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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1972_04_18 Town Board Regular Minutes MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE TOWN BOARD OF THE TOWN OF MAMARONECK, HELD APRIL 18th, 1973, IN THE COUNCIL ROOM OF THE WEAVER STREET FIREHOUSE, WEAVER STREET, TOWN OF MAMARONECK. CALL TO ORDER The Supervisor called the meeting to order at 8:15 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Supervisor Helwig Councilman Faiola Councilman Vandernoot Councilman Bloom Councilman White Absent: None Also Present: Mr. Gronberg - Town Clerk Mrs. Brewer - Deputy Clerk Mr. Johnston - Town Attorney Mr. Aitchison - Highway Superintendent Mr. Altieri - Comptroller Mr. Elfreich - Town Engineer THE SUPERVISOR The Supervisor extended a most cordial welcome to the several seventh and eighth grade Sts. John and Paul Social Studies students attending the meeting this evening, inviting them to address any question they might have during the conduct of the meeting to the Board at any time. She particularly noted the presence of Missy Johnston and suggested since Miss Amodio the teacher was not present, that Missy act as spokesman for the group. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the regular meeting of April 4th, 1973 were presented and on motion duly made and seconded, approved as submitted. STATEMENT RE: PUBLIC HEARING - Paid Firemen's Association - Authorization of Contract - Town of Mamaroneck Paid Firemen's Association In view of the cancellation of hearing, the Clerk inquired whether the Affidavit of Publication of the Notice of Hear- ing should be recorded in the minutes, which question upon referral to the Attorney, was stated to be academic inasmuch as the hearing had been legally cancelled pursuant to registered letter addressed to Harold R. Newman of the New York State - 1 - "1 Public Employment Relations Board under date of April 13th and cosigned by Joseph F. Vand-ernoot and James A. Laverty as negotiators for the Town of Mamaroneck and the Town of Mamaroneck Paid Firemen's Association respectively. Councilman Vandernoot then stated that it had been indeed very gratifying to be able to call off the hearing and expressed on behalf of the members of the Board and himself, their thanks to all parties concerned for the understanding, patience and many long hours so assiduously and tirelessly devoted to this matter. He further noted that there had actually been only one or two points under question and that it had been agreed that a Commnittee would be formed to study the manpower question. This Committee, he continued, would be appointed by the Super- visor on behalf of the Town and by the President of the Paid Firemen's Association on its behalf, and would be composed of representatives from both entities. The salary for 1973, Mr. Vandernoot explained, would be as originally budgeted at $11,644. per annum for Firemen which represented a 6% increase. As of January 1st, 1974, the salary would be $12,500., representing a 7.35% increase plus a 1.20% increase on June 27th of that year to $12,800. During these deliberations Mr. Vandernoot noted that it had been found that the salaries of Firemen in the Town of Mamaro- neck were well below almost all of those of neighboring or adjacent municipalities and he concluded his remarks by stat- ing that the salaries as now contracted would bring those in the Town more in line with present salaries in neighboring departments. The Supervisor then asked Mr. Laverty whether -he would care to add anything to Councilman Vandernoot's remarks -- whereupon, -- after thanking Mrs. Helwig, Mr. Laverty said he had only two things to add: First, speaking as the Past President of the Associ- ation and on behalf of the new President, Mr. Ken- neth Valle, he stated that he wished to express Mr. Valle's excuses and apologies for being unable to be present this evening due to a former commit- ment of long standing; and Second, that on behalf of the Paid Firemen's Association, he wished to thank Councilman Vandernoot and all of the members of the Town Board for their patience and great amount of time spent on this matter, and further to assure them that, although the Firemen desired an adequate salary, their first and main desire was to provide the finest fire service to the residents of the Town at all times -- which he assured the Board would certainly be done in the future as it had been in the past. Wherefore since an agreement had been reached, Councilman Vandernoot moved that the