Draft Regular Town Board Meeting Minutes Halcott Grange
September 19, 2022, 6:00 pm

Present: Town Supervisor Innes Kasanof, Council Member Alan Reynolds, Judy DiBenedetto, Eric Fronckowiak, Samantha Bouton, Town Clerk, Patricia Warfield. Public: Ariel Bogert, Warren Reynolds, James Zampino, Alicia Dunn, David Grossman, Fred Herzog, Dave Carpenter, Vicky Ballard, Paul and Sybil Margaritis, Brian and Ashton Grocholl. Absent: Highway Superintendent Russ Bouton, Budget Officer Paul Tamaccio.

Call to Order at 6:04 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Approval of the minutes of the August 15, 2022 meeting: With the following corrections: present: Vic and Mary Lou Pagano. Motion to approve by Councilman Eric Fronckowiak, 2nd by Councilwoman Samantha Bouton, Councilman Alan Reynolds: aye, Supervisor Innes Kasanof: aye.

Highway Superintendent’s Report: Presented by Councilman Alan Reynolds: (A) The Highway Department has been working on ditching and widening on Townsend Hollow Rd. (B) Contractors for Greene County were here and took down all the dead trees which had been marked for removal. (C) The Highway Department has invested approximately $9,000.00 in parts to update and upgrade the Oshkosh. (D) Councilman Reynolds informed the Board that a state grant for $100,000.00 would come through Green County to Halcott for the Highway Department, which would be used to purchase a new 1-ton pickup truck with a snowplow, sander, and dump body. Supervisor Kasanof would like the Highway Department to gather the vehicle specs and desired add-on information to be presented at the next regular board meeting, with the board then passing a resolution for the purchase of the new vehicle. Approximately a month before the due date, Supervisor Kasanof will alert our county administrator Shawn Grodin and he will cut a check to the town to pay for the vehicle. Councilwoman Bouton asked if the Highway Department would keep the old pickup and the answer was yes. (E) Councilman Reynolds stated that the Town received notification from Del. Co. Soil and Water of approval of $300,000.00 for work on the Bank Stabilization Project/Elk Creek Toe Cut. This amount is to be used on the project itself with other funds to pay for engineering costs. The project will not start this year as it has not yet been decided if they will hire an outside engineering firm or handle the project themselves. The Townsend Hollow culvert project was turned down, each year grant characteristics and requirements change hopefully this will lead to its approval at some point in the future.

Voucher vote: General Abstract #G0922 – vouchers 140 – 147 = $2,169.87. Highway Abstract #H0922 – vouchers 148 – 158 = $15,716.55. Motion to pay bills by Councilwoman Judy DiBenedetto, 2nd by Councilwoman Samantha Bouton, Councilman Alan Reynolds: aye, Councilman Eric Fronckowiak: aye, Supervisor Innes Kasanof: aye.

Finance Chair Report: (A) Supervisor Innes Kasanof presented the monthly finance report for August. (B) Supervisor presented the 2023 tentative budget to the board for discussion which includes the following proposed salaries: Town Board Member $850.00, Town Supervisor $4,000.00, Town Clerk $5,000, Highway Superintendent $52,500.00. The total tax revenue to be raised by the town would be $395,058.00, a .7% rise from 2022.

Clerk’s Report: Building Permits (4) 1 @ 75.00, 1 @ 25.00, 1 @ 150.00, 1 @ 160.00: 410.00, BP Renewal: 345.00, Transfer Station: 272.00. The Town collected and disbursed $1,127.00 for the month of August.

Other Business: It was brought to the attention of the board that there has been a gradual disappearance of chairs from the Grange Hall. With no way to monitor when chairs are borrowed and returned, it was decided that a lock should be installed on the chair closet, with someone to be present when items are taken and then present when they are brought back to make sure the count is the same. The Community Fund will purchase additional chairs to increase the count.

LUC Update: There was a 35% response rate to the survey with 114 received. The LUC committee wants everyone to know that the survey is not a vote, the purpose of the survey is to gather information about how people feel about the town. Nan will dive into the data and sort things out, she recommended adding definitions for legal purposes to define rural in our comprehensive plan. The planning board has regularly attended LUC meetings with Nan Reynolds making sure that everything mentioned is noted on the document for future reference. The things people most value in our town according to the survey is beauty, nature, open space, neighbors, peace. Farming was the biggest word with neighbors and people second.

NYC Land Purchase in Halcott: The Town received a Community Review request from NYC Dept of Environmental Protection for a land acquisition project in Halcott. Hiking, hunting, trapping, and fishing would all be allowed and would be posted as a public access area with no NYCDEP access permit needed. The board had no comment on the purchase.

Next Meeting: Public Hearing, October 17, 2022, 6:00 pm, Regular Town Board Meeting to follow.

Motion to Adjourn at 7:04 p.m. by Councilwoman Samantha Bouton, 2nd by Councilwoman Judy DiBenedetto, Councilman Alan Reynolds: aye, Councilman Eric Fronckowiak: aye, Supervisor Innes Kasanof: aye.