APRIL 23, 2012 TOWN OF RHINEBECK TOWN BOARD MEETING MINUTES

 

PRESENT:  Supervisor Tom Traudt                  11 residents

                    Councilman Bruce Washburn

                    Councilman Joe Gelb

                    Councilwoman Elizabeth Spinzia

                    Councilwoman Gina Fox

 

At 6:15 Supervisor Traudt opened this meeting and then the Board went into Executive Session with the Zoning Officer to discuss possible litigation pursuant to Public Officers Law Section 105(1) (d) on motion from Bruce and second by Joe.  All were in favor.

 

At 6:50 the Executive Session ended on motion from Bruce and second by Gina.  All were in favor.  The Supervisor introduced Sarah Wood from Girl Scout Troop #10078 to lead us in the PLEDGE OF ALLIGIENCE. 

 

PRESENTATION

 

Insurance Coverage - Elizabeth explained she wants to make sure the Town is getting the best coverage and price and has invited Greg and Adam Rakow from Fraleigh & Rakow to our meeting tonight for an overview of our current insurance policies.  Greg handed out a packet and stated their agency has worked with several Town Boards over the years.  The summary of insurance he handed out is listed by premise, equipment and automotive vehicles.   We want to give you the best deal.  NYMER and Selective Insurance Company are the most consistent agencies for municipalities.  We do shop around for the Town each year to make sure we are getting the best coverage for you at the lowest cost.   Our agency services Selective Insurance.

 

Adam explained that every 3 years pictures are taken of all the buildings to update our files and re-evaluate the Town's needs.  There is a 4% inflation built into this blanket policy.  A higher deductible might be one way to lower the  Town's costs.  Bruce question why the cost of an Elgin sweeper is $109,000 and insured for $130,000 and Adam stated that is the actual replacement cost.  Bruce asked what other Towns they insure and Greg replied the Villages of Tivoli, Rhinebeck and Town of Northeast and Millerton.  We are currently working with Pine Plains also. 

 

Elizabeth urged everyone to review the packet.   She said Fraleigh & Rakow can't quote out NYMER and wants to know if the Board is interested in getting a quote from NYMER. Tom feels it is always good to shop around.  Elizabeth will follow up and also look at Workman's Comp. 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Ethics Board and Recreation Committee seeking new members

 

June 2^nd Rhinecliff Waterfront Day at docks from 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

 

June 16^th - Rhinebeck Bike Safety Rodeo at TMP Park from 10 - 12 noon.  Contact Rhinebeck Village Police at 876-8181 for more information

 

BUSINESS BEFORE THE BOARD

 

1. Gina motioned and Elizabeth seconded to approve Budget Transfers, no vote taken. Bruce does not know the two people on the unemployment voucher so he amended the motion to authorize highway part town fund budget transfers only with Gina seconding. 

Authorize the bookkeeper to make the following budget transfers, amendments, and any necessary bookkeeping entries.

 

GENERAL FUND

 

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Contingency                                       000 01 1910 400      -     $    117.41

Unemployment Insurance                 000 08 9050 800      +    $     117.41

To cover 1^st Qtr bill.

 

HIGHWAY PART-TOWN FUND

P.S. Add'l Funding for Snow           003 04 5142 101      -     $  1,160.20

Interest on Hog's Bridge Ban          003 09 9730 700      +    $  1,160.20

 

All were in  favor of amended motion.

 

2. Elizabeth motioned and Bruce seconded to approve Abstract 4 B, vouchers 372-434 for $461,387.85.  Motion carried 5-0

 

3. On motion from Bruce and second by Gina the 4-23-2012 Capital Project Abstract for $6,428.29 was unanimously approved.

 

4. Bruce motioned and Elizabeth seconded to approve April 9^th Town Board meeting minutes.  Motion carried 5-0.

 

5. Bruce motioned and Gina seconded to authorize Supervisor to sign Intermunicipal Agreement with Rhinebeck Central School District.  Gina asked if the School District has been asked about sharing the cost of tax certioraris.   Elizabeth feels they need to help bear the cost of defending these cases since they benefit from our assessments.  Joe wants a dialogue with the school board to start the process.  Tom will call Joe Phelan.  All were in favor. 

 

6. Gina motioned and Bruce seconded to approve Bell Copier Maintenance agreement for Court copier at $748 for April 24, 2012 - April 23, 2013.  Motion carried unanimously. 

 

7. Bruce motioned and Joe seconded to approve 1 additional Town Hall roof scupper at $1,386.00 plus materials for coating parapet at $1,600.00.  Carried 5-0.      

 

8.     Parsonage Street Bridge   

 

WHEREAS, Tropical Storm Irene caused damage to our Parsonage Street Bridge which caused NYS to "Red Flag" the bridge, and

 

WHEREAS, the Parsonage Street Bridge will be closed unless the damage is repaired, and

 

WHEREAS, the Town of Rhinebeck Highway Department has given the town board an estimate of $50, 000 to $62,000 to fix the bridge, and

 

WHEREAS, The Town believes we can expect approximately $40,000 from FEMA to repair the bridge,

 

WHEREAS, The Town Board would like to authorize the Highway Superintendent $55,000 to fix the bridge,

 

WHEREAS, The Town Board wishes to use Highway General Fund Balance to fund the town portion of the project,

 

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Rhinebeck authorizes the Highway Superintendent to spend $55,000 to fix the Parsonage Street bridge, and

      

Offered by Elizabeth Spinzia                                   Seconded by Gina Fox

 

Elizabeth stated the Board needs to decide if the $40,000 is coming out of Part-Town or General Fund.  She suggests taking from the Highway General Fund balance and doing the work in house.  Hopefully FEMA will reimburse us for $40,000.  Bruce feels if the work is being done in house; the funds should be transferred from Highway Part-Town into General Fund ($40,000 out of part-town sales tax revenue). Bob Wyant said the highway can keep track of the personnel work at the bridge and definitely complete the project.   After much discussion, a vote was taken and the original resolution with estimated revenues, appropriated fund balance was deleted and the distribution of funds will be determined at a later date. 

 

Roll Call Vote:            Councilperson Fox aye

                                    Councilperson Gelb aye

                                    Councilperson Spinzia aye

Councilperson Washburn aye

                                    Supervisor Traudt aye

 

Resolution:  Certified to this 23^rd day of April 2012 by ____________________

 

9. Enact Tech Committee Town Password policy

Elizabeth introduced Dave Klipon, chairman of our Technology Committee.  He thinks the following resolution is pretty standard.   The Town needs to have protection with our passwords for all of our employees.  Tom stated that the Town is currently being audited by the NYS Comptroller through the Risk Assessment division and one of their concerns is that we do not have a centralized computer so we need to look into this problem.

 

On motion from Bruce and second from Elizabeth the following resolution was read:

PURPOSE

 

Town of Rhinebeck representatives are required to define and utilize strong passwords in order to protect their publicly accessible content.

 

DEFINITIONS 

 

Representative:  Any elected official of the Town of Rhinebeck; any appointee of the Town of Rhinebeck; and/or any employee of the Town of Rhinebeck.

 

Town System:  Any computer system owned or leased by the Town of Rhinebeck; computing service operated for the Town of Rhinebeck; and/or electronic communication service operated for the Town of Rhinebeck.

 

POLICY

 

Representatives must adhere to the following rules when securing town systems and email accounts:

 

• Passwords must be at lease eight characters in length
• Passwords must include both uppercase and lowercase letters
• Passwords must include at least one digit
• Passwords must be changed no less often than every six months

• Passwords must not be written down and placed in easily accessible locations
• Machine and email passwords must not be the same
• All user passwords must be delivered to the Town Clerk for safekeeping

 

In addition

 

• The email host must be configured to enforce email password redefinition on a six-month basis
• The email host must be configured to enforce password compliance level

 

The Town's Change Management Policy (pending) must be followed when consultants are requested for password policy enactment.

 

Consultants should be solicited to assist representatives apply password policy.  User machines should be configured to enforce redefinition of operating system passwords on a six-month basis.

 

All were in favor.  Elizabeth said now that this is in place we need to work on enforcement.  Bruce feels we need to have some audit procedure to make sure all employees are in compliance.

 

10. Elizabeth motioned with Bruce seconded to schedule Town Board Summer Meetings as follows: May 29^th  (Tues after Memorial Day), June 25^th, July 23^rd   and August 27^th.   Joe says there is a lot to be done ; affordable housing, monthly bills, Parsonage Street Bridge, Transfer Station issue and the hiring of a new Town Clerk so we need 2 meetings each month.  Elizabeth feels the abstracts can be handled on a monthly basis as they have in the past and most of our work is handled behind the scene and personnel issues are handled in Executive Session.  Tom feels the workload could probably be handled once a month.  The big issues such as the Comp Plan and Zoning Law are gone and that is when the 2 meetings per month started.  Bruce feels we have had several short meetings this year so why not try 1 a month to see if it works.  We can always go back to 2 meetings if needed.  Gina thinks sometimes only 1 is necessary but she could be swayed either way.  Joe is strongly opposed to reducing our meeting schedule.  The motion carried 4-1 with Joe voting against. 

 

11. Bruce motioned with Joe seconding to add an additional $300 shipping cost to the ADA pool lift which was passed at our last Town Board meeting.  All were in favor.

 

12. Bruce motioned and Joe seconded to schedule a Special Meeting on May 7^th at 5:00 and then go into Executive Session to discuss Union Contract negotiations with Michael Richardson.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

13. Elizabeth motioned and Gina seconded to authorize Supervisor to sign Band Concert Contract for Waterfront Day and summer series.  Bruce explained that Herman Tietjen is donating $390 for Waterfront Day and we are fund raising the additional $250.  There is no money involved with this but we need to have a contract signed.  All were in favor

 

14. On motion from Bruce and second by Gina the Supervisor was authorized to sign the Dutchess County Community Development Action Block Grant for $100,000 for handicapped accessibility at the Thompson Mazzarella Park contingent upon Joe reviewing the agreement before sending down to County Planning.  All were in favor.

 

DISCUSSION

 

1. Recommendations from Tech Committee:

 

                Need for a Central File Server for about $4,000

                Split router for Town Hall for public WiFi and protected access

                Mail server options

                Lack of network accountability. 

 

The Web Committee was instrumental in developing the network but over the years the configurations have been done by consultants.  Diagrams haven't been updated and we need a clear definition of the current network architecture according to Dave Klipon

 

Elizabeth suggests having Northeast Computer come to one of our meetings and discuss these recommendations.  Tom stated that the structure, policies and procedures are being looked at by the Risk Assessment auditor from the NYS Comptrollers office.  IT security codes need improvement.  The policy we adopted tonight will help but Tom agrees with Elizabeth that Kevin Jeffrey's should discuss the Town's options at a meeting.  Elizabeth pointed out that all computers are backed up individually and this is a big risk.   Dave Klipon said the State is looking for more accountability and this additional security is necessary.  He also said we need to know how to capture all our email.  Elizabeth feels if we get a central server and a router this definitely would be a great start.  We need a split router for Town Hall so everyone can use Wi-Fi.  She will try to have Northeast Computers at the May 29^th meeting for a presentation.  Tom feels we need to move on this issue and bring the Town up to date with today's  technology. 

 

Davie Klipon reported to the Board that the survey the State Comptroller-Assessment Risks auditor sent him are more IT type questions and he really can't answer  them.  It is quite comprehensive and would take him hours to complete.  Tom will contact Diane Peters, our Risk Assessment auditor, to see if she has any suggestions. 

 

2. FINANCE SCHOOL - Elizabeth would like to attend the NY State Town Finance School May 2-4 in Saratoga Springs. 

 

3. RHINECLIFF DRAINAGE - Elizabeth wants to know how the Board feels about this issue.  We need to respond to the 3 engineering firms that came before the Board with their presentations.  Gina would like to see a household survey on drainage issues and hear from the residents.  Bruce suggested an on line survey might be a possibility.  Joe also wants to have resident input before proceeding.  Tom said he relies on the Rhinecliff Advisory Committee input.  They seem to network well with the hamlet residents about their concerns. 

 

Andrew Sheppard, R.A.C. member, is a big fan of the highway department solutions to the drainage problems in the hamlet.  The overall issue is incredibly complicated and he worries about a big solution from an engineering standpoint.  The highway department has alleviated several problems over the years and he volunteered to help coordinate survey questions if that route is chosen. 

 

Elizabeth will contact the 3 engineering firms and tell them we are on hold at the moment with this project.  The Board needs to put together a list of priorities.  Tom is interested in seeing what the hamlet residents see as their needs.  Bob Wyant said this is a sensitive issue and there are still problems areas but they can be addressed as we move forward.  The pipe down to the dock concerns him.  Heinz Sauer suggested the Board separate the private concerns from the Town problems when analyzing.  Tom suggested relaying on communications from the R.A.C. and go from there.

 

4. Joe would like to set May 29^th   for the Board members to report on their annual Board audits with their various departments.

 

5. Joe also wants to discuss the 2011 financial results at the May 29^th meeting.

 

 

 

 

ADJOURNMENT

 

At 9:15 on motion from Gina and second from Bruce this meeting was unanimously adjourned.

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Barbara Cunningham

Town Clerk