“When you throw dirt, you lose ground” ~ Texan Proverb
This month’s meeting was attended by Trisha Grover (Acting Town Supervisor), Mike Scott, Shawn Dunmire, Dick Kozlowski, Michelle Dunbar, Curt & Sue Rung, Paul Sadler, Theresa Baldwin, Barb Hetzel, Mark & Gayle Dorrett, Jon Reitz, Larry Bedow, John Dunbar, Andy Fisher (George & Swede) and myself.
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Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. ~Henry James
In attendance at this months meeting were: Supervisor Dick Howard, Trisha Grover, Mike Scott, Shawn Dunmire, Dick Kozlowski, Sue Rung, Paul Sadler, Theresa Baldwin, Jean Howard, Alice & John Dunbar, Michelle Dunbar, Legislator Bill Dibble, Larry Bedow, Jon Reitz and myself.
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Happy Anniversary! This is our one year anniversary for this site and keeping a tighter watch on our elected officials.
In attendance of this months meeting was Supervisor Dick Howard, Board Members- Trisha Grover, Mike Scott, Shawn Dunmire, and Dick Kozlowski. Also in attendance was Curt & Sue Rung, Alice Dunbar, Paul Sadler, Theresa Baldwin, Larry Bedow, Jon Reitz and myself.
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Once again there is a Board Meeting tonight that was not advertised. Well I guess Jane will argue that is was even though she just through up a piece of paper on the board a couple of hours ago. I’m still waiting to see the minutes from the May 29 meeting. There was also a meeting on July 12 and not minutes have been posted. Why isn’t the Town Board asking to see these minutes? They are just as much to blame on this matter as she is. This is really getting to be a game for Jane to see just how much she can get away with. Let me reiterate the Open Meeting Law from my May 29th post for you.
5 Comments »There is a special Board Meeting tonight for the town. Was this advertised? I don’t think so. Let me refresh the Town Clerk on Article 7 of the Public Officers Law which constitutes the Open Meeting Law (OML). As a general state statute, applicable to the state and local governments, their boards and commissions, including public authorities, it requires that all meetings of a public body, with certain exceptions, be open to the public.
In brief, the law gives the public the right to attend meetings of public bodies, listen to debates and watch the decision-making process in action.
What is a meeting? “Meeting” is defined to mean “the official convening of a public body for the purpose of conducting public business.” As such, any time a quorum of a public body gathers for the purpose of discussing public business, the meeting must be convened open to the public, whether or not there is an intent to take action, and regardless of the manner in which the gathering may be characterized.
Notice of Meetings- The law requires that notice of the time and place of all meetings be given prior to every meeting.
If a meeting is scheduled at least a week in advance, notice must be given to the public and news media not less than 72 hours prior to the meeting. Notice to the public must be accomplished by posting in one or more designated public locations.
When a meeting is scheduled less than a week in advance, notice must be given to the public and news media “to the extent practicable” at a reasonable time prior to the meeting. Again, notice to the public must be given by means of posting.
The bulletin board maintained by the town clerk, as well as the entrance to the town offices would be considered as public locations.
When Can a Meeting be Closed? The Open Meetings Law provides for closed or “executive” sessions under circumstances prescribed in the law. It is important to emphasize that an executive session is not seperate from an open meeting, but rather is defined as a portion of an open meeting during which the public may be excluded.
To close a meeting for an executive session, the law requires that a public body take several procedural steps. FIRST, a motion must be made during an open meeting to enter into executive session; SECOND; the motion must identify “the general area or areas of the subject or subjects to be considered; and THIRD, the motion must be carried by a majority vote of the total membership of a public body. Futher a public body cannot close its doors to the public to discuss the subject of its choice, for the law specifies and limits the subject matter that may appropriately be discussed in excessive session. The eight subjects that mey be discussed behind closed doors include:
These are the only subjects that my be discussed behind closed doors; all other deliberations must be conducted during open meetings.
A public body can never vote to appropriate moneys during a closed session. Although most public bodies may vote during a properly convened executive session, any vote to expend public monies must be takin in public.
AFTER MEETING MINUTES: The Open Meetings Law requires that minutes of both open meetings and executive sessions must be compiled and made available.
In short, this meeting should have been advertised but of course it wasn’t. We have a pretty good Town Board now, too bad they have a bad support staff to do the day to day work.
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At the beginning of this month’s meeting, the board heard a presentation from Nancy Weiss (?). Nancy is a representative from New York CLASS (A cooperative investment program). With this program the town will bring in much more interest revenue. One way they will earn more interest, not just by a higher interest rate, is that interest can be earned on all the money not just what the town has chosen to invest and the interest will be compounded daily instead on monthly. There are already several towns, villages, school districts that have participated in this program for years.
The meeting was called to order by Mr. Howard at 7:32 p.m. by Mr. Howard with the Pledge of Allegiance. The minutes from last month were approved after a couple of corrections were made. The minutes should read: “Mr. Robert Dunbar complained that he could not get the minutes within 2 weeks of the board meeting. The board replied Jane is doing what we told her to do. After some discussion it was decided that Jane WILL make the minutes public WITHIN two weeks with the word “Draft” on top of the paper”. The other change was that $200.00 will be paid to Kevin Hamilton not the Utopia Cemetery Association.
Public Comments:
Larry Thompson addressed the Board about the property located beside his property on the Watson Road that is owned by Jack Dell of North Tonawanda. Mr. Thompson stated that this is the 3rd or 4th time that he has addressed the board concerning the abandoned junk camper trailers on the property. Mr. Thompson spoke to Paul Sadler, Code Enforcement Officer, prior to building his new home and was informed that the trailers were in violation of the Junk Law that was adopted in 1965 and they would be taken care of. This is now 2 years later and they are still there. Mr. Sadler stated that he has sent Mr. Dell a certified letter but it came back unsigned. Mr. Dunbar stated that under the law that is enough proof to prove than an effort was made to contact a person and that he should proceed with the next step. Want to take bets on whether or not Mr. Thompson will have to go back to the board? My bet is that he will.
Theresa Baldwin requested that a cigarette butt container be placed outside the town hall so that everyone doesn’t have to look at the mess. Mr. Scott asked Curt if he would get a bucket with some sand and place out there.
Fred Tompkins, Mayor of Richburg, made a request that some of the town’s gravel be moved back by the town barn on Mill Street. The village plans on milling the street and paving it this summer. They would like it below street level. Curt stated he would get that done.
Fiscal Report: The fiscal report was approved once changes were made.
Town Clerk Report: Jane reported that the taxes balance this year. (What she failed to do was to give a big “Thank You” to the Town of Bolivar and Alma Clerks for all their help in making this happen) and that she collected 83% of the taxes for the Town “The Most in the County per Terry Ross”. Funny I thought the big “atta boy” should go to the town of Independence for collecting 93%.
Curt Rung presented his highway report and stated that the Clair Carrier Road had been ditched from one end to the other. Mike Scott thanked Curt for doing actually finishing a road that was started.
Assessors Report: Alice handed out her assessor’s report.
The General Bills were approved to be paid with the total amount of $4,032.07. They were all approved with the exception of the National Fuel bill which is still not correct.
The Highway Bills were approved to be paid with the total amount of $32,483.92.
At the close of the meeting, the Board passed a resolution to proceed with the NY CLASS program.
Town Budget as of May 12, 2008
Highway Superintendent Report May 12, 2008
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