HomeMy WebLinkAbout4-9-14 Regular Meeting[1].pdf
Town of Enfield
Regular Town Board Meeting Minutes
Enfield Community Building
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
6:30 p.m.
Present: Town Supervisor Ann Rider, Town Councilperson Virginia Bryant, Town Councilperson Mike
Carpenter, Town Councilperson Beth McGee, Town Clerk Alice Linton. Town Councilperson Vera
Howe-Strait excused due to illness.
Supervisor Rider opened the meeting at 6:30 p.m. by leading the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance
to the Flag.
Privilege of the Floor: No one wished to speak.
Approval of Minutes: Councilperson Carpenter moved, with a second by Councilperson McGee to
accept the minutes of the March 12, 2014 meeting.
Vote: Councilperson Bryant aye, Councilperson Carpenter aye, Councilperson McGee aye,
Supervisor Rider aye, Councilperson Howe-Strait absent. Carried.
Correspondence: Notice of Family and Children's Service of Ithaca's Annual Celebration May 8.
Invitation to attend the Enfield School Art Fundraiser on April 25 at 6 p.m. in the cafeteria.
Offer to represent the Town of Enfield by the Cohen Law Group, for a fee, in the cable franchise
transfer from Time Warner to Comcast.
Notice from Tompkins County Department of Assessment that the Tompkins County Legislature has
recently adopted Section 470 of the NYS Real Property Tax Law that allows for a 7-10 year exemption
depending on the LEED certification achieved by the property for the increase in assessed value due to
that new construction.
Notice from Bishop Sheen of home repair program for low income families, veterans and seniors.
Letter from NYSEG regarding the "Call Before you Dig Program".
Letter from NYS Department of Motor Vehicles regarding new emergency management license plate
program.
Letter from Sprague Insurance with first installment refund of initial capital investment, with interest, in
the amount of $2,900.92.
Budget Amendments: Supervisor Rider stated there were none for April.
Audit Claims:
Councilperson Carpenter moved, with a second by Councilperson Bryant to authorize the supervisor to
pay General Fund vouchers #104 to #123 dated April 9, 2014 in the amount of $6,473.35 and Highway
Fund vouchers #63 to #78 dated April 9, 2014 in the amount of $24,774.79.
Enfield Town Board Regular Meeting, April 9, 2014 2
Vote: Councilperson Bryant aye, Councilperson Carpenter aye, Councilperson McGee aye,
Supervisor Rider aye, Councilperson Howe-Strait absent. Carried.
Presentation by Tompkins County Department of Assessment: Irene Kehoe, Assistant Director of
Assessment, gave a brief overview of the work of the assessment office which has 10 full time
employees. New this year is the addition of the Town of Covert in Seneca County that opted to work
with Tompkins County. The recent fire in their county destroyed assessment records, so it has been a
real challenge to take on assessment duties for this town. Enfield is the only town in Tompkins County
that does not have an exemption for disabilities. There has been some confusion this year with STAR
exemptions, but the assessment office is trying to contact those that were signed up in the past but didn't
sign up in 2014.
Councilperson McGee asked what happens to property that goes up for a tax sale, but is not sold. Ms.
Kehoe responded the county holds the burden for the property, not the town.
Councilperson Carpenter asked if the assessment office would be willing to assess town owned
properties, even though they are tax exempt. Ms. Kehoe stated they would be glad to do so.
Ms. Kehoe stated she will ask Jay Franklin, Director of Assessment, to send out more information on the
Section 470 exemptions.
County Legislator's Report: County Legislator Jim Dennis stated the NYS budget has passed, but it is
unfriendly to local governments. The county is beginning its budget process and is likely to go over the
tax cap this year. He stated there have been 6 proposals for the old public library on North Cayuga
Street.
County Legislator Dave McKenna stated it was unfortunate that a quarter of a million in funds were
taken by an employee from the TCAT program. TCAT is working on a better way to police funds.
Highway Superintendent's Report: Highway Superintendent Rollins stated his crew has started
sweeping roads and cleaning up from winter plowing. He notified the Town Board he will probably
reconstruct the summer program due to the high amount of fuel used over the winter. Also there were 80
hours more overtime used than budgeted for. The rabies clinic is tentatively scheduled for May 15 from
7-9 p.m. at the old highway facility. The Tompkins County Health Department will be sending a
confirmation letter. Several people have asked if they can cut wood at the pile at the new highway
facility. Supervisor Rider will call the town's insurance company to check on this. If residents aren't
allowed to cut the wood and haul it away, the highway department will get it ground up as time allows,
hopefully with help from New York State.
