The Town Board met on Monday, December 8, 2008 at 7:30 pm. All members were present.

The meeting began with a public hearing on a local law entitled, “Heavy Duty Towing Regulations.” The only speaker was attorney Richard H. Sarajian, representing Loyal Tire who is the only heavy duty tow operator in Town. They have several objections to the proposed law and especially the fees. After much discussion, it was decided that Town Attorney Don Nichols will research some possible changes to the fee structure. The public hearing remains open and will be continued at the January 12 meeting.

In his Supervisor’s Update, Peter Dolan disclosed that United Water is going to ask for a rate increase of approximately 70%! This will affect the customers in the South County Sewer District. They have not had a rate increase in 17 years and the system is in poor shape. There was much discussion with Attorney Nichols regarding how to handle this. The Town has 90 days to respond to the request. There will be a public hearing in February.

The Supervisor also announced that the first meeting of the LDC was held and officers have been elected. The group is working on the application process. The next meeting will be on January 20.

During the regular meeting, several resolutions were passed:

• The annual Reorganization meeting will be held on January 12th at 7:30 pm. This will be followed by the regular bimonthly meeting.
• JS Braddock Agency was reappointed as the Town’s Insurance Agency with a minimal rate increase.
• An agreement was approved to renew the contract for the Town to plow, sand and salt Old Forge Road in Warwick at a fee of $5,000.
• The County of Orange has received a grant to pay for coordinating all Police Communication Systems within the County. The Board agreed that the Town of Tuxedo could be added to this new system at no expense to the Town.
• The Town is going to draw funds from the letter of credit held for the Sterling Mine Estates development in order to be able to dedicate the road to the Town and to finish up the project. Permission was given for the Town Superintendent of Highways to lay out the roads.

Mario Gorczyca of Southfields appeared before the Board requesting permission to erect a temporary banner over the sign on his storefront on Route 17. The store formerly sold pet supplies and puppies, however now it will to be a used furniture store. The Board explained to Mr. Corczca that the proper procedure is for him to apply to the Board of Architectural Review for a sign permit, and since he hasn’t even started that process, they will not give permission for a temporary banner. Instead, they gave authority to the ARB to issue a permit for the temporary banner once the permit for the permanent sign is in the works.

Under Other Business, Supervisor Dolan stated that Tuxedo Reserve wants to continue the review process on the Amendment to their Special Permit. In order to avoid a negative declaration, they want to rework their application and resubmit it to the Planning Board while granting them a 45 day extension for making their recommendation to the Town Board. Planning Board Member, Susan Goodfellow, was present and expressed her concern that the Planning Board had not completed their formal comments and she feels the process should “play out” before extensions are given. The Board agreed to let the Planning Board make the decision about extending the review process.

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