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June 8, 2020 Regular Meeting

Mayor James M. Jaroszynski
Trustee J. Michael Steele
Trustee Timothy Dunn
Trustee Alan Gustafson, Jr.
Trustee Kipp Reynolds

Gregory Peterson, Attorney
Anna L. Fales, Village Clerk
Lawrence Trask, Treasurer
Bryce Webster, Fire Chief
W. Robert Morris, Code Enforcement Officer
Peter C. Fuller, DPW Superintendent
Carl Caprino, Assisstant Superintendent
Laurie Becker, Library Director

The regular meeting of the Village of Falconer Mayor and Board of Trustees was held on Monday, June 8, 2020 at 7:00 P.M. in the Falconer Public Library with Mayor James Jaroszynski presiding.

Pledge of Allegiance

Visitors

No visitors were present.

Roll:

Trustee Steele, Trustee Dunn, Trustee Gustafson, Trustee Reynolds and Mayor Jaroszynski were all present.

Minutes

Trustee Dunn made a motion, seconded by Trustee Steele, to approve the minutes/transcription of the regular Board of Trustee meeting which was held via Zoom on May 11, 2020 v, as written. Roll: Steele: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Gustafson: Aye, Reynolds: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: None. Carried.

Fire Chief

The chief’s May report was reviewed and noted that the department responded to 50 EMS, 8 cancelled in route, 0 structure fire, 1 medical assist, 2 system or detector malfunction, 1 electrical wiring/equipment problem, 1 false alarm and false call, and 1 chemical release, reaction, or toxic, totaling 64 calls in April/275:42 personnel hours.

Mutual Aid Breakdown- May
Given: Alstar-EMS-0, Jamestown-9, Fly Car-2, Kennedy 1, Gerry-2, Frewsburg-3: totaling 17
Received: Alstar-EMS-1, Jamestown-0, Gerry-0, Kennedy-0, Stat Med Evac-1, Fly Car Assist-3, County Coronor-1: totaling 6.

Trustee Steele inquired as to the status of a service agreement with Jamestown to help cover costs sustained by the village and town of Ellicott taxpayers, for the EMS mutual aid calls into the city. Mr. Steele noted that it costs village and town taxpayers financially as well as taxes the department’s volunteer personnel. Chief Webster responded, stating that he has not heard anything on a service contract and also noted that the calls into the city are again on the increase. Calls are mostly emergent in nature, such as overdoses, unresponsive and assault calls. He stated that FFD responds to calls in the city quadrant from Windsor Street and east with occasional calls into other quadrants throughout the city, as necessary.

Code Enforcement

The May code officer report was reviewed. It was noted 21 ($115.00) building permits were issued, 0 building inspections were performed, 0 certificates of occupancy were issued, 0 certificates of compliance, 27 phone calls/personal contact/emails were addressed, 7 complaints received/actions taken, 1 notices of violations mailed, 1 notice of violations resolved, 0 stop work order issued, and 0 stop work order resolved. The Pearl Street fire property has now been boarded up but it still needs to be mowed. CEO Morris will address with property owners.

CEO Morris presented an application for a chicken permit, received from Amanda McAllister of 212 E. Main Street for consideration by the board.

Trustee Dunn made a motion, seconded by Trustee Reynolds, to approve Amanda McAllister’s request for a Special Chicken Permit to house 6 hens in a coop located in the westerly corner of their 212 E. Main Street property. Roll: Steele: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Gustafson: Aye, Reynolds: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: None. Carried.

The application was complete with letters of consent from all adjacent property owners located within a 50-foot radius of the McAllister property, a description of the enclosure with photos supporting her application.

CEO Morris reported that the state amended the NYS Uniform Fire and Prevention Code, effective May 2020, which will need board approval. Attorney Peterson will research whether or not a resolution will be sufficient or whether a new local law will be needed.

Trustee Dunn requested to review the changes prior to taking action.

Department of Public Works

The DPW report was reviewed for the period May 11, 2020-June 8, 2020. Superintendent Fuller introduced Carl Carpino who will be Mr. Fuller’s DPW successor as superintendent. Mr. Fuller gave a short overview of the village’s selection process for the position, stating that a committee which included the Town of Ellicott, reviewed 3 options:

  1. Hiring a DPW manager and eliminating the superintendent position- no money savings
  2. Keeping the current structure with a DPW superintendent, promoting Mr. Caprino to Superintendent. Best financial and best service option for village taxpayers.
  3. Combining the town & village DPW’s into one. This option would have resulted in increased expense to village taxpayers.

Mayor Jaroszynski explained to the board that Mr. Fuller will tutor Mr. Caprino for the next three months, until Mr. Fuller’s retirement in September. Eric Kanouff has been hired to replace Cody Dustin and a new hire will replace Mr. Caprino to complete the restructuring process.

The DPW has been patching village streets and repaired the Community Building hot water tank to mitigate the sulfur odor. They cleaned up a downed tree from the weekend’s windstorm. Major road projects are on-hold awaiting notice of CHIPS funding from the state. It is estimated that the tentative Mapleshade and Mason Street projects will cost approximately $75,000-$80,000.

Library

The May library report was reviewed. This month the library received $400.00 in donations.,

Story Hour has concluded. Ashley Nelson mailed each of the children certificates, stickers and the book, I Wish You More, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld. She also donated a copy of the book to the library in honor of the three and four-year old story hour classes.

Mrs. Becker completed the NY Forward COVID-19 Safety Plan for the library’s re-opening which began with curbside service on June 4th. Mrs. Becker reported that there have already been 187 curbside orders this week.

May 2020 gifts and donations totaled $1,065.90.

Committees:

Legal:

Mr. Peterson noted that a contract is pending on the Park Street property.

Animal Control:

The May 2020 animal control report was reviewed. Three complaints were received in May. One at-large dog was caught and taken to the Humane Society on May 13th. One complaint of an at-large dog on Cherry Street was not found. A renewed complaint by a neighbor regarding too many dogs at 28 W. Falconer Street was investigated on 6/4/2020. Dogs can be heard in residence but Mr. Belin was unable to see them as windows are covered with cardboard and the yard is fenced and covered in black plastic. Two separate residents have three-dogs licensed and registered to that residence.

Trustee Steele made a motion, seconded by Trustee Dunn, to the approve the animal control contract with Belin Security Services for the period June 1, 2020-May 31, 2021, as written. Roll: Steele: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Gustafson: Aye, Reynolds: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: None. Carried

Farmers Market:

Trustee Reynolds said that he would like the village to host a 1-day Farmers Market event in the fall. Major Jaroszynski asked Trustee Reynolds to reach out to Mrs. Brown to ensure letters are sent to the market’s past list of vendors, letting them know that the village plans to resume the market spring.

Major Jaroszynski said that Scott Farms will be setting up a fresh fruit and vegetable stand on Brian Nelson’s property located across the street from Burger King.

Parks:

Due to the social distancing restrictions and other requirements regarding COVID-19, the village will not have a summer recreation program in Falconer Park this year. Park pavilions rentals are also suspended for the summer and refunds have been mailed to everyone who had already paid for 2020 pavilion rentals.

Planning & Zoning:

The governor’s executive order regarding open public hearings has been extended through July 7, 2020.

Old Business:

As an update regarding COVID-19, the village offices remain open by appointment only. Treasurer Trask will be moving back into the office on Friday, June 12th. Safety plans and affirmations must by completed by all departments prior to re-opening to the public. Mayor Jaroszynski is working on a list policies and procedures. The village received a supply of PPI from the county fire services in anticipation of the reopening of village departments.

The Falconer Rotary officially cancelled the 2020 village garage sale days.

It was noted by Clerk Fales that the Chautauqua County Supreme Court Petition documents were served on the village by the city of Jamestown, on May 29, 2020, regarding the Dow Street BPU Property Annexation.

New Business:

Superintendent Fuller submitted his letter of resignation to the board, effective, September 7, 2020. Trustee Reynolds submitted a letter of disclosure regarding work his is performing for the Jamestown BPU.

Abstracts

Motion: It is moved by Trustee Dunn and seconded by Trustee Steele that Abstract #1, General Fund in the amount of $ 77,580.40 be approved for payment. Roll: Steele: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Gustafson: Aye, Reynolds: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: None. Carried

Motion: It is moved by Trustee Gustafson and seconded by Trustee Reynolds that Abstract #1, Cemetery Fund in the amount of $ 1,030.94 be approved for payment. Roll: Steele: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Gustafson: Aye, Reynolds: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: None. Carried

Motion: It is moved by Trustee Reynolds and seconded by Trustee Gustafson that Abstract #1, Library Fund in the amount of $ 620.83 be approved for payment. Roll: Steele: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Gustafson: Aye, Reynolds: Aye, and

Motion: It is moved by Trustee Steele and seconded by Trustee Dunn that Abstract #1, General Fund Hand Items in the amount of $36,046.22 be approved for payment. Roll: Steele: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Gustafson: Aye, Reynolds: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: None. Carried

Adjourn to Executive Session

Trustee Steele made a motion, seconded by Trustee Gustafson, to adjourn into executive session at 8:00 pm to discuss personnel. Roll: Steele: Aye, Dunn: Aye, Gustafson: Aye, Reynolds: Aye, and Jaroszynski: Aye. Nays: None. Carried

The board exited executive session and adjourned the meeting at 8:47 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Anna Fales, Village Clerk