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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB Minutes 1990-08-13 TOM OF ITHACA REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING August 13 , 1990 At a Regular Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca , Tompkins County , New York , held at the Town Hall , 126 East Seneca Street , Ithaca , New York , on the 13th day of August , 1990 , there were : PRESENT : Shirley Raffensperger , Supervisor John Whitcomb , Councilman Patricia Leary , Councilwoman David Klein , Councilman Catherine Valentino , Councilwoman Karl Niklas , Councilman ABSENT : Frank Liguori , Councilman ALSO PRESENT : David DuBow , Attorney Daniel Walker , Town Engineer Susan Beeners , Town Planner George Frantz , Assistant Town Planner Andrew Frost , Building Inspector/ Zoning Officer . Linda Nobles , Asst . Budget Officer James Skaley , Tompkins County Planning Beverly Livesay , Board of Representatives Kathy West , Tompkins County Budget & Finance K . W . Beyenbach , 1024 Hanshaw Road Alfred DiGiacomo , 1025 Hanshaw Road Christa Marie Beyenbach , 1024 Hanshaw Road L . D . Sawyer , 130 Ridgecrest Road Larry Fabbroni , 127 Warren Road Rocco Lucente , 506 Warren Road Sarah Hin , 109 Birchwood Drive Sally Egan , 110 Birchwood Drive Candice Cornell , 1456 Hanshaw Road David Collum , 1456 Hanshaw Road Oliver Nobtell , 116 Pinewood Place Sylvia G . Wahl , 1426 Hanshaw Road Ivette Ruerter , 337 Stone Quarry Road S . P . Lucente , 981 Taughannock Boulevard Harrison Geiselmann , 1452 Hanshaw Road Audrey Geise]mann , 1452 Hanshaw Road PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Supervisor led the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance . REPORT OF TOWN OFFICIALS Supervisor ' s Report Supervisor Raffensperger stated that on July 18 the Town of Ithaca sold Bond. Anticipation Notes for the 1989 Water and Sewer improvements . The Town received very favorable rates , including the premium of 6 . 095 for 1 million from Ehrlich Bober and 6 . 129 from Shearson , Lehman , Hutton for the remaining $ 3 , 465 , 000 . The Town Board Minutes 2 August 13 , 1990 proceeds were received by the Town on July 26 . They were very good rates and she was pleased with that . Supervisor Raffensperger went on to note that curbside recycling will be extended to all areas of the Town of Ithaca , the start up date is September 24 . Two public information meetings , sponsored by the Tcnipkins County Solid Waste Division , will be held , one on August 30th at 7 : 30 P . M . at the Biggs building the other at the Northeast School in mi&September , probably the 19th although that is not absolutely confirmed yet . The Solid Waste Division will be handling all the publicity for the meetings including letter and newspaper publicity , etc . The Supervisor noted that Assemblyman Martin Luster has notified the Town that the two pieces of special legislation requested by the Town have been signed by Governor Cuomo . One relating to the use of sales tax revenues for fire services , the other adding the Town of Ithaca to those municipalities not required to have a resident Town Engineer , Supervisor Raffensperger stated that New York State DOT has rejected the Town of Ithaca ' s request for the lowering of the speed limit on Warren Road between Hanshaw Road and Lansing Village . The speed limit will remain at 40 MPH . She noted that the circulation folder ha;D the letter explaining why it was not granted . She stated that she was beginning to have a bit of curiosity about whether or not there is an appeals process the Town can use for these and she would be looking into that . The Supervisor noted that Sales Tax revenues paid by the County in August to the Town of Ithaca were $ 315 , 027 . The Town remains approximately $ 112 , 500 behind the amount included in the 1990 budget for the period January through August . She stated that she had noted , however , that the quarter coming up in November is usually somewhat higher but she doubted it was possible to make up all the deficit . Supervisor Raffensperger stated that the State Auditor will be conducting , finally , an exit . interview on Wednesday , August 15th at 1 : 00 P . M . She stated that any Town Board member who wished to attend the! exit interview with the Auditors was welcome . Supervisor Raffensperger stated that the Town of Ithaca has been offered the opportunity to be part of a leaf and yard waste model composting- program this fall . Tompkins County will provide all of the funds for the model program, including several thousand dollars worth of technical consulting work by a firm that the County is contracting with in setting up a composting operation at the Landst:ron Landfill . The Town would then bring all of the leaf and yard waste to the Highway Barn and would enter into this model program . She stated that she had asked if there was sufficient space to do this and the answer was yes . The only additional possible cost to the Town , up front , would be the fact that some of the trucks instead of dropping off the leaves or waste in a park would bring it all back to the Highway Barn for composting . She felt the material in itself would eventually be a savings for the Parks . Rich Schoch had contacted her as the Town needs to get a response hack so no one else would get in on it . We had first dibs because we had a composting project last fall . Town Engineer ' s Report Town Engineer Dan Walker stated that on the 1987 Water and Sewer Improvements the Tru mansburg Road sewer has been completed even though we are still punch listing a couple of items up there but Town Board. Minutes 1 3 August 13 , 1990 this should be completed soon . The processing of payment has to do with an agreement with the City and we are in the process of working out the Town ' s share of the engineering costs which are reimbursed. by the City . The survey for the design and extension along Trumansburg Road as part of the 1989 Water and Sewer Improvements from Woolf Lane to the Town line has been completed . We are in the process of obtaining easements right now and the Health Department design review is in progress . Survey and design for extension of the 12 inch water main along the East side of Trumansburg Road from Hayts Road to Dubois Road to Indian Creek Road has been completed . We are also making sure we have proper easements with the County along the road way there . The Town Engineer noted that they have a meter pit design which is near completion. for the Taughannock Boulevard watermain . That main was put in under the 1987 Water and Sewer Improvements and we have an agreement with the City to put a master meter on that . The City will provide the meter and we are designing the pit . Those three projects will be let as one package and we anticipate letting those in September as long as the Health Department approvals are forthcoming and we get all of the easements . The Engineer reported on the Trey Road water tank on South Hill , the design has been completed and the Health Department comments in the final approvals are being incorporated in the final design and hope to get that out to bid by the first of September . Inlet Valley water and sewer , he stated we are , he hoped , in the final construction phase stage by Stearns & Wheler . He stated they have gone back and forth on a number of markups and revisions that the Town staff has done and also some comments that the Health Department has had . We are now preparing easement maps . He stated that he did not want to let a contract for that until we receive all the easements . One area of concern is through the City where the land is owned by one individual , there is one large parcel that we have to go through and also we have an existing 1902 or 1903 subdivision that we are trying to work with to make sure the landowners are satisfied with that , however , he did not anticipate any problems . The design is underway for the replacement of the line from the Cliff Street pump station to Bundy Road . This would be a replacement , however , there is no funding in the budget for this right now . We are putting the design together to determine the cost because the cost of this would be shared by developments in the area , including Shalebrook and anything else on West Hill . The Town Engineer went on to say that development review was always a fun thing for the Engineering staff and that Cayuga Cliffs has been the most controversial for residential . Deer Run has gone through their final review on the 3-B Phase . Chase Farms Phase II was going then it was stopped and now it is going again . Commercial projects , McDonald ' s at East Hill Plaza and Andree Petroleum at East Hill Plaza will be caning in for a site plan review at the next Planning Board meeting . Also , the Cornell East Hill Plaza renovation . Cornell Master Plan GIS development has taken a considerable amount of staff time . We have been working with their- planning and facilities engineering departments in a fairly cooperative manner in developing a scoping process for the GEIS . There may be an expansion of the scope to include all of Cornell Is property within the Town . He stated that he has also been talking with Ithaca College and they are in the process of putting together a master plan and they are also considering doing a GEIS for, that in conjunction with the two current projects that will be before the Planning Board in September . one is the loop road and the other is the Science Building addition . He stated that he felt a very cooperative attitude from the Ithaca College administration in working with the Town upfront . Town Engineer Walker went on to say that the Board would , later in the meeting , be talking about the East Hill Plaza Water as there is Town Board Minutes 4 August 13 , 1990 an agreement in the works between Cornell , Bolton Point and Dryden and the Town of Ithaca . This is one phase where we are beginning to look in conjunction with Cornell ' s comprehensive plan and the Town ' s comprehensive plan regarding the actual needs for water in the East Hill area . He went on to say that the Engineering Department has provided mapping and technical support to the Planning staff , especially in the base mapping and developing the information on infrastructure . Highway Superintendent ' s Report Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the Board had a written report from the Highway Superintendent which he completed before he left . She noted that the interviews for a new Highway Superintendent were held last week and there will be more tomorrow . It is possible if that goes well , and there is a candidate for Board consideration , it will be necessary to have a short noon meeting sometime during the month . Building Inspector/ Zoning Officer ' s Report Building Inspector/ Zoning Officer Andrew Frost reported that 15 building permits were issued during the month of July . He remarked that renovations were up and he felt people were putting money into existing homes instead of building new ones . 32 certificates of occupancy were issued . 139 field visits were made . 23 complaints were investigated , this includes 10 for the Sapsucker Woods Road occupancy violations . He noted that the Town Attorney had sent notices out to a number of people where we questioned owner occupancy . He noted that in a couple of cases it was stipulated that the owners must have signed sales agreements by September 1st and he did. not know if this was realistic and perhaps the Board may want to discuss this sometime in the future . Councilman Niklas remarked that he did not remember the Board setting a deadline when this came up at the last meeting . He asked who set the deadline ? Mr . Frost replied that was in a discussion between himself and the Town Attorney . Supervisor Raffensperger replied the notices went out as the Town Board had discussed . We received several letters from people who said they had the houses on the market and it was demonstrated that they actually did . So it seemed reasonable to give them some sort of a pericd of time to proceed with the sale of the property . She felt that at the Town Board meeting in September , if there was still a substantial number that are not in compliance with the regulations , the Board ought to go into Executive Session to determine exactly how to proceed . There are some special individual circumstances and she thought at that point they would be clearer , about them, and then they should be discussed , perhaps even individually in some cases . Mr . Frost went on to note a complaint on Sheffield Road where the women ' s house burned down and she went to the Zoning Board for special approval to replace the home that burned on a slightly different footprint . The existing house was non-conforming in terms of setback . The warren is practically camping on the site but we have not actively pursued this as she has been actively working on getting the house reconstructed . We still have the mobile home on Five Mile Drive but the gentleman has the foundation almost complete , so he is proceeding with construction . Town Board Minutes 5 August 13 , 1990 Town Planner ' s Report Supervisor Raffensperger welcomed Susan Beeners back , noting that she was back full time as of today . She noted that the Assistant Planner would be giving the report . Assistant Town Planner George Frantz reported that the staff was progressing with the Comprehensive Planning Committee in developing the draft comprehensive plan . A major milestone is the completion of the two land use maps for the Town of Ithaca . One for the Town of Ithaca 1968 and one for the Town 1990 . In addition to having the actual two maps , we have also calculated the changes in land uses from 1968 to 1990 and that is in the form of a preliminary report that was passed out to the Comprehensive Planning Committee at it ' s July 31st meeting . He went on to say that John and Susan were working with the CAC on the Open Space and Natural Resources component of the Comprehensive Plan . He stated that he was continuing to support the Natural Areas Parks and Stream Corridor Committee as they work on developing some sort of protective measures for the Six Mile Creek valley . This is in response to concerns by the City for their watershed area . The Town is looking at both protection of City watershed as a public access and the natural areas itself . He went on to say that the Planning staff along with Engineer and Legal staff are continuing to support the Codes and Ordinances Committee which Councilman Niklas will report on later in the meeting . Development review by the Planning Board includes the approval of two 2-lot subdivisions , a public hearing on the proposed McDonald ' s restaurant at the East Hill Plaza , final site plan approval for conversion of a portion of Ide ' s Bowling Lanes to retail store space and the addition of another 5 , 000 square feet of retail space , modification of the site plan for the Chamber of Commerce to reduce the number of entrance driveways from two to one . The reduction is at the request of State DOT engineers . REPORT OF COUNTY REPRESENTATIVES County Representative Beverly Livesay stated that she had two things on her mind , one she would defer until Kathy West has dealt with it and then if the Board wants any dialogue we can . talk then . The other is just to mention that the County is working on the Judd Falls /Pine Tree /Ellis Hollow road area by the East Hill Shopping Plaza in terms of formulating plans and to include the work plan in the budget . She asked if they had been in ca mlmication with the Town at all ? Supervisor Raffensperger replied , only indirectly and very informally and when she got the indirect , informal information she suggested that she thought it would be constructive for the County to contact the Town in a more formal way about it but that has not happened . It was about a week or so ago that she sent the message . She stated that she felt it would be very helpful if the Town had some kind of communication from the County rather than just having somebody say they heard the County might do it . Mrs . Livesay asked if the contact should be engineer to engineer or should the County ' s engineer do what he feels is best to do about County roads and them come directly to the Town Board? Supervisor Raffensperger felt that the County engineer should contact the Town engineer , then it can be discussed in a staff meeting to see how the Town wishes to proceed exterior in the Town . Do we want to take it to the Planning Board , or just exactly how we wish to proceed with it . Town Board Minutes 6 August 13 , 1990 PRESENTATION REGARDING TAXES IN INSTALLMENTS Supervisor. Raffensperger noted that Kathy West from Budget and Finance was here to discuss taxes in installments . She went on to say that if the Board recalled , in June , the Town Board did pass a resolution at the request of the County , the content of the resolution was not at their request , we said that we were opposed to proposed. Tompkins County Local Law # 5 . Since then , there has been a lot: of discussion and a few changes in the proposal such as the possibility of the County paying $ 1 . 00 per deferred installment . She stated that she thought that before the Board allowed their June resolution to stand the Board ought to give Ms . West the opportunity to present her case . Kathy West stated that there was a lot of complexities in the proposal and any one item misunderstood could lead a Town Board to a negative position on it . To put it all in a nut shell , the way the progrcun would work , the taxpayer would have the option every year to pay the bill as they always have in January , on time , with no interest or late with 1 % per month , or , they could pay it in two installments . The first one would be due January 15th , there is attached -to that a service charge . A user fee that covers the entire cost of operating the installment program . Right now you are looking at 2 1 / 2% that would be due January 15th and it is based on the full amount of the tax bill . So a thousand dollar bill they would pay on January 15th , $ 500 plus $ 25 as a service charge . The second payment then would be due July 1 . The first payment would be due in the Town with the Town Clerk , the second installment would be due in the Court House in her office . On or about the first of February the Town Clerk would need to prepare a report of everyone who had paid in installments , this essentially is a return at that point of anyone who had paid in installments would be returned to us . They then do not become part of the report that cones back to us June lst . Within 10 days of the return we would make settlement with the Town of Ithaca up to the amount of the warrant for that second outstanding installment . In addition to that we would also pay the Town $ 1 . 00 for each person paying in installment taxes . We have been looking at 50 % , probably less will do it than 50 % but if 50 % do , that ' s $ 2 , 363 then we would pay to the! Town out of the 2 1 / 2 % service charge . That would help offset any expenses that the Town might have . They might have to hire sbody from Manpower for a week or two to help out to put this report together or whatever the Town may need during this time frame . January is the single busiest month for the Tax Collector . We realize there will be a burden there . There may be an influx of more people calling saying they don ' t understand . We will try to eliminate as much of that as we can through media coverage , introducing how the installment option is to work . We will be sending out second notices , the County will in June remind people that the second installment is due July 1 , the cost of that does cone out of the 2 1120 . What we are offering is an alternative to people if they cannot pay their taxes and they do not have an escrow account . The annual rate is 10 % to do the installment plan . If they have to borrow money you know they will be paying 14 or 15 % on that money and if they have to pay that money late it ' s 12 % on late payments . We are offering an alternative for the taxes to be paid in a timely manner in two installments . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that Jean Swartwood our Tax Collector had some information the Board could add to this and then we will get to Beverly Livesay and then the Board can ask questions . Jean Swartwood replied , as you asked me earlier , the Town Clerk ' s Association is still very much opposed to the proposition , we have Town Board Minutes 7 August 13 , 1990 said before our reasons . She stated that she did not think the proposal tics giving the taxpayers any kind of a break . She went on to say that she had spoken with some of the banks in the area about escrow accounts . One of the things that was said was that installments will help young people , it will not help young people . The banks say that young people just starting out are the ones that have to have escrow accounts . Older people who are established do not have to have escrow accounts . The banks will not give first loans for houses without escrow accounts . We have not changed our minds , we will need more help , there is no way it can be done for 2 1 / 20 , the County is going to have to hire more help to offset the times we would have been collecting the taxes . The Town Clerk went on to say that the Town Clerk of Dryden had called her this morning about another matter and during the conversation the Dryden Town Clerk mentioned that the Dryden Town Board had not changed their mind , there are definitely still against the proposal , however , they are not going to send the County another resolution as they feel the first resolution stated that they were not interested and did not see the need to send another resolution . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked , there was some kind of an estimate that the 2 . 5 % would escalate , is that right? The Town Clerk replied , that is correct . Kathy West: remarked , if you did not charge a 2 1 / 2 % user fee and still offered the installment plan you would effect the tax base , all tax payers would be paying for the addition of an installment program . Anyone who wants to do it will pay for the privilege of doing so so that it does not effect the tax base . As far as the mortgage companies she stated that she wrote to the New York State Consumer Protection Board and council advises us that per the wording of the local law that we are going to pass , escrow companies are not eligible and the law is so worded that the taxpayer is the only one who can select the installment option . Town Clerk: Swartwood remarked that the argument was , in passing this law, was that it would help young taxpayers , it is not going to help young taxpayers . Ms . West went on to say that the law allows us to charge a percentage to cover expenses of the program . The first year is going to be more expensive than the following years because of the set up expenses involved . The new neighboring counties that have the installments in operation , their percentage has gone down . 2 ) % is equivalent to 10 % annual rate , there ' s a certain amount of balance there . If we lowered it to 2 % that ' s an 8 % annual rate and then any homeowner can begin to think that they would rather have their money invested . Annually we will check to see if we need to adjust the rate according to what it costs us . Supervisor Raffensperger replied , your projections for the 2 . 5% , does that .include the loss of investment income to the County? Ms . West :replied , yes it does . We are making between 7 and 8 percent on our money , the other 2 % covers administrative fees and mailing expenses and additional part-time clerical in my office to facilitate it . The Town Clerks won ' t need help the year around , there is a. point , a period , when you are up against the wall and need help but it ' s short term so when anyone is really thinking about staffing or what do we really need , you are looking at a short time for back up and assistance . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked to County Representative Livesay that she had stated she had some comments as part of her report and deferred these . Town Board Minutes 8 August 13 , 1990 County Representative Livesay replied yes , she did . She stated that what she was interested in , in all of this was that if there was something the County needed to do to help people then she felt she wanted to do it . She stated that her problem was that no member of the public has expressed any interest about this to her . It came to us through one legislator who has been very persistent about it over two or three years , she thought . She stated that she had the same concerns that she was hearing here , if it is going to cost people 10 % , how much have we really helped them? And her concern trLs that the County do something that makes it look like we are helping people and infact we are not helping people . She went on to say that she did not think we needed any more description going on . An escrow account is open to anybody and and it ' s called a savings account and if people need help in managing their money and knowing how to set up a saving accounts , etc . , she stated that she would almost rather invest the money in that way and provide people with some real help in financial management . She stated that she was waiting to hear what the Town Board has to say tonight and what people say at the public hearing tomorrow night . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked , basically the Town Board did pass a resolution which says that the Town Board had determined that the Town would loose revenues in investments and penalties income , that ' s true , the extent to which has been much discussed but she felt there was no doubt that there would be some loss in that and that additional costs would be incurred to administer and installment tax system resulting in additional tax to Town of Ithaca taxpayers in excess of any advantages anticipated from the installment tax option . Really , what we did was a cost and benefit analysis taking in account what we saw as an advantage to Town taxpayers and the disadvantages that would occur to them and that is what the Board passed in June . She stated that she would open the discussion to determine whether or not the Board wished to alter that. resolution . Councilman Niklas remarked that it seemed to him that the Board ' s responsibility as officials of the Town is to really ask two questions . Can we pass laws that influence the taxpayer in a positive gray and the other one is if we pass those laws do they have a negative effect on the municipality . He went on to say that what he had heard tonight on the first question was that this option may or may not be beneficial . However , he was hearing very conflicting numbers with regard to the negative or positive effect at the municipality level which he thought is the real critical issue if we all agree that this is not going to hurt the taxpayer then the real question is , is it indirectly going to hurt the taxpayers by hurting the finances of the local government . He went on to say that he had heard from Ms . West that the 2 . 5 % is break even . That essentially that will defray any excess costs that the Town may invest to get this program going , on the other hand he had heard from Jean Swartwood that this was not enough . It seemed to him that the numbers were there and which way was it? Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that 50 % was just a guess , will 50 % of the taxpayers decide to pay it in installments . In doing that , it seemed clear fron the best estimates , that the staff of the Town could make , that $ 1 . 00 per installment was not going to cover the Town cost for it . Additionally we certainly would lose a bit of penalty income during the year . Also , some County Reps , she understood , have estimated that they think the 2 . 5 % , at least in Tompkins County , is not going to cover the amount and you really are going to end up disadvantaging the very people that you hope to advantage by it . Obviously the person who pays their taxes by the 31st of January probably won ' t be affected except marginally in increased cost for the Town for tax collection and a bit of penalty income lost . That ' s probably not a very big number but if the Town Board Minutes 9 August 13 , 1990 costs go above 2 . 5 % Town residents are County taxpayers too , so we have to be concerned about that and if it goes above the 2 . 5 % she thought you really are disadvantaging the most disadvantaged people who are taking advantage of the installment . Councilman Niklas remarked but the bottom line here is , the best scenario is that 50 % of the taxpayers will have this option , is a break even for the Town and anything beyond or below that is essentially on the negative side . Supervisor Raffensperger replied , at 50 % we figure we are going to lose . Councilman{ Niklas remarked , Ms . West are you a personal advocate of this or are you hear as an advocate representing the cliental . Ms . West replied that in the beginning she was against it . In her office they deal with the delinquent taxpayers , we deal with them , all the Towns return to her office . We are dealing with the people who are headed for tax sale and headed for foreclosure at the point of tax sale , their taxes are several months old , interest has accumulated at the rate of 12 % with a 5 % penalty when they were returned to our office , on the day of tax sale it ' s 20 % penalty . Some of these people are scared to death , they have had a crises in their lives , it wasn ' t anything they could possibly foresee and they are really scared . Those are the people that her people deal with . Every year there is a million dollars in taxes returned to her office on the first of June as uncollected . Following the school taxes in the outlying school districts we have another million dollars that is returned to us to be relevied . So when she looks at the people that they deal with on a daily basis , they want partial payments , they want whatever they feel can possibly help them . The law is very limiting as to how we can offer help . The installment plan is essentially all they have given us . Councilman Niklas replied that he had not heard something that was important to this and that is do your figures say that those people would be bailed out by this this option? Ms . West replied , it ' s a cheaper option paying 10 % a year versus 12% . Anyone who pays in February is paying at the rate of 12 % . As they get closer and closer to that point of return they are looking at 5 % penalty . If they have to borrow the money they are paying 14 to 15 % . As far as the expense of the program , she stated that she could not see it going up . We have figures everything and anything that we could possibly create and come up with in determing a percentage rate . 