Town Board Agenda For May 5

The Town Board of Somers, NY meets Thursday May 5 in a work session. On the consensus agenda is the dedication of original Farmstead at the entrance of Angle Fly Preserve to “Mickey Oliver” for her many contributions to the Town and the protection and preservation of the Angle Fly Preserve.   Also, the dog park is slated for discussion.

See the complete agenda here. A portion is below.

B. TOWN BOARD: 

 1.  Insurance – discussion.  

 2.  Annual MS4 Report.   

 3.  The Green at Somers (formerly the North End at Somers).   

 4.  Alexan Somers Woods – discussion.  

 5.  Dog Park – Discussion.  

H.  PROPOSED CONSENSUS AGENDA:  

 1.  Refer request for stop signs at the following intersections to Police, Highway  

  and Town Engineering Office for review and comment: 

  a.  Entrance Way East and Lake Way (4-way) and /or 

  b.  Entrance Way East and Central Way (3-way) and /or 

  c.  Entrance Way East and Inter Way (3-way) and /or 

  d.  Entrance Way West and Ridge Way and /or 

  e.  Entrance Way West and Fair Way  

  *** 

  3.  Schedule Public Hearing for June 9, 2011 for proposed revision of §150-13M  

  Expiration of Conditions Approval of the Town Code to comport with  

  NYS Law.   

 4.  Adopt resolution announcing May as National Preservation Month “Celebrating 

  America’s Treasures.” 

  ***

  6.  Reappoint Herb Oringel as Chairman of the Energy Advisory Panel to a term  

  ending December 31, 2011.   

 7.  Authorize dedication of original Farmstead at the entrance of Angle Fly  

  Preserve to “Mickey Oliver” for her many contributions to the Town and  

  the protection and preservation of the Angle Fly.   

 ***

2011 CALENDAR  

  May 5  7:30pm Town Board Work Session 

  May 12 7:30pm  Public Hearing: 

       Chapter 77 of the Code: Building  

        Unsafe 

      Town Board Regular Meeting 

  May 19 6:00pm  Town Board Special Meeting – re:    

       Energy Initiatives 

Dog Park On Town Board Agenda For Thursday

The proposed dog park for Somers, NY is on the agenda for the Town Board meeting on May 5.  The off leash park will be located on Route 100 next to the DPW yard.  Funding for the fence is through donations. 


Somers Dog Park has a Facebook page.  It is currently looking for a volunteer to set up a 501(c) corporation.


LINKS:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Somers-Dog-Park/215493025143325?sk=info

More Dog Park Petition Details

At the March 10 Town Board meeting in Somers, NY the Board received a petition supporting the creation of an off-leash dog park in Somers. Faye DeSanto, Jackie Bassett and Joan Kazin presented the Town Board with the petition signed by 535 residents. The signatures were gathered from various locations in Somers over the course of the month. At the meeting, Ms. DeSanto indicated that private donations could cover the cost of fencing around the park, the most major expense. She also offered the town the support and work of those who signed the petition in helping to establish and implement the park.

The agenda for the March 22 meeting of the Somers Parks and Recreation Department includes the dog park as an item for discussion.

[Hat Tip to Faye M. DeSanto, who provided most of the info for this story.]

Town Board Meeting Recap: Shenorock, Dog Park and Heritage Hills Water District

Here are some highlights from the Town Board meeting of March 10, 2011.

Shenorock Park District Procedures In Place

Over two hours of rancorous comment by Shenorock residents did not bring the two sides closer to compromise in the feud about creating a park district for Lake Shenorock to build a swimming beach and bath house. Opponents say the $1.4 million project is a luxury that residents should not be taxed to fund, noting that cleaning the lake of muck is a far cheaper first step. Proponents of the project say most residents want the project and want the matter put to a vote. The Town Board would love to see a compromise, but that is extremely unlikely.

As reported previously, the Town Board in December rejected as "flawed" the first petition to create a Park District. The Town decided that the best procedure would be for the petition to reside with the Town Clerk for approximately 60 days. The Town Clerk will oversee the signing process, verifying that each signer is an owner of land within the boundaries of the proposed park district. This is not a head-count vote. For the petition to succeed, 51% of owners as well as 51% resident owners must sign the petition The percent is determined by assessed value.

Dog Park

A group of residents has offered to fund the fencing costs of a dog park on Town-owned land. Fencing is by far the most expensive cost involved in building a dog park. The Town Board asked the Parks and Rec department to draw up plans for the Board to consider. Councilman Harry Bolton is the liaison. The location of the proposed dog park is on land near the Highways Department garage.

Heritage Hills Water District

The Town of Somers, NY is thinking about acquiring the Heritage Hills Water and Sewer District from a private owner. The overwhelming consideration said Supervisor Murphy is whether the residents in that District would save money. The asking price for the plant and infrastructure is over $18 million. On the back of an envelope analysis, Richard Benedict, President of the Heritage Hills Society, thinks the deal makes sense because revenues are likely to grow. The service area includes the Heritage Hills condos, a shopping center, a school and any new homes built in the area, The Town will further study the financial issues involved using an outside consultant. The financial advisor for Somers is worried about lost property taxes as a municipal district is tax exempt. However, other water districts in Town already enjoy tax exempt status.

Prevailing Wage Law

In discussions about paving roads and repairing the library roof, Councilman Bolton commented that the prevailing wage causes the Town to spend significantly more money on work put out to bid.

Moment Of Silence

The Town Board observed a moment of silence to honor Joanne Garrity and Don Derr, both of whom passed away this month.

The video of the Town Board meeting is available at the Town's web site.

LINKS:

http://somersspectator.blogspot.com/2010/12/back-to-square-one-for-shenorock-lake.html

http://www.somersny.com/Pages/SomersNY_TownMtgVideos/TownBoard031011