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Home My WebLink About2007-06-12 TOWN OF GROTON - MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2007 AT 7:30 PM PUBLIC HEARING - PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #2 FOR 2007 AT 8:00 PM THE TOWN HALL, 101 CONGER BOULEVARD Those present: Glenn E. Morey, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman Donald F. Scheffler, Councilman Richard B. Gamel, Councilman Sheldon C. Clark, Councilman Victoria Monty, Attorney for the Town Also present. Gary Coats, Elizabeth Brennan, Richard C. Case, Jr., Duane Randall, Colleen Gloster-Gray, Howard Howell, Matt Cooper, Joseph Nye, Bob Totman, April Scheffler. MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the minutes of the May 8, 2007 meeting as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey. Claim Numbers 170-213 of the General Fund in the amount of$28,669.54 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilman Gamel, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to approve the General Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey. Claim Numbers 76-102 of the Highway Fund in the amount of$16,479.34 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilman Clark, seconded by Councilman Gamel, to approve the Highway Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey. Claim Numbers 66-67 of the Special Grant (HUD) Fund in the amount of $1,972.56 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the HUD bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey. Town Board Minutes Page 2 June 12, 2007 Privilege of the Floor: No one wished to speak. Monthly Reports: Liz Brennan, Bookkeeper/Highway Clerk— Submitted monthly report. Gary Coats, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer — Submitted monthly report. Believes he has stopped at everyone who has an outdoor wood burning furnace and informed them of impending legislation so that they will not be caught in a position where they might have to get rid of them at a later date. Swimming pools have not been as big of an issue as other years. A new requirement for pools is that they require an alarm. Mr. Coats provided an update on the Muka property, including pictures taken that day. All of the structural things are done, siding is almost done and he is replacing windows now. Mr. Coats had interviewed for the summer youth position in his office and had made a decision as to who to hire. Richard C. Case,Jr., Highway Superintendent—At the present time the Highway Department is finishing their spring cleanup, maintenance and making headway on summer highway projects. The shop is on schedule with vehicle inspections, preventive maintenance and repairs. The Town and Village cleanup day, held in May was active and successful, as always. The Village and Town crews, as always, worked well together on this event and are to be commended. I have not received any information on what transpired on the Spring Street Bridge, so I have nothing to report. However, I did receive the figure for snow and ice maintenance payment from the 2006-2007 season. It has increased by 20% from the 2005-2006 season to $148,524.64. The new truck is in its final stages of mounting the snowplow and dump body. I would like to see delivery at the end of this month or early next month. I have just finished filing the application renewal for our fuel storage facility with NYS DEC. If accepted, this will not expire for 5 years. There has been a lot of activity in the Highway Department and everything is progressing. I would like to commend the Town employees for an excellent safety record and report from PERMA. A new date for the annual road tour was set for June 29th at 8:00 AM. April L. Scheffler, Town Clerk/Tax Collector — Submitted monthly report. Along with other town clerks, she is looking into the possibility of being able to take credit card payments. She has hired a summer youth worker and they will be working on records management projects. Supervisor Morey announced that the Clerk's Office had received a certificate of appreciation for being in the top ten for collection of donations for the DECALS Venison Donation Program for the year. Victoria Monty,Attorney for the Town—Had nothing to report. Town Board Minutes Page 3 June 12, 2007 Town Justice Court was not present. Councilman Donald Scheffler, as Recreation Coordinator — Our new brochures are out and that pretty much explains what we've been doing. The concert series is on the back. Duane Randall, County Legislator — Mr. Randall handed out the new the 2007 Local Government Directory and told the Board that there would soon be a 211 number for information and referral in the County. County financial goals for 2008 have been set for a maximum tax levy increase of 2%, which would result in a five tenths of a percent tax rate increase and a projected decrease of$1,700,000 in local spending. Mr. Randall recognized Better Housing for their Tompkins County Home Ownership Program. They had closed on their 250th home for first time home buyers, many of which were located in Groton. The Spring Street Bridge bid was awarded. Only one bid was received and it was about 5% higher than the estimate at $567,585.00. He thanked Supervisor Morey and Councilman Gamel for their assistance in bringing a problem with the new sidewalks in McLean to his attention and assured the Board that the problem would be addressed and resolved. Colleen Gloster-Gray, Representative to Recreation Partnership —Was there to speak to the Board about the Intermunicipal Recreation Partnership of Tompkins County. Kathy Valentino, Town of Ithaca Supervisor, will be retiring and is going to serve as the volunteer coordinator and Ms. Gloster-Gray will be working with her. They will be looking at towns that already have youth programs, creating a "list serve" and exploring how to bring more satellite programs from the County to the towns as a way to increase participation. She brought the Board copies of the proposed agreement and indicated that they would like any comments on the agreement by August. RESOLUTION #07-045—APPROVE HUMAN SERVICES CONTRACT MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board approves the 2007 Contract with Tompkins County Human Services in the amount of$1,500.00. RESOLUTION#07-046—ADD PAYMENT TO HUMAN SERVICES TO ABSTRACT MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board approves adding the payment of $1,500.00 to Tompkins County Human Services to the June 2007 General Abstract. Town Board Minutes Page 4 June 12, 2007 PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW#2 FOR THE YEAR 2007 A LOCAL LAW IN RELATION TO THE ALTERNATIVE VETERANS EXEMPTION FOR REAL PROPERTY TAXES Supervisor Morey opened the Public Hearing at 8:00 PM. The Town Clerk read the legal notice, which was duly published in the Town's legal paper, the Groton Independent, on June 6, 2007. Supervisor Morey read the local law and asked if there were any comments. There was some discussion on the fact that a veteran could receive an exemption if they served during a time of conflict even if they were not in actual combat. There being no further comments, Supervisor Morey moved to close the Public Hearing, seconded by Councilman Clark, at 8:06 PM. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey RETURN TO REGULAR SESSION RESOLUTION#07-047—ADOPT LOCAL LAW #2 FOR THE YEAR 2007 MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler ROLL CALL VOTE TAKEN: Sovocool—Aye Scheffler—Aye Gamel—Aye Clark—Aye Morey-Ayes RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby adopts LOCAL LAW #2 FOR THE YEAR 2007 entitled A LOCAL LAW IN RELATION TO THE ALTERNATIVE VETERANS EXEMPTION FOR REAL PROPERTY TAXES. Supervisor Morey explained that this exemption would be in effect for the 2008 tax season. There was a discussion on a grant that was originally awarded to the Town in 1992 to provide low interest loans to businesses. Some of this money was loaned to Diversified Technologies. Money that was repaid at an earlier date remains in an account and could be loaned to another small business. A request for a loan has recently been received. At one time there was a loan committee but that no longer exists. It was the consensus of the Board that they would like to start using this money for low interest loans to businesses. After some discussion, Attorney Monty and Clerk Scheffler said they would try to find any existing paperwork on the subject and research how to proceed. Town Board Minutes Page 5 June 12, 2007 Announcements: ➢ Planning Board—June 21 —7:00 PM ➢ Public Hearing on Justice Courts—County Court House—June 26, 10:00 AM ➢ National Incident Management System — Presentation — June 20, 7:00 PM at 92 Brown Road in Ithaca. There being no further business, Councilman Clark moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Scheffler at 8:17 PM. Unanimous. April L Scheffler, RMC Town Clerk