by Kieron Kramer
Deputy Supervisor Allen Livermore went on the warpath at the New Lebanon Town Board meeting on Monday in an attempt to resolve two long standing issues that, as he sees it, have eroded the public’s confidence in Town government. He proposed two resolutions dealing with ethics – the first to adopt Local Law #2, the Ethics Local Law, and the second to direct the Town Ethics Committee to release to Phil Brown its findings regarding his ethics complaint and to make public the findings under the Freedom Of Information Law (FOIL). Livermore also proposed two resolutions in response to what he sees as the malfunctioning of the Town’s Justice Court. He has met with the Justices and concluded that “their management practices are insufficient in my view.”
Phil Brown filed his ethics complaint in December and has waited for a response ever since. He requested a response to his complaint at the March, April and May Town Board meetings. In the April meeting he said that the timing of the Town’s adoption of a new ethics law has created a Catch-22 situation for him. The old ethics law, still in effect, would have the results of an ethics investigation revealed in confidence to the complainant in an executive session of the Board. This is what the Chairperson of the Ethics Committee told Brown to ask for. The new ethics law will separate the role of the Board from the Ethics Committee by having the Chair of the committee inform the complainant directly of its findings. In the March and April meetings the Board declined to hold an executive session with Brown nor could it find the resolve to pass the new Local Law; so Brown did a slow burn while the Town Board fiddled around.
“It is not healthy for a government not to police itself,” Brown said. “At the last meeting an executive session was on the agenda, but it got turned into a meeting for advice of counsel. I don’t want to embarrass any individual or the Town Board, but maybe I should go public,” he added.
Livermore replied, “I agree with Mr. Brown on this; it is time to act.” He sees this issue as a test case for the Board if it wants transparency in government. So he introduced a resolution to approve the Ethics Local Law. In prior meetings Board Member Bruce Baldwin suggested that the Ethics Board have input into the new ethics law. Even up to this meeting the Board has received no input from the Ethics Board. Baldwin explained the reasons for the lack of input and suggested that Livermore’s resolution be tabled. Baldwin is on the Ethics Board, a situation that Town Attorney Jason Shaw described as “strange.” Livermore said that at the NYS Association of Towns meetings, “We learned that a Town Board Member should not be on an ethics Board.” Livermore added that he would be amenable to tabling the resolution if the Board committed itself to an up or down vote at next month’s meeting. The Board agreed, and the Town Clerk was asked to notify the Ethics Board of the decision.
Livermore then introduced a motion to authorize the Ethics Board to release their findings on Brown’s complaint to him and to make the findings available to the public under the FOIL process. When Attorney Shaw said that under current law the information is confidential, Livermore replied that this is a special case. “This complaint has fallen into limbo and the perception is that there is a cover-up, even though it is only a perception. We have had this complaint for months, and it [the Board’s failure to act] undermines the public’s confidence in Town government.” To emphasize the complexity of the situation Shaw said, “Every violation of ethics laws is a wrongful act, but not every wrongful act is a violation of ethics law.” Lucky for all of us inertia is not always considered a wrongful act.
The Board voted 3-0 to release the ethics findings to Phil Brown. Bruce Bladwin abstained since he is a member of the Ethics Board, and Board Member Monte Wasch was absent. The Town Clerk was asked to relay this decision to the Chairperson of the Ethics Board.
In introducing two more controversial resolutions Livermore said, “Something is not right with our Court; we have tried to address it with the budget but oversight is needed.” His first resolution would request that the Justice Clerks use a time clock, which the Town already owns, to provide accountability and that the timecards be public information. The Justices are part time and cannot supervise the clerks adequately, he said. Shaw said that when he was a Justice, his court used a time clock but it would be more palatable for the Justices if it was a town-wide policy for all employees. “If the Town Justices want to implement this it would be good, but you can’t make them do it.” Livermore said that the Town Board has “the power of the purse.”
Board Member KB Chittenden said he wanted all the departments to use time cards, and after the meeting said he would vote for a resolution to that effect.
Livermore’s second resolution would ask the Justices to implement a “court improvement plan.” He said, “The Justices do not communicate with each other.” The resolution would set benchmarks of 30, 60 and 90 days for the Justices to set procedures for the court and to develop “a court policy handbook” to regulate which work would be assigned to which clerk and the time frame for the completion of the work. He said that the funding of the Court would be linked to the development of the plan and the actual meeting of the benchmarks.
Town Supervisor Meg Robertson said that a meeting with a representative of the State Office of Court Administration was scheduled for May 22. She added that “our sole responsibility is not to tell the Court how to operate but to provide money for the department to operate. The office of Court Administration oversees the Court not us,” she said. She suggested that both resolutions be tabled. Livermore disagreed. “It is our leadership that is needed; we are responsible,” he said. Baldwin also wanted to table the resolutions in order to meet with the OCA representative. “The concept [Livermore’s motion] makes perfect sense,” he said, “if after we meet with the OCA and something must be done.”
