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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrganizational Mtg. Minutes 4/6/19531'69 MINUTES of the annual organization meeting of the Board of Trustees held on Monday, April 6, 1953, at 7 P.M. at the 'schoolhouse. PRESENT: Henry J. Shirey, Mayor A. W. Chamberlain, Trustee E. A.Whiting, Trustee S. S. Atwood, Trustee F. G. Marcham Trustee C. H. Guise, treasurer Carl Crandall, Engineer Frank Howe, Assessor of the Town of Ithaca, 1. The minutes of the meeting of March 20th were.read and approved with the following correction: page 167, item 2 to read "IT WAS VOTED that Police Officer VanZile's salary, which has been at the monthly rate of $206.25 be increased to a monthly rate of $250, plus a car allowance of 466.66 per month." 2. The following bills paid on authority of the Mayor were approved: GENERAL 1 J. B. Trousdale - envelopes 8.56 Ithaca Journal - legal ads. 4.24. Mack's Photo Copies 8.45 T. G. Miller's Sons Pacer Co. 6.00 SANITATION W. D. Lyme 15.02 Stevens Service Station 3.43 HI GHWAY S W. D. Lyme 15.02 Stevens Service Station 3.42 State Insurance Fund 551.24 College Chevrolet Co. 2.25 General Crushed Stone Co. 31.18 N.Y.State Elec. & Gas - Mar. 189.23 Frank W. Haskins 16.00 3• The following additional bills were approved for payment: GENERAL Telephone Answering Service 14.75 SANITATION W.-D. Lyme 17.78 HIGHWAYS W. D. Lyme 17.78 Hull Heating & Plumbing Co. 7.53 Cornell University 9.40 176 4. Treasurer Guise reported a cash balance on March 31st of 09,215.71 and reported that the audit as made by Paul Brqdford had been received and everything found in order. Two copies of the audit were passed around for inspection by the Trustees and then ordered filed with the Clerk. 5. The Mayor introduced Prof. Howe and invited him to take the *floor. Prof. Howe explained in some detail the difficulties he has encountered on Grievance Day in listening to taxpayers in the town of Ithaca, who grieve because their assessments for State, County and School tax purposes do not agree with their assessments as determined by the Village Board. He made a strong argument for the advantages for the Town Board of Assessors getting together with the.Village Board of Assessors and trying to get into.agreement on the assessment on each property in the Village. Engineer Crandall suggested that he saw no reason why this could -not be done, and he thought a meeting in June would' be advisable so that agreement could be reached before the Town made up its assessment roll. The Trustees adjourned at 7:59 in order to attend the Public Hearing on -the budget, and re- assembled at 9:05. 6. The Clerk reported that he had sent out 17 letters to property owners who had filed Veterans pension exempt bertificates with the Town Clerk, inviting them to file certificates with the Village, and that to date three applications had been received. The Clerk reported that the field.booke.for the annexed areaC, had been completed insofar as information was available. This included getting all possible information from the town Assessors' field books; from Town Supervisor Harry.Gordon, and Town'Clerk Rachel Hanshaw, and he stated that the information still to be 1 fl 1:711 obtained involved assessments on the public utility property, the properties partially constructed July 1, 1952, and properties on which houses had been started since July 1, 1952, and on properties on the east and west which are partially in the Village and partially in the Town of Ithaca. The Clerk reported that he had ordered new assessment rolls and that they had been received, but could not be completed until information was available as to boundary lines.and certain assessments, as mentioned above. .The Clerk reported that Proctor Lowell George had received a clearance from President Malott for the fob of Police Commissioner in the Village, in case such a position were offered to him. The Clerk said that he was in touch with officials of.the Electric & Gas Corp. and the New York Telephone Co. with regard to assessments on the public utilities, and had been assured that figures be ten would available within a week or days. The Clerk reported that he had contacted the Electric & Gas Corp. regarding street lighting in the annexed area and had been assured that their proposal would be presented shortly for the consideration of the Trustees. 7. The Clerk reported the receipt from the Secretary of State of a statement certifying that the annexation of the Cayuga Heights Water District was effective April 1, 1953 The Clerk stated that he had written to the State Comptroller requesting per capita assistance on the 984 new residents and had filed with him a copy of the petition presented by the committee s3eking annexation. ' The Clerk reported that the fire service anntract in the amount.of $3,605.59 had been signed by the City officials and returned. 172 The Clerk reported.that the 1950 census indicated a total of 1;190 persons living in the Village, and since annexation the total has reached 2,174. He reported that there are approxi- mately 236 houses in the old Village and 245 in'the new area, making a total of 481. •8. The Mayor.presented a letter received from Charles H. Newman to which was attached a resolution of the Town Board of Ithaca, which indicated that the Town Board had agreed to the maintenance of town highways in the annexed territory in'1953 and that the town would fulfill its contract with the City for fire protection and in all other respects the town would fulfill its agreement with the City of Ithaca made.for and on'behalf of the Cayuga Heights•Water District for the year_1953 with no reimburse- ment from the Village of Cayuga Heights on account of the services performed pursuant to such agreement. This resolution was-ordered filed with the Clerk. The Mayor reported that one meeting had already been held by the newly appointed committee to revise the zoning ordinance, at which meeting Prof. T. W. Mackesey was elected. Chairman and C. E. Treman Secretary, and he reported that another meeting was scheduled for April 9th. 9. IT WAS VOTED to pay Ruth Trousdale a stipend of $150 for extra services rendered to date, partly in reference to.compiling the field books for the annexed area and partly for preparing the material to go.to Albany in order to obtain per capita aesiktance. 10. The Engineer reported that the owners of houses now under construction;in .the.annexed area will need building permits' for their own proteotion and to give the Village proper records, and that he was in the process of contacting these owners with a view to issuing such permits. i t 1 1 173 The Engineer reported that he had hired John M. Maloney as ' Road Maintainer as of April lot at a monthly rate of $259.32• The Engineer reported that the sewer charges assessed against property owners who lived outside of the former Village had been figured for the calendar year Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1953 and that these persons were now all within the expanded village and therefore they should not be charged for the months Prom April 1 to Dec. 31 but only for the first three months of 1953. The charge against each person involved would therefore be i/4 of the charge originally assessed for the year 1953• 11. The Mayor requested the Clerk to read the time schedule to take the necessary legal steps to make possible the levying of taxes on the annexed area by May 15, 1953• As this schedule ' indicated it would be necessary to .complete the assessment roll by April 18th it was decided that the Trustees should meet on April 16th to complete the assessment roll for the annexed area, and upon invitation of Treasurer Guise it will be held at his home on 207 Iroquois Road. 12. The Mayor appointed Trustee Whiting as Acting Mayor for the year 1953 -54• 13. The following appointments were made by the Trustees for the year 1953 -54: a) Carl Crandall as Village Engineer at a salary of $2,100. b) Carl Crandall as Zoning Officer. c) As Police Commissioner Crandall stated that he would prefer not to be re- appointed Commissioner.because of increased ' engineering work in connection with the expanded village, IT WAS VOTED that Lowell T. George be appointed Police Commissioner for the year 1953 -54 with car expense allowance of 174 0 0150- The Trustees stated that Police Commissioner George would be welcome at all meetings of the Board but would not be required ' to attend, and they thought a monthly report from the Commissioner would be desirable. 14. IT WAS VOTED RESOLVED: That the First National Bank of Ithaca, N. Y. be designated as the official depository of Village funds until June 1, 1953 and that the Tompkins County Trust Co. of Ithaca, N. Y. be designated as the official depository of and that Mayor Shirey be designated as .President Village funds from June 1st through the remainder of the fiscal Trousdale year 1953 -54; Trustee Chamberlain not voting. 15. The Clerk was authorized to notify the official banks requested the Clerk to make of the following names to be honored on checks for the year 1953 -54: Budget Hearing H. J. Shirey, Mayor or E. A. Whiting, Acting Mayor, and J.,B. ' Trousdale, Clerk and C. H. Guise, Treasurer. ' 16. IT WAS VOTED RESOLVED that the Treasurer be bonded in 15 persons the amount of 040,000 for the period from March 31, 1953 to March and officers of the 31, 1954• 17. IT WAS VOTED that the Ithaca Journal be designated as the official newspaper for the year 1953 -54• 18. IT WAS VOTED that the Trustees act as a Board of assessors for the year 1953 -54• 19. IT WAS VOTED that the Boar& of Trustees constitute itself a Board of Health, and that Mayor Shirey be designated as .President and Clerk Trousdale as Secretary. 20. The Mayor requested the Clerk to make a report on the Budget Hearing on the budget which was held at 8 o'clock.and ' adjourned at 8:56. He reported that there were approximately 15 persons present in addition to the Trustees and officers of the 17 5+ Board, that the Mayor welcomed the residents and called upon Treasurer Guise to present the budget. Treasurer Guise went over each item in the budget, explaining many changes from the previous budget which were caused by the Village expansion. There were questions raised about how the officers' salaries were determined. Mr. Fogg suggested the advisability of building up reserve funds to take care of special extra expenses that were sure to be encountered In the future. Questions were raised as to how the difference in tax rates was determined, which was explained by the Mayor. There were questions regarding the garbage collection schedule and the Engineer explained that he thought a definite schedule could be worked out within a week's time and the people notified. The question was raised as to when sewers might be expected in the ' annexed area, and the Engineer stated that he thought it would take at least three years before this problem could be solved. There appeared to be no objection to the proposed budget and questions raised seemed to be from the standpoint of asking for information. 21. IT WAS VOTED RESOLVED: That the budget as incorporated in the minutes of this meeting be adopted. 22. IT WAS VOTED that the regular meetings of the Village Board for 1953 -54 would be held in the evening of the first Tuesday of the month. 23.. IT WAS VOTED that the salary and car allowance of Police Ufflcer Van Zile as established in the minutes of the March 20th meeting be retroactive to March lat. IT'WAS VOTED that the Salary of Engineer Crandall of x$2,100 per year, the salary of Treasurer Guise of $1,500 per year, and the salary of Clerk Trousdale of 01-,500 per year be retroactive to March lat in accordance with the budget. 176. 24. Trustee Chamberlain stated that he thought the police protection in the Village could be greatly improved if the police officer had a radio telephone in his car, thus making it easier for contact to be made with him in case of necessity, and suggested that it might be possible to use the Cornell transmitter in this connection. It was agreed that this matter should be investigated. 25. Adjourned at 10:30 P.M. �. �IC�inas Clerk. r