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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-09-2001 TOWN OF GROTON MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, OCTOBER 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: Richard Case, George Senter, Liz Brennan, Peter Meskill, Bob Hunt, Dolores Hemming, Amy Randall, April Scheffler, Ilse Knowlton, Roland Knowlton, and several members of the public who did not sign in. Supervisor Morey – There are some changes to the agenda. Does the Board have any additional changes besides the one that I know? If not we are going to add number 11A, Executive Session on the threatened litigation. That will be an additional item. If there are no other comments we will start. MOVED by Councilman Clark, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to approve the minutes of the August 14, 2001 meeting as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey. General Fund Claim Numbers 247-273 of the in the amount of $16,391.49 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilman Randall, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to approve the General Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey. Highway Fund Claim Numbers 167-185 of the in the amount of $30,792.74 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilman Scheffler, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to approve the Highway Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey. Town Board Meeting Page 2 of 13 October 9, 2001 Special Grant (HUD) Fund Claim Number 214 of the was resubmitted in the amount of $636.78 Special Grant (HUD) Fund and claim numbers 215-217 of the in the amount of $2,910.87 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Clark, to approve the HUD bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey. Supervisor Morey – Would anyone like to say anything before we start? If not………. Monthly Reports: Liz Brennan, Bookkeeper – Hello. You’ve got the report of revenues and expenditures. Just have two transfers that need to be made. One in the General Fund, Part Town from Contingency to the Youth Program and that was for our summer help. We’re limited to how much money we’ll be reimbursed for and we’ll be a little bit over. And in the Highway account it’s from Retirement to the Health Insurance. Our Health Insurance account is a little low so it’s probably transferred from now to the end of the year, if not in the Part Town, then in the Town Wide part. RESOLUTION #65 TRANSFER OF GENERAL FUNDS MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Randall Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey RESOLVED , that the Town Board does hereby approve the following transfer of funds: General Fund – Part Town: From: Contingency B1990.4……………………………… $68.85 To: Youth Program, Summer Help B7310.1………….. $68.85 RESOLUTION #66 – TRANSFER OF HIGHWAY FUNDS MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey RESOLVED , that the Town Board does hereby approve the following transfer of funds: Highway Fund – Part Town: From: Retirement DB9010.8……………………………… $1,176.09 To: Health Insurance DB9060.80……………………… $1,176.09 Town Board Meeting Page 3 of 13 October 9, 2001 Liz Brennan – You have the draft of the audit reports. Supervisor Morey – Yes and we’re going to have Rick Beals here next month to talk about it. It was a very good report. George R. Senter, Sr., Interim Code Enforcement Officer – We had 7 building permits issued in September, one for a house and one for a manufactured home and the rest are for sheds, horse barn, etc. Someone had a comment about the unlicensed vehicles up on Lick Street and Old Stage Road. It was you, Sheldon? I sent him a letter. He’s talked to me and we’re going to do something about that. I also sent a letter to Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Company about the condition of the lot and the home at 680 Lick Street. It used to John Hilker’s place. There was a shed that fell down out there. Someone also made a comment about that. John Hilker doesn’t own it anymore; it went back to Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Company. I gave them 30 days to remove the offending material. I just have a question for Fran. If they don’t move it, I’d like to have the debris removed, pay somebody to do it, and put it on their taxes. Can we do that? Francis Casullo – Well, I’m assuming Wells Fargo took it back on a foreclosure? George Senter – Yes. It’s probably in court between John and them. Francis Casullo – I don’t think right now, we could try it, but has the 30 days run yet? George Senter – No. Francis Casullo – Let me know when the 30 days run. I think I can get hold of someone at Wells Fargo. We represent them in real estate closings. Let me know. What’s the property again? George Senter – 680 Lick Street. Used to be John and Stephanie Hilker. Francis Casullo – Let me look into it. I know someone in Wells Fargo. George Senter – It’s been an eyesore out there for a long time. I think people probably added to the pile. This is an opportunity then. I also sent a letter to Thomas and Michele Vliet, 20 Bird Cemetery Road, about unlicensed vehicles and trash; a 30 day notice again. I understand that might be another same situation, Fran. So, you’ll have to look into that. I also gave them 30 days and I’ll let you know when that’s up. That place has been a junk pile since back when I was here. I was on her all the time about the junk and cars she had up there. And also, by Fran’s order, I posted an order to show cause on the Coit property at 924 Lick Street. I gave the affidavit to Fran. I guess you’re going to discuss that anyway. If you have any questions, I’ll try to answer them. Supervisor Morey – Great. Any questions for George? Town Board Meeting Page 4 of 13 October 9, 2001 Councilman Randall – Looks like you’ve been really busy. Thanks. George Senter – We’ve gotten through a lot, haven’t we April? April’s a big help. Supervisor Morey – We really appreciate the great job you’re doing too, George. Thank you. Richard C. Case, Jr., Highway Supervisor - September has been a busy month for the Highway Department. With the help of the Town of Cortlandville, Town of Dryden and the Village of Groton Highway Departments, the shoulders were applied to Durfee Road and Sovocool Hill Road. At this point in time, our chip-sealing program is 75% completed. Stauber Road, Elm Street Ext. (between Champlin Road and Wood Road intersections), Ogden Road and Eden Drive have been resealed. The shop crew has started to prepare for the winter equipment transition, which will get under way next week. Drainage and right-of-way reclamation has been taking place on both Devlen Road and Cemetery Lane. The new excavator continues to prove itself a valuable tool. The manufacturing of de-icing sand was started today at the Town's gravel bank on Spring Street and will continue when time and manpower allows. In preparation for winter, I am requesting a resolution and permission to purchase, from Seneca Supply, one 14' Airflow material spreader for $4,950.00. The money for this purchase will come from the machinery DA5130.2 account as budgeted. Supervisor Morey – You’re going to get bids and all that? Richard Case – I have two quotes and they were the lowest quote. Supervisor Morey – Are you supposed to get three? Richard Case – Anything under $5,000 you have to have two quotes. RESOLUTION #67 – APPROVE PURCHASE OF MATERIAL SPREADER MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey RESOLVED , that the Town Board does hereby approve the purchase of one 14’ Airflow material spreader from Seneca Supply for an amount not to exceed $4950.00. Funds to come from the Highway Machinery DA5130.2 account. Town Board Meeting Page 5 of 13 October 9, 2001 Supervisor Morey – Are you going to stick around for Emergency Preparedness? Richard Case – I can. Supervisor Morey – Okay, why don’t you. Thanks. April, Colleen’s not here, but do you have anything? April L. Scheffler, Deputy Town Clerk – Not really. We’re still issuing hunting licenses and dealing with that. And as George said, he’s keeping me busy. Colleen D. Pierson, Town Clerk/Tax Collector – Submitted her monthly report for the Board’s review. Francis Casullo, Town Attorney – As far as the Coit property, everybody has been served. The notices, one’s in the Ithaca Journal and the other is in the Groton Independent. It has to go through four weeks. We’re due in court in November. The reason why we had to do it in November is because you have to publish it for four weeks. So, we’re set with that. The Flang water cut-off: I did some research and I have it here. I think, and you may not want to hear this, but I think the Flangs could be right. It looks like this easement that was granted years and years ago was granted personally to an Ida Metzgar, years ago. The most recent Court of Appeals, that’s the State’s highest court, says that you can’t give a reservation or an exception to a stranger in the deed. What should have happened is that the person that conveyed it, outside the deed, should have given Mrs. Metzgar another document, not a deed. And basically, the Court of Appeals has said that the easement ended on Mrs. Metzgar’s death. That seems to be the most recent Court of Appeals discussion on this matter. So, an argument can certainly be made by the Flangs that, forget about what happened all these years, but the Town did not have a valid easement. I don’t know how important it is to have this water. Is it that important? Richard Case – Well, it’s not that……………….. Francis Casullo – How would you do it without this? Richard Case – I talked to Jim Shurtleff and that’s our other alternative is to tie on to the Village water. Francis Casullo – You could try to institute a lawsuit. I’m just telling you that there’s a good chance that you may not be successful. Supervisor Morey – Okay. We can discuss that in the future; let the Board think about it. Any questions for Fran? If not we need the public hearing notice. The regular meeting was recessed at 7:45 PM for a public hearing. Town Board Meeting Page 6 of 13 October 9, 2001 PUBILC HEARING ON 2001 SMALL CITIES GRANT Deputy Clerk Scheffler read the following Public Hearing notice: The Town of Groton is holding a public hearing at the next Town meeting to be held Tuesday, October 9th at 7:45 p.m. in the Groton Town Hall. The hearing will feature Better Housing for Tompkins County, Inc. who will speak about the newly awarded housing rehabilitation grant for the Town of Groton. The public is invited to attend the meeting and learn more about Groton housing rehabilitation assistance. Supervisor Morey – We are fortunate enough to have Bob Hunt here from Better Housing for Tompkins County. Bob, do you want to come forward? Bob Hunt – Good evening, I’m Bob Hunt from Better Housing. Thank you for having me here. Thank you, Glenn, for inviting me and arranging this meeting. He has served very capably on the oversight committee for the previous three grants that the Town has had. I want to thank Tyke for going through the over 160 applications we had for the grant that was just funded. This is the fourth grant that Groton has received from Housing and Urban Development for housing rehab projects. This grant is intended to serve 19 households. The grant that we are finishing up was intended to serve 19 households also, although we have served 25 people. So, sometimes we can get a little bit more for our money. There are some papers up here for people who are interested that have the income limits. By HUD rules you must have an income of 80% or less of the area mean of income. Fortunately with Cornell University and Ithaca College being in this community we have a very high area mean income. It is calculated actually for the entire county as a whole. So, we can serve a lot more families than many other areas. That information is up here along with more application forms for anybody who wishes to have them. These are the pre-apps that were mailed out last fall. It is the same information. If you already filled one out it is on file. You should have received a letter from us indicating that the grant had been funded and that you would hear from us in the future. If you did fill out one of those forms and didn’t receive one please do let us know and check and see what’s happened. But no one has called and complained of not getting their letter. Of the 160 responses that were returned, we sorted them according to the income that was claimed on the sheet, by the type of home that it was – mobile home or single-family residence, the date received was stamped on them, and then that information was entered into the computer. Along with Tyke, he and I sat down and along with the direction of the consultant we hired to write the grant, we sorted those according to criteria that he knew would give the best chance of having the grant funded. I then went out and did some very initial inspections and work write- ups that have become referred to as the caseload. The grant was submitted with that caseload along with a lot of other documentation. We were fortunate to have it funded. We received $400,000.00 that will be used for rehabilitation over the next few years. We generally serve the people who are on the caseload first because it is their hardship that HUD recognized as being needing to be alleviated in order for them to award the grant to us. After that the oversight committee, which, Glenn, will need to be reauthorized for the new grant, the Town Board will have to appoint an oversight committee that can either forward the one that they have or appoint a new one. It’s up to the Town Board. But the oversight committee will then rank the remaining 141 odd pre-application forms according to the criteria that they will choose and then we will serve people after that. We have already been informed that two of the people who were part of the caseload have passed away and one person wrote us a letter saying that he had moved out of Town Board Meeting Page 7 of 13 October 9, 2001 the Town. So, there will be other people served besides those that were on the caseload. Generally the items that we address and remedied with the money from this grant concern health and safety issues on the house. This includes septic fields, wells, roofs, furnaces, structurally unsound basements. We can, if money is available address what is called quality of life issues; that is we can get new windows, new doors. We do not at any time address what is considered to be cosmetic items on a house. We can paint the house if the siding is beginning to deteriorate but we won’t paint it just to make it look pretty. One last issue I wish to speak about is this new grant will come under a new section of Title 10 that was put into effect in 1995. New York State has been fortunate to get several exemptions from it but there will be no further exemptions. This concerns lead paint. We are currently writing requests for bids from companies who are able to do what is called a risk assessment and lead paint testing in any house build prior to 1978. This must be done and you will be given a report that tells you, in your house, the surfaces that we will be touching and what does or does not contain lead paint. I have an enormous amount of information in the office if you are interested. I don’t want to spend a lot of time here. Are there any questions? Councilman Randall – Are you guys going to offer training for any of the contractors around here for that? Bob Hunt – We’ve had two training classes so far. Fifteen contractors and private individuals have attended each one. So, we have thirty people currently trained besides myself and another person who works at our agency. I spent last Tuesday in Corning getting training to be a trainer and I am now certified as a lead paint