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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-06-22 - TB gjq Town of Ulysses SPECIAL BOARD MEETING June 22, 1999 Present: Supervisor Austic; Councilpeople Carolyn Duddleston, Andrew Hillman, Sue Poelvoorde and Robert Weatherby; Town Clerk Marsha Georgia . Others Present : Town of Covert Board Members Steve Selover and Howard Barrows, Jane Selover, Village Trustee/Water Commissioner John Levine and Village Mayor Thomas Bennett. Supervisor Austic called the meeting to order at 7 : 00 PM . Mr. Hillman introduced the following resolution : WHEREAS THE Trumansburg Community Nursery School has provided a quality preschool program to children in our community for over forty years and , WHEREAS for the Trumansburg Community Nursery School to grow and better meet the needs of our children a larger facility will be necessary, NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of Ulysses hereby encourages and supports in concept the efforts of the Trumansburg Community Nursery School to find a new and larger facility which will become a comprehensive early childhood center. Mr. Hillman moved the foregoing resolution seconded by Mr. Austic. Mr. Austic aye Mrs . Duddleston aye Mr. Hillman aye Ms. Poelvoorde aye Mr. Weatherby aye Adopted . Mrs. Georgia will certify the resolution and send it to the Nursery School . Mr. Austic stated that he had received a call from Ben Curtis, Cable Commissioner requesting the Board pass a resolution in support of their efforts to continue with the Cable Commission in working towards a contract/franchise with Time Warner. A lengthy report was provided to the board members, which was thoroughly read . Mr. Austic moved, seconded by Mr. Hillman the following resolution : RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses request that the Cable Commission continue towards a resolution of a contract with Time Warner Cable on behalf of Ulysses. Mr. Austic aye Mrs. Duddleston aye Mr. Hillman aye Ms. Poelvoorde aye Mr. Weatherby aye Adopted . 29-C) Town of Ulysses 2 Special Meeting 6/22/99 Mr. Austic stated the purpose of this meeting is to discuss, with the engineers, how to get a supply source for water for the Town of Ulysses . The Town is asking the engineers to study three different concepts. • Work with the Village of Trumansburg to increase their supply to enable the Town to get water from them • The Town would try to find their own source by going to the lake or wells • Go to Town of Ithaca and hook on to Bolton Point. In talking with the engineers over the last few days Mr . Austic feels they may be in favor of using Bolton Point. Mr. Austic has asked the Village of Trumansburg , Village of Interlaken and the Town of Covert to take a look at their systems. Because if they feel that any time in the future they would be interested in hooking into the Bolton Point system the Town could go ahead and put in a larger line and bring it as far as they can . Mr. Austic asked if the Town of Covert is interested in water. Covert Councilman Steve Selover stated that he feels there is a good interest at the south end of the Town of Covert maybe two to three miles. John Levine, Water Commissioner Village of Trumansburg stated that the Village would most likely have a reasonable case for extension of water to Jacksonville . Ms. Poelvoorde asked if the Village is interested in looking at Bolton Point and possibly getting out of the water business . Mr. Levine stated that he did not think so . He states that their well is fine and they have a back up well . To extend would mean a water tower. Mr. Austic stated that in one of the original plans, in the early eighties, there was a water tower half way up Iradell Road or some where in that vicinity. He has told the engineers to do a study based on 10,000 residents so there would be a place to expand , if needed . Mr. Nick Pinto Vice President of Barton & Loquidice and Rich Straut, Managing Engineer arrived and handed out an agenda for tonight's presentation . Mr. Straut feels at this point in time, everyone has read the proposal his firm previously presented . The way they have laid out the scope of the project was that they would first review whatever information is available from any prior work done. They drove around the whole Town to get the lay of the land to see where population was and how spread out everything was. They provided an updated map of the homes . This will help them to see where the concentration of people seem to be and then rough out where it might be most feasible to extend water depending in which direction they would be coming from . For instance, if they were to get water from the Town of Ithaca and come up Route 89 there seems to be a fairly dense population to a point and then it thins out. Again, on Route 96 it seems to be fairly dense, relatively speaking , up into Jacksonville and than thins out coming into the Village Trumansburg . It has to be determined where the water would come from . One possibility would be from nearby existing systems, the Village of Trumansburg and the other would be possibly from Bolton Point . Another possibility could be developing a municipal water system with either groundwater wells or a Town of Ulysses 3 Special Meeting 6/22/99 treatment plant from Cayuga Lake . He feels, after looking at some of the maps there is a very limited opportunity for groundwater wells. After it has been decided where the water is going and where it is going to come from they would cost it out and try and figure out how much it would cost the people. They would take a preliminary look at grants and put together a funding package . Mr. Straut asked the Board if they had any particular area that they would like to service with water. He feels that