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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-1994MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING MONDAY, MARCH 14, 1994, AT 7:30 P.M. Those present: Teresa M. Robinson, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman Carl E. Haynes, Councilman Francis Casullo, Attorney Absent: Gordon C. VanBenschoten, Councilman Absent: Donald E. Cummings, Councilman Also present: Liz Brennan, Betty Sperger, Chris Sperger, Elsie DeCamp, Bob Bernhardt, Carl Ferris Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. Sovocool, that the minutes of February 14th be approved as mailed. Ayes - Sovocool, Haynes, Robinson. Claim Nos. 24 to 39 of the Highway Fund in the amount of $16,210.79 and Claim Nos. 41 to 61 of the General Fund in the amount of $41,411.26 were presented for audit. Moved by Mr. Sovocool, seconded by Mr. Haynes that the bills be approved for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Haynes, Robinson. LIZ BRENNAN - BOOKKEEPER - Passed out copies of Monthly Report for month ending February 28, 1994, to Board. Also, a copy of Expenditures and Revenues to date and the Annual Report was given to the Board. The auditors should come tomorrow. We have no transfers. Discussed Ciaschi, Dietershagen quotation for doing 1993 audit. ........................ RESOLUTION NO. 18 - APPROVE CIASCHI, DIETERSHAGEN, SCHAUFLER & MICHELSON'S PROPOSAL FOR 1993 AUDIT Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby accept the proposal of Ciaschi, Dietershagen, Schaufler & Michelson to perform the 1993 financial audit for the Town for the sum of $3600.00. Monthly reports of the Town Clerk, Tax Collector and Town Justices were reviewed by the Board. Also, the Monthly Dog Report from the SPCA was reviewed. Harrington Associates has completed our Mining Permit Application for Spring Street Pit #1. He also has submitted updated Reclamation Maps. The resource at this location was depleted a number of years ago. In December of 1991, we filed a mining termination and reclamation report for this mine site. The required reclamation activity was not done in 1992 due to other time commitments. This work should be concluded during the coming season. 1 Supervisor Robinson said the TV Cable Commission and the County wants to get together and have some of the different Towns having input in this. The City has already set up their cable contract. We are supposed to have ours on the way by June. Today they sent the information for what we have to do and some of the wording that the Ithaca Commission put in their agreements. Mainly our determination is for having extension and access to the different programs ............. Also, the Area Economic Development of Groton is having a meeting at the school on March 16th and you are all invited. We also have a copy of the Interim Report from the Executive Secretary on the Governor's Panel on Real Property Tax Exemptions and Classification Issues....... It was sent to us through the former Supervisor, Shirley Raffensperger. GEORGE SENTER - CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER Year -to -date building permits issued: 1993 5 Misc. 1944 2 Misc. Life Safety Inspections - 3 left to complete for March Sherry O'Brien has moved cars onto his own property which made his property kind of a mess. Due to the weather, and in the process of building a paper trail if we have to go to court, we gave Sherry a Temporary Special Permit that is good until the end of May. At that time if he doesn't have his parking lot organized according to what he and the Planning Board agreed to, we are going to start a legal process. BOB BERNHARDT - Just a couple things. About the old #1 gravel pit. I think it is an eye sore. If you're not going to take anything more out of there, why not take a dozer and kind of smooth the thing up a bit and hide some of the junk that's down in there. Just kind of clean the place up a little bit. When you come down the hill you can look right down in there and here's all this old culvert pipe and all this other crap -- a big hole right in the center of it. If you've got the dozer out there in the summer time, it won't take much to push the sides in a little bit, at least smooth it out and make it look better..... The other thing that I want to talk about is a year ago last January, we talked about a sound system and you've heard about it every month. You know the building was supposed to have been handicapped accessible and hard of hearing is a handicap. I'm not to the point where I've got to get a hearing aid, but certainly some people I can hear and some people I can't. In fact, even Colleen can't hear some of the things that are said. I was surprised to come in here tonight and read the minutes of the last meeting and find out what went on up there with Corney leaning over the counter talking with you people. We didn't hear any of it. It came as a surprise to me what you people are talking about, voted on and all this. Town Board Meetings are supposed to be open meetings. You're supposed to make it so we can hear you so that we can at least be aware of what's going on. We haven't been able to up to now. I know you've been busy. Maybe we need to set a higher priority for this sound system. Back last fall you had one in here and you said that this is what you're looking at. How long is it going to take us to rap this thing up and put in a sound system? I'd like to have it on record that I can't hear what is going on at these meetings. T. Robinson - And, I'd like it on the record that you've been asked to sit up closer. 2 B. Bernhardt - You know what you're saying to us, if you can't hear grab a chair and put it up front. That's like saying -- don't be embarrassed by moving your chair up front but go ahead and do it. We shouldn't have to do that. It should be set up so that we can participate. T. Robinson - I think you participate. B. Bernhardt - Not if we have to pick up our own chairs and take them up there in front of the room. What's wrong with a sound system? T. Robinson - Nothings wrong with a sound system. B. Bernhardt - Why can't we do it? Back last fall when we were getting ready for elections and everything, we had a big system in here. We were under the impression then, hay, we're finally going to get a sound system in here. We don't see it. Here we are in March already, a year and three months and we still don't see one. It's terrible to set back here. We don't have the vaguest idea of what your bookkeeper is talking about. We don't know what Corney is talking about. You allow him to go up there and lean on that counter and we can't hear him. George stands back here and we can hear everything he says. What you need to do is have people stand back here where we can all hear them. That's all I'm asking for. That's all any of us are asking for. You'd be surprised how much more participation we'd get. C. Ferris - If they'd just speak up so we could hear them instead of whispering back and forth ......... I don't think that's a very proper way of doing things. T. Robinson - You whisper back and forth. B. Sperger - Because we can't hear anything else. C. Ferris - I'm not whispering back and forth... T. Robinson - No, but I mean you're talking about whispering B. Sperger - But we're not holding a Town meeting. T. Robinson - No, I'm not, but he was saying.... I'm sorry, but he was saying it's not very nice to whisper. B. Bernhardt - Not for a town meeting. T. Robinson - No, that's what I'm saying. C. Ferris - But the officials that are sitting up there.. T. Robinson - But we're not whispering. B. Bernhardt - Teresa, we don't want to get in a contest with you. All I'm 3 saying is, I'd like to make it easy for you. Okay, there's other ways of doing it. I'm not trying to threaten you or anything else. I'm saying, come on, a year and three months is long enough to wait for a sound system so that we can hear what is going on in an open meeting. Try to cooperate with us. T. Robinson - I am trying to cooperate. B. Bernhardt - Okay. Now, can you give us a promise or can you give us anything promising at all? T. Robinson - I'm not going to promise you anything. I had plans for the last couple months but we've had some other priorities other than that. B. Bernhardt - Teresa, I don't understand what it takes to get a sound system. You go out and get quotes, and pick the cheapest one and have it installed. It isn't a time consuming job, you have them look at it and make a decision. T. Robinson - We're working on it. I am. Maybe its slow, but it took me a long time to get this building too. T. Robinson - Do you have something else? E. DeCamp - It looks like you've got your mind made up. You don't want to do it. You don't want us to hear what's going on. T. Robinson - I'm sorry, you're misconstruing what I said. E. DeCamp - No I'm not. I come here every time there is a meeting and we can't hear hardly a thing back here. T. Robinson - And I've offered to have you come up front. B. Sperger - You can not hear up there, Teresa. We tried it one week. You're talking over the top of us and you hear no more up there than you do here. We tried. T. Robinson - I don't think one week is enough....... Did you have something else? Supervisor Robinson asked Atty. Casullo about local law changing our Land Use and Development Code to include changes requested by our Appeals Board. Recommendation was sent to the Planning Board for them to study and make recommendation back to the Town Board. The Planning Board is working on several changes and plan to submit all recommendations to Town Board at one time. The Zoning Board of Appeals has requested that they no longer get involved in the enforcement mechanism for violations. Instead, it would go straight to the Town Justice. This is done in most other Towns in Tompkins County that way. When the Planning Board makes the amendment recommendations to the Town Board, a Public Hearing will be held by the Town Board before adopting these changes. 4 Correspondence consisted of: 1) Letter from the Chairman of the County Board of Reps on organization ...... 2) Better Housing for Tompkins County has put out an advertisement for their loan for repairs to be out through the Township. If anybody is interested, you can contact them. It's for ice damage to your roof, furnace repair. If you live in the Town, or Village, or School District of Groton and have a low or moderate income, Better Housing for Tompkins County Incorporated will have low interest loans to help. They have it at three percent with up to a five year pay back. Loans range from $500 to $3000. There phone number is 273 -2187; 3) 1993 Sales Tax Report breakdown; 4) We also received reimbursement from the County for extra money that was a mix up in the earlier blizzard of 1993. This was very nice to help make a little dent in what we got before. We got an additional $3,211. This was State money that came back to the County. 5) We received a thank you from Chris Walpole for helping with snow removal at the Casino Days at the Rod & Gun Club. 6) Received residential assessment ratio of 102.79 based on 556 sales from 7/1/92 to 7/1/93. Ratio is calculated by dividing the total assessed value by the total selling price of each sale. BOB BERNHARDT - Before you close, I assume you're about ready to. In the minutes of the last meeting there was mention in there of asking Diversified Technologies for a financial statement. Have we done anything with that. Fran Casullo, Atty. said that he believed Jack Fitzgerald was authorized to write a letter to them. The letter was written but the Town has not heard anything. Atty. Casullo said that they would send a follow up letter to Diversified requesting a written response before the April Town Board Meeting and also that Diversified attend the April Meeting to discuss project loan agreement. There being no further business, Mr. Sovocool moved to adjourn meeting, seconded by Mr. Haynes, at 8:22 P.M. Unanimous. Colleen D. Pierson Town Clerk k,