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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-11-2015 Town Board Meeting Minutes ApprovedTown of Virgil Regular Meeting 05/14/2015 1 TOWN OF VIRGIL REGULAR MEETING May 14thTH 2015 PRESENT: Supervisor John Kaminski, Board Members Dale Taylor, Eric Snow, Jereme Stiles and Matthew Denniston, Attorney Patrick Snyder Esq., Town Clerk/Collector Alane Van Donsel, Doug and Derek Withy W20perators, David Coish Yaws Environmental, Craig Umbehauer (Did not Sign Attendance Sheet) John Morse Highway Superintendent, Rick Horner Asst. Highway Superintendant, Wes Kryger Greek Peak, Christine Applegate, Judith Hope-Klessig. 7:00 PM – TOWN HALL MEETING No comments were made. 7:30 PM – THE REGULAR MEETING WAS CALLED TO ORDER Supervisor Kaminski called the meeting to order, followed by the salute to the flag. RESOLUTION# 15-061 APPROVAL OF MINUTES Draft of Town Board Regular Meeting Minutes dated April 09th, 2015: Board member Taylor moved to approve the minutes of the April 09th 2015. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Taylor mentioned a slight correction on page 5 regarding terminology, in which the clerk will correct. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nays-None RESOLUTION# 15-062 AUTHORIZATION TO PAY BILLS GENERAL FUND: Member Taylor moved to approve payment of the General Fund audited vouchers numbered 85-114 in the amended amount of $26,165.32 removing voucher # 71 for American Bankers Insurance Company for flood insurance for the maintenance building that Greek Peak is renting. Member Taylor said that he checked with the insurance company and they said as long as there isn’t a mortgage on the property, it is not required to hold insurance. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nays- None HIGHWAY FUND: Member Taylor questioned Superintendent John Morse regarding some bills. Member Taylor moved to approve payment of the Highway Fund audited vouchers numbered 1107-1133, in the amount of $25,963.63. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles and Denniston Kaminski. Nays-None. SEWER DISTRICT #1: Member Taylor moved to approve payment of the Sewer District #1 audited vouchers numbered 2041-2054 in the amended amount of $ 13,743.58, removing voucher #2050 in the amount of $297.29. Sewer operator David Coish from Yaws Environmental wanted to check to see if the item is covered under warranty. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nays-None WATER DISTRICT #1: Member Taylor moved to approve payment of the Water District #1 audited vouchers numbered 3024-3031, In the Amount of $5,920.10. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles and Denniston Kaminski. Nays-None MONTHLY REPORT SUPERVISOR’S MONTHLY REPORT: Member Stiles moved to accept the Supervisor’s Monthly Report in long form for April 2015. Member Denniston seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None SUPERVISOR’S MONTHLY REPORTS IN LONG FORM FOR JANUARY, FEBRUARY AND MARCH 2015: Member Stiles made a motion to accept the Supervisor’s monthly reports for January, February and March in long form. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None TOWN CLERK’S MONTHLY REPORT: Member Stiles moved to accept the Town Clerk’s Monthly Report as presented for April 2015. The motion was seconded by Member Denniston. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None SEWER DISTRICT OPERATIONS REPORT: David Coish of Yaws Environmental Process Control, Inc. submitted a written report and reported that everything was running beautifully at the sewer plant. Member Taylor asked Coish if the bugs were doing their job to keep down the foam from grease. Taylor also wondered if there were anymore concerns about the beavers in the creek. Coish said the bugs were doing their job and that the beavers were gone. Member Stiles made a motion to accept the Sewer Districts report. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None Town of Virgil Regular Meeting 05/14/2015 2 WATER DISTRICT OPERATIONS REPORT: A written report was submitted for W2Operators. Doug Withy reported that everything was running smoothly. Withy reported that his son Brain would no longer be working with the company, as he has gotten a job elsewhere. Withy said that his son Derek would be coming on board. Withy said he was looking forward to an uneventful turnover. Member Taylor made a motion to accept the Water Districts report. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER’S REPORT: A written report was submitted by Lindsay Anderson of Country Acres Pet Services from Homer, NY. Member Stiles motioned to accept the Animal control Officers report. Member Denniston seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None CODE ENFORCEMENT AND ZONING OFFICERS REPORT: A written codes report was submitted by Code and Zoning Officer Craig Umbehauer. Member Stiles motioned to accept the Code and Zoning Officers report. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None COUNTY LEGISLATOR’S REPORT & VIRGIL YOUTH COMMISSION REPORT: No reports were submitted this month. There was some discussion regarding the fact that Virgil/Hartford County Legislator Sandy Price was unable to attend meetings lately due to illness. There were some concerns that the town did not have representation from Member Taylor and Stiles. Member Taylor said that there was nothing that they can do about it. Member Stiles said that he was concerned that the Town wasn’t having any say in what was going on at the county level and that for every vote that was cast without representation counts as a “no” vote. Stiles said he certainly hopes that Price would get better. He felt that there should be a procedure in place to allow someone to temporarily fill in at times like this. Community member Christine Applegate said that anyone is welcome to go to the meetings and that they have the ability to ask questions during the comment period of the meetings. RESOLUTION#15-1063 HOPE LAKE 2015 HOURS OF OPERATION AND FEE SCHEDULE AND MONTLY REPORT: Wes Kryger said that he presented the board with the 2015 proposed hours of operation and fee schedule. Kryger said there are some slight changes from last year. He said there is a slight increase in price and they plan on opening and closing an hour early. Supervisor Kaminski asked how the fish count was. Kryger said that people who fish there usually catch and release, he said they stocked the lake with grass carp last year to keep the algae down. Member Taylor said that he noticed that a lot of silt is being washed into the lake. He was wondering if at some point they may want to drain the lake dig it out. Member Stiles motioned to accept the Hope Lake Operations proposed hours of operations and fee schedule for 2015. Member Denniston seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENTS REPORT: Superintendent John Morse submitted a written report. He said that the Highway department plans on redoing half of Bleck Road and that would take care of three quarters of the construction costs for the year. He said they need to replace a big pipe on West River Road. He said that the pipe has a 30 year expectancy. Member Taylor asked if they would be doing any cold patching. Morse said yes they took a whole day on Carson Road filling holes with gravel, tiles and shimmed up the road. Taylor wondered if he takes into consideration how much a road is used before doing the work. Morse said that Clute Road has the most money spent on it. He said that Hauck Hill gets oil and stone every six years. Member Stiles wanted to know how the CHIPS money was spent. Morse said for oil and stone and cold patch and pipe. Taylor asked about a bridge on Francis Road. Morse said that it would cost approximately $10,000 for an engineer and an additional fifteen to thirty thousand to fix. Morse said the DOT wants it posted. Discussion continued on Virgil Roads. Member Stiles Motioned to accept the Highway Superintendents report. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None OLD BUSINESS EXPANSION TO TOWN HALL: Supervisor Kaminski said that there were no petitions submitted, so he was wondering how the board wanted to proceed with the Town Hall expansion. He was wondering if there were any prints that the board was interested in. Member Taylor mentioned that the engineer was concerned about timing and he was wondering if the season was missed. Taylor also said that if the board waits, then the cost might go up, but he is also concerned that they may not be able to get more than just a shell up. Supervisor Kaminski asked if the board wanted to know if they were going to proceed and have they addition built this year as a turnkey project or if they were planning on having community involvement to finish the project. Member Stiles said he didn’t feel it would take long to get the project done this year. He said if the bid packages are prepared now, then they would be awarded sometime in July. He didn’t feel it would be a problem to get the job done. Member Taylors were wondering if there were contractors out there that would bid on the project this late in the season. Stiles said there are and they would want to get in and get it done. Kaminski said it should be a 60 to 80 day building project. Kaminski wanted to know what direction they are going. He said the roof at the Highway garage should last another three to four years. Kaminski wanted to know if the Town of Virgil Regular Meeting 05/14/2015 3 board wanted to shift the project 90 degrees, so the walking trail wouldn’t have to be moved. Stiles felt it was going to cost a lot more to do that. Kaminski said that if they shift the building there would be room to add on the end if a community room was to be added. There was some discussion as if a community room was needed. Member Snow was asked how many people attended the senior luncheon last month. Member Snow said approximately 80 people. Taylor felt that if the building was shifted it would cost around $500,000. He said there would be a lot more valleys and ridges on the roof. There was some discussion regarding having community members work on the project. Attorney Pat Snyder felt that depending on the insurance policy, the Town might have to take out more insurance for liability. Taylor felt that they should just go with the original design and reconfigure the inside to what is needed. There was some discussion on looking into grants to cover some of the work. Kaminski said there are some grants out there for the court and some for the Town Clerks’ Storage. Member Denniston said he felt to would be a good idea to keep as much open space as possible. That way changes can be made down the road and it gives the Town more flexibility. Denniston wanted to know if the space that Craig Umbehauer was in now, would be big enough for his office. Umbehauer said yes. RESOLUTION #15- 1064 EXPANSON TO THE TOWN HALL: Member Stiles made a motion to add on to the Town Hall with the spending limit of $300,000, with the engineering fees not to exceed $18,000. The Motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None GRANT UPDATE, MIKE O’REILLY: Supervisor Kaminski said that he spoke with Mike O’Reilly from Cedarwood Engineering. He said there is a letter going out, but it doesn’t look good to receive the grant money this year. RESOLUTION #15-1065 EASTERN ENERGY SOLUTIONS LIGHTING UPGRADE PROPOSAL: Eastern Energy Solutions proposed lighting upgrades for the Town Hall and the Virgil Highway garage. Member Taylor said he didn’t feel the payback time was that good on the garage, but the Town Hall was three years. Member Denniston wanted to make sure that the new addition is retro fitted with LED lights as well. Member Taylor made a motion to upgrade the Virgil Town Hall as presented from Eastern Energy Solutions in the mount of $2019.40. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None RESOLUTION # 15-1066 APPROVAL OF ASSESSOR AGREEMENT: Member Stiles made a motion to accept the assessor’s agreement between the Town of Homer, City of Cortland and Town of Virgil. The motion was seconded by Member Taylor. The share of the cost for Virgil will be $17,500. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None RESOLUTION # 15-1067 PURCHASE OF TRASH COMPACTOR: Member Taylor said this was discussed in last year’s budget. Member Denniston wanted to know what the life span of an ejector is. Superintendent Morse said that they usually last about eight years. Morse said by the tenth year you have to replace the floor. Member Stiles made a motion to purchase a 75 Cubic yard Ejection Trailer from the only bidder Tracey Road Equipment for the total amount of $97,836.00. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None The money to pay for the ejection trailer is to come from the Transfer Station Reserve Fund. RESOLUTION # 15-1068 APPOINTMENT TO THE PLANNING BOARD: Member Stiles made a motion to accept Carole Lathrop’s request to remain on the Virgil Planning Board. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes- Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None AUDIT UPDATE: Supervisor Kaminski said that he and Dale Taylor were having a mandatory meeting with the NYS Comptrollers on Monday. He said once the State publishes it, the audit will then be made known to the public. HIGHWAY SWEEPER: Superintendent Morse said that the Town needs either a skid steer or a tractor. He is thinking about selling the little mowing tractor and buying something that can have a sweeper put on it. Member Stiles said he is not in favor of a skid steer. He felt that a tractor would have a lot more uses. Supervisor Kaminski reminded the board and Morse that they have to follow the procurement policy. Member Taylor said he likes the idea of buying equipment that has multiple uses. Discussion continued. There was a question regarding the procurement policy. Attorney Snyder said that any purchase between $4,000 and $20,000 needs a written Request for Proposal from three or more vendors. No decision was made on buying a new sweeper. TOWN HALL’S FLAG POLE: Supervisor Kaminski said that the Flagpole at the Town Hall has been broken for a while. Member Stiles said that the pulley at the top broke. He said that someone has to go up there and take the measurements. Kaminski asked if it could please be fixed. AQUIFER DISTRICT PROTECTION PERMIT: Code and Zoning Officer Craig Umbehauer gave the board a packet to look over. He said that there will have to be a public hearing set up before this is approved. Town of Virgil Regular Meeting 05/14/2015 4 RESOLUTION #15-1069 SET UP A PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE APPLICATION FOR AQUIFER PROTECTION DISTRICT: Member Stiles made a motion to set the date for a Public Hearing to be held on June 11th at 7:00 PM at the Virgil Town Hall regarding an Application for an Aquifer Protection District Special Permit for Ron’s Body Shop. The motion was seconded by Member Denniston. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None APPROVAL TO HIRE HEAVY MACHINE OPERATOR: Highway Superintendent John Morse said that this position will replace Ron Stanley who is due to retire by the end of next week. Member Taylor asked if the person Morse has in mind can run all the same machinery as Stanley. Morse said he is not able to run the grater. He said right now Ron Stanley and Demont Lang are able to run the grater. Taylor asked if Ron Stanley was all done, or if he is willing to come in part- time in the future. Morse said that right now he wants to take off all of June and then perhaps he might be willing to come in for 20 hours a week to mow the edges of roads until Wayne Eastman’s’ year is up. Taylor wanted to know if the new hire will want health insurance. Taylor wanted to know if the board has a policy in place for new hires and the amount of contribution for new hires. There was discussion about health insurance and the different percentages the neighboring towns pay. It was stated that the board would have to go through and look at the minutes from the January reorganizational meeting to see what percentage employees have to pay. Member Taylor said that he felt new hires should pay 30% for their health insurance. Member Taylor made a motion that new hires pay 30%. Supervisor Kaminski asked for a second three times, there was no second. Motion denied. Member Denniston said it’s really a moot point until they get the numbers. Denniston said he doesn’t feel comfortable making a decision without knowing what percentage employees are paying now. Attorney Snyder said that what they really need to do right now is set an hourly wage. Superintendent Kaminski made a motion that new employees should pay 20% of their