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Home My WebLink About2025-09-09 Town Board Meeting Minutes1 | P a g e Town of Danby Town Board Meeting Minutes Held Monday, September 8, 2025 Board Members Present: Joel Gagnon, Town Supervisor Leslie Connors Katharine Hunter Tyler Stein Patricia Woodworth Town Staﬀ: Mariah Dillon, Town Clerk Laura Shawley, Bookkeeper (Via Video Conference) Greg Hutnik, Town Planner (Via Video Conference) Steve Cortright, Code Enforcement Oﬃcer Keith Shipman, Highway Superintendent Other Attendees: Amanda Schmitt-Piha, President of DCAP Zach Larkins Captain Tilton, USNR Ted Crane Ronda Roaring Steve Selin Julie Clougherty Theresa Klinger Garry Huddle Ben Coakley Kartik Sribarra Pamela Goddard Call to Order 6:00 Public Hearing – CDBG Housing Rehabilitation Supervisor Gagnon made a statement regarding the Public Hearing: “This is the ﬁrst of two public hearings as required under the Community Development Block Grant Program at 24 Code of Federal Regulations 570.486; to be held prior to submission of any Community Development Block Grant applications for ﬁscal year 2026; Purposes of the ﬁrst hearing; · To solicit public’s comments on the Town’s past performance under the CDBG Program; · To solicit public proposals or ideas with respect to needs of the community; · To provide information to the public on eligibility activities under the NYS CDBG Program; · To answer questions; There is more information available if you want to contact Thoma who is administering this for us, and their number is 607-753-1433;” Public Hearing Opened at 6:01 No one spoke at the Public Hearing. Public Hearing Closed at 6:03 2 | P a g e Additions/Deletions to the Agenda Gagnon mentioned that the Supervisor’s Reports and Transfer of Funds were added to the agenda shortly after 5:00 PM. Conference With Code Enforcement Oﬃcial CEO Cortright updated the Town Board regarding 1840 Danby Road Demolition Order, which he has been posted on the building. Cortright received one quote for the demolition for $29,700 (plus $1,500 for air monitoring). Gagnon pointed out that this is under the $35,000 threshold for competitive bidding. Gagnon updated the board on his negotiations with the real estate agent acting on behalf of the property owner. He proposed getting an independent appraisal and determining a sale based on that, but the current owner is not willing to have an appraisal determine the price the Town pays for the property. Since the 60-day window from the owner’s notification is closing, Gagnon suspects the town will go ahead with the demolition and put a lien on the property. Cortright updated the board on a vacant property on South Danby Rd. That owner wants to clean up their property. Cortright referred him to several charity organizations (Catholic Charities, United Way) for help with at least the outside of the house. He offered to meet with the owner and an engineer to determine a path to save the house or take it down. Cortright updated the board on the Nelson Road property. Cortright has seen no evidence of an auto repair shop. He saw three vehicles with no license plates. The complainant sent drone pictures to the Code Officer, but Cortright said he cannot legally use drone pictures. Cortright did drive into the complainant’s driveway and could not see any of the sheds allegedly on complainants’ property. Property taxes have not been paid, so it’s possible the property may go into foreclosure. Cortright determined that while there are some unregistered cars and rubbish, but it’s not a health concern. Connors asked: If someone were to build sheds on my property, what would I do? Cortright answered that it would be a civil matter to take up with the courts. Cortright mentioned that there are approximately $164,000 of liens (medical bills) on the property. Discussion ensued regarding property lines, building sheds on other people’s property and not paying taxes, unregistered vehicles and getting residents to pay fees. Cortright said he’s currently in the process of writing up a complaint on the West Miller Rd property. Cortright suggested that the town may want to consider changing the law to require that vehicles be licensed. Discussion ensued regarding unregistered vehicles on residents' property. Gagnon mentioned that the Station Rd Property has several vehicles that do not look drivable. Cortright assured the board that he will ﬁnish up the requested property reports on derelict homes. 3 | P a g e Privilege of the Floor Garry Huddle spoke about the shed issue, (being on the neighbor’s property) proposing that the two owners should work it out with the courts. Huddle also asked about the $ 29,000 quote to demolish 1840 Danby Rd. He suggested the Highway department could take it down. Shipman responded that 1) his staﬀ is not trained to take down a building, and that 2) there were a lot of risk mitigation procedures required in tearing down a building (air monitoring, closing nearby buildings), and 3) his unionized staﬀ may not be allowed to demo a building. Ronda Roaring went through the proposed logging law and had several comments. She noticed there is nothing in the law that deals with big equipment. Further, she pointed out there is no coordination with the county and state roads. Roaring also pointed out the DEC does not permit anyone to begin logging until 7 o'clock in the morning. She would like to see some restrictions of this type in the proposed timber law, perhaps from sunrise to sunset. She also spoke about her neighbor who cut down several spruce trees after which multiﬂora Rose ﬂourished in the area. She said the Timber law was good, but with several edits could be even better. Roaring suggested no logging should be done between sunset and sunrise Pamela Goddard appealed to the Town Board, as the treasurer of the Danby Community and Park, for the 2025 contract to be ﬁnalized so that she can submit several invoices for maintenance of the park, tractor rental and other park receipts. Ted Crane emphasized that the park has spent the funds which were approved in the town budget, and encouraged the town to approve the contract, which “is the same contract as it has been in the past.” Crane spoke about the Tax Cap Override: “I'll just thank you for recognizing that the tax cap season is coming up. I wish you didn't have to overwrite it, I really do, but if you're going to have to, you've got to do that.” Crane also mentioned that a contractor put a commercial sign in front of Town Hall, but the Town’s ﬂag policy prohibits them. Steve Selin: “Some of my neighbors, as you know, asked this spring about mitigating the sound from our live music at South Hill Cider, …and I think that some of my neighbors thought I was ignoring them, so they passed a petition and came to the town board. I wanted to point out some of those claims are not accurate, and I won't go into those here, but I’m happy to talk about that in detail with anyone. The neighbors that organized the petition have declined to engage in any dialogue on this, at least up to this point, while others are open to it. I've researched methods to help with neighborly disputes and have found resources that will beneﬁt the town in times like these. I passed out some stuﬀ here. I posted one of them to the Facebook group today, like the CDRC, [Community Dispute Resolution Center ]. I want to point out that our business has operated with these events for 4 years, during which this music program has served thousands of people and has not changed in character. I ask the town board what is the rush on pushing for a noise law to control this pinpoint issue, when it would have many unforeseen repercussions, before even trying to have a discussion with the neighbors. I have scheduled an open meeting with the neighbors to discuss concerns and boundaries over sound. Our goal is to ﬁnd a reasonable middle ground, ensuring neighbors' concerns with sound levels are heard while preserving the beneﬁts of the music program. We are initiating discussions and mediation now, with the aim of completing the current season before implementing any major changes. So that's why people might think we're ignoring them, but we've scheduled shows, we can't change them drastically, but we are mitigating some things, actually, right now. But we can't do everything. We have a big show coming up this Friday that we don't have a lot of control over. We believe our operations are and have been consistent with town requirements, though we recognize that some neighbors may view this diﬀerently. We are consulting with Ag and Markets to obtain their perspective, and we'll work with the town to resolve any questions about operating boundaries. Many towns and wineries successfully manage concert series by limiting hours per week and ending events 4 | P a g e before late in the evening. We aim to incorporate a similar framework into an agreement with our neighbors, and feel free to contact me directly at any time. I would like to reiterate, we are open to working intelligently and conscientiously with all of our neighbors, and to use this issue as a moment of growth and cooperation, and not as one that will create division and animosity. I would like to be friends with my neighbors, and, for example, to let them cross our property to enjoy the natural areas in our neighborhood. I would like to point out that, you know, we bring in some signiﬁcant revenue compared to some other businesses, and I would like to point out that the sales tax that we collect goes directly to reducing the property tax burden of Danby residents. And that's something that is a perennial complaint: the taxes that people pay. And we bring in sales tax not just from Danby residents, but from people coming from outside the town, outside the county. We've had friends an hour away in Pennsylvania that come and spend money here, and we are lowering our residents' property taxes by bringing in sales tax. Gagnon replied: “Indirectly, but… as you probably know the sales tax goes into a collective pot for the whole county, and then it gets redistributed, and a town has the option of taking the sales tax and using it as part of its budgeting, or applying it to the county tax, which is what we in Danby do. The way it's structured - it's not a direct beneﬁt, like if all the sales tax in Danby were collected and stayed in Danby.” Kartik Sribarra told the board that he read over the noise ordinance on the Town’s web site and noticed it may contain details that could be problematic for the town. Sribarra pointed out that Section 5. [Prohibited Acts], Part B, Number 3. [prohibiting] musical instrument or other apparatus, …, or ampliﬁcation of sound louder than the volume necessary for convenient hearing by the person or persons voluntarily listening thereto. It shall be presumed that the noise is unreasonable when:… iii. Audible at a distance greater than 50’ from the premises upon which it is being used between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. … Sribarra said “Basically, saying that if I'm sitting on this side of this room talking, and somebody on that side of the room, essentially, can hear me across the property line that I'm violating this law. Which, of course, would, among other things, I think, eliminate the possibility of music at our store. And, just to say that I hope that we can come to some kind of solution that weighs all considerations and perspectives and needs, and this feels more like a nuclear solution right oﬀ the bat. And I know that's not what the town and the town board wants, and I know that's not what you all want, and I just wanted to ﬂag that that was my concern about it.” Zach Larkins got ahold of an architect for the ADA ramp and hopes to work with them to get a quote for the Town Hall project. Larkins has an appointment with an engineer on September 15th, to inspect the former highway shelter/barn on Bald Hill Rd. He is looking to have someone out who does concrete work to tighten the scope and keep costs down. Larkins was interviewed for the Tomkins Weekly about his eﬀorts to build a skate park. Correspondence – None Supervisor Gagnon addressed the question of what is “Correspondence”? After some discussion, it was determined that a letter or email that included the words “for the record” would be included in “Correspondence”. Selin pointed out that he does not get the Town Newsletter. Woodworth said she included registered voters from 4 years ago plus addresses for the county property data per David Wesy. . Discussion ensued. Woodworth will make sure the Town newsletter is sent to Selin’s address. Announcements - 5 | P a g e Hunter announced that Governor Hochul signed a policy that allows everyone who wants one to get a Covid vaccination shot this year. Reports and Presentations • Supervisors Report & Budget Transfer Resolution 211 of 2025 Approval to Transfer Budgeted Funds Between Accounts RESOLVED, the Town Board approves the following budget transfers between accounts: FROM TO AMOUNT A7150.400 Pond Contractual A7150.100 Pond – Lifeguards 885.00 Moved by Connors Seconded by Stein Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 211 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 • Town Clerk Report • Code Oﬃcers Report Meeting Minutes • August 18, 2025, Town Board Meeting Minutes Resolution 212 of 2025 To Approve the August 18, 2025, Town Board Meeting Minutes Moved by Connors Seconded by Gagnon Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 212 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 Warrant Abstract 17 of 2025 Resolution 213 of 2025 To Approve the General Fund Vouchers 342 - 359 for $14,686.68 Moved by Connors Seconded by Woodworth Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  6 | P a g e Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 213 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 Resolution 214 of 2025 To Approve the Highway Fund Vouchers 161 - 174 for $16,445.29 Moved by Connors Seconded by Woodworth Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 214 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 Resolution 215 of 2025 To Approve the Water Fund Vouchers 77 - 80 for $1,185.22 Moved by Connors Seconded by Woodworth Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 215 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 Business Authorize Wastewater Holding Tank Cleaning at Highway Facility Resolution 216 of 2025 To Authorize the Highway Superintendent to get the Wastewater Holding Tanks Cleaned for Up To $6,000 (Cost Estimate is $5,350) Shipman explained the process of cleaning the tanks and why it’s very important to keep them clean. Moved by Gagnon Seconded by Connors Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 216 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 Authorize Use of Town Hall for Chamber of Commerce Community Conversation Event 9 A.M. Thursday October 30 7 | P a g e Resolution 217 of 2025 To Authorize Use of Town Hall by the Chamber of Commerce Community Conversation Event on Thursday, October 30th Moved by Gagnon Seconded by Connors Gagnon mentioned that the Policy requires people who use the Town Hall to have liability insurance. More discussion, which led to the event being approved on the assumption that the Chamber would have such insurance. Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Abstain Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 217 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 DCAP Agreement – Consider Approval Gagnon asked for some modiﬁcations to the agreement to acknowledge the consolidation of the park with the Community Council. Woodworth countered that the board should approve the original contract without modiﬁcations. Amanda Schmitt-Piha said: ‘I think at this time, …the approved budget is just for the park program, ... I think that we can discuss what it looks like expanded-wise in terms of expanding the scope, but, it's one big organization, but we have three distinct programs. So, the funding that was approved is for the park program, and that's all the expenses that we have.” Resolution 218 of 2025 To Approve the Original DCAP Agreement as Presented from the DCAP Moved by Woodworth Seconded by Gagnon Gagnon mentioned he wanted to expand the scope for next year’s contract including paying liability insurance for the Community Council. Schmitt-Piha said she could ask about their liability insurance but also said they may no longer cover some items in the consolidated organization. Julia Clougherty added that the insurance company does not want to have blanket coverages. Discussion ensued as to the diﬀerences in the current DCAP organization as opposed to the two prior organizations (Park and DCC). Schmitt-Piha asked if there were any other services or programs that the town wanted to fund. Gagnon said he added several items into the modiﬁed DCAP contract that could support the broader organization. It was his hope to have more conversations about this for next year. Vote:  Connors Abstain Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 218 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 8 | P a g e Authorize Issuance of RFQ for Water System Assessment and Capital Improvement Planning Ben Coakley spoke about the recent water main break and other issues with the water district and the importance of hiring an engineer to prepare a Preliminary Engineering Report and an Environmental Review for the West Danby water district of suitable detail and completeness to approach regulatory and funding agencies for potential funding. Resolution 219 of 2025 To Authorize Issuance of RFQ for Water System Assessment and Capital Improvement Planning Moved by Hunter Seconded by Connors Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 219 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 CDBG Housing Rehab Approvals – 393 South Danby Road and 6 West Jersey Hill Road Resolution 220 of 2025 To Approve CDBG Grants for – 393 South Danby Road and 6 West Jersey Hill Road Moved by Woodworth Seconded by Connors Hunter stressed how much she appreciated this grant program. She also expressed concern that $16,000 might not be enough for a new septic system at the property. Vote: Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 220 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 Consider Authorizing Use of Town Hall for Youth Programming 9/22-10/31 Tuesdays 4-6 and Wednesdays 2-4 Resolution 221 of 2025 To Authorize Use of Town Hall for Youth Programming 9/22-10/31 Tuesdays 4-6 and Wednesdays 2-4 Moved by Woodworth Seconded by Gagnon Hunter moved to Amend the Motion to extend the dates. Hunter explained that she would like the Youth Programming to be able to use the Town Hall on a regular basis unless there is a conﬂict. She also asked if they could use a storage closet in Town Hall for their supplies. Resolution 221 of 2025 To Authorize Use of Town Hall for Youth Programming Subject to Being Sure it Doesn’t Conﬂict with Something Else in the Town. (Amended) 9 | P a g e The subject of storage came up and Hunter said she will investigate storage options. Woodworth and Gagnon accepted the amended resolution. Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 221 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 Town Hall Meeting Room Policy Revision Guidance Discussion Woodworth to coordinate the Room Use Policy updates and assemble a proposal via email. Consider Proposing Timber Harvesting Law, as Recommended by the CAC and Reviewed by the Attorney for the Town Gagnon said the proposed Timber Harvesting Law has been reviewed by the CAC and the Highway department and revised accordingly. It proposes making the Town Planner the Point person for the permitting process. Discussion ensued regarding when to have a public hearing and it was decided that the second meeting in October would be best for advertising the hearing. Resolution 222 of 2025 To Schedule a Public Hearing for October 20, 2025, on the proposed Timber Harvesting Law Moved by Gagnon Seconded by Connors Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 222 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 Resolution 223 of 2025 To Extend the Meeting by Ten Minutes Moved by Gagnon Seconded by Connors Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 223 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 10 | P a g e Local Law – Propose and Set Public Hearing Resolution 224 of 2025 To Schedule a Public Hearing on the Tax Cap Override Law on October 6, 2025 Moved by Connors Seconded by ? Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes Resolution 224 of 2025 did not pass due to having no second Resolution to Appoint Interim Coordinator for the Newsletter Resolution 225 of 2025 To Appoint Blake Savoy to be the Newsletter Coordinator to Serve for the Balance of the Year Moved by Gagnon Seconded by Woodworth Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 225 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 Appointing a Newsletter Oversight Committee Resolution 226 of 2025 Appointing a Newsletter Oversight Committee of Woodworth, Gagnon and Katz (if she’s willing) to Serve for the Rest of the Year Moved by Gagnon Seconded by Connors Woodworth stressed that the oversight committee must make sure the newsletter policy will be followed. Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Abstain Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 226 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 Request Ag and Markets to Promptly Respond to Request for Determination Gagnon explained that the Town is not bound by the demand date in the letter from Bond Schoeneck and King. “The question is whether or not we should do something? And if so, what?” One option is to share the letter with Steve [Selin] to make him aware 11 | P a g e of what the town is being asked to do. Another option is to contact Ag and Markets to tell them that Selin has agreed to a review his operation, and in light of the neighborhood concerns, ask them to expedite that review. Discussion ensued regarding responding vs reacting to threats, and the discussion Gagnon and Connors had with Selin. Gagnon added “Ag and Markets, essentially, is the one who determines whether or not it's an agricultural use as they deﬁne it and as we reference it in our documents. You know, agricultural use is a permitted use in the town of Danby.” A question came up as to the timeline for Selin to contact Ag and Markets. Gagnon clariﬁed that Selin agreed to contact Ag and Markets to do a review… to determine whether or not his operation is in compliance with their guidelines for agricultural activity, but that he had not told them when he would do it. “And the other thing he committed to was to address the neighbors' concerns by having a neighborhood meeting, reaching out to the neighbors and having a discussion about what mitigation could be entertained to address the noise concern, which is just not connected directly to the potential zoning violation.” It was agreed that Gagnon would speak to Selin about his timeline to contact Ag and Markets. Resolution 227 of 2025 To Extend the Meeting Until 8:30 PM Moved by Gagnon Seconded by Hunter Vote:  Connors Yes  Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 227 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 Hutnik added that Ag and Markets had not gotten back to him yet on the draft special event law that was sent for their review. He sent them an email on the 8th looking for an update. Gagnon spoke about two types of Ag and Market reviews: one is an in-depth review, the type that Selin agreed to, and requires the willingness of the farmer or operator to cooperate in doing it. Gagnon conﬁrmed that Selin agreed to this. The other is a forced review where they do not have the same access to records. Discussion ensued. Resolution 228 of 2025 To Extend the Meeting Until 8:45 PM Moved by Gagnon Seconded by Woodworth Vote:  Connors Yes  12 | P a g e Hunter Yes  Stein Yes Woodworth Yes  Gagnon Yes        Resolution 228 of 2025 passed on September 8, 2025 Hutnik Clariﬁed that usually the requester of a review from Ag and Markets is not the owner operator. Hutnik has concerns with the request coming from the owner operator but thought it was great that Selin voluntarily said he is willing to agree to a review. He reiterated that anyone could request a review. He mentioned Googling: Requesting an opinion from Ag & Markets. Clougherty said she would contact Ag & Markets. Hutnik added that he will request more information from Ag & Markets. Clougherty added that Selin is hosting a meeting with neighbors/community members on Wednesday, September 17th . Discussion of Next Meeting Agenda Adjourn 8:45 - Mariah Dillon, Town Clerk