Town Board Meeting Minutes, May 20, 2019, 7:15 pm

Regular Town Board Meeting Minutes Halcott Grange
May 20, 2019, 7:15 pm

Present: Town Supervisor Alan White, Council members Yukari Day, Alan Reynolds, Innes Kasanof, Judy DiBenedetto, Highway Superintendent Russell Bouton, Town Clerk Pattie Warfield, Solid Waste Coordinator Kip Johnson.

Call to order at 7:15 pm with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Annual Report: Kip Johnson presented his annual report. (1) Solid Waste Coordinator Kip Johnson informed the Board that there is a need for greater public education in regards to recycling, such as the need to wash all recycled items before drop off, labels off or on, and additionally what items actually are recyclable material. The Board suggested an article for the Town website as well as The Times of Halcott newsletter, and an e-mail blast as ways to spread the information, with copies of this information made available at the Halcott Fair. (2) He also feels that it is important for him to have the ability to lock and unlock the dumpster, but as of now he has no key to the current lock and due to the kind of lock it is, no copy of the key can be made. The Board asked Highway Superintendent Boston to purchase additional chains and a new lock with multiple keys to alleviate this problem. (3) There has been interest from residents to have the ability to get rid of different types of metal, including appliances (which would need to comply with recycle rules), with an offer from an individual to transport said items when a load is amassed, if the Town should choose to offer this service. (4) The Board expressed their appreciation to Kip for the quality job is is doing at the transfer station.

Approval of the minutes of the April 15, 2019 meeting: With the following correction: Severe weather money was $8,000.00 last year. Motion to approve by Councilwoman Innes Kasanof, 2nd by Councilwoman Judy DiBenedetto, Councilwoman Yukari Day: aye, Councilman Alan Reynolds: aye, Supervisor Alan White: aye.

Highway Superintendent’s Report: (A) The 284 Agreement is now complete, with work to be done on Silas Lake Rd., Turkey Ridge Rd., Townsend Hollow Rd., Landa Rd. and Denicola Rd.(B) Emergency Services Director John Farrell will try to make the June 17, 2019 Regular Town Board Meeting. (C ) Installation of the culvert on Turk Hollow Rd. for lean-to access has not begun, the DEC has not yet acquired the necessary permits, asking that Halcott apply for them. In addition it appears the DEC now feels a 42 inch squash pipe will not be of adequate size for the project. (D) The Greene County Highway Department worked in town removing dead trees along the County roads.

Voucher Vote: General Abstract G0519 – vouchers 70 – 74 = $995.07. Highway Abstract H0519 – vouchers 75 – 83 = $2,812.70. Motion to pay bills by Councilwoman Yukari Day, 2nd by Councilwoman Judy DiBenedetto, Councilman Alan Reynolds: aye, Councilwoman Innes Kasanof: aye, Supervisor Alan White: aye.

Finance Chair Report: (A) Finance Chair Innes Kasanof presented her monthly report. (B) The Town was able to add $16,565.00 to the General Reserve fund, and $12,380.00 to the Highway Reserve Fund.

Town Clerk’s Report: Certificate of Occupancy Search: $25.00, 2 Building Permits, 1 @ $250, 1@ $350.00, 1 BP Renewal: $250.00, 1 Dog License (unneutered): $10.00, Billy Haynes: $200.00, Garbage Tickets: $135.00. The Town collected and disbursed $1,220.00 for the month of April.

Other Business: The Board had a discussion about the logistics of garbage disposal in the Town and what should be done going forward. The Town; as things now stand, takes in less money than the actual cost of the dumping fees charged by Greene County, and because of this all residents cover a portion of that deficit in their taxes. The Town has been selling garbage tickets that allow residents to dispose of garbage for $3.00 per bag. The Board feels a more equitable solution should be looked at such as raising the usage fee for private haulers who now use the dumpster for a nominal fee, and perhaps adding more of the cost into the Town Budget each year, eliminating the need for the purchase of garbage tickets by residents. The Board will continue to explore options for the Town.

Next Meeting: Regular Meeting June 17, 2019, 7:15 pm.

Motion to Adjourn at 8:49 pm by Councilwoman Innes Kasanof, 2nd by Councilwoman Judy DiBenedetto, Councilman Alan Reynolds: aye, Councilwoman Yukari Day: aye, Supervisor Alan White: aye.

