HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986-03-11 ty
TOWN BOARD MEETING
March 11 , 1986
Minutes of the Board meeting held March 11th
Supv Cotterill called the meeting to order at 7 : 30 PM
Members and guests participated in the Pledge of Allegiance
Roll call was by the Town Clerk : Present : Supv Cotterill , Clm Evans , Clm Webb
Clm Garlock , Atty Perkins and Z . O . Stewart
Absent : Clm Sdhlecht
Supv Cotterill appointed Clm Webb to audit the highway fund bills .
Approval of the minutes: Motion was made by Clm Webb and seconded by Clm Evans
that the minutes of the Feb 11th meeting be approved as submitted .
- COUNTY ' BRIEFING
Co Rep Tillapaugh - reported that the Tompkins County landfill closing date
plans were submitted in Feb to NYSDEC and expect approval in mid April . They
expect earth work about the 1st of June and completion by Oct 1st .
--- Lewis St bridge in the Village of Dryden will be designed and constructed
• this summer . It will be totally funded by NYS highway and bridge funds , There
will be no expense to the county or town .
---• the County Committee has been appointed to work with the Town and City of
Ithaca to negotiate final arrangements for treatment of sludge at the new City
of Ithaca , Town of Ithaca and . Town of Dryden wastewater treatment plant .
--- there has been discussion on County participation for the purchase of r-o-w
and other related • expenses with regard to the :Virgil Creek dam project .
-- the Pinckney Rd bridge is being considered for replacement and this will be
funded with federal and state funds . Design work will be in 1987 and construction
in 19_.88 .
--- reported on the County Board making a decision to move the Dept of Social
Services• to the old hospital_. The City• of Ithaca did make an offer to give up
City Hall to allow- the ' D : S . S , to move into the building . The . D : S . S . Dept would
require the present building that they are now- in and the office space offered
at City Hall . The cost would be a minimum of $ 600 , 000 and there would have to
be major renovations that would have to be done with an estimate of a minimum
of $ 750 , 000 . There - were - several issued discussed before making their decision .
The cost ' to -move the D , S . S . to the old hospital would be to have it renovated for
their office - s will cost about $ 200 , 000 to $ 250 , 000 . Since the County owns the
building there is no cost for buying a building or interest on financing , Some
people consider the transportation to the old hospital a problem . There is
good bus service there and ' the City has stated that . if the need arises they
will provide bus service every half hour . There are people in the county that
would rather go to the old hospital than to fight the city traffice and parking
problems. There are also long range plans that have to be considered in terms for
needs for county office space , which can be housed in the old hospital .
The State and County Court system are in dire need for more space in the the
Court House . The Probation Dept also is in need for more space , The plans are
temporarily to put them at the old hospital , There are plans to have the old jail
studied to see if that could be effectively renovated for office space .
They' have also discussed moving the County Planning Dept to the old hospital ,
moving the. Assessment Dept upstairs of their present location and the Board of
. Elections downstairs so that it is more accessible to people , the handicapped and
elderly , The Office of the Aging would be moved to the Court House complex so they
could be -more easily served ,
- They are also considering to move the Health Dept , Mental Health., Youth Bureau
and other offices that are now - in the H Bldg to the old hospital , so they will
be in a more centralized area - for some of the most important human services .
Clm Evans - as chairman of Homes Inc . , - that at least a group of clients that
they serve will find the move extremely difficult because of their particular
kind of handicap . Wondered if the County would consider the possibility of
having a satellite office . He felt that this would go a long .way in solving
some of the problems
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Co Rep Tillapaugh - this will be considered . Part of that office has been moved
over to another building on State St . These are for people who need service
daily or 2 or 3 times a week . The County felt this would be important to keep
this office downtown .
Clm Webb - wanted to know the status regarding a landfill area ?
Co Rep Tillapaugh - They have had one meeting and are gathering information .
At the present time the cheapest and most cost effective way would be to build
another landfill , and to find a proper location that would be approved by DEC .
They are hoping for some decision in about 3 years .
Clm Webb -wanted to know if the County was working on liability insurance ?
Co Rep Tillapaugh - They have hired a consultant to work with them with
✓ egard to insurance problems . .
ATTORNEY' . ill/
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Atty Perkins - the Board has received a preliminary copy of the report from
Hunt Engineers regarding the water. - and sewer study in the Varna and Hanshaw
Rd area . 'Procedurally , we are at a turning point , because this report is not
yet filed with the Town Clerk . It is received by the Town and is distributed
to the Board members .. There are some substantial dollars involved and the
question is how- can anyone afford to build any of these extensions so that people
whb. • Would like to hook up would be able to afford to pay for them , He has
talked with. Supv Cotterill about this problem and has conferred with the bond
council in New- York . They should be involved in this study to help us determine
whether or not it is feasible to proceed . One question is , is ° it possible to
construct the sewer and water transmissions lines as a townwide expense and
thereby spreading the cost over the whole town. , and as individuals hook into the
system service areas have them pay a proprotionate share of the capital construction
costs and the operating and maintenance costs . That , under the existing law is
apparently not possible . However , it is possible to proceed under ' another article
o f Town Law- to ask the State Legislature to adopt a special enabling legislation
for the Town to do such thing . It basically serves the purpose of protecting
the individual homeowner from ever having their share of the original capital
cost . It is a very complex point that we are at . He has forwarded a copy of the
✓ eport and map to the bond council and have asked them to contact him. . after
they have had a chance to review them . Obviously , anything that is ° undertaken
will be only if there is a resonable expectation that the State Comptrollers
Office will approve it . If there isn-!: t a need3for enabling legislation when
it is introduced to , the Assembly and Senate it ° will be immediately referred
back to the State Comptroller ' s for their approval . He felt that it should
not even be submitted unless we know ahead of time as towwheth.er this will work .
This opinion should come from the bond council who has more experience . They
have suggested to us that we don!. t file the map , plan and report with the
Town Clerk at the present time, the reason being that triggers a whole series
o f things which have to . happen , including public hearings , ' etc . There is no
intent Mrs Brown , to keep any of this information and is trying to explain that
it would be putting the cart before the horse . I. t is certainly .clear that they
are ;only preliminary, and there is ±1o . .intent to . file it with the Town Clerk at
the present time . It is now- up toethe bond council for their opinion to advise us .
Mrs Brown -• wanted to know- if she could see a copy , even if it is not part of
public record until it is filed with the Town Clerk?
Atty Perkins - he does not have any objection that a copy be made available
for her to look at . He felt that from a .practical . point . that - if it is .not widely
decimated there is less chance of people relying upon it and getting the wrong
information . . . .
Supv Cotterill - there is no question that what is in there now is not going to
happen in its present context . First of all because it is not financially feasible .
Mrs . Brown this is what they understand . They also have another question that
in the environmental statement of the new armory . They say that the Town will
provide water and sewer . -
Supv Cotterill when they say the Town , anything that we do they will pay for .
Mrs Brown - she is talking about the schedule .
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Atty Perkins - it should be made clear right now that there is no agreement or
Promise that the Town will do any such ^ thing . The Town did promise that they
would look into it and this is what we have done . The figures have come back
so astronomically high that we are not even considering proceeding in its present
form . I't would be appropriate for you to review this if you would like to and
it is not made available for comment .
Mrs Brown -- that is right .
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Atty Perkins - the Town Board does not want comments on it . This is not
anything that the Town is about to do .
Mrs . Brown - they understand that but , we were invited to make comments on the
other thing , which we did and what we said was how could they say that they
were going to have water and sewer when the study hasn ' t even been completed yet .
Also she would like to ask when they made this area a MA Zone it was said that
nothing would be done for certain kinds of development until there was public
water and sewer there . She realizes that the Town is not responsible for what
the State does with the armory . The residents in the area were assured that
the things there were going into a MA Zone wouldn ' t go in if there was a
water or sewer problem .
Atty Perkins - It is his understanding that the armory is going in there even
if public water and sewer is not available . They are prepared to drill a well
and provide for their on site facilities . -
Mrs Brown - their statement did not say anything about the well , it said about
the other .
Supt/ Cotterill -- anything that DEC and the Health Dept approve is acceptable .
If , they want water and sewer from us , we would be glad to bring it to them ' if
they agree to pay the - costs .
Mrs Brown their concern is . not in this instance , particular- on the water and
sewer with - the armory . " It is their private costs and private use of the water
and sewer and also what other kinds of development are allowed there .
Atty Perkins' - if you examine what likely kinds of development that will go
in there , for example storage .
Mrs Brown - we have that and it doesn ' t take much water and doesn ' t need .sewer .
- Atty Perkins - the same would be true for a beer distributor warehouse . They
would have a few- employees- which wouldn ' t generate much use for water or sewer /
From a practical standpoint you will not see any type of manufacturing or heavy
assembly come into a NA Zone without public water and sewer .
Mrs Brown - what we have with the armory is 200 people which is a 'big development .
Mrs Kailburn - wanted to know if the armory would be expected to get approval
from the environmentalist if they choose to go with the septic tank and well?
Will there have to be a study made ?
Clm Webb -• you • can ' t tell what will happen because it is out of the Town ' s and
County' s hands-, since it is a federal agency .
Mrs: Brown - would like to feel that the Town is on their side .
Mrs Kailburn - they are going to put four underground fuel tanks there and felt
that they should comply with all of the regulations .
Atty Perkins - they do , one thing with having them there they have the money
to correct any- problem .
Mrs Brown - they - went to the Jacksonville meeting and it is not so easy to correct
a problem once it has happened .
Clm Webb- they are fighting a corporation and the government would have the money
to correct the problem .
Supt/ Cotterill - couldn ' t believe that DEC would allow the armory to do something
that they wouldn ' t allow a private individual to do .
Atty Perkins - the State is subject to its own environmental procedures . They
also have to . comply with. SEQR .
Mrs Kailburn - will they make it known publically as to what direction they are
going , so that it can be monitored , or will they go ahead and do it ?
Atty Perkins - couldn ' t answer , but assumed that would be part of their
environmental assessment form .
Mrs• Kilburn - they have already by passed that .
Atty Perkins do you mean the period for comment has passed on the environmental
assessment form?
Mrs Brown it was not an environmental impact statement because they declared
there was no environmental impact there .
Supt/ Cotterill - felt that the armory will look into both public water and
sewer and doing it themselves to see which is the most feasible . The Town Board
said that they were going to do a study for water and sewer in that area and
this is the first that we have seen any figures .
Mrs Brown - you haven ' t seen their statement ? They make the statement that they
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are going to have water supplied and that they were going to have sewer . On
the sewer , ` if they don ' t get the sewer by the time the thing is finished they
will deal with the Health Dept .
Atty Perkins - they were informed sometime ago , before this report was even
written , after we had the preliminary figures that it didn ' t look feasible .
Atty Perkins - Z . O . Stewart asked him to look at the Town Zoning Ordinance and
how a recent court of appeals case dealt with descriptions of a number of
unrelated people living together as a unit . After reviewing the ordinance and
a case that was decided .in Dec , he did not think that there was any problem
with our ordinance the way it is written right now . The reason is that for
• many years we have incorporated an alternative or option in the definition
of family so we would aIIbw- unrelated individuals to live together . . We only
restrict the number and that isnapparently still a legitimate function
because it controls density . If there are more than 3 unrelated people than
it is considered a boarding house . under our zoning ordinance . There was some
discussion .
Atty Perkins - the Town Board might want to consider amending the ^ zoning ordinance
to increase the fine which will be applicable for Someone who begins construction
without a building permit . The reason is that the fine is only $ 100 . 00 . This
is not much of a deterrent . It should be about $ 500 . 00 per day maximum fine
and this will have a significant deterrent to builders . He felt that the Board
should have a committee to study this consideration .
Atty Perkins - the = Town Board should also look at the situation about abandoned
vehicles and vehicles that are used different times of the year during the winter
and summer months . He has prepared a form for the Zoning Officer to use in
cases like this for the people to sign .
Clm Evans - is one that has one of these cars that he does not want to drive
' during the winter months and it is a registered , driveable and inspected car . He
can put the : car in his garage and put his tractor outside and that would be legal .
He felt that this really is unreasonable . . There is a difference between a vehicle
that can be registered and one that will never run again .
Supt/ Cotterill - the purpose of the ordinance is to stop people from collecting
vehicles sitting around and being an eyesore . The Deputy Zoning Officer has
written up 90 zoning violations regarding unlicensed or unregistered cars
and this is only a small part of the town .
Atty Perkins - executive session regarding Cortland Rd Water district .
TQWN CLERK.
Town Clerk Lloyd reported that she had sent out 100 letters to . the residents in the
voting districts that had been changed because of the Election Law .
' ZQN-ING ' OFFI:CER .
Z ; O , Stewart - reported 1 building permit for the month of Feb. . 1 one- family
dwelling . ZBOA had no hearings . Reported that Amos, Brown has come in compliance
with his special permit for a garage .
--_ Also the new town directory should be ready by the end of the month .
. RESOLUTION ' # 64 ADVERTISE ' FOR ' BIDS 1986 TRUCK TRACTOR
Clm Garlock offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption :
RESOLVED , that this Town Board authorize the Deputy Highway Superintendent to
advertise for bids on one new 1986 , truck- tractor in an amount not to exceed $ 62 , 000 . 00
2nd Clm Webb Roll call vote - all voting YES
RESOLUTION # 65 ' ADVERTISE FOR BIDS ON ONE 1986 CHIPPER
Clm Garlock. offerd the following resolution and asked for - : its adoption :
RESOLVED , that this Town Board authorise the Deputy Highway Superintendent to
advertise for bids for one new 1986 Chipper in an amount not to exceed
$ 14 , 000 . 00 .
2nd Clm Evans Roll call 'vote - all voting YES
RESOLUTTON . # 65 -AADVERTISE FOR . . BIDS TO SELL - ONE USED
STONE ' CRUSHER
.Oarlock offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption :
RESOLVED , that this Town Board authorise the Deputy Highway Superintendent to
advertise for bids to sell one used stone crusher .
2nd Clm Webb Carried
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RESOLUTION # 66 LEAD AGENCY POSITION IN VIRGIL
• CREEK WATERSHED PROJECT - TOMPKINS COUNTY
Clm Webb offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption :
WHEREAS , developed areas in the Virgil Creek watershed frequently experience
flooding problems resulting in serious damages ; and
WHEREAS , the United States Department of Agriculture , Soil Conservation
Service has conducted studies of such flooding problems and recommended
construction of a dam on Virgil Creek upstream of the Village of Dryden
as reported in the Preauthorization Planning Report and Plan of Work , and
WHEREAS , the Counties of Tompkins and Cortland , the Towns of Dryden and
Harford , the Village of Dryden , and the Soil Conservation Districts of.
Tompkins and Cortland Counties co- sponsored a successful application for
a more detailed study pursuant to Public Law 566 , and
WHEREAS , in response to that application , the Soil Conservation Service
currently is preparing a detailed work plan focusing on the Virgil Creek 3
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dam project as recommended' in the Report , and
WHEREAS , the local share of costs are estimated at about $ 164 , 000 for the
necessary land and land rights acquisition , • and
WHEREAS , New York State has a State Aid to Counties Program for reimbursing
Counties up to 50 % of these costs pursuant to County Law 299W , now
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town of Dryden requests that Tompkins
County assume the lead agency position in the Virgil Creek Watershed
project for the purpose of applying to the State Aid to Counties Program
pursusant to County Law 299W ,
RESOLVED FURTHER , that it is :the intention of the Town of Dryden to
participate equally with the County and Village of Dryden in the local share
of costs , each participant contributing approximately $ 27 , 000 . 00 after
reimbursement from the State Aid to Counties Program . •
2nd Clm Evans Roll call vote - Supv Cotterill YES
• Clm Webb YES
Clm Evans YES
Clm Garlock YES
Clm Schlecht ABSENT
•
CORRESPONDENCE
Ambulance report
Zoning /Planning Seminar - March 18th & 19th
Resignations - Highway Superintendent Humphrey and ZBOA Jim Crawford
Thomas Rd speed limit request rejected .
• Annual financial report
Monthly dog report •
RESOLUTION # 67 APPOINT ' VERN ' GAMBRIEL TO ' ECONOMICADVISORY
Supt' Cotterill offered the following resolution *and asked for its adoption :
RESOLVED , that this Town Board appoint Vern Gambriel to the Economic Advisory
Board as the Town of Dryden representative .
2nd Evan's Carried
RESOLUTION 468 APPOINT JOHN ' BAKER • TO ZBOA
Supv Cotterill offered the ! following resolution and asked for its adoption :
• RESOLVED , .that this Town Board appoint John Baker to Zoning Board of Appeals to
replace Robert .: Keech. :whosekerm expired Dec . 1985 . John . Baker ' s term to expire 1990 .
