HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-09-2001
TOWN OF GROTON
MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING
TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2001, AT 7:30 PM
Those present: Glenn E. Morey, Supervisor
Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman
Donald F. Scheffler, Councilman
Sheldon C. Clark, Councilman
Duane T. Randall II, Councilman
Francis Casullo, Town Attorney
Also present: Colleen D. Pierson, Richard Case, Mark Gunn, Liz Brennan, Peg Palmer,
Dewey Dawson, Kate Hackett, Craig Schutt.
Supervisor Morey
– I’d like to start off this meeting tonight with a moment of silence in
memory of Leland Cornelius who was the Town of Groton Highway Superintendent for the past
28 years and he passed away this Sunday. Our best thoughts and prayers are with Lee’s family
at this very difficult time.
After the moment of silence the meeting proceeded.
Supervisor Morey
– I have two additions to the agenda. We will call 12a.- review Town of
Groton’s Town Clerk’s 2000 Annual Report. And also add another on, 13g. - talk about the
McLean Community Council Meeting, tomorrow night.
Tonight we are going to start off the night with the Organizational Meeting and continue with
our regular monthly Board Meeting. We have five resolutions on the Organizational Meeting
that we’re going to pass tonight. I’m going to read the complete resolution, have a discussion
period, call for a motion and a second, and then we will vote on the total resolution. Is that all
right?
Councilman Scheffler
– You’re going to do this as a resolution or individually?
Supervisor Morey
– Resolution. We did it individually last night, but to save some time, unless
you guys want to do each individual item, because they are one resolution. There’s five separate
resolutions.
Clerk Pierson
– It doesn’t really matter. Previously, we have always done it individually.
Supervisor Morey
– It’s up to you guys. I don’t care.
Councilman Sovocool
– Resolution is fine with me.
Town Board Meeting Page 2 January 9, 2001
Councilman Scheffler
– On the Planning and Zoning Board, do they elect their…. have they
done that?
Supervisor Morey
– No, I’m contacting Mary Decker. She does not want to do it anymore. So,
what we’ll do is we’ll go through the same procedure as the Planning Board, have applications,
interviews, have the ZBA make a presentation to us on who they think it should be.
Councilman Scheffler
– No, I mean for like their chairman for the year that we appoint here
tonight.
Supervisor Morey
– Yes. What’s the question?
Councilman Scheffler
– Well, like the Planning chair and the ZBA chair, they elect their own
and we approve it.
Supervisor Morey
– Right.
Clerk Pierson
– No, they don’t. The Appeals Board, the Town Board has to appoint, and the
Planning Board has the option. You can do it or they can do it.
Supervisor Morey
– All right. My suggestion is tonight, for the Planning Board, is Monica
Carey, and for the ZBA is Lyle Raymond.
Councilman Scheffler
– So, we’re just going to appoint them and they’re not going to elect?
Supervisor Morey
– They have.
Councilman Scheffler
– They have?
Councilman Randall
– No, they haven’t. We’ve been to those meetings. Monica was
appointed to take George’s place, but there are a lot of new board members there and they
haven’t officially elected her at all at this point. I was at the November meeting and they had no
December meeting. They did this to us last year. They said that they had done that and they
didn’t do it until after the fact. I would sooner see that tabled until next meeting.
Councilman Scheffler
– Is that what they are going to do? Are they going to elect officially?
The ZBA, we appoint anyway. So, it would just be planning.
Councilman Randall
– If we appoint ZBA, I have no problem with that one.
Councilman Scheffler
– If that’s the way they want to do it, they have the option and they want
to do the election, then we should table it until next month on that one item. Other than that, I
have no problem with the resolution way of doing it.
Supervisor Morey
– Well, it seems that there is a concern so why don’t we go down by item
and vote individually.
Town Board Meeting Page 3 January 9, 2001
RESOLUTION #1 - YEAR 2001 ORGANIZATIONAL ITEMS
Item 1 – DepositoryMOVED
. - by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that the First National Bank of Groton be designated as the depository for all
monies coming into the hands of the Supervisor and Town Clerk of the Town of Groton.
Item 2 – Official NewspaperMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Randall.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that the Groton Independent be designated as the official newspaper of the Town of
Groton with notices also to be published in the Freeville Shopper.
Item 3 – Law FirmMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that the law firm of Pomeroy, Armstrong, Baranello & Casullo be retained as
Attorneys for the Town of Groton.
Item 4 – Zoning OfficerMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED,
that Mark D. Gunn be appointed Zoning Officer and Building and Fire Code
Enforcement Officer for the Town of Groton.
Item 5 – ConstableMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED
, that Richard Exton be appointed Constable for the Town of Groton.
Item 6 – Deputy SupervisorMOVED
- by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED,
that Donald F. Scheffler be appointed Deputy Supervisor for the Town of Groton.
Item 7 – Deputy Highway SuperintendentMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by
Councilman Clark.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED,
that Judson Holl be appointed Deputy Highway Superintendent for the Town of
Groton.
