Town Board Minutes – 2021

Added: August 12, 2021

The general meeting of the Jewett Town Board was held on Wednesday June 9, 2021. Supervisor Pellitteri called the meeting to order at 6:10 P.M. Present were Board Members Carol Muth, J.R. Quackenbush, Brian Carl and Marianne Romito. Public present was Michael Knee, Michael Allegretti, James Singi Siqueira, Christopher Hopstock, Christine and Buck Spero, Kerri Kirschbaum, Angela Gellar, George Hewett and Nilda Rodreguez..
Also present was The Highway Superintendent and The Town Clerk.

The Supervisor’s financial report was given to the Board prior to the meeting and the bank statements were reviewed by Board Members after the signing of the bills.

Councilman Carl made a motion, 2nd by Councilman Quackenbush and carried the board moved to accept the minutes of April 14, 2021.

Councilman Quackenbush made a motion, 2nd by Councilman Carl and carried the board moved to accept the minutes of May 12, 2021.

Superintendent of Highways Report: Clean up days were had and we picked up more stuff than ever before. It was very successful. We took 10-15 loads to the dump and brought the metal to Rory’s. We have not gotten to mowing yet as it took a month the shape up after the flood. The ditches and culverts got hit badly and it has been hard to keep up. We were going to mow but the mower broke and has been sent out to get fixed. Paving will begin soon.

Councilman Quackenbush said, “There were a lot of happy people with the clean up days but now they are wondering when the side of the road was going to get cut because many people are walking and it seems like the ticks are very bad this season”.

Superintendent Mallory said,” I tried to rent a tractor while our tractor was being fixed but there are none available. I will try to get the tractor back as soon as possible.”

On a motion by Councilman Quackenbush, 2nd by Councilwoman Romito and carried the board moved to accept the Code Enforcement Officers report.

Short Term Rental and Noise Enforcement: Supervisor Pellitteri went over a noise measurement report that the enforcement officer will use. Discussions were had about salary and the start date. The board discussed a trial period with possible re-evaluation at the end.

Councilwoman Romito asked how long it takes to set up the equipment. Supervisor Pellitteri said it was time consuming. The set up of the tri-pod must be steady. About 10 minutes it could be set up but in the dark it would take about 20 minutes. He said you could also get the equipment set up ahead of time to save time. They discussed the procedure and decided to get a trac phone for the person. They all agreed that there will be a lot of unknowns. Councilman Quackenbush asked what the trail for phone calls is and Supervisor Pellitteri said it would be a call to the Sherriff first, with documentation, then they would call us and let us know then we would send the noise ordinance officer out to measure.

Councilman Quackenbush asked that if we get the sheriff’s report why we still have to do this.

Supervisor Pellitteri said it’s because the sheriffs won’t document the measurement of the sound.

Councilwoman Romito asked what if the homeowners are just telling their renters to do whatever they want. Supervisor Pellittieri said that it’s the homeowner’s responsibility to handle their renters. Councilwoman Romito said we should send letters to the homeowners telling them 3 strikes and you’re out as we have never enforced it this way. She asked what if we take away their certificate and they still rent. Supervisor Pellitteri said at that point we approach Air b n b and other STR companies.

Councilwoman Romito said, “It’s that these people are coming up because the homeowners want the money and that’s all they are concerned with. They don’t care about the people around them, they don’t care about us people in the town that live here but the town ourselves we need to take a stand and we need to let them know that here in the town of Jewett we’re not putting up with this anymore. We’ve had enough. We put in a lot of time and effort and conversation but now we need to act.”

Councilman Quackenbush said that there are people who are getting around the Air b n b system by not listing their house as Jewett. He said that Brett Hogan is one of them and is doing this as he is listing his home in Hensonville and running this scam so that the town of Jewett would not pick up on his listing.

Councilwoman Romito asked how many other people are listing their homes in other towns.

Councilman Quackenbush asked if Carl could add another column on his report for STR updates.

