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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-09-10TB 9-10-15 Page 1 of 4 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING September 10, 2015 Present: Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner, Cl Gregory Sloan, Cl Joseph Solomon, Cl Jason Leifer Absent: Cl Linda Lavine Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Other Town Staff: Jennifer Case, Bookkeeper Ray Burger, Planning Director Erin Bieber, Deputy Clerk Supv Sumner opened the meeting at 7:05 p.m. She remarked on the recent article in the Dryden Courier about Planning on the Varna Trail and Ray Burger, the town’s ne w Director of Planning. She also shared a memo from the Association of Metropolitan Planning Associations. Discussion items: Evaluating the need for infrastructure guidelines – Craig Anderson, member of the Planning Board, said there appears to be no guidelines for placement of infrastructure in the rights of way. The Planning Board would like to i nvestigate and see if there is a hole there and what other municipalities do regarding placement of utilities in rights of way. They want to see if there is there something the town can put in place to deal with some of these issues. On Bradshaw Road a telecommunication company came through a couple of years ago and the highway department wouldn’t let them use the shoulder of the road to use a mig ratory plow to plow the cable in. The cable was placed in the ditch, which may not be the best place considering the ditching going on today. Just telling them to put it in the ditch doesn’t solve the problem. They could put it on either side of the ditch or in the bottom of the ditch. The Town of Ithaca has guidelines in place. Dryden has permits for highway use, but no local law to reference or enforce it. The Planning Board would like to see what they could learn and would like to be charged with looking at what others have in place, what the town may have, and what may work for the town. They estimate they need about three months to look into it. J Laquatra suggested the board contact Jay O’Leary on West Dryden Road who was told by his homeowner insurance rep that if they signed the NYSEG easement they would drop his insurance coverage. Supv Sumner said someone could draft a directive and include how much time might be involved. She doesn’t feel like she has enough information to direct them to go ahead, and isn’t sure there is a problem to be solved. She is concerned about use of time and the Planning Board getting the updates to the Comprehensive Plan done. She said that laws are not usually the answer. Cl Leifer doesn’t see any harm in compiling the information about what other municipalities do. Supv Sumner has been provided with the Planning Board’s recommendations about the Comprehensive Plan and will forward it to the Town Board, Abstract Approval RESOLUTION #135 (2015) – APPROVE ABSTRACT #9 TB 9-10-15 Page 2 of 4 Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves Abstract #9, as audited, general vouchers #683 through #765 ($399,338.33) and TA vouchers #48 through #53 ($16,759.08), totaling $416,097.41. 2nd Cl Sloan Roll Call Vote Cl Sloan Yes Cl Solomon Yes Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Pinckney Road parcel – is a matter for executive session. Approve training courses for boards – R Burger has put together of list of online courses and submitted them to be approved as training for Planning Board members. Members have all completed the basic training offerings, in some cases more than once, and these are recommended as quality courses to be used toward the four required units per year. The board will approve them next week. Supv Sumner said she is interested in putting together a land use and property rights training for the boards as well as the community. Planning Board review of the Comp Plan – R Burger reported that the Planning Board feels that no real revision is needed. The zoning law that resulted from the last comp plan is still new and being tested. There are a few areas that need amending and there were suggestions in the report from the Planning Board. Supv Sumner will share that report with board members and it can be discussed next month. R Burger requested that the board authorize additional attorney time for the zoning amendments. It is taking longer than they originally thought when the board authorized four hours for that. He estimates that another four hours should be sufficient. R Burger will draft a resolution for next week. Malloryville Road Bridge – Supv Sumner said she attended a presentation by Tompkins County and they have decided to rebuild the Red Mill Road Bridge and maintain Malloryville Road Bridge as a one lane bridge. Residents had also submitted a petition to the county and that kind of unity of purpose influenced their thinking. Funding is approved at the county level and scheduled for 2016. The total cost is estimated at 1.2 million dollars and 20% of that is the town’s responsibility. Bob Beck said this has been a long term issue. Beck Farms have wanted the Red Mill Road bridge repaired to accommodate their machinery for decades. Malloryville residents have wanted to maintain the Malloryville Road Bridge as one lane. All residents were in favor of maintaining that bridge and county had planned to do the opposite, so this is good news. The Malloryville Road bridge will be updated and maintained after the new bridge at Red Mill is built. This is the same thing that the Conservation Board wanted. There was a good meeting with officials in May and that may have been when the County Highway manager really understood what the community wanted. B Beck thanked all the people that made it happen , saying it is good for the community, Beck Farms and the residents of the town. Supv Sumner thanked Mike Lane and all the people that helped make this happen. There was some discussion that the old bridge is apparently going to Groton. Unity House – R Burger reported that he received a letter from Unity House and they want put a group home for persons with developmental disabilities at 196 West Lake Road. There are several in the Town of Dryden already. The Planning Department has checked its TB 9-10-15 Page 3 of 4 records on the others and finds no complaints in the files. The Town can approve this or come up with an alternative site or say why this adversely affects the neighborhood. This is a land use that is pre-empted by state regulation. A public hearing is discretionary. There is no basis for objecting and the Town must take action within 40 days of receipt of notice , which arrived 10 days ago. The board can approve this at next week’s meeting. Supv Sumner and/or R Burger will draft a resolution. Proposed Agenda for next week 902 Dryden Road – The public hearing is scheduled to be continued, but the town still hasn’t received all the items that were requested. Supv Sumner said it will be challenging to weave through the objections and possible mitigations. Cl Sloan suggested the State could fix the intersection so that Forest Home Drive meets Route 366 at a right angle. The town has asked the developer for a traffic study and there are flood plain issues that need to be addressed by the County. The site plan has not been approved and that must be done prior to approving a special use permit. Supv Sumner said she thinks the project has potential, but needs some changes. She pointed out that it seems to be in line with the County’s study on the need for affordable housing. The Varna development plan also talks about affordable housing. This is a good site for what is proposed, but maybe not as many units. They plan to use solar and are designing it with a net zero energy goal. The proximity to the Cornell Natural Area as well as the proximity to the flood plan need to be considered as well as the green elements of construction and addition of much needed affordable units. Supv Sumner and R Burger will review the process before next week. There will likely be no decision on either the site plan or the special use permit because we are still lacking information. 145 Main Street, Freeville – Public hearing is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. This is an application for a chiropractic office in the home. 1401 Dryden Road – Public hearing is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. This is for self storage units. Local Law to exceed the tax levy cap – The public hearing is scheduled for 8:00 pm Proposed zoning law amendment – This is to better define the multi-family dwelling and will be introduced. Put fruit to work week – There will be a resolution for this next week. Budget – Supv Sumner distributed a very preliminary budget. This is basically what was requested by department heads. She noted there is no use of fund balance in the A fund. DB will need to use fund balance as the budget was submitted. The board scheduled budget workshops for September 18 at 3:00 p.m. and September 23 at 5:30 p.m. On motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the board adjourned to executive session at 8:25 p.m. to discuss the possible acquisition, lease or disposal of real property where publicity would substantially affect the price of the same. The board asked Ray Burger to join them. The board returned to regular session at 8:37 p.m. RESOLUTION #136 (2015) – AUTHORIZE NEGOTIATION FOR PURCHASE OF PROPERTY Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: Whereas the 2005 Town of Dryden Comprehensive Plan and the 2011 Recreation Master Plan both identified a need for increased outdoor leisure and recreational space; TB 9-10-15 Page 4 of 4 Whereas a parcel of land on Pinckney Road, Tax parcel number 44.-1-2.323, has been placed on the market that meets many of the criteria fulfilling this need; Whereas the Town Conservation Board has evaluated the parcel and found it to meet the majority of their published “Criteria for Land Acquisition”, then subsequently passed Resolution # __ in support of the Town purchasing this parcel; Whereas the Dryden Recreation and Youth Commission conducted a similar evaluation of the parcel at their meeting on August 26, 2015 and will submit their report to the Town Board; Be it resolved that the Town Board wishes to explore the purchase of this property; Be it further resolved that the Town Board appoints Deputy Supervisor Jason Leifer and Planning Director Ray Burger to negotiate for the purchase of this parce l with a price not to exceed 122% of the appraised value reported by North East Appraisals and Management Co.; Be it further resolved that any purchase contract with complete terms will presented for a vote of the full board. 2nd Cl Sloan Roll Call Vote Cl Sloan Yes Cl Solomon Yes Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes There being no further business, on motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk