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Home My WebLink About7-14-2026 Reg meetingTown Board Minutes Page 1 July 14, 2026 TOWN OF GROTON - MEETING MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2026, AT 7:30 PM Town Officers Present:Town Officers Absent:Also Present: Supervisor Young called the meeting to order after the Pledge of Allegiance. MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Clark, to approve the Meeting and Public Hearing Minutes of June 9, 2026. Ayes – Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel, Young Motion Passed RESOLUTION #26-051 ‐ APPROVE PAYMENT OF INVOICES MOVED by Councilperson Klumpp, seconded by Councilperson Carey WHEREAS vouchers for Abstract #07 for the Year 2026, numbered 258-313, 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 B 17,535.27 9,429.32 DB 246,287.75 SL1- DISTRICT 130.89 Total $305,279.49 Ayes – Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel, Young Resolution Passed Monthly Reports Julie Graham, Bookkeeper –The monthly report was provided and included two budget adjustments. RESOLUTION #26-052 - APPROVE BUDGET TRANSFERS MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp, to approve the following budget adjustment: Town Board Minutes Page 2 July 14, 2026 From: A1990.4 Contingency $275.20 To: A7550.4 Celebrations $275.20 Overrun due to Retirement Celebration and Memorial Trees From DB3501 CHIPS Revenue $51,975.11 To DB5112.2 CHIPS Expenditures $51,975.11 Ayes – Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel, Young, Unanimous W. Rick Fritz, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer. The following report was submitted to the board. Building Permits Issued: 13 New Businesses: 0 Permits Completed: 45 Fire Safety Inspections: 0 Permits Renewed: 3 Building Inspections: 63 Zoning permits: 0 Certificates of Occupancy/Compliance: 6 Site Plan Reviews: 0 Violation Notices:0 Subdivisions: 3 Complaints:0 Life Safety Inspections for June 2026: Inspected - 0; Completed – 0; Training Hours -35 Highway Superintendent, Ellard Keister, reported that they have gotten caught up, but the heat requires large equipment to be off the pavement early, or it starts to dimple the road. The green truck brought less than anticipated on Auctions International. As a result, it was used as a trade-in on the new Chevy Crew Cab purchased with last month’s approval, reducing the sticker price by $29,000. The new employees are working out very well. Jacob is progressing toward his CDL permit, and Alan is doing well with the manual transmission and should be scheduled for that certification soon. Tomorrow they will be helping with the Groton Central School career and tech day, providing hands-on construction and agriculture education at the Darling Farm. We have equipment staged there for kids to get their feet wet in the construction field. The area in front of the Town Clerk’s office will include a concrete pad for the bench, which will be poured when the sidewalks are replaced. A truck full of stone broke a belt, which destroyed the bearing, housing, and fan clutch. Due to the weight and stone, this required a towing service. Once back in the shop, Mack and Jacob were able to fix everything. All of the board expressed a state of awe over the diesel fuel bill. The Superintendent agreed with their sentiment and added that it is something we all have to be aware of going into budget season. He was grateful for the good relationship that he has with Nick at the County and neighboring municipalities. He recently got a tour of Lansing’s new highway garage, which has an impressive structure. Town Clerk Robin Cargian reported that the dog enumeration was ongoing, and she and Denise were busy sending out reminders of expired building permits. Eight permits have been renewed compared to three from all of last month. The new security system was installed today when it was realized that it is not compatible with the old ADT equipment. The estimate to replace all of the equipment is an additional $1800 to $ 2200, and they offered to absorb the labor. After discussing the emergency need and checking with the bookkeeper for finances, a motion was made. MOTION #26-053 – APPROVE UP TO $2500.00 FOR UNFORESEEN EQUIPMENT EXPENSES TO THE SECURITY SYSTEM. Councilperson Gamel made A MOTION to approve spending up to $2,500.00 to cover the unforeseen necessary equipment for the Security System. Councilperson Klumpp seconded the motion. Ayes – Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel, Young, Unanimous Town Board Minutes Page 3 July 14, 2026 Noah Kilmer, The Attorney for the Town, explained he had met with Rick Fritz to go over a few of the building permit applications that need attention. He will be notifying these individuals to contact the Code Office, or legal action will follow. Doug, from Bullrock, is working with a landscaper to find 8 to 10’ trees that would suit the purposes of sight coverage for the neighbors. This must be done before the landscape agreement can be finalized. Recreation Programs, Supervisor Young and Councilperson Klumpp reported there were no meetings this month. Supervisor Young, Yellow Barn Solar Update- A meeting was held with the Code Official, the Supervisor, and the Attorney regarding requests that were made of the Code Official by Yellow Barn and the ORES project. Matt will take that information to them and try to get the HCA updated should Rick be involved with the inspections of the site. Rick is fully aware of what needs to be done and will not sign off on something he has not seen. They were hoping to have the paperwork ready by September and break ground in the spring of 2027. Councilperson Klumpp asked if anyone else had gotten an inquiry from a Cornell student doing research about how to speed the solar permitting process up. He explained to her that the Town has very little say in the ORES process. In this respect in cannot be the Town that is slowing the process down. She agreed that the process sounded unreasonable. No one else was approached. Supervisor Young was approached by Cornell to provide funding for a program educating immigrant populations in farming practices in and around the solar sites. They were hoping the town would support this out of the host community agreement. After a brief discussion, it was determined that such an arrangement would not be of interest to the town. It could not be answered why the town should bear the cost of an educational program given by Cornell. ZBA Member Recommendation MOTION #26-054 – APPROVE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS RECOMMENDED CANDIDATE Supervisor Young made A MOTION to approve the Zoning Board’s recommended candidate to the Zoning Board of Appeals, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp. Councilperson Gamel described his reservations about approving a candidate for either the planning or zoning board who has just moved to the area. He would prefer someone who has been a member of the community for a longer period to be making decisions for the community. Ayes – Young, Motion Failed Nays- Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel Employee Handbook- Meeting is scheduled for August 5th at 2 PM. The only town board member assigned to this meeting is the Supervisor. Summer Concert Sponsor: The Groton American Legion requested that the Town and Village donate $300 each to cover the additional costs for hosting Taylor Made. A brief discussion concluded it would be a donation given to the Legion to help offset costs. Town Board Minutes Page 4 July 14, 2026 MOTION #26-055 – APPROVE COVERING AN ADDITIONAL $300 IN CONCERT FUNDING Councilperson Klumpp made A MOTION to approve the requested $300 for the additional costs to host Taylor Made during the community concert series at the Legion. Supervisor Young seconded the motion. Ayes – Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel, Young, Unanimous Verizon Long Distance Bill The Verizon Long Distance Bill is usually under $5.00. The Town Clerk asked permission to pay this bill online using the credit card instead of the normal voucher system, saving time and a stamp for such small amounts. MOTION #26-056 – APPROVE PAYMENT OF THE VERIZON LONG DISTANCE BILL USING THE TOWN CREDIT CARD A MOTION to authorize the use of the town credit card to pay the long distance Verizon bill was made by Supervisor Young, seconded by Councilperson Gamel. Ayes – Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel, Young, Unanimous Privilege of the Floor. No one wished to speak. Announcements: • Planning Board Meeting for Thursday, July 16th, Carey • Zoning Board Meeting, July 15, cancelled • McLean Potato Festival, July 25, 206 10 AM to 6 PM There being no further business, the motion to adjourn by Councilperson Gamel was seconded by Councilperson Clark at 8:25 PM, and the vote was Unanimous. Robin Cargian, RMC Groton Town Clerk