Tuesday July 13, 2004
7:30pm
Town of Red Hook Regular Monthly Meeting
A regular monthly meeting of the Red Hook Town
Board was held Tuesday July 13, 2004 at the Town Hall with the following in
attendance:
Supervisor – Marirose Blum Bump
Councilman – James Ross
Councilwoman – Sue Crane
Councilwoman – Jean Bordewich
Deputy Town Clerk – Susan McCann
Absent: Councilman Harold Ramsey and Town Clerk Margaret Doty
Supervisor Blum Bump opened the meeting at 7:30 p.m. with the Pledge
Allegiance to the Flag.
Supervisor Blum Bump read the Supervisor’s Report for June.
In the General A Fund:
Increase (debit entry) the following Revenues: 72,438.00 AO.02.2089 Transfer
from Parklands
Increase (credit) the following Appropriations: 72,438.00
The following adjustments are under account: A0.08.7140.200 Parklands
Capital Improvement as previously presented by John Kuhn to the Town Board.
10,000 Refurbish existing barn structure 8,754 72” field mower, 6,000 install
3 yard hydrants, 2,684 Playground wear mats, 45,000 Tennis Court repairs
In the General B Fund:
Increase (credit) the following Appropriations:
20,000 B0.04.3120.400 Police General
In the Fund Balance Reserve we have $99,324.60
Budgetary Fund Balance $19,814.00
We have $79,510.60 in the unappropriated fund balance.
At this time Supervisor Blum Bump read Resolution 2004 for the Transfer of
funds appropriated from the Surplus Fund Balance of the Water Works Operation
and Maintenance to Special Reserve Funds. The sum of $30,000 will be
transferred from the unexpended funds to the transmission reserve.
RESOLUTION 2004 #20
RE- Transfer of funds appropriated from the Surplus Fund Balance of the
Water Works Operation and Maintenance to Special Reserve Funds.
Resolution was offered by Supervisor Marirose Blum Bump, seconded by
Councilwoman Sue Crane and carried.
Copy Attached
Supervisor Blum Bump- Yes
Councilman Ross- Yes
Councilwoman Crane- Yes
Councilwoman Bordewich- Yes
Motion by Supervisor Blum Bump, seconded by Councilman Ross that we adopt the
Town Clerk’s Report as written.
Supervisor Blum Bump- Yes
Councilman Ross- Yes
Councilwoman Crane- Yes
Councilwoman Bordewich- Yes
Public Comment Period, please keep comments to five minutes as we have a
very busy meeting tonight. There will be an additional comment period at the
end of the meeting.
We will now close the public comment period.
At this time we have a report from the Assessor’s Office for the reassessment
project and I’d like to introduce Mr. Watch who is doing the reassessment
project.
Mr. Watch said this is the third meeting we have had. Our inspection teams
will be out in the field starting July 29th and they will be out inspecting
houses the entire month of August. Residents should start receiving in the
mail notification that the inspectors will be out. You should receive
notification with picture of your house. If picture is incorrect don’t panic
it can be corrected. This notification will alert everyone that the reval has
started.
The teams are clearly identified. There is a male and female on each team. We
are starting up in the Village of Tivoli and working our way south. Any
questions call toll free number on the literature you will receive.
In September residents will receive a data mailer. It is information we
have gathered on your property and we are sending it out to you for
validation. It’s an opportunity for corrections to be made. A good response is
important.
Any questions call Richard Trotti the Assessor or our toll free number. You do
not by law have to let them into your house
Assessor Richard Trotti wanted to let residents know that inspection team
vehicles are mark and they have ID.
Mr. Watch said the teams are clearly identified with uniforms and hats for the
protection of the residents. We want to make residents feel comfortable with
the process.
Resident Rosemarie Zengen asked if you have a multi family dwelling will you
have to go into the tenants apartments.
Mr. Watch replied that it not necessary. We will just try to confirm the
information we have.
Supervisor Blum Bump thanked Mr. Watch for coming.
Next on the agenda is the report from the Land Use Conservation and
Development Working Group and we are very happy to arrive at this moment and
thank the group for coming. Mr. Ted Fink will be giving the report. Bill
O’Neill was the co-chair along with Karen Schneller MacDonald
Co-chair O’Neill would like to tell us a little something about their process.
First I’d like to thank the Steering Committee, Supervisor and the Town Board
and the administrations of the Mayors of Tivoli and Red Hook. We appreciated
being a part of the purpose for which you created this group.
What we have accomplished will be assessed by you. We tried to follow the
charge to us and we have meeting every week as a group since March 20th, a
total of 14 meetings along with other individual meetings with Pace University
Land Use Law Center and the planning firm of Ted Fink and Michelle Greig
Greenplan Inc. that was hired by the board.
We held two community meetings at the Linden Ave school which were coordinated
by Pace University which were well attended
Our sessions were summarized for the Steering Committee in progress reports
which we submitted in April, May and June. These reports detailed our work
during 16 formal meetings including the responses of the community and the
information from speakers who appeared before us Red Hook Central School,
N.Y.S. Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Planning Board, Water Board, and
Dutchess County Planning along with private developer. In addition we meet
with the Steering Committee, Tivoli Mayor Marc Molinaro and Red Hook Mayor
David Cohen.
We are here to submit our report today and hope we have accomplished what we
set out to do. They people who deserve the recognition are the planners so I
will let co-chair Karen Schneller McDonald speak about that.
Karen Schneller McDonald said when you see our recommendations I would
like you to know where they came from. We started with information we got from
public meetings along with all the presentations. We also took recommendations
from existing documents that have already been developed by the Town such as
the Master Plan, Open Space, Zoning Code, and Trail Plan and took some of the
work that has been done and tried to integrate that into our larger field of
work.
We started with master list which then members choose their top ten
recommendations. Michelle Greig then whittled to them down so we a least had
something to work with. As a group we started to discuss these points, talk
about them and work them over and tried to make them comfortable for everyone.
We tried to be cognizant of community and community input and community will.
For everyone it was a give and take process.
A concern that came up during this process when we looked at the prior
documents that the work and recommendations and have never been implemented.
To address that concern of the working group I’d like to make a recommendation
to the Town Board. There may be some people that do not like our
recommendations as much as you try to achieve consensus and work from good
information. I’d like to invite you to take an individual or group who doesn’t
like any portion of this work and invite them into a dialogue that involves
information and be a source providing information to people in this town so
least we are discussing issues, it doesn’t insure we are all going to
agree. At least we will be working from the same page and working from the
same information base. I’d like to thank you for the opportunity for working
on this.
Karen presented the Board with copies of the Town of Red Hook Recommendations
Of The Land Use, Conservation and Development Working Group. Everyone in the
Working Group should have a summary copy. Karen also gave them record of all
agenda minutes, handouts and extra things that were not put in the report but
that’s for the public record.
At this time the meeting was turned over to Ted Fink from Greenplan, Inc. who
was here to present to the Board all the recommendations in a presentation.
The day to day work was done by Michelle, she the helped the committee develop
report and organize ideas.
Ted Fink gave a power point presentation to give to the Board.
Topics of discussion:
- critical land use priorities in Red Hook
- where development should be targeted within the community
- where open space should be protected
- how to achieve the vision identified by the working group
Some of the questions the Working Group addressed.
Where is the Town heading? The Working Group took a look at the Comprehensive
Plan, Open Space Plan and the Trails Feasibility study and you do have a good
plan already in place. You have adopted documents that are very well written
full of good recommendations.
One of the key finding of the committee is there is a real disconnect between
the Comprehensive Plan and what it says and what actually happens in your day
to day basis with your town land use controls your zoning law and subdivision
regulations.
Your Comprehensive Plan says the Town should do whatever it can to protect the
rural character; to protect agriculture in the Town but the zoning says
something different. The zoning says every parcel of land should be zoned for
residential development or some other form of development. You have to think
about what will happen in the future.
The Working Group developed what they called the Three-Point Strategy for
enhancing Red Hook’s Rural Character and the Tax Base and what the Town Board
can do with the recommendations.
About 6 or 7 years ago Ed McMahon from the Conservation fund visited Red Hook
and I like to quote from a publication of his “Growth is inevitable and
desirable but destruction of community character is not. The question is not
whether your part of the world is going to change the question is how.”
Estimate from the census 2003 that Red Hook’s pace of development today is the
same as in the 1960’s which was one of the fastest growing times Red Hook
experienced. Red Hook rate of growth presently one of the fastest in Dutchess
County. You are currently growing at a rate of 1.8% per year increase in
population. Rate of growth is faster than Dutchess County’s rate of growth.
Development is all around us when you take a look at Milan, Pine Plains, Hyde
Park, Kingston, Lloyd and more in Southern Dutchess.
You have to take a look at your plans to see how your growth is going to
occur.
What is sprawl? Basically it is development that takes tax dollars away from
communities, destroys farmland and open space. Costs taxpayers more money than
other forms of growth. Residential development generally is negative from a
tax standpoint, whereas farms, forests and open space they are generally tax
positive. Many studies have shown single family residential homes in sprawl
manor consumes more in tax than it provides for town revenue.
The Working Group looked at some of these consequences and this is where they
came up with the Three-Point Strategy to enhance rural character and the tax
base. The goal of this strategy is enhance the tax base and the rural
character of small hamlets and villages surrounded by open farm and forest
land, with a distinct edge between settlements and surrounding countryside, as
identified in the Town’s adopted Comprehensive Plan and Open Space Plan.
Objective: Protect open spaces and significant resources.
Recommendations: Update and adopt Environmental Protection Overlay Maps.
Use conservation subdivision design, conservation easements and TDR.
Implement the Trails Plan.
Objective: Concentrate development in and adjacent to the Villages of Red Hook
and Tivoli and the hamlet of Upper Red Hook
Recommendation: Identify development districts and adopt regulations that
promote well designed, mixed use, tax positive development in those districts.
Objective: Ensure effective planning to enhance rural character.
Recommendations: Provide municipal entities with clear direction, training,
resources, and advice.
Enhance rural character and the tax base through regional planning.
Objective: Ensure a stable tax base.
Recommendations: Address potential impacts of development on school
capacity and taxes.
A. Protect Open Spaces and Environmental Resources
Recommendation #1-Update and adopt the Environmental Protection Overlay (EP-O)
maps and review the zoning to ensure it provides adequate protection for the
identified resources while respecting existing rights.
Recommendation #2-Protect significant environmental resources in the EP-O
district through the use of conservation subdivision design, conservation
subdivision design, conservation easements, and Transfer of Development
Rights.
Recommendation #3-Implement the Trails in the Town’s 1998 Trails Feasibility
Study.
B. Identify and Plan Development Districts
Recommendation #1-Implement the recommendations of the Town’s adopted
Comprehensive Plan to identify development districts, and then adopt
consistent regulations that encourage and promote well designed, mixed use,
tax positive development in those districts.
C. Ensure Effective Planning
Recommendation #1-Ensure that the municipal entities can effectively implement
the recommendations to enhance rural character and the tax base by providing
clear direction, training, resources, and advice.
Recommendation #2-Enhance rural character and the tax base through regional
planning.
Recommendation #3-Address potential impacts of all types of development on
school capacity and taxes.
Copy of Recommendations attached
What are the next steps? The Working Group was composed of a diversity of
interests representing a cross section of the community.
What the Working Group found is there is a strong public support for
use of the Town’s existing planning documents. You don’t have to go back and
spend a whole lot of time developing new plans, you have good plans already.
They may need a little updating, but you do have good basic plans.
Ted states the important thing is the consensus that was reached in the report
that is before you now that gives you a mandate to move forward to implement
the recommendations.
Supervisor Blum Bump thanked Ted for his presentation.
Copies of the recommendation will be available in the Town Clerk’s Office and
will be posted on our official Town website www.redhook.org.
At this time Supervisor Blum Bump asks the Town Board members if they have any
questions concerning the recommendations of the Working Group.
Councilman Ross…. I’d like to read and digest the report and then I’ll
probably have questions.
Councilwoman Crane…. I’d like to thank each and every one of you for the time
spent and for being clear of what is expected of the Town Board. There are no
surprises but the clear direction and leaving responsibility to the Town Board
is very evident and appreciated.
Councilwoman Bordewich…Sue and I were 2 members of the Steering Committee and
found the process very exciting. I went to 2 public forums and several
meetings. Very exciting the degree to which members put in their time and
effort, different points of view and the amount of effort of research of all
the documents looking for a consistent theme. Looking for a common theme or
common elements of what people value about Red Hook and care about keeping as
we grow. All of those things are very impressive and I’ll enjoy reading this
book and have other public opportunities to get input from residents of Red
Hook. I’m thrilled with what you have accomplished. You did a huge amount of
work in a short period of time and the co-chairs, all the members and planners
deserve a lot of credit for this accomplishment. We are all very grateful.
Supervisor Blum Bump…I’m delighted that this process happened in our
community. Red Hook on every level was involved. We’d like to thank Hudson
River Valley Greenway for grant we received, technical assistance from
Greenplan which I am very grateful and the local level the really good work
done by community members on a volunteer basis with interest from every aspect
of the community. It’s heartwarming and very encouraging.
We also owe a great deal to the people who have worked in the last decade or
two on the documents that we do have. They really are wonderful documents and
pleased that they are usable. I look forward to reading these recommendations
and working with all the volunteers who continue to work on this. I hope we
can continue with good faith and hard work and the willingness for the benefit
of our community.
I’m really delighted and I like to thank everyone here.
At this time Supervisor Blum Bump asked if there were any questions from
the assembly.
Ned Sullivan, Resident and President of Scenic Hudson…Impressed and pleased
with report. Scenic Hudson assisted in getting the Greenway Grant and
participation of Mary Ann Johnson in task force. This provides a real solid
basis which will save the rural character of the community and make Red Hook a
model for Greenway planning in a positive way in the Hudson Valley.
Supervisor Blum Bump thanked Ned and thanked Scenic Hudson for their
assistance.
Councilwoman Bordewich…In addition to the contribution Scenic Hudson made for
this venture I think the things you have done have helped get us this far
particularly in regard to the purchase of development rights of the farms
which was looking far ahead for our protection of rural open space.
Robert McKeon, Chair of Agricultural and Open Space and resident…I’d like
to echo the sentiments, it’s terrific of all the volunteers who put in so much
time and energy to tackle this large task. Ted your presentation was very
clear, excellent and accurate as far as what I know the people of Red Hook are
looking for.
It would be useful to have this presentation done for the Planning Board
because they are the people who make the decisions. I notice there are no
Planning Board members here again tonight so I thought if that were all
possible it might be something to consider. A terrific job by all.
Councilwoman Bordewich….Robert you make a good point we have a number of
volunteers and employees who should see the presentation either at the
community meeting we will have or at a separate meeting. I’d like to get their
input as they are the ones who will use and are using these tools.
Rosemarie Zengen….I think the volunteers did an excellent job. I’d like to
know how much this cost the town.
Councilwoman Bordewich said the Greenway Grant was for $15,000. This was all
funded through the Greenway Grant, no taxpayer money. That enabled us to hire
the professional planners and to make the presentation. All volunteers donated
their time.
Susan Von Reusner, Steering Group, School Board member…I’d like to thank the
Town Board for inviting the School district to participate in this process.
I’d like to also thank the Working Group who was very generous who gave us
quite a bit of their time and invited us to come an speak about concerns the
school district has. I would like this presentation to be given again to
school board and superintendent. The Working committee should be commended.
Councilwoman Bordewich… I think all School Board members should get a copy of
the document.
Ruth Oja, CAC… I’d like to add my congratulations to the Working
Group, Ted and Michelle. I’d like to echo what others have said, a lot of
work, time and a lot of talent. The result is a triumph. This is very good for
everyone, so thank you.
Councilwoman Bordewich… they were building on a lot of what you have done Ruth
with the Open Space Plan, Trails Plan and the Master Plan.
Supervisor Blum Bump…we have our work cut out for us.
At 9:15 p.m. Supervisor Blum Bump recesses for a 5 minute break.
At 9:27 p.m. Supervisor Blum Bump continues with the next item on the agenda
which is the Field Day Music Festival at Greig Farm in the summer of 2005.
Tonight is the initial presentation by the group who is proposing the
Festival.
Andrew Dreskin the producer is here tonight with 4 other members of his team
to listen to the presentation and for the Board to ask questions, no decisions
are being made.
Andrew Dreskin starts presentation explaining Field Day, LLC is a company that
was formed to produce open air music and arts festivals in the Tri-state area.
Field Day, LLC was the producer of the Field Day Music Festival, a modern
rock-focused music and arts festival, which took place last summer at Giants
Stadium and featured acts such as Radiohead and the Beastie Boys. Field Day
was widely seen as the most innovative modern rock music festival in the
United States in 2003. Field Day is a two day music, arts and camping festival
featuring leading modern rock music performers. We will offer multiple stages
and tents, concessions and a diverse array of vendors and non profit
organizations.
The primary mission of Field Day is to present a world class lineup of
modern rock performers such as Radiohead, Lou Reed and R.E.M.
Music will be presented on two outdoor stages from noon to 11 p.m. and one or
two indoor, framed tents from noon to 3 a.m.
There will be a strong contemporary art undercurrent throughout Field Day.
Field Day plans to spotlight the best in emerging and contemporary art. Works
including paintings, photographs, sculpture and video will be exhibited in a
tented gallery setting.
Field Day will offer high quality concessions at a reasonable price, with a
focus on local cuisine. Quality beer and wine will be served. Crafts, artist
and festival merchandise will be available for purchase.
Numerous charities and non-profit organizations will be present at the
event; a portion of the proceeds from the event will be donated to local
charities.
Field Day plans to use corporate sponsorship, judiciously, in order to help
defray the cost of publicizing and staging the event.
Field Day anticipates daily attendance of approximately 30,000 socially aware
18-34 year olds, of which 20,000 will camp on site.
Field Day intends for the event to have a total capacity of up to 50,000 per
day, subject to input from the Town of Red Hook and its transportation and
site engineers.
Supervisor Blum Bump asks are you flexible in your numbers? If we requested
that you go a little lower that’s something you would consider?
Andrew Dreskin responded that we are flexible in everything we do. We want to
make this work and we are flexible to a point.
Very expensive to do this and a certain amount of risk. Our break even point
per day is 20,000-25,000 tickets a day to break even.
The goal of the Field Day Music Festival is to create a strong and lasting
sense of Community amongst its patrons, ensuring repeat visits to the event.
Field Day brings significant economic benefit and public relations exposure to
the town, county and state in which it is held.
Field Day will donate $1.00 per ticket to the Town of Red Hook and $1.00 per
ticket to Dutchess County to fund local initiatives. Field Day strongly
desires to help local communities to fund important initiatives, such as Red
Hook’s Open Space Plan, Trail Plan and Rural Road Plan.
Councilwoman Bordewich questions why are your proposing $1.00 per ticket to
Dutchess County?
Andrew states we are proposing $1.00 per ticket to Dutchess County for a
verity of reasons. Dutchess County will need to bring significant resources to
make this event happen, such as health dept. and a number of county agencies
and they don’t get anything for their contribution. We’d also like to support
Dutchess County initiatives.
At this time Andrew explains what happened concerning the Field Day Event
2003. Field Day was unlawfully denied a Mass Gathering Permit by Suffolk
County, even though it had satisfied all requirements of its Permit
Application. Through no fault of our own we were denied a permit. There were 3
factors that fed into that- politics, interference from concert and media
conglomerate Clear Channel Entertainment and a distaste for rock n’roll.
There is litigation pending due to last summer. Litigation: Mass Gathering
laws unconstitutional (lack narrowly defined standards, allow objective
decision making and content-based abuse etc.)
The Field Day Music Festival was a joint venture between Field Day, LLC,
which is majority owned by Andrew Dreskin, and the Anschutz Entertainment
Group (AEG), one of the world’s largest producers of live events.
AEG may participate in Field Day 2005; we are currently discussing their role.
Field Day team consist of Michelle Mutter, Producer, Mo Morrison, Project
Manager, Martin Elbourne, Talent Buyer, Michael Frisch, Site Engineer, USI
Services Group/Strike Force, Security, MetroCare, Medical and
Creighton-Manning, Transportation Engineering.
Field Days insurance provider is Robertson Taylor Insurance Brokers Ltd.
The provider of our water system is Deployed Resources who is a leading
provider of temporary water systems. Tested and certified potable drinking
water, safe containment and removal of gray and black water, hand wash
stations, showers and mist tents.
Chuck Manning from Creighton-Manning gave a brief talk about the
transportation aspect and all that goes into coordinating traffic flow for a
large event.
Keys to Successful Management of Planned Special Events:
Achieve early, constant input and participation of involved agencies.
Predict event-generated travel impacts on both a local & regional level.
Develop an integrated transportation management plan that can accommodate a
range of traffic demands and other contingencies.
Deploy a well-organized traffic management team equipped with the ability to
communicate seamlessly between agencies
Conduct continuous traffic monitoring on the day-of-event and maintain
protocol for modifying the traffic management plan to accommodate real-time
traffic conditions.
Transfer event management successes into daily applications, and translate
lessons learned into future event planning and operation needs.
