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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-06-11TB 6-11-15 Page 1 of 5 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING June 11, 2015 Present: Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner, Cl Gregory Sloan, Cl Jason Leifer Cl Joseph Solomon Absent: Cl Linda Lavine Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Other Town Staff: Jennifer Case, Bookkeeper Ray Burger, Director of Planning Supv Sumner opened the meeting at 7:08 p.m. Supv Sumner reported she attended the County Agriculture Protection Plan presentation last night. The Family Fun Day on the Farm will be at the Carey Farm on Lick Street in Groton this year on August 1 from 11:00 to 4:00. Additional member for Ag Committee – Supv Sumner has drafted a resolution to add another member to the group and will bring it to the board for consideration next week. Dryden Recreation & Youth Commission – They have recently had trouble with a quorum for their meetings. They have a recommended an applicant to fill a current vacancy and that should help. Supv Sumner has also recommended another individual to the commission and they will be following up with that to hopefully fill the committee. Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan – This will now be included by the Health Insurance Consortium for retirees. This option will be affordable for retirees who currently must purchase a regular plan. A resolution has been drafted for consideration next week so that the Town may offer the plan. Attorney Statements of Qualifications – The RFQ and responses received to date were shared with board members. Supv Sumner expects to receive others. Proposals received were from Thaler & Thaler and Harris Beach. An evaluation sheet was designed to help score the proposals. Weaver Wind - has offered to do a presentation for the town. It is too lengthy for a board meeting, but they would like to do it another time. It will be an educational presentation and not a specific company. Cl Leifer or Cl Lavine will work with them to schedule a presentation in July. Waiver of water/sewer late fee – A resident has requested a waiver of the late charges on his water/sewer bill because he was out of town and forwarded mail did not reach him in a timely manner. After discussion, because he could have called for the amount in order to pay in a timely manner, the request was denied. Supv Sumner noted auto deduction from checking is something that municipalities have discussed at Bolton Point meetings recently and they will be looking into that. Special Use Permit – Ithaca Tactical Laser Tag – Planning Director Ray Burger said this will be a recreational facility and setting up some minor structures (moveable walls and TB 6-11-15 Page 2 of 5 structures). It will be located on the Ringwood Raceway property and will share some facilities. There are no close neighbors. Applicant to speak to the board next week and they will schedule public hearing for July. Court Clerk – Judge Jules Ravo and Deb Gallagher distributed a list of the additional duties that will be taken on by D Gallagher after the retirement Deb Smiley . Supv Sumner said it takes months for Civil Service to process a change in job description and she is not sure how this may differ from what is currently on file with them. They would have to use the existing description for now, and noted that there had been a request for a sub stantial salary increase. The description of duties was prepared in response to the question of whether it was necessary to have a senior clerk. The Dryden judges prefer to have two clerks with one being the senior clerk with additional responsibilities. The following points were made:  The court needs a person in place soon because there will be a vacancy in July.  Pay equity.  What is the job worth?  Does it require higher minimum qualifications or higher skill levels?  Does experience determine a higher wage?  Salary should be set according to minimum qualifications.  A determination needs to be made or they may lose both of their choices for the replacement.  Dryden’s Court is the busiest court in the county.  The board’s directive with respect to salaries was to stay within the current budget.  Court’s recommendation is essentially the same pay as the two current positions, though years of experience for each will be less.  Town has no policies in place with respect to hire rates and/or job rates.  Establishing maximums for each position will give the court the ability to have the new employee start prior to retirement of the current employee. After discussion, the board passed the following resolution. RESOLUTION #91 (2015) – ESTABLISH MAXIMUM SALARIES FOR COURT CLERKS Cl Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby establishes salaries for the 2015 budget for the Court Clerk at a sum not to exceed $38,000 and for the Senior Court Clerk a sum n ot to exceed $43,000. 2nd Cl Sloan Roll Call Vote Cl Sloan Yes Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes RESOLUTION #92 (2015) – APPROVE ABSTRACT #6 Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: TB 6-11-15 Page 3 of 5 RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves Abstract #6, as audited, general vouchers #396 through #493 ($348,616.54) and TA vouchers #41 through #43 ($4,677.31) totaling $353,293.85. Cl Leifer Roll Call Vote Cl Sloan Yes Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes A budget modification is necessary for the payment to the Town of Ithaca for the sustainability planner of two years ago. That payment was $20,000. A budget mod has been prepared that will take funds from the planner salary line, which is avai lable because of the leftover salary due to the resignation of J Nicholson, and from a planning contractual line. RESOLUTION #93 (2015) – APPROVE BUDGET MODIFICATION SUSTAINABILITY PLANNER Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the following budget modifications: From Acct To Acct Amount A8020.106 Planner A8020.405 Sustainability Planner 17,381.00 A8020.401 Planning Contractual A8020.405 Sustainability Planner 3,350.00 2nd Cl Leifer Roll Call Vote Cl Solomon Yes Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes A budget modification is necessary for payment of the update of the ESRI software used for GIS. R Burger is resuming use of the software and there is a $2000 annual fee. They need $572 to cover the expense. The modification is from another contractual line to the software line. Cl Sloan suggested the Planning Department look into a lynx system and sharewar e or freeware. RESOLUTION #94 (2015) – APPROVE BUDGET MODIFICATION SOFTWARE UPDATE Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the following budget modifications: From Acct To Acct Amount B3620.406 Software annual upkeep B8030.4 mapping contractual 572.00 2nd Cl Leifer Roll Call Vote Cl Solomon Yes TB 6-11-15 Page 4 of 5 Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes Supv Sumner said there has been discussion at staff meetings about changes to the website. Budget discussion – the shared workbook has been prepared and is ready for input by department heads. There is a column for a “bare bones” budget (only what we are mandated to provide) and a column for the budget request. This should help the board prioritize and visualize what the minimum would look like. It would also make the public aware of the impacts of large budget cuts. A better community to live in helps to build the tax base. There will be difficult decisions. It may turn out that the taxpayers want to make m ore investments. It may be helpful to see what percentage of the budget each department is. Supv Sumner pointed out that we’ve already tightened the budget considerably, so when we budget to use fund balance, we actually use it. That was not always the case. We need to talk about reducing expenditures, and also about increasing revenues. Building fees were increased last year, so that should help. We’ve also discussed contracting planning services to other towns without planning departments. Jennife r Jones has talked about offering rec programs that are revenue neutral. She will share budget requests from department heads with the board. The Highway Department has purchased the Cornell Local Roads software program. The data has to be put in, but when it is up and running, it will help with budgeting. Cl Leifer will talk with the Highway Superintendent about getting his budget request in. Cl Leifer will help with Teamsters negotiations this year. Supv Sumner reported there will be a meeting at Bolton Point and they will be voting on a bargaining unit contract. The municipalities will then need to approve it. They have made some pay equity changes and reclassified some jobs. Pay increases this year range between two percent and six percent. Their health insurance contribution rates will progress from about 2% now to 12% in the next three years. Employees will have a choice of insurance plans. There is a detailed analysis of pay increases and health insurance increases. No employee lost anything out of pocket. Everyone’s pay increase covered their increase in insurance premium. Health insurance rates are expected to rise at a rate greater than pay increases in the future. Cl Sloan would like to add the Freese Road Bridge to the agenda next week. He will prepare a proposed resolution to maintain the bridge as one lane. Supv Sumner said it would a good idea to pass the resolution every few years because things tend to drop off the radar. Cl Leifer reported that a group met to discuss the West Dryden Road pipeline situation last night. They discussed the zoning amendment. Chris Denton, Esq. who has worked on leases on behalf of landowners for pipelines across their property, done some municipal work, and worked for landowner coalitions in Broome County was present. He is familiar with town zoning and franchise agreements. He made good comments about our zoning and the existing franchise. He recommends renegotiating the franchise agreement. They discussed the lead agency process. Lead agency can be determined by who NYSEG goes to for the special use permit. Our zoning requires them to come here for that. The town would benefit from revenue from a new franchise agreement. Part of the argument has been that the town is not getting anything out of this. TB 6-11-15 Page 5 of 5 C Denton recommends a change in “public at large” in the public utility definition which can encompass areas outside of Dryden. Zoning covers activities in Dryden and we should focus on Dryden. So that term needs to be changed and would apply to pipes running through Dryden. We wouldn’t be able to ban it, but could restrict it, or regulate it for maximum safety, least impact, etc. You could also force them to investigate alternative paths. The expense of any consultant fees by the town could be covered in the fee process. Because Chris Denton has been retained by some of the West Dryden residents, if we were to want him to represent us, he would have to have their permission. Cl Sloan said he had an email from a resident near the Etna Fire Station about a neighbor operating heavy machinery at all hours of the day and night. Supv Sumner said she understands this is a landscaping/wood business and would be an allowed use in that district, but a heavy equipment business would not. R Burger will check into the situation. Cl Leifer would like the Town Supervisor to write to NYSEG letting them know that we will require a special use permit or have a meeting of the possible lead agencies. Supv Sumner would like SEQR training for the board and the public. Cl Leifer will share information from DEC on choosing lead agency, and what happens when there is a conflict. There being no further business, on motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk