HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-14-2003
TOWN OF GROTON - MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING
TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2003, 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: April Scheffler, Richard Case, George Senter, Liz Brennan, Niki Randall,
John Norman, Nathan Winograd
RESOLUTION #1 - YEAR 2003 ORGANIZATIONAL ITEMS
Item 1 – DepositoryMOVED
. - by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler.
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 Sovocool.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that Francis Casullo and/or James Baranello of 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 Clark.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED,
that George R. Senter, Sr. 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 Randall.
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.
Town Board Minutes Page 2 January 14, 2003
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED,
that Donald F. Scheffler be appointed Deputy Supervisor for the Town of Groton.
Supervisor Morey
– Item number seven, Rick, you want to come forward for a minute……on
Deputy Highway Superintendent? Do you want to tell us your feelings?
Richard Case
– Do I have to announce my feelings?
Supervisor Morey
– Oh, I thought I told you that you could. Does anybody have any questions
for Rick?
Councilman Sovocool
– Yeah, why are we putting Liz in for Deputy?
Richard Case
– I feel this year’s going to be a transition year with Jerry going out. Liz and I
discussed this a long time ago……….(not using microphone)….make a Deputy Superintendent
and maybe lead from within. She is the only one in the building who has the experience to carry
on the duties if I’m not here.
Councilman Sovocool
– I don’t see it that way. I think you ought to name one of your men and
let Liz work with him. Liz is not going to go out and tour the roads.
Richard Case
– No, that’s very true. But, just like you said, I’ve been through this for two weeks,
I don’t see where this is a real big point. Pete Carr, everybody understands the operating order. As
of right now I have explained that within the department Pete is the man to go to and Joe Graham
is number two. This has been explained within the department.
Councilman Sovocool
– So, this is mainly paperwork Liz is going to do?
Richard Case
– The Deputy Superintendent basically is a title to keep the paperwork in motion if
something happens to me.
Attorney Casullo
– This is the first I’m hearing of this, but it all depends. Your deputy, if that’s
how you so choose it, to do a lot of the paperwork, I guess you can. There’s other deputies, like I
deal with the County over in Cortland where they’re about ready to hire a deputy for the County
Highway Department, and that deputy will be doing a lot more than paperwork…
Councilman Sovocool
- …run machinery and all that……..
Attorney Casullo
– And that’s how it goes, but it depends on how you want to set that position up.
Supervisor Morey
– There is no extra benefits to be the Deputy Highway Superintendent.
Attorney Casullo
– Yeah, there’s no real benefits, but I guess the question being posed to me is, is
it essentially a paperwork job. I guess off the top of my head my response is that it could or could
not be depending on how the Superintendent wants that job to be.
Councilman Sovocool
– Well, I never foresee it as a strictly paperwork job. I never did.
Town Board Minutes Page 3 January 14, 2003
Richard Case
– I can see how you would perceive it that way, Louie, and I understand but I think
with some patience you’ll see where I’m headed. I’m not leaving the town in any… I think if
something were to happen to me I’m leaving it stronger than it would be.
Supervisor Morey
– Okay, I make that motion. Can I have a second?
Councilman Clark
– Can we have discussion?
Supervisor Morey
– Oh, does anyone else have discussion?
Councilman Scheffler
– Well, I think it’s unusual. I don’t have a big problem with it. I guess I
have to trust Rick. It’s his call. It’s really not up to us to decide who, so, if he wants Liz we have to
support him, I guess.
Councilman Randall
– Well, I’d be remiss to say that I didn’t wrestle with it but I trust Rick, I
trust Liz, I know that they have not reached the decision without a lot of thought, so I guess I’ll
support him.
Councilman Clark
– I feel the same way, with an addition that I know I’m bringing on board, I
feel that Pete Carr will be a real asset to us in the near future and I think we have to look to that.
Of course the trouble would be if, God forbid, something happened to Rick, but we just have to
play the cards along with him and I feel that it’s Rick’s call.
Supervisor Morey
– Okay.
Item 7 – Deputy Highway SuperintendentMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by
Councilman Randall.
Ayes – Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
Nays - Sovocool
RESOLVED,
that Elizabeth Brennan be appointed Deputy Highway Superintendent for the Town
of Groton.
Item 8 – Deputy Town ClerkMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman
Sovocool.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED,
that Kristin Strickland be appointed Deputy Town Clerk for the Town of Groton.
Item 9 – BookkeeperMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler.
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
Randall.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that Margaret Palmer be appointed as part-time Court Clerk for the Town of
Groton.
Town Board Minutes Page 4 January 14, 2003
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
Randall.
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, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that full time employees to have 75% of Blue Cross/Blue Shield Health Insurance
coverage paid for by Town.
Item 15 – Town Board Regular MeetingsMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by
Councilman Sovocool.
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 $ 1,654.00 Quarterly
c) Donald F. Scheffler, Councilman $ 1,654.00 Quarterly
d) Duane T. Randall, II, Councilman $ 1,654.00 Quarterly
e) Sheldon C. Clark, Councilman $ 1,654.00 Quarterly
f) April L. Scheffler, Town Clerk $27,000.00 Biweekly
g) Richard C. Case, Jr., Highway Superintendent $45,676.00 Biweekly
st
h) Alton I Alexander, 1 Town Justice $10,000.00 Biweekly
Town Board Minutes Page 5 January 14, 2003
nd
i) John J. Norman, 2 Town Justice $ 7,568.00 Biweekly
j) George R. Senter, Sr., Code Enforcement $15,438.00 Biweekly
k) Rosemarie Tucker, Historian $ 1,000.00 Quarterly
Item 17 – Set Hourly RatesMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that the Town Board does hereby set the hourly rates as follows:
1) Deputy Town Clerk $ 9.93 per hour
2) Court Clerk $11.47 per hour
3) Bookkeeper $14.65 per hour
4) Custodian $ 10.12 per hour
5) Crossing Guard $ 8.69 per hour
7) Constable $10.50 per hour
Item 18 - 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 – Anthony Zarachowicz
Tompkins County Transportation Council – Sheldon Clark
Tompkins County Human Services Coalition – Teresa Robinson
Tompkins County Planning Board - Van Travis
Groton Local Youth Program - Kathleen Howard, Teresa Robinson,
Tompkins County Fire, Disaster and EMS Advisory Board – Lester Coit
Item 19 – Supervisor’s Appointment to Committee MembersMOVED
– by Supervisor Morey,
seconded by Councilman Clark.
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 & Glenn Morey
Light Districts - Donald Scheffler
Fixed Assets - Ellard Sovocool
Senior Citizens - Donald Scheffler
Town Board Minutes Page 6 January 14, 2003
Recreation Committee – Donald Scheffler
Comprehensive Plan – Glenn Morey
Planning Board – Rotating Attendance
Appeals Board – Rotating Attendance
Highway – Sheldon Clark
Item 20 - 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 $20.00
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
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
Town Board Minutes Page 7 January 14, 2003
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 # 21 - Miscellaneous Appointments, Fees, Etc – MOVED
by Supervisor Morey,
seconded by Councilman Scheffler.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that the Town Board does hereby approve the following miscellaneous
appointments, fees, etc:
Annual Retainer Fee for Legal Services
1) rendered by Pomeroy, Armstrong, Baranello, and
Casullo be set at $8,000.00 annually.
.
Authorize Highway Superintendent to give pay raises effective January 1, 2003.
2)
Appoint contact people for Drug and Alcohol Testing Program
3) – Richard Case and Glenn
Morey.
