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A Committee Meeting of the Johnstown Common Council was held on May 5, 2008 at 7:00p.m., in the Council Chambers, City Hall.
PRESENT: Mayor Slingerland called the meeting to order and led in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL – all council members present. APPROVE MINUTES – the minutes of the April 21, 2008 Business Meeting were approved with a motion from Council Member-at-Large Marcucci and seconded by Council Member Lakata. Motion carried. CITY OFFICIAL’S REPORTS CITY ENGINEER, CHARLES R. KORTZ – working on foreclosed properties. Hoosac St. property that was demolished has been cleaned and seeded. The old Gloria’s Pizzeria at 314 N. Perry St. was taken down today and 312 N. Perry St. will be demolished next week. Crews are patching the streets and the bridge on Miller St. is undergoing some repair work. The parks are in good shape. SENIOR CENTER, MICHELLE JONES – May is Older American’s Month and the center is celebrating Senior Center Week, May 12-16. May 13th they will have a brunch and a speaker on staying healthy. On the 15th there will be a hearing clinic in the morning and a luncheon in the afternoon with a speaker to talk about senior safety. The men will have a luncheon on the 28th with a speaker talking about men’s health. The seniors will be putting a float in the Memorial Day Parade, May 30th and participating in the Citywide Garage Sale on May 31st. CITY ASSESSOR, LEAMON STEELE – the Tentative Roll has been signed and filed with the County. The legal notice was in tonight’s newspaper. Last year’s roll had $203 million; this year’s is up to $230 million due to FAGE and Wal-Mart. Grievance Day is set for May 29th from 4pm-8pm. FIRE CHIEF, BRUCE HEBERER – Chief Heberer distributed copies of letters the Mayor will read at the next business meeting. They commended the DPW and Police Department personnel for their help during the fire on W. State St. All the volunteer fire fighters and others from the community that helped in fighting the fire, brought food and assisted in a number of ways, were thanked. The site is being cleared, metal sorted, and will be covered by the end of the week. Microtel will be blacktopped on the 15th and they expect to open in mid-June. POLICE CHIEF, GREGORY HORNING – the new police K-9, Spike, will be in service in a few weeks. His handler is Officer Schwabrow. CITY TREASURER, MICHAEL GIFFORD – the fire alarm fee has been charged yearly to businesses directly connected to the fire department. The department has purchased a new alarm board for the system. The money in this account has been accumulating and cannot be used for anything other than the alarm system. Mr. Gifford asked the Council if they want to continue the fee since there are not many expenditures. He feels it is time to get rid of the fee. There is no use for the money right now. Billing is usually done in June. Chief Heberer said if we do away with the fee it might encourage businesses to hook into the system. There is over $30,000 in the fund now. It can still be used for wire and upkeep. LIBRARY, BARBARA GERMAIN – the annual landscape day will be this coming Saturday and volunteers are needed. Mrs. Germain thanked DPW for their assistance. Mayor Slingerland thanked all the departments who helped with the fire. It was very well coordinated. JACC – the 5 year lease will be up in June and they would like to renew. Attorney Johnson has reviewed the lease and recommends deleting the last sentence in the second paragraph. The founders of the JACC have changed and they are now a not-for-profit corporation and have by laws that govern them. They now have a board of directors. A resolution will be prepared for the business meeting. REQUEST FOR SERVICE - The City has received a request on John St. Ext. and Hall Ave. area for access to services. This is being investigated and the Mayor will provide the Council with a packet of information and recommendations. Someone has purchased property in the area and is requesting utilities. Attorney Johnson explained that it involves one of the City’s paper streets and the lot that was purchased is off of the main street that we maintain. We could quick claim part of the street to them to make the utilities work or quick claim the entire street. We need to look at this so the Council can decide what they would like to do. The City also received a request from the Fulton County YMCA for a change to the sanitary sewer line at their new facility on Harrison St. Mr. Kortz explained that the existing sewer is undersized and not adequate for the new YMCA facility. The 10” line would come out the back of the building and tie in directly to the City of Gloversville’s pump station. It would then be pumped into the City of Johnstown’s line. Approval is required of both cities and the wastewater treatment plant because it is an outside user. We will need a resolution for the next meeting to approve. SAFETY COMMITTEE – Mayor Slingerland would like to have a meeting of the committee either ½ hr. before or after the May 19th Business Meeting. RAIL TRAIL – Mayor Slingerland commented on the beautiful wild flowers that are about to bloom along the trail. GRANT FOR CITY HALL RENOVATIONS - Mr. Kortz commented on the grants the City received about a year ago from Senator Farley and Assemblyman Butler, for renovations to City Hall. One of the things we would like to have the money earmarked for is windows. He will address a memo to the Council and put the project out to bid. Any windows not replaced this year will be included in next year’s budget. 2008 ANNIVERSARY COMMITTEE – Mayor Slingerland said the committee continues to meet regularly and the new banner is hanging on the front of City Hall. Council Member Foss made a motion at 7:35p.m., to enter into executive session for the purpose of discussing the sale of property. Seconded by Council Member Cole. A motion to come out of executive session at 7:55p.m., was made by Council Member Lakata and seconded by Council Member Preston.
RESOLUTION No. 42,
2008 was presented by Council Member Foss to
accept a bid from Richard LeCount to purchase 119
N. Perry St. Seconded by Council Member Lakata. A motion to adjourn at 8:00p.m., was made by Council Member Foss and seconded by Council Member Cole. Respectfully submitted,
Cathy A. VanAlstyne
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