Minutes of the Bi-Monthly Town Board Meeting held Tuesday, April 25, 2006 at 5:30 PM, at the Keene Town Hall. The following Town Board Members were present: William B. Ferebee, Supervisor, Paul R. Martin, Robert M. Biesemeyer, Marcy Neville and Lawrence Jaques, Members of Council. Also present were: Ron Briggs, Town Attorney and Ellen Estes, Town Clerk.

The Chairman, Mr. Ferebee, called the meeting to order at 5:36 PM.

Mr. Ferebee began by informing the Board that due to 5 years of clean environmental testing at the landfill, the Town is eligible to apply for a variance which would change the 4 required testings per year to 2 testings per year, reducing the annual testing fee by 50%.

Resolution No. 111 – 06
Ms. Neville offered a resolution and moved its adoption. Be it resolved, that the Town Board authorize Mr. Ferebee to apply for the variance on the landfill monitoring. This resolution was seconded by Mr. Martin.
Roll Call Vote:
Mr. Ferebee: Yes
Mr. Martin: Yes
Mr. Biesemeyer: Yes
Ms. Neville: Yes
Mr. Jaques: Yes

The next discussion was in regards to Water Dist. #2 and the proposed storage tank.
Mr. Ferebee said he sent a letter to Albany Department of Health asking for written documentation regarding the impact of the water project without replacing the storage tank. He said their response was that the Town would be in breach of the Project Financial Agreement.
Mr. Martin stated that at the cost of steel, the money will be gone before the project is finished.
Ms. Neville asked if the storage tank can be phased into the project, relining and recovering the reservoir for now.
Mr. Ferebee said he didn’t think that was an option, he talked about the requirement for meeting fire flow. He also said it could cost the Town to wait, saying that the land may not be available if put off for now.
Mr. Ferebee also said that by not pushing to begin the construction phase of the project, time may be on our side for getting additional grant funding.
There was a discussion about how much of the funding was no interest. This will need to be checked into.

Mr. Ferebee said he sent a letter advising Ron Gill Well Drilling of the Town Board’s decision to proceed with the pump test on the unproductive well at Water Dist. #2. He said that Brad Caswell wants to be present to supervise at a cost of between $500 and $600.

The next discussion was in regards to proposed Youth Commission Summer salaries.
Mr. Ferebee shared a list of proposed salaries with the Board.
Mr. Jaques said if he remembered right the Board told the Youth Commission Board that they wanted proposed salaries submitted at budget time in the Fall.
Mrs. Estes said, on behalf of the Youth Commission, that that would be hard since you don’t know how many employees will be returning or what certificates they hold.
Mr. Ferebee explained that the .25 cent increase for returning employees equals less than the 3% given to everyone else. He also pointed out that the overall payroll has been reduced.

Resolution No. 112 – 06
Mr. Jaques offered a resolution and moved its adoption. Be it resolved, that the following appointments and salaries for Youth Commission Employees be accepted as recommended by the Youth Commission Board:
Director (Not yet selected) - $3,900.00/annual
Chris Abbott, Progressive Swimming Inst. - 3,345.00/annual
Brittany Purdy, Lifeguard/CPR - 8.75/hour
(subject to change to 9.50, if RTE certified)
Natasha Dembrosky, Lifeguard/CPR/RTE - 9.50/hour
Rene Elkaslasy, Lifeguard/CPR/RTE - 9.50/hour
Bonnie Mitchell, Bus Driver/Counselor - 15.00/hour
Two more employees to be hired, pay rate will be submitted.
This resolution was seconded by Mr. Biesemeyer.
Roll Call Vote:
Mr. Ferebee: Yes
Mr. Martin: Yes
Mr. Biesemeyer: Yes
Ms. Neville: Yes
Mr. Jaques: Yes

Ms. Neville asked about the requirement to hire a nurse.
Mrs. Estes said that requirement depended on who you talked to.
Mr. Ferebee explained that an EMT is required to be present on hike.

Mr. Ferebee informed the Board that the DR Trimmer/Mower and the Lawn Vacuum are in. He said these will be charged to parks, recreation and cemeteries.

The next topic discussed was the Junk Law.
Mr. Ferebee said that Mr. Both had asked the Board to submit a list of violators if they would like letters sent out. He asked them what they would like to do.
Mr. Ferebee said that Frank Slycord and Charlie Platt are willing to go to individuals, give them a copy of the law, instructing them they have 30 days to comply. If compliance is not met, they would then issue an appearance ticket. This would result in a strong warning to comply and after another 30 days the APA is willing to step in.
Ms. Neville felt strongly about educating individuals on how to get rid of this junk.
Mr. Martin suggested fund raising for fencing.
Mr. Jaques said he was in favor of the enforcement route.
After reviewing the law, Mr. Briggs said it is fine, but the Board must be careful of stay consistent.

