful. Julann Cobb
General recreation facility needs to consider and how USC can meet those
needs:
Outdoors:
|
Multi-use fields |
Space available, requires grading |
|
Dedicated fields (specific to sport) |
Space available, requires construction |
|
Hiking |
Access to Mt. Beacon Trails |
|
Natural interpretive areas |
Can be made part of the trails |
|
Scenic access |
Departure area via trails to |
|
Picnic areas |
Space available |
|
Community gardens |
Space available, requires
preparation including deer protection |
|
Bike paths |
N/A |
|
Waterfront access for boating and fishing |
N/A |
|
Passive recreational areas |
Potential use of facility,
especially connecting to Scenic Hudson property |
Potential uses of Facility
|
Park (passive use |
Least return on investment. Does not generate revenue to meet operating
costs. The only way to reduce the
burden on the tax payer is to keep operating costs as low as possible,
risking adequate facility maintenance and care. |
|
Resident-only Park & Recreation Facility |
Programs are implemented to make
the best use of the available space for recreation. Revenue can be generated but potential
number of users will probably not be significant enough to cover operating
costs. Taxpayer burden reduced by
raising fees and minimizing operating costs.
Careful investment in developing the facility to meet community needs
for services will provide more opportunities for programs and fee generation. |
|
Open Park & Recreation facility |
Same as above, with expanded programming to draw non-resident clients
who pay slightly higher fees. Program
development would be more commercially competitive, and may require a
slightly higher level of facility improvement over a resident-only facility
if the goal is to increase the client base in order to generate more income. |
|
Park, Recreation & Tourism |
Same as above, with the added development of the facility and
programming to serve as a destination for users/visitors/tourists. Activities, events and entertainment become
a large part of program development.
Largest potential for return on investment through direct receipt of
revenue and indirect receipt of sales tax. |
The
following email from Council Member Kyriacou dated
For
starters, I have three different concepts on shared uses for University
settlement:
—
CW, this issue was reviewed and received very
positively. I know the Board President very well — she lives in Garrison — and
she would be thrilled to begin a discussion.
—
—
Beacon Institute: I spoke John Cronin, and he also was exceited about USC. BI is
expanding and allying itself with an organization that is
doing technology education. Possibilities include using USC for various
educational purposes, summer programs, and the like. I did not have time with
John yet to discuss the details.
Obviously we need to do a master plan for the facility and take some time to figure these out both in short-term and long-term.
Julann
Cobb: I am here to continue with the plans for this
project. Now is a good time for
collecting the ideas and to move on with
what we will do with this property. We
have a couple of deadlines coming up.
The other side of the picture is the grants that are available. We have six weeks before the deadline. There is a lot of work that is to be done
before we apply for the grant. We also
need to come up with a name that is specific to this project.
Council
Member Kyriacou: I would propose first for the
immediate securing of safety and second, planning and community input.
City
Administrator Braun: In order to apply for a grant,
we have to have some idea as to what benefit it will produce - It is not done
simply by buying a piece of property.
The bottom line is that there has to be a value statement that we put on
the application to get money.
Mayor
Gould: They also are known to give the grant for the
planning stage.
Council
Member Gold: Regarding the grants, what
Joe is saying is that there is a possibility we might be missing the
opportunity of acquiring the grant. We
should ask our grant writer. It makes
sense to look at a grant for research.
City
Administrator Braun: In the case of Long Dock,
they met certain criteria. It was in
sink with their mission. This property
has to be in sink with the mission. It
has to be a general statement such as this is a wonderful recreational
resource. We will fill in the blank
spaces later on. In general it is a
wonderful recreational resource. These
things are obvious and can be a starting point.
We need some jumping off point.
There should be a community planning process
Council
Member Kyriacou: You might want to have
shared ownership and operation with the county or town of
Council
Member Shea:: Let Susan tell us what is available.
City
Administrator Braun: We will meet with Susan and
find out what is out there. We will get
it going. We will find out what the
questions are. We need to understand
that these folks are ready to go.
Council
Member Kyriacou: If we need it that quick, we
should delegate it. We want it to be
multi purpose with many opportunities. I
would love to have public participants help us out.
Council
Member Gold: We should talk to Susan Brown
to see what is available.
City
Administrator Braun: We will be in the process
developing funding for the acquisition of this piece of property. We will go forward and look for funding. We are attempting to speak with the county.
Mayor
Gould: The council will work on
coming up with a name for the project.
Vacant Buildings
City Attorney
Pisanelli: This was one of the things
on my list but I didn't get to it.
Commercial buildings on
Domestic Partnerships - J.
Braun to check out NYC Policy and contact NYCOM.