Appointment of Town Planning Board Member
4) – Reappoint Thomas Guihan for a term to
begin January 1, 2003 and end December 31, 2009.
Appoint member to Zoning Board Member
5) – Reappoint Lyle Raymond for a tem to begin
January 1, 2003 and end December 31, 2007.
Town Board Minutes Page 8 January 14, 2003
Appoint members of Comprehensive Plan Committee
6) – Lyle Raymond (Chairman), Monica
Carey, John Pachai, Mary Gloster (Vice-Chair), Steven Thane, Julie Graham, Doug Albern.
Retain Doug’s Trash Removal Service
7) at the rate of $65.00 per month for the period January 1,
2003 to December 31, 2003.
RESOLUTION #2 - CONTRACT WITH KIRBY, BEALS & MAIER FOR
AUDIT OF 2002 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Randall.
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,
2002 at a fee of $4,600.00.
Supervisor Morey
– Resolution number three is approve 2003 Dog Contract with SPCA. April
did review this and we did have some corrections with the contract but it will be still the same cost.
Councilman Randall
– I have one question, should April maybe read what the agreement was
between the SPCA or not?
Supervisor Morey
– That was handed out to you and it was going to be regular meeting, but you
can if you want to.
Councilman Randall
– ‘Cause it’s sort of part of the contract, I guess, that’s all, and it’s a change.
Clerk Scheffler
– Are they going to revise that for us?
Supervisor Morey
– No, what we’ll do is retype it to what we want and send it back to them so
they can sign it. Or we can cross it out and put it on, but I think it would be better to start over.
Clerk Scheffler
– Yes, I can get that ready.
Supervisor Morey
- Then read the following letter, which outlined the changes that would be
made to the agreement:
December 13, 2002
Nathan Winograd
Tompkins County SPCA
1640 Hanshaw Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Nathan:
Town Board Minutes Page 9 January 14, 2003
Thank you for meeting with us here in Groton and discussing mutual issues. As per your request, the
following is a summary of the agreements we made.
1. The Town of Groton will mail its own reminder notices.
2. The Town of Groton will write its own tickets.
3. Tickets will be 3-part, with one copy to Defendant, one copy kept on file by Town Clerk, and one
copy for Court.
th
4. The SPCA will pickup and deliver tickets on the 25 of each month. (Arrangements will be made
th
ahead of time when the 25 falls on a weekend or holiday.)
5. Tickets will be delivered on the same day that they are picked up.
6. If an emergency arises and tickets are not delivered on day of pick-up, SPCA will notify Groton
Town Clerk’s Office within 24 hours.
7. Any tickets that are undeliverable because a person has moved, address was wrong, etc., will be
returned with an attached explanation as to why it was undeliverable, to Town Clerk’s Office or
drop box at the end of the delivery day. Court’s copy will also be returned to Clerk’s office or
drop box on same day of delivery. Court copies and supporting evidence will be delivered to
Court by Clerk.
8. SPCA will continue to carry out the duties of dog control officer and enforce the Agriculture and
Markets Law and the Town of Groton Dog Control Law as stated in contract.
9. Cost of the 2003 contract will remain the same as 2002 - $10,795.00.
If I have left anything out, please do not hesitate to call me. Your willingness to listen to and work with
all of the Town Clerk’s is greatly appreciated and I look forward to continuing this important working
relationship.
Sincerely, April L. Scheffler, Town Clerk
RESOLUTION #3 - APPROVE 2003 DOG CONTRACT WITH SPCA
Moved
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool.
Ayes – Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,
that the Town Board does hereby approve the 2003 contract with the Tompkins
County SPCA for the purpose of dog control in the Town of Groton at a fee of $10,795.00.
RESOLUTION #4 - AUTHORIZATION TO PARTICIPATE IN
COOPERATIVE PURCHASING OF HIGHWAY SERVICES WITH
TOMPKINS COUNTY
Town Board Minutes Page 10 January 14, 2003
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler.
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 Randall.
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.
RESOLUTION #6 - APPROVE FIRE AND AMBULANCE PROTECTION CONTRACTS
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED,
that the Town Board does hereby approve the Fire and Ambulance contracts with
the Village of Groton Fire Department and Fire Protection with the McLean Fire Department.
RESOLUTION #7 – APPROVE 2003 MUNICIPAL DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED,
that the Town Board does hereby approve Gregory & Howe as Third Party
Administrator for the 2003 Municipal Agreement Renewal and Policy Amendment #1 for the Drug
and Alcohol Testing.
Town Board Minutes Page 11 January 14, 2003
This ended the Year 2003 Organizational Meeting. The Board then proceeded with their regular
monthly meeting:
MOVED
by Councilman Randall, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to approve the minutes of
the December 10, 2002 meeting as presented.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
Year 2002
Claim Numbers 392-398 of Abstract #13 for the and Claim Numbers 399-426 of
Year 2002General Fund
Abstract #14 for the for the in the amount of $18,690.49 were
presented for audit.
MOVED
by Councilman Clark, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the 2002
General Bills for payment.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
Year 2003General Fund
Claim Numbers 1-13 of Abstract #1 for the for the in the amount of
$2,829.59 were presented for audit.
MOVED
by Councilman Scheffler, seconded by Randall to approve the 2003 General Bills for
payment.
Year 2002Highway Fund
Claim Numbers 241-263 of Abstract #14 for the for the in the amount
of $18,145.12 were presented for audit.
MOVED
by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Randall, to approve the 2002
Highway Bills for payment.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
Year 2003Highway Fund
Claim Number 1 of Abstract #1 for the for the in the amount of
$39.20 was presented for audit.
MOVED
by Councilman Scheffler, seconded by Councilman Sovocool to approve the 2003
Highway Bill for payment.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
Year 2003Special Grant (HUD) Fund
Claim Number 273 of Abstract #1 for the for the in the
amount of $69.00 was presented for audit.
MOVED
by Councilman Clark, seconded by Councilman Randall, to approve the HUD bill for
payment.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey.
Supervisor Morey
invited privileged of the floor. There was no response.
Town Board Minutes Page 12 January 14, 2003
Monthly Reports:
George R. Senter, Sr., Code/Fire Enforcement Officer
– I’ve got my annual report, but you’ll
get it next month. For the month of December we only had one building permit issued but we
did have a grand total of 123 for the year, which is, I think, 30-some more than we had last year.
We did issue 15 Certificates of Occupancy/Completion. The Life Safety Inspections are current
except for one Motor Vehicle Repair Shop, which is scheduled for this Friday, and that will
complete that.
I’d like to ask authorization from the Board to demolish the property on Lick Street owned by
Mr. Muka. Our legal department has sent him letters, I’ve sent him letters, I’ve tried to call him
and I never get a response from the guy. So, if you can give me authorization to do that, I’ll
work with Fran and or Jim and we’ll settle up legally and get it down. I think we’ve gone on
long enough.
Supervisor Morey
– Is that a resolution, Fran, or is that a motion?
Attorney Casullo
– You can do it by resolution. I’m trying go back in my mind, I think we got
the order back in November or December of 2001, didn’t we?
George Senter
– You sent him a letter in May of this last year.
Attorney Casullo
– No, I mean the actual order when it went to Judge Relihan to get the order.
I almost think it was November of 2001.
Supervisor Morey
– I think it was. Then it went up for auction and somebody bought it.
Attorney Casullo
– That’s right. This guy must have called me about 2 months ago and I told
him you need to talk to George, you need to do something, but nothing seems to be getting done.
George Senter
– He never called me.
Supervisor Morey
– Resolution or motion?
