A regular meeting of the Jewett Town Board was held on July 14, 2004. Supervisor Michael Flaherty called the meeting to order at 7PM. Present were Board members Tom Wilson, Thomas Hitchcock and Charles Kutcher. Councilman LaPierre was absent. Also present were Attorney for the Town Tal G. Rappleyea, Superintendent of Highways Robert Mallory, Building Inspector Robert Bosworth, Zoning Officer William Dwyer, Town residents Jane Bostrom, Ann Dwyer and Werner Pscherer, newspaper reporter Carolyn Bennett and the town clerk.

Supervisor Flaherty extended condolences to Superintendent Mallory and his family at the loss of Mrs. Mallory's father.

Minutes of the June 9, 2004 regular meeting were accepted on a motion by Wilson, 2 nd by Hitchcock and carried.

The Supervisor's monthly report was given to the Board and bank statements were made available for review.

Building Inspector Bosworth presented the Board with a revised master list of the year's activity to date.

A motion was made by Hitchcock, 2 nd by Flaherty and carried instructing the building inspector to send a letter to property owners on Losee Road giving them a 30- day notice to clean up the trailer and garbage on their property or the Town will do it at the owner expense.

A motion was made by Wilson, 2 nd by Hitchcock and carried to accept the building inspectors monthly report.

Zoning Officer William Dwyer gave his monthly report to the Board.

Attorney Rappleyea, on the Matthews situation, is trying to have the person still living on the property consent to the removal then the matter can be taken care of. He will work with the zoning officer on this matter.

Attorney Rappleyea addressed Rough Riders Ranch. The good news is on the article 78 pending against the Town for the last four years. This happened when the Planning Board denied the request for a special use permit. The Judge finally issued an order dismissing that case so the decision of the Planning Board was upheld.

Attorney Rappleyea will do another affidavit with the additional information given him by the zoning officer at tonight's meeting. The additional evidence was an advertisement in a local brochure for Rough Riders Ranch. The Zoning Office will sign the affidavit and send it to the Judge.

A motion was made by Flaherty, 2 nd by Wilson and carried to accept the zoning officers monthly report.

Under courtesy of the floor:

Ann Dwyer told the Board that the web site was not working with the links since last week. The new picture is on but none of the links are working.

Councilman Wilson will speak with the Webmaster on this item.

Courtesy of the floor was closed.

Councilman Wilson addressing the Board on a local issue stated that there is an event in East Jewett called "Bellstock". The event is to take place on July 16, 17 and 18 on County Rt. 23C. A resident fireman was concerned about safety issues and asked if a permit had been applied for because no emergency personnel have been scheduled to be on call for that weekend. The fireman stated that there were at least 200 to 300 people attending the event.

Councilman Wilson "my question is for this specific event or in general, what steps can we take to enforce the law if it's been deliberately bypassed by simply not applying for a permit?"

Attorney Rappleyea "there's a two fold enforcement. The first step can be done pro-actively. If we have a reasonable belief that there's going to be more than 200 people and put that in affidavit form we can apply to the court for an injunction stopping it from occurring. The second level is, once the crime is committed we do the investigation."

"We have somebody there on site with a clicker. If there are over 200 people and they haven't applied for an application then they're in violation and you bring them in. The maximum fine is $1,000. and a year in jail."

Supervisor Flaherty will contact the Sheriff's Dept. and ask that a deputy check the site of the gathering over the weekend.

Notice will be sent to the organizer that the event will be monitored. If a current address is not available then a notice will be place on the front door at the event site.

The finance committee of Councilman Wilson and Supervisor Flaherty audited the bills prior to the meeting.

Supervisor Flaherty made a motion recommending the Board approve the audit. Councilman Wilson 2 nd the motion and all Board members voted Aye.

The general fund was $9,844.47 on abstract #7, claim numbers 153 to 177. The highway fund was $29,593.13 on abstract #7, claim numbers 106 to 124.

Councilmen Hitchcock and Kutcher were appointed as the finance committee for August, September and October.

The Board reviewed the flag lot amendments as presented by the Planning Board concerning Local Law #1 of 2004 titled "imposing a temporary six-month moratorium on approval or consideration of subdivisions containing flag lots." The Board approved the changes as presented.

A Public Hearing was scheduled for August 11, 2004 at 7PM to amend Local Law #2 of 1999 titled "revision of subdivision regulations."