Town Board Meeting Page 4 January 9, 2001
Item 8 – Deputy Town ClerkMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Randall.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED,
that April Scheffler be appointed Deputy Town Clerk for the Town of Groton.
Item 9 – BookkeeperMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED,
that Elizabeth Brennan be appointed as Bookkeeper for the Town of Groton.
Item 10 – Part Time Court ClerkMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman
Clark.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that Margaret Palmer be appointed as part-time Court Clerk for the Town of
Groton.
Item 11 – Part Time McLean Crossing GuardMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by
Councilman Scheffler.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that Margaret Albern be appointed part-time McLean School Crossing Guard for
the Town of Groton.
Item 12 – Town HistorianMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that Rosemarie Tucker be appointed as Town Historian for the Town of Groton.
Item 13 – Election CustodiansMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman
Scheffler.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that Lewis Robinson and Lee Shurtleff be appointed Election Custodians for the
Town of Groton.
Item 14 – Town Health InsuranceMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman
Clark.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that Blue Cross/Blue Shield Health Insurance for the Supervisor, Town Clerk, and
Highway Superintendent be paid by the Town of Groton. Highway Superintendent to be paid for
at the single person rate with additional coverage for family being paid for by Highway
Superintendent. Highway employees to have 75% of coverage paid for by Town.
Town Board Meeting Page 5 January 9, 2001
Item 15 – Town Board Regular MeetingsMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by
Councilman Scheffler.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that the Town Board will hold their regular Town Board Meetings on the second
Tuesday of each month at 7:00 – 7:30 P.M. to review invoices and 7:30 P.M. for the Board
Meeting, at the Town Hall on Conger Boulevard, Groton, NY.
Item 16 – Fix Salaries of Town OfficersMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by
Councilman Randall.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that the Town Board does hereby fix the annual salaries of the following Town
Officers and employees at the amounts respectfully stated and that such salaries shall be paid at the
time respectfully specified:
a) Glenn E. Morey, Supervisor $ 8,500.00 Biweekly
b) Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman $ 1,583.00 Quarterly
c) Donald F. Scheffler, Councilman $ 1,583.00 Quarterly
d) Duane T. Randall, II, Councilman $ 1,583.00 Quarterly
e) Sheldon C. Clark, Councilman $ 1,583.00 Quarterly
f) Colleen D. Pierson, Town Clerk $28,398.00 Biweekly
g) Richard C. Case, Jr., Highway Superintendent $42,436.00 Biweekly
st
h) Arland L. Heffron, 1 Town Justice $ 7,779.00 Biweekly
nd
i) Arthur D. Dawson, 2 Town Justice $ 6180.00 Biweekly
j) Mark D. Gunn, Code Enforcement $14,343.00 Biweekly
k) Rosemarie Tucker, Historian $ 1,000.00 Quarterly
Item # 17- Appointment of Representatives to Town and County ProgramsMOVED
– by
Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED
, to appoint the following as representatives to Town and County Programs:
County Youth Recreation Programs – Glenn E. Morey
Environmental Management Council – Vacant
Tompkins County Transportation Council – Sheldon Clark
Tompkins County CATV Commission – Dennis Butts
Tompkins County Planning Board - Van Travis
Groton Local Youth Program - Kathleen Howard, Teresa Robinson, Joann Senecal.
Tompkins County Human Services Coalition – Tabled
Tompkins County Fire, Disaster and EMS Advisory Board – Lester Coit
Item 18 – Supervisor’s Appointment to Committee MembersMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey,
seconded by Councilman Scheffler.
Town Board Meeting Page 6 January 9, 2001
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that the Supervisor's appointment of committee members be approved as follows:
Finance – Glenn Morey & Donald Scheffler
Machinery – Sheldon Clark
Building – Duane Randall & Donald Scheffler
Fire Department - Ellard Sovocool
Personnel – Glenn Morey & Donald Scheffler
Zoning, Bldg. and Fire Code – Duane Randall
HUD Loans - Ellard Sovocool
Light Districts - Donald Scheffler
Fixed Assets - Ellard Sovocool
Senior Citizens - Donald Scheffler
Planning Board – Rotating Attendance
Appeals Board – Rotating Attendance
Highway – Sheldon Clark
Item 19 - Set fees for Town ServicesMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman
Sovocool.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that fees for the Town services be set as follows:
1) Master List for Excavating $ 2.00
2) Certification of Taxes/Search $ 5.00 1st yr., $1.00 ea. addn. yr.
3) Photocopies - 8 1/2 x 11 $ .25
4) Photocopies - 8 1/2 x 14 $ .50
5) Photocopies - 11 x 17 $ .50
6) Transcript of Marriage $10.00
7) Marriage Certificate $10.00
8) Marriage License $25.00
9) Town, Village, County Maps $ .50
10) Mileage - Town Officials $ .32
11) Dog Licenses $18.00 unaltered
$10.00 altered
12) Returned Check Fee $15.00
13) Fax Copies - Transmit $ 1.00 per page
Receive $ .25 per page
14) Duplicate Tax Receipt $ 1.00
15) Town Directory $ 5.00
16) Land Use & Dev. Code $10.00
17) Mobile Home Ordinance $ 5.00
18) Certified Copies $ 5.00
Town Board Meeting Page 7 January 9, 2001
19) 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
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.