Supervisor be authorized to sign the contract between the Town and the Town's Paid Firemen's Association on behalf of the Town, even though Mr. Valle was absent and it would therefore not be possible for him to sign it this evening. Mr. Laverty advised the Board that Mr. Valle would be avail- able to sign the contract anytime tomorrow, whereupon Council- - 2 - man Faiola seconded the motion with the following resolution unanimously adopted by the Board: RESOLVED, that this Board hereby authorizes the Supervisor to sign on behalf of the Town of Mamaroneck, the contract between the Town of Mamaroneck and the Town of Mamaroneck Paid Firemen's Association for the years 1973 and 1974. Mrs. Theodore Shultz, upon recognition, asked whether the Firemen and Policemen would now be paid the same salaries? In reply, Councilman Vandernoot stated they would not -- and in answering Mrs. Shultz's second question as to how much each received, he stated that the Policemen now received $11,750, and the Firemen $11,644:. Further, in reply to her third question as to whether these were beginning salaries, Councilman Vandernoot stated that they were not and that the figures he had quoted were the maximum salaries received as of the fifth year of service. And thereupon since there were no further questions, the Supervisor concluded the discussion expressing the Board's thanks to Councilman Vandernoot as negotiator for the Town and Mr. Laverty as negotiator for the Paid Firemen's Associ- ation as well as to all of the other parties who had played a part in reaching this agreement. OPENING OF BIDS - Street Lighting Equipment The Clerk presented the Affidavit of Publication of the Notice for Bids for the record and informed the Board that three bids had been received from the White Plains Electrical Supply Company, Inc. , 131 East Main Street, Elmsford, New York, which technically constituted one bid and one from the General Electric Supply Company, 175 Tarrytown Road, White Plains, New York, with the non collusive statement signed in each instance. He opened the bids and advised the Board that there were no total bids, but rather individual item bids for each piece of equipment as set forth in the specifications. In view of this, after some discussion and referral to the Attorney, it was unanimously ordered on a motion offered by Council- man Faiola and seconded by Councilman White that the bids be referred to the Attorney, Engineer and Comptroller for de- tailed study and analysis with report and recommendation for award of bid at the next meeting of the Board. OLD BUSINESS 1. Report by Engineer: a) Informal Bids, Two-way Radio for Town Engineer's Car Pursuant to memorandum addressed to the Board by the Engineer under today's date, herewith presented and ordered received and filed, on motion by Councilman Faiola, seconded by Council- man White, it was unanimously 3 _ 2.k;J RESOLVED, that this Board hereby authorizes the Engineer to accept the only bid, that of Motorola, Inc. , in the amount of $1,000.00 for furnishing a two-way radio for his car, in accordance with the specifications set forth in the Notice for Bids. b) Street Lighting Investigation The Engineer reported orally to the Board that he ordered the equipment necessary to install a light on Weaver Street between Edgewood Avenue and the intersection at Myrtle Boulevard upon the State's approval of such installation. With regard to the lighting on Myrtle Boulevard between Weaver and Preston Street, he advised that he had found twelve poles with six lights. He stated that he would relocate these lights so as to be evenly spaced, adding one in order to give better distribution of light along the entire area in question. When queried as to the timetable for this work, the Engineer advised that the timing for completion would depend upon re- ceipt of the equipment and energizing by Con Edison. The Supervisor then reported to the Board and to Dr. DiScipio, who was present, that she had consulted with the Police and subsequently written to the State Department of Transportation requesting the installation of the guard rail referred to by Dr. DiScipio at the last meeting and advised that such in- stallation was approved. Dr. DiScipio informed the Board that he had spoken to an assistant of Mr. McGovern in the State Transportation Depart- ment today, spending about an hour talking with him, and that although the guard rail had been approved by the State Traffic Engineer in the Poughkeepsie office, it seemed that Mr.McGovern did not favor the installation