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Home My WebLink About2008-04-08 TOWN OF GROTON - MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2008 AT 7:30 PM PUBLIC HEARING ON SMALL CITIES GRANT 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: Rosemarie Tucker, Dewey Dawson, John Norman, Elizabeth Brennan, Jacalyn Spoon, John Spence, Matt Cooper, April Scheffler. MOVED by Councilman Gamel, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to approve the minutes of the March 11, 2007 meeting as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey. Claim Numbers 90-116 of the General Fund in the amount of $26,871.80 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the General Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey. Claim Numbers 48-66 of the Highway Fund in the amount of $12,718.17 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. Supervisor Morey offered Privileged of Floor but no one wished to speak. Monthly Reports: Elizabeth Brennan, Bookkeeper/Highway Clerk - Presented monthly reports for the Board's review. Town Board Minutes Page 2 April 8, 2008 Gary Coats, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer - Was not present but had presented monthly reports for the Board's review. Richard C. Case, Jr.,Highway Superintendent -Was not present. RESOLUTION#08-038 - SCHEDULE SPRING CLEAN-UP DAY MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the scheduling of the joint Town and Village of Groton Clean-Up Day for May with the date to be finalized by the Town Highway Department and the Village DPW. April Scheffler, Town Clerk/Tax Collector - Submitted monthly Town Clerk, Tax Collector and Dog Control reports as well as a report comparing services received from Country Acres Pet Services to those of the SPCA for the same time period last year. Notice was received from the Elm Tree Inn regarding their intention to renew their liquor license. Consensus of the Board was that they had no objections to the renewal of the liquor license for the Elm Tree Inn. Victoria Monty,Attorney for the Town - Had nothing to report. John Norman & A. D. Dawson, Town Justices - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. Councilman Donald Scheffler, as Recreation Coordinator - Our meeting was held tonight. Scheduled so far for the Summer Youth Programs are baseball, softball, track & field, archery, outdoor science adventure, horseback riding, golf, several arts programs, and the summer concert series. Booked so far for the concert series are, Grassenova, The Cortland Old Timers' Band, Larry Stamenthol Band, Radio London, Ithaca Dixieland Band, Fun Bus and Alice Dedrick for the fireworks on July 5th. Some activities have been compromised due to renovations at the Elementary School, which is off limits for the whole summer. We're going to do the best we can with alternate places to do things but it kind of limits us on some of the activities that we do. As of tonight we don't know where the fireworks are going to be because we can't have them at the Elementary School this year. So, if anyone has any great ideas Some people had ideas which included the Groton gravel bank, the Rod & Gun Club and Stonehedges Golf Course. Also, discussed was a shuttle for senior citizens. Jacalyn Spoon, Environmental Management Council - Attended the Emerald Ash Bore Workshop and reported that there is a spray that can be used but it is very costly. Town Board Minutes Page 3 April 8, 2008 RESOLUTION#08-039 -IN SUPPORT OF THE COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS' REVIEW OF HEALTH BENEFITS FOR NEW YORK STATE SHARED MUNICIPAL SERVICES PROGRAM MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey WHEREAS, the Town of Groton joined the Tompkins County Council of Governments (TCCOG), and WHEREAS, the grant will assist the municipalities in Tompkins County to create a local health care consortium, and WHEREAS, the health care consortium will seek to develop health benefits coverage for all municipalities with the intent to provide a net savings to the taxpayers of Tompkins County, now therefore be it RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Groton Town Board, that Glenn Morey, Supervisor, is authorized to execute an inter-municipal agreement with TCCOG members to participate in the review of the development of the health benefits consortium, and be it FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town of Groton understands that upon a complete review and plan design of a health benefits program, the Town of Groton will have the option of joining a health benefits consortium that would require the Town of Groton to sign another inter- municipal agreement. RESOLUTION#08-040 -JUSTICE COURT TO ATTEND TELECONFERENCE MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the payment of expenses for the Town Justices and Court Clerk to attend a teleconference on justice court finances, April 22, 2008 at Cortland Cooperative Extension Office. The following accounting firms had submitted bids to audit the Town's books: Ciaschi, Dietershagen, Little, Mickelson& Company .$8000.00 Sciarabba, Walker& Company ..$10,000.00 Yearly audit is required by law and the alternative to having an outside accounting firm would be for the Town Board to audit the books themselves. Town Board Minutes Page 4 April 8, 2008 RESOLUTION #08-041 -RETAIN SERVICES OF ACCOUNTING FIRM MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board approves retaining the services of Ciaschi, Dietershagen, Little, Mickelson & Company to audit the Town accounts and the Justice Court accounts for 2007 in the amount of$8,000.00 RESOLUTION#08-042 - TOWN CLERK& TOWN HISTORIAN TO ATTEND CONFERENCE MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board approves payment of expenses, up to $536.00 for the Town Clerk, April Scheffler, and the Town Historian, Rosemarie Tucker to attend the Archives Partnership Trust Conference on New York State History, June 5-7, 2008 at Saratoga Springs, NY. RESOLUTION #08-043 -APPOINT LOCAL BOARD OF ASSESSMENT REVIEW MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby appoints Ellard Sovocool, Donald Scheffler, Rick Gamel, Sheldon Clark, Glenn Morey, Tyke Randall and Betty Conger to the Local Board of Assessment Review. RESOLUTION#08-044 - SET DATE FOR LOCAL ASSESSMENT REVIEW MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby sets Wednesday, May 21, 2008 from 3-6 PM for the Local Assessment Review. Town Board Minutes Page 5 April 8, 2008 RESOLUTION #08-045 - PROCLAIM FAIR HOUSING MONTH MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey WHEREAS, in accordance with the Title VIII Fair Housing Policy of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 and, WHEREAS, the Month of April 2008 has been designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office as Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity as Fair Housing Month, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED,that the Town Board of the Town of Groton hereby declares and proclaims April as Fair Housing Month in the Town of Groton. Justice Dawson told the Board that the Peruville Cemetery Association would be using the Courtroom for a meeting on April 27. There would also be a dish-to-pass meal and everyone was welcome. PUBLIC HEARING ON 2008 SMALL CITIES GRANT Supervisor Morey opened the public hearing at 8:00 PM. The Clerk read the public notice as it appeared in the Town's legal paper, the Groton Independent, on April 2, 2008. John Spence, Better Housing for Tompkins County - The application is going along smoothly. All of the site inspections have been done and have been compiled. He showed the Board what the application looked like. He said that the grant would fund repairs for about 15 homes up to $25,000 per grant and explained the kinds of projects that would be covered. Applications are due by April 23`d and they will probably hear back by August or September. They have applied for $400,000. The money belongs to the Town and an oversight committee will be in charge with recommendations from Better Housing. If the grant is received, projects will begin in the spring of 2009 and they will have two years to use the grant money. Supervisor Morey - There is a preliminary application to find out what the need is within the Town. John has those and he is limited to 15 of the most needy. But he says there is enough for about 15, but we usually get about 25 because one house might need a septic system, one might just need doors, a lot of people need the full grant of$25,000 per home, but some don't like just a hot water heater. John's crew goes out and actually does the estimate of the needs and they look at the whole house. Mr. Spence explained that Better Housing also has access to other grants and that sometimes they combine grant money from different sources for some projects. There being no further comments, Supervisor Morey moved to close the public hearing, seconded by Councilman Sovocool at 8:10 PM. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey Town Board Minutes Page 6 April 8, 2008 Announcements: ➢ Zoning Board of Appeals - April 16 at 7 PM ➢ Planning Board-April 17 at 7:30 PM ➢ Thank you card form First National Bank of Groton for loan of chairs for their annual meeting ➢ Country Acres Pet Services Open House - April 19 at 10 AM ➢ Groton Business Association-April 16 at 6:00 PM - Groton Hotel There being no further business, Councilman Sovocool moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, at 8:12 PM. Unanimous. April L Scheffler, RMC Town Clerk