HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-03-03 Town Board Meeting Minutes1 | P a g e
Town of Danby
Town Board Meeting Minutes
Held Monday, March 3, 2025
Board Members Present: Joel Gagnon, Town Supervisor
Leslie Connors
Katharine Hunter
Patricia Woodworth
Tyler Stein
Town Staff: Laura Shawley, Bookkeeper
Mariah Dillon, Town Clerk
Greg Hutnik, Town Planner
Other Attendees: Ted Crane Marnie Kirchgessner
Garry Huddle Zach Larkin s
Ronda Roaring Jim Holahan
Captain Charles Tilton Heather Coffee
Call to Order 6:03 PM
Additions/Deletions to the Agenda
• Fair Housing Month Proclamation ~Moved to Business
• Living Wage Revisit ~Moved to Business
• Town Hall Room Use Policy Revisit ~Moved to Business
• Status Updates Various Initiatives ~Moved to Business
• Declare Lead Agency in SEQR Review of Flood Damage Prevention Local Law
~Moved to Business
• Accepting the February 20, 2025, Town Board Meeting Minutes ~ Removed from the agenda
Privilege of the Floor
Zach Larkins withdrew his application to ffll the current board vacancy. He looks forward to
getting elected by the town residents.
“ I've never been one to hype myself up and be like, I do this thing . I think everyone here knows that I do
know the nuance of what's going on. And I made a mistake, I had read the Comprehensive Plan , multiple
times, when I moved here because I had to go through all the zoning. I have learned a lot about government,
and it's been so nice, because y'all taught me so much. I'm excited to keep coming to meetings and run and
maybe get elected. “
“It's dilficult, because, I'll say in particular, Ted, I think it's fascinating how you've addressed me throughout
this, and I think, making me out as a “developer” is amazing. I've actually had a friend that was at the Danby
market and overheard someone talking about this too. I’ve been working in construction forever. And I'm a
control freak, we've done everything at our house from digging out the septic to installing our own mini splits.
And I guess I don't know what you want, Ted . I see the way that you approach people in conversation. And I
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know this is not a concise answer. Sorry, but it is a question – like, you have a vision, but it's never been clear.
I would say the same to you, Ronda. I don't really understand how you feel towards me. I know that
things that we want to do with our property - I've written to you. I've brought a landscape architect out to
ffgure out how to move water through the land . If you go back through and look at the way the land has been
built, there's just tons of ffll. It was not treated nice for a long time, and we're doing a lot of rectiffcation, to
bring it back, to have more native species , to ffgure out how to move water around. We ’ve had a wetland
delineation done. We want to make it a place for the community . I would love if you would respond back. I
would love for either of you to come down here and show up and have a conversation, because that's the only
way that any of us are going to feel any sort of resolution to anything. As it sits right now, it doesn't feel good.
I know it doesn't feel good for me, and I don't think it feels good for you, and I'd rather be able to have an open
conversation with anyone in town than sparring.
Heather Coffee Grateful for the many meetings Town Halls and people who do public work.
“ I think that it's important when we, as audience members, watch this and have the chance to question or give
feedback. I think it's really important to remember that these people - the people watching - are their parents,
their kids, their bosses, their partners, their grandparents. All of these people are listening to o. However you
decide to address them, whatever concerns , whatever a xes you have to grind - whatever - how you address
them, they hear that. I would also like to remind everyone that we had a tough election last time, and it's
really unnecessary to make this election the same, because this is a really small town. It's a beautiful town, and
I'm very happy to be here, and I'm really excited to see it grow and everything. But we're a small town in the
middle of Central New York. This is not the national stage. None of us are Tom Brokaw. We're not having a big
expose. These are your neighbors, and you need to talk to them like neighbors. You need t o speak kindly to
them. You don't have to agree on anything, but if you want your message, your question , to be heard, and to
make it a positive thing - think about how you're talking to people. The last thing I saw at the Danby
Democrats really upset me, and I don't want to see that again, because we're adults and we can do better. And
I think that this state - I moved here because I wanted to have a state that cares about its citizens and believes
in the process, and it needs to be better than I've seen before. So, thanks everybody for showing up.”
Marnie Kirchgessner Defended the Town Board.
I want to defend this town board because this town board does listen. I always get upset with them because
they spend so much time listening. So, I don't want any criticism or a versions against this town board, because
I think they do an extraordinary job. Now I want to admit to something I did wrong. There was a recreation
partnership meeting last week, and I was very, very excited about it, and I dashed off a memo for the town
clerk to share with you all I assume you got. There was a mistake in it, and because I copied in the presenter
from the Ithaca Youth Bureau, she pointed the mistake out to me. I said that we had 16% of the membership. It
was 16% of the 25 %. So actually, it transla ted to 5 % or something percent of the actual participation numbers
being from families. So, it wasn't this extraordinary. And I probably should have realized that then, but I was
so excited it was that. So, it wasn't a deliberate misrepresentation . I'm a human being.
Please forgive me. And I just wanted to correct that. So, you know, you weren't publishing it in the town
Newsletter pad, or anything like that. So, because it was a mistake. But I do attend. We're having another
meeting next month and I will have more speciffc and accurate statistics to share at that time.
Ronda Roaring Thanking Joel for the account analysis.
“Thank you, Joel, for your supervisor’s account analysis again. I do appreciate it. And I did take a really good
look at it. I want you to know that it wasn't a waste of time or anything. The only other thing I have to say is to
Zach, and that is you've only emailed me once and made a statement. And I read your email. And I don't even
remember what it was about at this point in time, but I didn't feel that you were looking for me to respond
back to you.”
Jim Holahan Was compelled to speak about the questions/ statements from the last Board Meeting.
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I’ve been to a lot of board meetings over the last 20 years. I've really not felt the need to comment too much,
and mostly there have been positive comments. But after last meeting I felt I could say I was pissed off after
the meeting and I felt compelled to say something.
So, it was when the candidates got a chance to speak. They were asked questions about the town board, after
which a new person coming to the meetings ask if she could ask a question , which the town board agreed to
allow her, and she asked her question. The candidates got a chance to respond. Then the town board asked if
there's another question (I think everyone was allowed to ask one question at that point) Another resident was
allowed to speak, to ask a question, and promptly said, “I don’t have a question ”, and proceeded to make a
statement, which a t that point I think they should have been shut down. The board should have shut down
that person, because at that point the person chose to derate one of the candidates and prop up the other
candidate with his opinions. And I just don't think it was fair the way it was done. I made some notes, but you
know they're all scribbles at this point, but he just interjected things and interjected into the mind of the town
board his editorial, his opinions, and it really shouldn't have been about that. It was questions for anyone to
ask at that time, if they had something for the candidates - not just to make a statement. I think, and at this
point, if, since Zach has chosen to not run my next statement, which would have been to, that you shouldn't go
ahead and do the appointment tonight, because I don't think it was fair the way it was done.
There should be another process to go through and ask how people ask questions again, and maybe the
candidates to speak again, and some other way to do it, because it just didn't seem fair to me, and I just left the
meeting with a really bad taste in my mouth. With all the things going on with the media and the government ,
the way things are coming out now, I just didn't think that in our town that that's the way it should happen -
that people could just speak and interject their thoughts and editorials and not just go by facts .
Ted Crane Spoke about Privilege of the Floor and Hansen’s term.
“As you pointed out, privilege of the ifoor, and public meetings in general, are not a place to have private
conversations , but I think it is worth responding to several facts that I feel were misstated by several speakers
before me. First of all, I only recall one possibly substantial conversation I've had with Zach Larkins, and I
don't believe I've had very many conversations with others when he's been in presence. So, I'm not sure where
he's getting that from.
