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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-08/17/1977-FI 290 1977' SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD August 17; .1977 A regular meeting of the Southold Town Board was held on Wednesday,, August 17, 1977 at the Fishers Island School, Fishers Island, New York, Deputy Supervisor Demarest .opened the meeting at 1:00 P.M. with the following present: Deputy Supervisor Louis M. Demarest Councilman James H. Rich,, Jr. . Councilman James Homan Justice Martin. Suter Justice Francais. T. -Doyen Town Attorney Robert .W. Tasker Town Clerk Judith T. Terry Absent: Supervisor Albert M. Martocchia Deputy Supervisor Demarest expressed the Board's pleasure in being on Fishers Island. He stated that Supervisor Martocchia has been in the hospital- for .two weeks., but ,is now. home- and: fully;expects to be back., to work within the next two or three weeks. On motion of Councilman Rich, seconded by Councilman Homan, it .,was RESOLVED that the minutes of the Southold Town Board meeting held on August 9, 1977 be and they hereby are approved as submitted. Vote of the Town Board: Ayes : Deputy Supervisor Demarest, Councilman Rich, Councilman Homan, Justice Suter, Justice Doyen. This resolution was declared. duly -adopted. On motion of Justice Suter, seconded by Justice Doyen, it was RESOLVED that the next regular meeting of the Southold Town Board will be held at 3 :00 P.M. , `Thursday, August 25, 1977 at the Southold Town Hall, Main Road, Southold, New York. Vote of the Town Board: Ayes : Deputy Supervisor Demarest, Councilman Rich, Councilman Homan, Justice Suter, Justice Doyen_ This resolution was declared duly adopted. On motion of Councilman Rich, seconded by Justice Suter, it was RESOLVEE that $9. 00 be and hereby is authorized to be transferred from Part-Town Surplus to B1910.4, Unallocated Insurance. Vote of the Town Board: Ayes : Deputy Supervisor Demarest, Councilman Rich, Councilman Homan, Justice Suter, Justice Doyen. This resolution was declared duly adopted. On motion of Councilman Rich, seconded by Councilman Homan, it was RESOLVED that $1, 050.60 be and hereby is authorized to be transferred from Whole-Town Surplus to A1420.4, Contractual Attorney' s Fees. Vote of the Town Board: Ayes :- Deputy Supervisor Demarest, Councilman Rich, Councilman Homan, Justice Suter, Justice Doyen. This resolution was declared duly adopted. AUG' On motion of Councilman Homan, seconded by Councilman Rich, it was RESOLVED that Deputy Supervisor. Demarest be and he hereby is authorized to contract with Xerox- .for two model 660 ,copy machines. Vote of the .Town Board: Ayes : Deputy Supervisor Demarest, Councilman Rich, Councilman Homan, Justice Suter, Justice Doyen. This resolution was declared duly adopted. Deputy Supervisor Demarest stated that the Town has not yet .approved the proposed sewer district in the Fort area, as they are waiting for a performance bond which they will have to have before it can be approved. Deputy Supervisor Demarest introduced the following individuals who made the boat trip to Fishers Island: - Town Board members, Town Clerk, Highway Superintendent Raymond C. Dean. - Edward .W. Fox, Chair man, .Boar.d of Assessors Henry Raynor, Planning ,Board Frank Coyle, Planning Board -_ Frederick Gordon, Planning Board Muriel Brush, Secretary, Planning Board Howard Terry, Building ..Inspector George Fisher, Building -Inspector . Robert W. Gillispie, Jr.. , Chairman,Board of Appeals Robert Bergen, Board of Appeals Robert Villa, Suffolk County Health Department Barney Evans, Suffolk County Department of Public Works Mr. Glass, New York State Department of Transportation 3 Repor.ters . from ; The-..Suffolk.. Times., Long Island Traveler, Suffolk Life Deputy Supervisor Demarest explained that. Mrs. Joyce. Burland., . .Suffolk County .Legislator,:,has been invited., but- called this morning saying her,-.mother-. had been taken.. -i•11 on. Nantucket and would be going there . rather than Fishers ,Island, and regretted very much she couldn ' t be here.: Deputy Supervisor Demarest stated he would begin the question and asnwer portion of the meeting with a letter received from the Fishers Island Civic Association, Inc. , John P. Gaillard, .President.--They . ask -for. ,a breakdown of town accounting .on revenues and expenditures which'-7-he has with him.. . Later if anyone wishes to ask any specific questions about it he will try to answer. He has from the Highway Superintendent a breakdown of what the Highway. Department spent on Fishers Island .in 1976. and. so far in .1977. ,1 In 197-6 .there was a total of slightly over_. $38. 000.00 spent. So far this .year they have spent approximately $36, 000. 00. Part of .that .was the road work they did under contract. The- contract was..for ..13.,.900 sq. yds. of a sliarry emulsion which they. have-. tried on. some. roads in Southold Town. It was done on Fishers Island to see how it would hold up, and the total cost was $49. 05.,• a total of $8, 270,..50- and. it is included in the expenses quoted.before. If it works out. quite. li]cely more will be done..-, This price is cheaper than Mr. Dean .can. do. by.. bringing his , crew over. The Civic, Association also, asked that their, purposes were for making application for any of the properties that were made available on Fishers Island by the General -Services Administration. The Town' s prime purpose as far . as .the housing, was. concerned was to possibly have housing so the. ferry. district could house a crew. so one of the boats could stay at Fishers Island. over night-.rather than- Connecticut The warehouse,. was , for possible use-for recreation and possible . storage. The question regarding property assessments will be answered- by Mr. Fox' ' later On the matter of actual use report oft how revenue sharing funds hove been usedL- -up to now the Town has used $18, 588. 15 for police personnel; $30, 000. 00 for police cars ; '$2, 725.00 as additional 6-id to the libraries in town--this eventually will be $5, 000.00 $116, 738.65 has been spent on,- the new town 'ha-ll. A total of $168. 0'51.80 There is in the hhecking account, Revenue Sharing ' Furids, $1, 639. 31 and $43 , 324.00 in the savings account. They also wanted to know how ,much is allotted to the Town each hear---the Town gets approximately 433, 000. to $34, 000.' each quarter. The Civic Association asked how much 'money is involved in 'the'- HUD- grant to the Senior-Citizen- -Teen Center.---The total involved is ' $170, 000 which initially $23, 000 has been received to purchase a piece of property, which has been done. The second year allotment was $52, 000 which: has been received,' �and at the request of HUD, some time ago; an architect was hired- to design a building. Subsequeny- ly the federal government changed rules , and the $93;-.000 the town was supposed to get- in the third year grant to, complete the center has how been held up for two reasons : They are throwingtwo programs together, one is contingent upon part`iciapation in the other. There has to be 50 units of low income housing in the county that are occupied. Once this is done we arerpast step number one. The second step is that the Town Board pass a resoltuion 'stating they will bot use zoning or '-any other ordinance, -to impede- or hinder the establishment of -low income multiple,'dwellings in the Town of Southold. Deputy Supervisor Demarest has told HUD, and feels 'he speaks for the Board, that is 'is very unlikely such- a resolution would be passsd. It would be unlawful as it would be -granting zoning without a hearing. Mr.' Barnes of the County stated -the type of low income- housing they are thinking of is perhaps apartments. with as- many as four bedrooms which would rent for $600. 00 per month for low income people. What would happen is the person would only be required to pay as rent one quarter of- his income and the federal government wou Id make up C the balance. -It looks like tie Town 'is over a barrel . We have $70, 000 to build a senior citizen-youth center and it does not look as though we will be able to get -fund=ing for the -bal-anceof it. We will either have to raise the money ourselves to finish it or possibly not even build it. So far UUD has stated they do not want the money back that they given to the Town, but' that remains to be seen. Deputy Supervisor Demarest made- an attempt to• get someone from the Medical Examiner' s Office but was ubable to, so the question regarding medical problems on the Island he Icanno't 'answer. ' There was a question about the public- boat landing 'in the Cove at West Harbor, the possibility- of dredging. Justice Doyen and someone from the highways department have looked at it and feel it would not' br feasible. Justice Doyen is attempting to find out whether the Navy will allow the use of their ramp' in Silver Eel Cove. If they do at- least '-the residents will- have a place to launch a boa-t. There was a question about per capita- student costs. Deputy Supervisor Demarest was unable tp get someone from the Department of Education and his only observation- is that the Fishers Island student. costs- are high, $8, 000 to $9, 000 per student. The student costs on the mainland are not nearly as high as that, but in looking over the tax rates for the different districts, Fishers Island is still one of the lowest in the Town. Greenport 'd rate -is nearly $16.'00 per hundred and all of the other ones are above $10.00. Fishers Island' s rate was below $10. 00:'- Deputy ' Supervisor Demarest was asked to elaborate- on that statement, which he did.