HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB Minutes 1991-04-08 TOWN OF ITHACA
TOWN BOARD MEETING
April 8 , 1991
At a Regular meting 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 , there were :
PRESENT . Shirley Raffensperger , Supervisor
John Whitcomb , Councilman
Patricia Leary , Councilwoman
David Klein , Councilman
Frank Liguori , Councilman
Karl Niklas , Councilman
ABSENT : Catherine Valentino , Councilwoman
ALSO PRESENT : John Barney , Town Attorney
Dan Walker , Town Engineer
Scott McConnell , Highway Superintendent
Andrew Frost , Building Inspector/ Zoning
Officer
Linda Nobles , Assistant Budget Officer
George Frantz , Assistant Town Planner
Dave Auble , 1122 Danby Road
Bob Yavits , 611 Winston Court
Beverly Livesay , Board of Representatives
Representatives of the Media :
Greg Williams , WHCU
PLEDGE OF' ALLEGIANCE
The Supervisor led the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance .
REPORT OF' TOWN OFFICIALS
Supervisor ' s Report
Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the New York State budget had
not been passed yet and according to news reports it ' s some ways
away . For the Town this will man , at best , a hold on various
kinds of state aid reimbursement . Trickled down continues , the
Town has just received notice from Tompkins County of a cut in the
Town ' s 1991 youth services money as a result of state aid cuts to
the County .
The Supervisor went on to say that a selection committee has been
interviewing candidates for the position of Town Planner and hopes
to complete the process soon . The Town Board will probably have to
met again this month to deal with this matter and several others .
The Town Clerk will be contacting you for a convenient time .
Supervisor Raffensperger stated that the Town ' s independent auditor
has substantially completed the audit for 1990 and should be
available to the Town Board soon , perhaps at the next Town Board
meeting .
Town Board Minutes 2 April 8 , 1991
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that in May , at the request of
Councilwcman Valentino , she would like to set up a finance
committee: . The Town has never had such a committee but she thought
it would be helpful to the Board to have such a committee review
the warrants , audit reports , change orders , etc . , in advance of
Town Board meetings .
The Supervisor noted that the Town had received a number of calls
from persons interested in representing the Town on the County
Youth Bureau Board . Each was asked to send a statement of interest
for the Board members review and as of now she had received just
two of those statements and she believed the appointment could be
made at the second meeting this month .
Town Engineer ' s Report
Town Engineer Dan Walker noted that bids were open on the West Hill
water and sewer improvement . There were sixteen bids with a wide
range in bids . The apparent low bidder is within 10 % of the
engineer; estimate , on the low side . The foundation walls for the
tank on the South Hill water improvements have - been poured . We are
planning to pour the floor tomorrow . The water main installation
has been completed and the pressure tests have passed . We are
working on obtaining easements for the Inlet Valley project . The
plans have been approved by Tompkins County Health Department and
the bid documents are complete . We have a schedule designed that
should allow for construction to begin around July 1st . The Route
366 water main extension agreement is being bounced back and forth
between the attorneys but he did not think there were any major
problems .
The Town Engineer went on to say that they have about three weeks
of records on the sewer capacity monitoring on the area above the
Fall Creek area and will continue to monitor for another three to
four weeks . We did a field inspection of the Commonland sewer
system which consists of six pumping stations which are privately
owned at this point . There are some major deficiencies in the
system and we are preparing a written report with cost estimates .
The Master Plan for Cornell and the GEIS development will be
presented April 16th to the Planning Board which will kick the
whole process off . He noted that the Highway Superintendent and
himself had attended a meeting with Cornell representatives and the
County Highway Department , last week , to discuss the realignment of
Pine Tree Road and the Judd Falls Road improvements . Cornell is
setting aside rightrof-way limits to allow direct connection of
Pine Tree Road with Judd Falls Road , if the County so desires to do
that . Engineering has not done very much on the Comprehensive Plan
in the past month but we are keeping up to date on the maps . The
Engineer noted that there was a major slope on Burns Road that is
moving , so the summer help will be surveying this area .
Highway superintendent ' s Report
Highway Superintendent Scott McConnell reported that the Highway
Department spent March preparing and setting up for the paving
season . Rich Road had a culvert replaced and was ditched , the
shoulder; were also worked on . Northview Road had a culvert
replaced and extensive ditch and shoulder work done . Many driveway
pipes were replaced , in cooperation with the land owners , to insure
proper drainage in the ditches . on days it rained , stone for
surface treating and gravel for shoulders was hauled and
stockpiled . Ditching and drainage work on Renwick Drive and
Wyckoff Road was also done . The door to the equipment side of the
salt barn was repaired . In April , we will finish work on Northview
Town Board Minutes 3 April 8 , 1991
and Rich Roads and do work on Regency , Joanne , Park Lane and
Harwick . The spring leaf and brush pickup will begin on April 29 .
The Highvray Superintendent reported for the Parks and Open Space
Department noting that a total of 10 man hours were spent on snow
removal in March . Pre-construction and sealing of the Grandview
playstructure was completed this month . A total of 106 man hours
were spent . Lay-out and staking of the site will be done in early
April , with excavation of the area and hole drilling to follow as
weather permits . Woodchips were spread on the new trails at Tudor
and Eastern Heights Parks . These projects are now completed . A
total of 48 man hours were spent in March . Also , new chips were
spread at. Salem Park trails , this will be finished in April . The
last timm! wood chips were spread was in the simmer of 1988 . The
rest of March was spent on numerous routine maintenance tasks at
various park and recreation sites for a total of 234 man hours .
Jobs included the sealing of all new picnic tables , weekly site and
drainage inspections , canpost pile management , sign construction ,
bluebird nesting box maintenance , repaired washouts at Dewitt
exercise trail , spring equipment servicing and the start of spring
cleanups at all park and trail sites . April projects include the
beginning of on-site construction of the Grandview playstructure ,
finish spring park and trail cleanups , finish Northview Park tree
removals , lawn repairs for Bolton Point and participation in the
Town ' s spring yard waste collection , April 29 through May 3 .
The Highuay Superintendent went on to say that he had one more item
to add to his report . Last month we did the commitment for the
expenditures for monies on pavement and Judd Falls Road was one of
the roads to be paved . He stated that he had found out at the
meeting that he and the Town Engineer had attended that Cornell is
planning on doing some work over the " can " at the " jughandle " which
is a steel archway . It basically requires the removal of about 500
feet of pavement and excavating down to just above the archway over
top of it: . It felt it was best to coordinate the work with Cornell
so that the road would be closed for a lengthy time only once and
not different times for the different projects . Cornell is going
to have East Avenue closed most of the summer so it would be best
to move -the repaving to next year . We will patch the holes and
make Judd Falls Road driveable . He went on to note that the curb
line and the gutter line from the bottom of the hill past the
" jughandl.e " needs some intense work and it was his suggestion that
the curb be replaced .
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked , if we are looking to do that
then she certainly felt next year was going to be a better time
because -the people in Forest Hone are trying to work out for
themselves , a sidewalk district and it would give them more time to
work out the details and the willingness of the people to pay for
the sideualks , etc .
Building Inspector/ Zoning Officers Report
Building Inspector/ Zoning Officer Andrew Frost reported that there
was a little bit of a building boom as they had issued 14 building
permits for the month of March . 13 Certificates of Occupancy were
issued and two new complaints were investigated .
Councilman Niklas remarked that his neighbors have expressed two
concerns to him , and one is College Circle . Trash collectors are
showing up anywhere between 5 : 30 and 6 : 30 in the morning , making
lots of noise . He stated that he did not think his neighbors
wanted to site a violation but they would like the Building
Inspector- to call them and say don ' t do that . It is a large truck
and they have these metal dumpsters that they have to unload and
Town Board Minutes 4 April 8 , 1991
from his own experience it is a tremendous racket . Also , they cone
on different days of the week . The other thing is that Peter
Hillman has called him again and he is having some serious
difficulties with rental property next to him . The property is
owned by Mr . Monkemeyer . Noise and disturbances of different
sorts . He has asked me to find out what kind of physical evidence
he can provide that would allow the Town to exert some reasonable
influence on Mr . Monkemeyer to control the behavior of the people
renting the house . He said this morning when he woke up he found
one large keg of beer and more than two plastic garbage bags that
visibly contain styrofoam cups and things of that sort , party
materials . He also said that there were either 13 or 18 cars one
night all. crammed into that area . He did call the police and just
before the police turned up , the noise stopped . The police
couldn ' t find anything and within another twenty minutes it started
up again .
Supervisor Raffensperger stated that she had called Sheriff Guest
to remind. him about the Town of Ithaca ' s desire to not have warning
continued. but to have appearance tickets be issued . He was very
cooperative and she felt they did not know spring was going to come
so soon and they had not informed all the patrols that this was the
case but that he would remind them of that . She felt this would
help some .
Building Inspector/ Zoning Officer Frost stated that he had called
Mr . Monkemeyer twice . The first time he got the answering machine
and the second time he was in but unavailable . He stated that he
had driven up there but did not see any beer kegs but there was
evidence of some mass gathering over the weekend . He went on to
say that this particular property was one of the properties that
would have amortization applied to it for 15 years . He felt there
were young men renting the property with girlfriends that perhaps
spend a fair amount of time up there and the license plates in fact
are registered to people living down town .
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that Ithaca College was trying to
be cooperative . She stated that she received a letter_ from them
last fall_ and she had called today to tell them the parties were
beginning and they will contact their student leaders .
Councilman Niklas remarked that as he was hearing it , other than
the enforcement of the Noise Ordinance there doesn ' t seem to be any
alternatives for Mr . Hillman in terms of what he can do .
Supervisor Raffensperger stated that the Sheriff ' s Department also
says that they can give appearance tickets or whatever they give
them for disturbing the peace , being public nuisance or whatever .
It isn ' t just our Noise Ordinance that is involved in this . She
stated that her main concern was , and this happened on Pennsylvania
Avenue last fall , is that these are residential neighborhoods that
are really beginning to turn out to be student gettos because young
families with young children are beginning to wonder if they want
to continue to live in those areas . She felt this was very
negative for the Town to have this happen and she would much rather
see students interspiced into our regular neighborhoods because she
felt it controlled behavior better than anything else .
Councilman Niklas remarked that he thought what the Supervisor
feared was already happening on South Hill as he knew Mr . Hillman
and two of his neighbors were thinking about leaving . Three hones
in his neighborhood have been sold and are now rentals .
Assistant. Town Planners Report
Town Board Minutes 5 April 8 , 1991
Assistant Planner George Frantz reported that the Board had before
them the March planning report . The Planning Staff is continuing
to work on the Comprehensive Plan . We have brought on , in the last
month , Donald J . Perone Engineers of Rochester . They are doing an
inventory and analysis of the Town ' s transportation system . They
will give: us some indication , from the standpoint of engineers , as
to what some of the problems are with the Town ' s transportation
system . The Planning Board granted final subdivision approval for
three logs at Inlet Valley Land Cooperative and final site plan
approval for Rogan ' s Corners . Cornell has applied for approval to
expand the Hasbrouck Apartment complex . They propose to move the
92 units from Pleasant Grove Apartments across the road and into
new third. stories for 14 of the Hasbrouck buildings as well as the
additional parking . Cornell has also requested special approval
for the construction of a parking lot on the old Oxley Polo site to
be used through 1996 after which the lot will be turned over to the
Plantations ,
Mr . Frantz went on to say that he has spent many hours working on
the South Hill Recreation Way doing some additional field work and
design . Hopefully we can meet the State deadline of May 15th .
REPORT OF' TOWN COMMITTEES
Conservation Advisory Committee
Councilman Whitcomb reported that the CAC was primarily focusing on
the open space index . The Open Space Inventory Committee has been
busy doing field checks of various open space parcels within the
Town . Scott has been helping to map all of those . We have run
into a bit of a snag in trying to categorize them in some kind of a
scientific manner , categorizing the various classes of open space
and assigning then some kind of an numeric value in preparation for
prioritization of the entire list in terms of acquisition or
preservation value . The subcommittee will be working through some
examples to see how it will come out .
Councilman Niklas remarked that in terms of Codes and Ordinance , he
did not think that they really needed a listing of priorities but
he did think they needed , however , a list of the areas that the CAC
is reccnuending for protection or conservation .
Councilman Whitcomb replied that they needed a ranking for
themselves plus the State mandates they do this .
Codes and. Ordinances
Councilman Niklas stated that at the last meeting they reviewed a
piece of draft legislation that the Town Attorney provided them for
the posting of signs and he believed that that draft has now been
circulated to various other boards for comments . He stated that
they would receive those comments , fine tune the legislation and
then refer it to the Town Board for their consideration . The Town
Attorney has drafted a very extensive preliminary document on the
Environmental Protection Overlay Approach and he noted that the
Town Attorney deserves a great deal of thanks , on behalf of the
Cot4nittee . The Sunset period for permits will be discussed at the
next meeting . He noted that they are still discussing such things
as the redefinition of the term gasoline sales stations . Also ,
they are still very much concerned about discussing lake front
regulations but it has a lower ranking on our activities because of
the need to discuss some of the other items first .
Town Board Minutes 6 April 8 , 1991
Comprehensive Planning Committee
Councilman Klein stated that the Comprehensive Planning Committee
met twice with the last meeting being more like a working session
where we split up into two subcommittees . The Goals and Objectives
Subcommittee reviewed the comments received on the draft goals and
essentially we felt , as a subcommittee , that the comments were
generally favorable . We felt we would hold off on any sort of
revisions to those until other parts of the plans are developed .
The new Land Use Subcammittee had an extensive meeting that night
and also met today , working with Ron Brand on some new ambitious
goals to try to get the last two chapters finalized . Since Stuart
Brown Associates contract is on the agenda , we will talk about that
later .
Councilman Niklas remarked that he would like to make just one
comment . He went on to say that for the record it was important
for everybody to know including Town Board members that are not
actively participating in this , that even though the comprehensive
planning document has not been circulated as a physical entity that
actually aspects of the comprehensive plan are already being
initiated and pursued in the various committees such as the CAC and
COC . Even though there is no written document the idea is already
being implemented . He noted that sow of the output was evident on
the walls with the new maps .
Ethics Cam-nittee
Councilwoman Leary stated that she and Councilwoman Valentino have
been talking to the Chief Counsel for the New York State Temporary
Commission on Local Government Ethics and if you remember the last
time we had a draft of a letter here basically opposing the
financial disclosure provision that currently exists . She stated
that they had a new revised letter as it seems they can write in a
financial disclosure provision that confirms with current law but
is not quite as obnoxious as we thought it originally would be . It
would not only not be open to the public , this is income
information , it would also be sealed fron the Ethics Board only to
be opened by a majority vote of the Ethics Board if they saw the
need during an investigation . He said we could do that and still
comply with the law . If we didn ' t adopt any sort of financial
disclosure we couldn ' t have any disclosure whatsoever .
Supervisor Raffensperger added , unless it was voluntary .
Councilwoman Leary replied , yes .
Councilman Klein asked , what if we violate the law? What will
happen to us ? If the Town of Ithaca decides to make their own form
up , what is the problem? We could just say this is our disclosure
law .
Supervisor Raffensperger replied that all our laws have to be filed
with the ,Secretary of State and they might pick up something that
was not suitable .
Councilman Niklas asked if it had to be made a law? If we say okay
for the betterment of the community , for the good of the community
we will release certain amounts of information but this is not a
law and we are not required to do it .
Supervisor Raffensperger replied that the Town needs to have an
Ethics Law, all Towns are required to have one , and that was what
she ment about a voluntary disclosure . The law is so wierd , either
you disclose everything or you disclose nothing and obviously we
Town Board Minutes 7 April 8 , 1991
don ' t think that is appropriate . What we want is a more moderate
kind of disclosure by public officials . She stated that she did
not know -why it could not be made voluntary .
