The regular semi-monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Menands, held on Monday, May 13th, 2019 was called to order by Mayor Megan Grenier at 6:00 P.M.

PRESENT:

Megan Grenier, Mayor
Steve Boulet, Trustee
Diane Foley, Trustee
Seth H. Harris, Trustee
Aileen Nicoll, Trustee
Donald Handerhan, Village Clerk
Stephen Rehfuss, Village Attorney

Also attending: Bill Garvey, Brian Marsh, John Stangle, Paul Cooney, Eric Johnson

The Mayor led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Mayor Megan Grenier opened the Public Hearing to introduce proposed Local Law # 2 of 2019 Section 165 Water Codes.

The Clerk read the notice:

A Public Hearing will be held on Monday, May 13th, 2019 at 6:00 P.M. in the Village Municipal Building located at 250 Broadway to introduce Section 165 Water Codes. Such public hearings are open to the public and are accessible to the handicapped. All are encouraged to attend or present comments in writing.

See attached copy of proposed Section 165 Water Codes.

Eric Johnson explained the water code a copy will be posted on the website; copies of the water code will be made available in the Village Office. A discussion followed. The Public Hearing to be reconvened on Monday, May 20th, 2019 at 6:00 P.M.

Hearing no further questions or comments the Mayor closed the Public Hearing at 6:16 P.M.

The regular meeting reconvened at 6:16 P.M.

Open Forum:

Resident Bill Garvey stated the power boxes by 17B Louis Avenue are covered by evergreens. Resident Garvey swept up broken glass on Clifford Road. There was an open door at 52 Menand Road Mr. Garvey closed the door and then called the police.

CP Rail is painting the power towers along the railroad.

The Board advised him to call the police and don’t go onto private property.

Loretta Belmonte advised the Board that ever since the water break on Van Rensselaer Blvd she has had low water pressure. Mayor Grenier advised she would have DPW look into it.

Mrs. Belmonte asked the status of the Quiet Zone. Mayor Grenier advised it should be complete hopefully by fall. Simmons Lane needs to be repaved and work done on the crossing. New signs and striping will be installed. After that a final inspection.

Resident Brian Marsh reported that National Grid fixed the electrical problem and there hasn’t been any outages lately.

Resident Marsh asked the status of 5 Elmwood Road. Mayor Grenier advised the property is up for sale the owners moved to California.
Mr. Marsh asked if new investors came in would they have to start all over from the beginning. The Board told Brian Yes. A discussion followed.

A motion was made by Trustee Foley to accept the minutes for the April 15th, 2019 Board Meeting, seconded by Trustee Harris.

ADOPTED:

Trustee Boulet voting AYE
Trustee Foley voting AYE
Trustee Harris voting AYE
Trustee Nicoll voting AYE
Mayor Grenier voting AYE

A motion was made by Trustee Nicoll to approve payment for the following, seconded by Trustee Boulet.

WARRANT # 23:

GENERAL totaling $66,285.36
WATER totaling $ 6,055.02
SEWER totaling $ 1,157.20
TOTALS $73,497.68

PARK IMPROVEMENT: totaling $ 338.00

PAYROLL # 24: totaling $92,446.70
(04/12/19-04/25/19)

ADOPTED:

Trustee Boulet voting AYE
Trustee Foley voting AYE
Trustee Harris voting AYE
Trustee Nicoll voting AYE
Mayor Grenier voting AYE

Trustee Harris made a motion to approve the contract for Leak Detection in the amount of $8,000.00, seconded by Trustee Boulet.

ADOPTED:

Trustee Boulet voting AYE
Trustee Foley voting AYE
Trustee Harris voting AYE
Trustee Nicoll voting AYE
Mayor Grenier voting AYE

The Clerk read a letter from the Menands Fire Company #1 stating that at their May 7th, 2019 meeting Robert F. Griffith was voted in as an active member of the Company.

Trustee Foley made a motion to accept Robert F. Griffith as a new active member of the Menands Fire Company #1, seconded by Trustee Harris.