---He was then asked to justify the excessive cost on Fishers Island. ---He stated that is a matter of the number of students, if there were twice or three-times as many students on Fishers Islaed the costs would be no greater than they are now. The plant -would-probably educate three or four times as 'many students as they have, but they have to have teachers to teach possibly only ten s Aug z '-,spa 293 students,:. but the same. teacher would still be hired to teach 30 or 40 students. There are not many students, but Fishers Island still must have the school, the teachers, the plant, for the few students they have.---A member of the ,Fishers. Island Board of Education elaborated..on :the re.lative .costs ; whereby on a fixed budget the amount would be the same whether- there. were 50 or 100 students, but the cost per student would be .the variable. The civic Association asked for an explanation of how .federal, county or town wetlands regulations affect the island. ---It is a complicated matter. Deputy. Supervisor Demarest has just recently recieved the. New, York. SG-ste Department of Environmental Conservation Wetlands Land Use Regulations. These •are. the .regulations which take . the .place. of the moratorium- where permission was required to do any- thing within 300 ft. - of .the wetland.-or shore. . As to -what .areas it applies to, he did .not know, - as they have -not yet received the maps which delineate the wetlands . Deputy Supervisor -Demarest stated, in- getting .back to what the town has -done on Fi-shers Isla-nd, •they have 'provided -a Boston Whaler for- the'-use of� the. constables and the State Police. Slurry has been placed on a mile or road; they have provided more signs on the roads when requested.;- provided the' island with a pickup of -non-garbage refuse; installed bouy.s as requested; installed a parr telephone recording service for the police and constables.---Also, as requested, he brought a list of the county and town officials. Mr. . John Gaillard, , President of the --Fishers Island Civic Association, Inc. asked Highway Superintendent Dean a question relative to the amount of. money spent on Fishers Island roads, namely the $3.6,000 spent. this year. The. rea,son he posed the quest-ion, is that in the leaflet accompanying the annual tax: bill there is reference to- high- ways, l, 2, 3, 4, which is meaningless -to Fishers Island. He wondered if their roads were included- amoungl those items,.: and- :if-.not,- where did the $36, 000 spent here come from, the general town fund?-.-Deputy Supervisor Demarest stated that it comes out the. the .Highway budget. Item 1 takes in resurfacing, any -work the-, men do ;on- the roads, general upkeep,. salaries-, benefits. Item 2-is an item for bridges , and that item has remained exactly the same for over 24 years: :Item 3 is' !' new machinery, repairs, and parts . Last year they spent $2, 079. 98 on that item. This year so far they have spent 'approximately $3; 000. Item-4 is snow removal and had a tota-1 -1ast year of- approximately $3 , 000, and this year it is a little 'over $7 , 000. Last winter they had to-hire help `to plow snow and that.-is -paid at -a- state -fixed rate for the size of :the ,truck. --=Mr,., Gaillard stated ithe -reason for his question about highway expenditures was- the part of- those Highway expenses that Fishers) Island paid in­taxes this past year was_'$36 , 000 and:,it wasjust stated they 'got back '$36;000.---Deputy: Supervisor Demarest -stated there' are:-other items.which could- be: charged against Fishers'�Island; clerical -help, Mr. Dean ' s salary,' equipment that- has been used and brought to Fishers Island, a lot of intangible items that are impossible to be pulled oLt of the budget. He pointed out that he lives in Orient and-there are less miles of, town roads there than 'Fishers Island, and they pay about the same amount of highway -taxes as Fishers Island. : It- .doesn 't .seem possible .that individual hamlets- can -get back exactly what is .paid in by taxes. (Considerable discussion continued '.on- the subj.ect :of. Fishers Island. highway: taxes. ) - The-jpresident: of the Fishers Is-]a.ndi Library asked about :the annual allotment to_ the, libraries as. well ;as revenue sharing -funds. Mr. Gaillard spoke,.. about the, -.supplus government property,-. indicating that he believed the school was, in the process for .fi-ling .for those same housingg units, who has priority?---Deputy -Supervisor Demarest stated the town had "110 objection -to the .school ,.making,_application. 