A regular meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Moreau was held on September 25, 2003 in the Town Office Building, 61 Hudson Street, South Glens Falls, New York.

Supervisor Gutheil called the meeting to order at 7:06 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

Niki Baker Councilwoman

Todd Kusnierz Councilman

Bob Prendergast Councilman

Also Present: Mike Shaver, Water Superintendent; Peggy Jenkins, Assessor; Nancy Ryan, Transfer Station Clerk; Jeanne Fleury, Town Clerk; Stephen Gram, Recreation Director; and guests.

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

August 20^th Workshop regarding "Proposed Disposal of Waste Law"

August 20^th Special Meeting regarding mining permits

August 26^th Regular Meeting

August 28^th Month-End Audit Meeting

September 4th Special Meeting as follow-up to the August 28^th Month-End Audit Meeting that was not completed due to a full board not being present

September 8^th Bid Opening

September 11^th Regular Meeting

A motion was made by Councilman Kusnierz and seconded by Councilwoman Baker to approve the above minutes with the following corrections:

August 28, 2003 – Month-End Audit Meeting – Page 374 – 6^th paragraph – 1^st sentence – change to read "Joe Patricke discussed with Supervisor Gutheil and Councilwoman Baker the need to transfer funds into the Building Inspector, Zoning and Planning Accounts to cover negative balances that will result if these transfers are not made and the vouchers that are in for audit are paid."

September 4, 2003 – Special Meeting – follow-up to the Month-End Audit Meeting that was not concluded – Page 382 – Under Audited Claims change the amount of General Fund Claims from $106,873.35 to $106,873.55. Page 382 – 3^rd paragraph – 3^rd line – "subject to" in the sentence twice, delete. Page 384 – 4^th paragraph – 1^st line – 9/02/02 should be 9/20/02.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye on all except 8/28/03 Abstained

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye on all except 8/20/03 Workshop he abstained on

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye on all except 9/11/03 Abstained

The minutes of the bid opening on the fencing for the Recreation Park, held September 8^th, were received and filed.

Budget Workshops were scheduled for October 7^th at 6:00 p.m. and October 15^th at 6:00 p.m.

River Church Road from what has been determined so far was a road that ran between Burt Road and West River Road back in the early 1900’s and was shown on county map in 1935. Apparently it has been abandoned for many years; however; research has resulted in no information being found on when it was abandoned. The homeowner that owns property on one side of this old road, Mr. Williams, is concerned over the neighbor on the other side encroaching and possibly taking the road under adverse rights. This would result in his property to the rear being landlocked.

Attorney Auffredou stated that if the Town of Moreau owns it then they wouldn’t be able to acquire it through adverse rights. The Town could quit claim it.

Supervisor Gutheil said he would meet with Attorney Auffredou and discuss this.

Supervisor Gutheil reported that the Zoning Board of Appeals has had legal action taken against it by the Pine Knolls Alliance Church.

Attorney Auffredou reported that he met with the Zoning Board of Appeals last evening in executive session and they will respond accordingly.

Pine Knolls Alliance Church is claiming that the Zoning Board of Appeals is flawed in their decision regarding the secondary ingress/egress to their property.

Dan Silvey and Bobby Dick gave a couple of brief comments.

Attorney Auffredou advised that 50% of the property owners assessed valuation in the area to be serviced by this lighting district would have to request the formation of this district.

Supervisor Gutheil thought an estimate of costs should be included in a petition when it is circulated throughout the development.

Attorney Auffredou suggested the following wording for a letter to Niagara Mohawk requesting an estimate:

"An inquiry has been made into the creation of a lighting district in the Spier Pines Subdivision and in order to keep the process moving the Town of Moreau is requesting an estimate for installation of lights."

