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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-11-18 Regular Meeting Town of Enfield Regular Town Board Meeting and Public Hearing Enfield Community Building Wednesday, July 11, 2018 6:30 p.m. Present: Town Supervisor Beth McGee, Town Councilperson Mimi Mehaffey, Town Highway Superintendent Buddy Rollins, Town Clerk Alice Linton. Town Councilperson Becky Sims excused. Town Councilperson Virginia Bryant absent. Town Councilperson Michael Carpenter absent. Supervisor McGee lead the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag at 6:35 p.m. Additions and Removals from the Agenda: No one asked to have any changes made to the agenda. Privilege of the Floor: No one asked to speak. Correspondence: Supervisor McGee received correspondence about increased traffic on Rockwell Road due to the bridge being closed on NYS Route 327. Letter from NYSEG reminding everyone to call Dig Safely New York at 811 before digging so underground facilities can be marked. Information on the book “To Frack or Not To Frack” by Ronald Fraser, Ph.D. with a forward by Jason Leifer, Esq., Town of Dryden Supervisor. The book will help small town officials and citizens take a hard look at their own governing procedures. Presentation by Cornell Local Roads Intern, Zach Wenzel: Mr. Wenzel has been working as a summer intern for the Town of Enfield using software provided by Cornell. He has done an inventory of Town road conditions and developed a five-year capital plan. He stated money is a huge constraint for Towns and that it is very hard to predict future cost fluctuations. He explained there is an exponential increase in repair cost when the pavement passes beyond 75% of its expected life. In that case, preventative maintenance is roughly 14% of the cost of reconstruction. This means it is cheaper to maintain multiple good roads rather than repairing one bad road. The program helps budget possible road repairs to see if the repair is economically feasible and also to plan which roads should be repaired when, given the annual budget. He will be working to train someone in the highway department to use the Cornell program so it will remain useful after he completes his internship. Presentation “Internet of Things” by Ken Schlather of Cornell Cooperative Extension: Mr. Schlather explained The Things Network (TTN) is a simple idea that can create a socialized network of gateways across the county that can transmit small amounts of data to the cloud. It can take measurements at the sources, transmit and aggregate the numbers and report individual and aggregated numbers through a website and smart phones. Some benefits are security, cost, data is owned and controlled by the user, and is ideal for remote locations. It is being used for such things as tracking vehicle weights on roads and bridges, measuring woodsmoke, and measuring energy use in buildings. This may be a useful tool for Enfield as it could measure heat and power now to help with future planning of municipal buildings. County Legislator Report: County Legislator Dave McKenna reported the county passed the TC3 budget for the upcoming year. They also funded a five-year plan for the Industrial Development Agency. Highway Superintendent's Report: Highway Superintendent Rollins reported the scheduled work on Van Dorn Road was completed today and the Aiken Road work should be done tomorrow. The dead-end barricades at the end of Hubbell Drive were installed today. The highway crew is working on ditching and replacing pipes. Enfield Town Board Regular Meeting, July 11, 2018 2 Superintendent Rollins stated he would like to replace the excavator. He has found several through the NYS Office of General Services, so no bidding would be required. One is the same size as the current excavator, and one is a little larger. There would be no payment required for six months and the yearly cost for the smaller machine would be $45,101 for five years. This would be at an interest rate of 4.12%. The next size up would cost about $48,000 per year for five years. With no payments for six months, there would be no expenditure from the 2018 budget. To pay in future years, the budget could be increased by that much, or payments could be made from regular budgeted amounts, although less would then be available for other purchases. Supervisor McGee stated she has been working with Superintendent Rollins on a grant for a salt storage building. The grant involves water quality improvement and is through the Department of Environmental Conservation. It would be a 50/50 grant, but some of the Town’s portion could be in-kind service, such as ground preparation. Superintendent Rollins asked if there would be any problem with planting grass by the upstairs door of the Community Building. It would make the area easier to maintain. The Enfield Volunteer Fire Department has been mowing the area and the highway department will do the weed eating. No one saw a problem with planting grass in that area. Code Enforcement Officer's Report: Alan Teeter, Code Officer, reported 6 building permits were issued in June. Two were for residential solar installations. He will be interviewed by the Ithaca Times regarding vacant properties in Enfield. He provided the current fee schedule for building permits in preparation for a discussion next month of raising fees. Enfield Volunteer Fire Company: Alan Teeter, 2nd Assistant Chief, reported there were 25 calls in June. There were 17 EMS calls, 2 MVA’s, 4 service calls and 2 fire calls. A blood drive will be held July 17 and the next officer’s meeting is scheduled for July 31. Town Clerk's Report: Alice Linton, Town Clerk, reported data continues to be added to Laserfiche, much of it available to the public. Recordings of Town Board meetings, in addition to written minutes are available. There is also a lot of historical data that has been added. Supervisor's Report: Supervisor McGee reported as follows:  Held 3 finance committee, 2 Comp Plan, and 1 Cemetery Committee meeting  Prepared updated cemetery policy at Committee request  Held 1 Regular and 1 Special Town Board meeting  Solicited proposals from solar installers, met with Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Terry Carroll and prepared the Clean Energy Communities grant application and supporting documents  Worked with Cayuga Lake IO, USGS, Buddy Rollins, Dan Walker, and Tompkins County Planning to prepare a CFA Grant application for a salt storage building  Met with Maureen Bolton and Home Depot reps to prepare a grant application for renovation materials for the Community Building  Worked with the bookkeeper and confidential secretary to prepare for bookkeeper’s absence in July  Cleaned Community Building meeting space twice  Met with Councilperson Mehaffey and Enfield Volunteer Fire Department President Denny Hubbell and attorneys for final Fire Contract conversations  Attended Tompkins County Council of Government (TCCOG) meeting  Responded to resident concerns about construction traffic on nearby roads to Route 327 repair work  Interviewed applicant for Burial Coordinator position and developed a contract for the position. Supervisor McGee reported at the TCCOG meeting there was discussion of how a community can be divided by having different school districts. Enfield has four. There was also discussion on Tompkins County Area Transit (TCAT) considering free fares. This would cost all taxpayers approximately $30 per Enfield Town Board Regular Meeting, July 11, 2018 3 year whether or not they rode the bus. TCAT will no longer stop for riders hailing the bus – they can only get on at designated stops. Committee Reports: Planning Board: No report. Comprehensive Plan Writing Committee: Supervisor McGee reported the committee met on July 10. They only have 4 sections left to work through. An all-day meeting will be held on July 25th. Finance Committee: Supervisor McGee reported Judge Betty Poole has joined the committee. They are looking at the budget and assessing part-time positions – time tracking, where work is done, what tasks are completed, comparing with like communities. Cemetery Committee: Supervisor McGee reported policy updates have been completed but will need a vote by the Town Board for approval. Consent Agenda: A quorum was not present, so there was no vote. Old Business: Food Pantry Request for Freezer Installation: Jean Owens of the Enfield Food Pantry reported B&W Supply contacted her and offered a very good price for a new self-contained, walk-in freezer. Over 200 individuals and organizations helped get the food pantry reestablished. Supervisor McGee felt the new contract with the Enfield Food Pantry allows them to purchase and install the freezer if it is inspected by a licensed electrician, and Councilperson Mehaffey concurred this was her reading of the contract as well. Code Officer Teeter stated that he didn’t believe commercial equipment was required to post energy usage. Supervisor McGee would like to keep a close watch on energy usage. Councilperson Mehaffey mentioned that if the freezer was kept as full as possible it would save on energy usage. Contract with Enfield Volunteer Fire Department (EVFD): Supervisor McGee reported she met with Councilperson Mehaffey, Enfield town attorney Guy Krogh, Denny Hubbell EVFD president, and Mark Butler, attorney for the EVFD. They came to an agreement on all terms. The contract will be prepared for a Public Hearing. Until then, the current contract is still in effect. Quarterly meetings between the Town and the EVFD through the next year have been scheduled. New Business: Disability Premium Deductions: Supervisor McGee stated the highway employees discussed this deduction and have chosen to have the Town pay the premiums. She suggested the Town should reimburse employees for the amount deducted from their paychecks back to the time the Resolution was passed to make the deductions. The employee handbook had stated the Town would pay the premiums, so employees should not be penalized the amounts deducted from their pay. Possible Donation of Trusses: Joe Dawson was not present, so this item will be discussed at a future meeting. Introductory Discussion of Permit Fee Updates: Code Officer Teeter provided the current fee schedule. This discussion will be continued at a future meeting. Other Business: Supervisor McGee questioned how to have Board approval to pay vouchers. It was decided to present the vouchers at the Special Town Board meeting scheduled for Wednesday, July 18 at 6:00 p.m. Enfield Town Board Regular Meeting, July 11, 2018 4 Privilege of the Floor: Jean Owens of Enfield invited those in attendance to take a tour of the food pantry following the meeting. Highway Superintendent Buddy Rollins requested a discussion at a future meeting of changing elected positions from a two-year term to a four-year term. Those positions would include Town Supervisor, Town Highway Superintendent and Town Clerk. Announcements: There were no announcements. Adjournment: Supervisor McGee adjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Alice M. Linton, RMC Enfield Town Clerk