JANUARY 10, 2007                                                                                                 

The monthly meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Trenton was held at the Trenton Municipal Center, Barneveld, NY.  Supervisor Mark Scheidelman called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m.  Present:  Councilmen Shirley Poland, Betsy Mack, Bruce Kellogg, Joseph E. Smith and Highway Superintendent Art Hughes.

MINUTES:  07-20  Motion by Mack, second by Smith, to approve the December 4^th and the December 12^th minutes.  Roll call: Poland, aye; Smith, Aye; Scheidelman, aye; Mack, aye; Kellogg, aye.  Motion carried.  The December 13^th and December 27^th minutes were tabled.

PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR:

Dave Duerr:  Dave Duerr from Oneida County discussed the logging options available for the Town of Trenton and presented a possible contract for the Town Board to review.  Duerr has completed marking trees for firewood.  The five separate areas of firewood are ready to be sent out to the public for bid after approval by the Town Attorney.  Scheidelman asked how long, once legal approval has been obtained, before cutting can begin.  Duerr stated cutting could begin as soon as bids have been received and approved.  Steve Hunter asked if Dave Duerr would supervise the cutting.  He responded, absolutely.

Tom Hughes arrived at 7:50 pm.

Bill Kuchler asked what levels of diseases were found in the trees.  Duerr responded some of the trees had some diseases most were starting to rot.  Duerr explained removing the firewood trees by lopping the tops and taking them down to 4 inches would maintain the health of the woods. Betty Adler asked if the trails would be kept clear?  Duerr assured her the trails would be kept clear as part of the contracts.  Duerr further explained the contracts could be bid out all at once.  Scheidelman asked the Town Board to be prepared to vote on the contracts at one of the next meetings.

South Trenton: Joe DeTraglia appeared before the Town Board to thank them for all their assistance in getting the South Trenton Youth Program up and running this year.  He reported the first Friday night hosted 18 children and seemed to run well.  DeTraglia stated the community hopes for even more participants next Friday.

Bill Kuchler:  Resident Bill Kuchler appeared before the Town Board questioning why town employee Butch Hart was let go.  Scheidelman responded that was a personnel matter between the town board and an employee.  Kuchler produced a note written on a diner bill of fare by Mr. Hart authorizing him to ask some questions and be told some details.  Scheidelman again responded he was not at liberty to discuss any personnel matters with him.

07-21 GENERAL ABSTRACT:  Motion by Mack, second by Poland to pay audited General Abstract 07-1 (1-57) in the amount of $39,670.29.  Roll call: Mack, aye; Poland, aye; Kellogg, aye; Smith, aye; Scheidelman, aye.  Motion carried.

07-22 HIGHWAY ABSTRACT:  Motion by Kellogg, second by Smith to pay audited Highway Abstract 07-1 (1-33) in the amount of $148,385.26.  Roll call:  Poland, aye; Mack, aye; Smith, aye; Kellogg, aye; Scheidelman, aye.  Motion carried.

PRIORITY ISSUES & PRESENT PERSONNEL:

HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT:

Town Highway Superintendent reported the Highway employees were busy as winter was finally here.

Betsy Mack handed out a draft notice from the CAC pertaining to roadwork in the spring.  Art responded the letter looked fine.  Joe Smith stated it would be a good idea for Art and the town board to review the wording of the document.  Scheidelman suggested adding a reminder that this applies only to town roads and the county would need to be called for questions pertaining to county roads.

Art Hughes left the meeting at 8:15 at the conclusion of highway business.

ZONING: 

Zoning Enforcement Officer Steve Hunter submitted his December Report and the Year End Report for the town board to review.  Hunter stated the zoning report shows growth in the town has kept pace with the last couple of years with a total of 116 zoning applications submitted for 2006.

Kabinski Property:  Hunter questioned how to handle illegal splits or sub division of properties.  Tom Hughes will investigate.  Hunter cited the Kabinski property on Whittaker road and informed the Town Board both Codes and Zoning have put Kabinski on notice that sale of this property would be in violation of town zoning.  Codes, zoning and Scheidelman have all informed Kabinski and the potential buyer that the property division is an illegal split.  Ken and Steve will submit all the facts to attorney Tom Hughes.  Hughes will prepare a letter for Kabinski.

Mapledale Acres Mobile Home Park Application:

07-23 Motion by Smith, second by Mack, to approve the 2007 Mobile Home Park Application for Mapledale Acres.  Roll call:  Kellogg, aye; Mack, aye; Scheidelman, aye; Smith, aye; Poland, aye.  Motion carried.

Penczeck Property:  Hunter brought up the Penczeck property zoning issue.  Scheidelman explained he thought the property was designated commercial.  According to zoning maps that was not the case.  Discussion was held on the two separate lots.  The first lot appears to be zoned partially commercial, with the second lot leading to the corner of Old State Route 12 being zoned residential.  It was noted the portion in question has not been used commercially in several years.

CODES:

Codes Enforcement Officer Ken Cutler submitted December and Year End Reports.  Cutler summarized stating 99 building permits were issued, 83 fire inspections completed and considerable work has been accomplished with Paradise Mountain Trailer Park and Trenton Assembly Park.

Wind Song/Paradise Mountain: Cutler stated Wind Song/Paradise Mountain is working on final clean-up of the park.  They have a full time park manager who is answerable to Ken.

Sampo:  Tom Hughes needs to pursue court action.

Jim Roberts:  Discussion was held on the steps taken by the Town to obtain information from the Robert’s Logging operation and the findings of NYS Ag and Markets.  Ag and Markets found the Robert’s operation is in compliance.  According to the report Roberts mills his own logs and the income generated from this operation does not exceed his income from other farming activities.  Neighbor Bob McGough stated there had been commercial firewood sales generated from the property.  Roberts now has two mills on the property with reports of truckloads of logs being hauled to the property for sawing.  Cut lumber has also been reported being hauled away from this location.  Tom Hughes will send a response to the November 27, 2006 letter from the Department of Agriculture and Markets and will proceed with the case.

NOCCOG:

Gerry Ritter submitted an address change and new appointment list for the Town Clerk to update.

Circuit Rider:  NOCCOG hired Susan Martin as a part-time circuit rider.  She will cover the villages of Barneveld, Holland Patent and Prospect, as well as the towns of Trenton, Floyd and Steuben.

Watertown:  Ritter reminded the town board members of the Local Government Conference held in Watertown this March.  The training would cover all the required courses for the year for planning board members.

SARA Grant:  Ritter reported Barneveld and Prospect are applying for a cooperative grant through NOCCOG for Website development.  NOCCOG would like to apply for a second cooperative grant for payroll records.  Due to the limited time frame, this grant will be tabled for this round of grant applications.

Oneida County Soil and Water:  Oneida County Soil and Water will hold a Storm Water Workshop on January 24, 2007 at the Trenton Municipal Center.  Planning board members would receive 2 hours of training credit for attending the workshop.

Official Town Map:  A meeting with NOCCOG, Betsy Mack and Art Hughes will be set up for Monday January 29^th to discuss the official town map.  Betsy Mack reported, on the topic of maps, that the number of Town road miles was under reported.

07-24 Motion by Kellogg, second by Poland, to authorize Ansley Schmidt to attend the Annual Local Government Conference in Watertown for the planning board.  Roll call:  Kellogg, aye; Mack, aye; Scheidelman, aye; Smith, aye; Poland, aye.  Motion carried.

SUPERVISORS REPORT:

The December preliminary report was presented to the town board.  The final report will be submitted next month.

TOWN CLERK’S REPORT:  The December Town Clerk’s report was reviewed by the board.  There were total revenues of $226.00; with $153.90 submitted to the Supervisor.  While December figures were low for the month of December the year-end totals were higher than 2005. 

