HomeMy WebLinkAbout9-29-2026 Reg meetingTown Board Minutes Page 1 September 29, 2026
TOWN OF GROTON - MEETING MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2026, AT 7:30 PM
Town Officers Present:Town Officers Absent: Also Present:
At 7:30 PM, Supervisor Young called the meeting to order after the Pledge of Allegiance. MOVED by
Councilperson Klumpp seconded by Councilperson Gamel, to approve the Meeting Minutes of September
8, 2026.
Ayes – Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel, Young Motion Passed
Tentative Budget Presented-
Supervisor Crystal Young gave a brief update on the proposed tentative budget, which included 4% salary
increases equaling roughly a dollar per employee, a health insurance increase of 17.5%, and the Town
Clerk’s budget included an extra $17k to cover the projected costs of a new server (replacing an 8-year-
old one) and software upgrades to the cloud. Councilperson Carey asked what the transportation clothing
allowance in the highway fund was used for and what line the McLean Crossing Guard allowances come
from. The Groton Fire and Ambulance Departments had not yet provided their budget requests, so a 2%
increase was assumed. Mclean Fire District will have a public hearing on their budget in October. All of
Julie’s hard work was appreciated, and this budget was under the 2% tax cap. The board will review the
budget and prepare any changes for the next meeting.
The Employee Handbook draft will be sent to the board or put in the portal for review before the October
meeting. The Bookkeeper and ZBA canvassing is ongoing. An ad was placed in the Shopper for another two
weeks. Superintendent Keister had a local option to fill the cleaner position, stating it was difficult to fill as
the person needs to be in the building during office hours to clean all areas. The highway employee
increase was confirmed at 4%, and it was stated that New York decreased the percentage collected for
retirement, which should start in this week's paychecks.
RESOLUTION #26-067 ‐ APPROVAL OF THE 2027 AMENDMENT OF THE MUNICIPAL
COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT FOR THE GREATER TOMPKINS COUNTY MUNICIPAL HEALTH
INSURANCE CONSORTIUM
MOVED by Supervisor Young, seconded by Councilperson Gamel,
WHEREAS, the Town of Groton is a Participant in the Greater Tompkins County Municipal
Health Insurance Consortium (the "Consortium"), a municipal cooperative organized under Article
47 of the New York Insurance Law, and
WHEREAS, the municipal participants in the Consortium, including this body, have
approved and executed a certain Municipal Cooperation Agreement (the "Agreement"; effective
Town Board Minutes Page 2 September 29, 2026
date of October 1, 2010), and
WHEREAS, Article 47 of the New York Insurance Law (the "Insurance Law") and the rules
and regulations of the New York State Department of Financial Services set forth certain
requirements for governance of municipal cooperatives that offer self-insured municipal
cooperative health insurance plans, and
WHEREAS, the Agreement sets forth ln Section 02 that continuation of the Consortium
under the terms and conditions of the Agreement, or any amendments or restatements thereto, shall
be subject to Board review and upon acceptance of any new Participant hereafter, and
WHEREAS, the Municipal Cooperative Agreement requires that amendments to the
agreement be presented to each participant for review and adopted by a majority vote by its
municipal board, and
WHEREAS, the Town of Groton is in receipt of the proposed amended Agreement and
has determined that it is in the best interest of its constituents who are served by the
Consortium to amend the Agreement as set forth in the Amended Municipal Cooperative
Agreement; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that upon receipt and review of the amended Agreement, the Town of
Groton approves at a meeting of the governing body held on September 29, 2026, and
authorizes the Chief Elected Official to sign the 2027 Amendment to the Municipal Cooperative
Agreement (Effective 1.1.27) of the Greater Tompkins County Municipal Health Insurance
Consortium as recommended by the Board of Directors.
Ayes – Clark, Carey, Klumpp, Gamel, Young Resolution Passed
Privilege of the Floor. No one wished to speak.
Announcements:
• Planning Board Meeting for Thursday, September 17th, Cancelled
• Zoning Board Meeting, September 16th, cancelled
There being no further business, the motion to adjourn was made by Councilperson Gamel and seconded
by Councilperson Klumpp at 7:52 PM. The vote was Unanimous.
Robin Cargian, RMC
Groton Town Clerk