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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-10-12 Town Board MinutesTown of Danby Town Board Regular Meeting via Zoom Video Conferencing 12 October 2020 Budget Workshop at 6:00 PM Regular Meeting at 7:00 PM Budget Workshop Attendees 1.Call to Order 1.1.Meeting called to order at 6:02 by Town Supervisor Joel Gagnon. 2.Budget Workshop 2.1. Bill Evans, Danby Community Council (DCC) Treasurer, presented the DCC proposed 2021 budget of $40k. 2.2.Presentation from Bruce Richards, Water District 2.2.1.Budget is currently carrying over a fairly substantial balance—around $328k—with more than adequate coverage in the reserves. The Water District is considering moving about $250k into CDs. Town Board Joel Gagnon, Supervisor Leslie Connors Jim Holahan Sarah Schnabel Matt Ulinski Recording Secretary Janice R. Adelman, Town Clerk Town Bookkeeper Laura Shawley Invited Speakers Bill Evans, Community Council Bruce Richards, Water District Members of the Public Anna Finley Katharine Hunter Margaret Kirchgesner Susan Franklin Ted Crane Town Board Meeting Town of Danby October 12, 2020 2.2.2.A question was asked regarding the metered water sales; Richards responded that those sales are at the same rate (basically $20/quarter, then by usage) as when the system was created in 1968. 2.3.Budget workshop closed at 6:59. Regular Town Board Meeting Attendees 1.Call to Order at 19:00 by Town Supervisor Joel Gagnon 2.Additions/Deletions 2.1. There was some confusion around the meeting’s agenda due to misunderstanding on the part of the new clerk. The Clerk and the Supervisor are working together to be in accordance with Town Board Rules of Procedure. 2.2. The previously planned Budget Hearing on the Local Law regarding the residency requirement for the Highway Superintendent is postponed Town Board Joel Gagnon, Supervisor Leslie Connors Jim Holahan Sarah Schnabel Matt Ulinski Recording Secretary Janice R. Adelman, Town Clerk Town Bookkeeper Laura Shawley Town Planner John Czamanske Town Justice Garry Huddle Theresa Klinger Legislator Dan Klein Invited Speakers Bill Evans, Community Council Bruce Richards, Water District Members of the Public Anna Finley Katharine Hunter Margaret Kirchgesner Ronda Roaring Susan Franklin Ted Crane Toby Dean Regular Meeting Proceedings of 2 15 Town Board Meeting Town of Danby October 12, 2020 2.3. Health Consortium Agreement tabled until the next meeting. 3.Privilege of the Floor 3.1.Ronda Roaring spoke about broadband from the student perspective. In Ithaca City School District [ICSD], all of the students are given computers when they get into middle school, and if they take care of them, they’re able to keep them throughout their whole high school years. Roaring discussed her experience with an eighth grade student with an older brother in high school; both brothers were from Caroline. The eighth grader told Roaring that he felt discriminated against because he did not have any internet access at home; as such, when the student received an assignment late in the day to be completed on the computer, the student couldn’t do it at home because there was no internet access there. Beyond not having access in that area, the student’s parents could not afford the money that it costs every month to provide internet access. Roaring pays roughly $55 per month, noting that for some parents this is expensive, particularly if they are charged by usage or something like that. Roaring concludes that it is not simply having access to broadband—it’s even more important that the families will be able to afford it. Thank you. 3.2.Sue Franklin noticed the new face on the zoom call and requested Janice [Adelman, new Town Clerk] be introduced. Supervisor Gagnon stated that the Board had a dynamic search and had someone nearby at White Hawk Ecovillage apply for the position; asked if she would introduce herself. Adelman then described her excitement to be in the role while feeling things out as both a new clerk and a new Danby resident. She and her family moved to White Hawk Ecovillage in March right before the pandemic hit; they are in the process of purchasing a lot and hoping to build there soon. She is anxious to get the town procedures down as soon as possible. 3.3.Ted Crane wanted to emphasize that the documents related to the budget discussions should be available to the public. Crane understands why they aren’t this time, and requested them from Laura Shawley, who was kind enough to send them. He is pleased to see the water district is working on shifting from a tax-based system to a usage-based system. Despite some describing the shift as a significant cut to the water district budget, Crane sees the most significant item by far is simply the elimination of an item that appeared to be $15k for assorted other stuff that has suddenly disappeared from the budget. Crane also commented that during all of the hours spent in budget discussions, the only serious questioning of items just happened in the budget workshop preceding this meeting; all the items in question are rather small sums and are from the Danby Community Council (DCC) budget—an organization that is already very careful with its budget and its expenses. Other larger costs are going Regular Meeting Proceedings of 3 15 Town Board Meeting Town of Danby October 12, 2020 unquestioned. Crane thinks the town should be looking at the big items, not the little ones. Thanks. 3.3.1. Bruce Richards responded that the total cuts to the water district are $26,600—only $15k of that is the item from the tax. The water district cut $11,600 from the budget itself by going line by line in an effort to make the budget as close to balanced and realistic as possible without cutting the water district short. 3.3.2.Ulinski noted that it probably came out that the TB was micro-criticizing the DCC. However, the intent was to try to figure out everything around the budget; the DCC is a big chunk of elective money that the Town spends. Ulinski feels it’s appropriate to ask such questions, particularly every five years. Ulinski is picking on everything in the budget—not just the DCC. 4.Correspondence 4.1. None. 5.Consent Agenda 5.1.Approval of Minutes 5.1.1.None 5.2.Due to the confusion with the agenda, the remaining business items will not be part of the consent agenda and will be reviewed one by one. 6.Resolution 120 of 2020: Reschedule Public Hearing on Pool of Applicants for Highway Superintendent to November 9, 2020 at 7pm. 6.1. Huddle asked why it is necessary to do this now if the incumbent is planning to run again. 6.1.1.Board members indicated that it would be prudent to have a plan in place for when the incumbent decides not to run, particularly since this process takes time. 6.1.2.Crane expanded on Huddle’s question: Why do you need to do this if you have multiple people within the town of Danby who are interested, and probably, well qualified to do the job? 6.1.2.1.Schnabel noted that the discussion was about rescheduling the public hearing and not about the topic of the public hearing. No further discussion; Vote recorded as follows: Moved By:Gagnon Seconded By:Schnabel Councilperson Aye No Abstain Connors X Holahan X Regular Meeting Proceedings of 4 15 Town Board Meeting Town of Danby October 12, 2020 Public Hearing is scheduled for 9 November 2020 at 7:00pm. 7.Warrants 7.1. Resolution 121 of 2020: General Fund Vouchers 329–344 for $21,722.93 7.1.1.Discussion: 7.1.1.1.Schnabel does not feel comfortable voting on these with such little time to dedicate to actually looking into them. 7.1.1.2.Shawley noted that pre-COVID, the warrants were left on the table prior to the meeting when people had time to go over them. Preparing and sending them out is a lot of work and it hasn’t happened but Shawley will try to get them scanned and sent out faster. 7.1.1.3.Connors noted feeling that there is more time to review the vouchers this way [i.e., emailed a few hours prior to the zoom meeting] than the previous method. 7.1.1.4.Gagnon shares Schnabel’s opinion and supports her request that vouchers are sent sooner than the day of the meeting. 7.1.1.5.Holahan agrees to needing more time to review. 7.1.1.6.Shawley: For Monday meetings, warrants will be out by close of business (COB) on Fridays; warrants for Wednesday meetings will be out by COB on Tuesdays. No further discussion; Vote recorded as follows: 7.2. Resolution 122 of 2020: Highway Fund Vouchers 182–192 for $34,439.35 Schnabel X Ulinski X Gagnon X Moved By:Connors Seconded By:Ulinski Councilperson Aye No Abstain Connors X Holahan X Schnabel X Ulinski X Gagnon X Moved By:Connors Seconded By:Ulinski Regular Meeting Proceedings of 5 15 Town Board Meeting Town of Danby October 12, 2020 No discussion; Vote recorded as follows: 7.3. Resolution 123 of 2020: Water District Fund Vouchers 31–34 for $639.92 No discussion; Vote recorded as follows: 8.Reports 8.1.Representative Dan Klein 8.1.1.Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT), bus service: TCAT is in the middle of a Transit Development Plan (TDP) that generally occurs every 10 years. It is a comprehensive assessment of the bus network with the ultimate goal of improving and growing service. TCAT will be having a virtual Open House on 14 October from 1pm–3pm and 5pm–7pm. The Virtual Open House is open to all—riders and non-riders alike. TCAT reps will answer questions, collect data, and take route recommendations. Go to the TCAT website for info on how to access the open house. 8.1.2.Financials: 8.1.2.1.Sales tax for January through October 2020: an 11% drop for sales tax revenue in Tompkins County. Average drop in NY State (NYS) was about 3%; at 11% TC represents the largest drop of any county in NY State, outside of NYC. The assumption is that, being a college town without college students since March, revenue drops. Councilperson Aye No Abstain Connors X Holahan X Schnabel X Ulinski X Gagnon X Moved By:Connors Seconded By:Holahan Councilperson Aye No Abstain Connors X Holahan X Schnabel X Ulinski X Gagnon X Regular Meeting Proceedings of 6 15 Town Board Meeting Town of Danby October 12, 2020 8.1.2.1.1. Currently projecting a 9% drop in sales tax revenue next year; the expectation is that it will recover slightly, but not far. 8.1.2.2. The County is currently in the budget process; vote on the tentative budget is 20 October. 8.1.2.2.1.The proposed tax levy increase is 5% representing an $83 increase for the average assessed home value in TC. This is still before anything has been added to the budget. Some things that might get added include: 8.1.2.2.1.1.A Climate Action Coordinator position: Related to the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, a three- year experimental endeavor for—among other things—keeping track of all regulations, opportunities, and grants that are coming from NYS, and potentially the Federal Government. 8.1.2.2.1.2.Participating in the Broadband Study: Klein is in his car at Town Hall because he doesn’t have adequate internet ability to zoom at home. The current estimated cost of the study is $80k, although this is not a final number. The Town of Caroline will likely pledge $5k (final vote will be on Wednesday 10/14); some other towns will also be asked to contribute. Knowing this is on tonight’s agenda, Klein looks forward to hearing the discussion. 8.1.2.2.2. There are no layoffs; however the workforce is being reduced by about 6% through voluntary retirements, early retirements, and other people who just left. 8.1.2.2.3.There is a very large fund balance of about $46 million; Klein is likely to propose using a big chunk of it to reduce the tax levy. At this moment, he is shooting for a 0% tax increase for TC. Still waiting on some numbers to come in, so this is not 100% certain. 8.1.2.2.4.Proposed tax increase on Airbnb in TC to be voted on in the legislature on 20 October. 8.1.2.3.Questions 8.1.2.3.1.Ulinski: We discussed earlier that money coming through the youth program may come from a different source of money but I’m wondering if there are services or places that are going to be impacted that we’re going to see at the town level that we should be concerned about? 8.1.2.3.1.1.Klein: Really good question; I haven’t asked that specific question yet of our budget officer so I’m not aware of major impacts in the towns and I will ask that specific question and get a response back to all of you. Regular Meeting Proceedings of 7 15 Town Board Meeting Town of Danby October 12, 2020 8.1.2.3.1.2.Ulinksi: Thanks, that would be great. 8.1.2.3.2.K Hunter: Can you also report that answer to Ulinksi’s question back to the Community Council as well? 8.1.2.3.2.1.Klein: Yes, absolutely. 8.1.2.3.2.2.Hunter: Thank you. 8.1.3.Thank yous from Town Board for Klein’s report. 8.2.Town Planner (Interim) John Czamanske — Exhibit 1 8.3.Code Enforcement Officer Steve Cortright — Exhibit 2 8.3.1. Gagnon noted that the year-to-date totals are running ahead of last year for building permits issued and associated fees. He also highlighted an issue that the board should discuss in the future around how to pursue enforcement actions and who is responsible for doing the enforcing actions. Neither Czamanske nor Cortright are comfortable with litigation aspects of a violation where attempted enforcement actions are ignored by the violator. 9.Old Business 9.1. Revisit Building Use Policy during COVID 9.1.1. At the previous meeting, a music instructor requested use of the town hall for recording sessions for music students. Use of the town hall by the public is contrary to the current policy in place in light of COVID. The Town Board noted that they would revisit the policy. 9.1.2. Adelman noted that although the building is locked during the day, people want to come in to purchase hunting licenses, not all of whom have called ahead to make an appointment. They do call when they get to the door and it is locked, however. The clerk generally allows them to come in and purchase their license. 9.1.3. Board members showed concern about the rising numbers in the county while indicating that we have a good policy in place for the Town Hall. 9.1.4. Court Justice Theresa Klinger noted that the court is in full swing at this time, although there aren’t as many defendants coming in. The court procedure is to limit the occupancy to one defendant at a time; the court clerk does a temperature check and asks the COVID-screening questions before they are allowed to enter the building. Court clerk hours are Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings; Court is in session on Tuesday mornings from 9am to noon. 9.1.5. Discussion then turned toward the policy that was in development with Cortright leading the edits. Also discussed was keeping a log of everyone who goes in and out of the building (separate from the court logs). 9.1.6. Ultimately, the Board agreed to leave the building policy as is. Regular Meeting Proceedings of 8 15 Town Board Meeting Town of Danby October 12, 2020 10.New Business 10.1. Request to close Gunderman Road from 96B to Comfort for Halloween so that kids can safely trick-or-treat. 10.1.1. There is a plan to host a trunk-or-treat in the park with the organizers coordinating with the Health Department. 10.1.2. Board discussion focused on the effort to discourage kids trick-or- treating from private house to private house, given this is the year of COVID. The Board prefers that people don’t go to other people’s houses. 10.2. Resolution 124 of 2020: To Support the Broadband Study Initiative with $5000 (see Exhibit 3) 10.2.1.Discussion: 10.2.1.1.Schnabel expressed support for the initiative. 10.2.1.2. Ulinski suggested that money be targeted from the fund balance and noted that it’s a real shame that the town doesn’t have internet for all community members, so this is $5k well-spent on the community. 10.2.1.3. Klein noted that what this resolution does is support a study of who in the county is underserved since no one actually knows which areas are not covered. 10.2.1.3.1.Crane highlighted the need for more money once the study is completed. 10.2.1.3.2. Klein agreed and noted that the optimistic way to look at it is that the study organizers are linked to a regional planning organization that is very good at accessing grant money, both at the federal and state levels, for these kinds of projects. Thus, by participating in this study, the town is laying the groundwork to bring the money in that will be needed afterward, and as Sarah (Schnabel) noted, this study is the necessary first step. 10.2.1.3.3. There is a Tompkins County Council of Governments meeting that covers this topic and is accessible to the public. No further discussion; Vote recorded as follows: Moved By:Ulinski Seconded By:Schnabel Councilperson Aye No Abstain Connors X Holahan X Schnabel X Regular Meeting Proceedings of 9 15 Town Board Meeting Town of Danby October 12, 2020 11.Return to Budget Discussions 11.1. Ulinski asked for clarification around the fund balance and restructuring the water district rate policy which will move it away from property tax; wondering what happens to the fund balance in this case. 11.1.1. Gagnon responded that we have over-saved, or over-taxed the residents of the water district by running up the fund balance with no identifiable purpose. It may be determined later that having the large fund balance was a reasonable and prudent thing to cover future needs. At this point it’s not obvious what those future needs may be so there is no good reason to keep adding $15k more a year to a rather large water district fund balance. 11.2. Gagnon asked if board members had spoken with other departments, such as the food pantry, historian, library, seniors. 