Village Board Minutes - July 16, 2007

Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village/Town of Mount Kisco held on Monday, July 16, 2007 at 7:30 pm in the Frank J. DiMicco Board Room, Village Hall, 104 Main Street, Mount Kisco, New York.

Present: Mayor J. Michael Cindrich

Deputy Mayor Peter DiChiara

Trustee George Griffin, Jr.

Trustee Peter Grunthal

Trustee Anthony Markus

Also Present: James Palmer, Village Manager/Clerk

Whitney Singleton, Village Attorney

Prior to the start of the Village Board of Trustees meeting the Village Board conducted an informal interview with Dorothy Knudsen regarding a vacancy on the Tree Preservation Board and/or the Board of Ethics. They also interviewed Dave Roider regarding a vacancy on the Tree Preservation Board and/or the Conservation Advisory Council.

Mayor Cindrich opened the Village Board Meeting. He asked everyone to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance and asked everyone to please reflect on why we are here and asked for guidance in the decisions we make this evening that they will benefit all the people of Mount Kisco. He also asked that people remember in their prayers and thoughts the family of and loved one of Andy Ruocco who passed away this month and Tim Neary who died very young. Tim Neary was a young man that grew up in this community. Also please keep in your prayers the families and loved one and contemporaries of the nine Fire Fighters that fight serving their community in Charleston South Carolina.

1) Communications:

a. Letter from the Citizens Campaign for the Environment re: door-to-door canvassing request.

Mayor Cindrich read the letter from the Citizen Campaign for the Environment dated June 25, 2007.

Motion made by Trustee Grunthal and seconded by Trustee Markus approving the request with the following conditions:

That they conclude their canvassing at 8:00 pm.

That the canvassing be limited to a two week period of their choice.

That no canvassing be done at all on Sunday.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Deputy Mayor DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

b. Letter from the Mount Kisco Chamber of commerce re: 2007 Sales Days Event.

Mayor Cindrich read the letter from the Mount Kisco Chamber of Commerce dated July 9, 2007.

Motion made by Trustee Grunthal and seconded by Trustee Markus the request of the Mount Kisco Chamber of Commerce to hold their annual sales days event.

On the question:

Deputy Mayor DiChiara stated that sales days do serve an important function for our downtown area. However, sales days is permitted by the Village and there are costs incurred by the Village i.e. extra Police and extra work performed by our Highway Department and Public Works Department and the Village does expend that money because the event does create an opportunity to bring people into the down town area to see the stores and use the stores to develop our commercial base. However, one problem I have is that the Chamber of Commerce does charge each store and each booth holder a fee to set up and establish themselves. The Chamber of Commerce makes a profit and it is costing the Village money which is fine because they do need money for their activities. However, what I am against or opposed to is the Chamber of Commerce charging a high rate for non-profit corporations in the Village of Mount Kisco such as the American Legion, such as the Historical Society, such as the Library Board to set up a booth on what is essentially Mount Kisco's Village Street. It is our property they are charging money - as high as a for profit business for non-profit businesses to set up a booth on Village property and what I would request before perhaps we give this approval or that we make it a conditional approval that some sort of fee/rate is given to non-profits who want to set up a booth on sales days and reach the public with information or some sort of fund raising event for these not-for-profit groups.

Trustee Grunthal replied that he agreed with Trustee DiChiara and that he would change his motion to incorporate that and what would be a reasonable fee for not-for-profits.

Mayor Cindrich stated that he would like to advise the Chamber of Commerce that the Village is concerned with the fee rates. He suggested that the Village Manager contact the Executive Director and express to them the Village Board's feelings that the Village of Mount Kisco is a major contributor to sales days and a reduced fee for non-profit organizations would be appreciated.

Trustee Grunthal amended his motion to grant the Chamber of Commerce the permission to go ahead with sales days as requested provided that a significant discount be given to non-profit organization. Motion seconded by Deputy Mayor DiChiara. All in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Deputy Mayor DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

3) Board, Committee and Commission Reports:

a. Introduction of new members of the Mount Kisco Rescue Fire Police.

This item was table until the August 13, 2007 Village Board meeting.

4) Village Managers' Report -

A. Level of Byram Lake.

Village Manager James Palmer advised that the level of Byram Lake as of 4:00 this afternoon was at 90.2%. The daily average pumpage for the month of June was 1,746,538 million gallons per day, and the Saw Mill Pump Station inflow averaged 1,361,373 million gallons per day and the outflow averaged 1,360,740 million gallons per day.

Village Manager James Palmer advised that the Leonard Park Wells have been brought on line during the day time.

B. Blu Dot, Inc. Byram Lake Monthly Report: June, 2007.

Village Manager, James Palmer, provided the Board with a copy of the June, 2007 monthly Byram Lake Report provided by BLU DOT, Inc.

Month Total Rain inches 3.54

Month Max Level ft. -0.34

Month Min. Level ft. -1.23

Month Max Capacity 97.9

Month Min. Capacity 93.0

Village Manager James Palmer reported that the Chazen Companies had advised him that the report that the Village Board of Trustees had authorized them to do, which was study the analysis that Blu Dot had done over the past several years, would be available in a draft form for review at the beginning of August.

C. Library Project Update.

Village Manager James Palmer stated at the previous Board meeting as requested by Trustee Grunthal I have provided the Village Board with an updated project schedule for the Library.

Dominick Calgi, Construction Manager gave the Village Board of Trustees an update on the Library Project. The abatement of the existing Library was completed a few weeks ago. We are waiting for a variance from DEC to start the demolition. The variance was finally received the other day and they moved in some heavy equipment. They started removing some sidewalks and tomorrow they are scheduled to start to take down the structure. Assistant Project Manager Matthew McDonald has been working closely with Standard Demolition and based on their estimate they are going to be right on line with our schedule as far as getting the building down and the demolition should be completed by August 13, 2007. Following up on the previous Board Meeting the Village decided to proceed with the geothermal system. We did receive the redesign from the mechanical engineer for the project. We have been working with their office and Lothrop's office, bid packages were put out for the Geothermal on July 10^th, we are having the pre-bid site meeting tomorrow with the well drilling contractor's that are interested and the bids are due July 24^th. As it stands right now we have five well drilling contractors bidding the geothermal project. On the overall project schedule the geothermal project will delay the project approximately 2 � months. The bids that are coming in on July 24^th are basically for two phases. Phase I which is with the contractor immediately upon award to put in a test well to hopefully verify the assumptions that the mechanical engineer has made and allow for any modifications that may have to be made to the system which will be translated through Lothrop's office to make any design changes. Additionally, we have been working with Insite Engineers because we still do not have a definitive answer from DEC whether as to whether or not we can put the well into the buffer zones. Scott Blakely from Insite has been working with the local DEC and they passed it on to Albany. The local office did not have significant information internally to make that decision. As it stands right now we are assuming that the buffer zone will be fine. Lothrop's office has structured the bid format to allow the unit pricing in case we have a problem and we have to move the wells to the parking lot area. In any event if by the time that the tests are ready to go in and we still do not have a definitive answer from the DEC then we hope to pick-up an area to put the test wells some where between the buffer zone and the parking so we can get a good test on both areas to make us aware of any modifications that may have to be made in the geothermal system.

D. Village Board of Trustees Meeting Schedule.

The following motion was offered by Mayor Cindrich and seconded by Trustee Griffin, Jr. scheduling the Village Board of Trustees Meetings from August - December 2007 as follows:

Monday, August 13, 2007

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Monday, September 24, 2007

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Monday, October 22, 2007

Monday, November 5, 2007

Monday, November 19, 2007

Monday, December 3, 2007

Monday, December 17, 2007

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Deputy Mayor DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

E. Letter of Resignation from Jacqueline Johnson, Deputy Receiver of Taxes.

Village Manager James Palmer stated that it was with regret that he reported to the Board this evening the resignation of Jacqueline Johnson, Deputy Receiver of Taxes effective July 20, 2007.

The Mayor and Village Board of Trustees requested that a letter of thanks be sent to her for her service to the community.

F. Executive Session to discuss pending litigation, personnel and real estate matters.

Motion made by Deputy Mayor DiChiara and seconded by Trustee Grunthal scheduling an Executive Session following the close of the Regular Meeting to discuss pending litigation, personnel and real estate matters, all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Deputy Mayor DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

5) Board Reports:

Deputy Mayor DiChiara stated that he had been working quite a bit with Village Manager Palmer and they did a couple of walks across the Village trying to identify certain areas where we need further investigation and enforcement by our Prosecutor and our Building Department. We followed up on quite a few of the issues and we are going to continue to work on them. He encouraged all residents when they do find problems or issues to call it into the Building Department to make sure it is logged in to make sure we inspect it. He asked the Village Manager to give him a report on the broken parking meters in the North Moger Parking Lot.

