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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3-10-2026 Reg meetingTOWN OF GROTON - MEETING MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2026 AT 7:30 PM Town Officers Present: Town Officers Absent: Also Present: Crystal Young, Town Supervisor Mack Rankin, Dept. Highway David Durett, Ithaca Times Richard Gamel, Councilperson Monica Carey, Planning B. Sheldon C. Clark, Councilperson Brian Klumpp, Councilperson Dan Carey, Councilperson Ellard Keister, Highway Supt. Robin Cargian, Town Clerk W. Rick Fritz, Code Official Julie Graham, Bookkeeper Noah Kilmer, 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 Meeting Minutes of February 10, 2026 Ayes – Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel, Young Motion Passed MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Carey, to amend January 13, 2026, Organizational meeting minutes to include Monica Carey as a member of the Planning Board that was left off due to a typographical error Ayes – Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel, Young Motion Passed RESOLUTION #26-028 ‐ APPROVE PAYMENT OF INVOICES MOVED by Supervisor Young, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp WHEREAS, vouchers for Abstract #03 for the Year 2026, numbered 62-106, 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 10,8086.69 B GENERAL FUND PART TOWN 13,450.22 DA HIGHWAY FUND 59,825.57 DB HIGHWAY FUND PART TOWN 4,061.43 SLl- PERUVILLE LIGHTING DISTRICT 130.89 SL2 MCLEAN LIGHTING DISTRICT 230.16 Total $185,784.96 Ayes – Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel, Young Resolution Passed Nays - Monthly Reports Town Board Minutes Page 2 March 10, 2026 Julie Graham, Bookkeeper –Provided the monthly report and stated the Annual Financial Report will be done in a few weeks, then submitted to the comptroller and Town Clerk. There were no budget adjustments. W. Rick Fritz, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer: Provided a report to the board and was absent due to the training conference in Rochester. Building Permits Issued: 5 New Businesses: 0 Permits Completed: 26 Fire Safety Inspections: 0 Permits Renewed: 2 Building Inspections: 16 Zoning permits: 0 Certificates of Occupancy/Compliance: 6 Site Plan Reviews: 0 Violation Notices: 1 Subdivisions: 0 Complaints:0 Life Safety Inspections for January 2026: Inspected - 0; Completed – 0 Training Hours -4 Highway Superintendent, Ellard Keister, provided a recap of the Association of Towns’ Advocacy Day from the highway department perspective. They asked for more CHIPS money or to combine accounts, making them easier to file and making the application less scripted in order to use the money for additional highway purposes. There was talk about a 200 to 300-pound application cap amount on salt per lane mile, which is a trickle down from Lake George. This is about our application rate now, as we are set up to fight the snow in different ways, where some municipalities can’t fight the snow without an excess of salt. Currently, we are focusing on fixing wing and plow digs, lining up driveway pipe replacements, and clearing the trails, taking approximately 20 trees out. Councilperson Carey wondered if the side salt spreader uses less salt as opposed to the rear spreader. Superintendent Keister confirmed that it does as it adds salt to the crown of the road, allowing the brine to work from the center to the edges. One pass plows the road, then salt is spread on the way back, spreading also on hills and intersections. Two town pickups will be listed on Auctions International as opposed to other sites as they are an easy company to work with. With Board permission, they will be sold to the highest bidder and the sale completed, unless the board preferred to wait until the next board meeting. RESOLUTION #26-029– AUTHORIZE THE HIGHWAY SUPERTENDENT TO LIST TWO HIGHWAY PICKUP TRUCKS ON AUCTIONS INTERNATIONAL MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Carey RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves that the Highway Superintendent proceed with any sale from a winning bid for the two pickup trucks listed on Auctions International. Ayes - Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel, Young Resolution Passed Nays - Town Clerk Robin Cargian discussed the new 100% exemption for Veterans legislation that was signed into law on February 13, 2026, adding the list of requirements which significantly narrows those who could apply. It will be mandatory for the 2028 tax year. She advised the board to watch the video of the Association of Towns, Counties, and Village presidents speaking to the NY State Legislature posted by the Association of Towns. Towns have to make up 45% of their budgets out of taxes alone. No other municipal government has to operate that way. It became apparent that the legislators expect towns and villages to use grants for income, which is problematic when there isn’t anyone who can write grants all day. The office will likely be closed on May 15th as she and Denise will be attending Town Board Minutes Page 3 March 10, 2026 graduations in Albany. Councilperson Klumpp had not watched the video but recognized that local money could be saved if the State Government would not take our money to issue grants. We should decide how we spend our money. Attorney for the Town, Noah Kilmer – Explained the local tax payment process allowed by law that Charter/Spectrum uses as a franchise. Should the board not authorize a fee to be collected by the franchise, then the company would not defer tax payments to the town for some of its property and instead would direct pay the county for its taxes. The board gave an indication that they would prefer to remove the fee and no longer front the tax money for the following year from the fees. Public Hearing Charter Communications Franchise Agreement MOTION to open the Public Hearing for the Franchise Agreement with Charter Communications made by Supervisor Young, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp. Ayes - Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel, Young Resolution Passed Nays - After giving the public a few minutes to step forward, no one wished to speak. MOTION to close the Public Hearing for the Franchise Agreement with Charter Communications made by Councilperson Carey, seconded by Councilperson Gamel. Ayes - Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel, Young Resolution Passed Nays - RESOLUTION #26-030– APPROVE THE SPECIAL FRANCHISE AGREEMENT WITH CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS FOR CABLE TELEVISION WITHIN THE TOWN OF GROTON, NY MOVED by Supervisor Young, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp, WHEREAS, the Town Board duly conducted a public hearing presenting the 2026 Special Franchise Agreement with Charter Communications for Cable Television and, WHEREAS, the Town Board hearing no comment from the public, voted to remove any service fees collected by Charter Communications for cable television through the Franchise Agreement, and WHEREAS, the Attorney for the Town, Noah Kilmer, noted the Supervisor’s name will need to be corrected on the agreement to state Supervisor Crystal Young, hereby RESOLVED, that the Town Board approves the Franchise Agreement with those additions and authorizes the Town Supervisor to sign once it is corrected. Ayes - Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel, Young Resolution Passed Nays - Supervisor Young began to read the Recreation reports added as an addendum to these minutes. Councilperson Carey asked if the events mentioned were school-sanctioned activities and wondered how the Groton Recreation committee works. Did they work in tandem, as it sounds like a lot of that is just school stuff. Town Board Minutes Page 4 March 10, 2026 Supervisor Young explained: The only school stuff, as far as like the youth programming, the wrestling, soccer, basketball, and things like that. Becky coordinates with the school on getting the spaces , and then she helps to get the coaches, and then she's there to help with the registrations. We, the village and the rec department, maintain the budgets for some of these other youth programs also, like T-ball and soccer. Football runs itself. So yes, she coordinates getting the coaches and is there to help out also. She handles the registrations. She keeps track of all of the registrations. It's an online registration program that is done for things like that, and probably insurance as well. That's probably a big one. Councilperson Klumpp added that back 50 years ago, there was someone else sponsoring teams. Organizations like Rotary sponsored Little League. It was just different. Now, those clubs have gone by the wayside, and it’s more reliant on the government to do things. Grants. Councilperson Carey: So it’s beyond the school, then? Councilperson Klumpp answered yes, it's mostly the smaller kids up until middle school or seventh grade. Councilperson Gamel: I'm just curious, on that same note, the school has that $500,000 grant. What does that money go for? Supervisor Young: What Monica talked about last month? That is very specific, and I don't know if... It was in the minutes. Highway Superintendent Kiester & Chief Deforrest: It's a different set of programs. They do an archery camp in the summertime. They send out a flyer, and they've got all the school's programs through Century 21. Councilperson Gamel: I know we talked about that, but I really think the way things are condensing with taxes and everything else. I sent something out about places that are condensing. I just think it's something where I love the idea of a splash pad, (pauses) 25 Grand that is buying him ( pointing to the Highway Superintendent) a new piece of equipment for the town. Councilperson Klumpp: I know what you're saying. At last month's meeting, I don't know if anyone's going to go back and listen to the recording, but there were multiple occasions where they said, "We try not to step on each other's toes,” which I take to mean that there could be some consolidation. Councilperson Gamel: I just think, I'm not saying that it's not good stuff going on. I'm saying there's a lot of... there's a lot of irons out there trying to make a lot of stuff go on for kids, which is great. I just wonder if you want to keep it or if there's not a way to condense that into a more streamlined plan that costs everybody less. Councilperson Klumpp: One thing about it, though, is that by having different programs, you have different revenue sources. Superintendent Kiester: As a community member, you also have lower numbers. Baseball signups end at the end of the week. I just had to move my son up a level in baseball to give him eight players. The Town Board Minutes Page 5 March 10, 2026 more you have available, the fewer your numbers. Once you start spreading them out. What's the right way to say they should channel here or there, there's not? Councilperson Gamel: From the educational side, there's not a school district anywhere in New York State that has not almost cut in half over the last 20 years. What used to have 45 kids on the sidelines at a football game, they're lucky if they can run a team. You split that up, and you keep adding sports, which is a great opportunity to have, but if the opportunity doesn't give enough for each one to make it worth the money we're putting into it. Yeah. It's just a lot of money going out. Chief Deforrest: I think there are so many options for kids too, particularly when they're younger; they have baseball. You had track. Now there are 40 things that are offered, and the kids aren't funneled to the... Supervisor Young: The 40 things I've mentioned aren't all youth, though. There are this many youth, and then the rest of what I just rattled off is all adult stuff. So, when you talk about, we're paying an awful lot of money, number one, we don't pay anything to the 21st Century Grant. The biggest thing that we're paying for is $15,000 to the Youth Commission. That's minimal in my opinion. This is the biggest thing that we're paying for. And I think if you get rid of this, you're going to do so as a detriment to the community, because when you talk about, we could use a new piece of equipment instead of a splash pad. Now, what are you telling people who want to start bringing their families in, buy houses in Groton, and raise their families in Groton? Well, they care more about taking care of their roads than they want to have any of us do anything in our town. Councilperson Gamel: Let's go back to we don't pay anything for the 21st century grant. Yeah, we do. That comes from our taxes. Supervisor Young: It does not. It absolutely does not come out of our taxes. The Roy and Dorothy Park Foundation. That's their money. Councilperson Gamel: But don't you think $500,000 could go a long way to all these programs? Supervisor Young: It has. And if you saw all of the programs that the grant provided, it has done an enormous amount of programming for those kids. Is there some place where they could collaborate on a lot of things? We were told there are very specific rules for that grant with what you can spend the money on. You can't spend it on food, so they will then look at the Joint Rec Committee, which could provide food. They'll work together on what one person can't provide, and the other program will provide. So, no, I think it was the Youth Commission that said that they could provide the food. Councilperson Klumpp: The Youth Commission said they could provide the food because once it's a camp, it triggers something with the health department. Supervisor Young: I think we need to remember also that we're a group of people that are sitting here as a board of older people that no longer have kids in school. We need to start really thinking about and going out and talking to the people about what they want. What is keeping your family here in this community? From what I've heard a lot of people say when they're looking for places to move is they look for what programs will be available to their kids. For what kinds of things are available to do in the Town Board Minutes Page 6 March 10, 2026 town. Okay, so if you don’t put money into making improvements at the park, then they might choose to go somewhere else. We've lost how many businesses on Main Street? Now the Ice Cream Caboose is up for sale. I mean, we've lost so much. If we don't put money into these programs so that the families are going to want to stay in this community, we're going to lose our community. I'm not trying to test you one way or another. That's my opinion. I think we need to remember we're both people sitting here trying to make decisions. Councilperson Gamel: We are trying to make decision on the best places for the money to go in the Town of Groton. We have three organizations, the school, Tompkins County, and Groton Youth, that are all kind of doing the same pool of things. I really think there's room for condensing. That's my opinion, and that's where I'll end. Supervisor Young: I appreciate your opinion. Councilperson Gamel: I appreciate your opinion, I don’t agree with it, but I appreciate it. Supervisor Young: I appreciate your opinion but I'm not going to say I agree with it, but I'm going to say that I think that's why we're taking this next year, like we said last month, to take this next year to evaluate everything. But that's going to mean going to meetings, and I understand you were sick, but give me a call if you can't go. We can send somebody else so that we can get that information. That's what we decided on last year: we're going to take this next year to evaluate all of these programs and see if they can be condensed or combined, and go from there next year. Councilperson Gamel: Right? Well, we're not going to learn that from sitting in a meeting. The only way you would find out if something can be condensed is to get a report from the directors of the programs. A specific report saying what some things are that you're doing that can't be consolidated with somebody else, and why? If we'd like, if we said we would like to consolidate, what's the plan of action for consolidating? Councilperson Klumpp: Didn't they talk about that last month, too? About how they were very different programs. And I also heard that we try not to step on each other's toes. I heard that a lot more than I heard that too, for certain Councilperson Gamel: I'm just saying, if we want to consolidate, we have to ask them to come up with a plan to try to consolidate or, this is why we can't consolidate. Then we can look at that reason why we can't and say, all right, well maybe we can if we do this and that and the other thing. But just going to a meeting and sitting there listening is not going to help us determine whether or not it can be consolidated. Supervisor Young: Okay, come up with a plan if consolidation can take place, why or why not? Is that what I'm hearing? Councilperson Klumpp: Yeah, that's my suggestion. I realized that there's money coming from different sources, and I'm not necessarily behind Rick on the consolidation thing. My big thing was, as we all know, I didn't like the politics that were in it. And then at last month's meeting, when they started talking about needing all these things for a good community because all upstate New York is losing people, Town Board Minutes Page 7 March 10, 2026 well, you know why we're losing people? It’s because of all the programs that are raising our taxes and raising our electric rates. Businesses and people are moving south to states that don't have high taxes and high electric rates on companies and people. It's not a bunch of programs for the kids that are going to increase populations of the schools in upstate New York. It's lower taxes, lower energy costs. Eric Deforrest, Groton Fire Chief- We are currently at 173 ambulance calls and 40 fire calls for the year. Last year, we averaged about 100 calls a month, so we're a little below that par right now. The first pancake breakfast of the season went great, serving about 80 people. Changes were made to lessen the workload. As we all know, the volunteer world is starving for people, so please, if anybody wants to volunteer, I'll get you an application. There is a chicken barbecue coming up on Saturday due to the one we canceled in February when it was 40 below zero. No one was standing out in that. Chicken should be ready at 10, provided I can get it thawed by then. We are doing an Easter Egg hunt at the station this year on the day before Easter, which I think is 4/4. We will get that post online here quickly with the times. We were at Cabin Fever last Saturday, which was a great turnout with a lot of people. We brought our new extrication tools, set up some gear, air packs, and stuff for the kids to check out. Normally, people stop by our table and kind of look, but we had a lot of people come by our table this year. We were busy for a full two hours when I wasn't pos ing with a baby kangaroo. A lot of questions about the new tools. And a lot of people were very happy to see that we were able to go to the next level with our rescue equipment. Supervisor Young, Yellow Barn Solar Update- I spoke to Matt Eldred this morning, and I will be getting in touch with the board, as I think there are a couple of things that we have to be decided on as far as the host community agreement and decommissioning agreement. RESOLUTION #26-031– APPROVE THE USDA EUROPEAN CHERRY FRUIT FLY PROGRAM ON TOWN PROPERTY MOVED by Supervisor Young, seconded by Councilperson Gamel RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the Cherry Fruit Fly Traps to be placed in select locations within the Town of Groton to help the USDA to determine the spread of invasive insects. Ayes - Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel, Young Resolution Passed Nays - Landscape Plan Escrow for Groton I & Groton II LLC Attorney Kilmer will reach out to the Attorney for Bullrock to clarify why the escrow money is for consultation, and the amount listed was not the amount that was sent. Clerk Cargian will retrieve and share the decommissioning bonds and agreements with Mr. Kilmer. The emergency response plan was tabled until there could be coordinated efforts with the Village. The Employee handbook was also tabled to review who was meeting and when. Privilege of the Floor. No one wished to speak. Announcements: • Planning Board Meeting for Thursday, March 19th. • Zoning Board Meeting, March 18, 2026, has been cancelled Town Board Minutes Page 8 March 10, 2026 There being no further business, the motion to adjourn by Councilperson Gamel was seconded by Councilperson Carey, at 8:45 PM, and the vote was Unanimous. ADDENDUM : Groton Joint Recreation Committee 3/3/2026 Scott Weeks called the meeting to order at: 5:36 PM Present were: Rec Director Becky Koenig, Angela Conger, Scott Weeks, Leon Brockway, Crystal Young Absent: Jennifer Foote-Dean, Elizabeth Conger The minutes were reviewed from the February 5th meeting. Motion made to approve the minutes by: Leon Brockway 2nd by: Crystal Young carried. The financials from January were reviewed Motion made to approve the financials by: Crystal Young 2nd by: Leon Brockway carried. • The survey results were shared. Comments/ Suggestions made: • Expand into collegiate entities for partnerships • Get new banners with Groton Recreation Logos on them to make sure people know who is supporting and sponsoring events. Recreation Director Report See Director Becky Koenig's Report attached Updates on report Discussion/Action Items • The tentative Joint Recreation Budget was reviewed by Nancy Niswender, there is a budget workshop on March 7th. Final budget will be adopted at the April 20th Board Meeting. Recreation Director Becky asked the Joint Rec Committee about sponsoring a Pirate Ship and • show event for Olde Home Days. They would bring a ship for families to be able to explore and do live shows and interact with the crowds. The whole event would be $6,500. Motion made to approve to sponsor the Event for Olde Home Days: Crystal Young 2nd by: Leon Brockway carried. Open Discussion: $650 donation from Molly's guest bartenders, Seth Walpole and Hannah Botsford. Motion to adjourn: 7:28 PM made by: Crystal Young 2nd by: Leon Brockway Next meeting: April 7th Submitted by: Angela Conger Village of Groton Deputy Treasurer Town Board Minutes Page 9 March 10, 2026 Town Board Minutes Page 10 March 10, 2026 Town Board Minutes Page 11 March 10, 2026 Robin Cargian, RMC Groton Town Clerk