City
Administrator Braun: I spoke to NYCOM (Mr. John
Gallager) who said that there is nothing that he is aware of that is in the
state's statue. They have a procedure
you go through if you want a domestic partner to have your health
insurance. You have a process if you
want to establish that a domestic partnership exists and once you have done
that you sign an affidavit then your partner can partake in the state health
insurance. The City will have to do an
affidavit. A domestic partnership has to
be in effect if you are living together and sharing financial
responsibilities. This information I
have goes into some detail and it also talks about terminating domestic
partnerships. They have been doing it
since 1998. We will get whatever law
there is in the next month or so
Sewer/Water Lines
Mayor Gould: Jerry gave us a draft of the
resolution. (Section 173-3(F) of Chapter
179 "Sewers" is renumbered as Section 179-3F(1) and a new subsection
Section 179-3F(2) is added.)
City Administrator Braun:: This is something that we put together. We talked about this for five years. This provides for a payment, keeps it where
it is now where the property owner will get a permit and verification from the
superintendent that it was under the paved portion of the street and would
establish the number of feet. At the
beginning of the year, we will have established a figure based upon historical
cost - the average cost per linear foot
, Then we would pay based upon linear foot of water or sewer line that is under the
paved portion of the street. The average
may be high or it may be low. If the
line is deep it will cost more or if it is shallow, it will cost less. We will establish a standard
based on the records that we have and also we will eatablish better records We
will talk to contractors and come up with a price. Once the process is in place we will collect
the data as a part of that process. We want
to improve our data as much as we could.
We want to keep it simple. We can
do homestead or non-homestead. This
dicision is up to the council. We will
take out Single family residence at your request.
First Reading on the agenda for May 21, 2007
Spring Valley Street:
Mayor Gould: The insurance company
said that they would not approve any damage because it was a nor-easter. "Would that be covered by FEMA?
City Administrator Braun: said that it probably is covered by FEMA. The city is not responsible for an act of
god.
Council Member Gold:: We are aware that there was a
break. The break had potential and did
cause damage to this person's property.
Should the city be responsible for paying for this problem? I think there is merit that the city should
act responsibly.
City Administrator Braun: It was the water levels
that created the problem and not the city's sewer system I think that if this if the city pays for
this one then the city will have to do this for a lot of people. FEMA has an 800 number and you can go on the
FEMA website to get the number..
Resolution - Meritorious Service Awards – See Attached
City
Attorney Pisanelli: Made some recommendations
for changes to the resolution.
Mayor
Gould: This will be put on the
Agenda for May 21st 2007 with the changes.
Resolution - Main Street Center of Commerce and
Tourism
Mayor
Gould
recommended some changes to this resolution
Council
Member Foster:: We should meet with Captain Scofield to
discuss this issue. Putting the
resolution out this way seems to be confrontational.
Council
Member Gold: I think the resolution is better but I am not
opposed to meeting with Capt. Scofield.
Council
Member Foster: I think that we should give
Capt Scofield a change to address this.
Council
Member Kyriacou: We already spoke to
them. I do think that we should have a
resolution to have something on the books.
The police can provide a procedure on how to do this.
Mayor
Gould: This resolution is too specific. It is not setting policy but it is telling
them what to do
Council
Member Foster: .I would like to see a
specific plan.
Council
Member Kelly: We have good leadership in
the Police Dept and I would like to keep that positive relationship. It doesn't hurt to have the Capt here.
City
Administrator Braun: He is the community officer
and has important knowledge and understands what needs to happen on Main
Street. There should be dialogue. He will be here to do the community segment
at the May 21st Meeting and will be able to answer a lot of our questions. He has been involved with. most of the things
mentioned here. He instituted the bike
patrol.
Mayor Gould: If there is not time for him to answer
questions, we can ask him to a workshop.
City
Administrator Braun: There is a lot more to that
story. Bike patrol stopped because of
the money.
Council
Member Gold: I think we have a good plan so let's go
forward. It would be a good idea to
discuss overtime.
City
Administrator Braun: It cannot be done for
nothing. It will cost money.
Council
Member Kyriacou: I would like the Capt
Scofield to give us the options.
Special Use Permit - Accessory Apartment – 9
Aldridge Place – Applicant: Timothy
Joseph. Set Public Hearing for June 4, 2007.
This
will be put on the Agenda to set public hearing for June 4, 2007.
Special Use Permit - Amend Existing Special Use Permit – Modify
Apartment Layout – 463 Main Street – Applicant Anthony Fox and Paul Queley. Set
Public Hearing for Monday June 4th.
This
will be put on the Agenda to set a public hearing for June 4, 2007.
Special Use Permit -
Wireless Communication Facility – One Forrestal Heights –
Applicant OmniPoint Communications. (subsidiary of T-Mobile). Set Public Hearing for
Monday June 4th.
