SPECIAL BOARD MEETING

PRIORITIES OF THE TOWN

August 17, 2011

The Special Board Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Royalton was held on Wednesday, August 17, 2011, at the Royalton Town Hall, 5316 Royalton Center Road, Middleport, New York.  The meeting was called to order by Supervisor Richard J. Lang at 7:00 PM with the Pledge to the Flag.

The Following were present:

Supervisor                                 Richard J. Lang

Deputy Town Clerk                     Patricia Hinds

Town Board Member                  Jennifer Bieber, Daniel Bragg, James Budde

Accounting Clerk                        Lorretta Criswell

Absent was Councilman Bradley Rehwaldt 

The town board met to have an open meeting discussion to discuss the direction of the priorities would pursue.  This is the second special committee meeting.

After listening to the discussions of our priorities I felt that the board would like movement, and, information on a regular basis.  I have assigned two person groups to our priorities.  I will keep a central file here at the office on each of the priorities.  They will be updated every two months.

Wind Turbine                                        (Supervisor Lang & Councilman Rehwaldt)

•·         The towers are to be shipped next week and the footers are in.  Installation is scheduled for Sept 12-16, 2011.  Discussion ensued.

            

Cemeteries                                          (Councilman Budde & Councilman Bragg)

•·         Looking at us putting monies aside for the following work going forth:  trees need to be looked at.  If we are looking to expand we will need to put a road at the east end.  Addressing up righting stones and the stones that are tipping. 

•·         Making all efforts during the winter weather to accommodate burials.

•·         Storage of loved ones in the vault and possibly a fee associated.

•·         Chapel needs to have some tender loving care.  The minimum amount to get the Chapel up with working bathrooms would be $60,000.  If we were going to use it as a resource.  It would be nice to see it as a working building.  It is a beautiful historical building.

•·         Who is going to head up the running and maintaining of the cemeteries?  Possibly a seasonal care taker.  Possibly create a Parks Dept to run this and hire seasonal help to run this.

•·         Grant - Councilman Bieber has put a lot of time into this grant writing portion.  This grant will be for all parks and cemeteries.  Discussion ensued.

•·         Boy Scout Troup - possible support on a cemetery clean up

•·         Councilman Bragg mentioned that there is a department called the New York State Division of Cemeteries and there is a surcharge for every grave opening.  I have a contact number that I will be calling to get more information.  There are funds out there that are awarded on an annual basis.  Discussion ensued.  

•·         Theodore Socha, resident, Old Trustee of the Royalton Cemetery, had a complaint that the Town of Royalton should not have given away property to the Church.  He has placed a call to Senator George Maziarz, and has contacted the New York State Cemetery Board regarding that this land should not have been given to the Church.  Discussion ensued.

•·         James Budde, Councilman, wanted to revisit the burial of the loved one on your property.  Jennifer Bieber, Councilwoman not supporting this.

Union Contracts                                   (Councilman Bragg & Councilman Rehwaldt)

•·          Contract up in 2012.  Discussion ensued.

Ditching                                               (Councilwoman Bieber & Councilman Bragg)

•·         Paul Bruning, Ditching Clerk has kept the Town Board up to date on events.  Nothing to report on this at this time.

Police Protection                                 (Supervisor Lang & Councilwoman Bieber)

•·         In talking with Chief Swick we got the amount of complaints that he handles.  He currently has 8 employees.  Three full time and five part time.  Sheriff's Department is getting facts about the amount of complaints that they have gotten.

•·         Grant available to fund an officer for four full years of employment.  Discussion ensued. 

Improving Sewer Plant                       (Councilman Bragg & Councilman Budde)

•·         No comments or updates.

Fire Protection & EMS             (Supervisor Lang & Councilman Rehwaldt)

•·         Fire Board meet on August 3, 2011 and discussed update on rosters from Gasport & Middleport Fire Companies.  Physicals were discussed on what was missing from the Fire Company's and payment of physicals was discussed.

•·         Fundraisers being held at the local five Fire Companies

•o        Middleport having a Twenty-five week club dinner

•o        Gasport having bingo and their junior firemen have 911 reflective address signs to ensure quick response for a cost of $15.00.

•o        Terry's Corners having bingo

•·         Fire Inspector - need better response

•·         Retirement - Possible tax break on their behalf for property owners.  Discussion ensued.

Recreation                                          (Supervisor Lang & Councilman Bragg)

•·         Councilman Bragg did a report on Vets Park and there is a Boy Scout possibly painting the front fence.

•·         Terry Nieman, Highway Superintendent to look at fence and possibly take a come along to fix the fence.  

•·         Recreation Program for 2011 has just ended.  We had 70 kids from Gasport and 25 kids from Wolcottville.  Having one location available only a few families utilized both locations.  No one from the County came up and assisted with the park.  The two new leaders did a very nice job.

•·         Beautification Committee had a Movie in the Park event.  Event was down in participation from last year.

•·         New dead bolts are now installed.

•·         Mike Richards, Custodian and Dan Bragg, Councilman have offered to continue to fix items that need to be repaired or replaced.   

•·         Councilman Budde - Rules and Regulations for Veteran's Park maybe we need to revisit rule # 4 - All pets must be leashed and must be cleaned up after.  We have children playing in this park that we support.

•·         The Recreation Committee Chairman, Jennifer Gillings is not interested on doing this next year.

Retirement                                          (Councilman Budde & Councilman Bragg)

& Health Care

•·         No update at this time.  

•·         Councilman Budde asked why we are still paying separate bills for a few retired people and their bills can't be put on with the regular billing cycle.  Maybe this can be looked at under the negotiation time.

Budget Process                                    (Supervisor Lang & Councilwoman Bieber)

•·         Memo sent out that the budget dead line is August 31, 2011.  In the next couple of weeks we will be setting dates on the budget.  

•·         2% pamphlet discussed

Updating Town Hall                              (Councilman Rehwaldt & Councilwoman Bieber)

•·         Updating to Geothermal - looking into

Complete Town Wide Water                (Councilman Budde & Councilwoman Bieber)

•·         Report was given at the Work Session this month and we voted on it at meeting and we are waiting for TVGA to give us a report on planning.  That report we will be concluding our Town Wide Water as it will all be there.

Court Room - Steps to Complete        (Councilman Budde & Councilman Rehwaldt)

•·         We are continuing to make steps to work on the Court Compliance list.

•·         Alarms have been installed

•·         Chairs need to be addressed.  Councilman Budde mentioned that we should revisit the chairs during budget time.  Chairs are a safety and security issue.

•·         The table by the mural is going downstairs and a coat rack will be installed.  Coat rack can't be installed in the court room it has to be external. 

            

There being no further information or discussion to come before this board, a motion was made by Councilman Budde, seconded by Councilman Bragg and carried unanimously that the Special Board Meeting be adjourned at 8:35 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Patricia Hinds, Deputy Town Clerk