Regarding Court consolidation with Canaan, Livermore reported that the Canaan Town Board emailed him their conclusion that they couldn’t see the advantage of consolidation. They wanted a detailed presentation of the savings and other advantages of consolidation. Livermore said he would work with the Chairman of the County Board of Supervisors to reply to Canaan.
Town Hall First Phase Virtually Finished
Bruce Baldwin had irrefutably good news about the Town Hall demolition project. “It’s good time in mudtime,” he said. The site is cleaned up, the land manicured and seeded, the siding is on the old Town Hall building and the handicap ramp has been improved, he said. What’s more the demolition and removal came in at $4,021.75 under the $11,000 authorized at the last meeting to be spent on D&J Construction, who did the demolition in 2 days, and the County who did the hauling. D&J Construction of Stephentown charged $3,497.50, and the County charged $3,488.75 for their services. Craig Trombley, who did the carpentry, electrical and finish work, still has about 12 hours more to do, including some clapboard work and the installation of a new window in the Clerk’s office. Last month the Board authorized $1,800 for Trombley’s work, but the extra hours, detail work and materials prompted Baldwin to request an additional $1,600 for the project. This still brings the project in $2,000 under the original estimate. The Board voted 4-0 to authorize the additional expenditure.
Volunteerism
Baldwin also reported on the community spirit that motivated a number of volunteers who came to the Town Hall to help. Besides the prodigious amount of work Baldwin put in, Jeff Winestock, Todd Hover, John McLaughlin, Steve Houghtaling, Kent Pratt and Sean McHugh helped by painting and by mixing 40 bags of cement by hand for the new pad for the handicap ramp. Anyone driving by the Town Hall on Route 22 in Lebanon Springs can see that the site looks pretty nice.
Ceramtek Offer Rejected
Because of the Town Hall work the Building Committee was unable to meet in May. The next meeting is June 3. Baldwin reported that the Town made a “legitimate offer” to Ceramtek for the 70,000 sq. ft. building on Route 20 in New Lebanon that would serve the Town as a municipal center. Ceramtek’s realtor indicated that Ceramtek wanted to hold at $900,000 for the property. The Town offered $400,000. Since there is a hiatus in negotiations, Baldwin said the Building Committee would turn to other options, like an addition to the current Town Hall that could be used for the Court and as an assembly room for meetings or an annex to the new Fire Department building. Baldwin said that townspeople should communicate their desires to members of the Building Committee or come to the meeting at 7 pm on June 3.
Closing The Landfill
Complicated issues seem to land in Baldwin’s lap. One such is the closing of the landfill on Post Road. Baldwin said that the landfill was permitted in 1981, renewed in 1986 and shut down in 1988. The closing of a landfill is a difficult and expensive job because not only does the area need to be remediated with a membrane, gravel overlay and vent pipes at the top but test holes need to be dug to determine if the drainage is satisfactory or whether catch basins that will need periodic testing for pollutants and periodic pumping are necessary. Baldwin estimates that the closing of the Post Road landfill might cost anywhere from $300,000 to $1,000,000.
The problem is that Columbia County wants New Lebanon to take the responsibility for closing the landfill, which must be completed by December of this year. Baldwin said that New Lebanon was part of the Columbia County Solid Waste Management Association in the 1980s and so the County is responsible for any waste generated. Out of the 20 landfills closed or to be closed, the New Lebanon landfill is the only one that the County has refused to close, Baldwin said. He said that he will remind the County of the history. In the meantime the project has started in order to meet the December deadline, and New Lebanon is paying, under protest, the bills from B&L Environmental Engineers from Syracuse for the test holes that were recently dug. Baldwin said after the meeting that if the Town took on the project it would be reimbursed for 90% of the cost by the State. The County will be reimbursed at 80% and so they want New Lebanon to take on the project. What’s at stake is a financial liability for the Town that is between $30,000 and $100,000 if Baldwin can’t make the County take the responsibility for closing the landfill.
Mining Violations?
Kevin Fuerst, the Town Historian, requested help from the Town Board regarding the mining operation run by Valley Materials that abuts his property in West Lebanon. Valley Materials is applying for a permit to expand the mining to 30 more acres. Fuerst alleged that there are numerous violations of environmental law, of transport procedures and of reclamation of the nine acres that are already being mined. He said he had videotape of the violations. After a lengthy discussion Town Attorney Shaw sorted out the problem. The Town mining regulations, part of the 1964 zoning law, has “little teeth” he said. For instance, it does not limit the size of mines in Town. The size of a mine that has been permitted by the DEC, as the lead agency in the environmental impact review, is the only thing that the Town could regulate, he said, because the procedures at the mine are regulated by the DEC. “If there are violations,” he said, “the DEC would fine the company and correct the procedures and perhaps withdraw the permit if the violations are egregious.” He said that a complaint should be filed with the DEC to get them to investigate. What Fuerst was asking for was that the Town Board file the complaint so that it would be taken seriously by the DEC. The Board agreed to ask the DEC to investigate and, at Shaw’s suggestion, Supervisor Meg Robertson said she would write the DEC on Town letterhead and call her contact there about the issue.
Flooding Problems
The flooding of the fields at the intersection of Canaan Road and Route 20 was raised by Mark Baumli who said, “The Town is basically flooding.” The water is 1 feet deep and getting worse all the time, he said. There is also flooding at West Street by the Cemetery of the Evergreens caused by a tributary of Wyomanack River. The overflow is following the railroad bed to Lover’s Lane. The river needs to be dug out, but obtaining a DEC permit to enter a waterway is difficult in the spring, and then there is the question of who would pay for the excavator and the work. No plan of action to control or reduce the flooding was decided upon at this meeting.
Covenant Circle Update
Board Member KB Chittenden did the research on the history of the Covenant Circle development and whether the Town had committed to taking over the road when the population density reached a certain level. His research showed no evidence that the Town had agreed to take over the road, only that the Town would consider taking it over. He researched back to the late 1980s when the subdivision was first established as Fishing Brook Estates. He added that the road was built to Town road specifications then because it was a subdivision. The Board was not necessarily against taking over the road, and Baldwin wanted to know how many residents on Covenant Circle want the road to be public. Kathy Murnane, who is President of the Covenant Circle Homeowners Association agreed to supply the information to the Board.
Repairs And Maintenance
Chittenden asked the Board to authorize expenditures up to $5,000 to repair the bathroom in the Town Pavilion at Shatford Park. The original allotment for the project was $7,000. The Board voted to authorize the expenditure.
Chittenden had also looked into the cost of resurfacing the basketball court and the tennis court at Shatford Park. The facilities haven’t been repaired in 20 years. The basketball court would cost about $3,000 to resurface and paint new lines. The recommended repairs to the tennis court would include patching as well as resurfacing and line painting and would cost around $14,000. These are ballpark estimates, Chittenden emphasized. Baldwin said that the donation from Focus Features, the production company for the film “Taking Woodstock,” parts of which were filmed in New Lebanon and Stephentown, was intended for this purpose and would cover the cost. Focus Features donated $20,000. The Board asked Chittenden to get proposals for these two projects.
Zoning Rewrite Hearing
The Board tentatively scheduled a public hearing on the Zoning Rewrite for July 13 before the regular meeting. This will give the Town Clerk enough time to print and mail information cards to all residents and give the Chair of the Zoning Rewrite Committee time to write an executive summary that the public will find more accessible than wading through the lengthy zoning document. Planning Board Member Trina Porte voiced her concern, as she did at last month’s meeting, that there is a section of the new Zoning Law that controls adult use establishments in Town. She thinks that this kind of establishment should be banned because people have access to pornography on the internet and Cable TV and the section in the Zoning Rewrite should be changed to prohibit these establishments entirely.
Other Business
The Board delayed voting on a resolution authorizing the lease to own agreement with the finance company that is financing the screening plant. The plant has been delivered, and the Board authorized the first payment last month. Apparently the check cannot be issued until the resolution is passed. The resolution written by Attorney Shaw was not circulated to Board members due to the absence of Town Clerk Colleen Teal last week. She arrived minutes before Monday’s meeting. Although the resolution is relatively simple, Board members decided that they would not act on it at this meeting. Baldwin had tried to do research at the Town Hall last week on the landfill history for his negotiation with the County and could not get access to the records because of the Clerk’s absence. He was ticked – really ticked – about it.
Baldwin announced that the Town’s fund surplus would be around $500,000 this year. He said the fund surplus could be used to reduce, or eliminate increases in, property taxes in 2010.
The meeting had opened with an impressive presentation by an articulate high school student named Olivia Claudorf. She is a member of Reality Check which is a youth led movement to “control or eliminate the tobacco industry’s manipulative and misleading ad campaigns that target teenagers.” Reality Check wants Town Boards to support the removal of tobacco ads 1,000 feet from around a school, to encourage the removal, reduction or relocating of ads at convenience stores, especially those located on school bus routes, and to place signs in public spaces to discourage smoking. The signs would be supplied free to the Town, and one obvious location seemed to be the playground and baseball field at Shatford Park. There was a debate as to whether the Town should pass a local law to control smoking on all Town property. Town Attorney Shaw will draft a local law as a starting point for such regulation. In the meantime, it was agreed to put up a sign from Reality Check at the ballpark and at the playground. The one at the playground will be in the shape of a dinosaur and will say, “Don’t Smoke – Young Lungs At Play.” What smoker wouldn’t pay attention to that admonition?