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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-02-08TB 2-8-18 Page 1 of 5 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING February 8, 2018 Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl Linda Lavine, Cl Kathrin Servoss Absent: Cl Alice Green Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Richard Young, Highway/DPW Superintendent Other Town Staff: Ray Burger, Director of Planning Jennifer Case, Bookkeeper The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. PUBLIC HEARING PUBLIC INTEREST ORDER ITHACA AREA WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY GRIT REMOVAL CONTRACT Supv Leifer opened the public hearing at 7:02 p.m. Supv Leifer explained that this has to do with the grit removal project. The total cost of the project is $434,175 and the Town of Dryden’s portion is $8,596. There were no comments and the hearing was left open. Approval of job titles/pay rates for summer camp staff – The Town Recreation Department will be taking over the summer camp that the Village of Dryden used to run. It’s necessary to create the positions involved and set the salaries. Last year’s assistant director is willing to be the director this year. In keeping with the budget that was established, rates of pay would be $13.50 to $14.00 per hour for the director, with two assistant directors at $12.50 per hour and two counselors at $10.40 per hour. The camp will operate 40 hours per week for six weeks and the town will collect the fees. The director will work about eight weeks (for planning purposes). The village has turned over the equipment and supplies they had left. RESOLUTION #40 (2018) – CREATE POSITIONS AND SET PAY RATE FOR SUMMER CAMP Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED that this Town Board hereby creates the following positions at the pay rate indicated: Camp Director $13.50 to $14.00 per hour Assistant Camp Director (2) $12.50 per hour Camp Counselor (2) $10.40 per hour 2nd Cl Servoss Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Programming Proposal from Stephanie Mulinos – The board has received nothing further. TB 2-8-18 Page 2 of 5 Emergency Services Advisory Committee – Supv Leifer explained there has been an ongoing issue with some things in the fire contracts. He proposes creating a committee to help rewrite the contracts. The idea would be to have the chiefs or someone appointed by them and a Town Board member and someone from each village as the committee. He is going to meet with Mike Hall to go over an outline and would like to have it in place by April. This may become a standing committee and help the fire companies to work together with the municipalities. Cl Lamb commented that this takes what TCCOG is doing and moves it further. R Young stated there needs to be structure so that everyone across the departments is equally trained. Supv Leifer will work with Mike Hall and Lee Shurtleff and hopefully they will have this in place for March. He commented that it is clear that the departments would benefit from being a part of drafting the contracts. Sewer Rates – Supv Leifer explained the sewer plant bills users based on gallons of water used. Bolton Point changed their billing structure to a 5,000 gallon minimum. Sewer rates were left at a 10,000 gallon minimum. He will let the board know next week whether anything needs to be changed. Cayuga Lake Watershed letter of support – They are asking for support for a grant application. The board would like the Supervisor to provide that letter. Apple Orchard PRV for Varna Water – Supv Leifer is working on this with the town attorney. The town will take ownership (from the Town of Ithaca) of the pressure relief valve and the piping that comes from that into Varna to accommodate development there. ITEMS FOR FEBRUARY 15 MEETING:  2243 Dryden Road Delaware River Solar Public Hearing – Ray Burger has sent out the newest materials. The application has been revised since November. The current site plan has been downsized and modified to accommodate the new solar law amendment. TG Miller has the SEQR 3 analysis done and it is on the web. He will replace the copies at the Café, Varna Community Center and Southworth Library.  Ag & Farmland Protection Plan – The public hearing is still open and the Ag Committee is looking at that plan again on February 14th. R Burger said he doesn’t know how quickly the feedback will come from that meeting and if it will be ready for action. The Town will still be eligible for reimbursement under the grant if it is not adopted next week. R Burger will check with Monika Roth on the progress.  Rate Change for Dryden Ambulance – scheduled for vote.  MOU for Montgomery Park – Supv Leifer has the amendments suggested by Mariette Geldenhuys. He will put together a new draft and send it to the Village. He hopes to get this taken care of by March.  Recreation Department Vision & Staffing – Cl Green will be discussing this next week.  §284 Agreement – R Young expects to have this ready next week.  Housing Conditions Study – Stacy Murphy (grant writer) will put together an RFP for the housing conditions study. We should have the information by summer and then apply for a grant to get the work that was identified in the study. TB 2-8-18 Page 3 of 5  Rail Trail Grant – We received a letter from the State about the trail grant. Information needs to be gathered for the State so that we can keep the money from the grant. There is a February 23 deadline. One of the problems is that we don’t have access/easements for all the involved properties. We still need a use agreement for the Game Farm area. Cornell is giving an easement for the access road to the railbed. Cl Lamb has let DEC know that we need documentation for this grant and will follow up. He suggested the town board pass a resolution next week in support of the Game Farm and recognizing all the things it brings to the town. He talked with the Conservation Board about it last week and they have no problem with the board supporting hunting on town property . He will draft a resolution for the Town Board for next week, and then forward that on to DEC. RESOLUTION #41 (2018) – APPROVE ABSTRACT #2 Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves Abstract #2 (including a payment to Neptune Hose in the amount of $212,080.00), as audited, general vouchers #16 through #80 ($803,324.62) and TA vouchers #3 through #5 ($77,455.86), totaling $880,780.48. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes A 2017 budget modification has been requested to cover additional work on Truck #10 that was more than expected. RESOLUTION #42 (2018) – APPROVE BUDGET MODIFICATION Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the following budget modification for the 2017 budget. From To DA5120.4 Bridges DA5130.4 Machinery 428.95 2nd Cl Servoss Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes OTHER BUSINESS Supv Leifer said he understands next week there will be resolution coming from the citizen committee about the Freese Road bridge. He doesn’t believe we need it because the contractor is already looking at a one lane bridge. Cl Lavine thinks it is worth doing because as a PR event we did a bad job at the first meeting; it was a disservice to the people of Varna and it seemed as if the town had lied to them. That was the perception of anyone who cared about it from the other side. Members of the citizens committee have asked Barbara Lifton to TB 2-8-18 Page 4 of 5 talk to DOT. Supv Leifer said there was not a majority on this board willing to sacrifice the grant money. After further discussion, Cl Lavine introduced the following resolution: A RESOLUTION TO REQUEST THAT THE NYDOT CONSIDER A ONE -LANE BRIDGE ON FREESE ROAD AS A VIABLE OPTION FOR EVALUATION Whereas, the officials of the NYDOT are basing thi s opinion on (1) their belief that a one-lane bridge is not allowed by the BridgeNY funding, and (2) their assumption that no exemption to the NY One -lane bridge policy (Appendix 2b, NYSDOT Bridge Manual, April 2014), as specified in the New York Historic Bridge Management Plan, is allowed because the bridge would then not meet the minimum AASHTO standards (A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets – 2011), Whereas, the AASHTO standards so referenced, when referring to the minimum clear roadway width and other standards for bridges to remain in place explicitly state, “The values shown in Table 5-7 do not apply to structures with total lengths greater than 30 m [100 ft.]. These structures should be analyzed individually, taking into consideration the condition of the structure, the clear width provided, traffic volume, remaining structure life, pedestrian volume, snow storage, design speed, crash history, and other pertinent factors”, and consequently, there are no minimum standards for the Freese Road bridge (166 feet in length), and Whereas a one-lane bridge across Fall Creek on Freese Road may be worthy of an exemption to the NYS One -Lane Bridge Policy for the following reasons: (1) the extremely high historical value and properties of this b ridge, eligible for the National Historic Registry; (2) the stated desire on record for a one-lane bridge by the Dryden Conservation Board and Varna Community Association, as well as in a previous resolution by the Dryden Town Board (2015) and a petition signed by all resident home owners on Freese Road; (3) the lack of current or anticipated traffic congestion caused by the bridge (at most a 5 to 10 second wait for one or two cars to pass in the other direction); (4) the danger of higher speeds to the high volume of hikers, bicyclists, and runners frequently using the road, which has two major hiking trail crossings; (5) dangerous curves, one 90-degree and one 160-degree, within one quarter mile of the bridge, creating the need for any and all traffic-slowing mechanisms, and (6) the lack of accidents directly caused by the one-lane nature of the bridge. Be it resolved that the Dryden Town Board requests that the NYDOT treat a one-lane bridge, either as a rehabilitation or as a replacement, as viable options to allow full consideration and analysis of these options in the BridgeNY project design phase. This analysis should include: (1) evaluating whether rehabilitating the current bridge can be done practically and ec onomically, along with adding a separate pedestrian walkway, and (2) evaluating whether replacing the current bridge with a one-lane bridge, transferring the historical elements to the new bridge as nonstructural decoration, and including a pedestrian wa lkway, can be done practically and economically. And be it resolved that the town board requests that full consideration of these options by the NYDOT be treated as integral to the Bridge NY funding for the Freese Road project and in a manner that does no t jeopardize that funding. There was no second for the resolution. Supv Leifer said he has discovered that when Spectrum took over for Time Warner they did not automatically adjust prices to what Spectrum charges. A new Spectrum customer receiving the same services as an existing Time Warner customer will pay less and have an TB 2-8-18 Page 5 of 5 increased broadband speed. Customers are not automatically switched over. He would like to write to the Attorney General about this. It was suggested he contact Spectrum directly. Next week there is a group meeting with Spectrum regarding the franchise. The board will support whatever he does. The Ag & Markets dog kennel inspection was done and was satisfactory. Cl Servoss noted that our dog shelter has the lowest euthanization rate in the state. The Association of Towns Annual Conference is February 18 to February 21. Supv Leifer and Cl Lamb will attend. Fourth quarter sales tax report shows towns and villages are up 6.97%. The year to date distributions were up 6.03% for towns and villages. The town under budgeted sales tax, so Supv Leifer allocated the $128,000 across the four funds for fund balance. The Highway Capital Project Status Report lists Game Farm Road bridge and R ed Mill Road bridges as done. There is some work to be done on Malloryville Road. The Town’s share for Red Mill was $245,600 and for Malloryville was $104,400. Dodge R oad bridge is on the list and when it is done, assuming it comes from county and town funds, it will be $148,000. The town is applying for another BridgeNY grant so perhaps we won’t have to pay for that. Cl Lamb noted there has been mention in the Ithaca Times about the Borger station. A tour of the facility was negotiated for some Ellis Hollow residents. It was helpful for the people who went and some of their worries were lessened. With respect to the sales tax offset that was discussed recently, there are some concerns about the governor’s budget and the proposal changing how municipalities can tax state lands. That could impact the revenue received from this option significantly. However, assuming the solar project goes through as planned it would still be advantageous to do the sales tax offset for the sake of increasing revenues for the PILOT. Cl Servoss would like to see the comparisons and estimates. R Burger reported that Kim Whetzel wants to resume operations on his German Cross Road property. He is going through the SWPPP process. Supv Leifer would like to put the road use agreement in place because if the road is damaged, he should pay for it. He asked R Burger to find the previous memo from Dave Sprout on this situation. With respect to the conservation subdivision 1540 Ellis Hollow Road, R Burger reported that a couple of neighbors did not receive the notice in December. They are just learning about the project now and want to raise an uproar about water scarcity issues and the project not fitting the community character there. He wanted the board to be aware in case they received calls. Steve Winkley of NY Rural Water Association is looking into whether there is water to support the development. There being no further business, on motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 8:12 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk