Workshop Minutes
City of
WORKSHOP
The Workshop Meeting for
In attendance were:
Mayor Clara Lou Gould
Council Members Present were Lee
Kyriacou (arrived at
Also in attendance were: City Administrator, Joseph Braun and City
Attorney, Gerard Pisanelli
AGENDA
Police
Department Budget: Glenn Scofield, Captain
On 2/15 I drafted a memo to the City Administrator
seeking permission to transfer funds from unused salary to compensate for usage
of overtime. As of now there is
approximately $100,000.00 remaining in the police general overtime budget. We used our budgeted overtime for the entire
year because we were short on police officers.
We are still short six police officers and for that reason I am
requesting that we transfer 1/2 of that unused salary in the amount of $148,990.00
to be transferred over to overtime. The
Captain's salary will remain at $56,000.00 in anticipation that the position
will not be filled. The detective's
clerical line item for a secretary is still vacant and we are seeking a
candidate for that. $15,510.00. The total of transfer will be
$221,500.00. The administration can
contact me if they have any questions.
We are doing extensive background checks on
candidates. We have a police officer at
the academy that graduates July 20. As
of the June 17, all shifts are at a minimum.
Vacation period is approaching.
Our efforts are continuing to get the best, qualified candidates that we
can possibly get. I hope you approve the
transfer of funds
We have 33 police officers that are on the books. We have been finding some problems with some
of the applicants. I was hoping that by
now we would have the six positions filled.
It is more than just taking the Civil Service Test. We do a comprehensive background check
including a polygraph exam. We are
finding on applications criminal activities that they did not report and other
information that would disqualify them.
We do not want to be stuck with this kind of problem. This takes a long time to complete.
I wish to reiterate that I wish the council would
consider using countywide applicants.
These would be considered after we go to the City of
Glenn Scofield: Our officers are not focusing totally on
traffic. They are doing well-rounded
police work.
Council Member Gold: We should ask the county for
help for festivals.
Glenn Scofield: You cannot do that because you would be
interfering with the union. They cannot
come into the city of
City Administrator, Joseph Braun: I
talked to Bill Wallace about the labor issue.
It’s been in the past that they said that it was union work in the past
and you are giving away our work. I
agree with this attorney.
Council Member Kelly: Labor is not guaranteed
overtime.
Council Member Gold: It just doesn’t seem right that
we can’t do this. I think we should get
another opinion. I think the
announcement for the civil service test for police officers should be posted on
Channel 22.
Council Member Thompson: Does
the PBA do anything to help officers' study for that exam?
Police representative from audience: Yes there is
a class and they pay for it. That is
part of career development.
Mayor Gould: This will be put on the agenda for
Council Member Foster:
I got a call from a resident
and he hadn’t heard about the program. I
called Nickels Hardware who couldn't say enough about how wonderful the program
is. One business had a suggestion: Send all the businesses a letter telling them
about the program.
Council Member Gold:
There was a suggestion to have
police cadet program.
Glenn Scofield: They were disbanded because of liability
issues. Fishkill has a cadet program. We tried it in 89 or 90 and it was dropped.
Council Member Thompson: I
was on a committee and they were looking at that. The police dept would have to buy into that
and I was also told that it would require overtime.
Council Member Kelly:
I am not opposed to
overtime. I think having a cadet program
would be a plus.
Mayor Gould: Regular officers are leary about having this for
safety reasons and liability reasons.
Glenn Scofield:
It worked in Fishkill but that
was in Fishkill. The ages were 14 to 20.
Council Member Shea: We should have our police dept
straighten it out before we put this burden on them.
Council Member Kelly:
I appreciate your coming here
and speaking to us. There needs to be
better communication between the city and the police. A couple of things happened which lacked
communication. On any future events, we
would appreciate it if you would keep us in mind. We do support the police dept.
Motion to go to executive session at
Motion to end executive session at
Fire Dept.
-
Secretary Hours
-
Fire Boat
(suggestion made to use Harbor Management fees or add a tax to help finance)
Speaker: Chief
Joseph: Our secretary currently works between 12 - 15 hours a
week. We can do with forty hours a week for a secretary. Right now I have a tremendous amount of
volunteers who handle medical duties. We
have to maintain medical records for thirty years after they leave the
department, which is state mandated. We
do not clock hours in the fire department for volunteers. They spend hours and hours on the incentive
program, which is something that the secretary should be doing.
Mayor Gould: It would help greatly the council if we knew how many
hours the volunteers work.
