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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-08-08TOWN OF GROTON — MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017 AT 7:30 PM THE TOWN HALL, 101 CONGER BOULEVARD Those present: Donald F. Scheffler, Supervisor Richard Gamel, Councilperson Kelly Smith, Councilperson Randy N. Jackson, Councilperson Sheldon C. Clark, Councilperson Victoria Monty, Attorney for the Town Also present: Lance Coit, Patrick O'Neill, Richard C. Case, Jr., W. Rick Fritz, A. D. Dawson, April Scheffler. MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Jackson, to approve the minutes of the, July 11, 2017 meeting as presented. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler. Vouchers numbered 334 - 384 in the total amount of $119,336.81 were presented to the Board for their review. (Note: Resolution #17-052 added voucher #385 to the General Fund in the amount of $108.00.) Vouchers for the General Fund in the amount of $84,172.56 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Smith, to approve the General Bills for payment. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler. Vouchers for the Highway Fund in the amount of $35,164.25 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilperson Clark, seconded by Councilperson Jackson, to approve the Highway Bills for payment. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler. Monthly Reports: Charles Rankin, Bookkeeper - Was not present but had submitted monthly reports for the Board's review and requested a budget transfer. RESOLUTION #17-046 - 2017 BUDGET ADJUSTMENT MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Jackson RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the following budget adjustment: General Fund - Town Wide: Increase Revenue, Miscellaneous Bicentennial, A2771........ $500.00 Increase Expenses, Celebrations (Bicentennial), A7550.4 ...... 500.00 Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Town Board Minutes Page 2 August 8, 2017 W. Rick Fritz, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. Since we've been using the new fee system we realize that attached garages are the same price as new residences. This does not seem fair for something the residents will not be living in. We would like to see the following addition to the fee schedule. We would like to charge a flat fee for that garage, and not include it in the square footage of the house. It would be $30.00 for a single garage; $60.00 for 2 -car; $90.00 for 3 -car, and so forth. Discussion took place on the subject. The price would be comparable with what Dryden and Lansing are charging. RESOLUTION #17-047 - SET BUILDING PERMIT FEE FOR ATTACHED GARAGES MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby sets a building permit fee for attached garages as follows: $30.00 for a one -car garage; $60.00 for a two -car garage; $90.00 for a three -car garage; and continued increments of $30.00 for each additional car. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Richard C. Case, Jr., Highway Superintendent - At the present time the Highway Department is involved in culvert replacement, the Wickham Road project, roadside mowing, and patching. We fell behind on the mowing because of the water damage to shoulders that we had. This was not catastrophic, like some of our neighbors, but it did take three weeks to address. That is part of the reason the culvert replacement has taken place. When the water goes through the culverts it scrubs the inside of them. By the end of this week we should be caught up again with the mowing. Luke and I have been working with International Auction Service to list our used equipment and would like a resolution to place some equipment in the auction. Donnie Evener had submitted his resignation and Mr. Case asked for resolutions to hire one worker and give promotions and raises to three current employees due to the retirement of two of our long-time employees. Councilperson Smith asked if they could have a current list of equipment for the Board to review. RESOLUTION #17-048 - APPROVE TAKING EQUIPMENT TO AUCTION MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Jackson RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the listing of the following equipment with International Auction Service: 1) 2001, M315 Caterpillar Excavator 2) 2006, Chevrolet Pickup Truck 3) 1978 Ford Dump Truck Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Town Board Minutes Page 3 August 8, 2017 RESOLUTION #49 - HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT PROMOTIONS AND RAISES MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Clark RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the promotion of Ellard Keister from Laborer to Motor Equipment Operator, and be it further RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the promotion of Mike Neville from Laborer to Motor Equipment Operator, and be it further RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the promotion of Luke Kniskern from Auto Mechanic to Heavy Equipment Mechanic, and be it further RESOLVED, that these promotions will take affect on August 13, 2017 and include a 50 -Cent per hour raise for each. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #17-050 - APPROVE HIRING OF JOSH BARRON MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the hiring of Josh Barron as a Laborer for the Highway Department at the rate of $15.25 per hour. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed 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 nothing to report. John J. Norman and A. D. Dawson, Town Justices - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. Justice Dawson was present and thanked the Board for moving some money around last month so they could get their computers fixed. Councilperson Kelly Smith as Representative to Joint Youth Program - Summer programs are going well despite the weather and they haven't had to cancel any camps. They did however have to cancel the DJ for the 4th of July because of the weather. Arts & Crafts Camp is very popular and full. The pool has been very busy. Fall program will be starting up soon. We are having some discussion about the background checks and whether there will be an appeals process, so we are going to talk to the Village lawyer about that. We are going to have seasonal meetings with the coaches. There is still $40,000 left from the grant for the park so they are trying to figure out what to do with it. The kiddie pool is losing water so there may be a major fix there. Lance Coit, Fire Chief - Unofficially, at this time, the Village has put a purchase offer in on the old Shara's lot. Plans are moving forward and hopefully things are moving forward. That was a Village purchase with plans of moving forward with the fire station. We realized it was a bigger project than we could handle so we reached out to the Village and the Village is taking the lead on it. This last month, I have lost two paramedics. One being a part-timer has relocated to Texas. It is not only hurting us but also Dryden and Four Town. There was a guaranteed 40 hours with Dryden and Four Town and 20 hours with us every week. It has hurt all three agencies but hopefully we'll have his spot Town Board Minutes Page 4 August 8, 2017 filled. I have also lost a full-timer due to him taking a job at the City of Norwich Fire Department. He is going to remain part-time for us. The ambulance has been busy this last month. For fire, we assisted at Poet's Landing in Dryden. Deputy Chief, and Assistant Chief Neville, went over last night for the reconstruction part of it. A lot of information was pulled on these new structures, new commercial residential construction, and how quick it goes and how unstable it is. At one point in the fire they had over three foot of water on the third floor because the houses are so air -tight, which became a huge collapsing danger. They actually had to go up and cut holes in the walls to drain the water out. Another big thing was that the whole building was sprinklered, but the building never got hot enough on the inside of the building to trip the sprinklers. The porch had a sprinkler, where the fire started, but the vinyl soffit collapsed down around the sprinkler so there was just a little spray, straight down. So it's good to learn how dangerous these new structures are. We held the junior fire fighter camp with the Groton Rec Department. On behalf of the Groton Fire Department Chief, myself, and the rest of the members of the Groton Fire Department, we'd like to extend a huge thank you to each and every person that helped make this first year a success. We could not have done this without the wonderful generosity and assistance and special thanks going out to Angela Conger, Jennifer Jones, Mayor Chris Neville, the Village of Groton, the Town Board, the McLean Fire Department, Lee Shurtleff, Tompkins County 911 Center, Girl Scout Troop 41432, Cortland Walmart, Lansing Market, Dryden Food Market, Penny Weeks, and Alfredo with Mercy Flight. Also, the dedicated community support. Chief Coit continued with some of the highlights of the week and showed the Board some pictures. They are looking forward to next year. Supervisor Scheffler updated the Board on the Shared Services Committee. He had given everyone copies of the draft plan and said that it had been sent to the County Legislature for their review. He expects that they will hear something back sometime in September. Supervisor Scheffler said that he had asked people to be on a Commercial Energy Facilities Committee to work on changes to the Code and asked for a resolution to approve the committee members. RESOLUTION #17-051 - APPOINT COMMERCIAL ENERGY FACILITIES COMMITTEE MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, second by Councilperson Jackson RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby appoints Mark Baxendell, Carolann Darling, Rick Gamel, Rick Fritz, and Robin Cargin to serve on the Commercial Energy Facilities Committee. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Supervisor Scheffler set the first meeting for Tuesday, August 15, 2017 at 7:00 pm. A request had been received for a refund of a building permit fee from Wayne Snyder. I had applied for a building permit to build a house and then decided not to do it. After some discussion, the Board passed the following resolution. RESOLUTION #17-052 - REFUND BUILDING PERMIT FEE TO WAYNE SNYDER MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Smith RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the refund of the $133.00 building permit fee, minus a $25.00 processing fee, for a refund of $108.00, and be it further RESOLVED, that the refund be added to the current abstract. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Town Board Minutes Page S August 8, 2017 Privilege of the Floor: Patrick O'Neil - Introduced himself to the Board and announced that he was running for Highway Superintendent. I came down here as an Independent to meet you guys and listen to your meeting, and try to get more involved in the community as well. I met a lot of amazing people out there in Groton. It's an amazing community. Mr. O'Neil asked if there were job descriptions for highway employees and it was explained that the job descriptions were through Tompkins County Personnel. Announcements: ➢ Planning Board Meeting - August 17 at 7:30 pm. ➢ Zoning Board of Appeals - August 23 at 7:00 pm. ➢ Bicentennial Mystery/History Series -August 15 at 7:00 pm at the Town Hall ➢ August 24 - 26 is Groton Olde Home Days ➢ August 25 & 26 is the Verne Morton Annual Photography Show & Contest at the Town Hall ➢ September 14 is the Groton Public Library Celebration ➢ Next Board Meeting is September 12 ➢ Condolences to Councilperson Gamel on the passing of his mother. There being no further business, Councilperson Gamel moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilperson Jackson, at 8:22 pm. Unanimous. April L. Scheffler, RMC Town Clerk