A motion was made by Flaherty, 2 nd by Kutcher and carried accepting with regret the resignation of Planning Board member Michael Carr effective immediately.

A letter of appreciation will be sent to Mr. Carr for his dedicated service.

Committee reports:

Noise Committee. Councilman Wilson reported that they have had a couple productive meetings. "In particular the last meeting. It uncovered the difficulties of coming up with a really good sound ordinance in terms of balancing 'normal' noise associated with normal living and problematic sound and noise. We're using 'clear audibility standards' as much as possible."

Web-Site Committee. Councilman Wilson reported that he and Councilman LaPierre met with Webmaster Peter Peters.

"We would like to provide free links to all business who are in good standing in the Town. We would also like to move beyond that and have a separate section for business' to buy banners or ads on the website and promote their business. We want to use the yellow page concept. We are also working with cultural links."

Councilman Kutcher complimented Superintendent Mallory on the great job done on Round Hill Road.

Superintendent Mallory handed out a "summary of road condition survey". The Town is broken up into 4 quadrants and each road was looked at in its quadrant and classified.

Supervisor Flaherty reported that there is an ambulance meeting tomorrow night. He will bring more information to the August meeting. The Towns involved are Windham, Ashland, Jewett and Prattsville.

Supervisor Flaherty reported a very good meeting with DEC concerning the Hunter landfill. An engineer has been hired to do a volume study on what is coming out of the landfill. The landfill is operating at a cost of 30% less then last year because of the intercepting trench.

Under other:

At the request of Councilman Hitchcock and the advise of Attorney Rappleyea the zoning officer is directed to send a letter to the people on Round Hill Road who continually put up "Barn Sale" signs on weekends, on Rt. 296 and County Rt. 40, saying they are violating the zoning law and to cease and desist within 30 days. If nothing is done after the 30 days it is referred to Attorney Rappleyea and a summons of complaint is filed and they come into court.

There are trailers on Rt. 296 and in East Jewett being used for storage. Councilman Hitchcock said we should find out whether or not they are allowed. Attorney Rappleyea will research containers and trailers that can be hooked up and moved.

Supervisor Flaherty reported that changes have been made to the employee handbook. A draft was prepared and copies given to the employees working on the committee. The Supervisor stated that if there were no more changes it would be coming to the Board soon.

Councilman Hitchcock called Legislator Hitchcock and asked him if there was any information on a completion date on the bridges being worked on in Town. Legislator Hitchcock said the engineer gave him a date of mid-August for the bridge on Rt. 23C, one week either side of that. There was no information on the bridge on Scribner Hollow Road.

Councilman Hitchcock "The Town of Jewett does not have a community recreational area. I wondered if the Town could utilize Colgate Lake. It's one thing we have which the State owns but is not doing anything at all to make it inviting, to police it, to maintain it."Councilman Wilson "It is part of the Catskill Park and the DEC is the overseer. This year the new forest rangers are doing a good job of keeping it clean."

Councilman Hitchcock suggested "because it's important to us, because it's in our Town, we might be allowed to become a lead agency or an agency responsible for controlling what goes in there, like the buses."

Councilman Kutcher suggested that the Town might want to revisit its vote on the issue of supporting or not supporting the changes that the State wanted to make. "By the Town Board voting against the changes, in essence the Town has supported the potential for turning that into a park like situation with very heavy use. Had the Town voted in support of the DEC, the DEC suggested that the area be incorporated more into a wilderness area with a trail around it but not a heavy use area."

Councilman Wilson "I think because it is within the park and a State property it probably is encumbered."

County Legislator Jim Hitchcock is to be invited to the Special Meeting on July 28 th in the Municipal Building. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss County issues.

On a motion was made by Flaherty, 2 nd by Hitchcock and carried the Board went into executive session for possible litigation. On a motion by Flaherty, 2 nd by Hitchcock and carried the Board came out of executive session.

The Board agreed to consult the Town Attorney on a contract.

Councilman Hitchcock read an article for small business. With health care cost going up, one of the things the financial article said was for small business to consider health savings accounts. The Councilman asked if this was worth the Town looking into?

Supervisor Flaherty "I've looked into putting the premium we now pay into a savings account for the employee. Then the Town could buy catastrophic insurance."

Attorney Rappleyea suggested the insured individuals join the teamsters union. The Town of Cairo and the Village of Tannersville have this plan. The teamsters have their own health fund. The employees would have to become union members. The Attorney will obtain copies of the contracts for the Board to review.

A second Public Hearing was scheduled for the August meeting at 7:15PM in the Municipal Building. The purpose of the hearing is to discuss a Local Law establishing levels for a Real Property Tax Exemption based upon Disability/Low income.

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 9:15 PM on a motion by Wilson, 2 nd by Hitchcock and carried.

______________________________

Patricia Merwin Town Clerk

July 28, 2004

A special meeting of the Jewett Town Board was held on July 28, 2004. Supervisor Michael Flaherty called the meeting to order at 5PM. Present were Board members Tom Wilson, Charles Kutcher and Paul LaPierre. Also present were County Legislator James Hitchcock, newspaper reporter Mike Ryan and the town clerk. Councilman Thomas Hitchcock was absent.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss County matters.

Legislator Hitchcock informed the Board that the structure for the bridge on Rt. 23C is suppose to be going in this Friday, July 30 th . The finish up work is scheduled for late August on the Rt. 23C bridge and around Columbus Day for the Scribner Hollow bridge.

The columns for the Scribner Hollow bridge are being poured now according to the information given the Legislator by County Highway Superintendent Gary Harvey.

Legislator Hitchcock said he asked Superintendent Harvey about the penalties involved by not meeting the scheduled time for the end of construction on the projects. The Superintendent is working on the figures and will give them to the Legislator when they are ready.

Originally the Board was told by Superintendent Harvey that the Scribner Hollow bridge will be started a month latter then the Rt. 23C. bridge but both projects were started on June 14 th .

Legislator Hitchcock suggested County Highway Foreman Eugene Constable as a possible source of information and Bob Hempstead who is responsible for the Mr. Top and the details of the roads.

Supervisor Flaherty " The County is divided up into four different sections. Each section has a foreman. It seems like a more efficient way to organize things. To have to deal through one man shouldn't be. If we spoke to these gentlemen they still have to talk to their boss."

Legislator Hitchcock "I will talk with Mr. Hempstead and search out that issue. The local foremen have it within their parameters, if I have a problem on a certain road I call him and he can take care of it on his own without consulting higher authority. Mr. Constable has looked at the flooding problem on the corner of Cr. Rt. 40 and Rt. 23C. He's waiting for a survey crew to come in. Mr. Constable has a couple of ideas to try before they do a lot of digging up of the road."

Councilman Kutcher "We should know right a way when a problem comes up, such as the signs. We could also call up the State to get the signs there."

Legislator Hitchcock "I think we'll work within the structure of the County highway department at different levels and see where we get."

Councilman LaPierre "It would be interesting to know how much authority Hempstead and Constable have and what we can ask for and at what point does that have to stop and go beyond them?"

Legislator Hitchcock "It's a ground work of trust that has to be established. I think the chances of that are very good with more local representatives of the County highway department."

Councilman Wilson "This situation is one thing but looking down the road is something else. Is there a process or a procedure or a protocol that we could go through to say next year what's going to happen? What's the plan, what are we involved in? Get our input early on so we don't end up with two bridges and two access road closed simultaneously."

Councilman LaPierre "The County must establish a schedule of projects. It would seem appropriate for the County to break out, by Town, a schedule for each town and send that to the town Supervisor so we are informed ahead of time."

Legislator Hitchcock agreed this was a good idea. Further stating, "roads are a major part of Town and County relationships. I'll work on an avenue of communication to see what would be proper."

Councilman Wilson "We need to be ultra cooperative with the County. It's a matter of making a process work so the homeowners are alerted to the problems and solved as quickly as possible for the tax payers."

Councilman LaPierre "It's a matter of establishing a protocol."

Councilman Wilson "Is there any way that we would be able to address the highway committee?"

Legislator Hitchcock "Yes. It would be a good place to cover everything we talked about here. It would be a good thing to do. Anytime you want to come down let me know. I'll try to get a report together on activities for the foreseeable future."

Supervisor Flaherty to Legislator Hitchcock "You'll be receiving a letter from the Mountain Top Supervisors and Mayors. There was an article in the Town's magazine regarding on site waste- water septic systems. The law supports the fact that a licensed professional should be on the scene getting the design together. Surrounding Counties have departments of health and these departments of health administer septic systems. The letter will ask if it might be in the Counties best interest to have a department of health. It would be a great thing for homeowners and it would be standardization for gathering information. All we have now is Public Nursing. The model used was Ulster County."

