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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch 12, 2025 - Regular Town Board Meeting Minutes1 Town of Enfield Regular Town Board Meetfng Wednesday, March 12, 2025 6:30 PM In-Person and Via the Zoom Meetfng Platiorm Present: Town Supervisor Stephanie Redmond; Town Councilpersons, Jude Lemke, and Robert Lynch; Town Clerk Mary Cornell; Highway Superintendent Buddy Rollins. Virtual Attendance: Town Councilperson Melissa Millspaugh Excused: Town Councilperson Cassandra Hinkle Call to Order: Supervisor Redmond called the meetfng to order at 6:30 PM Privilege of the Floor: Greg Hutnik - The Park Committee is focusing on additfonal improvements to the Skate Garden across from the Town Hall and building a trail near the Highway Department. The grant that was applied for was not available this year that we had received the past two years as the program is not funded this year. There may be another tourism grant that we may be able to apply for later this year. Cortney Bailey there is a new grant from Governor Hochul that would involve getting kids outdoors she will send the informatfon to the Town Supervisor. Additfons and Changes to the Agenda: Lights, Septfc System, NYSCLASS and the situatfon in Ukraine and the Towns past involvement in it. Correspondence: N/A Quarterly Reports EMC: Melissa Millspaugh. The past meetfng focused on unique natural areas at the County level. NYS has 20 % of its land protected and they would like to increase this to 30% in the next 10 years. In Enfield we have a State Park with a large chunk as protected land. They are going to change the interactfve mapping. They ended the meetfng talking about Earth Day and land clean-up. Enfield Community Council – Cortney Bailey. At the last Board Meetfng Shelly Lester from CCE gave their annual report. Tonight they are introducing Xanthe Matychak, Rural Youth Services Enfield Program Manager. Xanthe is the new hire that replaced Eric Carter. Xanthe is enjoying getting to know the community by providing after school programs for youth and she will be running the Enfield Summer Camp. Her previous work consisted of working at the University level. The youth programming started today and the main focus will be technology. ECC up untfl now has been the employer for the Enfield Summer Day camp. This will now transitfon to the Cornell Cooperatfve Extension. Financially this will put ECC in a better positfon for the summer camp to contfnue and she is hopeful that this will help boost registratfon. They will be having a Corned Beef dinner on March 21st. If they have not rented the facility in April then they will have another fundraiser. They hosted a wedding receptfon last Saturday, which brought in much needed revenue. Cemetery Committee – Councilperson Lynch. He is hopeful to have the cleanup completed by the end of April. Buddy shared that two trees will need to be cut down in the Budd Cemetery, and we should look at hiring someone to cut them as at least one of them is in the middle near a chained of sectfon of the cemetery. Food Pantry: Councilperson Robert Lynch read the report submitted by Food Pantry Director Jean Owens. The full report is on file with the Town Clerks Office. 2 Recreatfon Partnership – Melissa Millspaugh the rec partnership is celebratfng 30 years this year with 6,344 partfcipants of which 160 partfcipants are from Enfield. They have only had one meetfng this year so far. Enfield Fire District – Robert Lynch. The full report is on file with the Town Clerks Office. Most notable is that they will no longer offer Zoom meetfngs as they had a pornographic video bombing in December. Cayuga Lake Watershed IO – Stephanie Redmond. They sent out a couple of letters. They had a presentatfon on the DEC WQIP and MENG programs. They are stfll waitfng on a decision from the DEC on the Cargill resolutfon letter that the Town had approved back in January. Tompkins Health Consortfum – Robert Lynch will defer as we will hear from Elin tonight and is hopeful to report more after attending a future meetfng. Park Committee – Given in the privilege of the Floor Water Protectfon Committee – Nancy Spero, the last meetfng took place in January. The next meetfng will be on March 24th. Tom and Peter did the water testfng last week, she is hopeful to compare results soon. The only questfon the state has had so far on the water protectfon plan was who the contact person for the town is, which they replied is Stephanie. She believes that the plan has been approved, they have not heard for sure as of yet. Mostly they have been working on the survey project with Becky Simms. They have a rough draft of a survey to hand out and she will reach out to Stephanie, as they are hopeful to bring it to the town board for a discussion at the next Town Board meetfng. Sustainability Committee: Cassandra Hinkle – N/A. Stephanie. They have been working on the Tool Library and they have been discussing a repair café. Monthly Reports County Legislature – Randy Brown. The full report is on file with the Town Clerks Office. The state did confirm that they will receive 2 million in funding this year for homelessness. The County is worried about Federal funding, Medicaid is the most pressing concern. The airport usually gets 20 million in funding and they are not sure if it will happen this year. Councilperson Lynch will try to make the agriculture summit on March 26th. It is awful to hear of the destructfon of over $300,000 in books by the Tompkins County public library. Town Supervisors – Stephanie Redmond. She submitted the grant applicatfon for the Rumsey Hill Bridge. She shared that the classes at the AOT Conference in NYC didn’t seem as good this year as in past years. She learned of a couple of projects that the Town may be eligible for, in additfon to other classes that she attended. Planning Board Report – Dan Walker. They met last week. Rosy Carpenter was in attendance and had several questfons, we had a good discussion and she is in attendance at tonight’s meetfng. Councilperson Lynch shared that they had good conversatfon on the Comprehensive Plan, especially in regards to agriculture. Highway Superintendent Report – Buddy Rollins. They are hopefully moving away from winter work, we may get a couple more snow squalls before it is over. They have been chasing water due to the heavy rainfall over the last week or so. They are startfng to haul in materials for this summer. Some of the dirt roads had extensive damage this winter. Mainly on Van Dorn Rd and Stone House Road. Regarding the arborist he is sending one of his guys who volunteered to a 5-week program which started last week and is put on by Cornell Cooperatfve Extension. He went in this directfon as it will be better for the Town. He contacted an arborist and they were ~$70 an hour just to ride a long with him. This is a better use of town funds. The total cost is ~$615. He would like to know if the board will approve funding of this instead. Supervisor Redmond moved and Councilperson Lynch seconded to use the Contfngency fund for this expense. 3 Ayes; Lemke, Lynch, Millspaugh, Redmond; Carried. Excused; Hinkle. Highway Superintendent Rollins – The highway department traditfonally hosts the clean-up week the third week of May. This year it will be May 15 - May 16th 1-5 pm, and May 17th 8 am-12 pm. Cemetery clean-up will be on April 26th in the morning Road clean-up will be on May 10th. Councilperson Millspaugh will check on obtaining trash pickers, bags and gloves and will update the board next month. Councilperson Lynch moved and Councilperson Lemke seconded to set April 26 for cemetery clean-up, May 10 for the road clean-up and May 15, 16 and 17 for Town clean-up at the Highway Department, with hours to be set by the highway superintendent. Ayes; Lemke, Lynch, Millspaugh, Redmond; Carried. Excused; Hinkle. Code Enforcement Report – Alan Teeter. He has issued 5 building permits. Rumsey Hill Road and Fish Road residences both had recent house fires. A complaint for Teeter Rd and the self-storage units property. He spoke with the neighbors and the owner, who will purchase materials to assist in reducing the glare from his lights. The house with all of the garbage and debris on Mecklenburg Rd will be going up for auctfon in a couple of weeks. He will be taking his annual training next month and will not be in attendance at the Town Board Meetfng. Tompkins County Council of Govts – Robert Lynch. He is told that there should be an important TCCOG meetfng at the end of this month. EMS will be the main topic of this meetfng. They would like to look at better ambulance service in the rural areas in the Towns. An unanswered questfon is what will become of the RAPID medical response service in 2026. There is a strong desire to keep it going at least through 2026. Funding will be the main issue going forward. Consent Agenda: Audit Claims: General Fund vouchers #43-70, dated March 12, 2025 in the amount of $123,993.15. Highway Fund vouchers #30-44, dated March 12, 2025 in the amount of $31,667.05. Supervisor Redmond moved and Councilperson Lynch seconded. Ayes; Lemke, Lynch, Millspaugh, Redmond; Carried. Excused; Hinkle. Minutes: Approval of February 12, 2025 Town Board Meetfng Minutes Ayes; Lynch, Millspaugh, Redmond; Carried. Abstain; Lemke Excused; Hinkle. Business: RESOLUTION NO. 35-2025 – Approval of Final 2024 Budget Modifications WHEREAS, it is necessary to modify the 2024 budget based on the final results of revenues and expenditures in 2024, and 4 WHEREAS, a detailed listing and description of each budget adjustment by Fund has been provided to the Town Board for review as presented below, be it therefore RESOLVED, that the Enfield Town Board approves the budget modifications as outlined below. GENERAL FUND - A FINAL 2024 BUDGET MODIFICATIONS Current Increase/Modified Account #Description Budget (Decrease)Budget Expenditures A1220.13 Supervisor - Personal Services - Deputy 5,150.00$ 1.00$ 5,151.00$ A1220.41 Supervisor - Contractual 2,050.00$ (1.00)$ 2,049.00$ A1316.44 Payroll Processing Fees 4,000.00$ 30.00$ 4,030.00$ A1316.43 Bookkeeper - Postage 500.00$ (30.00)$ 470.00$ A1620.1 Buildings - Personal Service 6,313.00$ 1.00$ 6,314.00$ A1620.12 Buildings & Grounds Personal Service 1,891.00$ (1.00)$ 1,890.00$ A1670.4 Central Print and Mail 2,000.00$ 1,400.00$ 3,400.00$ A3010.1 Public Safety - Personal Services 32,096.00$ 1.00$ 32,097.00$ A3010.4 Public Safety - Contractual 2,200.00$ 120.00$ 2,320.00$ A3010.2 Public Satey - Equipment 500.00$ (121.00)$ 379.00$ A3310.4 Traffic Control - Contractual 3,500.00$ 365.00$ 3,865.00$ A5132.4 Garage - Contractual 4,800.00$ 305.00$ 5,105.00$ A5010.4 Supt of Highways - Contractual 1,500.00$ (670.00)$ 830.00$ A7555.4 Beautification - Contractual 3,200.00$ 220.00$ 3,420.00$ A9030.8 Social Security 19,700.00$ 640.00$ 20,340.00$ A1990.4 Contingent Account 22,482.00$ (2,260.00)$ 20,222.00$ Total Expenditure Adjustments -$ Description of Proposed Adjustments : These General Fund budget adjustments address final adjustments needed to cover spending through the end of the 2024 budget year, incorporating accounts payable at 12/31. Many of the adjustments are minor, in some cases due to rounding or other minor differences from the budget plan. You will notice that, where possible, savings in spending in the same budget area are being used to cover these minor overages. $2,260 is being used from contingency to fund the remaining overages. 5 Supervisor Redmond moved and Councilperson Lynch seconded. Ayes; Lemke, Lynch, Millspaugh, Redmond; Carried Excused: Hinkle. Presentatfon by Elin Dowd from the Greater Tompkins County Municipal Health Insurance Consortfum. She is here tonight to talk to long standing members like this Town due to the high cost of the old legacy employee health insurance program. There is a real big balance to make sure the employees stfll have the same excellent coverage and for the municipality to look at cost effectfve measures. This is a presentatfon on one opportunity and she had been asked to present the platfnum plan to the Town. Enfield currently only offers one of the two available plans. Cost and plan comparisons that are available to employees. The Consortfum was created out of TCCOG in 2010 to provide cost effectfve consistent plans to employees in the County. In the last two years there were large premium increases. In the most part they have remained consistent in increases since they were created. The membership has grown significantly started with 13 and it has increased to 78. Councilpersons had questfons about the premiums and no copays for certain drugs. Elin shared that they have initfated prior authorizatfons and they will contfnue doing so. Councilperson Lynch asked for clarity if the current plan is on borrowed tfme. The old plan is not a cost-effectfve plan. Councilperson Lynch asked what it takes to get on a committee, Elin shared that his name will be at the top of the list in 2026. Discussion: Septfc System at the Town Courthouse. There is a dry well for the septfc that is having trouble and Buddy has worked with the DOH and they are going to let us replace it as the top has collapsed on it. The DOH is looking at letting us replace it with a drywell system and we are waitfng to hear from the engineer for approval. They had the building stfll being used as a daycare, etc. and they should just let us replace it. Paul Carpenter Jr. came out and has been working with us and the Health Department we are looking at rentfng his machine and the highway department will be doing the rest of the work. The materials and trucking will be directly charged to the town and he will be paid to complete the work. The current estfmate is between $10-12,000. Supervisor Redmond moved and Councilperson Lemke seconded that the Town move ahead with the dry well’s replacement, guided by Highway Superintendent Rollins and contractor Paul Carpenter, and that up to $12,000 be drawn from the contfngency fund to finance the work. Ayes; Lemke, Lynch, Millspaugh, Redmond; Carried Excused: Hinkle. HIGHWAY FUND - DA FINAL 2024 BUDGET MODIFICATIONS Current Increase/Modified Account #Description Budget (Decrease)Budget Expenditures