294 TIVI and if the town acquired it 'they would make it available to the school. Justice Doyen, ,in reply to the question about snow removal this winter after- the problems they had last- year, - stated the best- . _.. . solution to the problem would be, -to-get their own snow plow fixed and have the snow removal program revert back to the operation ,of the town with town employees. A truck will be available on Fishers Island within the next two months: The •question was asked, whether the,,-analysis of budget -figures- brought over to the island and presented to -Mr-.- Gaillard, contained a break- down of- expenditures-for Fishers Island.==-Deputy Supervisor Demarest stated 'that as- far-• as the total town budget in relation to expenditures on Fishers Island it -is almost: impossible to break it 'down. The whole town budget can -be submitted, but which- expenditures 'are partly- charged to Fishers Island is almost an impossibility. - There are zoning costs, which are distributed throughout the town, it wouldn 't be fair to charge the cost of the two board members who: -live on Fishers .Island,. just to Fishers Island., it ,:is a- whole, town- charge, .it wouldn't be- fair to charge the cost -of transportation just to Fishers -Island because, they have a unique situation: It would be- like trying to- divide- up the budget to say how much is spent in each individual hamlet of the- town. --- The name of .the certified public account (:Elain6 Kaldor.) was requested. Mrs . Kelsey of the Island *-People ' s-Pr-oject asked, as, she stated, -.for the fifth year, when the town is going to provide another- tennis .court. They only:-have one• recreational facility: which is-, tennis courts-, and everyone wants to use it. Mrs-. Kelsey•s-fated that every year for the past few years Supervisor Martocchia- has. promised them another tennis court, but there has been no success. -- Justice Doyen stated he has discussed the matter with- Mrs.. Jensen: and with the Supervisor, and he said when such time as someone would come -up with a, de.tai.led estimate and plan for exactly what is wanted and, the- cost, but until then the matter cannot be ,resolved -until they know what the cost would be to the town. ---A member of the school board stated that -last fall, 'they did come.. up with some figures and facts and gave them to Supervisor Martocchia. ---Deputy Supervisor Demarest stated he would talk- to Supervisor Martocchia -about it. Mr. Mario Zanghetti spoke about school -taxes and what-the stated mandates, asking whether-due to Fishers Island 's location and !size,- is there- anyway they could get a special dispensation- to change . the law?---Deputy Supervisor Demarest• stated the only thing -would ,., be to talk to the -State Education Department and- State Legislator -. to determine -whether- they could get a bugger share of- state aid. --- The President of the Fishers Island Board ,of Dducation stated that they have called upon-the. -New York:.State• Education Department- to do a survey on: the school to determine future feasibility and alternatives. (Considerable-discussion relative to .Sta,te regulations for- schools-- and school taxes.) The question was asked why, when Mr.. . .Dean is- the Superintendent of Public- Works he doesn' t go, over to Fishers Island to determine what is needed in-the way -of recreation?=--Deputy-Supervisor Demarest stated: that Mr: Dean- is not the recreation director,, in' fact, the town does . not have a recreation director. As far as town funded recreation areas, the only area on the mainland is a little league, ballpark in Mattituck, and except for funding a limited amount of money to the little leagues and two- slo .pitch softball leagues, .the remainder of the town recreation -money -goes -to the schools for the recreation programs they have in the summer. Of course, there are beaches and lifeguards and attendants. If Fishers Island had a public .beach they could designate a certain area to be used by the public and furnish lifeguards and attendants and -install sanitary facilities, which are .required by the Health Department. ? 295 `AUG Y 71977 Various. questions, were asked .-of Mr , ;Edward. Fox, Chairman, Board. of Assessors, such a,s, term of assessor, . status of. Board ;of_Assessment Review., Whether the Board of Assessment Review,pr,.oceed,ings were. ,., private of public?---public. When the, findings of: the Board,-would. be arrived at?--They should be in. the mail any day now.--- Manner of Assessment., 100% assessment should. b.e :carried, ,out,th.rou.ghout ,the town rather than piece-meal. Outside consultants should. be brought in. ---Mr. . Fox, sta.ted the Board of assessors are not empowered to spend, money in. such a manner,, that would be up to the Town Board.--- Deputy Supervisor Demarest stated that the town may very well be. . mandated to hire such consultants and reassess the town at 100/ value., which will cost between 4 to z, million. What ge.nerally happens in 100 / assessed valuation ' is that 1/3 of the assessments go down, 1/3 go up, and 1'/3 remain as they are.