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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1957_05_28 Town Board Minutes MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE TOWN BOARD OF THE TOWN OF MAMARONECK, HELD MAY 28, 1957, IN THE COUNCIL ROOM OF THE WEAVER STREET FIREHOUSE, WEA- VER, STREET, TOWN OF MAMARONECK. CALL TO ORDER The Supervisor called the meeting to order at 8:15 p.m. and the Clerk stated that this Special Meeting had been called at the request of the Supervisor and a written notice thereof sent to each member of the Board two (2) days prior to the meeting, PRESENT: Supervisor Burchell Councilman Brush Councilman Kane Councilman Waterman Councilman Santoro ABSENT: None ALSO PRESENT: Mr. Gronberg - Town Clerk Mr. Delius - Town Attorney Mr. Friedlander Town Engineer Mr. Fins on - Accountant Mrs. Brewer - Secretary SOCIAL SECURITY The Supervisor explained that this meeting had been called for the purpose of informing the members of the Board on the new Social Security Law as it applied to the Town of Mamaroneck and at his reque st, the Town Attorney outlined the history and background of Social Security as it pertained to municipal em- ployees in the State of New York. He informed the Board of the three (3) optional plans provided by the new statute, stating that the whole procedural matter was a most complicated one. He further explained in detail the protective benefits to the em- ployee under each of the three (3) plans giving the approximate costs to both the municipality and the individual under each of these plans. Two (2) memorandums, addressed to the Supervisor by the Town Accountant, Mr. Finson, under dates of May 13 and 28, were presented as follows further supplementing Mr. Delius's statements* Re: Social Security for Town Employees In connection with the integration of Social Security, I have com- puted the costs to both the Town and the individual if the Town elects retroactive coverage of six (6) quarters to be $5, 188.37 respectively. There are, at this time, 41 Town employees who are eligible for this coverage, of whom 34 are presently members of the Retirement System, and who, therefore, would have an option of being covered or not. It is my understanding that coverage is mandatory for the 7 other employees, of whom 3 are mem- bers of the Town Board. In addition, of course, the laborer class is presently covered under Social Security. The average cost to each full-time employee will be about $143, 00 and will have to be paid in a lump sum. If this is so and the Town should elect the retroactive plan, this payment might influence many of these employees to reject Social Se- curity coverage. It would be unfortunate if any State Retirement member failed to avail himself of this coverage because the com- bination of State Retirement and Social Security coverage is so broad that there is nothing to compare with it. If retroactive coverage is voted, it would give immediate eligi- bility for nearly all survivor benefits, and to the employee 67 years of age or older for Retirement benefits. The only benefits for which eligibility is not immediate are disa- bility benefits, dependent husband benefits, and child benefits based on the earning record of a married woman. Res Social Security Social Security has been discussed with practically all of the full- time employees of the Town and it would appear that most of them are interested in obtaining such coverage in addition to State Re- tirement benefits. As to retroactive Social Security, the majority are not in favor by approximately 2 to 1. Following a detailed discussion including many questions by each member of the Board, and after the Board had been informed that every effort had been made to ascertain as accurately as possible. the wishes and feelings of each Town employee individually with respect to retroactive coverage, and after the Supervisor stated that the key question was whether or not the Town should adopt retroactive coverage, upon his suggestion that the Board look at this matter from the viewpoint of the individual employee con- cerned, bearing in mind that this Board's action should be of bene- fit to the majority of the employees, the Board took the following action: On motion by Councilman Kane, seconded by Councilman Santoro, it was RESOLVED that the Town of Mamaroneck, pursuant to Sec- ___ tion 218 of the Federal Social Security Act and Article 3 of the Retirement and Social Security Law, will provide old- , age and survivors insurance coverage for eligible officers and employees effective on December 16, 1956, Upon roll call, the vote was as follows; Roll Call: Councilman Brush - No Councilman Kane - No Supervisor Burchell - No Councilman Waterman - No Councilman Santoro - No The motion was defeated unanimously and de- clared lost. Whereupon, on motion by Councilman Waterman, seconded by