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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-05-04PH 5-4 -98 TOWN OF DRYDEN ® PUBLIC HEARING MAY 43P 1998 The public hearing was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Supv Schug. The purpose of the public hearing is to review proposed Local Law #2 of 1998 regarding the regulation of telecommunication towers and to review proposed changes in the Town.of Dryden Zoning Ordinance regarding telecommunication towers. Notice of public hearing was posted on the Town signboard and published in The Ithaca Journal in the manner prescribed by law. Supv Schug acknowledged receipt of a letter from Daniel Spitzer, Esq., of Hodgson, Russ, Andrews, Woods & Goodyear, which contains comments regarding our proposed Local Law. Town Clerk distributed a revision to the Local Law by Atty Perkins. In view of these changes, the Board will hear comments from the public, but will take no action tonight regarding the tower ordinance. The matter will be rescheduled for May 12, 1998, Erica Evans, Turkey Hill Road - asked for confirmation that cell towers can be erected in any zone and was informed by Supv Schug that was true. Supv Schug - stated that we have hired Monroe Telecom to assist the Town of Dryden in writing this law. We are encouraging co- location. The Town currently has two cell towers and two other towers (our own and one for the Sheriffs Dept.). These cell towers can be placed in bell towers in churches and on top of silos. The two towers that are up presently were done in good taste and appear to be safe. • Erica Evans - Who will make the judgement about where these towers are located. Supv Schug - The Town Board will probably hear it. There will be a public hearing for each tower application. The Planning Board can be notified of applications and have an opportunity for input. Assured Atty Spitzer that the Town will take into consideration every aspect of his letter dated May 3, 1998, and offered him an opportunity to address the Board. Atty Spitzer - Is here representing Omnipoint Communications, Inc. With him is Tom Baldwin, their project manager in this area, and Tim Leonard and Ms. Beck from TEA Group. He appreciates the cooperative atmosphere the Town offers. Most of our suggestions we feel would make the law easier to understand and better, but there are a couple of areas where they have a problem with the law. They are concerned with the fees that will be assessed. Respectfully suggests that these are beyond reasonable. He does like the pre - application review aspect and welcomes the opportunity to have that meeting, suggesting it be done soon. The other aspect is the recovery of administration costs and engineering review. Feels the fees . at under the law are too high and would like us to look at those Suggests th New York law is fairly clear that you must have some sort of factual study to justify what you think the engineer is going to cost. Feels it is a good idea to use a State licensed engineer to review the application. Feels the price should be more fixed. Suggests we look at the SEQR law which uses one -half of one percent. Not quite sure whether the Town is asking for appropriate information and what the Town would do with this information. Certain things you can look at and certain things you can't. Some things you can't regulate and we shouldn't be charged for you to look at those. r Page 1 of 2 PH 5-4 -98 Feels it's a good law in terms of a lot of the things that it asks about visual effects and . that it encourages co- location. Has concerns about what kind of things the Town will try to recover as costs. Costs regarding general government cannot be recovered, such as hired expertise in writing the law. Suggests that if the moratorium is extended that it be changed so that Onipoint can submit its application and begin processi m ng. Atty Spitzer does not feel we have the authority to say the applicant must indemnify us at the town level. Feels that is a provision that comes out of typical right -of -way laws. They have pointed that out to the Town of Malta and that town is now taking that provision out of their law. Feels a bond is sufficient. Supv Schug - assured Mr. Spitzer that we would consider his letter, take a look at the costs and fees. Informed him that if we passed the law and there turned out to be a problem with it, we would change it. Atty Spitzer inquired what the ambient tree height is and requested that the law read that there shall be no towers over 140 feet. He invited the Town to call him if there was anything we would like to discuss with him. Public hearing closed at 7:30 p.m. Page 2 of 2 TB 5-4 -98 TOWN OF DRYDEN • TOWN BOARD MEETDVG MAY 4, 1998 Supv Schug called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Members and guests were asked to remember the Hajney and Bolduc incident and participated in a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance. Supv Schug explained that because of the proposed changes to Local Law #2 of the year 1998 (hereafter referred to as Local Law #3 of the year 1998) it would be necessary to schedule another public hearing with respect to those changes, and further it would be necessary to hold a public hearing in connection with Local Law #4 of the year 1998 which would repeal the moratorium. RESOLUTION # 112 - SET PUBLIC HEARING FOR LOCAL LAW #3 OF THE YEAR 1998 Cl T Hatfield offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: WHEREAS, the Town Board has conducted a public hearing on a proposed local law regulating the siting of telecommunications towers, antennae and related facilities, and WHEREAS, said proposed local law has been reviewed by consultants for the town of Dryden who have suggested certain corrections thereto to aid in clarification of the intention of the Town in regulating telecommunication towers, antennae and related facilities, and • WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to hold a second public hearing on the proposed local law with such amendments incorporated therein, it is hereby RESOLVED, That proposed local law #3 of the year 1998 is hereby introduced and a public hearing shall be held before the Town Board on May 12, 1998 at 7:30 p.m. prevailing time at the Town Hall, 65 East Main Street, Dryden, New York, and it is further RESOLVED, That the Town Clerk is directed to publish notice of such public hearing and post notice on the town signboard in accordance with the provisions of law. 2nd Cl D Grantham Roll Call Vote Cl R Beck Yes Cl T Hatfield Yes Cl C Hatfield Yes Cl D Grantham Yes RESOLUTION # 113k SET PUBLIC HEARING FOR LOCAL LAW #4 OF THE YEAR 1998 Cl T Hatfield offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that proposed Local Law No.4 of the year 1998 is hereby introduced. This proposed local law would repeal effective with the filing of a local law regulating the siting of telecommunications towers the previously adopted moratorium on the siting of such towers as imposed by Local Law No. 4 of the year 1997 and extended by Local Law No. 1 of the year 1998, and it is further Page 1 of 4 TB 5-4 -98 RESOLVED, that a public hearing shall be held before the Town Board on May 12, 1998 • at 7:45 p.m. prevailing time at the Town Hall, 65 East Main Street, Dryden, New York, and it is further RESOLVED, that the Town Clerk is directed to publish notice of such public hearing and post notice on the Town signboard in accordance with the provisions of law. 2nd Cl D Grantham Roll Call Vote Cl R Beck Yes Cl T Hatfield Yes Cl C Hatfield Yes Cl D Grantham Yes Supv Schug informed the Board that Mr. Smith from Time Warner was present to discuss the franchise agreement recently offered by Time Warner. Phil Smith, General Manager of Time Warner - Stated he is here at the Board's pleasure to discuss a document to forwarded to the Town about 6 weeks ago. He has been in the Ithaca Office of Time Warner since January of 1996. He has been working with the Tompkins County Intermunicipal Cable Commission. It seemed like a good idea at the time though it was unusual and he acknowledges that there were not good relations between the community and the preceding cable company. Time Warner has agreed to the vast majority of what the Commission wanted, but has been unable to finalize a document, and now the Intermunicipal Cable Commission is wanting to hire a consultant. Mr. Smith feels this will add another two years or so to the process and therefore has taken it upon himself to offer a franchise to the Town at this point and has presented the document as it exists. Acknowledges that it is lengthy and complex, but he has no problem with anything in this document. One of the reasons that it is so lengthy is • that they have included verbatim NYS Public Service Rules and Regulations. Feels the Town would be better off trying to complete this document as he feels the Intermunicipal Cable Commission will not be ready for some time yet. Mr. Smith informed the Board that there is a "most favored nations clause" in the document and that should Time Warner reach an agreement with the Intermunicipal Cable Commission and should such an agreement contain any clause(s) which the Town of Dryden would like incorporated in their contract, it would then be possible to do so. Time Warner recognizes however there will be differences in franchises depending on the needs of the municipalities. Cl T Hatfield inquired whether it would possible for the Town to have its own public access structure. Mr. Smith - understands there is a desire in this community for that and would like to address that in our final document. Time Warner started last week with an upgrade in Freeville. The technology of this allows separate access channels in each of the municipalities should they desire that. NYS Public Service law requires that you have at least one public access channel and at least one shared education /governmental access channel. There are a variety of kinds of things that can be done, depending on the community. Supv Schug - suggested TC3 might be a place for the public access charnel. Inquired about fiber optics and whether the cable company might work with the telephone company to provide services through their fiber optic cable. Mr. Smith - advised that that is not generally done, the technology differs between the delivery of telephone services and cable tv services. • Page 2 of 4 TB 5-4 -98 Supv Schug - many people are not able to receive television cable services because of . their location. Mr. Smith - the current franchise calls for the cable company to build to a density of 27 homes per mile and we are generally building down to about 20 homes per mile and that is something we can talk about in a new franchise. Noted that people are now able to receive TV through satellite dishes. He has been talking with TC3 trying to figure out how to get cable in there, and the High School is another place you might consider for a public access point. No one knows why TC3 was not included in the original plan. Another thing of interest is alternative access to the Internet. We have a product called Roadrunner which is a highspeed cable modem service. Once the upgrade is done, well be able to offer this service. Cl T Hatfield inquired whether this would compete with the phone company for Internet access. Mr. Smith - It is a little unclear at this point what the regulations will be with respect to that. Suggests that Time Warner will be prepared to offer Internet service