for several reasons, one of which was that it would not prevent a car from crashing through the railing into his backyard. He further advised that the installation of two W-7 signs in front of the new house had been approved which he hoped would be helpful to the traffic situation in this area. The Supervisor thanked Dr. DiScipio and assured him that the Town would continue its efforts to do everything possible to better traffic conditions on this section of Weaver Street. Councilman Bloom, returning to the subject of the lights along Myrtle Boulevard, requested the Engineer to be very sure to have one light on Myrtle Boulevard at the foot of the Police Headquarters driveway which Mr. Elfreich said he would do. NEW BUSINESS 1. Tax Exemption for Property Owners 65 Years of Age and Over A memorandum addressed to the Board by the Assessor under date of April 11th, 1973 was read into the record as follows: - 4 - "On March 2, 1973, the Westchester County Tax Commission requested all Towns and Cities in the County to submit a certi- fied copy of the action to be taken by the municipality regarding the increas- ing of the limits of income of qualified applicants for Old-Age Exemption from $5,000, to $6,000. To-date 14 of 18 Towns and 3 of 6 Cities have adopted the $6,000. income and from all indications it appears the County will follow the trend and approve the increase. I have checked with the Mamaroneck Board of Education and the adoption of the $6,000, income for the 1974-1975 School Tax year was approved at their meeting held April 10, 1973. It is my opinion, that the limits of in- come set by the County, School and Town be uniform. Therefore, I recommend the Town increase the income limit to $6,000." During discussion of this proposal, the Supervisor reported to the Board that the County Board of Legis- lators, at its meeting Monday, had fixed the date of May 7th for its public hearing on this proposal pursuant to procedure under the County's Local Law, and further reported that the Mamaroneck School Board, at its April 10th meeting, had approved the measure to be effective for the 1974-75 tax year. Mrs. Helwig also noted for the Board's information that were the measure to be approved, the cost to Town taxpayers had been estimated to be about three cents per thousand from the projections she and Councilman Vandernoot had mad= this afternoon which were based on the present available figures. Councilman White stated that he was wholeheartedly in support of the proposed income increase since it would provide one means of enabling and encouraging senior citizens to remain in this community and thus tend to prevent its becoming a community "bunched around a narrow age-spectrum" or the kind of com- munity, he said he felt would have an unhealthy en- vironment in which to raise children. Councilman Faiola then noted that he, too, supported this measure -- one important reason being that the increase in Social Security benefits could cause some of those now eligible for the 50% tax exemption to be -ineligible if the income limit were not increased from the present $5,000. to $6,000. - 5 - 2v,ci Councilman Bloom stated that he was in complete accord with all of the foregoing statements since he wholeheartedly agreed with those sentiments each of the Councilmen had expressed. Therefore he in- quired whether the Board could simply adopt a reso- lution at this time raising the limit from the present $5,000. to $6,000. or whether the adoption of such a — resolution was subject by law to a public hearing? The Supervisor referred this matter to the Attorney who advised the Board that he would check the law and report at the next meeting of the Board since there was no question of time on the adoption of this proposal, if this were the Board's pleasure, inasmuch as it could only be effective for the 1974-75 tax year. 2. Salary Authorizations Court Clerks a) Mrs . Patricia Kiely Pursuant to memorandum of the Comptroller under date of April 16th, 1973, herewith presented and ordered received and filed, on motion by Councilman White, seconded by Councilman Bloom, it was unanimously RESOLVED, that as recommended by the Justice Court, Patricia Kiely, be and she hereby is engaged as Court Clerk - Grade II, to be effective as of April 86th, 1973 and to be compensated at the rate of $7,475. per annum. The Supervisor remarked that it would be a pleasure to have Mrs. Kiely a member of the Town staff, ex- plaining that she would be replacing Mrs. Lois Rissler who had submitted her resignation to be effective