ADOPTED:

Trustee Boulet voting AYE
Trustee Foley voting AYE
Trustee Harris voting AYE
Trustee Nicoll voting AYE
Mayor Grenier voting AYE

TAX LEVY RESOLUTION

YOU ARE HEREBY COMMANDED to receive and collect from the several persons named in the tax roll hereunto annexed, the several sums stated in the last column hereof opposite their respective names, being a total of $2,555.313.08 for the following purposes:

For the General Fund – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – $2,440,791.27

For Relevied Property Maintenance – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – $ 3,888.00

For Relevied Water & Sewer Rents
And Charges, with Interest – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – $ 110,633.81

YOU ARE FURTHER COMMANDED to receive and collect such sums without additional charge between the first day of June and the first day of July, 2019 both inclusive; and thereafter to collect with such of the sums as have not been therefore collected, and additional charge of five per centum for the first month (July) or fraction thereof and an additional one per centum for each month or fraction thereof thereafter until paid.

YOU ARE FURTHER COMMANDED to file the tax roll and warrant in your office on or before the first day of November, 2019 and then deliver to the Board of Trustees at the same time an account of the taxes remaining due and unpaid; describing each parcel of real property upon which taxes are unpaid, showing the person or persons to whom the parcel is assessed and showing as to each parcel the amount of tax unpaid. Thereafter, said statement of unpaid taxes is to be transmitted to the Albany County Treasurer for collection and payment.

Dated: May 13, 2019

Trustee Harris made a motion to accept the above resolution seconded by Trustee Boulet.

ADOPTED:

Trustee Boulet voting AYE
Trustee Foley voting AYE
Trustee Harris voting AYE
Trustee Nicoll voting AYE
Mayor Grenier voting AYE

The following bids were received to install railings at the Village Office.

1. Ackroyd Metal Fabricators: 1 ½” Square Steel Tube Rails $4,095.00
2. Hilltop Welding: 1 ¼” Pipe Rails $2,582.00

No labor charges the railings will be installed by DPW.

Trustee Boulet made a motion to approve the bid price from Hilltop Welding in the amount of $2,582.00 to build the railings for the Village Office, seconded by Trustee Foley.

ADOPTED:

Trustee Boulet voting AYE
Trustee Foley voting AYE
Trustee Harris voting AYE
Trustee Nicoll voting AYE
Mayor Grenier voting AYE

The Village Clerk has requested permission to complete his final year of training for Clerks School at the New England Municipal Clerks Institute and Academy in New Hampshire, (the Rockefeller Center is no longer hosting it), training will take place in July and the training will cost $925.00.

After a discussion the Board denied the Clerks request to attend the New England Municipal Clerks Institute and Academy in New Hampshire preferring he wait until the training is offered by Rockefeller Center in the future.

Trustee Foley moved the following resolution:

RESOLVED, that the Village will issue one credit card to each of the following officers for their use with the following dollar limit: Village Clerk $5,000; Village Treasurer $10,000; Mayor $3,000; Assistant to the Mayor $3,000; Chief of Police $4,000; Youth Director $3,000.00, who will have and retain custody of said card at all times.

The resolution was seconded by Trustee Nicoll.

ADOPTED:

Trustee Boulet voting AYE
Trustee Foley voting AYE
Trustee Harris voting AYE
Trustee Nicoll voting AYE
Mayor Grenier voting AYE

The Clerk reminded the Board of the Spring Business Breakfast Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019 at 7:30 A.M. in the Village Hall.

Eric Johnson advised the Board the DSNY-Trail Grant was awarded to the Village of Menands and he will be giving a report at the Board Meeting on Monday, May 20th, 2019.

Trustee Boulet reported on Truck Traffic on Rail Road Avenue. DPW moved the NO TRUCK signs closer to Broadway and attached Yellow Reflective Pole Markers to the signs to make them more noticeable.

To change the street name, it takes 75% of residents living on the street. There is only one home on Rail Road Avenue and the tax roll shows a Clifford Road address, however, 911 shows the Rail Road Avenue address. In the future the Board will act on changing the street name.