safe work practice trainer. Now I can hold the classes again. We plan on having one about February. We recognize the need for ongoing training. We have also asked the State Division of Housing Community Renewal to hold more training sessions also. The training sessions initially through the State completely ignored the Southern Tier and went across basically Route 90 and down into New York City and completely ignored us. The two training sessions we gave we received funding from the United Way Youth and Philanthropy Organization to hire a trainer to come in and we were quite successful with that. So, there are people who are aware of how to properly handle any surfaces containing lead based paint. Supervisor Morey – Okay, any other questions? Any questions from the public? The Public Hearing was closed at 8:00 PM and the regular monthly meeting reconvened. Supervisor Morey - I want to make a resolution for the oversight committee. Right now we have basically four members, but I’m not going to identify them by person, by name. I’m going to identify them as representative of what they represent. Would that be all right? Because of changing things. We have four all ready but I’m going to include a fifth one and that’s going to be the Town of Groton Councilman and I have talked to this Councilman in the past and he said that he would do it. Town Board Meeting Page 8 of 13 October 9, 2001 RESOLUTION #68 – FORM OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE FOR 2001 SMALL CITIES COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT GRANT MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey RESOLVED , that the Town Board does hereby desire to form an Oversight Committee for the 2001 Small Cities Community Development Grant consisting of the Town of Groton County Representative, Tompkins County Planning Department, the Director of Better Housing of Tompkins County, Town of Groton Supervisor, and a Town of Groton Councilman. RESOLUTION #69 – DESIGNATE TOWN BOARD AS LEAD AGENCY FOR SEQRA PURPOSES MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby designate the Town Board of the Town of Groton as Lead Agency for the purposes of preparing a State Environmental Quality Review Assessment (SEQRA) in conjunction with the 2001 Small Cities Community Development Grant. Attorney Casullo then led the Town Board through Part I of the SEQRA process. RESOLUTION #70 – CERTIFY THAT INFORMATION PROVIDED IS TRUE PART I SEQRA MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey RESOLVED , that the Town Board does hereby certify that the information provided is true for questions 1-12 of Part I on the Short Environmental Assessment Form. And be it further RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby authorize the Town Supervisor, Glenn Morey to sign said Environmental Assessment Form. Attorney Casullo then led the Town Board through Part II of the SEQRA process. Town Board Meeting Page 9 of 13 October 9, 2001 RESOLUTION #71 – NEGATIVE DECLARATION – PART II SEQRA MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board has determined, based on the information and analysis provided in the Short Environmental Assessment Form, that the 2001 Small Cities Community WILL NOT Development Grant Program result in any significant adverse environmental impacts. RESOLUTION #72 – ACCEPT TENTATIVE BUDGET AS PRELIMINARY BUDGET FOR 2002 MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey RESOLVED , that the Town Board does hereby accept the Tentative Budget as the Preliminary Budget for the Year 2002. RESOLUTION #73 – SET DATE FOR PUBLIC HEARING ON 2002 PRELIMINARY BUDGET MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey RESOLVED , that the Town Board will meet and review the Preliminary Budget for the Year 2002 and hold a public hearing thereon at the Town Hall, 101 Conger Boulevard, Groton, NY, at 8:00 PM on Monday, November 5, 2001, and that at such hearing any person may be heard for or against any item therein contained. And be it further RESOLVED , that a Fire Protection and Ambulance Service hearing will be held on Monday, November 5, 2001, following the Preliminary Budget Hearing. RESOLUTION #74 – RESCHEDULE REGULAR BOARD MEETING MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey. RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby change the regular monthly meeting for the thth month of November 2001 from Tuesday, November 13 to Monday, November 5 at 7:30 PM. Town Board Meeting Page 10 of 13 October 9, 2001 Supervisor Morey – Sheriff Peter Meskill is here to see us tonight. Peter Meskill, Tompkins County Sheriff – I wanted to address you about two particular things. One is I wanted to talk to you about the budget situation in the County this year and the impact it is going to have on our department if they continue along the process of approval. And the second, and probably more important thing, and we should do that first, is to find out if there is any specific issues that you have or you know your residents have. Things that we can do different, do better, do that we’re not doing now, or some specific problem that you know of that we can try to………… Supervisor Morey – No, they’ve been very good. Sheriff Meskill – A lot of people who work for me live in your Town and the Village. The