Mayor Cindrich stated that the Richard Scott Salon which was damaged by a fire had a grand reopening and they commended our Fire Fighters for their service and their performance of the preservation of the building. He was happy to report that they choose to re-open in the Village of Mount Kisco. They did plant a tree or two in Shoppers Park and in their presentations they did make a presentation to the Fire Fighters for their heroic efforts.

Mayor Cindrich stated that he has been approached by representatives of North Castle, North Salem, Bedford, Pound Ridge, and Lewisboro among others. The purpose was to consider whether the residents of Northern Westchester have sufficient and a common interest in aged related issues. The group would like to see if we can get any interaction between communities. Mayor Cindrich stated that he would like to have a member of the Village Board attend the meetings along with a member of the Recreation Department.

Trustee Markus stated that he would be interested in attending the meetings.

Mayor Cindrich stated that he was not satisfied with the response of the DOT. He expected the stop line on 133 to be reconfigured and moved to the easterly direction. It's a dangerous intersection. I want to put them on notice again that people are looking at the second light believing that they have the right-of-way, when the light they should be looking at is the first light on the easterly direction closest to the stop line and by doing this it is an accident waiting to happen. The traffic lights do go out of synchronization on occasion and this is something that they have to monitor. He added that the Village is also still waiting for the design reconfiguration of 117 and 133.

Village Manager James Palmer stated that he has repeatedly called the DOT at least twice a week on that issue. The DOT has told him that they have not committed a date to do those two intersections or the stop bar, just that it is going to be done this summer. The DOT has all their stripping done through a contractor and when that contractor is in this area they plan on doing those three intersections. They intend to do it this summer but they haven't given me a date.

Trustee Markus suggested that a letter be sent to our New York State Representatives making them aware of this delay.

Trustee Griffin, Jr. asked if there was any progress from the DOT on the re-paving of Route 172.

Village Manager James Palmer replied that we have notified them.

Mayor Cindrich requested that the flyer he had received regarding a $200.00 income tax credit for Volunteer Fire Fighters and Emergency Personnel be distributed to the Fire Department and Ambulance Corps.

Mayor Cindrich stated that on Friday, July 20^th at 1 Park Place in Peekskill, New York our United States Senator Chuck Schumer is opening a Hudson Valley Regional Office and we should make ourselves aware of the contact person at that regional office.

Mayor Cindrich stated that he had for the Village Boards review a chart from the Assistant Village Manager, Jeff Econom regarding the controlling of some of the expenses including overtime that they should all be aware of. Mayor Cindrich noted that Jeff is doing an outstanding job on that.

Mayor Cindrich stated that on the 25^th of July there is a Stormwater Grant Seminar that is going to take place at Westchester County and he wanted to make sure that the Village of Mount Kisco was well represented at the seminar, so that we understand what our responsibilities are and what the County's responsibilities are.

Mayor Cindrich spoke briefly about the Dubos Property, which is an issue concerning Byram Lake. He thanked Village Attorney Whitney Singleton for preparing the affidavit in opposition of the sale. He reviewed some of the points noted in the petition: Byram Lake is a reservoir that was given to the Village by the City of New York over half a century ago and has historically served as the sole or primary supply of drinking water for 10,000 residents within the Village, as well as numerous other businesses, hospital/health care facilities and schools. Additional, many residents and businesses within the Town of New Castle and Bedford utilize Byram Lake as their sole means of water supply. Preservation and protection of this resource is critical to the safety and welfare of a significant segment of Northern Westchester, annually yielding over one billion gallons of safe, potable drinking water.

Mayor Cindrich stated that the Village has a vital interest in the Rene Dubos Center property and the sale of this land. We are adamantly opposed to the sale because the property was acquired under the guise of preservation, preservation from development. Contrary to all the restrictive convents the owner of the property now is attempting to sell it for a profit. The expressed terms that they agreed to when they did acquire the property is contrary to law and the Village's concern is fundamentally a public Health, safety and welfare issue. The Dubos Center suggested that they are not going to have detrimental effect on the Lake, well the fact of the matter is it's in the watershed and we are taking the high road in concert with other communities to preserve the property and to contribute to the Rene Dubos Group any expenses that they incur over the years of ownership. The property was off the tax rolls for 28 years it was recognized as a property slated for preservation and hopefully we will be successful.

Mayor Cindrich thanked Village Attorney Singleton again for spearheading the charge.