Town Board Meeting: Monday, June 17, 2019 7:15pm

TOWN OF HALCOTT
AGENDA 
7:15 PM, Monday, June 17, 2019
Town GRANGE, all are welcome

Pledge of Allegiance
Regular meeting 

CALL TO ORDER

0. John Farrel
1. Approval of minutes Monday, May 20, 2019
2. Highway Superintendent’s Report

1. 1. Any vehicle updates
   2. CHIPS Progress

3.Halcott Fair
4.Voucher vote.
5.Finance chair report 

1. 1. Monthly report

6. Clerk’s Report.
7. Other business: 
8. Public comment.

 Next meeting:  Regular meeting Monday July 15, 2019

Rent the Halcott Grange!

Why not hold your next event in our historic Grange Hall? The Grange sits on the banks of Vly Creek in our beautiful rural valley. It offers a modern kitchen and seating for up to 80 guests. Use the form at the bottom of the About Halcott page to make a tentative reservation of our Grange Hall for your event. To secure the date, download the rental contract and return it by mail with your check to:

Town Clerk’s Office
264 Route 3
Halcott Center, NY 12430

Halcott’s solid waste program revisions

The Halcott Town Board is making a few revisions to Halcott’s solid waste program. In an effort to make our mini transfer station more user friendly we have decided to eliminate the orange punch tickets and reduce the price for bagged garbage to $2 per bag. Starting on July 1, 2019 you can bring your bagged household garbage to the Highway Garage on Sundays from 10am until noon and pay KIp $2 per bag. We hope this will make participation easier. There will be no changes to our recycling program, but we remind you to clean your recyclable materials thoroughly.

At our June meeting we will also be discussing the fees for commercial haulers to make this program more cost effective for the town and more reflective of the costs incurred.

Local Flood Analysis Meeting, July 22, 2019

See the map below for our local Flood Analysis Map of areas to be studied.  Landowners within these boundaries are asked to attend a meeting at 7:00pm on Monday, July 22 to share their past experiences with flooding and how it has affected them. Bring pictures if you have them!  If you have questions, email a member of the town board or Mark Carabetta ( mcarabetta@mminc.com ) of the engineering firm that is working with us.

Click here to download a hi res pdf of the Halcott LFA map

From the Town Supervisor:

The Halcott Town Board invites you to attend a public meeting on July 22 at 7PM at the Grange Hall to learn about our Local Flood Analysis (LFA) project.  An LFA is a two-step process where engineers are hired to analyze the causes of flooding in a defined area of the town, to identify how flooding can be avoided in the future, and then, with the approval of the Town Board, to recommend solutions to address these problem spots.  Residents who live within the boundary areas of the proposed LFA are asked to come to the meeting to help identify chronic flooding spots that they are aware of, and to suggest possible fixes. Bring photos, videos and other examples of past disasters.

The LFA area covers a swath of properties and parts of properties running roughly from just beyond the Greene County line, up the valley, taking in a few hundred yards of County Route 1, ending above the intersection of Turkey Ridge Rd. It continues on County Route 3 to about the middle of the Margaritis property, crossing the stream and running up Judd Hill, over and down to follow Elk Creek Rd up to a little beyond the Townsend Hollow turn-off.  Properties on both sides of the roads are included.  The map of proposed boundaries for the LFA is posted on our website at www.townofhalcott.com .

Although not all properties are within the study area, all Halcott residents are invited.  A presentation on the LFA process will be given and, using large scale maps, the public will have a chance to provide input on their flooding experiences. The LFA study is funded through the Delaware County Soil & Water Conservation District and the NYC DEP. Once the Town has agreed upon the areas that need attention, projects can be proposed to the Catskill Watershed Corporation and other potential funders for implementation funding.

Halcott community Garden 2019 Season membership form

Time to think Green!
Join your neighbors in the Halcott Community Garden and Grow Together!

Download the 2019 rules and application here.

Town Board Meeting Minutes, April 15, 2019

Regular Town Board Meeting Minutes Halcott Grange
April 15, 2019, 7:15 pm

Present: Town Supervisor Alan White, Council members Yukari Day, Alan Reynolds, Innes Kasanof, Judy DiBenedetto, Highway Superintendent Russell Bouton, Town Clerk Patricia Warfield, Web Master Greg Beechler, Town Assessor Mark Neves, Town Code Enforcement Officer John Mathiesen, Grange Steward Bob VanValkenburgh, DCSWCD Gale Neale, NYCDEP Phil Eskel, Miles & Macbroom Inc.: Mark Carabella, Miguel Castellanos, Ethan Ely.

