Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-09-13 TB 9- 13- 12 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING September 13, 2012 Present : Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner , CI Stephen Stelick, CI Joseph Solomon , Cl Jason Leifer, Cl Linda Lavine Elected Officials : Bambi L. Avery , Town Clerk Other Town Staff: Dan Kwasnowski , Director of Planning Nick Goldsmith , Sustainability Planner Jennifer Case , Bookkeeper Jeff Kirby, Telecommunications Consultant Supv Sumner called the meeting to order at 7 : 33 p. m . Supv Sumner explained that there needs to be a budget modification to accommodate the Varna Fire Dept intern payroll . The fire department contributed the money and the Town did the payroll for them . The town received $200 for this service . RESOLUTION # 147 (2012 ) - APPROVE BUDGET MODIFICATIONS Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption : ® RESOLVED , that this Town Board hereby authorizes the following budget modifications: From Acct To Acct Amount A2770 $2 , 200 . 00 A1220 . 105 2 ,000 . 00 A1220 . 405 200 . 00 2" CI Stelick Roll Call Vote CI Stelick Yes Cl Solomon Yes Supv Sumner Yes CI Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes There was a question about vouchers for payment of CSA memberships . These were purchased from the Creating Healthy Places grant funds and will benefit low income families in the community . RESOLUTION # 148 (2012) - APPROVE ABSTRACT #9 Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption : RESOLVED , that this Town Board hereby approves Abstract #9 , as audited , vouchers #785 though #883 , totaling $348 , 985 . 45 . 2nd Cl Stelick Roll Call Vote CI Stelick Yes Page 1of5 TH 9- 13 - 12 • Cl Solomon Yes Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes Dan Kwasnowski introduced Nick Goldsmith , who has replaced Katie Stoner as our Sustainability Planner. This is a position shared with the Town of Ithaca under a grant from The Park Foundation . D Kwasnowski said they are picking up where Katie left off, but the short term goals have been reoriented toward an energy plan . Nick Goldsmith gave the board some information on his background and reviewed his sustainability work plan timeline . This is a 20- month plan divided into sections on Pre- planning, government sustainability , community sustainability , the Solar Liberty Photovoltaic Lease , Bolton Point Performance Contract Feasibility , and the Comprehensive Plan . The majority of the work will be done on government and community sustainability , following a process set up by Local Governments for Sustainability . He will complete a greenhouse gas inventory , establish reduction targets , create and then implement an energy action plan , then monitor and report the results. The timeline is ambitious but he believes he will accomplish it . Don Scutt asked what the goal was and N Goldsmith said to incorporate sustainability practices into town operations . He is specifically hoping to implement an energy action plan . It is a cyclical process and they will constantly be adjusting targets . D Kwasnowski said the Park Foundation was interested in seeing what will happen if 411 this position is introduced at the town level . They thought that the Towns of Ithaca and Dryden were similar enough yet different enough and in different stages of development, that they could compare and share experiences . The town will likely save money through these efforts . There will be environmental benefits, social benefits and cost benefits . L Lavine would like to see a local farmers market: in town. Supv Sumner said this could be done as part of the Healthy Communities grant . D Scutt said he has a deep objection to the town accepting money from outside foundations for an advisory position . The program is good , but it is not a good practice . Verizon tower at NYSEG - D Kwasnowski said Verizon has submitted a special use permit because they are upgrading to 4G which requires a change of antenna and equipment in the shed . Jeff Kirby said it is a fairly straightforward upgrade . It is happening around the area. He noted it does appear that Verizon has admitted to upgrading their installation within the last few years without permission . Our law requires a. permit for that change of equipment. Things that affect visual impact and potential structural capacity should be reviewed under the law, and should be enforced . Our law also requires recertification after 5 year, and that is not being done. 4G requires more infrastructure . Carriers that originally put up 3 antennas may now be looking for 15 . This application will be scheduled for an October 18 public hearing. CI Stelick said he would like a statement in writing from Verizon with respect to the antennas that were installed without an application and permit. Cl Lavine would like to move forward with the road protection measures . She said this . should have a higher priority than the CEAs . Supv Sumner said we should have the local law and the road use agreement for the best protection . Cl Leifer will obtain the law template from Page 2uf5 113 9- 13- 12 all Whiteman Osterman and get it to Atty Perkins for his review. CI Lavine offered to work with CI Leifer on this. Aquifer protection - D Kwasnowski said USGS has created a model and the recharge areas are delineated . He and Josh are doing an analysis of the drainage areas using lidar data to make sure they cover recharge areas . He plans to use the Virgil law as a model . Cl Stelick said the CEAs are important, but the aquifer and road protection are easy[ easier?j , and we should get those done first. D Kwasnowski and Cl Leifer will review the law , while Josh works on the map . D Kwasnowski feels zoning pretty well covers it and doesn 't allow uses that are a threat to the aquifer. The uses that are affected are uses that don 't exist in the town . Varna Zoning Amendment D Kwasnowski presented the board with a draft of zoning amendments relating to the Varna Plan . He said the zoning that was attached was not actually part of the plan . He has revised this and said it basically addresses the Varna Community Association 's concerns . The minimum lot size change takes care of a lot of their issues . He said it is cleaner and easier to do as new zoning districts, so there are three new districts. He asked the board to review this and get back to him . The Varna community has not seen it yet . It will be shared with them and the development community . CI Lavine is interested in their feedback . Board members were asked to get: their comments via email to D Kwasnowski by next board meeting. He would also like the Planning Board to review it. Budget Supv Sumner said her budget message was sent to staff in August . The goal is a zero growth budget and looks promising so far. Department heads have done a good job. She is working on allocating sales tax revenue and fund balance . She hopes to have a draft version to the board on September 20 . On next week's agenda will be introduction of a proposed local law for authority to override the tax levy cap. Supv Sumner said she doesn 't anticipate exceeding it. This is a little difficult because we have always applied so much fund balance in the balance that it has kept the levy artificially low . Other zoning amendments CI Leifer and CI Stelick would like to see what D Kwasnowski has done so far . They want to make sure they are as they expected them to be. If not, they will make the changes at the meeting and introduce what is given them plus their amendments. That is what would be published for the public hearing. D Kwasnowski said he did an analysis with respect the ag districts and he has found a couple of small parcels that he would change . CI heifer would like to see the map change displayed at the meeting. Bolton Point water rate ® Supv Sumner said each member municipality must approve the Bolton Point water rate for 2013 .. The Commission has approved a substantial rate increase from $3 . 15 per 1 ,000 gallons to $4 . 00 per 1 , 000 gallons. They have been looking at necessary capital improvements Page 3 el' S 113 9- 13 - 12 and replacements . Money has not been set aside for those projects . The Bolton Point finance committee agreed to the rate increase because of $800 , 000 budgeted for transmission main replacement this year, and there will be about that much each year for up to twenty years . She noted that if the water rate had followed the rate of inflation and there had not been dips in the rate in 1999 and 2000 , it would now $4 . 18 , so moving it back to $4 . 00 doesn 't seem that far out of line . it will mean about $ 120 per year increase for residential customers. They are also looking at changing the 10, 000 gallon minimum . She asked the board to review the information distributed for discussion and approval next week . They will then begin discussion about town rates for the coming year. The town could lower its portion of the fee and soften the increase for Bolton point. Jerry Dell FPIG D Kwasnowski said the final project folder is due to Ag and Markets by October 12 . He believes it will need board action before sending to Albany. He can have everything ready on time , but we may need a special meeting. it will be a straight forward bargain sale (?) . There will be no money from the town . The board will have a budget workshop on October 4 at 6 : 30 p. m . and they can do it at that time . CEAs D Kwasnowski distributed a memo regarding the comments made at the public hearing. He said it is normally the people who are against something who tend to show up. They also tend to come out more when they think a decision is imminent. He thought the meeting went 411 fairly well, and there were some very good comments that are addressed in his memo . Cl Lavine said it seems clear that we have not succeeded in explaining it. Supv Sumner and D Kwasnowski would like to have some neighborhood meetings . Cl Leifer said having the maps available and explaining the data bases that were used to create it at the beginning of the meeting would be helpful . Some of the UNA information was confusing for people. CI Stelick said he recommends that we never do more than one or two CEAs at a time . What is simple for the board , because they are familiar with it, is not simple for the landowners . CI Lavine said the format was wrong, and it was frustrating. Cl Stelick said if we only do one , we could reach out to the landowners in the area ahead of time , and by the time it gets to the town board , the education process will be complete and the landowners can talk to the board in a much more civil environment . Supv Sumner suggested (?) the Gulf Hill Road neighborhood first. D Kwasnowski confirmed that the UNAs are being updated by the county, but he did not realize it had moved that far along. Cl Stelick said the board should have been aware of that . The town does not currently have a representative on the Environmental Management Council . It was noted that ten years old is not very old for environmental data . CI Lavine said people seem to be worried that this overlay of one more lens will somehow be interpreted by the state at some point as too much control. Supv Sumner said she 's become aware of that and understands it . She and D Kwasnowski have discussed writing a statement that clarifies the intent , and it will be possible for landowners to point to this in the future if someone is distorting the intent. She sympathizes with the agricultural community because they face a larger amount of bureaucracy and regulation . D Kwasnowski said he disagrees . The agricultural community has whole programs to avoid regulating the agricultural community . They are one of the most unregulated industries in this country. • J Liefer said it would be helpful to use the water resources map . This is water protection in the context if drilling comes to the area . But if you look at the Comprehensive Page4ofS TN 9- 13- 12 Plan , pages 66 and 67 , it does tie the CEAs into protecting the UNAs . If you go further it talks about aquifer protection . The CEAs that exist in state are largely to protect water recharge areas and other water resources . So much of the town is on well water, and perhaps that part of it hasn 't been made clear. Having that map available to would help with that context. Supv Sumner announced that the Onondaga Nation Water is Life celebration is • Saturday at the Onondaga Nation Athletic Field from 11 : 00 a. m . to 9 : 00 p. m . The board agreed that the first CEA to work on will be CEA 09 , the Malloryville area, and possibly the Trillium Woods, CEA 07 . D Kwasnowski will talk with the owner of that property . Cl Lavine asked if Cornell was advised of this process, and was told they do not have property affected in any of the CEAs to date . Tasks to complete in order of preference are : aquifer protection , then road protection , then CEAs . Cl Leifer and Cl Stelick will be contacting Senator Seward with respect to the money owed the town for farmland protection . On motion made , seconded and unanimously carried , the board moved into executive session at 9 :46 p . m. to discuss a lawsuit instituted by NYS DEC with respect to draining the water in the area along the Dryden Freeville trail . They moved back to regular session at 1. 0 : 05 411 p. m . RESOLUTION # 149 (2012) - AUTHORIZE NOTICE OF APPEARANCE Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption : RESOLVED , that this Town Board hereby authorizes the Town Attorney to file a Notice of Appearance in the NYS DEC v . Town of Dryden matter recently served on the Town . 2nd Cl Solomon Roll Call Vote Cl Stelick Yes Cl Solomon Yes Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes There being no further business , on motion made , seconded and unanimously carried , the meeting was adjourned at 10 : 07 p. m . Respectfully submitted , ,4 .4; x& Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk • Page 5 of 5