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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes of Organ. Meeting - April 21 2008.pdf 1 Minutes of the Organizational Meeting April 21, 2008 Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees Present: Mayor Gilmore, Ann Antil, Ron Bors, Frank Collyer, David Donner, Diana Riesman, Supt. Cross, Treasurer Silber, Fire Supt. Tamborelle, Police Chief Boyce, Ass’t. Supt. Frisbie, Atty. Laurie Johnston for Atty. David Tyler, Clerk Manning Absent: Trustee Staley Others: Bryan Warren, Neil Olver, Ann and Curt Ashman, Judy Levitt, Joe Perry, and Rose Catalano of Chemung Canal Trust, John Snyder, Architect for Chemung Canal Trust, Rick Manning, Landscape Architect, Mindy Mindlin, Sarah Hatcher, David Feeney, Attorney for Chemung Canal Trust, Jane and Bob Kalter, Anita Watkins, Linda Bors, Chris Anagnost, Paul Velleman, Sue Michelerry, Molly Shoemaker, Don Campbell, Mike Ellis, John Young. ************************************************************************ Mayor Gilmore opened the Organizational Meeting of the Board of Trustees at 7:00 PM asking the Board to pass a resolution recognizing Mayor Walter Lynn and Trustees Elizabeth Mount, Jim Bisogni and Phyllis Kaplan for their service to Village as follows: Motion by Trustee Bors Seconded by Trustee Donner Move to pass Resolution 6334-1 recognizing Mayor Walter Lynn and Trustees Mount, Bisogni and Kaplan as follows: Be it respectfully resolved that Mayor Walter R Lynn of the Village of Caygua Heights has dutifully, wisely and unselfishly served the Village and its citizens from 2000 through 2008 as Trustee and then three terms as Mayor. The Trustees, Staff and Citizens of Cayuga Heights truly recognize and thank Mayor Lynn for his many years of sound governance and guidance dispatched with care. Be it respectfully resolved that Elizabeth Mount has served the Village of Cayuga Heights with distinction as Trustee. Her service to the citizens, staff and governance has been of great assistance in keeping our village safe, fiscally strong, and traditionally the great place it is to live, work and raise our families. The Village is especially grateful for her many years as editor of the “Courier”. Thank you, Elizabeth, for your unselfish service to the Village of Cayuga Heights. Be it respectfully resolved that Jim Bisogni has served the Village of Cayuga Heights with distinction as Trustee. His service to the citizens, staff and governance has been of great assistance in keeping our village safe, fiscally strong, and traditionally the great place it is to live and work and raise our families. Thank you for your unselfish service to the Village of Cayuga Heights, and especially your engineering expertise on technical matters. Be it respectfully resolved that Phyllis Kaplan has served the Village of Cayuga Heights with distinction as Trustee. Her service to the citizens, staff and governance has been of great assistance in keeping our village safe, fiscally strong, and traditionally the great place it is to live and work and raise our families. Thank you for your unselfish service to the Village of Cayuga Heights. 2 Mayor Gilmore, Trustees Antil, Bors, Collyer, Donner and Riesman voted YES. ************************************************************************ The Public Hearing was opened at 7:05 P.M. for the Site Plan Review for Chemung Canal Trust building project. Supt. Cross gave a brief introduction to the public on the proposed building at Hanshaw and Pleasant Grove Road. Tim Ciaschi owns the land that the bank is proposing to build on, and will lease the land to Chemung Canal Trust. The applicant has hired an architectural firm to perform a traffic study of the impact on the intersection of Hanshaw and Pleasant Grove Road. John Snyder, one of the architects for Chemung Canal Bank, presented a slide show of the architectural rendering and site plan. Rick Manning, who is the landscape architect, discussed the plantings around the proposed site. The sidewalk that will be built along the side of the building will be deeded to the Village, as it will be in the Village right-of-way. Judy Levitt asked about the disposition of the current Bank of America building. It was explained that the part of the building that housed the Bank of America will be demolished. The rest of the building will remain intact and the existing businesses will also remain. Bob Kalter asked for clarification on the exit and entrance to the bank. Mayor Gilmore asked if the exit on to Pleasant Grove Road will be a one-way exit, and will there be a STOP sign? The answer to both questions was yes. Molly Shoemaker asked if the building will meet all Village zoning requirements, or will some part of the plan need a variance. Will this building along with all other buildings owned by Mr. Ciaschi on the property meet all Village requirements, i.e. green space? Supt. Cross answered yes to both questions. The Village zoning law has maximum lot coverage of 15% in commercial development. There are no restrictions on the remaining 85% to green space or blacktop. There is no rule about requiring green space. This proposed plan is a reduction in paved area. In the property in the commercial zone district, if you count all awnings over 2 ft and figure the area, the number would be over 15%. A recent action (variance) extended a portion of this tax parcel into the residential district. The current footprint is within allowable zoning. There is 50% more green space in this plan than there currently is now. Bob Kalter asked for an explanation on storm water runoff. He was concerned that there will not be an increase in runoff due to the project. Rick Manning explained that the plan is to use the lawn for catch basins. Supt. Cross, in his capacity as Engineer, will be sure that the design will not exceed the existing runoff. No additional water will be added to the system. Molly Shoemaker was concerned about maintaining the residential look of the area. What is the height of the one story building? Answer is 30 ft. All setbacks are met. The Village is silent in the zoning ordinance with the number of proposed parking spaces. Trustee Riesman expressed concern on the traffic exiting onto Pleasant Grove Road. She feels that there should be 3 lanes exiting. If not, cars trying to make a left hand turn out of the parking lot will be stacked in one lane. The Village will need to talk to Mr. Ciaschi about the egress issue as the land that the parking lot exits on to belongs to him. Mayor Gilmore asked if there should be a clear lane for making a right hand turn. Supt. Cross said that the Village will ask the applicant to come back to the May board meeting after a further traffic study. Molly Shoemaker asked about signage. John Snyder answered that Chemung Canal Trust has a standard 4 ft standard sign. It will be on the building which will have a low profile on both ends. The building itself will be lit with an exterior lighting scheme much improved from what is there now. Supt. Cross said that signage is regulated by zoning. He will be sure that the signage stays within the limits. Rose Catalano explained that lighting at ATM’s is regulated by NYS banking laws. Curt Ashman asked about the color scheme. John Snyder said that it is early in the process to be certain on this…there is some stone, horizontal fiber cement siding, with panelized fiber on top portion of the building gable. Mr. Ashman remarked on the spirit of what was intended when the land for community Corners was set aside. If there were some agreement, it would be on a deed covenant to the land owner for enforcement, not the Village. Trustee Riesman urged cohesion between existing buildings and this proposed building. Would it be possible for the stone to be grey, like the Village Hall? The building should be distinctive, but it should fit with the rest of the buildings. The Mayor asked why not red roofs…what was wrong with them? John Snyder said that he felt that adding another red roof would be too much in one area. Mayor Gilmore stated that the design of the roof is positive; however, what is the height of this building compared to the former service garage? John said that he thinks it is about the same but will get the numbers for the next 3 meeting. The Mayor asked if there is some way to break up the grey surface on the back of the building. John Snyder commented that there are things planned but are not shown in the drawings. The Mayor suggested that some sort of stonework us considered, like Llenroc. John will investigate that possibility. Judy Levitt asked about the next step. What is the timetable to begin? The Mayor explained that this public hearing is the first process. When the hearing is closed, there is a 62 day period before the Village gives its approval. Then the applicant submits a set of construction plans for approval. John said that the bank hopes to be in the new building January 2009. Molly Shoemaker asked about construction trucks. How will they get to the site? Supt. Cross said that the applicant will bring all that information back to the Board. John asked the Board to put this building in the context of a house…approximately 2700 sf. The main issue will be disposing of the demolition materials. After that is done, there will not be a big impact on traffic with major construction trucks. Trustee Bors asked at what stage is construction noise, start and ending work time, etc. agreed on? Supt. Cross answered that since this project is classified by New York State as a Type II action, the Village is not allowed to have the applicant file an environmental review study. Those types of questions will