as of July 1st, 1973. She commented on the very fine, in fact superlative service Mrs. Rissler had rendered to the Town during the period she had served as Court Clerk and added that it would be indeed hard to imagine anyone taking Lois 's place. All of the members of the Board seconded the sentiments expressed by the Supervisor and requested that the record of this meeting note its thanks and appreciation for Mrs. Rissler's services to the Town of Mamaroneck. b) Mrs. Elizabeth F. Renson Pursuant to memorandum of the Comptroller under date of April 16th, 1973, herewith presented and ordered received and filed, on motion by Councilman White, seconded by Councilman Bloom, it was unanimously RESOLVED, that as recommended by the Justice Court, Elizabeth F. Renson be and she hereby is engaged as Court Clerk, P.T. , to be effective as of April 23rd, 1973 and to be compensated at the rate of $3.00 per hour. 6 - 3. Authorization for Transfer of Funds Pursuant to memorandum addressed to the Board by the Comptroller under date of April 18th, 1973 herewith presented and ordered received and filed, on motion by Councilman Bloom, seconded by Councilman White, it was unanimously RESOLVED, that this Board hereby author- izes the following transfer of funds within the 1973 budget and surplus funds : From General Town Surplus - A/C 501 $455.00 To General Fund - Town-wide- Miscellaneous - A/C A9208.0 $455.00 (Premium River Title Search) 4. Authorization to Advertise for Bids Painting Courthouse Pursuant to memorandum addressed to the Board by the Town Engineer under date of April 18th, 1973 herewith presented and ordered received and filed, on motion by Councilman Faiola, seconded by Councilman Vandernoot, it was unani- mously RESOLVED, that in accordance with law, the Town Clerk be and he hereby is authorized to publish in the official newspaper of the Town of Mamaroneck, "The Daily Times", a Notice for Bids, to be returnable May 16th, 1973, and opened and read aloud at a regular meeting of this Board at 8:15 p.m. on that date for exterior painting of the Courthouse, in accordance with the specifications set forth in the Notice, provided that the said specifi- cations have been approved by the Town Attorney prior to the publication of the aforesaid Notice for Bids. 5. Authorization to File Application for Recreation State Aid Pursuant to the request of the Recreation Commission and Superintendent, on motion by Councilman Faiola, seconded by Councilman Vandernoot, it was unanimously RESOLVED, that this Board hereby authorizes the Supervisor to execute the Recreation Project Application to the New York State Youth Commission requesting State Aid in the amount of $4,552.80 for the period from June lst, 1973 to May 31st, 1974. 7 - 299 g COMMUNICATIONS 1. Communication from New York State Conference of Mayors Re: Per Capita State Aid The Supervisor reported that each member of the Board had had an opportunity to examine the lengthy communication from the New York State Conference of Mayors submitting a proposal for the distribution of the additional $93,000,000. of State revenues to be shared with the municipalities next year. The members of the Board had requested some additional in- formation from the Association of Towns, Mrs. Helwig continued, and although she had called Mr. Sanford, she had not been able to find out just what legislation was to be introduced since the Legislature was presently not in session due to the Easter recess. Mr. Sanford did say, however, she reported that legislation would be introduced which would adjust the existing inequities and suggested that action be held on this proposal until a comparison could be made with the bill to be introduced. At the present time, .-she said, she would hesitate to endorse the Conference of Mayor's proposal which as submitted would give disproportionate aid to villages and cities as compared to towns, citing that villages would get a total of $14.05 per capita compared to $8.07 in the Unincorporated Area. (Town-wide per capita allotment of $5.55 plus $8.50 per capita in villages against the $5.55 plus only the current $2.52 per capita Part-town.) The Supervisor then stated that in view of these considerable inequities, the Town should write the Conference of Mayors -- to say that it did not approve this proposal. Councilman Bloom observed that while plainly the objective of the Council of Mayors had been to divert funds from the cities in order to obtain a larger share for the villages, he still felt that the Board should wait to see what the new legislation proposed before taking any action. Councilman Vandernoot also remarked on the great inequities shown in the distribution to villages - and thereupon since there were no further comments or observations, in reply to the Chair's question, it was stated that it was the Board's pleasure not to respond to the communication until such time as it had an opportunity to see what the new legis- lation proposed. 