RICK ALLEN/BOY SCOUTS CAMPOREE:  Discussion was held on the fee to charge Rick Allen and the Boy Scouts for the Camporee scheduled for October 2007.  The Town Clerk explained the usual fee is $25.00 per day for each pavilion rented.  The group reserved the whole park for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  The clerk recommended a reduced fee of $100.00 for the weekend.

07-25 Motion by Poland, second by Kellogg, to charge the Boy Scouts a fee of $100.00 for the weekend use of the Trenton Town Park.  Roll call:  Kellogg, aye; Mack, aye; Scheidelman, aye; Smith, aye; Poland, aye.  Motion carried.

LOCAL LAW “D”:  A Public Hearing will need to be set up in February.

PLANNING BOARD APPOINTMENT:  07-26  Motion by Smith, second by Mack, to appoint John Panzone to the Planning Board.  Roll call:  Kellogg, aye; Mack, aye; Scheidelman, aye; Smith, aye; Poland, aye.  Motion carried.

INDEPENDENT BOARD OF REVIEW APPOINTMENT:  07-27  Motion by Mack, second by Poland, to appoint Dave Constable to the Independent Board of Review.  Roll call:  Kellogg, aye; Mack, aye; Scheidelman, aye; Smith, aye; Poland, aye.  Motion carried.

SERVER:  07-28  Motion by Smith, second by Kellogg, to authorize the purchase of a server from ESI.  Roll call:  Kellogg, aye; Mack, aye; Scheidelman, aye; Smith, aye; Poland, aye.  Motion carried.

GREENBELT APPOINTMENTS:  07-29  Motion by Kellogg, second by Poland to accept the appointments of Robert and Carmelita Baldson and Diane Spear to the Greenbelt Committee.  Roll call:  Kellogg, aye; Mack, aye; Scheidelman, aye; Smith, aye; Poland, aye.  Motion carried.

ATTORNEY:

Tom Hughes is working on Sampo and the Zoning contracts with the villages.

07-30 Motion by Kellogg, second by Mack, to authorize Tom Hughes to attend the Association of Towns Conference in New York City as a delegate for the Town of Trenton.  Roll call:  Kellogg, aye; Mack, aye; Scheidelman, aye; Smith, aye; Poland, aye.  Motion carried.

07-31 Motion by Kellogg, second by Poland, to authorize the Supervisor to hire an attorney to advise the Town of Trenton on the Joseph Stockhauser zoning case.  Roll call:  Kellogg, aye; Mack, aye; Scheidelman, aye; Smith, aye; Poland, aye.  Motion carried.

Low Volume Roads:  The attorney reported he is unclear what the benefit to the town would be by declaring low volume roads.

OTHER ISSUES & REPORTS:

Highway Garage Contamination:  Jason Smit, of Smit Environmental will meet with the Town Board on Thursday January 25, 2007.

Housing Survey:  After discussion the Town Board decided to go forward with a grant application for Housing Rehabilitation.  The grant application is due April 9^th, 2007.  The focus will be the housing in Hinckley and Prospect, with other areas of the town to follow in subsequent grants.  Betsy will contact LaBerge to start the process.

Community Rec Center Feasibility Grant:  Scheidelman reported we received a grant for $54,000 with the Town of Remsen for a feasibility study for a Community Recreation Center.

Sanborn:  There will be a Public Meeting on Wednesday January 17^th, 2007 at 7:30 pm at the Trenton Municipal Center for Scott Sanborn to share his conceptual plan for Miracle Springs Water Bottling, Inc.

COMMITTEES:

Planning Board:  The Planning Board submitted copies of their minutes.

CAC:  The CAC submitted a draft version of their Town Trails Master Plan for the Town Board to review.

The Town Board will need to hold a Public Hearing on Outdoor Wood Burning Boilers.  The board will try to schedule for February.

Due to the late hour the meeting was adjourned at 11:43 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Katharine Squire

Town Clerk