At this time Andrew presented photo’s from last years event examples of the
stages, water system etc.
He also presented to the Board members copies of the security plan. Last year
200-250 private security people were employed on the site. 50 were on
horseback.
Also presented were a few examples of fire safety plan and copy of emergency
medical plan.
Councilwoman Bordewich asks what is your timetable for us.
Andrew said approval or denial as soon as possible. This is a very time
consuming and expensive process. If this is not right for Red Hook that’s
fine, we would just like to know in a timely manner. We hope that’s not the
case.
In order for us to make it the best music festival we need to know ASAP.
Councilwoman Bordewich asks do you have any dates in mind.
Andrew said not yet but leaning toward July or August 2005.
Councilwoman Crane…so you are thinking July, August, early June is too early,
so you are talking about the summer months.
Councilwoman Bordewich…as a two day event how many nights camping?
Andrew….3 nights of camping
Councilwoman Crane…how do you envision us proceeding, review and then contact
you with questions?
Andrew…get back to us with questions you have and we welcome the opportunity
to come address them.
Councilwoman Crane… if we invited you back in September would that be
reasonable?
Andrew…as I said we can be flexible, however in this kind of business two
months is along time, but we are flexible and open to your schedule.
Supervisor Blum Bump…you’d prefer August I gather.
Andrew…that would be great. I don’t want to rush it, whatever works best for
all of us.
Councilwoman Crane…if we called Riverhead what would they say.
Andrew…that we did everything we said we would do, professional, we built a
fantastic event. The county pulled the plug on us.
Supervisor Blum Bump…any other questions? Thank you for coming in and for all
the materials.
Andrew Dreskin said that the copies of the security plan, medical plan, fire
plan and emergency plan are confidential. That’s not for public consumption.
COMMITTEE REPORT
Water Board-
Hank Van Parys reported on Water Tank inspection of June 28th. The
inspector did a great job on comprehensive report with pictures. They used a
robot instead of diver to inspect tank. Its cheaper to use, didn’t send a
diver this time. Process took about 3-4 hours. He found small amount of rust
and an anchor bolt which was no problem and suggested we add no trespassing
signs on all 3 sides of the fence instead of just one side. He’ll inspect
again in five years.
Councilman Ross…the anchor bolt was on the exterior of the tank?
Hank responded yes on the exterior. There is some corrosion starting little
spots, nothing serious.
Councilwoman Crane…when was the last time the tank was inspected?
Tank was inspected last in 1996. Only a few inches of silt. He was very
positive.
Supervisor Blum Bump questioned if the interior of the pump house has been
finished.
Ted and I are meeting with Kevin Bathrick Thursday morning to discuss
finishing the Pump house. Should be able to do for $2,000-3,000 some
carpentry, putting in a window, some minimal wiring, basically minor. We are
in good shape.
Motion was offered by Supervisor Blum Bump, seconded by Councilman Ross to
appoint Fran Gruccio as secretary to the Disaster Preparedness Committee.
Councilwoman Bordewich… I think we had talked about that she would be
interviewed by Debbie because we want to hire people with computer and
internet skills.
Supervisor Blum Bump…Debbie interviewed Fran and secretary for CAC, both need
some skill updates. They will be getting that training. The town is not paying
someone to train, but has asked someone to do it.
John Douglas Chairman of Disaster Preparedness said he has already talked to
Dick Wambach who agreed to help
Any further discussion? All in favor- Supervisor Blum Bump- Yes
Councilman Ross- Yes
Councilwoman Crane- Yes
Councilwoman Bordewich- Yes
The motion is carried. Supervisor Blum Bump will inform Fran tomorrow.
Agricultural and Open Space Advisory-
Robert McKeon reported on some of the topics we have been discussing.
-Land preservation tools
-exploration of a TDR may or may not be useful to the town.
-possibility of recommending conservation easement program- still don’t have a
recommendation yet.
-Feller Farm PDR application process –committee assisted John
Feller for filing application for matching grant program. I submitted memo
today. Seth Makey who has temporarily taken over for Hank Stubben who has
retired from Scenic Hudson. At their last board meeting they authorized
expenditure of funds to match should the Town should be interested in that.
Our program does provide for the necessity for a matching partner in order to
consider the application.
Supervisor Blum Bump requested from Robert when an application comes into the
Ag. Committee that a copy be given to the Board right away.
