Village Board Meeting - February 13, 2006

Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village/Town of Mt. Kisco held on Monday, February 13, 2006 at 8:00 p.m. in the Frank J. DiMicco Board Room, Village Hall, 104 Main Street, Mount Kisco, New York.

Present: Mayor J. Michael Cindrich

Trustee George L. Griffin, Jr.

Trustee Peter Grunthal

Trustee Anthony Markus

Trustee Peter DiChiara

Also Present: William Williams, Village Manager/Clerk

James Palmer, Assistant Village Manager

Whitney Singleton, Village Attorney

Mayor Cindrich opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and asked everyone to please reflect on why we are here and asked for guidance in the decisions that we make this evening will benefit the entire community. He also asked that we reflect globally on the passing of Loretta Scott King; two members of the American Legion Kevin Quinn and Founding Member Tom Cambareri and also Bill Whalen who was a member of the Independent Fire Department and an outstanding citizen of this community.

1) Communications: None.

2) Petitions: None.

3) Board, Committee and Commission Reports:

A. Resolution Appointing Kevin Kelly to the Architectural Review Board term to expire on 12/7/09.

The following motion was offered by Trustee Griffin, Jr. and seconded by Trustee Markus.

I move that Kevin Kelly be appointed to the Architectural Review Board for a three year term to expire on 12/7/09, all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Trustee DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

B. Resolution Reappointing Lawrence Maisel to the Assessment Review Board term to expire on 9/30/10.

The following motion was offered by Trustee DiChiara and seconded by Trustee Grunthal.

I move that Lawrence Maisel be reappointed to the Assessment Review Board for a 5 year term to expire on 9/30/10, all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Trustee DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

4) Village Manager's Reports -

A. Level of Byram Lake

Mr. Williams advised that the level of Byram Lake is at 101.5% and the daily average pumpage report for the month of January is 1,385,978 gallons.

B. Report from Blu Dot Inc. re: Tributary #1 Flume Flow, Monthly Report, January 2006.

Monthly Total Rain (in) 6.92

Monthly Max. Level (ft) 0.71

Monthly Min. Level (ft) 0.29

Monthly Max Capacity 103.7

Monthly Min. Capacity 101.4

C. Resignation of Village Manager William F. Williams.

Mr. Williams announced that he was confirming that on Tuesday, February 7, 2006 he formally served notice of his intent to resign his position as Village Manager of the Village of Mount Kisco on May 31, 2006. On February 6^th he was appointed Village Manager of the Village of Port Chester to be effective June 1, 2006. He wanted to take this opportunity to thank Mayor Cindrich and the members of the Board of Trustees for their support and cooperation. He also wanted to thank the former Mayor Reilly, Trustees Civitello and Romeo who were on the Board that appointed him in July, 2003. His tenure started on September 2, 2003 and he and his wife Debby have lived in Mount Kisco since September 23, 2003. While he has been described as a seasoned manager, the challenges of the past several years have often been unending. He firmly believes when he closes up shop in the next few months the Village administration will be in far better shape than when he arrived. He gave a lot of credit to the Management Team and Staff. He was grateful for the past support of Jim Palmer, Tom Warren, Paula Maiorano, Patti Tipa, Peter Scala, Gary Pecor, and Chief Lou Terlizzi. We have survived many challenging days including all too many water main breaks. The dramatic start up of the filtration plant would have been a disaster without the knowledge and dedication of former Water Superintendent Andy Tiess. He was grateful to all of them and the many other unrecognized Village employees who perform dedicated service everyday. The 19 inches of snowfall this weekend and the positive response by all the DPW personnel is one more example of the quality of this organization. It is often lonely at the top but some special individuals have made it all workable by being here for me in good and bad times. I will miss you all. Thank you again for your cooperation and support.

Mr. Williams announced that he had hired Margarita Browne as Office Assistant in the Mount Kisco Police Department effective Thursday, February 9, 2006 with a starting salary of $34,947.00.

Trustee Markus noted that he knew Margarita Browne and that he felt she would make an excellent employee and be a great addition to the Village staff.

G. Green Street Bridge Update.

Mr. Williams reported that Burtis would be submitting a revised work schedule based upon the placement of the bridge deck pieces last week. The wing walls were not poured when the inclement weather hit last weekend and they still have to be done. In addition to some major demolition of some temporary walls that need to be installed before and the back filling of material. This work could take up to 5 weeks weather permitting. He noted that financial reports are being kept for the proper retainage withholding to reimburse the Village of Mount Kisco for all the additional items and the work delays.

