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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-02-13TB 2-13-20 Page 1 of 5 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING February 13, 2020 Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl Kathrin Servoss, Cl Loren Sparling Absent: Cl James Skaley Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Rick Young, Highway/DPW Superintendent Other Town Staff: Jennifer Case, Bookkeeper Ray Burger, Director of Planning Supv Leifer called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m. RESOLUTION #36 (2020) – APPROVE ABSTRACT #2 Cl Servoss offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves Abstract #2, as audited, general vouchers #19 through #119 ($557,630.62) and TA vouchers #3 through #6 ($83,288.59) totaling $$640,919.21. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Rick Young reported that after looking at wood chippers he would like the board to rescind Resolution #34 authorizing him to purchase a wood chipper and authorize the purchase at an amount not to exceed $60,000. RESOLUTION #37 (2020) – RESCIND RESOLUTION #34 AND AUTHORIZE PURCHASE OF WOOD CHIPPER Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board here by rescinds Resolution #34 of 2020, and further RESOLVED, that this Town Board authorizes the Highway Superintendent to purchase (after securing bids or off contract) a new wood/brush chipper at a cost not to exceed $60,000.00. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes TB 2-13-20 Page 2 of 5 George Road bridge will be closed beginning February 17, 2020, until the bridge replacement project is complete. The contract calls for completion in October, but it could be done sooner. R Young said he will arrange for CPR AED training for town hall staff and other interested people. Once staff is trained an AED unit will be installed at town hall. A sign-up sheet will be available at the town clerk’s office. Cl Sparling commended R Young for the work done by his department on Friday during the snow event. The board has received an application for the vacant seat on the Zoning Board of Appeals. RESOLUTION #38 (2020) – APPOINT ZBA MEMBER Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby appoints Karl Kolesnikoff to the Zoning Board of Appeals for term to expire December 31, 2024. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Charles Geisler has submitted an application for the Climate Smart Community Task Force. RESOLUTION #39 (2020) – APPOINT CLIMATE SMART COMMUNITY TASK FORCE MEMBER Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby appoints Charles Geisler to the Climate Smart Community Task Force. 2nd Cl Servoss Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Solar Interconnects - Supv Leifer and Cl Lamb met Monday with representatives of NYSEG and True Green (Solar Farms NY) regarding the large number of poles being installed at the arrays. The reps said the town was consulted about that (not the case) and Supv Leifer said it will change for the area near the cemetery, but whether it will be substantially different is another story. True Green contracts with NYSEG to do the connection and NYSEG is looking for the least expensive option to connect to the grid. R Burger said True Green can request a higher level of service and will do that for the 2150 Dryden Road site. They can minimize the TB 2-13-20 Page 3 of 5 number of poles and use screening. The town will be involved in the design. Construction is expected to start in the spring. Ray Burger said he continues to push the issue of the new standard pole height being up at 45’ instead of 35’. That will span a lot of projects both with solar interconnects and the standards lines along the roadways. The transmission lines are another matter and sometimes double the height. Housing Rehab Grant – The town had a housing conditions survey last year. If we want to take the next step and apply for CDBG rehabilitation funds, we need to do economic surveys and assemble the grant application. R Burger has a proposal from Thoma Development to do that work for $5,000. There is a Tompkins County Municipal Affordability fund that the town can apply for. That is a 90/10 matching grant to pay for the consultant to do the application. RESOLUTION #39 (2010) – MOVE FORWARD WITH GRANT APPLICATION Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes the Planning Director to apply to the Tompkins County Municipal Affordability fund for the sum of $5,000 to cover the expense of a consultant to prepare a CDBG grant application and hereby commits to the 10% match should such grant be awarded. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Comp Plan Update – There will be three major stakeholder meetings on Feb 25 and 26. Invitations have gone out to various groups. EDR is conducting sessions and they are open to the public for observation only. There will be a public meeting in March. A Planning Board subcommittee is doing a speaker series and will do one for the town board and at each town board and committee. Information is available on the Dryden2045 website. Proposed Varna zoning amendments – The Planning Board will do a presentation for the Town Board next week. TAP Grant – This for the bridge over Route 13 for the trail. It is a 2.2-million-dollar project and the grant is for 1.5 million. The scope has been refined and everyone agrees on that. The details can now be filled in in the agreement and it can be signed. There is a package of funding streams for the match, but they will still need some from town funds. There is a $50,000 grant from the county tourism and there is money through multimodal funds. There is likely other funding available that could be used toward the match. The agreement commits the town to 2.2 million dollars. It w ould be prudent to have a public hearing on the matter, and that will be held at next month’s business meeting. Route 13 Corridor Study – There is an online survey that people who drive Route 13 can complete. M Lane said the group is looking to work with the town and make suggestions for zoning changes along the corridor (restricting driveways for access management, use of access roads). We want the road to serve us as long as possible. TB 2-13-20 Page 4 of 5 Monitor for Caldwell Room – The Conservation Board has asked the board to provide a wall-mounted TV/monitor and cables in the Caldwell Room for presentations and viewing internet documents. RESOLUTION #40 (2020) – APPROVE TV/MONITOR FOR CALDWELL ROOM Cl Lamb offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the purchase and installation of a TV/monitor (with necessary cords/connections and wall mount) for the Barbara Caldwell room at a cost not to exceed $750.00. 2nd Cl Servoss Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Broadband Grant – We need to set up a portal for the USDA Broadband Grant Program. COUNTY UPDATE Mike Lane reported that there will again be a vote for Chair at the County Legislature meeting on February 18. The appointment by the County Clerk remains until the legislature by majority vote elects a chair. Census funding – The state had announced grant funds for all counties and Tompkins County was allocated $137,000. They had to apply for it and include a budget of how it was to be used. The County applied and received no response. In late January they heard the state had decided to scrap all budgets and now in order to receive the funding (fronted by county) they would have to contract with not-for-profits to do the service. It is a cumbersome process and they can’t spend more than $2,500 on equipment (or more than 500 per unit) or more than $2,500 on administration. They will have to do an RFQ to see if any of the not-for-profits are interested or can do the work. They are still short on workers. There is concern about the loss of power last weekend. He asked what town franchises say about the need to maintain the lines and such. He is concerned that the poles are not being maintained and replaced like they were before deregulation. Municipalities should be thinking about this and the safety concerns. Perhaps TCCOG could take this up. There was some discussion about the Medicaid situation and its effect on the counties. There was a delegation of legislators in Albany today lobbying on the Medicaid issue. They are not happy about taking away the cap on Medicaid. New York is a generous Medicaid state compared to others. The counties can’t be blamed for not keeping a lid on Medicaid when they don’t set the rules. They administer it because they must, and they must pay the money. The board will receive legal advice in executive session next week regarding the waiver provision and the cases that Cl Skaley referenced. The Planning Board would like the waiver provision removed from the zoning law completely. The current recourse for properties in Varna is to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals. Next week’s agenda will include the Varna sidewalk resolution, the varna zoning amendment presentation, comp plan update and introduction of a special use permit introduction for a business on Peruville Road. TB 2-13-20 Page 5 of 5 There was some discussion about sidewalks in Varna and that there may not be enough room for sidewalks on both sides. The project will be scoped out by a DOT design team and that will be addressed during the scoping process. They should also address the utility upgrades and that any work on water/sewer lines should be done before the paving. There should be a survey completed by the end of summer that shows what DOT actually owns. There being no further business, on motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk