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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes of Planning Brd and Regular Meeting January 17, 2006.pdf 1 Minutes of Planning Board January 17, 2006 Village of Cayuga Heights Planning Board Present: Mayor Lynn, Trustees Antil, Collyer, McClelland, Mount, Staley, McNeil (arrived at 8:30), Fire Supt. Tamborelle, Police Chief Lansing, Supt. Cross, Supervisor Quick, Treasurer Silber, Atty. Tyler, Clerk Manning Others Present: Sandra Brooks, Attorney Robert Burgdoff, representing Verizon Wireless, Jim Woodward, FMHC, representing Cingular Wireless, Mary Jane Neff, Phyllis Kaplan, Elizabeth van Lone, Charles van Lone, Kristine Finger, Charles Finger, At 7:00 pm Mayor Lynn opened the continuation of the Public Hearing on the request by Verizon Wireless to erect a telecommunications tower in the Commercial District at 186 ½ Pleasant Grove Road. Mayor Lynn introduced Supt. Cross, who presented the following resolutions for approval by the Planning Board. Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Trustee Collyer MOVE TO PASS RESOLUTION 6175: VILLAGE PLANNING BOARD’S DETERMINATION OF FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THE PROPOSED VERIZON WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS TOWER AND ANTENNA AT 186 ½ PLEASANT GROVE ROAD. Whereas, Verizon Wireless (VW) has made an application to construct a 120’ tall tower on top of which will be placed wireless telephone communications antennas, along with a 12’ x 30’ equipment building at the base of the tower, for the purpose of necessary service for their wireless customers, and Whereas, the Village of Cayuga Heights (VCH) has a Local Law that requires the Village Planning Board (PB) to review such applications for environmental impacts as prescribed by 6NYCRR 617.20 SEQR Appendix A&B, and Whereas, the PB has duly conducted a public hearing, has reviewed Part 1 of the applicant’s Full Environmental Assessment Form (“Long Form”), has completed Part 2 of that EAF (Project Impacts and Their Magnitude including “Visual EAF Addendum), and has made the following findings of the project’s potential impacts: 1. The visual aesthetics of the proposed unlighted monopole tower structure is the only impact that cannot be further mitigated by the applicant. 2. There is no other location in the Village that would have lesser impact. 3. The number of residents that will be impacted by the location of the tower as proposed is very small as compared to the overall population of the Village. 4. The visual aesthetic impact is determined to be considered “small to moderate”. 2 5. As constrained by FCC regulations and the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the Village can not prohibit this activity of a “public utility,” nor unreasonably discriminate against it. 6. There was no substantial evidence adduced at the hearing or otherwise by the opponents or by the Village’s consultant to support a denial of the application on environmental quality review grounds. Therefore, the Village of Cayuga Heights Planning Board has determined that the proposed Verizon Wireless Telecommunications Tower with Antenna and Equipment Building at 186 ½ Pleasant Grove Road will not have a significant impact on the environment, and hereby makes a declaration of negative significance. Trustees Antil, Collyer, McClelland, Mount and Staley VOTED Yes. Supt. Cross asked the Planning Board for its approval on the next Resolution. Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Trustee Collyer RESOLUTION 6176: TO AUTHORIZE THE ZONING OFFICER TO ISSUE A PERMIT TO VERIZON WIRELESS TO CONSTRUCT TELECOMMUNICATIONS TOWER AND ANTENNA WITH EQUIPMENT BUILDING AT 186 ½ PLEASANT GROVE ROAD. Whereas, Verizon Wireless (VW) has made an application to construct antennas on top of a 120’ tall tower, for the purpose of improved service for their wireless customers, and Whereas, the Village of Cayuga Heights (VCH) Local Law No. 3 of 1998 requires the Village Planning Board (PB) to review such applications for compliance with the specific regulations, and Whereas, the PB has determined that the VW application is complete, and that VW has satisfied the requirement that they have considered all other possible locations for the tower, and Whereas, the PB has duly conducted a public hearing to receive input from the public in both oral and written form, and used this information to determine the potential environmental impacts of the tower, and Whereas, the PB retained William P. Johnson of Scottsville, a member of the faculty of Electrical-Computer-Telecommunications engineering technology Dept. at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, as its Engineering Consultant on this application who provided the PB with his report in writing under date of December 19, 2005, which has been duly considered after his appearance at the public hearing on December 19, 2005, and a “follow-up” report of January 12, 2006, and Whereas, the PB has made a negative declaration of findings according to SEQR 6NYCRR 617.20 including Appendix A&B, and Whereas, the PB has reviewed the consultant’s reports (of December 19, 2005 and January 12, 2006) and hereby makes the following findings of fact: 3 •Using a height of 100 feet presents terrain coverage gaps to the south that remain even