--Manner of assessment was discussed; tyep of improvements, construction of the home. --- Mr. Gaillard invited the. Town .Board and other town officials, to a reception at the legion post immediately following the. meeting at which -time time individuals ,may . speak .directly to the people ,from the mainland with individual questions. _ Mr. Gaillard stated that at his request Justice Doyen had asked in June that a copy of the 1977-78 assessment roll be made available for Fishers Island. -- -Mr. Fox stated the first , tgx roll comes out is the tentative tax `roll and "is made up by the lst of July and includes all changes from' the assessor' s workbooks. This year the computer company was ,.delayed and the assessors still . do not have the tentative roll, but will by September lst. After the tentative roll is reviewed the final assessment roll is prepared and carries the amount of taxes in dollars and cents and will be available in November. At that time c copy will be supplied to the Fishers, Island residents.--Mr. Gaillard asked Mr. Fox if it is his understanding with the state set equalization rate at 12/ plus, that each taxpayer may multiply by 8 his assessed valuation and reach the theoretical - market value of his property?--- Mr.. Fox stated the State Board .of Equalization and Assessment has always said the equalization rate should never be used on any one assessment, it is not for that purpose. However in a legal case a couple of years ago a judge said he would allow the 12/. Mr. Fox stated taat in most cases it would be between 8 and 10 times. (Considerable discussion on tax assessments continued. ) Deputy Supervisor Demarest was asked to comment on mosquito control, or lack of it, .on Fishers Island. ---Deputy Supervisor Demarest stated it is a county matter and for years one of the commissioners came to Fishers Island. ---Justice Doyen stated that in the beginning of July he received a few requests concerning the mosquito control program which could possibly be helpful to Fishers Island if there were such a thing. Because of the requests be contacted County Legislator Mrs. Burla-nd and she immediately contacted Vector Control Office who forwarded immediately machinery to be used for mosquito control in the nature of a fogging machine, the same as Mr. Gada used to use, and Justice Doyen worked 'out a program with the Supervisor and the best they could come up with was a machine was available should an infestation of mosquitoes become bad enough, and the machine could be mounted on the small town truck whinh has been- prepsred to carry_,.,, it. The Vector Control did supply them with 50 gallons of insecticide and the Supervisor authorized Fishers Island to purchase heating oil for the purpose of mixing with the insecticide for a fogging operation. To date, with the dry summer they have had, today is the first indication he has had there has been anh problem with mosquitoes on Fishers Island. (Mosquito control over the pastyears ,was discussed. ) The question was asked, whether the Planning Board meeting held earlier in the afternoon, was a public meeting and advertised?--- Voce-Chairman Henry Raynor, Southold Town Planning Board stated that the meeting was a public meeting and advertised in the Suffolk Times and New London Day.--An earlier meeting held at the Fire House was an information meeting, which was also open to the public, and notice was posted on the Island. G Mr. . Gada -spoke about­the meeting held- relaltive to thd- sewer district.. He said :it was .-agreed.-then that -the -distrIct -would be conditional.--- Deputy Supervisor :Demarest ;said-it:w6tild- be -created- on -thd-condition they could -.get funds -from the- federal gover I nmeht' td' take "care .,of'their disposal plants. ---Before anythinq, can be done it would -have to --come before. the :-Town,--Board :and be --Voted on?-' --If -the -Town' Bo'a`rd g6e'§-:-`6A,6n g and creates- the 1-d?i-srtrict, even- on" a, conditional basis, -:the --condition would.-be that -they get - the -funding." Thefi­the distric':-E'would go-"About building the -plan't4 If -they don"t' get-- thd money the',6-is't-rict' would' be disolved.;, Deputy Supervi"s'or -B6marest 'thanked--e veryone -for 'attending the meeting and expressed his pleasure -on -be"hal'f 'of the, localofficials at being on. Fi-shers Is-land. a On motion of Justice Doyen, seconded by -Councilman Homan, it was RESOLVED that j'-there -b4ing no , further 'bus inos' s to Come- before, thi's town board:meet-ing-adj our nment be--called' a"t 2 :35 P.K." Vote of 'the Town, Board:4-Ayes : '-Deput u nci-I a " 'Deputy' perviso�r Dbmarest, 'Cou ' m n , Rich, Councilman Homan, Justice -Stter�,- -Justice -D'0y6n.-_ _ This resolution was declared duly adopted. di th u Terry T6wnClerk