Attorney Casullo
– If you want you can do a resolution to give George the support to move
forward.
RESOLUTION #8 – MOVE FORWARD WITH DEMOLITION OF COIT PROPERTY
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
WHEREAS
, the Town Board of the Town of Groton has previously approved the demolishing
of the condemned property located at 924 Lick Street, formerly owned by Maurice Coit and
presently owned by Christopher Muka, and
WHEREAS
, on November 28, 2001, the Honorable Walter J. Relihan, Jr., Supreme Court
Justice ordered that said property at 924 Lick Street was declared a public nuisance, that it may
Town Board Minutes Page 13 January 14, 2003
be demolished and removed by the Town of Groton and that any expenses incurred shall be
assessed against the land. Therefore be it
RESOLVED
, that the Town Board does hereby authorize the Code Enforcement Officer,
George R. Senter, Sr., to proceed with the demolition of said property.
Elizabeth Brennan, Bookkeeper
– We’re in the process of closing out 2002 and we have a few
transfers to make.
Ms. Brennan
- listed the transfers and encumbrances and asked if there were any questions.
Councilman Randall
– Why do we have to encumber….we’re going to have $3,000 in dog
enumeration when it costs, it was less than that right, so I guess I don’t understand.
Liz Brennan
– I don’t know how much we need, exactly. I can lessen that amount.
Councilman Randall
– I don’t know. I don’t remember what the amount was, so…
Clerk Scheffler
– I think it was $2,500.
Liz Brennan
– Or we can move another $1,500 instead.
Supervisor Morey
– No, the $2,000 is fine. Any questions?
Liz Brennan
– You could probably do a blanket resolution for the transfers and then the
encumbrances.
Supervisor Morey
– All right, well.
RESOLUTION #9 – 2002 BUDGET TRANSFERS – GENERAL FUND TOWN WIDE
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED
, that the Town Board does hereby approve the following 2002 Budget Transfers:
General Fund Town Wide:
From: Contingency A1990.4…………………..….….$1,599.53
To: Bookkeeper, Pers. Serv. A1220.12………..…..…170.76
Deputy Clerk, Pers. Serv. A1430.1………….…...582.86
Central Printing & Mail, Contractual A1670.4…..267.80
Highway Superintendent, Pers. Serv. A5010.1.…..… .12
Highway Clerk, Pers. Serv. A5010.12……………462.15
Joint Youth Program A7320.4……………………115.84
Town Board Minutes Page 14 January 14, 2003
RESOLUTION #10 – 2002 BUDGET TRANSFERS – GENERAL FUND PART TOWN
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED
, that the Town Board does hereby approve the following 2002 Budget Transfers:
General Fund Part Town:
From: Contingency B1990.4……………………….….$27.20
To: Planning, Deputy Clerk Salary B8020.12……….27.20
RESOLUTION #11 2002 BUDGET TRANSFERS – HIGHWAY FUND TOWN WIDE
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED
, that the Town Board does hereby approve the following 2002 Budget Transfers:
Highway Fund Town Wide:
From: Retirement Da9010.8……………....…$3,420.82
To: Health Insurance DA9060.8……………1,933.38
Snow Removal, Vac. DA5142.11…..…….89.04
Social Security DA9030.8……………..1,342.77
Disability Ins. DA9055.8…………………55.63
RESOLUITON #12 – 2002 BUDGET TRANSFERS – HIGHWAY FUND TOWN WIDE
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Randall
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED
, that the Town Board does hereby approve the following 2002 Budget Transfers:
Highway Fund Town Wide:
From: Services for County DA5148.4………….$58,878.00
To: Machinery, Equipment DA5130.2………..58,878.00
RESOLUITON #13 – ENCUMBER FUNDS
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED
, that the Town Board does hereby approve that the following funds from the 2002
Fiscal Year be encumbered to the 2003 Fiscal Year Budget:
Town Board Minutes Page 15 January 14, 2003
General Fund Town Wide:
Reclamation of Gravel Pit A8989.4…………$1,500.00 (close gravel bank)
Dog Enumeration A3510.41………………….2,000.00 (additional to 1,000)
Buildings, Repair A1620.42…………………..2,021.60 (carpet)
Town Clerk Software A1410.42………………1,000.00 (backup system)
Highway Fund Town Wide:
Machinery, Equipment DA5130.2……………92,604.00 (loader)
Richard C. Case, Jr., Highway Superintendent
– I’d like to just do my one-word report that
my predecessor left us with – SNOW. Obviously, it’s snowing. Equipment it holding up pretty
well. The guys are getting tired but everything seems to moving real smoothly. Other than that, I
have nothing to say, unless you have questions.
Supervisor Morey
– On behalf of the Board, I want to commend the guys for getting out there
Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. And I also found out that we’re one of the very few towns
that were plowed, so a lot of people didn’t make it out. Gas prices, how are they doing?
Richard Case
– Yup. They were delivering as we walked in. I think we’re in good shape. Just
rough totals, I was looking at the salt, for instance and we’re half way through what we normally
budget right now. Snow totals are above average, but everything seems to average out. Tyke
and I talked about it earlier and right at this point I’m not concerned about anything. Obviously
if things happen with fuel and it got ridiculous, then we can get concerned, but I think we’re all
right.
Supervisor Morey
– And are you going to tell us about your new invention on the excavator?
That’s now 12-month usage piece of machinery.
Councilman Randall
– It works nice. I watched it out my window, so.
Richard Case
– Yesterday when the 40-mile an hour gusts came along, that bought some time.
Pete figured 18 hours this weekend it saved us. So, it’s working, our invention. We’re ahead of
the curve on something.
Councilman Scheffler
– I’ve had several people tell me that the roads are the best in the county,
too, from somebody who travels the county everyday.
Richard Case
– Well, that goes for you guys too. You provide the money.
April L. Scheffler, Town Clerk/Tax Collector
– Submitted her monthly and annual Town
Clerk’s Report as well as her monthly Tax Collector’s report for the Board’s review.
The tax season seems to be getting off to a little bit of a slow start. We have not had a rush of
people into the office, but are receiving quite a lot of payments by mail. Probably the weather
has been a major factor. I am sure that as the month progresses it will get much busier.
The carpet is coming next week. They are going to start on the Court Room on Monday and be
doing my office by Wednesday. I’ve talked with Rick and he has promised us some manpower
to move things as long as we don’t have a blizzard. In that case, we will be calling you guys.
Town Board Minutes Page 16 January 14, 2003
Kris and I have begun sending our own reminder notices for delinquent dog licenses. I am very
pleased with the response we are having. For October, 20 reminders were sent and only 3
remain unlicensed and will receive a ticket. For November, 34 reminders were sent with 7
remaining unlicensed and 4 of those have responded and asked for a little more time because
they needed rabies shots. That leaves only 3 on the ticket list. For December, 30 reminders were
sent, 10 remain unlicensed, 4 of those 10 responded leaving 6 on the ticket list. This means that
out of 84 reminders sent for these three months, only 12 tickets need to be issued. I find this
very encouraging for our initial attempt to get this program up and going. We also went back
through the records from January to September and found 10 dogs unlicensed which we sent
another reminder to. These are people who have had many reminders and tickets. Some of them
have actually paid several tickets and most of them are names that crop up every year as being
late or, for one reason or another, are almost impossible to pin down. We have managed to get 3
of these taken care of and the remaining 7 will get tickets again. Peg and I worked together to
create a ticket specifically for unlicensed dogs in the Town of Groton. These have been printed
in triplicate form by Williamson Law and were delivered to my office yesterday. So, we are now
ready to initiate the second part of the program. We will be preparing the tickets on a monthly
basis and the SPCA will be delivering them, hopefully beginning this month.
Recently Peg and I both had bounced checks from one of these habitually late dog people. The
Deadline that we both gave her to make the checks right was tomorrow. We finally got a call
from the person today asking if the deadline could be extended to Friday morning as she gets
paid on Thursday. We have both extended the deadline but neither one of us will be surprised if
she does not show up, in which case we will begin legal action. I would like to request that the
Board make a resolution to provide the protest fee of $20.00 per check in the event that we have
to take legal action in this situation.
Kris is still looking into the health insurance issue and does not have a report ready at this time.
I have letters from the Pizza Barn and the Roman Village informing us that they are applying for
renewal of their liquor licenses. You usually give a consensus as to whether you approve or
disapprove of this.
Consensus of the Board was that it had no objections to the renewal of the liquor licenses for the
Pizza Barn and the Roman Village.
RESOLUTION #14 – AUTHORIZE PROTEST FEE FOR BAD CHECKS
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED
, that the Town Board does hereby authorize the Town Clerk spend $20.00 be
check for protest fees in the collection of the bad checks issued to the Town Clerk and the Justice
Court.
Supervisor Morey
– Also, April and Kris are looking into health insurance and before we ever
made a decision it would go to the Board as well as presentations to the employees for final
approval. And I know that April has many concerns, so before she ever made it to a presentation
Town Board Minutes Page 17 January 14, 2003
I’ll need her concerns are taken care of. I think her concerns are shared with the Board and
employees, so.
Francis Casullo, Town Attorney
– I don’t have much unless you want to go through the
various items our office has been working on.
Supervisor Morey
– Okay. The boundary line, we’re going to set a public hearing for this
month. We’re going to also set a public hearing for senior tax exemption for next month. And
then in March we’re going to be talking about the dog law that they’ve changed. The State law
has changed so we want to bring out ordinance and our town law up to the same thing that the
State has done. And everybody was given procedure of passing a local law. So, I wanted you to
keep that so every time we come back everybody will know. You just pull that piece of paper
out and tell anybody that asks.
Councilman Sovocool
– How about the Better Housing loan there too, have you checked on
that?
Supervisor Morey
– We had a instance in McLean that some person took a HUD loan out and
said the minimum income requirements and said she was going to live in the house there
permanently. What happened is that a young couple got a loan for a first home and they had to
have a letter from their landlord verifying that they’ve been paying their rent on time and they’ve
been living in this house for the last four years. Well, come to find out the woman who wrote the
letter as the landlord turned out to be the same person who took the HUD loan and never lived in
the house that she got a loan for. Louie and I were at the HUD meeting today and we discussed
that, what it was. The letter from our legal counsel said that the letter came back un-addressed.
So, I tried to get an address through Better Homes and they never got back to me. So, I had
April look at it and she gave me the address for the dog license. So, we’re looking for her.
Hopefully Better Homes will have an address from the letter written to the first homebuyers
folder, so. But everybody knows I’m chasing that.
Councilman Scheffler
– What about the ones on the hill, Diversified?
Supervisor Morey
– We’ve got to take legal action on that and get rid of it once and for all.
Councilman Sovocool
– He’s not paying again?
Supervisor Morey
– No. When you call he gives you some money and it’s okay for a month
and then that’s it, so.
Councilman Clark
– They’re quite active there. They’re there petty near every day, five or six
cars.
Supervisor Morey
– Any other questions?
Attorney Casullo
– Well, I guess, Glenn, on the boundary line our office prepared a proposal of
the law, but I guess what I’m going to do is check to make sure with Monica that’s what the
Planning Board wanted. Assuming it is, I guess there could be a resolution tonight to set a public
hearing on that proposed local law.
Supervisor Morey
– Yes, and also proposal to set a public hearing for the senior tax exemption.
Town Board Minutes Page 18 January 14, 2003
Attorney Casullo
– Is the text of that local law, is that what you want?
Supervisor Morey
– No, I want some additional minimum salary.
Attorney Casullo
– So, we have to try to get that on your desk ten days before hand?
Supervisor Morey
– They’re going to have it on their desks much sooner than that.
Attorney Casullo
– I was thinking technically….. what I’m concerned about is that if you pass
another resolution tonight for the purpose of adopting another local law changing the senior
citizens tax exemption the text of which will be on their desks well prior to the public hearing, is
that correct? Okay.
Supervisor Morey
– Then in March we’ll go forward with the dog law.
Attorney Casullo
– So, you’ll set the public hearings up for like quarter of eight or eight
o’clock?
Supervisor Morey
– The boundary line is just a clarification. The local law, there will be
discussion. We’ve already done this once before and it got buried. Any other questions for
Fran?
Going on to Town Court, we have John Norman tonight and he’s our second Town Justice and
that doesn’t mean that you’re second in line, it just means you’re junior judge. Congratulations
on your successful election and also for your completion of your school.
Justice Norman
– Thank you. I missed two questions and was very disappointed. The school
was very good. They through a lot at you and one judge did stand up and say you’re not going to
digest 10% of what we’re doing here. He said my only advise to you is to become a student of
the law. Don’t try to learn the law because the law is always changing. But so far everything
has been going well. Peg’s been a great help. Alton’s been a help. We had quite a lengthy trial
here last night. I made a mistake or two, I’m sure and there were a couple that were brought up
to me after the trial. You live and you learn, you know. But everything is going very well and I
am very happy with it. Any questions?
Supervisor Morey
– I always leave a space for you to come talk any time you want to. It’s
always in the same exact spot. You’re free to come, or you don’t have to or not. We usually get
the record from Peg so we know what’s been going on.
Justice Norman
– Everyone has been very friendly, very helpful. Peg is helping me immensely.
She knows her stuff. Peg really does know her stuff.
Councilman Scheffler, as Recreation Coordinator
– Things are going real well. Marcia
th
Larsen started the 7 and we gave her a tour of the Town and what we have for facilities. She’s
working on some activities for the senior citizens housing, Center Village. We went there and
they were very interested in getting any help they can. She’s working on a winter carnival at the
thth
elementary school on the weekend of February 7 and 8. It will be like a family day with sled
riding, cross country skiing, hot dogs. She seems to be quite a self-starter and hit the ground
running, so things are looking better.
Town Board Minutes Page 19 January 14, 2003
Supervisor Morey
– Did we get a pyrotechnics person?
Councilman Scheffler
– I’ve got to make some calls. We thought about having some fireworks
that weekend. We don’t have a clue what it’s going to cost yet, so it’s just an idea.
Councilman Randall
– I got a call yesterday too, about, and I don’t know if they got to you, but
they’re inquiring about starting a peewee wrestling program and were inquiring about insurance.
I didn’t know what to tell them, so, whether they can fall under the same parameters of the
peewee football or what, so.
Supervisor Morey
– What happens is the liability insurance that these clubs can’t get to. So
what they do is the go in under the umbrella policy of the Town and Village. What they do do
though is they get their own accidental insurance and they have specific insurance companies
that deal with peewee football, peewee wrestling, hockey, baseball. It’s pretty expensive, I mean
it’s not that expensive, but it’s a very good coverage that they have specifics. Dempsey does sell
one, but there are nation league, associations for kids who sell their own insurance also.
Councilman Scheffler
– As long as they have their own accident, they can be covered under our
recreation liability and they should get with Marcia Larsen at the school.