Councilman Quackenbush also asked why Christine and Buck Spero were not allowed to speak tonight. Supervisor Pellitteri said it is not a public hearing tonight and this is not a place to make a speech and that we already know why they are here and we do not have any new information. Councilwoman Romito said that she did not agree and that the Spero’s need a place to come and vent. She said she represents them and would like to hear their issues. Councilwoman Muth said, “As a representative you should meet with them ahead of time and get their written statements so it could be previewed by the town board so that you’re basically not chewing the same cabbage twice, three times, four times. But condense it to what the overall complaints are rather than have 17 people make the same complaint and bring it before the board as that is the proper way”. Supervisor Pellitteri said, “This is not a place to vent and that we conduct town business here. The Speros and anyone else who would like to come and observe are welcome to but we do not have to open up the floor just because they are here”. Councilwoman Romito said, “It’s been way too long, 1 1/2 years and we need to start acting on enforcement.” She then continued to press the supervisor to open up the floor, which he did.

Christine Spero took the floor and showed the board a real estate agent flyer promoting buying homes in Jewett for the sole purpose of running Air b n bs.

Kerri Kirschbaum took the floor and said, “I’m not taking any particular position but it’s a balancing act trying to figure out a way to give the public an opportunity to let you guys know what’s going on vs. these meetings which are supposed to be like you guys conducting official business of government. So to that end, I would be happy to submit written comments or to know more like you see on the agenda STR and I don’t know what that means. Are you voting on a law? Are you talking about the fines? What does that mean? If there was a little more in terms of what that discussion might be, then we might be able to provide some written views in advance. Because I don’t think it’s worthwhile for all of us to take an evening and sit around listening to people chat.”

Michael Knee took the floor and said,” I would like to take a moment and say that I was fortunate enough to have JR come out and confirm the nuisance complaint regarding what I call the motorcross. I think he aggress it’s a nuisance. The reason I’m speaking here is to document the fact that they were approached and were definitely not agreeable. So that’s what happened with those folks. So we will revisit it in the future. That’s what I wanted to say.”

Councilman Quackenbush said, “They are not up for any kind of compromise at all. He wants to run his ATV’s all day and doesn’t care about his neighbors.”

Michael Knee said, “And just to back me up it wasn’t just kids, a couple kids on a bike right?”

Councilman Quackenbush said, “Its adults. At one point when I was down there talking to him there was five machines going, three adults, two kids. I was very nice to the guy and talked to him and he said, JR I appreciate you coming out but “F” compromise is what he told me. So he said, I bought this property and I can do with it whatever I want. And another thing is that I looked into the noise ordinance and I don’t see anywhere where it says ATV’s are exempt from noise for any reason. Where is that?”

Greg Kroyer, planning board chair went onto explain the law regarding ATV’s. He said, “They are exempt as long as they are run thru a stock exhaust system. If it’s a modified exhaust that’s louder than a stock exhaust, then that’s a problem but if it’s run through an exhaust that is stock or equivalent to stock, that’s what the noise ordinance says. That was the intention back when it was passed also to exempt ATV’s and dirt bikes. When they passed it 18-20 years ago, they did not want to outlaw ATV’s and dirt bikes. It’s in there, its 5-6 pages. If you look under the exhaust section there’s a statement in there that addresses it. I’m sympathetic to your issue but I’m just stating what the law says. If you read it, it’s pretty clear. At the last planning board meeting I discussed this with all the members and went thru it. We will revisit this and see if the wording is correct. The wording isn’t perfect in there and I wouldn’t say it is. But the exemption exists for motorcycles, vehicles as long as it is run through a stock muffler system.”

Michael Knee said, “May I speak? That is absolutely incorrect. What he says is not right, you need a legal opinion, that’s just plain wrong. And any changes that you would make to that I would most seriously object to that. That’s not going to happen while I’m here. I’m telling you right now, there is no exemption. I have shown it to 8 people who have never read noise ordinances before. When they read it they see no language exempting them as this gentleman suggested. Now I don’t need to be right, I need the noise to stop, that’s what I need.

