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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB 2024-01-18TB 1-18-24 APPROVED Page 1 of 7 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING January 18, 2024 Zoom Hybrid Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl Spring Buck 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 Amanda Anderson, Bookkeeper Supv Leifer called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m. Board members and audience recited the pledge of allegiance. RESOLUTION #32 (2024) – APPROVE MINUTES Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby accepts the minutes of the December 13 and December 21, 2023, town board meetings. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Buck Yes Cl Dravis Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes HIGHWAY/DPW DEPARTMENT Highway Superintendent Rick Young shared his proposed §284 Agreement last week and board members have reviewed it. RESOLUTION #33 (2024) – APPROVE §284 AGREEMENT Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the §284 Agreement for road work to be done in 2024. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Buck Yes Cl Dravis Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Board members signed the agreement. TB 1-18-24 APPROVED Page 2 of 7 PLANNING DEPARTMENT R Burger noted that his monthly report includes the monthly number for permits and activities as well as the total numbers for 2023. Six responses were received for the zoning rewrite RFP. The Planning Board will evaluate those and make a recommendation to the Town Board. With respect to the Safe Streets for All project, a county-wide process started about a year ago and awarded a grant for a safety action plan that is being developed. There will be a public process with meetings beginning in March with each of the towns involved. Safe Streets for All has a billion dollars per year in infrastructure funding, and we need to have a safety action plan in place prior to applying for those funds. FIRE COORDINATOR Chris O’Connor said he received the last proposal this morning for assisting the fire departments in developing their strategic plans. He asked that the board decide on which of the applicants is most suited so that the class can be scheduled. He has a lot of materials from most applicants to share with board members if they would like to see that. He said any of those who responded could do the job. The professional outfits are more experienced and know a great deal about fire service and fire departments. There is one that only works with volunteer fire departments. Another is a pretty big company that works more with large career departments and large police forces. Cl Lamb would like to get the selection made as soon as possible and he suggested going into executive session at the end of the meeting. DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS Town Representative to Association of Towns Annual Meeting – Cl Dravis is going to attend the 2024 Association of Towns annual meeting. RESOLUTION #34 (2024) – APPOINT ALTERNATE DELEGATE TO 2024 ASSOCIATION OF TOWNS ANNUAL MEETING Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby appoints Christine Dravis as its alternate delegate for the 2024 Association of Towns annual meeting. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Buck Yes Cl Dravis Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Planning Board Alternate RESOLUTION #35 (2024) – APPOINT PLANNING BOARD ALTERNATE - PARISH Cl Vargas-Mendez offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby appoints Frank Parish as an alternate for the Planning Board with a term to expire December 31, 2024. 2nd Cl Lamb TB 1-18-24 APPROVED Page 3 of 7 Roll Call Vote Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Buck Yes Cl Dravis Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Zoning Board of Appeals Appointment RESOLUTION #36 (2024) – APPOINT ZBA MEMBER - HENRY Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby appoints Andrew Henry to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a term to expire December 31, 2028. 2nd Cl Buck Roll Call Vote Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Buck Yes Cl Dravis Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Climate Smart Authorization – Alice Green explained this community campaign includes two events. They will be doing some media announcements and an online seminar that will be conducted by folks from Cornell Cooperative Extension. The online seminar will provide the choice to attend in person or via zoom and attendees will hear from folks that already have the installations and be able to ask questions about any available incentives to offset the cost of the installation. The online seminar is being planned for some time in March and in June they would like to have the Tiny House visit. That visit was a successful event a few years ago and that campaign resulted in $5,000 in grant funding for the town. This year the town could earn up to $30,000 if we do a good job documenting sign-up. Other ways to promote the event include making flyers for distribution, announcements in the town newsletter and social media. There will also be a press release via the town list. RESOLUTION #37 (2024) - AUTHORIZING THE CLIMATE SMART/CLEAN ENERGY COMMUNITY TASK FORCE TO CONDUCT A COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN FOR CLEAN HEATING AND COOLING Cl Dravis offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: WHEREAS, in 2021 the Town of Dryden sponsored a successful NYSERDA Community Campaign for Clean Heating and Cooling, resulting in many residents taking advantage of state incentives to weatherize their homes and install clean technology, and WHEREAS the town earned a $5000 NYSERDA grant for completing the campaign, and WHEREAS NYSERDA has recently announced a new round of funding for additional community campaigns, and WHEREAS the grants available in this round are $10,000 for 10 completed installations of air source or geothermal heat pumps or heat pump hot water heaters, and another $20,000 for 15 additional installations, and TB 1-18-24 APPROVED Page 4 of 7 WHEREAS Task Force efforts have already brought the town more than $130,000 in NYSERDA grants for clean energy actions, and WHEREAS the Climate Smart/Clean Energy Communities Task Force wishes to take advantage of the new opportunity to promote beneficial electrification, earn grants, and accumulate points towards additional funding for high impact clean energy actions, and WHEREAS any installation of an air source or geothermal heat pump or air source hot water heater in the Town of Dryden after June 1, 2023 can be counted towards the grant submission, and WHEREAS the grants also require that the town demonstrate it has actively promoted clean energy installations, and WHEREAS the Clean Heating and Cooling Community Campaign would consist of public information events and media presentations to inform residents about new ways to save money on the cost of heat pumps to ensure cleaner, more comfortable indoor air and less outdoor air pollution, now THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Dryden Town Board authorizes the Climate Smart/Clean Energy Community Task Force to conduct another round of the Community Campaign for Clean Heating and Cooling. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Buck Yes Cl Dravis Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes 465 North Road Special Use Permit Introduction - Ray Burger explained that the former owner of the Second Knob who moved her business to her residence a while ago now would like to use an existing warehouse at 465 North Road. Retail use is allowed there by Special Use Permit. Board members have been provided with the application materials as an introduction and the Planning Board will review it next week. A public hearing was set for February 15 at 6:05 p.m. Speed Limit Reduction Request – Because of the anticipated development along and behind the North Road/Route 13 area, there have been discussions about requesting a speed limit reduction to 30 miles per hour between the traffic lights at Bahar Drive and the intersection of Route 13, Lee Road, and Route 38. A letter to NYS Department of Transportation has been drafted and signed by the Village Mayor. Supv Leifer asked for authorization to sign it also. RESOLUTION #38 (2024) – AUTHORIZE SUPERVISOR TO SIGN A JOINT REQUEST FOR A LOWER SPEED LIMIT ON NORTH ROAD/NYS ROUTE 13 Cl Lamb offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that the Town Supervisor is hereby authorized to execute a joint letter with the Mayor of the Village of Dryden requesting a speed limit reduction to 30 miles per hour on NYS Route 13/North Road between the traffic lights at Bahar Drive and the intersection of Route 13, Lee Road, and Route 38. 2nd Supv Leifer TB 1-18-24 APPROVED Page 5 of 7 Roll Call Vote Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Buck Yes Cl Dravis Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes COUNTY BRIEFING Mike Lane shared information compiled by the Tompkins County Assessor with a history of levies and rates across the municipalities in the county for the past 20 years. We’ve had a large increase in assessed values in recent years and the Assessment Department was considering a triennial reassessment. The committee reviewing the request is recommending staying with annual reassessments. He noted that sometimes a municipality’s levy goes up but the rate stays the same or goes down. People don’t always understand that the levy is the true gauge of what tax increases are. That is the money that is actually being taken in from the tax base by the municipalities. Some municipalities have had substantial increases in the tax levy. The Assessment Department wants to help people understand that it isn’t just the value of property that is going up. The County legislature has reorganized. Dan Klein is the new Chair and Shawna Black will be the Vice Chair. Most committees have stayed the same. M Lane will chair the budget committee this year and will continue to serve on the facilities and infrastructure committee but will not chair it this year. ADVISORY BOARD UPDATES Agriculture Advisory Committee – Did not meet. Recreation and Youth Commission – Leslie Debo accepted the appointment as chair and the committee is aware of the charge to get a consultant on board for development of the land out back. Broadband Committee – Will meet tomorrow. There is an extension on the county recovery fund grant until June because they are still waiting on make-ready work. The committee will have a kickoff meeting next Friday with the Philip Lytle firm regarding the legal needs of the project and review what has been done. The marketing effort is kicking up this week with a social media push. The two villages should be open for a larger push in the near future, with Freeville closer to being ready than Dryden. There may be marketing people going door to door. Climate Smart Communities Task Force – The board passed a resolution the task force had requested tonight. A draft of the Dryden Climate Change and Resilience Plan (CCARP) is ready and we are scheduling a scenario planning workshop. NYSERDA has additional funding available for promotion of Clean Heating and Cooling. The grants available in this round are $10,000 for 10 completed installations of air source or geothermal heat pumps or heat pump hot water heaters, and another $20,000 for 15 additional installations. The Task Force would like to embark on a community campaign similar to the one done several years ago, and will be submitting a resolution to the Board at the next meeting. The campaign will include announcements in the Town’s newsletter, website and Facebook page, tabling at local events, a webinar, reaching out to local installation companies, etc. TB 1-18-24 APPROVED Page 6 of 7 Conservation Board – Did not meet in December. Planning Board – They talked about the TC3 intersection and a draft plan drawn up by some members of the North Street Development group. It involves realigning North Road at its intersection with Route 13 so it goes through Dedricks and is in a more direct line with the traffic signal. There is support for the TAP grant application for the North Street sidewalk project that is moving forward. The board has been briefed on the wetland delineation and there is a lot of interest in what will happen on the town property behind the town hall. Rail Trail Task Force – They discussed finally getting funding from the Environmental Protection Fund grant and how it is dedicated to improving the section from Game Farm Road to Route 13. They discussed the status of the engineering design plans and the bidding document for the pedestrian bridge. Task force members are reviewing it. Once it goes to bid it will be a public document. Cl Lamb said it reflects our investment in Erdmann Anthony. When they wrap up the review, the Supervisor will be able to execute necessary documents to move forward. Cornell University and Knickerbocker will sign easement documents for the ramps that hold up the bridge. They may be able to start construction later this spring. Affordable & Workforce Housing Committee – The committee met yesterday. They didn’t make any big decisions and continue to discuss applying for funding and what the focus will be. A CDBG grant has been received for half a million dollars for housing rehabilitation. They continue to review the town’s zoning, and will finalize a list of their suggestions. There was discussion about the wetlands delineation and they will ask the DRYC to have a member of their committee as liaison to the conversation. The committee will prepare a report of their activities for 2023. CITIZENS PRIVILEGE Ann Marie Sheridan said at the board’s December 14 meeting a topic of conversation was incentives and reimbursement to fire department members via the SAFER grant. She asked when those reimbursements could be expected. C O’Connor said no funds can be disbursed until the SAM number issue is straightened out. There is no window in which they have to apply, but payments will be delayed until Freeville gets its SAM number rejuvenated. With respect to incentives, all departments provide their members with jackets. A Sheridan said on December 14 they heard that incentives were on the table from the state to recruit new members. She understands there is an open comment on this proposed legislation and asked for a link to provide comment. Cl Buck provided that link and A Sheridan urged the board to voice their support for the highest amount possible. This is a good way to demonstrate support for the departments and incentivize membership. With respect to firefighter physicals, A Sheridan said her physical involved exposure to an unpleasant smoke to make sure the fit of the mask is correct. With respect to facial hair, she read the OSHA and NFPA guidance. Facial hair that interferes with the fit of the respirator is not permitted. In short, the hair cannot cross the respirator sealing surface. Cl Dravis asked about a sidewalk ordinance and will look into what other municipalities have in place. Cl Buck said the Planning Board should have some input. Mike Lane said Dryden Village has an ordinance and sidewalk specifications that include size and thickness of the concrete where driveways are. At 7:10 p.m. on motion made and unanimously carried, the board moved into executive session to discuss the appointment of an individual or corporation to assist fire companies in developing their strategic plans. TB 1-18-24 APPROVED Page 7 of 7 The board returned to open session at 7:33 p.m. Supv Leifer said they had discussed the appointment of a contractor to assist the fire departments in their individual developing strategic plans. There were five responses to the request for proposals. After review, the board chose Modern Volunteer Fire Service Consulting with Mission CIT as their second choice. RESOLUTION #39 (2024) – AUTHORIZE CONTRACT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF FIRE DEPARTMENT STRATEGIC PLANS Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes the Town Supervisor to execute a contract with Modern Volunteer Fire Service Consulting at a total cost of $3,300.00 upon confirmation by the fire coordinator that the service can be provided within the time requested. If they are not able to do so, the Town Supervisor is authorized to execute a contract with Mission CIT in the amount of $3,000. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Buck Yes Cl Dravis Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk