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Home My WebLink About11-11-2025 Reg meetingTOWN OF GROTON - MEETING MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2025, AT 7:30 PM Town Officers Present: Town Officers Absent: Also Present: Donald F. Scheffler, Superviso W. Rick Fritz, Code Official E. Deforrest, Groton Fire Chief Cr stal Youn , Councilperso D. Care , AG Adviso Sheldon Clark, Councilperso L. Shurtleff, Count Rep Richard Gamel, Councilperson Brian Klumpp, Councilperso Ellard Keister, Highway Super. Mack Rankin, Hi hwa Deput Fran Casullo, Attorney Noah Kilmer, Attorney Robin Car ian, Town Cler Julie Graham, Bookkeeper 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 and Public Hearing of October 14th Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp, to approve the Meeting Minutes and Public Hearing of October 28th Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed RESOLUTION #25-082 ‐ APPROVE PAYMENT OF INVOICES MOVED by Councilperson Clark, seconded by Councilperson Young WHEREAS, vouchers for Abstract #12 for the Year 2025, numbered 425-469, 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 98,935.17 B GENERAL FUND PART TOWN 639.60 DA HIGHWAY FUND 24,781.17 DB HIGHWAY FUND PART TOWN 1,323.57 SL2- PERUVILLE LIGHTING DISTRICT 117.89 SLl- MCLEAN LIGHTING DISTRICT 225.33 Total $126,023.27 Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays - Monthly Reports The bookkeeper Julie Graham read the following Budget adjustments: Town Board Minutes Page 2 November 11, 2025 From A1990.4 Contingency $106.00 To: A3310.4 Traffic Control- Signs $106.00 From A2770 Miscellaneous Revenue $3,740.00 To: A1420.41 Attorney, Misc. contractual $3,740.00 From Building Revenue Fund $80,000.00. To: A1620.43 Building- Front End Improvements $80,000.00 Invoice #2 MOTION #25-083 – APPROVE BUDGET TRANSFERS MOVED BY Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp, to approve the budget transfers as requested. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Young, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Nays - W. Rick Fritz, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer: Following Report Submitted Building Permits Issued: 8 New Businesses: 0 Permits Completed: 11 Fire Safety Inspections: 12 Permits Renewed: 2 Building Inspections: 34 Demolition Permits: 1 Certificates of Occupancy/Compliance 11 Site Plan Reviews: 2 Violation Notices: 0 Subdivisions: 0 Complaints 0 Life Safety Inspections for 2025: 18 Inspected - Completed – 90%; Training Hours -0 Highway Superintendent Ellard Keister, said the first snow event of the season went smoothly. They had turned 80-90% of the trucks over to winter-ready by today. Credit was given to Mack for replacing valve cover gaskets, getting the trucks up and running. Despite the snow, they are still doing other jobs and are hoping to get back to them. The front entrance concrete work has been done, but he was not completely satisfied with it, but the weather might not allow any changes at this point. They continue to review situations and make pre-emptive moves to save money, such as ordering salt before the $12 per ton price increase on State Bid, as well as exchanging millings with Seneca Stone for a cleaner, finer 1B sand, which mixes better and will give better traction. Town Clerk Robin Cargian provided a report and thanked the board for allowing her to attend the Land Use Leadership Alliance Training. They are preparing for the upcoming Tax Season. Recreation Coordinator, Councilperson Young – The recreation director submitted a report, and highlights were read as follows. The youth wrestling camp is running from November 17th through the 19th. 30 for grades one through six. Wrestling season starts on December 1st for grades one through six. Youth open rec soccer is on Thursdays from 5:30 to 7:30, and that's for K-6. Youth basketball registration is open. They have a travel team for fourth through sixth grades. Third grade will stay in- house and continue skills and drills. Adult programming: craft club is on the second Sunday of each month, from one to three, in the Village Hall community room. A T-shirt quilt class is being considered. Yoga is still running Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 10 to 11 in the community room. Attendance is down for Play Football, changing to Saturdays from 10 to 11:30. Volleyball will start in January. Trunk or Treat was on a cold, rainy, nasty night, but apparently, they still had 19 trunks participating for the 400 kids. The trunk winners were first place, Groton Faculty Association. Second place was Andrea Cody. Third place was the Scouts. The Summer Concert Series is booked, and they're currently working on the first day (of the year) hike with Girl Scouts. Groton Fire/Ambulance, Eric Deforrest: They are at 901 ambulance calls and 177 Fire Calls for the Town Board Minutes Page 3 November 11, 2025 year. Averaging 82 ambulance calls per month. We are in the same battle that I think I've been preaching for 18 months now. We're spending about 15% of our time out of district, covering Dryden, the north part of Lansing, helping Bangs or Four Town, everywhere. You listen to the scanner, you hear Dryden's in Ithaca almost daily, multiple times a day. After the pandemic, things have not improved at all. Driver shortages and provider shortages are everywhere. With approximately 11 EMT volunteers, we have been responding to a significant number of our second calls in the district, covering considerably more territory than we have in the past. Normally, one of them will come down and grab a call with a driver, decreasing the need for Dryden to be sent, which is great. A big step forward from where we were. As Crystal mentioned, the Trunk or Treat was an amazing event even though it was wet. I was guessing...a little close to 350 or 400 kids. We have a few new department members coming through that we've been working with. For a couple of years, I have been looking at a Jr. Firefighter program for the ages between 13 and 17. The fire camp carries kids who are up to 12 years old, and then there's a gap where kids lose interest in the fire department. This would be for kids in high school who are sticking around to work instead of going off to college. We are considering a two-month-long camp held a couple of times a month for one night a week in the summer. We are going to demo this with a candidate who is 16 years old and has been with the Candor Fire Department for months. We are working with the rec committee to figure out what insurance will cover from the types of training and mentoring at the firehouse, learning about the trucks, to possibly allowing her to go on a call. As we work with Becky to figure out the logistics, he will be asking Dryden and Cayuga Heights, which have a Jr. program, about insurance and what the Jr. firefighters are allowed to do. Yellow Barn Solar Update, Supervisor Scheffler reported that the negotiations are picking up and moving forward. Crystal and he met with them yesterday and were in talks with them most of the day today. He would like to go into executive session at the end of the meeting to update the board with some proposed figures concerning the IDA. 2026 Town Budget MOTION #25-084 – APPROVE THE FISCAL BUDGET FOR 2026 With no questions or discussion, it was MOVED BY Councilperson Klumpp and seconded by Councilperson Gamel, to approve the 2026 Preliminary Budget as the Final 2026 Town Budget. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Young, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Nays - MOTION #25-085 – 2026 FIRE PROTECTION AGREEMENTS MOVED BY Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Young, to approve the 2026 Fire Protection Agreement with the Village of Groton Fire Department. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Young, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Nays - MOTION #25-086 – 2026 AMBULANCE SERVICE CONTRACT MOVED BY Councilperson Klumpp, seconded by Councilperson Clark, to approve the 2026 Emergency Ambulance Service Contract with the Village of Groton Fire Department. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Young, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Nays - Supervisor Scheffler congratulated Kathy Barron for receiving a certificate of recognition from the NY State Association of Magistrate Court Clerks that honored her for 10 years of service, her selfless active time, and dedication to the position of Court Clerk at the Groton Town Court in Tompkins Town Board Minutes Page 4 November 11, 2025 County. Congratulations to Kathy! Association of Towns Conference in New York City Despite the excellent training and connections that could be made, no delegates were selected to be sent to New York City due to the cost. Councilperson Youngs will bring training information that she would like to attend in January at Corning, New York. RESOLUTION #25-087 – 2026 TAX COLLECTION DEADLINE EXTENSION FOR SENIOR CITIZENS TO PAY WITHOUT PENALTY Councilperson Gamel made a motion that 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 exemption would apply to their principal residence only, which was then seconded by Councilperson Klummp. Ayes - Clark, Klumpp, Young, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays - After no one wished to speak during the public privilege of the floor, Supervisor Scheffler made a motion to enter into executive session with the Town Board and the Attorney for the Town to discuss contract negotiations with the Tompkins County IDA at 7:50 PM. A motion to resume the board meeting was made by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Young, stating no decisions were made while in the executive session. Announcements:  Planning Board Meeting for Tuesday, November 20th @7:30PM  Zoning Board Meeting on November 19th @ 7:00 PM  McLean Fire District Elections December 9th 6PM – 9PM There being no further business, Councilperson Gamel moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilperson Young at 8:28 PM. The Motion was Unanimous. Robin Cargian, Groton Town Clerk