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1966-06-23 RGM (adj)The Adjourned Meeting of the Town Board, Town of Wappinger, was held on Thursday evening, June 23, 1966, at the Town Hall, Mill Street, Wappinger Falls, N.Y. Present: Joseph H. Fulton, Supervisor William J. Bulger, Justice of the Peace Vincent S. Francese, Justice of the Peace Absent: Elaine H. Snowden, Town Clerk Others Present: Joseph D. Quinn, Jr. Attorney for the Town Vincent C. Kelley, Engineer for the Town Knud Clausen, Highway Superintendent 158 Louis C. Clausen, Councilman Louis D. Diehl, Councilman The meeting was called to order by Supervisor Fulton at 7:42 P.M. Mr. Fulton explained that Oakwood Knolls Civic Association requested a postponement of their meeting with the Board until next Thursday. He stated that there are two matters on the Agenda to be taken care of as the Board sees fit, and following adjournment of this meeting there would be an executive session with Fred Lafko and Dave Alexander. Mr. Fulton: - Hiring of an Engineer for the Rockingham Sewer District - This is an urgent matter. We must get this off so we can get this District started. At the last meeting we mentioned Mr. Milton Chazen. What is the pleasure of the Board? Motion was made by Mr. Francese, and seconded by Mr. Bulger, to appoint Milton Chazen, Consulting Engineers, for the Rockingham Farms Sewer District, subject to the pleasure of the Town Board and referral to Counsel for necessary agreement, if any. Upon Roll Call vote - all ayes. Motion Unanimously carried. Mr. Fulton read the following letter from Weiner and Loeb, Attorneys for Mark Ritter. Re: Oakwood Knolls Town Board Town of Wappinger Wappingers Falls, N.Y. Gentlemen: About six months ago, we were retained by Oakwood Water Works Corporation, Ritter Construction Corp. and Mark Ritter to contact your Board and arrange to conclude the agreement which he had signed with the Town on April 2, 1965 for the sale of his water plant and sewer plant to the Town. Prior to this time, in September of 1965, Mr.Ritter had apparently delivered to Russel Aldrich, attorney for the district, a proposed deed to the property. 1 am advised by 160 Mr. Aldrich that certain matters in connection with the deed and title had to be straightened out and nothing further had been done in that connection." In December of 1965, I had some negotiations with your attorney, Mr. Quinn. On January 13, 1966, I met with Mr. Quinn in his office and went over this whole matter with him. As a result of that conference, I sent to Supervisor Fulton a letter dated January 17, 1966, a copy of which I am attaching hereto." On February 4, 1966, Mr. Ritter and I met in Mr. Quinn's office with Mr. Quinn, Mr. Reilly and Mr. Fulton. At that time, we discussed the agreement with the Town, Mr. Fulton pointed out that among other things he would want Mr. Ritter to put in the water and sewer lines in Sections 2 and 3 of Oakwood because they could not be put in by the districts. There were several other matters discussed and it was our understanding that this matter would be' taken up by the Town Board after that time. Subsequent to that date, I had additional discussions with Mr. Quinn, and I wrote to Mr. Fulton on March 3, 1966. I forwarded to Mr. Quinn a revised agreement which he in turn sent to Mr. Fulton in accordance with his letter of March 9, 1966, a copy of which I am attaching hereto." "On March 19, 1966 Mr. Ritter and I met Mr. Fulton, Mr. Reilly, Mr. Quinn and Mr. Kelly, the Town Engineer, at the Town Hall. The matter of the agreement was further discussed. It was suggested to us that the price for the sewer plant be reduced to $60,000.00 and that we keep the water system. In addition, it was requested that the water charges to the residents be limited to $50.00 a year until July 1, 1968. There was some question raised about the initial formation of the water company at that time. On March 22, 1966, 1 sent a letter to Mr. Quinn in connection with the water company, a copy of which I am attaching hereto." "On March 24, 1966, Mr. Ritter and I attended an execu- tive meeting of your Town Board at which time we discussed this entire matter with the Board. Subsequent to that date I tried several times to reach Mr. Quinn on the phone without any success. I thereupon sent him the following telegram:" ""You are notified hereby that unless a meeting is arranged with the Town of Wappinger to resolve the Ritter Construc- tion master by April 15, 1966, legal proceedings will bi instituted."" "This elicited a telephone call from Mr. Quinn in which he concurred that I prepare a revised agreement with the Town and forward it to him. I am enclosing herewith copy of the agreement, together with a copy of his letter of May 6, 1966 withrespect thereto. You will note that legal proceedings were started against the Town by service of process on May 5, 1966 because we.had been advised that no action would be taken by the Town. We were delighted to receive the letter from Mr. Quinn and also, his letter of May 16, 1966, a copy of which I am attaching hereto, when he sent me the Notice of Appearance on behalf of the Town. I subsequently wrote to Mr. Quinn on May 17 and May 23 and attempted to reach him several times by telephone but have been unable to do so." I think you must agree with me that we have been very patient over the past six months in our negotiations with the Town. However, I believe that in all fairness to Mr. Ritter, we are entitled to an answer from the Town as to whether we can come to some agreement with the Town or whether we should continue our lawsuit. Under the circumstances, I have advised my client that if we have no assurance by'July 1, 1966, that this matter will be resolved that he should take the following steps:" "1. Serve the Complaint on the Town for specific performance of the contract and for damages. I might point out that I believe Mr. Ritter's damages to date include the $120,000.00 purchase price; approximately $30,000.00 in loss of revenue from the Water Company; loss of $125,000.00 because of inability to dispose of the balance of the property and legal expenses in the sum of at least $10,000.00." 160 "2. Send out bills immediately to the residents of Oakwood for back water charges. These are charges they agreed to pay at the time they purchased their houses and they would amount to about $30,000.00 The Water company would continue to bill the residents for present and future water charges." "As I indicated above, we would much prefer setting this matter amicably but if we do not have some disposition by July 1st, you do not leave my client any other alternative but to pursue his legal remedies." Very truly yours, Weiner & Loeb (Signed) Elliott M. Weiner Mr. Fulton asked if anyone wished to comment on the letter. Mr. Quinn: If there was merit to the action, a complaint would have been served with the Summons. I have recently written to Mr. Weiner and asked him to confirm or deny the rumor that both the water and the sewer plant have been sold. There is no question that there have been some negotiations. I don't agree with the suggested price set forth in the letter and I don't think the Town will agree with it. I would say at this point I would like to see a reply come in to our inquiry to him as to this rumor. This Town happens to be under a restrain- ing Order issued under State Supreme Court. Action is now pending in the Supreme Court, brought on by the Dutchess County Health Dept. seeking to assess charges for operation of this Sewer Plant duffing the period from Jan. 1, 1966 to roughly the early part of June. This Town is owed $800 or $900 from Ritter Construction, or somebody, for maintenance, etc. during the month of December 1965 - 23 days. I have no fear of any litiga- tion that they have pending. The fact is that a summons was served and no complaint has been served. I don't know what they would state as a complaint for action. Mr. Clausen: If it has been sold by Mr. Ritter to a third party, if the rumor is true, would you consider that illegal? Mr. Quinn: There is no legality to the sale of any of their equipment. There was an individual contract drafted for the purchase of that equipment. It makes one wonder if they sell it to somebody else whether there is a breach of contract. Mr. Fulton: The laws of the district were designed to keep us from getting into a fix like this. I don't see why we should be forced into anything by Mr. Ritter that would cause an excessive rate. Motion was made by Mr. Diehl to table this due to the fact of the present legal entanglements, and due to the fact we have a proposed meeting in regard to the same coming up within the next 10 days, perhaps we will have more information after our Oakwood meeting. Seconded by. Mr. Bulger. Motion Unanimously Carried. Mr. L. Clausen: I would like to ask Mr. Quinn something I should have found out before we voted on the hiring of an engineer. I think it has some bearing. Does he still represent the Chazen firm? Mr. Quinn: I have represented him personally and his family for a period close to 15 to 18 years. I would consider him as a client of the Firm, for such family matters that have presented themselves. We have also represented Mr. Vincent Kelley for, I suppose, that period of time. Mr. L. Clausen: I would feel that if we have the Town Attorney who also is counsel to an engineering firm being hired for our sewer district, it might tie the hands of our attorney in the future for such problems as may arise. Mr. Bulger: I think perhaps, Mr. Quinn, what Mr. Clausen is con cerned about is that part of the motion calls for the referral of the matter of engaging the firm under discussion to you and for ' you to craw a contract. Mr. Quinn: Perhaps it is best to clear the air publicly. Under Sections 801, 802, and 803 of the General Municipal Law Disclosure Act, State of New York, Employees are permitted to negotiate con- tracts for a Municipal Corporation. I have a right to draw them; no right to execute them and so forth. I wasn't aware of the motion, but seldom is there a written contract on these sort of things. There is