second issue that I wanted to talk to you about is the County budget. Your representative has been very supportive of the Sheriff’s Department in general, regardless of who the sheriff’s been, and what it does for the people in the community. But that’s not the same with every representative throughout the County. At the present time we’re facing a budget that will reduce by two positions the number of deputies on the road, by two correction officers in the jail and one clerk in our staff. That’s a fairly major reduction. It probably wipes out any gains we’ve got in the last two or three years. It is kind of odd in a year when things are going to Hell, to put it mildly, and people really need to think about what’s going on. Our crime rate is actually increasing in the County, based on our first three months of statistics back from the State government. I’m not sure why we’re going like this. There are several increases throughout the County budget including a major increase with the road budget; a major increase with the information technology services area. Those are upwards to 20% increases. It’s not that those areas don’t deserve and/or need increases. But the proposal that I made this year is simply a proposal to maintain our force the way it is, not add to our force in any way shape or form. In fact we’ve reduced the amount of money in our budget this year to purchase various equipment. There are no computers in my 2002 budget whatsoever and we have approximately 20 computers in the building, let alone several more in cars. There is a reduced amount of money for purchasing vehicles, things of that nature. Those are all okay things, as you all know for a short time period. But if you have to extent that kind of work for the long term sooner or later you really have to pay a lot of money to get back to where you belong. We’ve had to absorb payroll increases, an increase in fringe benefits and, at the County’s request, give up 2% of our budget from the previous year. With all that in mind, where we stand right now is 2% above my original request for the road patrol division and 4% above my original request in the corrections division. Essentially what I’m looking for, so you can understand what I’m looking for, is I’m looking for an additional $90,000 to keep the two deputies on the road and an addition, approximately, $60,000 in the corrections budget to maintain the number of staff there. Our jail is just going out of sight. We’ve got to think, 96 people when I left there just before 7 o’clock tonight. The jail was built and then revised again to the capacity of 72 people. We’ve received two variances to keep us going and they are just over the 100 mark, so we are essentially a full jail. We’ve got three blocks of females right now, which is a lot of females for our size jail and the population we have. That and a lot of juveniles create classification issues for us. But we haven’t boarded anybody out with the exception of some mental health inmates that need services that we simply can’t provide. Chief Niemi and I are going to Albany next week to fight to keep one of the two variances that we have. We’ve had an insight that they may reduce by three or four beds because they are worried about possible security issues although we haven’t had any bridge of security or any issue like that. Also, the State Department of Corrections is trying to tighten up on what they do and one of our variances exists for 1996 and the other was Town Board Meeting Page 11 of 13 October 9, 2001 implemented in 1999. After a period of time they want to put pressure on the County to say either fish or cut bait. Are you going to do something to alleviate your problem whether it be alternative incarceration or more space or clearly recognize you have a problem and go lease space from another county jail or what exactly you are going to do. They don’t give you your variances for an indefinite period of time. So, that’s the basic issue that we face with the County Jail. And on the road, it’s really pretty simple. We’ve tried to do the best we can do with our number of deputies that we have right now and tried to give people in the County a sense that we’re everywhere when we really aren’t. We are doing the best we can with that and answering calls and trying to do some pro-active traffic enforcement. That is typically what I get from most towns and most governments is complaints that they have directly, representatives, or people who call or come to see them about traffic issues, people speeding or reckless driving or other issues like that. We do have one traffic cart speed enforcement trailer. It seems to be working really well. I just got a phone call today where we received a grant, and we get the money at the end of the month, to purchase a second one. With procurement the way it goes, that probably won’t be here until the middle of the winter but it will be ready for operation next spring. We are kind of hoping to have one on each side of the County so we can get into some places that we haven’t gotten to yet with this particular trailer. That’s the issue we face. Your representative has been supportive of public safety in general and other issues that are important to us in the Sheriff’s Office. If you know other representatives on the County Board or have any influence over them, and you so desire, it would be helpful because we’ll definitely take a hit in the ability to do anything proactive and worthwhile. We’ll simply be running call to call to call, with losing two people. That’s basically 10% of our patrol force. That’s how critical it is. That’s the message I wanted to give you. For the most part, with the exception of the Village, we’re most towns’ main source of police reports. Sheriff Meskill handed out sheets comparing the Sheriff’s Department to the Ithaca Police Department and Cornell Public Safety as well as a copy of a memorandum written by Captain Joseph Vitale and some other information. The Board thanked Sheriff Meskill for coming. Supervisor Morey – Rick you don’t have to stay. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. MOVEDExecutive by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to go into Session with the Town Attorney for purposes of threatened litigation at 8:17 PM. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey. MOVEDresume regular session by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to at 8:30 PM. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey. Supervisor Morey – Let the record show that no decisions were made in Executive Session. Town Board Meeting Page 12 of 13 October 9, 2001 RESOLUTION #75 – APPOINT MARY GLOSTER TO PLANNING BOARD MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey. RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby appoint Mary Gloster to the Planning Board to fill out the term vacated by the resignation of Van Travis on June 21, 2001. Said term will expire December 31, 2001. RESOLUTION #76 – AUTHORIZE PARTICIPATION IN ELECTRIC & GAS ALLIANCE MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey. WHEREAS , The County of Tompkins and the County of Tioga, through the Tompkins and Tioga Counties Electric and Gas Alliance program, have implemented policies and programs to competitively procure electricity and natural gas supplies, and WHEREAS, by Intermunicipal Agreement between the Town of Groton and the Counties, previously adopted by the Town of Groton and the Counties, political subdivisions within the counties may obtain electricity and/or natural gas supplies under contracts with suppliers that have submitted low qualified bids through such competitive procurements, and WHEREAS , the Tompkins County Board of Representatives and Tioga County Legislature have adopted resolutions providing that political subdivisions within the Counties shall be included in any such contracts with suppliers, upon the submission of this resolution by the Town of Groton to the governing body of the County, now therefore be it RESOLVED , that the Town of Groton is authorized to participate in the Electric and Gas Alliance program, and may from time to time enter into agreements for the purchase of electricity and/or natural gas pursuant to contracts with suppliers procured through the Alliance program, and further RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution shall be sent to the Tompkins County Department of Finance or the Tioga County Legislature. Town Board Meeting Page 13 of 13 October 9, 2001 RESOLUTION #77 – AUTHORIZE SUPERVISOR TO ATTEND CONFERENCE MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey. RESOLVED , that the Town Board does hereby authorize the Town Supervisor, Glenn Morey to attend Small Cities Conference in Albany. Supervisor Morey – Okay, announcements. Emergency preparedness, everyone should have a copy of that. I want to start discussing it in November. I also put in parentheses generators. If you read the preparedness plan we’d have to be open about 24 hours and man the telephones. If the electricity goes out our telephones go dead. So, I had a discussion with Rick about buying a small generator or some kind of generator to maintain some services here in the building. It wouldn’t be the whole building but the heat and water and things like that you would have to maintain. So, that’s why I had that in parentheses. So, please read this. nd Don and I attended the Joint Recreation Meeting on October 2 and they selected Don as chairperson and vice chairperson is Jeff Cargin. The regular board meeting will be the first Tuesday of every month. Questionnaires will be going out in the mail and they will be discussing that in the future. Some of the questions will get out to the people of the Town of Groton. They are going to start advertising and hiring the Recreation Coordinator. That should be with interviews starting in January. Anything else Don? Councilman Scheffler – Next month we’re going to discuss running an ad and what we want to put in it for the job and see what we can get for applications. Supervisor Morey – Should I put you on monthly reports? Councilman Scheffler – Okay. Announcements: th Building Code Enforcement interviews are going to be October 18. Everybody is welcome to come. McLean Community Council Meeting Minutes th Open House for Village Electric – October 12 from 4:30 to 6:30. Next month – Rick Beals to discuss audit. There being no further business, Councilman Sovocool moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Clark at 8:37 PM. Unanimous. April L. Scheffler Deputy Town Clerk