The Town Board of the Town of Clayton held a regular meeting at the Upper Schoolhouse on Grindstone Island with the following persons present:

Justin Taylor                             George Kittle                            Donald Turcotte

Lance Peterson             Paula Baril                                Bob Boulton

Kathy LaClair

Nicole Cornaire                        Alicia Dewey                            Steve Dorr

Debbie Taylor                          John Pecor                               Candie Pecor

Denise Trudell                          Kristina Rusho (TI Sun)            Mike Docteur (Co. Leg.)

Mary Lou Rusho                      Janice McPhail             Mary Turcotte

Jen Condi                                 Brenda Slate                             Yuvon Marra

Erma Slate                                Art Couch                                Henry Custis

Philip Marra                             Ralph Downey              Vin R. Rossmassler

Sylvia Shoutes

Supervisor Taylor opened the regular meeting at 5:00 PM and welcomed those in attendance.

Public:

Legislator Mike Docteur thanked the Town Board for letting him participate in the trip to Grindstone Island. 

Leg. Docteur stated the County is discussing the problem of Invasive Species as it pertains to the St. Lawrence River.  He is co-endorsing legislation with Legislator Phil Reed that will hopefully pass at the next month full board meeting.  He indicated that 10% of the ocean going ships that traverse the St. Lawrence River are carriers of the Invasive Species, noting that this could be very disastrous to our communities that depend on tourism for their livelihood.

Janice McPhail – Grindstone Schoolhouse Report:

Mrs. McPhail welcomed everyone to the schoolhouse on behalf of the Bd. of Directors of the School House.

Mrs. McPhail stated the schoolhouse has many in attendance during the week.  Little people are there twice a week for programs and also high school students (12-13) are learning about the habitat.

Mrs. McPhail extended an invitation to all those present to partake in some refreshments after the meeting this evening.

Some of the classes being offered this year are genealogy, boater safety, research of the quarries and on 8/12 they will be announcing the Heritage Scholarship winners.

Mrs. McPhail also distributed some flyers of upcoming classes.

Councilman Kittle stated possibly a class in the use of the AE Defibrillator might be will attended and useful.

Grindstone Island 911 System:

Mary Lou Rusho wanted to make sure the 911 system is on line for the island.  She had a draft form and will work with whoever to get this implemented

Supervisor Taylor indicated that Rick Gregware of Northern Marine is also helping and Jefferson County is working on location finding.

Janice McPhail indicated that TIERS has a membership that all can join and the also sell address markers.

Grindstone Island Roads:

Islanders are looking for a treatment of calcium chloride which is needed to keep the dust down.  They want it on all the road, not just in front of the residences.

Denise Trudell, Assessor stated this might be the time to indicate the North Shore Extension needs to be given a proper road name.  The 911 addressing department at Jefferson County is looking for this to be done soon.

Supervisor Taylor indicated that she should work with Highway Supt. Boulton as this is a private driveway.

Boathouse in Bay:

Sylvia Shoutes stated the houseboat is still in the bay and has been abandoned.  Trash and rodents are prevalent.  Some of the windows have been smashed out.

Shoulder Grasses:

Phil Marra indicated that grass along the side of the road needs to be mowed earlier in the season.  This is usually done later in September and the majority of the people have gone for the season.

Highway Superintendent Boulton state his boom mower is in use at this time, however he might be able to use the County boom mower.

Minutes:

Motion by Donald Turcotte, seconded by Paula Baril, to approve the minutes of July 11^th, as amended with a couple additions.  Motion carried.

Oil/Propane Bid:

Fuel Bid was opened at 5:15 PM with only one of three companies returning a bid. 