after the wider beam width antennas are used •Based upon the propagation plot results, the proposed height of 120 feet is reasonable regardless of the beam width used by Verizon •Verizon has demonstrated the need for 120 foot tower at the proposed site regardless whether a future Ithaca cell (west of the Village) were to be constructed sometime in the future. Whereas, the Village has requested and received a determination of “no negative inter- community, or county-side impacts” from the Tompkins County Dept. of Planning as required by NYSGML Section 239 L and M, Now, therefore, the Village of Cayuga Heights Planning Board hereby authorizes the Zoning Officer to issue a permit to Verizon Wireless to construct 120’ tall telecommunications tower/antennas at 186 ½ Pleasant Grove Road. The Zoning Officer shall issue the permit with the following conditions: 1. No future extension of tower without PB approval 2. The applicant will post a demolition bond in the amount of $30,000 subject to a construction cost index adjustment as provided by the Engineering News Record or R.S. Means Company, Inc. 3. No trees (deciduous or coniferous) shall be removed from the site 4. The PB will re-evaluate this approval 20 years from this date. Trustees Antil, Collyer, McClelland, Mount and Staley VOTED Yes. At this time, Mayor Lynn reported that the resolution on the request by Cingular Wireless to co-locate on the Verizon cell tower would not be brought before the Board because the Cingular application is deemed incomplete. The Village hired a consultant who asked both Verizon and Cingular to produce information, and to this date, Cingular has not produced the information requested. Jeff Woodward, FMHC, representing Cingular Wireless asked to speak on that subject. Mr. Woodward said that Cingular had submitted an application to the Village to co-locate on the now approved Verizon Wireless cell tower. Cingular Wireless feels that the application was submitted complete according to the Village’s ordinance. Mr. Woodward requested a letter from the Village specifying what exactly has not been supplied. Supt. Cross will work with the Village’s consultant to gather the information that is needed by Cingular before the March meeting. In addition, Supt. Cross has a letter from Verizon Wireless authorizing Cingular to act as an applicant. Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Trustee Collyer Move to Adjourn the Meeting of the Planning Board at 7:32 P.M. Trustees Antil, Collyer, McClelland, Mount and Staley VOTED Yes. 4 Minutes of the Board of Trustees January 17, 2006 Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees Present: Present: Mayor Lynn, Trustees Antil, Collyer, McClelland, Mount, Staley, McNeil (arriving at 8:30), Fire Supt. Tamborelle, Police Chief Lansing, Supt. Cross, Supervisor Quick, Treasurer Silber, Atty. Tyler, Clerk Manning Others Present: Mary Jane Neff, Phyllis Kaplan, Elizabeth van Lone, Charles van Lone, Kristine Finger, Charles Finger, ******************************************************** The meeting of the Board of Trustees was opened at 7:32 P.M. The minutes of December were discussed. Mayor Lynn presented a handout prepared by NYCOM (New York Conference of Mayors) outlining what should be included in minutes. The Mayor told the Board that beginning with this meeting, the Clerk will prepare minutes per the NYCOM specifications. Also, the Board Meetings will be recorded, with the tapes held for four months after transcription and/or approval of minutes or proceedings per the New York State Archives Records Retention and Disposition Schedule MU-1. Motion by Trustee Mount Seconded by Trustee Antil Move approve the minutes of December 19, 2005 with corrections noted. Trustees Antil, Collyer, McClelland, Mount, Staley VOTED Yes. ************************************************************************************ No member of the public wished to speak at Privilege of the Floor. Report of the Police Chief – Chief Lansing presented his report which is on file. Mayor Lynn presented a resolution to allow Officer Jerry Wright to elect the 384-d with the 384-e rider for his New York State Retirement Plan, and explained the reason for this request. Motion by Trustee Collyer Seconded by Trustee Antil Move to pass Resolution 6177 for Inclusion of Officer Jerry Wright Into 384-d with the 384-e rider of the New York State Retirement Plan. Whereas, the collective bargaining agreement, section 13.11, between the Village of Cayuga Heights and the Village of Cayuga Heights Police Benevolent Association provides that all full-time officers are eligible for the New York State Retirement Plans: 375-c, 384, 384-f retirement plans, or may elect the 384-d with the 384-e rider; and 5 Whereas, Officer Jerry Wright is a full time officer of the Village of Cayuga Height Police and is represented by the Village of Cayuga Heights Police Benevolent Association; and Whereas, Officer Wright was initially hired as a part-time officer on September 7, 2001 and due to an error in the Village Clerk’s office, he was not offered the option of submitting an application to the New York State Retirement System; and Whereas, Officer Wright was hired as a full-time officer on August 19, 2002, and at that time, he was offered the option of submitting an application to New York