HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-03-11 TOWN OF GROTON - MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING
TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2008 AT 7:30 PM
PUBLIC HEARING ON 2008 SMALL CITIES GRANT
PUBIC HEARING ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #1 FOR THE YEAR 2008
PUBIC HEARING ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #2 FOR THE YEAR 2008
PUBIC HEARING ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #3 FOR THE YEAR 2008
AT 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: Tyke Randall, Jim Burch, Teresa Burch, George Totman, Matt Cooper,
Deb Lane, Jacalyn Spoon, Paul Burhans, Gary Coats, April Scheffler.
MOVED by Councilman Scheffler, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to approve the minutes
of the February 12, 2008 meeting as presented.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
Claim Numbers 61- 89of the General Fund in the amount of $22,683.28 were presented for
audit.
MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Gamel, to approve the General
Bills for payment.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
Claim Numbers 26-47 of the Highway Fund in the amount of $32,032.65 were presented for
audit.
MOVED by Councilman Clark, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the Highway
Bills for payment.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
Supervisor Morey offered Privilege of the Floor.
Town Board Minutes Page 2 March 11 , 2008
George Totman addressed the Board and said that as a member of the Groton Business
Association he had been asked to come to the Town Board meetings as a way of establishing a
contact between the Board and the GBA and open communications between them.
Elizabeth Brennan, Bookkeeper/Highway Clerk - Was not present but had submitted monthly
reports.
RESOLUTION#08-030 - 2008 BUDGET TRANSFER
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED,that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2008 Budget Transfer:
Highway Fund, Part Town:
From: Workers Compensation DB9040.8 $1.00
To: Retirement DB9010.4 1 00
Gary Coats, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer - You have your reports. We spent a lot of time;
Sheldon's been in and Lewie's been in and seen April and I working at the desk on the zoning as
we were assigned to at the last meeting. We've been plugging away at that every day and
hopefully we'll have something before too much longer.
Richard C. Case.,Jr., Highway Superintendent- Was not present.
April L. Scheffler, Town Clerk/Tax Collector - Submitted monthly reports for Town Clerk
and Tax Collector. She provided the Board with information concerning Governor Spitzer's plan
to eliminate the positions of elected tax receiver and tax collector and asked the Board to
consider passing a resolution in opposition to the proposed bills. She also reported that she
would be working with Gregg Potter from County GIS on processing the Census information and
contributing to a County-wide address database. Debbie Lane had passed her 3-month probation
period and the Clerk and Code Enforcement Officer would like to request a 50-cent raise for her.
They are pleased with her work so far and she is a great addition to the office.
RESOLUTION#08-031 -PAY RAISE FOR DEBORAH LANE
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves a 50-cent per hour pay raise for the Deputy
Clerk, Deborah Lane, effective at the beginning of the present pay period.
Town Board Minutes Page 3 March 11 , 2008
RESOLUTION #08-032 - OPPOSE BILL ABOLISHING ELECTED POSITIONS OF
TAX RECIEVER AND TAX COLLECTOR
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board herby declares that it is not in favor New York State Senate
Bill 6806 and New York State Assembly Bill 9806 which if passed, the elected positions of
Receiver of Taxes and Tax Collector, including the combined position of Town Clerk/Receiver
of Taxes and Town Clerk/Tax Collector would be eliminated.
Victoria Monty,Attorney for the Town - Had nothing to report.
John Norman & A. D. Dawson, Town Justices -Were not present.
Councilman Donald Scheffler, as Recreation Coordinator - Our recreation meeting was
cancelled last week and we just had our meeting an hour ago, so I don't have anything prepared.
Larry Stanenthol will be playing this month at Center Village Court and we always enjoy
listening to him. There is a kick-boxing class going on at the school two days a week. We have
started on our summer programs and baseball season is underway. We're having a coaching and
skills class for Little League baseball. There is a photo-shop program that started tonight.
Joanne Morrison is teaching that again. And our Winterfest went very well this year. We are
very pleased with it. It's expanding and getting better.
Duane Randall, County Legislator - A lot of things happening at the County level. We're
short a person again. Tim Joseph has resigned to take a new position as Director of New York
State Parks in the Finger Lakes Region. So, we'll be having a special election on April 22nd to
fill that spot. We're searching for a County Administrator to take Steve Whicher's place. He's
agreed to stay on until we get this settled. As it stands, there's two candidates. We interviewed
one last week and the other interview will be this Thursday. Each polling place is going to have
to have a ballot marking device for voters with disabilities this time. That will be a couple extra
poll watchers and they are talking about consolidating some polling sites to save some money.
The machine costs around $11,500 and they'd like to go from 50 to 43 - 45 sites. It doesn't
mean anything for Groton. They can't consolidate Groton so what we have now is going to stay.
The Health Department building, we should be closing May or late April on the Brown Road
building. We are currently reviewing statements of qualifications. We've gotten two proposals
for that. Youth Service Board, for the Town and Village of Groton, there are vacancies if you
know anyone who wants to get involved.
Paul Burhans, Country Acres Pet Services - Has nothing to report but was there in case the
Board had any questions about their services so far.
Jacalyn Spoon, Representative, Environmental Management Council - I will be going to the
Emerald Ash Borer Workshop in Rochester. When I come back I'd like to meet with whoever is
interested in this, whoever in the Village and Town who work with the shade trees that belong to
the Village and Town. It's too broad to bring to this meeting.
Town Board Minutes Page 4 March 11 , 2008
Councilman Clark - I'd like to comment to Paul Burhans, from Country Acres Pet Services. I
have heard nothing but good reports and we are very pleased with you and thank you for coming
tonight.
RESOLUTION #08-033 - TOWN HISTORIAN TO ATTEND CONFERENCE
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves payment of expenses for the Town
Historian, Rosemarie Tucker, to attend the 2008 Conference for APHNY April 16-19, 2008 in
Glens Falls,NY.
RESOLUTION#08-034 -APPOINT THERESA DONLICK TO PLANNING BOARD
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby appoints Theresa Donlick to the Town of Groton
Planning Board to fill a vacancy due to the resignation of Bradley Albro, for a term to begin
March 11, 2008 and expire December 31, 2011.
PUBLIC HEARING ON 2008 SMALL CITIES GRANT
Supervisor Morey opened the Public Hearing at 8:00 PM. The Town Clerk read the Public
Notice as dully published in the Town's legal paper, the Groton Independent, on March 5, 2008.
Supervisor Morey - Better Housing of Tompkins County is proposing to assist the Town in
providing another round of moderate rehabilitation, repairs valued between $5,000 and $25,000,
to residences of qualified homeowners within the Town of Groton, excluding the Village of
Groton. Better Housing will assist the Town and would work as a team in applying to the NYS
Governor's Office for Small Cities for the CDGB funding to assist approximately 20 families.
Guidelines to qualify include houses assessed at less than $95,000. Homes must need more than
$5,000 in rehabilitation. Examples of projects are roof repair or replacement, wells, septic,
electrical work, plumbing and heating systems. Targeted service areas may be defined by the
results of surveys but a non-targeted approach is also possible. Application will be accepted
from all rural areas of the Town of Groton. Homeowners must meet annual gross income
allowances.
Funding for repairs is provided through a no-interest, diminishing-balance loan made to the
homeowner. A percentage of the loan is forgiven every year; the balance is paid off in 5 years.
As long as a homeowner doesn't move for 5 years following the repairs, the entire loan is
forgiven. Repayment of remaining balance is due only if the homeowner does sell the home and
move before the 5 years is completed. For the next round of funding we would try to keep the
same terms, unless the funding or scoring specifications indicate a different term is required.
Town Board Minutes Page 5 March 11 , 2008
As part of development of a Small Cities application, the Town is required to identify all of its
community development needs and list the needs in order of local priorities. The process used to
identify needs and set priorities must be summarized.
To comply with this requirement, the Town Board should examine Town needs, develop a
consensus as to priorities, and review these at the first hearing. A starting point for developing
this list might include the following:
NEED PRIORITY
• Provide low income homeowners with assistance to rehabilitate HIGH
their homes.
• Within this need the following should be prioritized:
• Single family homes HIGH
• -Mobile homes MEDIUM
-Multi-family homes LOW
-Very low income households HIGH
- Senior citizens HIGH
- Households on fixed incomes HIGH
• Provide assistance to households to help them become first-time HIGH
homeowners.
• Improve/strengthen code enforcement. LOW
• Improve road conditions: MEDIUM
• Expand the supply of housing that is affordable to low income HIGH
persons.
• Create/improve local recreation facilities: LOW
• Create/improve community facilities for senior citizens: HIGH
• Create/improve community facilities for youth: HIGH
• Improve facilities for municipal government: LOW
• Correct flooding or drainage problems: MEDIUM
Another Public Hearing is required as part of the application procedure. The next Public Hearing
was set for April 8, 2008 at 8:00 PM in conjunction with the regular monthly Board Meeting.
Supervisor Morey invited comments.
Jacalyn Spoon-What is low income defined as?
Town Board Minutes Page 6 March 11 , 2008
Supervisor Morey- I don't have those numbers right now.
Duane Randall - I can't say enough about the program. I've been there from a contractor
originally doing some of the work in the Groton area for the program. I've been sitting here
thinking what a difference ten years makes. I was a recipient ten years ago or more with that
program and I can't tell you how much that meant to me personally and my family. I also
worked for Better Housing for awhile. I inspected a lot of houses in Groton. I think I was
probably on the last windshield survey and I can tell you from that perspective, and we've had
five grants, and we have just barely touched the tip of the iceberg in Groton. There is still such a
need. I can't say enough for the program and what it does for people. It's a win-win situation.
It provides work for the contractors. I've seen so many times what that little bit of help means
for a family that's really struggling. I've seen elderly housing that most of us would never live
in and they're struggling, trying to make it. I can't imagine what it's like right now with the
price of fuel. I don't know how they're making it. The program is great and I hope we're
successful in getting this again because it makes a huge difference here.
Jim Burch - Do you have to use a contractor?
Supervisor Morey - They will assign a contractor to you and do the bidding. There's a project
manager and that's part of the consulting fees for Better Housings. The committee that oversees
this program is Louie Sovocool, myself, Tyke Randall, the Director of Better Housing and the
Project Manager of Better Housing. We review every single contract and qualify people too.
Duane Randall - They give you a list of contractors who have been approved and they have to
get three bids and then it goes to the low bidder unless, depending on the bidding and Better
Housing decides to accept a better value bid. All the way through the process, it's your house,
you have control over that (not using microphone)
Jacalyn Spoon - I actually received a grant through the Village over ten years ago that I had
serious contractor problems.
Supervisor Morey- That's run with a consultant out of Cortland.
Jacalyn Spoon - My biggest problem at that point was I had no concept how to choose a
contractor. I did not know how to read a contract. I did not understand about contractor
insurance and I was on my own to figure all that out. So, it's really good that they are going to
be accepting bids and that Thoma is overseeing that part of the process.
Supervisor Morey -No, this is Better Homes. She's with the Village and the Village goes after
the same pot of money but has different consultants. Our consultants are Better Housing of
Tompkins County and each project manager has extensive construction background. Any other
questions?
Supervisor Morey moved to close the Public Hearing, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, at
8:13 PM.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
Town Board Minutes Page 7 March 11 , 2008
PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW#1 FOR THE YEAR 2008
Supervisor Morey opened the Public Hearing at 8:13 PM. The Town Clerk read the Public
Notice which included Public Hearings for Proposed Local Law#1, Proposed Local Law#2 and
Proposed Local Law #3 for the Year 2008 and was duly published in the Towns legal paper, the
Groton Independent, on March 5, 2008.
Proposed Local Law #1 for the Year 2008 is in regard to increasing the maximum income level
for real property tax exemptions for persons sixty-five years of age or over.
Supervisor Morey asked if there were comments from the Board and they all said that they were
in favor of it. He then asked if there was any public discussion.
Jacalyn Spoon -What's the current rate? Is it an increase in the income levels?
Supervisor Morey-Yes it is.
Jacalyn Spoon - So, it says here 32,400, what was it before?
Supervisor Morey- 28, 899.
Since there were no other comments, Supervisor Morey moved to close the Public Hearing,
seconded by Councilman Scheffler, at 8:17 PM.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW#2 FOR THE YEAR 2008
Proposed Local Law #2 for the Year 2008 is in regard to increasing the maximum income level
for real property tax exemptions for persons with disabilities and limited income. With the legal
notice already read, Supervisor Morey asked for any comments.
Jacalyn Spoon - This says disability in general. Is that long term, short term, or what?
Supervisor Morey- Long term.
Jacalyn Spoon - Is that defined in here?
Supervisor Morey- There should be.
Clerk Scheffler - The original Local Law #4 of 2005 contains all of that information. This just
amends Section 3 of Local Law#4 of 2005, which just deals with income levels.
There being no further comments, Supervisor Morey moved to close the Public Hearing,
seconded by Councilman Scheffler, at 8:18 PM.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
Town Board Minutes Page 8 March 11 , 2008
PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW#3 FOR THE YEAR 2008
Proposed Local Law #3 for the Year 2008 is in regard to a new Veterans' Exemption for "Cold
War Veterans" that would apply to any veteran who served for at least one year during the time
period of September 2, 1945 to December 26, 1991 and who was honorably discharged. With
the legal notice already read, Supervisor Morey asked for any comments.
Jacalyn Spoon - I am somewhat opposed to veterans' exemptions. I have to say that the reason
I'm opposed to them is that the majority of veterans...(not using microphone)...I think that it's a
choice that people make because of career moves for the most part and we're not talking about
people who were drafted; we're not talking about .there are other exemptions for veterans
on the books. I want to say that if you had a librarians' exemption or something like that, I'd be
opposed to that too. But it is a career move too. My thought is that the person who enlisted in
the service did so by choice and that's a career choice.
Supervisor Morey- Well,you have a veteran to thank for that. Any other comments?
Councilman Sovocool - If you were in the service and you were drafted, that's not a career
move.
Jacalyn Spoon - That's exactly what I'm saying. Most of the people
Councilman Sovocool - Cold War veterans and the years they have here, people were drafted.
Jacalyn Spoon - So, you're saying the Cold War veterans were drafted?
Councilman Sovocool- Some of them. Most of them. Through the Vietnam War, yes.
Councilman Gamel - But even so, librarians are never going to be called upon to give their life
up if something does happen while they have enlisted for their job.
Jacalyn Spoon - All I'm saying is that for the most part, many of the veterans it was a career
choice and in some ways, and I'm not saying this just for myself; I've heard a lot of
people...people know that I come to these meetings and they tell me things and they ask me if I
would please make these comments. It doesn't mean that it always reflects my personal
opinions. I have a lot of people who talk in my ear and say oh, you go to that meeting, will you
please say something.
Supervisor Morey- Okay,well we appreciate it.
There being no further comments, Supervisor Morey moved to close the Public Hearing,
seconded by Councilman Sovocool, at 8:21 PM.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
Town Board Minutes Page 9 March 11 , 2008
RESOLUTION#08-035 -ACTION ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW#1
FOR THE YEAR 2008
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board thereby passes Local Law #1 for the Year 2008 is in regard
to increasing the maximum income level for real property tax exemptions for persons sixty-five
years of age or over.
RESOLUTION #08-036 -ACTION ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #2
FOR THE YEAR 2008
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby passes Proposed Local Law #2 for the Year 2008 is
in regard to increasing the maximum income level for real property tax exemptions for persons
with disabilities and limited income.
RESOLUTION #08-037 - ACTION ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW#3
FOR THE YEAR 2008
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby passes Proposed Local Law #3 for the Year 2008 is
in regard to a new Veterans' Exemption for "Cold War Veterans" that would apply to any
veteran who served for at least one year during the time period of September 2, 1945 to
December 26, 1991 and who was honorably discharged.
Announcements:
➢ Planning Board, February 20, 2008 at 7:30 PM
➢ ZBA , February 19, 2008 at 7:00 PM
➢ Agriculture Day, March 25, 2008 at 11:00 PM - speaker Scott Dole
➢ Thank you card from Tena McClary
➢ Groton Business Association, March 19, 2008 at 6:00 PM at Benn Conger Inn
There being no further business, Councilman Sovocool moved to adjourn, seconded by
Councilman Scheffler, at 8:25 PM. Unanimous.
April L. Scheffler, RMC
Town Clerk