HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-03-16TB 3-16-23
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TOWN OF DRYDEN
TOWN BOARD MEETING
March 16, 2023
Zoom Hybrid
Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl Loren Sparling,
Cl Leonardo Vargas-Mendez, Cl Christina Dravis
Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk
Rick Young, Highway/DPW Superintendent
Other Town Staff: Ray Burger, Planning Director
Cassie Byrnes, Secretary to Supervisor
Supv Leifer opened the meeting at 6:05 p.m. and board members and guests recited the
pledge of allegiance.
TOWN CLERK
Cl Sparling submitted some edits to the minutes of February 9 and February 16 that
were accepted.
RESOLUTION #70 (2023)- APPROVE MINUTES
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the meeting minutes for February 9
and February 16, 2023.
Cl Vargas-Mendez
Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes
Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes
Cl Dravis Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
PUBLIC HEARING
PROPOSED LOCAL LAW TO
ESTABLISH RATES IN THE
CORTLAND ROAD SEWER DISTRICT
Supv Leifer opened the public hearing at 6:09 p.m. and the new rate table was shared.
The Village of Dryden increased their rates and we amend the town rate concurrently with
theirs. The new rate is effective January 1, 2023, and will be reflected in the April billing.
There is a new section in this local law that will allow us to increase the rates by resolution
moving forward. The public hearing was left open for comment at 6:12 p.m.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
Cl Lamb reported that NYSERDA is committed to studying the old county landfill on
Caswell Road for consideration as a potential solar site. This is part of the State’s demand to
increase renewable energy use by 2030. NYSERDA is going to buy the RECS at the highest
level possible to sort of put some money in the bank for a potential developer. It could mean 8-
10 megawatts more. Even though a project is below 20 megawatts, according to the new solar
siting law it would need municipal approval, this is county land and if we have projects, it will
go through county site plan approval. That is kind of a new twist. The Town of Dryden
wouldn’t actually approve it, but they would offer us a chance to comment on the project.
Association of Towns Conference reports – Cl Sparling attended 11 sessions at the
conference in the topic areas of assessment, code enforcement, courts, highway, tax collector,
regulating cannabis, saving volunteer fire service, summer camps, and the landscape of New
York’s Community Energy Programs and Incentives. At the AOT annual meeting, 11
resolutions were proposed and all were passed.
Supv Leifer attended sessions on debt issuance, crisis communication, supervisor’s role
in economic development, extremism, protections and misinformation, public/private
partnerships, and state changes in purchasing policies, and the ConnectAll program.
Supv Leifer closed the public hearing at 6:36 p.m.
RESOLUTION #71 (2023) – ADOPT LOCAL LAW SETTING RATE FOR CORTLAND ROAD
SEWER DISTRICT
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby adopts the following local law as Local Law #4
of 2023 titled “A local law further amending Local Law 2 of the year 2004 which (re)established
the Cortland Road Sewer District Rent Law” and directs the Town Clerk to file the same with
the Secretary of State of the State of New York.
1. Section 6(b) of Local Law No. 2 of the year 2004 as amended by Local Law No. 2 of the
year 2007, and Local Law No. 3 of the year 2008, and Local Law No. 5 of 2017, and Local
Law No. 2 of 2021, is hereby further amended by substituting for the table of amount of
water usage and rate set forth in such section, the following table:
SEWER RATES RATE
First 1,000 gallons (minimum) 83.50
1,001 – 15,000 gallons (per thousand) 7.50
15,001 – 40,000 gallons (per thousand) 10.45
40,001 – 60,000 gallons (per thousand) 11.20
60,001 – 100,000 gallons (per thousand) 12.00
100,001 – 150,000 gallons (per thousand) 12.75
150,001 – 200,000 gallons (per thousand) 13.25
200,001 – 300,000 gallons (per thousand) 14.00
300,001 – 1,000,000 gallons (per thousand) 14.50
2. A new subsection (d) of Section 6 (Calculation of Sewer Rent) is added as follows:
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“Amendments to sewer rents established under this article may be made by
Board resolution.”
3. This local law shall take effect upon filing with the Secretary of State and for all billing
periods which begin on or after April 15, 2023.
2nd Cl Lamb
Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes
Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes
Cl Dravis Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
HIGHWAY/DPW DEPARTMENT
Highway Superintendent Rick Young asked for authorization to purchase a new brush
chipper. The price of a new one is about $73,909. He will receive $30,000 trade for the
current chipper toward the purchase. The balance of the purchase price (not to exceed
$44,000) will be paid from DA5130.2 and A1490.2.
RESOLUTION #72 (2023) – AUTHORIZE PURCHASE OF BRUSH CHIPPER
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes the purchase (per Source Well
Contract #031721-MBI) of a new 2022 Morbark Eeger Beever 1821 brush chipper. With a
credit of $30,000.00 for trade-in of the current chipper, the balance (not to exceed $40,000.00)
will be paid from DA5130.2 and A1490.2.
2nd Cl Lamb
Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes
Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes
Cl Dravis Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
R Young reported he joined other Highway Superintendents in Albany for Advocacy
Day. The state funding is flat for CHIPS, early winter recovery, pothole funding and highway
funds. He met with Anna Kelles there and she is supportive. Everyone is fighting for money.
With the price increases, about 25% less work will get done.
The department has used more salt this year because of the ice that we’ve had. They
have not used more than 5,000 tons of salt, so they should have a good amount left for next
year. R Young said a group of local towns will try to bid cheaper locally for salt next year
instead of going through the state.
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
Ray Burger has provided the department’s monthly report. FEMA held a meeting for
municipal folks on their flood zone mapping and have announced they will have a public
meeting in this area in April. It appears that there are areas in the town that have expanded
on the maps, but the code officers were told there were no changes.
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Rick Young has a meeting tomorrow with Bellisario, Bob Beck, and Alice Green about
some trail work (outside the bridge project). With respect to the bridge project, R Burger
explained there is a statement and form from DOT that can be filled out if we can do the work
less expensively than a private contractor can and A Green will discuss that with R Young. The
project scope for doing the trail work either side of the bridge is reduced because they will no
longer be doing a lot of cut and fill. Any tree cutting should be done prior to the migration of
Northern long-eared bat in the month of March. R Young will have his department cut down
the dead trees in the month of March.
DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS
The Planning Board has crafted a resolution for the Town Board’s consideration
regarding an update to the Town’s Zoning and Subdivision Laws and Design Guidelines. Board
members reviewed and discussed the document and added a clause to address cannabis in the
zoning.
Town Board Charge to Planning Board –
The Planning Board has crafted a resolution for the Town Board’s consideration
regarding an update to the Town’s Zoning and Subdivision Laws and Design Guidelines. Board
members reviewed and discussed the document, including moving some approvals from Town
Board to Planning Board jurisdiction, and added a clause to address cannabis in the zoning.
RESOLUTION #73 (2023) - REQUESTING THAT THE PLANNING BOARD MANAGE AND
EXECUTE A GENERAL UPDATE TO THE TOWN ZONING LAWS, SUBDIVISION LAWS
AND DESIGN GUIDELINES
Cl Lamb offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
WHEREAS, Dryden’s zoning and subdivision laws, adopted following the 1968 comprehensive
plan and amended multiple times, have not received a comprehensive review and update, and
WHEREAS, recognized best practices for zoning and subdivision laws have changed
considerably, for example, to meet community goals to allow greater diversity of uses and
remove regulatory complexity and uncertainty for desired development types, and
WHEREAS, incremental amendments and changes to existing zoning and subdivision laws
have created a patchwork of documents that are sometimes difficult to navigate, creating a
confusing regulatory environment, and
WHEREAS, Dryden’s various boards that use the zoning and subdivision laws have, over the
years, noted a variety of problems such as confusing language, impractical requirements, and
obsolete references, and
WHEREAS, the Dryden Town Board adopted Dryden2045, an update to the 2005
Comprehensive Plan, on July 21, 2022, and
WHEREAS, the purpose of Dryden2045 is to inform an update to Dryden’s zoning and
subdivision laws to meet its guiding principles and community goals, and
WHEREAS, the Town has budgeted $50K for FY2023 to hire a consultant and begin the update
process,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board requests that the Planning Board
manage a comprehensive review and update to the zoning laws, subdivision laws and design
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guidelines using an open and transparent process that includes town staff, boards, and the
citizens of Dryden. Further, the Town Board requests that the Planning Board engage the
services of a consultant to prepare the update and to complete and deliver the draft update to
the Town Board no later than June 30, 2025, and
ALSO BE IT RESOLVED, that the update be guided by the following actions and principles:
1. The update must be guided by the underlying tenet of the 2005 Comprehensive Plan to
preserve the rural character of Dryden and protect its open spaces, natural areas, and
farmlands.
2. The update should create a regulatory environment that supports more diversity in
housing types. Methods include allowing multifamily housing by right in more zones,
expanding use of accessory dwelling units and apartments, increasing density/reducing
minimum lot sizes, using incentive zoning (for example, density bonuses, relaxed
building height regulations, area and bulk regulations, etc.) to encourage desired
development types, and, for large development projects, consider mandatory provisions
for desired housing types to include "affordability" and "best practices for providing
outdoor space for active and passive recreation.”
3. Critically examine the defined purpose of each of t he zone types to ensure they
accurately describe the desired uses. The fact that current zoning includes over 130
use types that are allowed but only with Special Use Permits suggests that the zone
definitions themselves may be unclear or excessively narrow.
4. Simplify or remove regulatory provisions that create development uncertainty for
desired types of development. For example, the aforementioned SUP table contains
uses associated with multi-family housing types including senior housing facilities.
Other regulated uses have the effect of discouraging diverse development that supports
walkable/mixed use communities.
5. Review the zoning map and zoning and subdivision laws to ensure they align with nodal
development areas and existing/future services such as transit, water, and sewer.
Refer to the Future Land Use Plan in Dryden2045.
6. Critically examine the zoning and subdivision regulations that are intended to allow
regulatory flexibility, to ensure the underlying criteria and structure encourages
desired development outcomes such as diverse housing, walkable communities, and
preservation of open space.
7. Critically examine the Residential and Commercial Design Guidelines to ensure they
support the goals and principles of the 2005 Comprehensive Plan and th e Dryden2045
Update.
8. Critically examine the current regulation requiring the Town Board rather than the
Planning Board to approve Special Use Permit applications.
9. Review New York State’s MRTA and consider aspects of Dryden’s Zoning Law that
should be updated.
10. Criteria for consultant selection should include that the project principle/manager for
the update project has significant, proven experience writing and updating zoning and
subdivision regulations in rural communities and using contemporary best practice
methods to deliver the above actions.
2nd Supv Leifer
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Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes
Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes
Cl Dravis Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
Court Officer Hours – Supv Leifer has talked with other Town Supervisors about the
minimum number of hours they pay for court security. Town of Ithaca pays $200 per session,
and $60 per hour if the session goes to 5 hours. There is no documentation on our current 2.5
hours minimum. He proposes a 2-hour minimum for any court sessions or board meeting
coverage.
Resolution #74 (2023) - Set Minimum Hours for Court Security
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
Whereas, in the past there was no documentation of minimum hours for court security.
Whereas, for the court security personnel, the Town Board is setting the minimum
number of hours for a court security officer to be 2 hours for court proceedings or Town related
meetings.
RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the minimum hours for Court
Security personnel to be 2 hours per event.
2nd Cl Lamb
Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes
Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes
Cl Dravis Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
BOARD/COMMISSION UPDATES
Cl Sparling reported the following:
Agricultural Advisory Committee
The 08 March meeting of the Agricultural Advisory Committee was cancelled.
Climate Smart Communities Task Force
The Climate Smart Communities Task Force met on 07 March.
Kudos to Ella Bormet, our clean energy intern, for a job well done! Alas, her internship has
come to an end. She garnered 90 points for Dryden towards its Silver Certification goal, as well
as mastered the art of research in all things climate smar t: community choice aggregation,
community resilience and recovery plan development, electric vehicles, etc. She was also our
bridge with Dryden High School, helping students with their messaging to the Town and
finding a grant that provided 90% of the installation fee for their EV charger. We wish her the
best in all her future endeavors!
One year ago, Dryden contracted with ECA to buy NY RECs for 100% of its electric supply to
meet a NYSERDA program requirement; the commitment runs out in May. NY RECs ha ve more
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than doubled in cost, making the ECA product very expensive to the Town, crossing the
threshold of reasonableness. The Task Force considered possible alternatives to the cost
increase. One suggestion was to return to the standard mix (50% green, 50 % fossil fuel).
Another stemmed from a conversation had with True Green, who would work with Dryden to
develop a solar farm on town-owned land for a lesser rate. From this, the notion of developing
a solar array behind Town Hall was revisited. Though the amount of staff time involved in
switching providers was raised, some thought that the savings incurred would be worth the
staff time.
The EV has landed. At the time of this writing, we should (or very soon will) have a hybrid
electric vehicle in our possession. 4800 points banked, 200 more until that $70,000 grant.
