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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-02-19TB 2-19-15 Page 1 of 18 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING February 19, 2015 Present: Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner, Cl Gregory Sloan, Cl Joseph Solomon, Cl Jason Leifer, Cl Linda Lavine Absent: Cl Gregory Sloan; Cl Joseph Solomon Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Other Town Staff: Mahlon Perkins, Town Attorney Supv Sumner opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. and board members and audience participated in the pledge of allegiance. Supv Sumner thanked Sustainable Tompkins for their presentation on alternatives to expanding fossil fuel infrastructure prior to the board meeting. She said it is encouraging how rapidly air pumps in particular are coming into common usage and are being economically advantageous to developers. PUBLIC HEARING ADOPTION OF PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #1 OF 2015 TOWN OF DRYDEN ZONING LAW Supv Sumner opened the public hearing on adoption of the Zoning Law at 7:03 p.m. and dispensed with reading of the public notice. There were no comments from the public or from board members. The hearing was left open at 7:06 p.m. PUBLIC HEARING SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOUNDATION OF LIGHT 391 TURKEY HILL ROAD Supv Sumner opened the hearing at 7:07 p.m. Noah Demarest, architect, and Melissa Hoffman of Foundation of Light presented a conceptual design for an addition to the existing building at 391 Turkey Hill Road. The addition will be off the back and not visible from the road. This will expand the retreat center and allow guests to stay overnight (short term stays for retreat activities). There are ten individual rooms with bunk beds, a small sink and a closet. There is a bathroom and sauna facility as well. The outside will be different than the current building and the hope is to then upgrade the entire facility to match. It would use more natural materials. They would like to utilize passive solar because the entire building faces south with a huge roof for a solar array. The parcel is large and heavily screened in the rear and on the street side. The existing building is hard to see and the addition will be even harder to see because of that vegetation. They are not changing the type of activities, but allowing overnight use. It should not increase the parking demand and in some instances that will go down. As a result of having people staying overnight there is more of a shift toward that type of activity instead of large events such as a wedding. They are confident the existing parking will be adequate. No site improvement is planned; it is just an addition. The parking lot currently accommodates about 70 vehicles and is usually sufficient. There is occasional overflow for events and sometimes TB 2-19-15 Page 2 of 18 parking on road when there is a memorial service or funeral. Most events do not exceed the parking spaces. Bruce Howlett, 379 Turkey Hill Road, lives north of the Foundation of Light, submitted the attached statement. He said he has been a resident for 35 years, before the existing building was there. The character and the nature of what goes on at the Foundation of Light have dramatically changed over the years. Once the Foundation met in the one room school house up the road and now it has turned into a catering or event center. All of the runoff from the Foundation of Light floods onto his property. Water flows out onto road and onto his driveway, carving a rut in his driveway. The building is not as visible to him because of the trees he planted. The Foundation has done nothing to help maintain the view. Parking on the lawn is frequent in his opinion. One of the biggest problems is the tents that go between the Foundation building and his property. It looks like over 100 cars that park down to his property line and exit across his property. Nois e is a problem at these events. Amplification of sound stops at 11:00 p.m., but it interferes with the character and nature of the neighborhood. There is no need to add this with the Embassy Inn at the end of the road. One of the groups that often meet there is a drumming group. It is disturbing. They hear it in their living room. The Foundation has fire walks near the property line and they had to ask them to move it. There are encampments with tents and they don’t seem to be restricted to Foundation of Light groups. This is a rural neighborhood that has an event center in the middle of it. He asked that the board look at whether the current use by the Foundation is in compliance with zoning restrictions, address the runoff and parking, and the noise. The original group was very much contained. It is disturbing to him that they want to enlarge what is basically a business. Jeevak Parpia, lives at 380 Turkey Hill Rd, directly across the road from the site. He has lived there with his wife since 1986. Any expansion of the property in terms of usage will definitely impact parking. To characterize the present use as a retreat is stretching the point. Every Wednesday evening in the summer, spring and fall, the road is double parked for a great distance. The traffic noise and lights impact them in their house. The expanded use and people staying there will undoubtedly require additional water resources and impact the sewage and things like that. It should be looked at by the board. This will expand the range of activities that can happen there and that will impact the neighborhood and those that have been there for quite some time. George Frantz, land use and environmental planner, said he has been retained by some of the residents of Turkey Hill Road in connection with this application. He said there are already some very serious existing problems with the Foundation of Light facility that they believe will be exacerbated by this addition. First is inadequate parking. He distributed copies of photos to the board showing an example of what residents experience with parking on Turkey Hill Road during these events. This parking situation is a great inconvenience to the residents of the road, and could cause a public hazard. The road is twenty feet wide with very narrow shoulders. Traffic is expected to increase, however modest, with this expansion. There is an existing problem with the uncontrolled stormwater off the site due to both the parking lot and the existing impervious surfaces. There will be an additional 5700 feet or so of impervious surface and at this point there is no control whatsoever on stormwater runoff from the site. There is a major issue in the neighborhood currently with water supplies. The residents have very low recharge rates in the wells for their homes. This project will increase the applicant’s own water use by 500 plus gallons per day. This may have an adverse impact on an already existing problem in the neighborhood. TB 2-19-15 Page 3 of 18 There are no details in the plan with respect to increased sewage other than they expect the County Health Department to approve it. Soils on the site have substantial limitations with respect to septic. There is a problem with depth to saturation zone. There is a problem with restrictive permeability, and also with respect to the shallow depth to fragipan. All of those things affect the ability of a site to process sewage. Noise from the facility, as mentioned, is also a problem. There are questions with regard to environmental impact that have to be answered through the State Environmental Qualify Review process before the project can proceed. There are a number of unanswered questions about potential adverse impacts of the expansion including: Impact on local groundwater resources; impact of additional sewage demand on the site; the potential additional stormwater runoff due to an increase of impermeable surfaces; and adverse impacts of additional activities and additional demand for parking due to the expansion. At the very least, prior to further consideration, a more thorough environmental assessment of the potential impacts of this project should be conducted. It should also be subject to a full site plan review so that the board has the details it needs to make a reasoned decision on this project. Martha Robertson said up to 20 people a night could potentially stay and that seems to be a change in function for the building. She asked the applicant if they plan to register as a bed and breakfast or overnight accommodation for room tax and that sort of thing. The applicant said they don’t anticipating it being like that. This is more for silent retreats, detoxing, healing retreats, and things of that nature. The overnight accommodations would be included in the package for a weekend retreat. M Robertson is concerned whether the applicant is registered to pay sales tax and room tax and is understood as an overnight accommodation facility. Applicant stated they will be in compliance with any regulation or tax that need to, and they will have their accountant be sure they are in compliance with the laws pertaining to any revenue received for overnight accommodations. Katherine Howlett said she shares a property line with the applicant and has lived there since before the Foundation was built. She has emailed her comments to the town. It has been difficult to live with the Foundation of Light . There was a span of a few years where there were members and an administration who did work with the neighbors on their concerns. There have been agreements or understandings with the Foundation of Light, but with a change in administration, those agreements are not always honored. 379 Turkey Hill Road is her home and she feels she needs help protecting her lifestyle, safety, security, privacy and respect. The letter she submitted is attached. She has concerns with privacy and security issues, supervision of renters, program agenda event items (especially with overnight guests and no on-site supervision), and she feels there is a disconnect with the Foundation of Light and the neighborhood in general. She feels there is a slow but sure systematic change with what the Foundation of Light is becoming compared to what it began as. Larry Markowitz, 366 Turkey Hill Road, lives northwest across the street, said given the size of the plans he would have hoped to have heard directly from his neighbor. They are a tough neighbor to live next to. The amount of noise that they already put up with is uncomfortable, at odd hours of the night and the thought of it expanding to overnight is unsettling. He said this is not a retreat center and it is not hard to see. This is a commercial enterprise. That is evident from its own website where they offer to rent for weddings, celebrations, and workshops. He distributed information from their website. They have a gathering room that seats up to 80 that is available for concerts, weddings and other large events. It is a rental hall being advertised; not a retreat center for quiet meditation. There are TB 2-19-15 Page 4 of 18 referrals from other websites recommending it as an events facility. There is a DJ that advertises that the Foundation of Light uses his talents. On at least one occasion when he went to complain about the loud beating drums, the applicant was not present. Five minutes later she came to his home and complained that he was interfering with her business. This is not what the neighborhood is about . He urged the board to consider the application and deny it. He would like to make sure that the neighborhood is not further harmed by the applicant. If not denied, return it to what it used to be so they don’t have to worry about thundering drums all night long. Melissa Hoffman, applicant, said she has heard all that has been said. The DJs come in with weddings, bar mitzvahs or spiritual events. She does see a reduction in these types of events when they expand because they will be doing more about what the Foundation is about: healing, meditation and education. They will not be able to do as many other events. The traffic number for the workshops offered will be substantially lower than anything they do currently. They do see a change in the structure of the way the Foundation of Light does business from its original conception. There are many children that go to school there so there are a lot of cars in the morning and at pickup time. They are now not in the Foundation of Light building and that has reduced traffic over the past year; however, there are still children at the school house. She doesn’t foresee that the current center will cause any additional noise, and if anything it will be quieter. The drumming happens from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. There are times when there is fire walking that happens and they are outside. It is a community so the noise can probably be heard. She has moved that space and is happy to move it further if the community wants that. In the 15 to 16 years they have existed, there is nothing on record of a complaint. They have never had any law enforcement come to the facility. She works with the community when they speak and she is happy to continue to work with them so that they feel comfortable. She doesn’t believe the noise pollution from new building will impact the community at all. She is happy to follow any requirements for lighting so that it doesn’t disturb the neighbors. There are existing motion lights on timers on the existing building. They did put the high pressure sodium lights in the parking lot on a timer. She will also speak with the neighbors about making those lights more accommodating. As far as websites and the ways in which people can use the facility, i t is important for them to stay diverse so they can stay in operation. They are a 501(c)(3) not for profit and the realm of their business is still healing, meditation and transformation. However, Landmark Forum education is adult education. It is adult transformational education and they meet Wednesday night from 7 to 10 p.m. It is well within the realm of what they do and they do pay taxes on the revenue they receive from them. They are not overflowing the road every day. There are nights when people in the seminars can bring a guest , and that’s when sometimes they have some overflow. M Hoffman said she really does care about the community, and if nothing else, this is an opportunity to communicate more openly and her door is always open. Cl Lavine asked when there would be answers to the questions that have b een asked and what will be done about mitigating the problems that exist. M Hoffman said there is drainage in the parking lot. The school house has a french drain. She said the point of the drainage issue is that the stone quarry is constantly blowing shale up hill and it creates a lot of runoff that comes through all the properties. She doesn’t anticipate a need for additional parking. The space where the new building will go is currently a garden space. There is already a lot of great drainage there. That is not a place where water builds up. That happens in the middle of the property. TB 2-19-15 Page 5 of 18 Atty Perkins said the board needs to keep in mind that right now this is not a permitted use. What they are asking to do is extend a nonconforming use. To do that, they will have to show that they meet all the other requirements of the ordinance other than the fact that it is a nonconforming use. He recommends a full site plan and parking calculation because they will have to meet the parking requirements for whole thing, not just expansion. This use borders on the definition of boarding house/hotel/motel that is in our ordinance. It also includes retreat. The important thing to keep in mind is that this is an extension of a nonconforming use, not an automatic special use permit like a lot of things. The stormwater plan is part of the permitting process. The applicant will need to provide a SWPPP in the building permit process. The hearing was left open at 7:50 p.m. RESOLUTION #38 (2015) – REQUIRE FULL SITE PLAN – FOUNDATION OF LIGHT Cl Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby requires a full site plan in connection with the application of Foundation of Light, 391 Turkey Hill Road, for a special use permit to expand the current facility. 