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:

1. matter which will imperil the public safety if disclosed;
2. any matter which may disclose the identity of a law enforcement agency or informer;
3. information relating to current or future invesigation or prosecution of a criminal offense which would imperil effective law enforcement if disclosed;
4. discussions regarding proposed, pending or current litigation;
5. collective negotiations pursuant to Article 14 of the Civil Service Law (The Taylor Law);
6. the medical, financial, credit or employment history of a particular person or corporation, or matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal or removal of a particular person or corporation;
7. the preparation, grading or administration examinations; and
8. the proposed acquisition, sale or lease of real propery or the proposed acquisition of securities, or sales or exchange of securities held by such public body, but only when publicity would substantially affect the value thereof.

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.

Mr. Howard started out the meeting requesting that Jane give him proof of all deposits. Mr. Howard was concerned about his name on these accounts and him not having proof that the money was where it was suppose to be.

There was much discussion on the National Fuel bill and how high it was for the town hall for the month of March. (This was after it was discussed about how the bill also was paid twice). Jane stated she thought it was from the election ladies. When they had Election Day the ladies had turned up the heat and never turned it back down. Mike Scott suggested they have a locked thermostat put on.

George Johnson from Richardson & Stout in Wellsville spoke to the board concerning the town’s insurance policies. The towns’ insurance is through NYMIR and their rates went down by $1,478 for this year. However, this is the figure without the new grader. Gary Dorrett questioned Mr. Johnson if towing insurance was available for the town? Mr. Johnson replied that towing is only available on private passenger vehicles. It is not available for municipals. Gary was concerned because the town had to have two trucks towed this past year and just the one bill was over $6,000. Mr. Howard replied that the town has enough equipment they shouldn’t have to call a tow truck. They could also call the County and request help if it was too bad. Paul Sadler questioned where the Steam Jenny is that is listed on the equipment list. No one seems to have seen it in years. The board was in agreement to increase the replacement coverage on the grader. The replacement cost was at $25,000 and they increased it to $50,000. This is an increase of $264 to the insurance however the town is still saving $1,214 over last year.

The minutes of March 10, 2008 were approved by Richard Kozlowski and seconded by Mike Scott with no changes.

Public Concerns:

Bob Dunbar stated that on March 24^th he requested a copy of the recording of the February 11^th minutes, (Mr. Dunbar along with his request sent a self addressed stamped envelope) however; he never received any of his requests. Mr. Dunbar then came into the office today (April 14) to request a copy of the minutes and was told that the minutes were not available to him, that the board had voted to not have them available until they were approved. Mr. Howard replied that the law states that within two weeks of a meeting the minutes are to be made available to the public and in the case of executive sessions the minutes are to be available within one week in accordance to the provisions of the “Freedom of Information Act”. Mr. Howard went on to state that this town as not followed the law on many cases in the past and that this was going to stop. Jane then stated that at one time the board had made a motion to not hand out the minutes until they were approved. Mr. Howard replied to that by saying then the board had better plan on coming in here tomorrow to approve the minutes so that they are available to the public. Mr. Dunbar stated he was concerned when he read his name in the minutes from the February 11^th meeting that the board is having a problem with him but he’s doesn’t know what that was. Mr. Dunmire stated that the board did make the motion to hold the minutes until they were approved and also explained that the board misunderstood the law or was misinformed of it. Mr. Dunbar went on to comment that he has spoken with Jane before concerning the minutes and that her comment to him was that this was Richburg, NY not Delaware. Mr. Dunbar continued to say that this has nothing to do with Richburg, New York or Delaware. This was the fact that things need to be done on the up and up. Mr. Harmon stated to Mr. Dunbar that he had a problem with him coming into the meeting and requesting this information when he didn’t own property in the town.

After much more discussion (about 5 minutes of it was spent on what Jane should put at the top of the minutes “Draft?” “Not Approved”), the board finally agreed to have the minutes posted in accordance with the law.

Clerks Monthly Report: Mr. Dunmire pointed out that Jane’s report and that Paul’s report for his dog control did not match. Clerks Report showed $268.80 – Dog Control/Building Permits showed $266.80. Mr. Dunmire requested Jane check the figures before he would approve her report. After the amount of $266.80 was confirmed the clerks report was approved with the corrections.

Fiscal Report: After a few changes that are noted on the attached town budget, the fiscal report was approved.

A resolution was passed as a formality for the retirement system stating that a work day for a part time employee is 6 hours.

A motion was made by Mike Scott and seconded by Jeff Harmon to approve to pay for half of the cost ($30/month) for high speed internet at Michelle’s house. This is needed for banking. She has had trouble in the past with transfers that she thought had gone through.

Curtis Rung handed in a written report. (Attached) Mr. Rung also stated that they would take the pickup into get the 4-wheel drive fixed while it is still under warranty. A motion was made by Shawn Dunmire and seconded by Jeff Harmon to accept the highway superintendent’s report.

Mike Scott made a motion to pay the bills for the General and the Highway Fund. It was then discussed that the town is being billed for an Argon tank from Abbott welding even though they do not have a mug welder and Curt has not been able to locate the tank. It was suggested to call Bob Sherwood and see if he has it.

Richard Kozlowski made a motion and seconded by Mike Scott to accept the Assessors Report. This report was written.

A motion was made by Mike Scott and seconded by Shawn Dunmire to accept the Dog Control Officer’s report.

Old Business:

Top Notch Tree Service- the board was in agreement not to pay this bill for the grader that was rented.

Cemetery Bids:

The bid was awarded to Theresa Baldwin. Mr. Howard thanked Ms. Baldwin for doing such a nice job. Motion made by Shawn Dunmire seconded by Dick Kozlowski. (Note: Bids were never read out loud and I’m sure there won’t be a bid tab available)

A motion was made by Mike Scott and seconded by Shawn Dunmire to apply for the grant through Cuba Development Corp for a grant for necessary repairs to homes in the town.

Some of the requirements for this grant are:

• Property and School Taxes must be current
• Mortgage (if applicable) must be current
• Deed must be in applicants name and filed with the Allegany County Clerk’s Office in Belmont
• Land contract must be applicants name and filed with the Allegany County Clerk’s Office in Belmont
• Applicant cannot serve as an elected official or be an employee of the town
• Applicant cannot be an immediate family member of an elected official or an employee of the town
• Applications will not be taken until after we know if the funds are awarded to the town
• If and when funds are awarded a waiting list will be compiled

For the complete list please check with Jane Cardwell at the town hall.

Richard Kozlowski stated that he has been working with George Fillgrove of Senator Young’s office. Mr. Fillgrove stated he would help the town write the grants.

Mr. Kozowski also spoke about working on shared grants with other towns or the County to help get more services for the town.

Assembly Republican Leader JamesTedisco is sponsoring a bill to cap school taxes at the rate of 4% or the rate of inflation and is looking for sponsors from the town.

Motion was made to put on next month’s abstract the following payments: $500.00 to the Summer Youth Soccer and $300 to the Colonial Library and $200 for Kevin Hamilton for mowing Utopia Cemetery.

At the close of the meeting, Mr. Howard informed Jane that all money was to be deposited with 24 hours that no money should be kept in the office.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:18 p.m.

Town Budget as of 4/14/08

Superintendent\’s Report 4/14/08