Trustee Foley while at NYCOM explained the Mayor of Saranac Lake talked about how they give out Certificates of Achievements to residents or businesses. Trustee Foley believes the Village of Menands should do the same to deserving residents and businesses within the Village of Menands.

Trustee Foley bought 7 trees from the Arbor Day Fund that she wants to donate to the Village to be planted in Polk Switzer Park.

Mayor Grenier made the following statements:

On April 29th I was invited to attend and speak at the University at Albany’s Presidents Awards for Exemplary Public Engagement. Professor Marcia Kees, from the Department of Geography and Planning, was one of the award recipients. Part of the consideration of her nomination was the work that she and her students did with Menands towards our Comprehensive Plan. Some of her former students who worked on our project also attended and It was nice to catch up with them while congratulating Marcia on her award.

I received word from CDTC that our application thru the Community Assistance Program, that the Board approved at our last meeting was granted. The funding will provide professional service from CDTA/CDRPC in obtaining data on current access to healthy food, provide information on methods of healthy food provision, such as farmers markets, veggie mobiles, and others, while participating in the village committee meeting to identify options to increase food accessibility in Menands. This assistance will go a long way in moving our agenda forward.

We had a great conference with NYCOM. It can be a little overwhelming with everything we learn in a short period of time, but the information is always helpful and sharing thoughts and ideas with other municipal leaders is a great resource. We received a legislative update which I have provided copies to each of you (Board Members).

In working towards creating a multiyear capital plan we need to first identify the Village assets. This was done previously so we are currently updating that information and then will continue with the process. Diane has provided the Board with a management guide that was distributed by the Office of the NYS Comptroller. This plan will help prioritize capital projects and maintain our capital assets. We will work closely with our department heads in creating this plan.

Chief Lacosse, Mike Hagmann, Josh Kinneston, Don Handerhan and I met near Channel 13 to discuss the sign changes that were identified with our sign study. DPW will be installing the new signs in that area as soon as Dig Safe marks the gas line and then will continue to implement that program over time.

The Menands Fire Co./Aux installation dinner was held in April, Congratulations to all of the 2019/20 officers, Harv Bender on receiving the President’s Service Award, Dave Ognan for Firefighter of the Year and Mary Miles for Auxiliary Member of the Year. I would also like to acknowledge Dave Ognan, Justin Jones and Ben Lattanzio for responding to over 100 calls each last year. As always, we thank all members of the Fire Dept. and Auxiliary for their service and commitment to Menands.

We are continuing with the shared services initiatives with Albany County. Don and I met with the county, Rockefeller Institute and the Town of Colonie last week to talk about the shared services agenda. While we are still involved in the full process, we are currently looking at participating in the Health Care Consortium, which is still a work in progress and joining the Town in the replacement of our street lights to LED. We will be meeting with the Town, National Grid and NYPA to further explore this option.

On Friday, Don, Frank, Mike, Josh and I attended the ribbon cutting at Dutch Village. Currently two of the buildings have received a TCO and progress continues on the other two buildings. They did a great job on the apartments finished.

I received a call from Paula Mahan regarding Madison VanDenburg, the Shaker High School student who is on American Idol. Having made it to the final three the town will be holding a parade in Madison’s honor and she will be singing a few songs during her hometown tour. The event will be Tuesday, May 14th, 2019 at 2:00 P.M.

At 7:06 P.M. Trustee Foley made a motion to enter into Executive Session to discuss a personnel matter, seconded by Trustee Nicoll.

ADOPTED:

Trustee Boulet voting AYE
Trustee Foley voting AYE
Trustee Harris voting AYE
Trustee Nicoll voting AYE
Mayor Grenier voting AYE

The regular meeting reconvened at 7:13 P.M.
A motion was made by Trustee Harris to adjourn, seconded by Trustee Foley.

ADOPTED:

Trustee Boulet voting AYE
Trustee Foley voting AYE
Trustee Harris voting AYE
Trustee Nicoll voting AYE
Mayor Grenier voting AYE

The meeting was duly adjourned at 7:13 P.M.

__________________
Donald Handerhan
Village Clerk

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