2. Communication re: "Beware Metro" The Supervisor presented a reprint of a letter entitled, "New Metro Threat", published in the Readers ' Forum of the April 3rd edition of The Daily Times, over the signatures of Jean D. Putnam and Hilary C. Pope, which was addressed to the Town Clerk with a request by Mrs. Putnam that it be placed on the agenda for this meeting. Mrs. Helwig inquired whether Mrs. Putnam was present to speak to this subject, and since she was not, in accordance with Councilman Faiola's suggestion it was unanimously ordered - 8 - that the communication be tabled. 3. Request to Hold Parade to Open Murray Avenue School Country Day Fair (Mrs. Maureen Ventimiglia, Chairwoman) The Supervisor reviewed for the Board's information a letter addressed to her by Mrs. Maureen Ventimiglia, Chairwoman of the Murray Avenue Country Day Fair to be held at the Murray Avenue School on May 12th, requesting permission to open the Fair with a short ten-minute parade in front of the school at 10:45 a.m. The Supervisor informed the Board that since Murray Avenue was a County road, she had written Commissioner Robert A. Dennison of the County Department of Public Works to request the County's permission since the Police Department had agreed to handle all traffic and safety measures and the Fire Chief to have a fire truck in the line of parade provided the County approved the request. Councilman Faiola requested that the insurance coverage also be checked for this use of fire equipment, and thereupon moved that permission be granted subject to County approval and clearance of insurance coverage. The motion was seconded by Councilman Bloom and unanimously so adopted. REPORTS The Supervisor -- 1. Letter Requesting Endorsement and Support for C.A.P. Program The Supervisor reviewed a letter addressed to the editor of The Daily Times requesting endorsement and support of the C.A.P. Program and declaration of May 5th and 6th as the official Community Action Weekend, cosigned by Leo Goldsmith, Jr. , Mayor of the Village of Larchmont, Arthur Phillips, Mayor of the Village of Mamaroneck and herself. Councilman Bloom spoke at some length on the substantial community effort and support exerted at the inception of C.A.P. and stated that he certainly would not like to see this program fail for lack of funds. Councilman Vandernoot stated that he did not think that C.A. P. itself had any clear picture of the financial situation which might result from withdrawal of certain Federal funds at this time and felt that every effort should be made to maintain its over-all program which included a day care center and youth programs of various kinds in the building on Center Avenue. He also remarked that C.A.P. had put on shows and had rendered services both to children and the elderly and urged that all residents attend the public viewing to be held on May 6th at which time certainly everyone was welcome. Whereupon on a motion by Councilman Bloom, seconded by Coun- cilman Vandernoot, it was unanimously RESOLVED, that this Board hereby authorizes the Supervisor to sign the letter endorsing, and supporting the C.A.P. Program on behalf 9 - 2-cq of the Town of Mamaroneck and also declares May 5th and May 6th, 1973 as the official Community Action Weekend. 2. Note to Receiver of Taxes (Not on Agenda) The Supervisor advised the Board that Mr. Orsino, the Receiver of Taxes, had received a note from Mrs. F. S. Coleman of 17 Serpentine Trail, Village of Larchmont which read "Any tax agency which reduces taxes at a time anyone else is going up deserves to have payment made a bit early. Good for you! " The note, Mrs. Helwig explained, accompanied Mrs. Coleman'ls property tax check and gave great pleasure to Mr. Orsino who was far more accustomed to receiving complaints. Mrs. Helwig pointed out that the reductions referred to amounted to 50 cents in the General Town bill, $2.91 in State and County taxes and 21 cents in County assessed valuation. Mrs. Helwig further pointed out that the 50 cent General Town reduction resulted from State revenue sharing and the State and County reductions from new sales tax benefits, making the "reduction" seem more like a transfer of funds. The Councilmen -- Mr. Vandernoot -- 1. Apportionments Upon presentation of the following apportionments, on motion by Councilman Vandernoot' seconded by Councilman Bloom, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: WHEREAS, the Assessor has presented petition for the correction of the assessment roll for certain years pursuant to the provisions of Section 557, Article 16 of the Westchester County Tax Law; and WHEREAS, after due consideration this Board finds it desirable to grant said petition for the cor- rection of said assessment roll; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the assessment roll of 1972 - 1973, taxes of 1973, which shows property now appearing on the rolls as follows : Block Parcel Name Land Imp. Total 906 8 Max Prakin & Ors. $16,000. 6,200. $22,200. be corrected as follows in accordance with the provisions of subdivision 5 of Section 557: - 10 - Block Parcel Name Land Imp. Total 906 8 Max Prakin & Ors. $10,300. $6,200. $16,500. 906 500 Village of 5,700. -- 5,700. Mamaroneck and be it further RESOLVED, that the assessment roll of 1972 - 1973, taxes of 1973, which shows property now appearing on the rolls as follows: Block Parcel Name Land Imp. Total 937 111 James F. Ireland $1,700. -- $1,700 . be corrected as follows in accordance with the provisions of subdivision 5 of Section 557: Block Parcel Name Land Imp. Total 937 111 Howard McMichael $ 900. -- $ 900. 937 112 Herman D. Segel 800. -- 800. Not on Agenda Mr. Faiola -- 1. Procedure for Street Openings Councilman Faiola requested that the Superintendent of High- ways and the Engineer be asked to review the procedure presently used by the Town for granting permission for street openings to utility companies. He said the reason for this request was the excessive length of time some of these open- ings remained and the unsatisfactory condition many of the Town roads were left in upon completion of the utility com- panies ' work. He suggested that the new regulations include a time limit for the opening and a bond for satisfactory restoration of the road surface. The Supervisor asked Mr. Johnston whether such regulations could be enacted and upon his assurance that they could, on motion by Councilman Faiola, seconded by Councilman Vandernoot, it was unanimously RESOLVED, that this Board hereby directs and instructs the Town Attorney, Town Engineer and the Superintendent of Highway to draft a local law embodying new rules and regulations including a time limit for street openings and posting of bond for satisfactory pavement restor- ation for submissal to this Board. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the meeting, on motion duly made and seconded, it was declared adjourned at 9:15 p.m. , to reconvene on May 2nd, 1973. - 11 - BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS The meeting of the Board of Fire Commissioners was convened immediately upon the adjournment of the Town Board meeting. 1. Claims Upon presentation for authorization of payment by Commissioner Faiola and on his motion, seconded by Commissioner Vandernoot, it was unanimously RESOLVED, that the following Fire Department claims as audited by the Comptroller and ap- proved by the Fire Chief are hereby approved, and the Supervisor and Comptroller hereby authorized to pay the same out of the Fire Department budget: Breckenridge Linen Shop, Inc. $ 145.22 R. G. Brewer, Inc. 42.03 Frank Claps Landscape Contractor 642.25 Con Edison 5.00 Con Edison 175.62 Dri-Chem Extinguisher Co. 298.10 Exterminating Services Corp. 7.00 Exxon Co. , U.S.A. 65.68 McGuire Bros., Inc. 15.00 Roberts 119.40 Sound Tire & Supply Co. ,Inc. 36.30 Westchester Joint Water Works 38.30 Total $1,589.90 2. Other Business a) Request - Use of Fire Chief's Car Pursuant to Commissioner Faiola's presentation of a request by Fire Chief Joseph V. Santoro for permission to use the Chief's car to attend the annual Firemantic Function at Elmira, New York from April 27th through the 29th, on his motion, seconded by Commissioner Vandernoot, it was unanimously RESOLVED, that this Commission authorizes Fire Chief Joseph V. Santoro to use the Fire Chief's car to attend the annual Firemantic Function to be held at Elmira, New York from April 27th through 29th, 1973 at no expense to the Town of Mamaroneck. 3. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the meeting, on motion duly made and seconded, it was declared adjourned at 9:20 p.m. , to reconvene on May 2nd, 1973. Town rk - 12 -