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HomeMy WebLinkAbout7-12-2022TOWN OF GROTON –- MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2022 AT 7:30 PM Town Officers Present: Town Officers Absent: Also Present: Donald F. Scheffler, Supervisor Paul Lang, Town Justice Dan Carey, AG Advisory Comm. Richard Gamel, Councilperson Randy Jackson, Town Justice Brian Klumpp Councilperson Crystal Young, Councilperson Sheldon C. Clark, Councilperson Ellard Keister, Highway Supt. Mack Rankin, Dept. Highway Robin Cargian, Town Clerk Francis Casullo, Attorney Julie Graham, Bookkeeper W. Rick Fritz, Code Official The meeting opened at 7:30pm MOVED by Councilperson Klumpp, seconded by Councilperson Clark, to approve the minutes of the June 14, 2022 Town Board Meeting as submitted. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler, Motion Passed RESOLUTION #22-050‐ ‐ APPROVE PAYMENT OF INVOICES WHEREAS, vouchers for Abstract #7 for the Year 2022, numbered 287-332 were reviewed and and audited by the Town Board, be it RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves said vouchers with the Total amounts as follows: A GENERAL FUND 23,568.78 B GENERAL FUND PART TOWN 43.64 DA HIGHWAY FUND 9,803.01 DB HIGHWAY FUND PART TOWN 246,504.43 SL2- PERUVILLE LIGHTING DISTRICT 81.90 SLl- MCLEAN LIGHTING DISTRICT 133.35 Total 280,135.11 MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler, Nays - Resolution Passed Monthly Reports Julie Graham, Bookkeeper – The budget adjustment on the front of the monthly report is really just a correction to the DA fund number. It should have been DA599. I will be attending a budget/hot topics webinar through the Association of Towns tomorrow. This was the first month running everything by Town Board Minutes Page 2 July 12, 2022 myself! RESOLUTION #22-051‐ ‐ CORRECT FUND NUMBER TO RESOLUTION -#22-044 Highway Town wide: Appropriation Fund Balance DA599 $22,100 CR. Snow Removal Salt shed DA5142.2 $22,100 MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler, Motion Passed W. Rick Fritz, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer – You have my written report. Construction work is finally up, and I have been doing many inspections. Denise has been remarkably busy sending out reminders to permit holders if a permit is about to expire or has expired. This is working great. We have been able to get many inspections done and I want to thank her for doing a super job! Ellard Keister, Highway Superintendent – I want to thank Fran Casullo for the Bid Packet write up. The new side arm mowing tractor arrived just in time and is working perfectly. The old mowing arm ended up having more fractures in the frame than we first suspected. Tyler has refabricated it as a spare as it can no longer be a main line mower. Dale Slocum has become the new mower guy. He is an excellent seasoned employee. Is very dependable and a great addition to the shop helping Ben. He has reached the end of the probation period so I make the recommendation to the board that he receive a $.50 per hour raise in pay. RESOLUTION #22-052‐ ‐ APPROVE RAISE FOR DALE SLOCUM MOVED by Councilperson Klumpp, seconded by Councilperson Clark to approve the $.50 per hour raise for Dale Slocum at the recommendation of the Highway Superintendent having reached the required probation period. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Ellard Keister, Highway Superintendent – There are needed updates to be done to the building. We have windows in the back of the shop that no longer function, single pane and are very inefficient. I have a quote to replace the series of 9 windows that includes installation with new aluminum framing to match for $9150.00. I did look into other options but his was the best value. I discussed this building upgrade with Don who suggested the money come from the Building Repair Reserve fund. Councilperson Gamel, How are we doing on the garage doors? Ellard Keister, Highway Superintendent – Two of the worst doors were previously replaced. Right now, they are in decent shape, a few tracks have been re-fabricated over the years. We typically have them serviced in the fall. Looking at all of the issues that need addressing; the windows all the way at the north end of the shop, the back doors in the kitchen and back of the shop which have no seal left with the frames rusting out, these windows are a bigger priority and would mean greater energy efficiency in the long run. Town Board Minutes Page 3 July 12, 2022 Supervisor Scheffler- If you would like to take this from the Capital Reserve Building repair fund it will be through permissive referendum, and this will need to be advertised first. Councilperson Klumpp- How much is in that account? Supervisor Scheffler, - Approximately $80,000 I believe but I do not have it in front of me. We paid for the doors out of it last year. I would be in favor of taking it from there if the board agrees. RESOLUTION #22-053‐ ‐ APPROVE NOTICE AND EXPENDITURE OF $9,150.00 FOR SHOP WINDOW REPLACEMENT SUBJECT TO PERMISSIVE REFERENDUM MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Clark to approve and place the notice of public referendum for the potential purchase and installation of a series of windows in the back of the shop for $9,150.00. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Ellard Keister, Highway Superintendent- We are making headway with the Salt shed and the plan is to break ground next Monday. Kehoe’s Concrete have agreed to stop by and check in on our progress to offer advice and give a bit of oversite. As we need our walls up before anyone can agree to build from them, I anticipate advertising the bid the week after we pour so it will have plenty of time to cure and will be available for contractors to inspect it. This does push us into the first week of September, but we can only go so fast. Contractors are very busy, it may not happen until next year but we can move our salt mix up there and operate as we have been. Eric (Rick) Satterly is looking forward to his retirement. I would like to thank him for his 20 years of service. His letter has been received so I would like to open up a position and try to bring in a new employee as a motor equipment operator. RESOLUTION #22-054‐ ‐ APPROVE HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDANT OPEN AN EMPLOYMENT POSITION FOR A MOTOR EQUIPMENT OPERATOR. MOVED by Councilperson Klumpp, seconded by Supervisor Scheffler approved the Highway Superintendent open an employment position for a motor equipment operator to fill the pending vacancy. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Supervisor Scheffler – The salary will depend on the qualifications of the individual. Ellard Keister, Highway Superintendent –The in-house training for a CDL license no longer qualifies in NY State. They must get their motor operator certification through an approved school. Hiring just a laborer would be pointless as I would not be able to get them into a snowplow by winter. Robin Cargian RMC, Town Clerk & Tax Collector – Catch up time for me. Working on clean-up of files and going over what is on the assets list. Town Board Minutes Page 4 July 12, 2022 Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – Don and I had a virtual meeting with Lansing about 3 weeks ago regarding the solar project. I think the time has come for the immediate focus to be on the solar project given its size. Lansing is at an advantage as they have engineers, planners, assistant planners to assist them and we need to get up to speed. Councilperson Klumpp,- Hiring attorneys, planners and engineers will be expensive. What will we get out of that expenditure? Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – I am not sure if all the expenses will be on the town. We will need a meeting to discuss applying for funding to get the experts we need. Supervisor Scheffler – Lansing is currently looking into a grant to cover this. There is money available from NYSERDA to help us. I am not sure if they are applying for this money for both of us or just themselves. I will find that out. Councilperson Gamel – Is that something we can get the solar company to cover? Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – That is another issue. Supervisor Scheffler – They did tell me the consultants, specialists, engineers they are looking at will have to come from the Rochester area as the attorneys here are currently hired by local clients which would be a conflict. We plan to hire together and split the bill. Councilperson Klumpp- What is the goal of these experts? How can they help us? Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – These applications are 100’s of pages long when they are tendered. These specialized attorneys and engineers know exactly what parts of the application are most important. What it appears they would like the local attorney to focus on is the host community agreement. The technical aspect would be left to the attorneys and engineers that know about this. Councilperson Gamel – What technical aspects would they be covering? Isn’t it the responsibility of the solar company to comply? Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – It is my understanding that they would look at water run-off, placement, fall zones…. Councilperson Klumpp- If a land developer comes in with an application to us, they are responsible for paying our engineering fees for review. Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – Correct, what I am suggesting here is organizing a meeting to move forward with this. From listening to Lansing, they seem to be relying on the knowledge of who they plan to hire. Councilperson Klumpp- The State Department of Renewable Energy are the ones approving it, they should be the ones to hire the consultants to review this. Town Board Minutes Page 5 July 12, 2022 Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – I am not going to argue that point but that is not the way this is going. I do think there are some technical things the municipality can control such as run off and certain land formations can divert where they are placed so we should be making decisions sooner rather than later. We might want to have an informal or formal joint meeting of both boards to hear questions. We can also rotate the board members in and out. Let’s ask for a meeting next week and I will talk with the Attorney for Lansing. It may help to put in for the grant as a joint effort. Councilperson Klumpp- I just don’t see how spending a hundred thousand dollars on specialists is going to help us. Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – I don’t think you will be spending that kind of money. From my understanding, it is not their intention to bankrupt the municipality on these reviews so there is money out there. My focus is going to have to be finding the most inexpensive way for the taxpayers to still be adequately protected as this business comes in. Eric DeForrest, Groton Fire Chief ‐ Absent due to his participation in the youth Firefighter Camp which was in progress. Road Preservation Law Fee, Supervisor Don Scheffler- Last month the Highway Superintendent provided a copy of the proposed road work permit application which we need to set the fee on and there was a questions regarding the deposit sum of $10,000. $75 dollars was suggested for the application fee. Page 2 of 11 Local Law #1 2014 “The Town requires an applicant to deposit with the Town funds sufficient to reimburse the Town for all reasonable costs of consultant and expert evaluation and consultation to the Town Board in connection with the review of any application. The initial deposit shall be the sum of $10,000 .00. However, the Town Board may, in its discretion , reduce said fee upon good cause shown. These funds shall accompany the filing of an application, and the Town shall maintain a separate escrow account for all such funds. The Town's consultants/experts shall, in accordance with an agreement between the Town and its consultants or experts, bill or invoice the Town not less frequently than monthly for its services in reviewing the application and performing its duties.” Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – I wasn’t here when this happened but if you remember back at the context when this was drafted, it was concerning fracking and the use of heavy equipment which is why you have the $10,000 bond. If you have a neighbor that is just going to put in a culvert you don’t want to ask for $10,000. This local law was drafted for the fracker’s ripping the roads apart or going on small roads with heavy equipment. This can still be the vehicle that can be used but will you be using it for something minor that a resident wants to do? Supervisor Scheffler, There is also the option to reduce or eliminate the funds needed on page 3 after a recommendation. Highway Superintendent, Ellard Keister - All of that was at the discretion of the Highway Superintendent. Most of this will be directed towards larger companies coming in as we had last week, a company put poles in the right of way or Time Warner Cable dropping their lines. Culverts or simple projects for residents is completed by the Highway Department. As you said before, the board can waive the bond if someone is going to put in an underground dog fence we can work with the local taxpayer. Town Board Minutes Page 6 July 12, 2022 Councilperson Gamel - If this deposit amount is already in there, do we need to change anything? Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – I would not because as you say, it is at the board’s discretion so you would be ok. If you were to change it you would have to amend the local law. Highway Superintendent, Ellard Keister - A good example is the County has a very similar thing as I was telling you last month, they had a company come in and track up a new road. The county had to go in and re- repair the road, charging the company the $43,000 it costs to fix it. They paid it because they want to continue to do business. Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town - All I am saying is that this is geared towards the high end project. Councilperson Gamel - Will the solar project have large enough equipment to where this would apply? Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town - That would apply to them, don’t worry about it right now. Leave that local law as is. RESOLUTION #22-055‐ ‐ SET ROAD PRESEVATON APPLICATION FEE AT $75 MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded Councilperson Gamel to set the highway road preservation application fee at $75 and update the 2022 fee schedule. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Certificates of Appreciation presented to the Town of Groton from Fran Kruppta, head of the Tompkins County Health Department for all of the efforts put forth during the Covid -19 Pandemic. Supervisor Scheffler thanked everyone including the retired Town Clerk, April Scheffler, as she engaged in supplying information and implementing many of requirements at the time. Also presented to the Town was a certificate from PERMA for having no claims during the past year. Privilege of the Floor: No one wished to speak. Announcements:  Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting, Wednesday, July 20, 2022 at 7:00 pm  Planning Board Meeting, Thursday, July 21, 2022 is postponed to August 18, 2022.  Special Elections August 23, 2022 to fill a vacant Congressional Seat There being no further business, Councilperson Gamel moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilperson Clark, at 8:15 pm. Unanimous. Robin Cargian, RMC Town Clerk/Tax Collector