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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-13-2022TOWN OF GROTON –MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2022 AT 7:30 PM Town Officers Present: Town Officers Absent: Also Present: Donald F. Scheffler, Supervisor Randy Jackson, Town Justice Barbara Siebe Sheldon C. Clark, Councilperson Paul Lang, Town Justice Barry Siebe Richard Gamel, Councilperson Crystal Young, Councilperson Fernando Dearagon Brian Klumpp, Councilperson W. Rick Fritz, Code Official Ellard Keister, Highway Superintendent Mack Rankin, Dept. Highway Robin Cargian, Town Clerk Francis Casullo, Attorney Julie Graham, Bookkeeper The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance at 7:33 pm MOVED by Councilperson Klumpp, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, to approve the minutes of the November 8, 2022, Town Board Meeting as submitted. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Clark, to approve the minutes of the November 15, 2022, Special Town Board Meeting as submitted. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed RESOLUTION #22-086‐ -BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS GENERAL ACCOUNT From: Contingency fund A1990.4 for additional auditor fees $2050.00 To: A1320.4 Auditing Contractual $2050.00 From: Contingency fund A1990.4 for Drug Testing $400.00 To: A5680.4 CDL Alcohol/Drug Testing $400.00 From: Contingency fund A1990.4 for Contractual $360.75 To: A1220.4 Supervisor Contractual $360.75 From: Contingency fund A1990.4 for additional bookkeeper salary $1750.00 To: A1220.12 Supervisor - Bookkeeper $1750.00 From: Justices - Personal Services A1110.11 for contractual $675.00 To: A1110.4 for contractual $675.00 MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp, to approve budget adjustments as submitted. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Town Board Minutes Page 2 December 13, 2022 RESOLUTION #22-087‐ -BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS HIGHWAY TOWNWIDE From: Revenue DA5031 $57,825.00 To: DA5142.2 $57,825.00 (Salt Shed Contractor materials) From: DA1990.4 Contingency fund for pickup $5000.00 DA5148.4 Contractual for pickup $4450.00 To: DA5130.2 Equipment for pickup $9450.00 From: DA5148.1 Snow Removal Personal Serv $16,000.00 DA5148.4 Snow Removal Contractual $16,000.00 DA5140.1 Brush & Weeds Personal $5,000.00 To: DA5130.4 Machinery Contractual $37,000.00 MOVED by Councilperson Klumpp, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, to approve highway budget adjustments as submitted. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed RESOLUTION #22-088‐ ‐ APPROVE PAYMENT OF INVOICES WHEREAS, vouchers for Abstract #12 for the Year 2022, numbered 511-573 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 14,793.14 B GENERAL FUND PART TOWN 5,080.15 DA HIGHWAY FUND 114,861.70 DB HIGHWAY FUND PART TOWN 17,106.67 SL2- PERUVILLE LIGHTING DISTRICT 81.90 SLl- MCLEAN LIGHTING DISTRICT 172.69 Total $152,096.25 MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Clark Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Monthly Reports Julie Graham, Bookkeeper – As you can see, I have been busy figuring out the transfers. I have also been working with Ellard to clean up the capital assets database. W. Rick Fritz, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer – Submitted a report. Ellard Keister, Highway Superintendent – We were all very saddened by the loss of Ed Moore and our condolences go out to his family. We went through a snow event, not really a snowstorm but as our first event of the year, we had major equipment issues with four of our trucks. That led to many voice Town Board Minutes Page 3 December 13, 2022 messages on my machine as we plowed roads with pickup trucks to maintain the expected service. We were able to get some things fixed during it but remain down two trucks. I applaud the board for hearing us and getting us going in the right direction. I know we are waiting on new trucks, however, we are behind on the times. We are pushing forward as we have been. Hopefully, in the next few years, we can stop these situations from happening. It affects how long it takes us to get around one route when you have two trucks covering four routes. It strains the service that the public is getting out of us. Anyone who was not out in a truck was in here trying to fix them. This week we are all hands-on deck to help Ben to get everything we can up and going. I applaud my crew who maintained themselves very well, helping where they could because it is very stressful to have this kind of situation. I am still waiting to hear from Anderson Equipment on the loader. I understand they are hurting in their service department as well, we continue to look into other avenues. Julie has been great to work with. Helping me to creatively move funds to accounts where we need them to get to the first of the year. Thank you, Julie, for your patience. The Salt Shed hopefully will get started next Monday but that is the third date that I have been given. We have had to put off our mixing because they placed the materials where we would normally do that. They will have to work around us soon. We posted the operator position and after getting no applicants after three weeks, we opened a position for a laborer. Though this is not ideal, as we still need an operator, we have chosen an individual who has the right disposition and is very willing to learn. He is local which can give us that quick response time we need. Pending board approval, I would like to hire Zachary Tagliaventoe to start as our new laborer. Zach has agreed to go through the classes for his CDL permit and I have helped him find a school. I would like to start him out at $17.75 as a full-time laborer. RESOLUTION #22-089‐ ‐ APPROVE ZACHARY TAGLIAVENTO AS A FULL-TIME LABORER FOR THE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT AT $17.75 PER HOUR. MOVED by Councilperson Gamel seconded by Councilperson Klumpp, to hire Zachary Tagliavento for the full-time laborer position in the highway department at the rate of $17.75 per hour. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Ellard Keister, Highway Superintendent – We are still looking for a cleaner. We don’t have any applicants for that so if you know of anyone, head them in my direction. The departments are all pitching in to clean their areas and we are taking care of the bathrooms. We appreciate the help when we get busy with snow. Robin Cargian RMC, Town Clerk & Tax Collector – You have in your packets an official copy of the Comptroller report, which according to General Municipal Law, I am required to present to you. A public notice is also required which is posted on the website and will also hit the papers tomorrow. Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – Nothing to report. Eric Deforrest, Groton Fire Department – It is still trending to be a very busy year. Slowed down some on the fire side as we got away from the dry leaves. Thank you for putting out the public service announcement last month in my absence. We just crested over 200 fire calls and over 800 ambulance Town Board Minutes Page 4 December 13, 2022 calls. Much like other businesses, the staffing shortages are hitting the Groton Ambulance hard. We are responding to a lot of Cortland calls to the east side of Cortland, 281 area, and back to our line. Cortland is scrambling pulling from Dryden, Marathon as well as AMR from Syracuse. It is something we are not going to see ending anytime soon. We are doing our best to cover not only our district but mutual aid calls as well out of our County. It is no longer an unlikely occurrence for the ambulance to go out of the district, increasing probably 200% in the last three weeks. I am putting a meeting together with Cortland County Coordinator as well as TLC to see what we can do to try and bridge that gap. We want to supervise what we need to, what the community needs, but not leave the district high and dry. If we are pulling our ambulance to go to Cortland that means Four-Town or Dryden or even Bangs is covering our district. We have also been called into Ithaca in the last three weeks. I still have the part-time job posted on the website and was able to fill one. Councilperson Gamel- Are you looking for a Paramedic? Eric Deforrest, Groton Fire Department- Yes, part-time Paramedics. I was able to find one individual from the three applicants. I was trying to get as many as possible to try and eliminate overtime. The job posting is still open. Lots of community activities are going on this month. There was a great turnout for the tree lighting last week with over 100 kids there. Groton businesses and community members donated food and prizes for the kids. We are starting a new tradition this year; we will be putting Santa Clause on a truck to drive around and collect food for the food pantry. We hope this will build it into something bigger for next year. We are also sponsored this year by Scottland Lights. John Scott is selling T-Shirts for $25. $10 of that is coming to us to towards kid’s camp in 2023. The Fire Department has also adopted a local family for Christmas this year, we will be delivering presents to them this year. Chief nominations were this month, we do have many elections going on this year. Not my spot but it will be interesting to see how that shakes out. Robin Cargian, Town Clerk – Have you heard about the exemption the Governor just signed for volunteer fire and ambulance members? It will give them a 10% reduction on their assessment. Eric Deforrest, Groton Fire Department- Yes, we are working with the county as there are tight stipulations to determine what is an active member. As this is up to the department, we are working on a fair definition to include the number of calls run as well as training attended. We train every month as well as mutual aid training. Our goal is to set reasonable minimums which I think is a good thing to pull people back to active. The county has provided me with a list to confirm before it goes off to the State. RESOLUTION #22-090 - EXTEND THE DEADLINE TO PAY TAXES WITHOUT PENALTY FOR SENIOR CITIZENS Motion by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, the Town Board hereby authorizes the extension of five business days for the payment of taxes in full, without interest or penalty, to Town of Groton resident senior citizens who receive either the Enhanced STAR Exemption or a Senior Exemption on their principal residence within the Town of Groton. Said extension shall apply to their principal residence only. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays - Town Board Minutes Page 5 December 13, 2022 MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp, to set the Annual Organizational meeting as January 10, 2023, at 7:30 pm, followed by the regular meeting. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Supervisor Scheffler- Things we will consider for that meeting are a proposal to have two meetings a month for September through November to avoid the need for special meetings during budget time, as well as dog license fees which have not changed since 2011. Presentation Ithaca/Tompkins County Transportation Fernando Dearagon, We are an agency mandated by the Federal Government based on urban area population density to provide a local voice for the use of Federal Transportation dollars that deals with surface transportation, not air or rail (except where there is a problem). We are the liaison between the local municipalities and the State DOT in Syracuse who would otherwise control where the money goes. Our impact area is county wide, structured with two committees of planning and policy. The planning committee does the bulk of the work, deciding which projects move forward by creating a 3-year plan and a 5-year plan. Everything we do is on our website if you would like to see the different projects. These would include the bridge over Salmon Creek in Lansing, Etna Bridge, the walking Bridge in Freeville, culverts in the Enfield area, and historically significant structures like the Newfield Covered Bridge. I have included the list of the types of funds such as those allotted for safety that we can maximize along with competitive grants. I am here to offer you a seat at the table to get involved with these efforts. Most of our meetings are hybrid which lasts about an hour and all it would take is an email let us know you were interested. My contact is all in here and we would like to have regular participation from Groton. Councilperson Klumpp- Annually, how many projects do you work on? Fernando Dearagon – Typically we are around 30-35. They are implemented during the 5 years. We also engage in grant writing which may not be just for infrastructure. The complexity of working with Federal money is, it does not make sense to work on anything under $100,000. We have also combined projects such as paving and sidewalks at the same time. Councilperson Klumpp- So you would offer an opportunity for more money, which can be an add-on to other projects. This would benefit us to have someone on your board. Councilperson Clark – If we had a project out on a road, we could bring it to you and you do the paving? Fernando Dearagon – The way this is structured is you would be the responsible party for getting it done how you normally would after we attain the money. Everyone is informed, there is a lot of transparency, and you are welcome on either board. Just send us an email about who is attending, and we will get them the appropriate information. CS Energy Update Supervisor Scheffler & Attorney Casullo- More will be happening in the new year. Town Board Minutes Page 6 December 13, 2022 RESOLUTION #22-091 PARTICIPATE WITH THE INTERMUNICPAL RECREATION PARTNERSHIP and SIGN AGREEMENT FOR THE PERIOD OF JAN 1, 2023 TO DEC 31, 2027 MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp to continue participation with the Intermunicipal Recreation Partnership which provides youth programming that may not be offered by local programs. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays- RESOLUTION #22-092- RENEW FOODNET MEALS ON WHEELS AGREEMENT WHICH PROVIDES MEAL SERVICES TO THE ELDERLY RESIDENTS OF THE TOWN and SIGN AGREEMENT FOR THE JAN 1, 2023 TO DEC 31, 2023 PERIOD MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp to renew the agreement with Foodnet Meals on Wheels which provides meals and services to the elderly residents of the Town of Groton. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays - Citizen Advisory Board RESOLUTION #22-093- CREATION OF LARGE-SCALE SOLAR REGULATION CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel to create a citizen advisory committee to the Town Board to research code changes or necessary regulations to large-scale solar in the Town of Groton. Appointing, Dan Carey, Brian Klumpp, and Barry Siebe to this committee and charge them with making suggestions to the Town Board within the 6 months of the moratorium. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays - The privilege of the Floor: No one wished to speak. Announcements: No Planning Board meeting for December No Zoning Board of Appeals meeting for December There being no further business, Councilperson Gamel moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilperson Clark, at 8:20 pm. Unanimous. Robin Cargian, RMC Town Clerk/Tax Collector