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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-1993MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING MONDAY, MARCH 8, 1993 AT 7:30 P.M. Those present: Teresa M. Robinson, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman Carl E. Haynes, Councilman Jack Fitzgerald, Attorney Absent: Gordon C. VanBenschoten, Councilman Absent: Donald E. Cummings, Councilman Also present: Leland Cornelius, Liz Brennan, Bob Bernhardt, Betty Sperger, Elsie DeCamp, Abe Congden, George Senter Prior to the start of the meeting, the following petition was handed to Supervisor Robinson. "We the undersigned are requesting that the Town Supervisor and Councilmen sit at the table on the same level as the taxpayers coming to the meetings; until such time as they have a sound system making it possible to hear them from the present set up. Please consider this starting with tonights meeting. Signed: Betty Ann Sperger, Elsie DeCamp, Abe Congdon, Bob Bernhardt." Supervisor Robinson stated that they could bring their chairs and move up closer to the bench. Moved by Mr. Sovocool, seconded by Mr. Haynes, that the minutes of February 8th be approved as mailed. Ayes - Sovocool, Haynes, Robinson. Claim Nos. 35 to 60 of the Highway Fund in the amount of $17,151.10 and Claim Nos. 44 to 77 of the General Fund in the amount of $5,922.03 were presented for audit. Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. Sovocool, that the bills be approved for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Haynes, Robinson. LIZ BRENNAN - BOOKKEEPER - Handed out Bookkeeper's Report as of February 28. The Annual Supervisor's Report is completed and a summary was handed out. Unencumbered Fund Balance in General is $235,310 and in Highway it is $120,375 (minus truck). There are no transfers this month. Our audit starts next Monday. LELAND CORNELIUS - HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT - Roads are broken up more this year than last year due to frost. It is not only Groton but all over. There is nothing that can be done right now. On March 1st Supervisor Robinson attended an awards program for the Tompkins County Youth Bureau. Groton was presented with a plaque that reads: "THE TOMPKINS COUNTY YOUTH BOARD AND YOUTH BUREAU with deep gratitude and high esteem recognize the dedicated volunteers who have creatively and significantly improved the quality of life for children and youth in Tompkins County, and therefore award this CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION to the GROTON YOUTH COMMISSION on this first day of March, Nineteen hundred and ninety - three." Signed by Penny Boynton, Chair, Tompkins County Youth Board and Nancy B. Sahler, Director, Tompkins County Youth Bureau. Correspondence consisted of: Annual report of the Board of Elections. McLean Fire District Annual Report. Letter of intent from Stonehedges Country Club to renew their summer liquor license for the period April thru October of 1993. Board had no objections to this renewal. Letter to the Town Clerk from the Tompkins County Comptroller reporting the following payments made to the Supervisor during 1992: Mortgage Tax - $48,892.31; Surplus Dog Monies - $1,056.11; Snow Removal and Mowing - $111,329.21. Letter from County Highway Department to the Town Clerk indicating that our request for lowering the speed limit in McLean School area has been denied by the State at this time. Received notification that on March 12 from 5- 6:30PM at the Groton High School there will be information on 15 possible designs for the former Smith Corona site in the Village. BOB BERNHARDT - Mr. Bernhardt suggested that the Board send a copy of the letter requesting the reduced speed limit in the McLean School area and their reply with a cover letter to Senator Seward saying that this is an elementary 1 school that borders two roads and that we really believe that we should have a reduced speed limit here. After writing letter to Board of Representatives on Solid waste, a week later he learned that the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce was asked by the County Board of Representatives to recommend options to optimize privatization of the County solid waste management program. This study was not well received by the County Board of Representatives. I have provided the Board with a copy of the report. The 13 page report was documentation to back up their conclusions. It addresses first of all solid waste and they have a conclusion of what the Chamber of Commerce is recommending. The last thing the report addresses is recycling and the Chambers conclusion again. We've got a glut of landfills in the nation. The Federal Courts in February overturned flow control. This means that haulers can haul wherever they want to. Large garbage haulers can make money but lose money recycling. Conclusion of Chamber of Commerce was that the County give up solid waste completely after they have set some rules to live by. Recycling - That should be part of the bid -- whoever gets the solid waste has to take that. However, the new building -- you'll have to go down there and see that. They have a 50 car parking lot with white marble curbing around it. Mr. Brewer, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, recommendated that it would be an ideal site for light industry. Sell it and get rid of it completely - -now. The original user fee would have generated around 7 million dollars. Now it's down to around 3.5 million dollars. Now the Board of Representatives are leaving it up to the Chamber of Commerce for the mechanics of this. BETTY SPERGER - I'd like to bring up the electric in the garage again. Around May 13, 1991, I first learned by coming to the meeting that there was a problem and that it was brought up three or four times but this has been almost two years and nothing seems to be getting done. Supervisor Robinson said: No, it's not getting done but we're going to get some people to come in to tell us exactly what has to be done. Mrs. Sperger wanted to know if this was going to drag on another year or two. Abe Congden - What about the electricity in the garage? L. Cornelius - Back in 1961 when they built the building the electrical was never inspected. When they added the new building on they found that the old electrical did not meet the code. The service for the new building was hooked onto the existing garage. The conduits that come up through the floor are the problem. Gases could form and cause a problem. T. Robinson - I have been telling them all along that it is wrong but I've been running into a brick wall. I have talked with Floyd Ferris and Paul Ravis from NYS Fire Underwriters about the problem. GEORGE SENTER - CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICE - 1992 year -to -date building permits issued is 4. 1993 year -to -date building permits issued is 5. We went to John Anderson's today but there was no one home. Fran is going to write letter to their Attorney explaining that we were there but found no one home. Weather permitting, I will start junk car inspection. Copies of my training certificates have been submitted for your information. JACK FITZGERALD, ATTORNEY - I've reviewed the HUD file and Loan Agreement with Diversified Technologies and there's no problem with capitalizing the back interest if you want to do it. I would suggest we sit down with Bernie Thoma and get some figures unless you have some figures. Supervisor Robinson said we have the figures. He suggests in his letter that there is an outstanding principle of $142,000. There is nothing procluding us from doing this. I just think we ought to do it in a business like manner and get him to give us some facts and figures about what is due on the account. We have a second lien on the equipment and we don't want to jeopardize security wise ..... What they want to do is just pay interest. Supervisor Robinson said we have the figures and the breakdown. Supervisor Robinson thought that Attorney was going to have it in order so that Board could act on. Supervisor Robinson read a letter that was sent as a reminder that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) designates April as Fair Housing Month. As federal CDBG recipients, our municipality is charged with the responsibility of furthering fair housing efforts. One suggested way for 2 meeting the goals of the program is to have the municipal board proclaim "April is Fair Housing Month" and then publish a notice in the disignated newspaper. RESOLUTION NO. 23 - PROCLAIM APRIL AS FAIR HOUSING MONTH Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Haynes, Robinson WHEREAS, in accordance with the Title VIII Fair Housing Policy of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 and, WHEREAS, the Month of April 1993 has been designated by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity as Fair Housing Month. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Groton hereby declares and proclaims April as Fair Housing Month in the Town. The Town Supervisor's Office is the designated Fair Housing Office of the Town of Groton. If any individual or family feels that they have been discriminated against in obtaining suitable housing or housing accommodations of their choice, they can contact the Town Supervisor's Office at 898 -5102, 101 Conger Boulevard, Groton, New York. RESOLUTION NO. 24 - MODIFY LOAN AND SECURITY AGREEMENT WITH DIVERSIFIED T.E.S.T. TECHNOLOGIES, INC. Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town of Groton does hereby desire to modify and extend the terms of the existing Loan and Security Agreement with Diversified T.E.S.T. Technologies, Inc. to provide for: 1)The capitalization of all past due interest payments and late charges. 2)A change in the interest rate from 500 of the prime rate established annually to a fixed rate of three percent (30) per annum. 3)To provide for monthly payments of interest only commencing February 1, 1993 until January 1, 1994 and then principal and interest payments of $ on the 1st of every month thereafter commencing on February 1, 1994 until the entire principal balance and accrued interest is paid in full. 4)That financial statements be provided by the Borrower to the Lender on a quarterly basis instead of annually and provided by Section 5.11c of said Loan and Security Agreement. 5)That the Borrower pay to the Lender the sum of $50,000.00 in the event Diversified T.E.S.T. Technologies, Inc. leaves the Town of Groton before 6)That the Borrower execute and acknowledge personal guarantees and new financing statements. 7)That Teresa M. Robinson, Supervisor, be authorized to sign all the necessary agreements on behalf of the Town to lend effect to this resolution. Discussed Groton Youth Commission Operating Guidelines as submitted by the Commission for Town and Village Board approval. Supervisor Robinson said these are the first guidelines since the Commission was created by resolution of the Village and Town of Groton on June 20, 1983. Supervisor Robinson explained that the Town and Village are not the employer but rather we pay the 3 Family and Children's Center of Ithaca to run the program. It is handled this way because the Town and Village are the ones that are eligible to receive State funds. RESOLUTION NO. 25 - APPROVAL OF GROTON YOUTH COMMISSION OPERATING f- TTTnV- T.TMV -C Moved by Mr. Sovocool, seconded by Mr. Haynes Ayes - Sovocool, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby approve the Groton Youth Commission Operating Guidelines as presented. Attorney Fitzgerald reported that he had contacted the Administration of Courts regarding our situation of a retiring Justice and subsequent appointment of same Justice to finish out 1993 as our Town Justice. They had not heard of this, however they didn't know why it couldn't be done. Couldn't find anything in retirement or social security law. It's a vacancy created by his retirement and this Board has the authority to fill the post until the next general election. Appointment was made last month contingent upon Attorny's findings from the Commissioner of Courts. They had no objections. Town Clerk can go ahead and send retirement notice and notice of appointment to proper authorities. Supervisor Robinson said that the Town financial audit will start on Monday. The Tompkins County Planning Board has a meeting on March 10th at 7:30PM with guests from local municipalities that are invited to hear the Tioga County experience of local government coordination. Discussed petition that was presented this evening. George Senter had previously given Supervisor Robinson information on various sound systems that could be used in the court room and /or board meeting room. She will look into types of systems and costs for the next meeting. There being no further business, Mr. Sovocool moved to adjourn meeting, seconded by Mr. Haynes, at 9:00 P.M. Unanimous. Colleen D. Pierson Town Clerk 4