Jim, it's possible you weren't at the beginning of the meeting last time . During privilege of the ifoor, I
speciffcally suggested that the public be given a chance to comment after the interviews, because obviously
comments would be uninformed if given before the interviews. Nobody stopped me, probably because I'd said
in advance exactly what I wanted to do is just to state my opinion of the interviews, and they weren't unfair. I
think if you listen to the recording, I think you will ffnd that I was complet ely backed up on those.
Now to the other things I have on my list. Interestingly enough, the minutes as I have seen them of that last
meeting, I am quoted in - mentioned in - 2 places. In the ffrst it's an exact quoted statement, and I think it's
pretty accurate. In the second, speciffcally that part which you referred to, Jim, it left out the last - it was more
or less a quote - but left out the end of it where I admonished the town board for having made a blatantly
political decision in the past and hoped that they would not do it again. It also left out a soto voce comment
from one of the town board, which was clearly audible about pontiffcating. Frankly , pontiffcating is a very
loaded word, and it all depends on whether you're the one who's trying to express facts and opinions, and one
who are, shall we say, having to feel that they're criticized?
Now I have one other thing here, and I'm sorry to bring this up, because it's kind of pedantic , but it is
nevertheless the law, and I think it is a point worth raising. I happen to be looking at Public Olficers Law, I
believe Section 32, which talks about resignation of public olficers. The upshot of it is that a town board
member cannot resign more than 30 days in advance. And if a town board member, public olficer in general -
I'm leaving out details - does resign more than 30 days in advance the resignation is effective after 30 days. So,
Paul Hansen actually was not a town board member as of February 5 th. The material was distributed on
January 6th during the meeting, which included a copy of his letter . The letter was dated, but got no stamp of
received on it, which is a little bit of a problem. However, since it was on the agenda and was discussed during
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the meeting, it's pretty clear that he had, in fact, given that letter to the town clerk on January 6 th, so he was not
a town board member after February 5th . You can look at the law. I'm sending a copy of it to Mariah so she can
distribute it to you. You probably will want to review any actions which he participated in that include the
second meeting in February. And I'm sorry, Paul , I'm sure this is going to hurt you terribly in the pocketbook,
but you can't get paid after February 5th either.
I'm sorry I just happened to run into it, and I was going: Whoa! Wait a minute, and there it is. With that I look
forward to hearing an interesting discussion during your single business item that's on the agenda. Assuming
you don't add any more.”
Correspondence - None
Announcements
• West Danby and Danby are both having Pancake Breakfasts on the weekend of March 15/16 .
• Hunter announced that the 4-H Duck Race will take place on Sunday, April 27th, 2025, from
11am-4pm.
Reports and Presentations
Supervisor’s Report
Town Clerk’s Report
Code Olficer’s Report
Warrant Abstract 05 of 2025
Resolution 9 1 of 2025 To Approve the General Fund Vouchers 79 - 87 for $6,540.12
Moved by Connors Seconded by Woodworth
Vote:
Connors Yes
Hunter Yes
Woodworth Yes
Gagnon Yes
Resolution 9 1 of 2025 passed on March 3, 2025
Resolution 9 2 of 2025 To Approve the Highway Fund Vouchers 25 - 36 for $25,069.58
Moved by Connors Seconded by Woodworth
Vote:
Connors Yes
Hunter Yes
Woodworth Yes
Gagnon Yes
Resolution 9 2 of 2025 passed on March 3, 2025
Business
Appointment of Town Board Member to Fill Vacancy
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Resolution 9 3 of 2025 To Appoint James Tyler Stein to the Town Board to Fill the Vacancy Caused
by Paul Hansen’s Resignation, Until the End of This Year
Moved by Gagnon Seconded by Woodworth
Discussion ensued:
Connors : I believe both candidates would serve Danby well.
