A regular meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Moreau was held on January 24, 2006 in the Town Office Building, 61 Hudson Street, South Glens Falls, New York.

Supervisor Gutheil called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

The Town Clerk called the roll, which resulted in the following Town Board Members being present or absent:

Harry G. Gutheil, Jr. Supervisor

Rich Hewlett Councilman

Bob Prendergast Councilman

Niki Baker Councilwoman

Todd Kusnierz Councilman

None

Also Present: Jeanne Fleury, Town Clerk; Peggy Jenkins, Assessor; Steve Barody, Highway Superintendent; Steve Gram, Recreation Director; Joe Patricke, Building Inspector; Mike Shaver, Water Superintendent; Bill Richmond from Behan Communications; Martin Auffredou, Attorney for the Town (arrived at 7:10 p.m.); Chuck Fiegl, Post Star Reporter.

The following minutes were prepared and distributed to the Town Board in advance of the meeting for review, comment, correction and approval:

December 29, 2005 and January 10, 2006

Corrections: Page 502 – 3^rd resolution – 3^rd line –delete the word "testing"

Page 503 – Under Water District II Fund – Claims 2328-2334 should be changed to read 2328 & 2334

Page 504 – Water District IV Fund should read Water District V Fund

Corrections – Page 19 – Last line – delete the word "meters" and add the wording "meter from Queensbury"

Page 22 – 1^st line – change the word "at" to the word "out"

A motion was made by Councilman Prendergast and seconded by Councilman Hewlett to approve the minutes of December 29^th and January 10^th as corrected.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Aye

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Abstain on the 12/29/05 Minutes and

Aye on the 1/10/06 Minutes

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

A workshop on the proposed mining law and outdoor wood burning furnaces law was scheduled to be held after the Month-End Town Board Meeting on January 31^st.

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Kusnierz to approve the following final water bills for house closings in Water District 4:

Customer Number: 40432 Customer Number: 40493

Bill Number: 73445 Bill Number: 73443

Usage Period: 9/10/05-1/23/06 Usage Period: 9/12/05-1/11/06

Billing Date: 1/23/06 Billing Date: 1/11/06

Tanis Brumagen Daniel & Suzanne Manna

4 Linden Street 8 Pheasant Way

South Glens Falls, NY 12803 South Glens Falls, NY 12803

Consumption: 14,600 Gallons Consumption: 20,300 Gallons

Amount Billed: $47.07 Amount Billed: $63.89

Final Bill House Sold to Deet & Taylor Final Bill House Sold to Thomas Sharron

Customer Number: 40202

Bill Number: 73444

Usage Period: 9/12/05-01/17/06

Billing Date: 1/17/06

Valerie Belmore

9 Terry Drive

South Glens Falls, NY 12803

Consumption: 20,800 Gallons

Amount Billed: $65.36

Final Bill House Sold to Buddy & Michele Willsey

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Aye

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

A motion was made by Councilman Prendergast and seconded by Councilwoman Baker to accept a donation to the Town of Moreau Recreation Department in the amount of $50.00 from SHC Heritage Association for use of the park for a picnic on September 17, 2005.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Aye

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

SOUTH GLENS FALLS FIRE COMPANY – GAMES OF CHANCE LICENSE RENEWAL:

The South Glens Falls Fire Company submitted an application for renewal of their Games of Chance License to conduct Bell Jar at the Fire Station on Route 197.

The Town Board read and answered all the questions favorably on the Findings and Determinations Statement and checked the box allowing the Town Clerk to issue the license.

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Prendergast authorizing the issuance of a Games of Chance License for Bell Jar to the South Glens Falls Fire Company for the year 2006.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Aye

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Hewlett to receive and file the monthly report from the Dog Control Officer for the month of December 2005.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Aye

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Prendergast authorizing the Building Inspector, Joe Patricke, to attend a "Northern Adirondack Code Enforcement Officials Association Educational Conference" in Lake Placid, New York, February 27^th – March 2^nd at a cost of $564.00 for registration and lodging plus mileage and meals.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Aye

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

Joe Patricke informed the board that Mark Mykins his Assistant will start his training in February. There is training sessions once a month and there will be mileage expenses incurred.

Supervisor Gutheil reported that job applications were received from individuals interested in working for the recreation department for the summer and most of them are rehires. He asked Steve Gram if he was ready to act on any of these tonight and Steve Gram stated no, he wanted to wait until all the applications were in and what was going to be done about maintenance of cemeteries, this would affect the number of rehires.

