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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-14 2025 Reg meeting & Public Hearing Local Law #2 of 2025TOWN OF GROTON - MEETING MINUTES OF THE TOWN BOARD PUBLIC HEARING FOR LOCAL LAW #2 OF 2025 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2025, AT 7:30 PM Town Officers Present: Town Officers Absent: Also Present: Donald F. Scheffler, Supervisor D. Durrett, Ithaca Times Crystal Young, Councilperson L. Shurtleff, County Legislature Sheldon C. Clark, Councilperson Richard Gamel, Councilperson Brian Klumpp, Councilperson Don Armstrong, Attorney Robin Cargian, Town Clerk Julie Graham, Bookkeeper W. Rick Fritz, Code Official Ellard Keister, Highway Supt. Mack Rankin, Deputy Highway The meeting was called into session at 7:30 PM with the Pledge of Allegiance. MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp, to approve the Meeting Minutes of September 9, 2025. Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Youngs, to approve the Meeting Minutes of September 23, 2025. Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed RESOLUTION #25-078 ‐ APPROVE PAYMENT OF INVOICES MOVED by Councilperson Klumpp, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, WHEREAS, vouchers for Abstract #11 for the Year 2025, numbered 383-424, 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 109,680.60 B GENERAL FUND PART TOWN 10,525.26 DA HIGHWAY FUND 5,612.75 DB HIGHWAY FUND PART TOWN 124,125.39 SL2- PERUVILLE LIGHTING DISTRICT 117.89 SLl- MCLEAN LIGHTING DISTRICT 213.76 Total $250,275.65 Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays - Monthly Reports Julie Graham, Bookkeeper – Provided the monthly report and proposed several budget transfers. Town Board Minutes & Public Hearing Page 2 October 14, 2025 Budget Adjustments Debit: A3001 State Aid Revenue Sharing $33,878.00 Credit: A2750 AIM Related Payments $33,878.00 Per NYS Comptroller, change the account number From: A1990.4 Contingency $107.14 To: A1620.41 Alarm Systems $107.14 From: A1990.4 Contingency $1,650.00 To: A9010.8 State Retirement $1,650.00 From: B1990.4 Contingency $700.00 To: B9010.8 State Retirement $700.00 From: DA1990.4 Contingency $4,634.00 To: DA9010.8 State Retirement $4,634.00 Debit: A2770 Misc Revenue $6,845.00 Credit: A1440.4 Engineer-Contractual $6,845.00 Tim Buell's fees from Bullrock Escrow Debit: A2770 Misc Revenue $833.96 Credit: A9901.9 Interfund Transfer $833.96 Debit: B5031 Interfund Transfer $833.96 Credit: B8020.4 Planning Contractual $833.96 Stamps, Envelopes, Etc. from Bullrock Escrow RESOLUTION #25-079 ‐ APPROVE PAYMENT OF INVOICES MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp, to approve all the budget adjustment as read by the Bookkeeper. Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Code/Fire Enforcement Officer, W. Rick Fritz, was absent and provided the following report. Building Permits Issued: 13 New Businesses: 0 Permits Completed: 10 Fire Safety Inspections: 4 Permits Renewed: 0 Building Inspections: 53 Zoning permits: 0 Certificates of Occupancy/Compliance 10 Site Plan Reviews: 0 Violation Notices: 0 Subdivisions:2 Complaints 0 Life Safety Inspections for September 2025: Inspected - 12%; Completed – 10%; Training Hours -2 Highway Superintendent Ellard Keister, informed the board that the front entrance project is moving along well. They are waiting for the best time frame to begin the concrete walkways. If it does not happen by the Trunk or Treat event, they plan to include Halloween-themed decorations for the space that is blocked off. The completed paving, crack sealing, and oil and stone have depleted the CHIPS funding. He was very pleased with the Stauber Road project. Some patching will continue in Town Board Minutes & Public Hearing Page 3 October 14, 2025 places as the borrowed trencher from the County requires mechanical work, setting them back. He was hoping pavement would still be available once the machine is fixed in order to place drainpipes in areas where natural springs cause the road to pop-up from ice in the winter. He commended Mack for keeping up with equipment maintenance in the shop. To mitigate accidents that are occurring, additional stop signs have been installed on Lick Street at both the State Route 222 and Old Stage Road intersections. The LED lights are being installed throughout the building. Town Clerk, Robin Cargian, gave a report that included progress with the new website, recent changes to hunting license requirements in regards to crossbow regulation, and offered Local Law enacting procedure information she obtained from a New York State Town Clerk’s Association webinar featuring attorneys with the New York State Association of Towns. She then gave a rundown of things to come. The New York State Building and Codes Department has recommended that the town update the Enforcement law that was passed in 2007. The Model Law has been reviewed and is ready for the board. The State does plan to do another update next year, so it might be best to wait for those changes. She will be attending the Land Use Leadership Alliance training at Greek Peak October 27-29th