2nd Cl Lavine Roll Call Vote Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes There were no further comments or questions on adoption of the proposed Town of Dryden Zoning Law, and Supv Sumner closed the public hearing at 7:55 p.m. CITIZENS PRIVILEGE Joe Wilson, Hunt Hill Road, thanked the board for sponsoring the Alternatives presentation. He also thanked them for having NYSEG at the meeting last month. He said found NYSEG revealing in a couple of ways. First was the number of times the employees said they could not commit to anything, and secondly because of the number of times the board was told that information the board requested was pr ivileged and wouldn’t be divulged. He heard some new things presented that he had not heard before. First , that one half of the 700,000 cubic feet per hour of methane gas that will be flowing through the pipe is going south to Ithaca as opposed to someplace else. That had never been said before as a rationale for the existence of or need for the pipe. He found it interesting that Mr. Bovee, the project manager, indicated that there was nothing in the easement that would stop placement of additional pipes in the easement area, or that there was nothing in the easement that would prevent an increase in pressure or prevent the capacity from being increased. Given those things and what has been transpiring in the press, it seems very clear that this is the time to advise NYSEG that it will hold NYSEG to the 1951 franchise agreement and that the town will be requiring a special use permit. The special use permit will be issued or not depending on the findings of the town board. Ron Beck, Ed Hill Road, said he is here representing some land owners of former Lehigh Valley Railroad property: Beck Farms, LLC, Ron Beck, Carol Beck, Russ Beck and Jerry Collier, Chflokie Farms, LLC, Charlie Hatfield, Steve Foote and Linda Foote, and Fall Creek TB 2-19-15 Page 6 of 18 Farm, LLC, Kim Lamotte and Karen Lamotte. He read the attached letter and presented it to the board. Supv Sumner thanked him for his comments. She said there is a lot of support for trails, but they will need to assess this situation. She’d like to know more about the easements that said the property would revert to the property owners and how the bankruptcy affected them. TOWN CLERK RESOLUTION #39 (2015) – APPROVE MINUTES Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the meeting minutes of January 2, January 8, and January 15, 2015. 2nd Cl Leifer Roll Call Vote Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes Supv Sumner announced that Dryden Village Police Chief Margaret Ryan will be leaving the department after 20 years of service and taking a position in Albany. There will be a celebration in her honor on March 7 at LaTourelle Resort . COUNTY BRIEFING Martha Robertson – The County Public Safety has been discussing some big issues, including body cameras for law enforcement. The ITS Department is also looking at this because of how it will relate to storage of the media, FOIL, and other issues. There is an intermunicipal group (LETS) that was formed a few years ago in order that all law enforcement agencies in county could have one place to go to work on issues. They are taking a hard look at the policy issues with respect to body cameras and will come back to the public safety committee probably in April with a draft policy. There is a continuing conversation about the incident on Hornbrook Road in Danby and they expect another report soon. Some people have called for the County Legislature to fire the Sheriff, but they don’t understand that you are unable to fire elected officials. The legislature is looking at the incident and what policies might be improved. Last Tuesday the Legislature held a public hearing on the update on the county comprehensive plan. A number of people from Dryden were present. Yesterday the committee reviewed the comments and is now working on some modifications. She expects this to come to the full board at their next meeting for a final vote. The County is proud of the plan. It has involved a tremendous amount of community involvement all along the way. She expects it will be an excellent guidepost for the next five or ten years for county actions. Ellis Hollow Road reconstruction is on track to happen this summer. The Highway Department is visiting individual property owners and talking what is happening on their particular site. Some trees will have to be removed. This will happen before M arch 31 because of bats. There are about 20 trees to be removed. Adoption of Zoning Law TB 2-19-15 Page 7 of 18 The Board reviewed the SEQR form in connection with the proposed zoning law. County review has been received and there is no negative impact. RESOLUTION #40 (2015) – NEG SEQR DEC – ADOPTION OF TOWN OF DRYDEN ZONING LOCAL LAW Cl Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: WHEREAS, A. The proposed action involves consideration of the adoption by the Dryden Town Board of the proposed Town of Dryden Zoning Law. B. The proposed action is an Unlisted Action for which the Town Board of the Town of Dryden is the lead agency for the purposes of uncoordinated environmental review in connection with approval by the Town. C. The Town Board of the Town of Dryden, in performing the lead agency function for its independent and uncoordinated environmental review in accordance with Article 8 of the New York State Environmental Conservation Law – the State Environmental Quality Review Act “(SEQR), (i) thoroughly reviewed the long Environmental Assessment Form (the “long EAF”), Part I, and any and all other documents prepared and submitted with respect to this proposed action and its environmental review, (ii) thoroughly analyzed the potential relevant areas of environmental concern to determine if the proposed