Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-05-11TB 5-11-17 Page 1 of 4 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING May 11, 2017 Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl Linda Lavine, Cl Deborah Cipolla-Dennis, Cl Kathrin Servoss Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Other Town Staff: Ray Burger, Director of Planning Supv Leifer called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. CDBG Loan Fund Presentation - Cl Lamb introduced a group of students from the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs who have been working to design a revolving loan program. They researched what works well in other municipalities across the countr y. The program will be used for businesses that want to expand in Dryden and create jobs. A comprehensive report will be provided to the board. The executive summary follows: Revolving Loan Fund Program for the Town of Drvden I. Executive Summary A Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) is a financial tool used by towns and cities to provide low-cost loans to local businesses in order to stimulate economic development and create more jobs. In 1999, the Town of Dryden applied for a Community Development Block Grant of $400,000 from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on behalf of a local company, which was subsequently received. Expecting the company to repay the full amount, the grant was supposed to be used to establish an ongoing RLF. Unfortunately, the local company went bankrupt after repaying only $210,000 of the initial amount. Today, $163,000 of the initial grant resides with the Town of Dryden and has been frozen for the past eleven years. Through working with elected officials of the Town of Dryden, the RLF team has spent the last several months reviewing literature, collecting data, and formulating recommendations in order to empower Dryden to make the be st decisions when creating a RLF. By utilizing best practices, considering the needs of local people and businesses, and identifying clear parameters for Dryden to follow, the team has prepared the following document to guide administrators in their implem entation of Dryden’s RLF. The report begins with a Data Collection and Methodology section to provide an explanation for the team determined recommendations through the research that was done and data that was collected. Following this section is the Literature Review, which incorporates comprehensive information on the history of the RLF in Dryden as well as the protocols pertaining to the HUD program. Next, The Case Studies and Interviews section contains case studies on five towns in the United States that were either of similar size or were particularly successful. These case studies were conducted to gain information on best practices and better inform the final recommendations made by our team. The Stakeholder Analysis and Needs Assessment section contains three surveys that were used to obtain greater detail on RLF programs as well as assess community needs and business interest in the RLF program. One survey went to RLF administrators in other towns to gain additional understanding of how they success fully manage their RLF programs. The second and third surveys went to local Dryden business owners and Dryden community members, respectively. Finally, based on our literature review and survey responses, the report concludes with a list of recommendations that Dryden should follow to sustain its RLF in the long term financially. These recommendations include necessary reporting procedures required by HUD for any loans that are extended through this RLF, and financial recommendations for managing these loans. It is recommended that the interest rate for these loans be set between 2% to 5%, with specific rates to be determined by the Loan Review Committee in conjunction with the private TB 5-11-17 Page 2 of 4 lending institution and attorney advisement. The maximum amount of each loan should not exceed $25,000, to minimize the risk of default and to enable the money to be used by several local businesses at once. Additionally, the Dryden Town Board must form a Loan Review Committee to evaluate each application following the strict criteria recommended in the report to ensure minimum loan defaults and maximum economic impact for the Town of Dryden. Information on this revolving loan program is on the town’s website. Joe Osmeloski urged the town to move forward with this program and said he thinks it will attract the types of businesses that we are looking for in Dryden. BridgeNY Grant – Supv Leifer said the committee will interview three firms on Monday (starting at 9:00 a.m.) for design consultant. The design consultant chos en will not serve as project manager. Cl Servoss introduced Dan Kopko of GEI Consultants. He has suggested that it might be a good idea, because there are only 18 months to come up with the design, while we are deciding on a consultant the town could hold a public information meeting to gather more information that could be given to the design consultant in the beginning . The town has signed the contract and is waiting on State to sign. The design consultant doesn’t have to attend this information meeting. The meeting could be videotaped and provided to them. The consultant will determine whether a bridge should be one lane or two lanes. DOT has said if a non-standard design is chosen there has to be a good reason to go with that. June Pride Month – Cl Cipolla-Dennis presented a proposed resolution for next week to declare June as Pride Month and raise the rainbow flag. It is written so that each year beginning in 2017 the flag will be raised on the first day of June and lowered on the last day of June. Dominion/Borger Station – Supv Leifer said the meeting on May 1 at the Varna Community Association was lively. Dominion has since sent a lot of documents to the town that will be posted on the web answering questions that were raised that night. He and Cl Cipolla-Dennis had a discussion with someone today about the FERC variance and whether they had the authority to issue it because they may not have had a quorum. They will look into that. Cl Cipolla-Dennis said we should make them follow the law, but it won’t stop Dominion. Supv Leifer will do some legal research and Cl Cipolla-Dennis is also looking into it. Cl Lavine said she came away from the meeting feeling that this was a relatively minor upgrade compared to Sheds and Horseheads and while Dominion should have been better prepared to answer questions, it is clear that part of the reason they weren’t is that they thought of it as nothing. The other projects were larger. She w ould like to play the role of not waking up the neighboring residents at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. She received an email from a resident about regulations for noise and such and w ould like to force them to answer to that rule if there is one. Cl Cipolla-Dennis would like to keep pushing Dominion to do the air quality monitoring. If they really want to be good neighbors they should do that. The current air quality is in question. Because of the smell, there appears to be gas leakage there. We should also make sure they have an emergency response plan with our volunteer fire departments. Mothers Out Front will be applying for grant money for air quality monitoring. Cl Lavine suggested meeting with Dominion about this because they should want to monitor and pay for it. Cayuga Heights Sewer Treatment Plant – Supv Leifer explained the issue there is stormwater is infiltrating the plant and affecting the number of new sewer units that can be TB 5-11-17 Page 3 of 4 permitted. This plant serves the Sapsucker Sewer District in the town of Dryden. He expects that at some point we’ll see something from Cayuga Heights about designs for expanding capacity. Cortland Road Sewer Rate – The Village of Dryden has notified us that their sewer rates will increase in July. We need a local law to increase the rate charged to our customers in the district. 902 Dryden Road – Ray Burger explained that the townhomes are up and they are looking at the layout of the sidewalks. They’ve adapted their site plan to show some connectivity to the street side. There is also no longer a need for a fire truck turnaround since the project was downsized. They need approval from the board to make this change and it will be on the agenda next week. VCA Funding Agreement – Supv Leifer has prepared agreement basically structured like a reimbursement grant. They’ll submit the invoices to the town and be reimbursed up to a total of $4,000.00. RESOLUTION #68 (2017) – AUTHORIZE AGREEMENT WITH VARNA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves an agreement with the Varna Community Association to provide up to $4,000.00 toward fencing the playground and the Supervisor is authorized to execute the same. 2nd Cl Lavine Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Cipolla-Dennis Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Public hearings next week will include easements for the rail trail and the unsafe buildings local law. Cl Lavine said it has been determined that we can have volunteers drive the town van. It is never used in the mornings and basically for after school events. She would like it used to pick up elderly people in the mornings to go to town recreation activities. It has been confirmed with the insurance company that we can do this with volunteers. We’d need to find out what kind of training they need and then tell Jack Davison that this what the board wants and he should proceed to implement a plan for helping senior citizens get to activities within the town. He can coordinate the volunteer drivers. The board agrees this is a good idea. She said there is outreach from the Y and Lifelong and other towns have utilized them. There is a lot of potential for satellite program offerings by these types of groups. The town can set limits on how far we go and work out other details. The board agrees that Cl Lavine will work with Jack to get that information. Supv Leifer will speak with J Davison about this. Solar projects – R Burger said a couple of jurisdictional letters have come in from DEC. We have not yet heard from SHPO or Fish & Wildlife Service. Supv Leifer asked the board to review the Planning Board’s minutes and resolution calling for a moratorium. There was a question about whether it covers the current applications. Cl Cipolla-Dennis said we should have our attorney look into that because the TB 5-11-17 Page 4 of 4 town board had granted Distributed Sun a waiver from the public utilities moratorium. Supv Leifer will check with Atty Brock. A memorandum of understanding with the Village of Dryden for use of Montgomery Park will be on next week’s agenda. Supv Leifer will need authorization to sign it. RESOLUTION #69 (2017) – APPROVE ABSTRACT #5 Cl Cipolla-Dennis offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves Abstract #5, as audited, general vouchers #271 through #335, totaling $128,450.94, and health and benefit insurance premiums not to exceed $70,000.00. 2nd Cl Servoss Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Cipolla-Dennis Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes There being no further business, on motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned 8:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk