HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-12-13 TOWN OF GROTON -MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2011 AT 7:30 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
Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town
Also present: Christina Ripley, Jane Crispell, Emmet Crispell, Jennifer Schwade,
Mike Goldstein, David Kalb, Carole Daugherty, JoAnne Cipolla-
Dennis, Doug Newman, Mike Morris, Mary McGarry-Newman,
Rachel Newman, Greg Weiland, Lisa Trust, Brian Robinson, Chad
DeVoe, Gary Coats, Charles Rankin, Richard C. Case, Jr., April
Scheffler.
MOVED by Councilman Gamel, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to approve the
minutes of the November 1, 2011 meeting as presented.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
Claim Numbers 339-382 of the General Fund in the amount of $24,171 .22 were
presented for audit.
MOVED by Councilman Scheffler, seconded by Councilman Sovocool to approve the
General Bills for payment.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
Claim Numbers 189-211 of the Highway Fund in the amount of $43,821 .45 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.
Monthly Reports:
Charles Rankin, Bookkeeper - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review and
requested budget transfers.
Town Board Minutes Page 2 December 13,2011
RESOLUTION #11-082 - 2011 BUDGET TRANSFER - GENERAL FUND TOWN WIDE
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2011 Budget Transfers:
General Fund, Town Wide:
From: Employee Benefits, Medical Insurance, A960.8 $1,450.00
To: Special Items, Association Dues, A1920.4 250.00
Employee Benefits, Unemployment Insurance, A9050.8....1,200.00
RESOLUTION #11-083 - 2011 BUDGET TRANSFER - GENERAL FUND TOWN WIDE
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2011 Budget Transfers:
General Fund, Town Wide:
From: Justices, Contractual, Al 110.4 $3,000.00
To: Justices, Equipment, A1110.2 3,000.00
RESOLUTION #11-082 - 2011 BUDGET TRANSFER - GENERAL FUND PART TOWN
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2011 Budget Transfers:
General Fund, Part Town:
From: Contingency, B1990.4 $325.00
To: Planning, Deputy Clerk Salary, B8010.12 $325.00
RESOLUTION #11-082 - 2011 BUDGET TRANSFER - HIGHWAY FUND TOWN WIDE
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2011 Budget Transfers:
Highway Fund, Town Wide:
From: Machinery, Contractuatl, DA5130.4 $12,000.00
To: Machinery, Personal Services, DA5130.1 12,000.00
Town Board Minutes Page 3 December 13,2011
RESOLUTION #11-082 - 2011 BUDGET TRANSFER - HIGHWAY FUND PART TOWN
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2011 Budget Transfers:
Highway Fund, Part Town:
Form: Employee Benefits, Health Insurance, DB9060.8 $100.00
To: Employee Benefits, Social Security, DB9030.8 100.00
Gary Coats, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's
review. Mr. Coats included a copy of a letter concerning an unsafe building that he
had inspected following a fire. Mr. Coats will keep the Board updated on the situation.
He and the Deputy Clerk have also been going after some of the life safety issues for
building permits that were never closed out.
Richard C. Case, Jr., Highway Superintendent - The Highway Department has got all the
heavy duty equipment for snow removal functional. Repairs are taking place daily. We
are up and running in case it does snow. Our project on Brown Road continues and the
fellows have made a lot of headway there. The NYSDOT road inventory is done and
filed with the State. The mileage remains the same, 53.45 center line miles of Groton
road and 42.35 miles of County road within the Town. Friday I'll finalize the truck
purchase that you approved before and with that I'd like to request a resolution to
purchase the plow, hitch assembly, hydraulic components and the mounting on the
truck.
RESOLUTION #11-087 - APPROVE PURCHASE OF PLOW,
HITCH ASSEMBLY AND HYDRAULICS
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the purchase, through New York State
Office of General Services, a reversible plow, plow hitch assembly and hydraulic
components and the mounting of these components on a truck. Funds will be taken
out of DA 5130.2 and be it further
RESOLVED, that $2,100.00 shall be transferred from DA5148.4 to DA5130.2.
RESOLUTION #11-088 - APPROVE 2012 SNOW AND ICE CONTRACT
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the 2012 Snow and Ice Contract
between the Town of Groton and the County of Tompkins.
Town Board Minutes Page 4 December 13,2011
April L. Scheffler, Town Clerk/Tax Collection - Submitted monthly Town Clerk report and
County Acres Pet Services report. Clerk Scheffler reported on Tompkins County's
Electronic Document Management System that they have worked on putting together
for about 10 years. They are at a point where they would like to open up the system to
the municipalities to have their documents scanned and available online also. The
County and the municipalities who choose to participate will be applying for a shared
services grant through New York State Archives. Clerk Scheffler was asking the Board
for a letter of support for the grant application.
RESOLUTION #11-089 - LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR SHARED SERVICES GRANT
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves that the Supervisor sign a letter of
support for an application to the New York State Archives for a Shared Services Grant
which would be used to expand Tompkins County's Electronic Document Management
System to include records of Town governments located within Tompkins County.
Francis Casullo, Attorney for the Town - Supervisor Morey had asked Attorney Casullo to
provide some sample ordinances or local laws for road preservation. He provided
about 8 laws, including those from towns in Cortland County, Chenango County,
Broome County, Tioga County, Tompkins County as well as county laws for Cortland
and Broome Counties. He also provided a model law from the Association of Towns.
He provided a complete set to each Board Member, the Highway Superintendent and
the Clerk.
John J. Norman & A. D. Dawson, Town Justices - Were not present.
Councilman Donald Scheffler, as Recreation Coordinator- Had nothing to report.
Brian Robison, County Legislator - Sorry I haven't been here in a couple of months.
We've been busy doing our own budget. I can report to you on that. As you recall, we
started out with a maintenance of effort budget of almost 13% tax increase, which
obviously nobody was going to be in favor of. We ended up with an adjusted tax cap
figure of roughly 2.9%, which would have been the increase without going over the
cap. We voted early to go over the cap and part of that was based on our County
Administrator's recommended budget which was actually a 5.4% increase. We were
able to take about a point and a half off of that. Our adopted budget was just a hair
under 4% which was, I believe, 1.07% above the cap. A lot of that had to do with some
cuts that we just weren't willing to make and most of them were kind of important to
this area. They were mainly public safety, the sheriff patrol and emergency
management. Highways, they were going to make a big cut in materials and the
highway department budget. We didn't think that would be smart. Most of that is
maintenance and if you let them go and you have to actually rebuild the road, you're
basically throwing good money after bad. And the last one was in the area of rural
Town Board Minutes Page 5 December 13,2011
youth services. As you may recall, they kind of took a hit last year and we didn't want
that to happen again. They stayed at the same level as did rural libraries, which was a
hotly contested item. So, yes we did exceed the tax cap, but in actuality it was about
a 9.5% reduction from the maintenance of effort, or last year's budget. So, nearly a 10th
of County government budgets were cut. There were 24 positions that were cut, most
of them by attrition. County government has gotten smaller and at the same time is
trying to meet the needs of everyone. Since that time, the break has been pretty nice.
The budget is pretty intensive stuff. I don't know if you're familiar with fracking at all,
have you heard of that? We actually did have some resolutions that were passed by
the Legislature dealing with fracking, the most of important of which, of local concern,
would be that we unanimously passed a resolution supporting Home Rule legislation. I
believe and my contemporaries believe, that is where any decisions with any fracking
belong, they need to belong with the localities, much like the road use and things like
that. Each locality will be able to do that. I know it has support from our local State
Senator, Seward, and also the other two senators from Tompkins County, Nozzolio and
O'Mara are all in favor of that legislation as well.
Supervisor Morey - Joe was going to come over and talk
Mr. Robison - Yes, that was the other thing. That's kind of in the works right now. There
have been concerns regarding an influx, what is perceived to be, an influx of folks from
the Ithaca area into the downtown Groton area, citizens' concerns in terms of
increased crime and a whole gambit of issues. Those issues have come to the attention
of the County Administrator and he has now gotten a meeting together with myself, the
Director of Probation, DSS, that sort of stuff. We're going to meet and then we are
going to come here, at a time and place to be determined. They're shooting for early
in January and hear concerns from officials. They're kind of asking me who should be
at that meeting.
Privilege of the Floor:
Mike Morris - Members of the Groton Resource Awareness Coalition (GRAC) are here
tonight to respectfully ask questions of the Town Board and look forward within the next
several Town Board meetings to obtaining and discussing the Board's answers. This is
not an exhaustive list of questions by any means, but it is hoped that they can
contribute to a meaningful dialogue about the issue of High Volume Hydraulic
Fracturing (HVHF or fracking) for methane gas in the Town of Groton.
Based upon the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's current
draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (dSGEIS) and draft
regulations proposed for governing the High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing (HVHF) drilling
process for the production of natural gas, what are the Town of Groton's current
projections and/or plans for scenarios of light HVHF development, moderate HVHF
development, and intensive HVHF development with respect to each of the following
categories:
➢ Anticipated Town revenue from taxes & fees from drilling activity in the Town?
What are the current scenarios under discussion?
➢ Necessary Town expenditures or, i.e., road maintenance, first responder training
for hazardous materials and industrial sites, increases in Town's insurance rates,
the probable need for 24/7 policing due to - if Pennsylvania's experience is any
Town Board Minutes Page 6 December 13,2011
guide-an increase in traffic accidents and a doubling of the crime rate,
especiallywithrespecttopublicdrunkenness&brawling,drugs,prostitution,drunk
driving, etc.?
➢ Noise abatement, i.e., due to trucks, drilling rigs, compressor stations, etc.?
➢ Road use restrictions? Will any local roads under the Town's jurisdiction be off-
limits to drilling-related activity and traffic?
➢ Groton's current Comprehensive Plan and zoning? Groton's Town Code is
supposed to use the Town's Comprehensive Plan as a guide and is supposed to
uphold the vision of the Comprehensive Plan. Groton's Comprehensive Plan
values Groton's rural character above all and expresses concerns about already
too-high truck traffic. Given that, can and will the Town of Groton restrict drilling
activity to the several areas zoned for industrial activity?
Jennifer Schwade - In the Town of Groton there are 400 or less active gas leases. If each
of those leases represents one household that means that less than 200 of Town
residents hold gas leases and stand to profit from drilling on their properties. Given
anticipated disruptions to the quality of life in both the Town and Village of Groton due
to the entirety of the process for High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing for methane gas
(HVHF or fracking) such as the industrialization of our rural area, extreme truck traffic,
noise, air pollution, possible water contamination, increases in crime i.e., public
drunkenness, brawling, prostitution, drugs, effects upon property values. What does the
Town Board see as the upsides to the anticipated arrival of HVHF? As a result of such
disruptions, what improvements in our public infrastructure does the Board think all
residents can expect to see as a benefit? For living under such duress can residents at
the very least expect to see, i.e., a new Community Center with a year-round
indoor/outdoor Olympic swimming pool, year-round ice skating rink, exercise facilities,
meeting rooms, and multi-use facilities for banquets, dances, marriages, receptions,
and exercising with consideration given to the varied age groups in our community
from infants to the elderly? For bearing such disruptions, we would also like to see new
school facilities. How about a bike trail to Freeville or Dryden? What are the plans for
upholding the quality of life of the vast majority of Town and Village of Groton Residents
who will bear the burden of HVHF but who will not see any income from it personally?
Mike Goldstein - At the end of the day, we're all trying to make cost benefit analysis
and the problem is that we don't have a very good understanding of the cost. There is
a really lovely resource out there, as a scientist I know that there are a lot of web based,
pseudo resources, some of which are complete flops, some which are exploitative,
some of which are actually about data. This presentation actually comes from data.
This is by Deborah Rogers. She was on the Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve
Bank of Dallas since 2008 and she was appointed in 2011 by the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality to a task force reviewing placement of air monitors in the Barnett
Shale region. They wound up doing a pretty thorough review in terms of cost and
benefits of the shale industry. I got this for you. There's a reference at the top here to
one of her actual presentations. It's a very data driven presentation so I encourage
you to check it out. If you want the clip notes, the clip notes are also attached. I
wanted to follow up also on what Brian said, that there has been unanimous passage
at the County level for support of Home Rule. And if you follow what's going on at the
County level, what's going on in other municipalities in the County, you see there's
quite a bit of active discussion of the possibilities of hydraulic fracturing in the region.
There doesn't seem to be as much discussion in Groton and that's one of the reasons
we're here and we'll continue to be here.
Town Board Minutes Page 7 December 13,2011
As a member of the Tompkins County Council of Governments (TCCOG) has the Town
participated in TCCOG's Task Force on Gas Drilling? There's quite a bit of activity of
really hard working done by really good people to get a handle on what the impact of
shale gas drilling will mean for this region. And I'm not just talking about actual drilling,
but all the attendant infrastructual changes that will come with that including truck
traffic, compressor stations, pipelines, etc. These really need to be closely examined
before the fact, not during or after. It will be too late do anything about it, whether it's
positive or negative. So, in summary, we would like to know what the current results
were from such cooperation and if the cooperation isn't happening between Groton
and the Tompkins County Task Force on Gas Drilling, why isn't that happening? I would
also be happy to help point you toward appropriate web resources that Tompkins
County has made available so you can see what they've been doing. All their meeting
minutes are online, etc. Has the Town submitted comments on the NYS DEC's proposed
drilling regulations? Does the Town intend to submit comments by the January 11th
deadline? If so, what is the nature of the comments? If not, why not? What steps has
the Board taken or will the Board take to shield Town of Groton's taxpayers from liability
arising from accidents in any facet of drilling operations which might affect members of
the public on public properties or thoroughfares of the Town? Again, this is something
that other municipalities in the region are actively addressing and it worries me a bit
that I don't see that level of engagement coming out of Groton, and I'd like to see
that. New York is one of the few states which provides for 3rd party liability, which
renders leaseholders liable for accidents on their lands. Will the Town hold lease holding
landowners liable to protect the Town itself from liability and associated expenses?
These can skyrocket quickly and I thing, again, appropriate legislative action needs to
be taken before the industry gets here rather than during or after.
Jane Crispell - I'm here tonight with my son, Emmet. He's eight and a little shy so I'm
going to ask this question for him. How do you think the many millions of gallons of
contaminated waste water should be disposed of? And of course, that's regarding the
potential for hydrofacking in our community.
Lisa Trust - Has the Board been in touch with TCAT to anticipate gas drilling's possible
effects upon TCAT bus service in Groton upon which many residents rely? If the Board
has not enforced the most stringent protections available to it under the law, how can
the Board act to shield taxpayers from liability concerns should drilling activity impact
the drinking water supplies of Cornell University (Fall Creek), the Villages of Locke and
Moravia, and the Town of Auburn (Owasco Inlet), and the Village of Groton's well water
supply - all located within the Town of Groton? Has there been any communication to
the Town of Groton from, or by the Town of Groton with, any of the parties named
above concerning their water sources in the Town of Groton? Will the Town of Groton
work with those parties to protect their water supplies? Should the protections afforded
the New York City and Syracuse water supplies apply to these local drinking water
supplies, especially the wells which supply the Village of Groton its municipal water right
here in the Town of Groton? If not, why not?
Carol Daugherty - If the State begins to issue drilling permits what is the permitting
process at the Town level? Is the Town allowed any say in the permitting process as
currently proposed, with respect to NYS Home Rule enforcement of local land use laws?
Does the provision for Extractive Industry by Special Use Permit in Groton's Town Code
allow the Town more control over the permitting process at the local level?
Alternatively, does the provision for Extractive Industry by Special Use Permit in Groton's
Town Board Minutes Page 8 December 13,2011
Town Code allow the gas companies an end-run around Home Rule and local land use
restrictions? Can and will the Town of Groton fight to prevent the use of Eminent
Domain to run gas pipelines? I am concerned personally about the effect
hydrofracking and compulsory integration on the value of my property. If the wells on
my property were to become contaminated due to hydrofacking on land adjacent to
my property, I most importantly would not have clean water to drink. This would
drastically affect the value of my property and should affect how my property would
be appraised for tax purposes. This all filters down to how much tax money the Town
would have available for maintaining infrastructure, such as roads. How, as members of
the Town Board, will you be able to continue to meet expenses if tax revenues are
reduced because tax values are negatively affected by hydrofracking?
How, as members of the Town Board, will you maintain the "rural integrity" of the Town of
Groton if hydrofracking is allowed? How will you maintain the rural integrity of the
community if the Town is invaded by large numbers of heavy trucks? And how will you
deal with the environmentally detrimental effects of heavy industry, such as water and
air pollution and 24-7 noise and lights, which would be present at would be present at
well pad sites? How will you preserve the rural flavor of Groton for humans and also for
wildlife, which would be negatively affected by the same environmental pollutants?
Greg Weiland - I have a small little, 15 acres; we have some horses. I'm really
concerned about losing my water and what I've come to love. I've been here now
five years and I really like living in Groton. I really enjoy the rural atmosphere. I enjoy
the openness. I enjoy the quite. I'm concerned that once it begins there will be
industrialization of the Town. There will be trucks everywhere. There will be new roads,
platforms and pads. It will change everything. The possibility of losing my well which
would make my property value, make my property worthless. I'd basically have to
leave. I wouldn't recoup the cost of the property. The other thing I want to say, I realize
the liability issue is a big deal for the Town. But we've talked to a lot of people. There's
a lot of support you can get to protect ourselves and the Town from the liability. I think
that as we watch the case in Dryden play out, I think it's going to go positive, that
Towns are going to be able to set their rules. The problem is that if we wait until the
case is done, permits will already be issued and if we don't have something to protect
us before the permits are issued, it's game over. They'll be here with the trucks. They'll
be here building new roads. They'll be here putting in their pads and the Town will be
different. It will not be what it is now. It will be completely changed in every way
possible. I don't see how the pay-off, how we're going to get anything out of this. I
think there are going to be just a few people who are going to make some money. The
other thing I want to say, although it's 60% leased, we've been going around collecting
signatures from people and I've run into several people who've leased not knowing
what it meant and are not going to renew their leases. So, I think 60% is probably over-
estimated based on many people who do not want to lease again. Everything is going
to be lower numbers that we're looking at.
David Kalb - I'm just outside the Town limits. When you look at it visually (holds up a
colored map) this is the Town of Groton in leased land for gas drilling. If you don't think
that's going to have an impact, you just have to look at it visually. I'm a neighbor. I've
been connected to the Town though for many years because my wife went to school
here and she was also the school nurse for many years. I run often on the roads here,
meeting friends at the high school. I have spent the last eight months investigating on
my own the hydrofracking controversy. As a trained scientist I have unequivocally
Town Board Minutes Page 9 December 13,2011
concluded that right now the dangers to our public health and well being greatly
exceed the benefits that the industry purports to bring. I would be wary of any industry
that vigorously fights and has successfully won the right to be exempted from the very
laws that were designed to protect us. The gas industry is exempt from the Clean Air
Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Drinking Water Act, and the Super Fund Act. I am
here tonight to remind you of your very important duty to the citizens. There is a very
short window in which to act. If you do nothing, your zoning laws will not allow you any
options when it comes to the gas industry that will be exempt from Groton's current
zoning, unless it is expressly disallowed. You will be abdicating all control of the gas
industry to eminent domain, New York State and the DEC. You can read about many
deficiencies the EPA has concluded and submitted about NYS DGEIS at links I have
provided. The independent, peer-reviewed science needed to study the effects and
safety of this industry is just now beginning to catch up to the gas companies' ability to
drill. What we are now beginning to read in the scientific literature should cause all of
us to be concerned. The EPA has just concluded that the water contamination of the
aquifer in the town of Pavillion, Wyoming was the result of hydrofracking with 50 times
the allowed levels of benzene, a known carcinogen. Well waters in Fort Worth, Texas
and Dimock, Pennsylvania were found to contain hazardous levels of benzene and
methane from fracking. If not for nondisclosure orders imposed on many other people
forced to settle with the gas companies, there would be many more instances of well
contamination to report. The industry itself says it has they have a 2-3% well failure in
casing. How many gas wells in Groton will be of that 2-3% where their well casings fail?
I urge you as a neighbor, a scientist and a concerned citizen to ban hydrofracking in
Groton until it is too late. At a minimum, I urge you to vote in a temporary moratorium
that would give you and the residents more time to make an informed decision. This
would need to be enacted prior to the time the DEC begins to issue permits because
once that time period is over you've lost all home rule, you have no imput. Pro-bono
legal advice is available to help you do this if needed. The first link in my comments is a
video of a presentation made by David Slottje to the Enfield Town Board regarding this
very topic. Approximately 40 municipalities in New York have already enacted bans or
moratoria. The truck traffic that will come and clog the Village should, alone, scare you
into pondering the future. The shale has been there for thousands of years. It's going to
be there a lot longer. You've got to do it right. Remember also, that those who stand
to gain are few compared to those who stand to lose.
Doug Newman - I moved to Groton about five years ago and I'm a farmer. I grow
organic vegetables. I'm just concerned about hydrofracking. I don't believe it's safe.
If it's not safe enough for the water supply of Syracuse and New York City, then why are
we doing it here where it could potentially contaminate our wells? I mean I need
water. I need water to wash vegetables, irrigate my crops, to drink, I mean it's just so
basic to everything we need. That's my main concern.
JoAnne Cipolla-Dennis - I'm also your neighbor. My property is actually on the border
between Lansing and Dryden and then about three miles from us is the town line for
Groton. Anyways, I was here about three months ago and met Glenn and talked
before you and I've been waiting and waiting and waiting to hear something from
Groton and I'm here because I haven't. With the thousand of hours that I've
accumulated in deep study in the past three years, I've gone all over the nation, twice,
and I can tell you what's happening in Dimock has happened all over this nation and
America is in serious trouble. The world wants to make us the gas station for the world
and they don't care at what expense we pay. That is the big picture which is why the
Town Board Minutes Page 10 December 13,2011
gas storage center, the plans for it anyways, up in the Seneca Lake, in the salt caverns,
is where their going to store that gas and they have sought permission from the
government, Dominion specifically to send the gas overseas because they make much
more money overseas. So its a huge lie that the gas stays here. The workers that are
used in this industry will not be from here. They say on their commercials that we'll bring
thousands and tens of thousands of jobs to New York State but they never finish the
sentence. Those are for out of state people. They are trained specifically. They are not
going to let one of our farm guys go on and do the work that they do. They're going to
hire them as gophers and if you listen to Martha Robertson, she has put out in one of
their speeches how they actually measure hires. They'll hire someone, keep them for a
couple of days, a week, fire them, and then rehire them at the same job and that
counts for two jobs. I want to tell you about a guy who I knew a long time ago, who
was a farm boy, just back from the Vietnam War, who actually made it home, and he
got sick and tired of dairy farming and he took off for the great state of North Dakota
where that has been drilled more than any state in America and for three years he
worked on the oil rigs until he got hurt. He got hurt badly, so much that it disable him for
the rest of his life. He was 33 years old when that happened to him. He never had a
40th birthday. I don't want that to happen to guys around here or any place in New
York State and I know that because he was my brother. My sister has actually returned
three weeks ago from North Dakota because the air out there is so bad you really can't
breathe any longer so she is coming back to New York hoping this doesn't happen to
her. My other brother outside of Pavilion, Wyoming, drinks out of what they call a
"water buffalo", not an animal, big plastic tank they put in front of your beautiful house
and of course that brings the value way down. And the other thing is that I've been
building a house. Mary, Doug and Rachel have actually helped me. And when I went
to Dimock, as my last stop on March 6th two years ago, I learned on that day that I will
not be able to live in that new house that I've been building and we stopped building
and we've lived in a construction site. We've barely got a CO but it's enough to live
there and I haven't put a penny into it, nor will I, until this is banned throughout New
York State. I stand to lose everything that I've put into it, over a quarter of a million
dollars that I can't afford to lose, and people like me are all over the place and we
need to invest in our homes. We want to stay here but we have no choice, we're living
in limbo and until people come out and ban this all around New York State, we don't
have a chance. This is not a do-over situation. You have to ban and do it quickly in
order to protect the citizens of Groton. Like I said, this is not a do-over. You can't come
back in a couple of months after permits have been issued. It's not going to work out
that way. And because other communities have banned, they will come to the people
who have not and the "shallionares" that are going to be made, a few of them, don't
understand that because the damages are collateral for neighbors that they will be
sued. So, they'll only be a "shallionare" for a short time and they'll end up owing
millions more than they ever could have made. So please consider that and farmers
don't know what they've gotten themselves into because no one's telling them and
that needs to change because these people need to understand what's going to
happen to their property. So, I really advise you to act as quickly as possible and this
should be the most important thing on your agenda.
Mary Newman - I'm a certified organic farmer with my daughter and husband. I just
wanted to say that I am also urging the Board to enact a ban against this. The more
you learn about this, the more scared you need to be because this is going to be so
destructive if it ever comes here. The lifestyle that we love and treasure and cherish is
not going to exist and then the basic things like our water is not going to be there for us,
Town Board Minutes Page 11 December 13,2011
our clean water that we count on. So, we're counting on you guys and women to
protect us. When you look at what they've done with the SDGEIS, I hope you all have
studied that, and when it says right there in black and white that they are exempting
the Syracuse and New York City watershed, what does that say? It's not safe. Why can
it be safe for us? Isn't our water important? Isn't our lakes, rivers, streams, farmland
important? How can they just say that those people are going to be protected but you
guys are just a bunch chopped liver and too bad? So, I'm hoping that you all will
protect us because the Department of Environmental Conservation doesn't seem to be
doing that at this point, but I do hope they step up too and that the Governor is going
to step up. Thank you for your time and we will be looking forward to hearing what you
have to say to all these questions.
RESOLUTION #11-090 - MEDICAL INSURANCE FOR EMPLOYEES -
CHANGE TO EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the following change to the Town of
Groton Employee Handbook (words to be deleted have strike through and words to be
added are highlighted):
Medical Insurance
Each Full time employee shall be entitled to have paid on his/her behalf, eighty percent
(80%) of the cost of the medical insurance coverage provided by the Town. The
employee shall be responsible to pay the remaining twenty percent (20%), which shall
be prorated over the term of the coverage and deducted biweekly from his/her
wages.