Mayor Cindrich stated that he didn't understand why the contractor didn't help the Village out by working longer hours or working longer days to push this project forward. He has been receiving a number of complaints from residents and merchants regarding the 3 to 4 month delay in the completion of this project. He noted that before the Village pays any additional funds to the contractor or the engineer enough funds must be withheld to make sure the Village is protected and that these expenses can be covered.

Mr. Williams suggested that discussion on this subject be continued in Executive Session this evening.

F. Croton Avenue Project Update.

Mr. Williams stated that he had complied the necessary cost analysis information that will quantify the method and the means of the installation of the new 12” Water Main on Croton Avenue and Prospect Street. This Capital Project was signed with Bilotta Construction for a cost of $595,385 and engineering fees of $100,000 for a project total of $700,000. The original intent was to use an outside consulting inspector along with using the Village Engineer. Due to the fact that Water Department employees were called to the site many times per day, he decided to utilize the Water Department to offset the consulting costs. If an outside consulting inspector was onsite fulltime the cost would have been 552 hours at a rate of $95.00 per hour, totaling $52,440. Using our existing work force the onsite time from the Water Department was 590 total hours of which 200 hours were overtime. The overtime totaled $9,000. The Village saved $43,440 by avoiding outside inspection services. To date, he has estimated the change orders for the project to be $40,000 and could be as much as $60,000. This estimated cost is extremely low in comparison to the previous water main improvement projects. It is less than 10% of the total signed contract price. 10% is an extremely positive contingency; one which usually is found when a competent, fulltime construction manager is present. He instructed the Water Foreman to keep a daily log on services and equipment that was loaned to the contractor to keep the project moving. An example of this was when the Village loaned the contractor shoring for safety and assisting them with water breaks caused by the contractor. These charges will be given to the contractor at the end of the project. Also the location of the water mains, all hydrant spurs, and the residential water services were precisely recorded for future reference in the event of repairs, maintenance and on our GIS record keeping. In the past, up to and including this specific project, time and money was wasted locating infrastructure that was not actually depicted in Village archives created by past consultants.

Trustee DiChiara asked what the original estimated completion date was for the project.

Village Manager Williams reported that the project was supposed to be completed before the winter months however, the contractor didn't mobilize at the site until November. The process was good once it got going, but it got a very late start.

Mayor Cindrich stated that because there was significant injuries to one of the workers on site he wanted to make sure that the Village is protected and that the entire burden of the incident will fall on the contractor. The Village needs to make sure we have the proper insurance certificates/indemnifications and reports from OSHA.

G. 2006/2007 Fiscal Budget Meeting Schedule.

Village Manager Williams reviewed the schedule for the 2006/2007 fiscal budget process as follows:

F. Resolution Scheduling an Executive Session

Motion made by Trustee DiChiara and seconded by Trustee Grunthal scheduling an Executive Session immediately following this evenings Regular Meeting to discuss labor negotiations, potential litigation matters and employee issues, all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Trustee DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

5) Mayor's Reports

Trustee Markus noted that Mel Berger, Chairman of the Community Relations Committee had not called a meeting in several months, so there was no report on that subject. However, he had a question regarding the new Taxi Law. He was very happy to see the new taxi company decals and identification on most of the cars. He asked if there was any way to know whether the cars that aren't marked are actually registered here in Mount Kisco, and what we can do to enforce that.

Trustee Griffin, Jr. suggested that the Village Manager contact Chief Terlizzi and perhaps on one of the over lapping shifts in the Police Department they perform a spot check to verify proper registration and proper licensing of the taxi vehicles to make sure they are all following the new taxi ordinance.

Trustee Grunthal reported that the trustees for the Volunteer Fire Department Long Service Award program (LOSAP) received their investment report ending December 31, 2005. The rate of return between May and December 2005 was 3.55% which if annualized would be 5.7%. This was not too bad in comparison to the 6.0% long term assumption in the actuarial calculations.

Trustee Grunthal reported that the Finance Committee met on February 9, 2006 and again discussed the subject of medical benefits. The Finance Committee reviewed the newly revised MEBCO Benefits for 2006 which are now more in line with the Empire Plan. The Finance Committee will be making a medical benefits recommendation shortly to the Village Board.

Trustee Griffin, Jr. did not have a report at this time.

Trustee DiChiara commented that he liked the look of the new Mount Kisco web site and thanked Assistant Manager James Palmer for all his hard work in getting the site up and running.

Mayor Cindrich requested that another meeting with the New York State Department of Transportation be scheduled to discuss the Rt. 133/South Moger/Main Street Intersection which in his opinion are the main bottleneck areas in the Village. Once the Green Street Bridge opens this intersection needed to be discussed and looked at immediately.

Mayor Cindrich advised that he and Trustee Griffin, Jr. recently attended the retirement celebration for Town Justice Henry V. Kensing. It was a rewarding experience to see a number of people at that celebration.

Mayor Cindrich stated that he has had several conversations with merchants regarding the St. Patrick's Day parade. He requested that the Police Department be made aware of the traffic patterns we instituted last year, which minimized the shutting down of traffic and make available the municipal lot at Village Hall for the businesses that are on the East Main Street corridor. The flow of traffic will continue up until the last moment when it will be necessary to shut down the street and if it requires a meeting with the East Main Street Merchants I would like to do that.

Mayor Cindrich commended the Highway Department for the very difficult snow removal task this weekend it was a monumental task and they did an outstanding job.

Mayor Cindrich stated that he has been meeting with Westchester County Officials, Putman County Officials and Officials from other communities on the Day Laborer's issues. We are extremely fortunate to have a designated hiring site at Neighbor's Link located on Columbus Avenue. Anyone that is contracting or picking up a day laborer at another location other than Neighbor's Link is controverting everything we are trying to do in assisting the people that are Day Laborer's. We will be increasing our enforcement activity at other locations where no stopping/no standing/no parking is prohibited.

Mayor Cindrich reported that Pace University is conducting an Open Space Seminar on Municipal Open Space Protection and Training (3/24/06). This seminar is available for 10 of our local volunteers and/or officials. He would like one representative from the Village Staff, the Village Board of Trustees, Planning Board and the Conservation Advisory Council to attend this meeting. It is an important seminar and it may help us preserve open space in the future.

Mayor Cindrich noted that he wanted to schedule a meeting with the Board of Fire Commissioners and he would be sending an email to the Trustees regarding a tentative meeting date.

6) Old Business - None.

7) New Business

A. Resolution Scheduling a public hearing re: Proposed Local Law regarding Stormwater Management on Monday, February 27, 2006 at 7:25 pm.

Mayor Cindrich requested that copies of this proposed local law be sent to the Planning Board, Conservation Advisory Council and the Byram Lake Committee for their review and comment.

The following motion was offered by Trustee Markus and seconded by Trustee Griffin, Jr. scheduling a public hearing regarding a Stormwater Management Proposed Local Law for Monday, February 27, 2006 at 7:25 pm.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Trustee DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

8) Bills -

Resolution to Approve Bills

The following motion was offered by Trustee DiChiara and seconded by Trustee Grunthal to pay the bills.

General Fund $127,405.59

General Fund Claims $123,371.16

Water Fund Claims 2,294.43

Sewer Fund Claims 00.00

Library Fund Claims 1,140.00

Capital Fund Claims 600.00

Trust Fund Claims 00.00

Senior Nutrition Program 2,663.82

Water and Sewer Fund 105,958.84

Water Fund Claims 104,019.15

Sewer Fund Claims 1,939.69

Library Fund 1,048.24

Capital Projects Fund 78,857.53

Trust in Agency Fund 7,239.33

____________

TOTAL $323,173.35

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Trustee DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

Mayor Cindrich stated that he wanted the Village Attorney to make sure there are sufficient funds in reserve for both outstanding construction projects (Bilotta Construction - Croton Avenue and Burtis Construction - Green Street Bridge).

Trustee Griffin, Jr. asked for a copy of the MacKenzie Street Lighting Repair Statements.

9) Approval of Minutes -

Trustee Grunthal noted a spelling error on page 3 “phosphors”. It should have been “phosphorus”.

Motion made by Trustee Markus and seconded by Trustee Griffin, Jr. hereby approving the Regular Meeting Minutes of January 30, 2006 with the above noted correction, all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Trustee DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

10) Non-Local Business - None.

11) Public Comment -

There being no further business to come before the Board a motion to close the meeting was made by Trustee Markus and seconded by Trustee Griffin, Jr., all in favor.

9:00 pm.

______________________________________

William F. Williams, Village Manager and Clerk

Regular Village Board Meeting 2/13/06 1.

Created by pmaiorano. Last modified 2006-03-06 15:32:37.