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General News: Notes from the Nov. Town Board Meeting

November 16, 2018

Cornwall Town Board Meeting 11/13/18
By Casey Regenbaum

After the Pledge of Allegiance, Mr. Randazzo asked that everybody remained standing in memory of the victims of the mass shootings in Pennsylvania and California, and also in memory of honorable John McGuirk, twenty-year justice, who passed away.

Public Hearings:
Local Law Amending Chapter 143 of the Code of the Town of Cornwall entitled “Vehicle and Traffic”:
The board looked at the proposed law due to the public hearing from October. The proposed law will now restrict parking for one hundred feet from the intersection on Veterans’ Way and Hudson Street, as well as add a stop sign on Jackie St in the Firthcliffe Heights area. There is the question as to whether or not there should be a yield sign or a stop sign on Angola Road by the traffic circle.

Proposed Local Law Establishing a Six Month Moratorium on the Submission and Processing:
The purpose of this local law is to prevent the submission and processing of any applications for land use approvals because it is now a reasonable time, pending the town board’s its 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update. There would be a $500 fee to submit an application for land use and a required description as to what the circumstances are requesting the hardship waiver.
Steve Gaba says this will be very beneficial to the provision of the new Comprehensive Plan. Randazzo received a copy of the draft plan that the town planners put together for the committee, and now that it is near completion, he feels that it would be appropriate for the board to adopt this moratorium in hopes of receiving the draft plan from the committee by the end of this year. After that is all complete, the town can begin to look at the zoning. The moratorium will give the committee the opportunity to put everything on hold and create the formal plan.
Many people took this opportunity to ask the board to make the comprehensive plan more open to the public. People would like to be able to see it, add to it, and understand it.
Numerous people seemed to support for the moratorium, however, there were also some concerns expressed. As a taxpayer, one man was concerned about what the value of his property would be like. Another woman supports the moratorium, however she believes that things are moving way too fast and she would like to slow things down.
On behalf of Saint Luke’s Cornwall Hospital, the vice president of administrative services expressed concerns with the moratorium proposed because they are currently going through rebranding and updating their signage. Through these changes, they’ve received criticisms on people’s ability to locate the services on the campus and to navigate the campus itself. They have an application currently pending, which would be halted by this moratorium. They are looking to add four new signs while replacing all current signs. Another Cornwall resident also expressed concerns with the signage and does not want it to be put off for six months.
A man from a company trying to purchase property on 9W urged the board to carefully construct this moratorium only to where it is truly necessary, because it would affect businesses like his economically. Another non-resident of Cornwall had similar ideas, thinking that companies that have currently pending applications should be exempt from the moratorium.
Many people asked the board to just make sure to consider how the moratorium would affect the entire community as a whole.

Local Law Amending Chapter 122 of the Town Code entitled “Streets and Sidewalks”:
Steve Gaba explained that two years ago, the town code overlooked changing the provision regarding undertakings in the street opening provision, and they wanted to change the code to provide that you could only post cash or a letter of credit. Nobody spoke at this public hearing.

Resolutions:
Adopt Local Law entitled “Vehicle and Traffic”:
The Town Board does adopt the above local law and it will be effective immediately.
Adopt Local Law entitled “Streets and Sidewalks”:
The Town does adopt the above local law and it will be effective immediately.
Adopt Local Law Establishing Six Month Moratorium:
The Town Board does adopt the above local law and it will be effective immediately. There was a brief applause after this resolution.

Request for Menorah and Chanukah Celebration:
The town received a letter regarding the annual placing of the menorah on the gazebo on Rings Pond for the festival of Chanukah. The Town Board grants the request to place a six to eight foot menorah on Town Hall Park grounds for a period of time in December. The town also grants the request of Shabbat of Eastern Orange County to another cottage on Sunday December 2nd at 5:00PM for a Chanukah celebration for the community.

Town Hall Improvements- Recommendation for Rejection of Bid:
One of the projects was to replace the windows of the Town Hall, unfortunately the Town Board only received one other bid of $190,000, which is out of their scope, so the town rejected this bid.

AT&T Modifications to Equipment on Cell Tower:
The Town Board approves the proposed upgrade to the cell tower facility.
T-Mobile Modifications to Equipment on Cell Tower:
The Town Board approves the proposed upgrade to the cell tower facility.

