Board approves grants, transfers, purchases; no action on tank soil removal

The Middletown Board of Estimate and Apportionment on the floor approved a series of routine authorizations, including grants, budget transfers, equipment surpluses and service contracts, and recorded no formal action on the Mountain Avenue storage tank soil-removal issue.

The approvals included memoranda of understanding, donations, intra-department budget transfers, grant acceptances and vendor contracts intended to cover operational needs and city events. The board took formal votes on each listed agenda item; most passed with unanimous vocal assent.

Votes at a glance - Item 3.1: Authorized the mayor to sign a memorandum of understanding with BOCES to allow English-as-a-second-language classes at a city facility. No cost to the city was reported. Motion and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.2: Accepted donation of two handcrafted bike racks from Shop Fabrication Welding and Machinery (Florida, N.Y.) for installation at Van Duser and Highland Lakes parking lots. Staff to pick up and install after donor completes fabrication. Motion and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.3: Approved the name “Middletown Reservoir Trail Bike Trail to Lakeside Burner 0.5 Mile Loop” (agenda materials originally listed the loop incorrectly; staff clarified the loop is 0.5 mile). Motion and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.24: Declared a 2008 Dodge dump truck surplus and authorized its use/transfer to Pools Plus as described in meeting materials; staff reported a repair estimate of $11,200 from Hollywood Towing and an offered payment/repair arrangement of $4,900 with Pools Plus. Motion and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.5: Transferred $800 within the civil service budget from contractual services to office expense to cover a September public meeting and supplies. Motion and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.6: Declared two recreation/parks vehicles (2003 Ford F-550 and 2008 Chevrolet Suburban) surplus and authorized sale through Auctions International. Motion and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.7: Authorized transfers within the capital fund to close out completed projects in advance of bond refinancing; staff said department heads confirmed projects were complete and unspent proceeds would be returned. Motion and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.28: Authorized a wholesale waiver/settlement agreement with the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board related to older premises-claim accounts. Staff said a prior settlement was about $1.4 million and this settlement involves a matter around $318,000; funds will be applied to reduce premiums over the next couple of years. Motion and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.9: Authorized an agreement with Stratagem Security for panic-button alarm monitoring services as a third-party dispatch backup. Motion and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.10: Authorized transfer of $2,180 from camp scholarships to day camp fees for camp scholarships. Motion by Council member Massey and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.11: Authorized a $22 transfer within the water budget to cover an overage on a GASB billing. Motion and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.12: Authorized reimbursement to the Business Improvement District (BID) district for maintenance and beautification services and a treasurer transfer of $15,000 (described in agenda materials as a reimbursement for landscaping, mulching, pruning and related services across several downtown locations). Motion and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.13: Accepted two Orange County tourism grants (each $4,999) and authorized the mayor to sign grant documents; staff requested a small budget-line increase ($99.98) to balance expense lines for bench and litter-container purchases and promotional costs. Motion and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.14: Accepted a $10,000 grant from Senator Scoofus to support the Milltown Barbecue Resource Fair in September and authorized the mayor to sign the documents. Motion by Massey and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.16: Authorized hiring Advanced Testing to perform specialty material testing for the South Street parking garage construction at a proposed not-to-exceed amount of $50,000, to be charged to the project appropriation. Motion and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.17: Authorized a budget transfer of $33,784.31 from the general fund to cover shortfalls on roof replacement bids for the water-department and street-department garages and accepted staff recommendation to award the roofing work to WTI (common council to take a related action the following night). Motion and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.18: Authorized a $12,200 intradepartmental transfer in the Department of Public Works to cover the payroll for an employee reassignment (Dominic Citronetti) for the remainder of the calendar year. Motion and second recorded; vote passed.

- Item 3.19: Authorized a $34,700 budget transfer from the water fund balance to pay engineering services and a $10,000 contingency for a water-supply safe-yield study (staff named CDM for engineering work; contingency is to address potential follow-up from DEC). Motion and second recorded; vote passed.

- Water account adjustments: The board approved multiple customer billing adjustments after discussion and, in one case, tabled a lawn-maintenance dispute at 224 Highland Avenue pending additional documentation from the resident.

No board action required on Mountain Avenue tank soil removal The meeting record shows no formal vote on the Mountain Avenue storage tank project’s contaminated-soil work (agenda item 3.15). Staff presented cost estimates and recommended using the project’s change order authority to pay for removal; board members were informed that the Environmental Facilities Corporation loan/grant was closed and could not accept new costs, leaving the remainder to be covered from the water fund balance. Staff said the removal work would be handled as a change order to the tank contract and would not require mayoral approval in the meeting.

What this means next Several items related to procurement (roof bid awards) also require the common council’s action in the next meeting. Staff identified vendors and budgets for multiple projects; for items that rely on state or federal loan/grant programs, staff flagged funding constraints and contingencies that will determine final payment sources.