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Two More Resolutions Inch Fishkill Road Project Forward
Philipstown's initial budget submission shows 53% increase, public hearings scheduled
by Maria Theodore Leiter
Philipstown Town Supervisor William Mazzuca gave himself a pay-cut at the October 5, 2006 Town Board meeting. Ascribing the reduction to requirements of his pension plan, which he receives for his past service as a corrections officer, he had the Town Clerk move the extra $2,500 to the pay line of Councilman Richard Shea, who serves as Deputy Supervisor.
"I am limited by what I can earn to $27,500," he explained. In January 2007, that cap will be increased to $30,000. Although the salary for the part-time Town Supervisor position is $25,000, each member of the Board is also given an additional fund for personal services. The transfer would be made in that budget line. "Richard Shea does a lot of extra work," Mazzuca reasoned.
Shea recused himself as the rest of the Board voted to approve the transfer.
As for the proposed 2007 budget, there is no pay increase being proposed for the Councilmen. Other elected officials however, are slated to receive an increase including the Town Justice, Town Clerk, Superintendent of Highways, and Town Assessors.
The Board passed a resolution honoring Susan Bates for her work on behalf of the Town, most notably for her involvement in the Comprehensive Plan. In addition to her work on the plan, Bates, who no longer lives in Philipstown, initiated numerous projects for the Town, Mazzuca said.
The Fishkill Road/Rt. 9 intersection project took another step forward with the Board approving a resolution that was requested by the County attorney. Surveyor/Engineer Glen Watson showed the Board a disposition map for the realignment of Fishkill Road and asked for a resolution stating that the Town intended to abandon roads that would not be needed once the new roadway is constructed. Watson recommended that the resolution contain language that made it conditional upon approval by Special Counsel. He also recommended that the Board hire special counsel. Town Attorney Ed Doyle has recused himself from the project because he has been retained by one of the property owners involved in the project. The Board approved the resolution on intent and a separate resolution to authorize Mazzuca to hire attorney Jim Loeb.
"We have been waiting for this for a while," said Mazzuca.
At the request of the wetlands inspector, the Board approved two resolutions requiring two different property owners to post $1,000 in escrow accounts to cover fees for intensive wetlands inspections of their projects. They also voted to release $22,529, a portion of a wetland mitigation fund, to Indian Brook, LLC. The remaining portion of the fund will be held for five more years. A $25,000 bond was also released to Lynda Vrooman.
A resolution authorizing the Supervisor to sign a contract with Cornell Cooperative Extension to conduct 4H meetings at the VFW was approved.
The Board will spend the next few weeks conducting budget workshops. They set the public hearing dates for the 2007 proposed budget for November 8, 2006. Times were set as follows: 7:30 Continental Village Park District budget; 7:35 Continental Village Water District; 7:40 Philipstown Ambulance; 7:45 Cold Spring Fire Department; 8:00 General Budget.
The preliminary budget requested by all the departments put the proposed tax rate increase at 30.15% town wide and 53.74% outside the villages. This would be a worst case scenario if all requests are approved by the Board. Public input is welcome at the hearings, though turn-out in the past few years has been almost non-existent.
During the public comment, Garrison resident Joe Regele expressed dismay at what he considered inadequate information provided to the public regarding Tuesday's special election for Garrison Fire District residents. The election, which took place on Tuesday, was to approve an increase in the service benefit award for firefighters.
"I haven't asked a single person in Garrison who knew about this," he said. "The whole thing seems to be rushing forward." He argued that the amount of the increase, from $31,000 to $87,000, was very large and, in addition, the actual cost of the program was misrepresented because it did not include a membership drive that GVFD was planning in connection with the benefit increase. He was also upset that there would only be six hours for voting, and that absentee ballots were not being provided by the fire company. He argued that not many people would have turned out for the vote if he had not taken an ad out in the PCN&R apprising his neighbors of the situation. He suggested that there might have been a deliberate attempt by the fire company to keep the program under the radar.
"The program has been in existence for a couple of years," responded Mazzuca, explaining that this was a program devised by New York State and that the Cold Spring and Continental Village fire departments also have the program. The amount of points members get toward their eligibility for the pension benefit is determined by a state formula.
As for the timing of the election, Mazzuca said that it was driven by the fact that the Town will be voting on its budget in November, and the fire department wanted to have this in place for 2007. They would therefore need to have it approved before the Town adopts its 2007 budget.
Mazzuca said that the fact that the fire department did not make provisions for absentee ballots was bothersome to Town Board members. The Town decided to make those ballots available as a service to residents, though they were not required to do so.
Subsequent to the meeting, two public hearings were held at the Garrison Fire Department prior to the vote taking place on Tuesday, October 17. Joe Svirsky, who has served as Treasurer for the fire department for ten years responded to Regale's concerns in an interview with the PCN&R.
"The State started the program in 1988 because of a drop in the number of volunteers," he explained. He said that he first submitted a proposal to begin the program ten years ago. At that time, the benefit was set at $10/ per person per month. They are now asking that that benefit be increased to $25/per person per month. The amount is placed into a pension fund that is payable to firefighters after thirty years of service. At the current rate, that amounts to a pension benefit at retirement of $300 a month. With the increase, it would be $750 a month. Not all volunteers are eligible for the benefit. It is only available to those members who remain active and put in the required number of calls each month and undergo specified training hours.
Despite the increase, Svirsky said that he doubts that it would lead to a great number of new volunteers, saying that it was more of a retention tool. He explained that young people do not generally decide to volunteer because of a benefit that they will not receive until they retire. It makes members more likely to remain active in the force, he said. They are more likely to put in the hours if they know they are contributing points toward their pensions.
With regard to the possibility for increases in the ranks of volunteers, Svirsky said that he hoped it would have that effect.
"I had to learn to drive the fire truck because we didn't have enough people during the day," he said. On the other hand, he said that the fire department has done well with its current membership with the help of mutual aid. They responded to 220 calls so far this year.
"With regard to the timing of the vote, there were some things that looked funny," he admitted, but explained that they simply followed prescribed procedures. "We wanted to have it on the November General Election ballot, but we were told by the Board of Elections that we could not (the fire district crosses Town boundaries)." This is what led them to request the special election. With regard to the hours that were allotted, he said that the state required only six hours, and since they were paying by the hour for the election, kept to that minimum. "Two to eight o'clock gives commuters time to vote."
Svirsky allowed that the fire company could do a better job of communicating with residents. He said members were beginning to realize that new residents who are perhaps used to having paid departments expect certain services that are not in place at volunteer departments, where every member has a separate full-time job. There is no public relations department, he noted, but added that more could be done to get the word out in the future.
The next meeting of the Philipstown Town Board will be held on November 2 at 8:00 pm in the Town Hall. Budget hearings are scheduled for November 8, beginning at 7:30 pm.
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