Item 20 – Set Hourly RatesMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Randall.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that the Town Board does hereby set the hourly rates as follows:
1) Deputy Town Clerk $ 9.55 per hour
2) Court Clerk $10.56 per hour
3) Bookkeeper $13.46 per hour
4) Custodian $ 9.27 per hour
5) Crossing Guard $ 7.90 per hour
6) Part Time Clerks $ 9.00 per hour
7) Constable $10.50 per hour
Town Board Meeting Page 8 January 9, 2001
Item # 21 Miscellaneous Appointments, Fees, Etc.:
1) MOVEDAnnual
by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler to approve
Retainer Fee for Legal Services
rendered by Pomeroy, Armstrong, Baranello, and Casullo be set
at $7,500.00 annually.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
MOVED
2) by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Randall to authorize the Town Clerk
hire Laura Haughn as part time Deputy Clerk
to to assist with tax collection at an hourly rate per
budget appropriation.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
MOVEDauthorize Highway
3) by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler to
Superintendent to give pay raises effective January 1, 2001:
Name & Title_____________1999_________2000___+3%_____+_______2001_
Judson Holl – MEO 13.83 14.23 .43 14.66
M. Smith – MEO 13.11 13.51 .41 13.92
L. Coit – MEO 13.11 13.51 .41 13.92
R. Neville – MEO 13.14 13.54 .41 +.15/15 years 14.10
G. Scutt – MEO 12.99 13.44 .40 13.84
P. Carr – MEO 12.83 13.53 .41 13.94
R. Bogardus – Mech. 13.14 13.84 .42 14.26
J. Graham – MEO 12.60 13.30 .40 13.70
M. Kirchgraber – Laborer 8.50 .26 +.50/6 mos. 9.26
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
MOVEDAnnual
4) by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool to authorize
Association of Towns Training School
in February in New York City for Arland Heffron, Glenn
Morey, Margaret Palmer, Barb Clark and Sheldon Clark.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
MOVED
5) by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler to appoint Glenn Morey as
Delegate for Annual Association of Towns Meeting
in New York City and appoint Arland
Heffron as alternate.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
) MOVEDappoint contact people
6 by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool to
for Drug and Alcohol Testing Program
– Richard Case and Glenn Morey.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
MOVEDappoint George
7) by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool to
VanSlyke to the Town Planning Board
with a term to expire 2007.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
Appointment of Town Planning Board Chair
8) – tabled until next month.
Town Board Meeting Page 9 January 9, 2001
Appoint member to Zoning Board of Appeals
9) – term for Mary Decker has expired. No one was
appointed to replace her.
MOVEDreappoint Lyle
10) by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to
Raymond as Zoning Board of Appeals Chair.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
MOVEDretain Doug’s Trash
11) by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark, to
Removal Service
at the rate of $65.00 per month for the period January 1, 2001 to December 31,
2001.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLUTION #2 - CONTRACT WITH KIRBY, BEALS & MAIER FOR
AUDIT OF 2000 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that the Town Board does hereby retain the services of Kirby, Beals, & Maier &
Company to audit Financial Statements including Justice Court for the year ended December 31,
2000 at a fee of $4,200.00.
RESOLUTION #3 - APPROVE 2001 DOG CONTRACT WITH SPCA
Moved
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Randall.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that the Town Board does hereby approve the 2001 contract with the Tompkins
County SPCA for the purpose of dog control in the Town of Groton at a fee of $10,481.00.
Town Board Meeting Page 10 January 9, 2001
RESOLUTION #4 - AUTHORIZATION TO PARTICIPATE IN
COOPERATIVE PURCHASING OF HIGHWAY SERVICES WITH
TOMPKINS COUNTY
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
WHEREAS,
the Office of the State Comptroller has ruled that counties may no longer extend
their bids for public work (services) to political subdivisions, and
WHEREAS,
General Municipal Law Section 119-0 provides for municipalities entering into
cooperative purchasing agreements to jointly bid needed services, and
WHEREAS,
General Municipal Law, Article 5-G Section 110-0 states that "any agreement
entered into hereunder shall be approved by each participating municipal corporation or district by
a majority vote of its governing body," now therefore be it
RESOLVED,
that the Town of Groton be hereby authorized to participate with Tompkins County
in the cooperative purchasing of various highway services.
RESOLUTION #5 - AUTHORIZE HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT TO
PURCHASE ON STATE BID
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that the Groton Town Board does hereby authorize the Highway Superintendent to
purchase oil and related products from State Contract Bids as appropriate.
This ended the Year 2001 Organizational Meeting. The Board then proceeded with their regular
monthly meeting:
Town Board Meeting Page 11 January 9, 2001
MOVED
by Councilman Scheffler, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to approve the minutes
of the December 12, 2000 meeting as presented.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
General Fund for the Year 2000
Claim Numbers 422 - 442 of the in the amount of $7,857.16
were presented for audit.
MOVED
by Councilman Randall, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the General
Bills for the Year 2000 for payment.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
General Fund for the Year 2001
Claim Numbers 1 – 6 of the in the amount of $428.32 were
presented for audit.
MOVED
by Councilman Clark, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to approve the General
Bills for the Year 2001 for payment.
Highway Fund for the Year 2000
Claim Numbers 221 – 241 of the in the amount of $16,439.26
were presented for audit.
MOVED
by Councilman Scheffler, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to approve the Highway
Bills for the Year 2000 for payment.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
Highway Fund for the Year 2001
Claim Number 1 of the in the amount of $2,208.15 was
presented for audit.
MOVED
by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the Highway
Bills for the Year 2001 for payment.
Special Grant (HUD) Fund for the Year 2000
Claim Numbers 197 - 203 of the in the amount of
$19,047.56 were presented for audit.
MOVED
by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the HUD
bills for the Year 2000 for payment.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Clark, Morey.
Abstain – Randall.
Supervisor Morey invited privilege of the floor. No one responded.
Town Board Meeting Page 12 January 9, 2001
Monthly Reports:
Liz Brennan, Bookkeeper
– I don’t have report. I am waiting for all the bills to come in. As
soon as we get all the bills in I can close the books and start the annual reports.
Supervisor Morey
– Thanks, Liz.
Mark D. Gunn, Code Enforcement Officer
– I think everybody got a copy of my report. It
started off for the month of December and I only had one permit. It was for a modular home. I
did all the Motor Vehicle Repair Shop inspections for 2000 in the last week of December and
they turned out pretty good.
My annual report, I had a total of 92 permits for 2000 and a total of 25 brand new homes. That
included new mobile homes, single wide and double wide, modulars, stick build, etc. So, that is
either people moving out and moving into a new home or people moving into the Town. The
rest of the 92 permits, 4 of them were replacement of mobile homes and the rest of them were
pools, garages, additions, that sort of thing. I also attached a copy of the zoning issues that I had
for 2000. I won’t go over each one of them. They have all been taken care of. Everybody
adhered pretty much after they got the notice of violations. I don’t have anything outstanding
right now. Everything is pretty much taken care of. Ed McKane, he has been…….
Supervisor Morey
– Given till May. Any questions for Mark? Thanks Mark.
Richard C. Case, Jr., Highway Superintendent
– In the words of my predecessor, one of his
last words were, “ there’s snow, we’re plowing snow.”
Supervisor Morey
– Any questions for Rick?
Colleen D. Pierson, Town Clerk/Tax Collector
– You have my monthly report for December
and you have my annual report for Year 2000. The only other thing I have I guess is that I am
taking up donations for flowers right after the meeting.
Francis Casullo, Town Attorney
– Just one thing for the Board, our office received a notice
from the Tompkins County Supreme Court on the Sirens matter. Under the first volley of
lawsuits started, our office had brought a motion to enjoin Sirens from doing what they were
doing over there. Once everything was settled everyone sort of forgot about that motion that was
pending. Just to straighten out the Court’s calendar, they have asked us to probably make a
motion to dismiss so that they can clean it off their calendar. What I need is, essentially, the
Board’s approval to do whatever I need to do to take care of that. It will be under the retainer
and will be real simple to do. It’s a housekeeping thing, but we need to do it and we’re not going
to charge you anything extra.
Town Board Meeting Page 13 January 9, 2001
RESOLUTION #6 – AUTHORIZE ATTORNEY TO RESOLVE “SIRENS” MATTER
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED
, that the Town Board does hereby authorized its attorneys to take all steps
necessary to resolve any pending matters that have been commenced relative to the “ Sirens”
matter.
Arland Heffron & Arthur Dawson, Town Justices
– Submitted their monthly report for the
Board’s review.
Judge Dawson
– Our web site has had over 800 hits in less than a year, so that’s pretty good.
We’re getting accolades from other places that like our web site and are passing it on to other
courts as an example. www.grotoncourt.com
Supervisor Morey
– Peg, you’re part of the Court, no comments?
Margaret Palmer
– No.
Supervisor Morey
– Item #7 is the approval of the Village and Town 2001 Rental Agreement
for the Court Room rental. Did you get a copy of this? I fear that you never did. Well,
basically, it’s an agreement with the Village of Groton to rent the Court Room for $3,600.00 a
year, which turns out to be $300.00 a month. This is the same contract we’ve always signed, but
we never approved it. One of the auditors brought that to our attention before. It’s here to read.
Clerk Pierson
– That’s not true. It’s in the minutes every year as a resolution.
Councilman Sovocool
– We’ve approved it every year.
Supervisor Morey
– Oh, good.
Attorney Casullo
– I don’t know if in years past that anyone has ever seen the agreement. I
don’t know if any of you ever looked at it.
Clerk Pierson
– That could be, but it’s always been the same contract.
Councilman Sovocool
– It’s always been done, I know.
Margaret Palmer
– Excuse me, but that’s the Court Room and the offices, right?
Several people answer yes.
Town Board Meeting Page 14 January 9, 2001
RESOLUTION #7 - APPROVE COURTROOM CONTRACT WITH VILLAGE
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that the Town Board does hereby approve the Annual contract between the Town
of Groton and the Village of Groton for the rental of the Courtroom by the Village of Groton for
the amount of $3,600.00 per year.
RESOLUTION #8 – REQUEST NEW YORK STATE REGISTER
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED
, that the Town Board wishes to request that their free subscription to the New York
State Register be continued through 2001.
RESOLUTION #9 – HEALTH INSURANCE BENEFITS FOR
EMPLOYEE SURVIVORS
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED
, that the Town Board hereby approves the continuance of Health Insurance
Benefits under the Town’s plan for survivors of employees and/or former employees with
premiums being paid by said survivors.
RESOLUTION #10 – APPROVE ADVANCE PAYMENT OF REGISTRATION FEES
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Randall.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED
, that the Town Board does hereby approve the advance payment of registration
fees for the 2001 Annual Training School and Annual Meeting of the Association of Towns
Meeting in New York City, February 18-21, 2001. Any individual receiving advance payment
of registration fees and then failing to attend the meeting would be required to reimburse the
Town of Groton.
Town Board Meeting Page 15 January 9, 2001
Supervisor Morey
– You have a copy of the M&T Financial Statement for the Town of Groton.
I’d like you to review it.
We’ll move on to Colleen’s annual report. You have it in your packet. You’ve been busy,
Colleen.
Clerk Pierson
– Yes, we’re really busy now, with taxes.
Supervisor Morey
– Excellent job.
Announcements include an update of the foresting. How’s it going?
Councilman Clark
– Good. As requested by the Board Members last meeting, I’ve asked Bob
Demeree to come back and field some of the questions you maybe asked me and I didn’t fulfill
your answers like you maybe wanted. Bob, could you come up?
Bob Demeree
– As you know I attended a meeting and did a prior presentation to this Board. I
reviewed my presentation and Sheldon asked me to go ahead and mark the timber, which I have
done. I’ve marked the timber and prepared the notice of sale. With the approval of the Board
I’d disseminate this notice of sale to prospective buyers and solicit bids. If an acceptable bid is
received and the Board would approve it, I would go ahead and prepare a contract, have the
contract signed, have the Town paid prior to any harvest, and of course, when the logging
contractors moved in, I would supervise the harvest, make sure everything was done in a proper
fashion, make sure no trees were stolen, only the marked, selected trees were taken, make sure
all the culls were cut, make sure the roads were smoothed out, make sure the area is left in a neat
and clean condition.
Councilman Clark
– They had a concern that a Town rule is that all bids have to be opened in
this building.
Bob Demeree
– We can do that. We can have the bids submitted to your next meeting. That
would be no problem. I could have the bids sent and opened any time.
Supervisor Morey
– Basically, my concern is that it has to be run through the Town, only. And
my understanding was, back when you made a presentation, you were just going to go up there
and give us an estimate of how many trees would be there. I never thought that you were going
to mark them.
Bob Demeree
– No, I think that was part, if you review my presentation, I presented a sample
contract. As far as marking the trees, that’s vital. Marking the trees is vital, if you want to do
forest management. If you don’t want to do forest management, and you don’t mark them, the
loggers will take what they want.
Supervisor Morey
– I knew that.
Bob Demeree
– The trees that I have selected are mature trees, defective trees, and in some
cases cull trees, which there is no sense growing poor trees in the woods, which would be cut
along with the sale. And the important part is, if this is harvested in this manner, only the
Town Board Meeting Page 16 January 9, 2001
marked trees are cut, you will have an excellent woodlot left and will have the prospects of a
very valuable timber sale in the next 12 to 15 years. If you don’t do it that way and a logger
comes in and cuts down to 14 to 16 inches, you won’t have to worry about it for the next 30 or
40 years. The key to this process is the competitive bids. The trees are there, the prospective
buyers inspect the sale, they present their bids and it’s amazing the range of bids that you get
when you do this. It’s strongly recommended that you follow this procedure because we’ve been
doing it for many, many years. You have a valuable resource there right now, but unfortunately,
once the survey was done, I thought there was quite a lot more timber there than there is but it
turned out to be on the neighbor’s. But you still have the timber that is ready for sale now, plus
you have a very nice residual stand, very nice young stock, and a potential for a lot more dollars
down the road, if it is done properly.
Supervisor Morey
– All right. Are you actually going to be our broker for this?
