Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-08-2016 Town Board Meetign Minutes ApprovedVirgil Town Board Meeting September 08 th2016 1 | P a g e TOWN OF VIRGIL REGULAR MEETING September 08H 2016 PRESENT: Supervisor John Kaminski, Board Members Eric Snow, Jereme Stiles and Matthew Denniston, Gary Pelton, Attorney Patrick Snyder, Town Clerk Alane Van Donsel, John Morse Highway Superintendent, Rick Horner Assistant Highway Superintendent, Demont Lang, Craig Umbehauer Code and Zoning Enforcer (did not sign attendance sheet), Doug and Jenea Withey W20perators, David Coish Yaws Environmental, Teri Pelton Virgil Youth Commission, Stacy Kelsey Virgil Youth Commission, Sandy Price County Legislator, Peggy Ivie (did not sign attendance sheet), Matthew Sherman & Mrs. Sherman. 7:00 PM –TOWN HALL MEETING: The family of Loren Sherman approached the board. Loren a lifelong resident of Virgil passed away un-expectantly on Aug. 31st. and the family wishes to donate some items to beautify the grounds around the Town Hall. Matthew Sherman, Loren’s son said that at first they wanted to buy a bench, but they have collected more money than a bench would cost. They were thinking about perhaps donating a solar lamp post or possibly a picnic table. They would like to donate items in memory of Loren. Matthew said the town can place the items wherever they want. They have collected over a $1000.00 and more has come into the town. Supervisor Kaminski said that a picnic table and solar lamp was a good idea. Member Stiles suggested that whatever is donated has a plaque placed on it in memory of Loren. It was suggested that Matthew comes back next month with a total amount collected. Dale Taylor approached the board. Dale thanked the board for allowing the NEMI classes to meet at the Town Hall. He wanted the board to know that there will not be mentally ill people meeting here, but rather people who take care of mentally ill people. There are about 14 people signed up for the class. Dale said they will make sure to clean up when they are done. Dale said that Alane Van Donsel the town clerk gave a tour of the new facility. He is willing to help move items. Supervisor Kaminski said that the board is waiting for the phones to be installed and for furniture. He said that a company is coming in to give a quote on furniture. Kaminski suggested that Dale talks to the Virgil Historian, as she has records that need to be moved from the old fire house. Taylor also wanted to talk about the end of Kypriotis drive. He said that the highway department surfaced right up to his property line with oil and stone. Kaminski said that they will be up there to finish it soon. Taylor was concerned because this is the second time this has happened. He said that it has been ten years since anything has been done to the road. Taylor said that Greek Peak built the road and it was in good shape when they turned it over to the town, but now it’s falling apart. Demont Lang, said that it’s going to be done on Tuesday morning. Peggy Ivie approached the board. She said that she wanted to update the board on the Chinese class. She said that she has been working with the principal of Virgil Elementary, Ms. Kaup. She said that they plan on holding the class in October during the afterschool program. Once they get through the Chinese class they plan on starting a Russian class in the spring. Ms. Ivie said that the students will learn the language and the culture. She would like to help young minds explore the world and to open their eyes to other cultures. 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# 16-076 APPROVAL OF MINUTES Draft of Town Board Regular Meeting Minutes dated Aug. 11th, 2016: Member Stiles moved to approve the Town Board minutes for August 11th 2016. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None. RESOLUTION# 16-077 AUTHORIZATION TO PAY BILLS GENERAL FUND: Member Denniston moved to approve payment of the General Fund’s audited vouchers numbered 224-241 in the amount of $11,603.15. The motion was seconded by Member Stiles. There was some discussion on the general fund bills. There was some question on the payment of the contractual agreement with Homer and City, regarding the over run on the accessor. It was asked what Blue Tarp Financial was. John Morse said that was for lights that didn’t have guards on them. There was an amendment made to the General Funds bills. Member Stiles said that there needs to be a correction on the bills. He said that voucher#240 was the total amount due and Virgil only owes a portion of that. Member Denniston confirmed that the portion of what Virgil owes is 672.00. Member Denniston made a motion to amend the new total of General Fund bills 224 -241 in the amount of $8601.15 amending voucher # 240 to $672.00. Member Stiles seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None. HIGHWAY FUND: Member Denniston moved to approve payment of the Highway Fund audited vouchers numbered 1162- 1181 in the amount of $11,961.92. The motion was seconded by Member Snow Discussion: Member Stiles asked who Lawrence on Gee Hill was. Morse said it was for a sifter to get the chunks out of the grindings. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None CAPITAL PROJECTS-HALL ADDITION FUND: Member Denniston moved to approve the audited vouchers numbered 5006-5008 in the amount of $45,455.02. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Discussion: Supervisor Kaminski said that the addition looks good. He asked Umbehauer if the builders came back on Tuesday. Umbehauer said they did the balance test. There is a retainage amount held out of $750.00. Member Stiles said there were a few change orders on data wiring and added phone lines. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None SEWER DISTRICT #1: Member Denniston moved to approve payment of the Sewer District #1 audited voucher’s numbered 2101- 2117 in the amount of $12,924.72. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Discussion: Member Pelton asked why voucher 2303 and 2113 say highway and they are in the Sewer Bills. Member Stiles said that those were for the bridge project at the sewer Virgil Town Board Meeting September 08 th2016 2 | P a g e treatment plant. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None WATER DISTRICT #1: Member Denniston moved to approve payment of the Water District #1 audited vouchers 3040- 3041in the amount of $3,726.67. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None MONTHLY REPORTS SUPERVISOR’S MONTHLY REPORT FOR JULY 2016: Member Denniston moved to accept the Supervisor’s Monthly Report in Long form for August 2016. Member Stiles seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays –None TOWN CLERK’S MONTHLY REPORT: Member Stiles moved to accept the Town Clerks Monthly Report for August 2016. The motion was seconded by Member Snow Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None SEWER DISTRICT OPERATIONS REPORT: David Coish of Yaws Environmental reported that the Clarifier went down the day after they inspected it. Member Stiles expressed concern with why the board wasn’t notified. Coish said that he sent an E- mail to the Town Clerk. The Clerk said that she did receive it, but thought that it was just an estimate and printed the estimate for the boar d. Van Donsel said that Coish has been talking about the clarifier needing work for a while and didn’t realize this wasn’t just a quote. Coish said he received the parts the next day and it can all be refurbished. Stiles said that the board has the two prices to rebuild the Clarifier. The difference between the two prices is one is for stainless steel parts with twice the life expectancy than galvanized steel. Coish stressed that it needs to be fixed right away. Coish said this is the only company that deals the clarifier. Koester, Owns the territory for NY and NJ. The cost is $48,727.00 and should be considered an emergency repair. Coish said that if it’s not fixed in the next two months it will be a violation with the DEC. Coish said he tried to go out to bid, but there is no one else that does this work. Stiles said the first quote is for $33,000 for galvanized steel, the second is for stainless steel. Coish said that the clarifier has been rotten for two years. It should take five days to do the job. There will have to be a tanker at the site to pump all day long. Coish said he cleaned out the clarifier and he has photos. Member Stiles moved to accept the Sewer Districts Report. The motion was seconded by member Denniston. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None RESOLUTION #16-078 APPROVE EMERGENCY REPAIR OF THE SEWER TREATMENT PLANTS CLARIFIER: Member Stiles made a motion to approve the emergency repair of the clarifier at the Sewage Treatment Plant using Stainless steel parts. In the amount of $48,727.00 through Koester. The motion was seconded by Member Denniston. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None WATER DISTRICT OPERATIONS REPORT: Member Pelton asked Doug Withy if he had any idea where the high consumption at the Adventure center was coming from? Withy said he did not. They checked it and they are already up to 24,000 gallons of water. The high volume is in their operations. Once the water goes through the meter, it’s their responsibility. Withy said he would help anyway, but they can’t get a handle on it. Member Stiles said that Greek Peak has to do something about the alarms on the hydrants. Code and zoning officer Umbehauer said that it’s an ongoing issue, when they open the hydrants an alarm triggers. Stiles said that Umbehauer needs to send them a letter. It was stated that it has nothing to do with the check valve. Withy said they are missing something. The alarm is seeing a change, if it drops. Umbehauer asked Stiles who serves as the fire chief if the fire department charges them every time the alarms go off. Stiles stated no they do not. Member Stiles moved to accept the Water Districts Report. The motion was seconded by Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER’S REPORT: Member Denniston moved to accept the Animal Control Officer’s Report. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None CODE ENFORCEMENT AND ZONING OFFICERS REPORT: A written report was submitted by Code and Zoning Officer Craig Umbehauer. Umbehauer was asked about the pile of prints for the Church on route 13. Umbehauer said that they are for the Reining Miracle Church. He said that the engineer was material shy. He has to go through the County to see if the septic can handle it. The pastor didn’t think he had to go through site planning. Umbehauer said that he needs more information. Stiles said they are tax exempt. Member Stiles motioned to accept the Code and Zoning Officers report. The motion was seconded Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None COUNTY LEGISLATOR’S REPORT: A written report was submitted by County Legislator Sandy Price and Price was present. Member Stiles asked if the county owned the land where the proposed jail site is. Price said yes. Stiles was wondering if the jail project was still up for discussion. Price said yes, however the new jail is closer and closer to being a reality. Supervisor Kaminski asked if the size of the building was determined. Stiles was wondering why they were so premature in taking this land off the tax rolls. Price said that she voted against it. Stiles said that it seems like if it doesn’t go through with one committee, they form a new committee. Price said that she thinks the new committee will be more open. Price said she is only one vote. She said that the County Treasurer has retired and that a new treasurer will be elected in November. The newly elected treasurer will take office in January. Member Stiles motioned to accept the County Legislators report. The moti on was seconded Member Denniston. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None VIRGIL YOUTH COMMISSION REPORT: Teri Pelton of the Youth Commission submitted a written report. Supervisor Kaminski said he sees lots of good things happening. He said some of the parents whose children attend the Before and After School Program are Virgil Town Board Meeting September 08 th2016 3 | P a g e delinquent on paying for services. Kaminski said he is going to have the committee members work on collecting the money, but if they can’t get it collected then the Town Board will have to step in. Stacy Kelsey said they are offering two types of payment plans. She said they are having trouble getting a hold of some folks, as the contact information wasn’t updated. Kels ey said that paperwork was sent home the 1st day of school. Kaminski said they are going to work on rules and will include a hardship clause. Kelsey said that they plan on putting that in the guidelines. Hoping to allow people to work on payments and as long as th ey keep up on it. One resident has moved out of the area, but still has ties to the school. They said that e veryone they talked to were shocked about how high their balances were. They didn’t have any idea how far behind they were. They said they would give money each week, but they were never given a total balance due. Kaminski said for the most part the Youth Commission was in decent shape. Kaminski said that he will give it until the next Town Board meeting on October 13th. At that point Kaminski wants the committee to give the Town Clerk a list of unpaid balances and then he will pay them a visit. Teri Pelton said they didn’t want to go to that step yet, because they felt that people honestly didn’t know they owed money. Parents are going to get a balance each week from now on. Member Stiles thanked the committee. Stiles said that the financial reports really help the board. Discussion continued with T. Pelton asking the board to consider using some of the lump sum of money toward the 4th of July Hope Lake Fireworks event. She said that they would have kid’s activities planned. Pelton wanted to know if they could use that money toward fireworks. Stiles said that they should form a committee to discuss it. He said there are all sorts of concerns. He felt it was ok to organize kid’s activities, however he didn’t think it was a good idea to use the money toward fireworks. Member G. Pelton felt that the fireworks were a very good thing. Stiles agreed, but said it’s tough to generate money. He said fireworks will cost between five and six thousand dollars. It was also discussed that it wouldn’t look good If the community found out that the money from the Before and After school program went toward fireworks. Stiles felt it would be better to g et some sponsors for the fireworks, with support of Youth commission. Stiles doesn’t think it’s a bad idea to think about the July 4th celebration. He said that folks should put heads together and figure out a way to hold them. Kaminski said they should figure this out by January. Stiles said that right now the Before and After School Program has a healthy account and it is a very good service to the community. Kelsey said she would like to know how much the Before and After School program costs the Town per year. It was stated that Gina will print out the report at the end of the year. However, it will only be a half a year, since the town just took over the program. Member Stiles motioned to accept the Virgil Youth Commissions report. The motion was seconded Member Denniston. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None HOPE LAKE OPERATIONS REPORT: There was no repot this month as Wes Kryger was not present. HOPE LAKE PARK COMMITTEE REPORT: Committee Chair Gary Pelton said that the Committee will be meeting on September 15th at 2:30 pm. They will be meeting for a yearend wrap up and to see who’s still on board after the spring meeting. Pelton said the picnic tables are in and painted. Member Stiles wanted to know if they put the Towns name on them, Pelton wasn’t sure. Pelton didn’t think that Greek Peak had any of their tables there anymore. Pelton said that the town needs to get the buildings painted. Supervisor Kaminski said they will figure it out. HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENTS REPORT: Highway Superintendent John Morse was present and submitted a written report. Member Stiles asked about Cortland sand and gravel item four that was put on the Town, but it was for the bridge project. Stiles wanted Morse to tell him how