Village of Johnsburg Village President and Board of Trustees met May 2
Here are the minutes provided by the board of trustees:
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES
President Hettermann called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Village Hall.
Attendees
Trustee Tom Curry
Trustee Beth Foreman
Trustee Kyle Frost (absent)
Trustee Josh Hagen
Trustee Greg Klemstein
Trustee Scott Letzter
Village Administrator Claudett Sofiakis
Assistant Village Administrator Vinny Lamontagna
Attorney Michael Smoron
Village Engineer Tim Hartnett
PRESENTATION OF PLAQUES - President Hettermann presented a plaque to Trustee Tom Curry for his 8 years of service on the Development and Governmental Affairs and Community Affairs Committee and as a Village Trustee.
OATH OF OFFICE - President Hettermann delivered the Oath of Office to James Morris, Michael Fouke, Mary Beth Foreman, and Scott Letzter as Village Trustees
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION – Len Keil attended to extend thanks to Ms. Sofiakis and Mr. Walsh for all of their efforts helping to address the challenges being experienced in Remington Grove with beavers.
Attorney Mark Saladin and apartment manager John Czernia attended on behalf of Ross Causton and the owners of the apartment complex on Route 31 adjacent to the Rose Plaza development. Mr. Saladin expressed concern that traffic is cutting through the apartment complex parking lot to get to the new Dunkin store and that the signage amendment being requested will encourage more cut through traffic. He discussed the cross access agreement associated with the property and stated that the intent was to provide access but it was not anticipated that traffic would utilize the apartment complex’s parking lot for access. He requested assistance in implementing restrictive signage at the access to the apartment from Route 31 and at the cross access easement. He also discussed the implementation of curbing to prevent traffic from leaving the Rose Plaza site through the apartment’s parking lot.
OMNIBUS AGENDA - Trustee Klemstein moved to approve the Omnibus Agenda. Trustee Hagen seconded the motion. All Trustee voted aye. Motion carried.
- Move to approve the minutes of the April 11, 2023 Special Meeting of the President and Board of Trustees
- Move to ratify the acceptance of the bid from Winter Solutions, LLC for grass gutting and trimming of Village properties.
- Disbursements
- General Fund $446,076.11
- MFT
- Waterworks & Sewage Fund $ 7,588.75
- Golf Course Fund 510.13
- Land and Building
- Debt Service/SSA Fund 20,000.75
- Total All Funds $474,175.74
SUNNYSIDE BEACH DRIVE - Trustee Foreman moved to waive bidding for the Sunnyside Beach Road Improvement Project. Trustee Letzer seconded the motion. Trustee Hagen questioned if any reductions were proposed by the contractors. Mr. Hartnett discussed meetings that were held with the contractors to develop cost saving approaches to the project. He explained that of the four bidders, two submitted updated proposals. Campenella’s updated proposal is $1,410,000 and Lenny Hoffman’s is $1,239,328. Mr. Hartnett recommended accepting the proposal from Lenny Hoffman. President Hettermann questioned the cost impact of having to take drainage down to the Village’s property because residents did not provide the easements they committed to. Mr. Hartnett stated that it resulted in $75,000 to $100,000 in extra costs. Trustee Foremann questioned if there are other options. President Hettermann discussed the cost if the Village decided not to proceed. He explained that it would have a cost impact of approximately $450,000 as compared with the $270,000 expense of moving forward with the project. Administrator Sofiakis discussed the amount of tax revenues collected from the neighborhood since the 1991 annexation and specifically revenues collected for road maintenance and improvements. She confirmed that the additional cost could be incorporated into the FY 2024 budget and still enable the Villlage to pursue the road resurfacing program.
The Board discussed step that could be taken in the future to prevent similar situations from occurring. Mr. Quinn emphasized that the cost increases were not the fault of the Village but rather as a result of a few residents not following through with their commitment to provide drainage easements, which required alternative easements to be secured, creating delays in the project. Those actions resulted in increased design/construction costs and extraordinary inflationary impacts.
Trustee Hagen remarked that because of a few residents not following through on their commitment, all of the Village’s residents will be impacted. He questioned if the Village can ask the residents on Sunnyside Beach to contribute more. Attorney Smoron confirmed that they can be asked, but there is likely no legal recourse. Trustee Foreman questions if the residents on Sunnyside Beach know the full impact of the actions of their few neighbors. Ms. Sofiakis stated that the neighborhood capatins are aware and correspondence had been sent to all of the residents when the drainage issues came about. She added that another letter will be going out to the residents following the board’s action on the bids. All trustees agreed that all the residents on Sunnyside Beach need to be aware of what transpired. All Trustees voted aye on the roll. Motion carried.
SUNNYSIDE BEACH ROAD IMPROVEMENT PROJECT - Trustee Foremann moved to accept the proposal from Lenny Hoffman in the amount of $1,249,328 for the Sunnyside Beach Road Improvement Project. Trustee Letzter seconded the motionr. Trustee Hagan questioned if the matter can be tabled to see if something else can be done. President Hettermann explained that further delay could result in the contractors withdrawing their proposal and pushing the project out of this year’s construction season which will only result in more costs. He suggested that the Board consider moving forward with the proposal while continuing to seek opportunities to minimize the cost impact to the Village. Trustees Letzter, Fouke, Foreman, Klemstein, and Morris voted aye. Trustee Hagen voted no. Motion carried.
DUNKIN SIGN –. Ms. Sofiakis explained that Dunkin is requesting an increase in the height of the multi-tenant sign which was already approved as part of the development. She explained that the elevation difference between between Route 31 and the property creates a challenge for the sign to be visible at the currently approved height. She added that the neighboring Discount Tire experienced the same challenge and obtained an increase in the height of their sign. The matter will be included on the next meeting agenda for action.
ADJOURNMENT – Trustee Foreman moved to adjourn the meeting. T:rustee Fouke seconded the motion. All trustees present voted aye. Motion to adjourn was carried at 8:00 p.m.
https://www.johnsburg.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/village_board/meeting/26455/board_minutes_5-2-23.pdf
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