Board Meeting Minutes 05/03/2010

WEST SENECA TOWN OFFICES                                      TOWN BOARD PROCEEDINGS
1250 Union Road                                                                Minutes #2010-07
West Seneca, NY 14224                                                     May 3, 2010

Supervisor Wallace C. Piotrowski called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. with 30 seconds of silent prayer followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

ROLL CALL: Present    -   Wallace C. Piotrowski, Supervisor
                                        Sheila M. Meegan, Councilwoman
                                        Dale F. Clarke, Councilman
                     Absent    -    None

7-A    MINUTES TO BE APPROVED

·        Motion by Supervisor Piotrowski, seconded by Councilwoman Meegan, to approve Minutes #2010-06 of April 19, 2010.

On the question, Councilman Clarke referred to Item #10 and stated that a resident had questioned if bids were received on the insurance contract.

Town Attorney Shawn Martin advised that two bids were received from the town’s insurance broker who has served the town for many years.  A consultant was also hired to make recommendations and prepare a new bid specification that will be used for a complete re-bidding of the insurance in December.

Councilman Clarke questioned if this was legitimate and Mr. Martin confirmed that it was.

Ayes: All                          Noes: None                     Motion Carried

·        Motion by Supervisor Piotrowski, seconded by Councilwoman Meegan, to approve minutes from the April 26, 2010 bid opening for the Town Hall Complex Backflow Prevention Device.

Ayes: All                          Noes: None                     Motion Carried

·        Motion by Supervisor Piotrowski, seconded by Councilwoman Meegan, to approve minutes from the April 26, 2010 bid opening for an air cooled condenser for the Senior Citizen Center.

Ayes: All                          Noes: None                     Motion Carried

·        Motion by Supervisor Piotrowski, seconded by Councilwoman Meegan, to approve minutes from the April 26, 2010 bid opening for arts & crafts supplies.

Ayes: All                          Noes: None                     Motion Carried

7-B    COMMUNICATIONS

  On the question, Councilwoman Meegan noted there was no rain date indicated and questioned if the ice rink was available if they had to relocate indoors.

Highway Supt. Matthew English responded that it would depend on the number of people and they would also have to clean up the building because it was currently being used for storage.

Ayes: All               Noes: None            Motion Carried

On the question, Councilman Clarke commented that the Town Board had to be more watchful on spending money for conferences and he did not believe the Police Chief’s association had much to do with the Town of West Seneca.  He was not in favor of approving any training sessions that he did not feel were in the best interest of the town.

Supervisor Piotrowski stated that two years ago he proposed a policy that the town not pay for non-mandated training and he was in favor of reviewing all training in all offices to determine what was and was not required by NYS Law. However, this training conference was approved in the 2010 budget.

Ayes: (2) Councilwoman Meegan, Supervisor Piotrowski

Noes: (1) Councilman Clarke                                   Motion Carried

Councilwoman Meegan further stated that in recognition of the contribution veterans have made to the citizens of the country, the Town Board believes it would be fitting and proper to rename Centennial Park to Veteran’s Memorial Complex.  Councilwoman Meegan asked the public to contact the board members with their thoughts and concerns on this proposal and whether they were in support of the name change.

ISSUES OF THE PUBLIC

RESIDENT QUESTIONS COPIER LEASE

Dixie Blando, Amana Place, referred to Item #9 concerning lease of a copier and questioned if an old copier was being turned in, and if so, was the hard drive erased on the old equipment.

Town Attorney Shawn Martin advised that the copier was used by AmeriCorps at the Burchfield Nature & Art Center and it was relocated to the Highway Department.  The copier had a five year lease that expires in 2012.

ISSUES OF THE PUBLIC

SOCCER COMPLEX PROPERTY LEASE

Frank Russo, Parkside Drive, referred to Item #8 and questioned if it concerned the lease of property at the soccer complex.

Supervisor Piotrowski advised that it was for lease of the portion owned by Mr. Gossel.

Mr. Russo suggested that the soccer association reimburse the town for the lease payment.

Supervisor Piotrowski stated that a new organization was in charge of the soccer complex and was working on paying down the debt.  The lease obligated the town to make the payments, but they could at some point in the future approach the organization about reimbursement.

STATUS OF YOUTH DIRECTOR LAWSUITS & AMERICORPS DEBT

Frank Russo, Parkside Drive, understood that the lawsuits involving former Youth Director Mark Lazzara had been settled and he questioned how much it cost the town in legal fees.

Town Attorney Shawn Martin advised that the lawsuits were being resolved and papers still had to be filed with the court.  He did not have the figures available, but the town was being billed on a regular basis.

Mr. Russo questioned if the final cost to the taxpayers will be made public and Supervisor Piotrowski advised that it was public information.

Karen Lucachick, Greenmeadow Drive, requested an update on the outstanding AmeriCorps debt.

Comptroller Robert Bielecki responded that he had not received a payment since April.

Mrs. Lucachick suggested that the Town Board bring Mr. Lazzara into court on this.

Johanna Guenther, Neubauer Court, stated that banks will not loan money without interest or collateral, and she questioned if the town had received any collateral.

Mr. Bielecki responded that the town had no collateral but did have an agreement with AmeriCorps for the state and federal grant money that was coming in.

Mrs. Guenther stated that if property owners in West Seneca do not pay their taxes by the due date they are charged a late fee, but AmeriCorps had not paid any interest on the outstanding debt.  She questioned how the prior administration could have given out this money without any collateral or interest and why they were not being held accountable for their actions.

Mr. Bielecki stated that the current administration stopped the past practice and were trying very diligently to collect the money.

FISHER PRICE USE OF BURCHFIELD NATURE & ART CENTER

Karen Lucachick, Greenmeadow referred to Item #5 and requested an explanation of the property on-location agreement with Fisher Price.

Town Attorney Shawn Martin advised that Fisher Price wanted to use the grounds at Burchfield Nature and Art Center (BNAC) to film a promotional video.  The town did not control the content of the video, so he did not know whether the Burchfield Center will be mentioned in it.

STATUS OF ALLEGATIONS MADE AT PREVIOUS TOWN BOARD MEETING

Dan Frontera, Union Road, questioned the status of his allegation concerning comments made by Town Attorney Shawn Martin and his request that Supervisor Piotrowski recuse himself from voting on the Houghton College project.

Supervisor Piotrowski responded that he received Mr. Frontera’s letter on Thursday and will be reviewing it with Mr. Martin. He further suggested that Mr. Frontera forward a copy of his letter to Mr. Martin.

METZ HOUSE

Amy Carpenter, Woodward Crescent, questioned the appraisal of the Metz house and if it was part of the appraisals approved on this meeting’s agenda.

Town Attorney Shawn Martin responded that the Metz house was part of the project that was used with the funds to establish the Burchfield Center.  This is the project that needs to be closed out with the state before anything can be done with those properties.  Appraisal of the Burchfield Center was also done because the town was in the process of reviewing its insurance needs, and since the property was never appraised they wanted to make sure the insurance was adequate.

Mrs. Carpenter understood that someone was living in the Metz house and questioned who was collecting the rent.

Mr. Martin stated that he had conversations with AmeriCorps personnel concerning this, but had not received a definitive answer.  He will continue to follow up on this and other issues.

Mrs. Carpenter stated that this has been going on for a number of years and she hoped it would be resolved soon.  She further noted that the two planters outside the Burchfield Center were missing and questioned what happened to them.

Highway Supt. Matthew English responded that he was not sure what planters Mrs. Carpenter was referring to but would look into the matter.

Dan Frontera, Union Road, stated that the Burchfield Center and property was built with a bond and the Metz house was done with a grant from former Assemblywoman Sandra Lee Wirth.  He questioned if they were now tied together somehow.

Mr. Martin responded that the two properties were tied together through a project with the State of New York and they were now in the process of closing that out and needed an appraisal to do that.

Councilwoman Meegan noted that the current administration had nothing to do with this, but she has been working diligently to straighten this out since taking office in January 2008 and even called in the NYS Comptroller’s Office for their assistance.  The entire board agrees that this has to be cleaned up and the town deserves what they are owed and as soon as possible. Councilwoman Meegan commented that this involved a lot of money and it could be used for a lot of things, the Police Department being a priority.

Mr. Frontera stated that he was intimately involved in writing grants for the town and in 2000 and 2001 he personally identified to the former Town Board and Comptroller that there were major discrepancies in funding and accountability, including equipment that went to people’s homes.  He understood that the current Town Board was not part of this and stated that AmeriCorps director Mark Lazzara was trying to walk away from a $2.5 million debt along with taking other items that were town property.

Mrs. Guenther hoped the town was not rewarding Mr. Lazzara with the Metz house.

Councilwoman Meegan stated that they walked through the Metz house and found it in great disrepair.  That was when they discovered someone was living there and had been living there for several years.

ISSUES OF THE PUBLIC

STATUS OF CODE OF ETHICS

Amy Carpenter, Woodward Crescent, referred to her question at the last Town Board meeting concerning the recently updated Code of Ethics and whether all town employees would be signing it.  The response was that each department had been given the update for insertion in their Code Books, but no thought was given to having the employees sign it.  Mrs. Carpenter commented that if it was important enough for the Town Board to request, author, and adopt a new Code of Ethics at a financial cost to the town of a few thousand dollars, it should be important enough for each employee to comply with the new code.  She suggested that each employee read and sign the code in order to acknowledge, understand, and be in agreement with it, and therefore, be accountable.

Supervisor Piotrowski responded that Town Attorney Shawn Martin was working on this and all employees will be required to sign the Code of Ethics.

Mr. Martin noted that contained within the Code of Ethics is the provision that it shall be distributed to each employee, and he understood this will be distributed with the next pay checks and will include anyone that receives a salary from the town.

PRESENTATION OF COMMUNICATIONS BY BOARD MEMBERS AND DEPARTMENT HEADS

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Motion by Supervisor Piotrowski, seconded by Councilwoman Meegan, to recess to Executive Session at 7:45 P.M. to discuss four employee matters and six litigation matters.

Ayes: All                          Noes: None                     Motion Carried

The board returned from Executive Session at 9:45 P.M.

ADJOURNMENT

Motion by Supervisor Piotrowski, seconded by Councilwoman Meegan, to adjourn the meeting at 9:45 P.M.

Ayes:  All                         Noes: None                     Motion Carried

PATRICIA C. DEPASQUALE, RMC/CMC
TOWN CLERK