If he wasn’t making a public statement I wouldn’t mind but if he insists on that then I have to say that he is just wrong. Wrong in the language, the text of the ordinance. It explicitly regulates the noise of this type of what he is calling stock exhaust. We can go over this at a better time; I don’t believe this is the right time. It doesn’t matter… you folks are certainly entitled to your opinion; let me put it that way. But if you want a legal opinion, I suggest that you take it away from that because they are too close to it. I don’t disagree with what he is saying that the intent may have been to exempt it but what made it into writing in the ordinance specifically regulates the noise from stock exhaust. Specifically and I could show you, absolutely. I want you to get your best lawyer to judge. You are acting on an incorrect assumption. That’s all.”

Nilda Rodreguez took the floor and said, “I’m actually at the wrong meeting I thought that the Democratic caucus was going on today here. I live right across the street so we are here but I defiantly want to voice my opinion. I own the house across the street and have had my home for the last 25 years. I decided to do STR’s not because I want to but I had to. I brought my family here years ago for skiing and after renting for many years and I love the town and I finally have put it on. I only rent to two people, very quiet and I demand them to be quiet. I love my peaceful community but with everything that is going on, I don’t know how you allowed C&C to purchase that property on the corner. All I hear all day is these trucks going in and out with the beep beep beep. I’m sorry I’m really emotional because I’d rather hear laughter and ATV’s and people having fun and hearing trucks I feel like I am in a fracking town. I remember years ago I would get notices, monthly letters or something when I lived on Long Island. I’m here full time now I don’t receive anything. You guys had the most awesome newsletters that let us come in and discuss things. I don’t hear anything. I don’t know if you still have those newsletters, maybe they’ve gone to Long Island. I’m here full time now, 4-5 years now and we need to communicate because there are people that own homes that have no idea what is going on. And again this property here, this is a residential community. I live right behind the salt shed, they don’t bother me. It’s just a couple of hours here and there. This is constant. I feel sorry for the people in the purple house. My taxes just went up too and then talking to people about Air-b-nb. My value of my home had gone down, who wants to buy a house around that?

It’s horrible, I’m sorry the noise, I don’t know if you guys go outside during the day but at 5:30am in the morning they are out. And when they come back in with those breaks, I don’t know what they are called, that’s really loud.”

Councilman Quackenbush brought up the idea of placing a cap on STR. He said he feels like the whole town is being taken over by STR’s and he feels the town needs to limit the number of STR’s allowed in the town.

Christopher Hopstock took the floor and said, “About the idea of this cap, I just wanted to say that times are changing, there is all this work at home kind of stuff and I am fortunate enough to do that. I live in Jewett but don’t have a local job to be able to live here full time. I am a full time resident and I rent my house out every once in a while. I wouldn’t be able to do that if STR was limited and I think a lot of people are considering buying up here and they have that opportunity and they’re able to buy in Jewett and rent their house out once a month like I do.

So, I don’t understand the thoughts to turn people off from being able to do that. It was mentioned last month that a reason for the cap was to create affordable housing in Jewett and my comment is that I don’t think that’s the right way to go about doing that. I think we should embrace the people who are kind of doing what I’m doing, working from home and living in Jewett and to be able to afford their house by renting it out every once and a while and I don’t see what the problem is with that. There are problematic rentals and I think that’s two different types of people that are doing it 20 out of the 30 days in the month. There are tons of people who do STR’s once in a while.”

Councilman Quackenbush said,”90% or more of the houses we have rented here are no problems, so we all know that. I don’t think we said the cap was to come up with affordable housing by lowering the number; the number would be to limit the possibility of rentals,

not having 10 rentals all in the same area. We owe something to people that are renting their house; I get what you’re saying. It’s a great opportunity to do something like you are doing yourself and a lot of people do that. What about the people that have been here their whole lives and I get there is change and we have to go with the flow a bit but we don’t have to. There are a lot of people that would like to see the number limited and you don’t agree with that and its fine but we are trying to find a compromise”.