usually a letter filed with the Municipality by a Corporation being considered in which they would state a scope of their duties and their basic charges. If you wish a retainer agreement, it would bind Firm and Town. I would be glad to have other Counsel draw them or approve them. You are going to find that in a County of this type, there are only two or three licensed Professional Engineering Firms in the County. They are scarce. I doubt if they will sign a written contract. All of these sort of Firms serve at the pleasure of the Board. Mr. L. Clausen: I have to say what I think at the present time. I move that we withdraw the previous motion of hiring Chazen for the District on the basis that our Town Attorney has represented and does represent the Firm. I would like to see the Town look for another Engineer for the District. Mr. Bulger: If I guess correctly, what your concern is after Mr. Quinn's statement is that we will have two consultants who might erroneously be thinking as one. Mr. Clausen: I have a high regard for Mr. Quinn, but I think it is a position we might be putting the Town in. I think Mr. Quinn can appreciate my thinking. Mr. Fulton: You're referring to some sort of conflict of interest. If there was legal action being taken against Chazen as far as retaining them as engineer for the District, I don't see this as any problem at this point. All we want is some kind of an understanding that Chazen is going to be the engineer for the District. If we get in a legal battle, Mr. Quinn's legal ethics will come forward. Mr. Quinn: We are Counsel to this Town. We are not Town Officials, Our services are terminable at any time you see fit. I understand your position, perhaps more than you think I do. The only thing I can tell you is that there are so few of these Firms that have experience in the field of water and sewer supply. Mr. Fulton: When we talk about a contract or agreement with Chazen the agreement is going to show you so much per hour and that's it. If it'comes to a point where we have legal action at some point then we'll face it as it arises. I don't think we are faced with any conflict. Mr. Quinn: Chazen does work for the Town of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess 1 63.. County, Town of Hyde Park and Town of Clinton. Whether it is the Chazen firm or anybody else, I think you are going to find they are in the same position. Mr. Bulger: There has been a full disclosure here. We are fore- warned. We have the option of terminating either Mr. Quinn's services or the Chazen Firm's at our pleasure. Mr. Diehl: I was surprised to hear Mr. Clausens connection of our Town Attorney with Chazen. I would feel that our Attorney in fact would step aside for us to have another attorney if there was a possibility of any conflict here. Under those conditions and with respect to Chazen I feel I would stand by these statements. Mr. Quinn, for the record, stated that he would do so. Mr. Clausen: I acknowledge all of your comments and again, it is nothing personal. I won't withdraw my motion. Mr. Fulton: Let the record show the motion failed for the lack of a second. Mr. Quinn: I have prepared a resolution that is long due Mr. Knud Clausen. Mr. Fulton: This comes under old business. This is a resolution, which was presented in rough form to the Board by Mr. Kelley at a previous meeting. It has to do with the adoption of roads by the Town that are not in developments or subdivisions. Mr. Fulton briefly outlined the resolution. Mr. Bulger: I would like to have an opportunity to read the resolution and details before we act on it. Mr. Diehl: We have discussed it. The final draft is before us. Resolution on accepting roads other than Subdivision or Development Roads tabled until the next Regular Meeting. Mr. Clausen: Counsel, do you have a statement to make on our junk problem over on Stoneykill Rd. referring to Atkins and Scramek? Mr. Quinn stated that he had looked at the information that Mr. L Ludewig had sent him, and noted the gentleman who is supposedly operating this thing is apparently a victim of a rather complete stroke and is hospitalized. Mr. Clausen: Have you checked on the information that Mr. Ludewig gave us? Mr. Quinn: It is an apparent violation. Mr. Clausen: You are not going to take a letter from Mr. Ludewig and leave it at that, you will check into the situation? Mr. Quinn: I shall check as to the man's physical condition. Anything else Mr. Ludewig has brought before me has been accurate and truthful. Mr. Clausen: I am sure that if Mr. Atkins is willing, the Town would go in and remove those'cars. Mr. Quinn: I will check out both. If in fact his condition is such as it is reported, the man will never go to trial, unless it changes. Mr. Clausen: The man is still pulling in junk cars as recently as three weeks ago. Mr. Quinn: I will see that the Scrameks are called upon personally. Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Mr. Bulger, seconded by Mr. Clausen and Unanimously Carried. Meeting adjourned at 8:25 P.M. Signed: Elaine H. Snowden Town Clerk 164