Councilman Brush, it was RESOLVED that the Town of Mamaroneck, pursuant to Section 218 of the Federal Social Security Act and Article 3 of the Retirement and Social Security Law, will provide old-age and survivors insurance cover- age for eligible officers and employees effective on June 16, 1956.. Upon roll call, the vote was as follows: Roll call: Councilman Brush No Councilman Kane - No Supervisor Burchell - No Councilman Waterman - No Councilman Santoro - No The motion was defeated unanimously and declared lost. And, thereupon, on motion by Councilman Waterman, seconded by Councilman Brush, the following resolution was proposed: WHEREAS, it appears that the majority of the em- ployees of the Town of Mamaroneck,do not desire retroactive coverage under Social Security, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Town of Mamaroneck, pursu- ant to Section 218 of the Federal Social Security Act and Article 3 of the Retirement and Social Se- curity Law, will provide old-age and survivors in- surance coverage for eligible officers and-em- ployees effective on December 16, 1957; and be it FURTHER RESOLVED that George D. Burchell, Su- pervisor, is hereby authorized to represent the Town of Mamaroneck and is directed to comply with the regulations of the Director of the State Social Security Agency designed to extend old-age. and survivors in- surance coverage to positions of officers and employees pursuant to Section 218 of the Federal Social Security Act and Article 3 of the Retirement and Social Security Law. Upon roll call, the vote was as follows: Roll Call: Councilman Brush - Aye Councilman Kane - Aye 6 Supervisor Burchell - Aye Councilman Waterman - Aye Councilman Santoro Aye The foregoing resolution was unanimously adopted and the Clerk directed to forward said resolution to the Security Agency of the New York State De- partment of Audit and Control, THRUWAY CONSTRUCTION--WEAVER STREET BRIDGE The Supervisor, stating that it was his opinion that time was of the essence in the matter of Thruway construction in the Weaver Street Bridge area, brought before the Board the question of a request by the Thruway contractor to close the bridge for a cer- tain period of time in connection with this construction. The Supervisor stated that a conference had been held on May 27th with representatives of the Town, the Village of Larchmont, and the Thruway contractors, Ottaviano, Inc. , to discuss the proposal submitted by the contractors. For the Board's information, the Engineer presented a copy of the contractor's letter and the Clerk presented a copy of the draft of the letter prepared by the Engineers of the two munici- palities following the conference to be sent to Mr. Rauer, Act- ing District Engineer of the Thruway Authority. This letter stip- ulates certain conditions to be met in order for the Thruway con- tractors to obtain the approval of the two municipalities. The communications follow herewith: A. E. OTTAVIANO, INC. NET 56-IFA NET 56-2 May 21st, 1957 N. Y.S. Thruway-N.E. Section Mamaroneck Ave. -Chatsworth Ave. Mr. K. G. Rauer, Acting District Engineer State Department of Public Works Poughkeepsie, New York Dear Sir: We are enclosing herewith a schedule of our operations in the vicinity of the Weaver Street Bridge on the above job. We spoke to the Village of Larchmont and Town of Ma- maroneck about closing Weaver Street and detouring traffic to Chatsworth Avenue until we complete the relocated Harmon Drive so that we may start construction of the Weaver Street Bridge. The Town of Mamaroneck and Village of Larchmont, who control this road, agreed that if we could present an acceptable schedule to them they would consent to the closing of this road so that this road may be done at this time. The original contract called for the completion of the Chatsworth Avenue Bridge before Weaver Street was closed. However, if we follow this procedure. it will be quite some time before this bridge will be built and since we anticipate paving the main line this surnmer, it would help greatly to our schedule and progress if we could close this road and complete the bridge. We trust that this will be acceptable to you and to the Town and Village concerned so that we may proceed with this work immediately. Very truly yours, s/ J.E. Ottaviano, President A.E. OTTAVIANO, INC. Schedule of the operations concerning the construction of the Weaver Street Grade Separation and the retaining walls for re- located Harmon Drive: Start Ending 1. Relocated overhead Con Ed Power Line - (This has been completed) 2. a. Relocate Temporary Gas Line 5-13-57 5-24-57, b. it If Water Line If 6° 3. a. Install Temporary Sidewalk 5-27-57 5-3.1-57 b. Complete Communication Line it it 4. At the conclusion of this work we would close Weaver Street and detour traffic on Rockland Avenue and Chatsworth Avenue Bridge over New York, N.H. RR Bridges. 