Jenkins, Law and Beecher submitted a proposal to conduct an audit of the Town’s records at a cost of $6,000.00 and complete the AUD for $1,400.00. The proposal read that they would complete the audit in 2 ½ months. The engagement letter didn’t stipulate a time frame however. Supervisor Gutheil and the board members concurred that that engagement letter should stipulate that the audit will be done in 90 days.

A motion was made by Councilman Hewlett and seconded by Councilwoman Baker authorizing the Supervisor to sign an engagement letter with Jenkins, Law and Beecher to do an audit and prepare the AUD with the stipulation that it will be completed in 90 days.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Aye

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

Supervisor Gutheil reported that the semi-annual landfill inspection report for 2005 was received and filed and the 2005 annual post closure monitoring report. Both are available for public inspection.

Supervisor Gutheil asked Attorney Auffredou where he was at on the draft local law.

Attorney Auffredou advised that he has been working with Joe Patricke on the language for the local law. They have something that fits into site plan regulations. The difficult one is the PUD’s. There is something in the law already requiring the setting aside of common open space for a PUD. He thought the board would want to continue with this requirement. To require this and recreation fees where there are dwelling units within a PUD is difficult to work with. He has something drafted and has sent it to Joe Patricke for review. Adding the recreation fee to the site plan review is ready to go. He is just wanting for Joe on that one. The PUD is the hard one.

Attorney Auffredou was of the opinion that mining should be addressed within the master plan. It would be a stronger and more defendable local law. It would blend in better with zoning.

Supervisor Gutheil stated that nobody has had time to finalize the master plan so we need to do the next best thing at this point.

Attorney Auffredou stated the board could consider extending the moratorium, as long as the board could demonstrate they are making progress on the local law. It would have to be sent to the Saratoga County Planning Board again and he didn’t know if they would support another extension or not. However, if the County Planning Board didn’t support the extension the board could go through with it if they had a super majority vote.

Supervisor Gutheil asked the board if they wanted to extend the moratorium or try to wrap up the mining law.

Councilman Kusnierz stated that he thought we should move forward with the master plan and go with an extension of a moratorium.

Supervisor Gutheil stated that somebody would have to pull the master plan committee back together.

Councilman Kusnierz suggested that Supervisor Gutheil appoint a sub-committee to keep it going.

Supervisor Gutheil asked if any of the board members wanted to volunteer to be on the sub-committee. Councilman Kusnierz, Councilman Prendergast and Councilman Hewlett volunteered. Supervisor Gutheil told them let everyone know when and where they were meeting.

Supervisor Gutheil asked the board if they knew what they wanted to do with this position and if they wanted to discuss in executive session an unnamed persons employment history and background.

Attorney Auffredou stated that it fits within the executive session aspect that says you are going to discuss candidates that could lead to their appointment.

Councilman Kusnierz asked why they only wanted someone to clean every other day, the request for proposals that went out stipulated three days a week. The Town Clerk stated that is because that is how many days the building has been cleaned. Councilman Kusnierz stated that the bathrooms are used everyday and the Town Clerk stated there have been complaints made to the Town Board for a long time about the bathrooms not being cleaned everyday. Councilwoman Baker and Supervisor Gutheil agreed that the bathrooms should be cleaned everyday.

Supervisor Gutheil advised that it was found that we have to hire off the civil service list for court officer and there are several interested in the position. It was the consensus of the board that the Town Justices should conduct interviews.

Supervisor Gutheil stated that Laura Barody would like to come back to work for the court. Her hourly salary would $8.80 per hour part-time.

Councilman Prendergast made a motion and it was seconded by Councilwoman Baker to hire Laura Barody as part-time clerk for the court at $8.80 per hour.

Councilman Hewlett thought she had just resigned. Supervisor Gutheil stated that she had taken another job and decided that she wanted this job back instead.

The Town Clerk asked the board if they wanted the motion to read only part-time, $8.80 per hour.

Supervisor Gutheil and Councilwoman Baker stated it should read part-time and no benefits.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Attorney Auffredou asked if there would be any pre-conditions. Supervisor Gutheil asked if he meant pre-employment physical and back ground checks. Attorney Auffredou stated he knew the board was trying to be uniform about that.

Supervisor Gutheil stated that this would be a different situation where a person just left the employ of the Town and returned. Attorney Auffredou thought the board should have something in the record about this.