Councilwoman Leary replied because the only thing is , it ' s
voluntary as long as we ' re here . She went on to say that the
argument of the Association of Towns is to make everything
voluntary and our argument is the support of some kind of a minimum
state law requiring it because some of the people who might be most
likely to violate it wouldn ' t want to do it voluntarily .
Supervisor Raffensperger asked Councilwoman Leary to bring the
proposed letter , in final form , to the next meeting when she
understood the Board would be asked to set the date for a public
hearing .
Councilwoman Leary replied , yes .
Town Attorney Barney asked if there had been any discussion of
Municipal Home Rule superseding this ? There is a provision that
under certain circumstances allows a Town to supersede a state law
and is an, avenue that could be explored .
Councilwoman Leary replied that she had not talked to them about
its
REPORT OF' COUNTY BOARD OF REPRESENTATIVES
County Board Representative Beverly Livesay stated that an
agreement. had been reached with the Corp of Engineers on where the
wetlands are on DR- 7 so that will be moving ahead . It will mean
redesigning the site and going through the whole environmental
impact statement again . The central processing facility ended up
without opposition and so the licensing will go ahead at the
regional level . We expect that to move right along . She went on
to say , we go ahead to our full County wide recycling program this
summer . She stated that it was a matter of getting the RFP put
together , etc . She remarked , you notice that she had said this
summer , she did not say June , July or August . There is a program
that will help small businesses , kind of like an energy audit .
Also , they are setting up a program for the exchange of things so
that things don ' t have to be thrown out but used by somebody else .
We hope a lot of the demolition materials , paint and oil can be
handled this way rather than put them in the landfill . We are also
planning a hazardous waste day , probably late September or early
October , and may be at the "B " lot at Cornell and the Treman Marina
as collection sites . All of the details are still being worked
out . Mrs . Livesay went on to say that the Hillview Road Landfill ,
what used to be called Landstroms , is operating under a new consent
order . The Solid Waste Committee will be having their meeting out
there Thursday and will hear things about Hillview which we have
all been wondering about and then we will be going on a tour of the
landfill site . She stated that the tour was open to the public and
press and will be meeting at the West Danby Fire Station before the
tour . WE, are investigating a lot of things about the shipping of
trash as we are sure we will be into that before we are through .
We are keeping all options open so that we can move in any
direction . She noted that the County was in the process of
implementing their new job rating system . We are also discussing
the renovation of the old jail , the parking problems downtown and
the pos.clibility of bringing departments back downtown . Mrs .
Livesay rioted that the County had cut about $ 670 , 000 out of their
budget so far but it doesn ' t make up for all of the short falls ,
that they know about , from the State budget .
Town Board Minutes 8 April 8 , 1991
PERSONS TO BE HEARD
Robert Yavits , 611 Winston Court , #3 , stated that he was at the
meeting :because he was one of the applicants for the Town
representative on the County Youth Bureau . He stated that he
wanted to let the Board know his qualifications so that they could
base their judgement on something more substantial than a letter .
Mr . Yavits went on to say that in his letter he had stated that he
was a City Youth Bureau worker from 1976 to 1981 after which he
served on the City Youth Board for about two years . After that he
went to graduate school , left the Town and moved to Horseheads
where he had an appointment in Elmira . He then came back to this
area and taught at Ithaca College . For about three years now he
has been on the faculty of Tompkins Cortland Community College as
an instructional software specialist and he has been involved in
quite a few governmental committees . This year , he stated , he had
chaired -Institutional Operations Planning Committee and he had
chaired the Recyling Policy Committee . We are having an event next
week , Recycling Awareness Week , at the College and on Wednesday he
would be moderating a panel of three people , one from the State
Department of Environmental Conservation , Mayor Balerdini from Town
of Homer and Lynn Leopold . He stated that another thing he had
been doing at Tompkins Cortland Community College was working very
closely with the President and the three Deans working on
developing the College Plan this year . He stated that he mentioned
these just to let the Board know he had been doing a lot of
committee work and he was used to the kinds of non-direct
conversation that must go on along with the direct service that he
has done in the past .
Supervisor Raffensperger thanked Mr . Yavits and went on to say that
she did not know if Mr . Yavits was here when she mentioned that the
Town had a number of applicants , she stated that she had received
two letters and there were three or four people who said they were
interested and going to send in letters .
DECEMBER 1990 FINANCIAL REPORT
RESOLUTION NO , 78
Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman
Whitcomb ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve
the December 1990 Financial Report , as presented .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
RENTAL OF STREET SWEEPER
RESOLUTION NO , 79
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Liguori ,
WHEREAS , a sweeper is needed to clean out catch basins and clean
roads for paving ,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca hereby approve that the Town rent from Tracey Road equipment
a sweeper for two ( 2 ) weeks at a cost of $ 2 , 200 per week , one week
being from May 6 to May 10 . The other week to be determined at a
later date by the Highway Superintendent .
Town Board Minutes 9 April 8 , 1991
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
PAVING SCHEDULE
Highway Superintendent Scott McConnell reported that beginning May
13 , the Town of Ithaca Highway Department will be paving some Town
roads . Weather permitted , we will start Monday morning paving the
North side of Regency , the West side of Joanne Drive and the West
side of Park Lane . Tuesday , all of Harwick Road will be paved . On
Wednesday , the South side of Regency , the East side of Joanne Drive
and Park lane will be paved . All traffic on Harwick will be
detoured around the paving crews . Residents on Regency , Joanne
Drive , and Park Lane are requested to have their vehicles kept on
the opposite side so that we may keep all traffic off the fresh
pavement for at least 24 hours . The paving crews will work the
remainder of the week and all of the week of May 20 on various
other roads , but this work will not greatly effect traffic in those
areas .
Supervisor Raffensperger asked if Harwick Road wasn ' t the newest
road in the Eastwood Congnons development ?
Superintendent McConnell replied , it has an oil and stone top on it
and we put a bunch of hot stuff on it last year . One of the
problems is near the intersection of Honness Lane . We are going to
dig it up , put in some subsurface drainage and tie it into the
culvert that goes under the road . The only other problem he could
determine was that it was that it was an oil and stone base and
gets quite a bit of traffic , those were our minimum road specs .
They built the minimLun road and we ended up with a minim= road in
three years .
Councilman Whitcomb asked if this was the entire 1991 paving
schedule or was this just a piece of it ?
Superintendent McConnell replied , this is only a piece of it . What
this is , is the list of roads that we are doing with all hot mix ,
asphalt , on the top . The other road that we haven ' t addressed here
yet is Rose Hill which he did not think he would be using hot mix
on and was trying to come up with the best solution for this road .
The other roads are all oil and stone or slurry seal .
Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the Town would be putting a box
ad in the paper to notify the residents of the paving .
RESOLUTION N0 , 80
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Whitcomb ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve
this portion of the 1991 Paving Schedule .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
SNOW CONTRACT WITH TOMPKINS COUNTY
Town Attorney Barney remarked that he had looked at it . We had a
snow contract for five years back in 1988 or ' 87 which expires in
1992 . He stated that he did not quite understand why the Town was
being asked to renew the contract .
Town Board Minutes 10 April 8 , 1991
Highway Superintendent McConnell replied that he had checked with
the County and the best that he could come up with is that they put
it into their budget , for the year prior , and this is for the year
beginning in 1992 .
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that she understood that the
County was not going to pay for last year unless we give them a
contract for year after next .
County Representative Livesay replied that this has come up in the
past and she thought it had something to do with the State as well .
Town Attorney Barney remarked , this contract doesn ' t go any further
than our existing five year contract . He remarked that the only
thing he noticed was that the old contract was strictly plowing ,
this one appears to say that we may do scene road surface treatment
as well .
Highway Superintendent McConnell remarked that he was not aware of
that ,
Supervisor Raffensperger replied that she felt that any further
action on the snow contract should be postponed until next month
and for the Highway Superintendent to review any added requirements
and for the Town to figure out why they want . . . . . . . .
Town Attorney Barney added , there is a price change . The Town
Attorney stated that he would talk to the County .
SET DATE FOR PUBLIC HEARING TO AMEND THE LOCAL LAW ON BAC RFLM
PREVENTION
RESOLUTION NO . 81
Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger , seconded by Councilman Niklas ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca will meet and
conduct a public hearing at 7 : 00 P . M . , on May 13 , 1991 to consider
amending the local law on backflow prevention .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
SET DATE FOR PUBLIC BEARING TO ADOPT INTERMUNICIPAL AGREEMENT
(SCLIWC)
RESOLUTION N0 . 82
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Klein ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca will meet and
conduct a public hearing at 7 : 15 P .M . , on May 13 , 1991 to consider
the adoption of an Intermunicipal Agreement ( SCLIWC ) .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
BENEFIT ASSESSMENT REFUND
Councilman Niklas stated that he had a question regarding Item
number 2 in Mr . Flumerfelt ' s letter where it says he did not think
this should have been necessary , verbal notification should have
been enough . Councilman Niklas remarked that his reading of this
Town Board Minutes 11 April 8 , 1991
suggests that he was saying that he did request it over the phone
but there is no record?
Town Clerk Jean Swartwood replied that Mr . Flumerfelt came in to
pay his taxes and at that point questioned why his units had been
changed to two . It was thought , by the person doing the benefit
units , that the house contained two apartments . There is a form
that has to be filled out , the Building Inspector does have to
inspect the house . He never said that he was working on the house
and had a current building permit and that the Building Inspector
had been there because of this . As a matter of fact , Bob
Flumerfelt was our Town Engineer and he knew the procedure .
Councilman Niklas remarked that if it was standard policy that we
do not refund previous years then he would like to make a motion
that the request be denied .
Councilman Liguori asked if this happens very often that we use the
provision of two year ?
The Town Clerk replied no , but here you are only talking about two
units . It could cause the Town financial problems if it was a
large amount and refunding from the current year .
Councilman Niklas remarked that he was very sympathetic to him but
the Town does have a policy and we should stick by the policy .
This issue may cause us to reevaluate the policy and change it but
none the less that was the policy when this happened .
Supervisor Raffensperger stated that one of the reasons we asked
people to take positive action to make the appointment for the
inspection is it really is very easy for one to say that they had
called the Town and asked them to do something or I mentioned it to
somebody or other and you didn ' t follow it up so now it ' s your
fault . In general what we have tried to do is to set up procedures
so that people take a positive action so that you know they have
made a request for a refund . When they do that , we bring it to the
Town Board and the Town Board decides but to say that it was
mentioned and obviously it was not followed up , she felt that to
have a policy that you only go back so far to give refunds for that
was perfectly reasonable . It was on that basis that she had told
Mr . Flumerfelt that . She went on to say that as far as she knew it
was a policy that had been in effect ever since she had been on the
Town Board ,
Councilman Liguori felt the policy should be written , and he
suggest it. be done at the next Town Board meeting .
Supervisor Raffensperger replied that then the choice would be so
unflexible so as to say that when you get your tax bill and the
Town has somehow or another made an error , it ' s too late for you to
do anything about it .
RESOLUTION N0 . 83
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Whitcemb ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby deny a
refund of benefit units in the amount of 1 unit of water and 1 unit
of sewer charged Robert Flumerfelt on his 1989 Town and County
taxes for the property located at 1020 East Shore Drive . Tax Map
Number 19-2- 18 .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , and Niklas voting Aye . Nays -
Klein and :Liguori ) .
�r
Town Board Minutes 12 April 8 , 1991
CONTRACT ]FOR PLANNING SERVICES
Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the contract with Stuart I .
Brown Associates for planning services expires as of today . You
have a copy of another proposed contract for services for the next
year . Because the Comprehensive Planning Committee did not have an
opportunity to review this contract or to review some material to
be presented from Stuart I . Brown Associates to support the
additional work that is provided for in the contract she would like
to suggest that tonight the Board consider approving the
continuance of the contract for planning services with Stuart I .
Brown Associates for a period of one month under the terms of the
contract which is expiring .
Councilman Niklas stated that he felt the Chairman of the CPC would
express the opinion of the Committee . His own opinion was that the
members of the CPC , he did not know if it was all of them but it
certainly appeared to be a majority , felt a renewal of the contract
should be contingent upon their having an opportunity to evaluate
some additional writing from Mr . Brand . There was expressed some
dissatisfaction concerning some of the previous writings that have
cane from him and we wanted to see what was the quality of the
product that we would anticipate fran renewal of the contract . He
stated that he had said that he would make his personal feelings ,
namely what he had just said , at the Town Board meeting . He stated
that he would also like to add to that that he felt it was almost
suicidal to change horses in the middle of the stream and ,
therefore , he would vote to renew the contract for one month .
Councilman Whitcomb asked Councilman Klein if they would be
discussing the contract , in depth , at the CPC meeting?
Councilman Klein replied that he had spoken to Ron Brand this
morning and obviously other than Town Board members who serve on
the CPC , the other members of the CPC are not that familiar with
the content of the contract in terms of what the consulting firm
should be: doing . So he felt it would be reasonable to have Ron
Brand , who will be at the meeting , review the contract .
Councilman Niklas remarked that the Land Use Subcommittee met this
morning , Ron Brand was there , and we got a chance to look at
outlines for chapters four , five and six . He stated that it was
his understanding that the charge for the Land Use Subcommittee
will be to help write chapters four , five and six . Consequently ,
he felt that many of the issues raised at the last CPC meeting are
in some sense moot .
Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the contract which is in the
Board members folders , except for the additional work to be done on
chapters four and five , is almost identical to the contract
approved by the Town Board last year . She stated that she looked
forward to the Comprehensive Planning Camnittee ' s recommendation
but it is a recommendation to the Town Board and we will have it on
our agenda for next month .
Councilman Whitcomb asked if there was a penalty clause in the
contract for not meeting deadlines and that kind of thing or is
that difficult when we are paying him on an hourly basis ?
Town Attorney Barney replied that a penalty clause could be added .
Councilmaa Niklas remarked that he felt deadlines had been broken
on both sides and it would be difficult to enforce this .
Councilman Klein remarked that after the last CPC meeting there was
a specific request for Ron Brand to provide a writing sample , or
Town Board Minutes 13 April 8 , 1991
write part of chapter four and five . He stated that he had spoken
to Mr . Brand a month ago and he said he would get it done but it
has not been forthcoming . Councilman Klein went on to say that Mr .
Brand had cleared the air this morning at the subcommittee meeting
and that Mr . Brand had pointed out that the procedure was really to
get the outlines approved .
RESOLUTION NO . 84
Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve
the extension of the contract with Stuart I . Brown Associates for a
period of one month .
( Raffensperger , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting Aye . Nays
. Whitcomb) .
PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE TOWN OF ITHACA
ZONING ORDINANCE EXCEPTING CERTAIN APPROVED SITE PLANS AND APPROVED
SUBDIVISIONS FROM THE REQUIRIIMENT OF OBTAINING FILL PERMITS
Proof of posting and publication of a notice of public hearing to
consider a local law amending the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance
excepting certain approved site plans and approved subdivisions
from the requirement of obtaining fill permits having been
presented by the Town Clerk , the Supervisor opened the public
hearing .
Town Attorney Barney stated that this was the reaction to the
discovery that when we adopted the fill requirements we basically
said that: anybody that got a permit for an approved site plan or
subdivision would not have to get a fill permit if they concluded
their work within three years of the time they got that initial
approval . What we are attempting to do is give everybody , no
matter when they obtained their approval , kind of a grandfathering
period , until the end of December 1992 . Anybody who had an
existing approved subdivision or site plan would not be required to
get an additional fill permit if they completed their work within
two years of the adoption of the law which was around January first
of this year .
As no one in attendance wished to speak for or against the proposed
amendment. , the Supervisor closed the public hearing .
Councilman Whitcomb remarked that he had a question . He then
asked , if this were not adopted then someone who got a permit a
year ago , two years ago , when would he have to get a permit?
Town Attorney Barney replied , presumably three years from the date
they got their original site plan approval . It basically gives
them an option , three years from the date they got the original
site plan approval or two years after the adoption of the local
law, which ever is later .
Councilman Whitcomb continued , if someone gets a fill permit
tomorrow they have three years from then to complete their work .
Town Barley replied , if someone gets final subdivision approval .
He remarked , you said fill permit and he was not sure that
Councilman Whitcomb meant fill permit .
Councilman Whitcomb asked how someone would go about getting a fill
permit? Is that part of the subdivision approval process ?
Town Board Minutes 14 April 8 , 1991
Building Inspector Frost replied , special approval to the Town
Zoning Board only unless their is an excess of 2 , 500 cubic yards of
material to be deposited or extracted then it ' s a Planning
Board/ Zon=ing Board matter .
Councilman Whitcomb replied , so it ' s part of the subdivision review
process but is it something the ZBA acts on , or the Planning Board?
Town Attorney Barney replied the way it is set up now, if you come
in today , forget about the grandfathering , if you walked in the
door today the Planning Board would review as part of the
subdivision approval process would review the cuts . The road cuts ,
the fill and that sort of thing with the help of the Tam Engineer
and at the time they grant their subdivision approval it would
include any conditions they felt were necessary or appropriate to
protect the damage that they felt might occur because of the fill
operation . In effect you have applied for your fill permit but you
are doing it through the subdivision approval process . The same
thing with site plan approval . If , however , you come in
independent of either a site plan or subdivision approval then it
is a BZA :matter unless it ' s a large amount of fill then it takes a
Planning :Board recommendation to the ZBA .
Councilman Whitcomb remarked , let ' s assume our knowledge about
dredging and filling and has improved in the last few years ,
wouldn ' t it make sense to perhaps review some of the things that
are being done now under the ordinance that presently exists ?
People who have had approval prior to the enactment of this law?
Say somebody who got subdivision approval two years ago , is it
safe to say we are more concerned about fill today than we were two
years ago ?
Town Attorney Barney replied that he felt this was a safe
assumption . He went on to say that he felt it was a case of
fairness in that we have imposed a law on somebody saying you now
must get a fill permit and the question is , is it now fair to say
that to somebody who , in good faith , when through whatever our
procedures were two years ago and got their approvals in accordance
with the requirements at that juncture . Do they now need to go
through an additional set of procedures before they proceed . He
felt the feeling at the COC was that the two year period was not to
long and was a reasonable compromise .
Councilman Niklas remarked , that he thought a valuable piece of
information for everyone to have before they voted on this was , for
example , how many site plan approvals are we talking about .
Building Inspector Frost remarked that he had a property that
received subdivision approval , the newly formed parcel from that
subdivision was built upon with a commercial building . The
building was completed , given a certificate of occupancy . In kind
of finishing up some landscaping some fill was brought in but no
where in the record is there any indication that filling was ever
really discussed outside of filling material that was placed
underneath the building which was part of the site plan . He stated
that he had sited the person , for violating the ordinance , because
the building permit is no longer in effect because it has . been
closed out , the building is complete and the site plan had no
indication of any fill going on the property . So there are things
out there that are several years old .
Councilr an Niklas asked the Building Inspector if he had any idea
how many .
Building Inspector Frost replied that he could not give a rough
guess without thinking about it for a while .
Town Board Minutes 15 April 8 , 1991
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked , we are saying anything that was
approved after what date .
Town Attorney Barney replied this law became effective , he thought ,
in January so measuring back it would be anybody who had done
anything up to three years back , 1988 .
Councilman Niklas remarked that he felt it was true what Councilman
Whitcomb and Town Attorney Barney were saying and that is that our
awareness and knowledge of filling and grading was greater than it
was in 1988 . But what the Town Attorney had said was also true
that someone in good faith who got a site plan approved back then
to do a certain thing . . . . . we are trying to be fair but also to keep
the spirit of the law . He stated that his feeling was that the
Board was not talking about an awful large number , may be a handful
of cases and it ' s just a question of being fair to these people .
Councilmaz Klein asked if approved meant final approval or
preliminary approval .
Town Attorney Barney replied that they were really going for final
approval . He did not think that there were any that would fall
within the change between preliminary and final . The intention
here was final approval .
Councilman Whitcomb remarked , suppose the original site plan
approval or subdivision approval said nothing about the deposit or
removal of fill and then the contractor , as a part of completion of
that site plan , does in fact move material in or out . Is he then
subject to law or is he grandfathered?
Town Attorney Barney replied that he hesitated to answer that
categorically . He felt that each individual circumstance should be
looked at . If you have a site plan that clearly shows that there
will have to be material taken out , whether the Planning Board
specifically considered the removal or not , he would hate to go to
court to defend any action . On the other hand , if after the
adoption of the law somebody had a brilliant idea to put burins in
where they were never shown on the site plan then he felt they
would be subject to the new law.
Councilman Niklas remarked that he did not think that the citation
given for the particular case that the Building Inspector talked
about was relevant in passing this particular local law . We have
to look at the generic .
LOCAL LAW # 7 - 1991
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Liguori ,
LOCAL LAW' # 7 - 1991
A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE TOWN OF ITHACA ZONING ORDINANCE EXCEPTING
CERTAIN APPROVED SITE PLANS AND APPROVED SUBDIVISIONS FROM THE
REQUIREMENT OF OBTAINING FILL PERMITS
The Zoning Ordinance of the Town of Ithaca as readopted , amended
and revised effective February 26 , 1968 , and thereafter further
amended , and particularly further amended by Local Law No . 9 of the
year 1990 and Local Law No . 13 for the year 1990 is further amended
as follows :
1 . Article XIII , Section 70 , subdivision 3 is hereby amended to
read as follows :
Town Board Minutes 16 April 8 , 1991
3 . Removal or deposit of fill in connection with
construction in accordance with a site plan approved by the
appropriate Town Authority ( e . g . , Town Board , Town Planning
Board , or the Zoning Board of Appeals ) provided that such
construction occurs within three years of the final approval
of such authority or by December 31 , 1992 , whichever is
later . "
2 . Article XIII , Section 70 , subdivision 5 , last paragraph , is
amended to read as follows :
" In any event the exception granted by this subparagraph shall
not apply to any construction which occurs more than three
years after the granting of final subdivision approval by the
Town Planning Board or after December 31 , 1992 , whichever date
is later . "
3 . This Local Law shall take effect upon its publication as
required by law .
The Supervisor called for a roll call vote
Councilman Klein Voting Aye
Councilwoman Leary Voting Aye
Councilman Liguori Voting Aye
Councilman Niklas Voting Aye
Councilman Whitcomb Voting Nay
Supervisor Raffensperger Voting Aye
Local Law No . 7 - 1991 was thereupon declared duly adopted .
AUTHORIZE BIDDING FOR INLET VALLEY WATER AND SEWER PROJECT
Town Engineer Walker stated that the acquisition of the easements
for the project is underway . He anticipated having all the major
easements in place by April 26 . If this is not put out to bid by
April 26 it will throw the whole schedule off .
RESOLUTION NO . 85
Motion by Councilman Liguori ; seconded by Councilman Niklas ,
WHEREAS , the final corrections to the plans and specifications for
the First Phase of the Inlet Valley portion of the 1989 Water and
Sewer Improvement Project have been completed by Stearns & Wheler ,
and the contract documents have been prepared for bidding , and
WHEREAS , the Tcnipkins County Department of Health has approved the
project plans and specifications , and
WHEREAS , acquisition of easements is underway and is expected to be
substantially complete by April 26 , 1991 , and
WHO S , the projected project schedule developed by the
Engineering Department indicates April 26 , 1991 as the targeted
date for advertisement for bids ,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca authorizes the advertisement for bids of the First Phase of
the Inlet Valley portion of the 1989 Water and Sewer Improvement
Project .
