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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-08-1995 ScannedREGULAR MEETING & PUBLIC HEARINGS - GROTON TOWN BOARD I Monday, 8 May 1995 Town Board Members ( *present) *Teresa Robinson, Supervisor C,di dpi.- VanBenschoten * Ellard Sovocool *Carl Haynes *Donald Cummings Others Present Francis Casullo, Town Attorney George Senter Sr., Town Code Enforcement Official Lyle Raymond, Town Zoning Board of Appeals Chair Carol Marks, Deputy Town Clerk Leland Cornelius, Town Highway Superintendent Dennis Toolan, Groton Village Mayor Karl Heck, HUD Representative Other Interested Parties (As Attached Hereto) Supervisor Robinson called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. Planning Board Members Present Monica Carey Jeffrey Lewis Verl Rankin Cecil Twigg The first order of business was to approve the minutes of the April 10, 1995 Town Board meeting. A motion was made by Carl Haynes to approve the minutes as presented; seconded by Ellard Sovocool. The motion was carried with affirmative votes being received from Councilmen VanBenschoten, Sovocool, Haynes, and Cummings. Supervisor Robinson then presented a hanging plant to Mr. Haynes in recognition of his recent appointment as President of Tompkins- Cortland Community College. Congratulations were expressed to him by the Board and everyone present. The Board then reviewed and approved all bills presented for payment at this meeting. Councilman VanBenschoten made the motion, which was seconded by Mr. Sovocool. Affirmative votes were received from Councilmen VanBenschoten, Sovocool, Haynes, and Cummings. 1,Hsbe0off=r M0LXl1=# 28 Of 1998. Town Code Enforcement Officer, George Senter, Jr., was recognized by Supervisor Robinson. Mr. Senter reported the activities of his department in comparison to 1994, as follows: Building Permits Issued; Miscellaneous 10 12 Mobile Homes 0 5* Homes 6 *2 Replacements Vehicle Survey lasted several days resulting in 27 letters being sent out for unregistered vehicles; 7 letters for unregistered vehicles and rubbish; 15 letters on rubbish only. Supervisor Robinson then announced that the Town of Groton was the recipient of a $630,000 Small y Cities Community Development Block Grant to be utilized for a two -year (1995 and 1996) housing rehabilitation program ($315,000 per year). Mr. Heck explained a few details of the grant program. The grant received at the end of 1994 was $400,000 for 21 -22 houses; the current grant reflects a total of 28 houses. Councilman Haynes made a motion to accept the grant; seconded by Mr. VanBenschoten. k Regular Meeting & Public Hearings - Groton Town Board May 8, 1995 Affirmative votes were received from Councilmen VanBenschoten, Sovocool, Haynes, and Cummings. ThisbecomesRESCLUMU# 9q of 1995 as Sled. Supervisor Robinson requested approval of the bills submitted for the current (1994) grant, consisting of $24,236 Construction Billing plus $5,554 for Grant Application & Administration Services, for a total of $29,790. Councilman Haynes made a motion to accept these bills for payment; seconded by E. Sovocool. Affirmative votes were received from Councilmen VanBenschoten, Sovocool, Haynes, and Cummings. Supervisor Robinson then tanked Mr. Heck for his assistance, as did Councilman Haynes and the rest of the Board. 1btsbeamvs1aMCUnM# 30 of 1995. The Public Bearing regarding the adoption of Local Law # 1 of 1995, which would substantially amend the Land Use & Development Code and Zoning Map for the Town of Groton, was called to order at 8:03 p.m. by Supervisor Robinson. T. Robinson: Is there anyone who would like to be heard? Please state your name first and if you have any comments. Nobody has anything to say? Okay. C. Haynes: Fran, could I just ask you for the sake of the people here tonight -- because if I'm confused, maybe somebody else is too -- what's,the difference between the two hearings we are having tonight? What's the appropriate remarks that people could make under this first hearing compared to the second hearing. On the surface, they sound very much like the same thing. F. Casullo: Well, to be safe, and I'm doing this to be safe, the first Local Law is the substantive # local law. The second Local Law is just to play it safe and is essentially because you're going by Local Law you're going to be following what is known as the Municipal Home Rule Law. To enact a Local Law, you do it pursuant to the Municipal Home Rule Law as opposed to sometimes you enact a local ordinance or enact a land use code by ordinance in which you follow Town Law. So what we're doing is we're going to enact a Local Law -- for publication purposes, it's, easier to enact a Local Law. So by enacting a Local Law, we're going to supersede irrelevant divisions of the Town Law and follow the Municipal Home Rule Law. It's procedural -- just like you say, 1 don't think the Town's ever done that. Maybe they have, but I haven't seen it. The second Local Law