Call to Order at 7:15 pm, with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Approval of the minutes of the March 18, 2019 meeting: Motion to approve by Councilwoman Judy DiBenedetto, 2nd by Councilwoman Innes Kasanoff, Councilwoman Yukari Day: aye, Councilman Alan Reynolds: aye, Supervisor Alan White: aye.

Local Flood Analysis Initial Meeting: The meeting began with a presentation about the LFA process and the intended outcomes. Following the presentaion, the Halcott Flood Advisory Committe members shared their thoughts and experiences with local flooding, emphasizing that all of Halcott’s emergency services are provided by other towns such as Fleischmanns and Margaretville, with Halcott being cut off from these towns when the Bush Kill is flooded in Fleischmanns. There is also concern with the poor condition of county owned bridges on Rt.1 and Rt.3, and should the bridge over West Settlement Creek coming into Halcott be damaged or washed out, access to the Town would be cut off. M.M.I. was informed that the Town has aquired a piece of property to create a satellite emergency facility in Halcott with personel to available to run such equipment, but are lacking the funds to move forward with the project at this time. Other problem areas were discussed as well, such as the Highway Garage property, Townsend Hollow Rd. and Elk Creek Rd. There was a discussion of how to move forward towards the first public meeting; addressing the issue that 75% of property homeowners in Halcott are 2nd homeowners, perhaps a Saturday public meeting would enable more of Halcott homeowners to attend. Other thoughts were to advertise the date in the Times of Halcott, an email blast, and a mailing to residents living in the project areas.

Annual Reports: Town Web Master Greg Beechler presented his annual report. The Town website is working perfectly, the Home Page receives the most hits with the Times of Halcott #2 and the Contact page #3. Greg would like to see how the website could move beyond being just a bulletin board.

Town Assessor Mark Neves presented his annual report. The assessment rate is still at 108%, and reassessment is not needed at this time as the market is stable.

Highway Superintendent’s Report: (A) The Chevy broke down and has been in the shop with a fuel system problem. Russell has been using his personal vehicle. Supervisor White asked that the mileage be kept track of for reimbursement. (B) Highway Superintendent Bouton is working on the 284 Agreement for Halcott, Silas Lake and Turkey Ridge are both in line to have work done. A Peckham representative will be here tomorrow to work with Superintendent Bouton to assess the work to be done on the roads and come up with a cost for that work. Superintendent Bouton is trying to lock in a time schedule to begin road work as early as possible to ensure an early reimbursement from the State for the monies spent. (C ) CHIPS money will be less than last year as there is no Severe Weather money which was around $8,00.00 last year. Pave N.Y. money is still available. Superintendent Bouton will
confirm the total CHIPS money for use this year and report the figures to the Board at the May 20thmeeting.

Voucher vote: General Abstract #G0419 – vouchers 53 – 65 = $12,506.87. Highway Abstract #H0419 – vouchers 66 – 69 = $4,834.91. Motion to pay bills by Councilwoman Innes Kasanof, 2nd by Councilwoman Judy DiBenedetto, Councilwoman Yukari Day: aye, Councilman Alan Reynolds: aye, Supervisor Alan White: aye.

Finance Chair Report: (A) Finance Chair Innes Kasanof presented the monthly finance report for February. Finance Chair Kasanof is diligently working on finalizing the numbers of the monies going into the Town reserve accounts.

Clerk’s Report: 2 Grange Rentals: 1 local @ $50.00, 1 non local @ $100.00 = $150.00, 2 C/O searches @ $25.00 each = $50.00, Billy Haynes (march/apr) $200.00, 3 Dog Licenses (spay/neuter) @ $5.00 each = $15.00. The Town collected and disbursed $415.00 for the month of March.

Next Meeting: Regular Meeting May 20, 2019, 7:15 pm.

Motion to Adjourn at 9:10 by Councilwoman Judy DiBenedetto, 2nd by Councilman Alan Reynolds, Councilwoman Yukari Day: aye, Councilwoman Innes Kasanof: aye, Supervisor Alan White: aye.