action may have a significant adverse impact on the environment, including the criteria identified in 6 NYCRR §617.7(c), and (iii) completed the long EAF, Part II; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS: 1. The Town Board of the Town of Dryden, based upon (i) its thorough review of the long EAF, Part I, and any and all other documents prepared and submitted with respect to this proposed action and its environmental review, (ii) its thorough review of the potential relevant areas of environmental concern to determine if the proposed action may have a significant adverse impact on the environment, including the criteria identified in 6 NYCRR §617.7(c), and (iii) its completion of the long EAF, Part II, including the findings noted thereon (which findings are incorporated herein as if set forth at length), hereby makes a negative determination of environmental significance (“Negative Declaration”) in accordance with SEQR for the above referenced proposed action, and determines that neither a full Environmental Assessment Form, nor an Environmental Impact Statement will be required, and 2. The Responsible Officer of the Town Board of the Town of Dryden is hereby authorized and directed to complete and sign as required the determination of significance, confirming the foregoing Negative Declaration, which fully completed and signed long EAF and determination of significance shall be incorporated by reference in this Resolution. 2nd Cl Lavine Roll Call Vote Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes RESOLUTION #41 – ADOPT LOCAL LAW #1 OF 2015 TOWN OF DRYDEN ZONING LAW TB 2-19-15 Page 8 of 18 Cl Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby adopts the following local law entitled “A local law converting the 2012 zoning ordinance to a local law and incorporating recent amendments” and directs the Town Clerk to file the same with the Secretary of State of the State of New York. (local law attached to these minutes) 2nd Cl Lavine Roll Call Vote Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes Supv Sumner thanked Atty Perkins for his work on this matter. She reminded board members that they had intended to pass this a local law prior to the 2011 and is happy that it has finally happened. It is important for this to be a law as opposed to an ordinance. NEW BUSINESS 284 Agreement Supv Sumner requested there be no action on this until the board has answers to questions asked of the Highway Superintendent last week. RESOLUTION #42 (2015) – TABLE ACTION ON §284 AGREEMENT Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board here by tables adoption of the 2015 §284 Agreement until the Highway Superintendent has responded to questions the board had at the February 12, 2015 board meeting. 2nd Cl Leifer Roll Call Vote Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes Credit Card for Highway Dept The board discussed this last week. RESOLUTION #43 (2015) – CREDIT CARD BORROWER’S RESOLUTION Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, 1. This town board hereby authorizes one (1) application for a credit card (with a limit of $2,000) to the Town of Dryden on such form as the issuer of the credit card may require, and with such terms, provisions, conditions and authorized users as may be customary, usual and convenient for the issuer and the town. 2. The town clerk shall prepare a certified copy of this resolution and shall certify to the issuer the signatures and term of office of the authorized users. TB 2-19-15 Page 9 of 18 3. The authorized user shall be Richard Young. 2nd Cl Leifer Roll Call Vote Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes Board members signed the application for credit card. Amend List of Authorized Credit Card Users RESOLUTION #44 (2015) – AUTHORIZED CREDIT CARD USERS Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes the following the following positions (employees/elected officials) to utilize town credit cards: Town Clerk Bambi L. Avery, Town Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner, Director of Recreation Jennifer Jones, and Highway Superintendent Richard Young. 2nd Cl Leifer Roll Call Vote Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes Authorize Funding for Water System Evaluation Supv Sumner said she has a request from TG Miller to authorize funding for a study. The Town of Ithaca is modifying their Sapsucker Woods Water Tank. The changes they are making include increasing the height and will impact the Varna Water District and probably some others. That tank will continue to supply residential and commercial usage, but not fire flow. Sufficient water for the fire flow will come from the East Hill tank. TG Miller has requested $2500 to study the impact of the changes to Dryden’s water districts. The study will be done before work begins. Fire chiefs are aware of this, and if there is a potential change that affects them, they will be notified. RESOLUTION #45 (2015) – AUTHORIZE TG MILLER STUDY Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes TG Miller Engineers to prepare a study of the impacts on the Town of Dryden water districts by the Town of Ithaca modification of its Sapsucker Woods water tank as detailed in an email from A ndrew Sciarabba to Mary Ann Sumner dated January 13, 2015, at a cost not to exceed $2,500.00. 