By Max Oppen
HUNTER — The Hunter Town Board met on January 23, 2024. A motion was passed for Sergeant Robert Haines to purchase a computer not to exceed $1,400. Sergeant Haines said there was a meeting at Hunter Mountain with Supervisor Sean Mahoney, the Greene County Sheriff, Hunter Mayor Alan Higgins, and staff from Hunter Mountain to discuss the recent traffic jam of winter enthusiasts headed to the resort following a snowstorm. The traffic was backed up almost to Route 214.
Sergeant Haines wrote a letter to officials at Hunter Mountain. Haines said that officials at the Resort were receptive to suggestions and that the issue had largely cleared up. Haines said he was happy with the outcome. Councilperson David Kukle noted the resort's appreciation for the letter from Haines.
The Town Board passed a motion to nominate Ariel Woolheater to a six-month probationary period as the Town's new Ambulance Administrator. The former administrator, Vanessa Richards, resigned due to unspecified reasons. Her resignation is effective February 12, although she will remain a part-time EMT for the Town. A candidate for a full-time EMT position was discussed in Executive Session.
Richards brought up the Town's charting system/portal for patients' billing information. ZOLL Medical provides the services at an annual cost of $495. Richards submitted the terms of use for the online service to the Board. Town Supervisor Sean Mahoney noted that new charting software was needed but advised a review of the terms before making a motion.
Several departments submitted reports for December.
In his report, Planning Board Chair Marc Czermerys said that the Hunter Mountain Lift expansion project had been approved.
Czermerys then requested to nominate Penny Sikalis Spring as Deputy Chair of the Town Planning Board. The motion passed.
Town Highway Superintendent Robert Blain discussed problems with one of the Town's trucks - it's breaking down and has issues with the exhaust. The truck is approximately six years old. Blain plans on looking into the warranty. The Town Board then passed a motion to increase the salary of highway employees and the highway secretary by 5%, excluding the Superintendent.
The Town Highway Department has been working on the Historical Society's parking lot, which includes milling the road and hauling in Item #4 gravel. The property is prone to flooding.
Town resident and former Village of Hunter Mayor Michael Papa asked for an explanation for what he called "the tremendous increase" in Town taxes. Supervisor Mahoney responded, "There was a very transparent process where the increase was explained." I just got my tax bill and was surprised," said Papa.
Mahoney said, "Everything got more expensive. We brought on two new full-time ambulance staff and two new full-time police officers. Building materials became more expensive." Mahoney explained that there was an increase in the cost of the fire protection district and an increase in the budget for the Mountain Top Library. Papa asked if the increase in taxes was across the Board for all property owners in the Town. Mahoney gave an affirmation. Papa then asked if the taxes increased for the Catskill Mountain Foundation and the Hunter Foundation. Councilperson Ray Legg and Mahoney responded that the Catskill Mountain Foundation is a Pilot Program.
PILOT (Payment-In-Lieu-Of-Taxes) are payments the company or developers agree to make to local municipalities instead of paying property taxes.
Mahoney explained that they were pre-negotiated rates in perpetuity until the end of the PILOT agreement. The Hunter Foundation pays taxes on its properties, according to Mahoney. Papa then inquired about the status of Hasidic property owners and whether or not Hasidic-owned properties had increased. Currently, Hasidic property owners have a religious tax exemption. Supervisor Mahoney responded that the Town receives an annual report from the town assessor of all the tax-exempt properties belonging to the Hasidic community and noted that there has been no increase.
Papa then asked about the state's 2% tax cap and why taxes were raised approximately 11.5%. Mahoney explained that the Town passed a local law to exceed the state's 2% tax cap.
Town Finance Officer Lara Hamrah-Poladian stated that the state's tax cap is now at 1%. Councilperson Ray Legg mentioned that "everything worked against us this year." Mahoney responded, "This was the toughest budget that any of us have ever done." Mahoney said that during COVID, the Town did well with the mortgage taxes due to the many land transactions. "When we did our budget last year, we consulted with our bank, financial advisors, and attorney, who advised us not to count on this amount the following year." Mahoney said the higher taxes were due to reduced revenue and increased costs.
Mahoney then motioned to authorize Town General Money Market savings payments to complete the Local Flood Analysis in Lanesville. Mahoney explained that the Town will pay upfront and be reimbursed by the Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program. The Town has hired a consultant to look at flooding causes in Lanesville, create a model to predict flooding, and identify solutions. The final report is expected in August. A public hearing on the Local Flood Analysis occurred on Thursday, January 24, at the Stony Clove Rod & Gun Club in Lanesville.
A motion was passed to sign a proposal with Albany-based Creighton Manning Engineering to design the Hunter Branch Rail Trail from Clove Road to Ski Bowl Road.
The Town Board then acknowledged receipt of a press release from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) relating to their properties in the Town of Hunter. Councilperson Ernie Reale said, "It's pretty eye-opening to see how many properties they own." Supervisor Mahoney said, "Rigorous discussions and negotiations are going on between the City of New York, the DEP, and the coalition of watershed towns regarding the water supply permit and land acquisition in our region."
According to their website, Mahoney is seeking a partial refund from Granicus, which "helps local governments with short-term rental compliance challenges, from address identification, permitting and licensing, instant reporting, tax collection, and ordinance consulting." The reasoning behind the request for a partial refund is because the Town still doesn't have a fully operating online tool from Granicus despite being a few months into the program. Councilperson Reale noted his disappointment with Granicus. "Granicus has been a complete disappointment. I have little faith they will step up and fulfill their obligations to us."
Mahoney noted that the Town is well into integrating Granicus into the Town's Short-Term Rental (STR) Law. "There's a huge piece to this that we cannot do in-house, that is, address identification and compliance monitoring." Reale said, "At some point in time, we will need to decide as a board whether to continue with Granicus or look for someone else." The Town is currently six months into its one-year contract with Granicus. Reale said Granicus was critical for the Town's short-term rental law to succeed. "The last thing we wanted was to pass a law that does not work because an outside vendor is not fulfilling their obligations."
According to the Board, there are approximately 480 Short-Term Rental properties in the Town of Hunter, excluding the villages of Hunter and Tannersville. Reale questioned why they couldn't handle everything in-house. Mahoney replied that he spoke to the Supervisor of the Town of Jewett, which has 100 STRs and uses Granicus. He said that 100 STRs alone was a "bear." Granicus is functional in the Town of Jewett because they are not "all-in" with the online tool like the Town of Hunter and use only part of it.
Mahoney then discussed the ambulance that the Town is selling. The vehicle received a bid on Auctions International for less than half the desired price. The current bid is $18,700. The Board discussed whether or not to accept the bid, or to make a counteroffer. Councilperson Dolph Semenza said, "For some reason, it's not worth what we thought it was." Town Highway Superintendent Robert Blain said, "I think that CarFax showed the ambulance was in an accident, which is scaring people away." The Board passed a motion to make a counteroffer of $25,000.
The Town of Hunter Board meets every fourth Tuesday of the month.
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