health insurance. He asked for a second three times, there was no second made. Motion denied. Supervisor Kaminski said they needed to move on. NEW BUSINESS TRUCK BID AUCTIONS INTERNATIONAL: HOPE LAKE PARK PLAN 2015: This was discussed earlier in the meeting. RESOLUTION #15-1070 TRANSFER STATION ATTENDANT RATE OF PAY: the new hire at the transfer Station has his CDL license and is able to hauling the trash to the landfill. The new hire George Bonham would like to get $12.00 an hour. Superintendent Morse said that he is doing a really good job and gets along with Bo really well. Member Taylor was wondering how many hours Bonham was getting. Morse said over 20 hours which included training. Member Stiles asked if hid DOT physical was up to date. Morse said that Bonham is saving money as Bo will no longer have to work overtime. Member Stiles made a motion to raise George Bonham’s Salary to $12.00 and hour. The Motion was seconded by Member Denniston. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None RESOLUTION #15-1071 BOUNDARY LINE AGGREEMENT: Attorney Pat Snyder said that there was a mistake made in the survey at the water tower at Greek Peak. Snyder said that the town would be gaining more land. Member Taylor made a motion to approve the Boundary Line Agreement as presented. The motion was seconded by Denniston. Vote: Ayes- Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None NOTICE OF INCOMPLETE MINING APPLICATION FROM DEC: Superintendent Kaminski wanted to make the board aware that there has been a Notice of Incomplete mining application form the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation regarding the Carpenter Pit. 284 AGGREMENT: Supervisor Kaminski’ wanted to make sure that the Virgil Highway department was in compliance with submitting a 284 agreement every year. Superintendent Morse said he files one every year. He said that the Town Clerk has it. He said that the Town Board and he signed it at the Organizational Meeting. Morse said that 90,000 dollars was allocated for the highway fund for 58.23 miles of road. He said it was very difficult to give an exact list of roads, because it changes so quickly. Morse said the agreement covers every road, so every road is covered. COUNTY AMNESTY DAY: Supervisor Kaminski said there will be an amnesty day held from May 18-22. He said they don’t take tires anymore. PA SYSYEM FOR THE BOARD ROOM: Supervisor Kaminski asked Town Clerk Van Donsel to have someone come in and evaluate the sound system of the board room. Van Donsel contacted two vendors. One company out of Freeville, NY stopped in, but did not come back with a quote. Another company out of Syracuse, Francis Audio-Visual did come out and submited a quote. Francis Audio-Visual said that the sound system that is in place should be sufficient for the space. Town of Virgil Regular Meeting 05/14/2015 5 What the real concern is the acoustics of the room. He suggested that acoustic panels be installed, along with installing a few more microphones and a mixer. The board agreed that something needed to be done, but was concerned with the $8,827.78. Van Donsel said that Bill Francis the owner of Francis Audio-Visual said that it would probably be ok to scale it down a bit. The board asked Van Donsel to look into getting two more quotes prepared for the next meeting. Discussion continued with Supervisor Kaminski saying that Judge Elston was looking at contracting with the County to secure a Bailiff for court. He said the court is going to pay for it out of their funds and the Bailiff will be under the Counties insurance. Kaminski said the Bailiff will be armed and that sometimes the court gets a little rough. Member Denniston asked what was going on with FEHER Trash Removal. Attorney Snyder said that he will write them another letter, but that he didn’t think there was anything to worry about. Denniston was concerned because the bill keeps going up. Member Taylor asked what happened with the bill from Fiscal advisors. Supervisor Kaminski said that Attorney Snyder looked into it and said they can’t hold the Town to a contract that is 10 to 12 years old. Taylor also asked about an Email that was sent by Town Clerk Van Donsel regarding property on RTE 292. Kaminski said that the property isn’t being taken care of and is banked owned. He said they a courtesy message was sent, but the next step is to have the Code and Zoning Officer involved, if they property is no cleaned up. RESOLUTION #15-1072 APPROVAL TO HIRE HEAVY MACHINE OPERATOR RATE OF EMPLYEE CONTRIBUTION OF INSURANCE: Attorney Snyder reminded the board that they did not act on the approval of hiring the heavy machine operator. The discussion came back to the hiring of the Heavy machine operator. Member Taylor said that the board can always crate a new policy changing the rate of insurance for new hires. The new policy would be something similar to a tier 6. Member Stiles made a motion to set the rate of employee contribution for new hires at 20%. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-Denniston RESOLUTION 15-1073 RATE OF PAY FOR HEAVY MACHINE OPERAOTR: Member Stiles made a motion to set the rate of pay for the Heavy Machine Operator at $16.00 an hour. The motion was seconded by member Denniston. Vote: Ayes- Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None With no further business to discuss, Member Stiles moved to adjourn the regular meeting at 9:50 P.M., Member Snow seconded the Motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays: None. Respectfully Submitted by, Alane Van Donsel, Virgil Town Clerk