Motion by George Kittle, 2^nd by Lance Peterson, to award to Griffith Energy the following:  Furnace Fuel Oil at Option 2: Variable Price effective today at 2.2468/gallon; Propane Option 1: Fixed price at 1.7490/gallon and also the “burner service” with hourly rates (plus parts) as follows: Regular: Monday-Friday (7AM – 5 PM) at $58.00 and all other times: $63.00.  A Non-Collusive Bidding Certificate accompanied the bid.  Motion carried.  Town Clerk will notify Griffith energy of the award.

Correspondence:

1)      Invitation to TIPAF/Clayton Opera House for a lively concert The Buskers @ 4PM, Sunday, August 5, 2007.  Those planning on attending should notify Alicia so she can respond.  (See attached.)

2)      Youth Commission Meeting Minutes of 4/23 received.   (See attached.)

3)      Clayton Municipal Bldg. Renovation preliminary Opinion of Project Costs. (See attached.)

4)      Letter received July 19^th concerning the tennis courts near the Arena from the Ladies Doubles tennis Group.  (See attached.)

5)      Grants Action News – July 2007 issue.  (See attached.)

6)      Received comments from Doug Eberhart.  (See attached.)

7)      Received Notice of Petition for Assessment from Andrew S. Kowalczyk, III.  (See file.)

8)      Received Notice of Petition for Assessment from Clayton Housing Associates.  (See file.)

Appointment of Assessor:

Motion by George Kittle, seconded by Donald Turcotte, to appoint Denise Trudell to the six (6) year term commencing this October 1^st.  Motion carried.

Councilman Turcotte complimented Mrs. Trudell on an excellent job.

Supervisor Taylor stated Mrs. Trudell had visited 93% of the parcels this past year and complimented her on a good job well done.

Lifeguards:

Motion by Donald Turcotte, seconded by Lance Peterson, to appoint the following substitute pool lifeguards starting on 7/25 at a rate of $7.15 per hour:  Kate Ebbing, Julianne Rhinebeck, Elizabeth Grater, Jordan Bannister, Colleen Knapp, Anna Gibson & Maureen Hummel.  Motion carried.

Zoning Assistant:

Steve Dorr will start this Friday, July 27^th at a salary of $4,000 per year.

West Side Sewer District:

Supervisor Taylor indicated that the Village of Clayton will need an easement from the Town.

Motion by Paula Baril, seconded by Donald Turcotte, for Supervisor Taylor to work with Atty. Joe Russell to secure the easement(s) necessary.  Motion carried.

Depauville Sewer Ordinance:

Supervisor Taylor stated there needs to be a process that allows for the public to know a fee will need to be collected in the district.  We will amend the zoning fee schedule to include the Sewer Fee of $1,000.

SMSI:

Supervisor Taylor stated that Town and Village didn’t receive the grant we had applied for.

Grindstone Island Dock Web Cam:

Supervisor Taylor stated he had received a call requesting a web cam for the Grindstone Island dock.  Upon review it would cost about $200 a month for a wireless connection and it would need someone to monitor the system.  Whereby this is plausible however the $2400 per year could be spent better elsewhere.

Potter’s Beach:

Supervisor Taylor had received a call concerning the trashing of this beach.  The Beach is privately owned by TILT.  This apparently was a one time thing and not considered to be a big issue at this time.

Office Cleaning Staff:

Supervisor Taylor will get with the Town Clerk to discuss hiring someone.  Our current cleaning person wants to be relieved as she has a fulltime job elsewhere.

SARA Grant:

Supervisor Taylor indicated we had sent in a revision to the grant.  We converted the $2750 allocated for supplies and added another $2750 from the contingency account to purchase a GPS.

Motion by Lance Peterson, seconded by George Kittle, to purchase a gathering device.  Motion carried.

Article X of NYS Public Service Law:

Supervisor Taylor received a letter from the Association of Towns concerning NYS Legislature whose is currently negotiating a renewal of Article X of the Public Service Law which will put in place a new State Permit for the siting of power plants.  The legislation had expired in December of 2002.  The Article X siting process as proposed affords local governments a limited role in the process.  Assoc. of Towns is encouraging local municipalities to contact the Governor, State Senator and State Assembly Member and members of the joint legislative conference on energy to express the concerns regarding the Article X power plant siting policy.  This also includes wind turbines.

Supervisor Taylor indicated that we shouldn’t be in support of this legislation.  Councilman Turcotte stated that this is an infringement on Home rule.  Councilman Kittle stated he doesn’t feel we should lose control.

Supervisor Taylor stated we should have a formal resolution for the next meeting.

Clerk LaClair indicated that would be Resolution #39 of 2007.

Justice Audit:

An audit was completed this week on the Justice Court.  This will be a yearly audit to be completed in January of each year.

Resolution #38 of 2007 offered by George Kittle, 2^nd  by Lance Peterson, to approve the audit of the Justice account books and the audited monthly reports of Town Justice Clarence F. Giles Jr. and Justice Clifford James for the Town of Clayton for the 2006 year.  Justin A. Taylor – aye, George Kittle – aye, Donald Turcotte – aye, Lance Peterson – aye, Paula Baril – aye.  (SEE RESOLUTION BOOK.)  

Opera House Air Conditioner:

The new air conditioning unit is not working.  Bernier, Carr & Associates sent their private plane to the corporation headquarters from where the unit had been purchased to pick up parts and get the unit back up and running.

New Computer Tech:

Shane Mc Rowley has submitted his resume as requested.  Supervisor Taylor stated we will review at the August meeting.

Grindstone Island Assessment:

Supervisor Taylor stated that the Town wide taxable assessment for 2007 is $295,171,614.  Grindstone Island represents $28,638,000 which is approximately 10% of the township.  Given the assessment at $28,638,000 that equates to approximately $57,344.60 in actual taxes.  Jefferson County receives $350,000 and TI school tax is approx. $516,000.

Highway Report:

-                      GI Schoolhouse is in need of an air conditioner, Hwy. Supt. Boulton feels we should install.

-                      Discussion on Asphalt Zipper. Have worked on Champion bridge and now working on County 59.

-                      Lovers Lane is on hold at this time.

-                      Strawberry Lane project:  catch basins & piping work coming along and we are now behind Kinney Drugs.

-                      Frink Development:  CLDC will have someone on site week of 8/6 doing layout of the areas to be excavated using GPS.  Town forces will be starting the week of 8/13 hauling to DANC.  We will be using some of our trucks and also Jeff. Co. trucks.

Committee Reports:

George Kittle:               Youth Commission awarded $1500 by Jeff Co Youth Bureau.

                                    Arena Tennis Court – the lights don’t work. Like to see them                                        running soon.

Donald Turcotte:           Asbestos Abatement at Depauville Library – paperwork has been                                             completed.  Work has begun.  We’re on budget.

Lance Peterson:            Dock Committee:  Plans were sent back to Aubertine & Currier for                               revision.  Classification is a 105 Port of Entry.

Polly Baril:                    Hawn Memorial Library:  Changes were made to the Bd. of                                          Trustees:  Bobbie Frederick resigned her position.  Mrs. Baril                                        resigned from her position but will continue as a representative                                       from the Town Board.  Debbie Dermady, presently a teacher at the                                           Guardino Elementary School, was voted onto the Board.  John                                      Davis, former educator and administrator in Jeff. Co. was also                                       voted on the Library Board  A Confidentiality Policy was                                                          presented and approved.  A Disaster Policy was presented and                                                 approved.  Approximately $4,200 was realized from their annual                                               book sale which was held on 7/18, 19& 20 at the new fire hall on                                              Graves St.

Workshop:                  Joint Town & Village Board meeting - Wednesday, 8/15 at 6:30                                               PM.

Motion by George Kittle, 2^nd Lance Peterson, to adjourn this regular meeting at 6:35 PM.  Motion carried.

                                                                                    ______________________________

                                                                                    Kathleen E. LaClair, Town Cler