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Audit Problems Or Business As Usual
Distel Charges Johnson With Sour Grapes Then Suggests No Parking Laws Aren't Enforceable

WAWARSING – Upon conducting an every other week audit of town bills as promised last board meeting, councilman Dan Johnson found more mistakes with the large paper stack than anticipated.

"I expected to find maybe half a dozen, like I used to find," he said during the July 16 town board meeting. Instead he found fifty-four, mostly involving missing purchase order forms and signatures or bills, like fifteen Central Hudson bills not signed for approval but paid anyway.

Johnson said he stopped auditing the bills personally over 18 months ago, suggesting that the other board members had been auditing and he didn't see the necessity of his review until last month's meeting when supervisor Leonard Distel asked him to abstain from voting on the audits' approval unless he reviewed the bills himself. He countered that he will begin an earnest review for each meeting.

"First of all, it should have been discussed at the workshop meeting... and not taken upstairs. He's not a rookie," Distel said, noting that had Johnson followed protocol he would have found appropriate explanations for each of the claimed mistakes in the bills. And why, the supervisor further questioned, would the councilman say publicly that he wasn't doing his job — not auditing for nearly two years.

As for the mistakes... there was nothing really wrong, Distel countered, noting that a missing signature here or there is to be expected when handling 70 to 80 bills at a time.

"But you don't bring it up for public review," the supervisor added, addressing the audience. "No one knew what he was going to talk about."

In other news, a public hearing has been set for August 13 to hear input regarding the completed 2015 town-wide comprehensive plan. The plan, Distel said, has been completed by the twelve member committee and will be a guide for the zoning committee to make changes and improvements to existing zoning laws.

Not updated since 2006, the new plan will go to the Ulster County planning board for approval. A public hearing will be conducted, after which the plan can be adopted.

"In nine years, a lot of things have transpired in our town," Distel said.

Additionally, councilman Mike Durso explained the possibilities of a long-term plan regarding the Ellenville pool, which had been experiencing issues recently. While the pools' condition has been maintained, funding may be sought for an estimated $20,000 in repairs needed for the pool located on Ellenville school grounds, Durso explained, similar to what Rosendale has done.

It was also noted that the town will be applying for a $30,000 state Department of Environmental Conservation engineering planning grant to conduct a complete infiltration/inflow study for the Kerhonkson sewer district. The grant and study will pave the way for a future $600,000 Small Cities grant to complete necessary work on the aging district, councilman Stephen Bradley said. Normally, the town would have to shell out for the study, he continued, but this grant will cover those costs.

Additionally, Bradley noted, testing of the new Napanoch water filtration plant will be conducted over the next week. And once done, the plant will need the okay from both the Ulster County and state health departments before being granted a green light to go on line.

Councilman Terry Houck called for a motion requesting town attorney William Collier to draft a law prohibiting parking along Sam's Point (from the intersection of Mountain Laurel) and Mountain Laurel roads in Cragsmoor, with a public hearing for August 20. It was approved by a 4-1 split, with supervisor Distel voting no saying that the law would be unenforceable.

Part of the passage of the law, however, Houck said, would be the placement of signs — which fellow board members agreed may be deterrent enough.

"The cost in signage, that's minimal compared to what the consequences could be," Houck said, noting that the no-parking law is just as necessary there as it is on George Young Boulevard near Lippman Park, where there has been little problem with enforcement since becoming law.

However, with the building department staff at a minimum since building inspector Bryant Arms' recent resignation, leaving just two building code enforcers, Distel said he doesn't think there's enough man power, between that department and the highway staff, to enforce parking laws.

He said he'd like to keep things as they are with the state police looking after such issues.



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