From the Lancaster Bee-
Parkland resolutions called out by supervisor, councilman
by AMY ROBB Editor
Progress was made to acquire more parkland at the Lancaster Town Board meeting on Monday night, including a resolution to approve payment for appraisal services at 00 Lake Ave., affirm support for the Lancaster Parkland Acquisition and Planning Project, and approve intent to allocate matching funds for said project.
The resolution tied to the Lake Avenue property approved payment for an appraisal service, via an invoice submitted by Howard P. Schultz and Associates. The cost is not to exceed $2,000 and is set to be paid out of the town’s Recreation Filing Fees Fund, according to the agenda.
The resolutions related to the parkland project has the town officially endorsing the project based on public support, and the other announced the town’s intention to submit an application for grant funding through the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and willingness to allocate a maximum of $350,000 in Recreation Filing Fee Fund monies.
Although Supervisor Johanna Coleman and Councilman John Abraham were in favor of acquiring more parkland, the two questioned the process in which the three resolutions were put to a vote, citing missing steps.
Coleman advised Councilman Ron Ruffino, who put forth the resolutions, that there should have been a separate resolution letting the public know that there will be an appraisal done.
“You have to have a resolution authorizing the engagement of the services. You can’t just go out and have the service done and then decide to pay it,” said Coleman.
“You can make a selection of someone to provide the professional services, but you cannot have the professional service performed without first authorizing the engagement of that professional service. That’s the law … that’s the way it’s always done. I’m just asking questions because I’m reading this resolution, and it didn’t make sense.”
Like this hasn’t been done in the past and most recently on a waterline project.
Town Attorney Kevin Loftus told the board there was technically no legal wrongdoing.
“It’s legal to vote on this resolution. We could retroactively approve it.”
Ruffino told the board that the appraisal needed to be done in order for the town to be considered for a grant deadline, which was approaching.
Got it? Nothing illegal was done. Time is of the essence. Grant applications for consideration for the coming year have to be in within the next month. Missing the deadline means a year loss in finding out if grants are available and for what amount.
“The grant deadline needs an appraisal. Some firms are four weeks out; [Howard P. Schultz and Associates] was able to do it. By going out and trying to get somebody else you maybe miss the deadline; now we’re going to sacrifice $300,000-400,000 worth of [funding]. I don’t think that’s smart for a Town Board to do that,” said Ruffino.
For Abraham, the parkland resolutions were a concern because he hadn’t been updated about the status of the project like the other council members were. He mentioned that the only time the board discussed the parkland project and consideration of a park along Lake Avenue was in executive session.
“I am not against this. The point I’m trying to make is that you’re pushing ahead with this, and it seems like things are being missed,” Abraham said.
“It seems like there is discussion with some board members and nothing to other board members. I have had no further discussion about any of this. It’s getting tougher for me to want to support this because I feel like I’m being left in the dark.”
Seriously? This project has been discussed in executive session and Abraham and Coleman received communiqués from Ruffino on the matter last week. The resolution could have been rewritten as late as the work session that precedes the regular meeting – as has happened often in the past on other resolutions. Are Abraham and Coleman seriously committed to this project?