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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-08-15 Town Board Meeting MinutesTown of Virgil Regular Board Meeting 10/08/2015 TOWN OF VIRGIL REGULAR MEETING October 08th 2015 PRESENT: Supervisor John Kaminski, Board Members Dale Taylor, Eric Snow, Jereme Stiles and Matthew Denniston, Town Clerk/Collector Alane Van Donsel, John Morse Highway Superintendent, Rick Horner Asst. Highway Superintendent, Douglas Withy W20perators, Jena Withy W2Operators, David Coish Yaws Environmental, Craig Umbehauer (did not sign attendance Sheet), Rob Derksen Cortland County, Peggy Mousaw Cortland County, Budd Rigg Cortland County, Lee Price Cortland County Sheriff (did not sign attendance sheet), Al Kryger Greek Peak, Brittany Perry Cortland Standard, Stacy Kelsey Virgil Youth Commission, Carole Rehkugler, Nancy Sorbella and Gary Pelton. Attorney Patrick Snyder Esq. was excused. 7:00 PM –TOWN HALL MEETING: Presentation regarding proposed new jail for Cortland County Captain Bud Rigg began by giving the board a little background on building the jail in. He said this has been a discussion of debate for about a decade. They have been several studies done on this topic. The executive summary can be viewed online on the Cortland County website. He stated that it’s going to cost a lot of money to maintain the existing jail. There are high fees associated with boarding out inmates. Building a new Facility would be better. A new facility would allow double the amount of inmates that could be watched. Sheriff Lee Price has been working on this since 1999; his vision is to see the whole department to come together. He also said that this is a long process and that a RFP would have to go out for an architect and a design firm, then the lowest bidder would have to be chosen. He also said they are still looking for a place to build. There is also a place where constituents can mail in comments. Board member Jereme Stiles questioned the 38 million dollars in associated costs for the new jail. Riggs said that the summary is broken down, showing that there will be a half a million dollars saved in boarding fees. Stiles said that since this has been looked since 1999, why hasn’t the county been budgeting for this project? Peggy Mousaw said the County didn’t budget and now expenses have increased. She said the County has been spending all the money. She said there is a concern because there will be an increase of costs. It wouldn’t be for three years until the building will be built. She said that every time the new jail has come to point and it didn’t move forward. Stiles asked why the county hasn’t planned for this project. Stiles said he didn’t understand why. He also wanted to know how much money was set aside for this project. Mousaw said that would not be released until after the budget is out. She said there are some reserves available, but she cannot answer how much until after Wednesday. Town Board member Dale Taylor asked if they plan on bonding for this project. Mousaw said that they were. Taylor asked if they were considering the Buckbemeers site. They said that the cost to demolish the buildings would be too high, plus there is reluctance from the city to take existing buildings off the tax roll. It was stated that the sheriff department would move. They plan on putting all law enforcement agencies together. This would cause efficacy in the use of heating and cooling. They said the old jail maybe refurbished into something else, perhaps office space. The city is bursting at the seams; the old jail may give them the room they need. They plan on consolidating all areas of law enforcement, which would centralize booking criminals. This processing center would save time and get officers back on the streets. The new facility would take over the holdings and help every town so those in custody wouldn’t have to be arraigned until the next day. Taylor asked if Tompkins County was in the same situation. The officers said yes, they are looking at an expansion, but they are not considering a new jail building. Tompkins County would look to Cortland as their boarding sight. The State Commission of Corrections has to approve every aspect of the new facility even where it’s situated. There would be plans in place for future expansions. Road control Captain Rob Derksen said his department would take up a minuscule part of this project, but they need more space and they need to maintain certain requirements. He said in the Executive summary committee looked at all aspects of law enforcement. Stiles asked again why money wasn’t set aside for this project. Derksen said that this is the 3rd summary done. They keep coming up with the same concerns and the conclusion that this is a need. They are trying to do it the right way by educating everyone. He said he knows that taxes are too high, but this concern can’t be ignored any longer. Taylor said that if they told the public how they were going to pay for the new jail and that our taxes are going to go down, then everyone would be in favor of it. However if are telling the public that our taxes are going to go up, he feels that the people really can’t afford it. Derksen said that they are not going to tell the public that taxes will not increase, because they are going to continue to increase. He also said that there are more expenses involved than just the $500,000 