Robert said in the future the application won’t be submitted to the
Agriculture Committee. The Ag. Committee was temporarily designated to review
the Steiner application but I understand a Farmland Protection Committee will
be formed soon and they will be the recipient.
Councilwoman Crane…No, the recipient is the Town Clerk, and then the committee
will review.
Supervisor Blum Bump…so where is the Town Board in there?
Councilwoman Crane…The program committee reviews the application and rates it
and refers to the Town Board.
Councilman Ross…The Town Board refers it to the committee then they give
their recommendations.
Supervisor Blum Bump…Lets decide which way we want to do it. Jean do you have
a preference?
Councilwoman Bordewich replied the Town Clerk receives, should be given to the
Board and if we feel it’s viable then refer to committee to review. Then it
comes back with their recommendations and we take action.
Supervisor Blum Bump asks Councilman Ross do you have a preference.
Councilman Ross…That sounds fine with me.
Councilwoman Crane…doesn’t make any difference, seems like it is one extra
step.
Supervisor Blum Bump…. I’ll ask Harold about it. I think I’d like to see it
from Town Clerk to know what’s going on.
Councilman Ross… We should be aware of what’s going on.
Councilman Ross… since we have an Agricultural Committee and a festival on
a farm I think they should give us their opinion.
Supervisor Blum Bump tells Robert that at some point we will be asking the Ag.
Committee for an opinion.
Councilwoman Crane…The Ag. Committee is aware we are looking for nominations
from that committee and we did receive nominations for two members from Ag.
Committee and their recommendations for candidates for the PDR program
committee, also indicated 3 people for the at-large members. We won’t act
until we have heard from all committee’s.
Supervisor Blum Bump…question, one of the at-large suggestions is both a
farmer and member of the Ag. Committee. I thought perhaps they could find
someone at-large instead of both of these things.
Councilman Ross… The makeup of that committee was recommended by Roger
Akeley when he drew that up and the idea was to have 2 people from the Farm
Ag. Committee, 2 farmers someone from CAC, Water Board so on and 3 people
at-large from the community not farmers.
Councilwoman Crane…in consideration of who they recommended he is no longer an
active farmer and fills the role of technical request. Craig Vogel fills that
role. Two recommendations they offered, a former farmer, only one active
farmer.
Robert McKeon…Ag. Committee felt strongly, unanimous that the makeup of the
Farmland Protection Committee should consist of a slight majority of farmers.
Supervisor Blum Bump… but that is not what was required by what was passed.
Robert McKeon…The language is vague.
Supervisor Blum Bump…I don’t really want to get into a huge discussion.
Councilman Ross… The makeup of that committee is the Town Board’s
decision. That resolution was resolution to go along with recommendations of
Roger Akeley.
Confusion as to the process for the application, the Feller application which
we have not seen but apparently the Ag. Committee has. If applicant needs help
with application the Farmland Protection committee should no be the people to
help them fill out the application. In that case it should be our Ag.
Committee to provide the aid.
Robert McKeon…that’s exactly what Resolution #63 says, Ag. Committee is in
fact the body interested applicants go to for assistance and I hope it is
clear that is what we did in this case.
John Douglas asked on status of the Steiner Farm.
Robert replied is seems that it is still a couple of months away. Funding
has been approved at the county level.
Supervisor Blum Bump remarked on the Kalina Drive Traffic Sign Ordinance,
Rhinebeck hastily put up the sign that Paul Telesca requested, and immediately
after the signs went up he wanted them enforced. Quite a few tickets were
issued and in court none of them held because they were not enforceable.
What’s needed is an ordinance drawn up that will hold and our Attorney Al
Trezza just got this message. Signs were on Rhinebeck property not Red Hook’s
and we avoided problems by being careful.
Received note from Al with a revised draft. Please read and if you have
comments put it in my box. Need to verify the legal limit is $250.00
Councilman Ross questioned if we find this problem elsewhere can we just add
by board resolution or do we need another public hearing.
Councilwoman Crane…I don’t think so, according to the language “from travel
upon public highways listed below:”
Then it is listed A. Kalina Drive, indicating B,C, & D as they arise.
Councilman Ross… you might need a public hearing on each road we include in
that. Al says we need a public hearing on this.
Supervisor Blum Bump… this is quite a process to do it correctly. I’d like to
see your comments please I am the one who deals with him.
