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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-02-11-RTBREGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING Town of Ulysses February 11, 2014 Held at the Ulysses Town Hall at 10 Elm Street on February 11, 2014. PRESENT: Supervisor- Liz Thomas Second Deputy Supervisor- Michelle Wright Board members- Rich Goldman, John Hertzler, Nancy Zahler, Dave Kerness Clerk- Carissa Parlato Environmental Planner/Zoning Officer- Darby Kiley Highway Superintendent- Jim Meeker Attorney- Mariette Geldenhuys OTHERS PRESENT: Town residents- Greg Reynolds, Tim Reynolds, Dave Schurman Reporters- Kat Clement, Rob Montana Notice of Regular Town Board meetings are posted on the website and clerk's board. Ms. Thomas called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. RESOLUTION 2014-55: BE IT RESOLVED that the Ulysses Town Board move into Executive Session to discuss matters leading to the appointment of particular persons for the vacancies on the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals. Moved: Ms. Thomas ADOPTED: Ms. Thomas aye Ms. Zahler aye Mr. Hertzler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Goldman aye Vote: 5-0 Date Adopted: 2/11/14 Seconded: Mr. Goldman Ms. Kiley and Ms. Geldenhuys were invited to join the board in the session. The board returned from executive session at 7:15pm. GENERAL BUSINESS: REVIEW RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR MEETINGS: Ms. Thomas pointed out the new meeting guidelines listed on the back of the agenda. APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA: RESOLUTION 2014-56: BE IT RESOLVED that the Ulysses Town Board approve the meeting agenda for the February 11, 2014 meeting. Moved: Ms. Thomas Ms. Thomas aye Ms. Zahler aye Mr. Hertzler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Goldman aye Vote: 5-0 Date Adopted: 2/11/14 1 Seconded: Mr. Kerness BUDGET MODIFICATIONS: (None) APPROVAL OF CLAIMS: Discussion on use of voucher numbers: Ms. Thomas thinks they are helpful for noticing if a voucher is missing. Ms. Zahler finds voucher numbers helpful for reconciling the vouchers with the abstract. Ms. Thomas will ask Ms. Bouchard (bookkeeper) to use them again. One voucher for office supplies was returned due to lack of a department head signature. In response to an inquiry from Mr. Goldman re: billing for legal services, Ms. Geldenhuys presented an update on the Hertzberg FOIL request. Efforts to contact the Hertzberg office with prompt responses to her FOIL requests went unanswered until recently. Some materials have been pulled together; more will be done once a response is received from the Hertzberg office regarding the specificity and preferred format of the documents. RESOLUTION 2014-57: BE IT RESOLVED that the Ulysses Town Board approve payment of claims that were reviewed and entered into the system in the amount of $65,514.23. Moved: Ms. Thomas Ms. Thomas aye Ms. Zahler aye Mr. Hertzler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Goldman aye Vote: 5-0 Date Adopted: 2/11/14 Seconded: Mr. Kerness RESOLUTION 2014-58: BE IT RESOLVED that the Ulysses Town Board approve payment of four (4) additional claims that have not yet been entered into the system (as they were received today) in the amount of $1366.36. Moved: Ms. Thomas Ms. Thomas aye Ms. Zahler aye Mr. Hertzler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Goldman aye Vote: 5-0 Date Adopted: 2/11/14 Seconded: Ms. Zahler APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 12/17/13, 1/14/14, 1/28/14 RESOLUTION 2014-59: BE IT RESOLVED that the Ulysses Town Board approve the minutes of 12/17/13; the version sent on 2/6/14. Moved: Ms. Thomas Ms. Thomas aye Ms. Zahler aye Mr. Hertzler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Goldman aye Vote: 5-0 Date Adopted: 2/11/14 OA Seconded: Ms. Zahler RESOLUTION 2014-60: BE IT RESOLVED that the Ulysses Town Board approve the minutes of 1/14/14 sent on 2/4/14, (with Ms. Bouchard's budget modifications); and the minutes of 1/28/14, sent on 2/11/14. Moved: Ms. Thomas Ms. Thomas aye Ms. Zahler aye Mr. Hertzler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Goldman aye Vote: 5-0 Date Adopted: 2/11/14 