Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the Board of
Trustees of the Village of Johnson City, New York, held at 7:30 PM in the
Mayor Harry G.
Lewis Trustees: Donald Adams
Richard Balles
Dennis
Hannon
Bruce
King
Jeff
Jacobs Attorney
ORDER OF BUSINESS:
1.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The
Mayor led the Pledge of Allegiance.
2.
FIRE EXITS
The
Mayor noted the fire exits.
3.
MISCELLANEOUS
The Mayor mentioned
the Annual Holiday Parade, Thursday December 4th at 6:00PM.
4.
APPROVAL OF BOARD MINUTES
Motion made
by Trustee Balles –seconded by Trustee Hannon to accept and place on file the
following:
Work
Session and the Regular Board Meeting minutes of October 7, 2008
Special
Work Session minutes of October 3, 2008
Special
Work Session of October 14, 2008
Motion made
Board polled. Ayes 5
Nayes 0
BIDS (none)
5.
PUBLIC HEARINGS (none)
6.
PETITIONS RECEIVED (none)
7.
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR – VISITORS
·
Monica Silas –
Trustee Hannon
noted that the line is projected to reach a zero balance in January 2009.
Monica Silas
inquired as to where the money to cover the Firefighter payroll is to come
from.
Trustee Hannon
indicated that at the present time the Village is not sure and exploring a
variety of options.
Monica Silas
inquired to Clerk/Treasurer Jennifer Kakusian how much money is needed to cover
the Firefighter payroll.
Jennifer Kakusian
indicated that this number is variable as there are overtime considerations.
Trustee Hannon
noted that presently a figure of $1.2 million is necessary.
Mayor Lewis stated
that the funds will be available, either by borrowing or through budgetary adjustments.
8.
COMMUNICATIONS
Mayor
Lewis directed to receive and file:
a)
b)
c)
PRL Associates – 10/9/2008
d)
Greater
e)
f)
NYS Comptroller – Retirement Fund –
email 10/17/08
g)
Town of
9.
COMMITTEE/ BOARD REPORTS (none)
10.
DEPARTMENT REPORTS
Motion made
by Trustee Balles– seconded by Trustee King to accept and place on file:
a)
Code Enforcement – September 2008
b)
Police Department – May 2008
c)
Police Department – June 2008
d)
Department of Public Services –
September 2008
Trustee
Hannon inquired as to if the Police Department had submitted an annual report.
Mayor Lewis
indicated that he has not received an annual report. He also noted that monthly reports were not
received this month by Trustee King and Trustee Adams.
Ayes
5 Nayes 0
11.
PAYROLL AND BILLS PRESENTED
Motion made by
Trustee Balles– seconded by Trustee King
that Abstract #7 for the Fiscal Year 2008-2009, having been audited by the
Board and approved, be ordered paid as follows:
Abstract #7
|
GENERAL |
$409,946.35 |
|
WATER |
$ 58,064.20 |
|
SEWER |
$ 6,495.94 |
|
REFUSE |
$ 43,387.92 |
|
LIBRARY |
$ 22,414.96 |
|
#08 JSTP |
$ 52,524.61 |
|
#16 OVERBROOK |
$ 80.00 |
Trustee Hannon
inquired as to the Water Department’s acquisition of the Hand Held meter
readers.
Jennifer Kakusian
explained the expenditure.
Trustee
King requested that the Thyssen-Krupp voucher be pulled. He also
requested
that the Clerk/Treasurer call the company to inquire about the bill.
Board Polled.
Motion
Carried. Ayes
5 Nayes 0
12.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Motion made by Trustee King –seconded by
Trustee Hannon to approve with the following amendment to state that
Mr. Michitti pay 1.5% on the total payment.
Resolution
#185 – Authorization for the Board to accept the
repayment by firefighter Marco Michitti in twelve (12) monthly installments, in
accordance with payment schedule confirmed with Village Clerk/Treasurer, to
correct an overpayment of retroactive pay.