and requested a resolution to pay for travel. The meeting is free and provides meals. Ed Neuhauser from the Planning Board will also attend, and they will carpool. The new 2025 fire code has options to include fire suppression for Energy System Battery Storage. As this is within our land use code, the board could opt to go with a more stringent standard to prevent a burden on the fire departments. The Code Official is reviewing it now, and we will see what paperwork needs to be sent to the State to bring that before you. RESOLUTION #25-080 – APPROVE TRAVEL EXPENSES FOR THE TOWN CLERK TO ATTEND THE LAND USE LEADERSHIP TRAINING AT GREEK PEAK A Resolution to approve travel expenses incurred by the Town Clerk to the Greek Peak for the Land Use Leadership Alliance, October 27, 28 & 29th was made by Councilperson Gamel., seconded by Councilperson Klumpp Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Attorney for the Town, Don Armstrong – Nothing new to report Recreation Coordinator, Councilperson Young – Nothing to report. Tompkins County Legislature, Lee Shurtleff: I've spent probably three nights a week for the last two months in various budget reviews and voting sessions. Last Wednesday, the legislature voted on a proposed budget for 2026 that will be going to a public hearing the same night that you're planning a public hearing. There are a lot of stressors this year in the county budget process, which explains the amount of time that we've spent on the review. All of the contracts were settled or implemented this year. The last one that was hanging out there was the corrections officer. Part of that means that there will be implementation of new rates, back pay, and market rate adjustments. Medicaid is a big driver in the budget this year, with the cuts that are coming are anticipated from the federal level, as well as continuing stress at the airport, which has not rebounded from the pre-COVID or the post-COVID drop in ridership. What had been a revenue generator for the county has actually required contributions from the taxes for the last couple of years to keep them afloat, and that continues to be a concern. When we started the budget process, there were some predictions that we could be looking at a 14 to 20% increase in the tax levy, which was unacceptable across the board. The county administrator brought forward a proposed budget in August that anticipated an increase of 4.6%. A couple of things that have worked in the budget favor is that there will be an anticipated increase in the sales tax with the Town Board Minutes & Public Hearing Page 4 October 14, 2025 placement on short-term rentals such as Airbnb’s, as well as a proposed increase in the tourism tax. Much of which is going to be dedicated to offsetting the airport deficits. We were also looking at increases for TC3 and TCAT, which have been flat or decreased over the last several years. We have not increased TC3's budget since 2019. In the budget process, there were contributions for those organizations that are contingent on partners also agreeing to increases. Cortland County has to come up with a proportionate increase to what Tompkins does. If not, then the money will either be taken out of the budget or placed into fund reserves. Same thing with TCAT. If we were to increase them at the county level, the city of Ithaca has to go along to the same level of contribution as does Cornell University. So those are wild cards that are out there. I was not a supporter of a lot of the budget amendments, believe it or not, that were proposed. I just would not vote to increase any positions in the county with the exception of two corrections officers’ positions due to the State review, which said that we were understaffed, and legally, that's a mandate. We had to increase it. I even voted against an increase in emergency services dispatchers as much as it hurt. I wouldn't do it. One area or a couple of areas that I did support increases were contributions toward the rural libraries and the rural recreation program, or the municipal recreation program. Small amounts as well as soil and conservation districts, were increased. When we got done with the process, the legislature agreed to cover the increased Medicaid costs by funding 1.75 million dollars out of the fund balance to be placed into a reserve fund if, in fact, the cuts do translate down. If they don't, the money will remain in the fund balance. And so that was able to bring some of the stress off the tax levy. In the end, we ended up with a proposed increase in the levy of 3.31%. The tax cap was 2.79%. So it is going to be over the tax cap which translates into an increase in the median homeowner's tax bill. The median home in Tompkins County is $300,000, and that's a flat rate, same as last year, which means about a $20 increase to the average homeowner. However, in the Town of Groton, our median home is $194,000, so the average local tax bill in my district will go up $14 if the budget passes. We did have a unanimous vote to move forward with a 3.31% increase in the levy. So that'll be voted on later in the year. A couple of other things, the bridge project over by Baker Miller is back in the mix. We're hoping that with the budget passing that we'll be able to move forward on that project in 2026. You may have seen paving recently on Pleasant Valley Road and West Groton Road. They were two of the larger paving jobs that the county had left to do. That is where we're at, and I wish you well with your budget process. Thank you. Councilperson Young: Just one question. When you say you did not approve the increases in 911, is that going to the whole program, or is it a salary? Tompkins Legislature, Shurtleff: I didn't support them, but others did. There were about 10 new positions or 10 positions either reinstated or added to various departments. They included one dispatcher, two corrections officers, two librarians from where they've been cut in years past, and a position in finance to help with some of the accounting work. The director recently moved. And I'm trying to think where else there were positions, but they were sprinkled around in the different areas. Very minimal increases overall. The new administrator changed the process a little bit, and normally, each department got a target with an incremental increase of two or three percent. This year, they zeroed everybody out and actually took funds away from a lot of departments, or where they had programs with vacancies or limited revenues, they got cut back. So that made it a little more tense this year. I think we probably voted on probably 45 proposed amendments to the budget, and I wouldn't say more than 15 or 20 of them actually saw the funding, and in many cases, they were tied to other revenues. For instance, if the TCAT one passes, it means that the other partners have to go along with it. An interesting process. I'll just tell you we've been working on the Groton Fire budget as well, and we'll have a presentation for you at the meeting. We are looking at potentially a record year from an ambulance standpoint, running over 80 calls, sometimes 90 calls a month. We may hit the thousand- call mark this year for the ambulance. We're at full staffing and managing, but it's tight. We have also Town Board Minutes & Public Hearing Page 5 October 14, 2025 been stressing others to cover where we had vacancies. We're getting called out about 10% of the time to back up Dryden, and in an increasing amount in Cortland. Little commercial services are under some terrible stress, maintaining adequate staffing levels, and we have those same challenges. There aren't a lot of people taking the paramedic and advanced level courses. So that's going to be a long- term challenge, but I think we're managing all right now, and we'll tell you a little more budget time. Yellow Barn Solar update, Supervisor Scheffler: I have nothing other than I see Yellow Barn digging holes in fields here and there. They say they're doing soil tests to see what the soils are like. And they're testing depth with bedrock, which I was under the impression they'd done years ago. But apparently things moved. And that's all they have on solar. Public Hearing Local Law #2 of 2025 A motion was made to open the public hearing, and the notice posted in the Ithaca Journal was read. Supervisor Scheffler explained that this law is passed in the event the board needs to go over the state- required tax cap. Fixed expenses such as health insurance is up 18%, liability insurance is up 7% and electricity is going up 30% which will throw us over the 2% tax levy limit. The law needs to be in place and filed at the Department of State before passing the budget to be valid. He then read the law into the record. Propose Local Law #2 for the Year 2025 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 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 2026, 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 The Town Board of the Town of Groton, County of Tompkins, is hereby authorized to adopt a budget for the Fiscal Year 2026 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. Town Board Minutes & Public Hearing Page 6 October 14, 2025 SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE This Local Law shall take effect immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State. With no one wishing to speak, a motion was made to close the hearing and was passed unanimously. MOTION #25-081 – ADOPT PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #2 OF 2025, A LAW TO ALLOW A TAX LEVY THAT EXCEEDS THE TAX CAP A motion to adopt proposed Local Law #2 of 2025 into law allowing 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 2026, that requires a real property tax levy in excess of the "tax levy limit” as defined by the General Municipal Law §3-c. was made by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Young. Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed 2026 Tentative Fiscal Budget Councilperson Young brought forth several suggestions to reduce the budget for this year’s immediate needs. Proposed was $25,000 from the equipment reserve account suggested by the Comptroller, $5,000 for the website, $5,300 for Foodnet, $2,300 historical property, $3,700 for a dog enumeration, and questioned the increase for the dog contract. It was then discussed that the website amount was to cover the new State required “.GOV” website mandate. It was suspected that during COVID, dogs were added to the community that are not licensed. The amount returned after a dog enumeration will cover the cost of the expenses. Foodnet is also a service that checks on Seniors in the area, and the dog contract amount was a typical increase in services. The summer youth line item was questioned as to whether that was for Town youth employee summer hires or for the recreation employees. The overlap of youth services provided by various recreation programs and the school was considered. It was shared that this budget was very difficult, not only due to rising costs but also the need to keep pace with employee salaries to remain competitive. Despite positions being open for several months, no one applies because they can get paid much more at other places. Councilperson Gamel noted that in the 25 years since he's been on the Board, they have never gone over the 2% cap. This will hurt, but if done now, then the salaries will be at least competitive with the rest of the area. Councilperson Young stated the town was at a disadvantage compared to the county, as they don’t have revenue streams such as a hotel tax to generate income. The board asked department heads to reevaluate and look for line items that can be spared. A preliminary budget will be distributed after cuts and prepared for the public hearing. MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, to set the Public Hearings for the 2026 Preliminary Fiscal Budget, the 2026 Fire Contract, as well as the 2026 Ambulance Contract, for October 28, 2025, at 7:30 PM, seconded by Councilperson Gamel. Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Groton Youth Commission Vacancy The board vacancy will remain open. Privilege of the Floor: Town Board Minutes & Public Hearing Page 7 October 14, 2025 Dan Carey, AG Committee: I just listened to your budget comments, and I realize that for a number of years we've had our salaries set that hasn't kept pace with other communities, apparently. I'm just wondering if 10% or 11% is too much in one year. Could it be done incrementally, say a seven and a half and then a five, or something like that, to get caught up? And when you do that, when you do raise the money, how are you going to disperse that out to employees? Do you have a formula for doing that? Councilperson Gamel: With the rise in health insurance alone, that's an 18% increase right now. Add that to the 7% with liability insurance, and we are above the tax cap without ever raising equipment, salaries, or anything. So it looks like 11, but it's really a lot less than that because we're just trying to keep up. It's going to push us over the tax cap just to keep up with the status quo. I understand where you're going with that. It's a whole lot easier to keep it below 2% next year. Councilperson Young: That's why I'm trying to go through every single line item and see, even if it's a little, where can we take away to add to make up the difference. As far as moving up incrementally over a couple of years, we've been trying to do that with the highway guys. We're going to do this this year to try to get the highway salaries up. They did a good job of charting what other towns are making as opposed to us. I've gone out and talked to people also, and they couldn't believe how we were so out of line with other towns on what their wages. So that makes me feel better that people, you know, are in agreement with increasing that as well. We are just trying to go line by line and take out where we can in other places. And if we're not using it, don't put it in there. If we haven't used it in two years, don't add it, so we're zero this year. Dan Carey, AG Committee: How does that process take place? Is it the department heads who give you a number that they want, and you discuss it among yourselves? When I was on the board 25 years ago, we had meetings where we sat down as a board and worked through the numbers. Supervisor Scheffler: Yeah, we've done all that. Julie and I presented some numbers to the board and that's what we're discussing tonight, which the board has final say on. They can raise it, lower it, or change it any way they want, so that's what we're doing tonight. Mack Rankin, Highway Deputy Superintendent: I want to say on behalf of the Highway Association, thank you for listening, thanks for being willing to take it to the next step, and do the best you can. Over the past several years, we have made huge improvements, but we just keep falling. We're not falling behind; we're just staying in that same wall. We just want to say thank you for trying to go to the next step. We appreciate it. Thanks. Announcements: • Planning Board Meeting & Zoning Board Meeting have been cancelled. • Next Board Meeting is October 28th at 7:30 PM There being no further business, Councilperson Gamel moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilperson Young, at 8:50 PM, Unanimous. Robin Cargian, RMC Groton Town Clerk