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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-05-2001 TOWN OF GROTON MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2001, AT 7:30 PM 2002 BUDGET HEARING & FIRE HEARING AT 8:00 PM Those present: Glenn E. Morey, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman Donald F. Scheffler, Councilman Sheldon C. Clark, Councilman Francis Casullo, Town Attorney Absent: Duane T. Randall II, Councilman (arrived later in meeting) Also present: Colleen D. Pierson, Richard Case, George Senter Liz Brennan, Peg Palmer, Don Palmer, Rosemarie Tucker, Mary Gloster, Rick Beals, Lester Coit, Dennis Toolan, Dan Carey, Teresa Robinson, Mark Robinson, Lyle Raymond, John Pachai, Dolores Hemming, Joan Jurkowich, Kate Hackett, Lee Shurtleff, Lisa McElroy. MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the minutes of the October 9, 2001 meeting as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Clark, Morey. General Fund Claim Numbers 274-303 of the in the amount of $10,541.73 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilman Clark, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the General Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Clark, Morey. Highway Fund Claim Numbers 186-199 of the in the amount of $15,181.54 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilman Scheffler, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to approve the Highway Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Clark, Morey. Town Board Meeting Page 2 of 11 November 5, 2001 Special Grant (HUD) Fund Claim Numbers 218-220 of the in the amount of $11,100.66 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the HUD bill for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Clark, Morey. Supervisor Morey invited privilege of the floor. No one responded. Monthly Reports: Liz Brennan, Bookkeeper – You’ve got your revenues and expenditures and the cash sheet. I just have a few transfers to make. RESOLUTION #78 – TRANSFER OF HIGHWAY FUNDS – TOWN WIDE MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Clark, Morey. RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby authorize the following transfer of funds: Highway Fund – Town Wide: From: Retirement DA9010.8……………………… $640.74 To: Bridges, Pers. Service DA5120.4………….. 9.69 Health Insurance DA9060.8………………….631.05 RESOLUTION #79 – TRANSFER OF HIGHWAY FUNDS – PART TOWN MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Clark, Morey. RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby authorize the following transfer of funds: Highway Fund – Part Town: From: Retirement DB9010.8……………………..$3,656.86 To: Health Insurance DB9060.8………………… 631.05 Gen. Repairs, Pers Service DB5110.1………3,025.81 Town Board Meeting Page 3 of 11 November 5, 2001 Richard C. Case, Highway Superintendent - At the present time the Highway Department shop crew is dedicated to the changeover of equipment from summer maintenance to winter maintenance. As of today, three trucks are completely outfitted with material spreaders and plows. The new Airflow material spreader approved last month was purchased and is being mounted in the dump body of truck #24. All other trucks have the plow towers mounted so plows could be coupled quickly. Snowplow turnarounds and the majority of the gravel roads have been grader-honed and are ready for the snow season. De-icing sand continues to be manufactured and mixed with salt at the Spring Street gravel bank. Highway crews continue to remove brush and trees, change crossover culverts and address drainage problems. Right-of-way reclamation continues on Salt Road between Stevens and McLean Roads. A crossover culvert has been replaced and shoulders widened. With the cooperation of the telephone company, telephone poles have been removed and cables buried. This will allow snow to be pushed back farther in this problem area. Work on this project will continue when weather and manpower allows. Colleen D. Pierson, Town Clerk/Tax Collector – Submitted her monthly Town Clerk’s Report for the Board’s review. Francis Casullo, Town Attorney – Had nothing to report. Supervisor Morey – There’s no one from the Court. Peg, do you have anything? We do have a building permit for your window and we do have a window shade that’s fire approved and fire certified. Peg Palmer – Oh, it has arrived? Rick Case – Window has arrived. Supervisor Morey – We have Rick Beals here tonight to present the fiscal year 2000 Town Audit. Rick, come on up. You did get handed out the brochure for the audit. Rick Beals – You should have three reports. One is the financial statements for the