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Kusnierz authorizing the Supervisor to write a letter to Niagara Mohawk requesting this estimate.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

Proposals had been received for the purchase of computers for the Building Inspector and Assessor. In order to stay within her budget, Peggy Jenkins, Assessor, obtained a quote on a computer that had a Celeron Processor rather than a Pentium Processor and Windows 2000 rather than Windows XP. The Building Inspector it was noted didn’t have any money in his budget for a computer. It was the consensus of the board that they wanted the computers to be the latest technology with the Pentium Processor and Windows XP. They asked the Assessor to get an updated quote with these two items added and determine where the money should be transferred from to cover the cost of these computers. This would be brought up at the Month-End Audit Meeting on September 29^th.

Part I of the Short Form EAF was completed and signed J. David Michaels.

The board answered "no" to all the questions in Part II of the EAF.

Under Part III the board checked the box that read, in part, "the proposed action will not result in any significant adverse environmental impacts."

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Hewlett authorizing the Supervisor to sign Part III of the EAF.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Hewlett to declare a negative declaration.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

A motion was made by Councilman Hewlett and seconded by Councilman Kusnierz adopting the following resolution:

WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Moreau (hereinafter the "Town Board") was presented with a petition pursuant to Town Law Article 12 for the establishment of a lighting district located in the Woodscape subdivision on the south side of Reservoir Road in the Town of Moreau, Saratoga County, State of New York; and

WHEREAS, the Town Board issued an Order on August 28, 2003 directing that a public hearing be held to consider the petition; and

WHEREAS, the Town Board met on September 11, 2003 at 6:50 p.m. to consider the petition and heard all interested persons concerning the establishment of the proposed district, and said hearing was held upon notice with evidence given thereat; and

WHEREAS, a certified copy of said Order was published in the Post Star on September 1, 2003; and

WHEREAS, all of the property and property owners now present or in the future within the proposed district will benefit by the establishment of the proposed lighting district; and

WHEREAS, all of the property and property owners now present or in the future benefited are now/or will be included within the limits of the proposed district; and

WHEREAS, it is in the interest of the residents of the Town of Moreau to grant in whole the relief sought in the petition.

NOW THEREFORE IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the petition to create the lighting district is granted and the lighting district shall be known as the Woodscape Lighting District and the Town Clerk shall file a certified copy of this resolution in the office of the State Department of Audit and Control in Albany, New York, together with an application, in duplicate, for permission to create such district within ten (10) days hereafter; and the Supervisor of the Town of Moreau is hereby authorized to execute and verify said application which shall include:

A certified copy of the petition, an itemized statement complying with Town Law Section 194(3)(a) and a statement of the aggregate assessed valuation of the real property situated in the proposed district, as such assessed valuations are shown on the last completed assessment role of the Town of Moreau prior to the date of the application and a statement of the average of

full valuation of the taxable real property of the Town and a statement as to the manner in which it is proposed to finance costs of the improvement if any.

IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED that the Town Clerk shall cause a certified copy of this resolution to be recorded in the office of the clerk of the County of Saratoga within ten (10) days hereafter.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Hewlett authorizing the Supervisor to sign an agreement with Niagara Mohawk for this lighting district, subject to legal counsel’s approval.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

Attorney Auffredou advised that he incorporated some of Joe Patricke’s comments into the draft, but he thought the board should still have Liz Rovers of C.T. Male review the definition. Processing of materials inside or outside the town is covered under Section 91-19 and is more expanded than earlier drafts. He welcomed the board’s critique.

Supervisor Gutheil reported he attended a meeting in Fort Edward held by the EPA and some of the residents over there expressed concerns over their property values being affected by the dredging project. He also took a tour of the GE Plant Core Sampling Area in Fort Edward. [amended 10/23/03]

Supervisor Gutheil reported that copies of other communities dog laws have been received from the Association of Towns and the board should be able to take parts of these laws and use them to strengthen ours. He asked the clerk to copy Attorney Auffredou on these laws.

