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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-04-21 Town Board Meeting Minutes1 | P a g e Town of Danby Town Board Meeting Minutes Held Monday, April 21, 2025 Board Members Present: Joel Gagnon, Town Supervisor Leslie Connors Katharine Hunter Tyler Stein Patricia Woodworth Town Staff: Laura Shawley, Bookkeeper Mariah Dillon, Town Clerk Greg Hutnik, Town Planner Other Attendees: Ted Crane Ronda Roaring Zach Larkins Captain Charles Tilton Dan Klein Mark Pruce Call to Order 6:04 PM Additions/Deletions to the Agenda Award Mowing Contract – Moved to Business Privilege of the Floor Town Clerk Dillon read a statement from NYS Town Law pertaining to having appointed Blake Savoy to take town board meeting minutes in the Town Clerk’s abs ence: In the event that the town clerk is absent or unable to act and there is no duly appointed and qualiffed ffrst deputy town clerk present and able to act, the town board may appoint as deputy town clerk any person other than a member of the town board (see Town Law, §30 [10] [b]). Ronda Roaring Commented about Vision Zero and Joint Safety Action Plan Information Session and Scheduling of Adopting Resolution : “I don't see how you can establish a hearing on this or talk about it without the public being aware of this. There are all kinds of editorial errors in it, and I would like to have kind of like a charrette meeting where everybody is able to zoom in and be brought on board with this and make suggestions to it. One of the things that I would say is that over the years, the 48 years since I've moved here, every one of the collisions and accidents that's happened out here has not been somebody from Danby. And so that needs to be dealt with. These are not necessarily Danby people that are causing the problem. And to put 2040 - I'm certainly not going to be around in 2040, so I wouldn't want to make plans for it.” Ronda further asked about the speed limit changes for South Danby Road , wondering if that request had been sent to the NYS DOT. Ronda also asked about the Norbut solar array: ‘During the hearings for Norbut, before they were building anything and had this plan , Joel, we were told by you that this was going to benefft the town of Danby, and that we were going to be able to somehow get a reduction on our electric rates, and we have gotten nothing. I want to know why. Because the people in the town of Danby voted to allow that array, thinking they were going to personally benefft. 2 | P a g e And they have not. So there needs to be some sort of explanation. Are you listening, Tyler? I really want you to think about this, because this is what happened, and I'm not getting anything from the people who allowed Norbut to build that array.” Stein respon ded to Roaring that he was listening. Ted Crane thanked the clerk for her statement, was appreciative for being able to see everybody in the room, and for ffnally turning up the sound. He thanked the volunteers who were doing road cleanup on 96B the previous weekend. He reported that there was less road debris from car accidents than in past years and would like to compliment drivers who are passing through Danby. “And ffnally, Ronda also mentioned Norbut, and this was just a passing conversation I had with a resident of Bald Hill Road. They were a little bit miffed about the fact that the array is in operation at least some of the time, and they can clearly hear the inverters, which I understand. I'm repeating what they said, but it makes sense. I understand that that was promised not to be the case. In other words, there is a persistent low hum from the inverters or from the fans in the inverters. I'm not complaining, but I thi nk it's something that you may be keeping an eye on for the future because it was promised that there would be no noise.” Zach Larkins – Asked about progress towards building a Skate Park in Danby. He mentioned potential donations and grants . It was agreed that the Skate Park Discussion would be added to the agenda. Correspondence – None Announcements Supervisor Gagnon received an email from NYS indicating that the Town was successful in getting a State grant for EV Charging station s totaling $11,400 . Hunter Announced the Duck Race is coming up this Sunday, April 27 th Reports and Presentations County Legislature Rep Dan Klein Noted that the county is keeping track of the Federal funding receive d and where it goes and it looks like the county will lose four employees in the Public Health Fellows Program due to Federal cuts. Also, the county Office of the Aging will lose some funding due to federal cuts. Klein spoke about the idea of a county-wide ambulance. The county may soon present a proposal to expand the rapid medical response program that is running three vehicles through the county that don’t transport people. This program would benefit residents in the town. Broadband Update: “It's been almost a full year since the county submitted its proposal to New York State. We were assured that our proposal was really good, and exactly what they're looking for, and they had the money… I really do think this is the single biggest question I get asked by residents of Danby. When is this broadband coming? Every time they asked. I would say, any day, any week now, and New York State has made a liar out of me. What they have now told us just very recently is New York State has told us that they are going to start again. It's not quite as bad as it sounds, but the program that we applied to they're not going to do anything with right now. They're going to shift us over to a different New York State program, and the reason for that is they want to use the Federal money before they use the New 3 | P a g e York State money for reasons that you might imagine which is the Federal money could disappear tomorrow. So, you know I have no issue with their thinking on this. I can't explain their delay, and I really can't make a prediction now about how much longer it's going to take to find out if the county broadband program is getting funded. Just to remind you what the county applied for was enough money to reach every unserved house in Tompkins County with broadband. So, I'm optimistic, but I don't have any way to predict when th is will happen.” Summer Projects Update: The following roads are designated for chip sealing: • Troy Rd from Nelson to the town of Ithaca line • Comfort Rd from Jersey Hill to 96B • South Danby Rd – entire length • Hillview Rd – entire length The following roads are designated for paving: • Nelson Road from Hornbrook Road to Troy Road • Comfort Road from Gunderman Road to Jersey Hill Road. Gagnon asked about Station Road. Klein said he would look into it. Crane asked about Broadband carriers. Klein was not sure. Meeting Minutes Resolution 127 of 2025 To Approve the April 7 , 2025, Town Board Meeting Minutes Moved by Connors Seconded by Gagnon Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 127 of 2025 passed on April 21 , 2025   Warrant Abstract 0 8 of 2025 Resolution 128 of 2025 To Approve the General Fund Vouchers 147 - 177 for $19,778.52 Moved by Connors Seconded by Woodworth Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 128 of 2025 passed on April 21 , 2025   4 | P a g e Resolution 129 of 2025 To A pprove the Highway Fund Vouchers 64 - 74 for $19,945.10 Moved by Connors Seconded by Woodworth Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 129 of 2025 passed on April 21 , 2025   Business Adopting RPTL 467-j Resolution 130 of 2025 - Adoption of Local Law No. 3 of 2025 A Local Law Enacting the New York State Real Property Tax Law Section 467 -j – Restricted Sale Price Exemption for Housing Trust WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Danby wishes to encourage affordable housing, and  WHEREAS, the New York State Legislature has adopted an exemption available to the taxing jurisdictions within Tompkins County that would be applicable to properties subject to an initially regulated housing trust, and  WHEREAS, without this exemption, the Department of Assessment is required to value these properties at their full -market value, including the full value of the land, and WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Danby desires to provide an exemption that would be for the difference between the full market value and the restricted re -sale price of the improvement owned by the individual property owner, Now therefore be it RESOLVED, that this Local Law Enacting the New York State Real Property Tax Law Section 467-j - Restricted Sale Price Exemption for Housing Trust Houses is hereby adopted,  RESOLVED, further, that the Town Clerk shall publish in the olficial newspaper of the Town a notice of adoption containing a synopsis of said local law and shall within twenty days ffle one certiffed copy in the Olfice of the County Clerk, and one copy with the Se cretary of State. Moved by Woodworth Seconded by Connors Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 1 30 of 2025 passed on April 21 , 2025   5 | P a g e Vision Zero and Joint Safety Action Plan Information Session and Scheduling of Adopting Resolution Planner Hutnik went over the updates to the proposed road safety improvements, speciffcally Station Rd and RT 34 Intersection, and the Danby Rd segments near Town Hall. Discussion ensued. It was agreed that the town would revisit these discussions and adopt the plan with a resolution to be scheduled at a meeting in May. Resolution 1 31 of 2025 To Approval of CDBG Homeowner Rehab of 2117 Danby Road Moved by Gagnon Seconded by Connors Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 1 3 1 of 2025 passed on April 21 , 2025   Mowing Contract Discussion ensued regarding the merits of the three bidders. A local logger and R.P. Lawn & Landscape were nearly the same low bid. R.P got the contract last year and did a ffne job. Resolution 1 32 of 2025 To Award the Annual Mowing Contract to R.P. Lawn & Landscape Moved by Gagnon Seconded by Connors Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 1 32 of 2025 passed on April 21 , 2025  Skate Park Discussion Larkins found an architect who could design a skate park space in the vacant town barn on Bald Hill Rd for under $1,000. Larkins is looking into grants, donations and other contributions for design and construction . Discussion ensued , including insurance considerations and the beneffts of having a semi-indoor space for skating. Crane offered that “in New York, land designated as parkland cannot be sold or diverted to other uses without authorization from the New York State Legislature.” Crane continued: “Even if a village owns land and uses it as a golf course, expending funds for improvement and continued use of the land as a golf course for a long time can be seen as dedication to parkland status, meaning you can't do anything with it without 6 | P a g e permission from the legislature. So, you should do this in a way that protects the town’s interest.” Gagnon offered: “ Instead of saying that we're contemplating making that property a park, we can say we're contemplating putting a skate park on that property.” It was agreed that they would remain ifexible , as well as move forward with getting architectural drawings. Larkins brought up the crosswalk project and suggested bundling the cost of design for both projects. Resolution 133 of 2025 To Authorize Getting Quotes for the Crosswalk (on 96B near Town Hall) and the Skate Park Moved by Woodworth Seconded by Gagnon Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 1 33 of 2025 passed on April 21 , 2025  Discussion of Next Meeting Agenda Report of Dobson Design Study Adjourn 7:54