Northport Village Notebook

Snow-Removal Budget Close to Depleted
Due to the extreme amounts of snow that has been dumped on the village in the past couple of months, Mayor George Doll told the Board of Trustees at its most recent meeting that most of the $73,000 budget for snow removal overtime pay in the fiscal year 2010 was gone.

Doll said that they spent $69,000 of the fund already, without including the clearing of snowfall earlier that day. (This was not including the costs for snow removal during normal work hours.) Of that, $39,000 was spent to clear Main Street alone.

Doll also told the Board that the highway department has , causing them to start to fill the Little League fields at Steers Park with snow.

Resolutions
Village Administrator Gene Guido proposed four resolutions to the Board. The one that generated the most discussion was for a request to allow the residents at 35 Vista Drive to enter the Village drainage system for a payment of $1,000 to the Village Drainage Fund. Guido explained that the residents were unable to put in their own drainage because there was nowhere to put pipes in, meaning there would be nowhere for the water to go.

The Board, led by Trustee Thomas Kehoe, didn't think the $1,000 fee was enough, They asked how much it would take for a contractor to put in a drain, and Guido estimated the cost at $2,000. Kehoe requested that they ask for that figure, and Guido said he would take that back to the homeowner. A decision on the resolution was put on hold until the next meeting so that Guido could review the figures. Guido said later that the resident agreed to the higher amount.

Guido's other three resolutions pertained to request for assistance from engineering company Gammett Fleming. He requested funds to pay the company to prepare a Grant Project Work Plan for both the Wastewater Treatment Plan, a $2,400 request,, and for the Stormwater Management and Groundwater Recharge a $2,100 request. The company was also hired to review the projected Sewer Treatment Plant upgrades and establish a timeline for all of the work to be done on the plant, a $4,000 request). All three resolutions were approved.

The Board also approved the minutes from their previous four Board meetings, on December 21st, January 4th, January 11th and January 18th.

Requests
Two requests were made to the Board by community groups. The first was made by the , which requested permission to hold its 11th annual 5-kilometer race/walk on May 7 from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Mayor Doll noted that the event was a fundraiser, and Deputy Mayor Henry Tobin said that the Visiting Nurse Service should be asked to pay police overtime costs if they were making money from the event. Tobin said the costs were $360 last year, but Police Chief Ric Bruckenthal requested $400 for the event. The board approved the request with the condition that the Visiting Nurse Service pay for the overtime costs.

The other request was made by the St. Paul's Church for its Winter Farmer's Market, which is currently running and will run until April 16. The church requested to put up signs in eight different locations in the Village to advertise the event. Deputy Mayor Tobin had the signs with him and showed them to the board. Tobin was concerned that allowing the market to put up signs in all locations set a bad precedent for future group requests, but the rest of the board saw no problem with it because it was a winter month.

The request was approved, but Tobin requested that it was noted that this approval was an exception because it was granted in the winter months.

Warrants
The board approved two warrants for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. One was for $101,149.74 in General Fund bills, and the other was for $413.15 in capital bills.

Next Meeting: The Bayview Project
The next Village Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 15. That meeting will begin with a presentation to the board by Guido, who is in charge of street and sidewalk work that will be done on Bayview Avenue with TEA-21 funds.

This was briefly discussed at the meeting, as Village Clerk Donna Koch wanted the board to make it clear that plans for the project will be available for review at Village Hall before the meeting and will be handed out on the day of the meeting. She also wanted to make sure that all Bayview Avenue residents got a copy of the plans.