Jacksonville is high on the list, but is there other areas? Mr. Austic stated that basically between Route 89 and 96. Anywhere between there and possibly continuing on into Seneca County. Mr. Straut wanted to bring it to the attention of the board that they are working in the Town of Genoa, Cayuga County. They talked with Bolton Point and at this time they feel that they do not want to supply water out of Tompkins County. He does not think this is necessarily a final decision . Mr. Straut asked the Village Mayor about the Village being a source. Mr. Levine, Water Commissioner responded and stated that his position is that he cannot ask the Village taxpayers to pay for an extension . We would be willing to sell water. Mr. Pinto stated that the town could put in their own water line and operate their own water department or contract that. Under State Law the Village would not be allowed to extend village lines. Certainly there would have to be an agreement to buy water. The real issue is the willingness to sell water, certainly a negotiated price of some sort. Mayor Bennett asked what Bolton Point sold their water for? Mr. Straut stated that he could not remember the exact rate but he thinks they were talking $4 per thousand gallons. A typical user would use somewhere around 70 thousand to 100 thousand a year. Mayor Bennett stated that their basic rate is $21 . 35 for the first thousand and $2 . 35 per thousand after that within the Village. Outside the Village it is $32 .02 for first thousand and $3 . 53 per thousand after that. Mr. Bennett is worried about collecting delinquent water bills outside the village. Mr. Pinto stated that you form a district and that problem goes away. Typically what the Village would do is take the Town on as a single customer. There would be a meter at the Village/Town line. Under those circumstances a wholesale rate would be charged because you would be providing water not the service. The village would have no responsibility past that meter. No ties with the single user. Unless there was to be a separate contract to the Village for services. Mr. Straut stated that in the near future they would meet with the Village and Bolton Point and discuss costs. Also the cost of the Town putting in their own treatment plant or well will be investigated . As far as the water storage, what they would be looking at is a couple of different types of tanks, whether it would be ground level source tanks or elevated source tank. It depends on the elevation to be looked at. They would look into if there were the capacity to share with the Village. If they were to come up from the South than it has been stated that there are pressure problems when you get to the Town of Ulysses g-() 1J- Town of Ulysses 4 Special Meeting 6/22/99 line. The high elevation at the South of Jacksonville is the likely spot for a tank. A tank there could be shared cost wise with the Town of Ithaca . Mr. Straut reviewed how they would go about making their recommendations. They will cost everything out. This will be a big factor in determining which direction to go and what options. There may be other tangible non-cost, such as expandability. One option may seem cheaper but it looks like you could never expand, you may not want to go that way. Before they would sit down with recommendations, they would go through those kinds of considerations. As far as the role of the Town members need to tell them what the needs are. The more you tell them the more they will be able to address the questions and concerns. After all this they will look at funding programs. There are some programs out there, including federal and state money, low interest loans and some grant money. Many grants are based on income levels. If there is any potential for industrial or commercial development there could be grants for that. As the project gets closer these things can be investigated more thoroughly . Mr. Austic asked if they had done a tally of the houses up Route 89 and Route 96? Mr. Straut stated that they had done it street by street to make it easier for them to see the best possible way for water. They are marked on the map but the actual numbers they did not have with them . Mr. Austic stated that most likely Jacksonville would be the main goal from whatever way they would want to go . Than as years go by extensions could be done . Mr. Pinto asked if the Town had done income surveys other than what the census provides? Mrs . Georgia recalls an income survey back in the early 1980 . Mr. Pinto stated that there are grants and loans based on income. You can take the levels from the census report or go out and do a survey house by house . The lower you can show the income in an area the higher the probability of receiving funding . Most of the agencies giving out funding have an average cost to the home owner in the $400 to $500 yearly range, including water usage. They back into the amount of the grant money. They take the total water bill for what residents would have to pay for debt service . They take the capital construction portion , the service fee and than the actual water use, maintenance cost and rolls them altogether. They expect someone will be paying between $400 to $ 500 . NYS Audit and Control would have to review if the district cost were over a state average . If it is under you do not even have to go to the State . August 19th is a filing deadline for an application to the State. The engineers would like to meet before that. They requested a copy of the Ulysses Comprehensive Land Use Map . This will be provided along with a tax roll, tax maps and other requested items. Hearing no further discussion , Mr. Austic thanked them for coming and adjourned the meeting . Respectfully submitted , Marsha L. Georgia , Ulysses Town Clerk