Councilman LaPierre "The law with respect to municipalities and adult entertainment districts. How far down does that requirement on a municipality have to trickle say from County to Town to Village. Is it possible for a Town that has villages in it to have adult entertainment areas designated within the Town thereby allowing the villages to not have to participate in that law? If that is the case is it possible to do it on a County wide basis?"

Legislator Hitchcock "I don't have an answer."

Councilman LaPierre "The County can establish, for instance, an industrial development zone. I wonder if that same logic could be applied to something like this? I'm not saying it's feasible but I think it's something we might look at."

Councilman Wilson "How can we as a Town be more pro-active in making sure our presence is known and understood? Is there a way we can be more pro-active in understanding what's going in at the County level and how it impacts people up here and do we have the ability then to transfer that back down to the County?"

Legislator Hitchcock "The committee meetings. I would say rotate the Town Board and address the different committees. That would be good for me and you and would focus Jewett."

Supervisor Flaherty asked Legislator Hitchcock to have the clerk of the legislator send the Town a roster of the different committee meetings.

Supervisor Flaherty shared a letter left at the Municipal Building by angry part-time residents. They had been riding around for over an hour trying to get to their home when they come upon the Municipal Building. They felt the Town should have notified them of the bridge and road closings.

It was suggested that a copy of the letter be sent to County Highway Superintendent Gary Harvey.

The Legislator was thanked for being to the meeting. Legislator Hitchcock again stating he would notify the Town of the completion dates and the penalties involved by not meeting the scheduled opening.

Councilman Kutcher "I think we should try doing the following in terms of meetings and that is no new business comes up at the scheduled meeting unless it's an emergency. If anyone wants to discuss something they tell the Supervisor and it gets on the agenda, lets say the week before. This way when we have a discussion we have probably four days or more to think about it."

"Last time we had a discussion about the lake. That actually could have been off the agenda completely. If that issue had come to the Supervisor, he could have said to Tom (Hitchcock) this is handled by the State and that would have been the end of it. The discussion of the pension stuff, if we could have gotten the stuff in advance we could have thought about it. It could easily cut a half hour off the meetings. What happens is we have the discussion on the pension and then we'll have the discussion again and then we'll finally get it written up and then we'll have a really serious discussion."

"I had never thought about doing it, but at the Board of Directors meeting of the Mid-Hudson Library system they explained that their meeting are only two hours because people are to busy and traveling around."

"The other thing is we don't let a new item go on the agenda unless it's been phoned in or it's an emergency. Because this way people are prepared and you don't get a whole list of items."

Councilman Wilson "One of the problems is you have to make a procedural change. Always on our agenda is something called 'other' and that would have to be taken off."

Councilman Kutcher "We've always left it to that. Sometime they're very substantial and tend to occur at the end of the meeting. If it's important enough that you want to discuss it at a meeting it gives you the discipline of a week in advance, you thought about it and it's important. It not something you just write down. I'm guilty of it too."

Councilman LaPierre "If that's the case we need to get the agenda sooner to have time to digest what's on the agenda for proper discussion at the meeting."

Councilman Kutcher "If the stuff goes into Mike about a week in advance. We have five days on the agenda."

Councilman Wilson "Mike could be inundated with ' I want to talk about this, that or the other thing'. All of a sudden the agenda is 25 points. Tom (Hitchcock) is famous for having 'other' and a lot of times it's substantive. You would have a 50 page agenda and how would we know that that's only going to be two hours?"

Councilman Kutcher "I didn't say we had to have a two hour limit. I didn't pick up on the two- hour limit when they talked to us. I picked up on it would be nice to have those. The other issue is, as I understand and I'm not suggesting things be cut off, Mike sets the agenda. We could send him 900 item and he could say no."

Councilman Wilson "If I wanted to discuss the pension and it was not on the agenda how would I tell my fellow Board members? So Mike's agenda responsibility could, if we took the word 'other' off."

Councilman Kutcher "Right now everything gets discussed. I like having the agenda in advance now and I like being able to call you up and say I'd like to put this on the agenda and it's there. I think the agenda item should be more specified. I hate getting hit with so many items that I haven't even thought about at the meeting."

Councilman Wilson "Let's keep it the way it is, only because it's a procedural issue but the further in advance we can get it the morewe can think about it and the more complete the items are."

Councilman Kutcher "We should discuss this when Tom is here."

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 6:10PM on a motion by Wilson, 2 nd by Flaherty and carried.

________________________________

Patricia Merwin Town Clerk