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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-08-09TB 8-9-18 Page 1 of 5 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING August 9, 2018 Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl Linda Lavine, Cl Kathrin Servoss, Cl Alice Green Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Rick Young, Highway Superintendent Other Town Staff: Jennifer Case, Bookkeeper Ray Burger, Director of Planning Supv Leifer called the meeting to order 7:05 p.m. RESOLUTION #112 (2018) – APPROVE ABSTRACT #8 Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves Abstract #8, as audited, general vouchers #531 through #616 ($343,626.83) and TA vouchers #17 & #18 ($4,029.15), totaling $347,655.98. 2nd Cl Servoss Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Green Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Staffing Updates – Janene Trojner is leaving her position as assistant bookkeeper in mid-October. There is a plan for filling those responsibilities and rearranging the HR/fiscal responsibilities. Sherri Crispell is interested in moving to the assistant bookkeeper position and in taking on some additional responsibilities assisting with HR matters . HR tasks have increased over the years and particularly since the move to the Consortium for health insurance and the current configuration of staff prevents getting everything necessary done in a timely manner. This plan gives additional hours to HR matters and some cross-training between payroll/bookkeeper/HR responsibilities. There will be a vacancy for the supervisor’s confidential secretary. Supv Leifer estimates 25 hours a week could cover the responsibilities. The board will need to talk about salaries for the new configuration in executive session at another time. Cl Green said she feels good about this plan. There will be a reduction in hours for Andrew Pierce. They have done a time sheet analysis for the last six weeks of the tasks and responsibilities of the two recreation staff in the department and have found that 35 hours is adequate to cover the responsibilities. They both bring a lot of experience and efficiency to doing the job. They also have done a lot of new outreach. A Pierce is willing to work fewer hours and Cl Green recommends it based on the analysis of time sheets and sessions they’ve had on analyzing projected department needs. This would result in a savings to the department that could be available for programming or something else. Projecting over the four seasons they feel they have coverage with 35 hours for Andrew and 25 hours for Marty Conger. There will be a resolution prepared for next week’s board meeting. TB 8-9-18 Page 2 of 5 RESOLUTION #113 (2018) – IN RECOGNITION OF EMPLOYEES Cl Green offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby recognizes and appreciates the extra hours and effort put in by Sherri Crispell, Bambi Avery, Janene Trojner, Jennifer Case and Joy Foster in order to keep the town functioning during the migration of the town’s network to the cloud. 2nd Cl Leifer Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Green Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Kevin Ezell, Senior Code Enforcement Officer, is retiring at the end of the month. CL Green will bring a resolution of appreciation next week. The position will be posted and filled through the civil service process. Computer Migration Update – Sherri Crispell has provided board members with a memorandum and migration log detailing the process. There was discussion about the struggles staff have experienced during the migration that began on June 25. The migration is not complete and staff continue to discover problems. Supv Leifer will talk with IV4. The board agreed to withhold future payments until the migration is complete and all issues have been resolved. J Case reported that she believes she can use the budget program now and will get budget worksheets out soon. In the meantime, department h eads have the July financials and can use that with the current year budget to begin their budget work. She noted she appreciates the work done by S Crispell and J Trojner in her absence. All reports were done on time and she appreciates their efforts. Dodge Road Bridge – This bridge needs repair and is not covered by BridgeNY. The town is responsible for 20% of the cost of repair. The bids came recently. It was initially estimated that the town share would be $148,000, but is in fact $97,943. The original Memorandum of Understanding has been amended reflect that amount. Supv asked the board for authority to execute the MOU. Work is scheduled to begin about 5 days. Funds are available to pay without bonding. He will work on a payment schedule with the county. RESOLUTION #114 (2018) – AUTHORIZE SUPERVISOR TO SIGN MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING – DODGE ROAD BRIDGE Cl Servoss offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes the Town Supervisor to execute a Memorandum of Understanding with Tompkins County for work on the Dodge Road bridge at a cost to the town not to exceed $97,943.00. 2nd Cl Green Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Green Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes TB 8-9-18 Page 3 of 5 Public Hearings for next week: Acceptance of Trail Easements – 7:20 p.m. This is important for the grant applications that will be submitted. Supv Leifer noted the written agreement with DEC for use of the trail through the Game Farm property has been received, the Town now owns the FH Fox bridge. Cl Green reported that all easements have been secured for the area covered by the NYS Parks Grant. Easements from Gary Sloan and Hanson Aggregates have verbal agreements, but have not yet been received. Vacancies on DRYC – there are two and possibly a third because someone hasn’t been going to meetings. They are actively looking for new members. Cuomo letter recommended by Mothers Out Front - Supv Leifer shared information with the board and said the board could decide next week whether this shoul d be a board action or he should do it individually. Parks & Recreation Impact fee – Supv Leifer said he has drafted a law. The Planning Board looked at this and were a bit confused by the information provided. The point of the impact fee is to raise money for trails, parks, programs, and facilities for recreation based on residential growth. Supv Leifer wants to limit the opportunities for these fees to be waived, and to make sure that a developer will maintain a park after they build it. There could be a waiver for a developer who actually builds affordable housing. The money could be d irected to the recreation reserve. There is no source to replenish it currently other than to budget for it. Things to consider: what the fee should be, possibl y less for single family home, incentivize one thing over another. This is not for farmland protection but could be considered for an open space area that requires public access. Supv Leifer will send this to the Conservation Board, Planning Board, Rail Trail Task Force, and Recreation & Youth Commission for comment. It will be a discussion item at the next agenda meeting and on the October agenda for a vote. Freese Road Bridge - Last week the board eliminated alternatives 1, 2, 4, 10, 12 and 13 and agreed to move forward with alternatives 7, 9, and 11. The r emaining alternatives (3, 5, 6, and 8) will be discussed and prioritized tonight. The goal is to have a total of four alternatives to move forward with. • Alt 9 was reviewed again. It is one of the more expensive options and has added maintenance expense for the truss façade. What is the value of adding the truss as a façade from a historic point of view? Just visual, • Alt 11 would be a similar style to what is there now and it was noted that the more you try to replicate the current style, the more costly it will become. • Alt 8 and Alt 9 are a similar primary structure. 9 adds the truss façade. • When a truss is impacted there must be some mitigation. That mitigation could be added the façade as in Alt 9. • Under Alt 8 the county owns the bridge, under Alt 9 the county owns the bridge, the town would have to maintain the façade. • Mitigation could include moving the old bridge off site for a potential future use. • BridgeNY may require a 35-year future use term. • Alt 3 has a service life of 20 years by DOT definition, but perhaps longer in reality. • Alt 3 would have an adjacent downstream pedestrian crossing; cost is included. • Any plan would have to be reviewed by DEC and the Army Corps. • Rehabbing the truss will not require filling of a wetland. TB 8-9-18 Page 4 of 5 • Replacement alternatives will have some impact to areas outside the footprint of other current bridge. • Alt 3 widens the bridge to 14’; could there be a major rehab without widening. • Traffic lights at the site are not mandated by federal rules. • Can more steel be added to the current? It is possible, likely more expensive. • Alt 3 would be a major rehab would be to replace, not supplement a member. • Alt 6 includes the cost of maintenance and traffic signals to the town. • Alt 5 was eliminated in favor of Alt 6. • Alts 8, 9 and 11 have 5’ shoulders; that is preferable to a path/railing on one side. • Standard shoulder width is 4’. • A sidewalk with a curb presents a hazard. • Adding a 5’ shoulder to a one-lane bridge makes it wide enough to accommodate two cars and a barrier would be necessary. • The board eliminated Alt 8. • The board agreed to move forward with alternatives 3, 6, 9 and 11. B Werner of Barton & Loguidice was asked to provide good visuals for the alternatives chosen. He said he doesn’t believe SHPO will object to 3, 6, and 9 and would be less inclined toward 11 because it is new and the old truss will go someplace else. DOT would likely vote for a two-lane bridge. If the project falls in the BridgeNY funding or the owner spends additional money he doesn’t believe DOT would necessarily object to any of these. There might be pushback on 3 over 6. A single 14’ lane with traffic signals is acceptable to DOT. The signal could cause traffic delays. D Weinstein asked if any of the solutions require realignment of the curve on the north side of the bridge and was told that 6, 9 and 11 would require realignment. B Werner said under the alternatives, whether the curve is flattened or not, the right-of way and the clear zone are the same whether it is a rehab or a new bridge. Fire Department Update - Rick Young reported that Etna Fire Department is not responding to the calls they are paid to. They have only spent about $289 on fuel this year. He is waiting on new response numbers from the 911 center, but when Lee Shurtleff was here last month he reported that Etna had missed 68% of their calls. The town pays them roughly $150,000 under their contract plus foreign fire insurance money. According to records just received they have no OSHA training for 2018. The town has asked the town attorney to review the contract for performance requirements. The town is paying for a service it is not receiving. The board could request an operations audit . Active membership lists are requested from all departments. There is a definition of active members and it is important when going through the lists because the town now must pay for cancer coverage for every active fire department member. Some departments have social members. R Young said Etna submitted a list of 52 members, but some of them are not actually active members. He has spoken with other chiefs and they support the town questioning Etna. He has asked all departments to be diligent with their lists and suggests a definition of active member for 2019. Etna used no fuel in May or June. Supv Leifer will schedule a meeting with Etna personnel. Revolving Loan Fund Update – Cl Lamb reported the committee met three weeks ago. He developed a guideline document and reviewed it with Rich Cunningham of Thoma Development. There are other things to be done. It is common practice to retain the services of a consultant like Thoma to help roll out a program like this. They can generate a lot of the documents that we need. They have done it for the towns of Virgil and Cortlandville, so they know what we need. HUD guidelines allow to pay a consultant from the principal. Thoma will send us proposal and we could possibly get it going in September. TB 8-9-18 Page 5 of 5 Ray Burger said there is an invitation to municipal officials from the Cayuga Lake Watershed Intermunicipal Organization for an evening on the floating classroom on Wednesday, August 29 from 4 – 6 p.m. It is limited to one official per municipality. Cornell is holding its Party at the Pond event at the Business & Tech Park on Friday from 4-6 p.m. There is nothing new from Trinitas. They will update the board next week with some revisions. R Burger said he has heard there is a plan for a parking garage to address the parking and green space concerns. There being no further business, on motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned 10:16 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk