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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReg Mtg. Minutes 1/21/2002Minutes of the Regular Meeting January 21, 2002 Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees Present: Deputy Mayor Fleming, Trustees Kusse, Lynn, Collyer, and Antil, Supt. Cross, Treasurer Silber, Attorney Tyler, Police Chief Lansing, Fire Chief Day, Jeff Randall Absent: Mayor Anderson, Trustee Dunning At 7:20 pm, Deputy Mayor Fleming opened the Public Hearing on the Cayuga Heights School Speed Zone. After hearing from Chief Lansing and Attorney Tyler, the Hearing was closed at 7:25 pm due to a typo in the advertisement. The Hearing will be re- advertised for 7:20 pm, February 18, 2002. The regular meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by Deputy Mayor Fleming. There was one correction to the minutes of December 17. On page 2, the Motion by Trustee Fleming and Seconded by Trustee Kusse at 8:10 should read: VOTED to move into Executive Session to consult with counsel as to the conclusion of the fire contract. Motion by Trustee Lynn, Seconded by Trustee Kusse VOTED to approve the Minutes of the December 17, 2001 Board of Trustees Meeting with the one correction on page 2. Deputy Mayor Fleming, Trustee Collyer, Kusse, Antil, and Lynn voted YES There was also a correction in the November 19, 2001 minutes that was previously missed. The correction is on page 2. The motion should read: VOTED to schedule a Public Hearing on the proposed School Speed Limit Zone on Hanshaw, The Parkway and Upland Roads. (The words Speed Limit were added.) Motion by Trustee Lynn, Seconded by Trustee Antil VOTED to approve the Minutes of the November 19, 2001 Board of Trustees Meeting with the one correction on page 2. Deputy Mayor Fleming, Trustee Collyer, Kusse, Antil, and Lynn voted YES Deputy Mayor Fleming presented the Mayor's report, which consisted of two letters from residents of the Village. The first was a letter from Mary T. Cullen regarding an attack to her and her dog by two rottweilers while walking on N. Sunset Drive. Ms. Fleming has' a concern about the way Dog Control Local Law #1 is written and would like it clarified. Deputy Mayor Fleming asked Attorney Tyler to look into the wording of this law. There was discussion on the penalties involved with the law, and it was decided that a Public Hearing should be held before February's Board Meeting at 7:15 on a Revised Dog Law. Motion by Trustee Antil, Seconded by Trustee Kusse VOTED set a Public Hearing for February 18 at 7:15 pm to review and generally determine the penalties for dog ordinance violations. Deputy Mayor Fleming, Trustee Collyer, Kusse, Antil, and Lyme voted YES The second letter presented by Deputy Mayor Fleming was a copy of a letter by resident Andrew Gill to Barbara Blanchard regarding the problems that Mr. Gill has experienced with his recycling. Clerk Manning said that Mr. Gill has had ongoing problems with his recycling not getting picked up, and she advised Mr. Gill that the Village does not handle the recycling, but the County does. Clerk Manning advised Mr. Gill that if he wanted to write a letter to the person in charge of recycling, he should do so to Ms. Blanchard. Police Chief Lansing presented his report, which is on file. There are still ongoing problems with the 911 center and they are being addressed at meetings that Chief Lansing has attended. Regarding the donation that Chief Lansing received from Mrs. Park of $5000 for the police department's use, the chief had previously planned to use the money for an upgrade in radios to the 800 mgh system. However, there does not seem to be an upgrade forthcoming soon, and so Chief Lansing would like to use the money for new car radios and a new base station. Trustee Lynn asked about the investigation of the rape reported by the Police Department two months ago. Chief Lansing said that the case is still open and under investigation. Fire Chief Day presented his report which is on file. Chief Day reported that Engine 203 (the engine purchased in 2001) is in Elmira for warranty repair, i.e. exhaust system, paint, air horns, etc. It should be back in service in the next couple of weeks. Chief Day tendered his resignation as Fire Chief effective January 31, 2002 due to time restraints on his part. Jeff Randall, 151 Ass't Chief, will step in as acting Fire Chief until the Fire Company elections in April. Motion by Trustee Collyer, Seconded by Trustee Antil VOTED to approve the appointing of Jeff Randall as Acting Assistant Fire Chief until the April Fire Company elections. Deputy Mayor Fleming, Trustee Collyer, Kusse, Antil, and Lynn voted YES Trustee Kusse asked about the status of the fire station. He was concerned about the many changes taking place there, and how the bunkers are doing. Chief Day explained that although things have improved somewhat, there still is work to be done and he 2 expressed his faith in Jeff Randall carrying on where he is leaving off. At this point, the Board expressed their thanks to Bob Day for the job he has done as Fire Chief and looks forward to working with the new Acting Fire Chief during his tenure. ***************************************** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** Superintendent of Public Works Cross presented his report, which is on file. Supt. Cross reported that he needs two Resolutions passed by the Board. The first Resolution is to authorize Supt. Cross to offer the position of Motor Equipment Operator to Jeffrey M. Wood. Supt. Cross reported that there is a vacancy in the position of Motor Equipment Operator. The position has been advertised and there are no current employees who match the qualifications needed to fill this position. Mr. Wood has been interviewed and matches the qualifications needed. The Public Works Committee is in full agreement with this recommendation to hire. Motion by Trustee Kusse, Seconded by Trustee Antil. Voted to pass Resolution 5254 authorizing Supt. of Public Works Cross to offer the vacant position of Motor Equipment Operator to Jeffrey M. Wood. Deputy Mayor Fleming, Trustee Collyer, Kusse, Antil, and Lynn voted YES - The second resolution is regarding the designation of the Village as the lead agency for the review of the environmental impact of the WWTP Trickling Filter Replacement Project. There was discussion on the scope of work to be involved in the project. Motion by Trustee Lynn, Seconded by Trustee Collyer. Voted to pass Resolution 5255 which is the Declaration of Lead Agency and Determination of Environmental Impact of the WWTP Trickling Filter Replacement Project in accordance with 6 NYCRR Part 617: WHEREAS the Trickling Filters at the Village's Wastewater Treatment Plant are in need of replacement due media deterioration from 25 years of normal use, and WHEREAS Steams and Wheeler Engineers have prepared an engineering analysis of this project in a document titled Cayuga Heights Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements dated December 2001, and WHEREAS this project is limited to rehabilitation of an existing structure on the same site and does not exceed any of the thresholds listed in 6 NYCRR Section 617.4, and WHEREAS the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has approved this project for funding under the 1996 Clean Water Bond Act, NOW, THEREFORE the Village of Cayuga Heights, in due consideration of the above information, does hereby designates the Village as Lead Agency for the review of the environmental impacts of this project, AFTER DUE DELIBERATION, classifies this project as a Type II Action, which requires no further review under SEQRA. Deputy Mayor Fleming, Trustee Collyer, Kusse, Antil, and Lynn voted YES - Trustee Lynn asked Supt. Cross for the final cost of the Highland Road project. Supt. Cross said that he will have the final cost at the next Board of Trustees Meeting. ***************************************** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** Attorney Tyler presented his report. The NYSEG building — NYSEG's counsel asked for an adjournment for their appearance at this Board Meeting, and The NYSEG counsel would like to have a face to face meeting with the Village before the next Board of Trustees meeting. The meeting will include Attorney Tyler, Supt. Cross and either Trustees Kusse, Collyer or Fleming. NYSEG counsel suggests that there will be a satisfactory solution to the problem. Police Chief Lansing has taken pictures showing the intersection near the building as a true traffic hazard. They were distributed among the Trustees for viewing. - The Cornell/Sapsucker Woods sewer issue is adjourned to the February meeting, pending Supt. Cross's review of the matter with Mayor Anderson. - Mechanics Lien on rental equipment — Attorney Tyler stressed the importance of making sure that no money goes out to anyone until this matter is resolved, and has asked Supt. Cross to advise Christa Construction of this. - The contract for brush removal is in its final form. The cost to the Village is $700 /month for a 36 month term with a 30 day cancellation notice. Attorney Tyler asked the Deputy Mayor to sign the contract in his presence tonight. **************************************** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** Treasurer Silber presented his report, which is on file. Treasurer Silber attended a Public Hearing for the Town of Ithaca on December 31, 2001. Cathy Valentino reported on Fire Contracts. It was decided to add Cornell's Filtration plant to the Cayuga Heights Fire District. Resolution 5252 was passed at the December 2001 meeting adopting Section 41J which allows employees to use unused sick time towards service credit effective March 1, 2002. The full resolution in its entirety as submitted by the Treasurer and ratified at this meeting is attached to these minutes. Budget packets will be distributed in the next few weeks. A request is being made to adopt no growth budgets. Expenditures are running high and the drop in sales tax is going to affect revenues to the Village. The Remington Road bonds have been paid off over the last few months, and payments on the Fire Station bonds have begun. (Fortuitous timing.) There was further discussion regarding the request from Bob Mitchell for more money that was discussed in Executive Session at the December 2001 meeting. Mr. Mitchell's reasons for his request are the change in scope of the project after the Village had signed the contract, and the extra work to be done due to errors of various project personnel. Supt. Cross gave his thoughts to the Board on this subject. Attorney Tyler said that it should be communicated to Mr. Mitchell that the Board thinks there is some merit to his request and it will be re- examined when the project is complete. - Treasurer Silber presented the following transfers: FROM TO A01990.4 General Contingency A01450.100 A01990.4 General Contingency A01680.200 A03410.410 Fire Dept. Contr Exp. A03410.110 A03410.410 Fire Dept. Contr Exp A0341OA90 A01990.4 General Contingency A03620.400 A05142.410 Snow Contr Exp A05142.490 A01990.4 General Contingency A08160.410 A01990.4 General Contingency A08160.490 G08130.1 Sewer Plant Pers Svc G08120.1 XFER DPW Reserve A05110.200 New Rev GIF'T'S A08020.400 Records Mgmt. $1,170 Info Tech Eqpt $1,700 Fire Dept. DPW Svcs $1,000 Fire Dept. Eqpt Main $2,000 NYSUFBC Cont Exp $ 200 Snow Eqpt Maint $ 600 Refuse Contr. Exp $7,000 Refuse Eqpt Maint $2,100 Sewer Lines Pers Svc $4,000 Street Eqpt 12,500 Planning 79,420 Motion by Trustee Kusse, Seconded by Trustee Collyer VOTED to approve the Transfer of Funds Deputy Mayor Fleming, Trustee Collyer, Kusse, Antil, and Lynn voted YES - Treasurer Silber presented the Abstract of Vouchers with the following changes: Add: A1620.41 Deer Park Water $18.00 Delete: VR- 00002905 Change: VR- 00002846 — Account # from A03410.410 to A03420.41 Motion by Trustee Kusse, Seconded by Trustee Lynn VOTED to pass Resolution 5256 to approve abstract of vouchers. Deputy Mayor Fleming, Trustee Collyer, Kusse, Antil, and Lynn voted YES There was no Clerk's report. Motion by Trustee Kusse, Seconded by Trustee Collyer VOTED to move into Executive Session to discuss two items with Trustees and Counsel, one being a matter currently in litigation at the County level, the other involving a personnel benefits matter. Deputy Mayor Fleming, Trustee Collyer, Kusse, Antil, and Lynn voted YES Motion by Trustee Lynn, Moved by Trustee Antil VOTED to move out of Executive Session at 9:40 pm. Motion by Trustee Lynn, Moved by Trustee Antil VOTED to adjourn the meeting at 9:42 pm. Norma Manning Clerk M