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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-09-15TB 9-15-16 D R A F T Page 1 of 11 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING September 15, 2016 Present: Supv Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl Kathrin Servoss, Cl Deborah Cipolla-Dennis, Cl Linda Lavine Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Other Town Staff: Susan Brock, Town Attorney Ray Burger, Director of Planning Jennifer Jones, Recreation Director PUBLIC HEARING PROPOSED LOCAL LAW TO OVERRIDE THE TAX LEVY CAP Supv Leifer opened the public hearing at 6:05 p.m. and explained that adoption of this local law would allow the town to override the tax levy cap for 2017. While the board doesn’t plan to do that at this time, the calculations are complex and constantly changing and it would be a good precautionary measure. There was no public comment an d the hearing was left open at 6:25 p.m. The hearing was reopened at 6:55 p.m. Don Scutt, Palmear Road, said taxes are oppressive in New York State. Taxes tend to kick businesses and families out of central New York. Tompkins County is surrounded by counties that are shrinking in population. Tompkins County has grown because of Cornell University. Taxes can cause communities to dwindle, and you should think carefully about exceeding the tax cap. If you exceed the tax cap, residents won’t get a refund, and this is the last year that can happen. We didn’t get it last year, and he’d like to get it this year. He encouraged the board to not vote to exceed the levy cap limit. Assessments have increased and it is time to start looking at reducing the taxes. David Bravo-Cullen said he has noticed that some proposed development projects have taken a long time to get approved. The Varna situation and the storage unit situation that took a long time caused the developers to lose a year of income and the taxpayers to lose a year’s worth of taxes. He encouraged the board to expedite its approval processes. These business could have been up and running by now. He would like to see a prompt approval process to help increase the tax base and taxes collected. Supv Leifer closed the public hearing at 7:00 p.m. and opened the business meeting. TOWN CLERK RESOLUTION #148 (2016) – APPROVE MINUTES Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the meeting minutes of August 11 and August 18, 2016. 2nd Cl Cipolla-Dennis TB 9-15-16 D R A F T Page 2 of 11 Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Cipolla-Dennis Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes CITIZENS PRIVILEGE Don Scutt said he has heard board members over the years say that the killer in the Town of Dryden is not the town’s property tax, it is the school tax. That is somewhat correct, but the way you control growth in the town impacts the school tax. If you impede growth and don’t work actively to increase the tax base, you do impact the school taxes. He believes that four of the five board members pay school taxes to districts other than Dryden. Dr yden school taxes are harsh because don’t have a large tax base on this side of town. He encouraged the board to actively grow the tax base. Be proactively looking to grow business in the town. It could start with a banner that said “Welcome to the Town of Dryden – We’re open for business.” You need to worry about the tax base. If you don’t it will dwindle and die. Deanna Madigan said she owns Shear Visions hair salon, and is a wife, mother and resident of the town for over 20 years. She has owned a business in the town for almost 18 years. When the Pinckney Road purchase came about she got interested in what was going on in the town and with town money. She believes that there is not a town board member that resides in County District 14, and that is not a fair representation of town. She is concerned that there needs to be a more fair representation of the people in the community in the town. She hears a lot of people asking why taxes are going up again, what is the deficit, where is the savings account, and questions about growth. People are leaving and can’t sell their homes. She asked why people would come here when we have school district that is a focus school. We have the largest gap from the lowest achieving student to the highest achieving student, so the state comes in and says they will focus on making the education better. That is not an enticement to come here. Our town has got to give people a reason to come here. There needs to be business growth and new business. She has seen board meetings get off track. We need to stay focused on the town of Dryden. Supv Leifer shared information on tax rates in the county and said the town is in fact third lowest in the county. The town tax is what we control. We do have new businesses coming. Cl Lamb noted that the town is growing in population, not shrinking. HIGHWAY DEPT No report. PLANNING DEPARTMENT Ideal Storage - Ray Burger reported there is a proposal for a storage facility business at the corner of Enterprise Drive and Freeville Road just north of the Village. Bill Hilker, the project owner, currently has self storage facilities along R oute 79 in Slaterville. B Hilker said they have just improved their main office building and have a large mural depicting Cayuga Lake on that facility. They have a solar array on the building. They contribute continually to the Caroline area for community operations and are community oriented. They also have a self storage facility on Rabbit Run Road in Trumansburg, and would like to come to Dryden. They lot they’ve chosen in Dryden has large set backs on two sides rather than one because it is on a corner , but they were able to accomplish what they need. The building is similar to Michael Moore’s building. The draw here is TC3 students and there is little self storage close to the Village. They’ve had several calls from this area because nothing was TB 9-15-16 D R A F T Page 3 of 11 available here. They average 80% occupancy through the year, partly due to good management practices. They are very people oriented in management of their facility. Supv Leifer asked B Hilker to give some thought to what might be built around their facility and try to blend with future development. Orange doors might not work. They should try to blend in rather than looking like a stereotypical storage facility. B Hilker said the Planning Department has been very helpful and that was something they talked about. Orange-colored doors are a branding for self storage nationwide. What they have done is to blend that orange with browns and tans. He has received praise from an architect on the color scheme. He would like to take the metal from the side that faces Route 38 and make it more like stucco, a dryvet facade. He is willing to put plantings between them and the old dollar store. He does have a problem with putting in sidewalks. There are already sidewalks on other sides of roads and it seems that no one walks on the north side of the road. He asked the board to not require sidewalks. It’s kind of like a bridge to nowhere. He is thinking of installing solar panels on this, but it depends on what other items might be required by the board. The board scheduled the public hearing for October 20 at 7:00 p.m. Scofield Road – R Burger explained there is a landlocked parcel that the property owner would like to build a home on. They have access via an easement. The law provides for an option for the board to declare it an open development area and deem the easement sufficient for access. The board set a public heari ng for October 20 at 7:15 p.m. Simms Hill Road telecommunications tower – TMobile is planning an in-kind replacement of their equipment that involves a small equipment addition on the pad. They are coming in to amend their special use permit and to recertify their equipment. There was a similar action on the same tower by AT&T a few years ago and it was recertified then . The structure and the soundness of the structure are not in question though it is reevaluated as part of this application process. The board scheduled the public hearing for October 20 at 7:30 p.m. Midline Road Clarity Connect tower – R Burger said this tower was constructed about five years ago, but is not enclosed by a fence in accordance with the approved site plan. They are now applying for an amendment to the site plan to delete the requirement for a fence. The public hearing was scheduled for October 20 at 7:45 p.m. Irish Settlement Verizon tower – The hearing is still open. They are still waiting for the State Historic Preservation Report on that. Hopefully they will receive that and conclude the hearing on October 20. 1061 Dryden Road – Planned Unit Development is scheduled for a special meeting on October 5 at 7:00 p.m. at the Varna Community Center. The process has gone through a public hearing with the Planning Board on July 28. They had a follow-up meeting on August 10. A report of their comments and recommendations on the SEQR was sent to the Town Board on August 22. This process would effectively create an overlay district for that 6.5 acre parcel. At this stage there is a concept plan before the board. This is an opportunity to establish any special zoning rules for this piece. The board can adopt the underlying district rules or make adjustments to them. The concept plan shows their site plan and the narrative pieces that go with it. They have since given us a traffic study, but there are a lot of items to discuss. They have proposed an amenity package in donating the trail bed (740’) to the town. Some recommendations from the Planning Board include buffer issues with the neighboring properties and the traffic concerns. TB 9-15-16 D R A F T Page 4 of 11 It was suggested that NYS DOT do a traffic study. R Burger said they won’t respond quickly enough, though they will have to issue a permit for the drive. The report submitted by the developer gave a safety rating on the changes. The Planning Board had discussed potentially looking at traffic coming out of a similar townhome down the road. It might be good to have that information. The County 239 review brought up issues of buffer, DOT appropriate signage and pavement marking for accessing the bus stop. Trail concerns and the setbacks were also concerns for them. COUNTY BRIEFING No report. RECREATION DEPARTMENT Jack Davison reported they are continuing with regular business and fall programs and figuring out what to do in the absence of Jennifer Jones. They have been working on winter programming as it was done last year. They will try to continue the Senior Fit program as it was pretty popular. He and Jennifer Jones are working on the winter booklet and it is coming along. They were a little behind schedule after Andrew left but Rex has helped them out a lot . Supv Leifer announced that the Recreation Director will be leaving in a month and there will be a larger discussion about the Rec Department a later in the meeting. ADVISORY BOARD UPDATES Planning Board – Cl Cipolla-Dennis noted solar energy law coming up on the agenda and R Burger’s report covered pretty much the rest of it. Airbnb – Jane-Marie Law has agreed to do a presentation at the October agenda meeting. Conservation Board – Bob Beck reported they are making slow progress on a natural resources conservation plan. Members are working on various components of that plan. Rail Trail Task Force – Bob Beck reported they are to contact landowners from the western end working toward the east. They have talked with almost 30 landowners, basically up to Route 366 and owners have easements in hand. Most have promised to sign. He and John Keifer attended a DOT workshop for the transportation alternatives grant opportunity. The deadline is October 21. It could be a helpful monetary contribution toward project. It looks like Scott Pinney will sign an easement for a corner of his property, and if the William George Agency is agreeable, the two villages will be connected by the trail. The Village of Freeville is working on a park at their end of the trail by their village hall. Because this is a transportation alternative grant and federal money, they want the trails to be ADA compliant and have snow and ice removal in the winter. They prefer a paved or stone dust crushed gravel surface. The surface could more than double the cost. B Beck noted that people seem to be happy with the Jim Schug trail as it is. David Bravo-Cullen said the trail wouldn’t need to be ADA compliant if we don’t use federal funds, and there are people who use the current trail for cross -country skiing and wouldn’t want it cleared of snow. On the first section of the trail from Springhouse Road toward Freeville that’s been completed, it was less expensive for the town to do it without federal grant money because they didn’t have to meet the federal requirements. Gravel and grass has been sufficient. Cl Cipolla-Dennis said we should think about ADA compliance so that hopefully all people would be able to enjoy it. She suggested that we consult with someone who has physical limitations. B Beck agrees that we can do more with less money TB 9-15-16 D R A F T Page 5 of 11 and be able to traverse the entire route and have it reasonably traversable by someone in a motorized wheelchair. There are no steep slopes or steps. Maybe in time we could have it converted. The next meeting of the task force is September 21 at 7:00 p.m. at Dryden Village Hall. Ag Committee – Supv Leifer reported he attended the end of the meeting last night and he didn’t think they had a quorum. Debbie Teeter was talking about the report from George Franz. He expects the Town Board will receive the report soon and the board can then move the proposed zoning changes based on George Franz’s suggestions. The goal is to make sure that our zoning law is farm friendly. This should probably be on the November agenda. NEW BUSINESS Payments outside the abstract – There are two payments in connection with the town’s contribution to Montgomery Park that can be made after September 20 (when the time for the permissive referendum has expired). There are two bills from TG Miller associated with the SWPPP for Hopshire and expenses related to stormwater. The Hopshire one will come from their project escrow. RESOLUTION #149 (2016) – PAYMENT OUTSIDE THE ABSTRACT Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes the following payments outside the abstract: TG Miller Engineers $ 2,131.25 N.E.W. Plastics Corp. 12,552.89 Bedford Technology 1,439.99 2nd Cl Servoss Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Cipolla-Dennis Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes The other two bills are for the Recreation Department’s VISA bill for footballs and a Verizon bill for the tablet for the Planning Department. RESOLUTION #150 (2016) – PAYMENT OUTSIDE THE ABSTRACT Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes the following payments outside the abstract: Verizon Wireless $ 58.98 VISA (Rec) 94.95 2nd Cl Servoss Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Cipolla-Dennis Yes Cl Servoss Yes TB 9-15-16 D R A F T Page 6 of 11 Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes BMI Contract – This is a performing rights organization and covers the licensing of the use of music at events where music is played at town events. We already have a contract with ASCAP. These organizations pay the artists whose music is being performed. It may make sense to have this additional coverage versus the liability. It is based on population and is $336.00 annually. After discussion, Supv Leifer offered the following resolution. RESOLUTION #151 (2016) – AUTHORIZE BMI CONTRACT Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the contract with BMI in the amount of $336.00 and authorizes the Town Supervisor to sign the same. 2nd Cl Cipolla-Dennis Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Abstain Cl Cipolla-Dennis Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Supv Leifer has previously approved contracts for the wastewater treatment plant for the microgrid and GHG Consulting on the anaerobic digester work. Board members signed the documents. Public utility moratorium checklist – Cl Cipolla Dennis has put together a list of tasks and would like to attach a timeline. There are major categories with a few items under each. (attached) (1) Correct inconsistencies in the zoning law. These will be addressed by the attorneys. (2) Bonding/Insurance – the PSC may have guidelines. Supv Leifer knows an attorney who may have first-hand experience with this and will check with him. (3) Staffing-up – Cl Cipolla-Dennis and Supv Leifer agree that this should happen soon. (4) Clarification – These items would involve the town attorneys. We need to figure out if there are any other state agencies involved. With respect to eminent domain, there is a question about whether all easements need to be in place before NYSEG can apply for a special use permit or vice versa. There are no cases of a pipeline of this size being under local jurisdiction. (5) Siting guidelines and best practices – The Planning Board is looking into some of these things, including highway permits and what requirements we should have for any infrastructure crossing the highway or any road that is controlled by the town. There is a PSC document that has great detail about best practices and they should reference that. (6) SUP process – The DEC has a guide for assessing greenhouse gas emissions. It is not required but is being applied by DEC to their projects. The town may want to adopt it for our special use permits. The town could modify the EAF to accommodate use of those guidelines. Cl Cipolla-Dennis will work with R Burger on that. TB 9-15-16 D R A F T Page 7 of 11 Cl Cipolla Dennis said there are other things that don’t necessarily have to do with moratorium that should be considered such as: encouraging sustainable development, passing a resolution to support the county’s greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, establishing a climate smart task force, and investigating and implementing community choice aggregation. The board can work on some of these after the budget process. These are not required for the moratorium, so are not necessarily on a timeline. Renewable Energy Law – This needs to move forward because of current interest in solar farms. We want to encourage them but need to have something in place. Cl Cipolla- Dennis recommends separating the wind and solar portions of the current law and prioritizing the solar part. The wind portion requires more work and the Planning Board hasn’t done that work yet. She and R Burger have a draft ready to go to the attorneys. It was written off a model law by NY Sun. There are a couple of questions about decommissioning and what would be required for part of the package. RECREATION DEPARTMENT Supv Leifer explained the department lost Andrew Pierce a few months ago and the Director, Jennifer Jones, will be leaving in a month. She will stay part time to prepare for the winter season. He asked if the board would be willing to pay her last month’s health insurance premium. She had given the option to continue for two weeks full time or four weeks part time. He feels it is better for town to go with the four week option because it gives more time to complete work for the winter programs. It will also give us more time with three people in the department. The board needs to discuss what direction they want the department to take. He asked Steve and Lisa Stelick to be present because they basically built the department from a time when it was all volunteers. It was originally one full time coordinator and then it evolved to two full-time with other help. Supv Leifer said he isn’t sure there is a need for a director when we are so program oriented right now; eventually there will be more responsibility with trails and possibly parks, but we aren’t there yet. We need to determine whether to turn one or both of the rec assistants to full time employees or hire another director. By the end of October we’ll need to have determined this. Both the director and coordinator positions are competitive and will have to be advertised. Steve Stelick said 25 years ago he and his wife got involved in youth programs in the town of Dryden. For ten years they ran Dryden youth sports programs with an $11,000 budget and no salaries. They did a lot of fundraising and took care of everything. He was one of the original members of the first recreation commission. It was a good group of intelligent people that met on a regular basis. Nothing happened and he ran for the town board. He and his wife realized that the sports programs had gotten too big. After he was elected, the town hired its first recreation coordinator. They were involved from the beginning and worked with the Ithaca Youth Bureau a number of times. They found that doing it themselves, having control, and having a pied piper to lead volunteers worked best. He’s watched what has developed over the last three years. We don’t want to go backwards. A rec program brings people to a place like the town of Dryden. We hear a lot about alternatives to incarceration. A coach is a priceless position that makes the biggest business. Those kids that might not have anywhere else to go, but for two hours they do have a place. He still runs into kids that were part of the program that turned out ok. A lot of those kids succeeded because of the youth programs. The Ithaca Youth Bureau is what it is. This is about programs, not paying for directors or all the extras. The cost per participant is important, but you don’t need to pay for a lot of extras. He wants to take care of the people of the town regardless of where they live or what their income level is and believes we need to go forward with a leader with a vision and passion for recreation. If you have that, then you have something where people want to come and live. TB 9-15-16 D R A F T Page 8 of 11 Lansing has been successful for a long period of time and people want to live there because of recreation. It’s not just youth, it’s also non-traditional recreation. You can find volunteers, not to lead, but to be part of the program. You need that person to organize. You n eed the support of town board. The amount spent on the Recreation Department is minimal. It touches the most amounts of people and has a priceless value because it involves the children. One or two hours spent outside are priceless. He loves the fact that regardless of where you live , you have a music option in Ellis Hollow and in the Village of Dryden. It doesn’t cost much and the value is priceless. The Ithaca Youth Bureau helps to a degree, but with transportation, people being time- bankrupt and the school district right here with the facilities we have in place, it needs to be all-encompassing. You need a focus, someone with a vision that can keep it together. It’s very inexpensive for what we get out of it. Cl Lavine asked him to elaborate on the range of possibilities of staffing. He replied that it’s very flexible. If you have the right person, one person is enough, or a part-time position leading other part-time people. It doesn’t need to be someone with a rec degree. It goes back to passion, and the right person determines the time. It could be a broad job description, someone with a vision. Technology and communication are an important component. It could have stayed something run by volunteers, but in order to grow it needed someone who could dedicate time to it. You also need dedicated volunteers. When we made the director position, it became more than programs. Supv Leifer said we haven’t done a lot on the planning side in the last few years. It’s been more programming. We have a master plan and there is movement toward accomplishing those goals, but we’re also in this fiscal loop at the moment. It may save now to have coordinators rather than another director. Maybe we don’t need a director with a master’s degree to do this right now, but can revisit it in a few years. We can save now and not lose the programs and keep the connections in community. Someone who has been working in the community for years and knows how to communicate can keep the department going at a high level. Then at some point we can decide if we have the resources to reinstate the director position. S Stelick said it’s a good time to reevaluate what we have and get a short term task force of people together. Over the years we’ve talked a lot about facilities and having to have a structure in place, but programming is tantamount. Our situation with facilities might not be the best, but have fields, open space, and community centers that we can use for certain things. In 25 years things have changed, but what hasn’t changed is the n eed for recreation and the people that need it. We may need clerical organization. It might be time for a small task force of people that see the vision of what the future should be. It is not a time for naysayers. We need to decide what we want in the future. Cl Lavine said people have mentioned the difficulty getting space in the Dryden school buildings. S Stelick acknowledged it had been a problem for the 25 years that he was involved. His opinion is that it’s more of a perception and having the proper coordinator in place can help. We need to be flexible. Lisa Stelick said the winter sports season can be difficult because the high sc hool activities are happening then. You need to work closely with the school building use coordinator. She suggested getting a small group of people together to assess the rec department needs. There may be a need for a part -time clerical person, or a couple of part time coordinators or rec assistants, maybe you need one full time director or one full time coordinator. TB 9-15-16 D R A F T Page 9 of 11 Cl Servoss said this is something the Recreation and Youth Commission could investigate and invited the Stelicks to attend. Cl Lavine suggested inviting other longtime residents and other groups involved in delivering youth services. Perhaps there should be an open hearing and public comment. S Stelick cautioned that would bring out factions with specific interests. We do have a current rec board and we need to have the right people. He doesn’t want to bring out negative comments and talk of taxes. We’re past that. It’s not expensive. It’s been proven that it’s been very successful. We want people there that have a forward view of what this is going to be. Cl Lavine said her issue with the position is that they weren’t really answerable to anybody. S Stelick agrees and when he was very involved with it, he took responsibility for it. He has seen that evolve. The DRYC is a great board with great people, but the buck needs to stop at the town board. There needs to be a town board member or two to be responsible and a regular monthly meeting should be required. They need to be held accountable and should have to come to a board meeting. He suggested that two board members be appointed at the beginning of the year similar to what’s done with the highway department. Supv Leifer agrees and said some of these chain of command functions need to be delegated by the Supervisor. There was discussion about what the position(s) specifically could be, where the direction would come from, level of autonomy, skills and education. S Stelick said a passion for recreation is most important. Stephanie Mulinos said she appreciates S Stelick’s insight and read the following statement: My name is Stephanie Mulinos. I have been a resident of the Town of Dryden for 28 years. I have lived on the west and south sides of town and in the Villages of Freeville and Dryden. I have raised 3 children her e, all of whom attended Dryden schools from Kindergarten through graduation. I have worked in Dryden for 12 years including in local government for the Village of Freeville and the Town of Dryden. I have been an active volunteer in my community for 20 years. I have taught Sunday school, organized community events, served on non -profit boards, and been a girl scout cookie mom. I have been an appointed member of a Town commission since 2007. I tell you these things so that there is no doubt that I know, love and care about my community. I served on the search committee that hired Jennifer Jones. She was in every way, the best and most qualified candidate for this position. During her interview, she stated that this was her “dream job.” I have been the Chair of the DRYC for most of her time here and it has been a pleasure to work with her. I have witnessed her bring tremendous value to the residents of Dryden. I have also witnessed her be undermined by disgruntled staff and bullied by town board members. I have not witnessed her being provided the support she needs and deserves to succeed. I would mention that despite this, she maintained composure and professionalism and never let her commitment to her work suffer. Now you have before you the task of hiring a new Recreation Director. As you approach this responsibility, I urge you to do the following:  Decide and agree on what your expectations of the Recreation Department are, and what your role as elected officials will be.  Decide and agree on what the “deliverables” are – how will you measure whether the Department and its staff are meeting your expectations.  Recognize that the success of this Department and the person you hire to run it are YOUR responsibility and that you are accountable for their performance. I know that balancing the needs and desired of the Town is a huge responsibility and that making ev eryone happy will never happen. But I encourage you to engage the community to the best of your ability in making your decisions, and above all, to approach this with integrity and transparency. The next meeting of the DRYC is September 28th. S Mulinos said they are more than willing and deserve to be a part of the process. Supv Leifer said we need to have a decision TB 9-15-16 D R A F T Page 10 of 11 made before the public hearing on the budget. S Mulinos said she would rather see the board not make a decision in the interest of making a right decision and keep the budget steady. Cl Servoss agreed that budgeting for a higher position and not spending the money is better than budgeting for a coordinator and choosing to go with a director. S Mulinos noted the difference between have a director or a coordinator is long term planning and a higher level of leadership. The board needs to decide what it wants out of the department. If you want it to encompass parks and park development and get back on track with the rec master plan, it will require a higher level. Cl Lamb wondered how long the town could wait and sustain the level of contacts that we have with the public. We reach over 4,000 people with this program and he doesn’t want to see it diminish; we want to take time to make the right decision. But there is a cost to taking too long. S Mulinos said not to go beyond the winter programming. By the time Jennifer leaves the winter programming will be set. Discussion continued on this topic. Comments, observations and points made included:  Who will coaches report to during winter sports? This is an important connection. (staff)  It would be important to have two people in the department to go to.  It’s an enormous task for one person. Two people would be better.  Consider things beyond logistics – budgeting, advertising, contracts, building relationships and finding facilities, among others.  The tasks to be done and who will accomplish them.  Town board needs to establish a vision for the department – short term and long term.  Town board needs to be involved and take accountability for the process and decision.  Skills that each candidate brings to the position(s) are important.  DRYC hasn’t met since Jennifer’s resignation.  Should there be a task force of certain people or a meeting to collect public input?  Would that delay the process?  The person chosen for a position may want a public meeting in order to develop a plan.  The department has not been a complete failure.  This is from a personnel perspective.  It is valuable to know what the DRYC expects of a candidate.  The town board is looking for a recommendation on staffing – full time and/or part time and how many.  The town board should provide the DRYC with some criteria.  Nuts and bolts person vs. vision person.  Support what we have in the meantime.  Should our program be modeled after other rec departments?  Programs succeed because of a passion of investment in youth. Dryden staff has believed that.  Community input is valuable but may result in diminishing returns and extend the process.  What works in one community may not work in another.  Find out what we can and can’t do with the resources we currently have. Supv Leifer asked Cl Servoss and Cl Lamb to meet with the DRYC next week and come back to the board with recommendations. The immediate need is to make sure we have people who can execute the programs we have in place, preserve what we have, and determine at what TB 9-15-16 D R A F T Page 11 of 11 point we need someone to move forward with the vision. We can plan all we want, but we have to do something with those plans, and ultimately we’ll need someone who can figure out how to get there (funding, etc). S Stelick recommended budgeting for two full time people and then figuring it out. Supv Leifer will check with our HR person and see what limitations Civil Service has. Supv Leifer expects that after the 28th the DRYC will let the board know what they recommend for a staffing level. S Mulinos proposed that the Town Board approve the rec department budget as presented and maintain the funding for next year. The DRYC will come up with a short term plan to get through the end of this year and through the end of the winter programming. They will do that quickly. Once it is certain that the department is covered for rest of the year, they will come up with a plan for how to approach the future staffing decision. The board agrees that is a good plan. There being no further business, on motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk August 31, 2016 Things that we need to do during the moratorium: 1. Correct inconsistencies in zoning law, clarify applicability of requirements a. Where public utilities are allowed b. Clarify the definition of ‘public utility’ c. Add public utilities to the Standards and Requirements for Certain Uses d. See what the state/federal laws are related to pipelines and make sure we are consistent with these e. See where SEQRA has been used for other pipelines and what that looked like f. Look into having a workshop type meeting with attorneys on zoning changes – people have asked me about doing this in an open meeting so they can participate 2. Bonding/Insurance a. Explore requiring bonding or insurance for infrastructure projects: i. to ensure the proper decommissioning of the pipeline at the end of its life ii. to ensure that residents and/or the Town are not held liable for costs related to an accident b. Determine the appropriate liability insurance level that NYSEG should be required to have during construction and operation 3. Staffing-up a. Research and retain or prepare to retain an experience engineering firm to review the EIS b. Draft a scoping document before the EIS process – this dictates what goes into the EIS c. Potentially, research and retain a legal firm wit h gas pipeline experience 4. Clarify the process a. Clarify what exactly the process of eminent domain is and how it will impact Dryden residents b. What role, if any, does the DEC or other State agencies have? i. Possibly the Army Corp of Engineers c. Does the Franchise Agreement apply? If so, how? Do we need to modify it? 5. Siting guidelines and best practices a. Develop appropriate siting and development guidelines similar to our commercial development guidelines b. Have the Planning Board research possible infrastructure guid elines c. Setbacks and buffering – what can we do? 6. Incorporate into the SUP process the requirement to use the DEC’s Guide for Assessing Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in an Environmental Impact Statement a. State Law allows towns to have additions to the EAF requirements – we can create our own appendices that require more disclosure. Can be stricter than state law but cannot be more lenient.