HomeMy WebLinkAbout2.21.2024 Minutes1
VILLAGE OF CAYUGA HEIGHT February 21, 2024
Zoom ID # 4118425407 BOARD OF TRUSTEES 7:00 p.m.
MONTHLY MEETING
Present: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Hubbell, Marshall, Rennekamp, Robinson, and Salton; Police Sergeant
Manning; Treasurer Dolch; Attorney Marcus; Clerk Walker.
Absent: Trustee Biloski; Police Chief Wright; Superintendent of Public Works B. Cross; Director of Public Works
M. Wiese
1. Call to Order: Mayor Woodard calls the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m.
2. Approval of the January 17, 2024 Meeting Minutes (Exhibit 2024-133)
Resolution: 9540
BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves the January 17, 2024,
Board Meeting Minutes as presented.
Motion: Trustee Hubbell
Second: Trustee Marshall
Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Hubbell, Marshall, and Salton
Nays: none
Abstentions: Rennekamp
Motion Carried
3. Report of Fire Superintendent Tamborelle: Submitted Report (Exhibit 2024-134)
•Fire Superintendent Tamborelle was absent from tonight's meeting.
•The Village Board of Trustees accepts Fire Superintendent Tamborelle’s submitted report.
4. Privilege of the Floor: No members of the public wished to speak
5. Report of Treasurer Dolch: Submitted Report (Exhibit 2024-135)
•Treasurer Dolch states that the January 2024 month-end bank-to-book reconciliation is complete and has been
signed off by Deputy Treasurer Rennekamp.
•Treasurer Dolch states that The budget workshop will be on Saturday, March 16th at 9:00 a.m. at Marcham Hall.
•Treasurer Dolch states that the only thing remaining on her report is the approval of the Abstract.
Approval of Abstract 9:
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Resolution: 9541
BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees authorizes and approves Abstract
#9 for FYE2024 consisting of TA vouchers #62-69 in the amount of $15,041.03 and Consolidated Fund vouchers
#607-690 in the amount of $425,007.61 and the Treasurer is instructed to make payments thereon.
Motion: Trustee Rennekamp
Second: Trustee Marshall
Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Hubbell, Marshall, Rennekamp, and Salton
Nays: none
Abstentions: none
Motion Carried
•Treasurer Dolch states that the second to last Ban payment was paid on Tuesday and we will only have $100,000
left on the CHFD fire truck.
6. Report of Mayor Woodard
a.VCH Annual Court Report By Justice Galbreath:
•Justice Galbreath states that the 2023 year was unremarkable year except the number of cases seems to have gone
up towards the level traditionally we have seen in the past. In the 33 years he has been doing these cases averaged
to be around 1100-1200.
•Sergeant Mannings states that caseloads might be down due to the pandemic as well as an increase in Uber and
rideshare methods for those individuals who might be driving with their ability is impaired.
•Sergeant Mannings states that the calls for service in our department have seen a dramatic increase if not doubled over the
last few years.
•Mayor Woodard asks what is a call for service.
•Sergeant Mannings states that calls for service represent any call or complaints outside of the Motor Vehicle and Traffic
Laws.
•Mayor Woodard states that this will be the last time Justice Galbreath will be presenting to the Board of Trustees since
he is retiring at the end of March.
•Sergeant Mannings states that for him personally it has been an absolute honor working with Justice Galbreath and he
has definitely made me a better police officer and a better person overall. Justice Galbreath will be sorely missed.
•Seargent Manning thanked Justice Galbreath for all he had done for the Village and his department.
•Justice Galbreath states that he feels the same way towards the Village of Cayuga Heights Police Department, The
Village Board of Trustees, and Village Staff including the Fire Department, and Village Department of Public Works.
It has been an honor and absolute pleasure to work for the Village and it is something he is going to miss.
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b. Property Maintenance Taskforce Update:
•Mayor Woodard states that the group is hoping to have a final draft of the changes available to the Board at
the February meeting and then schedule the Public Hearing for March 20th, 2024.
•Mayor Woodard states that as a reminder this new local law will be extracted from the Village Zoning law
and will become a standalone local law.
•Mayor Woodard states that the task force has been concentrating on areas of this proposed local law like; no
mow May, meadows, pollinator gardens, and water gardens.
•Mayor Woodard states that the next concerns the task force addressed have to do with allowable uses of
front yards, side yards, and back yards.
•Trustee Salton states that we are a few months away from finalizing this proposed local law.
•Mayor Woodard states that the task force has been utilizing definitions from the National Wildlife
Federation Guide to Passing Wildlife-Friendly Property Maintenance Ordinances.
•Mayor Woodard states that the group is now looking into developing a list of allowable and not allowable
items to be in the front yard.
•Trustee Salton would like to see boats and campers removed from the not-allowed list of items in the front
yard.
•Trustee Hubbell states that there are so many opinions about what is appropriate for a front yard or side yard
that hopefully we do not need B. Cross to drive around the Village spot checking resident’s property all the
time.
•Trustee Salton agrees.
•Trustee Rennekamp states that she hopes the task force will look at other municipalities that have enacted
similar laws.
•Clerk Walker states that he believes that public outreach needs to happen. We might want to consider
several Public Hearings to make sure we can include all those interested.
7. Report of the Trustees: No reports at this time.
8. Report of Superintendent of Public Works Cross:
a. Walking Safe Cayuga Heights Update:
•B. Cross states that the VCH Public Works Committee has discussed contract alternatives with the General
Contractor Bothar to get the sidewalk project down to Cayuga Heights Road.
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•B. Cross states that Bothar has been able to produce cost savings in the amount of $49,000.00 plus a contingency
fund of $21,230.00 if we modify the scope of work a bit and shed some of the smaller tasks onto the Village DPW.
•B. Cross states that this also results in a reduction of the scope of services that Fisher & Associates would have
provided and thus another cost savings of $20,000. All totaling up as presented in Exhibit 2027-137 a shortfall of
$238,420.00. This will be added to the original contracted amount of $489,130.00.
•Mayor Woodard states that this is the amount of money the Village would have to produce in addition to what we
have spent already if we want to complete the entire project.
•Trustee Salton states that the figures in the exhibit get us to Cayuga Heights Rd.
•B. Cross states that is correct and he will need a resolution for the Bothar Contract Change order and a resolution to
accept the Fisher & Associates proposal for the construction administration and inspection services.
Resolution: 9542
BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves and authorizes Mayor
Woodard to sign the Bothar Change order for the Walking Safe Cayuga Heights Sidewalk Project to reflect the new
total cost of $727,550.00.
Motion: Trustee Marshall
Second: Trustee Rennekamp
Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Hubbell, Marshall, Rennekamp, and Salton
Nays: none
Abstentions: none
•Trustee Marshall states that it is fair to state that the increased cost for this project could be attributed to five years
of inflation.
•The Village Board of Trustees agreed.
•B. Cross states that this project should only take about eight weeks to complete.
Motion Carried
Resolution: 9543
BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves and authorizes Mayor
Woodard to sign the Fisher & Associates proposal for the Walking Safe Cayuga Heights Sidewalk Project
construction administration and inspection service in the amount of $96,000.00.
Motion: Trustee Rennekamp
Second: Trustee Marshall
Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Hubbell, Marshall, Rennekamp, and Salton
Nays: none
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Abstentions: none
Motion Carrie.
9. Report of Police Chief Wright: Submitted Report (Exhibit 2024-139)
•Chief Wright was absent for tonight’s meeting
•Sergeant Manning states he is able to speak to anything on Chief Wright's Report.
•Trustee Salton inquiries about a car fire on Rt. 13 from last week.
•Sergeant Manning states that Officer Manheim and Miller were on the scene for that call. No one was hurt but
the vehicle was a total loss.
•Trustee Marshall asks where the traffic was diverted during this emergency.
•Sergeant Manning states that this car fire was actually outside the Village, so our department was only there to
assist. In general, we would route traffic up East Shore Drive.
•Clerk Walker states that Sergeant Manning has produced a slide show of the police department’s office and floor
remodeling.
• Sergeant Manning states that he and the department are very excited about modernizing the officers and giving
the whole department a new sense of pride that represents their views and professionalism.
10. Report of Director of Public Works Wiese: Submitted Report (Exhibit 2024-140)
•Director of Public Works M. Wiese was absent from tonight’s meeting.
•Mayor Woodard states that the DPW has found some significant I & I issues off-road. The crew was able to
rebuild 500ft of that sewer line and have it sleeved.
•The Village Board of Trustees accepts the Director of Public Works Wiese's submitted report.
11. Report of Clerk Walker: Submitted Report (Exhibit 2024-141)
•Clerk Walker states that the residency waiver for the Elected Village Justice position was signed by Governor
Hochul.
•Clerk Walker states that we are participating in the National Nutrition Month (March) where we will have a food
drive and collect donations here at Marcham Hall. This is in conjunction with the Greater Tompkins County
Municipal Health Insurance Consortium.
•Clerk Walker states that the only action item on his report tonight is a resolution supporting the request from the owners of
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509 Wyckoff Rd. for an address designation of all the apartments.
Resolution: 9544
WHEREAS the Tompkins County Department of Emergency Response (DoER) oversees emergency dispatch and
communications systems that allow residents to dial 911, and.
WHEREAS, 911 is the number to report a police, fire, or medical emergency that requires the immediate presence of
police officers, firefighters, or emergency medical personnel, and;
WHEREAS, new address designations are approved by a municipality’s governing body.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves 509
Wyckoff Road apartment numbers 1-14 as the new designated address in the Village of Cayuga Heights.
Motion: Trustee Hubbell
Second: Trustee Salton
Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Hubbell, Marshall, Rennekamp and Salton
Nays: none
Abstentions: none
Motion Carried
12. Report of Attorney R. Marcus: No report at this time.
13. Adjournment: Mayor Woodard adjourns the meeting at 8:10 p.m.