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HomeMy WebLinkAbout9.18.2024 Minutes1 VILLAGE OF CAYUGA HEIGHT September 18, 2024 Zoom ID # 4118425407 BOARD OF TRUSTEES 7:00 p.m. MONTHLY MEETING Present: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Conway, Hubbell, Rennekamp, Robinson, and Salton; Fire Superintendent Tamborelle, Treasurer Dolch, Police Chief Wright, Superintendent of Public Works Cross; Village Clerk Walker; Attorney R. Kawecki of Bousquet Holstein PLLC Absent: Village Attorney R. Marcus 1. Call to Order: Mayor Woodard calls the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. 2a. Approval of the August 21, 2024 Meeting Minutes (Exhibit 2025-052) Resolution: 9687 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves the August 21, 2024 Board Meeting Minutes as amended. Motion: Trustee Salton Second: Trustee Biloski Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Conway, Hubbell, Rennekamp, and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: Robinson Motion Carried 2b. Approval of the September 11, 2024 Special Meeting Minutes (Exhibit 2025-053) Resolution: 9688 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves the September 11, 2024, Special Board Meeting Minutes as presented Motion: Trustee Salton Second: Trustee Hubbell Ayes: Trustees: Biloski, Conway, Hubbell, and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: Mayor Woodard, Trustee Rennekamp Motion Carried 3. Report of Fire Superintendent Tamborelle: Submitted Report (Exhibit 2025-054) •Fire Superintendent Tamborelle states that he was late to the meeting because of a chemical smell call down on 2 Highland Rd. It was discovered that someone just had a driveway paved and the asphalt was the cause. •Fire Superintendent Tamborelle states they have 50-60 people coming to the recruitment dinner. The goal will be to bring on 10-12 for training. *Trustee Robinson arrives at 7:21 p.m. •Fire Superintendent Tamborelle states that he knows the Cayuga Heights Fire Company (CHFC) letter of support will be discussed under the Report of the Mayor. •Fire Superintendent Tamborelle states that the CHFC does a lot with training meals and support services and even the Annual Banquet. 4. Privilege of the Floor: Lisa Nickerson who works at 903 Hanshaw Rd. wished to speak. •Lisa states that she is very concerned about the intersection connecting Pleasant Grove Road and Hanshaw Road. •Lisa states that it seems that people coming off Pleasant Grove Road fail to yield or stop at the stop sign. There have been many times that she has almost had an accident. •Lisa states that she would like the Village to see if there is anything else the police department can do to enforce the stop signs and suggests maybe a flashing stop sign or flashing lights. •Mayor Woodard states that she appreciates Lisa coming in and addressing the Board. There will be more discussions at the next Village Public Works Committee meeting. •Mayor Woodard states that she and the rest of the Board agree that this intersection has become more congested. 5. Report of Treasurer Dolch: Submitted Report (Exhibit 2025-055) •Treasurer Dolch states that the August bank-to-book reconciliations are complete. •Treasurer Dolch states that at this morning's Village Finance Committee meeting, and discussed the remaining ARPA funds projects allocated for those funds. •Treasurer Dolch states that Before Mike left, he had asked for (and the BOT had agreed) to allocate money for sewer lining. There is $35,086.53 left for this project. The Marcham Chimney project ($17,000 budgeted) will also not happen due to the contractor not being available to do the work. This money will also be reallocated to the Kline Road sidewalks. Resolution: 9689 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees authorizes and approves the remaining ARPA funds in the amount of $52,086.54 for Kline Rd. Sidewalks and $9,050 to finish the Rt 13 Sewer Line Study. 3 Motion: Trustee Rennekamp Second: Trustee Biloski Ayes: Trustees: Biloski, Conway, Hubbell, Rennekamp, and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion Carried •Treasurer Dolch states that we received several invoices from Hydro-X from May to August for lead water testing/excavation. We did not budget for this in this fiscal year thinking the HydroX work was done. The total for this work in the current fiscal year is $31,150. •Treasurer Dolch states that there is $21,326 in the Water Contingency Fund and we will have to take $9,824 from the fund balance to cover the rest. •Mayor Woodard states that she finds it hard to believe that we did not budget for this. Trustee Salton agrees. •Treasurer Dolch states that the department that oversees this budget noted that there was no need for funds this coming fiscal year. •Mayor Woodard states that this is an unfortunate oversight. Resolution: 9690 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees authorizes and approves moving $21,326 from Contingency (F1990.400) to Water System Contractual Lead Testing (F8350.415) and $9,824 from Fund Balance in the F Fund. Motion: Trustee Biloski Second: Trustee Rennekamp Ayes: Trustees: Biloski, Conway, Hubbell, Rennekamp, and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion Carried Approval of Abstract 4: Resolution: 9691 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees authorizes and approves Abstract #4 for FYE2025 consisting of TA vouchers 22-29 in the amount of $15,597.04 and Consolidated Fund vouchers 214-290 in the amount of $686,572.93 and the Treasurer is instructed to make payments thereon. Motion: Trustee Biloski Second: Trustee Rennekamp 4 Ayes: Trustees: Biloski, Conway, Hubbell, Rennekamp, and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion Carried •Trustee Conway states that he would like some context on the negative numbers that show on the monthly summary report. •Treasurer Dolch states that the negative number is the F, H funds because that money was moved into NYCLASS. •Trustee Salton states that you cannot have a negative number, what if we were to get audited? •Treasurer Dolch states that the trail of money is there, it’s just in NYCLASS versus the regular checking accounts. •Trustee Rennekamp states that the summary sheet is hard to tie together all the other statements. If trustees are interested, they should make an appointment with Treasurer Dolch to review all the monthly reports. 6. Report of Mayor Woodard a. Public Hearing on Proposed Local Law D of the year 2025- Sewer Rate •Mayor Woodard opens the Public Hearing at 7:30 p.m. •Mayor Woodard states that seeing no members of the public present to speak she would like to close the Public Hearing at 7:31 p.m. •Mayor Woodard states that the Village Finance Committee met this morning and discussed the debt on the WWTP Phases 1, 2, and 2.1. •Mayor Woodard states that this particular law will raise the sewer rates by 9% starting in January 2025. This would cover the debt service on Phase 2.1 but not the long-term debt for Phase 1 and 2. It was suggested that instead of raising the rate again another 21% we charge the outside users of the plant 2 times the internal rate which currently is 1.5 times that rate. •Mayor Woodard states that it turns out that the Village has a contract with each municipality that uses the plant and therefore we cannot just change the percentage rate for them. •Trustee Salton states that he is opposed to this idea and feels that there are a lot of issues we need to look at. •Mayor Woodard states that the bottom line is that to service the debt we will need to increase the sewer rate by 30%. •Trustee Salton states that he wants to see real numbers on a spreadsheet. •Trustee Rennekamp states that there is a meeting with EFC to finalize the debt service for Phase 1 and 2 on 5 October 1st. Once we have that information then we can put together a spreadsheet with the final numbers. •Trustee Conway states that he looks at the actual increase in dollars and not the percentage to get a better perspective of the overall cost to an account. •Trustee Hubbell asks if we can amortize the loan for more than 30 years. •Trustee Rennekamp states that in the next five years our debt service is the largest. After that the payments drop a bit. We also talked about extending the terms of the $1,000,000 WWTP Rail System from a 5 to a 10-year loan. •Mayor Woodard states that the 30-year phosphorus filter loan will mature in the next few years. •Trustee Conway states that if the Village refinanced the phosphorus filters loan ($295,000 balance) and rail system loan ($1,000,000) that would reduce the yearly payments by $133,000 at current rates. •Trustee Robinson states that we should keep in mind there will be more debt service for maintenance over the next several years. •Village Engineer B. Cross states that the long-term debt service on the WWTP is currently being paid through the NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation revolving fund at a subsides rate of 50%. This means that they (EFC) are covering 50% of the debt so refinancing it another way would not be feasible. Resolution: 9692 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees adopts Proposed Local Law D of the year 2024 as Local Law 4 of the year 2024. A LOCAL LAW TO AMEND THE ANNUAL SEWER RATES, AS DEFINED IN ARTICLE XII, SEWER RENTS, OF THE VILLAGE OF CAYUGA HEIGHTS ARTICLES Be it enacted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Cayuga Heights as follows: Section I. PURPOSE The purpose of this Local Law is to establish annual sewer rates of $5.06/1000 gallons consumed for inside users and a rate of $7.59/1000 gallons used for outside users, as defined in articles XII, Sewer Rents, of the Village of Cayuga Heights Articles. Section II. AUTHORITY This Local Law is enacted pursuant to the grant of powers of local governments provided for in (i) Section 10 of the Municipal Home Rule Law to adopt and amend local laws not inconsistent with the provisions of the New York State Constitution or not inconsistent with any general law relating to its property, affairs, government or other subjects provided for in said Section 10 of the Municipal Home Rule Law, (ii) General Municipal Law Article 14-F, (iii) General Municipal Law Sections 451 and 452, and (iv) Village Law Article 14. Section III. ESTABLISHMENT OF SEWER RATES 6 As of January 1, 2025, annual sewer rates shall be established at a rate of $5.06/1000 gallons used for treatment of wastewater originating from properties located within the Village and a rate of $7.59/1000 gallons used for treatment of wastewater originating from properties located outside of the Village. Section IV. SUPERSEDING EFFECT All Local Laws, resolutions, rules, regulations, and other enactments of the Village of Cayuga Heights in conflict with the provisions of this Local Law are hereby superseded to the extent necessary to give this Local Law full force and effect. Section V. VALIDITY The invalidity of any provision of this Local Law shall not affect the validity of any other provision of this Local Law that can be given effect without such invalid provision. Section VI. EFFECTIVE DATE This Local Law shall be effective immediately upon filing in the office of the New York State Secretary of State, except that it shall be effective from the date of its service as against a person served with a copy thereof, certified by the Village Clerk, and showing the date of its passage and entry in the Minutes of the Village Board of Trustees. Motion: Trustee Biloski Second: Trustee Robinson Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Conway, Hubbell, Rennekamp, Robinson, and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion Carried b. Cayuga Heights Fire Company Letter of Support: •Mayor Woodard states that each year the Cayuga Heights Fire Company asks for Board permission to send a donation letter to all Village residents. •Trustee Hubbell states that the first several sentences are hard to follow and don’t help with the intent of the letter. •Trustee Salton states that when he supports the fire company, he does not think of the health concerns. •Trustee Robinson suggests that we recommend they change the first several sentences or eliminate them. Resolution: 9693 7 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves and authorizes the Cayuga Heights Fire Company to send a donation letter to all Village residents once the letter in Exhibit 2025-057 is edited. Motion: Trustee Robinson Second: Trustee Biloski Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Conway, Hubbell, Rennekamp, Robinson, and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion Carried 6. Report of the Trustees: a. Village Administrative Committee Update: •Trustee Biloski states that we had a Village Administrative Committee Meeting and discussed the Annual Newsletter deadline would be mid-October. It looks like the principal of the Cayuga Heights Elementary School will be submitting an article. •Trustee Biloski states that the committee was updated on the utility audit, and it looks like a variable rate might save the Village some money. •Clerk Walker states that we use NYSEG as the delivery and Constellation as the supply side of our electricity. We are shopping for the supplier side. •Trustee Salton states that he is skeptical about the whole thing. He would like to see more data before talking about a variable rate rather than a fixed rate. •Clerk Walker states that when the audit is completed, we will present the findings to the Village Finance Committee and then to the Board. b. Village Human Resources Committee Update: •Trustee Biloski states that the Village HR Committee met, and we will be sending out annual review forms for the NBU staff. •Trustee Biloski states that we are using a free trial of INDEED and have received several applications for the Assistant. Superintendent of Public Works and Village Fire Inspector vacancy. •Trustee Salton states that the Greater Tompkins County Municipal Health Consortium Board of Directors will be meeting on September 26, 2024, and as expected will be voting on a 14% premium increase for 2025. •Trustee Salton states that one of the things that concerns him is the growth model the Consortium is using to 8 create budgets. The medical demand from the pandemic and supply costs have caused the consortium to be in the red for claims already this year. •Mayor Woodard asks what the percentage of growth is year after year. •Trustee Salton states that it could be 15%-20% •Trustee Robinson states that maybe the Consortium has reached a level where growth is not a factor. •Trustee Salton states that maybe someone else might want to get on the Board at the Consortium to have a better understanding of how this works. c. Village Public Safety Committee Update: •Trustee Salton states that on the Village Public Safety Committee side, he feels that the reimagining public safety is going to be dead in the water soon. Right now, they are cutting the justice center, and the county has only one mental health employee on the job. •Trustee Robinson states that all the signage from the Walking Safe Cayuga Heights Sidewalk Project is up and the road stripping for crosswalks is complete. d. Village Public Works Committee Update: •Trustee Robinson states that on the subject of the Cayuga Heights Road Sidewalk Project, there will be some manholes moved that would have interfered with the future sidewalk. •Trustee Robinson states that paving Spruce Lane, Comstock, W Remington is complete except for the WWTP resurfacing. e. Village Wastewater Treatment Plant Committee Update: •Trustee Robinson states that the WWTP open house will happen sometime in October. •Trustee Robinson states that Mike Albro reported to the Village that one of the rails scheduled for replacement broke in several places. He was able to get it repaired but all the more reason we need to get that project moving forward. •Trustee Robinson states that the meeting with the other municipalities on the plant's future expansions has not taken place. 8. Report of Superintendent of Public Works Cross: •Village Engineer B. Cross states that we put out a public notice for bids for the WWTP sludge collection system clarifiers. As feared, we had a major breakdown and that took a while to repair. •B. Cross states that we received one bid for this project from Blue Heron Construction. This is a maintenance type of project with a budget of $1,250,000. The bid came in below the budget with $1,225,611. 9 •B. Cross states that for tonight he will need two resolutions, one for accepting the bid and the other for awarding the contract. Resolution: 9694 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees authorizes and approves accepting the bid from Blue Heron Construction for the replacement of sludge collection drive equipment and support structure as presented in Exhibit 2025-058. Motion: Trustee Robinson Second: Trustee Hubbell Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Conway, Hubbell, Rennekamp, Robinson, and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Resolution: 9695 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees authorizes and approves Mayor Woodard to sign the Blue Heron Construction contract for the replacement of sludge collection drive equipment and support structure in the amount of $1,225,611. Motion: Trustee Biloski Second: Trustee Robinson Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Conway, Hubbell, Rennekamp, Robinson, and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion Carried •Trustee Robinson asks Village Engineer B. Cross how the WWTP Trickling Filter Arm project is going. •B. Cross states that the parts are at the plant, and they are waiting on a crane to move forward. 9. Report of Police Chief Wright: Submitted Report (Exhibit 2025-059) •Mayor Woodard asks if there is anything the department can do about Lisa's comments at the privilege of the floor. •Chief Wright states that the department is aware of this problem at that intersection. We can monitor that area more which will act as a deterrent. •Chief Wright states that he will add this topic to the next Village Public Safety Committee. 10 •Chief Wright states that August was a busy month. He pointed out that the department (Officer Miller) participated in the TST BOCES for their Annual Community Day as well as the Cayuga Heights Elementary School Public Safety Day •Chief Wright states that one of the two new part-time officers has completed the field training and is on the regular schedule, the other will be done next week. •Chief Wright states that the new patrol vehicles are here and will be outfitted by Bush Electronics. •Chief Wright states that they will be purchasing all new portable radios with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services Grant money. He will also use some of the remaining money for a new radar. •Mayor Woodard asks about the deer accident. •Chief Wright states that the accident was at the bottom of Rt. 13. And there were no injuries. 11. Report of Clerk Walker: Submitted Report (Exhibit 2025-060) •Clerk Walker states that the only action items he has for the Board tonight are declaring surplus three DPW vehicles and one leaf vacuum. Resolution: 9696 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees authorizes and approves the sale of two 2018 Dodge Ram Pickup Trucks Vin# 3C7WRLAJ5JG320763, Vin# 3C7WRLAJ3JG320762 and declares them surplus. Motion: Trustee Biloski Second: Trustee Robinson Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Conway, Hubbell, Rennekamp, Robinson, and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion Carried Resolution: 9697 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees authorizes and approves the sale of one Billy Goat Leaf Vacuum and declares it surplus. Motion: Trustee Robinson Second: Trustee Salton Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Conway, Hubbell, Rennekamp, Robinson, and Salton Nays: none 11 Abstentions: none Motion Carried Resolution: 9698 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees authorizes and approves the sale of one 1972 GMC Brush Truck Vin #1GDP7H1J9NJ525054 and declares it surplus. Motion: Trustee Hubbell Second: Trustee Salton Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Conway, Hubbell, Rennekamp, Robinson, and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion Carried •Clerk Walker states that the last item on his report is the property tax balance sheet. We have 10 properties outstanding and at the end of next month, any remaining up-paid properties will be relevy to the county. •Mayor Woodard states that she wanted to quickly mention that the property maintenance law has been going well and the few violations that B. Cross has cited have been corrected. •Trustee Robinson states that he forgot to mention that the DPW was working on the last 3 outstanding water lines exploration and didn’t have an update. •Mayor Woodard states that they have been delayed because of a Bolton Point water main leak on North Triphammer Rd. 12. Report of Attorney R. Marcus: No report at this time. 13. Executive Session: Resolution: 9699 WHEREAS: The NYS Open Meeting Law §105 prescribes matters for which a public body may conduct an executive session; and, WHEREAS: Upon a majority vote of its total membership, taken in an open meeting under a motion identifying the general area or areas of the subject or subjects to be considered; and, WHEREAS: The conduct an executive session for these enumerated purposes only, provided, however, that no action by formal vote shall be taken to appropriate public money: THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT An Executive Session of the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of 12 Trustees is conducted for subsection and (F) the medical, financial, credit, or employment history of a particular person or corporation, or matters leading to the appointment, employment, prometon, demotion, disciple, suspension, dismissal or removal of a particular person or corporation. Motion: Trustee Salton Second: Trustee Rennekamp Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Conway, Hubbell, Rennekamp, Robinson and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion Carried Resolution: 9670 BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Village Board of Trustees Exit An Executive Session and return to a public meeting at 8:31 p.m. Motion: Trustee Salton Second: Trustee Rennekamp Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Conway, Hubbell, Rennekamp, Robinson and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion Carried 14. Adjournment: Mayor Woodard adjourns the meeting at 8:31 p.m.