be discussed at approval time as specific conditions. Curt Ashman asked if there is any anticipation of what is underground since the garage has been there for a long time. Supt. Cross explained that in the year 2000, the gas pumps were removed. At that time, the site was deemed to be a remediation site. The location went through testing for 5 years, which was enforced by the DEC. A copy of the DEC document giving the site an acceptable level of cleanliness was given to Supt. Cross. The DEC is involved again and will continue to be involved throughout this whole process. Joe Perry said that Tim Ciaschi has a letter from the DEC dated June 3, 2005 stating that the only “unknown” is what is under the building. That will be discovered when the building comes down. A letter outlining the Village’s questions that have been asked will be sent by the Mayor to the Bank. The Board will expect follow-up on those questions at the May Trustee meeting. Trustee Bors asked if the existing traffic study made any reference to traffic coming from the Cornell Child Care facility thru the Village. Supt. Cross wished to hold that question until a later time. The Mayor closed the public hearing of the Cayuga Heights Planning Board on this project. The public hearing was closed at 8:18 PM. At 8:20 PM, Mayor Gilmore opened the Organizational Meeting. David Donner was appointed Deputy Mayor by the Mayor. Donner has been a Village resident since 1982, a volunteer of the Cayuga Heights Fire Department, and past member of the Deer Committee and the Zoning Board of Appeals. Mayor Gilmore then introduced staff appointments, thanking the staff for their knowledge and help during this time of transition. Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Trustee Collyer Move to pass Resolution 6334 approving the following appointments: Norma R. Manning Clerk for two official years. Mary Jane Neff Deputy Clerk for two official years. Jeffrey Silber Treasurer for two official years. George Tamborelle Fire Superintendent for two official years. Brent Cross Building Commissioner for one official year. Brent Cross Engineer for one official year. Brent Cross Zoning Officer until further notice. Brent Cross Stormwater Mgmt. Officer for one official year. 4 Ron Bors Acting Treasurer for one official year. David Klein Acting Village Justice for one official year. Mayor Gilmore, Trustees Antil, Bors, Collyer, Donner, and Riesman voted YES. The following appointments will be delayed until June: *Miller Mayer Law Firm for one official year. Decision delayed until June Carol Sisler Village Historian for one official year. “ Andre Bensadoun Village Forester for one official year. “ David Klein Acting Village Justice for one official year. “ Sarah How Appoint as ZBA member (to expire 2013) “ Sally Grubb Appoint as ZBA alternate (to expire 2013) “ *Trustee Riesman will solicit packets of information from law firms in the area. Trustees will interview lawyers from each of the firms, and then a new attorney for the Village will be chosen. Mayor Gilmore spoke about a new committee, the Finance Committee. He has appointed Trustee Bors as Chair of the Committee, and would like Trustee Collyer to be on the committee. Trustee Collyer has a strong background in finance, and has a lengthy history with the finances of the Village. Treasurer Silber will be the staff person on the Committee. The appointments to the Public Safety and Public Works Committees were discussed. Mayor Gilmore told the Trustees that he would like to have Trustee Donner chair the Safety Committee. Trustee Collyer expressed concern about a conflict of interest with respect to Trustee Donner voting on Fire Department issues, as Trustee Donner has had a long history with the Fire Department. Trustee Donner responded that he (Trustee Donner) is not a member of the Fire Department but is an exempt member of the Fire Company. Trustee Donner also stated that over the history of the Village many Fire Company members have successfully served as Trustees. The Mayor said that he will discuss this with Trustee Collyer before the next meeting. The Mayor will have the appointments set by the next meeting, along with a new Committee, the Communications Committee, which Trustee Riesman will chair. Appointments for Committees at large will be discussed, reviewed and finalized by the next Board meeting. Mayor Gilmore reappointed Ron Anderson to the Board of the Southern Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission. Motion by Trustee Donner Seconded by Trustee Antil VOTED to pass Resolution 6335 making the Tompkins Trust Company of Ithaca, NY the official depository for the Village funds for the 2008 Fiscal Year, with a maximum deposit of $4,000,000. Mayor Gilmore, Trustees Antil, Bors, Collyer, Donner, and Riesman voted YES. 5 Motion by Trustee Riesman Seconded by Trustee Antil VOTED to pass Resolution 6336 authorizing the clerk to notify the Tompkins County Trust Company of Ithaca, NY of the following names to be honored on checks for the 2008 official year, with two signatures required: Jim Gilmore, Mayor or David Donner, Acting Mayor Jeffrey Silber, Treasurer or Ron Bors, Acting Treasurer Norma R. Manning, Clerk Mayor Gilmore, Trustees Antil, Bors, Collyer, Donner, and Riesman voted YES. Motion by Trustee Bors Seconded by Trustee Riesman VOTED to pass Resolution 6337 designating the Ithaca Journal as the official newspaper for the 2008 official year. Mayor Gilmore, Trustees Antil, Bors, Collyer, Donner, and Riesman voted YES. Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Mayor Gilmore VOTED to pass Resolution 6338 setting the schedule of the regular meting s of the Village Trustees and the Village Planning Board for the 2008 Official Year as follows: 7:00 PM on the third Monday of each month except: Annual Organizational Meeting, which is the first Monday in April AND in months when the 3rd Monday is a holiday, the meeting will take place on the Tuesday following the Monday holiday. Mayor Gilmore, Trustees Antil, Bors, Collyer, Donner, and Riesman voted YES. The time for the next regular meeting was set for May 19, 2008. ********************************************************************************* The minutes of March 17, 2008 and April 7, 2008 were presented to the Board for their approval. Motion by Trustee Antil Seconded by Trustee Donner VOTED to pass the Minutes of March 17, 2008 as presented to the Board. Trustees Antil, Bors, Collyer, Donner and Riesman voted YES. Motion by Trustee Bors Seconded by Trustee Riesman 6 VOTED to pass the Minutes of April 7, 2008 as presented to the Board. Trustees Bors, Collyer, Donner and Riesman voted YES. Trustee Antil abstained. Report of the Mayor Mayor Gilmore told the Board and the audience how happy he is to be Mayor of the Village of Cayuga Heights and how excited he is to work in the best interest of the residents of this Village. He also wanted to express his thanks for all the help he received during his campaign for election. Privilege of the Floor Mayor Gilmore opened the Privilege of the Floor. Mindy Mindlin asked if the minutes will continue to be censored and edited as in the past. The Mayor answered that the Clerk drafts the minutes and the Attorney reviews and makes corrections. Attorney Johnston, who attended the meeting for Attorney Tyler, said that in the past when she has attended meetings, she reviewed the minutes as another set of eyes, and she made sure items were complete. Treasurer Silber said that the minutes are just that, minutes…not a transcript of the meeting. Mayor Gilmore commented that the word “censored” is a difficult word to use and that it is not the intent of the Board or the Attorney to have the minutes censored. Ms. Mindlin said that she just wanted to ask the question for the record. Report of the Police Chief Police Chief Boyce presented a brief summary about him, his job, and his department. Then he presented a synopsis of his report. There were 118 complaints, and 2 motor vehicle accidents, along with 233 traffic tickets issued and 12 parking tickets written. There were also 5 DWI’s. Officer Dave Lanning attended a two day seminar on Safe Schools held in Syracuse at the Central New York Police Academy. This seminar, which included updated information on current practices in developing and practicing with a school safety plan, certified Officer Lanning to be able to instruct the school staff and police officers in areas of concern associated with setting up a school safety plan and how to deal with school emergencies. Full-time officers worked 73.5 hours of overtime and part-time officers worked 141 hours. There was a total of $3000 in property reported lost or stolen for the month of March. Report of the Fire Superintendent Fire Supt. Tamborelle was excused at 9:00 PM due to work commitments. He will present his report next month. Report of the Clerk Clerk Manning presented a brief background of herself, her job in the Village, her department, and her expectations for the future, which include two main items: continued maintenance of the records management in the different departments of the Village by installing an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) system; and the Board again looking into renovations of the Village Hall to make the Clerk’s office handicap accessible and increase the space in the departments. Report of the Ass’t. Superintendent of Public Works Ass’t. Supt. Frisbie presented his brief background which included his department summary and his expectations for the Department of Public Works. He has worked with the staff to give them more responsibility, which has resulted in fewer complaints. He