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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-05-10TOWN OF GROTON — MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, MAY 109 2016 AT 7:30 PM PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #1 FOR THE YEAR 2016 AT 8:00 PM THE TOWN HALL, 101 CONGER BOULEVARD Those present: Donald F. Scheffler, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilperson Kelly Smith, Councilperson Randy N. Jackson, Councilperson Sheldon C. Clark, Councilperson Victoria Monty, Attorney for the Town Also present: Jamie Babcock, Barry Goodrich, Glenn Morey, Sue Haesche & sons, Ed Bugliosi, Rick Fritz, Charles Rankin, April Scheffler. MOVED by Councilperson Sovocool, seconded by Councilperson Smith, to approve the minutes of the April 12, 2016 meeting as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler. Vouchers for the General Fund in the amount of $101,193.36 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilperson Sovocool, seconded by Councilperson Smith, to approve the General Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler. Vouchers for the Highway Fund in the amount of $49,545.03 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilperson Smith, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool, to approve the Highway Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler. Vouchers for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Fund in the amount of $3,642.75 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilperson Clark, seconded by Councilperson Jackson, to approve the CDBG Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Monthly Reports: Charles Rankin, Bookkeeper - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review and requested a budget transfer. He also requested a budget adjustment to reflect additional funding that the State had allotted for the CHIPS funding. Starting this week, direct deposits for paychecks will be done differently and will all be done electronically and can be deposited in any bank. Town Board Minutes Page 2 RESOLUTION #16-042 - 2016 BUDGET TRANSFER MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2016 Budget Transfer: General Fund, Town Wide: From: Contingency, A1990.4 .................................. $3,160.00 To: Employee Benefits, Unemployment, A9050.8 .......3,160.00 Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #16-043 - 2016 BUDGET ADJUSTMENT MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool May 10, 2016 RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2016 Budget Adjustment: Highway - Part Town: Increase Revenues, DB3501........................$29,294.00 Increase Expenditures, CHIPS, DB5112.2......... 29,294.00 Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Richard C. Case, Jr., Highway Superintendent - Was not present. April L. Scheffler, RMC, Town Clerk/Tax Collector - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review and had nothing else to report. W. Rick Fritz, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. The building department is off and running with the new 2015 New York adopted ICC Codes. We want to put an ad in the Shopper to let our residents know that the building codes have changed and if there are any questions I'll be there to help them. We're into the complaint season and there is a list that you have. We have some letters out to people who are in violation. Supervisor Scheffler - We do have an addition to the agenda. You brought it to our attention that there have been some map amendments for flood zones and we need to accept them into the record. Copies of them have been given to the Board. RESOLUTION #16-044 - ACCEPT LETTERS OF MAP AMENDMENT FROM FEMA MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Jackson RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby accepts the Letters of Map Amendment from the Federal Emergency Management Agency regarding 28 Cemetery Lane, 107 Cemetery Lane, 470 Lafayette Road, and 2 Stevens Road. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Town Board Minutes Page 3 May 10, 2016 Victoria Monty, Attorney for the Town - Had nothing to report. John J. Norman and A. D. Dawson, Town Justices - Were not present but had submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. Councilperson Kelly Smith as Representative to Joint Youth Program - The SUNY Cortland students gave a presentation on their needs assessment and I emailed the Power Point to all of you. One of the interesting things that came out of it was when they asked the students what they really wanted in the Village and Town, they said Dunkin' Donuts was their number one choice. An ice skating rink was also high in their choices but a youth center was low in their choices. The spring programs are going well with baseball and softball numbers quite high this year. Youth track has started. The GBA spring community event is this weekend and we're sponsoring the Shred It truck if anyone has anything they want shredded. The summer program book should be out by now so she'll be getting you a PDF for the website. The stage is pretty much complete. They put a canvas canopy on it and we're going to try to get some recreation logo banners to put on it. The tentative pool opening is June 22nd but we're still short of lifeguards. They extended the period to get lifeguards and she's had 10 applicants. She needs 5 lifeguards to open and do swim lessons. Chuck might have an update on that. Charles Rankin - Basically, from what we gather this is a regional thing; everybody is hurting for lifeguards. I don't know if it's the cost of the training or what. As elected officials, you give us about a quarter of the money to run the pool every year, you should know that there's a very distinct possibility that based on the number of guards we may have to have reduced hours. Maybe toward the end we'll get an influx. We did have one kid come in yesterday and file an application. We have to have at least four; I don't think the Health Department would let us go with any less than four at a time and that's with not having anybody on the slide or in the kiddie pool. We will be open at least limited hours. Glenn Morey - Asked if there was a scholarship program. Mr. Rankin - We had a scholarship one year and only one kid took advantage of that. But we do have a person who may be able to teach a course right before the pool opens. That's another avenue so if we get some more kids without the qualifications we might be able to train them on the fly. We may have more information for you next month and will keep you posted. Councilperson Clark - Asked if the applicant has to pay for the training themselves and how much it cost. Mr. Rankin - Said it was around $300 or more initially and then a refresher every year. Glenn Morey, County Legislator - Had nothing to report. Councilperson Clark - Said that the work on the Groton City Bridge was going well and looked good and that the crew had done a very good job. Privilege of the Floor: Jamie Babcock, Fire Chief - My ankle's broke so day-to-day operations, Lance Coit, Deputy Fire Chief, is doing all fire and ambulance operations and I'll be doing the paperwork, bookwork and all that stuff. Just so the Board knows, so if there are any incidents or anything on a fire scene and you guys get a complaint or whatever, give Lance a call and he'll try to deal with whatever comes up. We have one new member this month and now we're up to ten new members in the last three months. They have jumped in and training has been going great. With the calls coming in for the fire side, we have 15 - 20 people coming down and sometimes have too many to put on trucks. So, that's a good thing. The open house and BBQ in April went real well. The Fire Department, three years ago, was approached by the agency that supplies us with the heart monitors. We have been doing business with Physio for the last 20 years and we've always bought out life packs from them. Three years ago they told us that in 2016, the life Town Board Minutes Page 4 May 10, 2016 packs that we had would be obsolete. The board, being frugal last year and the year before, held off money -wise, and then it was put on my plate to figure out how to do it when I came in as Chief. We were able to buy two heart monitors at $70,000.00 a piece. They are a very expensive item but if they save one life, the money is worth it. We had to adjust our budget to be able to pay for that. Also, 852 has reached the end of its life as an ambulance. We are going to be accepting the arrival of a new 852 at the end of this month and that was $150,000.00. So we'll have a new ambulance along with the new heart monitors. The members would like to invite the Town Board to our next monthly meeting. We want to show you the new equipment we have, some of the other apparatus, and stuff because there is going to be some talk in the future about replacement. We have two trucks that are over 30 years old and we're going to have to start figuring out how we're going to replace them. I'm working diligently with our Board to try to get the fire apparatus on a rotation like we do the ambulances. We need to be able get so that we get the most out of a truck when we trade it in. Right now we're holding on to them too long and not getting anything back. They're not worth what they would be if we got them on a rotation and had a plan. The next meeting is June 1 at 7:00 pm and if the Town Board comes early you can have the tour. Supervisor Scheffler - Next year is the Town's bicentennial and I'd like to appoint a committee to start planning. RESOLUTION #16-045 - APPOINT BICENTENNIAL COMMITTEE MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby appoints April Scheffler, Rosemarie Tucker, Betty Conger and Kelly Smith to the Bicentennial Planning Committee. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Announcements: ➢ Draft Horse Plow Day at Fuller Farms - Sunday, May 15 ➢ Planning Board Meeting - Thursday, May 19 at 7:30 pm ➢ Zoning Board of Appeals - Wednesday, May 25 at 7:00 pm ➢ Assessment Review Day - Thursday, May 12 from 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm ➢ GBA Spring Community Spirit Day - May 12, 13 & 14 on Main Street ➢ BOCES Car Show at 555 Warren Road - Sunday, May 15 ➢ Letter from the New York State Town Clerks Association congratulating the Town and Robin Cargian for her achieving the prestigious designation of Registered Municipal Clerk PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #1 FOR THE YEAR 2016 MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Jackson, to open the Public Hearing at 8:00 pm. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler The purpose of the Public Hearing was to present Proposed Local Law #1 for the Year 2016 entitled Licensing, Identification and Control of Dogs in the Town of Groton. The Town Clerk read the public notice, which was duly published in the Town's legal paper, the Groton Independent, on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Sue Haesche - I have a couple of questions. In section 9 it says conditions for keeping dogs. It might sound really goofy but I don't know how far to go with this but it says all premises occupied by dogs shall be kept in a clean, sanitary condition. I understand that adequate food, water, shelter, and space needs to Town Board Minutes Page S May 10, 2016 be provided but does that mean that the whole house has to be sanitary? Or, I want to understand, how sanitary is sanitary, for like their dog bed, the kitchen floor? You know what I'm saying? I mean do I have to make sure that I could invite the Health Department at any time to come and inspect my house? I'm not familiar with this. Clerk Scheffler - May I comment on that? Supervisor Scheffler - Yes. Clerk Scheffler - I think it's meant more for not your house, but you know, a lot of dogs are tied outside or in a kennel and it's meant for something like that so they're not tied out in a mud -hole or something like that. It's not how you personally keep house. Ms. Haesche - Okay, I thought, how are we going to do that? It might sound funny, but I'm probably not the only one who has questions like that. Supervisor Scheffler - That's fine. Ms. Haesche spoke about a neighbor who fosters dogs and some of her concerns about this and although they have been gentle dogs so far and are well taken care of, she wondered what she should do if it became a problem. Supervisor Scheffler told her that Country Acres Pet Services handles our dog control issues and they would be the ones to contract if there was a problem. No one else from the public wished to speak. MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool, to close the Public Hearing at 8:07 pm. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler RESOLUTION #16-046 - ADOPT LOCAL LAW #1 FOR THE YEAR 2016 MOVED by Councilperson Smith, seconded by Councilperson Jackson RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby adopts Local Law #1 for the Year 2016 entitled Licensing, Identification and Control of Dogs in the Town of Groton. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Ed Bugliosi, from USGS - Was there to answer questions about the proposed aquifer study. Supervisor Scheffler - Do you test private wells? I was reading the information, like in Slaterville, where there were ten wells tested, but you talked about two here in Groton. So, I didn't know how that worked. Mr. Bugliosi - We try to get a good geographical spread of the aquifer system and find wells in all parts of it. For instance, we just finished drilling in the Enfield aquifer study this past month and what we found was that there were three aquifer systems in the valley, so we like to try to get a water quality sample from each of those systems in different parts of the valley, which the same as we would do here in the Groton valley. So, we do include private wells if the well owner will allow us and that well has a record so we can tell where it is with the depth of the aquifer within the system that we've discerned from all the other information. We also do have a drilling program with this which the County pays for and we work with the Town to get a driller and we test those wells too. So, in the Town of Enfield it turned out that we drilled eight wells and they were all in strategic places where we could get into the aquifer systems of three systems and test those, so we didn't have to use any private wells. If we do and if there is a well that meets the criteria, we contact the homeowner and try to use that. Supervisor Scheffler - There's nothing specific that you're looking for? Town Board Minutes Page 6 May 10, 2016 Mr. Bugliosi - Where the aquifers are, the geometry of the system; is there one or several aquifer; a sense of where the water flows; where it recharges and discharges; and the quality of the system. Supervisor Scheffler - Is some of this information already available? Mr. Bugliosi - Some of the information is available with DEC but it hasn't been combined and analyzed, looked at, and interpreted. In the case of Groton, the DEC went ahead and started looking at the geometry of the aquifer, so that part of it is being done already by the DEC. So in this case, the Town would just pay for half of what we usually do in an aquifer study. Supervisor Scheffler - Is there a timeframe or limit on this or is it kind of open-ended depending on what you find? Mr. Bugliosi - Well, we designed this study to be about three years. It can be extended to more years to bring the cost down per year, if needed. Supervisor Scheffler asked if there were other grants available to help the Town with the cost and Mr. Bugliosi said that the Finger Lakes Lake Ontario Water Protection Alliance has been known to put money into some of the projects. Councilperson Clark asked what a discharge area was and Mr. Bugliosi explained that the water comes from someplace like rainfall, down through a valley system, or from the hillsides, and then it goes somewhere, either into streams, through the system and into the lake, etc. Councilperson Clark asked how agriculture comes into this and if they look at run-off and check the streams. Mr. Bugliosi said that they check the flow of the streams and measure the water, but they don't check run-off from farm operations. They do test for heavy metals and things like that. Councilperson Clark asked what the benefit would be to the Town. Mr. Bugliosi said that it would at least establish a baseline in case something happened in the future. Councilperson Jackson asked how they determined where to drill wells. Mr. Bugliosi explained that they would take currently available information and wells would be drilled where there are gaps in the information. Councilperson Smith asked if there were any other watersheds in the County that haven't been done or if we are the only one. Mr. Bugliosi said there were 17 identified and they are working on their sixth one. Councilperson Smith said that she had seen where Dryden's study found arsenic and she asked if USGS helped resolve this type of situation when one is found. Mr. Bugliosi said it would fall on the Town to remediate it, but in the case of Dryden they also found another very prolific aquifer that they will be able to use. Councilperson Smith asked if publishing of the study could be done online instead of printing books in order to save money and Mr. Bugliosi said that is the way they are doing it now and printing very few copies. Councilperson Smith asked if they had approached the Village of Groton about doing a study and Mr. Bugliosi said that they haven't because the program that has been established is between the County, the Towns and USGS, however, the Town could approach the Village and ask if they would be interested in sharing the cost. The Village would have a benefit from it since it is their water source. Supervisor Scheffler said that a farmer had told him about a big patch of woods where a lot of water runs into it and nothing seems to be running out. If this is found to be a major recharge area how does that affect the use of the land? Mr. Bugliosi said that would be up to the Town, if there is a law that protects things like that. USGS is not a regulatory agency. Supervisor Scheffler thanked Mr. Bugliosi for coming and said the board would discuss it and make a decision soon. There being no further business, Councilman Sovocool moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Smith, at 8:28 pm. Unanimous. April L. Scheffler, RMC Town Clerk