Hiddenbrooke Authorize
Appraisal. Requires two appraisals.
Council Member Braun: The grant for NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historical
Preservation requires two independent
appraisals. Mr. Pete Hubbell is a person
who is independent. The appraisal fee is
5,000.00. We will acqure $350,000.00
Council Member Gold: Because of changes to Hiddenbrooke, it
prohibited any residential building.
Does an appraiser understand enough on water management, ski slopes and
wetlands. Would this negate any
possibility of any residential buildings?
I want to find out if the value of this land is to simply send in an
appraiser who hasn't though of these things.
Council Member Braun: I
will suggest that to the appraiser.
Because he does work in Dutchess County and has done all those things, I
would think he does know. I will also
ask the city engineer to look at this. I
think this is a point well taken.
Mr.
Gebmann asked for and was given permission to speak and give some
information The council asked that Mr.
Gebman put it in writing and give it to the council.
Mayor Gould:
Authorizing the appraisal will be on the agenda for May 21, 2007
Appointments / Ratifications /Announcement
Beacon Engine Company, No. 1
Remove Anthony Fraioli from Active Rolls to
Social.
This
will be placed on the May 21, 2007 Agenda.
Update:
Other Business
Wellness in the workplace This will be put on the budget
amendments May 21, 2007
The
following is an email regarding this is program received from Etha Grogan and
Kim Antalek dated May 14, 2007, addressed to City Administrator, Joseph Braun:
First, we want to thank you for
obtaining pedometers from PERMA to initiate our first Walking Program for city employees and their families. The program
has been well received because to date a total of 45 members have
registered and received pedometers. To
continue the momentum, we would like to provide small incentives to encourage everyone to complete the program. Attached please
find details on what we feel will provide
support needed to make our first attempt at creating a healthier work
environment a success.
We hope
Council will positively consider funding for this important endeavor because the benefit of exercise far outweighs the cost in several ways.
Employees will become more aware of their health and the
importance of remaining active. Over 60% of adults do not achieve the
recommended amount of exercise and this program is designed to make employees more aware of their own physical activity. This program
is the first step toward improving habits that will
decrease the City's health insurance costs in the long term. The program has
already created a friendly competition among employees. More importantly the
benefit of promoting a "team" environment is immeasurable.
We are aware
that these expenses were not included in the 2007 budget and respectfully request a new line item be created for the Wellness Program.
A start up amount of $500 will provide sufficient funds
to start the program this year. Please consider a transfer in the amount of
$500 from A9060-840000 - Health Insurance into a new line item A9060-840500 - Employee Wellness. If you have any
questions or require further
information feel free to contact us. Thank you for your consideration.
The
following is a description of the program:
CITY OF BEACON WELLNESS WALKING PROGRAM
It is time
for the City of Beacon to get serious about Wellness in the Workplace. We are willing to begin
and follow through a Wellness Program.
The easiest to begin with is a Walking
Program.
We have
received information from MVP/Preferred Care website to give us the tools to
begin the program, however, we would need some funds. We are estimating $500
for the first year. This will allow us to purchase pedometers for employees who
join the walking program, incentive gifts to give to the top teams or to all
employees who complete the weekly program. We have received
pricing for 50 pedometers for $175.00. The remaining monies
would be used to purchase incentive gifts.
The Walking
Program will be 6 weeks long and each participant will have to register and
will receive a pedometer, a walking log and a weekly step form to hand in each
week. At the completion of the program,
we plan on giving the successful participants a give (water bottle, t-shirt or
similar).
At the end of the program, we will
evaluate the participation and if successful, we/will continue with another program, maybe 10 weeks or longer.
This will be
the beginning of a Wellness Program for the City of Beacon/In the future, and with an increased budget, we would be able to host a Wellness Fair,
Smoking Cessation Program and possibly other great
programs.
The Walking Program will be 6 weeks long and each participant will have to register and will receive a pedometer, a walking log and a weekly step form to hand in each week. At the completion of the program, we plan on giving the successful participants a gift (water bottle, t-shirt or similar).
Council Agenda - Monday, May 21, 2007
Hearing Vehicle and Traffic
Community
Segment:
Glenn
Scofield, Captain – Police Department
Sewer
Water Lines\
Awards
Special
Use permits
Appraisals
Motion
to enter into Executive Session at 9:28 p.m.:
Council Member Kelly.
Seconded: Council Member
Gold. All voted in favor. Motion carried.
Motion
to end Executive Session at 9:40 p.m.:
Council Member Shea.
Seconded: Council Member
Foster. All voted in favor. Motion carried.
Workshop
ended at 9:40 p.m.