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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1972-03-13 • • • 1 ` • • TOWN OF DANBY 4- . TOWN BOARD MINUTES • • ` • March 13 , 1972 • • • . The regular meeting of the Danby Town Board was held in the Danby Elementary School , March 13 , 1972 , at 8 : 00 P . M . Board members present : Supervisor Donald Makie . Councilman Gerald Crance • Councilman Ralph Wilbur . Justice Floyd Dorn Justice A . Framis Wright • Also present : County Representative Erie J . Miller , Mary Miller , Agway Insurance Representative Eugene. Rotunda , Roy and Mary Casterline , Mr . Button , Ashley and Elaine Westmiller , Mr . and • Mrs . French , Edward Slights . • The minutes of the regular meeting of February 14 , 1972 , were mailed to board members for reading . and correction . The minutes were approved as presented . • COMMUNICATIONS: 1 . A letter from Richard Olson tending his resignation as chairman of the planning board . His resignation will be effective after the April 12th meeting . 2 . Minutes of the regular meeting of the planning board of February 16 , 1972 . 3 . . A letter from the State Board of Equalization and Assessment advising the board of the need to appoint a person to the board of review . • • 4 . Two letters from the Automatic Voting Machine Division . One concerning the rental of . a voting machine ; and the other the purchase of a voting machine 5 . Resolution No . • 44 - Request for 24. hour dog quarantine in Tompkins County . • 6 . A letter from Donald. R . Burdick , Principal of the Danby Elementary School , thanking the town board for 2 new lamps purchased for the faculty . room . . • • ._r 7 . Resolution No . 46 approving the establishment of > the Tompkins County. Sewer District #1 . ,�• • t . 1 I Danby Town Board Minutes - March 13 , 1972 - Page 2 Communications Continued : 8 . Agenda of the board of representatives March 13 , 1972 meeting . 9 . Tompkins County Board of Representatives agenda of the February 28 , 1972 meeting . 10 . A court action of the United States District Court of the Northern District of Alabama concerning claims arising from direct or indirect purchases of cast iron pipe and fittings . 11 . A notice from the Association of Towns that the Town of Danby is a member of the Association for the year ending December 31st , 1972 . PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR : Councilman Gerald Crance has not been able to contact Bill Slater yet to find out if Slater Lane is a town road . Councilman Ralph Wilbur says that he has attended all the Environmental Cultural meetings . They have had no real problems so far . At the present time they are working on the by laws . They are short on youth appointments . Justice A . Francis Wright says the justices may run into some problems because of the shortage of assistant district attorneys . Possibly court will have to be held on Wednesday evening as well as Tuesday and Thursday . Also it is very difficult to get someone to come out for trial so the court calendar can be cleared up . The problem of getting trials lined up is due to the cut back of assistant district attorneys from three to two . Previously the justices had the services of an assistant district attorney the 2nd Thursday of every month . Now he may be able to come only once every other month . The justices have several cases pending . Tompkins County Representative E . J . Miller says that he voted against tearing down the college buildings but the majority voted to demolish them . The vote was eight to six . There have been no plans made to utilize this space after the buildings are torn down . The Town of Caroline has been concerned about the sewer districts . Mr . Miller assured us as well as the people in Caroline that there may be as many sewer districts as are approved and they don ' t necessarily need to be tied in together . i 1 7 1 , Danby Town Board Minutes - March 13 , 1972 - Page 3 Privilege of the Floor : The building complex and TC3 are the biggest problems the Tompkins County Board of Representatives are faced with at the moment . There has been no further word to the affirmative yet on the financing of TC3 . The county is considering the possibility of a county highway department and doing away w ith the town highway departments . Most rural supervisors are opposed to this idea . Mr . Miller has been appointed to a committee that is to make a study of the sales tax in Tompkins County . They have until July 1st to give their findings to the board . If the villages and school districts claim their share of the sales tax there is a good possibility that the sales tax w ill be done away with entirely . The reason for this is that the sales tax will no longer be doing the job it was intended for , which was to reduce tax rates in the county . Mr . Miller also mentioned that the Civil Defense Department has many left o ver radio sets they will sell for $50 . 00 . When new these sets would sell for $250 . 00 to $400 . 00 . Perhaps this would be something that Mr . Chaffee would find helpful on his job . The new reapportionment program will mean the city will lose one supervisor and this in turn will mean the loss of one representative . This will make the total representatives 15 instead of 16 . Mr . French was asked by some of the elder people of West Danby if we could hold a town board meeting or two a year in West Danby . Mr . Button wonders why the town doesn ' t take care of the roads that are so badly washed out . The road in front of his house and just above are in very bad shape . Mr . Westmiller had a complaint about Brown Road . It seems that it isn ' t plowed properly in winter and is not kept in good repair in the summer . Roy Casterline brought to the attention of the board that the proposed extension of the water district was turned down in Albany . A public hearing will be held March 14th at 10 : 00 A . M . . to review the objections and the means of overcoming these objections . Albany states that the water district was not designed for expansion . Mr . Makie says expansion is the only way the tax burden on the people in the water district can be reduced . Eugene Rotunda from the Agway Insurance Program presented an insurance plan to the board that he says is better than the one they have at present . 