is more a formality. The first Local Law Is more substantive. C. Haynes: We held a hearing previously on the change in the zoning and the change in the map and all that sort of thing -- that's the substance. So if people have further comment on that, this is an opportunity to talk further about that. F. Casullo: The hearing that's going on right now is the substantive one. If they have any j questions at all on the new -- [,shouldn't say the new -- the revised, the most recently revised Land Use and Development Code. C. Haynes: Okay. So the second hearing is just basically a formality to enact a Law pursuant to the Home Rule Law -- a procedural thing? T. Robinson: Peg... P. Palmer: Peg Palmer. Pleasant Valley Road. My only question is -- we had a public hearing a couple of months ago on this. Is there a change that's taken place between this draft and the one we saw two months ago? T. Robinson: The only change that's been made is in the procedure of the laws... passing the law and whatever has to be. F. Casullo: Basically, any amendments that were made were very, very minor -- just a couple word changes. What I did, just to play it safe, is that this draft tonight is what the Town Board's going to pass. I thought it was fair to hold one more public hearing so that if anyone had anything to say, Regular Meeting & Public Hearings - Groton Town Board May 8, 1885 that they would be entitled to say it before the Town Board votes on it. I thought it would be fair to do it that way. That's why I did it that way. This will allow the public one more opportunity. T. Robinson: There's nothing? Nobody has anything to say? If not, I'll close the hearing. I guess technically we can't have that (referring to the second hearing) until 8:30 p.m.. F. Casullo: What we can do right now, because we've got time, why don't we go through the SEAR? T. Robinson: Excuse me. Just a second. G. Reynolds: I'm Gary Reynolds, I talked to Mr. Senter on this -- on the distance from the Village Line -- does that go by the tax maps, or is that a measured distance? Because I'm falling outside of the zone. G. Senter: It's a measured distance. G. Reynolds: It's a measured distance? G. Senter: You see the dimensions on the map up there? G. Reynolds: Yes. Does that go from my tax map to the Village Line? G. Senter: I don't know that that..... G. Reynolds: Because I'm right on the border, so part of my land falls..... G. Senter: I don't know as they can follow the tax lot line in all cases. I don't think it's possible M. Carey: We just went 500 feet around the Village. It's a straight line distance measured around the Village. L. Raymond: There's a procedure incorporated in here so that if your land is split, you can decide what zoning it would be in. T. Robinson: Anybody else? If not, I'll close that part of the hearing. What were you going to say, Fran? Attorney Casullo then recommended completion of the Long Form SEAR and instructed Supervisor Robinson on the procedure for completing same. Attorney Casullo then read the questions on the SEAR Form, and Supervisor Robinson responded to each question. As a result of the responses received to the SEAR Form's questions, the Town Board, as lead agency, declared the proposed action a Negative Declaration. Councilman Haynes made the motion, it was seconded by Councilman Cummings, with affirmative votes received from Councilmen Haynes, Cummings, VanBenschoten, and Sovocool. Supervisor Robinson then executed the form. This becomes R WAXAY1WW # 31 of 1995. Supervisor Robinson then gave the privilege of the floor to those present. There was no response. She then reported that the Highway Department crew completed the MESA safety course held on April 4th and 5th, 1995, and a class in compliance with Federal Hazard Communications Regulations (WHMI's and OSHA 29 CRF 1910, 1200), and the Right -to -Know Law held on April 6, 1995. Supervisor Robinson requested Board approval for the Sound System Policy and Health Insurance Policy. The Sound System Policy was read by the Supervisor (copy attached). A motion to accept the Sound System Policy, as presented, was made by Councilman VanBenschoten, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, and affirmative votes were received from Councilmen Haynes, Cummings, VanBenschoten, and Sovocool. This beoanes RESOLUTION # 32 of 1995. 3 Regular Meeting & Public Hearings - Groton Town Board May 8, 1988 The Health Insurance Policy was to have been modified to allow coverage for part-time employees if they paid the full price. (Discussion concluded with no action being taken on the Health Insurance Policy. Dennis Toolan, Mayor of the Village of McGraw, was present and spoke on joint efforts between the Town and Village regarding "white goods" (appliances, etc.) pickup. Supervisor Robinson said that roadside dumping was also a problem, and asked those present to call Paul Cowles of Tompkins County if they saw anyone doing so. According to the Supervisor, two citations had already been issued by the County on instances reported by the Town; however, the Town was not notified. Mayor Toolan said the trash should be removed from along the highways while the trip is being made to check it out, rather than wasting time and money sending another vehicle to do so. Various other ways of dealing with the problem were discussed by the Mayor and the Supervisor. Supervisor Robinson stated that she had received more complaints on dumping than on anything else. Councilman Haynes asked about the potential cost to the Town for the "joint venture." The response from the Mayor was strictly for the trucking, as the landfill would not charge a fee. If any other trash other than appliances was taken, there would be a charge at the landfill, including for tires. The Town and Village agreed to see if they could work together on the trash removal problems. The Public Hearing regarding the adoption of Local Law #2 of 1995 which would substantially amend the Land Use & Development Code and Zoning Map for the Town of Groton, pursuant to the provisions of the Municipal Home Rule Law, was called to order at 8:30 pm. by Supervisor Robinson. T. Robinson: If you would give your name and stand up to the mike if you have anything to say. This is your chance. P. Palmer: Could we have it explained what this means again? F. Casullo: What you're doing is procedural. Because we are enacting this by Local Law, we have to follow the Municipal Home Rule Law. And this isjust to make things proper. We are going to enact this into law by following the Municipal Home Rule Law and we're going to be enacting the amendments to the Land Use Code by Local Law, so we have to follow the Municipal Home Rule Law of the State of New York. It's procedural. P. Palmer: Does it make it easier to amend the law, less complicated? F. Casullo: It makes it easier to amend and easier to publish and send it into the Department of State. It's cheaper for the Town. C. Haynes: Fran, how is it cheaper? I'm just curious about that. F. Casullo: It used to be that you had to publish the whole text in the newspaper; then they came up with this Local Law that you just file it with the Secretary of State and they publish it once a year. Now, in some cases, like Town Law, you just have to publish a summary or abstract. But you still have to publish. The Local Law is little bit easier because you just send it on to the Department of State. They publish it. Basically, what I'll do, is I will send them a copy of the Local Law-cover sheet. I'll take this off and I'll send them this whole thing and they'll publish it in a book. It's good to have a Local Law that if you violate it, it has a little more teeth and it gives you a little bit more status to go by this way as opposed to an ordinance. And it's a little bit easier to do it by Local Law than by ordinance. The only reason I'm doing this second hearing is that I just want to make sure that when we're dealing with the Land Use Code that it's clear that we are following the Municipal Home Rule Law. T. Robinson: If there's no one.... _TN .j w./ G. VanBenschoten: Theresa, I'd like to see the Board give a vote of thanks to the Planning Board and f George, and anyone else who has done a lot of work, a lot of legwork, a lot of hours on the new draft r that they've worked on for the past two or three years. 1 T. Robinson: And Tracey? Regular Meeting & Public Hearings - Groton Town Board May 8, 1995 G. VanBenschoten: Right. T. Robinson: And Lyle? All of the members of the Planning Board and the Chairman, and Lyle and ISO Tracey for helping out -- we know that you've spent a good time on this and we really appreciate it, contrary to what you might hear. Is there anybody else? If not, I'll close the hearing. Supervisor Robinson then recognized Barbara Demjanec, of the Tompkins County Soil & Water Conservation District, and Linda Szeiga who works for the USDA Soil & Conservation Service, now known as the National Resource Conservation Service. They explained their use of some grant monies received in conducting an inventory evaluation of the Owasco Inlet Watershed. Their wort entails interviewing farmers, etc., and possibly walking the creek areas involved in the project to evaluate erosion. Their inventory encompasses approximately 20,000 acres. They wished to inform the Board of their work in the area. Supervisor Robinson offered them the use of the Court Room when It was available to facilitate their work. A survey to determine agricultural management practices (what kind of animals /crops do they have ?, is runoff visible ?, etc.) will be performed by contacting people individually, rather than doing it by mail. They are looking at non -point source pollution in the Owasco Watershed. Supervisor Robinson thanked them for their presentation. The next order of business on the agenda was Attorney Casullo's presentation on the Commercial Driver's License /Employer Drug Testing Policy and