2nd Cl Leifer Roll Call Vote Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes Tax Exempt Status for Town of Lansing Bone Plain Road Property Supv Sumner said she has received a request from the Town of Lansing to endorse tax exempt status for the property they own on Bone Plain Road in the town of Dryden that they TB 2-19-15 Page 10 of 18 are placing a water tank on. Board members were provided with a draft of the letter she proposes to send to Tompkins County Assessment. RESOLUTION #46 (2015) – AUTHORIZE TAX EXEMPT STATUS FOR TOWN OF LANSING PROPERTY ON BONE PLAIN ROAD Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes the Town Supervisor to send a letter to Tompkins County Assessment endorsing tax exempt status for property on Bone Plain Road owned by the Town of Lansing to be used for improvements to the Town of Lansing public water infrastructure. 2nd Cl Lavine Roll Call Vote Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes Conservation Board Resolutions Supv Sumner said the Conservation Board has submitted four resolutions to the town board over the past several months. The first one discussed has to do with Land Protection Methods and Criteria. It guides how the town might decide whether it would accept donations of real property and how land might be conserved. CL Leifer said this will also assist with decisions on whether the town should donate funds for acquisition of real property by other entities that intend to preserve it. RESOLUTION #47 (2015) – ADOPT METHODS AND SELECTION OF CRITERIA FOR LAND PROTECTION AND ACQUISITION Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby adopts a policy that it will refer to the document “Methods and Selection Criteria for Land Protection and Acquisition” (attached to these minutes) when considering acquisition of real property by the Town of Dryden or financial support of acquisition of real property by another entity with intent to preserve the property; and further RESOLVED, that the document entitled “Methods and Selection Criteria for Land Protection and Acquisition” may be amended at any time by resolution of this Town Board. 2nd Cl Leifer Roll Call Vote Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes The second has to do with a Natural Resources Conservation Plan. The Town Board had asked the Conservation Board to oversee the development of an open space plan, the components of which would be developed by the Ag Advisory Committee and the Recreation Commission, with a certain amount of input from the Planning Board. The other boards are busy and it has kind of taken a back seat. The Conservation Board passed the following resolution on September 30, 2014: Proposed that the Conservation Board prepare a Town of Dryden Natural Resources Conservation TB 2-19-15 Page 11 of 18 Plan Whereas, The Dryden Town Board issued an Open Space Plan Directive, dated August 15, 2013, outlining a plan to be prepared jointly by the Conservation Board, the Agricultural Advisory Committee, the Dryden Recreation and Youth Commission, and the Planning Board, Whereas, The Town Agricultural Advisory Committee is now commencing work on an Agriculture and Farmland Protection Plan, Whereas, The Town Recreation Department and the Dryden Recreation and Youth Commission are beginning a Recreation Needs Assessment, Whereas, The Town Planning Board is beginning work towards updating the Comprehensive Plan, Whereas, The Town Conservation Board proposes to refocus its work towards preparation of a Natural Resources Conservation Plan, Now, therefore, be it resolved that, The Conservation Board rec ommend that the Town Board withdraw its Open Space Plan Directive, And further resolved that, The Conservation Board recommend that the Town Board assign the Conservation Board the task of preparing a Natural Resources Conservation Plan for the Town of Dr yden which, with support from the Planning Department, shall identify resources of conservation concern throughout the Town, to include but not be limited to: Enduring landscape features Water resources Biological resources Productive land resources Sceni c and recreational resources and which shall assess threats to those resources and provide guidance for public education and outreach, voluntary action, land use planning, land development, land acquisition and conservation that will help the Town sustain its diverse natural resources, its valued rural character and its quality of life for generations to come. Cl Leifer asked if the Conservation Board would be seeking input from the agriculture community when considering productive land resources. Bob Beck said he envisions that part of the plan as minimally dealing with productive lands, but would look for input from the farm community and the plan the Ag Advisory Committee is preparing. Supv Sumner said she expects that when the Conservation Board gets this to a draft level, it will be given to other boards/committees for review and comment before proceeding. T he town board would be involved as well. RESOLUTION #48 (2015) – DIRECT CONSERVATION BOARD TO PREPARE A NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION PLAN Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby directs the Conservation Board to prepare a Natural Resources Conservation Plan for the Town of Dryden which, with support from the Planning Department, shall identify resources of conservation concern throughout the Town, to include but not be limited to: Enduring landscape features Water resources Biological resources TB 2-19-15 Page 12 of 18 Scenic & recreational resources and which shall assess threats to those resources and provide guidance for public education and outreach, voluntary action, land use planning, land development, land acquisition and conservation that will help