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Hewlett approving the following water billing for Water District 2 and amendment to the Water District 4 billings previously approved:

Fall 2003 Billing (Period of 3-8-03 to 9-6-03)

Amount Billed: $107,124.83

Cabral House - 9 Willow Street

Amount Approved $33.50

Corrected Amount $69.35

Reason: Outside reading read same as previous. Inside Meter re-read resulting in the above change.

Total Amount Billed for District: $38,780.37

Corrected Amount Billed for District: $38,816.22

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

It was the consensus of the board to give the contractor until October 3^rd to start the completion of restorations and lawns in Water District 4.

A sealed quote was received from Grasshopper Grounds Maintenance & Landscaping, P.O. Box 124, Gansevoort, NY, to restore lawns at approximately 68 residences. The quote was opened at this meeting by the Town Clerk and the quote was in the amount of $778.00 per address to prepare, topdress with topsoil then hydro-seed lawn areas disrupted by water line installation.

The board discussed, as an option, trying to come to some type of financial settlement with the property owners. It was decided to try and come to a settlement with as many property owners as possible and then Supervisor Gutheil will call Brad from Hilander and if he doesn’t address the rest of the restoration problems then the town will take action by sending him a default letter. The town will also send a default letter to Hall Plumbing and Heating.

A motion was made by Councilman Hewlett and seconded by Councilwoman Baker authorizing the purchase of an HP2300 Laser Printer under the State Contract Price of $593.40 for the Bookkeeper/Supervisor’s Secretary’s Office.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

Supervisor Gutheil asked the board members what fund they wanted to deposit the next Sales Tax Check into and it was the consensus of the board that the check should be deposited into the B Fund.

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Hewlett authorizing the following budget amendment:

Increase Appropriations for Water District 5 as follows:

$300.00 V8310.1 (Personal Services)

$500.00 V8310.424 (Administration-Water Meters)

$500.00 V8340.405 (Transmission & Distribution-Equipment Repairs)

Increase Revenues by $1,300.00 V2144 (Water District #5 – Taps & Entrances)

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Hewlett approving Purchase Order No. 20303 in the amount of $1,283.92, made out to Agway, for fuel for the Highway Department and Purchase Order No. 20298 in the amount of $19,723.38, made out to Galusha, for binder for Carmella Drive.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

A motion was made b by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Kusnierz appointing Maria Jennings as a substitute to work at the Transfer Station on-call, at $7.00 per hour. [Amended 10/23/03]

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

Discussion followed on the Recreation Department’s John Deere Mower. The shaft broke on the mower and repair has been estimated at $421.00 for parts and labor at $55.00 per hour and $45.00 per hour depending on where we take it for repair. Ron Gilligan in the Highway Department thinks he can fix it so all we would need is parts. John Deere said it requires special expertise.

A motion was made by Councilman Hewlett and seconded by Councilwoman Baker authorizing the purchase of the parts at $421.00 and the repair to be done by Ron Gilligan if he thinks he is capable of fixing the mower and if not then we will wait until next spring to fix it.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz No

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Hewlett authorizing the Supervisor to sign the contract with BOCES for the Conservation Program and Carpentry and Building Program and for the work to be done at the Rec. Park to be supervised by the Recreation Director.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

Five request for proposals to clean up the damage done by vandalism at the Rec. Park were sent out and the lowest proposal was $1,600.00 so far. This proposal will be sent to the insurance company. A list of damages was sent to Town Court.

Fencing for around the multi-purpose field at the Rec. Park was discussed. Supervisor Gutheil thought the specifications were too loose and there is still the issue with the first contractor that started the project that has to be resolved. If a tracer wire can’t be found for the irrigation system then a claim should be made against the bonding company for the contractor who put in the irrigation system, but failed to put in the tracer wire. [amended 10/23/03]

Stephen Gram thought his department could stake out the fence line. The board discussed the possibility of putting up fencing around the perimeter of the park rather than the field in sections. Stephen Gram was asked to report back to the board on how many feet of fencing he would want to start with.

