| Town Board
OCTOBER 8, 2008
A regular meeting of the Jewett Town Board was held on Wednesday, October 8, 2008. Supervisor Michael Flaherty called the meeting to order at 7 P.M. Present were Board members Michael McCrary, JR Quackenbush and Elaine Warfield.
Present were Superintendent of Highways Robert Mallory, Attorney for the Town Tal G. Rappleyea, Building Inspector Thomas Cross, Zoning Officer William Dwyer, Justice Stephen Canfield, Watershed Assistance Program Coordinator Michelle Yost, town resident Donna Barnard, newspaper reporter Mike Ryan and the town clerk.
Councilman Quackenbush made a motion, 2nd by Councilwoman Warfield and carried accepting the minutes of the September 10, 2008 regular meeting.
The Supervisor’s monthly financial report was given to the Board.
The Building Inspector and Zoning Officer gave their written monthly reports to the Board.
Superintendent Mallory said he will contact the County Superintendent and discuss the safety issue at the intersection of Butternut Road and Co. Rt. 17.
Supervisor Flaherty made a motion, 2nd by Councilwoman Warfield and carried approving Resolution #19. This is a Resolution Authorizing Application for Funds from the 2008 Justice Court Assistance Program.
RESOLVED, the Town Board of the Town of Jewett, Greene County, New York hereby authorizes Town Justice Stephen Canfield to file an application for office supplies/funding from the New York State Office of Court Administration 2008 Justice Court Assistance Program.
ROLL CALL VOTE: Aye Flaherty, McCrary, Quackenbush and Warfield.
Supervisor Flaherty made a motion, 2nd by Councilman Quackenbush and carried approving Resolution #20. The resolution reads:
WHEREAS the Greene County Soil & Water Conservation district (GCSWCD) and the Town of Jewett (Town) recognize that the East Kill and the Schoharie Creek are key elements of the identity of the Town, and provide many environmental and economic benefits to the residents and businesses of Jewett, and
WHEREAS the GCSWCD and the town have worked cooperatively on stream management issues relevant to both public and private interests for many years, and
WHEREAS the GCSWCD, in partnership with the NYCDEP Stream Management Program have worked cooperatively since 2006 to develop comprehensive Stream Management Plans (SMP) for the East Kill and Schoharie Creek, and
WHEREAS the GCSWCD and NYCDEP have worked closely with a local Project Advisory committee, the Town and other watershed stakeholders to develop the East Kill and Schoharie Creek SMP’s which take a science based, long-term management approach to the streams, and
WHEREAS the East Kill and Schoharie Creek SMP’s provide guidance on protecting the safety and welfare of the citizens of Jewett and the public investment in Town infrastructure, and
WHEREAS the GCSWCD and the Town desire to work cooperatively to implement the both Stream Management Plans for the common benefit of both parties, protection of the natural resources and the interest of the broader watershed stakeholders, now
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Town of Jewett recognizes, and adopts the East Kill and Schoharie Creek Stream Management Plans as guidance documents that can assist the Town and its landowners with addressing long term management of the East Kill and Schoharie Creek in a manner that is consistent with the protection of public and private property, the protection of natural resources, and in a way that will provide the Town, its landowners and visitors with multiple benefits.
ROLL CALL VOTE: AYE Flaherty, McCrary, Quackenbush and Warfield.
The Supervisor informed the Board about a DEP land acquisition in the area of Goshen Street and Hesley Road. There is a 120 day comment period. This item was tabled.
Councilman McCrary made a motion, 2nd by Councilman Quackenbush and carried accepting the August financial report. Bank statements were made available for review.
The audit committee of Supervisor Flaherty and Councilman McCrary audited the bills prior to the meeting.
Supervisor Flaherty made a motion to approve the bills. Councilman McCrary 2nd the motion and Board members voted Aye.
The general fund was $15,911.28 on abstract #10, claim numbers 237 to 265. The highway fund was $38,749.28 on abstract #10, claim numbers 164 to 185.
The Board gave approval for the Supervisor to sign the contract with Columbia Greene Humane Society.
Supervisor Flaherty made a motion, 2nd by Councilman Quackenbush and carried to adjourn the meeting at 8:25 P.M.
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Patricia Merwin, Town Clerk RMC
Budget Workshop
OCTOBER 13, 2008
A second budget workshop was held on October 13, 2008. Supervisor Michael Flaherty called the workshop to order at 9 A.M. Present were Board members Michael McCrary, JR Quackenbush and Elaine Warfield, Superintendent of Highways Robert Mallory and the town clerk.
A motion was made by Councilman McCrary, 2nd by Supervisor Flaherty and carried to go into executive session at 10:20 A.M. on personnel matters.
A motion was made by Supervisor Flaherty, 2nd by Councilman Quackenbush and carried to come out of executive session at 12:30 P.M.
A motion was made by Supervisor Flaherty, 2nd by Councilman McCrary and carried approving the budget as the preliminary budget for 2009.
A public hearing on the preliminary budget will be held on November 20th at 6 P.M. in the Municipal Building.
Supervisor Flaherty made a motion, 2nd by Councilman Quackenbush and carried adjourning the meeting at 1:30 P.M.
__________________________________
Patricia Merwin Town Clerk RMC
Zoning Board
October 1, 2008
Roll Call : Chair: Russ Coloton
Members: Margaret Flaherty, Ann Dwyer, Charles Kutcher, Kathleen Williams
The meeting opened at 7:07 pm.
Agenda Item 2: Approval of Minutes of September 3, 2008.
Mrs. Williams made the motion to approve the minutes. Mr. Kutcher seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous and the motion carried.
Agenda Item 3: Public Hearing on the Application for Interpretation of Certificate of Non-Conforming Use for Patricia Pelham of 175 Peck Road, Jewett, NY: Tax Map # 112.00-2-5: District: Rural Residential by Paul Pansini of 157 Peck Road, Jewett, NY; Tax Map # 112.00-2-6.
Mrs. Flaherty made the motion to open the hearing. Mrs. Williams seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous and the hearing opened at 7:09 pm. Mrs. Dwyer incorporated all prior exhibits, A thru H, AA thru GG, 1 thru 16 into the record of this hearing. In addition, the proper notices documentation for this hearing are marked as Exhibit HH, the sign-in sheet from this hearing is marked as Exhibit II, the secretary’s procedural statement is marked as Exhibit JJ, the exhibit list is marked as Exhibit KK, the Bryan letter is marked as Exhibit 17, the Senator Seward letter is marked as Exhibit 18 and the Bagnasco fax letter is marked as Exhibit 19. Mr. Michael Pelham submitted written documentation marked as Exhibit 20.
Mr. Coloton called on Mrs. Pat Pelham. Mrs. Pelham submitted her statement, which was marked as Exhibit 21, which refuted a number of claims made in prior testimony.
Mr. Coloton called on Dr. Kelly. Dr. Kelly verified receipt of the letter he sent, marked as Exhibit 21; he read the letter from the Bryan’s [Exhibit 17] then read a portion of his letter [Exhibit 22].
Mr. Coloton called on Mr. Pansini. Mr. Pansini stated that he was going to cover a lot of the information that was in both the Bryan letter and Dr. Kelly’s letter. Mr. Pansini wanted to verify that the members have copies of his May 2008 email. Mrs. Dwyer assured him that each member has copies of all the email correspondence received prior to his application. The email correspondence is Exhibit D pages 1 through 22. Mr. Pansini referred to the testimony of the Heinemanns and stated that they live here full time and know what is going on. He stated that according to his parents the Pelhams purchased the property in the 1985 and between 1985 and 1990 the electrical business was there. The only business the Heinemann knew about was the electrical business as well as a garage that contained some supplies and equipment for the business. There was no impact on the environment or the neighbors, and the other business was maple syrup production. That is all they were aware of. They noticed a change late in 2004 and that is when the land was cleared and the logs showed up. Prior to that, they had cows on the property and that business was not there. When you try to look up information on Michael Pelham Custom Homes, the only information out there is an address in Albany County, that’s readily available on the internet. Mr. Pelham also stated that the saw was a temporary or portable saw that he takes to different locations on his truck. It is not a permanent fixture on the property, therefore, I don’t know how it indicates that there is a sawmill on the property when it wasn’t even a permanent fixture. The only business registered to Peck Road is Forest to Final Form, which was created on 7/30/07. Forest to Final Form was used to secure the grant from the State of New York Micro Enterprise Assistance Program. They indicated that money for this grant was for a three phase generator and kill. And that clearly indicates an increase in scope in that particular business. And Michael Pelham’s statement was, he used the words “industrial operation”, it wasn’t something we came up with he brought that up. So it leads me to believe that in his mind for his particular business it is to grow that business, which is fine, just not in the area that it is in. In closing, it is hard for us to prove a negative. It is hard to prove that this business did not exist. The burden should be on Michael Pelham to prove that it did exist. It is a lot easier to prove that it did exist and there should be plenty of documentation to support that. I will also say that it should be a legal business that exists, it can’t be a side business or something like that where you make money on the side; it has to be a legal business. If it is not a legal business, you already took the benefits of not having a legal business, avoiding taxes and everything else. You can’t use it to go after a permit. Again, a lot of this information has been forwarded to other people; it has been forwarded to Peter Lopez, our assemblyman; and I also contacted the Department of Conservation just to make them aware of what is going on. My biggest concern is about noise pollution, and air pollution and traffic on the roads. There is a safety issue for my kids who are up here playing around.
Mr. Coloton called for other comments from the floor. No one commented.
Mr. Coloton inquired of Dr. Kelly about the case law he offered to provide. Dr. Kelly stated that it was an associate of his who is an attorney. When he asked him about it he stated that it was not his job, if you want case law that is the job of the Town lawyer, my job comes later, I think he wants the case. So unfortunately he wasn’t very helpful. I guess in the letter that the Bryan’s submitted they also talk about the laws. If the local jurisdiction does not enforce the SEQR, the state environmental regulations, if the town does not enforce those laws, because the DEC doesn’t have any enforcement arm, so they leave it up to the local jurisdictions to enforce the laws and the case law that I was referring to is exactly that. If the local government does not see to it that the environment regulations are followed, the town would be held responsible. That is the only way environmental regulations can work because they can’t have a giant police force in the state, they have to leave it up to the local communities. So that is what that case law pertained to and according to his friend that is very clear. I think one phone call to DEC would clarify that.
Mr. Pansini inquired about the contents of Sen. Seward’s letter [Exhibit 18].Mr. Coloton read the letter.
Since there are no other comments from the public, Mr. Kutcher made the motion to close the Public Hearing. Mrs. Williams seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous and the hearing was closed at 7:50 pm.
Agenda Item 4: Application for Interpretation of Certificate of Non-Conforming Use for Patricia Pelham of 175 Peck Road, Jewett, NY: Tax Map # 112.00-2-5: District: Rural Residential by Paul Pansini of 157 Peck Road, Jewett, NY; Tax Map # 112.00-2-6.
Mr. Coloton summarized the issue before the Board and stated that the first part of the decision is determining what, if any, kind of business was present in August 1991. Mrs. Williams recommended reviewing the Certificate of Non-Conforming Use to familiarize the members with the type of business that was determined to be a nonconforming use [Exhibit B which includes the ZEO pictures]. Members reviewed the certificate and backup documentation. Members referred to case law regarding pre-existing non-conforming use. Members reviewed all the exhibits and evidence submitted. Members agreed to schedule two additional meeting in order to complete the review of this application before the 62 day deadline. The agreed upon date are Friday, October 31, 2008 and Thursday, November 6, 2008. Mrs. Dwyer will submit the notice to the paper. Members agreed that the Town Attorney should be invited to attend the regular November 5, 2008 meeting.
There being no other business, Mrs. Flaherty made the motion to close the meeting. Mrs. Williams seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. The meeting ended at 10:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Ann Dwyer
Secretary
__________________________________
Accepted
Zoning Board
October 31,2008
Roll Call : Chair: Russ Coloton
Members: Margaret Flaherty, Ann Dwyer, Charles Kutcher, Kathleen Williams
The meeting opened at 7:09 pm.
Agenda Item 2: Approval of Minutes of October 1, 2008.
Mrs. Dwyer noted two typing errors in the minutes which she corrected. Mr. Kutcher made the motion to approve the minutes as corrected. Mrs. Williams seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous and the motion carried.
Agenda Item 3: Application for Interpretation of Certificate of Non-Conforming Use for Patricia Pelham of 175 Peck Road, Jewett, NY: Tax Map # 112.00-2-5: District: Rural Residential by Paul Pansini of 157 Peck Road, Jewett, NY; Tax Map # 112.00-2-6.
Members reviewed and discussed the pertinent exhibits, the verbal testimony given at the public hearings, and the Certificate of Non-Conforming Use including its’ backup documentation. Members then discussed the non-conforming use of “Home Construction Business/Carpentry Business/Sawmill Operation” as listed on the certificate. Members agreed that the two one-family dwellings were a non-conforming use. Members discussed whether there was sufficient evidence to support the “Home Construction Business/Carpentry Business/Sawmill Operation”. Mr. Coloton proposed the Board consider that the certificate was improperly issued based on insufficient evidence provided supporting the “Home Construction Business/Carpentry Business/Sawmill Operation” as stated on the Certificate. Members discussed the procedure to be followed regarding the decision. Mrs. Dwyer recommended the Board consult with the Town Attorney, who is scheduled to be available at the regular November meeting. Members agreed. Mrs. Dwyer reported that she would draft a form of the resolution which would include the relevant information that the members could consider and amend at the November meeting. Members agreed.
Agenda Item 4: Other business:
Mrs. Dwyer informed the members of the Greene and Columbia County Planning Boards’ training sessions scheduled for November 17th.
There being no other business, Mrs. Dwyer made the motion to close the meeting. Mrs. Flaherty seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. The meeting ended at 9:35 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Ann Dwyer
Secretary
__________________________________
Accepted
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