Councilman Randall
– Actually I told them to call Sheri Shurtleff, she might know, because I
said you guys start there because it is at the school, but I didn’t honestly know. I said to call you.
Councilman Scheffler
– She’ll refer her to Marcia and she’ll take care of it.
Supervisor Morey
– The risk in accidental insurance has to do with the sport, number one.
Number two how many kids are participating. It’s not that expensive.
Councilman Scheffler
– But to answer your question, yeah, it can be done.
Supervisor Morey
– We have a special guest tonight, Nathan Winograd, from the SPCA, to
come and talk about what services he provides. Nathan comes from the West coast and is
enjoying his firs beautiful winter.
Nathan Winograd handed out a list of services that the SPCA provides, which included the costs
to the SPCA and the costs to the Town of Groton.
Mr. Winograd
– I’m actually mostly here to answer any questions related to the services the
SPCA provides to the Town of Groton. I did want to make a few brief comments. I met, I
believe it was December, with the Clerk and the Supervisor and a member of the Board, here to
discuss the provision of dog license tickets and worked out the new system so that we can get the
tickets delivered in a timely fashion instead of ongoing for a couple of months. And that is set to
th
start on the 25 of this month now that the new tickets are in. I think that will resolve some of
the concerns of the Clerk in terms of a timely delivery of dog license tickets.
From my point of view, I think the SPCA had a very good year. We’ve grown a lot. I think
there has been some growing pains and I am very hopeful that the new system that we have
worked out with the Clerk and the Supervisor will relieve some of that. I just want to share a
little bit with you folks my philosophy in terms of the SPCA. In the past the SPCA has taken in
stray dogs and stray cats and owner-surrendered dogs and owner surrendered cats, tried to find
homes for some of those animals and killed the rest. But there was never enough, in my view,
Town Board Minutes Page 20 January 14, 2003
enough emphasis place on abating the problem, so we were always in reactive mode. Last year
we spent $25,000 to provide free spaying/ neuter for Tompkins County residents in the hopes
that if we start altering some of these animals we’d start seeing a reduction in the number of stray
dogs and the number of stray cats and some of the problems that result between neighbors when
the people can’t afford to take care of all the litters and puppies. It’s tough to say what the
impact is. You really have to look at it over a couple of years, but I’m pretty hopeful. This last
year we saw a pretty marked decline for the first time in the last ten years at the SPCA. We only
took in about 2,500 animals this year opposed to the 3,000 that has been pretty much the
standard for the last 10 years. We are facing some budgetary issues with the County but since
spay/neuter is something that’s funded by our members our intent is to spend another $25,000
this year, again, to provide free spay/neuter for low income Tompkins County residents. We did
do that for the Town of Groton last year to the tune of about $1,200 and will continue to do that.
We’re also fortunate enough to live in a community where the SPCA does enjoy broad public
support. Once again for the second year in our hundred year history we didn’t kill any healthy
dogs or cats and actually extended that to include sick and injured, but treatable animals. I’ve
just put some facts and figures together in terms of what I think the town is getting for it’s stray
dog contract. I’m happy to provide it. I think the partnership is a good one. I think it’s good for
the dogs and cats of Groton and I also think it’s good for the people. I’m very hopeful that with
the new system to enforce dog licensing some of the growing pains that we had because we’ve
taken on quite a bit over the last two years, should be alleviated and we should be able to get the
dogs licensed and resolve some of these neighborhood disputes that seem to center around dogs
and cats. The only number that kind of caught me by surprise was the number of tickets issued
in Groton. It’s almost 30% of all the tickets issued come from Groton and I don’t know why that
is.
Clerk Scheffler
– Is that only this year.
Mr. Winograd
– In 2002.
Clerk Scheffler
– It’s because of the enumeration. We’ve done about half of the Town. The
first week there was, like 41 tickets, or something.
Mr. Winograd
– Oh, then that’s it. I couldn’t quite figure out why Groton was getting so many
tickets, but you did do an enumeration and it was because there were a lot of dogs that weren’t
licensed.
Clerk Scheffler
– Right, and we just gave them two weeks and then we wrote a ticket, and there
were a lot of tickets written initially, until the word got around. We still have about half of it to
do.
Mr. Winograd
– And now the State allows you to tack on an extra $5.00 and that should help
people get the message a lot quicker. I’m hopeful as we ticket more quickly that people will
learn the lesson and we should see less and less.
Clerk Scheffler
– Yes, and they will know that if they don’t license them after they get a ticket,
then they are going to get another ticket next month. After they get six months worth of tickets
they should get the dog licensed!
Judge Norman
– Can I ask a question? How do they know if a dog has died? I mean do we just
take their word for it that the dog is dead so that’s why they haven’t licensed it?
Town Board Minutes Page 21 January 14, 2003
Clerk Scheffler
– We generally take their word for it if they call up and report that it’s dead. I’m
sure there are some that aren’t. I’m 99% sure there are some that are still there.
Judge Norman
– It’s kind of hard to get a death certificate for a dog.
Clerk Scheffler
– If they are euthanized they usually have something from the vet, but generally
we take their word for it. A lot of people just call us up and say, oh, I got this reminder notice
and my dog died months ago, and we take their word for it.
Mr. Winograd
– We haven’t been in a situation where somebody said their dog has died and
then it ended up at the SPCA.
Clerk Scheffler
– Oh, we’ve had some reincarnated, especially with the enumeration.
Mr. Winograd
– I haven’t seen that in the two years that I’ve been here.
Supervisor Morey
– Do you know anything about the rumor about licensing cats?
Clerk Scheffler
– It’s coming before the Legislature again this year.
Mr. Winograd
– The State Legislature? I would be absolutely shocked. I’ve never seen it work
and it’s extremely expensive. If you look at in a given year we redeem about 35% of the dogs
that come through, not because they are licensed, but because dogs are valued differently, and I
think our redemption rate for cats in 2002 was 4%. There are just a lot of free-roaming un-
owned cats. I think licensing is just going to cause a lot of municipalities to spend a lot of
money and it is not going to pan out the way dog licensing has.
Clerk Scheffler
– I think it would be very difficult, especially in a farming community.
Mr. Winograd
– Personally, I think it’s a bad idea. When I was in California it went through
the Legislature every year and every year it failed. I know the last couple of years in New York
they tried to either license them or have cat control and every year it fails. So, my best guess is
that it will fail again.
Councilman Randall
– What are the income guidelines for the, I don’t think a lot of people
know about the free or low cost spay or neutering program. Do you advise it?
Mr. Winograd
– Well, it’s on our website. It’s on the radio every time we have a free clinic.
nd
We have on coming up on February 2 and it’s on the radio and been in the Ithaca Journal. And
every time we do a clinic I send announcements to the Department of Social Services and they
provide them to people who are on public assistance. So, it’s in the newspaper, it’s on the local
cable news, it’s on the radio, it’s on the website, and it’s sent out to Social Services. And when
the animals come through our shelter that are unaltered, we try very hard to get them to
participate in the program at the shelter.
Clerk Scheffler
– Do you just have a clinic at certain times?
Mr. Winograd
– We a year-around program. We do clinics for cats four times a year and then
we have a year-around program for dogs and cats. I think it costs $15.00 to participate.
Clerk Scheffler
– Do you have a pamphlet on that or anything? Could we have some?
Town Board Minutes Page 22 January 14, 2003
Mr. Winograd
– Yes. It’s also cheaper to license the dog. We try to push that angle too. The
free program is actually for cats because we saw something like 800 dogs this year and around
2100 cats. Our big problem is with cats as we’re seeing about three times as many cats. A lot of
our resources are going into cats but for dogs I think it’s either $15 or $20 to get your dog spayed
or neutered. I think you pay less if it’s spayed or neutered for the licensing fee.
