Town of Pinckney Minutes
Regular Meeting
March 8th, 2016
Roll
Officials
Present: Sherry Harmych,
Supervisor
Don Cook, Superintendent
Bob Amidon, Councilman
Dan Pearson, Councilman
Megan Vincent-Olmstead,
Town Clerk/Tax Collector
Absent: Sandi Dunn, Councilwoman
Don Vincent, Councilman
Others in Attendance
Kay Chapman, Tug Hill
Commission
Michael Clemons
James Hindy, Mohawk
Networks
Mr. and Mrs. Larry
Dolhof
The March 2016 Town Board meeting began first at 6:30pm with
a Public Hearing on proposed Local Law 1-2016 to amend Camp Zoning. This was
the second public hearing on said proposed law which will simply change the
permits given to buildings located on minimum maintenance road from residential
to camp; thus there was no public comment and the Public Hearing was closed at
6:31pm.
The regular board meeting commenced at 6:31pm; all parties
present rose to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Open forum was first on the
agenda and Mr. Jim Hindy from Mohawk Networks spoke to the board members in
regards to his company’s efforts to expand high speed broadband across Upstate
and Northern New York. The Mohawk Reservation had been given a 10million dollar
grant to provide internet to it’s residents and it is looking for support from
small communities to ask for further funding to spread broadband access across
the state. Lewis County BOCES will be participating in a 2-3 month study on the
services offered by Mohawk Networks. At $180,000 per tower and with using DANC
fiber optic lines, Mohawk Networks are proposing they will be able to offer
high speed internet to small communities who have no broadband connection such
as Pinckney for approximately 20-30% less than the cost of competitors such as
Time Warner Cable. Mr. Hindy is requesting the Town of Pinckney Board Members
sign a letter showing their support that Mohawk Networks receives more grant
monies for such an endeavor.
Mr. Larry Dolhof, Lewis County Legislature was present at the
meeting and stated that he believes Lewis County already has a contract signed
with Mohawk Networks and so it would be unnecessary for Pinckney to sign the
letter. Mr. Dolhof said he believes the state would cap the cost of the
broadband offered by Mohawk Networks at around $60. He also stated that the
company is currently in a test phase using Copenhagen’s tower. This will be
looked into further and no decision in regards to the letter of support was
made. Mr. Dolhof had a few more points to bring up to the board including the
approaching April 15th deadline for the counties use of clear trash
bags. Fliers will be handed out on Saturdays at the Town Barn during garbage
hours. The 2016 annual SNIRT poker run is on for April 16th, 2016;
however, neither the County nor Town has a copy of the insurance yet. The new
radio system which has been placed in all county vehicles is still in the test
phase. They cannot allow more radios on the system for Pinckney or other towns
until the test phase is over, in September perhaps. The radios are about $2800
a piece.
Kay Chapman
from the Tug Hill Commission reported to the board that the online mapper has
been updated. Tug Hill Commission has recently added online database
capabilities to it GIS services. It allows everyone to see the most recent map
updates and can go in and view and do any updates. http://www.tughill.org/services/gis/regional-map-viewer
Also, Local Laws are now searchable; NYS Department of State now has a listing
of all local laws adopted by municipalities filed after January 1, 1998. It
also includes county codes filed on or after April 1, 2015: http://www.dos.ny.gov/corps/locallaws.html
The Clerks reports from both January and February 2016 were
made available for the board to review and Bob Amidon made a motion to accept
both reports, Dan Pearson seconded the motion. The February 2016 Financial
Report was also assessed by the board members present and Dan Pearson motioned
to accept with a second from Bob Amidon. The Justice Report from January 2016
was passed around and Bob Amidon motioned to accept it while Dan Pearson
seconded his motion. Copies of the minutes from January, January’s Audit
Meeting, and February were supplied to all councilmen. Bob Amidon motioned to
dispense of the reading and to accept them; Dan Pearson seconded.
Next on the agenda was Superintendent Cook’s Highway Report: The
oil separator tank at the Town Barn was pumped out, which has been needed to be
done for quite some time. The P12 machine blew a radiator and a rebuilt
replacement was located which saved $1800. The P10 machine is compete and in
service, including inspected and plated. The Highway Department employees
received their new health insurance ID cards and liability forms from DEC and
partners. Don Cook has hired an additional part time person to fill the open
plow and for summer operations. A new exhaust system was put into place on the
P2 Oshkosh machine. There are no road condition reports so far this winter.
Resolution 58-2016:
Purchase of 2016 621 F Case Wheel Loader (Please See Attached)
The
resolution was motioned to be accepted by Sherry Harmych and seconded by Robert
Amidon, the Board was polled and all present Councilmen responded with “yea”,
thus the Resolution passed.
In regards to new business, a few resolutions were passed by
the board.
Resolution
59-2016:Proposed Local Law No.1-2016 Camp zoning (Please See Attached)
The
resolution was motioned to be accepted by Robert Amidon and seconded by Dan
Pearson, the Board was polled and all present Councilmen responded with “yea”,
thus the Resolution passed.
Resolution 60-2016: Fire Protection
Agreement
Whereas, the Town of
Pinckney requires fire protection and the Copenhagen Fire Department is capable
of fulfilling that need,
Therefore be it resolved
the Town of Pinckney enter in to the attached agreement between the Town of
Pinckney, the Copenhagen Fire Department, and the Village of Copenhagen.
The
resolution was motioned to be accepted by Dan Pearson and seconded by Robert
Amidon, the Board was polled and all present Councilmen responded with “yea”,
thus the Resolution passed.
Resolution 61-2016: Snow Belt Housing
Supervisor
Harmych offered the following resolution and moved its adoption:
Whereas, the
Town of Pinckney supports Snow Belt Housings’ application to the Development
Authority of the North Country for funds to continue its successful owner
occupied rehabilitation program, And
Whereas, the
Town of Pinckney Board understands that Snow Belt Housing has assisted
residents in our community using countywide CDBG funds and we wish to partner
with Snow Belt to benefit additional residents.
Therefore be
it resolved to authorize Supervisor Harmych to write a letter of support.
The
resolution was motioned to be accepted by Robert Amidon and seconded by Dan
Pearson, the Board was polled and all present Councilmen responded with “yea”,
thus the Resolution passed.
While there
was no old business to discuss, the board moved to accept the vouchers,
motioned by Bob Amidon and seconded by Dan Pearson. Finally the meeting was
adjourned at 7:56pm with a motion by Bob Amidon and a second by Dan Pearson.