Any full time employee that has retired and that has at least twenty (20) years of full
time continuous employment and is enrolled in the health insurance plan at the time of
retirement will be entitled to have medical insurance paid at the rate of one hundred
ten dollars per month toward the cost of medical insurance coverage. The employee
shall be responsible for paying the remaining cost of health insurance.
RESOLUTION #11-091 - UPDATE PROCUREMENT POLICY FOR THE TOWN OF GROTON
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Groton wishes to update the Procurement
Policy for the Town of Groton to reflect purchase limits allowed under Section 103 of New
York State General Municipal Law, be it
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the following updates to the
Procurement Policy for the Town of Groton (words to be deleted have strike through and
words to be added are highlighted):
Town Board Minutes Page 12 December 13,2011
1. Every purchase to be made must be initially reviewed to determine whether it is
a purchase contract or a public works contract. Once the determination is
made, a good faith effort will be made to determine whether it is known or can
reasonably be expected that the aggregate amount to be spent on the item of
supply or service is not subject to competitive bidding, taking into account past
purchases and the aggregate amount to be spent in a year. The following items
are not subject to competitive bidding pursuant to Section 103 of the General
Municipal Law: purchase contracts under$1-0,000$20,000 and public works
contracts under$20,000$35,000; emergency purchases; goods purchased from
agencies for the blind or severely handicapped; goods purchased from
correctional institutions; purchases under State and County contracts; and
surplus and secondhand purchases from another governmental entity. The
decision that a purchase is not subject to competitive bidding will be
documented in writing by the individual making the purchase. This
documentation may include written or verbal quotes from vendors, a memo
from the purchaser indicating how the decision was arrived at, a copy of the
contract indicating the source which makes the item or service exempt, a memo
from the purchaser detailing the circumstances which led to an emergency
purchase, or any other written documentation that is appropriate.
2. All goods and services will be secured by use of written requests for proposals,
written quotations, verbal quotations, or any other method that assures that
goods will be purchased at the lowest price and that favoritism will be avoided,
except in the following circumstances: purchase contracts over$1-0,000-$20,000
and public works contracts over$20,000$35,000; goods purchased from
agencies for the blind or severely handicapped pursuant to Section 175-b of the
State Finance Law; goods purchased from correctional institutions pursuant to
Section 186 of the Correction Law; purchases under State contracts pursuant to
Section 104 of the General Municipal Law; purchases under county contracts
pursuant to Section 103 (3) of the General Municipal Law; or purchases pursuant
to subdivision 6 of this policy:
3. The following method of purchase will be used when required by this policy in
order to achieve the highest savings:
All purchases under $2500 $5,000 must have verbal approval from the Supervisor,
or Town Clerk, or Highway Superintendent of the Town of Groton.
Estimated Amount of Purchase Contract Method
$0 - $2,500$5,000 Most responsible vendor
$2,500 $4,999 $5,001 - $10,000 2 verbal quotes. Board approval
4,-57000 $10,001 - $19,999 3 written/fax quotes or request for
proposals. Board approval.
Estimated Amount of Public Works Contract Method
$0 - $2,500$10,000 Most responsible vendor
Town Board Minutes Page 13 December 13,2011
$2,500 $4,999 $10,001 - $25,000 2 verbal quotes. Board approval
$5,000 $19,999 $25,001 - $34,000 3 written quotes or requests for
proposals. Board approval.
A good faith effort shall be made to obtain the required number of proposals or
quotations. If the purchaser is unable to obtain the required number of proposals
or quotations, the purchaser will document the attempt made at obtaining the
proposals. In no event shall the failure to obtain the proposals be a bar to the
procurement.
4. Documentation is required of each action taken in connection with each
procurement.
5. Documentation and an explanation is required whenever a contract is awarded
to other than the lowest responsible offer or. This documentation will include an
explanation of how the award will achieve savings or how the offer or was not
responsible. A determination that the offer or is not responsible shall be made by
the purchaser and may not be challenged under any circumstances.
6. Pursuant to General Municipal Law Section 104-b (2) (f), The Town Board may,
after a determination by a majority of the board that special circumstances exist,
decide that the solicitation of alternative proposals or quotations will not be in the
best interest of the Town when contracting for the following:
a. Professional services or services requiring special or technical skill, training or
expertise. The individual or company must be chosen based on
accountability, reliability, responsibility, skill, education and training, judgment,
integrity, and moral worth. These qualifications are not necessarily found in the
individual or company that offers the lowest price and the nature of these
services are such that they do not readily lend themselves to competitive
procurement procedures.
In determining whether a service fits into this category the TOWN BOARD shall
take into consideration the following guidelines: (a) whether the services are
subject to State licensing or testing requirements; (b) whether substantial formal
education or training is a necessary prerequisite to the performance of the
services; and (c) whether the services require a personal relationship between
the individual and municipal officials. Professional or technical services shall
include but not be limited to the following: services of an attorney; services of
a physician; technical services of an engineer engaged to prepare plans,
maps and estimates; securing insurance coverage and/or services of an
insurance broker; services of a certified public accountant; investment
management services; printing services involving extensive writing, editing or
art work; management of municipally owned property; and computer
software or programming services for customized programs, or services
involved in substantial modification and customizing of pre-packaged
software.
b. Emergency purchases pursuant to Section 103 (4) of the General Municipal
Law. Due to the nature of this exception, these goods or services must be
Town Board Minutes Page 14 December 13,2011
purchased immediately and a delay in order to seek alternate proposals may
threaten the life, health, safety or welfare of the residents. This section does not
preclude alternate proposals if time permits.
c. Purchases of surplus and second-hand goods from any source. If alternate
proposals are required, the TOWN is precluded from purchasing surplus and
second-hand goods at auctions or through specific advertised sources where
the best prices are usually obtained. It is also difficult to try to compare prices
of used goods and a lower price may indicate an older product.
d. Goods or services under $2500 $5,000. The time and documentation required
to purchase through this policy may be more costly than the item itself and
would therefore not be in the best interests of the taxpayer. In addition, it is not
likely that such de minimis contracts would be awarded based on favoritism.
7. True Leases. The courts have held that "true lease" agreements are neither
purchases nor contracts for public work and, thus, are not subject to bidding
under General Municipal Law, 103. Documentation should include written quotes,
cost-benefit analysis of leasing versus purchasing, etc.
8. Sole Sources. Competitive bidding is not required under section 103 of the
General Municipal Law in those limited situations when there is only one possible
source from which to procure goods and services required in the public interest
such as in the case of certain patented goods or services or public utility services
(see, gen, 1986 Opns St Comp No. 86-25, p. 41). Thus, for example, if a political
subdivision, acting in good faith and without intent to arbitrarily inhibit or restrict
competition, determines that a particular patented item is required in the public
interest and it is further determined that such item is available only from one
source so that no possibility of competition exists, competitive bidding may not be
required for the procurement of the item.
In making these determinations, the political subdivision should document, among
other things, the unique benefits of the patented item as compared to other items
available in the marketplace; that no other item provides substantially equivalent
or similar benefits; and that, considering the benefits received, the cost of the item
is reasonable, when compared to conventional methods, In addition, the political
subdivision should document that, as a matter of fact, there is no possibility of
competition for the procurement of the goods.
9. Insurance. The courts have held that insurance coverage is not subject to formal
competitive bidding. The political subdivision would still have the option, however,
of requiring formal bidding in its policies and procedures. Documentation would
include bid advertisements, specifications and awarding resolution. Alternatively,
written or verbal quotation forms could serve as documentation if formal bidding is
not required.
10. This policy shall go into effect SEPTEMBER 1, 1992 and will be reviewed annually.
*Originally adopted September 1, 1992
*Amended January 11, 2000.
*Amended August 8, 2000
*Amended December 13, 2011
Town Board Minutes Page 15 December 13,2011
RESOLUTIONS #11-092 - CONTRIBUTION TO
TOMPKINS COUNTY COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves making a $250.00 voluntary
contribution to the funding reserve for the Tompkins County Council of Governments.
RESOLUTION #11-093 - APPOINT CHRISTINA RIPLEY TO
TOMPKINS COUNTY YOUTH SERVICES BOARD
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby appoints Christina Ripley as the Tompkins
County Youth Services Board as the representative for the Town and Village Groton.
RESOLUTION #11-094 - SET DATE FOR 2012 ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby sets Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 7:30 pm for
the 2012 Organizational Meeting.
Announcements:
➢ Planning Board Meeting - December 15 at 7:30 pm
➢ Zoning Board of Appeals - December 28 at 7:00 pm
➢ Groton Business Association Holiday Party - December 21, 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm at
Stone Hedges
➢ Thank you from Groton Historical Society
➢ Thank you form Liz Brennan
There being no further business, Councilman Sovocool moved to adjourn, seconded by
Councilman Scheffler, at 8:42 pm. Unanimous.
April L. Scheffler, RMC
Town Clerk