Trustee Hannon
stated that he is suspicious of the overpayment matter and noted that this
firefighter had not worked for the Village for several months.
Trustee Hannon made
a formal request that there be an audit to go through the entire retro payment
to the fire department.
Board members polled.
Motion carried. Ayes
5 Nayes 0
Trustee
Hannon read from the following prepared statement:
At the July board meeting I advised residents of a second case of alleged misappropriation of public funds, totaling about $40,000.00. Since that time the matter has been reviewed by law enforcement and it appears the matter cannot be pursued criminally due to the statute of limitations. This also appears to be the case regarding any civil action, according to the village attorney’s office. I have since learned that this matter came to the attention of the Mayor in 2001. At that time there were no statute of limitations issues whatsoever, and the funds could easily have been recovered by a criminal or civil action, or by simply requesting the funds be returned. The Mayor’s lack of oversight allowed these funds to be misappropriated over a period of several years leading up to 2001.
Mayor Lewis
inquired of Trustee Hannon as to whether he had documentation specifically
referencing the $40,000 amount.
Trustee Hannon
answered in the affirmative.
13.
NEW BUSINESS
Motion made by Trustee Balles –seconded by
Trustee King to approve:
Resolution #201 – Authorization to sign
an Engineering Agreement with C & S Engineers in the amount of $72,000.00
for engineering services for “Well No. 7 Upgrade” as part of the Inter-municipal
agreement with the
Board members polled.
Motion carried. Ayes
5 Nayes 0
Motion made by Trustee Adams –seconded by
Trustee King to approve:
Resolution #202
– Authorization
for the Department of Public Works to sell excess road/street millings for $6.50
per ton.
Board members polled.
Motion carried. Ayes
5 Nayes 0
HELD
OVER Trustee Hannon.
Resolution #203 – Authorization to
place “No Parking Anytime” signs on the north side of Faatz Alley.
Motion made by Trustee King –seconded by
Trustee Adams to approve:
Resolution #204 - Authorization for the Village Clerk to
forward the report of the examination of the completed Johnson City Village
Court records and dockets to the New York State Office of Court Administration
pursuant to and as required by Section 2019-a of the Uniform Justice Court Act.
Board members polled.
Motion carried. Ayes
5 Nayes 0
Motion made by Trustee Hannon –seconded by
Trustee King to approve:
Resolution
#205
– Authorization to appoint Rosemarie Labare as a part time Court Clerk. [$8.50
per hour not to exceed 19.5 hours per week].
Subject to a background investigation.
Board members polled.
Motion carried. Ayes
5 Nayes 0
Trustee Balles inquired about a
telephone pole being removed by the traffic circle.
Mayor Lewis indicated that the pole
has been removed.
Trustee Hannon noted that the City of
Ken Kinsman, a Board member of the
Joint Sewage Treatment Plant, mentioned that he did hear about the audit
request in the Press & Sun-Bulletin.
Trustee Hannon applauded the City of
Trustee Balles noted that if the
Attorney Jeff Jacobs noted that
legally anyone can request an audit.
Trustee King stated that the City of
Motion made Trustee Hannon – seconded
by Trustee King to approve:
Resolution
#206 – Authorization to send a letter to the New York State Comptrollers
Office supporting Binghamton’s request for an audit of the Binghamton-Johnson
City Joint Sewage Treatment Plant. This
correspondence shall be over the signature of the Mayor and the Committee
Trustees.
Board members polled.
Motion carried. Ayes
5 Nayes 0
15.
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR – VISITORS
·
Rick Wallikas –
Mayor Lewis obliged
Mr. Wallikas’ request and went through the entire Code Enforcement Report-September
2008.
Trustee Hannon
thanked Mr. Wallikas for his inquiry. He
noted that the Conklin Warehouse is a concern and has spoken to the Code
Department about this issue. He has told
the Code Department that he expects action on this property since the
complaints go back to 2001. He is also concerned
about safety hazards on
·
Greg Deemie –
many tons of excess milling the Village
has to sell.
Mayor
Lewis indicated the quantity varies.
·
Scott Gallagher –
Warehouse is solely
responsible for that property. He
referred to his time on the Board of Trustees and noted that the owner has
alternatives to cleaning up his property and working in conjunction with the
Village to meet code. He also noted that
the time that this owner has had to comply with code has been extensive.
·
Marco Michitti –
Trustee Hannon
stated that the “no interest option” was not fair to taxpayers. He reiterated that although the Village was
in error, asking for nominal interest is the proper way to handle the taxpayers
money.
Marco Michitti inquired
as to why interest payments were not mentioned initially when Trustee Hannon
was at the first meeting to discuss payback options.
Trustee Hannon
noted that he was never in agreement with the payment plan and could not speak
for the entire Board at that time.
Marco Michitti
indicated that the Board is not being fair to taxpayers in that the oversight
would not have happened if the requested promotions of Acting Fire Marshal
Dempsey would have been made; meaning one man is doing three jobs and the mistakes
would not have been made in the initial calculations supplied to the Village.
Trustee Hannon noted
that his and Mr. Michitti’s opinions on this topic are very different.
·
John Sullivan –
Trustee King
explained that the monies would be in the General Checking Account earning no
interest, hence the nominal fee.
John Sullivan
expressed concern that this was favored treatment. He inquired as to the basis for the retro
payments.
Mayor Lewis
explained the process and rates of the retro payments.
Trustee Hannon offered
further explanation.
Trustee King noted
that anything calculated from their base pay determined the retro payment for
each firefighter.
John Sullivan asked
Trustee Hannon if he had documented proof of the alleged $40,000 misappropriation
and if Trustee Hannon would release the name of the individual in question.
Trustee Hannon
indicated that under the current circumstances he would not release the name,
but that Mr. Sullivan might consider filing a Freedom of Information Law
request to obtain the information.
John Sullivan
inquired to Mayor Lewis that if the information was available in 2001 and it
was brought to his attention, why did he not pursue it.
Mayor Lewis stated
that information relative to this matter was not brought to his attention. He noted that this issue is similar to another
issue that is being discussed, both relative to what is covered by the contract
and what is not.
John Sullivan
inquired as to if the situation to which Trustee Hannon is referring to is the
same as the recent situation with former Fire Chief Hank Michalovic.
Mayor
Lewis noted that he does not oversee every transaction.
John Sullivan
indicated that this was a lack of oversight.
Mayor Lewis noted
that it is impossible to go over every fiscal item.
John Sullivan
further inquired as to the Mayor’s knowledge of this issue.
Mayor Lewis stated,
for the record, that the $40,000 was never brought up to his attention or this
issue until the previous investigation.
John Sullivan
stated that this incident should have been documented somewhere.
Trustee Hannon
indicated that he is in possession of documentation that this issue surfaced in
2001 suggesting that monies were paid that should not have been paid.
·
John Kleinsmith –
health care benefits.
Mayor Lewis stated
that this topic was discussed in the work session and documentation will follow
addressed to the retirees. He noted that
the cost to the Village is quite large.
·
Scott Gallagher –
discussed by the Village to make up for the shortfall in the Fire
fighter payroll
line.
Mayor Lewis named
options that included such as BONDs, BANs and overall cutbacks throughout the
Village.
Scott Gallagher
inquired as to if revenue rates were to be raised.
Mayor Lewis
indicated that these were separate lines.
Scott Gallagher inquired as to
if money was to be shifted from other lines in the budget.
Mayor Lewis noted that, if
money was to be shifted, it would have to be paid back. He noted that the Village may have to
transfer from other funds in the short term but that is not a good idea.
·
Mike Tugwell –
Jennifer Kakusian
noted that this item referred to the 8th payment to the Joint Sewage
Treatment Plant of the Fiscal Year to cover bills.
16. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was
adjourned at 8:52PM.
__________________________________
Jennifer Kakusian, Village Clerk/Treasurer