Mayor Cindrich stated that it's a daily effort to work on quality of life issues in the Village. He requested that sometime in September early October that a meeting be setup to meet with the landlords and owners of the properties in the downtown area where empty stores exist to see if there is anything the Village of Mount Kisco could do on our part to attract tenants or convince some of the landlords that maybe standing in the way of attracting tenants that it would be beneficial for them to fill the stores.

Mayor Cindrich stated that if a resident had a quality of life issue to make sure that they contact the person charged with the responsibility and if you don't get satisfaction feel free to contact him and he'll try to get that satisfaction for them.

Mayor Cindrich stated that the Village was working on a number of ideas for the Stop and Shop property. The landlord has certain interests in putting a pharmaceutical drug store operation in there. Are preference would be to bring in another supermarket for that area and obliviously some of our concerns are parking and traffic. It will within the law be going back before the Planning Board for a change of use and whatever the use is and we will make sure it's done appropriately. Unfortunately, we can not mandate what goes into that building as far as the use if it's within the zoning code. However, we will continue to lobby for some type of smaller grocery store

6) Old Business -

Mayor Cindrich reminded everyone not to forget that we have work to do regarding the taxi cab ordinance. He would like to get that item done in September. He also noted that additional signs and significant fines should be given for those taxis that are continuing to park at Kirby Plaza and taking spaces from people that are actually using some of the stores.

7) New Business

A. Resolution authorizing the Village Manager to sign the 2006-2007 NYSDOT Snow and Ice Agreement - “Amendment B” Forms.

The following resolution was offered by Trustee Markus and seconded by Trustee Grunthal authorizing the Village Manager to sign the 2006-2007 NYSDOT Snow and Ice Agreement (Index Adjustment $13,101.52), all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Deputy Mayor DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

The following resolution was offered by Deputy Mayor DiChiara and seconded by Griffin, Jr. to table this item, all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Deputy Mayor DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

C. Schedule a Public Hearing for BLS Ambulance Service for 2007.

The following resolution was offered by Trustee Markus and seconded by Trustee Griffin, Jr. scheduling a public hearing to discuss the 2007 BLS Ambulance Service contract Agreement on Monday, August 13, 2007 at 7:30 pm to be held in Village Hall, all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Deputy Mayor DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

D. Resolution authorizing the Village Manager to sign the 2007-2008 Fire Contract Renewals.

The following resolution was offered by Mayor Cindrich and seconded by Trustee Griffin, Jr. authorizing the Village Manager to sign the 2007 - 2008 Fire Contract Renewals, all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Deputy Mayor DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

E. Resolution authorizing the Village Manager to sign the Agreement with Westchester ARC.

Village Manager James Palmer stated that this was a unique opportunity for the Village to utilize individuals employed with the Westchester Association for Retarded Citizens who have their offices here in Mount Kisco to assist with some of the quality of life issues in the Village i.e. picking-up debris, cigarette buts, and coffee cups along the sidewalk. There will be four individuals working in teams of two and they would be covering the down town area, Kirby Plaza and as far south as the municipal parking lot at East Hyatt. They will be working from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. The contract term is for one year. They will bring their own brushes and brooms. The Village will be paying the four individuals $7.15 per hour, WARC will be paying the supervisor directly. They have provided the Village of Mount Kisco with a copy of their certificate of insurance and workers compensation. The Teamsters Union and its local DPW Membership is in support of this program.

Mayor Cindrich commended Mr. Palmer for entering into this agreement and affording this group of people the opportunity to perform this work for the community.

The following resolution was offered by Deputy Mayor DiChiara and seconded by Mayor Cindrich to sign the agreement with Westchester ARC., all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Deputy Mayor DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

F. Resolution authorizing the Village Manager to sign the agreement with Software Consulting Associates re: Water and Sewer Utility Billing Software.

The following resolution was offered by Trustee Markus and seconded by Trustee Griffin, Jr. authorizing the Village Manager to sign the agreement with Software Consulting Associates dated 8/16/07 for water and sewer utility billing software in the amount of $16,020.00; all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Deputy Mayor DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

G. Proposal from Community Housing Innovations, Inc.

Mayor Cindrich stated that Community Housing Innovations, Inc. was an agent for Woodcrest Manor that helped in the tenant relationship and the sale of the property. In his conversations with Alex Roberts who is a principal we continued to have a dialog on what we can do for affordable housing in this community. What we are proposing at Sutton Manor, a 55 year of age restricted building, is to offer a $25,000 grant by the developer for people that have a relationship with the Village be it a retiree, a worker or a relative of a worker. It's something that we have to move quickly on if we are going to do it. I am going to give it to the Village Attorney to do some research on. I don't think the Village could offer some type of tax relief. There will be an income restriction, there will be a cap on the income. I haven't arrived at the number yet but it is something that we can consider. Mayor Cindrich stated that he will forward the documents to the Village Attorney to research this to see what legally we can do and if we can move on this I would like to do it by entering into an agreement with Community Housing Innovations by August.

Deputy DiChiara stated that this was a very innovative program and he was glad the Mayor had worked on this. It doesn't cost Mount Kisco anything and hopefully it will afford some people that have the money and they are looking to buy into a place such as Sutton Manor the ability to do so. This program will give the opportunity for Mount Kisco workers and retirees to perhaps purchase real estate at a discount at no cost to the Village.

H. Resolution authorizing the Village Manager to renew the consulting agreement with Albert Trotta.

Mayor Cindrich stated that Mr. Trotta has served the community very well in a short period of time he had been with us as a Building Inspector under contract.

Trustee Griffin, Jr. added that Mr. Trotta has done an excellent job. He has received nothing but complements from anyone who has dealt with him.

Trustee DiChiara stated the Mr. Trotta has done quite a lot with regards to inspecting multiple housing units to make sure that they are safe and to make sure there are fire detectors and to make sure there is proper lighting and means of egress. I think that we really need to commend Al Trotta for following through under the direction of Village Manager and Assistant Village Manager to do these inspections to make sure that Mount Kisco residents are as safe as they can possibly be in multiple family dwellings.

Trustee Markus commended Mr. Trotta and the Village Manager and all members of our government to adhere to the policy of bringing high quality and hardworking individuals to the Village of Mount Kisco to serve our residents.

The following resolution was offered by Trustee Griffin, Jr. and seconded by Trustee Grunthal authorizing the Village Manager to renew the consulting agreement with Albert Trotta for 2007/2008, all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Deputy Mayor DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

I. Schedule a public hearing for Amendment to Chapter 66 of the Village Code - Flood Damage Prevention.

The following resolution was offered by Mayor Cindrich and seconded by Trustee Griffin, Jr. scheduling a public hearing on Tuesday, September 4, 2007 at 7:30 pm in the Village Hall Board Room to discuss a proposed local law re: Flood Damage Prevention as authorized by the New York State Constitution Article IX, Section 2 and Environmental Conservation Law Article 36, all in favor.

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Deputy Mayor DiChiara Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

8) Bills -

The following motion was offered by Deputy Mayor DiChiara and seconded by Trustee Grunthal to pay the bills, all in favor.

Invoices Paid Prior to Board Audit 107,960.24

General Fund 107,183.76

Water Fund and Sewer Fund 776.48

General Fund 640,432.12

General Fund Claims $619,461.26

Water Fund Claims 12,494.17

Sewer Fund Claims 4,924.21

Library Fund Claims 1,377.48

Capital Fund Claims 285.00

Trusts Fund Claims 1,890.00

Senior Nutrition Fund 9,423.93

Water and Sewer Fund 64,328.91

Library Fund 29,040.12

Capital Projects Fund 22,934.56

Trust and Agency Fund 48,507.27

TOTAL $922,627.15

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Deputy Mayor DiChiara Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

9) Approval of Minutes -

Motion made by Trustee Markus and seconded by Trustee Grunthal approving the following minutes:

Regular Meeting June 18, 2007

Motion Adopted

Mayor Cindrich Aye

Deputy Mayor DiChiara Aye

Trustee Grunthal Aye

Trustee Griffin, Jr. Aye

Trustee Markus Aye

10) Non-Local Business - None.

Mrs. Joyce Wall, Chairperson of the Byram Lake Committee thanked Village Attorney Whitney Singleton for all his hard work in preparing the affidavit in opposition of the sale of the Dubos Property. Hopefully all of his efforts will help to preserve the Dubos Property. The Dubos property drains into Byram Lake and the cleaner we can keep Byram Lake the longer Byram Lake is going to last.

Mayor Cindrich requested that a letter from the Byram Lake Committee be sent to the Reese Berman Supervisor of North Castle thanking them for their efforts in supporting Mount Kisco in this endeavor.

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

The meeting closed at 9:20 pm.

__________________________

James M. Palmer

Village Manager and Clerk

Regular Village Board Meeting

July 16, 2007, 2007 2.

Created by pmaiorano. Last modified 2007-08-20 15:26:02.