For the record, a pre-employment physical is not necessary in this case and references have been checked and the Town Justices are familiar with this person and recommended her re-hire. She has barely left the Town’s employment and is now returning.

Attorney Auffredou stated the permissive referendum period runs around February 4^th and at that time we should be able to award a bid. In speaking with John Della Rocca, Attorney Auffredou asked if the Town could award a bid with the understanding, in writing, with the successful bidder that the contract is subject to our closing on the financing through EFC and Mr. Della Rocca said this would be fine. This is an option.

Attorney Auffredou stated he needs to talk to Tim Burley about some things that EFC is looking for. We should be getting new closing documents from the EFC.

Attorney Auffredou received an inquiry from the Michaels Group on the extension of the water lines through phase 2 of their development. They are going to cover the $80,000.00 expense, but they wanted to go to Planning Board and be able to represent to them that they have an agreement with the Town Board for adequate security and try to get SEQR done at the February Planning Board Meeting. They want to know when the Town is going to be awarding a bid and what form the security has to be in. Does the Town want a performance bond, letter of credit, wire transfer into an account with the Town?

Councilman Kusnierz thought a tangible asset would be best. Supervisor Gutheil stated if we go with a bond and something goes wrong then we will have to deal with the bonding company. A bank letter of credit can work.

Attorney Auffredou asked how it would work. Would the contractor do the work and the funds transferred to the Town from Michael’s Group would be used to reimburse the Town? Supervisor Gutheil stated the Town shouldn’t have to front any money. Attorney Auffredou stated that if the Town doesn’t want to front the money then a performance bond or letter of credit should suffice or they could wire the money into an account with the Town and then the Town could use that money to pay the contractor when the work is done.

Councilman Kusnierz stated we need written language covering any additional costs. Attorney Auffredou stated that should be simple to do.

Supervisor Gutheil stated that the Michael’s Group would have to pay for the observation work by an engineer also. We will have to get an estimate from Tim Burly.

It was the consensus of the board that they wanted the money transferred into an account with the Town.

Attorney Auffredou reported on the filing of the easements for Water District 6. Each easement has a schedule "A", which is a map prepared by Burley & Guminiak. Last fall they sent a number down to the county for recording and they were accepted. Beginning on November 1^st the county began rejecting them for recording. According to Laurie at the county the maps are unacceptable as sent. They have dark areas that become even darker when copied and the writing is too light and illegible. Supervisor Gutheil talked to the County Clerk and asked her if they could find another scanner. Attorney Auffredou stated they were being scanned up until November 1^st. There were about 15-20 that were recorded at the county and five that haven’t been. Supervisor Gutheil will follow up on this with the county.

Supervisor Gutheil stated he had a letter ready to go to Senator Clinton in an attempt to keep the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Program going. He read the letter to the board. The board did not object to this letter being sent. A recommendation was made to send this letter to the Governor, Senator Bruno, Sheldon Silver and Congressman Sweeney.

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Prendergast to appoint Gary Dickinson as a member of the Town of Moreau Planning Board for a full seven year term, which will expire 12/31/2012.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Aye

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

[Note: Gary Dickinson is filling the vacancy created by Jim Thompson’s resignation from the Planning Board-Jim Thompson’s term expired 12/31/04]

At the Planning Board Meeting held on January 23^rd DOH put on a presentation regarding soil gas vapors. Soil gas vapors have been detected in the vicinity of the Westgate Estates property off the Fort Edward Road around the plume from the GE contaminated area.

Supervisor Gutheil was of the opinion that somebody should take the lead on this and a letter should be sent to the appropriate people about whether or not there are natural resource damages here. DOH, DEC and/or the Attorney General’s Office should take the lead on this. Town taxpayers shouldn’t bear the cost to remediate these types of problems.

Councilman Kusnierz was concerned about liability down the road. If it is a known issue and the Town issues building permits in that area what is the liability?

Supervisor Gutheil wondered the same thing. Last year a house was built very near the plume area.

Attorney Auffredou stated there is potential for exposure. DOH asked the Planning Board to place a condition on the approval of the subdivision that each house must have a ventilation system installed, similar to a radon ventilation system, and a deed restriction notifying potential purchasers of the problem and the requirement of having these ventilations systems installed and maintained.

Councilman Kusnierz stated that deeds aren’t received until after the closing and Supervisor Gutheil stated that a lot of people don’t even read the paperwork. It isn’t a fool proof system.

Attorney Auffredou stated he understood, but there is no other way to handle it and it is the best way.

Attorney Auffredou stated that the Planning Board kept the public hearing open last night, but they are going to have to reach a decision and that may be at the February meeting.

Councilman Kusnierz stated that the Town Board doesn’t have authorization to approve or disapprove the subdivision? Attorney Auffredou replied no.

Supervisor Gutheil stated the Town Board does have the responsibility to make sure the liability doesn’t get dumped on the Town. That is why we need to do a letter and put pressure on some other agency and take the pressure off our backs. He asked if the board wanted to do a letter to the Planning Board asking them to keep the public hearing open until the Town Board can discuss this with counsel and other agencies.

Attorney Auffredou advised that it is still their decision. Their issue is not the broader question, but rather this subdivision and this land and under a SEQR analysis what conditions they can place on this to mitigate any potential environment impacts. The broader issue is the Town Board’s responsibility. Endicott had a similar issue.

Supervisor Gutheil thought there was research to be done and someone should contact Endicott to find out how they handled it.

Joe Patricke stated he recently had an inquiry about a building permit in the area in question and he gave them whatever information he had about the plume and suggested they research it before they go through with it. The house that was recently built in that area was before we knew anything about the soil gases. DOH is recommending an active system be put in any new houses built in the area of the plume, not unlike the radon systems put in the houses down at the end of Potter Road.

Councilwoman Baker stated she was concerned with long-term maintenance of the systems.

Supervisor Gutheil was concerned with this also and was concerned that the system would not be venting properly and the homeowners would come back on the Town.

Attorney Auffredou stated that if the Town gives a certificate of occupancy and all disclosures are made, the system is in place and all the Planning Board conditions are met then even if claims are made they wouldn’t have a very strong case.

Councilman Kusnierz asked how much of a health risk the soil gas vapors are.

Attorney Auffredou replied that TCE is a known carcinogen and he understood that they have identified other substances as well.

Joe Patricke stated that the other substances haven’t been attributed the plume.

Supervisor Gutheil suggested sending a letter to the Town Planning Board asking them to keep their public hearing open and not make a determination under SEQR or the reopening of the subdivision until the Town Board has the opportunity to reach out to government agencies and responsible parties to discuss other alternatives. It was the consensus of the Town Board that this letter should be sent.

Supervisor Gutheil asked Joe Patricke to work with Peggy Jenkins and get a list of all properties over the plume and then they will be notified by certified mail, returned receipt, making them aware of what is going on.

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Kusnierz authorizing the engagement of ESAC for appraisal services for the White Birch tax certiorari at a cost not to exceed $3,300.00.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Aye

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

Councilwoman Baker reported that we are now under the state contract with Nextel and the phones have been ordered.

Councilwoman Baker also reported that she has been trying to find a dsl internet provider for the Town Court Building and Highway Department.

Councilwoman Baker proposed that the personnel committee, on which she serves, should revisit the current employee handbook and the one started by Amtek.

Councilman Kusnierz reported that the Highway CSEA contract negotiations continue.

Supervisor Gutheil reported that an attempt was made to pick up the mower at Falls Farm & Garden and they wouldn’t release it until they were paid. The sheriff was contacted and apparently they didn’t want to get involved. Attorney Auffredou wanted to talk to the board about this in executive session.

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Prendergast to amend the Organizational Minutes of 1/3/06, in particular, resolution #17 as it pertains to sick time and vacation time, to read as follows: "sick time and vacation time would not apply to people who when hired part-time were not offered benefits".

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Aye

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

Supervisor Gutheil asked Attorney Auffredou if there was any way to stop getting distasteful e-mails and Attorney Auffredou replied that he wished he knew how, but that it was an obligation of the Town to be proactive about this. The Town Board wanted someone to talk to Cornerstone and Wade Sherman about filters.

Supervisor Gutheil stated we received an application from an individual interested in the position of crossing guard and Fran wants to know if the board wants a background check done on crossing guards. He stated that we need a completed application first and then we can do reference checks and background checks. The board members didn’t raise any objection.

Attorney Auffredou asked if the board was considering a policy for background checks for all full-time and part-time employees, because they need to be consistent.

Supervisor Gutheil and Councilwoman Baker stated they were going to be consistent.

