| Town Board
FEBRUARY 10, 2010
A regular meeting of the Jewett Town Board was held on Wednesday, February 10, 2010. Supervisor Carol A. Muth called the meeting to order at 7 PM. Present were Board members Steve Jacobs, Michael McCrary, JR Quackenbush and William Trach.
Present were Superintendent of Highways Robert Mallory, Assessor Nancy Wyncoop Bower, town residents Tom Hitchcock, Fred Fiadaca, Jim Varelas, Ron DeLong, newspaper reporter Mike Ryan and the town clerk.
Councilman McCrary made a motion, 2nd by Councilman Quackenbush and carried accepting the minutes of the January 13, 2010 regular meeting.
Councilman Quackenbush made a motion, 2nd by Councilman McCrary and carried accepting the minutes of the January 22, 2010 special meeting.
The Supervisor’s report for January was given to the Board prior to the meeting.
The Board received a written report from the Building Inspector.
Superintendent Mallory reported that the outside grass pellet stove is hooked up to electric and plumbing but not hooked up mechanically.
The Town is waiting to hear from the attorney about Butternut Lane. The Superintendent said the County is willing to help with this project and will give the town a culvert.
Councilman McCrary thanked the highway crew for the temporary repair on Carr Road from damage caused by flooding.
Councilman Quackenbush made a motion, 2nd by Councilman McCrary and carried to schedule a public hearing for the following local laws for 2010.
- Establishing Income Levels for Real Property Taxes for Senior Citizens.
- Establishing Income Levels for Real Property Taxes for Disabled & Low Income Citizens.
- Real Property Tax Exemption for Veterans for the “Cold War”.
Courtesy of the Floor:
Tom Hitchcock congratulated our new Supervisor on her election. He asked that pictures of the planning board and zoning board of appeals be updated on the web-site, also if anything was being done about unsafe buildings particularly the drive-in on Rt. 296.
Fred Fiadaca asked for an update on highway negotiations.
Courtesy of the floor was closed.
Councilman Quackenbush made a motion, 2nd by Councilman McCrary and carried approving Planning Board members receive $100 per meetings attended, the Planning Board Chairperson receive $200 per meeting and planning and ZBA members be paid $25 for each hour of training.
Councilman Quackenbush made a motion, 2nd by Councilman McCrary and carried to have the grass pellet stove in the Municipal Building removed.
Councilman McCrary made a motion, 2nd by Councilman Quackenbush and carried to accept the annual report of the East Jewett Fire Department. Supervisor Muth abstained.
Councilman McCrary made a motion, 2nd by Councilman Jacobs and carried to accept the annual report of the Jewett Fire Department.
Councilman Quackenbush made a motion, 2nd by Councilman McCrary and carried approving the mapping course being given in the Municipal Building to the Planning and Zoning Boards as an approved training session.
Bills were audited prior to the meeting. The general fund was $10,924.77 on abstract #2, claim numbers 25 to 52. The highway fund was $10,885.75 on abstract #2, claim numbers 13 to 27.
Councilman Quackenbush made a motion, 2nd by Councilman McCrary and carried approving the Supervisor’s December financial report.
Councilman Quackenbush made a motion, 2nd by Councilman Jacobs and carried to go into Executive Session at 8:50 PM to discuss the highway settlement and pending litigation.
Councilman McCrary made a motion, 2nd by Councilman Quackenbush and carried to come out of Executive Session at 9:06 PM.
The Board agrees to accept the Fact Finders Report concerning the health insurance contribution only and retains the right to change providers. The Board agrees to refund to highway employees the excess health insurance premium contributions that have been deducted from their wages beginning in September of 2009.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 PM on a motion by Councilman Quackenbush, 2nd by Councilman Jacobs and carried.
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Patricia Merwin, Town Clerk/RMC
Planning Board Minutes
TOWN OF JEWETT
PLANNING BOARD
MINUTES
FEBRUARY 4, 2010
Agenda Item 1: The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm.
Roll Call: Chair: Donna Bernard
Members: Gene Beers, Joan Kutcher, Janet Nicholls, and Marianne Romito
Agenda Item 2: Approval of Minutes for January 7, 2010.
The Planning Board reviewed the minutes; Ms. Bernard and Mr. Beers noted areas needing correction and clarification. It was decided to strike areas of personnel discussion. Ms. Bernard suggested that in the future when topics of personnel or budget arise to declare Executive session for the record, and the PB agreed. Ms. Laubmeier is to make the corrections decided upon and submit the corrected copy to Ms. Bernard for her signature.
One Planning Board member expressed her concern that perhaps the minutes get too detailed sometimes. Ms. Bernard said that she had recently taken a class on the SEQRA, and that the instructor advised keeping minutes with sufficient detail to show intent, just in case anything does come up before a judge.
Agenda Item 3: Report from Greene County Planning Board Representative Gene Beers.
Mr. Beers said that the meeting concerned simple things such as changing single dwellings to duplexes. A brew pub is planned in Athens in the old opera house to be built within a three year period. The upstairs is to house entertainment venues. The design of the building is intended to maintain as much of the historical character as possible.