I know Larkins well, and Tyler not at all. I have been impressed with Tyler's attendance at meetings
and willingness to participate. His comments are thoughtful and his willingness to serve (as others
in his family do) is genuine and his approach seems bipartisan.
I know Zach to be a relentless researcher and a searcher of options. He is a builder (not a developer)
and has contributed a lot to the Town of Danby without being on any board or committee. I know
him to be interested in fostering community and creating community options. I think he would be a
huge asset on the Board, and I hope he considers putting his hat into the ring in November.
Hunter concurred with Connors’ statement.
Gagnon: I was not looking forward to a very difficult decision to be made from two excellent
candidates for board, and Zach has made it a little bit easier by withdrawing.
Vote:
Connors Yes
Hunter Yes
Woodworth Yes
Gagnon Yes
Resolution 9 3 of 2025 passed on March 3, 2025
James Tyler Stein was sworn in by Town Clerk Dillon and then joined the Board Members at the
conference table.
Proclamation by the Town Board that April is Fair Housing Month
Resolution 94 of 2025 Proclamation by the Town Board of the Town of Danby that the Month of
April is Fair Housing Month
Whereas, in accordance with the Title VIII Fair Housing Policy of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and
the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 and,
Whereas, the month of April 2025 has been designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development's Olfice of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity as Fair Housing Month,
Now therefore , be it Resolved that the Town of Danby hereby declares and proclaims April as Fair
Housing Month in the Town of Danby.
Moved by Woodworth Seconded by Gagnon
Vote:
Connors Yes
Hunter Yes
Woodworth Yes
Stein Yes
Gagnon Yes
Resolution 9 4 of 2025 passed on March 3, 2025
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Living Wage Revisit
Gagnon remarked that the living wage for Tompkins County has risen to $24.82. Gagnon noted that
this would raise the budget by about $500 to $600 for all the positions subject to that $.18 hourly
increase beyond the previously announced $24.64 . “This is what it costs a single individual with
their own place to live in Tompkins County and cover their expenses, which is merely to underscore
that there are a lot of people who can't afford to live under those circumstances, and either have to
have more than one income in the family in order to make it work.”
Stein: “I think our commitment to a living wage is a great idea.”
Resolution 9 5 of 2025 To Raise the Lowest Town Wage to $24.82
Moved by Stein Seconded by Connors
Updated (Modified) List of 2025 Salaries and Hourly Wages ~ Moving Forward
Town Board (x4)................................................................................................$3,176.25 each
Town Supervisor.............................................................................................$32,307.00
Deputy Town Supervisor.................................................................................$3,177.00
Assistant to Supervisor………………………………………………………$10,597.00
Bookkeeper……………………………………………………………………$27,856.00
Supervisor PT Accounting Assistant…………………………...............…….…$24.82 per hour
Town Justice (x2) .............................................................................................$17,880.50 each
Court Clerk……………………………………………………………………….$25.51 per hour
Highway Superintendent ………………………………………….....$69,861.00
Deputy Highway Superintendent ………………………………..…..$63,178.00
Highway Secretary……………………………………………………..…...$35,338.00
Motor Equipment Operator…………………………………………….……..$24.82 per hour*
Heavy Equipment Mechanic …………………………………………….……$24.82 per hour*
Laborer Highway................................................................................................$24.82 per hour*
*Pay rate may be increased according to union negotiated longevity adjustments
Town Clerk…….................................................................................………$46,699.00
Deputy Town Clerk………..................................................................................$24.82 per hour
Town Clerk Records Management Assistant………… ………………..…..$24.82 per hour
Town Clerk Project Assistant………………………… ……………..…….$24.82 per hour
Code Olficer……………........................................... ..................................$63,768.00
Planner……………...................................................................................… $78,507.00
Typists for Planning Board, BZA, and CAC ...................................................$25.51per hour
Historian…………………… ………………………………………….……$1000.00
Laborer, Town Hall (Snow Removal) ..............................................................$24.82 per hour
Swimming Area Director……………………………………………………..$800.00
Recreation Assistant …………………………………………………………...$800.00
Lifeguards…………………………………………………………………………$24.82 per hour
Water Plant Operator (West Danby)…………………………………….…$15,535.00
Water Plant Operator, Assistant (West Danby)…………………………… $4,297.00
Water Clerk (West Danby)……………………………………………………$5,568.00
Discussion ensued regarding whether the pay increase would be retroactive. It was decided that the
new rate would be implemented moving forward from today.
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Vote:
Connors Yes
Hunter Yes
Woodworth Yes
Stein Yes
Gagnon Yes
Resolution 95 of 2025 passed on March 3, 2025
Town Hall Room Use Policy Revisit
Gagnon explained that the current Town Hall Room Use Policy requires groups who may want to
use the Town Hall to have liability insurance. Gagnon felt that the requirement would be an
impediment to many groups that may want to meet in the Town Hall.
Discussion ensued. Gagnon conffrmed that the Town’s insurance would cover groups meeting at
Town Hall.
It was agreed that modiffcations to the insurance liability requirement will be made to the policy and
brought to the next meeting.
L. Shawley will ask our insurance provider for details of the policy concerning room usage by
outside groups and send them our policy for feedback.
Status Updates Various Initiatives
Clean Energy Improvement Grants
Gagnon explained that the Town received a $60,000 grant towards energy improvements for the
Town Hall. The Town now needs to decide how to use the money. He mentioned the energy audit
that was conducted and pointed out several possible actions.
Holahan – “We did get a one estimate on the heat pumps for the building air source heat pumps.
We're waiting for 2 others to come in.
We've also been looking at EV chargers for the building - one at the building, one maybe across the
parking lot.
We've applied for a grant through the DEC ZEV (infrastructure) program
to use in conjunction with the Make Ready program through NYSEG, which would pretty much pay
for an EV station. But we may not be able to ffnd out about that for a while, so we're looking into
other opportunities for that.
Also, we had to choose something from the energy audit to use the grant money for . Clean energy
communities grant money can also be used for increasing the size of the solar panels, for EV charger
stations if we didn't stack it on top of other grant money (other incentive money that is available). Or
we could use it for a battery powered lawnmower, something like that, or we could use it for, you
know, electric vehicles. So, we're waiting to see what the other proposals come in at. Hopefully, we'll
have some money left over to use. So, I'm not exactly sure what we're going to choose. And
hopefully, we'll have a report. You can put it down on the agenda for the next meeting. I'll do a little
update, and hopefully we'll have a report on what the three proposals came in at: recommendation,
and why? And what else we should put before the board to use the additional money on which may
be $15,000 at this point. So, something to think about. If anybody has any ideas that they like to use
the money for - it has to be something related to sort of renewable energy at the building. I'm going
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to try to get another idea from someone to how much it would cost to expand the solar system panel
array for the building as well.”
Sewer Project Grant
Supervisor Gagnon recapped the situation regarding the possibility of installing sewers in Danby
and West Danby, for which the Town received $4.6 million. Unfortunately, it is not enough to
complete a sewering project. Gagnon and Hutnik spoke with the Town Attorney regarding Article
12 of Town Law as being the basis for establishing town districts. Towns in New York State do not
have Home Rule authority with regard to water and sewer projects. However, using Article 12 A and
C, those constitute two different ways of doing special districts. And in one of them you create a
district where you identify the properties that are going to be in the district. The other one is broader
(town w ide) where there are classes of property that do not have to participate. In both cases,
properties participating will be paying the expenses of the district. In both cases there are not
enough properties to avoid it being unaffordably expensive. Gagnon expressed concern that people
in a created district would support the hooking-up expenses, annual expenses and on -going
maintenance costs.
Woodworth mentioned there is widespread opposition and requested a public information session
on the Sewer system/ district establishment.
Discussion ensued about having a public information meeting and where districts might be created .
Hutnik mentioned it will take some time before an actual contract arrives. He mentioned he is
waiting to hear from the attorney about the sewer district creation and that would absolutely require
a public hearing. He is also looking into more funding to close the funding gap, and he agreed to
call the Environmental Facilities Corporation and try to set up a meeting very soon to get more
information about forming sewer districts and have some other questions answered.
Gagnon mentioned the possibility of a public -private partnership where a developer installs a
treatment system and deeds it to the town. Then the town takes it over and runs it.
Hutnik: “I was on a call with the Department of State last week with some other Planners in the
County, and they said, “We're going to be looking to you to see if you can actually advance that
forward because that would encourage more affordable housing. And for a town not to take on such
a large expense, for people in a district to be paying into what they don't want.” I mean, districts get
shot down all the time. And so, this would be a way that is more of a choosing where the district is
located. So even the Department of State said, “ We're going to look to you. If this goes forward .””
Gagnon: “So we could play a leadership role potentially. If Anna and Leah are receptive, the way to
move this forward would be to have [the town attorney] draft legislation for them that maybe
creates an article D for Article 12 that says, and you could do it this way. So, what I am hoping is
that we could include the possibility of a municipally-installed component as opposed to having it
all be privately funded. Yes, we make a public investment in putting a sewer line from, you know ,
Michigan Hollow down to Miller and putting some infrastructure in but basically have that be the
public investment enabling development of properties along the way. And then, if the treatment
w ere modular, the developers could be paying for the treatment and not for the conveyance.
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Instead of having to deal with the wastewater from Olivia's property say , you could connect to the
sewer, and the treatment could be down yonder. Which would open up a lot more
potential here. But we probably need State enabling legislation to do it that way.”
Noise Issues
Woodworth spoke with Warren Cross, and he is interested in getting more feedback. She will look
into getting some individual responses and feedback to the proposed noise law. Discussion ensued
regarding how to get feedback.
Special Event Law
Updates to the Special Event Law were placed into the hands of the Regulatory Review Committee.
They will be reaching out to Ag & Markets for information relating to agricultural districts and hope
to present the board with a batch of amendments by mid-summer.
Short Term Rentals
Concerns about short-term rentals were not considered to be a priority and they have not had any
undertaking.
Logging Law
This has been in the end stages for several months and the scope has narrowed.
Crosswalk
Hutnik agreed to put out a wider RFP for the crosswalk (at 96B near the Town Hall) project. No
proposals have been submitted.
Speed limits Signs
The Highway Department has not yet received any orders from the NYSDOT to change speed limit
signs. L Shawley agreed to give the NYSDOT a call. Connors will start putting together a new list of
speed limit requests.
Old Town Barn on Bald Hill Rd
Larkins agreed to begin stabilizing the old highway barn in the near future. Some discussion ensued
regarding a skate park at the old highway bar n location. Nothing was decided.
Declare Lead Agency in State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) of the Flood Damage
Prevention Local Law
Resolution 9 6 of 2025 To Declare the Town Board as Lead Agency in SEQR Review of the Flood
Damage Prevention Local Law
Moved by Woodworth Seconded by Gagnon
Discussion ensued regarding scheduling a public hearing.
Hutnik: “We have until June to adopt this law. One thing is that the actual final maps haven't been
submitted to the town yet. I think declaring lead a gency is totally appropriate, because it's within the
town board's purview to be the lead agency. And then , I could look into the SEQR. Once we actually
have the maps that would really help us. I have all the data online, but the official hard copy maps
have yet to be delivered.”
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Vote:
Connors Yes
Hunter Yes
Woodworth Yes
Stein Yes
Gagnon Yes
Resolution 9 6 of 2025 passed on March 3, 2025
Discussion of Next Meeting Agenda
Town Hall Meeting Room Policy
Energy Audit (Holahan Update)
Adjourn 7:59