annually in boarding costs. He said it’s going to come to a point where the state is going to come in and say we have to build this. They want the public’s input on this. Mousaw said it’s going to cost approximately 2.5 million a year in interest payments. If they renovate the existing jail they will have to clear out the existing inmates to do the reservations causing them to be housed elsewhere. Supervisor Kaminski asked if the state was going to kick in any money. Mousaw said that they can get some money from homeland security grants, but it wasn’t much. The question was presented, what if the incident of closing the dormitory was because an officer gets killed? Then NYS would come in and there would be a huge liability. There is also the issue that they don’t have enough staff to move all the inmates. They said they haven’t gone into this without looking at every aspect. They are looking at ways to reduce boarding costs and they are trying to find money to get the number lower. They offered anyone an opportunity tour of the current jail. They feel this will give constituents insight on the issues. Taylor was wondering if they were proposing a reduction of staffing. They said no, that they would be going to need 54 officers and right now they have 44, but they have too much overtime. Each position costs a million dollars per person. They feel this is going to be mandated by NYS, regardless. If a new building is built they can watch twice as many inmates with the same amount of staff. One person can watch two and half units. Taylor said that Cortland County is the 7th highest taxed county in NYS and he was concerned how county residents were going to pay for this? Taylor stated he didn’t want to be the highest taxed county in NYS. They said that the costs will be there no matter what. They said that they have been applying for variance after variance to keep this jail going. Supervisor Kaminski said that it really doesn’t matter what the public thinks, because the final decision will be made by the legislator, not the people with a referendum. He said the only thing the people can do is talk to their Town of Virgil Regular Board Meeting 10/08/2015 representative. Sheriff Lee Price said that this has been going on since 2000. He said the new jail will be a complex that will merge the city Police and County Police, that it just isn’t a jail. He said it will improve communications and will improve record keeping. He said he is not going to be in office to see it completed. He said it’s going to cost money, but it’s going to make things so much better. He said there will be a court house in the complex and a health care center for the inmates. He said the county has to move forward on this. Stiles said if the legislator knew about this, why they didn’t set aside money to build it. Price said there were many studies done and there are three choices, one to renovate and build on to the existing jail, two to build just a jail or three to merge all law enforcement together. The first two options have no grants. He said there will be an evidence room and records division in one area. He said he has lived this for 47 years and that they didn’t look at the future of the children and grandchildren. He said the executive summary is available on the county’s website. 8:50 PM – THE REGULAR MEETING WAS CALLED TO ORDER Supervisor Kaminski called the meeting to order, followed by the salute to the flag. RESOLUTION# 15-120 APPROVAL OF SEPT 2015 MINUTES Draft of Town Board Regular Meeting Minutes dated September 10th, 2015: Board member Taylor moved to approve the minutes of the September 10th 2015 regular town board meeting, with one spelling correction on page 5. The motion was seconded by Member Snow Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nays-None RESOLUTION# 15-121 AUTHORIZATION TO PAY BILLS GENERAL FUND: Member Taylor moved to approve payment of the General Fund audited vouchers numbered 222- 246 in the amount of $ 12,162.10 . The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nays-None HIGHWAY FUND: Member Taylor moved to approve payment of the Highway Fund audited vouchers numbered 1206- 1220, in the amount of $21,664.87. 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 2095-2101 in the amount of $7,031.07. 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 3053- 3056 in the Amount of $11,319.75. There was a question on voucher # 3054. They thought the building was approved for less. Supervisor Kaminski said that he wasn’t sure why the check was for more. If they find it’s supposed to be less, he will authorize member Stiles to write a check for the lesser amount. This may need to be corrected at nect month’s board meeting. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles and Denniston Kaminski. Nays-None MONTHLY REPORT SUPERVISOR’S MONTHLY REPORT: Member Taylor moved to accept the Supervisor’s Monthly Report in long form for September 2015. Member Denniston seconded the motion. 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 September 2015. The motion was seconded by Member Denniston. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None SEWER DISTRICT OPERATIONS REPORT: Dave Coish of Yaws Environmental Process Control, Inc. submitted a written report. Dave Coish reported that he submitted three quotes from companies to maintain the generator at the sewer plant. He said that Penn Power Systems was the lowest bidder. He said for a two year contract it will cost $615. All they do is generators and they are from Syracuse. Member Taylor asked Coish when the current contract was up. Coish said it was over in September. There was also some question regarding purchasing a back up aerator. He said the company that is currently used is the only manufacturer of the aerator. Coish asked if he would need to get an RFP? Taylor said they would need something is writing. Coish said to replace the whole system would cost $25,000 plus they would still have to buy a back up aerator. He said he will get a quote. Member Taylor made a motion to accept the Sewer District report for September 2015. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None RESOLUTION #15-122 CONTRACT WITH PENN POWERSYSTEMS: Member Taylor made a motion to enter into a two year contract with Penn Power Systems to maintain the generator at the sewer plant. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None Town of Virgil Regular Board Meeting 10/08/2015 WATER DISTRICT OPERATIONS REPORT: A written report was submitted by W2Operators. Doug Withy reported that there was a water quality report done of the whole district. He said no e coli was found. He said when there is chloroform present there is a potential for e coli. They took four more samples upstream and downstream and all was fine. He said there was some chloroform found downstream. He said seven days of very warm water can cause chloroform build up. 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. Umbehauer was asked what Darren was building. Umbehauer said he is building a nice concrete patio. Member Stiles made a motion to accept the Code and Zoning Officer’s report. The motion was seconded by member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nays-None. COUNTY LEGISLATOR’S REPORT: A written report was submitted by County Legislator Sandy Price. Member Taylor said he wanted to make a comment about the raises in the Legislators salaries. Member Denniston made a motion to accept the County Legislators report. The motion was seconded by member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nays-None. VIRGIL YOUTH COMMISSION REPORT: Supervisor Kaminski said that he met with Eddie Eaton and she said she would like to continue with the before and after program. She said that the program has no daycare certification. Eaton said she would like to stay on until spring. She is worried that the director would quit if Eaton stepped down. Member Stiles said that the only way he would be alright with that is if the board sees the finances. Kaminski said that he would get a report and that the program is self sustaining and any excess goes into the general fund. He said the program is set up as activities for kids, so it doesn’t have to meet state requirements. Member Taylor asked if she would give the board an accounting. Kaminski said he talked to Sue Connolly and she said that they plan on waiting until spring. The board and the committee need to work with Eaton to get a better understanding of how things work. Stiles said he hasn’t seen any accountability since he’s been on the board. Stacy Kelsey said she doesn’t want to see anyone quit, but as a tax payer she would like to see where the money goes. Kaminski said people are using the program and they are funding it. Stiles said at least five thousand dollars in tax payers money is used a year. Member Taylor said he is impressed with the Youth Commission minutes the past couple months. Member Taylor made a motion to accept the Virgil Youth Commissions Report The motion was seconded by member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nays-None. HOPE LAKE OPERATIONS MONTLY REPORT: Wes Kryger said that the park is closed for the season and that he has August financials. Member Taylor made a motion to accept the Hope Lake Operations Report. The mo tion was seconded by member Denniston. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nays-None. HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENTS REPORT: Superintendent Morse was asked if anyone applied for the job opening in the Highway Department. Morse said there were four to five people that applied, but only one had experience. He said this person has snow plowing experience and he’s a good fabricator. He is currently in a temporary equipment operator for the town of Harford. He said they would like to keep him, but they can’t give him full time hours. There was then some discussion regarding the 1994 truck. Morse said he is using it to haul rocks. Morse said that the truck is worth more than the $6,000. Member Denniston was concerned about how much the truck was going to cost in repairs. Morse thought it might cost two to three thousand dollars. Kaminski said that he is concerned because the board surplused the vehicle and now it’s being used. Either it’s in the fleet or it’s surplused, but not both. Kaminski said the town bought a brand new truck to replace this truck, but now the old truck is being used. Morse said that the board is not there when a truck goes down. Morse said he would like to keep a 5th truck for times of trouble. Kaminski said that the board needs to either put it back in service, or to surplus it. Morse said that he had it out front with a for sale sign on it. He said five or six people wanted it, but they only wanted to pay $6000. Morse said the board can