Town; the next one is the management letter, which is a three page report; then there is one other report on the Town’s Justice Court records. I’ll go through a brief summary of the financial statements and see if you have any questions and then I’ll quickly review the management letter and the Justice Court audit too. The financial statements, we’ll go over the highlights. The independent auditor’s report on page one is an opinion that states that you’re financial statements are presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principals. Mr. Beals went through the highlights of the audit for the Board. There were no questions from the Board. th Supervisor Morey – I’d like to jump down to number 10. On October 18 the Planning Board, at the regular Planning Board meeting, we interviewed six potential people for the Building Code Enforcer’s Office or Officer. All the Board members were there during the interviews. Town Board Meeting Page 4 of 11 November 5, 2001 RESOLUTION #80 – APPOINT GEORGE SENTER AS ZONING/CODE/FIRE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby appoint George R. Senter, Sr. as Zoning/Code/Fire Enforcement Officer for the Town of Groton. RESOLUTION #81 – ACCEPT RESIGNATION OF GEORGE VANSLYKE MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Clark, Morey RESOLVED , that the Town Board does hereby accept, with regrets, the resignation of George VanSlyke from the Town of Groton Planning Board. RESOLUTION #82 – APPROVE CONTRACT WITH NYSEG SOLUTIONS, INC. MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Clark, Morey RESOLVED , that the Town Board does hereby approve the 2-year contract for the purchase of natural gas between NYSEG Solutions, Inc. (the Seller) and The Town of Groton (the Buyer) to become effective on November 1, 2001 and terminate on October 31, 2003. Announcements: Emergency Preparedness 1) – Started in 1993. Supervisor Morey suggested that the Internet had many resources that could be used and wants to get together with the Board to begin talking about the plan. He has Rick Case looking into a generator. He will make copies of information that he has for the Board. th ZBA meets 2) November 12 – variance for Elder Cottage larger than maximum size listed in Code. McLean road construction 3) begins April 2002. th Historical Association Dinner 4) , November 14 at the Elm Tree Inn in McLean. Thank You from Jim Allen 5) for our thoughts following the loss of his father. Town Board Meeting Page 5 of 11 November 5, 2001 thth Small Cities Meeting 6) Supervisor Morey attended in Albany on October 29 and 30. He will be preparing a report for next month. Sales tax report 7) for the year. George Senter arrived at the meeting and the Board informed him of his appointment as Code Enforcement Officer and congratulated him on the appointment. George R. Senter, Sr., Code Enforcement Officer – I have issued 8 building permits in October, but I did issue 15 Certificates of Occupancy. So, we’re catching up on some of the back stuff. We had a house, 2 mobile homes and the rest were other things. I am getting into the Life Safety Inspections now. We cleared up a trash pile up on Lick Street and are working on other people who are in violation. (Councilman Randall was late and arrived at this time in the meeting.) HEARING UPON PRELIMINARY BUDGET FOR THE YEAR 2001 NOVEMBER 5, 2001 AT 8:00 PM Colleen D. Pierson, Town Clerk read the legal notice: NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Preliminary Budget of the Town of Groton for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2002, has been completed and filed in the Office of the Town Clerk on October 10, 2000 at Groton where it will be available for inspection by any interested persons at all reasonable hours. FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Town Board of the Town of Groton will meet and review said Preliminary Budget and hold a public hearing thereon at the Town Hall, 101 Conger Boulevard, Groton, New York, at 8:00 P.M. on Monday, the 5th day of November, 2001, and that at such hearing any person may be heard for or against any item therein contained. All interested citizens will have the opportunity to give written and oral comment. Senior citizens are encouraged to attend and comment. Handicapped persons needing assistance or aids should contact the government before the meeting by calling 898-5035. Pursuant to Section 113 of the Town Law, the proposed salaries of the following Town Officers are as follows: Supervisor …………………………. $ 8,500.00 T own Clerk & Tax Collector ……. $30,102.00 Highway Superintendent………….. $44,346.00 Councilman (4)…………………… $ 1,654.00 ea. Town Board Meeting Page 6 of 11 November 5, 2001 FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN , pursuant to Section 184 of the Town Law , that a Fire Protection and Ambulance Service hearing will be held on Monday, November 5, 2001, following the Preliminary Budget Hearing. The proposed contracts with the Fire Company in the Groton Fire Protection District are hereby specified as follows: Groton Fire Department……………. $69,000.00 Ambulance Service…………………. $64,000.00 BY ORDER OF THE GROTON TOWN BOARD. Supervisor Morey – The Tentative 2002 Budget shows that the rate per thousand dollars of assessed value will be $7.39. If you take it to the ten thousandth place it will be 7.392 which is unchanged from the 2001 Budget. The budget includes money to review the Comprehensive Plan, which is very important to the Town when we start applying for different grants. When I was up in Albany this past week, there’s an awful lot of grants out there for us and we’re going to go full tilt and try to get some of this money here. In fact, there’s some grants for Comprehensive Plans too. If you do apply for any grants, that’s the first thing that they ask you about. There’s also money in for a Personnel Guide. The Town of Groton hasn’t had one. We want to formalize this a little bit more so everyone can have a copy of it instead of having it piecemeal and things like that. I’m very happy that we did that. The overall assessment for the Town increased from $150,719,481.00 to $ 153,526,503.00. The Budget that you have in front of you is made out of four parts, with four special districts, and they are lighting districts. The part A is Town Wide which includes everything, the Village of Groton and the rest of the Town, including the Hamlet of McLean. Part B is the Part Town. It does not include the Village of Groton. The DA is for machinery, which is Town Wide and the DB is Part Town, just for the roads outside the Village of Groton. The Tentative Budget was calculated as follows: The General A, which is Town Wide is $280,509.00. This is what we have to raise in taxes. The Highway DA is $436,238.14. If you do have a budget with the letter that I wrote to Colleen, the taxes are incorrect. The proper taxes are listed up here, which are $716,747.14. This is a rate per thousand dollars of assessed value of 4 dollars and 66.9 cents. We move down to Part B, in General B, it’s $101,842.00 and the Highway DB, which is Part Town roads is $171,237.00, which is a total of $273,079.00. This equals a rate per thousand of 2 dollars and 72.3 cents, which equals the 7.39, which last year’s, if we look at it it’s 7.393. So, it’s 1/10,000 cents less than what it was last year. The special districts, which I do not have up there, is calculated. It has McLean Light District, Peru Light District, the Groton Fire and the McLean Fire. The McLean Light District stays the same of .6094 cents; the Peru Light District stays the same as last year of .7064; the Groton Fire raises 3% at .8796 per thousand rate; and the McLean Fire goes up the same amount of 1.7643. Town Board Meeting Page 7 of 11 November 5, 2001 Any comments from the Board? We’ve worked very hard for the last couple months doing this and believe it or not we did finish it a month ago. So, any comments from the Board? Some of the increased costs that we did have, the insurance went up 6%. The health insurance is a “guesstimate” of 13% increase. The fire went up 3%. The ambulance went up 3%. SPCA went up 3%. And Gad-a-bout went up 3%. So, we did have increases but we did cut some expenses. So, and I appreciate all the department heads for helping us do that. It was a very cooperative effort from everybody. So, comments from the Board? Any comments from the public? Lyle Raymond, Chairman ZBA – You mentioned Comprehensive Planning and just a clarification, is that what’s under Planning in here, in the budget? I didn’t know just what sums you were talking about. Supervisor Morey – There is a section for ZBA and Planning. I don’t know exactly where yours is. Lyle Raymond – Yes, well, John and I were just trying to locate where it was in here. Supervisor Morey – There will be paid people during that. Lyle Raymond – Yes, I understand that. Supervisor Morey – And I believe we have money in there for schooling if need be. And, Liz, can you remember where we put that? Liz Brennan – It’s under Planning and it says Comprehensive Salary. Lyle Raymond – Yes, on the page here it says Planning, Personal Services, is that it? Liz Brennan – B8020.1…………….