then presented his report for March. There was a salt shortage which forced the 7 mixing of sand and salt to take care of the March storms. Also, the D.P.W. tackled a culvert pipe replacement and 2 water main breaks. Report of the Superintendent of Public Works Supt Cross presented his brief background and outlined his job responsibilities. He outlined his major past accomplishments which included: changing the road program from “maintenance only” to rehabilitating 1 mile of road per year (there are 20 miles of roads in the Village); DPW large equipment is now being rotated every 7 years, and is being serviced at the DPW garage by the Village mechanic; the DPW garage has been updated; because of the Village’s involvement in the Council of Governments, the DEC is helping more at our Waste Water Treatment Plant. The DPW structure has been changed significantly. There now is an Ass’t. Supt. of Public Works (Jeff Frisbie), who supervises 9 men every day. Supt. Cross would like the Trustees to take a look at his own department and the way it is set up. The Supt. said that he needs help, not so much administrative, but technical. Trustee Collyer asked if that kind of help can be outsourced. Supt. Cross said that maybe some of it can. Supt. Cross also briefly discussed the proposed Local Law #1 of 2008, Prohibit Illicit Discharges, Activities and Connections to Separate Storm Sewer Systems – IDDE Law. Copies of the proposed law were given to the new Trustees for their review. The complete Board will discuss and approve this IDDE Law at the May Board meeting. Report of the Treasurer Treasurer Silber presented his brief background, having held the position of part-time Treasurer in the Village since February 1989. Treasurer presented the budget as amended by the Trustees. The changes that were submitted by the Trustees were to take $50,000 from the Village Hall Renovation line item, Account #H0-1620.200 and put it into Deer Control, Account #A0.8020.420. The other change was to remove the $1250 base pool that was set aside for full time non-bargaining unit employees as a merit increase. Mayor Gilmore did not feel that he knew the employees and their jobs enough to give merit increases in the budget year. Other items of special interest in the budget were a 0% tax increase, and no change to the sewer surcharge. The Mayor asked the Trustees if they were ready to approve the budget as presented. Motion by Trustee Bors Seconded by Trustee Donner VOTED to pass Resolution 6339 approving the Budget and Salary Schedule for 2008 Fiscal Year excluding Public Safety Contract up for renegotiation. Mayor Gilmore and Trustees Bors, Collyer, Donner and Riesman voted YES. Motion by Trustee Bors Seconded by Trustee Donner VOTED to pass Resolution 6340 setting the tax levy for the 2008 fiscal year at $5.98. Mayor Gilmore and Trustees Bors, Collyer, Donner and Riesman voted YES. Treasurer Silber then presented the transfers dated 4/21/08 and asked for the Board’s approval. 8 Motion by Trustee Bors Seconded by Trustee Collyer VOTED to pass Resolution 6341 approving the transfers dated 4/21/08 as listed below: From: To: Amount A01620.410 Vil Hall Contr Exp A01620.430 Vil Hall Utilities $600 A01990.400 Contingency A01640.410 Cent Garage Contr Exp 4,000 A01990.400 Contingency A01640.430 Cent Garage Utilities 3,000 A05112.100 Cap Impr Pers Serv A05010.100 Street Admin Pers Serv 3,500 A05142.100 Snow Pers Serv A05110.100 Street Pers Serv 3,000 A05142.100 Snow Pers Serv A05110.150 Street Pers Serv OT 100 A05112.410 Cap Impr Contr Exp A05110.200 Street Cap Eqpt 150 A05142.100 Snow Pers Serv A05142.150 Snow Pers Serv OT 3,500 G08110.410 Sewer Adm Legal G09710.710 Sewer Interest – Serial Bonds 4,030 Trustees Bors, Collyer, Donner and Riesman voted YES. Treasurer Silber presented the Abstract of Vouchers dated 4/21/08 and asked for the Board’s approval. Motion by Trustee Donner Seconded by Trustee Bors VOTED to pass Resolution 6342 approving the Abstract of Vouchers dated 4/21/08 in the amount of $97,637.22, which includes another voucher for Churchville Fire & Equipment for an airbag for $940, account A03410.410, and instruct the Treasurer to make payments thereon. Trustees Bors, Collyer, Donner and Riesman voted YES. Treasurer Silber also asked the Board to approve the purchase of a 2008 Dodge Charger for the Police Department at a price of $23,075.50. Motion by Trustee Riesman Seconded by Trustee Donner Voted to approve Resolution 6343 approving the purchase of a 2008 Dodge Charger for the Police Department to keep within their automobile rotation schedule at a cost of $23,075.50. Trustees Bors, Collyer, Donner and Riesman voted YES. Motion by Trustee Riesman Seconded by Trustee Donner VOTED to adjourn the meeting at 10:55 P.M. Trustees Bors, Collyer, Donner and Riesman voted YES. Norma R. Manning Clerk