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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes of the Regular Meeting June 16, 2008.pdf 1 Minutes of the Board of Trustees June 16, 2008 Village of Cayuga Heights Meeting of the Board of Trustees Held at the Cayuga Heights Fire Station Present: Mayor Gilmore, Trustees Antil, Bors, Collyer, Donner, Riesman, and Staley; Supt. Cross, Ass’t Supt. Frisbie, Chief Boyce, Fire Supt. Tamborelle, Treasurer Silber, Clerk Manning, and Attorney Elena Flash Others: Mindy Mindlin, Linda Bors, Elizabeth Mount, Mark Demarest, Roger Segelken, Graham Gillespie, Joy Barr, Sarah Hatcher, Lori Chase, Steve Chase ************************************************************************* Mayor Gilmore called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM and asked the Board to approve the minutes of May 19, 2008. Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Trustee Collyer Move to pass Resolution 6356 approving the minutes of May 19, 2008 with corrections as requested by the Trustees. Trustees Antil, Bors, Collyer, Donner, Riesman and Staley voted YES. Approval of the minutes of the June 9 Special Meeting of the Planning Board were held off until the next meeting due to technical difficulties with the printing of the minutes. *************************** Privilege of the Floor - Roger Segelken, the Village’s representative to the Environmental Management Council (EMC) gave a brief presentation to the Board on the EMC. The EMC is an advisory group to the County legislature made up of appointees by Villages and towns. The appointments are for a 2 year term. Roger is in his 2nd year of his term which will be up in January 2009. The EMC gets involved in advising the County legislature on issues such as a ban on outdoor burning in trash barrels, investigating outdoor furnaces to heat houses, and maintaining inventory of unique natural areas (two are in the Village— Palmer Woods and Renwick Slope). The inventory of the unique natural areas is reviewed every 10 years—the next review is 2010. The EMC is now accepting nominations for new areas to name. Another issue is the Cayuga Lake water quality monitoring. That controversy is whether Cornell can drop some of the sites and use resources to monitor other areas. The EMC will make recommendations to the County on this. Roger may abstain as he works for Cornell. Mayor Gilmore asked Roger if he would brief him and Trustee Antil on information regarding this project. Town Supervisor Herb Engman feels that the municipalities who use water from the lake or discharge into it should have more responsibility in the monitoring. Supt. Cross said that he would like to listen in on the discussion on the project, as well as the Trustees. An open meeting would need to be called for an informational meeting. 2 No one else wished to speak. The Mayor announced that the meetings were being taped by Mindy Mindlin. Ms. Mindlin told the Board that her purpose for taping is to present the integrity of the process, and insure that the record is correct. ********************************************************************** Report of the Fire Superintendent – Supt. Tamborelle reported that the yard sale held at the fire station in May was a big success, grossing approximately $6000. The funds will go towards the installation of a new floor in the gym. The balance of the money will go towards fire prevention and t-shirts from the Fire Company. Thanks to Lt. Dave Openshaw for his idea to hold this yard sale, then his taking charge of the whole project. The summer season now brings a slowdown to the Fire Station, with the students leaving town. The windows in the building were cleaned both outside and inside, and the driveway was sealed. Supt. Tamborelle then asked the Board to approve travel to Baltimore for the yearly fire exposition. The following people will be attending: Fire Chief Tamborelle, Lts. Lisi and Openshaw, and Rescue Directors Lynch and Waller. Motion by Trustee Donner Seconded by Trustee Bors Move to approve the travel to Baltimore Fire Exposition of the Fire Chief, 2 Lieutenants, and 2 Rescue Directors from July 24 – July 27, 2008. Trustees Antil, Bors, Collyer, Donner, Riesman and Staley voted YES. ********************************************************************** Report of the Mayor – Mayor Gilmore reported that he, along with Ron Anderson, has been involved with Bolton Point, which has ranked 1st in Tompkins County for water quality. The Mayor is concerned about the increasing salts in the water from the roads, and intends to talk to Ass’t. Supt. Frisbie about changing the usage of salt on the roads. The official 1st meeting with the