Supervisor Rider asked if Highway Superintendent Rollins gets complaints about big trucks coming
from Newfield and cutting across Connecticut Hill. Superintendent Rollins stated he hasn't received any
complaints, but the Newfield side is posted. The Enfield side is not posted, so it is legal for the trucks to
run on the town roads. Enfield has some posted roads. Supervisor Rider has been unable to get
information on what trucks are being complained about. Superintendent Rollins thinks these are
probably local trucks.
Councilperson McGee asked where the town is with the Road Preservation Law. Supervisor Rider stated
it is on her desk in a file. She is getting a sample agreement and will fill it in for the Town of Enfield.
Enfield Town Board Regular Meeting, April 9, 2014 3
Planning Board Chair Dan Walker stated that unless there are over 1,000 trips with a 30 ton truck, the
county law doesn't kick in. This law will kick in when the wind farm is built in Enfield. The most
current revision of the information from the engineer for the wind farm is going over 1,000 trips.
County Legislator Jim Dennis asked what the status of the wind farm is. Supervisor Rider stated they
have been asked by our consulting firm to do more reporting. Dan Walker stated his understanding was
the final environmental impact statement, which is the responsibility of the Town Board to complete, is
being drafted but the information has not yet been provided to the Town Board.
Councilperson McGee asked what the next steps are for the town's Road Use Agreement. Supervisor
Rider stated she will ask Cornell Roads for samples. Dan Walker has been working with the Town of
Caroline on their law, so has some information Enfield can use. He will plan to get together with
Supervisor Rider and Highway Superintendent Rollins.
Highway Superintendent Rollins received notification from the county that South Applegate Road will
be closed next week during the day to replace two cross-over pipes, one on each section. The road will
be open at night. The county will redo the blacktop on that section. They will also redo the blacktop on
Trumbull's Corners Road through King's Woods - from Route 327 to where they left off last year at the
town line. That will be done during the summer.
Town Supervisor's Report: Supervisor Rider stated she has conducted a tour of all town buildings for
the appraiser who was contracted by the town's insurance company. She conducted a tour of the
community building with the Department of Social Services for a possible satellite office. She
interviewed Chemung Canal Trust Company and Tompkins Trust Company regarding their rates and
offerings to municipalities. She continued to orient the new town bookkeeper, attended a press
conference in Ithaca to urge the governor to find alternative ways to balance the state budget besides
imposing a mandatory 2% property tax cap. She attended and conducted the March Tompkins County
Council of Governments meeting. She attended a public meeting held by the State Department of
Transportation regarding possible bridge repair on State Route 327 during the summer of 2015.
Supervisor Rider stated there will be two items of new business, beautification and Social Ventures.
Code Enforcement Report: Code Enforcement Officer Alan Teeter reported in March there were 3
building permits issued, bringing the year to date total to 7. There were 3 Certificates of Completion
issued, 3 inspections completed, 14 progress checks completed, 1 complaint received and resolved, 1
house number issued. Last week he attended a conference in Syracuse and received 24 hours of in-
service training. There is still debate in Albany whether sprinkler systems will be required on all new
construction. That is holding up new state codes that will be coming out, probably next year. The
paperwork has all been turned in for the grant money to NYSERDA.
Committee Reports:
Planning Board: Chairperson Dan Walker reported there were no actions in front of the board as far as
site plan approval. The Planning Board discussed training. He attended the Southern Tier Central
Regional Leader's Conference, which was good for 5.5 hours of credit. Planning Board members Ann
Chaffee and Calvin Rothermich attended the SEQRA part of the training. He will make sure everyone
gets their training done this year. In the next few months an item will be added to the agenda regarding
the Site Plan approval and Subdivision Permit fees, to make a recommendation to the Town Board.
Comprehensive Plan Writing Committee: Councilperson McGee reported the first meeting was held
April 8 and there was a lot of interest. There were 10 people at the meeting and they have committed to
Enfield Town Board Regular Meeting, April 9, 2014 4
be part of the group to do the finalization of writing the Plan. Over the next two months they will have
speakers to share their experiences, and will determine their process and structure. Then they will
determine the order of sections to be looked at, and hope to invite other community members to come
and take part for those sections. Three more meeting dates have been set and will be listed on the
website.
Enfield Community Council: No report
Recreation Partnership: Carolyn Tschanz, Enfield's representative, reported she has annual report
information, but was unable to print it for tonight's meeting. Over 40 programs were offered in 2013.
Enfield had 112 registrants, which were about the same as last year. More scholarships were given this
year than in the past. The Partnership now has its own website. The I-PLAYbook, listing programs for
spring, is available at Enfield School, at the Enfield Town Hall, and on-line.
County Youth Board: No report
Enfield Volunteer Fire Company: Fire Chief Roger Lauper reported in March there were 24 calls of
which 16 were rescue calls, 3 motor vehicle accidents, 1 fire, 3 mutual aides and 1 hazardous condition.
Trainings for April will include SCBA, truck checks and water supply. Training for May will be on
pipelines. There were 22 members of the fire department and auxiliary who attended CPR classes. The
final BBQ for this year will be April 13.
Facilities Manager: Councilperson Carpenter reported there was a fuel oil leak in the town hall that was
repaired. He has been looking at the town buildings. There are some significant issues with the new
highway facility. Although it is a new building, it was designed as a 1960s-1970s building. It is not
energy efficient. The building was not insulated well and it is having issues, both in terms of having to
pay for heat and in terms of how it's functioning. The walls have been weeping on the inside and
outside. The relative humidity, when tested, was 65, which is way high. In the way it needs to function
for the use that it is intended for, it needs to be thought about in terms of how to keep the moisture level
down. He has had some people come and look at the building and do a tour. Two different heating
contractors have looked at the heating system. He is not clear on what the solutions are to the problem.
An insulation contractor recommended he talk to a commercial building expert in Utica. So far no
money has been spent looking at the problems. Long term, the Board needs to think seriously about
what to do with the building. It's wasting a lot of heat, and is unfortunate it was built the way it was. It's
not easy to take it apart and re-insulate it, even though that is what really needs to be done. Another
$20,000 to $30,000 needs to be spent to better insulate the building.
The original drawings for the building did include a salt storage facility. New York State does require
raw salt to be covered. About 100-200 tons per year are used by the town and kept covered with sand.
Highway Superintendent Rollins stated they do a sand and salt mixture and that is covered with a tarp.
At this time Enfield is the only municipality in the county that doesn't have a salt storage building. A
storage building would also be good for the sand as now it gets wet, freezes in the trucks. This year 2
bays had to be emptied so sand could be brought in to thaw it to keep it from being large blocks.
Councilperson Carpenter stated cold storage was also part of the original drawings, but didn't get built.
At the town hall building, the old highway building, two of the three furnaces are shot and not
repairable. The exterior of the building has a lot to be desired - it needs painting, it has broken windows,
it has roof trim coming off. The community building has moisture issues. There is a mold problem. The
Enfield Town Board Regular Meeting, April 9, 2014 5
drainage from the parking lot is coming into the end of the building and then going down along the
foundation. The building is not well situated and a solution would be complicated and expensive.
Aquifer Study Fundraising Group: No report
Facilities Development Committee: Councilperson Carpenter stated a few meetings were held to talk
about the different properties the town owns. There is a dump, the old highway department, the new
highway department, the land across the road from the old highway department and the community
building. There is also an old gravel pit. Some of the property is probably excess for the town. The
gravel pit would be excess, and the land across the road from the old highway department. At some
point a significant part of the town hall would be excess. Right now the town clerk's office is located at
the end of the building, part is used for cold storage in the winter, the rest is basically empty. He did
meet with the Enfield Fire Department to talk to them about a possible use they might have for the
building. They have a real interest in having use of some of the building immediately, and perhaps in the
whole building on a longer term basis. At this time the building is needed for the town clerk's office. It is
good to use the unheated end bays for cold storage in the winter. Councilperson Carpenter feels the
building is not worth having the town put money into. He would suggest finding an arrangement with
the fire department that they may be able to use the building for needs that they have. No plan has been
reached, but there was a discussion on several possibilities. They were going back to their group to
discuss what usage they might be interested in. Long term, the building does have some value. It could
be sold for something. The fire department does have some money to put into the building and may be
able to come to an arrangement with the town. Nothing has been decided yet. He feels the best plan for
the future would be to get out of the community building and out of the old highway building and build
a town office building on the land by the new highway facility. He encouraged the Town Board to think
about this over the next year or so.
Councilperson McGee asked about correcting problems at the town clerk's building before the end of the
year.
Councilperson Carpenter stated there is a possibility that if an arrangement is made with the Fire
Department for the foreseeable future for the town hall building, they may do repairs to bring the
building up to code and pay all the utilities. The old fuel tank out back needs to be removed, the sooner
the better.
Highway Superintendent Rollins stated we were getting propane at state contract price, and should still
be getting it now. Griffith installed the tanks at the new highway facility and agreed to charge the state
contract price, even though they are not the state contract bid for propane.
Supervisor Rider will contact electric suppliers this summer to look into a fixed rate.
Old Business:
Clean-Up Days: Highway Superintendent Rollins agreed to contact Alternative Waste Services and
Teets. Supervisor Rider will contact Tompkins County Solid Waste to see if she can get a deal. The
dates are May 13-17. The information will be in the upcoming town newsletter.
Supervisor Rider moved, with a second by Councilperson McGee to adopt Resolution #2014-28.
Resolution #2014-28 Bond Payment
Enfield Town Board Regular Meeting, April 9, 2014 6
WHEREAS, the Town of Enfield bonded for the Highway Building in 2012 and
WHEREAS, this money has to be repaid and
WHEREAS, this payment is due April 15, 2014, now therefore be it
RESOLVED that the Supervisor is authorized to pay the principal amount of $60,000.00 and the
interest amount of $22,096.88 by wire transfer.
Discussion: Supervisor Rider stated approval of the bond payment should be made by resolution instead
of by voucher. She believes there will be another payment later in the year that will be for interest only.
She will look up how long bond payments will go on for.
Vote: Councilperson Bryant aye, Councilperson Carpenter aye, Councilperson McGee aye,
Supervisor Rider aye, Councilperson Howe-Strait absent. Carried.
New Business:
Supervisor Rider moved, with a second by Councilperson Carpenter to approve Resolution #2014-29.
Resolution #2014-29 Beautification Grant Agreement
WHEREAS, the Town of Enfield has applied for a Beautification Grant available through the room tax
money of Tompkins County in the amount of $2,089.00 and
WHEREAS, Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County has forwarded an Agreement and
WHEREAS, this grant pays for labor and this year a volunteer coordinator/supervisor, now therefore be
it
RESOLVED, the Supervisor be authorized to sign this Agreement and
RESOLVED, that Zachery Snyder be hired at $10/hr. for up to 15 hours this season and
RESOLVED, that James Guidi be hired at $10/hr. for up to 15 hours this season and
RESOLVED, that Justin McNeal be hired at $12/hr. for up to 25 hours this season.
Discussion: Councilperson Carpenter asked if the town needed to match the $2,089.00. Supervisor Rider
responded we do need to match the money, but it can be in kind and volunteer.
Vote: Councilperson Bryant aye, Councilperson Carpenter aye, Councilperson McGee aye,
Supervisor Rider aye, Councilperson Howe-Strait absent. Carried.
Supervisor Rider moved with a second by Councilperson Bryant to approve Resolution #2014-30.
Resolution #2014-30 Agreement with Social Ventures
WHEREAS, some residents of the Town of Enfield have formed the Enfield Aquifer Study for the
purpose of raising money to help the Town fund an aquifer study done by the US Geological Survey and
educating the public on the benefits of keeping our ground water pure and
Enfield Town Board Regular Meeting, April 9, 2014 7
WHEREAS, the Enfield Aquifer Study contracted with Social Ventures to provide fiscal sponsorship
for this project and they have provided a financial summary, and
WHEREAS, the Social Ventures contract has expired, now therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Supervisor be authorized to enter into a contract with Social Ventures for the
period of January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2015 to receive various donations, including certain
donations which may be earmarked for the payment of the US Geological Survey.
Discussion: Supervisor Rider stated this is an arrangement that municipalities can legally enter into.
Social Ventures holds this money from donations received in the community. If the time comes when
the town is unable to pay the entire bill for this study, Social Ventures will forward the funds they are
holding to help pay the bill.
Vote: Councilperson Bryant aye, Councilperson Carpenter aye, Councilperson McGee aye,
Supervisor Rider aye, Councilperson Howe-Strait absent. Carried.
Executive Session:
Councilperson Carpenter moved, with a second by Councilperson Bryant to move into Ex ecutive
Session at 8:55 p.m. with only town board members in attendance, to discuss a personnel issue.
Vote: Councilperson Bryant aye, Councilperson Carpenter aye, Councilperson Howe-Strait aye,
Councilperson McGee aye, Supervisor Rider aye. Carried.
Adjournment:
Councilperson Carpenter moved, with a second by Councilperson McGee to close the Executive Session
at 9:15 p.m. and to adjourn the regular Town Board meeting.
Vote: Councilperson Bryant aye, Councilperson Carpenter aye, Councilperson Howe-Strait aye,
Councilperson McGee aye, Supervisor Rider aye. Carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Alice Linton, Enfield Town Clerk