2nd Clm Evans Carried
1 RESOLUTION # 69 AUDIT ' GENERAL - FUND BILLS •
Clm Evans offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption :
RESOLVED , that the general fund bills be paid as audited
2nd Clm Webb , I , .. _ . . . Rol. 1 call vote - all voting YES'
. RESOLUTION ## 70 AUDIT HIGHWAY FUND BILLS
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CIm Garlock offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption :
RESOLVED , that the highwayrfund bills be paid as audited .
2nd Clm Webb i Roll call vote - all voting YES
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RESOLUTION # 71 AUDIT SPECIAL DISTRICT BILLS
Clm Evans offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption :
RESOLVED , that the special district bills be paid as audited .
2nd Clm Webb Roll call vote - all voting YES
JUSTICE REPORT - $ 5 , 685 . 50
FINANCIAL REPORT - given to Board members
Clm Evans - the software that has been reviewed for the accounting area is
a reasonable set of software . Software , * in some sense , is personal as well
as professional . As well : as the Supv ' s Office you should consider the court
system , Town Clerk , and Zoning Office . He suggeststhat when we get all done
we are probably going to need 3 personal computers networked together with
a single disc storage system . It is difficult to share a single personal
computer running separate applications on which only one can run at a time .
Since the activity of all 3 offices is continual throughout the day it
wouldn ' t be practical or possible to have one PC . The implication is that
when we are done we are going to put these systems together as 3 separate
units interconnecting with a single disc storage file system on one . To start
o ut as a -minimum we probably need to do the Supv ' s area and the court area .
These systems; have. word processors which the Town Clerk could start using
and getting used to when she was able to develop her system , then we should
add her own PC and her own word processor system to complete the job , and
t he Zoning Officer could also use it for the ordinance , and permit applications .
k' or the court system there is software that is available free of charge from
the State Judicial System .
Supt/ Cotterill - between himself and Clm Evans and the people that have been
involved have a good idea on the software that will meet the Town ' s needs
plus the. service . The hardware will be bought through state contract . It seems
appropriate that they will -maintain both the software and hardware . We need
some motion of approval from the Board to authorize the committee to be empowered
to start on this basic system and then we- can have more exact figures on what
it is going to cost to add -any extensions . If - ' all of the packages were bought
for just the NYS municipal accounting system which is designed strictly for
municipal accounting to meet the state audit and control system would run
about $ 9 , 000 but wasn ' t sure about purchasing all of the packages . So we
are talking $ 15 , 000 or $ 16 , 000 for the computer and software .
Clm Evans .- another PC network and software for the court will run about $ 5500 .
Supt/ Cotterill -- we -may not buy all of the packages , we may just buy the
accounting and word processor , We may not go to the utility billing now since
we need to finalize that a little more .
Clm Webb we put in $ 10 , 000 last year and $ 10 , 000 this year in the budget ?
LSupv Cotterill -yes , we aren ' t borrowing the money , it is available .
Vern Gambriel - offered his services , since he has been with computers since 1974
and presently owns . several PC and hard discs . He has set up utility billings for
several municipalities in upstate .
Supv Cotterill - they don ' t want to go much further without some authorization
from the Board . I don ' t think at this point we have need to go beyond what is
already in the budget , if we do we are willing to come back with the exact figures
before we go beyond that .
RESOLUTION # 72 AUTHORIZE COMMITTEE TO NEGOTIATE COMPUTER
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
Clm Garlock offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption :
RESOLVED , . that the committee be empowered to negotiate for computer software
and hardware to within the amount that is currently in the budget of $ 20 , 000 . 00
2nd Clm Webb Roll call vote - all voting YES
✓ ecessed to executive session 9 : 15
convened at 9_ : 30 PM and the following resolutions were made .
RESOLUTION # 73 TEMPORARY EASEMENTS f
Clm Evans offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption :
RESOLVED , that this Town Board authorize the Town Attorney and Supervisor to
negotiate with -Mr Ronald Goddard for temporary easements and options to
purchase two parcels of property which is south of Mott Rd and west of NYS Rt 13
and North. Rd .
2nd Clm Webb Carried j
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' RESOLUTION # 74 APPOINT HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT
Clm Webb offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption :
RESOLVED , that this Town Board appoint Donald Gilbert as Town of Dryden
Highway Superintendent to fill out the balance of this year until Dec . 31st .
1986 .
2nd Cim Garlock Carried
Adjourned : , 9 : 45PM
L-41:15C,
% cam
Susanne Lloyd
Town Clerk