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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-11-2022TOWN OF GROTON –MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2022 AT 7:30 PM Town Officers Present: Town Officers Absent: Also Present: Donald F. Scheffler, Supervisor Randy Jackson, Town Justice Barbara Siebe Brian Klumpp, Councilperson Lee Shurtleff, County Legislature Barry Siebe Crystal Young, Councilperson Paul Lang, Town Justice Eric Deforrest Sheldon C. Clark, Councilperson Richard Gamel, Councilperson Scott Metcalf Ellard Keister, Highway Supt. Christine Miller Mack Rankin, Dept. Highway Meghan Trudeau Robin Cargian, Town Clerk Sam Sweeney Francis Casullo, Attorney David Byes Julie Graham, Bookkeeper Craig Mackenzie W. Rick Fritz, Code Official Diana Mackenzie Monica Carey, Planning Board Dan Carey Doug Vanbenschoten Sam Neno Penny Neno Theresa Wolf Dean Wolf The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance at 7:30pm MOVED by Councilperson Klumpp, seconded by Councilperson Young, to approve the minutes of the September 13, 2022 Town Board Meeting as submitted. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Scheffler, Motion Passed MOVED by Councilperson Klumpp, seconded by Councilperson Clark, to approve the minutes of the October 5, 2022 Special Town Board Meeting as submitted. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Scheffler, Motion Passed RESOLUTION #22-066‐ ‐ BUDGET ADJUSTMENT From Contingent Fund: A1990.4- $84.00 To Youth Program County A7310.4 $84.00 MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Young Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Scheffler, Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #22-067‐ ‐ APPROVE PAYMENT OF INVOICES WHEREAS, vouchers for Abstract #10 for the Year 2022, numbered 421-465 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: Town Board Minutes Page 2 October 11, 2022 A GENERAL FUND 10,791.84 B GENERAL FUND PART TOWN 80.95 DA HIGHWAY FUND 31,322.15 DB HIGHWAY FUND PART TOWN 20,608.18 SL2- PERUVILLE LIGHTING DISTRICT 81.90 SLl- MCLEAN LIGHTING DISTRICT 158.44 Total 63,043.46 MOVED by Councilperson Young, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Scheffler, Nays - Resolution Passed Monthly Reports Julie Graham, Bookkeeper – A monthly report was submitted, and no one had any questions. W. Rick Fritz, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer – I submitted my report. Normal typical work going on. We are still researching the software to see what is the best fit. Ellard Keister, Highway Superintendent – We have been hammering out work, putting in 2000ft of crossover pipes last month as well as drainage tile on Stevens Rd. These would include 8 plus year old crossover pipes that were collapsing and were unfortunately paved over. We have now fixed a good portion of those. We will finish up our patchwork on Stevens Rd. by tomorrow, if we can keep trucks running to the job site it will be prepped for pavement for next year. It is our goal to wrap things up as fall is here and begin the winter transition of equipment. Robin Cargian RMC, Town Clerk & Tax Collector – You have my report which includes my attendance of the County webinar training on the Model Solar Law. My notes are in your email. As a public service announcement, the second round of Doe Tags start November 1st. As Rick said, we are still looking at the building code software. We confirmed the iWorq software will integrate with the county GIS information so the mapping portion will work correctly as we are leaning towards that. We will bring it to you as it is a contract that will need to be signed. More work on your plate, the NY Dept of State has developed a new model law to replace the current part 1203 Uniform Code: Minimum Standards for Administration and Enforcement. That will need to be looked at as well. Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – Nothing to report. Justice Court –No one present. Councilperson Young, Recreation Coordinator- The Groton Joint Recreation committee met last week. Jennifer reported the fall programming is going very well. The fall football and cheer registration numbers were a bit higher than last year with some home games scheduled for October. The Cross-country program is doing extremely well with 30 participants having races every weekend. Winter programing, including youth basketball grades 3-6, has half of the coaches in place. The fundraiser for wrestling raised a significant amount of money. The Cabin Fever Grant is being submitted. The Groton chapter of Girl Scouts completed their Bronze Award Project (requiring at least 20 hours of community service) which was to sand and repaint the pavilion as well as the picnic tables at Sykes St. Park. It looks amazing and Town Board Minutes Page 3 October 11, 2022 there will be an open house this Saturday, 2-4pm to show the community if anyone would like to attend. Sadly, our wonderful directory, Jennifer Jones, will be stepping down. We are in search for a new recreation director with some possible changes to the job description that we will be discussing. Jennifer will be willing to stay on to train the new person. We are truly sad she is leaving. She has done such a great job. Trunk-or-treat will be happening this year as Moe’s has stepped up to be the sponsor. Eric Deforrest, Groton Fire Department- It has been a very busy month for us with over 800 calls which would be 100 ahead of where we were last year. We have a lot of new recruits in the fire department, two of which are going through classes right now. We are in the process of hiring two new part time medics to try to control our overtime costs. We had 60 vacant hours, and I would like to offset that with a bunch of part time medics. My drive is to hopefully get 4 new part timers to help alleviate that. We have 6 new members come on board this year to date. Trunk or treat is coming up and we will be attending. Also this week, is public education week, we have crews going down to Sykes St. to show the gear and teach fire safety. The kindergarteners will get a tour of the station and go through fire prevention education. RESOLUTION #22-068‐ CHANGE THE REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING DATE FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2022 MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp to change the November Board Meeting date to November 9, 2022 at 7:30pm due to the State and local elections being held in the court room on November 8, 2022. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #22-069‐ PUBLIC HEARING FOR FIRE AND AMBULANCE CONTRACTS MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Clark to set the public hearing for the Fire and Ambulance Contract to be on November 9, 2022 at 8:00pm. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #22-070‐ PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE 2023 TOWN BUDGET MOVED by Councilperson Young, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp to set the public hearing for the 2023 Town Budget to also be on November 9, 2022 immediately following the contracts hearing. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #22-071‐ HIRE LABELLA ASSOCIATES OF ROCHESTER MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp to hire LaBella Associates as the Engineering Firm to represent the Town of Groton for the CS Energy project. The funding will be paid for by NYSERDA when CS Energy is able to submit their application. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Town Board Minutes Page 4 October 11, 2022 RESOLUTION #22-072‐ HIRE HARTER SECREST & EMERY LAW FIRM MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp to hire Harter Secrest to represent the Town of Groton for the CS Energy project, assisting with the host community agreement as well as a possible solar moratorium with small solar projects as needed. Councilperson Young – Do we know how this will be funded? Supervisor Scheffler – Once they file their application with the Office of Renewable Energy Siting, this frees up money that we, in conjunction with the Town of Lansing, will be able to apply for to pay for engineers and attorneys. Councilperson Klumpp – The engineer we just approved, will that firm also be, for just the larger projects? Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town - Lansing has already hired Labella as well as Harter Seacrest. Paul Sylvestry will represent us, he specializes in this. We talked with him about the possibility of a possible moratorium on the smaller projects. If we do that, that will be paid for by the Town. Paul has agreed if we need assistance on the moratorium, he would be willing to help the town out. Councilperson Klumpp – That is for the attorney, for the engineering, who will we use for that? Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – We will not have an engineer for the smaller project. Supervisor Scheffler – We are doing this with Lansing and this will save us both or the State money. I am not sure where the money does come from, NYSERDA maybe? There is no point in both of us doing the same thing. Councilperson Klumpp – Instead of someone driving all the way from Rochester, there are plenty of capable local engineers for the smaller projects. Robin Cargian, Town Clerk - Isn’t it also the responsibility of the applicant to pay all town fees for an engineer and the attorney? Councilperson Klumpp – That is true, my point is to be able to hire locally if we need to. With no further questions the vote was as follows: Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Board Update on Yellow Barn Solar Project: Don Scheffler, Town Supervisor- We have met with Lansing, Fran, myself and their attorney and are currently trying to set a date to sit down with the solar company. We have a fairly long agenda. This meeting is part of the required things they have to do in order to file the application. Councilperson Klumpp – Are you familiar with some of those things they must do? Don Scheffler, Town Supervisor- I did not bring that with me, it’s on my desk. I will get that to you. We are waiting on the date that everyone can make it. Mr. Seibe, you asked to be on the agenda. I want to give you all the time you need but we do have a public hearing in around 15 minutes. If you would like to start and don’t get done in that time, I won’t rush you, you can conclude after the hearing if you need. Town Board Minutes Page 5 October 11, 2022 Barry Seibe- Petition from Residents Concerning Delaware River Solar Proposal South Main St.: Barry Siebe, 800 S. Main St. – I want to thank the board for letting me be here. We noticed on Facebook there was a report of a solar project being proposed outside of town and after looking at it we realized a couple things. First, they were using our address which confused us a bit, and as we looked into it further, there didn’t seem to be any real guidance on solar projects not just for the Town of Groton but for the communities in our area. We all know the State of New York has gotten behind these as you mentioned, the funds are coming through the state. What concerns us is we may see several more of these coming our way like the CS Energy project mentioned. We started to try and figure out what we can do to look at guidelines or formula that would allow the town to look at these comprehensively, consistently as projects come in. I undertook to put together a petition, that has been submitted to the board that has some 210 or so signatures. I was time compressed and wanted to get it in as soon as I could, I will tell you that since the time we submitted this, we have had several people approach us wanting to get on it. I told them it was already submitted. A couple of the main concerns mentioned that people expressed, was visual impact. We live in a beautiful valley. We wonder what kind of visual impact mitigation would be put in place. This valley is almost in direct line of site with the Rt.38 corridor, across the valley. What will be done to stop the glare that may impact traffic? Will construction noise be mitigated or any sounds of motors humming along 24-7? When you multiply the motor sound by hundreds that is considerable even at the subconscious level. Property valuation was a big discussion as some folks say it will add value and some say it will detract. The problem is in this community a big part of our value is the natural beauty. Electromagnetic and long-term health effects, these things need to be studied some. I don’t know what research has been done for this regarding human health risks. Fire and safety- this project is in a hard-to- reach area. Are we equipped to handle a crisis in this area? Will the project be required to fund and hire the proper people and equipment to handle a situation at the project site? Habitat degradation – I understand the State is behind this to try and reduce our CO2 footprint. I am scratching my head as to why we are taking trees out, which are carbon eaters, to put in solar panels. It seems counter intuitive. Additionally, there must be concerns about water maintenance and drainage. We are taking out trees on that hill. What are we going to do about water management and how will it affect private wells, Village of Groton wells, as well as the new ball field that was just put in? We have concerns about the ripple effect of disturbing the species in that area. What happens to the ecosystem in that area? Panel and end of life management, this is a big one, there are differing opinions, when the life of the panel ends or malfunctions and needs to be replaced, what do we do with them? Energy concerns, power disruptions happen, will the project be required to upgrade our fragile grid? NYSEG has their application in to increase their rates, but nothing is mentioned about improvements to the grid. Is this going to be a further strain? Tax based impacts. If there is a hole in the tax base because NY is passing new laws to lessen the tax burden for these projects, how is that hole going to be made up? Will it become incumbent on the rest of the taxpayers to make it whole when you lose that tax? The biggest question I have that comes to mind is, who really benefits when it comes to these projects? Is this just the 21st century gold rush, where we all jump the gun? The State is certainly backing this. The property owners will likely make some money. The investors backing this will make some money and possibly the shareholders at NYSEG will make some money, but what is the benefit to the community that houses these projects? These are a small sampling of questions that need to be addressed and asked. What we would like to ask is that a moratorium is put together to allow some breathing space for this board to put together the right questions to address the answers that we should be seeing. We ask you do this to avoid the possible ill conceived poor plan, knee jerk development that might not provide the benefit they claim to do. Announcements: Planning Board, October 20th @ 7:30pm - Rick Zoning Board October 19th & 7:00 pm- Rick Town Board Minutes Page 6 October 11, 2022 PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #1 FOR THE YEAR 2022 The Town Clerk Robin Cargian, read the notice of a public hearing which was duly published in the Cortland Standard. MOVED by Councilperson Klumpp, seconded by Councilperson Young, to open the Public Hearing at 8:00 pm. Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Scheffler Supervisor Scheffler – Read the law in its entirety and invited people to speak. Barry Siebe, 800 S. Main St.- Just looking for some clarification, how will that impact your decisions on tax rates for this coming year? What might we be anticipating as an increase in the tax levy? Do you have a sense of how much you may need to increase the levy to cover your tax burden this coming year? Supervisor Scheffler- Yes. Our tentative budget is done and we are currently under the tax levy limit but things may change. The reason we do this is because it is a local law which takes a public hearing and about 60 days. Should we wait until November when we must pass the budget, it would be too late to get it done. We have passed this every year and make every effort to stay under the limit which we are under it so far. Our intent is not to use it. We are advised by The Association of Towns that every town should pass this, especially this year, because everything is up around 10%. We still need to go through the motions in case something happens. There being no further discussion, Councilperson Klumpp moved to close the Public Hearing, seconded by Councilperson Clark, at 8:08 pm. Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays- RESOLUTION #22-073 - ADOPT LOCAL LAW #1 FOR THE YEAR 2022 ENTITLED A LOCAL LAW OVERRIDING THE TAX LEVY LIMIT ESTABLISHED IN THE NEW YORK GENERAL MUNICIPAL LAW §3-C IN AND FOR THE TOWN OF GROTON MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Young RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby adopts Local Law #1 for the Year 2022 as follows: Be it enacted by the Town of Groton Town Board, as follows: SECTION 1. LEGISLATIVE INTENT It is the intent of this local law to override the limit on the amount of real property taxes that may be levied by the Town of Groton, County of Tompkins pursuant to New York General Municipal Law §3-c, and to allow the Town of Groton to adopt a Town budget for (a) Town purposes and (b) any other special or improvement district governed by the Town Board for the Fiscal Year 2023, that requires a real property tax levy in excess of the "tax levy limit” as defined by the General Municipal Law §3-c. SECTION 2. AUTHORITY This local law is adopted pursuant to Subdivision 5 of the New York General Municipal Law, §3-c, which expressly authorizes the Town Board to override the tax levy limit by the adoption of a local law approved by a vote of sixty percent (60%) of the Town Board SECTION 3. TAX LEVY LIMIT OVERRIDE Town Board Minutes Page 7 October 11, 2022 The Town Board of the Town of Groton, County of Tompkins, is hereby authorized to adopt a budget for the Fiscal Year 2023 that requires a real property tax levy in excess of the limit specified in the New York General Municipal Law §3-c. SECTION 4. SEVERABILITY If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, article, or part of this local law shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operations to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section, article, or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered. SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE This Local Law shall take effect immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State. Councilperson Klumpp commented that this was October and only Local Law #1, he was grateful for so few laws. With no further comments or questions, the vote was as follows: Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Discussion and Action on Solar Project Moratorium RESOLUTION #22-074 – P ROPOSED SOLAR MORATORIUM AND SPECIAL BOARD MEETING SET FOR NOVEMBER 2, 2022 AT 7:30PM MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, second by Councilperson Klumpp Whereas, the Town Board of the Town of Groton desires to protect the property and safety of the collective interests of its residents, and Whereas, it has been brought to the attention of the Town Board that certain risks to residents inherent with the expansion of “solar farming” exist, and Whereas, the Town Board of the Town of Groton wishes to study the issue further to be able to make informed and responsible decisions to protect its tax payers and residents, I do hereby Resolve to propose a six-month moratorium on small scale solar projects (as defined by NY State definition) this would not include large scale solar projects (by Town of Groton definition) subject to 94- c regulations which are governed by New York State. Councilperson Young- How is the law that we previously passed, to opt out of pilot agreements, how would this effect that? Supervisor Scheffler – That would be a question for Jay Franklin at the assessment department. I know the state has given a formula to the assessment departments on how they will be assessed, but I do not know how this will be affected. Councilperson Young- Given all the questions that have been asked and brought up by the public, could we set up a committee or subcommittee of local people who want to be involved to help go through those questions? I don’t think it should be just the boards responsibility and they have great ideas that could be included in the document. Town Board Minutes Page 8 October 11, 2022 Supervisor Scheffler – As long as everyone knows that ultimately, it is the board decision. Yes, we can do that. Councilperson Klumpp – All you have to do is drive through Dryden or Newfield, I think this is probably the most important issue that we will come across in our lifetime for the Village. I think it could have tremendous impact in almost every aspect of living in a rural community. I am very much in favor of passing a moratorium. With no further comments or questions the vote was as follows: Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Don Scheffler, Town Supervisor- Due to time frames we have to follow, we can set up a special board meeting for November 2, 2022 on the possible action of a solar moratorium. Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – You need to have a draft proposal sitting on your desk 10 days in advance not counting Sundays. If we were to do the week of the 24th, this would make the meeting Friday. With everyone working, it makes it hard. This date gives the board time to review and give comments or propose changes. MOTION to set a special board meeting on November 2, 2022 to include possible action on a Solar Moratorium made by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Clark. Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Scheffler Nays - Motion Passed Privilege of the Floor- Dan Carey – I was wondering if the resolution you just passed was contingent on the solar company submitting their application. Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – No, it is not contingent, it can be moved on. Supervisor Scheffler – No, it is not contingent on, we will do it. It may hold off their application if it is passed. Councilperson Klumpp – I think we need to do it and have a game plan. To have input from the community whether people are very much in favor or against. Those concerns that are brought up will help us streamline our approach. Dan Carey – I think you are going about it in the right way. No one else wished to speak. There being no further business, Councilperson Klumpp moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilperson Clark, at 8:48 pm. Unanimous. Robin Cargian, RMC Town Clerk/Tax Collector