December 3, 2011
New York

Town attorney provides information

By DIANE R. CHODAN - OBSERVER Staff Writer , The OBSERVER, observertoday.com 3 December 2011

SHERIDAN – The Sheridan Town Board discussed a number of legal issues with Town Attorney Jeffrey Passafaro in preparation for its next regular meeting on Dec. 15.

The board wanted advice concerning how to handle a request to use the Town Hall for Zumba class for an hour on certain days of the week.

Passafaro said, “You want to get an insurance certificate from the organization and you want that certificate to be on a recognizable insurance company. I mean not Lloyds of Buenos Aires. The certificate holder has to be the Town of Sheridan. It’s not just that they have insurance but that they have insurance where their agent and carrier will issue you a certificate to the Town of Sheridan for public liability.”

Passafaro said a simple agreement could be made with hold harmless and indemnification language.

Councilman Richard Feinen asked, “Are we opening ourselves up for any more liability because they’re going to doing physical exercise in there?”

Passafaro answered it really wasn’t any different from the use of the building by Tofil Auctions.

However, he said, “If that’s a concern that’s a matter for the five of you to decide. … The use of the hall is always within the purview of the town board.”

The next matter concerned an application for a small wind energy conversion system (WECS). An application was approved by the zoning board. Now the applicant is asking for permission to build at a greater height. The local law provides for an 80 foot height for the small WECS on two to five acres, and a 120 foot maximum for five or more acres.

Passafaro referred to Sheridan’s Local Law 1 of 2010. Concerning whether a variance could be granted under the law he said, “As I read this local law my answer would be no.”

He said there would be two ways to handle the situation if the town wanted to look into the matter further: amend the local law to insert a variance authority or amend the law for a height provision.

After discussion by the board, the board directed Passafaro to work on an amendment to the law that would insert a variance authority for small WECS and give the authority to the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Finally there was a discussion of some of the problems with the recent roofing project. Supervisor Louis Delmonte said, “On Tuesday, myself and Chuck (Councilman Charles Dillenburg) met with the folks from Rural Roofing in regards to concerns we had. They admitted that several things about the work were not right. … He assured me that they would satisfy our concerns.”

Glenn Reed, a Sheridan resident, who is an experienced project manager and is now retired had volunteered to serve as a project manager for the larger construction projects that Sheridan is undertaking. He has looked over the project specifications.

He said, “I am a town resident and I understand that the town doesn’t have money. I am retired so I can do this.”