2 . 5% in the first year , she wished someone would explain to her how the percentage was going to rise from that . The first year the expenses are going to be the highest , we are going to have to do data processing changes . Councilman Niklas asked Ms . West to supply a copy of her figures to justify having this ? Ms . West replied , well I could . Tomorrow night is our public hearing and I could supply you with information but she was not certain , at this point , what Councilman Niklas ' major question was . You just don ' t believe that 2 . 5 % is going to do it at 10 % annual rate ? Councilman Niklas replied that he thought it was more than that , for himself . He went on to say that he did not want to belabor this but to make a decision to essentially go against this resolution he would like to see some numbers for an average homeowner ,showing him exactly how it will benefit them . And then , he would like to get some numbers indicating what the cost will be Town Board Minutes 10 August 13 , 1990 to the municipalities for providing them with that option . He stated that right now he was hearing lots of numbers and conflicting interpretations and frankly to make a personal decision he would :Like to see numbers so that he could go through his own calculations to convince him either way . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked , one of the things you have to think about too is when you talk about a 12 % rate , if you pay in February you pay a 1 % penalty , in March you pay a 20 penalty , etc . She went on to say that her understanding of the system was that as soon as you decide that you are going to pay in installments you pay up front the 10 % . Ms . West replied no , 2 . 5 % , $25 . 00 is what they pay up front . Supervisor Raffensperger replied 2 . 5 % up front , at what point do they pay 10 % . Ms . West replied , that ' s the annual rate . They pay 2 . 5% to extend the payment for six months . Mrs . Livesay remarked , 2 . 50 of their total bill . Councilman Klein asked , how many taxpayers are delinquent ? Ms . West :replied , 1617 delinquent payers on the Town and County taxes . If the schools select this option we have another 1254 . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked , this would not include the Ithaca City School District . Ithaca City School District would not be included in this option . Ms . West replied , outlining school district could select this option . Ithaca City School District could have opted for this already under their laws . Councilman Klein remarked that nobody had contacted him about the option . Supervisor Raffensperger replied , that to the best of her knowledge not a single letter has cane in to the Town or telephone calls in support of it . Except the County Rep who is supporting it and all of the Board members have received material from him . Supervisor Raffensperger asked if there was anyone on the Board who wished to sponsor a resolution that would rescind the one which the Board passed on June 11th9 As no Board members wished to sponsor such resolution , Supervisor Raffensperger expressed her appreciation to Ms . West for caning and giving the Board additional information . She then remarked to the County Representative Beverly Livesay that the resolution that the Board passed in June will remain . Mrs . Livesay thanked the Board . Councilman Niklas remarked , if the program was shown to work to the advantage of taxpayers and local governments in other Townships that might adopt this , we always have the option of going into this agreement . Supervisor Raffensperger replied , yes . Councilman Niklas remarked that the most significant thing that he could get from Ms . West was that in the cases where this program has been adopted it has worked well . Well , how? Show me examples , show me where . Town Board Minutes 11 August 13 , 1990 Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that there has been considerable discussion of that , as she understood it , at the County Board level and she thought there was an honest difference of opinion as to how well it has worked in the two adjoining Counties that have it . TOWN COMMITTEES Comprehensive Planning Committee Councilman Klein remarked that the Assistant Planner had made his task easier by reporting on the activities . He went on to say that he was flat on his back at the last meeting but he understood they had a lively discussion . Two of the subcommittees , Transportation and the Survey Review Subcommittee , have met . The Goals and Objectives; Committee he hoped would meet this month . We have asked for some support from Ron Brand in putting together some outlines to deal with . He believed the Planning staff was doing a lot of work and we will be discussing later tonight some additional staff for the canprehensive plan and we are still optimistic that in October we! will have a rough cut of a draft . Fire Station Committee Councilman. Klein reported that they will still be having at least one more meeting . They are just having a terrible problem getting the contractors to complete the projects . It boils down to the kind of problems you get into with municipal contracts and the Wick ' s Law and the separate contractors . He remarked that he did not know if the Association of Towns had ever tried to pass any resolutions to try to abolish the Wick ' s Law, he knew that the New York State Association of Architects and other professional agencies have tried to influence the State legislature to get rid of the Wick ' s Law . He went on to say that that was the requirement that if you have a project more than $ 50 , 000 you must have separate general construction contracts , separate plumbing , separate heating and ventilating and separate electrical . What it means is you foster a total lack of cooperation on the job because no contractor has any precedent over another contractor . They are really having problems trying to get all these things resolved . The renovation work which was bonded for one million dollars even , may be exceeded by a small sum of money , and as the City Controller said at our meeting today , there is no way they can expend more than a million dollars without going back to the two bodies that authorized the money . So they really have to look closely at the figures but there were a number of change orders and things that were not quite budgeted for . It is not a major overage , it ' s in the neighborhood of $ 25 , 000 but they can ' t spend a nickel more than a million since that was the authorization . Councilman Niklas remarked that he and his neighbors wanted to know why the asphalt was put in place and then apparently ripped up and redone? Councilman Klein replied that he could not answer that . Supervisor Raffensperger asked Councilman Klein when did he estimate the stations would be open and in operation? Councilman Klein replied , a month ago we had a meeting and today we only approved $4 , 000 worth of progress payments which wasn ' t really a lot of work for four contracts in one month . The construction was virtually no further along today than it was a month ago . Conservation Advisory Council Town Board Minutes 12 August 13 , 1990 Councilman Whitccmb stated that the Agricultural Committee is about to begin drafting some policy and goal statements that will be reviewed by the Committee and Planning Department . The Six Mile Creek Natural Areas Committee is busy negotiating with the City and working out a plan for the preservation of the Six Mile Creek area and we hope to have a report from than early in September . The Development Review Committee is still trying to find itself , in terms of 'where it fits in in the development review process and what kinds of things it should be reviewing and when . Codes and Ordinances Committee Councilman Niklas reported that the sprinkler ordinance pertinent to child day care modifications has left the Committee and should be arriving at either the Planning Board or the Town Board for review. Modifications for regular lot set backs , he assumed had been sent to the Planning Board and both items would soon becoming before the Town Board . He stated that he had requested and would officially now request that at the September Town Board meeting we have as an agenda item the discussion of , in reference to Ron Brand from Stuart Brown Associates , a letter regarding special approval process for the Town . Essentially the Codes and Ordinance Comn_ittee has ir-reconcilable differences and we need direction and a clear mandate from the Town Board , which he hoped they would get soon . There are also documents that need to be sent to the Town Board members particularly a historical document from 1980 that was authored by the Town Zoning Board of Appeals with Henry Aron then as now chair , which gives president to the issue to be discussed . TOWN OF DPNBY PROPOSAL REGARDING JOINT YOUTH SERVICES Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the Board had a copy of a letter that she had received from the Town of Danby asking the Board to pursue , through the County Planning Board , the evaluation of a joint: recreational facility for the Town of Danby and the Town of Ithaca . The County Planning Board will do the feasibility study . She noted that Councilwoman Valentino had been trying to contact the people involved in this and has not been able to . It seemed to her that since the Board is not making a commitment either to do it or a financial commitment that we proceed with the investigation of the possibilities . They seem to be unclear as to whether or not a facility is going to be the answer or if really we should be sponsoring same joint activities . MENTION OF HOURS OF EMPLOYMENT OF PART-TIME HELPER DURING VACATION PERIOD Supervisor Raffensperger noted that it was not possible to prepare the materials for all the Camiittees and the Planning Board and the Board of Zoning Appeals without additional help . She noted the cost of $ 8 . 25 per hour to be paid to Cosmopolitan Personnel Systems and the estimated additional cost of $415 . RESOLUTION NO . 196 Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Klein , WHEREAS , vacation schedules necessitated additional clerical help in the Planning and Engineering Departments as of August 6 , NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca ratifies the Supervisor ' s decision to extend the hours of employment of Andrea Gettleson from a maximum of 20 hours per week Town Board Minutes 13 August 13 , 1990 to a maximum of 30 hours per week for the period August 6 , 1990 to September 7 , 1990 . (Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . PROMOTION OF HIGHWAY LABORER TO MEO Personnel Manager Linda Nobles stated that one of the things that Highway Superintendent John Ozolins did before he left was to make this recommendation . It has been the understanding and the policy of the Highway Department to promote laborers to Motorized Equipment Operator once they have passed certain tests on various motorized equipment . Supervisor Raffensperger noted that there may be discussion at a later time! about this kind of promotion as a matter of policy . The person recommended for the promotion was hired under the present policy so it seemed fairest to proceed this way . RESOLUTION NO , 197 Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Whitcomb , WHEREAS , Fred Noteboom has been a Highway Laborer with the Town since June 27 , 1988 , and was tested/evaluated and demonstrated proficiency in operating all required highway equipment necessary for promotion to Mechanical Equipment Operator , and WHEREAS , his strong initiative and good leadership skills have proved him an asset to the Highway Department , and WHEREAS , it has been the Town ' s policy to promote employees from Laborer to MEO upon completion of necessary testing for said position and the Personnel Committee reviewed his performance and evaluations with Highway Superintendent John Ozolins and concur with his recommendation for promotion of Fred Noteboom to Mechanical Equipment Operator , NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby recommend that Fred Noteboom be promoted from Highway Laborer to Mechanical Equipment Operator at the minimum starting rate for that classification of $ 9 . 00 /hour effective August 13 , 1990 . (Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . RECOMMENDATION OF TOWN ENGINEER FOR A SETI'I MU WITH QUICK AND THE ESTABLISHING LINE FOR PARK LANE Supervisor Raffensperger noted that discussions have not proceeded with the Quicks and the Town Attorney to the point where , she believed , they wished to make a recommendation . If we have a noon meeting on the vacancy for the Highway Superintendent position we may be in a position to take action on this item . 1991 SALARf POOL FOR TOWN EMPLOYEES Councilman Klein asked what exactly was the salary pool ? Supervisor Raffensperger replied that in the last couple of years the Personnel Committee has recommended a salary pool . It means Town Board Minutes 14 August 13 , 1990 that you take 5 . 5% of the present salaries of all of the Town employees and it is distributed , not equally , not equal percentage but on the basis of merit . The Supervisor and the Personnel Committee attempt to stay within that figure . Last year it was not possible to stay within it , there are minor deviations but it gives a kind of goal to the Supervisor and the Personnel Committee in looking at: allocations for salary increases for 1991 . Councilwoman Leary remarked along with merit it ' s also on what your starting salary is because 5 . 5 for a top salary is a lot different than 5 . 5 on the bottom . It ' s not solely on merit . RESOLUTION N0 , 198 Motion by Councilwoman Valentino ; seconded by Councilwoman Leary , WHEREAS , the Personnel Committee has considered factors influencing salary increases such as cost of living , salary ranges , increased benefit costs and competition , and WHEREAS , these factors suggest that a 5 . 5 % salary pool would be appropriate for 1991 , NOW THERE17ORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby recommends that the salary pool for 1991 budgetary purposes be set at 5 . 