Attorney Auffredou stated that all applicants should have an expectation of what the background checks are going to be.

Councilman Kusnierz asked if the employment applications have a box that reads that background checks may be required. Supervisor Gutheil stated no, but the county application does and all applicants should be given the county application for employment to fill out.

Councilwoman Baker stated that we can have background checks done for $95.00 to $125.00 per person within New York State. There would be an additional fee if the investigation goes outside of New York State. There are some states that are easier than others.

Attorney Auffredou stressed that there has to be a uniform policy about criminal background checks.

Supervisor Gutheil suggested that the Personnel Committee work on a policy.

A memo was received from Leeann McCabe, Deputy Town Clerk, asking for permission to be granted to the Town Clerk’s Office to donate 30 Bicentennial T-Shirts for the marathon dance. It would also be easier if the Town Clerk’s Office could have the discretion to donate t-shirts to not-for-profit, charitable causes, as the opportunity presents itself. There are 250 t-shirts left.

A motion was made by Councilman Hewlett and seconded by Councilwoman Baker authorizing the Town Clerk’s Office to donate up to 100 Bicentennial T-Shirts where a public benefit can be shown.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Aye

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

Discussion followed on the rec. park. The board discussed with Steve Gram what the plan was for preparing the park for spring.

The board talked about maintenance of cemeteries and if they were going to contract it out or not.

Councilman Prendergast stated that the only way the park was going to be prepared for opening in the spring was to keep the rec. employees at rec. and hire out to have the cemeteries maintained.

Councilman Kusnierz recalled a discussion at budget time when the board was of the consensus that rec. personnel was not going to maintain the cemeteries any longer.

Councilman Prendergast stated that hiring out for maintenance of the cemeteries was okay as long as we don’t pull the Recreation Director out of the park to supervise the work. This would defeat the purpose of hiring out.

Supervisor Gutheil agreed and stated that we should take the maintenance of the cemeteries right away from Steve Gram.

Councilwoman Baker asked if it was realistic to think that two men could ready the park for spring, which involves painting, cleaning and taking care of the skating pond.

Steve Gram stated that Bruce was snow plowing today with the highway department.

Supervisor Gutheil stated they were at a point now where the Highway Superintendent is going to have to hire his own people. An emergency basis is something different.

Steve Gram stated that he acted as crossing guard today and the last three days.

Councilwoman Baker stated that the crossing guard was needed at the Transfer Station.

Councilman Hewlett asked if the board wanted to hire the applicant interested in the position of crossing guard.

Attorney Auffredou asked the board members if they should do a background check on persons before hiring them as crossing guards.

Councilwoman Baker stated that anyone that would be in contact with children should have a background check.

Councilman Kusnierz was of the opinion that a person dealing with sensitive areas should have a background check done on them.

Supervisor Gutheil stated that when they have keys to buildings there is exposure to confidential records and money.

The discussion reverted back to maintenance of cemeteries and Supervisor Gutheil asked the Cemetery Committee to get proposals from contractors.

Peggy Jenkins advised the board that the State of New York has come out with a new release of the RPS system and it is version 4. Linda’s computer will not support version 4, it is too old. She would need Windows 98 downloaded and Wade Sherman has advised that he cannot do this either, the computer is too old. Wade has a rebuilt computer at home with Windows 2000 on it and he can install version 4 on it. He is willing to sell the computer to the Town and install it for $50.00. Peggy asked for authorization to allow Wade to do this.

A motion was made by Councilman Hewlett and seconded by Councilman Prendergast authorizing this purchase in the amount of $50.00 from Wade Sherman.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Aye

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

A motion was made by Councilman Prendergast and seconded by Councilman Kusnierz to adjourn to executive session at 8:50 p.m. to discuss Niagara Mohawk, National Grid, Brascan, Erie Blvd./condemnation; White Birch Article 7; employment history/performance of a particular unnamed person(s) that could lead to an appointment; CSEA; lawyer/client privilege re: discussion on the John Deere tractor.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Aye

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

The Town Clerk did not sit in on the executive session.

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Kusnierz to adjourn the executive session and re-open the regular meeting at 11:17 p.m.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Aye

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Kusnierz to offer the position of part-time laborer to Ted Monsour at $8.75 per hour subject to favorable reference checks and successful completion of a pre-employment physical.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Aye

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Kusnierz to adjourn the regular meeting at 11:18 p.m.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Aye

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeanne Fleury

Town Clerk