Notes from the August Hamilton Town Council Meeting
The meeting opened with comments from the public. Residents expressed concerns over potential violations of the Town Zoning code on properties surrounding their home. We discussed how the Town Zoning law required that structures meet code, and that the new Right to Farm Law does not support poor agricultural standards. Codes Officer Mark Miller is reviewing the complaints.
Leslie Green Guilbault of LGG Creative introduced the Fingerpaint Project to the Town Council. As part of a CNY grants community art project, Leslie created a crock from Madison County locally dug clay and is covering it with fingerprints collected from Madison County residents. She will visit schools, retirement homes, women’s shelters, and more to involve residents and is looking for suggestions for more outreach. The finished work will be displayed at the Madison County Historical Association.
Our Highway crew has been working on road maintenance as well as ditching and pipe replacement. Superintendent Florenz ordered a Mack 10-wheeler for 2019 and continued the planned vehicle replacement by swapping the 2017 F150 for a 2018 model. The crew is preparing for winter and started hauling sand from White Eagle and Hanson. They also worked with the County and adjacent towns on various projects. The new application form for Driveway Culverts on Town Roads is now available online and at the Town Office.
Town Bookkeeper Wilcox reports that we have received our sales tax revenue from the County and are on track to make the amount budgeted for 2018. Congratulations to our Town Assessor, Rochelle Harris. who will be the new President of the NYS Assessors’ Association.
The next meeting for Planning Board is scheduled for August 21 and will include a request for a special use permit for property on Quarterline Road and a request for a small amendment to the special use permit for the Dunham wedding venue on Poolville Road. The Town is working on a survey of abandoned houses that are in fair/poor condition. Please let the Town Office know if you are aware of such properties.
Town Office Building Committee is meeting with the architect next week and will have more to report in September.
The Partnership for Community Development commissioned a report on the status of housing in Hamilton. The draft report is in and being reviewed by the committee, which includes representatives from the Town Council, Village Trustees, and Colgate
The Town passed a resolution requiring a PILOT agreement for Large Scale Industrial Solar installations over 200kW. Currently under NYS law all solar installations are tax-exempt. As large-scale projects could take significant amounts of property off the tax roles it was deemed fitting that PILOTs (payments in lieu of taxes) should be required to reduce that burden on our taxpayers.
The Town discussed the use of Charitable Reserve Funds to accommodate residents with concerns over the new federal tax regulations, which limit the amount of property tax that can be taken as deductions. The concept is complex, likely to be challenged by the IRS and may not be a good fit for Hamilton. Supervisor Shwartz will discuss the matter further at the next County Board meeting.
Spectrum’s right to operate in New York has been revoked by the NYS Public Service Commission because they did not provide promised broadband, TV and phone services. Spectrum has been ordered to sell their operations and infrastructure to a vendor that will be capable of adequately providing those services. The County is also in discussion with Frontier Communications to improve their service.
The Hamilton Town Council meets on the second Wednesday of the month at the Village Courthouse in the Village of Hamilton at 6:30 pm. Our next meeting is September 12. We invite and encourage you to join us. For more info visit www.townofhamiltonny.org
Submitted by Chris Rossi, Hamilton Town Council