the Town sustain its diverse natural resources, its valued rural character and its quality of life for generations to come. 2nd Cl Leifer Roll Call Vote Supv Sumner Cl Leifer Cl Lavine Rail to Trail Proposal – Freeville to McLean portion – Supv Sumner said the Conservation Board passed a resolution about this trail possibility on September 30, 2014, and recommended that the Town Board set a goal of establishing a rail trail from Freeville to McLean and a plan to begin public outreach and landowner contact. The resolution is as follows: Proposed that Town of Dryden trail plans include a Freeville to McLean rail trail (ultimately linking to Cortland) Whereas, Major rail lines once converged and crossed in Freeville, making the village a vital rail center in Tompkins County, Whereas, The Town of Dryden's proposed rail trails converging at Freeville will link the Village of Dryden with Freeville, Etna, Varna and Ithaca to the west, Whereas, A Freeville to Cortland rail trail would link Ithaca and Town of Dryden villages and hamlets with McLean and Cortland to the east, Whereas, In the Town of Dryden, one mile of the Freeville to Cortland rail bed has been, for many years, informally maintained and used as a pedestrian trail (between W. Malloryville Rd. and Fall Creek Rd. near McLean), Whereas, In Cortland County the Freeville to Cortland rail bed is maintained as a pedestrian trail from the Tompkins/Cortland County line through the Lime Hollow Center for Culture and Environment to the outskirts of Cortland, Whereas, Initial discussion with several rail-bed landowners has been positive, Whereas, Increasingly across the country, people appreciate and use off -road pedestrian and bicycling trails and support their communities' commitment to development and maintain them, Now, therefore, be it resolved that, The Conservation Board recommend that the Town Board set the goal of establishing a rail trail from Freeville to McLean and a plan to begin public outreach and landowner contact, And further resolved that, Recognizing that from McLean to the Cortland County line the rail bed lies within the Town of Groton, cooperation be sought with the Town of Groton (while also exploring the possi bility of developing, north from Freeville, a Freeville to Groton rail trail, thus linking Groton to Ithaca, Dryden and McLean within Tompkins County) TB 2-19-15 Page 13 of 18 Supv Sumner suggested that in light of Ron Beck’s comment the board might want to respectfully accept this recommendation from the Conservation Board and not take action on it yet. The Town is currently so engaged in other segments of the trail to the west that it will be some time before the board could likely take action. Cl Leifer said he understands there is much more opposition to this section. From Dryden west there is more demand for a trail and more support and he thinks the town should focus its efforts on the western section. Unless landowners are willing to participate, it won’t work. Supv Sumner said she would like to keep the idea alive without actually making it a goal. RESOLUTION #49 (2015) – DELAY ACTION ON FREEVILLE TO MCLEAN TRAIL Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board respectfully acknowledges the recommendation from the Conservation Board with respect to a Freeville to McLean trail and appreciates the resolution, but will delay action until a future time. 2nd Cl Lavine Roll Call Vote Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes Supv Sumner said the Conservation Board passed the following resolution with respect to the portion of trail that goes through the Game Farm on January 27, 2015. Whereas, the Conservation Board has reviewed the letter from Gordon Batcheller, DEC Chief Wildlife Biologist; and Whereas, the Conservation Board believes accepting the DEC recommendation, which includes an offer to pay for trail construction, will save the Town of Dryden significant expense; and Whereas, the alternative route offered will be open year round; and Whereas, accepting the DEC offer will allow a continuation of the rail to trail construction; and Whereas, the Conservation Board has demonstrated the Rails to Trails project to be a priority goal; Therefore, the Conservation Board hereby asks the Town Supervisor to accept the DEC proposal and begin to move forward on the Trail system. Supv Sumner said there was a long discussion with the DEC last year about how the trail might proceed through that piece of property. There was a letter from Gordon Batcheller on August 21 that suggests an alternate route, recommending a nature trail at the edge of the natural area and an alternate bike trail on the side of the road that would get cyclists to Stevenson Road. She said she finds that proposal disappointing, but the Conversation Board sees it differently. She would like to push a bit harder for what the original plan is. Cl Lavine said from the conversations at the Conservation Board meetings it seems to her that it just was better to accept what the DEC is willing to offer than to put it off any longer. It sounded as if the alternate bike trail was not a big deal. She doesn’t see why we would turn this down after so many years of waiting for them to allow a place where there could be a trail. Supv Sumner said she would vote against the Conservation Board’s recommendation and the matter was tabled. Supv Sumner said she will try to schedule a meeting with Tom Knipe and the trail committee to get an opinion. Bob Beck introduced Eileen Munch, of Design Connect, who is the project manager for the Freeville to Varna trail project. She said Design Connect is a student run consulting club at Cornell University. This semester they are working on conceptual design for a section of trail connecting Freeville to Varna. There are 11 people on the team ranging from sophomores TB 2-19-15 Page 14 of 18 to second year graduate students and departments spanning City & Regional Planning, Landscape Architecture, and various forms of engineering. They just started a few weeks ago and hope to have a conceptual design completed by May. Supv Sumner said this section of the trail has been under consideration for some time and it needs some more development. Leaving out the Game Farm to Varna part, it is about 6.25 miles. Budget Modifications Supv Sumner presented budget modifications for special districts for the 2014 fiscal year. She said she will be looking into some of these to see if we need to modify our budget going forward. Because the Hall Road budget mod is from fund balance that was done separately. RESOLUTION #50 (2015) – BUDGET MODIFICATION – HALL ROAD WATER Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the following budget modification for the 2014 fiscal year: To SW4-8320.4 SOURCE OF SUPP CONTR 2,272.75 From SW4-8340.2 CAP IMPR 1,860.00 From SW4-9030.8 SOC SEC 8.04 From SW4-9080.8 MEDICARE 6.55 From SW4-599 FUND BALANCE 398.16 2nd Cl Leifer Roll Call Vote Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes RESOLUTION #51 (2015) – BUDGET MODIFICATIONS Cl Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the following budget modifications for the 2014 fiscal year: To SL2-5182.4 ST LIGHTING CONTR 351.34 From SL2-599 FUND BALANCE To SL3-5182.4 ST LIGHTING CONTR 243.34 From SL3-599 FUND BALANCE To SM9040.8 WORKERS COMP 19,055.00 From SM599 FUND BALANCE To SS1-8130.4 TRTMT/DISP CONTR 1,993.47 From SS1-8110.4 ADMIN CONTR 1,950.00 From SS1-8120.4 SAN SEW CONTR 43.47 TB 2-19-15 Page 15 of 18 To SS2-8120.1 SAN SEW PERS SERV 231.40 From SS2-8110.4 ADMIN CONTR To SS2-8120.4 SAN SEW CONTR 254.72 From SS2-8130.4 TRTMT/DISP CONTR To SS3-8130.4 TRTM/DISP CONTR 13,631.56 From SS3-8120.4 SAN SEW CONTR 9,967.50 From SS3-8120.2 CAP IMPRV 3,664.06 To SS4-8120.1 SAN SEW PERS SERV 938.23 From SS4-8110.4 ADMIN CONTR 750.00 From SS4-8130.4 TRT/DISP CONTR 188.23 To SS4-9030.8 SOC SEC 57.52 From SS4-8130.4 TRT/DISP CONTR To SS4-9089.8 MEDICARE 9.47 From SS4-8130.4 TRT/DISP CONTR To SS5-8120.1 SAN SEW PERS SERV 765.88 From SS5-8110.4 ADMIN CONTR 450.00 From SS5-8130.4 TRT/DISP CONTR 315.88 To SS5-8120.4 SAN SEW CONTR 6,380.89 From SS5-8120.2 CAP IMPRV To SS5-9030.8 SOC SEC 46.98 From SS5-8130.4 TRT/DISP CONTR To SS5-9089.8 MEDICARE 8.35 From SS5-8130.4 TRT/DISP CONTR To SS7-8120.1 SAN SEW PERS SERV 1,117.57 From SS7-8110.4 ADMIN CONTR 500.00 From SS7-8120.2 CAP IMPR 617.57 To SS7-8130.4 TRTM/DISP CONTR 33.44 From SS7-8120.2 CAP IMPR To SS7-9030.8 SOC SEC 60.23 From SS7-8120.2 CAP IMPR TB 2-19-15 Page 16 of 18 To SS7-9089.8 MEDICARE 8.44 From SS7-8120.2 CAP IMPR To SW1-8340.1 TRANS/DIST PERS SERV 443.54 From SW1-8340.2 CAP IMPR To SW1-8310.4 WATER ADMIN CONTR 498.97 From SW1-8340.2 CAP IMPR To SW1-8320.4 SOURCE OF SUPP CONTR 20,005.21 From SW1-8340.2 CAP IMPR To SW1-8340.4 TRANS/DIST CONTR 268.57 From SW1-8340.2 CAP IMPR To SW1-9030.8 SOC SEC 26.49 From SW1-8340.2 CAP IMPR To SW1-9089.8 MEDICARE 3.70 From SW1-8340.2 CAP IMPR To SW2-8340.1 TRANS/DISTR PERS SERV 4.95 From SW2-8340.4 TRANS/DISTR CONTR To SW2-8310.4 WATER ADMIN CONTR 198.96 From SW2-8340.4 TRANS/DISTR CONTR To SW2-8320.4 SOURCE OF SUPP CONTR 434.81 From SW2-8340.4 TRANS/DISTR CONTR To SW2-9030.8 SOC SEC 0.30 From SW2-9089.8 MEDICARE To SW3-8340.1 TRANS/DISTR PERS SERV 496.38 From SW3-8310.4 WATER ADMIN CONTR 101.05 From SW3-8340.2 CAP IMPR 395.33 To SW3-8320.4 SOURCE OF SUPP 3,285.56 From SW3-8340.4 TRANS/DISTR CONTR 3,141.68 From SW3-8340.2 CAP IMPR 143.88 To SW4-8310.4 WATER ADMIN CONTR 198.95 TB 2-19-15 Page 17 of 18 From SW4-8340.1 TRANS/DISTR PERS SERV To SW4-8340.4 TRANS/DISTR CONTR 89.57 From SW4-8340.1 TRANS/DISTR PERS SERV 80.30 From SW4-9030.8 SOC SEC 9.27 To SW5-8310.4 WATER ADMIN CONTR 198.96 From SW5-8340.1 TRAND/DISTR PERS SERV 177.41 From SW5-8320.4 SOURCE OF SUPP CONTR 21.55 To SW5-8340.4 TRANS/DISTR CONTR 187.03 From SW5-9710.7 SERIAL BOND INTEREST To SW6-8340.1 TRANS/DISTR PERS SERV 499.10 From SW6-8320.4 SOURCE OF SUPP CONTR 409.08 From SW6-8340.4 TRANS/DISTR CONTR 90.02 To SW6-8310.4 WATER ADMIN CONTR 198.96 From SW6-8340.4 TRANS/DISTR CONTR 198.96 To SW6-9030.8 SOC SEC 68.16 From SW6-8340.4 TRANS/DISTR CONTR To SW6-9089.8 MEDICARE 15.93 From SW6-8340.4 TRANS/DISTR CONTR 2nd Cl Lavine Roll Call Vote Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes On motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the board moved into e xecutive session to discuss a matter of litigation involving the Department of Environmental Conservation, at 8:55 p.m., and returned to open session at 9:01 p.m. RESOLUTION #52 (2015) – AUTHORIZE ORDER ON CONSENT/STIPULATION Cl Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes the Town Supervisor sign a proposed Order on Consent/Stipulation prepared by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for an incident involving the Highway Department on or about June 19, 2014. 2nd Cl Lavine Roll Call Vote Supv Sumner Yes TB 2-19-15 Page 18 of 18 Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes There being no further business, on motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 9:03 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk