Webster Town Board
April 27, 2023
A workshop meeting of the Webster Town Board was called to order by Supervisor Flaherty at
5:30 p.m. at the Webster Town Board Meeting Room, 1002 Ridge Road, Webster, New York,
with the following officials present:
Supervisor ................................................................................ Thomas J. Flaherty
Councilman .............................................................................. William G. Abbott
Councilman .......................................................................................John J. Cahill
Councilwoman .......................................................................... Patricia T. Cataldi
Councilwoman ........................................................................... Ginny L. Nguyen
Town Attorney ........................................................................... Charles J. Genese
Town Clerk ........................................................................... Dorothy M. Maguire
Department Heads Present:
Community Development Director......................................................Josh Artuso
Deputy Commissioner of Public Works-Sewer ................................... Art Petrone
Finance Director (arrived at 6:23 p.m.) .............................................. Paul Adams
Highway Superintendent .................................................................... Pat Stephens
Town Engineer ..............................................................................Mary Herington
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Resolution No. 158: MOTION by Supervisor Flaherty, seconded by Councilman Abbott, to
solicit bids for a mini excavator for the Town Highway Department and to advertise in the
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 edition of the Webster Herald.
Vote on motion:
Supervisor Flaherty .............Aye
Councilman Abbott .......... Aye
Councilman Cahill ..............Aye
Councilwoman Cataldi ..... Aye
Councilwoman Nguyen ......Aye
Motion carried .................. 5-0
***
Josh Artuso, Community Development Director, and Jim Montgomery, Code Compliance
Coordinator, presented to the Town Board a proposed Draft Property Maintenance Chapter to be
added to the Code of the Town of Webster.
In November of 2022 the Town Board was presented with deficiencies within the existing Town
Code relating to property maintenance and enforcement and in February 2023, they were
presented on the mandatory enforcement of the New York State Uniform Code of which the
Property Maintenance Code is a part of. The Draft Property Maintenance Chapter being
presented for review and discussion by the Town Board at this workshop was drafted by the
Community Development Director, Code Compliance Officer, Building Inspector and Fire
Marshal.
The presentation included highlights of some of the major components of the proposed Property
Maintenance Code. Included within the proposed articles and subsections were additional
definitions; both exterior and interior property maintenance; vacant structures and the
maintenance of vacant lots; procedural elements of the Code for enforcement and the correction
of violations.
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Following the presentation, a general discussion took place.
***
Mary Herington, Town Engineer, appeared before the Town Board to provide an overview of
proposed additions to the Code of the Town of Webster for the construction of recreational
ponds on private property.
Recreational ponds are not currently addressed in the Town Code. Residents are required to
obtain a Pond Permit and pay a fee, but the Town lacks documented guidance and process for
review, approval and inspection. Ponds constructed without research into site conditions and
proper design can be unsafe for the property owner and neighbors; be unexpectedly costly and
cause the project to stall or remain incomplete; be unsuccessful and negatively affect the
character of the land. There is a need to address the installation of recreational ponds as the
Engineering Department has been approached on several occasions since 2021. Two of the sites
had sandy soils and would have struggled to hold water successfully and two sites were near
floodways and streams. Code Sections have been drafted but an internal review by the Town’s
Legal Department needs to be completed before moving forward.
Following the presentation, a general discussion took place.
***
Presented to the Town Board was the 2023 MS4 Annual Report by Mary Herington, Town
Engineer.
The Town of Webster is in a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Program which
requires the Town to develop a stormwater management program that will reduce the amount of
pollutants carried by stormwater during storm events to waterbodies to the maximum extent
practicable. The goal of the program is to improve waterway quality and recreational uses of
waterways. The entire Town of Webster is bound by the requirements of the Program.
To assist in the compliance of the Program, the Stormwater Coalition of Monroe County was
established in 2000. There are twenty-nine members including the Town of Webster. Being a
member supports Town efforts to execute the Program and assists with annual reporting required
by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), staff training
and additional reporting due throughout the year. The Program elements consists of six
minimum control measures: Public Education; Public Participation; Illicit Discharge Program;
Construction Stormwater Management; Post-Construction Stormwater Management; and
Municipal Pollution Prevention Program. The Town Board was provided with the details of
each of the six control measures.
***
Mary Herington, Town Engineer, presented the Town Board with an update on registering as a
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) Climate Smart
Community.
The pros for registering as a Climate Smart Community include increased grant availability and
better scoring on existing grant programs; acknowledges initiatives the Town is already
prioritizing; implements technical design practices which benefit the residents and registering
does not create workload for staff. The biggest con of the program is that the terminology can be
politically polarizing based on other programs at the State and Federal level.
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There is a difference between registering and certifying in the program. Registering is the
completion of a Town Board Resolution. This action will improve the Town’s grant scoring and
there will be no additional stress to the workforce. The program does not require certifying.
When you certify you start tracking and scoring efforts and goals within the program. If you do
certify it may open additional grant opportunities. Currently in New York State there are 378
registered communities; 260 (69%) are not certified, 108 (29%) are Bronze Certified and 10
(2%) are Silver Certified. Communities who have registered are being scored higher on State
Grant Program Applications. Town staff have noticed that in the past year since this program
took effect, the Consolidated Funding Application has asked whether the Town is part of this
program. The program is entirely voluntary and is intended to provide technical support to
communities. There are no compliance obligations or regulations governing the program. The
NYSDEC does not pressure communities to pursue certification. Registration does not require
future certification or follow-up.
Following the presentation, a general discussion took place.
***
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at
6:40 p.m.
____________________________
Dorothy M. Maguire, Town Clerk
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