much it was. Supervisor Kaminski said that the Department of Labor visited the Highway garage on March 17th. He said they found a bunch of violations. Morse said that they are all taken care of. He said they will be back this month to do an inspection. Morse said they come every six to seven years. Morse said that it is a good thing as it keeps them up to date. The Highway Department is planning on borrowing a backhoe. He said that the town needs to address buying a new one. Member Stiles motioned to accept the Highway Supervisor report. The motion was seconded by Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None. OLD BUSINESS UPDATE ON TOWN HALL ADDITION: Supervisor Kaminski said that the town hall is all done, except for the phone system. Kaminski said they are looking for an estimate on desks and chairs. Denniston asked if everyone knew where they were going to go. Kaminski said that the plans stated where everyone was going to go, but it can change. RESOLUTION #16-079 APPROVE THE BID FORM ALL MODE: Supervisor Kaminski said that the original installer was All Mode. So they were going to go with them for the new phones as well. Umbehauer asked if they could update the phones, as the current phones are very hard to use. He said that we can’t even transfer calls. Kaminski said that perhaps there can be so me training on them. Member Stiles made a Motion to accept the proposal for adding on phones for the town hall from All Mode in the amount of $1442.00. The motion was seconded by Member Pelton Vote: Ayes-Members Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None. UPDATE ON LOWERING THE SPEED LIMIT ON CHURCH STREET: Supervisor Kaminski said that Town Clerk Van Donsel sent a letter to the county superintendent and the superintendent forwarded the letter to the state. He wanted folks to know that the process has started. REMINDER OF BUDGET WORKSHOP DATES: Supervisor Kaminski wanted to remind the board that budget workshops will be held at 6:30 pm starting on September 13th. The following dates will be September 20th, September 27th, October 4th, October 18th and October 25th. UPDATE ON ASSESSOR: Supervisor Kaminski said they are in the process of interviewing and hiring a new assessor. Virgil Town Board Meeting September 08 th2016 4 | P a g e NEW BUSINESS SET DATE FOR POTENTIAL LOCAL LAW#1 2016: Supervisor Kaminski said that every year they set a date for a local law #1 of 2016 just in case the tax cap has to be over ridden. He would like set the date for the n ext meeting October 13th at 7:00 pm. A Motion was made by Member Stiles to set the date for Local Law #1 of 2016 Overriding the Tax Cap for the 2017 town Budget. The Public Hearing will be held on October 13th at 7:00 pm. The motion was seconded by Member Denniston. Vote: Ayes-Members Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None. RESOLUTION #16-080 APPROVE UPDATED LETTERHEAD: Supervisor Kaminski said that Town Clerk Van Donsel would like to update the Towns letterhead. Member Denniston said he would like the Town seal to be clearer. Van Donsel said that she has already taken care of that. Supervisor Kaminski said he would like to see the Town seal as a watermark. Member Stiles motioned at approve the new letterhead as presented. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None. APPROVE RFP’S FOR SEWER AND WATER DISTRICT #1: Supervisor Kaminski said that it is time to go out to bid for the water and sewer districts in the Town of Virgil. There is to be a change on the bid specs for the water district from J anuary 2017 to January 2019. It was state stated that the water districts contract is for four years and sewer district is for two years. Member Stiles made a motion to go out to bid for the Water and Sewer district. Member Denniston seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes -Members Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None. EXECUTIVE SESSION: In Accordance with Public Officers law section Article 7, Section 103, Supervisor Kaminski called for an Executive Session at 8:27 PM to discuss a legal matter. A motion was made by Member Stiles, seconded by Member Denniston. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nay-None. END EXECUTIVE SESSION: Executive Session was adjourned at 8:35 PM. Moved by Member Stiles, Seconded by Member Pelton. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nay-None. RESOLUTION #16-081 HIRE PATRICK SEELY ESQ. TO REPRESENT THE TOWN OF VIRGIL IN A LEGAL MATTER WITH GREEK PEAK: Member Stiles made a motion to approve the hiring of Patrick Seely Esq. to represent the town in reg ards to the 2016 Greek Peak tax assessment case. The motion was seconded by Member Pelton. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Stiles, Denniston and Kaminski. Nay-None. Discussion continued. Member Stiles said that he would like to see the town get in touch with a local company named Mac Source for any future telephone needs. At some point he would like to look at getting a quote on new phones. He would like to look at the new vendors. Stiles feels that All Mode has become complacent. He said he didn’t mind using All Mode for now, by moving forward would like look at different vendors. With no further business to discuss, Member Stiles moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:37 P.M. Member Denniston seconded the Motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays: None. Respectfully Submitted by, Alane Van Donsel, Virgil Town Clerk