Clerk Scheffler
– Yes, $8.00 difference for our licenses.
Mr. Winograd
– So, it’s a huge cost saving and you don’t have to deal with the puppies every
year. I can certainly make the pamphlets available here.
Some more discussion took place on the subject. Councilman Randall suggested that
information on the programs be provided at the local food give-away also and Mr. Winograd said
that he would make sure that we had some literature available to us.
Supervisor Morey
– Discussion of dog ordinance. April. We’re going to set this hearing for
March and what we’re going to do is bring the ordinance and the Town law up to code with the
State law.
Clerk Scheffler
– It was suggested that we do away with one of them. Do you want to do that? I
believe why they had separate was because and ordinance is easier to change and that’s where
they had the fees.
Supervisor Morey
– Okay. I brought up that during the Organizational Meeting we could just
change the fees.
Clerk Scheffler
– I don’t know. Not if you make it part of the law.
Councilman Sovocool
– We used to do that, just change the fees.
Supervisor Morey
– Will you talk to Jim or Fran about that? What are the two issues?
Clerk Scheffler
– The State has changed the minimum age from six months to four months that
they have to be licensed. Both the dog ordinance and the law say six months, so we have to
change that so it corresponds with State law even though the State law supercedes it. We have it
in those little pamphlets that we hand out to people when they get licenses, so it should say the
correct thing. And they’ve also passed a new law that the Towns can charge an extra $5.00 for
any dog that is picked up during an enumeration and the Town can keep that fee. I don’t know if
you want to add that in too, or not.
Supervisor Morey
– Yes, let’s do it all at once. March is okay for you, right?
Clerk Scheffler
– Yes.
Councilman Randall
– So, they’re actually spaying and neutering them at four months now?
Clerk Scheffler
– They are doing it very young.
Others mentioned that the rabies shots had to be done by that age too.
Town Board Minutes Page 23 January 14, 2003
Supervisor Morey
– Last month the County came up with a grant for community celebration.
Tyke wanted me to bring this up for discussion. The application that I received, I took it over to
Bob Walpole for the motorcycle weekend. I think everybody else was notified for festival days.
I couldn’t think of anything else that I could give to. Tyke, you got anything?
Councilman Randall
– The only thought that came to my head was to try to do a business fair
in the Town, I don’t know when, you know, even maybe during, well, you can’t really do it
during Old Home Days here because it’s used, but that kind of brought all the businesses in the
Town and Village together and promoted them by getting people here somehow with door prizes
and those kinds of things. But it would take a lot of work to get them here, I think. How would
you feel about it as a small business owner, would be interested in doing something like that, or
what would you like to see?
Councilman Scheffler
– I’m just getting over the last time they promoted me.
Councilman Randall
– That’s the first thing that popped into my head. There’s money
available and the way Glenn explained it is that it wouldn’t be taking away from Walpole either.
I didn’t want to. He come before us with that and that would help him out a lot.
Supervisor Morey
– Tyke, this is offered to the whole County. You have to put applications in.
You have to name exactly what you’re going to be using it for. There’s a long process and the
grants aren’t that much money. It would cover something like an expense for advertising or
something like that. So, they’re going to be in a range of $500 –1,000 unless some kind of
circumstance and they can give more money. I’m sure that throughout the County there will be a
lot of people, because there’s an awful lot of things going on, that will be applying. You know, I
think it would be a great idea if you had a business fair, but I think since we do have a GBA here
that Jerry Miller should be contacted. I think you’d get a good response from Jerry because just
by walking down the street he got four new members.
Councilman Randall
– Well, it could be used to recruit. They’ve never recruited outside the
Village very much, ever, so it might be a good tool for them to actually make it a true Groton
Business Association that’s represented by everybody, so.
Supervisor Morey
– Right now they’ve been wrestling with inviting people to a Christmas party
or something like that, a get-together and having people come over free and invite everybody in
the Town businesses just to get them in, just to see what kind of program they do run.
Some more discussion was held on the subject. Councilman Randall thought that he would
speak with Jerry Miller. A letter of recommendation would be requested from the Town.
Supervisor Morey
– Discussion of United Way volunteers. I need some help. I need some
names to give as United Way volunteers or we’re going to be loosing some money from the
United Way in the Town and Village of Groton. So, we need a diversified group for the Town
and Village. McLean has a very active group over there, in the McLean community, so they’re
all set. But you know, we’ve got the baseball here, we’ve got the sports that get money, the Boy
Scouts get money, the Girl Scouts get money and the kind of program they do run.
Some more discussion was held on the subject. Councilman Randall thought that he would
speak with Jerry Miller. A letter of recommendation would be requested from the Town.
Supervisor Morey
– Discussion of United Way volunteers. I need some help. I need some
names to give as United Way volunteers or we’re going to be loosing some money from the
United Way in the Town and Village of Groton. So, we need a diversified group for the Town
Town Board Minutes Page 24 January 14, 2003
and Village. McLean has a very active group over there, in the McLean community, so they’re
all set. But you know, we’ve got the baseball here, we’ve got the sports that get money, the Boy
Scouts get money, the Girl Scouts get money and the Youth Commission gets money.
Councilman Randall
– So what do the volunteers, what’s their roll going to be?
Supervisor Morey
– Basically two meetings a year, isn’t that…..?
Councilman Scheffler
– They said one or two meetings and two people. We need two people.
And basically make recommendations. They claim it’s only one or two days a year. Make
recommendations where the money goes and how much. But it can’t be someone who’s getting
money.
Supervisor Morey
– Someone who’s influential on the boards who are getting money.
Councilman Scheffler
– Yeah, you can’t be receiving money, like a Little League coach.
Supervisor Morey
– No, a Little League coach could do it. They can’t be an officer of the
League. They can’t be the Scout Leaders. They can’t be the commissioner for Youth
Commission.
Councilman Randall
– I would be interested in doing that.
Councilman Scheffler
– Elected officials can’t either. It’s got to be public.
Several names of people were mentioned as having served before and Super Morey asked again
for the Board to think of some new names.
Councilman Clark
– I’m thinkin’, I’m thinkin’.
Supervisor Morey
– Okay, thank you.
RESOLUTION #15 – SET PUBLIC HEARING FOR CHANGE TO CODE
MOVED
, by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED
, that the Town Board does hereby set a Public Hearing for Tuesday, February 11,
2003, at 8:00 PM, for the purpose of reviewing a local law that will change that portion of the
Town of Groton Land Use & Development Code that pertains to Boundary Changes.
Supervisor Morey
– Discussion on Hazard Mitigation Plan. I know I talked to everybody here
on the Board about this. Basically, last month we discussed this and didn’t have much time to
think about it. They wanted $3,000 from us to participate in a County-wide Hazard Mitigation
Plan. And after not think about it, not being pressured into making a decision quickly, we
decided to not participate. But after thinking about it, we discussed the Emergency Preparedness
Plan and the difference between the Hazard Mitigation Plan versus the Emergency Preparedness
Plan. Well, basically, the Emergency Preparedness Plan is action taken by the Town government
Town Board Minutes Page 25 January 14, 2003
after a disaster happens. What the Hazard Mitigation Plan is, is planning before a disaster
happens, such as water dams, stream mitigation, road mitigation, flooding, things like that. If we
had a project that we had to do for hazard mitigation we would have to have a mitigation plan
first, before we could do it. It would cost the Town $60,000 and up to have this process just for
the plan itself. However, we have the opportunity to spend $3,000, participate with eight
municipalities and the County taking the lead on this and also having input on every single thing
that goes on. I think it’s a great deal and I think we should take it upon ourselves, even though
we don’t have a planned project in mind right now, I think it would save us an awful lot of time,
money, and expertise in the long-haul. Tyke, you want to talk a little bit about it?