put it back on Auctions International. Kaminski stated that Morse said it was going to need a lot of work. When something is surplused you need to dispose of it. Kaminski said that if it’s being used the board needs to make a motion to put it back into service. Member Taylor asked if was worth putting money into it, if it was so bad in the first place. Morse said he always wanted it as a spare truck, because he is concerned if a truck goes down in the winter. He asked if $ 6000 worth a life, Morse said he always puts safety before money. Morse said he would give up any amount of money to save a family members life. Morse said he always wanted to keep it for a spare, he never said he wanted to sell it. It was discussed that the 1990 red International was the spare and they have been without if for three years. Morse said Town of Virgil Regular Board Meeting 10/08/2015 they had to barrow Harford’s truck for a month. It was stated that if the 1994 truck is on its last legs why you would want it for a spare. Morse said it can plow for a few days. Kaminski said that either the town board sells the truck or puts it back in the fleet. Kaminski said that it’s supposed to be out front for sale. Kaminski asked the board what their pleasure was with that truck? Morse said they are not going to use it every day. Taylor asked if it would plow for a month. Morse said that if it cost a lot to fix, he’ll get rid of it. Member Snow asked if they can put it back on Auctions International as see what it brings. Taylor asked if Morse thought it might bring 10,000-15,000. Morse said no. Stiles said that it wasn’t a good idea to put a minimum bid on it. He said no one will bid with a minimum bid. There was some further discussion regarding the retirement of Donald Morse. John Morse said that he retired and that he needs to hire another employee to take his place. J. Morse said he would like to extend Brit Morse’s sixty day temporary employment and give him a three month probationary period. Morse said that Brit was a fast learner and a hard worker and that he has his CDL. There was some discussion regarding fuel accountability. Morse said that they were really close, within a gallon. Kaminski said that they need to set a range plus or minus ten gallons. Kaminski would like to see the tanks calibrated in the spring and fall. He would like to see this signed and certified, like the comptrollers audit asked. Morse would like to set up surveillance cameras at the tanks. It was discussed that this can be talked about at during budget meetings. Member Taylor made a motion to accept the Highway Superintendent’s report. The motion was seconded by member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nays-None. RESOLUTION #15-123 TAKE THE 1994 OUT OF SURPLUS: Member Taylor made a motion to take the 1994 out of surplus and allow the highway department to use the truck, but the board decided to put the truck back on the auctions international sight to see what it will bring. The motion was seconded by member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nays-None. RESOLUTION #15-124 EXTEND TEMPORARY HIGHWAY EMPLOYEE FOR 3 A MONTHS: Member Taylor made a motion to hire Brit Morse for a three month probationary period at the rate of $15.00 an hour. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nays-None. RESOLUTION #15-125 HIRE A HEAVY EQUIPMENT OPERATOR: Member Taylor made a motion to hire a heavy equipment operator at the rate of $16.00 and hour. Member Stiles seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nays-None. OLD BUSINESS DISCUSSUION REAGRADING A WATER AND SEWER BILL: Nancy Sorbella owns a condominium at Greek Peak that she rents out. On Aug. 4th she received a bill that her tenant didn’t pay. On the bill it stated that the charges would be relevied on to her tax bill. Sorbella said that she owns another condo at Greek Peak, that she has been threatened to have her water turned off if she didn’t pay. She couldn’t understand why the charges were allowed to get to over $1600. She also wanted to know why she wasn’t notified. She said this tenant stuck her with other bills as well. She said she drove from three hours away with her daughter to discuss this bill. Member Stiles asked Sorbella why she was just complaining now, as this has been a chronic issue. He said that the water and sewer bills have been relevied on this account every year since 2008. Supervisor Kaminski said that the water couldn’t be turned off on this account because the tenant had special needs and children. Kaminski said the only way for the town to collect the money is to have the bill relevied on the taxes. Sorbella questioned why she wasn’t notified about the bill. She said she would have done something about it. She said she can’t sue the tenant, she can’t even find him. She said she didn’t understand why her water was turned off and why there were two different standards. Stiles said that this is not new news, this bill has been relevied since 2008 and he said she had to know it’s an ongoing problem. Stiles asked why she didn’t complain back in 2008 when the bill was relevied for $500. He wanted to know what the difference was. Sorbella said that they are not talking about 2008 they are talking about now and that $1600 is a lot more than $500. Sorbella left the board room very upset. Member Taylor said that he wasn’t sure if they could legally inform her of her of her tenant’s delinquent water bills. Taylor said that she has been treated like everyone else. APPOINT A BOARD MEMBER TO THE HEALTH CARE CONSORTIUM: Member Taylor said that he attended the last meeting of the Health Insurance Consortium and that there were a lot of high power people on the board. He felt that it was way over his head. Taylor felt that the board needed to pick someone who has a lot of experience in insurance. He said he believes that the board meets every other month. NEW BUSINES ADD DUTIES TO HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDANT: Supervisor Kaminski said that the board had come up with a list of duties for John Morse. They handed John Morse the list. Kaminski said that the duties on the list will not interfere with the Town of Virgil Regular Board Meeting 10/08/2015 current duties that he has. Morse said that most of the items on the list are things that he already does. Kaminski said that the Town Board oversees what’s on the list and he would like for Morse to take a look at it. Kaminski said that communication has to improve. DISCUSS LOT SIZES: Supervisor Kaminski said that there are some concerns regarding the minimum lot sizes and amount of road frontage that residents need in order to build in Virgil. Member Taylor said that there was a public hearing on this matter and there were a lot of people at it. Code and Zoning Officer Umbehauer said that the Town won a federal award for forward thinking. He asked if it was being brought up because of concerns that ZBA member John Coulter has brought forward. Coulter was concerned because of the amount of appeals that are being brought before the board. Umbehauer said that one had to do with two houses that were built on the same lot. He said these are not new properties, but older properties. Member Stiles said there are concerns with the amount of road frontage that is needed to build. He said this limits what people can do with their property. Member Taylor said that he was hoping that someone would build a road and then build lots off of the road. Member Stiles said that he didn’t think anyone would do that. Umbehauer said that Virgil is one of the fasted growing areas and the town has a lot of vacant land. Stile said that a lot of the issues have to do with existing lots. Morse said that he thought the board should have a public hearing and let the people decide. Taylor said the reasoning behind the law was to prevent houses being built on top of each other. Member Denniston said that he built his house on 3.2 acres and that it is difficult to maintain that amount of land. He feels that in many cases larger lots are neglected. Kaminski said that there are too many people coming applying for variances. Umbehauer said that most people build on three to twenty acres. People like big lots. It was stated that people don’t like the stipulation of having to have 350 feet of road frontage. Umbehauer said that the people voted on 2006. Kaminski said that a square acre is 208 feet by 208 feet. Taylor stated that the zoning law needs to be changed. REPLACE RECYCLING TRAILER: Supervisor Kaminski said that the recycling trailer is going to have to be replaced. He said that they can’t go bigger, but maybe the town needs a heavier duty trailer. Taylor said they if they were to go bigger there would have to be a reconfiguration of the site. Taylor thought that maybe moving the trailer from where it is now. He felt they would have to come up with a plan as the time of purchasing the trailer gets closer. He said that in the winter it ends up sliding. Kaminski said that the new trash compactor will be here next week and the town is paying cash for it. He was wondering if they should surplus the old compactor and list it on Auctions International. RESOLUTION #15-125 RELEVY OUTSTANDING WATER AND SEWER BILLS ON 2016 TAX BILLS: Member Stiles made a motion to add the outstanding water and sewer bills on the owners 2016 town and county tax bills. The motion was seconded by Member Taylor. Vote: Ayes-Members Taylor, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nays-None. Some further discussion took place regarding the Town Assessor Randy Deal. Supervisor Kaminski said he spoke with Homer’s town Supervisor Fred Forbes and that Deal has decided to retire. He will be done on June 30th, 2016. Kaminski said the town will be advertizing for a new assessor soon. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Member Taylor asked for an executive session. In accordance with Public Officers Law Section 96, subdivision 1, Supervisor Kaminski called for an executive session at 9:25 pm to discuss the medical, financial, credit or employment history of a particular person. Motioned by Member Taylor, Seconded by Member Denniston Vote: Ayes: Member Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski Nays: None A motion was made by Member Taylor at 9:40 pm to return to the regular meeting, Seconded by Member Stiles. Vote: Ayes: Member Taylor, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski Nays: None It was noted that the Town Bookkeeper Gina Nourse sent a thank you card for the bereavement flowers that the town of Virgil sent for the passing of her mother. ADJOURN: With no further business to discuss Member Denniston made a motion to adjourn at 9:45 p.m. The motion was seconded by Member Stiles. Respectfully Submitted by, Alane Van Donsel, Virgil Town Clerk