5. a. Excavate and form retaining wall B 6-3-57 7-1-57 b. Erect Catenary Towers (#116-119) If it 6. a. Excavate and form retaining wall A 7-1-57 8-2-57 b. Excavate and form retaining wall B '1 c. Excavate and fmrm east abutment and wing walls at Grade Sep- aration-Weaver Street if d. Relocate Power Lines It It 7. a. Main Line Excavation 8-2-57 9-2-57 b. Fill relocated Harmon Drive " IV c. Pave & Complete Harmon Drive It 11 8. Detour traffic on relocated Harmon Drive to a crossing at the in- tersection of Thruway to existing Harmon Drive. This should open through traffic at Weaver Street on 9-2-57. TOWN OF MAMAUONECK VILLAGE OF LARCHMONT 158 W. Boston Post Road Municipal Building Mamaroneck, New York Larchmont, New York May 29th, 1957 NET 56-1 FA NET 56-2 N.Y,S. Thruway - N. E. Section Mamaroneck Ave. -Chatsworth Avenue Mr. K. G. Rauer, Acting District Engineer State Department of Public Works Poughkeepsie, New York Dear Mr. Rauer: We have received copies of the letter of May 21, 1957, of Ottaviano Construction Company to you regarding closing the exist- ing Weaver Street bridge, Before discussing it, we want to point out that we (both the Town of Mamaroneck and the Village of Larchmont) have consistently urged that traffic on Weaver Street be maintained without interruption at all times during the construction of the Thruway. As Ion ago as March, 1955, Mr. Tallamy assured representatives of the Village of Larchmont that every effort would be made to find means to keep such traffic open, and several methods were discussed at that time. Later, in the latter part of January, 1956, Mr, C. H. Lang, Chief Engineer of the Thruway, wrote a letter to Mr, Herbert Askwith of Larchmont, stating that they had decided on the method to maintain such traffic, namely, by a detour via Relocated Harmon Drive, across the Thruway to Old Harmon Drive, and Mr. Lang sent a sketch of how this would be done, which was published in The Mamaroneck Daily Times of February 2, 1956, However,, in spite of our urging, and in spite of Mr. Lang's letter to Mr. Askwith, we understand the contract includes no requirement that traffic over Weaver Street not be inter- rupted. We still feel strongly that this requirement can and should be made, in the manner pointed out by Mr. Lang. On the other hand, if the contractor is to be allowed to close Weaver Street to traffic at any time during construction, then the fol- lowing comments are in order and we urge your consideration of them. When Mr. O'Brien of Ottaviano Construction Company told us he planned to ask for a revision of the construction schedule which would call for early closing of Weaver Street traffic and which he said would expedite the final completion of the entire job by months, repre- sentatives of both the Town and the Village met with him and discussed the proposed revised schedule. We again urged that the plan outlined by Mr. Lang be followed without interrupting traffic. Mr. O'Brien said that he planned to follow that plan, but that he would have to close Weaver Street for awhile even to accomplish that. While we still dis- agreed, we said that if the street were closed, we felt certain condi- tions should obtain. In the Ottaviano letter to you we believe some im- portant conditions were not mentioned and when we discussed that fact with Mr. O'Brien, he agreed they should be included. --- In our following comments we will refer to Mr. Ottaviano's letter by paragraph number: Par. 1 O. K. No comment. Par. 2 a and b O.K. No comment. Par. 3 a. Install the temporary sidewalk by-pass not more than 100 feet west of Weaver Street and it should be a finished pedes- trian by-pass from the Railroad Bridge back to Weaver Street. b. O.K. No comment. Par. 4 Comment- 1. Before Weaver Street bridge is closed, the.steel for the relocated catenary towers must be on the job, and, if such is not the case, then the bridge is not to be closed and the entire schedule commencing June 3rd is to be set forward to commence on the date the steel is on the job. 2. Under this revised schedule, the tem- porary Chatsworth Avenue detour bridge is to be pushed to completion at the earliest possible date; and the existing Chatsworth Avenue bridge, as well as the temporary Chatsworth Avenue detour bridge must both remain open to traffic until the Weaver Street bridge over the Thruway is completed and open to traffic, 3. Old Harmon Drive from Weaver Street to Rockland Avenue must be kept open until the relocated Harmon Drive is completed, paved and open to traffic. Pars. 5, 6, and 7 Comment; It was our understanding in the original con- ference with Mr. O'Brien that Weaver Street would be closed completely (without a by-pass or detour) for only two months instead of the three months indicated by the Ottaviano letter. Mr. O°Brien now says he will try to better the three months requested. In that connection, we see