1• r w A Danby Town Board Minutes - March 13 , 1972 - Page 4 COMMITTEE REPORTS : A . Highway Department - Councilman Ralph Wilbur reports that Bruce Hill Road and Miller Road East are completely washed o ut and several others are nearly as bad . This is a major problem . If gravel is brought in from the gravelbank more ✓ oads will be lost due to the trucks traveling over them . Mr . Wilbur feels that people have been very patient and understanding . He also feels the people don ' t realize that this situation isn ' t temporary but one that can ' t be taken care of until May or June . Supervisor Makie said to tell the radio stations that the town board has authorized the highway superintendant to close the roads that must be closed due to the thaw and run off and erosion of the banks . Minimal repairs will be made for local people and an effort will be made to keep traffic off to preserve what is left of the roads . Snow plowing and the use of our equipment was discussed at great length . Councilman Wilbur says that the radio equipment offered by the Civil Defense Department would be a big help if it is not obsolete and service is available for this equipment . He suggested that Mr . Chaffee have a radio man go with him to look at this equipment , find out about installation and also if a service contract was available . Supervisor Makie made the motion that our Highway Superintendant Mr . Chaffee hire a reliable radio man to go with him to inspect the radio equipment and make recommendations . Justice A . Francis Wright seconded the motion which was carried by a vote of five ayes and no noes . B . West Danby Water District - No report C . Insurance - Justice A Francis Wright read a letter from Bill Scott , our present insurance agent , he says that Ithaca Agency cannot give us group hospital or major medical coverage . State law does not permit companies to grant coverage to any municipaliy groups of less than 25 people . He also included a schedule of our current policies . The board asked the committee to investigate other health insurance plans . D . Refuse Collection and Disposal - No report . E . Youth - No report . F . Zoning & Planning - Justice Floyd Dorn says there will be a meeting March 14th . G . Fire - The old fire house is being advertised for sale . Minimum bids will be $10 , 750 . 00 . .i . Cemetaries - No report . ‘1 ✓. I . • 5. Danby Town Board Minutes - March 13 , 1972 - Page 5 OLD BUSINESS : A . Highway Superintendant - No report . B . Report of Zoning Officer - No report . C . Planning Board Chairman - Minutes were read of the last meeting . D . Appeals Board Chairman - No report . E . Town Site Status - Supervisor Donald Makie talked with Bob Bartoff a couple of times and they have decided they want to move the boundry 200 feet further East . This would give us 12 acres of land with a frontage of approximately 600 feet . Also they want the town to stand the cost of a survey . Supervisor Makie felt this was a reasonable request considering the cost of the land . If we should decide to buy the property Mr . Bartoff says they want some of the red pine trees to plant as a hedge . Mr . Bartoff doesn ' t want a years option with no payment . He would go as long as 90 days with no payment . Supervisor Makie talked with attorney Thaler and they came up with a plan to see if they would extent the option for an additional ninety days , if necessary , for the sum of $250 . 00 . F . Donovan Highway Improvement Program - Mr . Chaffee doesn ' t have the cost figures for making the necessary repairs to the town roads . He is working on this and should have these figures next month . G . Investment of Idle Funds - Supervisor Makie invested $ 60 , 000 from the Highway Fund ; $7 , 000 from the West Danby Water District !intil December first ; and $10 , 000 from the General Fund until October 4th and another $10 , 000 until December 4th . This is a total investment of $87 , 000 . 00 . H . Insurance Program - No report . I . Zoning Occupancy Form - Gordon Roberts was not present but has called Supervisor Makie and says he will forward this form as soon as he gets it . Councilman Ralph Wilbur made the motion that updating the zoning maps be added to the duties of the zoning officer . The motion was seconded by by Justice Floyd Dorn and carried by a vote of 5 ayes and no noes . f- 4 II 4 1 4 , Danby Town Board Minutes - March 13 , 1972 - Page 6 Old Business Continued : J . The recommendation was made that the senior member of the planning board should be made chairman if he will accept the job . Edgar Oltz was appointed to the planning board to finish Richard Olson ' s term . A . Francis Wright made the motion that Edgar Oltz be appointed to the planning board . The motion was seconded by Councilman Gerald Crance which was carried by a vote of five ayes and no noes . NEW BUSINESS : The board is amending the Youth Budget for 1971 to approve the purchase of playground equipment in the amount of $489 . 60 . We are able to do this because we are regaining some of our state aid . An itemized bill for this equipment must be submitted . We will regain " 276 . 35 . After reading the contracts from the Automatic Voting Machine Division Councilman Ralph Wilbur made the motion that we buy one voting machine and lease one until February . Justice A . Francis Wright seconded the motion which was carried by a vote of five ayes and no noes . Councilman Gerald Crance made the motion to appoint Lawrence Cortright to the board of assessment and review . This motion was seconded by Justice Floyd Dorn and carried by a vote of five ayes and no noes . General Fund Warrant #3 in the amount of $ 780 . 98 was approved to be paid . The motion was made by Councilman Gerald Crance and seconded by Justice Floyd Dorn andcarried by a vote of five ayes and no noes . The Highway Warrant #3 in the amount of $2 , 375 . 04 was approved to be paid . The motion was made by Councilman Ralph Wilbur and seconded by Justice A . Francis Wright and carried by a vote of five ayes and no noes . West Danby Water District Warrant #3 in the amount of $151 . 09 was approved to be paid . Councilman Gerald Crance made the motion seconded by by Justice A . Francis Wright which was carried by a vote of five ayes and no noes . The motion to accept the supervisors report was made by Justice A . Francis Wright and seconded by Councilman Ralph Wilbur and carried by a vote of four ayes and no noes . rte. I :l r Danby Town Board Minutes - March 13 , 1972 - Page 7 New Business Continued : The motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Justice Floyd Dorn and seconded by Councilman Ralph Wilbur and carried by a vote of five ayes and no noes . Respectfully submitted , a Town Clerk