After dissatisfaction with the results of the DPW Office Building audit conducted by NYSERDA
contractors last year, John Kiefer and Craig Anderson, in consultation with Rick Young,
conducted their own audit and provided a summary to the Task Force. By their estimation,
DPW Office upgrade would cost about $100,000. The Task Force currently has $30,000 set
aside for this venture. Would the Town Board be willing to front $70,000 to complete this
project, with the potential to pay the Town back with the $70,000 grant once it is claimed?
Conservation Board
The Conservation Board met on 28 February.
At the heart of the meeting were two presentations. The first was on the City of Ithaca’s
Drinking Water Source Protection Plan, as delivered by Roxanna Johnston. Ithaca worked
with Barton & Loguidice to create this plan, which outlines the short- and long-term steps
needed to protect Ithaca’s drinking water sources, most notably Six Mile Creek. The plan was
published in September 2022, a PDF of which can be accessed at ithacawater.org.
The second presentation was delivered by Kevin Sarmiento and focused on Cornell’s Drinking
Water Source Protection Plan. Cornell relies heavily on Fall Creek for its drinking water, and
thus has a stake in its being protected. However, Cornell is very early in the development of its
protection plan, being currently at the stage of identifying areas of most concern.
The New York State Conference on the Environment, the annual conference of the New York
State Association of Conservation Commissions, will be held in Tompkins County this autumn.
Steve Bissen, the board’s representative to the EMC, volunteered to aid in planning for the
conference.
Back in May 2022, the Conservation Board threw their support behind the idea of renaming
the wetlands behind Neptune and near Willowbrook Manor for Bard and Gina Prentiss. A 6 -
acre portion of the wetlands being considered are currently part of the Willowbrook property. If
Willowbrook donated those 6 acres to the Town, would the Town Board be interested in
acquiring this conservation easement to put towards the “Prentiss wetlands”?
And also …
In a collaboration between the Conservation Board and the Rail Trail Task Force, thirty (30)
elm trees, a native tree species, will be planted along the Rail Trail.
Our Department of Public Works is working with the Conservation Board in locating potential
sites in the Town to experiment with new methods of ditching in an effort to control heavy
runoff, among other issues.
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Dryden Recreation and Youth Commission (DRYC)
The DRYC met on 22 February. Leonardo Vargas-Mendez filled in for me at the meeting,
as I was returning from the AOT conference at that time.
Planning Board
Cl Lamb reported that at the last meeting the Planning Board worked on the resolution
passed tonight. They also talked about forming a North Street development working group.
That would include representatives from the Town and Village as well as a representative from
TC3. It could possibly include a representative from NYS DOT and someone fr om the town’s
Affordable Housing Committee was suggested. It would be structured similar to the Affordable
Housing Committee. Cl Lamb suggested the group meet on an informal basis and come up
with a charge.
Broadband Committee
Supv Leifer reported the committee will meet tomorrow. The did a meeting with
ConnectAll last will and will be scheduling a site visit after a few more accounts are set up.
Syracuse Utilities will do the installs and continue to build out.
Safety & Preparedness Committee
Cl Dravis provided the following report:
The Safety & Preparedness Committee met on March 6th for approximately 90 minutes of
getting to know each other and brainstorming. Debra has been on the committee for
approximately two years and identifies as a prepper. Sylvia is new to the committee and works
for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) specializing in weather. She
also has experience with Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) programs. Christina is
the new Town Board liaison and was a previous member of the committee. The committee set
the following goals for 2023:
Recruit three additional committee members.
1. Finalize the list of shelters and share the information with the Red Cross.
2. Work with the County to offer a second NYS Citizen Preparedness presentation in the
western part of the town. The first was held in the eastern part of the town in 2019.
3. Get current committee members trained to use SIREN (previously Swift911) and resume
notifications related to the Dominion Energy Borger Station.
4. Contribute something to the Town’s newsletter each month regarding safety or
preparedness.
5. Resume the CERT program and personal preparedness training.
6. Disseminate revised flood plan information.
Supv Leifer reported that the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Plant is starting to talk
about the Town of Dryden buying more capacity due to development in the town. The are also
talking about reorganizing the way the plant operates and making it a public authority.
Management is current contracted out.
Supv Leifer will write to NYS DOT about having a street light installed at the rest area
on Route 13 near the Cortland County border.
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There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:28 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Bambi L. Avery
Town Clerk