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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-08-1999 MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 8, 1999 AT 7:30 P.M. Those present: Teresa M. Robinson, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman Daniel J. Carey, Councilman Donald N. Palmer, Councilman Donald F. Scheffler, Councilman Donald Armstrong, Attorney Also present: Richard Case, Mark Gunn, George Totman Moved by Councilman Palmer, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the May 11, 1999 minutes as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson. General Fund Claim Nos. 117 - 141 of the in the amount of $7,392.43 were presented for audit. Moved by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the General Fund bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson Highway Fund Claim Nos. 98 - 113 of the in the amount of $6,611.00 were presented for audit. Moved by Councilman Scheffler, seconded by Councilman Palmer, to approve the Highway bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson. Special Grant (HUD) Fund Claim Nos. 156 - 158 of the in the amount of $13,671.68 were presented for audit. Moved by Councilman Carey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the HUD bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson. Supervisor Robinson asked if anyone would like privilege of the floor. GEORGE TOTMAN, COUNTY REPRESENTATIVE reported that he had attended a special meeting in which a resolution was passed requesting that 20 cents be added to Pg.2 - Town Board Meeting - June 8, 1999 local phone bills to help fund the 911 emergency system. LIZ BRENNAN, BOOKKEEPER did not attend. Supervisor Robinson handed out her report. COUNCILMAN PALMER- Before we get off Liz's report, have the auditors been here? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- They are working on it. They have been here two days, that I know of. She has given them all the material. They will be doing Peggy's too. MARK GUNN, CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER- Building permits for 1999 are down a little from 1998. There were 8 last year and 6 this year. I completed another in-service course on fire alarm and code updates, and I'm going to another one tomorrow in Elmira on inspecting public schools. I have gone through the second phase of the zoning violations. Out of 61 violations on the west side of town, everybody but two people complied. So, I have two tickets going out. You have probably seen a lot of changes with people picking stuff up. Out of 61 letters, I have two tickets, so I'm real happy about that. Along with that, I still have the second phase on the east side of town. With the Board's permission, when that's through, I'd like to put a couple of ads in the papers, basically telling the people of the Town of Groton thanks. The people didn't really give me any grief at all. They just did what they had to do and got it done. So, I'd really like to do that if I could. I have a couple of things I need to change that we have come across on the fee schedule that was approved last month. We've come up with a problem that we never set up a minimum fee for a building permit. I'd like to put a minimum of $10.00, which is about what we had last time. We've come up with a problem with the program on the computer that doesn't do half dollars. So we can't do $2.50 per thousand on the computer. It kicks it right out. There was some discussion on this subject and it was decided that the Town Clerk's office would contact the software people and see if this could be changed in the computer rather than change the fee. We've also come up with another question on the site plan review fee. We never really settled the problem with the fee concerning short and conventional. Since there is no way for the clerk to know how involved the site plan review is going to be at the time the application is turned in to her, we are suggesting that we split the difference and charge a flat $30. If a hearing is required or additional costs are incurred by the Town, these costs are covered by the additional fees section of the fee schedule and must be paid by the applicant before they get their special permit. We feel that the $30 barely covers the copying of the applications and the attached information, mailing to the seven board members, and the clerk's time, without June 8, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.3 even considering the time that will be spent by the Planning Board. In the past, applicants have not been charged for the copying of the applications although the code states that they should provide ten copies. Is this something that should be stated on the applications and the applicant charged the copying fee if the clerk is required to do it? This applies not only to the site plan review but also to the subdivision review. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- I think we have a reasonable fee here, compared to other places. As Planning Board Chair, do you have any comment? GEORGE TOTMAN- I just heard about it tonight. No not really. The majority of them though, are short. If they have to go for a hearing they pay the extra costs, and that's basically the difference between the long and the short. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Anything else, Mark? MARK GUNN- I recently got my own personal cell phone in my truck. It came with an answering service. I have used it once for the job and it came in real handy. I'd like to find out if it's something that I use and hand out the number for this job, if I could get reimbursed for those calls. I pay the State fee, through my other job, of $8.00 a month and the answering service is free. The calls are 13 cents a minute and they are all in the local area. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Okay, we'll talk about it. MARK GUNN- Okay, thank you, have a good night. RESOLUTION #25 - ADOPT NEW FEES FOR VARIOUS PERMITS/LICENSES PURSUANT TO THE GROTON LAND USE AND DEVELOPMENT CODE EFFECTIVE JUNE 8, 1999 Moved by Councilman Scheffler, seconded by Councilman Carey. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson. WHEREAS , on May 8, 1995, the Town Board of the Town of Groton passed Local Law No. 2 for the year 1995, which substantially amended the Land Use and Pg.4 - Town Board Meeting - June 8, 1999 Development Code of the Town of Groton; and WHEREAS , said Land Use and Development Code contains a provision which states that all fees for licenses and permits required under said Code be established by resolution of the town board; and WHEREAS , the Town of Groton is desirous of establishing new fees for certain licenses and permits required pursuant to the amended Land Use and Development Code of the Town of Groton, and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Groton hereby establishes the following fee schedule for certain licenses and permits under the authority granted to the Board by the Land Use and Development code of the Town of Groton: TOWN OF GROTON ZONING FEE SCHEDULE Building Permit Fee: $0 - $4000.....$10.00 More than $4000.....$2.50 Per $1000 of Construction Cost Building Permit Renewals: $2.50 Per $1000 of remaining construction cost and upon approval by zoning officer. Agricultural Buildings:.............$ 25.00 Certificate of Occupancy:.............No Charge Flood Zone Certification:...........$ 10.00 Certificate of Conformance:.........$ 40.00 Cellular Tower:.....................$ 2.50 Per $1000 of Construction Cost Demolition Permit:..................$ 25.00 Site Plan Review:...................$ 30.00 Special Permit:.....................$ 40.00 Following Site Plan Approval Junk Yard License:..................$ 25.00 Following Site Plan Approval Junk Yard Annual Inspection:........$ 25.00 Application for Sign:...............$ 10.00 Subdivision - Minor:................$ 30.00 June 8, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.5 Major:................$ 50.00 plus $20 Per Lot Rural:................$ 20.00 Boundary Change:......$ 20.00 Flood Hazard Area Comb. District:...$ 40.00 Planned Unit Development:...........$125.00 Application for Variance:...........$ 25.00 Additional Fees: a) If a public hearing is required, the applicant shall pay the cost of advertising fees. b) Costs incurred by the Town of Groton for engineering, planning, legal and other necessary expenses for the purpose of reviewing any application with regard to an item covered by this fee schedule shall be paid by the applicant. c) The applicant shall be responsible for costs incurred by the Town of Groton for the review and/or preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement if said statement is necessary. When Fees Are To Be Paid: All fees required by this fee schedule shall be paid to the Town of Groton at the time the application is presented. Special Permit fee shall be paid following Site Plan Review and prior to issuance of the Permit. No permit/certificate will be issued until all fees, costs, and/or expenses are paid in full; and be it FURTHER RESOLVED , that the cost for permits/licenses stated in this fee schedule shall supersede any fee schedule that currently is in effect on June 8, 1999. RESOLUTION #26 - APPROVE REIMBURSEMENT TO CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER FOR CELL PHONE CALLS Moved by Councilman Carey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson. Resolved , that the Town Board does hereby authorize the reimbursement to the Code Enforcement Officer, Mark D. Gunn, the costs of cell phone calls made in the performance of his job for the Town of Groton. RICHARD CASE, HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT- At the present time the Highway Department is in preparation for the planned paving projects. Elm Street, from Lick Street to Salt Road, and Stevens Road, from Lick Street to Salt Road, are tentatively on the schedule for the week of June 9th. Roadside mowing has started and will continue when time and manpower are available. Wickham Road has been grader-honed with minus 2" gravel being added in some Pg.6 - Town Board Meeting - June 8, 1999 needed areas. A drainage problem has been addressed at 3 crossover pipes on Wickham Road. The problem areas of the ditch have been graded and the brush removed. The goal has been to keep the water generated during quick snow- thawing periods under control. A portion of this roadway was damaged by erosion this spring. The gravel bank was inspected by D.E.C.'s Nan Nelson in regards to the construction debris dumped in 1995. Test holes were dug in the area of the construction debris site. At this time I am still not clear when this situation will be resolved and/or cleared. I anticipate a request for further excavation in the area of the gravel bank where the debris was buried to prove that is where the debris was disposed of. How long and where this situation goes from this point, I honestly can't predict. Deputy Superintendent Holl and I attended a Supervisor's seminar on substance abuse. This seminar was sponsored by the Tompkins County Personnel Department. Ronald Ing, Vice President of Operations for Gregory & Howe Ins., was the instructor. Gregory & Howe is the company