Procedures with which the Town of Groton must come into compliance by 1 January 1996. Attorney Casullo suggested putting something together over the summer and have the Town Board look at it at the end of the summer or early fall, with at least a draft presented to the Highway Superintendent for distribution to applicable employees at that time. That way, the employees could make any comments on the policy , and then have it enacted by late fall. Supervisor Robinson questioned if it meant hiring someone. The attorney replied that someone to perform the testing would have to be hired and that it was required by Federal Law. Attorney Casullo then suggested that the Board make a decision on the previously discussed Health Care Policy. Acceptance of the Health Insurance Policy was tabled as the written information was !r not available. Supervisor Robinson then reported that NYS Route 222, beginning at the eastern Village of Groton line and proceeding easterly into the Town of Cortlandville, and ending at the western City Line of Cortland has been designated a Restricted Highway. This designation will apply during the reconstruction period ending on November 30, 1995. A notice from NYSDOT to this affect has been placed on file in the Town Office. Supervisor Robinson reported that she had received a letter from M. Jean Finley, Chair, Intermunicipal Cable Commission of Tompkins County, dated April 21, 1995, regarding the establishment of a public access archive. Board members requested an interpretation of the letter from Attorney Casullo. He stated that the Commission would like to know the Board's position on establishment of the archive. Councilman Haynes questioned why a Town Board would take a position one way or another and the attorney said it was a mystery to him as well, and that he didn't feel it was necessary for the Board to express their opinion. The Board decided to take no action. Supervisor Robinson reported that the local Advisory Board of Assessment Review will be meeting Tuesday, May 16, 1995 from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Town Hall. Board members volunteered their representation through a sign -up sheet, Those taking part were Teresa Robinson, Gordon VanBenschoten, Ellard Sovocool, and Donald Cummings. Councilman Haynes asked Attorney Casullo if separate motions had to be made on the two laws presented at this meeting. Attorney Casullo replied in the affirmative. Supervisor Robinson then announced that they were going to amend the Land Use and Development Code and Zoning Map and r„* the Land Subdivision Regulations and Procedures and Rules, and Land Use Regulations regarding the R zoning in the Town of Groton which will be amended by Local Law # 1 of 1995. Carl Haynes made a motion, seconded by Gordon VanBenschoten. Councilmen Haynes, Cummings, Sovocool, and VanBenschoten all voted in the affirmative. This becomes IMSOLUIM # 3 3 of 1993. )kegular Meeting & Public Hearings • Groton Town Board May 8, 1995 Supervisor Robinson then presented Local Law #2 of 1995 which utilizes the provisions of the / Municipal Home Rule Law of the State of New York to amend the Land Use and Development Code and the Zoning Map of the Town of Groton using the Municipal Home Rule Law instead of 264 and 265 of �.►' the Town Law. She then entertained a motion to amend same; Carl Haynes so moved, seconded by Ellard Sovocool. Affirmative votes were received from Councilmen Haynes, Sovocool, Cummings. and VanBenschoten. TMs becomes 1aMOLUrJM # 34 Of :1995. Peg Palmer wanted to know how long it took to send the Laws to Albany and have them published. Attorney Casullo explained the process of approval, and that it's usually twenty days after the State receives it. He stated he will inform George Senter, Sr. when the amended Land Use and Development Code and Zoning Map is official; until then, the present code and map are to be used. Councilman Haynes asked George Senter if any interested had been generated in the changes that were made. Mr. Senter replied that there were, and that the changes should promote further growth in the Town, Supervisor Robinson asked if there was any other business to come before the Board, and Leland Cornelius, the Town Highway Superintendent requested the Board's decision on the purchase of a hydraulic jack for the Highway Department. He reported that three quotations had been submitted. The Board recommended that they purchase the jack from Red's Brake Service Inc., Syracuse, NY, who submitted the lowest price. A motion was made by Councilman VanBenschoten to accept the quotation submitted by Red's Brake Service in the amount of $830. Councilman Cummings seconded the motion. Councilmen Haynes, VanBenschoten, Cummings, and Sovocool. Councilman Carl Haynes made a motion to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Ellard Sovocool. The meeting ended at 9:10 p.nL Respectfully submitted. Joan E. Fitch Recording Secretary for Colleen D. Pierson Town Clerk