DA5110.4 General Repairs - Contractual 200,000.00$ 10,900.00$ 210,900.00$ DA5142.4 Snow Removal - Contractual 30,000.00$ 2,100.00$ 32,100.00$ DA5130.45 Diesel and Gas Fuel 90,000.00$ (13,000.00)$ 77,000.00$ DA9710.6 Installment Purchase - Principal 41,358.00$ (0.38)$ 41,357.62$ DA9710.7 Installment Purchase - Interest 11,874.00$ 0.38$ 11,874.38$ DA5142.1 Snow Removal - Personal Service 117,793.00$ 1,600.00$ 119,393.00$ DA5142.14 Snow Removal - Overtime 18,480.00$ (1,600.00)$ 16,880.00$ Total Expenditure Adjustments -$ Description of Proposed Adjustments : There are a few lines in the Highway Fund that exceeded budget, however there was adequate funding in other lines to cover the overages. The largest adjustment of $13,000 reflects the use of savings in the fuel budget being used to coverage additional costs for General Repairs and Snow Removal. 6 Discussion LED Lights: Buddy and Stephanie discussed which lights would be best, Budy suggested going with the free lights. Stephanie will update the Board when she has a more specific informatfon at next month’s board meetfng. Discussion: Cornell Design Connect. Stephanie - She enjoyed working with the students in the past. She had applied previously for a design of a future Town Hall/redesign the current building and it was not chosen. Supervisor Redmond would like to apply for the grant again as free design help would be great. Councilperson Lynch did share that this is a free service. Lynch also stated that the town’s applicatfon for this grant does not carry with it any commitment to proceed with a capital project to renovate the Town Hall. Supervisor Redmond will contact the town historian to determine whether blueprints for the building are available, as the Cornell design team has requested them. Councilperson Lynch moved and Councilperson Lemke seconded that the Supervisor apply for the Design Connect Assistance grant from Cornell. Ayes; Lemke, Lynch, Millspaugh, Redmond; Carried. Excused; Hinkle. Discussion: Solar Bids. Five companies had submitted competftfve bids opened at the February 12, 2025 Town Board meetfng for providing solar panels atop the Town Hall to implement a largely grant-funded project. Councilperson Lynch began the discussion by saying he’d evaluated all five bids on the basis of both cost and their satfsfactfon with bid requirements. Lynch had concluded that the apparent low bidder, Solar Environment of Saratoga Springs, NY, had not provided the specificity the bid solicitatfon had demanded. Other board members agreed, and Solar Environment’s bid was rejected. The next-lowest bidders, Solar Liberty and Fingerlakes Renewables, Inc., were very close. Board members agreed that the general municipal law includes provisions allowing the municipality to choose best value, which can be found in sectfon 103, which refers you to state finance law sectfon 163, sub paragraph J. Lynch read the sectfon which is a quantftatfve factor. We know Fingerlakes renewable is a reliable company and is a female owned company and appears to be the better value based on his findings. He would be comfortable going with Fingerlakes Renewables. He would like to award the contract to Fingerlakes Renewables. Supervisor Redmond moved and Councilperson Lynch seconded that the Town of Enfield award the contract for the Town Hall Solar Project to Fingerlakes Renewables, Inc. as the best value bidder among those that the Town Board regards as responsible bidders. Ayes; Lemke, Lynch, Millspaugh, Redmond; Carried. Excused; Hinkle. Discussion: Dog Licensing and Control Law Clerk Cornell shared the one change she would like in the fee schedule. Councilperson Lynch asked if we should remove the fee and keep the law the same as it currently is. Councilperson Lemke asked how many households in the Town have 4 or more dogs. Clerk Cornell guessed less than 25 including Purebred Kennel Licenses, she will get the exact figures for Councilperson Lemke by next week. The Board agreed that no changes will be made for now and that the Proposed local law will stay the same as it has been presented at next month’s Public Hearing. Discussion: NFIP. Supervisor Redmond asked the board if they had reviewed the response from Guy Krough concerning Councilperson Lynch’s proposed prohibitfon of new dwellings in designated flood zones, and she agrees with Lynch’s suggestfon. Supervisor Redmond suggested, however, that the word “structure” be changed to “dwelling” so as to make clear the prohibited building would otherwise be livable space. Councilperson Lemke commented even though Guy states it is not enforceable. There was extensive discussion on whether or not new dwellings should be built in the flood plain. Rosy Carpenter asked what impact it would have on her property in the Flood Plain if she wanted to sell it would she have to tell the person who bought her property that they could not build it. Councilperson Lynch responded that there is an appeal process with the Town Board. She further expressed her concern that this is a zoning law, as you are 7 telling people what they can and cannot do with their property. The fed allows optfng in to be optfonal, however, NYS will requires us to partfcipate in the program. Councilperson Lynch do we want to pay our attorney to review if we HAVE to opt into this program? Dan Walker shared that they have had multfple questfons on whether flood insurance can be purchased for propertfes in our Town. Councilperson Lynch the only thing different than what the State is requestfng is the provision that he drafted (That you cannot build a new residentfal structure in the Flood Plain.) is included. Clerk Cornell asked the board if they would draft a letter to be sent with the proposed local law to the residents that reside in the Flood Plains to be mailed before a public hearing. Supervisor Redmond moved and Councilperson Lemke seconded to hold a Public Hearing on the proposed NFIP Local Law to be held at the May 14th Regular Town Board meetfng at 6:30 PM. Councilperson Lemke will draft the letter and provide it to Clerk Cornell and Councilperson Lynch will provide the final version of the Proposed Local Law to be included in the mailing. Ayes; Lemke, Lynch, Millspaugh, Redmond; Carried. Excused; Hinkle Discussion: IMA for Bostwick Rd. Supervisor Redmond finally has the IMA and the Engineering services will be provided by Tompkins County with a cost of $75,000. Discussion contfnued. Councilperson Lemke moved and Councilperson Lynch seconded to authorize the Town Supervisor to sign the IMA for the Bostwick Road culvert project. Ayes; Lemke, Lynch, Millspaugh, Redmond; Carried. Excused; Hinkle Discussion Tool Library. Supervisor Redmond - Please review the documents as she will be contactfng the reuse center. Please plan to go over at the next town board meetfng. Discussion NYSEG Bills. Supervisor Redmond - The County Planning Department is looking into NYSEG complaints (Terry Carol, is researching it) Haley Delyle is on the NYSEG review, Randy Brown will send more informatfon to Supervisor Redmond as he gets it. This may be a contfnued discussion at our next Town Board Meetfng. Supervisor Redmond on NYCLASS – She would like Blixy to explain this further to the Town Board and have another discussion at a future Board Meetfng. This would allow for our funds to be deposited into savings accounts, which would allow for a return on the investment. Discussion: Review updated subdivision regulatfons. The Board briefly discussed its ongoing review of Subdivision Regulatfons. Councilperson Lynch referenced the Town Attorney’s written opinion that state law generally prohibits a Town Board from joining a Planning Board in the review of proposed subdivisions or overruling a Planning Board’s determinatfon. In response, Lynch had drafted a proposed revision that would give the Town Board advisory authority only, allowing it to recommend subdivision changes at the Final Plat stage of review. Deputy Supervisor and Planning Board Alternate Greg Hutnik had in turn recommended that any Town Board input be given at the Preliminary Plat stage, not regarding review of the Final Plat. Planning Board Chair Walker agreed. Walker also saw no need to divide major subdivisions into separate categories depending on the subdivision’s size. Councilperson Lynch asked if we are moving in the right directfon and if what Greg Hutnik had 8 suggested is moving in the right directfon. What Councilperson Lemke asked if it has been moved back to the preliminary plat instead of the final plat. Public Water/Sewer need to be addressed. The issue is really what is the cost and what is the impact on the Towns infrastructure. Supervisor Redmond asked the Board to look at the changes that she had suggested. Discussion contfnued. Discussion: Ukraine. Councilperson Lynch - Should we fly the Ukrainian flag for the next 30 days? Resolved that the Enfield Town Board in accordance with our Flag Policy, approve the flying of the Ukrainian flag for the next 30 days. Councilperson Lynch moved and Supervisor Redmond seconded to renew flying the Ukrainian flag for another thirty days. Ayes; Lemke, Lynch, Millspaugh, Redmond; Carried. Excused; Hinkle Privilege of the Floor: With the disruptfon of tonight’s zoom meetfng pornographic bombing Supervisor Redmond and Clerk Cornell will work to best address this issue going forward. Adjournment: Councilperson Lemke motfoned to adjourn, adjourned at 10:04 PM Respectiully submitted, Mary Cornell Mary Cornell Town Clerk