that is currently under contract to administer our substance abuse program. On May 27th all Town Highway employees took part in an in-house safety meeting. The main areas addressed were: driver certifications, safe trenching and excavation practices and drug and alcohol abuse. All employees now have driver license verification and conviction certification on file. Safety videos were viewed and discussed. How they related to our everyday application brought out the fact that our people are very aware of the hazards around them as they perform their job. A complete review of the Town of Groton's drug and alcohol policy was reviewed and documented. The employees are to be commended for their efforts on being safety-conscious and their everyday safe working practices. I believe the employee and Town safety record speaks for itself. COUNCILMAN CAREY- I thought that situation up there with the debris was over and done with when you buried it. RICHARD CASE- She called me and wanted to inspect the area. We took the excavator up there and she wanted me to dig holes.... When we excavated that stuff, to move it down to the floor of the gravel bank,........we picked it up and transported it around. With that method of moving material, it was not like sweeping dirt up with a dustpan. There are pieces of blacktop and concrete. The larger material was taken care of. The steel, we sorted out by hand and pulled it out of there. I didn't get a very positive indication that she was happy with these little pieces that were left over. My response to her was that we need to do this cost effectively for the Town. COUNCILMAN SOVOCOOL- But I thought it was over and done with. RICHARD CASE- Not till they write it off. There's legal litigation apparently. She told me that this had been turned in to Albany when the whole thing started. Until they get everything sorted out, it's still on their books. She indicated to me that when time allowed she wanted to come back and June 8, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.7 possibly have us excavate into that area to prove that that is where the concrete is located. I want to make something else very clear for those who weren't involved or don't remember, this is not hazardous material. It was tested. There is not any hazard material. Blacktop and concrete are the same building materials that are found in that gravel bank as a natural resource. The only reason that this has gotten out of proportion, as I take it, is that there wasn't a permit filed to dump this debris. And the only reason we needed a permit in that regard is because it is a mining facility. The State is moving very slowly. This woman that is handling it now is an intern. I am very frustrated with it. I thought it was something we could put behind us......... I made it very clear to them that we are not like the private industry, that we have limited manpower and limited equipment. I also told her, and I want this on the record, that the people who live across the street who were complaining the loudest about the eyesore, are very happy with it. At this point it is just going through the proper channels and I don't know where it's going. There was some more discussion on the subject. COLLEEN D. PIERSON, TOWN CLERK/TAX COLLECTOR- The Town Clerk's Monthly Report and Tax Collector's Final Report were presented for the Board's review. APRIL L. SCHEFFLER, DEPUTY TOWN CLERK- Reported that Clerk Pierson had completed the employee appraisal for James Allen and he had receive his pay increase to $9.00 per hour. George Senter did our Town Hall life safety inspection. The only thing that he found really was that we needed to have our fire alarm system inspected. We have a call in to Simplex to do this. The air conditioner people were here today and serviced our air conditioners and heating system. Bill Casolara is coming next week to look at our computers and run some tests on them for Y2K and give us some advice on what we need to do to upgrade so that we have enough memory and hopefully go to Windows 98. We have seven job applications for the summer youth program. The deadline for that is June 11th, so we still have time to get more, but we have seven so far and we thought that was pretty good. We put an ad in the paper and think that helped. We have the Town Directory finished. We will be sending copies out to everybody pretty soon. ARLAND HEFFRON & ALTON ALEXANDER, TOWN JUSTICES Monthly reports were submitted for the Board's review. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Announced that the Municipal Officials Meeting would be Pg.8 - Town Board Meeting - June 8, 1999 Tuesday, June 15 at 6 PM at the Lehigh Valley House in Ithaca. The other thing is, I checked with the bank about Diversified. They paid in April, but they didn't pay in May. Discussion was held on the subject and it was felt that Bernie Thoma should be putting the pressure on Diversified to make their payments. APRIL SCHEFFLER- Bob Walpole called today and wondered if the Town had any interest in the old Grange Hall on the corner of Elm Street Extension and Old Stage Road. Apparently the State Grange wants to unload it and Bob wondered if the Town had any interest in it for historical purposes or whatever. The Board did not seem interested. CORRESPONDENCE- Letter from the State Consumer Protection Board about the organization of seminars in local communities to inform citizens of New York State about electric choices. There being no further business, Councilman Sovocool moved to adjourn at 8:25 P.M., seconded by Councilman Carey. Unanimous. April L. Scheffler Deputy Town Clerk