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Home My WebLink About02-12-2024 Reg meetingTOWN OF GROTON - MEETING MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2024 AT 7:30 PM Town Officers Present: Town Officers Absent: Also Present: Donald F. Scheffler, Supervisor Andrew Keister Crystal Young, Councilperson Sheldon C. Clark, Councilperson Richard Gamel, Councilperson Brian Klumpp, Councilperson Denise Smith, Deputy Clerk Julie Graham, Bookkeeper Ellard Keister, Highway Supt. W. Rick Fritz, Code Official Francis Casullo, Attorney The meeting was called into session with the Pledge of Allegiance at 7:30 PM. MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp to approve the Organizational Meeting and Town Board Meeting minutes of January 9, 2024. Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed RESOLUTION #24-025 ‐ APPROVE PAYMENT OF INVOICES MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Young, WHEREAS, vouchers for Abstract #02 for the Year 2024, numbered 11-69 were reviewed and audited by the Town Board, be it RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves said vouchers which will make the accounts in the Total amounts as follows: A GENERAL FUND 40,858.75 B GENERAL FUND PART TOWN 104,433.54 DA HIGHWAY FUND 303,777.22 DB HIGHWAY FUND PART TOWN 3,805.86 SF1- SPECIAL FUND – FIRE PROTECTION 79,750.00 SL2- PERUVILLE LIGHTING DISTRICT 242.93 SLl- MCLEAN LIGHTING DISTRICT 219.77 Total $533,088.07 Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays - Monthly Reports Julie Graham, Bookkeeper - You have my 2023 end of year report; everything is closed. I still need to file the State report. And then you have my monthly report. Town Board Minutes Page 2 February 13, 2024 RESOLUTION #24-026 - APPROVE BUDGET TRANSFER MOVED by Councilperson Gamel seconded by Councilperson Klumpp to approve the following Budget Transfer: From: A1990.4 Contingency………………………………..…$750.50 To: A1420.41 Attorney, Miscellaneous Contractual………..$750.50 Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays - W. Rick Fritz, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer submitted the following report: Building Permits Issued: 19 New Businesses: 0 Permits Completed: 2 Fire Safety Inspections: 0 Permits Renewed: 2 Building Inspections:14 Zoning permits: 0 Certificates of Occupancy/Compliance:4 Site Plan Reviews: 1 Violation Notices: 0 Subdivisions: 1 Complaints:0 Life Safety Inspections for January 2024: Inspected - 0; Completed - 0 We haven’t been too busy. Crystal, I’m going to take that training so we can get those 300 points for energy efficiency. You didn’t spend them last year. I was hoping we could use them for the boiler. Councilperson Young - Said that they carry over from year to year. She has talked to the new person at NYSERDA and was given information on how to earn more points and then use them towards things like the boiler and help us be more energy efficient. She would like to have him come in and talk about the program and what we could do. She will check and make sure that all of the points that have been earned so far have been submitted and counted. Mr. Fritz - The Delaware River Solar application came in for South Main Street, two of them, but they were sent back as incomplete, and they used the wrong application. They sent it again, but Mr. Fritz does not think it is complete yet and will let the Board know when it is. Highway Superintendent, Ellard Keister - As you can see from the vouchers, the loader came in. Immediately after that, I put the other on the online auction. We were offered around $25,000 for a trade-in and the bid was $37,500, or maybe it was $37,300 on the online auction last night. RESOLUTION #24-027 - APPROVE SALE OF LOADER THROUGH AUCTIONS INTERNATIONAL MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the sale of the Town’s loader at the ending bid price on Auctions International. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays - Discussion took place about depositing the money from the auction in the DA5130.4 Machinery Contractual account. The budget had been set up with the money to buy the new loader in the DA5130.4 account, and after some discussion it was agreed that any money received from the sale should be deposited back into that account as it will be needed for repairs, etc. Town Board Minutes Page 3 February 13, 2024 Mr. Keister said that since there has not been much winter weather, they have been taking down problem trees and taking advantage of the good weather. They are getting summer equipment ready. They just rebuilt the stake rack frame on the stake rack truck because the truck itself is in pretty good shape. They are able to do a lot of work in-house and save a lot of money. Last year, the old single pane windows in the garage were replaced and it has been a tremendous energy savings. Replacing the back doors to the garage and the clerk’s office had formerly been discussed and an estimate of $5,730 had been received. It definitely needs to be done because not only are they rusted out, neither one latches properly. Mr. Keister wondered if some of the NYSERDA money could be used for the doors and Councilperson Young said she would look into it. There has been no response regarding the plans and bid packets for the front of the building. One of the salt delivery trucks broke one of our trusses three weeks ago which the company won’t own up to it. Mr. Keister has contacted them, but they are not currently delivering here, and they don’t think it was them. Our loader won’t reach that high, so it had to be a salt truck. It is fixable but frustrating. The new truck is at Viking, the body company, and with any luck we may see it before next winter. It’s been three years. Deputy Town Clerk, Denise Smith - We are settling our first installments for taxes and should be sending them to the County tomorrow. Attorney for the Town, Fran Casullo - Had nothing to report. Recreation Coordinator, Councilperson Young - A lot of programs have started up again, yoga, kick boxing, etc. We now have punch cards which will allow a participant to go to any class. Efforts have been made to include senior citizen programing but have not had a response from director at the senior housing. Cabin Fever is March 2, from 12:00 to 4:00. There are a lot of activities and performances all day. We have partnered with the library and people can check out cross country ski equipment via the library system. We talked about the use of the Church fields. Ellard, have you talked to them? Mr. Keister said that they only want to put in one field; there would be a big investment for the Rec Committee; and use of it would only be guaranteed for three years. It is felt that this probably won’t work out. New software is being used to sign up for programs and can be viewed at grotonnyrecreation.com. It is a fabulous website. Apparently, the Groton Community Business Association has been revived. The first home wrestling tournament was held with a good turnout. Supervisor Scheffler, CS Energy - The Yellow Barn Solar application was deemed incomplete by the State. They are working on updating the application and moving ahead. We will be submitting invoices for our expenses. RESOLUTION #24-028 ‐ APPROVE ROTH OPTION MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Young WHEREAS, employers offering the New York State Deferred Compensation Plan must begin offering the option of ROTH (after-tax) contributions to employees, therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Town Board confirms that it will begin to offer the ROTH option. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays - Privilege of the Floor No one wished to speak. Town Board Minutes Page 4 February 13, 2024 Councilperson Young will reach out to the new NYSERDA representative to have him come to next month’s meeting and will remind the Supervisor. Announcements:  Planning Board Meeting for Thursday, Feb 15, 2024 has been cancelled.  Zoning Board Meeting February 21, 2024 @ 7:00 pm There being no further business, Councilperson Gamel moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilperson Clark, at 8:15 PM Unanimous. Denise Smith, Deputy Town Clerk