Bob Demeree
– More than your broker. I’m actually going to be your forest manager and your
agent.
Supervisor Morey
– That’s a biddable situation to, though.
Bob Demeree
– You can solicit other consultants, if you choose. I think I stated that during my
proposal, that there are other consultants around.
Councilman Clark
– I brought Bob in here because I’ve done this similar practice for 35 years
of my life and I’ve been in a lot of forestry meetings, I’ve traveled quite a bit around the state to
meetings and I’ve been really involved in forestry. So, I’m not about to leave the Town in some
venture that I would be at all suspicious about or, you know, didn’t believe in. I guess that’s all I
can say.
Supervisor Morey
– I think it’s an excellent idea. I’m not criticizing the idea. I think that we
have to do it or we’re going to loose that wood up there to dying out and all that stuff. But we
have to do it the legal way because we’re using public money and they have certain specific rules
and regulations that we have to follow, that’s all. If the broker or forest manager is not a sole
source by any means, we’re going to have to advertise for that because we’re going to have to
use that. And then we’re going to have to advertise getting rid of the trees too.
Bob Demeree
– Well, once you decide upon your representative he’ll advertise the trees for you,
with your approval. That’s what I would like to hear tonight, but if you don’t want to approve
the sale tonight, that’s fine. But once you engage your agent, your consultant, they’ll advertise,
if they do it properly they’d bring you this notice of sale, which is key. That needs to be
approved. That would make it legal for the Town because that’s all ….(?).. wording. You can
have it published in the paper if you want to. When I worked for the State we always published
our sales in the paper by law. I don’t think you need to, but you certainly can, if you want to.
Supervisor Morey
– I think we have to.
Bob Demeree
– Well, if you have to, that’s no problem.
Councilman Scheffler
– What would you be charging us for this?
Bob Demeree
– 10% of the gross.
Town Board Meeting Page 17 January 9, 2001
Councilman Scheffler
– Because our purchasing policy goes on amounts.
Bob Demeree
– But we don’t know the amount.
Councilman Scheffler
– If we’re paying you a dollar, we don’t need to submit it, am I correct?
But if we’re paying you $10,000 then we have to do different things.
Attorney Casullo
– There’s an exception to formal bidding. It says contracts for professional
services are those requiring special technical skill, training, or expertise is an exception to the
bidding requirement.
Bob Demeree
– I would hope I have special skills.
Attorney Casullo
– So, I guess you could make the argument that this would fall outside of the
bidding requirement because you are seeking a contract for a professional skill or service. That
would mean, obviously you are right, and you could still be right, Don, on this issue, once you
hire Bob, or anybody else, we still obviously have to go out to bid for the tree cutting. That’s
without question. But I think, and argument can be made here, Glenn, that you don’t have to go
through the competitive bidding.
Councilman Sovocool
– Well, if we happen to hire Bob, he would put the bids out, right?
Bob Demeree
– I’ll put the bids out. Also, make sure they’re posted in the paper, if you so
desire.
Supervisor Morey
– We have to prove this afterwards. So, we have to make sure that all
legal….
Bob Demeree
– No, you approve the dissemination of it. You don’t approve anything else. If
you approve it, you direct me to disseminate it. That’s all. Send it to prospective bidders and put
it in the paper. That is a bid thing, and you review the bids. Then you approve the bids. You
would accept or not accept the bids.
Attorney Casullo
– The only entity that has the right to accept or reject any bids in a
municipality is the Town Board. The final deciding is always going to rest with you.
Bob Demeree
– Then if you do accept an acceptable bid, then I, as your agent, will prepare
contracts, get the contracts signed by both parties, the buyer and the agent of the Board, who I
assume would be the Supervisor. Then with the contract, you get a check. You get paid in
advance. If you would like other proposals and other consultants, that’s certainly your right. I
could probably provide you with a list, or DEC could provide you with a list.
Supervisor Morey
– The bid opening will have to be here. Why is the bid deposit put in your
name, payable to you?
Bob Demeree
– Because I hold the bid deposit to make sure that they do a good job. I
recommend you continue because there have been a lot of problems with bid deposits. If you
don’t let me hold the bid deposit, they probably won’t bid. It’s that simple because you are
handing a performance bond to a nonprofessional.
Town Board Meeting Page 18 January 9, 2001
Attorney Casullo
– I know the way we have always done it……is that we make the bond
payable to the municipality itself.
Supervisor Morey
– What he’s saying is that the bid deposit is the performance bond, it’s not a
performance bond.
Bob Demeree
– Once the bid is accepted, they all send a bid deposit in. When you accept the
high bidder, everybody else gets their bid deposit back……….. acts as a performance bond.
Some further discussion took place on the bid deposit. The set amount would be $750.00 and
would cover cleanup if the contractor failed to do so. Attorney Casullo expressed his feeling that
the Town should hold the money. Mr. Demeree agreed that the wording of the contract could be
changed to allow for this.
Councilman Scheffler
– What about the tops?