Councilwoman Romito said, “Limiting the number, if we were to look at it, hypothetically we have 100 right now. If you are already registered it really isn’t going to affect you. You are registered. It would just be going forward. We come up with a number and that’s my opinion. That was my thoughts based on the conversations we have had in the past. It’s not like we are going to take everybody that’s registered and say no, you know what, we’re not re-registering you. It’s looking at the whole number that’s here or potentially could be here based on real estate and based on what’s not registered and coming up with a cap, to get a hold of it. I think we need to get a handle on it”.

Councilman Quackenbush said, “That would be a way to encourage people to re-register because you won’t lose that slot”.

Christopher Hopstock said, “So people who have lived here for 40 years will have their property values go down because of this cap and now they can’t sell their house. I think if people didn’t have the opportunity to rent their property that they are buying they wouldn’t pay as much for the home.”

Councilman Quackenbush said, “Then they wouldn’t buy it all then somebody else would buy it. There are a lot of people buying houses up here that are for sale and not everybody wants to rent.”

Keri Kirschbaum asked, “When you talk about cap are you saying a cap on the number of registered STR’s that you will allow in the town or the number of times you can rent?”

Councilman Quackenbush answered that it was the number in the town.

Keri Kirschbaum said, “Is that something that your lawyers have weighed in on?

Councilman Quackenbush said we have not discussed it with him yet.

Buck Spero said, “I would like to make a brief comment. I would like to mention again that our problem with the STR’s is that fact that in some cases they are in very close to the neighboring properties. And in that case it’s a constant problem. If you instituted some proximity guidelines it would be very helpful. It’s like they are running a motel and its right next to my house.”

Councilwoman Romito said, “The whole problem with all of this is that it’s just overwhelming and new and it just hit us like a train coming thru. And it’s not just us, it’s every other town in this county but all over, it’s not just us. I think nobody knows how to handle it. We have been trying and were just talking about these things. We get some balance and peace for some people and balance so the people can rent their homes if that’s what they choose to do. But we need to find a balance. And I don’t know that anybody has been successful, any other towns have been totally successful in that so we just have to keep going. But we have to be open to everything”.

Supervisor Pellitteri said, “I agree that we have to do something about the ones that are very close. My intention is to really focus in on them. First off the close proximity STR owners have to be especially careful; they have to be very determined to keep it quiet. And I think that’s the first step. Potentially it could be a special use permit. I’d like to be willing to assume that everybody and it’s a big assumption that everybody would be responsible; we’re all adults and at least give them the chance to do it before we get out the big sticks and punish everybody.

Because I think your right once we start enforcing it, we’ll get a response from people that we are serious and we are doing stuff about it. Potentially board members can change and all of a sudden there are new laws so I tell STR owners to be proactive and discipline their renters”.

Other Business: Councilwoman Romito brought up the house on 296 and asked why nothing has been done. She mentioned that because clean up week was ongoing maybe we could get in touch with the owner and they can take advantage of the clean up week with the highway superintendent and crew to go to the house during the event and take away any garbage that is set outside. Supervisor Pellitteri said he would ask Superintendent Mallory.

Councilman Quackenbush made a motion, 2nd by Councilman Carl and carried to approve the bills. General Fund was $13,760.38 on abstract #6, claim numbers 103-122.

The Highway Fund was $13,022.64 on abstract #6, claim numbers 104-117.

Councilwoman Muth made a motion, 2nd by Councilman Carl and carried to accept the Supervisors financial report for May 2021.

Councilwoman Carl made a motion, 2nd by Councilman Quackenbush and carried to go into executive session at 7:38pm to discuss personnel matters. “The medical, financial, credit or employment history of a particular person or corporation, or matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal or removal of a particular person or corporation”.

Councilman Quackenbush made a motion, 2nd by Councilman Carl and carried to come out of executive session at 8:15pm. No action was taken.

Councilman Carl made a motion, 2nd by Councilman Quackenbush and carried, the board moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:16PM.

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Maya Carl, Town Clerk