within the next one to two years. Cl T Hatfield asked Mr. Smith to address the issue of cable fees and deductibility of property taxes against that and the whole franchise payment. Mr. Smith - Section 626 of the NYS Real Property Law allows cable operators to take a credit for property taxes paid against franchise fees paid in a community. There are two ways that a community ought to be handling that issue. One is to address it in your contract. I also suggest you start talking to your State Legislators about it. The law has been on the books for years and he was unaware that it was being done until after the fact. He is interested in knowing how the Town feels about the contents of the proposed franchise agreement. If we want a separate public access he would like to know that. It is important to the company to have a franchise. They are a week into making a ten million dollar investment in the community and their investors would like assurance that the company can continue to do business in the community. Supv Schug - advised him that we would like an opportunity to look over the contract and discuss it. We have in the past participated in intermunicipal agreements, however if it makes more sense for us negotiate separate of the Cable Commission, we will do so. Mr. Smith - Having a franchise in place will not prevent your involvement with the Intermunicipal Cable Commission, Cl T Hatfield - Is there a reason why we should want a franchise now? Mr. Smith - Has already touched on a number of reasons why we should. Line extensions is one - a less dense line expansion policy. Franchise fees is another. Not having a franchise for a number of years may have caused the Town to lose out on some revenue. Rates are governed by Federal regulations. Our basic rate has risen only 2% in two years. There has been a great deal of discussion about our basic service. Right now basic service offers 24 channels. That is relatively large for a basic cable package. We have a number of broadcasters because of our geographic location that we are required to carry. We are also required to carry all our public access channels. We carry some non- mandated channels on our basic package - E Entertainment, WTBS of Atlanta, a shopping channel. It is possible to somewhat reduce the size of the basic service and reduce the cost of basic cable, but that would • increase the rate of the standard package. Page 3 of 4 TB 5-4 -98 • Mr. Smith encourages anyone to call him with questions. His telephone number is 272- 7875, extension 3329. Thanked the board for their time to speak with him. Should we desire advise in the process of negotiating the franchise he suggested we contact the NYS Public Service. They have a municipal service Commission which offers no fee consultation. Supv Schug - With respect to our other town business tonight, and the local laws, Henry has prepared the SEQR papers and we will do the SEQR on May 12, 1998. Henry has five major special permit hearings. Three of the five really involve the Varna Community. We'd like to do two of them on the 12th here and schedule the other three for Varna. Let's try to set a date to hear those matters. Cl C Hatfield - inquired what the road right -of -way with respect to the brush cutting regulations are. Supv Schug - Most of our roads are 50' right of way. The State's new regulations are 60' wide. We've changed our town road specifications to 60'. Atty Perkins - You have to distinguish between the roads which are roads by user, those roads which were dedicated and those roads which the town actually got title to. When we take title to a road now almost without exception we get a 60' right of way. In some cases its wider. There have been occasions where we narrowed it. If you are referring to Ellis Hollow Creek Road where the brush cutting is taking place, this is a highway by user and the width of the right of way is limited to the area which has usually been worked. It doesn't necessarily go a rod and a half each side of the centerline. Generally the authority is to open the Town roads to three rods wide and if that's what you've been working, then that's the highway by user. But if the highway's been narrower, then you limited to what you've been using. It comes down to a question of fact in each particular instance. Supv Schug You have to use reasonable expectation and consider the travelling public and our obligations. Atty Perkins - It largely comes down to a question of public relations between the Highway Department and the neighbors. Upon motion of Cl T Hatfield, seconded by Cl D Grantham, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Hollenbeck Town Clerk • Page 4 of 4 r Town of Dryden Informational Update Varna Community Association May 7, 1998 Items proposed for discussion: Highway Department: Chain of command (who to call for what if Don Gilbert is unavailable) Highway Dept. priorities Brushcutting in Ellis Hollow & other parts of Town Maintenance of roads, including Hickory Heights, Hunt Lane, Beam Hill and Others Blind corners: Intersection of 366 & Freese Road; intersection of Mt. Pleasant & Turkey Hill Roads Speed limit through Varna (letter from Town to State) Children at play signs close to Varna Community Association, Ellis Hollow Community Association & other community centers in Town of Dryden Ottenshcott property on 366 & Freese Road Formal proposal from Varna Community Association to Town Board for parking lot construction Leaking pond on hill behind residences on Rt 366 (Marshall property) Possible road construction to same property for access to Rt 366 Proposed Dryden School Road Master Plan for Dryden Personal safety program for Dryden: 3 evening sessions at Varna Community Association, etc. Other business