CAC-
Councilwoman Bordewich reported the CAC met June 3rd and June 22nd, they
discussed the Working Group Land Use. They also discussed Environmental
Protection Overlay. Chairperson Ruth Oja checked on the Open Space Plan and
could not find minutes that it was formally approved by the Town. She will ask
the Town to adopt the Open Space Plan at the next workshop
They are looking into herbicide and pesticide use in the Town.
They also request that the CAC has a presence on the Town Web Site.
Trails grant for boardwalk to the Rec Park was not approved, they are trying
other grants.
Recycling-
Councilwoman Bordewich reported Hazardous Waste Collection Day was
successful, three times larger than 2003.
Zoning Board of Appeals-
Councilman Ross said he had no report they don’t meet until tomorrow
night.
Planning Board-
Councilman Ross was unable to attend last Monday night meeting, has not
received copies of their minutes.
Purchasing-
Councilwoman Crane reported 39 Purchase Orders issued June 8th –July
12th in the amount of $20,889.00 largest going to Fastracs for $6800.00 for
hydrants at 3 ball fields at the rec. park.
Arts and crafts materials ordered and received for the Red Hook and Tivoli
rec. programs.
Ted Kudzy plans to meet with contractor to look at well site building
repairs July 15th.
Dog Control-
Councilwoman Bordewich reported no dog activity this month, no dogs in
kennel, dog control officer responded to complaints.
Recycling-
Councilwoman Bordewich report from TJ Hackett who thanked the Highway
Department for new signs installed, the signs make it look more professional,
new shirts received. Metal overloaded, highway to help crush metal, removing
Freon from 30 refrigerators.
They had a meeting in June with Ruth Oja and Zoie Riel on the progress of
the Recycling Center and the outlook. They were happy with the direction we
are going in. CAC should be included with future discussions involving the
center. The CAC would like to be part of making the Town’s new pamphlet,
however we need funding from the Town and would like them to consider this.
July 3rd he met with a journalist from Greece who was studying recycling
center like ours.
New hours for the exchange building, closed on Wednesday, positive
response fewer complaints. Clean up and getting rid of unwanted items. This is
a fair and honest exchange building and will not tolerate any unfair
happening. I would like to thank the board for their continued support.
Building and Zoning Dept.-
Councilwoman Bordewich reported 29 new building permits issued in June, 6
for single family dwellings. This year 20 single family dwellings year to date
issued as opposed to 28 last year.
Closed out 71 building permits for the month, issuing CO’s which is part
of their effort to catch up from the past.
They inspected 89 buildings during the month.
Councilwoman Crane questioned did we pass or authorize the use of the survey
that the Ag. Committee has sent to us.
Motion by Councilwoman Crane, seconded by Councilman Ross that we use survey
as presented.
No discussion
Supervisor Blum Bump- Yes
Councilman Ross- Yes
Councilwoman Crane- Yes
Councilwoman Bordewich- Yes
Senior Housing-
Councilwoman Crane received a memo from Noela Hooper who said we are in
the final stages of the funding process with the state waiting for them to set
a public hearing in the Village to describe the remediation plan that they are
developing. It’s the DEC show and we are working on their timetable we will be
informed when they are ready. Once the hearing process is complete a contract
will be forwarded to the county, bids will be solicited and work will begin.
The county has provided all environmental assessment data and analysis that
has been requested and they don’t anticipate any snags on the PERX Property.
Councilwoman Crane made a presentation on Friday at Marist on the PERX
property. It was well received. I showed a video of the early walk through of
the property and Con Ed asked for a copy.
Senior Services Committee is in fact ready and going to produce a Senior
Focus Expo. Sept. 29th 10:00-2:00 p.m. The plan is to invite all the service
organizations that have services or info available to seniors. Expo to be at
the Firehouse. We are cosponsoring with the Red Hook Village Chamber,
Hannaford, IGA and Terry’s Bakery donating food
The committee asks for approval of $1,000 for marketing, printing and
handouts. Villages are willing to donate up to $500.00.
Motion by Supervisor Blum Bump that we support this Senior Expo with a
line of up to $1,000.00, seconded by Councilwoman Crane and carried.
All in favor- Supervisor Blum Bump- Yes
Councilman Ross- Yes
Councilwoman Crane- Yes
Councilwoman Bordewich- Yes
Meeting adjourned at 11:28 p.m.
Deputy Town Clerk
Susan J. McCann