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Home My WebLink About2015-12-08TOWN OF GROTON — MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015 AT 7:30 PM THE TOWN HALL, 101 CONGER BOULEVARD Those present: Donald F. Scheffler, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilperson Kelly Smith, Councilperson Sheldon C. Clark, Councilperson Victoria Monty, Attorney for the Town Absent: Richard B. Gamel, Councilperson Also present: Glenn Morey, Rick Fritz, Julie Graham, Joe Graham, Randy Jackson, Chuck Rankin, April Scheffler. MOVED by Councilperson Smith, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool, to approve the minutes of the, November 10, 2015 meeting as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Clark, Scheffler. Vouchers for the General Fund in the amount of $26,879.05 were presented for audit. MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool, to approve the General Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Clark, Scheffler. Vouchers for the Highway Fund in the amount of $56,076.02 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilperson Clark, seconded by Councilperson Smith, to approve the Highway Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Clark, Scheffler. Vouchers for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Fund in the amount of $40,192.19 were presented for audit. MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool, to approve the CDBG Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Clark, Scheffler Monthly Reports: Charles Rankin, Bookkeeper - Arrived somewhat later. He had made requests for budget transfers. Town Board Minutes Page 2 December 8, 2015 RESOLUTION #15-075 - 2015 BUDGET TRANSFERS MOVED by Councilperson Kelly, seconded by Councilperson Clark RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2015 Budget Transfers: General Fund - Town Wide: From: Contingency Fund -A1990.4 ................................. $1,950 Engineer -Contractual -A1440.4 ............................... $1,250 To: Clerk -Contractual Expense -A1410.4.............................$250 Attorney -Miscellaneous Contractual -A1420.41...........$1,250 Personnel -Personal Services -A1430.1 ....................... $1,000 Control of Dogs -Personal Services -A3510.12 ................$700 Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #15-076 - 2015 BUDGET TRANSFERS MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Smith RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2015 Budget Transfers: General Fund - Part Town: From: Contingency Fund -B1990.4 ...................................... $4,210 To: Zoning -Code Enforcement Officer Salary -B8010.1......... $2,910 Zoning -Deputy Clerk Salary -B8010.12 ..........................$300 Planning -Deputy Clerk Salary -B8020.12 ........................ $300 Joint Youth Program -B7320.4 .....................................$700 Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #15-077 - 2015 BUDGET TRANSFER MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2015 Budget Transfer: Highway Fund -Part Town From: General Repairs-Contractual-DB5110.4.................. $150 To: Employee Benefits -Social Security-DB9030.8......... $150 Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Monthly Reports: W. Rick Fritz, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. We sent out 97 letters to permit holders where the permits were not closed; they were old permits. We've Town Board Minutes Page 3 December 8, 2015 been doing really good with them. There's been a great response. We've been really busy following through and getting our residents their certificates of occupancy, which they need, and their certificates of compliance. All our residents are very happy with that, so it's a good thing. We've also been emailing back and forth with the engineer for the McLean Fire Department and they just keep fooling around, so my suggestion was to turn it over to the attorney and have them write a letter to them and maybe they will respond a little quicker. Clerk Scheffler - I did forward that to Dan and he said he was going to look at it. Councilperson Clark - What is that? Mr. Fritz - They moved some ground around in the flood plain. I guess you're all aware of that. We need to have a map amendment before we can sign off, saying that was okay. And we haven't been getting the letter of map amendment from the engineer who's controlling it. They just keep sending us all this paraphernalia. So, we need to get the right map amendment from the engineer in the proper form. The girls have been very patient and have emailed this guy but he keeps sending us stuff that we don't need. Councilperson Clark - How long has this been going on? Clerk Scheffler - About a month. Attorney Monty - I looked at the email exchange and Dan showed me the response he sent out. It appears that either they're attaching the wrong map and don't realize it, or they're ....... Clerk Scheffler - Well, they're attaching the engineer's report, which may be something that needs to be attached to the form they send to FEMA, but we're not seeing the actual Letter of Map Amendment form that they are going to fill out and send. They sent us the last page of that and wanted us to sign off, but without seeing it, they can't really sign off. Mr. Fritz - But we want to get the fire company in compliance. We're willing to work with them, but they need to get us the right paperwork so we can sign off. I was thinking that we were at them about three times, so if it's okay with you guys, if we could get a letter from the attorney sometimes that gets them going a little bit quicker that this is what we need to sign off. The Board thanked Mr. Fritz for the work he has been doing. Mr. Fritz - It's great to help the Town of Groton, it really is. We'll get it up and running. 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. Victoria Monty, Attorney for the Town - Had provided draft copies of the Groton Ambulance and Fire Protection Contracts to you. I'd like to have an Executive Session with you to discuss threatened litigation. John J. Norman and A. D. Dawson, Town Justices - Were not present. Town Board Minutes Page 4 December 8, 2015 Councilperson Kelly Smith as Representative to Joint Youth Program - At our last meeting we had Sophie Darling come to talk about the audit process for the various youth sports and she suggested that we get Quick Books for the team sports that don't process their payments and checks through Chuck. The sports that Chuck does handle are wrestling, basketball, cross country, track and the summer camps but the rest of them are kind of a free-for-all as far as who handles those. So, we're trying to kind of rein them in, and we're going to do audits again in January. The winter programs are off to a good start. We've started doing background checks and so far they have been completed and all successful. Youth wrestling began today. They set a date for the Cabin Fever Festival of March 5th which will again have roller skating and a bounce house. We received a $750.00 grant to go towards that. This year we're not going to do Main Street activities, it's all going to be at the school. We're purchasing the AUD for the pool. SUNY Cortland is going to help us with a youth needs assessment next fall. It will be a graduate program so it will be over a couple of years. We need a Town rep, which I see is on the agenda. Glenn Morey, County Legislator - I'm sitting on several committees. The first one is Government Operations, which has to do with policy and procedures. The most interesting thing we're working on right now is a drone law that someone is trying to pass. I'm trying to fight this because I think the FCC will be more than happy to take care of what we want. I also sit on Infrastructure and Buildings, and one of the nice things we've done is gotten people out here to do the Groton City Bridge. If you've been out there, they have the supports across the creeks. There is still a 2016 completion date on that. Recently with all the changes with two people getting off the County Board, I'm also sitting on the Budget Committee, Personnel Committee and the Energy and Economic Development Task Force. It seems that there are still big discussions about the natural gas line going through West Dryden and up through Lansing. Two brand new businesses in the County have built their building but they couldn't get natural gas there so they put propane in them. And two other companies have left the County because they couldn't get natural gas. I think there were about 100 people employed when they lost those businesses, which is kind of hard. For the last six months we've been working on the budget. A couple good things about it: the final State imposed tax cap was 1.8% and six months ago our target was only 1.3. In reality our tax cap ended up as 1.1%, so we did cut the budget from last year. Last year the tax rate was 6.86 and this year it will be 6.73. Charles Rankin, Bookkeeper - (Had arrived late.) I did get a call from the State Comptroller. He had some questions on the tax cap submission that I made. He was trying to include the McLean Fire District in with our cap and I had to explain that they had their own board of directors and their own cap. He agreed with me in the end. Privilege of the Floor: No one wished to speak. RESOLUTION #15-078 - APPROVE 2016 HIGHWAY CONTRACT MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the 2016 contract between the Town of Groton and the Town of Groton Highway Association as discussed during budget negotiations, and be it further RESOLVED, that the Town of Groton Highway Employees be granted the following for the year 2016" 1. 2% raise in pay across the board. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Town Board Minutes Page S December 8, 2015 RESOLUTION #15-079 - APPOINT TOWN AT LARGE MEMBER TO RECREATION COMMITTEE MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Smith RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby appoints Scott Weeks as the Town at Large Member to the Joint Town and Village Recreation Committee. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Supervisor Scheffler - Last month I was given authority from the Board to hire someone to fill the position of Code Enforcement Officer, but I would like to make it official as a Board appointment. RESOLUTION #15-080 - APPOINT W. RICK FRITZ AS ACTING CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Clark RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby appoints W. Rick Fritz as Acting Code Enforcement Officer until the end of the year. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #15-081 - SET DATE FOR 2016 ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING MOVED by Councilperson Smith, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby schedules the 2016 Organizational Meeting for Tuesday, January 12, 2015 at 7:30 pm, followed by the regular monthly meeting for January. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #15-082 - EXTEND DEADLINE FOR SENIOR CITIZENS TO PAY 2016 TAXES MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby extends the deadline for qualifying senior citizens to pay their 2016 Town & County Taxes to February 8, 2016. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Town Board Minutes Page 6 December 8, 2015 RESOLUTION - #15-083 - APPOINT TOWN REPRESENTATIVE TO TOMPKINS COUNTY YOUTH SERVICES BOARD MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby appoints Pegi Ficken as the Town Representative on the Tompkins County Youth Services Board. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Smith, to enter into Executive Session at 8:OOpm for the purpose of discussing pending or possible litigation. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Clark, Scheffler MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool to return to Regular Session at 8:33 pm. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Clark, Scheffler Supervisor Scheffler - Let the record show that it was for informational purposes. Announcements: ➢ Planning Board Meeting - December 17 at 7:30 pm ➢ Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting - December 30 at 7:00 pm ➢ Groton Business Association Meeting - December 9 at 6:00 pm ➢ Joint Meeting of Groton Business Association and Groton Rotary, January 7, at American Legion ➢ Thank you letter for Carrington Fuller Post There being no further business, Councilman Sovocool moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Smith, at 8:41 pm. Unanimous. April L. Scheffler, RMC Town Clerk