The next discussion was in regards to the Sappah barn removal.
Ms. Neville said she voted for it, but was now afraid it could come back on the Board. She said she would like to have the Town listed as a lien holder.
Mr. Briggs said the job was done and that it’s water over the dam now. He said this was a safety issue and that anyone complaining or wanting funds for projects would have to fit the criteria.
Mr. Biesemeyer said he would like to see finalization, as in the form of a letter thanking Mr. Sapph for his cooperation in emptying the barn for removal, in case anyone else tries to claim there were contents inside.
Mr. Briggs said the best way to cover that would be to have affidavits from the people present saying there was nothing in the building.

The next topic discussed was the water, building and grounds job opening.
Mr. Ferebee said that 6 applications had been returned.
He said that AES is willing to come in and train the person hired to fill this Water Department vacancy for a fee, he said this way the person would be trained properly with information that the previous employees have never had.
The Board agreed to set up interviews prior to the Town Board Meeting on May 9th.

Mr. Ferebee informed the Board that he looked into the library grant issue.
He said he called Betty Little’s office and was given the information that the money given to the individual libraries was meant for the individual libraries and if CEF Library System needs money they should contact the office themselves.
Mr. Biesemeyer suggested it might be a good idea to get a letter stating this.
Mr. Ferebee said he would request one.

Resolution No. 113 – 06
Mr. Martin offered a resolution and moved its adoption. Be it resolved, that the following bills be accepted for payment, including those that were post paid. This resolution was seconded by Mr. Jaques.
Roll Call Vote:
Mr. Ferebee: Yes
Mr. Martin: Yes
Mr. Biesemeyer: Yes
Ms. Neville: Yes
Mr. Jaques: Yes

General Fund bills No. 214 – 237 $25,596.71
Highway Fund bills No. 70 - 73 13,333.23
Library Fund bills No. 36 - 39 1,251.34
Water Dist. #1 bills No. 30 - 33 2,562.30
Water Dist. #2 bills No. 31 - 35 5,402.40
CPF – Water Dist. #1 bills No. 2 106.75
CPF – Water Dist. #2 bills No. 15 106.75
CPF - Hamlet Improvement No. 1 - 2 121.40

Resolution No. 114 – 06
Mr. Jaques offered a resolution and moved its adoption. Be it resolved, that James Giglinto be appointed to the Youth Commission Board as the School Board Representative and Stacey Hulbert be appointed to the unexpired vacant term to expire December 31, 2009. This resolution was seconded by Ms. Neville.
Mr. Ferebee: Yes
Mr. Martin: Yes
Mr. Biesemeyer: Yes
Ms. Neville: Yes
Mr. Jaques: Yes

Resolution No. 115 – 06
Mr. Martin offered a resolution and moved its adoption. Be it resolved, that the application for a Highway Permit from the Mountaineer be accepted and a Permit be issued for their annual event on June 17th, insurance certificate has been received and fee will be waived for this non-profit event. This resolution was seconded by Mr. Biesemeyer.
Roll Call Vote:
Mr. Ferebee: Yes
Mr. Martin: Yes
Mr. Biesemeyer: Yes
Ms. Neville: Yes
Mr. Jaques: Yes

There was a brief discussion on the assessment for the Nature Conservancy.
There seemed to be some confusion as to how this assessment was handled in 2005.
Mr. Ferebee wanted to know what the Board wanted, whether he should look into it or leave it alone.
Everyone seemed to disagree on how this issue was left; Mr. Biesemeyer said he thought the Town Board had asked to have them assessed as a business.

Resolution No. 116 – 06
Mr. Jaques offered a resolution and moved its adoption. Be it resolved, that all business having been transacted, this meeting be adjourned. This resolution was seconded by Mr. Martin.
Roll Call Vote:
Mr. Ferebee: Yes
Mr. Martin: Yes
Mr. Biesemeyer: Yes
Ms. Neville: Yes
Mr. Jaques: Yes

The meeting was adjourned at 6:38 PM.

Ellen S. Estes, Town Clerk
April 28, 2006

William B. Ferebee, Supervisor
Paul R. Martin, Councilperson
Robert M. Biesemeyer, Councilperson
Marcy Neville, Councilperson
Lawrence Jaques, Councilperson