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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-06-08a - TB ()NCI TOWN OF ULYSSES REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING JUNE 8T", 1999 PRESENT: Supervisor Doug Austic; Councilpeople Carolyn Duddleston, Andy Hillman, Sue Poelvoorde and Robert Weatherby; Code Enforcement Officer Alex Rachun ; Highway Superintendent James Meeker; Town Clerk Marsha Georgia . Others Present: Free Press Reporter Grace Wolf, Ithaca Journal Reporter Lauren Bishop, George Kennedy, Tom Reitz, Carol Muraca, Debra Austic and Catherine Stover. Supervisor Austic opened the meeting at 7 : 30 PM and led those assembled in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America . APPROVAL OF MINUTES Supervisor Austic asked if he heard a motion to approve the minutes of the Regular Town Board Meeting of May 11th, 1999 . Mrs . Duddleston moved seconded by Ms . Poelvoorde to approve the minutes of the May 11th meeting . Copies of the corrections were given to the clerk. APPROVAL OF MONTHLY CLAIMS Mr. Hillman moved seconded by Mrs . Duddleston to approve the previous examined vouchers numbering 202 through 237 in the amount of $ 15, 039 . 11 . Unanimously approved . REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES Tompkins County Representative Peter Penniman will arrive later in the meeting . TRUMANSBURG FIRE DEPARTMENT No one in attendance . TRUMANSBURG COOPERATIVE NURSERY SCHOOL Carol Muraca, Director of the Trumansburg Cooperative Nursery School, stated that they are planning to build a new facility to expand the nursery school . Now they are located in the basement of the Presbyterian Chapel and have been for over forty years . Due to New York State licensing they are not allowed to expand their program . The TCNS is a part-time program only. Parents drop their children off at 9 : 00 AM and pick them up in three hours. They would like to expand the program to offer full-day care and qualify for licensing and accreditation . There is a real need for this in our community and they feel that they could better serve the community with a different program . They will offer Preschool education for ages 3 to 5, infant and toddler daycare, extended care for ages 3 to 6 and be a family support center . Surveys were distributed to TCNS parents and at TCS kindergarten screening . Thirty-five surveys have been returned and 28 are currently using childcare and 7 are not. The number of childcare providers in the past 5 years ranged from 1 to 8 . The new facility would benefit the community by : • Children will have access to consistent quality care Town of Ulysses 2 Regular Town Board mtg. 06-08-99 • The center will reach out to more families in the community by offering additional schedule options and more programs for a wider age range • The availability of childcare for holidays and school vacation • Provide education and support to help families • The availability of quality childcare in a licensed center will attract new families • The expansion of TCNS will increase employment • Volunteerism will increase and unify the community We need to build support from the community and they would like to start by getting the Town Board's support. Mr. Weatherby asked who makes up the organization ? Ms. Muraca stated that the parents do . The parents are the board of directors and may change yearly . She runs the program . Mr. Austic asked if they would have to have a more organizational structure if they were to borrow or try to borrow $ 100, 000? Ms. Muraca said yes there would be more employees, more community support and would have a full time director . They have talked with the school in regards to a Pre- K program . The school has stated that if there were a licensed program in the area the school would consider contracting . TCNS is now in a search for land . They ask for any input into their search . They would like to stay within the village for the water. Mr. Hillman asked if they would like a resolution of support and they stated that they would greatly appreciate that. Mr. Hillman will prepare a resolution for the June 22nd meeting . TOWN REPORTS Highway Superintendent James Meeker reported that they have been cleaning up cemeteries, helped the village with a waterline break on Rt. 96, mowing roadsides, hauled fill to the recycling center and some ditching on Rabbit Run Road . They are also working on the ditches on Krums Corners Road to get it ready for shimming . They will be putting up new road signs throughout the Town . This year the West Side of the town will be done . Mr. Meeker will be attending Highway School at Ithaca College this coming week. Code Enforcement Officer Alex Rachun reported that he has issued one permit for an addition . There were two zoning hearings on area variances . Town Clerk Marsha Georgia reported that a total of $ 1033 was collected for the month of May and $617 . 