Stephen Gram requested permission to attend a Turf Conference in Rochester, November 4^th-6^th, at a cost of $280.00 for the three-day pass plus $204.00 for three nights lodging. The board decided to wait until the Month-End Audit Meeting on September 29^th to decide on this and they will check the budget to make sure there is money for this.

Supervisor Gutheil reported that he hadn’t heard back from Verizon yet so he suggested they wait until the Month-End Audit Meeting to decide what to do with these proposals.

A motion was made by Councilman Kusnierz and seconded by Councilman Hewlett authorizing Tim Alden, Town Justice to attend the NYS Associate of Magistrates Conference on September 29^th-30^th in Saratoga Springs and for all necessary expenses to be a proper town charge.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

Interviews were held with four candidates to fill vacancies on the Recreation Commission. Applications will still be accepted. This will be put on the agenda for the next regular meeting.

Supervisor Gutheil reported that the Northway Emergency Animal Clinic on Fawn Road is seeking reimbursement for the cost to cremate a dog that had been hit by a car and dropped off at their clinic and passed away. Our dog control officer was not the one who took the dog to the clinic. The board decided that more facts were needed.

Supervisor Gutheil reported that the Memorandum of Law and replies on FOIL #3, Article 78 filed by Erie Blvd. is on file in Town Hall.

Supervisor Gutheil reported on a FOIL Request that was received from the law firm of Devorsetz, Stinziano, Gilberti, Heintz & Smith, PC for documents pertaining to the Mining Moratorium. They have been given a date when they can expect a response from the town.

Kathy Perez submitted a letter of resignation from the position of Secretary to the Zoning Board of Appeals effective as soon as possible.

Supervisor Gutheil stated that everyone should try to find a replacement and Councilman Kusnierz stated that an ad should be run in the paper. The Town Clerk said she would put the ad in the paper.

Supervisor Gutheil advised that the cost for safety posters is up around $100.00 and asked the board if they had any objection to his ordering these posters and the board did not object.

Supervisor Gutheil reported the September Sales Tax Revenue to the town is $152,542.00.

A letter was received from the Garcia Family on Old Saratoga Road expressing their opposition to the 35 home PUD being proposed by Pallette Stone.

Supervisor Gutheil reported briefly on the cable TV rate increases and calls he has received from our constituents who are outraged.

A check was received from the Eagles for Soccer Sponsorship. Stephen Gram explained how he was going to return the check, because we had all the sponsors we needed and the Eagles told him to keep the check anyway and put it towards the Soccer Program. Discussion followed on the difficulty of accepting checks that have restrictions on them for certain programs, etc. The check had a notation on it that it was a Soccer Program Donation. The Supervisor said he would ask Fran to check with the State Comptroller’s Office to find out the easiest way to accept this donation.

The Building Inspector had submitted his August report in a timely fashion; however, due to an oversight it was not accepted at the September 11^th Meeting. [amended 10/23/03]

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Hewlett to receive and file the Building Inspector’s Report for August.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

A motion was made by Councilman Hewlett and seconded by Councilman Kusnierz to adjourn to executive session at 9:15 p.m. to discuss the following:

Personnel Terms & Conditions of a particular employee

Capone vs. Town of Moreau Notice of Claim

RPTL Article 7 Level 3 Communications

Niagara Mohawk/National Grid RPTL Article 7

Erie Blvd. pending Article 7 Proceeding

Reliant Condemnation Proceeding

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

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 public session at 9:43 p.m.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

No action was taken as the result of the executive session.

A motion was made by Councilwoman Baker and seconded by Councilman Kusnierz to adjourn the meeting for the evening at 9:43 p.m.

Roll call vote resulted as follows:

Councilman Hewlett Aye

Councilman Prendergast Absent

Councilwoman Baker Aye

Councilman Kusnierz Aye

Supervisor Gutheil Aye

Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeanne Fleury

Town Clerk