VILLAGE OF HOBART BOARD MEETING MINUTES SEPTEMBER 20, 2021
The regular meeting was called to order by Mayor Aaron Kaufman at 6:30 p.m. Those present were Mayor Kaufman, Trustees Jim Quarino and Amy Reinshagen, Clerk-Treasurer Kellee Estus, Village Attorney John Hubbard, Superintendent of DPW Lucas McMullen, Chief
Operator of Waste Water Richi Horne ZBA members Joe Andreno and Barbara Hoover Stevens, Don Thomases, Brad Tripp, Kelly Chien, Kristina Zill, Daisy McMullen, Tim Rausch, Cody Hager, Christine Kaufman, Brooke Wood and Randall Kruger Jr. (late).
Superintendent Lucas McMullen reported to the Board that there was an abandoned water main break that he found but was able to shut it down. The crew has been prepping Pearl and Church streets for paving which will be September 27th and 28th. He also stated the crew would be flushing hydrants on Tuesday, October 19th. Mayor Kaufman asked for a trash day. The date will be Tuesday, October 19th.
Chief Operator of Waste Water Richi Horne reported to the Board that the crew has been doing a lot of projects including painting around the exterior and interior of the plant.
Don Thomases stated the Hobart Business Alliance has ordered 10 holiday lights. Electrician Brad Tripp has been communicating with NYSEG and they will rig up the electricity to the poles for $900 as a one-time only deal. Brad states the materials would be approximately $121.00 per pole and there would be no labor charge if the Village could get volunteers to help with the assembly of materials for each pole. Don asked if the Village could pay for the NYSEG charge and the materials and offer the Village crew for help with the installation of the lights. The Board agreed to do this. Don also asked on behalf of the Hobart Business Alliance for an update on the Bishop property. Mayor Kaufman stated it was on the agenda.
Zoning Board member Joe Andreno reported to the Board that they will be having monthly meetings on the first Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m. According to Andreno, the board is lacking standard forms and applications. Planning Board member John Whritner could not attend the meeting but let Mayor Kaufman know he had nothing to report for the month and that the paperwork he was going to give to the ZBA would be scanned and emailed to the clerk’s office.
A motion to approve the August Treasurer’s Report with the following changes was made by Trustee Quarino with a second from Trustee Reinshagen, with all in favor, carried. In the General Fund, transfer $22.85 from 1990 to 1362.4; in the Sewer Fund, transfer $3.42 from 1990 to 9055; transfer $40.17 from 1990 to 9055. A motion to approve the minutes of the August board meeting was made by Trustee Reinshagen, with a second from Trustee Quarino with all in favor, carried. A motion to approve the special meeting minutes held on September 1, 2021 was made by Trustee Reinshagen, with a second from Trustee Quarino, with all in favor, carried.
Mayor Kaufman continued the meeting with old business. Regarding the water plant upgrade, the permission for access through property and test well letters all came back signed. The well testing is expected to start in the first 2 weeks of October. The funding for the project should be coming in shortly and by late fall/early winter it should go out to bid with a springtime start. The police officer business was tabled. Regarding the Maple Avenue culvert update, Mayor Kaufman stated the property owner had signed the agreement for access to survey the brook. The survey should now be completed this fall. Regarding EMS issues, Mayor Kaufman stated he attended a meeting regarding EMS and Robinson Broadhurst Foundation will donate $900,000.00 to start an EMS for local towns/village and fund that same amount for the next 2 years after. EMS is not considered essential by the state. Many different avenues were discussed at the meeting, one being form a non-profit organization and hire a paramedic and EMT, start billing patients and receive grant funding. Foreclosure properties will be taken off the agenda. Regarding Main Street properties, Mayor Kaufman said Mr. Bishop has received a property maintenance violation notice from Code Enforcement officer Little and if he does not remedy the situation by today’s date, he will be issued an appearance ticket. Mayor Kaufman has requested the Code Enforcement officer take a look at all of main street for violations. Regarding the Planning and Zoning board update, both met at a meeting on September 8th along with Mayor Kaufman and it was agreed that they would present to the Village Board once a month.
Mayor Kaufman continued the meeting with new business. He said he will be implementing Robert’s Rules of Order to the Village board meetings along with friendly communication. Moving forward, if someone would like to address the Board, they will have 5 minutes to do so. Regarding Airbnbs within the Village, Mayor Kaufman said other areas use an annual permit that the owner would have to apply for, there would be an annual fire inspection report and if the property was left a mess or there was a lot of noise, that would factor in to their permit renewal. Mayor Kaufman said he would work on drafting a local law for Airbnb business in the Village. There is now a security system up and functioning at the Hobart Activity Center. Regarding Cannibas sales, Mayor Kaufman said the Village has a deadline of December 2021 to opt out of allowing the sales of cannibas. A public hearing will be scheduled prior to next month’s board meeting at 6 p.m. for community input on this subject. The stream erosion issue is behind Morrett’s property where Mayor Kaufman saw that she has lost quite a bit of lawn due to the stream erosion. He has contacted Ben Dates of Delaware County Soil and Water to look at it. Blacktop paving of the rest of Pearl Street, Church Street and Pine Street is scheduled for September 27th and 28th. Kristina Zill is still trying to get 10 people to sign up for the solar campaign. She also talked about the clean heating and cooling campaign that will start on September 28th. Regarding the charging station she said Randy Roe will be paid to be a certified electrician for the charging station. Inner Wheel had a request to use the community center and waive the fee to rent it. The Board agreed to this request. Kelly Chien asked the Board for permission to move Movie Nights back in to the Community Center. The Board agreed to this as well. Brooke Wood spoke to the Board regarding her concerns of the speeding on Main Street and the spread of wild parsnip in the area. She would like to raise awareness to the community regarding the dangers of the plant. Mayor Kaufman showed those in attendence a bag of drug paraphernalia that was found in the gazebo outside of the community center. He said it was going to be turned over to the state police tomorrow. This again brought up discussion of the need for law enforcement presence in the Village of Hobart. It was agreed by the board to have another public hearing prior to next month’s board meeting regarding the subject of an police officer for the community to attend. This hearing will begin at 5:30 p.m.
A motion to move into executive session for employee issues was made by Trustee Quarino at 8:25 p.m. with a second from Trustee Reinshagen. A motion to move out of executive session at 9:10 p.m. was made by Trustee Quarino with a second from Trustee Reinshagen. A motion was made by Mayor Kaufman for Village of Hobart Board members to be allowed to miss one meeting each fiscal year and then if another one is missed, they do not get paid for that meeting. This was second by Trustee Reinshagen, with all in favor, carried. A motion to approve the following bills on Abstract No. 4 was made by Trustee Reinshagen with a second from Trustee Quarino with all in favor, carried.
General Fund Voucher No. 78-109 $42,091.65
Water Fund Voucher No. 46-65 $14,940.64
Sewer Fund Voucher No. 54-71 $10,251.31
NYC Fund Voucher No. 64-84 $17,351.25
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:25 p.m. was made by Mayor Kaufman with a second from Trustee Reinshagen, with all in favor, carried. Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kellee J. Estus
Clerk-Treasurer