no reason why all of Par. 6 could not be done at the same time as Par. 5, and surely part of 7b can be done com- mencing at any time. Par. 7a we understand pertains more to the Main Line east of Weaver Street than at Weaver Street itself. The West abutment at Grade Separation can like- --- wise be done during the same period that the East abutment is being done, thus hastening the com- pletion of the bridge structure over the Thruway. We believe this "collapsing" of the schedule is practical and can hasten the completion date of the Weaver Street construction and thus reduce the time that traffic is stopped. Par. 8 Comment; The temporary detour across the Thruway from completed relocated Harmon Drive to old Harmon Drive should be satisfactorily paved. We understand this is at approxi- mately. Station 255£-00. In addition, delivery dates on steel for the Chatsworth Avenue detour bridge and the new Weaver Street bridge should be stated by the contractor to assure no further revision of scheduling and also a time schedule for the new Weaver Street bridge completion should be sub- mitted because of the tie-in with the new Chatsworth Avenue bridge con- struction. We understand that the contractor will soon be requesting an extension of the completion date on his contract from June, 1957, and we respectfully request that you include the above changes in any ex- tension of the contract. Due to the fact that our communities are separated into two parts by the Railroad and the New England Thruway, we feel that the minimum changes outlined above should be incorporated in the contract to prevent a. serious effect on our fire, police, school, water, and gar- bage disposal services and on general vehicular and pedestrian traffic as well. We have discussed this letter and its contents with Mr. OgBrien and we understand he is agreeable to the changes and additions we suggest. Very truly yours, For the Town of Mamaroneck s/ Maurice Friedlander, Engineer For the Village of Larchmont s/ Francis T. Griffin, Engineer Following a very detailed and lengthy discussion, upon motion by Councilman Waterman, seconded by Councilman Santoro, it was unanimously RESOLVED that the proposed draft of the commun- ication to be sent to K. G. Rauer, Acting District Engineer for the New York State Thruway Authority, be and it hereby is approved by this Board; and be it FURTHER RESOLVED that the Town Engineer be and he hereby is authorized to mail said communica- tion as directed and addressed. ESCROW AGREEMENT--COUNTY TRUST COMPANY The Town Attorney presented a.proposed Escrow Agreement for the Town of Mamaroneck and the County 'Trust Company following the form of the presently existing agreement with the exception that the securities be in the custody of the Chase Manhattan Bank rather than in the Trust Department of the County Trust Company. On motion by Councilman Santoro, seconded by Councilman Kane, it was unanimously RESOLVED that the Supervisor be and he hereby is authorized to enter into an escrow agreement with the County Trust Company and the Chase Manhattan Bank for the deposit of Town money in the amount of $700, 000. 00 in the following accounts. Town of Mamaroneck General Fund, Highway Fund, Special District Fund, Tax Lien Fund, Payroll Fund, Park- ing Meter Fund, Parking Meter Account--New Haven Railroad Lease, Water Fund, Capital Fund, Recre- ation Commission Fund, and any other Town of Ma- maroneck accounts or funds not specifically listed, and the deposit of U. S. Treasury Notes as securities for such amount ($700, 000,00) by the County Trust Company with the Chase Manhattan Bank. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the meeting, it was adjourned at 9.20 p.m. BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS The meeting of the Board of Fire Commissioners was convened immediately upon the adjournment of the Town Board Meeting. REQUEST OF FIRE CHIEF--:.ATTENDANCE AT ANNUAL CONVENTION Commissioner Waterman presented a communication from the Fire Chief, dated May 27, 1957; requesting permission to attend the New York State Association of Fire Chief's Annual Convention to be held at Elmira, New York, from June 9 - 12, 1957, in the Chief's car with two Deputies. On motion by Commissioner Waterman, seconded by Commis- sioner Brush, it was unanimously -- RESOLVED that the Fire Chief and two Deputies be and they hereby are authorized to attend the New York State Association of Fire Chief's Annual Con- vention to be held at Elmira, New York, from June 9 to 12, 1957. FURTHER RESOLVED that the expenses incurred for said trip by the Fire Chief, Lennert Johnson, and two Deputies, Charles Deshensky and Patsy Giacomo, be paid from the 1957 Fire Department budget item for that purpose, ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the meeting, it was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. T `? To Cleft