Seconded: Ms. Zahler Discussion: Ms. Thomas - The group may want to discuss minute structure at a future meeting. REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES: 1. TOMPKINS COUNTY: BOARD (Jim Dennis) 2. TRUMANSBURG FIRE DEPARTMENT & EMS 3. TRUMANSBURG VILLAGE 4. OTHER (No reports for this meeting). Mr. Kerness pointed out that representatives used to make regular reports. Since it has been quite awhile since they have attended, Ms. Zahler indicated that if the Board would like regular in-person reports from the Village, she will ask them to attend. PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR #1: (please refer to the appendix following for details on this section). TOWN REPORTS: PLANNING BOARD / ZONING OFFICER: Ms. Kiley reports the following: Planning Board: On January 21, the Planning Board reviewed proposed changes to the Cayuga Compost Site Plan. On February 4, the Planning Board discussed the rezoning request for 1607 Trumansburg Road, but did not finalize a recommendation. They also discussed the alternate member policy, the Village water line, and the work plan including the open space plan and form -based zoning for Jacksonville. BZA: The BZA did not meet in January but will have a very full agenda for February. Other: At the January meeting, the Water Resources Council heard an update on the hydrilla efforts, discussed recent progress on the Cayuga Lake modeling project, and discussed the draft 303(d) list (water quality list). Energy Grant — The Town of Ithaca is the lead for a recently awarded grant to develop a Home Energy Rating disclosure program. The group includes municipalities and CCE and is meeting once or twice a month to develop the work plan for the grant contract and to begin to move forward with the project. The Stormwater Coalition of Tompkins County met on January 29 and discussed outstanding grant funding, training options, changes at DEC, and the annual agreement for administrative services with TC Soil and Water Conservation District. HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT: Mr. Meeker reported that the season continues to be busy with plowing and salting. The crew has had only 3 days off since last board meeting. The salt supply is getting low but more may be acquired. If not, they have small stone that can be mixed in with the salt to stretch the supply and help provide traction. The department also hauled stone for summer projects and has performed maintenance on their equipment (i.e. new tires for the mowing tractor). Mr. Meeker requested approval from the board for a replacement pickup truck. The truck is 11 years old with 170,000 miles on it; repairs are becoming costly. Mr. Meeker feels that state contracts offer the best deals (a 33% discount) and will follow up with those businesses that have been awarded state contracts. He expects the cost to be around $20,000. TOWN CLERK: Financial report for January 2014: $1040 was collected in fees for dog and marriage licenses. $937.50 of that amount was paid out to Supervisor. #Licenses issued: DECALS -0 Dog licenses- 72 Marriage licenses- 1 Other activities: • Around $4 million was collected in tax dollars. January was a busy month with tax duties (collecting funds by mail and in person, posting bills into our system, making deposits, and providing documents to banks and residents). • Updating the website • Working on minutes • Processing licenses • Posting water bills CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: (This report was very short and therefore has been incorporated into a broader financial report shared by the supervisor). SUPERVISOR: Ms. Thomas handed out a financial report with details on what monies came into the office. (Mr. Hertzler excused himself at 8pm). Discussion: The members decided the operating statement was enough information and a supervisor's report of what is coming into the office is not necessary. Mr. Goldman would like to see a monthly cash flow report to see when revenue comes in and if the town is on track financially during the course of the year. Other items: Tompkins County Area Development (TOAD) will hold a campaign kickoff event. Board members are encouraged to attend if they desire. Ms. Thomas passed around other information for the board to peruse: • Waterburg bridge status report • Amicus brief information Discussion: Ms. Thomas questioned whether everyone is using their Ulysses e-mails. Ms. Geldenhuys notes that it is important to use them for FOIL purposes, and so that they will be retrievable on the town server. Several members need more information and assistance from Michelle Wright to be fully using the new email system. (Mr. Hertzler returned at 8:20pm). Ms. Thomas reports that the three quotes for a new mixer for the Jacksonville water tank came in at $77-100K. 2 There are not enough funds for Mr. Austic's new truck with this expense. Other board members will assist with this issue. DEPUTY SUPERVISOR: Ms. Wright reported that her time has been spent on the following: • PESH- injury reporting, etc. • Getting the Grant Gateway up and running • website editing • accounts payable training with Ms. Bouchard • personnel policy- retirement models • comptroller communication • putting out the cleaning bid • newsletter/mailing list • website usage monitoring TOWN BOARD MEMBERS AND COMMITTEES: Submitted/reported by Ms. Zahler: Youth report- • Worked with Village to complete reconciliation of accounts for 3 years of recreation programs. The 3 year shortfall was approximately $15,000 which the Town and Village agreed to split fifty-fifty. • Working on updating the Memo of Understanding to reflect agreements for Town to hold any surpluses and for Town and Village to split deficits 50-50 and to update the funding approved for calendar 2014 for the various programs overseen by the joint Youth Commission. • To reduce future deficits and improve services for local residents, the Town and Village group asked the Youth Commission to create an ad hoc group on Recreation to find ways to help parents and caregivers learn about and register for local recreational programs and to review alternate approaches for summer rec to be able to better plan for ups and downs in registration and staffing. • Liz has offered our town website as a place to host a portal for parents. Ben Carver from the Village Board has agreed to help with this. • Janice Johnson from the County Youth Services Department has agreed to provide staff support to the ad hoc committee & she has arranged an initial meeting for Feb 24th at 4pm at Town Hall. • The Commission has 2 new staff people: Mike Perry & Anthony Ouckama, who are off to a good start. Village- • FIRE & EMS- At last night's Village Board meeting I received a copy of the Fire and EMS reports and Carissa will make copies for TB members. • WATER- The Village Board spent time reviewing the status of their plans for both their second source for water and the significant re -design of their waste water treatment. I met their engineers and asked them to meet with us, Highway Superintendent Meeker and Doug Austic to review plans for the Falls Road route to discuss right of ways etc. I will be following up to get a better idea of their actual timetable. • Our Planning Board is eager to talk with them about the plans for water and that is an item on our work plan that I will urge us to address sooner rather than later. • The Village is beginning their budget process and is thinking about holding a State of the Village meeting sometime in March. At that meeting they will discuss the Village's options for controlling their deer population, using a very controlled form of bow hunting similar to the approach used successfully in the Village of Lansing. • At the Village's request, Liz and I are meeting with Rordan Hart to discuss their desire to provide policing in the Town on Wed March 5th Ag planning - CCE is organizing an Agricultural Summit to review the work they are doing with farmers and the County to update the County's Ag Plan. I would be willing to attend for us on 2/26 from 9-12:30pm. Update on Health Insurance Outreach - 5 • Cassandra Aikman will be coming 2/13 for last outreach visit as Health Exchange Navigator. So far she has seen 18 local residents. 9 have signed up for insurance, some are in process and others got information to help them understand their options more fully. Anyone interested should call 211. Announcement for employees - Since the Town has an account with Verizon Wireless, any town employees with personal Verizon wireless accounts are eligible for a new 19% discount on a portion of their home bill. The Town will be notifying all employees how to sign up for the benefit. Personal accounts will NOT be linked to the Town's. It's just a customer benefit Verizon extends to Town employees because of our business account. Reported by Mr. Kerness: Mr. Kerness has been working with Mr. Austic/Eric Pond on a possible water district 5. He would like to conduct a survey to gauge public support before they go further in the project. NEW BUSINESS: REDUCTION OF WATER BILL LATE FEES - Discussion: Ms. Thomas notes that water District 3 users currently have a 20% late fee. This topic will be brought up at the next meeting. (Mr. Meeker excused himself at 8:50pm). Ms. Kiley brought forth the following resolution: AUTHORIZE THE ACCEPTANCE AND ADOPTION OF THE MULTI - JURISDICTIONAL ALL -HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN UPDATE FOR THE TOWN OF ULYSSES RESOLUTION 2014-61: WHEREAS, the Tompkins County Planning Department, with the assistance from Barton & Loguidice, P.C., has gathered information and prepared the Multi -Jurisdictional All - Hazard Mitigation Plan Update for Tompkins County, New York; and WHEREAS, the Multi -Jurisdictional All -Hazard Mitigation Plan Update for Tompkins County, New York has been prepared in accordance with the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 and Title 44 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 201; and WHEREAS, Title 44 CFR, Chapter 1, Part 201.6(c)(5) requires each local government participating in the preparation of a Multi -Jurisdictional Mitigation Plan or Plan Update to accept and adopt such plan; and WHEREAS, the Town of Ulysses has reviewed the 2013 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update, has found the document to be acceptable, and as a local unit of government, has afforded its citizens an opportunity to comment and provide input regarding the Plan Update and the actions included in the Plan; WHEREAS, the Town of Ulysses will consider the Tompkins County HMP Update during the implementation and updating of local planning mechanisms, and will incorporate the hazard assessment data, hazard vulnerabilities, and mitigation actions in these mechanisms, where applicable; NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town of Ulysses, as a participating jurisdiction, adopts the Multi -Jurisdictional All -Hazard Mitigation Plan Update for Tompkins County, New York, dated December 2013. Moved: Ms. Thomas Seconded: Mr. Goldman Discussion: Ms. Kiley explained her training and experience with this issue and responded to questions regarding expense to the town. As there appeared to be none and given Ms Kiley's involvement, members were supportive. 2 Ms. Thomas aye Ms. Zahler aye Mr. Hertzler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Goldman aye Vote: 5-0 Date Adopted: 2/11/14 OLD BUSINESS: CONSIDER APPOINTMENTS FOR BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS - RESOLUTION 2014-62: BE IT RESOLVED that the Ulysses Town Board appoints Richard Howarth to fill the vacancy resulting from the resignation of Richard Coogan and serve as a full member of the Board of Zoning Appeals for the remainder of Richard Coogan's term, for one (1) year beginning immediately and expiring on December 31, 2014. Moved: Ms. Thomas Ms. Thomas aye Ms. Zahler aye Mr. Hertzler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Goldman aye Vote: 5-0 Date Adopted: 2/11/14 Seconded: Mr. Kerness Ms. Thomas recommends not appointing an alternate for the BZA until a later date as the Planning Board would like to review the language of the policy for alternates and provide feedback. Ms. Thomas notes that there were several great candidates and that seats are still up for appointment on the Ag Committee. RESOLUTION 2014-23: BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board has appointed the following Planning Board and Board of Zoning Appeals with staggered annual appointments. Members whose terms expire in 2013 may be either replaced or reappointed. The following members being reappointed for 2014: ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS (5 year terms) Name/phone/email Address Date Appointed Date of Oath Term Expiration GEORGE TSELEKIS, Chair 1575 Trumansburg Road 1/3/2013 2/16/2013 12/2017 Phone: 272-1808 Ithaca, NY 14850 GTSE LEK1@twcny.rr.com ROBERT HOWARTH 4124 Reynolds road 2/11/2014 2/18/2014 12/2014 Phone: 387-3318 Trumansburg NY 14886 howarth@cornell.edu CARL MANN 49 Cayuga St. 9/11/2012 10/11/2012 12/2015 Phone: 387-3883 Trumansburg, NY 14886 fawnsoda@vahoo.com ANDY GLASNER 4260 South St. Ext. 12/19/2011 3/2012 12/2016 Phone : 266-5052 Trumansburg, NY 14886 aglasner@borgwarner.com ANDREW HILLMAN 3315 Swamp College Road 1/28/2014 2/6/2014 12/2018 Phone: 351-7085 Trumansburg NY 14886 andrew.hillman@davey.com PLANNING BOARD (7 year term) ROD HAWKES, Chair 1554 Taughannock Blvd 2/12/2008 2/2008 12/2016 Phone : 387-3726 Ithaca, NY 14850 hawkesrod@gmail.com JOHN WERTIS 8144 Searsburg Rd. 2008 1/2008 1.2/2014 Phone : 387- 4331 Trumansburg, NY 14886 BWWFarmtodav@aol.com 7 SARAH ADAMS 4 Falls Road 2/8/2011 2/2011 12/2015 Phone : 387-5696 H Trumansburg, NY 14886 aye Mr. Goldman aye sarahadams85@gmail.com BRIAN CUTLER 4065 South St. Ext. 8/2013 9/2013 12/2017 Phone : CELL 342-5952 Trumansburg, NY 14886 briancutlerl@gmail.com STANLEY BEAMES 3011 Halseyville Road 12/19/2011 3/2012 12/2018 Phone: 387-3930 Cell: 229- Trumansburg, NY 14886 9157 stboomer24@yahoo.com REBECCA SCHNEIDER 5630 Pine Ridge Road 1/3/2013 2/5/13 12/2019 Phone : 387-3816 Trumansburg, NY 14886 RLS11@cornell.edu ANDY RICE 5360 Rice Road 1/28/14 2/4/2014 12/2020 Phone : 387-5446/216-5780 Trumansburg NY 14886 andrewress@rackercenters.org RICHARD GARNER (alternate) 103 Maplewood Rd., Ithaca 1/28/2014 1/30/2014 12/2014 Phone : 387-5326/592-8381 18 Congress St., Trumansburg Rgboxl8@yahoo.com Robin Carlisle Peck, PB&ZB 8458 Main St, PO Box 244 N/A N/A N/A Clerk Interlaken, NY 14847 ricp019@yahoo.com Darby Kiley, Environmental N/A N/A N/A Planner/Zoning Officer Ulysses.planner@gmail.com Moved: Ms. Thomas Ms. Thomas aye Ms. Zahler aye Mr. Hertzler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Goldman aye Vote: 5-0 Date Adopted: 2/11/14 PERSONNEL POLICY UPDATE - Seconded: Ms. Zahler The board discussed sections 404-420 of the draft personnel policy. Ms. Wright will update the draft to reflect changes made at this meeting. Ms. Thomas will call a special meeting to discuss the healthcare section. The meeting will be held at 7 pm on Monday, 2/24/14. UPDATE ON WORK PLAN - (This topic was not discussed). PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR #2: (please refer to the appendix following the minutes for comments made by members of the public during this part of the meeting). RESOLUTION 2014-63: BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board adjourn the Regular Town Board Meeting of 2/11/14. Moved: Mr. Goldman Ms. Thomas aye Ms. Zahler aye Mr. Hertzler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Goldman aye Vote: 5-0 Seconded: Ms. Zahler N. Date Adopted: 2/11/14 APPENDIX: COMMENTS FROM THE PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR #1: Tim Reynolds, Jacksonville: Mr. Reynolds expressed concerned over the many distressed properties in Jacksonville, their visibility on the main corridor of Route 96, the lengthy amount of time that they have been in distress, and the ambiguity of how to solve the problem. He also offered to help remediation and development of a vision. Greg Reynolds, Trumansburg: Mr. Reynolds drew attention to his recent applications for the Planning Board, Board of Zoning Appeals, Water Advisory Board, Ag Board and was not interviewed by all members for all positions. He would like to work for town and invites board members to call him directly for more information. Dave Schurman, Jacksonville: Mr. Sherman discussed the zoning law and the definition of family in the law. Several properties appear to be in non-compliance. COMMENTS FROM THE PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR #2: Greg Reynolds: Mr. Reynolds drew attention to the e-mail sent Ms. Thomas regarding PDR (Purchase of Development Rights). He requests that the board put the issue to a vote. Respectfully submitted by Carissa Parlato February 25, 2014 0