13 was turned over to the supervisor along with the monthly report . She reported that she had a major computer failure . Somehow the Windows program failed . She called Jeff Burns and he was able to restore her programs . Mrs . Georgia received a letter from the Ulysses Historical Society expressing their thanks for the donation of Vic copier from thg Towq• I Mrs . Georgia thanked the Board for the tree that was sent to her in remembrance of her father passing away . Town of Ulysses Regular Town Board mtg. 06-08-99 Board Members and / or Committees Mr. Hillman reported that the Trumansburg Ulysses Joint Youth Commission met last week. Some of the programs they have for the summer are : • Fly fishing • Counselor and training • Summer theater workshop • Art and the business of music • Planning a Trumansburg, Ulysses and Enfield picnic Mrs. Duddleston reported that the Recreation Partnership is continuing to work on their budget. They are trying to do a no increase budget. They still don't know if the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County have agreed to go along with any more money. Mr. Austic asked Ms . Poelvoorde if she had gotten any information on an ordinance for large gatherings? Ms. Poelvoorde stated that she has gotten the state regulations . She would like to get a contact person at the fairgrounds to discuss what activities may be coming up in the future . She will also talk with the fire department. Mr. Austic referred Sue to Mr. Tom Bennett or Gary Reynolds for the fairground contact. Supervisor Austic reviewed the operating statement for the period ending May 31st, 1999 . No questions were heard . OLD BUSINESS Schedule Meeting with Planning Board Mr. Austic feels a meeting needs to be scheduled with the planning board to discuss how the creation of the new zoning is to be handled and how the whole site plan review process is working . To see if everyone on the planning board understands the way the town board intended the law to work. Mr. Austic does have some interpretation from the Town Attorney that can be presented to the planning board . The planning board is having a meeting tomorrow evening and he suggests that any board member that would like to come is welcome . The County circuit rider will be there also . We could discuss with her how things should precede on the revision of the zoning ordinance so that it could be accomplished by the end of the year. Mr. Austic feels that the whole process of the revision should include the town board and the planning board . This way everyone is informed through the whole process . They are talking about two meetings a month with the county planner. Mrs. Duddleston asked who would be the lead board ? She feels that the Town Board should be. She feels the ordinance should be user friendly . Cayuga Nature Center Light This still has not been resolved . The letter from NYS DOT has not been received allowing one light instead of three . Other Mr. Reitz asked about the progress on the water/sewer study? Town of Ulysses 4 Regular Town Board mtg. 06-08-99 Mr. Austic stated that the contract for the water study has been signed and a proposal for sewer study has been received . They have requested some tax map information that they will get from the clerk. NEW BUSINESS Resolution to Expend Fund Balance from B for Water Study and County Planning Mr. Austic stated that a resolution has to be passed to expend the fund balance for the foregoing expenses . He reminded the board that at the time of the budget process they left the unexpended fund balance in the B Fund alone for expenses that may occur for such projects . He also reminds the board that it has been promised by Assemblyman Luster to reimburse part of this expense . Mrs. Duddleston_moved seconded by Mr. Hillman the following resolution : RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses expends the fund balance of the B Fund to pay for the water study and the County Planners help with the zoning ordinance . Mr. Austic aye Mrs. Duddleston aye Mr. Hillman aye Ms. Poelvoorde aye Mr. Weatherby aye Adopted . Action on SEOR and Rezoning Meeting has been scheduled for June 22"d, 1999 at 7 : 00 PM for this . Discuss Sewer Study Proposal The town has received a proposal from the same engineers doing the water study to look into sewer. Mr. Austic feels that it may be possible to get money from the town's state representative . Mr. Austic feels that if the money can be found there certainly wouldn't be anything lost . Discuss Zoning Ordinance Revision Tabled . Discussion of Bids for Town Barn Addition Mr. Austic asked Mr. Meeker if he had any plans for the addition on the town barns? Mr. Meeker stated that he has not but he has talked with Fingerlakes Construction and someone from there will be stopping down to talk to him . Municipal Officials Meeting Meeting will be held next week and anyone interested in attending should contact Mr . Austic . Establish Fee for Site Plan Review Mr. Austic reminded the board that a fee has to be set. This was not done at the time of passing the amendment to the zoning ordinance . At this time we Town of Ulysses V C Regular Town Board mtg. 06-08-99 charge $75 for a Zoning Board of Appeals and Mr. Rachun expressed that the fee for Site Plan Review could be the same . Ms. Poelvoorde moved seconded by Mr. Austic the following : Resolved that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses set a fee of $75 for the Site Plan Review process . Further Resolved that if this fee does not cover the expenses in the future it can be raised . Mr. Austic aye Mrs. Duddleston aye Mr. Hillman aye Ms. Poelvoorde aye Mr. Weatherby aye Adopted. Other Mr. Austic stated that he had to have work done on his accounting program that cost $500 . He asked the board to reduce the Supervisor's salary A1220 . 1 and transfer to A1220 .4 by this amount. The general consensus of the board was to expend the money from another account. He should not have to pay for this out of his salary. Tompkins County Representative Peter Penniman distributed the 1999 Tompkins County Local Government Directories . He also distributed a letter from James Hanson, Commissioner of Planning in reference to planning assistance to local municipalities . He reported that at the county level they have been talking about putting assessment information on the Internet. Seeing that it is public information why not make it more accessible? The general sense is that it would cut down traffic to the assessment office and staff time to help people. Mrs. Georgia stated that the clerk's office has been furnished a disk with this information and no one has ever requested it. Mrs . Georgia suggests that the county let residents and/or concerned business know about this service in the clerk's office . Instead of having everyone's information on the Internet for the wrong people . Mr. Austic feels that it should not be on the Internet. Mrs. Duddleston feels that certainly it would not cut down on traffic in the assessment office . Ms. Poelvoorde had mixed feelings because she does pull information from the Internet. Mr. Penniman stated that he has been looking at county services as to which ones are benefiting Ulysses and the other rural towns and he feels the GIS System is a great planning tool . The GIS System is a mapping system . It locates all parcels in the county, has overlays of creeks/waterways and natural features . Each town will receive a set of these in the fall . The next step would be to have a computer where you can dial up a section of the town and get your own customized overlay of features you want to look at. The cost of this is around $ 1000 to get set up with a computer and software . In the next six Town of Ulysses ;jr F Regular Town Board mtg. 06-08-99 months or so they will offer a limited version of that, a less complex software . This would be under a $ 1000 . The other thing Mr. Penniman reported on is the re-structuring of EMC . They have talked about limiting the size of EMC in trying to get it more represented more of the whole county because of the perception that it was too strongly pushing environment views that were not practical . So they plan to refocus . Alternate for Cavuca Lake Water Shed Mr. Austic feels that an alternate should be appointed because our representative Krys Cail is unable to attend all of the time . He suggested George Kennedy . Mr. Hillman moved seconded by Ms . Poelvoorde the following : Resolved that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses appoints George Kennedy as the alternate to Cayuga Lake WaterShed . Mr. Austic aye Mrs. Duddleston aye Mr. Hillman aye Ms. Poelvoorde aye Mr. Weatherby aye Adopted HEARING FROM GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS None heard . ADJOURNMENT Hearing no further business Mr. Weatherby moved seconded by Mrs . Duddleston to adjourn the meeting . Hearing no objection the meeting was adjourned at 9 : 30 PM . Respectfully submitted . Marsha L. Georgia Ulysses Town Clerk MLG : mlg