(not using microphone). Lyle Raymond – Okay. So, the $5,468 refers to that, or just the first item? Liz Brennan – Just the first item. Lyle Raymond – Okay, so $1,800 is actually what we’re talking about. Thank you, that was all. Supervisor Morey – And I’ve also learned at a Small Cities Grant meeting, Lyle, that they do have grants up to $3,000 to hire consultants for Comprehensive Plans, so…… Any other questions? Margaret Palmer – I have one question and one comment. The question, on the health insurance: did the Board do any provision to pay part of the premiums for part time? Supervisor Morey – For part time, no. Not part time. We’re looking into the retirees. Margaret Palmer – So, you’re not considering it at all? Town Board Meeting Page 8 of 11 November 5, 2001 Supervisor Morey – No, it opened up too many people, summer help, and things like that. Until we can identify exactly what we can do, we can’t do it this year. Margaret Palmer – Okay. I’d like to make a comment concerning the training budget. I’d like to go on record to request that the Board reconsider their policy of putting a cap, or raise the cap, on how much they spend per employee for training. Training is very important. I know the Town thinks it is very important because they require their Planning Board members and their Zoning Board members to train. And by putting the cap as they do, they are limiting where they can get their training and they are eliminating some of the better places where they can get their training. I just would like the Board to reconsider the cap on that. Supervisor Morey – When training does come up, Peg, we try to make sure that, first of all there’s a free service or there’s a teleconference at Cooperative Extension, we try to push that as much as possible to try to keep that………. Margaret Palmer – I realize that. There are also different topics. A teleconference can’t cover all the topics that a two-day conference can do. Supervisor Morey – Any other comments? Don Palmer – I just have two questions as I quickly went through the budget. The first one deals with the Highway, Town Wide. It looks like there is a very significant decrease in the equipment purchases for the year 2002. I’d like a clarification of what that might include and why there’s such a significant decrease of $195,000 to $32,000. Supervisor Morey – You’re talking about the over-all, right? Don Palmer – The Highway, Town Wide, DA5130. Supervisor Morey – You’re talking about DA5130.2R, correct? There’s $194,000 down to $32,000. Don Palmer – Correct. Supervisor Morey – The $194,000 included the truck, which it’s offset on the revenues because we took a 5-year municipal loan out of that. So, there is an offset in this budget for the $150,000 that it costs. But the $30,000, last year he had $30,000 and this year he has $32,000 for equipment outlay. Don Palmer – Okay. The second question is in the General Fund, it looks like now, for the first time, you’re looking to bring in sales tax revenue for the Town? Supervisor Morey – Yes. Don Palmer – Could you elaborate a little bit on that? Supervisor Morey – Okay. First of all, we asked for 10% of the sales tax, and what we did here was we had a roof that was built here in 1961 and is pretty close to leaking right straight through. It’s the type of roof that slants in instead of peaked. We have to repair that and it’s somewhere around $25,000. We also have a rug here that you see someone walked in with oily shoes and I’ve Town Board Meeting Page 9 of 11 November 5, 2001 been told by everybody that this is getting very worn and we’re going to have to replace this. That’s another $2000 that we have to do. There’s furniture that we purchased back in the ‘70’s. That has to be upgraded. Painting and things like that, things that we have to get done and computers that we have to order. And that’s why we did it. I didn’t want to take it out of the tax. Don Palmer – Does that intend to be on-going, that you’re going to take sales tax revenues every year? Supervisor Morey – For the next couple of years, yeah, until we have enough money in a reserve for the roof and things like that. Don Palmer – Okay, thank you. Supervisor Morey – Any other comments, questions? Dan Carey – Just wondering, did you send the medical out for bid? Supervisor Morey – No. We’ve been over the last couple of years, Colleen’s been looking into different medical coverages. We cannot find one medical coverage that is just as good as what we have or better for less cost. In the review of what we’ve been seeing throughout the whole municipalities throughout the area, they do have the exact same coverage except the Village of Groton with Blue Cross/Blue Shield. What we have right now is what we have seen is the best coverage for the best price. Our biggest concern right now is to protect our employees through good health care coverage. So, but, yes, it is a constant concern. Every meeting that Colleen and I go to we discus it with other municipal officers and they either have the same thing or they have something like the Village has. I think the Village has Etna, is that correct? Yeah. Dan Carey – What’s the status of the CHIPS money from the State? Supervisor Morey – It will be about the same as last year. I think it’s $55,000. Dan Carey – And you anticipate getting that? Supervisor Morey – Yes. Dan Carey – Okay. I noticed on DA……this Workman’s Comp. has gone up considerably. I wonder what the reason for that would be. Supervisor Morey – That’s exactly what they charge us. Dan Carey – Well, it looks like they didn’t charge you. Looks like they went from…….. Supervisor Morey – What number is it Dan? Dan Carey – Well, I’m looking at two different ones, A9040.8. Looks like it didn’t double, but it went up considerably, what you budgeted for. Supervisor Morey – I don’t know the answer. Town Board Meeting Page 10 of 11 November 5, 2001 Liz Brennan – (Did not use microphone)….Said something about rates going up but they didn’t know how much. Supervisor Morey – Workman’s Comp. doesn't have the same fiscal year as the Town and basically what we do is we have a “guestimate” of what’s going to happen. And that’s our best….. Dan Carey – Well, you have payroll, and you have to pay a certain percentage of the payroll. Supervisor Morey – Right. Dan Carey – That’s quite a difference. I guess that’s it. Supervisor Morey – Any other questions from the public? Any comments from the Board? There being no further questions, at 8:17 PM the Board proceeded with the FIRE DEPARTMENT 2001 BUDGET HEARING Supervisor Morey – Groton Fire Protection will be $69,000 this year and the McLean Fire District will be $53,982.88. Any comments? Public? Clerk Pierson – Do you want to explain it first? Supervisor Morey – Come on up Lester. Lester Coit, Groton Fire Chief – The reason for the increase, to let the public know, our compensation insurance over the past year has gone up $2,000. As for the Fire Department alone, the cost of equipment, per person for turn-out gear is approximately $1,300 per person. A pager is running us right around $300 per person. That’s a major increase. Turn-out gear has probably gone up $400 over the last 3 years. Supervisor Morey – All right, any questions for Lester? Thanks, Lester. There is no one from McLean here. There being no further questions, Supervisor Morey moved to close the Public Hearing, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, at 8:20 PM. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey Town Board Meeting Page 11 of 11 November 5, 2001 RESOLUTION #83 – APPROVE TOWN OF GROTON 2002 BUDGET MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Randall. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey. RESOLVED , that the Town Board does hereby approve the Town of Groton Budget for the fiscal year 2002 as presented. (Entire budget will be attached to Minute Book.) Joan Jurkowich and Kate Hackett, both from the Tompkins County Planning Department, were Vital Communities InitiativeDevelopment and there to talk about the with a focus on the draft Preservation Principals . The program began about a year ago with two workshops designed to come up with an overall view of what people would like to see happen as far as future development in the County. From this seven basic Development and Preservation Principals were developed: 1.Build strong, cohesive neighborhoods and communities. 2.Encourage nodal development patterns that build on existing infrastructure and population centers. 3.Promote choice and affordability in housing options. 4.Protect natural resources, green spaces and recreational resources. 5.Promote agriculture and protect farmland. 6.Enhance development of a local economy that supports strong communities. 7.Promote transportation choices that support compact development patterns. Joan Jurkowich discussed each basic principal briefly. It is hoped that the County will adopt the Principals as policy. Following Ms. Jurkowich’s presentation there were questions from the people present and answers by both Ms. Jurkowich and Ms. Hackett. (No one used the microphone). Some of the subjects discussed were ground water, support of agriculture and the possibility of a County Comprehensive Plan. There being no further business, Councilman Sovocool moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, at 8:45PM. Unanimous. Colleen D. Pierson Town Clerk