5 % . (Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nay: - none ) . REVISIONS TO PERSONNEL MANUAL Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the revisions had been highlighted . She went on to note that in the Introduction the changes are the section beginning on the basis of race , color , creed , age , sex , sexual preference , marital status , handicap , national origin or ancestry " . These are the basis on which the Town of Ithaca does not discriminate . That list is further included below in a slightly different context . Introduction RESOLUTION N0 . 199 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilwoman Leary , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve the Introduction as presently recommended by the Personnel Committee, ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . Sexual Harassment Policy Linda Nobles noted that in the past we had not had a written policy even though we did not condone sexual harassment . Supervisor Raffensperger noted that all the changes were reviewed by the Town Attorney and the Personnel Committee . Councilman Niklas stated that he would like to make a general cent . He stated that he noticed that Section 21 is for Town Board Minutes 15 August 13 , 1990 "Termination of Employment " , is there any section for hiring as to how advertisements are placed or interviewing policy or things of that sort ? Mrs . Nobles replied that there has not been a specific statement of that . Councilman Niklas asked if it wasn ' t unusual to have a hiring policy statement? Mrs . Nobles replied , only in general terms , in terms of the Introduction . There is not a specific guideline as to how hirings are done because of the various types of positions it takes various avenues to describe all that which would be fairly lengthy . Councilman. Niklas replied that it seems like the second paragraph of the Introduction is a hiring policy , not really an Introduction . Mrs . Nobles replied that in the past that kind of language had been described in the Introduction , if we choose to call it a hiring policy we could . Councilman. Niklas remarked , if you look at this outline you see "Termination of Employment " but you don ' t see "Policy for Hiring" . Where do you look for that kind of information , some people do not read Introductions . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked , very easily we could have the first paragraph be an Introduction and the second paragraph be characterized as Hiring Policies . Councilman Niklas replied , and then the rest renumbered . That was his suggestion . . . . RESOLUTION NO . 200 Motion by Councilwoman Valentino , seconded by Councilwoman Leary , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve the Sexual Harassment Policy as proposed by the Personnel Committee . ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . Holiday Section Mrs . Nobles noted a minor change in the holiday schedule we have added on a permanent basis , Columbus Day which had not been incorporated in the previous schedule . Supervisor Raffensperger noted that Columbus Day had been approved by resolution of the Town Board . RESOLUTION NO . 201 Motion by Councilwoman Valentino , seconded by Councilman Niklas , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca approve the inclusion of Columbus Day into the Holiday Schedule which was approved by the Town Board previously by resolution . ( Raffensperger , Whitccmb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . Town Board Minutes 16 August 13 , 1990 Vacations Mrs . Nobles noted a typo in the schedule of vacation days , 19 days vacation for 14 years of employment was left out . She noted that the policy had not changed but this tends to clarify the policy . The way it: was worded , if you were hired early in the year , say in February , you accrued vacation time from your hiring date until the following February and then you got nothing until the next January first which seemed very unfair . RESOLUTION NO . 202 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilwoman Valentino , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve the clarification of the wording of Vacations in the Personnel Manual , (Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays; - none ) , Military ir�uty Linda Nobles noted that under "Reserve Military Duty" this has been amended to comply with the Military Training and Service Act which allows 30 days or 22 working days , whichever is greater . Prior we only gave two weeks . Councilman. Niklas remarked that he felt the wording should be "an employee will be paid his or her regular salary since women also serve in the military . RESOLUTION No . 203 Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Supervisor Raffensperger , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve the changes to the "Reserve Military Duty" in the Personnel Manual . (Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none) , Personal Use of Town Vehicles Linda Nobles noted that this is a new section even though it is not a new idea. , it was mandated by some changes in the Tax Reform Act . This is a formal statement of what the policy is on the use of Town vehicles and how we must include the value of the benefit of using it for commuting purposes as compensation . Supervisor Raffensperger noted that this was discussed at some length when it became law and that the Town had absolutely no choice . This is so the employees are aware of the law and what the Town must do . RESOLUTION NO . 204 Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Whitcomb , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve the policy on the Personal Use of Town Vehicles . Town Board Minutes 17 August 13 , 1990 ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . Health Insurance Supervisor Raffensperger stated that Councilwoman Leary had found a discrepancy in the Health Insurance section . We missed incorporating into the policy the resolution which we passed on February 1. 2 , 1990 extending health insurance to temporary full time employees who work for six or more months for the Town or who upon hiring are anticipated to work for a period of six or more months . We do have that resolution which we pulled out because Councilwonan Leary had remembered we had passed it . The resolution was passed unanimously by the Board and we would like permission to include the thrust of this resolution into the Personnel Manual without coning back to you to do that since the Town Board has already approved the resolution and we will consider this as part of the changes to the Health Insurance . Linda Nobles noted that the primary changes are reflecting the current plan , the old insurance plan was named in the former version . There are also some slight changes in when coverage begins rChe last paragraph is something that has recently been recommended to us in terms of limiting language to protect the Town as apparently there have been some recent court cases of employees suing their employers when the insurance plan did not cover what they thought it should cover . It was suggested that we put limiting language that says you are not responsible for what your insurance company does not pay . Councilman Niklas asked if dependent children could do the electing or is it the parents of the dependent children that elect to continue coverage in the Town ' s group health plan ? Linda Nobles replied , if it ' s an actual dependent child , let ' s say the spouses are divorced , and the children are still dependent on one or the other of the spouses then it is the spouse who has responsibility for those children who makes the determination . If a child lcoses eligibility because they reach the age limit or are no longer a full time student then they have the opportunity to make that decision . Councilman Klein remarked , if a child is a minor he did not know if they could exercise that choice . Councilman Niklas replied that that was his point and what he was really asking was whether or not the guardian can elect to continue coverage for a dependent child . He point right now was that the sentence reads that the child can do the electing to do that and he did not think this was correct . Supervisor Raffensperger replied , yes that is true . A college student who has been covered and although they are over the age 21 , 22 , 23 , up to 25 may loose their coverage because they graduate from college and they have the right under the Cobra Law to come to the Town and say we want the coverage . The and/or does work even though it ,seems strange , Councilwoman Leary remarked , also with incorporating the change about temporary employees being eligible for health insurance , then we would have to go back under temporary employees in the Personnel Manual and take out that last sentence that says health insurance is not available . . . . . Town Board Minutes 18 August 13 , 1990 Supervisor Raffensperger replied that is right , we recognize we will have to make two changes in order to accommodate this . Councilman Klein remarked , but the paragraph under part town employees will be corrected? Supervisor Raffensperger replied , that is correct . RESOLUTION NO . 205 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilwoman Leary , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve the section under Health Insurance in the Personnel Manual . (Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . Mileage Reimbursement Mrs . Nobles stated that in the previous version of the Personnel Manual stated a specific amount and it is current practice of most employers to keep pace with the current prevailing rate of the IRS mileage allowance . RESOLUTION NO . 206 Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Klein , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve the section on Mileage Reimbursement . (Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none) , Smoking )l icy Ms . Nobles noted that this was prompted by recent legislation . This is language that is from the current law modified slightly to meet the Town ' s needs . RESOLUTION NO . 207 RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve the proposed Smoking Policy section of the Personnel Manual . (Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nay; - none ) . Councilwcv, an Leary remarked that one thing bothered her about the Introduction and the suggestion by Councilman Niklas suggestion about heading it Hiring Policy . If you limit it to hiring policy , the way it stands without out it it applies to all treatment of employees ,, not just hiring . Hiring , promotions . If you just call it hiring doesn ' t that kind of limit it and take away the application . . . . . . . Councilman Niklas replied , why don ' t we just call it Hiring and Employment: Policy? The Board felt this would be fine . Town Board Minutes 19 August 13 , 1990 CONSIDER PETITION TO REDUCE THE SPEED LIMIT ON HANSHAW ROAD TO THE VILLAGE LINE Klaus Beyenbach , 1024 Hanshaw Road stated that he was not hear by himself as their was also his wife Christa-Marie Beyenbach and Al DiGiacono ., Mr . Beyenbach stated that they were here tonight asking for a reduction of the speed limit to 30 MPH on the stretch of road that they live on . The road is Hanshaw Road , it comes out of the Village of Cayuga Heights and goes to Warren Road . Out of Cayuga Heights the road is already 30 MPH but when the road enters the Town of Ithaca it goes to 40 MPH . We would like to have it reduced to 30 MPH . The reasons for that are three fold , one is the increased traffic density and also increased speeds on that stretch of the road . The increased traffic density can be attributed to the improved ccmmlercializations of the Pyramid Mall areas and the airport areas . It is also due to the increased traffic to Cornell University , the parking lots from traffic from Dryden and Cortland . It is also due to the increased number of residential developments between Hanshaw Road and Route 13 . In the summer of ' 89 Hanshaw Road under went repairs , the road was paved and also the shoulders were improved but unfortunately this has also lead to the perception by motorists that this is now a major thru way and often cars can be seen to go by in excess of 40 MPH . We think that the present speed limit of 40 MPH is very dangerous . The composition of the neighborhood has also changed in recent years . There are a greater number of families with preschool and school children . This stretch of Hanshaw Road is also a school bus road and school children are waiting for buses along that road with no provisions for pedestrian traffic . We all experience difficulties getting in and coning out of our driveways . In part , the Hanshaw Road is curved and visibility is poor to oncoming motorists , especially when they cone at 40 MPH . There is also obstructed views on account of vegetation , at the moment the signs of 40 MPH speed limit are obstructed by the vegetation . At night there are only three street lights for a stretch of road which is almost one-half a mile . Mr . Beyenbach went on to say that recognizing these dangers he took it upon himself to get a petition going . He stated that he and his wife went along the residents on Hanshaw Road and we were surprised to collect everybodies signature , so it ' s a unanimous sentiment to get that speed limit reduced . Not only was it unanimous , people were complimentary that we were doing this . We are here to get your approval . Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the Board had just recently received a letter from NYSDOT refusing the Town of Ithaca ' s request to lower the speed limit on Warren Road from Hanshaw to the Village Line ( Rouge 13 ) and they tell us it has to remain at 40 MPH . The Supervisor remarked that as far as she was concerned she was perfectly willing to send in another request , we have quite a number that they are looking at . We can proceed to make that request , we send it to the County and either approve or do not approve and then it goes to NYSDOT . We usually wait some period of time to get a determination . Sometimes we are successful and sometimes we are not . Councilman Whitcomb asked , historically how long does it take to go through this process ? Supervisor Raffensperger replied , a couple of years sometimes . Sometimes we get it in six months , she would say may be it averages 10 months . Councilman. Klein asked if sometimes we saved the requests and then send in batches ? Town Board Minutes 20 August 13 , 1990 Supervisor Raffensperger replied no , we send them as we do them . They tend to accumulate in batches so the Board has seen correspondence from her asking if they are going to act on a whole list of them . But that is not because we sent them in as a whole list that is because they have accumulated a back log on us . Councilman Niklas stated that Dr . Be_yenbach had contacted him and because of that he had contacted him about this and in response to that he had driven that road a couple of times and in the last twelve years he had driven it other times and what is being said about the increased traffic volume in the recent years is true . He wondered if the request to NYSDOT might provide some endorsement . Supervisor Raffensperger replied that when we write the letter we will put it in as strong terms as possible . Councilman Niklas remarked that he felt it was important to say that every resident along that stretch of road has approved it . Counciluxnan Leary asked , if it is refused by the State can the Town ever lower it anyway? Supervisor Raffensperger replied , we can ' t do it . Towns are not permitted to set their own speed limits . But , she stated , she had raised with the Town Attorney if there is any kind of administrative appeal . She stated that she was concerned with the Warren Road with the nursery school there and the new medical facility and the enormous amount of people who come from the apartment: onto that road . RESOLUTION NO . 208 Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Klein , WHEREAS , increased commercial and residential construction has occurred in the Northeast area of the Town of Ithaca , the Village of Lansing , the Town of Lansing and Cornell University , and WHEREAS , the resulting increase in traffic has created a traffic safety problem due to the volume and current 40 MPH speed limit on Hanshaw Road from the Village of Cayuga Heights to Warren Road , NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca request that New York State Department of Transportation reduce the speed limit on Hanshaw Road from the Village line to Warren Road to 30 MPH . ( Raffensperger , Whitccmb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . PERSONS TO BE HEARD Lisa Sawyer , 130 Ridgecrest Road stated that Ridgecrest Road used to be a nice residential road , it ' s still a nice road . At the very end of Ridgecrest Road very close to Muzzy Road there is a construction caopany , CNG , and they have these huge , huge , she thought 28: feet in length , tractor trailers with huge , huge pipes . They also have regular trucks all kinds of sizes of trucks anything fran a little pick up truck to a little bigger truck that carries propane tanks and they go up and down the road constantly all day long and they don ' t drive slow. One day about a month ago she was walking , she stated that actually it was dangerous to walk and she certainly would never bicycle again , and one day she waved the driver to slow down . He thought she wanted to talk to him so he stopped and she asked him what was going on , how cam every day all Town Board Minutes 21 August 13 , 1990 these cars go up and down , up and down . It also happens on Saturdays too . On Saturday at twenty of seven they were having a picnic and she was sitting outside and one of the 28 ' long ones with the pipe came up the road . The guy that stopped and was willing to listen to her , said to her that well , we work on East Hill and this is a damned good short cut . So what they are doing is , the place where all the trucks with the propane tanks where they go in in the morning and also the big tractor trailers , so what they do instead of turning right at the very end of Ridgecrest Road and go down to Muzzy Road and then go down to 96B and then proceed to East Hill Plaza they cam down Ridgecrest Road and cut from Ridgecrest Road down to King Road and Burns Road and then over to East Hill Plaza . It ' s really , really , really very upsetting because it ' s dangerous . This past Friday morning , when she leaves mornings she meets a lady caning up the road and she notices this lady who is a very slow driver and one of the trucks with the propane tanks on could not wait for her so he was passing her . Ms . Sawyer stated that she was just putting out her garbage but had the lady been up a little bit closer to her she might have gotten hit as the lady had to pull off the side of the road so that the truck could get by . It ' s really bad . If she had wanted to live on a truck road she would have built a house on a truck road but it ' s very bad , it ' s not like once or twice a week , it ' s every morning . This morning she had counted from ten minutes of seven until ten minutes after seven and she counted 14 of these trucks , all sizes , with the propane tanks . Supervisor Raffensperger stated that she had talked to Ms . Sawyer a number of times and that she in turn had talked to CNG Corporation which is based on Ellis Hollow Creek Road . She stated that she had talked to three different people , going up the ladder each time , and she felt she was now in communication with someone who she felt perhaps could make a difference . She stated that she had explained to him that while she understood the Town of Ithaca did not have a right to :restrict traffic on a public road , without legislation , that in the past when there have been difficulties with subdivisions being built and contractors using primarily residential streets for truck traffic and there have been alternatives we have elicited cooperation fran them as opposed to anything else . Mr . Sprague has been on the telephone , very cooperative with her , it seems that these are primarily contractors that CNG hires and he has discussed the problem with all of them . First of all , the problem of speeding on the road and secondly the problem of not using the State highway to the greatest extent possible to get to their destination . Mr . Sprague has told me that he has instructed his contractors to do that . She stated that she had received another call from Ms . Sawyer saying that had not really worked , that nothing good had happened so the Supervisor stated that she had called Mr . Sprague back and that was about three days ago and he promised her he would go out and check and see whether or not his contractors were following his instructions . At this point she stated that she did not know what other actions the Town of Ithaca can take other than to look into posting a portion of Ridgecrest for no truck traffic . She stated that this would have to be looked into carefully because when you do this you can only do it as long as it is not a local destination and whether or not the ordinance would be effective in this particular case because the destination is really in the middle of Ridgecrest . Councilman Whitcomb noted that CNG was installing a new pipe line and did the man give any indication as to how long this process is going to continue ? Supervisor Raffensperger replied , they are probably going to use that site for well over a year . She stated that she had the feeling that they were attempting to cooperate and in the meantime Town Board Minutes 22 August 13 , 1990 we could look into whether or not a truck ban would be effective because of the particular location of this She stated that she could even mention to him that the Town had discussed a truck ban , that might help a bit . Councilman Whitcomb remarked , as far as the speeding is concerned has there been any communication with the Sheriff ' s office ? Ms . Sawyer replied that that was her next step , to contact the Sheriff and State Police to ask if they could , on a routine basis , just check it . Supervisor Raffensperger reminded Ms . Sawyer that she had suggested she might try to get the support of the South Hill Civic Association to pass a resolution asking the Sheriff to address the problem and perhaps asking CNG to be more cooperative in a residential neighborhood in the Town of Ithaca . She thought that was another avenue that might be open . Councilman Niklas remarked that he felt the way it was approached was the most reasonable and human way to do it and that was to try to reason with the company first . He wondered if the next stage might be to get a list of the contractors and writing a form letter to then indicating that if they don ' t control themselves the Town is anticipating looking into legislating what kind of truck traffic would be permitted . Perhaps apply pressure that way and then as a last resort perhaps the notion of actually posting no truck traffic . Town Attorney David DuBow remarked that the Board would have to clearly recognize that any traffic bans with respect to truck traffic always provides that it excludes local traffic and a contractor located within that very area may very well be able to argue that he is simply using that road for local traffic purposes . Councilman Niklas remarked we could put a stop sign along there somewhere and make it unpleasant for then . At least to force them to slow down . Town Engineer Walker replied , you can ' t use stop signs for speed control . The only other thing we could look at is the weight limitations on the trucks . He stated that he had seen some of the trucks that were hauling the pipe and generally with that kind of vehicle they are not over weight because the pipe is not that heavy compared with the volume or length of it . Candace Cornell , 1456 Hanshaw Road stated that she would like to know if the Board could reevaluate the SEQR permit that was filed for the Briarwood Subdivision that was filed in September 1987 . She stated that in her opinion it was based on inaccurate answers and , therefore , there wasn ' t an environmental impact study done . She thought that if there had been an environmental impact study done then there might not have been a permit issued . Supervisor Raffensperger replied that her understanding of it , and she had said this to Ms . Cornell on the phone , was that what has to be clarified is whether or not this fall under the Federal Corp of Engineers Guidelines for wetlands and what kind of requirements they would put on the proposed development . The Town of Ithaca is not now directly involved in this controversy although when the determination is made by the Corp of Engineers certainly they will tell the Town of Ithaca what our legal responsibilities are and our legal department will help us determine how to go about that . She stated that it was her impression , at this point , that we do not have any basis on which we would withdraw any approval that the Town Board Minutes 23 August 13 , 1990 Town had given . Our SEAR statement relied on the NYSDEC Wetland Maps and the Town staff has checked and indeed we relied on those maps and that is not designated as a wetland . She asked the Assistant Town Planner if he wanted to comment on the additional regulations that have cane into effect since that first approval by the Town of Ithaca ? Assistant Town Planner George Frantz replied that the key regulation has been the Clean Water Act which was passed in 1986 which gage the Corp of Engineers the enforcement powers over wetlands . He stated that he understood that they were first put out in 1987 or there about and of course the Corp , at least the Buffalo District , has to our knowledge only recently , in the last year or two , actually started enforcing those regulations . He noted that he was not involved in the original review but Town practice prior to the knowledge of even the new Clean Water Acts and the Corp of Engineers involving wetlands has been to rely on the DEC , wetlands mapping and that is what happened here . Supervisor Raffensperger stated that the Town has also received from Mr . Lucente a copy of a letter which he received from the Department: of the Army , Buffalo District Corp of Engineers in which it is discussed , the problem of the wetlands , that there has been an agreement that no further construction will take place during a period in which Mr . Lucente is required , as she understood it , to hire an environmental engineer fran an approved list to look at the site , to make the assessment that the Corp of Engineers requires . This is going to have to be submitted for review by the Corp of Engineers within 60 days of the date of this letter which was August 9th. . There is no doubt that the process is proceeding as it is supposed to proceed at this point and that there can be no construction on the subdivision that was approved by the Town of Ithaca except for one have located in the Northwest corner of the development which the Corp says is in an upland area , therefore , not within my jurisdiction . At any rate , everything is stopped now until this approved environmental engineer makes this assessment for Mr . Lucente which he must present to the Corp of Engineers within 60 days . The Town has not been involved with the Corp of Engineers before and their entry into this pretty much came with DR7 so we are all learning how to deal with this additional layer of regulations . Your goal for the time being has been met in that no further disturbance of the land or construction will be permitted . Ms . Cornell replied , the key is for the time being . The DEC criteria for wetlands 12 . 4 acres , she did not know how big this was but she thought it was smaller than that . It could be close to that size but she had no way of determining it yet . Just because it ' s not that big it doesn ' t mean it ' s not a wetland . Supervisor Raffensperger replied that she understood that . The Corp of Engineers has another group of criteria and they are the ones who will impose those criteria on the developer and they will tell the Town of Ithaca what can be done on that land , as far as she knew . For the time being it does not seem as if the Town has any basis on which to take any action because we have not yet received from the Corp of Engineers their determination about this land . Ms . Cornell stated that she had a lot of questions as to how the SEQR form was approved in the first place . She submitted a petition to the Town Supervisor . Councilman Niklas remarked that there were perhaps two things that could be said , one is that as a member of the Town Board he assured Ms . Cornell that if he as a member of the Town Board had any opportunity to scrutinize any further activity on that property , in Town Board Minutes 24 August 13 , 1990 his capacity as a Town Board member , he would do it with great care . The second thing , as a Town Board member , he thought that the Town Board had a need and desire to evaluate its options when dealing with anyone who fills out a form that is blatantly incorrect . He thought that Codes and Ordinance , with the advise and consent , should evaluate what our options are with regard to that issue , with the Town Attorney . He went on to say that his feelings were that there are some forms that are being filled out that essentially describe a site as having nothing on it and being near nothing of no importance and he felt this was absurd . Supervisor Raffensperger replied , surely our Boards , if they receive such a SEQR assessment ought to have questions . Councilman Niklas replied , my point is that we should have options in retrospect that can deal with proven violations or miss information on those forms . He stated that he was not criticizing any of the Boards what he was simply saying was that after a form like that is filled out and essentially permits are given , if it can be shown that those forms were filled out with the intent to mis-inform then he felt the Boards should explore the options to deal with that . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that she was sure Councilman Niklas meant this to be a general comment as she did not think the Board had the information to allege that anybody in particular had done this . Councilman. Niklas replied that he had not mentioned any names , he was simply saying that a generic policy to deal with that issue needs to be evaluated . Supervisor Raffensperger added , we do have a better system in place now as far as making a better assessment about a potential site being classified as a wetland . Assistant Town Planner Frantz remarked that the Town Planning staff in reaction to the Wilcox Press controversy took the initiative to acquire a: copy of the Federal Manual for delineation of Jurisdictional wetlands . It tells how a determination is made of what is a wetland . There are three criteria , soils , plants and water on the site . We have mapped the soils on our soils map and it is our intention that when we get a development review application in , we consult that map and if necessary the developer will have to contact the Army Corp of Engineers to determine if there is a wetland in the development . David Coll.um , 1456 Hanshaw Road stated that what he thought Ms . Cornell was asking the Town Board was that if it can be shown that there are things that are patiently false , if it can be shown , then it doesn ' t. matter what the Corp of Engineers says in under their Jurisdiction . He stated that he believed the Town Board should step forward and act precisely in order to prohibit such activities later . If' indeed it is shown to be the case you should stop it immediately . Supervisor Raffensperger replied no body has alleged that , at least not to her in any form . Mr . Collum continued , let us say the Army Corp of Engineers lifts their cease and desist order because it is to small even though it is a wet land . What will prevent the building from going on the next day? Supervisor Raffensperger replied , that she would say that the Planning Board approved a subdivision there , if the conditions are Town Board Minutes 25 August 13 , 1990 not shown to be different or if there have been no inaccuracies in the application then she did not quite understand the appropria.teness . . . . but that is an awful lot of " if ' s " . Mr . Collum replied , what if the Army Corp of Engineers indeed says it is a wetland and indeed finds information in their investigation that says the SEQR form is questionable but because of the nature of this wetland , because it is not the right size or something like that , they have to lift the cease and desist order . At that point in time , Mr . Lucente is free to develop , what will stop him from bringing in the bulldozers , litterly the next morning? Ms . Cornell remarked that the site that they are working on at the moment is contiguous to a wetland , within 100 feet , and should have been written on the SEAR form and it was not so even the house they are working on right now, it was her contention , it was her opinion that the ,SEAR form is inaccurate . So why are they able to work on the site that they are working on? Councilman Niklas asked the Town Attorney a hypothetical question , that being that if the SEQR form can be shown and is shown to have misinformation , and if the misinformation has a significant bearing on a site plan approval , does the Town have any option to review the granting of building permits and review the site plan that was originally being proposed . Town Attorney DuBow replied that environmental review regulations are very generous to the review agency . What they basically indicate is that if in fact there is critical information discovered after the environmental review has been completed there seems to be some authority for the lead agency , in any given case , to revisit the review of the project based upon that new information . He went on to say it was important to understand that that new .information can ' t be conjecture it really requires that there be some substantive information that may be presented to the Board and the Board who originally made the approval would then have the opportunity to evaluate that information and make a determination of whether in fact that previous review and the results of that review may have been misguided as the result of not having that new information available . Councilman Niklas so hypothetically , if someone were to challenge a site plan approval that has already been granted on the basis of misinformation they could do so by presenting evidence , clear evidence or the best they can , that those forms are in significant error and that would be hypothetically a mechanism whereby the process could be reevaluated . Attorney ImBow replied that he thought you had to be careful because it wouldn ' t necessarily be based solely on the misinformation that may have been contained in the application . Councilman Niklas replied right , but other information that was not available . Attorney DuBow replied that is the critical element and that information may not have been available . It may have been information that wasn ' t sought because of misinformation that was contained in the application . Councilman Niklas remarked , so there are potential roots of activity . Supervisor Raffensperger asked how this would be done . Town Board Minutes 26 August 13 , 1990 Attorney DuBow replied that theoretically if that new information came to the attention of the particular Board that was involved , they may be in a position to , in essence , reopen their review . Particularly in a case where there was no environmental impact statement required . He stated that he was not fully familiar with what the }proceedings were a few years ago but he assumed it was a negative declaration so that no impact statement was required at that time . There was no finding that there may be positive or adverse effects on the environment . If new information came to the Board , he felt they could at least approach the possibility of reevaluating their original approval . And , if brought to their attention there may be legal procedures available for them to invoke certain legal rights which would preclude further activities under the previous approval . Now, it ' s a very gray area . Again , the critical element is that the environmental review process seems to error on the side of giving the reviewing agency as much liberty , as much latitude as possible because the ultimate goal is environmental protection and if new information is discovered that has an impact on that environmental protection the goal is to let the agencies take whatever action is necessary to correct it . Councilman Whitcomb remarked , a citizens group or an individual citizen could bring evidence before the Planning Board and request them to reopen a previous decision . Attorney L)uBow replied that certainly there was no prohibition against that . The decision of the Planning Board would have to be very carefully made . Again there is the offset of legal prejudice a property owner and he felt the burden of proof would be very , very significant in terms of verifying that the information presented was sanething that was not available or could not have been available . It is a very critical element . There has to be careful measuring in terms of prejudice towards a particular property owner who was given the right and taken action based on certain approvals and the evaluation of whatever new information might be presented . Supervisor Paffensperger remarked , because of this and because the Corp of Engineers will in a sense at the end of the 60 day process be presenting to all of us including the Town of Ithaca a completely new group of information it seemed to her , when she talked to Mrs . Cornell , it seemed to her the best thing for the Town to do was wait until that 60 day period was over and we had this additional information . It seemed to her , at that point , then the Town would have much better information to know how it may proceed , is allowed to proceed , could proceed . Mr . Collum. remarked that he was still a little hazy as we go through th(: legal boondogle of the grey area though . They have an operational building permit , as far as he understood it . Supervisor Raffensperger replied , they have for one building and the Corp of Engineers have excluded that from . . . . . Mr . Collum questioned , there are no more building permits besides the one building? Supervisor Raffensperger replied , there are not that can be exercised at this point . That , she remarked , was what she was saying , nothing is going to happen until that 60 days is up and it seemed to her that that was there goal , too . Ms . Cornel:L replied , hypothetically if someone was asking for a building permit and they were asking for a building permit for a site that was contiguous to a wetland , would you issue it? Especially if it would endanger a water table ? Town Board Minutes 27 August 13 , 1990 Councilman Niklas asked if he could answer that question again , in a general way? He went on to say that Codes and Ordinance Committee is going to have at its next meeting a preliminary discussion with regards to the Towns opportunities to legislate regarding wetlands which are not currently 12 . 4 acres or above and that are not currently mapped by the Corp of Engineers for the State of New York . We will be discussing , probably for a while , and he was sure it couldn ' t be applied retroactively to this case but for the general issue of what the Towns options are we will be looking at. that immediately and our next meeting is Tuesday . So , this issue will provoke a discussion as to how the Town can deal with wetlands that are currently not equal to or greater than 12 . 4 acres . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked , there is no doubt we have learned an. awful lot about wetlands and the Army Corp of Engineers in the last month or so . A lady in attendance wondered , if the Army Corp of Engineers has 60 days to cane back to the Board , how does this automatically cane back to the Town Board or what steps will roll around then? Supervisor Raffensperger replied , the information has to be submitted to the Corp of Engineers , then a report is made by an environmental engineer from an approved list , and that report has to be back to the Corp of Engineers within 60 days . The Town has had contact with the Corp of Engineers since this has cone up and she was sure they were going to continue that communication with the Town of Ithaca . Mr . Lucente has been willing to give us copies of his correspondence with the Corp of Engineers so she did not think the rVown was going to be dealt out of the process . Councilman Whitcomb remarked that there was more at issue than whether or not a building permit can be issued on this property . If the Army Corp of Engineers should say 60 days from now , it would be more than 60 days from now , that there is no problem here and Mr . Lucente can continue . Mr . Lucente could , the very next day go out there with his bulldozer and begin site preparation which has nothing to do with any building permits being issued or not , at this point ,. Councilman Niklas remarked , there is nothing to prevent , theoretically , people approaching the Town Planning Board or any other Board with evidence that critical information was missing in any application for any building permit . Supervisor Raffensperger added , or any subdivision . Councilman Niklas added , or any other process . So he felt it was important to recognize that some aspects of this are linear , one following the other , other aspects could be operating in parallel . Ms . Cornel7L remarked , a person who hypothetically has this missing information , missing information from the SEQR form , who on the Board does this information go to . Supervisor Raffensperger replied that she thought probably in this case it would be addressed to the Chairperson of the Planning Board which is the Board that gave the approval . She remarked to the Town Attorney that he would have to help her with the legal implications of this because she honestly didn ' t know . Town Attorney DuBow replied that it really was a grey area and there is very little precedent for what is being suggested that the agency do . What he is indicating to the Board is that there is some authority for the primary goal being to correct or to insure Town Board Minutes 28 August 13 , 1990 the protection of the environment . What he suggested was that if someone believed they had information that would be of importance to the Board that originally approved this project that you present that evidence in written form and it should be as substantive as you believe you may be able to do and that the Town would then have to evaluate it and determine in fact whether it warrants the Board looking at. it again . A determination at the legal end would have to be made as to whether or not it is even substantial enough to justify the Board even evaluating it . It is a process that could only even get started when and if scene materials were to be submitted to the Town , representing what you believe to be information that might not have been available when the original approval was made . Ms . Cornell replied , it should be sent to this person and not presented at a Board meeting? Mr . DuBow replied that the proper procedure would be that it go to the Planning Department as opposed to this Board , at a particular meeting . Councilman Niklas remarked , if you were to send it to the Town Clerk with the request that it is copied to the Chair of the Town Planning Board , Town Supervisor and the Town Attorney it sure would reach all most everybody of significance . Councilman Klein remarked unfortunately the Planning Board set their agenda , they don ' t have a Persons To Be Heard section so if you waltzed into a Planning Board meeting thats running from 7 : 30 to 11 : 30 at night he did not feel they would be very receptive to having that discussion opened . But as Councilman Niklas said , if you write and submit the information and get them copied on it , it certainly would get their attention . Councilman Niklas added , and request that it be placed on their agenda at the earliest possible date . A man remarked that his point had probably been covered in more general terms in the discussion so far but he thought he would bring up the question that might end up being more relevant to the Town Board itself aside from the Army Corp of Engineers is the . . . . . aside from the definition of this particular area whether the Briarwood Park area has a wetland or not , the question of it ' s proximity particularly to Sapsucker Woods and that bird sanctuary area and that possible infringement and imbalance that it could cause on that land , wood land development . Perhaps that is a part of the investigation of the SEQR form itself . Supervisor Raffensperger replied that she felt this was right and she felt all understood that the Board was glad to have them come and talk to the Board about it . It is a matter of policy for the Town Board about how we will deal with it within the limits of the law which always limit our inclinations . But it would be the Planning Board who will have to deal with this because it was the Planning Board who gave the subdivision approval , and who were the lead agency for the SEAR review . But that really has to be done in written form , to raise the question about the environmental effect on Sapsucker Woods is , again , something you might wish to do in this correspondence that would come to the Planning Board . We can ' t really set here and respond to it because we aren ' t going to make that decision at any point . We can make a decision that we are going to encourage the Planning Board to read your letter and we will authorize the legal department to look at it and see whether or not it is substantial enough to have the Town Planning Board recor.tsider the matter and all that . That is the roll of this Town Board Minutes 29 August 13 , 1990 Board to set that kind of policy beyond that we really would not be dealing with it . Ms . Cornell remarked but in light of the new policies that are being written by the various agencies , you are going to have precedent eventually for changing previous decisions , they are not grandfathered , but you are going to have to make precedents in order to inact stronger controls . Evet Porta stated that she came to discuss the issue of the wetlands and Sapsucker Woods Road . As a member of the community and as part of her ministry she prays a lot with families in the community and has the opportunity to reach maybe 300 to 400 people in her ministry or may be more and certainly there is a real need in the community to hear from you and to get from you some kind of indication as to where you stand with respect to the Sapsucker Woods Road , Sapsucker Woods area . She stated that she could see the dilemma , the legal dilemma . Certainly when he was filling out the application it could be that Mr . Lucente wasn ' t even aware of some of the repercussions of this because the wetlands aren ' t really that well defined and certainly we are all interested in how wetlands are to be defined in the future but we are interested in Sapsucker Woods and preserving the bird sanctuary . It is a sanctuary to a sanctuary , meaning a holy sanctuary and certainly we have to realize and recognize what this is going mean for our children , for our future generations , we hear that so many times in the newspapers and we hear that so many times in magazines and we see it in the schools . We are trying to say environmental issues are important , well here they are and they are in your lap right now and we can ' t be hypothetical , we have to be detailed . It is very important that we work with Mr . Lucente and his family and that we work together as a community in working out this issue , not as a conflict but as sanet.,hing that we work together on and reach some kind ccn mon answer to preserve that area . Supervisor Raffensperger asked if anyone else , who had not spoken , wished to speak . She went on to say that we will proceed to do the best we can with this as we also are educated in all of these , what are to us in many cases , new requirements , new regulations . BUDGET AMENDMENTS FOR BAN ' S Linda Nobles noted that we now have the proceeds from the sale of our Ban ' s for the 1989 Water and Sewer Improvement Projects . This was not put: in the original budget last year . RESOLUTION N0 . 209 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger , seconded by Councilman Niklas , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve the following 1990 budget amendments for the Capital Projects Fund . APPROPRIATE: FUND BALANCE H599 $ 4 , 465 , 000 . 00 CREATE APPROPRIATIONS !8120 . 221 Inlet Valley Sewer $ 1 , 990 , 300 . 00 H8120 . 222 West Hill Sewer 1371700 . 00 H8340 . 220 Troy Road Tank 429 , 300 . 00 H8340 . 221 Inlet Valley Water 11755 , 487 . 50 H8340 . 222 West Hill Water 82 , 687950 H7340 . 223 Meter Pit 69 , 525 . 00 Total $ 41465 , 000 . 00 Town Board Minutes 30 August 13 , 1990 ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none) , WATER ACCOUNT REFUNDS RESOLUTION NO . 210 Motion by Councilman Whitcomb , seconded by Councilwoman Valentino , ( 1 ) WHEREAS , -the sewer bills for 340 Saranac Way have been over estimated since June 1989 , NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby authorize a refund of $ 23 . 29 for sewer be made to Deer Run Investors , 340 Saranac Way , Ithaca , New York . Account Number V-4225 . ( 2 ) WHEREAS , a meter reading error was made on the March 1990 billing for the property located at 608 Winston Court # 1 , and WHEREAS , the tenant paid the bill in full and a new tenant is living in the apartment , NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby authorize a refund in the amount of $ 120 . 14 for water , $ 17 . 80 for water surcharge , $ 75 . 90 for sewer , $ 8 . 41 for sewer surcharge and $ 22 . 22 for penalties , total refund of $ 244 . 47 be paid to Laura Brown , R . D . # 1 , Box 157 , Grove Street , Union Springs , New York 13160 . Account Number U-3203 . ( 3 ) WHEREAS , the owner of the property at 1353 Slaterville Road overpaid the June water bill , NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby authorize a refund in the amount of $ 35 . 26 for water , $ 5 . 27 water surcharge , $ 19 . 15 sewer , and $ 2 . 47 sewer surcharge , total refund of $ 62 . 15 be made to Christopher Heaton , 71 Snell Road , Geneva , New York 14456 . Account Number S-968 . (Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none) . ADDITIONAL PLANNING DEPARTMENT SUPPORT Supervisor Raffensperger stated that the Town Board was being asked to authorize the employment of two part-time temporary planning aides . One for an average of 20 hours per week and one for an average of 15 hours per week from August 15 , 1990 to December 31 , 1990 . She went on to note that in general these tow planning aides would be assigned discrete areas of the Comprehensive Plan , e . g . , Government , city/Town Town Intermunici 1 Relationships and Joint Town Gowen y/ Pa Services , etc . Topics to be assigned require research and writing skills , drafts for approval of the CPC in policy areas which would be prepared by Town staff . One aide ( 15 hours per week) initially would be assigned Transportation Systems Inventory and Analysis , because of her experience in the area and her computer skills . The aides will be supervised by Planning staff and Ron Brand . Town Board Minutes 31 August 13 , 1990 A number of contacts were made to the Town by recent planning graduates who were aware of our staffing shortages . The staff has reached a consensus that several would serve our immediate needs for part-time , temporary assistance , two are preferred by the staff . Because Town Board authorization is pending , no offers of employment could be made , therefore , no names are included in the resolution . In addition , I and the Planning staff have reviewed writing samples . It is hoped that we can arrange contractual agreements for professional services , if not we would be liable for FICA " fringes " . The estimated cost of these two positions in 1990 is $ 7 , 000 , absent fringes . We do not know yet if we can arrange contractual agreements . Councilwoman Valentino remarked that she felt it would be very difficult not to provide the fringes under the current laws . Councilman Klein asked if they would be covered by Workman ' s Comp? Supervisor Raffensperger replied , not if they contract . Councilman Klein asked if there was any benefit to having more hours and a shorter calendar period? Supervisor Raffensperger replied that because we haven ' t had the approval of the Town Board we haven ' t felt free to explore too thoroughly with these two people precisely how many hours they could give us and what time frame so that is why she had an average of 15 hours per week . That gives us flexibility , if they want to work 40 hours in one week they can do that but so that we know what the costs are they will average 15 hours per week for this period of time . RESOLUTION N0 . 211 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas , WHEREAS , the Town of Ithaca Ccoprehensive Planning Committee has approved a tentative schedule for the ccopletion of a Comprehensive Master Plan , and WHEREAS , the Planning Department has been understaffed for several months , and WHEREAS , the Personnel Committee of the Town of Ithaca on August 8 , 1990 recommended to the Town Board that additional services be engaged in order to maintain the Ccgnprehensive Plan Schedule , NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca authorizes the engagement of two additional temporary planning aides , one for an average of 20 hours per week , one for an average of 15 hours per week from August 15 , 1990 to December 31 , 1990 . ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . JULY TOM BOARD MINUTES RESOLUTION NO . 212 Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Whitcomb , Town Board Minutes 32 August 13 , 1990 RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve the July 9 , 1990 , Town Board minutes as presented by the Town Clerk . ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none) . EAST ITHACA WATER AGREEMENT Town Engineer Dan Walker stated that this agreement is a draft agreement . Town Attorney John Barney has asked a number of questions in his letter , however , he felt some of the questions had been answered or modified in the current draft agreement because the Town Attorney had commented on the previous draft . Basically what has happened is that up on Route 366 , Cornell apparently owns a section of 8 " water main as part of their water supply system . The Town of Dryden is currently in need of an additional water supply source , the supply is limited and there are some problems with water pressure and they are expanding their water districts . Our network is a little weak in that area . Cornell has an 8 " water main along Route 366 that is about 730 ' away from the existing 16 " transmission main from Bolton Point . What is being proposed is , Cornell would give the Town of Ithaca the existing 8 " main , Cornell and Dryden would go together and build an additional 730 ' of 12 " main which would be dedicated to the Town . A meter pit would be put in at the connection to the Bolton Point line which would allow us to meter the water that cones from Bolton Point and is transmitted to both Dryden and Cornell . There would be no cost upfront to the Town of Ithaca , the cost of engineering and construction would be totally born by Cornell and Dryden on a 50-50 split . The Town would be taking over the maintenance responsibility for the 730 ' of new 12 " line and the existing 2 , 800 ' of 8 " water main that is currently owned by Cornell . The 2 , 800 ' of 8 " is in good condition , there have not been a lot of problems with it and he did not anticipate a major maintenance problem . There would be a maintenance surcharge charged to Dryden and independent users of the water , new services , so there would be funding caning in for maintenance on that line . This would provide an additional flow and pressure , mostly flow assistance , to our Town of Ithaca Sapsucker Woods Road tank which is currently served from the Christopher- Circle tank and pump station , and that is a constriction . That pumping station is a limiting point , we have had some flow problems and pressure problems up in the Sapsucker Woods/Christopher Circle area because of a weak point in the link . This would increase the strength of the network . Engineering is supposed to be completed by August 15th , bid it in September and build it by November 1st . Town Engineer went on to say that Item # 6 in the proposed agreement states that "The parties agree that the Town of Ithaca will own , maintain and operate the 730 ' of 12 " line and vault . The Town of Ithaca will maintain and operate as a Town distribution main the existing 8 " water line . . . . . . . " . The ownership of that line would still remain with Cornell and that is a problem which he and the Town Attorney have some questions remaining . He stated that he believed that if the Town was going to maintain it then the Town needed to own it . There has been some concern on Cornell ' s engineerincr part that the 8 " line is currently jointly owned by the statutory college and the state college and that may leave a legal question as far as ownership . He stated that he agreed with the Town Attorney that the Town must have ownership of this line . We are not gaining that much , Dryden and Cornell stand to gain the most . Town Board Minutes 33 August 13 , 1990 Councilman Niklas remarked , what you are saying by that is that if Cornell refuses to relinquish its title to that 8 " line along Route 366 that the Town will say fine , that ' s it . Town Engineer Walker replied , we could say that , however he did not know if the Town wanted to say that . That is why he wanted some guidance from the Board . Town Supervisor Raffensperger replied , if there is a legal impediment in their turning it over to us , really the Town has a benefit to gain , there is a benefit to the Town . What we need to make sure of is that what we give away for it is no more than the benefit we gain . We want to come out even or slightly ahead if we can manage it . At this point we hardly have the information . She stated that she understood the difficulty with the statutory and the endowamd units and the difficulty of separating out that ownership . If there is enough to gain and we can work out an agreement that makes acceptable Cornell ' s continued ownership with our control of it , then we may bring it to the Board for that kind of approval . It just depends upon the package that can be worked out . Councilman Niklas remarked that the only reason he mentioned it was because he got the impression , from the Town Engineer , that the benefits to the Town for doing this link up were essentially minimal and that really Cornell and Dryden were the primary beneficiaries . Now he was hearing in fact that , even though that was true , the Town still does have a substantial thing to gain by doing this ,. Town Engineer Walker replied , we gain scene additional security and we gain an improvement in our operating system . Part of the improvement in the operating system is needed because we supply water to Dryden . As long as we control it he really didn ' t care who owned it . Councilwoman Leary remarked , it sounds like Cornell would own it but we would do all the work . We would have to maintain it . Town Engineer Walker replied , we would have to maintain it and if we don ' t have ownership of it and we want to remove it and replace it with something better do we have the right to do it . These are legal questions that need to be worked out . This was a concern that needed to be worked out with Cornell . Councilman Whitcomb asked what monetary gain would the Town get if we have tD fix it but we don ' t own it and we can ' t charge maintenance fees ? Town Engineer Walker replied we will be charging maintenance fees because that 8 " main will be serving as a primary feed to Dryden . We do charge a maintenance surcharge to Dryden for water that we sell . Councilwoman Valentino asked if Cornell wouldn ' t also be using the water from that for their East Hill development? Town Engineer Walker replied , yes . He then stated that he would go on and explain Section Ve This is a right for interconnections to that line to service the orchards area , the East Hill area by Cornell . What Cornell is basically asking is to be master metered and they did not want to put backflow prevention at the connection point to the main , they wanted to put them at their own buildings . As far as Cornell ' s quality of maintenance and the maintenance of their own system , he did not think there was a severe public health hazard there . Again , that is an issue that has to be addressed by Town Board Minutes 34 August 13 , 1990 the Health Department because technically each connect off that 8 " or 12 " main would be a private connection to a private water system, which is distribution as opposed to one household , and normally in that situation health law requires backflow prevention at each connection point . Cornell want to put backflow prevention at each building but not on their main loop . Since this is a private system they could cane in with fire equipment and hook up to that and bring in another source of water and contaminated water could get into our system and cause health problems . That is why backflow prevention is usually required at the point of connection . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that these were technical questions which will be worked out but the questions of substance it seemed to her for the Town is first of all what we gain and what we have been asked to give up . One of those things is a maintenance surcharge and the other thing is that we would sell the water to Cornell at a bulk rate . She stated that research was being done to see if there is a precedent in the Town of Ithaca for serving any of our consumers with a bulk rate . We don ' t know that at this point whether or not there is a model for doing it . This will be a net gain in water revenues but how much and how it ought to be done she felt was the question that still remains . Town Engineer Walker stated that what Cornell is saying is that for a bulk connection they would have a distribution system that they would maintain . Our maintenance surcharge is based on the cost of repairing our distribution system . They are saying that if they maintain it they would do the maintenance in lieu of us charging them a maintenance surcharge and having to maintain the lines . Councilman Niklas remarked that he guessed he was just worried about what happens ten to twenty years from now when water may be at a premium and we are charging a bulk rate . The Town Engineer replied that the rate needs to be something that has to be ,set up on a review basis , an annual review and should be consistent with what we are charging everyone else . It must reflect ow- costs . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that this was sort of chapter one and give the Board an opportunity to review what we have at this point and will be caning back to the Town Board . She told the Board to contact the Engineer if they had questions . Councilwcrmm Valentino remarked that whatever we work out with them and whatever they pay has to be consistent with what individual people in the ccn �nity are payi m ng . Cornell should not be treated differently or favored treatment , they should get fair treatment . But they shouldn ' t get a benefit that is going to be a burden back on our own people . We are also paying full taxes which Cornell is not contributing to the camnunity plus paying our water bills . The Town Engineer noted that along with this , there is one connection in the East Hill area , we had an engineering study done back in ' 83 by Stearns & Wheler , that indicated what our needs might be in the future . He stated that if there is more expansion by Cornell ,, privately , and the Town of Dryden , there is need for additional storage there . It is a projected use that we are working into the Town plan and looking at that Bolton Point is currently contracting with a consultant to do an energy study to change their operations to a more efficient energy use from NYSEG . As part of that , they want to study the East Hill area to see if additional storage can provide an energy savings and if that is the case an additional tank might be paid for out of that grant program . 9'here are some potentially weak areas particularly with fire flow in the East Hill Plaza area . Town Board Minutes 35 August 13 , 1990 Councilman Niklas commented that one of the most difficult things about this whole thing is that if you set a precedent with Cornell what happens on South Hill , Inlet Valley , West Hill when Ithaca College or Tompkins Hospital or whatever say okay , it ' s to our mutual advantage to be bulk metered and then the Town says it really isn ' t and they say but you did it for Cornell . The Town Engineer replied that he thought there may already be a bulk agreement with the hospital but he was researching this . REQUEST TO ESTABLISH AIRPORT FOR HELICOPTER SERVICE TO HOSPITAL Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the Board had a draft resolution with a letter attached to it which the Board needs to authorize her to send . Councilman Niklas remarked that he had mentioned this before but for the minutes he would like to note Chapter 3 , Section 75 . 1 , subsection d , items 1 and 2 under approach surface . There is a distinction used between airports involving fixed winged and for heliports . He stated that he would just feel more safe if whatever agreement we enter into somehow or other highlights that we are agreeing to a heliport and to a generic airport which could later on be interpreted to say that we are condoning the use of fixed winged aircraft . He did not know if that was ever going to happen but he would like to protect ourselves right now from getting involved in that ambiguity . Town Attorney DuBow suggested that the first WHEREAS be changed to note this . RESOLUTION NO . 213 Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilwoman Valentino , WHEREAS , Tompkins Community Hospital , Inc . ( the "Hospital " ) , in conjunction with Southern Tier Ambulance Rescue ( " STAR" ) have requested that the Town of Ithaca ( the "Town " ) approve the establishmmnt of a privately owned airport ( the term " airport " for the purposes of this Resolution being limited to an airport used for emergency medical helicopter service only) on premises owned by the Hospital in the Town of Ithaca , Tompkins County , New York in accordance with Section 249 of the General Business Law , and WHEREAS , such request for approval is contained in a letter to the Town from i3eorge R . Pfann , Jr . , Esq . , Attorney for the Hospital , dated July 2 , 1990 ( the "Hospital Request " ) , a copy of which Hospital Request is attached to this Resolution and incorporated herein by reference ; and WHEREAS , the Town Board wishes to proceed with all actions necessary and required on its part under Section 249 of the General Business Law and Title 17 , Chapter III of the New York State Code , Rules and Regulations , and WH EAS , the Hospital Request includes a certification that the Hospital is the owner of the premises upon which the proposed airport is to be established and that the Hospital consents to the establishment of such airport , and WHEREAS , the Town has been advised that the Hospital Board of Directors intends to adopt a formal corporate resolution confirming its consent to the establishment of such airport , Town Board Minutes 36 August 13 , 1990 NOW UIEREFORE IT IS RESOLVED , that the Town hereby requests the Commissioner of Transportation of the State of New York to make a determination as to whether or not the establishment of a privately owned airport on premises owned by the Tompkins Community Hospital , Inc . , in the Town of Ithaca , Tompkins County , New York , as described in the Hospital Request , complies with the standards of the Cannissioner of Transportation adopted pursuant to Section 249 of the General Business Law, and IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED , that the Town Board hereby authorizes the Town Supervisor to execute and deliver a written statement on behalf of the Town confirming that the airport proposed to be established is privately owned , and that all of the owners of the real property upon which the airport is to be established have consented to the establishment of such airport , and IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED , that upon receipt of a certified copy of a corporate :resolution of the Hospital confirming its consent ( as the sole owner of the real property upon which the proposed airport is to be established) to the establishment of such airport , that the foregoing written statement to be executed by the Town Supervisor be delivered to the Hospital . ( Raffensperger , Whitccenb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . The letter to Supervisor Shirley Raffensperger from George R . Pfann , Jr . ,, Esq . , Attorney for the Hospital dated July 2 , 1990 , as referenced in the above resolution is as follows . "This is to advise that I represent the Tompkins Community Hospital , Inc . , which as you know is located on the west side of Cayuga lake in the Town of Ithaca . This Hospital is in the process of signing agreements which would bring to the Tompkins County Community , an air ambulance service . As part of that air ambulance service , the helicopters to be used in that service need to land and be housed at a landing pad area at or near the Tompkins Community Hospital in the Town of Ithaca . The Hospital and the operator of the service , STAR , need to obtain approval of a privately owned airport . Section 75 . 3 , Title 17 , Chapter III of the New York State Code , Rules and Regulations , requires the local governing body to approve the establishment of such an airport . Therefore , Tompkins Community Hospital , Inc . , and STAR ( Southern Tier Ambulance Rescue ) hereby requests the Town of Ithaca to establish by resolution the airport . Pursuant to Section 75 . 31 Subdivision (d) we provide the following information : 1 . The name and address of the proponent are as follows . .c;TAR , Southern Tier Air Rescue , ( address ) 2 . The type of aviation is Helicopter Ambulance Service . 3 . The number aircraft expected to be based at the airport i.s 1-2 . 49 The type of aircraft expected to be used at the airport i.s a helicopter . 5 . No instrument approach procedure will be requested for this airport . 6 . The maximum number of daily operations and anticipated total annual operations are 1-2 . Town Board Minutes 37 August 13 , 1990 This is to certify that Tompkins Ccmmmity Hospital , Inc . , is the owner of the premises upon which the proposed airport is to be established . It hereby consents to the establishment of such airport . We need two items from the Ithaca Town Board . The first item is covered under Section 75 . 3 ( e ) . It requires a statement from the local governing body that all of the owners of the real property upon which the airport is to take place have consented to such establishment , (which we have ) . Under Section 75 . 3 Subdivision ( a) we need a resolution requesting the Ccnni;;sioner of Transportation to make a determination as to whether or not the establishment of a privately owned airport complies with the Cc mmnissioners standard adopted pursuant to Section 249 of the General Business law . I have enclosed a copy of the proposed resolution for your review . " CONSIDER REVISIONS TO LOCAL LAW # 21 1970 (ETHICS ) Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that this will be a report more than anything else , frcm the Town Board Committee on Ethics . Councilwoman Valentino stated that they have gotten quite a few ccmnents from different people which have been very very constructive and very good . At our last meeting we reviewed them very carefully and we are in the process of making scme changes and revisions in the original one that we put before people . Because we are doing that , when she had talked to the Town Supervisor she had requested that it be just a report tonight to you and then at the next meeting that we schedule a discussion and perhaps a public hearing . Again , the comments that we received from people were very well presented and very thought provoking so there are changes that we are looking at based on those concerns . She stated that if anyone had something they had been thinking about to please get it to them in the next few days . Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that the new draft should be sent , well in advance of the meeting , to the Boards and to the employees so they will have time to look it over and present written corenents . NEW YORK PLANNING AND ZONING INSTITUTE SEMINAR Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that usually Town Board members do not attend this , they get their planning and zoning information at the Association of Towns meeting . The Supervisor remarked , however , if Board manbers did wish to attend , the issue could be revisited . RESOLUTION N0 . 214 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Whitcomb , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca authorizes attendance at the New York Planning and Zoning Institute Seminar , October 21 -24 , 1990 of two members of the Planning Board , two members of the Zoning Board of Appeals and two staff members . ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none) . Town Board Minutes 38 August 13 , 1990 TOWN OF {THACA WARRANTS RESOLUTION NO . 215 Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilwoman Leary , RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approves the Town of Ithaca Warrants dated August 13 , 1990 , in the following amounts . General Fund - Town Wide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 57 , 802 . 27 General Fund - Outside Village . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 47 , 790925 Highway Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 95 , 316 . 08 Water & Sewer Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 275 , 998 . 74 Fire Protection Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 78 , 972 . 50 Capital Projects Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 104 , 994 . 38 Lighting Districts Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 464 . 70 (Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye , Nay: - none ) . BOLTON POINT WARRANTS RESOLUTION, N0 . 216 Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas , RESOLVED , that the Bolton Point Warrants dated August 13 , 1990 , in the Operating Account are hereby approved in the amount of $ 136 , 501 . 79 after review and upon the recommendation of the Southern Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission , they are in order for payment . ( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Valentino and Niklas voting Aye . Nays - none ) . ADJOURl ENT The meeting was duly adjourned . Town clerk RLII�eRBI1Wii� ��� � :nanwns