Present: Carrie Bither, Steve August, Gary Flaherty, David Patzwahl, Ginny Nightingale, Charlotte Cowan

About 30 people in audience

6:00-6:40 pm presentation by Coverall representative

7:20 Town Board began

Bills approved
Minutes approved

Resolutions:

• Approved #48 Town paying for Pat Pulver to attend NY State Building and Zoning workshop 8/31-9/1
• Approved #49 Send letter of support to State for bills about creating equity for public employees with other employees in terms of jury awards. (Currently public employees can double dip. This would allow them only to single dip.) Steve abstained.
• Approved #50 Appoint Sandy Zimmer, William Hanson, Robert Freedman, Steve Ostrow and Rob Ross to Building Shed Committee. (to join Bernie, Steve, David, Bill Walker and Bill Munch who are on Building Committee)

Steve made Salt Shed Committee report. Ad hoc committee has met 4 times. Next mtg. Thurs 8/17 3:30. Discussing site and design. Met with Coverall Rep just before town presentations. Visiting Richmond, MA salt shed which has a pre-cast design. Will bring recommendation to Town at next meeting or before. If a BAN is needed (if we think we will spend more than $300,000), have to be aware of timelines for getting it on November ballot.

Highway Report

• Bridge work finished on Barnegat Road, and beginning on Bristol Rd. Using FEMA bridge money
• New Concord Road finished
• DEC approved work for Beebe Pond, with stipulations for endangered species. Work must be done by 9/19
• Board approved motion to go out to bid for Beebe Pond Box Culvert (probably around $30,000- already budgeted) and crane service to set footings.
• Board approved giving Zwack the bid for the town truck. They came in at $39,990 and Arrowhead came in at $42,900. Same specs.

• Answering question about progress on work on Vandenberg Road, Bernie said it was probably a 6-year project. Paid by federal pass-through money and therefore need to follow precise State guidelines and timelines.
• Old Town equipment goes up for auction next September.
• Discussion about aesthetics of town garage site. Neighbors continue to bring complaints before the Board. Bernie agreed to move culverts out of sight, but would not commit to taking any other action
• Board will consider use of town garage land and other parcel given to town next door as part of total Salt Shed Plan. Maybe land should be surveyed?

Correspondence can be FOILed to Charlotte. This month’s correspondence includes:
USDA flyer re pest insect, New Agricultural Law, Code of Enforcement
Lebanon Valley Ambulance contract (reduced cost), Chatham School library letter, DEC letter of appreciation to High Dept, Letter from En Con re dam safety, En Con report on protected species at Beebe Pond, Hoffman Car Wash offering free car wash to vets on Veterans Day, Town Clerk Association appointed Charlotte as District Director, Thank you letter from AA for use of Town Hall for meeting space, new DWI information, new state regulations about sex offenders- County Watch, Lyme Disease newsletter (Columbia County #1 for Lyme Disease in nation! Measured as cases per 100,000 population), LVPA monthly report, DEC permit for Beebe Pond, Zoning Officer’s report, EAC monthly report and income

Supervisor’s Report

• Met with Town Attorney and Craig to discuss Small Claims suits
• Have received appreciative comments on Assessor’s daytime hours
• Received $3,800 proposal for completing heating ductwork in Town Hall, creating 2 separate zones, upstairs and down.
• The case of a woman who broke her arm bicycling over a pothole on North Valley Road was referred to Town’s insurance company.
• Thank-you letter received for care of Flat Brook cemetery
• Announced State rebate for School star program in effect this fall. Around $135 per parcel
• The Assessor’s office will be sending out property information confirmation letters (data cards) at the end of August. It is important to correct any errors and send them back.

Board Members items:

• Movement on Board of Ethics members now that Steve is back? Will be addressed at next meeting.
• Farm Law?
• Dog Leash law brought up again. Town Board should speak with Town Justices and Animal Control Officer about laws and go over state laws and come up with a solution.
• Discussed having a safety phone near Town Hall. Bill Hansen is afraid that 911 phone will lead to pranks and vandalism. Pay phone costs $600 to install and a monthly fee. In the past there were problems with breakdowns and lack of service. Nothing decided.

Charlotte distributed list of local laws and resolutions. All Town Board minutes are now on line on the town website (www.canaannewyork.org) and can be searched for key words.

Audience Input:

• Group of residents from Shaker Ridge wrote letter and addressed concern that since Canaan property is assessed at 100% of market value and surrounding towns are not, Canaanites end up paying a disproportionate share of school taxes. They would like the Town Board to put pressure on the State about this issue. Make equalization fair. Gary will bring it up at County Tax and Equalization Committee.
• Resident wants county to mow around the lake.
• Road crossing the railroad tracks on Route 5 is in bad repair.
• Resident asked for property comparables on 6/21 and has still not received them. Gary suggested the resident talk to Tammy about them.
• Another resident complained that she requested comparables in April and received them in July, far too late to be useful for the BAR hearings.
• Resident reported that information sent back to Assessor’s Office from data card mailings and information from (approx. 400) TSL interviews have not been processed onto County records. Residents deserve accurate official records on house data and sales data.
• Statistics on number of cases brought to BAR hearings this spring: Canaan 314, Kinderhook 256 (they have a lot more properties), New Lebanon 3, Ghent 17, Austerlitz 4, Chatham 11. Something is wrong in Canaan!
• Resident questioned what Town Board was doing to improve assessment process for the future. They would not respond. Board member suggested the Board try to meet with assessor again and ask him to be available before a town board meeting to make a presentation about his process. Gary and Carrie agreed to meet with assessor.
• Discussion about late, loud noise at Poppy’s, especially from motorcyclists. State Troopers say Canaan does not have a noise ordinance. Is that true? Gary will look it up and talk to Captain Benzinger. Resident mentioned that Lebanon Springs had dealt expensively with this issue and should be consulted.
• Zoning Law revisions are still with Town attorney. Gary was asked to call to encourage action on them.