Town Board Minutes 17 April 8 , 1991
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
AWARDING OF BID FOR 1989 WATER AND SEWER IMPROVEMENTS - CONTRACT #3
- WEST HILL
Town Engineer Walker noted that there were 16 bidders , the low
bidder was LRS Excavating , Inc . , of Lansing , New York . The bid
price was $ 177 , 786 . 00 . The engineers estimate was in the range of
$ 210 , 000 to $ 220 , 000 and he felt this was a good bid . He also
noted a two page memo , which the Board members have , of how
contractors are to be evaluated .
RESOLUTION NO . 86
Motion by Councilman Liguori ; seconded by Councilman Niklas ,
WHEREAS , bids for the Construction of Sanitary Sewer and Water
Mains , 1989 Water and Sewer Improvements , Contract No . 3 , West
Hill , have been received and opened publicly at 1 : 00 P . M . , on
Friday , March 29 , 1991 , and
WHEREAS , the bid documents have been examined for completeness by
the Town Engineer , and
WHEREAS , the bid proposals have been compared and the apparent
successful bidder is LRS Excavating , Inc . , of Lansing , New York
with a bid of $ 177 , 786 . 00 , and
WHEREAS , -the Town Engineer has determined that this is a responsive
bid , and
WHEREAS , the Town Engineer has evaluated the contractor ' s
capability and found that he meets the requirements of the Town of
Ithaca and appears to be the lowest responsible bidder ,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca hereby authorizes the Town Supervisor of the Town of Ithaca
to award the contract for the Construction of Sanitary Sewer and
Water Mains , 1989 Water and Sewer Improvements , Contract No . 3 ,
West Hill to LRS Excavating , Inc . , of Lansing , New York , with the
following conditions :
19 The contractor delivers to the Town of Ithaca three fully
executed sets of Agreements ;
2 . The contractor delivers to the Town of Ithaca with the
executed agreement the Contract Security (BONDS ) as specified
in the contract documents ;
3 . The contractor delivers to the Town Engineer and Town Attorney
such additional documentation as either may require to
complete the evaluation of the bid .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none) .
REAPPLYING FOR LOWER SPEED LIMIT ON WARREN ROAD BETWEEN HANSHAW
ROAD AND THE VILLAGE OF LANSING
Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the Board had information which
indicates that the Town of Ithaca has applied to NYS DOT for a
lower speed limit on Warren Road between Hanshaw Road and the
Village of Lansing . New York State DOT turned us down . The
Town Board Minutes 18 April 8 , 1991
Village of Lansing has requested that we reapply to NYS DOT because
of the extraordinary changes in the speed limits along that section
of road . It is really quite congested with two schools right along
the road and one quite adjacent to it , a fairly large apartment
complex , etc . The Village is willing to send us a resolution
supporting our request and she stated that she would like to ask
the Town Board to authorize the Town to reapply for a lower speed
limit on Warren Road between Hanshaw Road and the Village of
Lansing .
Highway Superintendent Scott McConnell stated that he had talked to
Ward Hungerford and the Town does have to apply to the State to
reduce a school speed limit .
Supervisor Raffensperger asked who had put it up without it being
authorized?
Mr . McConnell replied , that he had talked to Bill Mobbs and that it
was a joint County and Town endeavor . In his opinion , if the Town
was going to request a reduction in the speed limit for the rest of
the area to 30 , then the school zone should be something less than
30 , like 20 or 25 .
Supervisor Raffensperger replied that very often when we apply to
DOT we do not try to set the speed limits , what we say is that we
are asking for a reduction of the speed limit . A lower speed limit
on Warren Road between Hanshaw Road and the Village of Lansing and
we could say in addition , a reduction in the speed limit in the
school zone as it presently exists .
Councilman Niklas remarked that it was his recollection that the
Town has had a number of requests , in the past , that have been
declined and he recalled that after the last one , we were going to
find out what recourse we would have to appeal . Other than simply
requesting , is there any way in which a town can exert sane greater
influence than just saying we respectfully request you to
reconsider this ?
Superintendent McConnell replied that he had also talked to Ward
Hungerford about this . Mr . Hungerford stated that he has talked to
the people that actually do the site visit and the determination
and if they turn us down , and it has worked for the County a couple
times , to ask them to reevaluate the request and actually drive it
with them, and explain .
Councilman Niklas asked , in our request could we communicate our
willingness to drive with them may be somebody like the Town
Highway Superintendent . If we indicate that willingness it might
give us a better chance .
Supervisor Raffensperger replied and we will send along the Village
of Lansing ' s resolution supporting it .
Highway Superintendent McConnell went on to say that he had
discovered that Warren Road from Hanshaw Road down to Forest Hcn-e ,
the entire route , is 55 MPH . It ' s unmarked because it ' s not a
reduced limit , at all .
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked then if the Town should not ask
for the speed limit on Warren Road frcm Hanshaw Road to the Village
of Lansing line be reduced from 40 to 30 and that from Forest Hcme
Drive to Hanshaw Road be reduced from 55 to 40 .
RESOLUTION N0 . 87
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded. by Councilman Liguori ,
Town Board Minutes 19 April 8 , 1991
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby request
the Highway Superintendent to apply to the New York State
Department of Transportation through the Tompkins County
Commissioner of Public Works for a reduction in the speed limit on
Warren Road between Hanshaw Road and the Village of Lansing line .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
RESOLUTION N0 , 88
Motion by Councilman Whitcomb ; seconded by Councilman Niklas ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby request
the Highway Superintendent to apply to the New York State
Department of Transportation through the Tompkins County
Commissioner of Public Works for a reduction in the speed limit on
Warren Road between Hanshaw Road and Forest Home Drive .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
SET DATE FOR PUBLIC HEARING TO RESTRICT PARKING ON MAPLE AVENUE
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that the Board had discussed
this , no ;parking except for the area by the recreation way where we
would pezmit parking for recreation way use only , not to exceed
three hours .
RESOLUTION NO , 89
Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca will meet and
conduct a public hearing at 7 : 30 P . M . , on May 13 , 1991 to consider
restricting parking on Maple Avenue .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
SET DATE FOR PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER A LOCAL LAW TO REQUIRE
OPERATING PERMITS FOR CERTAIN USES IN THE TOWN OF ITHACA AND
PROVIDING FOR INSPECTIONS OF MULTIPLE DWELLINGS AND OTHER USES
Building Inspector Andrew Frost stated that they had been , as
required by State Law , inspecting a variety of properties
essentially everything except one and two family residences .
Multiple dwellings and apartment complexes are being inspected on a
two year schedule . Other business establishments other than places
of public: assembly are being inspected every two years . Place of
public assembly that can accommodate 50 or more people , are done on
an annual. basis . This will set up a mechanism for an application
and paying the fees .
Councilman Liguori asked if this was the primary purpose , to
collect a. fee ?
Mr . Frost replied , not necessarily . There are places out there
that we don ' t know about , primarily multiple dwellings .
Councilman Liguori questioned , such as health care facilities being
inspected. by other agencies and the Town . He asked why would the
Town duplicate this inspection .
Town Board Minutes 20 April 8 , 1991
Mr . Frost replied , actually we find things and he felt there was a
certain benefit to some duplication . For example , he did an
inspection of Boynton Junior High School with the Fire Department
and we salt' things that the Fire Department did not see and perhaps
they saw things that we didn ' t see . The Hospital would have the
State Health Department looking at more public health kinds of
items .
Councilman Liguori replied that the ones he was concerned about
were the ones that were already permitted by other agencies and
most of the time higher in suture than the Town . He went on to
say that it seemed little . . . . he stated that he did not know what
the proper term was . * . but for a Town to go into a hospital and
make an inspection and require a permit to operate a complex
facility like that? In his judgement it was absolutely out of the
realm of -the Town Board ,
Supervisor Raffensperger stated that she had read the
correspondence after the last inspection up at the hospital and it
was helpful .
Councilman Niklas asked if the proposed law could just say
dormitories , hotels or motels providing sleeping accommodations ?
Or , facilities providing sleeping accommodations for more than 10
people . Or you could say dormitories , hotels or motels with
similar facilities providing accommodations for sleeping .
Building Inspector Frost stated that he was curious why we have the
number 10 for dormitories .
Councilman Niklas went on to say that he noticed that B&B ' s are
essentially not mentioned .
Mr . Frost replied that a Bed & Breakfast as long as they are
providing sleeping for more than 4 people would qualify as a
hotel/motel .
Councilman Niklas replied , but here it says hotels and motels
providing for more than 10 people .
Mr . Frost: replied that that was why he was questioning the Town
Attorney as to where he got the figure 10 .
Councilman Niklas remarked that if we wanted to handle B&B ' s here
would be the opportunity to do this by changing the 10 people you
could say dormitories , hotels , motels or similar facilities
providing sleeping accommodations for "x " number of people .
Mr . Frost: remarked that he should have spoken about this before
tonights meeting but he would like to discuss , with the Town
Attorney , the 10 people .
Councilman Klein asked if rooms would be more appropriate ?
Mr . Frost: replied there are a couple of ways to approach it . You
could have a single building where sleeping accommodations are
provided for more than 4 people and then the building automatically
goes from an A-1 or A-2 classification to a "B " classification ,
multiple dwellings . More than 4 would be a key number for the
hotel/motel and he supposed the same for dormitories . On the other
hand , you. could have a motel complex with 4 bedrooms that each have
3 beds in them and then you have the capacity for 12 people which
should be regulated .
Supervisor Raffensperger asked , are we doing dormitories , hotels ,
motels or- similar facilities ?
Town Board Minutes 21 April 8 , 1991
Councilman Whitcomb asked the Building Inspector for his
recommendation .
Mr . Frost replied that he felt they could be grouped together ,
dormitory ,, hotel , motel , and a place providing sleeping
acccmrodations for more than 4 people , roamers , boarders , etc .
Councilman Niklas suggested that B&B ' s be added . Councilman Niklas
then suggested that this be worked up by staff .
Town Attorney Barney remarked that if there was some strong feeling
among the Board then he would like to put in what the Board felt
would work , so we don ' t have to have another public hearing .
Councilman Niklas remarked that he did not know if it was desirable
to include B&B ' s . If the objective is to make B&B ' s meet safety
standards . . . . . . . .
Mr . Frost: stated , we can add hotels , motels , roaming houses ,
boarding houses .
Councilman Niklas replied that he had said that offers similar
sleeping accommodations .
Supervisor. Raffensperger remarked that she thought the intent of
what is meant is clear and if the Board did not have any objections
that they could ask to have the language clarified and then it will
be mailed to you before the public hearing .
Councilman Liguori added , let ' s clarify that the revocations permit
only applies to the New York State Fire Code and that the Building
Inspector can ' t revoke it for any other purpose except for a
violation of the New York State Fire Code ,
Mr . Frost replied that he did not know how significant a zoning
violation would came in .
Town Attorney Barney replied , use permits and operating permits are
two different things . Use permits are permits for a particular use
and usually an isolated use . The operating permit is a new permit
that we are creating by this local law and it only covers the items
in section 6 . 7 . The revocation applies to both . We can revoke a
use permit: if the facts are different than shown in the permit or
the application . He could revoke it for fire or he could revoke it
for zoning or for any other matter that is different than was
disclosed in the permit or found to be illegal .
Councilman. Liguori stated that he felt there should be a statement
of intent . It ' s the operating permit that bothers him , he said .
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that the Building Inspector is
already doing these inspections because he is required to do them .
They cost money for him to do and it seemed to her that the people ,
the canmlercial enterprises , who have these inspections done for
them should pay at least a portion of the cost . This is part of
this user fee that we are all going to have to cane to . Our other
choice is to have it distributed across the whole tax base of the
Town of Ithaca . Obviously sane of it already is , even if we have
the fee schedule but it is on this basis that we are considering
not only this but the second part of this which is setting a fee
because we already do it .
RESOLUTION NO . 90
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Whitcomb ,
Town Board Minutes 22 April 8 , 1991
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca will meet and
conduct a public hearing at 7 : 45 P . M . , on May 13 , 1991 to consider
a local law to require operating permits for certain uses in the
Town of Ithaca and providing for inspections of multiple dwellings
and other uses .
(Raffensperger , Whitccmb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
CONSIDER SETTING DATE FOR PUBLIC HEARING TO AMEND THE ZONING
ORDINANCE REGARDING FEES FOR BUILDING PERMITS AND PROVIDING FOR USE
PERMIT FE13S AND OPERATING PERMIT FEES
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that these are already functions
that we are providing for commercial enterprises and this allows
for a portion of the cost of that inspection to be recovered by the
Town in the way of user fees .
Town Attorney Barney remarked that there was two sections , Section
76A picks up the user fee and operating permit structure and the
second page breaks it out into a sliding scale . Section 1 is a
revision of the existing building permit application fee , they are
all increased a little bit and there are a couple of additional
tiers added ,
Councilman Klein asked how the fees now compare with the City of
Ithaca ?
Mr . Frost replied , still quite a bit less .
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that the Town of Ithaca ' s fees
are quite comparable with other towns .
Councilman Klein remarked that Ron Brand had suggested , when he did
the analysis of the Town laws that these fees be part of municipal
fees rather than the Zoning Ordinance . He asked if there was any
validity to consider that and actually take it out of the Zoning
ordinance .
Town Attorney Barney replied that he did not think it was a bad
idea to consider an ordinance or local law that just deals with
fees and put everything we charge a fee for in that local law . He
stated that , however , he would wait until the comprehensive
planning process was completed because there will probably be more
changes that will need to be made .
RESOLUTION NO , 91
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Klein ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca will meet and
hold a public hearing at 8 : 00 P . M . , on May 13 , 1991 to consider
amending the Zoning Ordinance regarding fees for building permits
and providing for use permit fees and operating permit fees .
(Raffensperger , Whitccmb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none) .
APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT
Highway Superintendent McConnell stated that this had been
discussed with the Public Works Committee and the intent is that
during the unexpected absence of himself or any other Highway
Superintendent there should be someone who is knowledgeable and
Town Board Minutes 23 April 8 , 1991
qualified for the position and able to take over until the
Superintendent can return .
Councilman Klein asked if this should be given to the Personnel
Committee for their consideration and a job description for the
position?
Supervisor Raffensperger replied that when the Highway
Superintendent has developed the criteria for the position then it
should go to the Personnel Committee for approval of the job
description .
RESOLUTION N0 , 92
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded Councilman Liguori ,
WHEREAS , the need exists to insure continuity in the event of
unexpected or long term absence of the Highway Superintendent .
This would be accomplished by having another person familiar with
the process , record keeping , work schedule , man power and assets ,
etc . , and
WHEREAS , appointing a Deputy Highway Superintendent would insure
that there is a second person available and capable of performing
the duties; and responsibilities of the Highway Superintendent , and
WHEREAS , Fred Noteboan , an employee of the Highway Department is
capable of learning all the tasks and is qualified for the
position ,
NOW FORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the position of Deputy Highway
Superintendent be created , and
IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED , that Fred Noteboan be appointed as the
Deputy Superintendent at no change in Mr . Noteboom ' s present
compensation for the time being .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays, - none) .