Bob Demeree
– The tops will lay where they fall. That’s not a problem. Not a big problem.
They rot down, add to the soil, protect the site from deer. I don’t think I’d recommend to the
Town to sell somebody firewood because you………unless you get somebody who has
insurance…. Anybody I send these bid notices to people who are fully insured up to a million
dollars, or whatever with all three types of insurance. And they send me certificates.
Supervisor Morey
– The property damage insurance, it’s kind of low isn’t it? It’s very low.
Bob Demeree
– There’s not much they can damage.
Supervisor Morey
– What about the liability insurance? $300,000 and $500,000, shouldn’t it be
a million?
Bob Demeree
– Does it have to be?
Supervisor Morey
– I’d like to see it. I mean, that’s a standard contract.
Bob Demeree
– I can change it. That’s going to eliminate some bidders, but most of the bigger
outfits have it. If you prefer a million, I’ll just change it to a million.
Supervisor Morey
– Are you advertising in the paper for us too?
Bob Demeree
– I’ll do that.
Supervisor Morey
– In the papers that we have. Groton Independent.
Someone asked Attorney Casullo what he thought about the insurance.
Attorney Casullo
– I tend to agree with Glenn, but that’s a Board decision, not mine. I agree
with Glenn, especially when you’ve got guys up there with that kind of equipment. I got looking
at the dark side, and anything bad that can happen, can happen. I agree with Glenn. The more
we are protected and the higher amount, the better off this Board is going to be.
Supervisor Morey
– In your contract do you have the vendor or the successful awardee
indemnify the Town?
Town Board Meeting Page 19 January 9, 2001
Bob Demeree
– Yes. Their certificate has got to say to include the seller, which in this case
would be the Town of Groton.
Supervisor Morey
– Okay. Any other questions?
Councilman Randall
– As far as your part of the money, when do you get that, when everything
is done?
Bob Demeree
– No. When you get paid, I like to get paid.
Councilman Randall
– In retrospect, if you’re getting a performance bond from these other
people, that maybe we should hold a performance bond, part of your money…..
Bob Demeree
– We’ve already decided that. Oh, you want to hold a performance bond against
me? Fine. Maybe half. That would be fine with me. I’ve got no problem with that. Normally,
I like to get it from a landowner when they get the money, but I’m not too worried about the
Town of Groton.
Councilman Randall
– I did get a chance to call. We have somebody locally, and I am
definitely a firm believer in second opinions. I talked to Mark Zubal who is senior forester with
DEC, lives in Groton, has lived here a long time. I personally would like to get a second
opinion, have him walk through it. I don’t know you any better than I know him, honestly,
but….
Bob Demeree
– Well, if he works for the DEC, he can’t represent you. But if you’d like to have
Mark inspect the marking and get back to this Board, that’s fine. That’s not a bad idea.
Councilman Randall
– He said you were on the list. He didn’t have a problem with you at all.
I just, it’s been there for a while, what’s a little bit longer if we get another opinion and
everything is kosher?
Bob Demeree
– That paint will last for two or three years. The only urgency is that the price of
timber is so high and if it drops, it drops.
Some more discussion took place on the subject. Motion was made to hire Mr. Demeree.
Councilman Scheffler
– Tyke brought up the second opinion. Does anybody want to do that?
Supervisor Morey
– Well, we don’t have to wait for that, I mean, Tyke also said that Bob was
on his list, so….
Councilman Scheffler
– I mean, no distrust of you, but a lot of us don’t understand the logging
business. It’s not what we do, so we’re just asking questions and I’m thinking out loud.
Bob Demeree
– I would be very comfortable to have Mark inspect the sale and go over the
perspective. I’m in no hurry. If you want to wait another month that’s fine with me.
Town Board Meeting Page 20 January 9, 2001
RESOLUTION #11 – RETAIN ROBERT DEMEREE AS FORESTRY CONSULTANT
MOVED
by Councilman Clark, seconded by Supervisor Morey.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Clark, Morey.
Nays – Randall
RESOLVED
, that the Town of Groton wishes to obtain the services of Robert Demeree as
Forestry Consultant and authorize him to proceed.
Supervisor Morey
– Do you want to make a resolution to as Mark Zubal to look at it or just go
up there and ask him?
Councilman Randall
– It’s pointless now.
Supervisor Morey
– No it’s not, Tyke.
Bob Demeree
– Sir, what I assume you are approving is that you are going to hire me and you
do want me to send this out.
Supervisor Morey
– After we re-approve this. You said you were going to write this up for our
approval.
Bob Demeree
– Oh, you’re going to rewrite it.
Supervisor Morey
– No, you’re going to rewrite it.
Bob Demeree
– I said, I’m going to rewrite it and resubmit it.
Attorney Casullo
– My feelings are this, Bob is to rewrite that proposal with the changes you
made and you and I need to look at it before we okay it.
Bob Demeree
– That’s all you’re authorizing me to do, is resubmit? You plan to engage me, but
you want me to resubmit the notice of sale with the changes we discussed. That’s fine with me
and that will give you plenty of time to have Mark look at the job and get back to you.
