1989-07-27 SPM153
A special Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Wappinger was
held on July 27th, 1989, at the Town Hall, Middlebush Road, Town
of Wappinger, Dutchess County, New York.
Supervisor Paino opened the Meeting at 7:20 P.M.
Present:
Irene Paino, Supervisor
Vincent Farina, Councilman
David Reis, Councilman
Constance Smith, Councilwoman
Robert Valdati, Councilman
Elaine H. Snowden, Town Clerk
Others Present:
Thomas Wood, Attorney
'Thomas Classey, Building Inspector
Notice of the Special Meeting were sent to all Board Members on
July 21, 1989, calling said Meeting for July 27, 1989 at 7:15 P.M.
Notices were also sent to the news media and posted on the Town Clerk's
Bulletin Board at the Town Hall on that day.
The Meeting was called for the purpose of addressing three items ---
Adopting a Policy of Procedure to Return Escrow Money; return escrow
money to Linda Sanzo and Ludwik Zabczynski and a resolution to establish
an escrow account with Tri -Municipal regarding engineering contract
negotiations and environmental work on the Town's behalf.
Mr. Wood explained that the resolution to establish a policy for the
return of escrow money would formalize the informal practice that has
been followed when an applicant comes in to apply for a Certificate of
Occupancy and at times there may be some minor items that have to be
completed and there may be circumstances that would warrant the issuance
of a C.O. In these cases the property owner has been requested to post
a certain amount of money for the cost of the items to be completed with
the Town until this work is completed. This resolution would formalize
the process for both the Building Inspector and the Zoning Administrator;
it would only pertain to any items that would not be in violation of the
Fire Code or Building Code. The money would be deposited with the Town
Comptroller and the property owner would sign an agreement at that time that
they would hold the Town harmless of any liability, that the money would
be used to complete the work should the owner fail to do so in a timely
manner and there would be a date specified for the completion of the work.
Once the work is completed, upon certification of the Building Inspector,
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(if a building escrow), with a voucher from the person who deposited
the money, a written request from the property owner or the person
depositing the money, at that point the Comptroller can refund the
money to the proper party; the same applies in a zoning matter. The
Comptroller will keq the record, the money will be deposited in the
Trust and Agency account with a separate designation in favor of the
person who deposited the money with the Town. The Town Clerk noted
that all monies are returned only upon the approval of the Town Board,
and the ones they are talking about now are escrow monies. The Attorney
stated that the resolution authorized the money to be returned based
upon certification of the Building Inspector in compliance with the
other documents; each one would not have to come before the Board and
they would not receive the correspondence pertinent to the release of
the money. Mrs. Smith expressed her objection to this method, feeling
that the Town Board should retain this control.
The Building Inspector added that he or the Zoning Administrator would
inspect the items in question and give the Board the results of said
inspection with their recommendation and basically the Board is going
on their say so anyway. He's only trying to cut down delay and the
red tape that's involved in the process of returning the escrow deposit.
Some of these people are in dire need of their money and they have to
wait at least one month, in some cases, to get on the Agenda, then
another two weeks after the release is approved for the actual reim-
bursement; in some instances it's a waiting period of six weeks.
If it was a case of the Town Board having control, Mr. Wood suggested
that the last paragraph of the proposed resolution be deleted, thus
allowing for the Board to consider each request. Based on the
certification of the Building or Zoning Officer, written request from
the property owner to the Town Board, and a signed voucher would then go
before the Town Board who would then authorize the release and direct the
Comptroller to reimburse the applicant's money.
Mr. Valdati agreed that the Town Board should be in complete control
of monies and reimbursement and there are enough of them to scrutinize
each request carefully.
The following resolution was offered by SUPERVISOR PAINO who moved
its adoption:
WHEREAS, the Building Inspector and Zoning Administrator of the
Town of Wappinger, from time to time, are requested to issue Certificates
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of Zoning Compliance or Certificates of Occupancy, based upon Permits
which were previously issued, and
WHEREAS, Under the circumstances presented to the Building Inspector
and Zoning Administrator at the time of the request for the issuance of
the aforementioned Certificates, all work may not be fully completed in
accordance with the Permit which had previously been issued, however
the circumstances may warrant the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy
upon the further promise of the Prmittee to complete all of the terms
and conditions of the requirements of law, and
WHEREAS, the Building Inspector and the Zoning Administrator have
previously established amounts to be deposited by the property owner to
be held by the Town in escrow pending the completion of the aforementioned
improvements, and
WHEREAS, said amounts were then returned to the property owner
upon certification of the Building Inspector or Zoning Administrator
that said work has been fully completed in accordance with the Building
Permits issued, and
WHEREAS, heretofore there has been no formalized procedure
established by this Board with respect to the establishment and
maintenance of escrow accounts, and
WHEREAS , it is the desire of this Town Board to establish an
acceptable practice and procedure both for the establishment of
said escrow accounts and for the return of the escrow deposits to the
property owner,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby
authorize the Building Inspector and the Zoning Administrator to
require the establishment of an amount to be held in escrow pending
the completion of certain matters in order to issue a Certificate
of Occupancy or a Certificate of Zoning Compliance to a property
owner prior to the completion of all required improvements, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that said escrow amounts shall be for
amounts equal to the cost of performing the required work as estimated
by the Building Inspector, Zoning Administrator or Engineer to the Town, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that should an escrow account be accepted,
that a form indemnifying and holding the Town of Wappinger harmless with
respect to its issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy based upon the
escrow shall be executed by the property owner, and such Agreement shall
be in the form as prescribed by the Attorney to the Town, and shall
furthermore contain a date upon which compliance and completion will be
had, and in failure of the completion or compliance being had by the day
specified, an authorization shall be included in said Escrow Agreement
for the application of the escrow funds to achieve the compliance and
completion of the project, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in no event shall escrow funds be
accepted for any matters which are required by the State Uniform Fire
or Building Code that could effect the health, welfare or safety of the
occupants of the structure or the use of the property, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that all funds held as escrow deposit
shall be deposited by the Town Comptroller in the Trust and Agency
account of the Town, under separate designations showing for whom
they are being held, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that said amounts shall be refunded by
the Comptroller of the Town upon written request to the Town Board by
the property owner, and certification from the Town Building Inspector
or Zoning Administrator of the completion of the project as well as
upon receipt by the Comptroller of a voucher executed by the property
owner or the person by whom the escrow was deposited.
Seconded by: Councilwoman Smith
Roll Call Vote: 5 Ayes 0 Nays
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Release of escrow deposits from Linda Sanzo and Ludwik Zabczynski was
tabled at the last meeting pending receipt of written requests from
the property owners. The letters have since been received and the
matter was again placed before the Board for their consideration.
MRS. PAINO moved to release the escrow deposits to Linda Sanzo in
the amount of $5,000 and to Ludwik Zabczynski in the amount of
$1,500, as recommended by the Building Inspector.
Seconded by Mrs. Smith
Motion Unanimously Carried
A resolution discussed at a previous work shop, as explained by Mr.
Wood, would authorize a deposit to the Tri -Municipal Sewer Commission
in the amount of $152,000, as set forth in their estimate for the
engineering study, SEQR process and attorney and accountant fees. The
breakdown is as follows which represents maximum estimates from Tri -Municipal
Project Accountant
Project Engineer
Tri -Municipal Attorney
Project Administrator
$ 7,000
100,000
15,000
30,000
The resolution further states that the funds shall be raised by a
Bond Anticipation Note for the Wappinger Sewer Improvement Area #1
and Rockingham Farms Sewer District, which will be placed before the
Board at a later date for further approval.
During the discussion that followed, Mr. Farina questioned whether
the $100,000 for the Project Engineer was a projection of what the total
Map, Plan and Report was going to cost, or was it what they plan to spend
over a 90 day period. Mr. Paggi responded that these are funds that the
Engineer anticipates will be expended totally to analyze the existing
pump station, pipe line and treatment plant and determine what improvements
have to be made to upgrade it for the MGD delivery from the Town.
Mr. Farina's next question --- did the rates stated include the
prevailing rates that were mandated by the State for public works
projects that took effect about a month ago. All engineers were
notified of this substantial increase in surveying rates, Mr. Paggi
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responded so he assumed that whatever rates of this category that are
included in the project would be reflected. This remained a question
which the Board felt should be clarified since it could mean a substantial
difference in rates, as previously pointed out by Mr. Paggi.
MRS. PAINO moved to table action on the resolution pending clarification
of the prevailing wage rates for surveyors for the F fp •ite, ,
Seconded by Mr. Reis
Motion Unanimously Carried
There was no other business to come before the Board.
MR. REIS moved to close the Special Meeting, seconded by Mrs. Smith
and unanimously carried.
The Meeting closed at 7:50 P.M.
Elaine H. Snowden
Town Clerk
Spl. Mtg. 7/27/89
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