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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-08-28-WTB Town of Ulysses Working Town Board Meeting August 28 , 2012 Present : Supervisor Roxanne Marino ; Councilpersons Kevin Romer and Lucia Tyler; Deputy Supervisor Sue Poelvoorde; Planning and Zoning Board Secretary Robin Carlisle Peck ) Absent : Elizabeth Thomas and David Kerness Ms . Marino noted at 7 : 01 p .m. that a quorum was not present to start the Board meeting. She contacted Mr. Romer who reported he was on his way and would arrive at 7 : 40 p .m . Ms . Marino called the meeting to order at 7 : 45 p .m . and reviewed the topics on the agenda. 2013 INSURANCE COVERAGE Ms. Marino reported that she received an inquiry from Bill Oliver of The Partners Insurance Company asking if the Town of Ulysses would like to receive a proposal for NYMIR general municipal insurance for 2013 . She noted that she and Ms . Thomas are interested. Ms. Tyler and Mr. Romer agreed it would be good to have a comparison and authorized Ms. Marino to request a quote from NYMIR. Ms . Marino noted that she would also communicate with E . C . Cooper, our current company, to get a quote for 2013 . BUDGET PROCESS Ms . Marino reviewed the steps required to complete the process to adopt the 2013 budget. She noted that the Association of Towns July/August issue of Talk of the Town has a good article and timeline . She recommended that the Board review the article . She also provided an Operating Statement through August 27, 2012, and an annotated summary of other financial information that the Board will need to consider during the budget process . Ms . Marino noted that the tentative budget is due September 30th, and must be presented to the Town Board on or before October 5th. She distributed budget request forms to all department heads on August 27th with the request for input by September 11t . Town Board members should give requests to Ms . Marino by the same date . She would like to present the budget to the Town Board on October 2nd if the majority of the Board is available . Ms . Marino reported that Ms. Thomas is starting to revise the Employee Handbook, particularly the benefits section. How benefits are applied to employees has a direct impact on the budget and the policy did not get updated after last year' s budget round. If Board members have items in the handbook they are concerned with please speak to Ms . Thomas . Ms . Tyler recommended that revising the handbook in subsets versus an entire document overhaul would be a more manageable task as there are so many different areas to cover. LOCAL LAW TO OVERRIDE THE 2 % TAX CAP Ms . Marino noted that although the 2012 Budget came in under the 2% New York State mandated cap and she doesn ' t expect the 2013 Budget to exceed the cap, she recommends that the Board pass a local law again for this year just in case they need to go over the 2%. She will put the law on the agenda for the September 11 , 2012, Regular Town Board meeting. The members reviewed and discussed the draft local law. JACKSONVILLE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION REQUEST Ms Marino presented information from the Jacksonville Community Association (JCA) on requests for action. The Board discussed the outline emailed to the Board on August 21st and all agreed with the 3 -step approach proposed. Working Town Board Meeting 2 August 28, 2012 Ms . Marino will confirm with attorney Mariette Geldenhuys, Environmental Planner Darby Kiley and Code Enforcement Officer Alex Rachun that the Board wants to pursue this process . The Board set the target date of September 25 , 2012, for the Town Board to receive a memorandum evaluating the JCA requests and options to address the issues . AGRICULTURE AND FARMLAND PROTECTION PLAN Ms . Marino handed out a draft timeline to complete the Agriculture and Farmland Protection Plan before the end of the year so that the Town can receive the final reimbursement from New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets . The Board discussed and agreed to the timeline. WATER METER READING ISSUE Ms . Marino distributed a spreadsheet presenting water use in Ulysses for 2011 and 2012 . She stated that there are again discrepancies in billed units versus delivered units from the Town of Ithaca. She is working with Doug Austic and Marsha Georgia to troubleshoot why discrepancies have arisen again. Wayne Sincebaugh, Bolton Point, verified that they had recalibrated the meter on the water main so the reading should be accurate . Mr. Austic checked his handheld meter with the main meter reading and they matched . Mr. Austic is going to change the time of month he reads the Town of Ulysses meters to be in line with when the Town of Ithaca reads their meters . Ms . Marino will continue to work on the issue and update the Board . EMS Ms . Marino reviewed the outstanding items for the EMS situation. Board members felt it is still valuable and important to organize the meeting originally proposed by John Morrissey from the NYS Department of Health (DOH) with DOH representatives, the Trumansburg Village Board and EMS staff, and Bangs Ambulance . The meeting would allow an open discussion on the options and help direct a decision on the option that ensures the best service for Town of Ulysses residents, which include Village of Trumansburg residents, and get answers from the Village of Trumansburg on future service standards now that they will be covering the entire Town of Covert. Mr. Romer agreed to contact John Morrissey about DOH availability on the following potential dates for a meeting (in order of preference) : Sept 19th, Sept 17th, Sept 26th, Sept 24th, and Sept 18th. Ms . Marino will ask Mariette Geldenhuys about her availability and then invite the Village for date / dates that work best. The Board agreed the Town should develop a set of questions to structure the meeting and forward them to participants ahead of time . Mr. Romer agreed to take the lead in putting together a list of questions for the Board to work from. The Board discussed having a representative from the Tompkins County Emergency dispatch center come to the next Town Board meeting (9/ 11 ) to give a brief, 15 - 20 minute, summary and answer questions on how E-911 would work under contract vs . non-contract scenarios, backup responder contact procedure, etc . Recognizing that the next meeting falls on September 11th, emergency services staff may have other commitments set to honor those who lost their lives 11 years ago . The Board will have a moment of silence at the Board meeting in honor of all those who put their lives on the line responding to emergency calls . Having no further business, Ms . Marino moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Mr. Romer. Unanimously approved. The meeting was adjourned at 9 : 34 p. m . Respectfully submitted, Robin Carlisle Peck Planning and Zoning Board Secretary