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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10.16.2006 Minutes.pdfMinutes of the Board of Trustees October 16, 2006 Village of Cayuga Heights Meeting of the Board of Trustees Present: Mayor Lynn, Trustees Antil, Bisogni, Collyer, Kaplan, Mount, Staley, Attorney Tyler, Police Chief Lansing, Supt. Cross, Treasurer Silber Absent: Fire Supt. Tamborelle Others Present: John Henderson, Yolanda Tovor, Victoria Anagnost, David and Susan Owen The meeting of the Board was called to order at 7:00 P.M. by Mayor Lynn. Motion by Trustee Bisogni Seconded by Trustee Mount The minutes of September 18 were approved. Trustees Antil, Bisogni, Collyer, Kaplan, Mount and Staley voted YES. Mayor Lynn ABSTAINS. It was noted that Treasurer Silber took the September minutes in Clerk Manning’s absence. ************************************************************************ Privilege of the Floor – Trustee Mount spoke on the deer situation in general, and more specifically, what is each Community going to do about the deer population. A resolution passed by Varna was read. Could the Village of Cayuga Heights come up with some sort of Resolution similar to the one passed by Varna? Mayor Lynn suggested that anyone with any thoughts/ideas on this should send them to the Mayor at the Village Hall. ************************************************************************ Report of the Mayor Regarding the proposed day care center by Cornell, Lynnette Chappell is moving forward with the plans for the center. Cornell will build and hire staff, and the preferred location is near “A” lot. Nothing further can be done at the Village level until their consultant comes to the Board with a site plan review. There was discussion on the Warren Development project. There are driveway and lighting issues. Supt. Cross was measuring the number of lumens that the lights are emitting due to complaints he has received and will report back to the Board on the results. Mayor Lynn received a letter from the Tompkins County Department of Assessment regarding increasing some changes in income eligibilit y for persons 65 years or over and persons with disabilities and limited income. Discussion on this letter was deferred until the November meeting. Mayor Lynn has received a call from Robin Palmer asking why the Village is open on Martin Luther King Day. The P.B.A. union has it as a holiday, but the Teamsters do not, nor the non-bargaining units. One of the 3 floating holidays can be used for that day if an employee wishes to. This issue will be deferred to a later date. Trustee Mount gave another brief report on deer control. She would like to know if there is something appropriate for the Village to do. The deer continue to be a significant issue and need to be addressed in some way. Mayor Lynn and the Village Forester had a conversation regarding trees in the Village. Many are mature, having been planted a long time ago. The Forester’s suggestion is that the Village should hire a professional to divide the Village into segments and report on what should be done about cutting and replanting. Health Insurance – The Council of Government (COG) is looking into the issue of health insurance. The effort will begin by passing a resolution to permit the COG to act in the Village’s behalf to apply for a grant to plan for health insurance coverage. There was much discussion on the Village backing a resolution which is asking for a substantial amount of money. The resolution that the Village is asked to pass is a Type II SEQR action, therefore no SEQR action is necessary. Motion by Trustee Mount Seconded by Trustee Bisogni Move to pass Resolution 6220 Authorizing Support of the Council of Government’s Grant Application for New York State Shared Municipal Services Program – Local Health Insurance Incentive Award. WHEREAS, the Village of Cayuga Heights has joined the Tompkins County Council of Governments, and WHEREAS, the Council of Governments has resolved to apply for an incentive award under the New York State Shared Municipal Services Program, and WHEREAS, the grant will assist the municipalities in Tompkins County to create a local health consortium, and WHEREAS, the health care consortium will seek to develop health care coverage for all municipalities with the intent to provide a net savings to the taxpayers of Tompkins County, now therefore be it RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Village of Cayuga Heights Trustees, that the Mayor is hereby authorized to act on behalf of the Village of Cayuga Heights. RESOLVED, further, that the County of Tompkins shall be designated as the Lead Applicant and that the County Administrator is authorized to act as the contact person for this grant. Trustees Antil, Bisogni, Collyer, Kaplan, Mount and Staley voted YES Regarding the Teamster Insurance Plan vs. the Village Insurance Plan, Mayor Lynn asked Trustees Bisogni and Kaplan to look at the plans and report back to the Trustees in November. *********************************************************************** Report of the Police Chief – Report was distributed and is on file. Chief Lansing reported that he would be running in the Tompkins County Sheriff’s race as Tim Little’s Under-Sheriff. ************************************************************************ Report of the Fire Superintendent – Fire Supt. was absent. His report was distributed and is on file. It was noted that the Open House on October 15 at the Fire Station was a big success. ************************************************************************ Report of the Superintendent of Public Works – Ed Quick, Working Supervisor, retired on August 30. Senior MEO Ralph Newhart was filling in as acting Working Supervisor; however, due to the delay in negotiating for Jeff Frisbie to be the Ass’t. Supt. of Public Works, Jeff will now take over for Ralph and be in charge of the DPW instead of Ralph. There was discussion on the change of the Code Enforcement Law which the Village is required to enforce. All of the municipalities in the State have to modify local codes to agree with NYS Codes. The Trustees were given a description of the changes that need to take place in the Local Law. A Public Hearing has to be set for November. Copies of the proposed Local Law are on file in the Clerk’s office. Motion by Trustee Collyer Seconded by Trustee Antil Move to set a Public Hearing to seek public input on the Local Code Enforcement Law change. Trustees Antil, Bisogni, Collyer, Kaplan, Mount and Staley voted YES The water project in the Village has put a delay in the road project and paving will begin on Tuesday, October 17 or Wednesday, October 18. Update on WWTP – Progress is being made on the design of the phosphorous filter project. The original project is for $1.4 million, the grant application is for $1.5 million. Stearns and Wheler is in the process of looking at a change in design. More information to come at a later time. Regarding the Warren Real Estate Project – Warren has moved into the building on a temporary Certificate of Occupancy basis. They have not been issued a permanent Certificate of Occupancy as Supt. Cross is verifying that they have met all the conditions set forth by the Planning Board. Supt. Cross met with the Contractor looking at the light intensity as they agreed to in the original plans. Verna Brummet has been dealing with Mr. Warren directly on the lighting issue. The contractor agreed tonight that the lights are broadcasting in a 360 degree pattern and there are some “hot” spots which are unacceptable. No Certificate of Occupancy will be given until this situation is remedied. Supt. Cross has explained all this to Ms. Brummet and she hopes that things will work out. Other topics up for discussion are the appearance that the “exit only driveway” is a “done deal.” That is not accurate. Supt. Cross talked to Bryan Warren and Bryan said that he is also getting calls on this same subject. Bryan is standing by his public announcement that he wants to be a good neighbor and states that he is not planning to open the driveway yet…maybe in the future but not now. The process for Warren Real Estate to open the driveway is that they have to get permission from Supt. Cross to cut the curb so they can cross it. Supt Cross will not issue the permit until the Board is informed. Mayor Lynn urges Supt. Cross to address the Trustees before a final decision is made to open the driveway. There are new issues because safety and sight distance have been compromised by trees, pillars, signs, etc. Trustee Mount said that Bryan Warren offered to turn off the lights at night, but Supt Cross told him to keep them on for safety reasons. Trustee Kaplan asked Supt. Cross to not have the D.P.W. crews start working around the Cayuga Heights Elementary School around 8:00 am, which is right when the kids start school. Supt. Cross will talk to Jeff Frisbie about this. Trustee Mount asked if there could be speed bumps on the roads around the school area. Supt. Cross said that probably not as it is considered a hazard in the road, plus there is really no justification for them. The Chief of Police has to follow a particular protocol on speed bumps, and Trustee Mount will pursue this with Chief Lansing. *********************************************************************** Treasurer Report – Treasurer Silber distributed his report, which is on file. The year end financial report (dated 5/31/06) was completed and submitted to the State of New York. Audit field work for our independent financial statement audit will begin shortly. Transfers were presented as follows: From: To: A01640.100 Central Garage Pers. Serv. A01640.150 Central Garage Pers /Serv-OT $1000 A01990.400 General Fund Contingency A08020.400 HCS Planning Contr Exp $1500 Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Trustee Collyer Move to set a Public Hearing at 7 PM on November 20, 2006 at the Village Hall to seek public input on the Local Code Enforcement Law change, amending Local Law #2 of 2004. Trustees Antil, Bisogni, Collyer, Kaplan, Mount and Staley voted YES Motion by Trustee Collyer Seconded by Trustee Antil Move to pass Resolution 6230 to approve the year-end transfers and appropriations dated 5/31/06. Trustees Antil, Bisogni, Collyer, Kaplan, Mount and Staley voted YES. Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Trustee Collyer Move to pass Resolution 6231 to approve the Abstracts of Audited Vouchers dated 10/16/06 in the amount of $125,320.34, with the addition of Olver & Associations - $456.60, A01910.410, and instruct that the Treasurer make payments thereon. Trustees Antil, Bisogni, Collyer, Kaplan, Mount and Staley voted YES. At this time, Treasurer Silber asked the Board’s approval to purchase software to move the Village payroll processing from Automatic Data Processing to in-house processing. Harris Computers would be supplying the software and training for the Deputy Clerk and the Clerk. The money would come out of contingency. Motion by Trustee Mount Seconded by Trustee Staley Move to pass Resolution 6232 to purchase Payroll Software from Harris Computers at a cost NTE $7000, and pay Harris a 25% down payment on the software. Trustees Antil, Bisogni, Collyer, Kaplan, Mount and Staley voted YES. Treasurer Silber also advised the Board that the Village needs a new computer server. The present one is 6 years old. The cost will be around $5000 and is in the budget. ************************************************************************ Report of the Attorney – Attorney Tyler has given Treasurer Silber release forms for residents to sign when payments are made due to incidents on Village roads. There was some discussion on the deer situation again. Atty. Tyler asked if the Village was ready to move on some kind of Resolution similar to the Varna Resolution. Mayor Lynn said no. Trustee Mount asked why. The Mayor didn’t think the Board had discussed it enough to move forward at this meeting. Trustee Mount stated that the newsletter that she is presently working on is the “deer issue”. The Mayor will give Trustee Mount the articles regarding deer from Cheektowaga and Irondequoit, New York. What should the Village do? Should there be discussion at a public meeting? Should there be a deer survey in the Newsletter? ************************************************************************ Report of the Clerk – The Clerk reported that she advised the Board of Elections about the 3 offices which will be up for vote next March…Trustees Antil, Collyer and Staley. Now is the time to begin thinking about your next term! ************************************************************************ Supt. Cross wished to comment on the progress of the proposed subdivision on E. Upland Road by Mark Macenas. Progress is slow, but Supt. Cross hopes that Mr. Macenas will have something for him to look at prior to the November meeting. If Mr. Macenas brings anything in to Supt. Cross, it will be a preliminary site plan review and the Board can then decide on how to proceed. Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Trustee Mount Move to adjourn the meeting at 10:00 pm. Trustees Antil, Bisogni, Collyer, Kaplan, Mount and Staley voted YES Norma R. Manning Clerk