PBA is scheduled for June 24. The Mayor will work with Chief Boyce, Treasurer Silber, and Attorney Laurie Johnston on contract negotiations. There are rumors around that there may be talk to disband the Cayuga Heights Police Dept. That is not a plan. There have been questions asked for information to gather costs required if the County were to police the Village of Cayuga Heights. That was just a gathering of information that the Mayor needed for due diligence in the whole process of negotiating the contract. It was not meant as a plan to disband. The Mayor wanted to dispel any rumors to that fact. The D.P.W. has purchased 2 new signs to keep the public informed on road construction. The cost was $300 each. The signs were first used recently when N. Triphammer road was repaved and they were met with a positive reaction. Pleasant Grove Road construction is coming up next, but has been delayed due to a suggestion by a Cornell professor who would like the Village to install bike lanes on the road. The Village will talk to Cornell to see if they might fund the project as it is not in our budget. The approximate cost of the project would be upwards of $100,000. 3 The Chemung Canal Trust Company site plan has been approved. Permits will be issued to complete the project. Committee lists have been created. Copy attached to these minutes. The Department Heads will meet the 1st Tuesday of each month. Planning Board Updates – Olver Insurance is planning to erect a building on their lot at the corner of Hanshaw and E. Upland Road. The Macenas/Ciaschi development project is moving further along. Marcham Hall has its dark brown trim stained every 10 years and it’s time for this to happen. Beaver Dam Construction, who did the work once before, has given us an estimate of 4 days at $75/hour which comes to $1500 plus materials. Beaver Dam also provides carpentry service, which will be needed. Another estimate was for $3000 plus materials of approximately $300. The Mayor asked for Board approval for this project. Motion by Trustee Bors Seconded by Trustee Riesman Motion to pass Resolution 6357 hiring Beaver Dam Construction Company to paint the trim on Marcham Hall and perform needed construction to the building at a cost of $1500 plus materials. Trustees Antil, Bors, Collyer, Donner, Riesman and Staley voted YES. The Mayor is looking into updating all the signage for Marcham Hall. The current signs are not correct, as the times for the Village Hall are now 9 -4:30 every day for all offices. The new signage will be more attractive than the present signs. ZBA Appointments – The Mayor reviewed the new ZBA appointments as follows: Jack Young, Chair – replace Robin Cisne, Chair (resigned) – term expires 4/2009 Fred Cowett – replace Ken Robinson (resigned) – term expires 4/2011 The Mayor asked the Board to approve Allison Smith to fill the open alternate position. Motion by Trustee Donner Seconded by Trustee Riesman Motion to pass Resolution 6358 appointing Allison Smith to fill the vacant position of Alternate on the Zoning Board of Appeals for the term expiring April 2013. Trustees Antil, Bors, Collyer, Donner, Riesman and Staley voted YES. Regarding the appointment of Chair to the Z.B.A., Trustee Antil asked if there wasn’t someone already on the Board who could have stepped into the position. The Mayor responded “No”, that everyone would be remaining in the position that they were presently in and Jack Young would be filling the Chair position. One of the mandates of the Mayor was to look at the zoning in the Community, and he feels that Jack Young is the one to help begin this process. 4 Trustee Donner wanted to thank Ken Robinson for his 25 years of service and Supt. Cross wanted to thank Robin Cisne for her 20 years of service. Both of these dedicated individuals have given much of their time towards the betterment of the Village. Mayor will write a letter of thanks to them both. The Mayor then introduced Trustee Riesman, Director of Communications, who introduced Sarah Hatcher as the editor-in-chief of The Courier. Sarah is a long time resident of the Village and former librarian at Cayuga Heights Elementary School. Her diligence and effort will pay off with a continuation of the much loved newsletter for Village residents. Carolyn Rusten will continue her interviews for The Courier, and Beth Saulnier will be a regular contributing editor writing feature articles. The Cayuga Heights Association will hopefully be resuscitated and again spearheaded by Michelle Kiefer. Attorney Flash and Attorney Johnston will continue to help with Planning Board issues and PBA negotiations during the transition period. Deer Committee – At the last meeting, it