Council Member Kelly: My concern is I
don't doubt that you have forty hours of work.
I'm not too sure on how we pay fire fighters for administrative work
that Tim Dexter is responsible for and the administrator work that you are
responsible for and how that is separated.
Is it good management to keep it separated? Tim’s secretary helps the paid
firefighters.
Chief Joseph: Tim Dexter has nothing to do with the volunteers. We have two training officers. One takes care of the entire department and
the other is a training coordinator who takes care of the paid staff. We have specialized training for staff and
volunteers. From last year to this year
I am down seven volunteers and they are leaving in droves. In 8 or 10 years we will not have volunteers. They are asked to do mandated functions and
it is getting to be too much for them. I
have just spent $2,500.00 on space saver file cabinets because I do not have
the room for all the storage that is needed to keep the records that we have to
maintain.
Council Member Thompson: I see no
reason why developers can’t help pay for some stuff.
Mayor Gould:
The next thing is the fireboat.
Mayor Gould:
Council Member Thompson: And
they are willing to share with us.
Chief Joseph: Yes they will.
If we call on them under mutual aid, they will come
Council Member Thompson: They
told us emphatically that they would share with us. They will share it, they will share it, they
will share it.
Chief Joseph: That's right.
Mutual aid will come to help if needed but it not there to be
abused.
Mayor Gould: This discussion was with the mayor of
Chief Joseph: I can tell you this.
Under the mutual aid agreement, you can ask a department to help put out
a fire but you cannot ask them to do it for you. If we are going to build a conference
center, we are going to be responsible for the people who go out on that
river. We have to protect the people
ourselves. The boat will be operated by
volunteers but the primary responsibility is the career staff. My ultimate plan is to have a boathouse on
the river. The boundaries are set up by
Council Member Kelly:
Shouldn't we be talking to the
Mayor Gould: A good first step is to meet and speak with
Council Member Thompson: Wouldn’t
this be an opportunity for the Sheriff's Department to help?
City Administrator, Joseph Braun: I would suggest that the easy part is the boat and
the boathouse; the hard part is the staff.
If you have two of our paid firefighters out on the river and you call
two people back in, during the interim hiatus, we would have to look at that
closely to see how it affects the city's main goal which is to protect the
city. Regarding the Sheriff's Department
- if they are doing
Chief Joseph: We will be running a ferryboat every day
dozens of times. Something serious could
happen on the river just as it did in
Further discussion and research will be done.
Re-painting @ Beacon Engine: $6,490.00
City Administrator Braun: We
have a request to that the apparatus room, which is dire in need of paint
now. It was not budgeted. They are asking that the money be
appropriated to paint the bay at Beacon Engine Company and I absolutely agree. I recommend that the money be
appropriated: This $6,490.00 is just a
quote but it must go out for bid.
This will put on the agenda for
Lee arrived at
Comprehensive
Plan Schedule
Mayor Gould: Jerry, did you do the
conservation advisory committee law?
City Attorney Pisanelli:
We are waiting for the Comprehensive Plan to be approved. They submitted the open space part of
it. It needs to be accepted by the
city. I'm not sure that the has a
consensus to make them a board. If the
council wishes to make them a board rather than a commission it will be done
simultanously.
Council Member Gold:
That will cause another 30 days before it is issued. Will it be a board instead of a
commission? I think we should do it.
City Attorney Pisanelli:
How
are things proceeding with the Comprehensive Plan?
Mayor Gould:: The
comprehensive plan still has to do transportation. That will be in July. One of things we have to do is to prepare a
lead agency.
Council Member Kyriacou:
Has
it gone to the planning Board?
Mayor Gould: I thought they said that
they had done that.
If this does not go on the agenda, it will go on the workshop.
Proposed Local Law - Conservation Advisory
Commission – Jerry P. City Attorney will have Proposed Local Law. See above.
DC Community Development
Transfers - Letter from Audra dated
This will be placed on the
Agenda for
DePuyster Rezone - David DeLeo request for
rezoning DePuyster area (refused by both Planning and Zoning; he is militating
for green building program)
Mayor Gould: We
had a request to rezone a part of
Attorney Pisanelli: I
think you might want to speak to the Planner.
Charlie Kelly: He wants to make a one family into a two family and he
wants to subdivide it put another two family in a one family zone.
City Attorney Pisanelli: I would
suggest that we wait until we have more information. They want to subdivide to make two one
families.
Council Member Kyriacou: Why don’t we
ask him to do two in-laws?
Mayor Gould: We will get further information.
Council Member Kelly:
I agree. I don’t think we have enough information
More information and further discussion is required on
this.
Resolution
- “
Since the council did not review
this, it will be tabled until they can review this and get more information.
Vacant
Buildings - Documentation
Previously distributed
City Attorney Pisanelli: I
need to get together with Tim Dexter to clear up some issues.
Inter-municipal and Regional Cooperation -
See attached Executive Order “Establishing the New
York State Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness.
See Attached email from Betsy Brockway along with
attached Documentation “Hearings Scheduled on Local Government Efficiency and
Future of New York’s Justice Courts”
Any Ideas?
Bus
Shelter
-
See attached email from J. Braun dated
The Beacon Housing Authority has stated it
does not want the bus shelter on its property. Since it is a legal matter and the City Attorney has a conflict,
he recommends hiring an attorney to determine whether the City has the legal authority to place a bus shelter
on Housing Authority property. I suggest you discuss this at an upcoming workshop.
Mayor
Gould: I contacted the Loop Bus to
see if they would include Meadow Ridge.
Council
Member Gold: Perhaps they are looking for a new acting
director. The possibility exists that he
may have a different point of view.
Council
Member Kelly: We can hire our attorney to
try to approach them that we want to resolve this without litigation. We have to know what our legal standing is
before we sit down with their attorney.
Mayor
Gould: The
Sewer Responsibility -
See
Joe’s e-mail dated 06/20/2007 as follows: - Councilman Kelly's description of a
property on 9D that the NYS DOT failed to connect to the sewer back in the
'80's highlights the potential need to amend the recently enacted local law to
include sewer and water lines under the state highway. That law only covers lines under a city
street. The 9D arterial is a state
highway. Thank you. Signed:
Joe Braun, City Administrator.
City
Administrator Braun: The arterial should be added to
the law. It should say all city streets
and the arterial. We have a grant for
federal and state funds to pay for this.
First
Trane Proposal - Proposal for Heat Exchanger
follows:
City of
Project
Name: Beacon Municipal
As a result of a service call for no hot water due to low water level,
Trane is pleased to offer you this proposal for performance of the following
services:
Scope of Service
1)
Removal and disposal of existing heat exchanger.
2)
Provide and install new hot water heat exchanger.
3)
Verify proper operation.
Total Price.................................................................................................... $4,963.00
Notes:
1.
Applicable taxes are not included and
will be added to the invoice.
2.
Any service not listed is not included.
3.
Work will be performed during normal business
hours
Thank
you for giving us this opportunity. If you have any questions or concerns, please call me at (518)785-1315.
Best regards, Scott Miller, Account Manager
City Administrator
Braun: We need a hot water heat
exchanger going through our heating system so we can have hot water. This will not go out for bid because we have
a service contract with this company.
Appointments / Ratifications /Announcement -
Beacon 2009
Committee As City Committee:
-
Sara Pasti and
Bob Murphy, co-chairs
-
Norman MacLeod
-
Ann MacLeod
-
Phyllis Keaton
-
Julann Cobb
-
-
Clara Lou Gould
-
Jennifer
Mackiewicz
-
Ron Iarossi
-
Kathy Halvey
-
Plus
These people meet regularly
as a committee. The other people
regularly come - They want to change
from a committee to a board so they can raise funds and collect funds.
Melzingah Dam:
This has been around for so
long. Years ago, we did the dams for all
the reservoirs One of the things that was left behind was that the DEC said
that for safety reasons, the lower dam needed to be breeched. We have to go for a permit. We are at the stage where we need to complete
the engineering have to get that done.
This is the engineering firm that we had since back in the nineties who
provided all the work done on the dams.
This has to be done. It's long
overdue. It will be done from the
waterfronts. If I can find some left
over bond money, we can use the bond money.
This will be placed on the
July 2, 2007 Agenda.
Update
Other Business
Upcoming Workshop Agenda Items -
Council Agenda Monday, July 2, 2007
Police
salary money into overtime
Repainting
of Beacon Engine
Community
Development unused funds
Correction
Sewer Responsibility to add 9D
Proposal
for heat exchanger
Beacon
Street Sidewalks
Community Segment: Dawn
Wilkins – Choices for Change
Executive Session
Workshop ended at 9:05 p.m.
Submitted by Lucy M. Cullinan -
June 30, 2007