Councilman Randall
– I disagree a little bit about being reactive as far as the Emergency Plan
because I really kind of, what I’m working on is not just a reactive plan either, so. I tried to plan
some things out prior because we have a history, so. There is a difference between this kind of
plan and what they’re talking about, for sure, because it’s more specific to multi-jurisdictions, I
believe, so, which, in most cases when we have any kind of disaster that needs mitigation or you
know, it’s multi-jurisdictional. It never falls just in Groton or whatever so there’s got to be
cooperation and I think that’s what they’re idea is behind this is to kind of solidify the County
and all the townships in the County towards a unified plan and a system of dealing with disasters.
So, from that standpoint, it’s not a bad idea as far as mutual cooperation and stuff because it’s I
think now it’s most of it’s a verbal commitment here and there between townships and it’s not, I
don’t think there’s any one place where it’s in act right now, so I think they’re trying to unify all
that. That’s what they’re doing.
Supervisor Morey
– Well, Dryden’s got one. They had to do it for……..
Councilman Randall
– Yeah, Matt Shullman worked on that, didn’t he. From that standpoint, I
mean, to me it’s a good thing to try to pull it all together so everybody’s on the same page when
something like that happens rather than everybody treating like there own separate entity because
that’s really not the way most disasters happen, so.
Councilman Sovocool
– I would probably change my mind and go along with it.
Councilman Scheffler
– What I read in it was something about FEMA funds or something that
we wouldn’t qualify for if we didn’t do it. That kind of makes a difference.
Councilman Clark
– I just, getting involved with the County is not good business.
Supervisor Morey
– I realized that but the thing is they’re paying the bill, that’s the only thing
here. You know, we have a big participation; we have to go to meetings in Ithaca about this. So,
it’s not signing on the dotted line and walking away.
Councilman Clark
– I was totally against it, but I’ll cave.
Councilman Scheffler
– Well, I think things have changed a little since last month, you know,
the information we got about it.
Councilman Randall
– Every one of the towns will have a voice in this?
nd
Supervisor Morey
– Yes. The first meeting is like the 22 of January at 4 o’clock at the Town
Hall.
Town Board Minutes Page 26 January 14, 2003
Councilman Randall
– And is the supervisor going to do it?
Supervisor Morey
- If no one else on the Board wants to.
Councilman Randall
– I’d be glad to do it, because it’s certainly part of…..
Supervisor Morey
– I will get you the date.
RESOLUTION #16 – PARTICIPATE IN HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN
MOVED,
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Randall
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED
, that the Town Board does hereby wish to participate in the Tompkins County
Hazard Mitigation Plan with the other representatives of the eight townships with in the County
for an expense to the Town of Groton of $3,000.
RESOLUTION #17 – PUBLIC HEARING FOR SENIOR TAX EXEMPTIONS
MOVED
, by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED
, that the Town Board does hereby set a Public Hearing for Tuesday, February 11,
2003, at 8:15 PM, at the Town Hall for the purpose of reviewing a local law which would set
new income guidelines for eligibility of senior citizen tax exemptions for real property taxes.
Supervisor Morey
– Discussion of emergency generator. I was going to invite you all to the
meeting this morning at 6:30 AM. Everybody has an estimate that Dennis Toolan came up with.
Basically to do this is $21,048. What this is will be supplying a natural gas, 100 kilowatt
generator. This basically, would put out 349 amps. If you look at this building, it will take about
100 amps. Each fuse in your fuse box at home is a 15 amp system which will run the lights in
your living room or something like that. So, our estimate for this building with the heat and the
phones and the lighting would take somewhere around 100 amps. We wouldn’t be running all
the lights, but we would be running most of them. We would survive with a command center
here in the Town Hall as well as maybe put people up if we had to in a certain emergency. The
price is $21,048. The cost of the generator is $7,000 and it will use natural gas. And the reason
that it’s natural gas is because it’s going to be housed in a storage building over next to the
pumps across the street. The reason why it’s natural gas is because if there is any spill of diesel
fuel or anything like that during an earthquake or whatever, it would go right into the creek, and
with natural gas it will always pure and you’d be able to run it at all times. This generator is
continuous duty, which means it can run for weeks at a time without burning out. Quickly, this
morning, we made some quick comparisons. We called Sherry Shurtleff this morning and tried
to find out what their natural gas generator, which is located at the elementary school, I was told.
The generator itself is about $25,000. Dennis said that if we did this building itself it would have
to be somewhere around a 50 kilowatt generator and I made some quick calls today and I got a
60 kilowatt generator at $15,283. So, the $7,000 is pretty good. I also talked to Liz and asked
Town Board Minutes Page 27 January 14, 2003
her where the funds where going to be coming and of course we have funds in the building fund,
but it will be tight for the rest of the year. There’s a situation where we can talk about
emergency preparedness and hazard mitigation programs and stuff like that, but if you don’t
have building here to activate these plans and policies, we might as well not have the policy
written on the paper it’s written on. So, what I’m looking for right now is somewhere up to
$8,000 to go and talk to the Village Board next Monday and try to influence them that we can’t
pay for all of it, we don’t want to pay for half of it, but since there are three buildings on here
with relatively the same electricity use, is that we should put third it at least and end up with
paying only $7,000. We were discussing it before at only $6,500 but, you know, $7,000, which
they will maintain it, they will start it up every month, they will take care of the natural gas bill
so we don’t have to put it through our….. So, I think it would be worth $7,000. Now, as we
were talking also, I found out that they all ready have the generator stored in the Quonset hut.
So, they are just looking for a partnership or Intermunicipal cooperation. We can go out and do
it ourselves but it will cost us a lot more money. I mean, $15,000 would just be for the
generator. We wouldn’t have to natural gas, we could have diesel but a good quality, continuous
duty and when you think of the ice storm in the North County, the wind storm in Syracuse,
Richford which has been out for the last week for electricity, we’re not talking when something
happens it’s not an hour or two or three hours or a day, it’s more like weeks at a time, so you’ve
got to buy quality stuff. So, what do you guys think?
Councilman Scheffler
– So this will light Conger Boulevard and………?
Supervisor Morey
– No, will run one pump, it will run this building and the DPW next door.
The Morton Springs, which is the pumping station up on Clark Street that will be run by a
portable generator. The Villages will be run by a portable generator and they have two more that
they can bring to different places. If something went down, the only other places they have in
town are the elementary school and the nursing home, that’s it. The senior citizen’s is not run,
Schoolhouse Gardens is not run, and I don’t believe anybody in the Village business district has
any.
Councilman Clark
– What about the waste treatment plant?
Supervisor Morey
– It’s all gravity fed. That could maintain itself right then or be taken for the
portable generator. If the electricity goes off we don’t care about the one or two hours, it’s the
three, four and five hours that we’re going to be concerned. This will not have automatic
switches. It would basically have to go over there and turn on a switch, come over here and turn
on a switch, which is just a pull switch on a box.
Councilman Scheffler
– So, they’re not going to feed the main lines, because Dennis talked
about that. Then you’d have streetlights the whole length. You’re just going to feed the
buildings.
Councilman Randall
– You were talking about the PTO ones and I did a little research and
they’re not, I guess a lot of them burn out because they’re not continuous use.
Supervisor Morey
– What you’ve got to learn is there is copper wirings and aluminum wirings
and most of the activated tractor ones like the farmers use are usual the aluminum wiring ones
and they don’t last.
Town Board Minutes Page 28 January 14, 2003
Councilman Scheffler
– You have to buy a quality one and it has to be continuous duty. Also,
you can’t overload it, same with this one. The farmers overload. If you overload this, it will
burn up too.
Supervisor Morey
- The 60 kilowatt that I looked up the description on exactly what it was deal
with 3-phrase and single-phase and how many 120 vac outputs and all this other stuff, it was
probably 500 words, because they deal with that type of thing. And that’s the type of thing that
you’d have to do to do a building.
Councilman Randall
– They’re not going to go with the $7,000 though, are they? Actually, I
ran into Toolan this morning at the diner afterwards. I don’t see them doing that. And I guess
the one thing I would look at, long term, would be that the Village Electric, you know, they’re
set up to handle this thing so they’re going to invest more time that way than we will because
we’re not set up to deal with the electrical end of it. So, I think we should look at not only the
short-term dollar value but the long term gain and how much we’re going to put into that, I
guess.
Councilman Clark
– Having their expertise?
Councilman Randall
– Yeah. I think you should consider that.
Councilman Clark
– That’s what I was thinking too.
Councilman Randall
– And the other thing is, I don’t know, I talked to Toolan about the
wattage and all that and he’s making this recommendation and if it don’t work it’s his problem, I
guess, in some ways. So, I guess I’m saying he’s certainly got a vested interest personally, too,
to make this thing happen, make it work right, if he plans on staying in Groton for very long, I
guess.
Supervisor Morey
– Give me some kind of idea what we’re going to do.
Councilman Sovocool
– I’d see if they’d buy the $8,000. I think maybe they would.
Councilman Clark
- I do to.
Councilman Scheffler
– They’re going to benefit more than the Town I think, too. Yeah, I’d go
with the $8,000. I think it’s a good idea. We should not make an enemy and drive them away.
I’d say go for it.
Councilman Randall
– This doesn’t fall under procurement at all, I mean, that kind of thing?
Supervisor Morey
– No.
Councilman Randall
– Okay, I honestly didn’t know the answer, so. It’s not like equipment?
Supervisor Morey
– No, we’re paying a municipality. You know, we really wouldn’t own it,
it’s our share in the cost.
Councilman Randall
– Well, it would be great if we could get it for $8,000, but what happens if
they don’t go for it? How far are we going to go, half of it?
Town Board Minutes Page 29 January 14, 2003
Supervisor Morey
– Remember, Dennis Toolan is only one out of…..
Councilman Randall
– I know that. I’m just looking at being the Devil’s Advocate, I guess.
Councilman Scheffler
– I think it’s a big advantage to have this building powered in an
emergency, this one and the Village building next door, because you can fuel school buses, you
can fuel fire trucks, you can do whatever you need to do, snowplows. Instead of the guys hand
pumping fuel to fill buses to transport people, they can fill them with an electric pump and take
care of what they need to be doing.
Councilman Clark
– Take care of their support teams as far as food and sleep and stuff.
Councilman Randall
– You’ve got to set up an emergency operation center and this is an ideal
place but we have to have the resources here, the power to do that, so.
Councilman Scheffler
– Another question that just came to me, is this going to be steady
enough to run the computers?
Supervisor Morey
– Oh, yeah, this is a big one, it’s good. In fact, the first time they put the
Village Hall up on the portable generators it blew out all the computers because of the surges.
But this would be a situation that if it does go down we’d have to have a procedure that says that
the computers would be taken down and………
Councilman Scheffler
– I’m just saying is it going to be a steady enough power source when
it’s on?
Supervisor Morey
– I believe so. I’ve been in places with automatic switches and when the
power goes on you don’t even know it. I don’t think it’s going to be a situation, it could be down
for an hour and then warn everybody that it’s going to be on and as soon as it goes on and we
have the spike, then we can turn the computers on.
Councilman Scheffler
– As long as it’s something we can get going in an hour or two hours.
Councilman Randall
– I think it’s a V-8 engine, isn’t it?
Supervisor Morey
– Oh, yeah, it’s a 454 Chevy engine.
Some more discussion took place on the subject including the possibility that the generator could
be changed over to propane if needed.
Clerk Scheffler explained a request from the New York State Town Clerks Association asking
that the Town Boards pass a resolution in support of increasing the fees retained by
municipalities for issuing hunting and fishing licenses under the DECALS program.
Town Board Minutes Page 30 January 14, 2003
RESOLUTION #18 – REQUEST THAT STATE INCREASE FEES RETAINED BY
MUNICIPALITIES FOR ISSUING HUNTING AND FISHING LICENSES
MOVED
by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Randall
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey
WHEREAS,
the issuance of hunting and fishing licenses/stamps by local governments is a
valuable and necessary service to the state; and
WHEREAS,
Town Clerks must be aware of and carefully follow the mandates of the
Environmental Conservation Law and the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation in connection with the issuance of licenses and/or stamps; and
WHEREAS,
Towns face considerable liability for any failure to properly issue and record such
licenses, for failure to properly file the required reports, and for failure to comply with all other
requirements of the new legislation; and
WHEREAS,
Towns must maintain a separate telephone line, equipment and space as a
condition of participation in the DECALS program; and
WHEREAS,
the state only pays for the installation of such required additional telephone lines,
but not for the added monthly cost of maintaining such line; and
WHEREAS,
Towns participating in the DECALS program must now also issue free Deer
Management Permits, for which no percentage or fee is returned to the Town at all; and
WHEREAS,
Towns currently receive no more than 5.5% of the fee for issuance of resident
licenses and 1/1% for issuing non-resident licenses in compliance with the law and all procedural
requirements; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT REOLVED,
that the Town Board of the Town of Groton,
County of Tompkins, State of New York urges the Legislature of the State of New York pass,
and the Governor sign into law, legislation to increase compensation to local governments
representing the State with those citizens purchasing licenses under the DECALS program by:
1.Increasing the percentage retained for license issuance from 5.5% to 15% (for resident
licenses) and from 1.1% to 3.0% (for non-resident licenses), such increase to help defer
the cost of the monthly telephone line service charge incurred by the Towns.
2.Paying a percentage on combination licenses and permits issued
3.Paying $1.00 to the municipality for each deer management permit issued for free by the
Towns.
4.Establishing a 10% commission reimbursement to the Towns to cover the loss of revenue
directly resulting from the DECALS issuance of sporting licenses to Town residents.
5.Establishing an ombudsman and information agency or office within NYS Department of
Environmental Conservation as a resource for residents to go to with questions or
problems relating to DECALS-issued licenses.
Town Board Minutes Page 31 January 14, 2003
Announcements:
Association of Towns Convention in NYC, February 16-19. No one from Town is going.
th
Better Housing of Tompkins County annual dinner, January 25, 6PM, Celebrations,
2133 Slaterville Road. Duane Randall receiving award on John Anderson solution.
th
Groton Fire Department Dinner and Induction of Officers, January 18, 6PM
st
Municipal Officials dinner, January 21, Lehigh Valley House, 6PM
Notice of Village of Groton zoning law changes.
Thank you note from Arland Heffron Family
New pictures of Arland Heffron and Colleen Pierson have been added to front hall.
There being no further business, Councilman Sovocool moved to adjourn, seconded by
Councilman Scheffler, at 9:22 PM. Unanimous.
April L. Scheffler
Town Clerk