Village of COH and FHWD Water Relevy:
The Town Board was presented with a list of unpaid water charges amounting to $127,099.89 where it has been requested the Town Board request a relevy on the 2019 general tax bill against the list of properties. The town adopts this resolution.

Addendum to Engineering Agreement- CSD Phase II Project:
The town agrees to enter into the addendum and the town supervisors are authorized to execute the addendum and any documents necessary to implement it.

Addendum to Engineering Agreement- CSD I&I Project:
This addendum will provide for additional field survey work and for compaction testing services by women and minority business enterprises pursuant to the requirements of New York State environmental facilities corporation. The town approves the addendum and the town supervisors are authorized to execute the addendum and any documents necessary to implement it.

Request for Real Property Tax Exemption- Village of COH:
The Village of Cornwall on Hudson is requesting a tax exemption for real property taxes on village owned supply property for the year 2020. The Town Board adopts this resolution which denies the request of the village to exempt certain properties outside of the village.

Declaring a Day in Honor of Senator William J. Larkin, Jr.:
Senator William J. Larkin, Jr. has served in New York State Legislature for many years. He has represented the citizens of Cornwall with great distinction. He is one of only two remaining World War II veterans serving in the state legislature. In May 2018, Senator Larkin announced that he would retire from public service at years end. On behalf of the residents of the Town of Cornwall, the Town Board would like to recognize Senator Larkin and designates November 28th, 2018 as Senator William J. Larkin, Jr. Day in the Town of Cornwall. There was an applause from the crowd after this announcement.

Agreement with TBE-Montgomery, LLC Contract Amendment:
Mr. Randazzo deferred this for a discussion in executive session.
AIR Environmental Consulting- Asbestos Abatement:
Through Senator Larkin, they received a grant to put a new roof on the Police department and a new upgraded generator at the Town Hall. The old roof at the Police Department contains asbestos which must be abated prior to replacing the roof. The Town authorizes AIR to prepare specifications for the asbestos abatement project.

Correspondence CCSD re: Certiorari Proceedings:
The Certiorari proceedings can get rather expensive, and a lot of the tax money does go to the school district. Mr. Randazzo asked the school to do this on a case by case basis, rather than a policy as a whole. The Cornwall Central School District sent a letter to Mr. Randazzo saying they agree to do it not as a policy, but on a case by case basis.

Central Hudson Letter re: Utility Lines/Poles:
There have always been discussions about trying to get rid of the utility lines on Main Street, but it is more difficult than it seems. Mr. Randazzo wanted to gain a better understanding of what it would cost to run these lines behind the building. It would be the town expenses, not Central Hudson’s, to take care of these expenses. Central hudson does not have any plans at this time to make any major changes to these utility lines. Mr. Summerfield felt that this is worth pursuing, and a letter from Central Hudson does not mean that it is not possible to get these lines off the street. Randazzo explained that it is not realistic at this time and there are a lot of other considerations to be made.

Request for Zoning Charge- Penning Property:
In the letter sent, there was a description of the detailed uses they believe they would need to make the project a success. The plan of the project is to convert the existing residents to offices for the facility. With the moratorium that was adopted, the Town Board will not entertain it unless it is something they want to hardship.

Cornwall Lions Club- Wreath and Roping Sale:
The Cornwall Lions Club will be selling wreaths and roping again for four weeks starting the last week in November at the Town Hall.
Personnel- Appointment EDAC and Board of Assessment Review:
The town will entertain a motion to appoint Hunter Lorenson to a position on the EDAC which is a position with a term that expires December 31st 2021. Jackie Conklin is looking for a reappointment for a five year term to expire 2023.

Committee Reports:
The Senior Committee met this month, and the town is planning two events for them. One will be a tree decorating party, and the children from butterhill will help make gifts to give them and will perform for them. They will then have their holiday party and a surprise visit from Santa. Additionally, on Sunday December 2nd, the Chamber is hosting a holiday party at Pelican Jump Inn starting at 3PM until 5:45 PM.

Public Comment:
On December 2nd, everybody is invited to the Holidays at the Homestead where they will be decorating for the holidays as well as doing crafts. It will be from 12:30 until 2:30PM.
One woman expressed concerns with what the tax money was going towards. As a taxpayer, she felt that it was important for the taxes to be going towards the youth. There was some debate as to whether or not pursuing the change in location for the utility lines was a good idea or not. Another woman agreed.

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