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Home My WebLink About2020-05-14 TB 5-14-20 Page 1 of 4 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING May 14, 2020 Via Zoom Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl James Skaley, Cl Kathrin Servoss, Cl Loren Sparling, Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Rick Young, Highway/DPW Superintendent Christopher Clauson, Town Justice Other Town Staff: Ray Burger, Planning Director Jennifer Case, Bookkeeper Marty Conger, Recreation Director Supv Leifer called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. Abstract Approval RESOLUTION #61 (2010) – APPROVE ABSTRACT #5 Cl Servoss offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves Abstract #5, as audited, general vouchers #294 through #372 ($491,019.14) and TA vouchers #14 through #17 ($3,256.36), totaling $494,275.50. 2nd Cl Skaley Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Skaley Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Town Clerk B Avery reported that the 2020 dog enumeratio n was suspended mid-March. There are 15 roads left to do. Board members have been provided with information and a voucher prepared to pay for services to date. The board can decide at a later date whether to continue later this year or complete the enumeration in the next budget year. Highway Department R Young reported they continue with regular duties and will begin paving in the next week or two. People are requesting refunds for pavilion rental. Vouchers can be prepared for those refunds. He asked the board for direction on when to open the parks and was told to go by the Governor’s guidance. TB 5-14-20 Page 2 of 4 Recreation Department M Conger said the board needs to make a decision soon about whether to hold summer camps and with all the additional requirements (staffing, distancing, extra cleaning, no playground equipment, no trips) it doesn’t seem realistic and budget-wise it wouldn’t work. Many of the surrounding camps have been cancelled. After discussion, it was decided to cancel the summer camp. There are efforts underway to provide some programs in the summer. M Conger will keep the board updated. Planning Department R Burger reported building permit applications are increasing in anticipation of construction opening up. He would like to amend the application by adding an affirmation page that they have a plan in place as recommended in the NY Forward plan prior to commencement of work. He will check with the County to see if they have any guidance about whether it can be a requirement of the application process. A new building code (ICC 2019 version adopted and amended by New York for both residential and commercial) went into effect on May 12, 2020, and everyone is learning the new set of rules. It is a big shift for code enforcement and the construction industry , but not unexpected. Next week’s agenda will include discussion of the proposed Varna Zoning amendments and an update on the comprehensive plan update process. They are prepping for a community survey and discussing how best to do that (direct mail, bulk mail, list serves, etc). Re-Opening Procedures Supv Leifer has shared with the board recommendations by the county. Town hall staff is currently reduced to below 50%. The court clerks will be working in the building again beginning Monday and safety precautions have been taken within their office spa ce. Town hall will be cleaned Sunday through Thursday nights (appropriate budget adjustments will be made). The county has received more masks from the state and will divide them among municipalities (Dryden will receive 2,500). Some will be made available for visitors to town hall who do not have them. B Avery and J Case thanked R Young and C Clauson for their efforts and work done already in place prior to discussion of reopening. Because each department has its own space, we will have less di fficulty developing a plan for reopening. Department heads were asked to submit a plan for operation to the Supervisor. A transaction window has been established for the Planning Department and plexiglass has been installed at the Clerks office leaving an opening at the bottom to pass documents through. Once an overall plan is in place, all town staff will receive direction from the Supervisor. Because of employee concerns, air quality in the town hall was discussed (not related to Covid-19). After not being in town hall for long lengths of time, when returning to town hall some employees have mentioned symptoms such as sore throat, headache, or respiratory stuff. Tompkins County Health Department can do some testing, but it may not be complete enough TB 5-14-20 Page 3 of 4 to address the issues. The town can hire someone certified in HVAC to make sure everything is operational and see if there are issues. There wil l be an expense for that. There is no fuel used in the building, so there is no CO issue. There could be mold in the air ducts due to condensation. The ducts can be inspected and cleaned. R Young said the system is awfully expensive to maintain for what it does. He will arrange for necessary inspections and/or tests. J Case will arrange for the Health Department come out to conduct their testing. On re-opening, the public will be limited to the front lobby and one bathroom and will be required to sign in and out (as well as staff). The Governor’s executive orders are enforceable by Code Enforcement Officers and the County Health Department. Supv Leifer noted that if an employee is sick at all they should not come in to work. Most of our employees can telecommute from home. It is not anticipated the town hall will be open until the first week of June. Public in- person meetings will not commence for some time yet. Varna Water/Sewer Update Supv Leifer has spoken with bond counsel and he is p reparing documents for next week. A public hearing and SEQR will need to be scheduled. J Skaley has been in communication with TG Miller and they are finishing the engineering report. The cost estimate for the sewer has increased to 5.3 million. Total town debt is $909,000 currently. The water and sewer project will add about $8,000,000 total. There will be grant funds available for the project and the balance could be covered by low to no cost bonds. J Case noted that on the $310,000 in bridge bonds, the town will pay $105,000 in interest. The $634,000 Yellow Barn Water bond will cost $465,000 over 30 years in interest. Those are both with pretty low interest rates. Supv Leifer will see if bonds can be refinanced at lower rates and if there is a limit on what the town can bond for. Freeville Farmer’s Market It turns out the Village has been insuring them and the market is held on school property. Social distancing rules must be observed. Cl Lamb suggested the Ag Committee could perhaps assist them. Cl Sparling said one of the motivating factors of the group is the promotion of healthy food. Community Garden The town provides space for this under the lease. They can be open to the public if social distancing rules are maintained. Some hand sanitizer and masks can be provided. The area is not being well cared for and the group is not well organized. Supv Leifer will revisit the lease. Financials Board members have been provided with the 2019 year -end financial reports and Annual Update Document. J Case explained there is around $20,000 in the A fund and TB 5-14-20 Page 4 of 4 around $20,000 in the DA fund equipment lines that generally get transferred to the highway equipment line for this year or to the equipment reserve. The board needs to keep that in mind because it sort of overstates the fund balances. The Highway Superintendent will need to bring a resolution to the board after he determines how he is going to deal with it. In the past whatever has been left has been in equipment lines has either been transferred to the equipment line or reserves. That dates back to an unofficial agreement between Jack Bush and former Town Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner. Supv Leifer said he’d like to wait and see if we get the federal money because next year’s budget is going to be different. C Anderson and Supv Leifer discussed some confusion or errors on the Solar NY customer bills. Apparently, there was an error in a calculation. C Anderson said they are giving 10% off the solar credits, not NYSEG’s bill, as originally thought. Supv Leifer wants to be sure any errors are taken care of. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk