HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-05-17 Town Board Minutes
Meeting Minutes
Roll Call:
Town Board Joel Gagnon, Super visor
Leslie Connors (arrived at 18:07)
Katharine Hunter
Steve Weissburg
Patricia Woodworth
Town Planner David West
Code Enforcement Off icer Steve Cortright (via videoconference)
Town Bookkeeper Laura Shawley (via videoconference)
Recording Secretary Janice Adelman, Town Clerk (via videoconference)
Transcript and audio recording are available online.
1.Public Hearing: 256 Bruce Hill Rd Conservation Easement (aka Hoffman/Karlsen)
1.1.Opened at 18:01
All those who submitted written comments or spoke at the hearing:
In favor Against Other
Ronda Roaring
1.2.Hearing closed at 18:04
2.Call to Order at 18:04 by Supervisor Gagnon
3.Additions/Deletions to Agenda
3.1.Report from Planner West on Short-term Rental Sur vey Results - Report sent to
Planning Board
3.2.Discussion of Possible Action on Derelict or Abandoned Buildings
3.2.1.Local Law 4 of 2000: Repair/Remove Unsafe Structures
3.2.2.Local Law 2 of 2002: Removal of Unsafe Buildings
3.3.Use of Town Hall meeting Room for Communitas ALC Activity
3.4.Authorize Auction of Unneeded Highway Materials and Equipment
4.Privilege of the Floor
4.1.Theresa Klinger, Town Justice and Resident.
Mary Ann Barr 2021
T he Town of Danby
1830 Danby Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
danby.ny.gov
Town Board Regular Meeting
Wednesday 17 May 2023 at 6:00PM
Town of Danby, New York 17 May 2023 Town Board Meeting Minutes
Presented a formal written request for additional funding for the Danby Seniors,
from Judy C, President of Danby Seniors.
4.2.Garry Huddle, Town Justice and Resident.
Noted that the appointing of highway superintendent and town clerk has been
discussed and voted on twice before and voted down twice before.
He also wanted to hear an update regarding the noise ordinance.
4.3.Ted Crane, resident.
Item 1: Responded to previous criticism of him not having all of the facts when
facts were presented at a meeting that the public was not notified of in a timely
enough fashion.
Item 2: suggested that the noise law needs to include a protocol that is
published by the Town Board as to how to go about dealing with noise issues,
e.g., where they go, what action can be taken.
Item 3: amplified Garry’s comments that the public perception is the proposal to
move from elected to appointed is an attempt to exert control over the hiring
and firing of what had been elected officials.
5.Correspondence — none.
6.Announcements
6.1.Hamlet Meetings to Inform Grant Applications Related to Housing Affordability -
May 24, 7pm at West Danby Fire Hall and May 25, 7pm at Danby Fire Hall.
7.Reports & Presentations
7.1.County Legislature Representative Dan Klein
7.1.1.TC Recover y Fund granted money to Khubu International for the Uhuru
Creek Farm on corner of Hornbrook and Nelson. The funding decision
was made with the awareness that the project does not currently comply
with Town zoning requirements. Three parts of funding: the first is for
planning; the second two are septic and water that will not be released
unless the project is approved by the Town.
7.1.2.Broadband Internet 9-month study has concluded. Next step is RFP to
ISPs to build out a system that will supply fiber to every un-served
addresses in the county—approximately 1200 addresses, equivalent to
116 miles of fiber. Cost of about $7 million, with an estimated timeline of
completion as 3-5 years. Will be presented at the 25 May TC Council of
Governments meeting; the TC Legislature could vote on this as early as
June 6.
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Town of Danby, New York 17 May 2023 Town Board Meeting Minutes
7.1.3.Total of eight foreclosures in the county; none of which are in Danby.
7.1.4.31st annual plant exchange is Saturday 20 May from noon to 3pm at the
Danby Fire Station pavilion on 96B.
7.2.Highway Superintendent Keith Shipman
7.3.Report from Planner West on Short-term Rental Survey Results - Report sent to
Planning Board
7.3.1.Over 160 respondents completed the survey.
7.3.2.The main take-away is that most respondents wanted either no
regulation or very light regulation. For more details, refer to the above-
linked reports.
7.3.3.Kim Nitchman, resident and current short-term rental purveyor, was
given the opportunity to speak as she had missed the privilege of the
floor section.
7.3.4.Ted Crane offered additional feedback regarding statistics.
Resolution 129 of 2023 To Create a Committee with Leslie Connors, Steve Weissburg, David
West, and any members from the Planning Board to explore options and bring back some
suggestions
Moved By: Gagnon Seconded By: Weissburg
Vote:
Councilperson Aye Nay Abstain
Connors X
Hunter X
Weissburg X
Woodworth X
Gagnon X
Resolution 129 of 2023 passed on 17 May 2023
8. Meeting Minutes
8.1.25 October 2022 Budget Workshop
8.2.28 October 2022 Budget Workshop
8.3.1 November 2022 Regular Meeting
8.4.16 November 2022 Regular Meeting
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Town of Danby, New York 17 May 2023 Town Board Meeting Minutes
8.5.21 December 2022 Regular Meeting
8.6.3 Januar y 2023 Organizational Meeting
8.7.18 January 2023 Regular Meeting + Public Hearing
8.8.7 Februar y 2023 Regular Meeting + Public Hearing
8.9.22 Februar y 2023 Regular Meeting
8.10.7 March 2023 Regular Meeting
8.11.22 March 2023 Regular Meeting
8.12.4 April 2023 Regular Meeting + Public Hearing
8.13.19 April 2023 Regular Meeting + Noise Information Session
8.14.2 May 2023 Regular Meeting + Public Hearing
The Board members decided to review and make comments on minutes from 7 March
through 2 May by the end of May so that all of these can be rubber-stamped for approval at
the first June meeting.
9.Warrant Abstract 11 of 2023
9.1.Resolution 132 of 2023 To Approve General Fund Vouchers 155–180 for
$42,116.09
Moved By: Connors Seconded By: Weissburg
Vote:
Councilperson Aye Nay Abstain
Connors X
Hunter X
Weissburg X
Woodworth X
Gagnon X
Resolution 132 of 2023 passed on 17 May 2023
9.2.Resolution 131 of 2023 To Approve Highway Fund Vouchers 92–110 for
$48,344.57, with an additonal Voucher 111 for CSEA in the amount of $684.30 for
a total amount for Abstract 11 of $49,028.87
Moved By: Connors Seconded By: Gagnon
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Town of Danby, New York 17 May 2023 Town Board Meeting Minutes
Vote:
Councilperson Aye Nay Abstain
Connors X
Hunter X
Weissburg X
Woodworth X
Gagnon X
Resolution 131 of 2023 passed on 17 May 2023
9.3.Resolution 130 of 2023 To Approve Water Fund Vouchers 11–14 for $5,403.13
Moved By: Connors Seconded By: Woodworth
Vote:
Councilperson Aye Nay Abstain
Connors X
Hunter X
Weissburg X
Woodworth X
Gagnon X
Resolution 130 of 2023 passed on 17 May 2023
10.Business
10.1.Further Consideration of Whether to Propose Changing From Elected to
Appointed Clerk and Highway Superintendent
10.1.1.Board had requested further details regarding an appointed position
being classified as a civil service position. Laura Shawley contacted the
Tompkins County Human Resources who provided two options:
10.1.1.1.full civil ser vice: would make it competitive with a civil ser vice
test, appointing someone from the list having passed the test,
with job security.
10.1.1.2.a renewable term appointment: not subject to civil service
rules.
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Town of Danby, New York 17 May 2023 Town Board Meeting Minutes
10.1.2.Deadline for getting the referendum on the ballot is August; requires
passing a local law, which requires a public hearing which brings the
timeline to make a decision to June.
10.1.3.Connors
10.1.4.Woodworth opposes proposing this now as well as opposing simply
having the Board do the hiring process alone. Woodworth will not vote for
changing this without having selection process protocols in place.
10.1.5.Hunter spoke to the characterizations that the Board is making bad
decisions and taking the will of the people away from them.
10.1.6.Gagnon stated that generally, people don’t have a choice anyway when
someone has entered into the Highway Supervisor or Town Clerk role and
does a half-way decent job because no one runs against them.
10.1.7.Connors wanted to wait until Shawley hears back from the Commissioner
before making any decisions on how to move forward with this. She also
wants to contact Towns who have made the switch from elected to
appointed.
Resolution 133 of 2023 To Extend the Meeting to 20:30
Moved By: Woodworth Seconded By: Connors
Vote:
Councilperson Aye Nay Abstain
Connors X
Hunter X
Weissburg X
Woodworth X
Gagnon X
Resolution 133 of 2023 passed on 17 May 2023
10.2.Bruce Hill Road Conser vation Easement
Resolution 134 of 2023 To Accept the Bruce Hill Road Conservation Easement and Authorize
Gagnon to Sign It
Moved By: Gagnon Seconded By: Hunter
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Town of Danby, New York 17 May 2023 Town Board Meeting Minutes
Vote:
Councilperson Aye Nay Abstain
Connors X
Hunter X
Weissburg X
Woodworth X
Gagnon X
Resolution 134 of 2023 passed on 17 May 2023
10.3.More on Goal Setting — tabled.
10.4.Next Steps Noise Law
10.4.1.Woodworth spoke with the District Attorney’s Office for Tompkins
County; that office has not had any recent cases of violating the state
noise law.
10.4.2.Woodworth heard back from the State police who noted that they do not
enforce local ordinances; PL 240.2 is not always applied; many noise
issues are handled through zoning.
10.4.3.Weissburg is willing to be on a committee and create a short-list of
people on both sides of the issue to discuss further. Hunter will also
serve on the committee.
Resolution 135 of 2023 To Create a Committee to Consist of People from Those in Attendance
at the Information Session and to Suggest Changes to the Warren draft of the Noise Law
Moved By: Gagnon Seconded By: Connors
Vote:
Councilperson Aye Nay Abstain
Connors X
Hunter X
Weissburg X
Woodworth X
Gagnon X
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Town of Danby, New York 17 May 2023 Town Board Meeting Minutes
Resolution 135 of 2023 passed on 17 May 2023
Resolution 136 of 2023 To Extend the Board Meeting Until 21:00
Moved By: Gagnon Seconded By: Hunter
Vote:
Councilperson Aye Nay Abstain
Connors X
Hunter X
Weissburg X
Woodworth X
Gagnon X
Resolution 136 of 2023 passed on 17 May 2023
10.5. Discussion of Possible Action on Derelict or Abandoned Buildings—tabled
10.6. Use of Town Hall meeting Room for Communitas ALC Activity
Resolution 137 of 2023 To Authorize Communitas ALC to Make Use of the Meetinng Room by
Reservation
Moved By: Gagnon Seconded By: Connors
Vote:
Councilperson Aye Nay Abstain
Connors X
Hunter X
Weissburg X
Woodworth X
Gagnon X
Resolution 137 of 2023 passed on 17 May 2023
10.7.Resolution 138 of 2023 To Authorize the Highway Superintendent to Sell
Miscellaneous Items Through Auctions International
Moved By: Connors Seconded By: Weissburg
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Town of Danby, New York 17 May 2023 Town Board Meeting Minutes
RESOLVED, the Town Board approves the following items to be sold at auction:
●Two (2) Stainless Steel Fuel Tanks
●Ten (10) New/Old Stock Trusses
●Three (3) 4” Perforated Coils
●One (1) Spreader Chain
●One (1) Master 15,000 BTU Salamander
●One (1) Hard Trifold Tonneau Cover
●Two (2) Folding Tables
●Four (4) Tires on Rims
●One (1) John Deere 24” Digging Bucket
●One (1) 92” L Stainless Steel Hydraulic Salt Spreader
●Six (6) I-Beams
Vote:
Councilperson Aye Nay Abstain
Connors X
Hunter X
Weissburg X
Woodworth X
Gagnon X
Resolution 138 approved on 17 May 2023
10.8.Danby Seniors Request for Additional Funding
10.8.1.Decision to be made after considering the exact amount requested and
where money will come from in the current budget.
11.Discussion of Next Meeting Agenda
12.Adjourned at 20:58
Recorded by Janice R. Adelman
Town Clerk
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