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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3.21.2005 Minutes.pdf Page 1 of 6 Minutes of Regular Meeting March 21, 2005 Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees Present: Mayor Lynn, Trustees Antil, Staley, Tavelli, McNeil, Collyer, Atty. Tyler, Police Chief Lansing, Supt. Tamborelle, Supt. Cross, Supv. Quick, Clerk Manning. Absent: Trustee Mount ****************************************************************** At 7:00 pm, Mayor Lynn called the meeting to order. The Mayor asked for a motion to approve the minutes of February 22, 2005 as corrected. Motion by Trustee Antil Move to approve the minutes of February 22, 2005 with minor corrections noted below: Page 1 – Delete “The regular meeting was opened at 7:20.” Page 2 – Before Resolution 6122, At this point in the meeting Supt. Cross presented a resolution…. Page 18 – Resolution 6123 should read as follows: Move to pass Resolution 6123 authorizing the Fire Supt. and the Treasurer to apply for a FEMA/Assistance to Firefighters grant to purchase turnout gear and firefighter masks. Page 19 –Wilkinson Estate paragraph – Line 7 - …Bolton Point is weighing whether to negotiate building the road vs. appealing. Page 20 – Line 1 – “Mayor Lynn brought up the Real Property Tax Assessment Situation.” Trustees Antil, McNeil, Staley, and Tavelli voted YES. Trustee Collyer abstained as he was absent for the February meeting. ***************************************************** Privilege of the Floor No one wished to speak at Privilege of the Floor. ***************************************************** Mayor’s Report Mayor Lynn congratulated Ann Antil, Roy Staley and Frank Collyer, for their successful run for the office of Trustee on March 15. The Mayor told the Trustees about the preliminary discussion he had with the Tompkins County Board of Assessment. The Assessors office was reviewing the Village’s building permits on the day of this meeting. A copy of the permits for the year is included in the packet sent out with the Call to the Meeting. The Mayor then asked Supt. Cross about the standard procedure for building permits and how the Village bases the charge for the permit. Supt. Cross explained the process and said that the value of the construction is stated on the permit. The Mayor received a list of 58 houses in 2004 in the Village with new assessments. Mayor Lynn was told that the professionals making the decisions make a judgment call about what the house is worth. The Mayor will be obtaining more information about this process and will report on it at future meetings. ************************************************************** Report of the Justice Court – Judge Galbreath was not able to attend the meeting, but he sent his Annual Report for the Board. If the Board would like to ask any questions, Judge Galbreath would plan to attend the May Board Meeting. In his absence, the Mayor asked the Board to approve a Resolution for the Justice Court to submit an application for the Justice Court Assistance Program. Page 2 of 6 Motion by Trustee McNeil Move to pass Resolution 6126 authorizing the Mayor to submit an application to the Justice Court Assistance Program. Whereas the Village Court has need for tape recorders to record trials and hearings for which a verbatim record would be necessary or helpful; and Whereas the tape recorders available to the court are more than 15-25 years old and unreliable; and Whereas the Justice Court Assistance Program will accept applications for recording equipment; Therefore Be it resolved that the Village of Cayuga Heights hereby authorizes the Justice to submit and the Mayor to sign the necessary application materials to the Justice Court Assistance Program. Trustees Antil, McNeil, Staley, Collyer and Tavelli voted YES. ************************************************************** Report of the Police Chief – Report was distributed as well as the Annual Report and is on file. Mayor Lynn asked if both the Annual and Monthly Reports can go on the web page. The answer was yes. ************************************************************** Report of the Fire Superintendent – Report was distributed as well as the Annual Report and is on file. Fire Supt. Tamborelle asked the Board to take special note on the Annual Report that the response for Cayuga Heights is 2.9 minutes…the national standard is 6 minutes. Supt. Tamborelle wanted the Board to know that our amazing numbers are due to volunteers staying at the station all hours. Supt. Tamborelle reminded the Board that the Banquet is April 23. The new ladder truck inspection that was supposed to occur the weekend of March 19 was postponed until the weekend of April 1. The truck is scheduled to be delivered from Florida on April 4 and training on the new truck is scheduled for April 11, 12 and 13. ***************************************************************** Report of Working Supervisor – Supv. Quick had nothing new to report. He was asked how close he was to completing Parkway Place. He reported that both ends were hooked up and all the pipe is in the ground. There is a meeting tomorrow scheduled to discuss the project finish. Supv. Quick reported that he is going through the Village checking on all signs and will be replacing any signs that need to be replaced. ********************************************************************* Report of the Supt. of Public Works – Supt. Cross reported on the proposed contract with Advantage Energy for electricity for the Village buildings. Advantage Energy is made up of private persons and municipal groups that negotiate better energy rates. Mayor Lynn feels that it is a useful alliance and agreed with Supt. Cross that the Village will be saving substantial money by signing the contract. The Mayor asked for a resolution for the Village to enter into a contract with Advantage Energy. Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Trustee Collyer Page 3 of 6 Move to pass Resolution 6127 authorizing the Village of Cayuga Heights to enter into a contract with Advantage Energy, Inc. for electricity. Whereas the county of Tompkins and other municipalities authorized the Municipal Electric and Gas Alliance (“MEGA”) to bid for electricity on their behalf, and Whereas Advantage Energy, Inc., was the lowest responsible bidder, and Whereas, the County of Tompkins has awarded a contract to Advantage Energy, Inc., and Whereas, Section 408a of the county law authorizes a County to include in any purchase contract awarded to the lowest responsible bidder authorization permitting any political subdivision in the State to participate, and Whereas, the County of Tompkins pursuant to Section 408-a authorized all other political subdivisions in the State to participate in the contract, and Whereas, the proposed action is a Type II action and so requires no further review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act., therefore be it Resolved, that this municipality hereby authorizes its contracting official to enter into a customer agreement with Advantage Energy, Inc. for Electricity. Trustees Antil, McNeil, Staley, Collyer and Tavelli voted YES. Attorney Tyler asked about the initiative by the County Planning Department which states that certain decisions which are otherwise subject to review by the County Planning Boards, General Municipal Law 239, can be exempted from it. The Board can authorize the Mayor to sign the County agreement. This agreement should be discussed at the May meeting. Everything is produced by the County, the Village just has to agree to it. Attorney Tyler suggested that the ZBA be present at the meeting when the Board passes this, because the decisions are typically these issued by the Village Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals. Supt. Cross then discussed the sewer rate. At the Saturday budget meeting held on March 12, it was decided that due to the challenges that were encountered trying to change the new sewer rate calculation, the change will be postponed until next year. Another reason the change was deferred was because the Village of Lansing does not have time to get it into their budget numbers in time if this were to change. During this time, the Village will make sure it accounts for all the usage by tallying all meters in the service area. Atty. Tyler asked how this change would affect the agreements that the Village has with the 4 municipalities. Treasurer Silber said that it shouldn’t matter. When does the Village get its money? The answer to this question is in the beginning of our fiscal year (around August). Mayor Lynn would like the Village to commit to a date for this to be completed. Treasurer Silber will try to have a date at the May Board Meeting. At this time, Supt. Cross wanted to report on two items brought up at the February Board Meeting. Trustee Staley asked if there was a time limit in the Stearns and Wheler contract. The answer to that question is YES – 154 days inclusive of waiting periods. Also, regarding Jack Rogers’ survey issue, Supt, Cross obtained quotes on this. The quote from T.G. Miller has 2 different methods with which the pins are set… $800 and $1500 range. The $800 price uses the road to locate the pins, which would be difficult due to the many streams in the area. The $1500 price would recreate the original survey from the back of the property forward. Atty. Tyler doesn’t think the first option would work. Supt. Cross asked the Board whether he should proceed or not. Atty. Tyler suggests waiting for answers to the culvert question. Trustee Antil asked what would happen if once the pins were put in, they were knocked down due to road construction. Supt. Cross said that any construction done would not be in the part of the property that had pins placed. Treasurer Silber asked if we are allowed to do a street lighting assessment. Page 4 of 6 The answer was that the Village could only do an assessment for a lighting district for the whole Village. The light poles, if lights are added, will belong to NYSEG. Trustee Staley asked why the lots have not sold. There are a number of problems with the lots. There is not accessibility to services, no gas and no electric. The only other house on the road, the Norton house, separately negotiated access to gas and electric lines from the neighbors on Sunset Drive. Mayor Lynn, upon meeting up with MaryBeth Norton one day, asked her about the Rt. 13 traffic noise factor. Ms Norton answered that there was no easy answer as far as she was concerned. She kept the windows closed during the year other than Summer, when she is gone from Ithaca. Supt. Cross again reminded the Board that the year in review synopsis of the Supt. building season was included in the packet. There is a brief synopsis of 2005-05 with a building permit log. Supv. Cross also included in this report a brief synopsis of the past year, along with the building permit log. Supt. Cross commented that this calendar year was the single largest of permits issued from his office. There was 6 million dollars in construction, of that 2 million dollars was the Africana Studies project. The other 4 million would become part of the tax rolls. ************************************************************************ Report of the Treasurer – Treasurer Silber reported that the Abstract that was distributed last month was not the one he intended to be distributed. This month’s Abstract is a blend of last month’s and the regular abstract. Treas. Silber also reported that at this time of the year, the budget is tight, however, Fund Balance is healthy. Treasurer Silber called the Board to his report with the transfers and asked for a resolution to pass the transfers. Motion by Trustee Antil Move to pass Resolution 6128 approving the transfers dated 3/21/05 as listed below. From: To: Amount A01990.400 Contingency A01110.410 Justice Contr Exp $500 A01990.400 Contingency A01210.410 Mayor Contr Exp 200 A01990.400 Contingency A01420.410 Attorney Contr Exp 2,000 A01990.400 Contingency A01920.410 Association Dues $610 A03410.200 Fire Dept. Equipment A03410.410 Fire Dept Contr Exp 10,000 A01640.410 Cent Garage Contr Exp A05142.410 Snow Contr Exp 13,300 A01640.410 Cent Garage Contr Exp A05142.490 Snow Eqpt Maint 300 A01640.410 Cent Garage Contr Exp A08160.410 Refuse Contr Exp 950 A08510.400 Comm Env Contr Exp A08560.400 Shade Tree Contr Exp 300 G01990.400 Sewer Contingency G08120.490 Sewer Line Eqpt Maint 500 G01990.400 Sewer Contingency G08130.460 Sewer Plant Pre Treatment 1,100 Trustees Antil, McNeil, Staley, Collyer and Tavelli voted YES. Mayor Lynn asked for a motion to pass the Resolution approving the Abstract of Vouchers. Motion by Trustee Staley Move to pass Resolution 6129 approving the Abstract of Audited Vouchers dated 3/21/05 in the amount of $125,471.85, and instruct that the Treasurer make payments thereon. Trustees Antil, McNeil, Staley, Collyer and Tavelli voted YES. Report of the Treasurer – The Draft Budget Page 5 of 6 Treasurer Silber distributed the draft budget and explained his recommendations to the Board. Treasurer Silber commented on a few items in the budget. To put the general fund in balance, the Village is keeping the tax rate the same, but since the levy went up (i.e. net increases in total property assessments), the increase in revenues to the Village is about 10%. The Treasurer is also proposing an increase of 20% of surcharge from 55% to 75% (what Bolton Point charges). The Treasurer urges the Trustees to look carefully at the budget and give him feedback before the April meeting. At this point, the Treasurer officially submitted the draft budget to the Clerk and the Clerk presented it to the Board as the Tentative Budget for the year 2005-2006. The Organizational Meeting is set for April 11 at 7:00 P.M. ************************************************************************ Report of the Attorney – Attorney Tyler reported on the following: The Village of Trumansburg passed a sign ordinance which Atty. Tyler has reviewed and transmitted copies of to Mayor Lynn and Supt. Cross.. He suggests that the Village soon discuss revising our Sign Ordinance law along with discussing a sidewalk maintenance law. ************************************************************************** Report of the Clerk Clerk Manning reported that the Village’s Ordinances and Local Laws are now accessible on the web page. A revised plan on the renovation of the Village Hall was distributed showing a change in the location of the proposed garage. The change was that the garage that was originally planned for the land behind the existing Village Hall be moved to property at the Department of Public Works on Sheldon Road. This would lower the cost of the project by approximately $70,000. This change would also create more open space at the existing Village Hall site. There was much discussion on this change, as well as on the complete project. It was decided that if the Board endorses the project, then there should be a public information meeting to fully inform the public of the plan and cost involved. The Mayor asked for motions to this effect. Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Trustee Staley The Board of Trustees of the Village of Cayuga Heights passes Resolution moving to endorse the renovation plan as suggested by the Space Committee and endorses the $650,000 project of expansion and accessibility improvements to the Village Hall. Mayor Lynn, Trustees Antil, Staley, Collyer and Tavelli and voted YES. Trustee McNeil OPPOSED. Trustee Mount Absent. ******************************** Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Trustee Tavelli Move to schedule a publicly noticed information meeting on May 16, 2005 at 7:00 P.M prior to the Board Meeting. Mayor Lynn, Trustees Antil, Staley, Collyer and Tavelli and voted YES. Trustee McNeil ABSTAINS. Trustee Mount Absent. Page 6 of 6 Treasurer Silber will put a place “holder” in the new budget for this project. Supt. Cross will investigate numbers for the proposed Police Garage at the D.P.W. ************************************************************************* Motion by Trustee Antil Move to enter Executive Session at 10:10 pm to consult with Counsel on pending litigation and labor negotiations. Antil, Staley, Collyer, Mount and Tavelli and voted YES. Motion by Trustee Antil Move to come out of Executive Session at 10:25 pm Antil, Staley, Collyer, Mount and Tavelli and voted YES. Move to adjourn meeting at 10:26 pm. Trustees Antil, Collyer, McNeil, Staley and Tavelli voted YES Antil, Staley, Collyer, Mount and Tavelli and voted YES. Respectfully submitted, Norma R. Manning, Clerk