State Retirement System and he did so on September 18, 2002; and Whereas, Officer Wright’s application was denied as untimely by the New York State Retirement System since it was not submitted within one year of his hire as a part- time officer at the Village; and Whereas, if so approved by the Village of Cayuga Heights Trustees legislation can be introduced in the New York State Legislature that would allow Officer Wright to participate in the New York State Retirement Program as the Village and the PBA intended, if not for the error made in the Village Clerk’s office; NOW THEREFORE it is hereby RESOLVED, that the Village of Cayuga Heights Trustees authorizes the preparation and introduction of legislation that will permit Officer Wright to elect to become covered by 384-d and 384-e of the New York State Retirement System; and RESOLVED, that the Village will be responsible for the approximately $5,300 increase in annual contributions fro the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Village will be solely responsible for the immediate past service cost of approximately $4300 due on February 1, 2007. Trustees Antil, Collyer, McClelland, Mount, Staley VOTED Yes. ************************************************************************************ Report of the Fire Superintendent – Supt. Tamborelle presented his report, a copy of which is on file. Supt. Tamborelle distributed an information packet regarding his request to purchase a new rescue truck (vehicle 241) using the money received from the Hanselmann gift. Trustee Collyer, representing the Public Safety Committee, also presented a report. There was discussion on the justification of a second EMS vehicle. Supt. Tamborelle actually is proposing a rescue truck to replace the existing rescue truck, keeping the existing rescue truck in service as a support vehicle. Mayor Lynn expressed concern that adding another support vehicle to the fleet, especially one that was formerly equipped with rescue equipment, would open the door to purchasing more equipment so that the “old 241” could be used as an additional rescue truck. Supt. Tamborelle maintained that the “old 241” would be used only as a support vehicle, which would be helpful since it is a 4-wheel drive vehicle. 6 He also told the Mayor that the current support vehicle car (vehicle 243) is out of service with a transmission problem, and is at the D.P.W. garage. The plan is NOT to repair 243. In this way, the “old 241” will take the place of the “old 243” support vehicle. The Mayor wanted the record to state that he does not want another vehicle added to the fleet, but the “old 241” will replace the “old 243” which is not operational. Supt. Tamborelle assured the Mayor and the Board that that would be the plan of action. With this in mind, the Supt. asked the Board to approve a resolution allowing him to advertise to obtain bids for a new rescue truck. Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Trustee McClelland Move to approve Resolution 6178 authorizing Fire Supt. Tamborelle to seek bids for a new light rescue vehicle and the outfitting of said vehicle with cabinetry, lights, sirens and radios. Trustees Antil, Collyer, McClelland, Mount, Staley VOTED Yes. ************************************************************************************ Report of the Working Supervisor – Supv. Quick presented his report, a copy of which is on file. There was discussion about the sidewalk plow, and Trustee Mount asked that a short report be included in the forthcoming issue of The Courier. ************************************************************************************ Report of the Supt. of Public Works – Supt. Cross introduced Nick Hattalla of Stearns & Wheler, the firm working on the tertiary project at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Mr. Hatalla gave a short presentation of his report (copy attached to these minutes) to the Board of Trustees. By resolution, the Board needs to pass the following: Accept Stearns & Wheler’s WWTP Phosphorous Engineering Report, and authorize Stearns & Wheler to submit the report to NYSDEC; designate the Board of Trustees as lead agency for the WWTP Phosphorous Project; and authorize the Mayor to sign an agreement with Stearns & Wheler to provide engineering services to coordinate pilot testing of the aqua-aerobics cloth filter. Motion by Trustee Mount Seconded by Trustee Antil Move to approve Resolution 6179 authorizing the Board of Trustees to accept the WWTP Phosphorous Engineering Report, and authorize Stearns & Wheler to submit the report to NYSDEC. Whereas the Village of Cayuga Heights (VCH) has been awarded grant funds from the 1996 NYS Clean Water Bond Act for a project to construct a new tertiary process at the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) to provide improved removal of phosphorous from the effluent into Cayuga Lake, and Whereas the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) requires that VCH submit and engineering report with technical information 7 about the proposed project, to be the basis for a contract between VCH and NYS for the grant funds, and Whereas Stearns & Wheler Engineers (SWE) has prepared such a report on behalf of the VCH, which researched four different technologies and has determined that the preferred technology is a cloth media filter as manufactured by Aqua-Aerobic Systems, Inc., and now Therefore, the Village of Cayuga Heights hereby accepts the recommendation in the Engineering Report by Stearns & Wheler and authorizes them to submit the report to the NYSDEC on behalf of the Village. Trustees Antil, Collyer, McClelland, Mount, Staley VOTED Yes. Trustee McNeil ABSTAINS. Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Trustee Staley Move to pass Resolution 6180 giving the Board of Trustees the designation of SEQRA Lead Agency for the WWTP Phosphorous Project. Whereas the Village of Cayuga Heights plans to construct a new tertiary process at the Wastewater Treatment Plant to reduce phosphorous discharge into Cayuga Lake, and Whereas the construction of an addition at the existing WWTP is considered to be an Unlisted Action (not a Type I or II Action) as per 6NYCRR 617.4, which requires that the Long Form Environmental Assessment Form for the project be reviewed by the principally responsible agency, and now Therefore, the Village of Cayuga Heights hereby designates the Board of Trustees as the Lead Agency, which will be responsible to coordinate and review the potential environmental impacts project with other involved agencies. Trustees Antil, Collyer, McClelland, Mount, Staley VOTED Yes. Trustee McNeil ABSTAINS. Move to pass Resolution 6181 authorizing the Board of Trustees to give the Mayor authorization to sign an agreement with Stearns & Wheler to provide Engineering Services to Coordinate the Pilot Testing of Aqua-Aerobics Cloth Filter. Whereas the Village of Cayuga Heights plans to construct a new tertiary process at the Wastewater Treatment Plant to reduce phosphorous discharge into Cayuga Lake, and 8 Whereas Stearns & Wheler Engineers have recommended that pilot-scale testing be done on the cloth filter media technology that they have recommended for use in the new tertiary treatment process, and Whereas Stearns & Wheler have submitted a scope of services and a fee proposal to supervise the pilot-scale test, including the use of equipment supplied by Aqua- Aerobics, at current billing rates not to exceed $19,200, and now Therefore the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees hereby authorizes the Mayor to sign the agreement with Stearns & Wheler for supervision of pilot scale testing at the WWTP, not to exceed $19,200. Trustees Antil, Collyer, McClelland, Mount, Staley VOTED Yes. Trustee McNeil ABSTAINS. ************************************************************************************ Report of the Treasurer – Treasurer Silber had no written report to present due to an accounting system problem; however, the Treasurer presented the Abstract of Vouchers for the Board’s approval. Motion by Trustee McNeil Seconded by Trustee Antil Move to pass Resolution 6182 to approve the Abstract of Vouchers dated 1/17/2006 with the addition of Kinsley Power Systems, A03410.490 for $330 and instruct that the Treasurer make payments thereon. Trustees Antil, Collyer, McClelland, McNeil, Mount, Staley VOTED Yes. Trustee Silber will submit any transfers for the Board’s approval at the February meeting. Budget packets will be distributed to the department heads in the next week. ************************************************************************************ Report of the Attorney – Attorney Tyler wanted to be sure that the Resolution passed by the Planning Board authorizing the Zoning Officer to issue a permit to Verizon Wireless to construct a 120’ tall telecommunications tower/antennas at 186 ½ Pleasant Grove Road includes the following statement: Whereas, the Village has requested and received a determination of “no negative inter-community, or county-side impacts” from the Tompkins County Dept. of Planning as required by NYSGML Section 239 I and M. Report of the Clerk – Clerk Manning welcomed the Village’s new Deputy Clerk, Mary Jane Neff, who attended this meeting. Mary Jane started her position on January 3. Mayor Lynn also welcomed Mary Jane and expressed his delight at her appointment. ************************************************************************************ Motion by Trustee Antil 9 Seconded by Trustee Mount Move to enter into Executive Session at 8:56 pm to discuss a matter with our Attorney. Trustees Antil, Collyer, McClelland, McNeil, Mount, Staley VOTED Yes. Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Trustee McClelland Move to come out of Executive Session at 8:56 pm to discuss a matter with our Attorney. Trustees Antil, Collyer, McClelland, McNeil, Mount, Staley VOTED Yes. Motion by Trustee McClelland Seconded by Trustee Antil Move to pass Resolution 6183 authorizing the Mayor to sign the DEC Consent Decree and pay a civil penalty in the amount of $2500 for effluent phosphorous exceedences. Mayor Lynn requested that the Minutes reflect that the Trustees were concerned about both the need and intent in requiring this consent order and suggesting that these concerns be expressed directly in transmitting the Consent Order. Trustees Antil, Collyer, McClelland, McNeil, Mount, Staley VOTED Yes. Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Trustee McClelland Move to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 pm. Trustees Antil, Collyer, McClelland, McNeil, Mount, Staley VOTED Yes. Respectfully submitted, Norma R. Manning