Agenda Item 4: Report from Town Board liaison J.R. Quackenbush.
Mr. Quackenbush could not be present tonight, but he has promised to be here next month.
Agenda Item 5: Other Business: new member, training, and Brittny Estates.
Ms. Bernard welcomed Mrs. Romito as the newest member of the Planning Board; she replaces Mrs. Muth who left her seat vacant to serve as Town Supervisor.
Mrs. Nicholls had brought in photos she had taken of the windmill located at the property on the corner of Route 23A and O'Hara Road in Haines Falls. It was established before the Town of Hunter Windmill Law, and in the opinion of the Planning Board, erected without much thought for safety.
Ms. Bernard mentioned two emails from Michelle Yost. There are two meetings planned as training for mountaintop Zoning and Planning Boards intended to get everyone on the same page regarding code enforcement for stream management and soil erosion. There is new software, Mr. Beers commented: the county is planning a GIS map with multiple overlays. Delaware Engineering is doing the leg work which will result in a DVD or CD to work in Arc Explorer. These CDs will be available to the towns, and the Planning Board will be able to look closely at the properties, overlays, and measurements. These are to be upgraded annually. He said Mike Flaherty and he had the idea of using the overhead projector with the computer to review properties.
The first meeting will be held on the 22nd of February from 6 to 7 pm, either in the Jewett Municipal Building or the Hunter Elementary School. The second meeting is planned for March 24th from 6 to 9 pm. Mrs. Romito said it will probably be held at the new computer classroom in the Hunter-Tannersville High School. She said the new classroom is very elegant and very state of the art.
Mrs. Nicholls had thoughtfully copied her material of the Brittny Estates project for Ms. Bernard. Ms. Bernard sent out an email summarizing her understanding of it, and asked the Board's opinion. Mrs. Kutcher suspects that Kaaterskill Engineering (KE) will be reconfiguring the plan. Previous notes that the engineers left on the EAF will need to be reviewed between them and the DEP. A big question still exists over the planned entry way. Mrs. Nicholls had her copy of the map of this entry way that she showed the Planning Board.
Mr. Beers said he knows the property very well having played and hiked there since childhood. Part of the problem with constructing the roadway is access by fire fighting and rescue apparatus. KE had designed provisions to accommodate these needs, but these need review. Mr. Beers thinks that property owners will need to drill five hundred feet (500') or more to access water. The hill front is almost all bedrock or very thin topsoil making it difficult to install septic systems. Historically there was an old baseball field at the summit where people would gather for Sunday picnics in the 1800's and early 1900's, but probably nothing pertaining to Native Americans. The area has also been thoroughly logged over the years; Mr. Beers does not expect to find any one hundred year old trees. Trees are mostly hemlock, hard maple, hickory, and some beech.
Ms. Bernard inquired about the Negative impact statement. Mr. Vandeusen, the consulting engineer hired by the Town of Jewett, had raised several good points as to why this should become a Positive Declaration. These would include drainage and stormwater runoff. Ms. Bernard asked if Route 40 was a county route. Mr. Beers answered, yes, but it does not lie within five hundred feet (500') so the county would not need to be notified. However, Round Hill Road does. There is a one hundred and forty (140) acre lot under contract to the DEP that butts up with a DEP property in Maplecrest. He said he learned of it because apparently the Windham Town Board reviews its DEP purchases. The Brittny Estates property has wet areas and the drainage probably won't change much, and the road may shift that toward one of the houses, yet the catch basins probably will slow runoff down.
Ms. Bernard asked whether there would be any need to blast. KE says not, but with so many rock ledges up there, Mr. Beers thinks it a concern to get the road graded correctly. Mrs. Kutcher thought the houses would need to be built on slabs.
Ms. Bernard asked Mrs. Nicholls to share her notes. There is to be storm water drainage management in place with small ponds. The designs for five bedroom houses require a lot of roof coverage raising concerns of water runoff from the rooftops. Establishing septic systems with that much rock a concern: Mrs. Kutcher thought it may require above ground septic systems. The bedrock is only about three feet (3') below the surface. KE had promised to deliver storm water standards and Mr. Elsom had intended to talk to the highway supervisor about the curve of the roadway.
Regarding fire fighting concerns: the initial attack would be made from the east end of Round Hill Road. Mutual aid would be coming from Hensonville. The question of the angle of the road remains. Previous Planning Board member Steve Jacobs had several ideas about that. Mr. Beers thought if it were he, he'd blast through the bedrock to make it a straight run. This would facilitate lying down of fire hose and managing the efforts of the trucks.
Ms. Bernard called for further comments. There would be restricted clearing, but not much to clear. From some of the ledges are extraordinary views.
Ms. Bernard thanked the Planning Board for reviewing the information again and asked Ms. Laubmeier to remind KE of their commitment to present this case, given all that has previously gone before the PB.
The motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Mr. Beers, seconded by Mrs. Romito, and carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:08 pm. The next meeting will be held March 4, 2010.
Respectfully,
Susan Laubmeier, Clerk
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Donna Bernard, Chair
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