Councilman Randall
– But that’s not really what the motion was. It was to retain him to do
this, to put this out. That’s the way I understood it.
Clerk Pierson
– That’s what it was.
Councilman Randall
- …and you’re saying go ahead and to that. If that’s the case, then it’s
pointless to have Mark go up there. See what I’m saying? You guys sound like you’re talking
about two different things. He’s saying resubmit, you know, the changes that we made, he’s
going to resubmit that for our approval. But the way the motion was brought up was that we are
approving him to be the agent now. So, unless I listened to it wrong……
Councilman Scheffler
– That’s what I understood too.
Town Board Meeting Page 21 January 9, 2001
Supervisor Morey
– Discussion. Louie.
Councilman Sovocool
– That was my understanding, that we were hiring him to do it.
Councilman Scheffler
– Do we want to start over?
Clerk Pierson
– Sheldon made the motion to hire Bob.
Councilman Clark
– That’s correct.
Supervisor Morey
– That’s the motion. We’ve hired him as the forestry manager. Okay.
No other comments were made by the Board.
Bob Demeree
– Let me get this clear. You want a million dollars liability. You want the bids to
be sent here to you, as supervisor, right? And what is the address here?
Clerk Pierson
– Glenn, quite often, they have the bids dropped at the Town Clerk’s Office
because someone is always there. Then I would come in and turn them over to you. Would that
be easier?
It was decided that Mr. Demeree would rewrite and then resubmit the notice of sale and resubmit
it at the next meeting for the Board’s approval.
RESOLUTION #12 – PAYMENT OF ROBERT DEMEREE FOR SERVICES AS
FORESTRY MANAGER
MOVED
by Councilman Clark, seconded by Supervisor Morey.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that the Town Board approves paying Robert Demeree for services as Forestry
Manager in the following way: 10% of the gross sale: 50% at the time the Town of Groton
receives its money for the sale and 50% after the sale is satisfactorily completed and approval by
Board.
Announcements:
Thank you from memorial fund for Terrance Graves, thanking the Town of Groton for the
donation.
th
Tompkins County Magistrates Dinner, February 9.
th
Tompkins County Officials Dinner Meeting, January 16.
Town Board Meeting Page 22 January 9, 2001
Announcements Continued:
thst
New York State Association of Towns Meeting in New York City, February 18 – 21.
th
McLean Community Council Meeting, January 10, 7:30, at the McLean Fire Station.
Supervisor Morey
– I see that Craig Schutt and Kate Hackett are here from the Tompkins
County Planning. Welcome.
Kate Hackett
– I’m from the Water Resources Management, Tompkins County Planning
Department, and Craig and I are here to talk to you about the Tompkins County Flood Hazard
Mitigation Program. This is a program that was started in 1997 in response to a January flood
declaration of that same year. It was created in response to community need. There was quite a
bit of property damage at that time with frequent flooding events. This is not a new program.
It’s another variation of another program that was started in 1983. The County appropriates
money annually for this program. …….last year was $25,000 total. Applicants from around the
County can submit applications for this program. The funding is such that the applicant pays a
third of the total project cost, the municipality pays a third and the County pays the final third of
that cost. An application can come from a private landowner or from a public entity in a
municipality. The objective of the program is to minimize the damages caused by the previous
years’ events. This might include anything from stream bank stabilization and mitigating
property loss to preventing road damage on the bank as a result of undermining the road. This is
both an economic program and an environmental program. We’re trying to prevent economic
loss and preserve the environment at the same time. There is an advisory committee that
oversees this program. It is the Flood Hazard Mitigation Advisory Committee and we have five
members on that committee. Their charge is to oversee the program, which is administered by
Soil and Water Conservation District, and prioritize the applications that we receive. The
committee will prioritize these applications and then pass them on to the Board of
Representatives for their final reward.
This program, to a large degree, works with streams around the County. We work with streams
because we need to maintain their functions that range from everything from recreation, to water
supply, to providing habitat, to flood control, to water quality. Many applications we have
received have requested a project that would protect a septic system that is being encroached
upon, or a well.
The program has a three-fold purpose: to prevent flood damage, to protect property, and also to
protect the environment.
Ms. Hackett went on to further describe the program, how it originated, and its goals. She
explained that a critical component of the program is municipal support from the municipality in
which any project is proposed. Many municipalities form local watershed committees for this
purpose.
Craig Schutt from the Tompkins County Soil and Water District, which administers the program,
showed examples of past program participation, explained the application process as well as
criteria, and spoke about remediation measures and timelines.
Town Board Meeting Page 23 January 9, 2001
Pamphlets, brochures and publications as well as other information were left with the Board
Members for their further review and future references.
There being no further business, Councilman Sovocool moved to adjourn, seconded by
Councilman Scheffler at 9:05 PM. Unanimous.
Colleen D. Pierson
Town Clerk