was erroneously stated that interviews would be conducted for members of a deer committee. The committee is already in process, headed by Trustee Donner; however, there is no report at this time. ********************************************************************** Report of the Clerk – Clerk Manning reported that both the July and August meeting of the Board will be held at the Cayuga Heights Fire Station since the station is air- conditioned. Deputy Clerk Mary Jane Neff will be on vacation for 2 weeks – June 9-June 20. Clerk Manning will be on vacation June 24-June 27. Business will run as usual in the Clerk’s office. *********************************************************************** Report of the Chief of Police – The Chief distributed a picture of the new Dodge Charger which will be put in service replacing Car 124, the 2006 Dodge Charger. Mayor Gilmore asked if the words, “To protect and serve” will still be on the car, as it didn’t show them in the picture. The Chief said that he is still designing the car. The Mayor said that he would like to see the words incorporated into the design. There was discussion on the money that was saved by purchasing a Dodge Charger over a Ford Crown Victoria. Also, the Dodge is a better car as far as the police package is concerned. In looking at the police report, Trustee Collyer commented on the number of mobile phone tickets that were issued. He wondered how they were seen. The Chief said that the officers have to be watching carefully so they can detect when someone is talking on the phone. There also was discussion on how the fines for various traffic infractions will be going up considerably on July 1. The Mayor asked the Chief to explain why overtime is up 100% from last month. The Chief explained that he had to fill 10 shifts…one officer was out sick for 5 shifts, and some part time officers didn’t show up for their shifts. When the Mayor asked why, the Chief 5 stated that he tends to lose part timers during summer hours, and there is much training coming up. The numbers will probably be the same next month. *********************************************************************** Report of the Ass’t. Supt. of Public Works – In May, the D.P.W. focused on capital projects. Of the 8 members of the D.P.W., most took their vacation before the end of the fiscal year. That dropped the number of the crew down some days. Pleasant Grove Road was a big project. There were some small logistical problems with the Country Club when the road had to be completely closed for a while. Hopefully in June, the large pipe needing replacement will be completed. M & S Striping came in at 3:00 am one morning with the D.P.W. crew to stripe N. Triphammer Road. Ass’t. Supt. Frisbie has found out that M & S can come in to stripe and paint all the crosswalks throughout the Village. He is waiting for an estimate from them to do this work. The crosswalks, especially, need to be repainted. Ass’t. Supt. Frisbie then asked the Board to approve the hiring of Matthew Townsend to fill the open position of Laborer. 42 applications were received from the ad that was published in the Ithaca Journal and 6 individuals were interviewed. Mr. Townsend was selected. He is a seasoned laborer, having worked with the Town of Ithaca. Motion by Trustee Collyer Seconded by Trustee Donner Motion to pass Resolution 6359 approving the hiring of Matthew Townsend to fill the positon of Laborer at the hire rate of $11.41 according to the Teamster contract with one year probation. Start date is June 18. This hiring is contingent on a satisfactory background check. Trustees Antil, Bors, Collyer, Donner, Riesman and Staley voted YES. *********************************************************************** Report of the Supt. of Public Works – Trustee Bors said that at the May meeting, there was mention by a member of the public (Sally Grubb) of a traffic circle. In a related matter, Supt. Cross was going to ask Cornell to make a presentation on their Gateway Project, which was an item on their Community Initiative Proposal.. Supt. Cross said they were not able to be at this meeting, and it doesn’t look like they will be at the July meeting, either. He would like to share his thoughts along with Chief Boyce at an open meeting so the public can listen. Regarding bike lanes – Since a Cornell professor noticed that work was going to be done on Pleasant Grove Road (PGR) this year, his request became more timely; however, putting bike lanes on PGR would be a significant change in the scope of the project. The Mayor has a report on the project, which was prepared by Supt. Cross and distributed to the Trustees, which projects $120,000 in outside costs and $30,000 in inside costs, with an approximated total cost of $150,000. There was then discussion on the estimated report. Mayor Gilmore is thinking of presenting this project estimate to John Gutenberger to attempt to get some of the $10 million that Cornell is talking about using to assist projects in communities that are related to Cornell University. Supt. Cross’s suspicion is that Cornell won’t pay upfront, but payment may be made over 3 or more years….if they are at all willing to commit to the project. Trustee Bors would like to share Supt. Cross’s report with the public. There are logistic issues to putting in bike lanes….re-doing the road 6 would push the road right up against the sidewalk on the west side. To add a curb into the project would double the cost of the project. The Mayor asked the Board if they would like him to pursue this with Cornell. The question was asked that if we do PGR now, when it would come up on the schedule to be done again. The answer was approximately 20 years from now. Trustee Bors said that he would encourage the Mayor to ask the question to Cornell, and if we are not able to do the full bike lanes, can the Village just fix the road to provide 2 or 3 ft for more space? There is a bike suitability map put out by the County with 2 or 3 Village roads on it. However, the traffic volume as well as the terrain makes PGR suitable for bike lanes. Could the Village designate a shoulder as a bike lane? If the Village designates any space as a bike lane, the Village has to keep it maintained. Trustee Riesman thinks that it is good to discuss it with Cornell, but the lack of delineation between the road and sidewalk is dangerous for walkers. Supt. Cross said that many telephone poles would have to be moved for a true bike lane. Roger Segelken asked that the Director of Transportation at Cornell be included in further conversation on the bike lanes. A pre-bid meeting was conducted earlier in the day for the WWTP project. June 30 is scheduled for the bid opening date. There should be time to analyze the bids in time for the July meeting. Trustee Staley asked how many legal days are left. Supt. Cross said that if the Village can award the project by the July meeting, we are within the DEC schedule. The Board will hear the results of the bids before the award is made. Supt. Cross will summarize them ahead of the July meeting. There will most likely be 4 different contracts to award. Treasurer Silber gave an overview of the financial aspect of the project. The Village will need to bond approximately $1 million to be repaid thru sewer rents. The State of New York is trying to write legislation to reinstate reimbursement of code enforcement costs by the State. The initial money was changed and diverted to other things by Governor Cuomo. There is a bill now on the Senate and Assembly floor, S3019.B and A1084.0. Supt. Cross encourages the Trustees to send a letter to Barbara Lifton (copy of letter distributed) saying that the money should stop being diverted and sent back to the municipalities. Supt. Cross and Trustee Riesman have met and are starting a dialogue with TCAT to improve bus stop identifications and shelters at key locations. There are no designations for any bus stops in the Village. The Village would like to form a partnership with TCAT for signage and general improvements. Neil Olver has an official application on Supt. Cross’s desk for a building on his lot on E. Upland Road and Hanshaw Road. A Planning Board meeting needs to be set for Mr. Olver’s presentation. It was decided that Wednesday, June 25 at 9:00 am would be set for this presentation at Marcham Hall. The Macenas project is still in process and there will be more to come on it. *********************************************************************** Report of the Treasurer – Treasurer Silber reported that there were no transfers this month as it is the beginning of the new budget year. There was an addition to the abstract distributed with the packet of $108.70 for Lubrication Engineers for hydraulic oil. The Trustees then asked various questions on items on the abstract, with discussion on N. Triphammer Road repaving costs and products used. Motion by Trustee Collyer Seconded by Trustee Bors 7 Motion to pass Resolution 6360 approving the Abstracts of Audited Vouchers dated 6/16/08 in the amount of $256,496.43, and instruct that the Treasurer make payments thereon. Trustees Antil, Bors, Collyer, Donner, Riesman and Staley voted YES. Motion by Trustee Riesman Seconded by Trustee Donner Motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:44 p.m. Trustees Antil, Bors, Collyer, Donner, Riesman and Staley voted YES.