11.2.1. Ulinski spoke with the food pantry; they have more food than they can give away and plenty of funding from other sources. The food pantry does need volunteers, though. They currently have 4600 pounds of food to give away that they weren’t able to give away. 11.3. Shawley highlighted that the requested revised budget in which it stays under the tax cap. This budget is under the tax revenue by $1,446, with a levy increase of $45,651 and the greatest change in the budget lines coming from the fund balance. 11.3.1. The board felt that another hour could be used to discuss the budget plans now that the main pieces (from the outside groups that request/receive funds) are in front of them. Another budget discussion is scheduled for 6:00pm ahead of the Board meeting on 21 October 2020. 12.Next Board Meeting Agenda Items 12.1.Budget discussion 12.2.Health Consortium resolution 12.3.Violation Enforcement 13.Adjournment 13.1.Meeting adjourned at 9:17pm. ______________________________________________ Janice R. Adelman Town Clerk Ulinski X Gagnon X Regular Meeting Proceedings of 10 15 DRAFT Town Board Meeting Town of Danby October 12, 2020 Exhibit 1. Town Planner’s Report prepared by Interim Planner, John Czamanske •Short meeting with Jason & some phone calls during his last week; review his task list •Once in office 9/28, attempting to ascertain the status of applications, projects and other things from looking at email, computer, and paper files •Preparing for and doing Oct 7 BZA meeting; great deal of back and forth emails re the single area variance on the agenda; it helped to have watched the BZA zoom on Sept 22. •Communicating with Joel as necessary •Coordinating with Janice Adelman as she started work as Town Clerk •Coordinating with Steve Cortright on building permit review and any outstanding matters •Working to figure out which applications can make it to the Oct 20 Planning Board meeting and which won’t be ready until next month, or are not even applications yet. Coordinating with applicants on materials, fees, etc. •Responding to phone/email inquiries and working to accept new applications. •Working with past or pending applicants where it appears that errors may have been made processing applications. •Coordinating on application and interview processes for hiring a new full-time, permanent Town Planner. •Coordinating as able on other matters, emails, calls, etc. Meeting Minutes Exhibit 1 of 11 15 DRAFT Town Board Meeting Town of Danby October 12, 2020 Exhibit 2. TOWN OF DANBY CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICE MONTHLY ACTIVITY: September 2020 CERTIFICATES OF OCCUPANCY ——- – 40’ X60’ tent ——- - single family home CERTIFICATES OF COMPLIANCE ——- – Old Oasis demo complete ——- – attached garage ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY 12 construction inspections 1 new address – 405 Comfort Rd 3.5 hours of in-service training Attended Tompkins County Hazard Mitigation Meeting Assisted Town of Caroline with 28 hours of Code Enforcement services BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED Value Fee New Residential Construction single family home 85,000.00 210.00 single family home 96,000.00 200.00 Renovations/Other kitchen renovation 18,000.00 50.00 40’ X 60’ tent 9,900.00 50.00 bathroom remodel 16,410.00 50.00 18 X 24 accessory structure 19,550.00 43.20 Renewed – pole barn MONTH TOTALS 244,860.00 603.20 YTD TOTALS 2,333,036.00 5,445.50 PREVIOUS YTD TOTALS 2,088,176.00 4,851.30 Meeting Minutes Exhibit 2 of 12 15 Town Board Meeting Town of Danby October 12, 2020 Exhibit 3. RESOLUTION 124 of 2020 — The Town of Danby Supports an Over Target Request for Tompkins County to Undertake a Broadband Planning Study and Pledges Five Thousand Dollars in Support WHEREAS COVID-19 has highlighted key inequities in our infrastructure and communities, including a lack of adequate broadband access to residents and businesses in our rural communities; and WHEREAS lack of broadband access impedes the ability of our residents to do work, attend school, have medical appointments, run their businesses, and even to have virtual face-to- face conversations with loved ones; and WHEREAS access to broadband services is not a luxury but a necessary public need that must be addressed; and WHEREAS many households in the Town of Danby lack access to broadband service and others experience barriers to access based on affordability and physical distance from the road; and WHEREAS the model for broadband buildout up until now has been that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) get grant funding from the state or federal governments to build a system that the ISP owns and controls; and WHEREAS these ISPs are driven by profit motives rather than public interests, resulting in inadequate speeds and lack of access and competition in the most rural areas in the county; and WHEREAS municipally-owned internet services can better serve the public interest; and WHEREAS it is not economically feasible for each municipality to build their own fiber network; and WHEREAS a collective, regional approach is not only possible and logical, it is already happening in many counties around us through a regional partnership with the Southern Tier Network, and WHEREAS the Southern Tier Network (STN) is a municipally-owned non-profit open access fiber network created in January 2011 through a partnership between the Southern Tier Central, Corning Incorporated, and Chemung, Schuyler, and Steuben Counties; and Meeting Minutes Exhibit 3 of 13 15 Town Board Meeting Town of Danby October 12, 2020 WHEREAS STN was built to support the needs of public safety, improve broadband access in rural areas, increase competition and the level of telecommunications services across the region, and create a globally competitive advantage for job creation; and WHEREAS STN has developed and successfully maintained over 500 miles of fiber across the Southern Tier of New York, with lines extending through Schuyler, Chemung, Steuben, Yates, Tioga, Broome, and even into Tompkins County; and WHEREAS since 2011, STN has been building out middle mile fiberoptic cable that has successfully increased the competition of ISPs to provide service to both residential and commercial properties; and WHEREAS STN is now working with member counties to explore solutions to reach into the most rural areas in the Southern Tier; and WHEREAS earlier this year Schuyler, Chemung, Steuben, Yates, and Tioga (the current members of STN) collectively hired Fujitsu to do a study with 5 deliverables to explore a plan for STN to build, own and operate a network of both middle and final mile fiber in their communities; and WHEREAS the Executive Director of STN, Steve Manning, indicated that Tompkins may be able to create an add-on contract with Fujitsu for the same deliverables, taking advantage of the work that has already been done (e.g. business and operations models, financial models etc.) to realize costs savings; and WHEREAS the Town of Danby is interested in exploring this possibility and believes economies of scale will be realized that will make the project more feasible by working with other Counties; Now, therefore be it RESOLVED that the Town of Danby Town Board asks the Tompkins County Legislature to support a one-time Over Target Request of not more than $80,000 for a planning study that will provide the following deliverables to help us identify a possible path forward for a county- wide buildout of both middle and last mile fiber optic cable in Tompkins County. 1.Market assessment - identifying the unserved and underserved areas, what the competition is in the county, where the current providers provide service, what the terms are and what they are charging, and outlining demographics. 2.Design - outside (geographic layout and design, redundancy and diversity, how to reach each address point, comparison of a distributed or central architecture) and inside plan design (where should co-location centers be placed, convergence points, , etc...). Meeting Minutes Exhibit 3 of 14 15 Town Board Meeting Town of Danby October 12, 2020 3.Business and operations model - what are the different models out there for municipally based fiber to the home? What does it look like and what are the different models of operation? 4.Operations and maintenance - a complete look at what would it take to operate the infrastructure: what type of service, what are the staffing needs, what is a recommended maintenance schedule? How often do you need to replace a core router etc…? 5.Financials - for both capital and operations (including take rate opportunities) - what kind of revenue can you expect since it needs to cover costs for many decades? FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the Town of Danby pledges $5000 to be paid to Tompkins County in 2021 when the contract for the above deliverables is executed. Moved by Ulinski; Seconded by Schnabel Vote: unanimous approval Meeting Minutes Exhibit 3 of 15 15