AUTHORIZING ATTENDANCE AT NEW YORK STATE LAND INSTITUTE CONFERENCE
IN SYRACUSE , NEW YORK
RESOLUTION' NO , 93
Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby
authorizes attendance by up to a total of three members of the
Conservation Advisory Council and Town Planning Department staff at
the New York Land Institute , Inc . , seminar entitled "Municipal
Regulation of Freshwater Wetlands " , to be held in Syracuse , New
York on April 27 , 1991 , at a total cost not to exceed $ 225 , to be
paid out of Account No . B8020 . 407 .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
AUTHORIZE BUILDING INSPECTOR/ ZONING OFFICER TO ATTEND BUILDING
OFFICIALS :EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE
RESOLUTION NO , 94
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Klein ,
Town Board Minutes 24 April 8 , 1991
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby
authorize Building Inspector/ Zoning Officer Andrew Frost to attend
the Sixteenth Annual Building Officials Educational Conference ,
April 15 , 16 , 17 , 1991 in Rochester , New York , at a cost of
approximately $ 300 .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye , Nays - none ) ,
ATTENDANCE; AT SMALL FLEET MAINTENANCE SEMINAR
RESOLUTION NO . 95
Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby
authorize Highway Superintendent Scott McConnell to attend the
Small Fleet Maintenance Seminar in Syracuse , New York , April 10 ,
1991 at an, approximate cost of $ 200 .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
AUTHORIZE PAYMENT OF SCLIWC INVOICES PRIOR TO MONTH AUDIT MEETING
Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the Bolton Point Commission
passed and has asked us to pass a resolution to allow them to pay
invoices prior to the monthly audit meeting . She stated that the
Health Insurance should be deleted from the proposed resolution .
Town Attorney Barney noted that the resolution should also say that
the rentals are all for the term of one year or more .
RESOLUTION N0 . 96
Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby
authorizes the Southern Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission
Treasurer to pay the following invoices prior to the month Audit
Meeting . New York State Electric and Gas Corp . , New York Telephone
Company , AT & T rental agreements , Chicorp Financial Services for
rental of the Data General MV2000 computer , Tompkins County Trust
Company for rental of MITA copier and payroll with the
understanding that the rentals are all for the term of one year or
more .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
APPOINT wr OF TOWN OF ITHACA DOG ENUMERATOR
Supervisor Raffensperger noted that a notice was put in the
Newsletter and Brian McKelvey , who lives in the Town of Ithaca ,
wished to do it . She stated that she and the Town Clerk have
talked to him and she felt he was an excellent person for the
position . He has already started and in a very short time has
enumerated 53 dogs , 28 of those were unlicensed .
RESOLUTION N0 . 97
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Counci lman Whitcomb ,
Town Board Minutes 25 April 8 , 1991
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby ratify
the appointment of Brian McKelvey of 816 Hanshaw Road as the Town
of Ithaca. Dog Enumerator starting April 1 , 1991 , and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED , THAT Mr . McKelvey be paid $ 1 . 00 per dog
enumerated and 26 cents per mile in mileage to perform said
enumeration .
(Raffensperger , Whitccmb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
' FEBRUARY AND MARCH TOWN BOARD MINUTES
RESOLUTION NO . 98
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Liguori ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve
the February 1991 and March 1991 Town Board minutes as presented by
the Town Clerk .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye , Nay: - none) .
WATER ACCOUNT REFUNDS
RESOLUTION N0 . 99
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Liguori ,
( 1 )
WHEREAS , a meter reading error was made on March 1991 water billing
and the owner paid the incorrect bill ,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
+ Ithaca hereby authorize a refund of $67 . 49 for water , $ 9 . 89 water
surcharge , $ 44 . 88 sewer and $ 4 . 72 sewer surcharge , total refund of
$ 126 . 98 be made to Lemuel Wright , 1035 Hanshaw Road , Ithaca , New
York , Account Number T- 1342 .
( 2 )
WHEREAS , Mr . and Mrs . Tracy Brooks are unable to read their own
water meter consequently the bills have been estimated , and
WHEREAS , when an actual reading was obtained it was found that
their consumption was much lower than the estimated bills ,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca hereby authorize a refund of $ 103 . 81 for water , $ 15 . 32 water
surcharge , $ 8 . 93 penalty , total refund of $ 128 . 06 be paid to Tracy
Brooks , 1226 Trmmansburg Road , Ithaca , New York . Account Number
B-279 .
( 3 )
WHEREAS , the owner of the property located at 1095 Taughannock
Boulevard has been receiving estimated bills , and
WHEREAS , when an actual meter reading was taken it was determined
that the estimated bills exceeded the actual consumption ,
No] THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca hereby authorize a refund of $ 106 . 49 for water , $ 15 . 75 water
Town Board Minutes 26 April 8 , 1991
surcharge ,, $ 80 . 93 sewer , $ 7 . 46 sewer surcharge and $ 16 . 55
penalties ,, total refund of $ 227 . 18 be paid to Barbara Yale , 211
Fall View Terrace , Ithaca , New York . Account Number B-4304 .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye , Nay: - none ) ,
ATTENDANCE AT TCAD WORKSHOP
Supervisor Raffensperger stated that she did not know if any Town
Board member wishes to join a group going to this . She asked if
any of the Board members wished to attend?
Councilwoman Leary replied that there was something about it that
bothered her . She went on to say that in the other description
they sent , there was a brochure they sent with it and it assumes
that development is good .
AT=ANC]EI AT SOCIAL TRENDS AND OUTLOOK CONFERENCE AT CORNELL
UNIVERSITY
RESOLUTION N0 . 100
Motion by Councilman Liguori ; seconded by Councilman Whitcomb ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby
authorize any Town Board member who wishes to attend either TOAD
Workshop to be held either April 24th , May 1st or May 8th at the
Owego-Apalachin Middle School or the Social Trends and Outlook
Conference at Cornell University , May 1 and 2 , to do so .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none) .
RATIFY THE ADVERTISEMENT FOR SECRETARIAL ASSISTANCE TO CAC
RESOLUTION NO . 101
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Liguori ,
WHEREAS , the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca at their December 10 ,
1990 meeting authorized the Conservation Advisory Council to hire a
clerical person to transcribe the minutes of the CAC meetings
during 1991 at a price not to exceed $ 1 , 000 ,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca hereby ratify the advertisement to fill said clerical
position .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
PROCEDURES FOR ADVERTISING PAINTING EXTERIOR OF TOWN HALL AND
PROPOSED TERMS
Supervisor Raffensperger stated that she and the Town Clerk had had
a discussion on this today and with the concern about what the
State of New York was planning on doing to us , and the fact that
she had made a tour of the outside , it appears to her that at least
for this year it ' s difficult to justify doing any painting except
basically up at the top where it is pealing so badly . The
remainder of the paint looks to be in fairly good condition . She
Town Board Minutes 27 April 8 , 1991
went on to say that it would not have to be bid because it was just
the trim work .
Town Attorney Barney went on to say that Councilwoman Valentino had
requested that terms for any bidding be that the Town would pay
prevailing wage rates , that there be at least 50 % of the workers
from Tompkins County and a document showing past health and safety
records . He felt this was a policy decision . Naturally you don ' t
want somebody working with a poor safety record but he did not know
if this had to be spelled out as part of the initial arrangements .
Supervisor Raffensperger noted that Councilwoman Valentino had
given her a list of painters but the Town Clerk will contact as
many painters as we can to have them give us a price . She asked
the Board if they wished to have each one of them guarantee that
they hire 50 % of their workers from Tompkins County and to document
their past: work and health and safety records .
Councilwoman Leary remarked that she felt the requirement of 50% of
the workers must be from Tompkins County was a good requirement
because we have to take care of the people who live in Tompkins
County first .
RESOLUTION N0 . 102
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilwoman Leary ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby
authorize the solicitation of prices for the painting of the trim
on the Town Hall and to request that the contractors hire 50 % of
their workers from Tompkins County and to document their past work
and health and safety records .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
CHANGE ORDER ON TROY ROAD WATER TANK
RESOLuTioN N0 . 103
Motion by Councilman Whitcomb ; seconded by Councilman Niklas ,
WHEREAS , wet site conditions along the route of the access road to
the Water Tank site that were more severe than the original plans
anticipated , required the use of stabilization geotextile and
additional gravel base material to provide an access road of the
required quality , and
WHEREAS , -the electrical control system and telemetry did not
require all of the modifications at the Bolton Point control panel
and at the Oakcrest pump station as originally shown on the plans
allowing certain electrical components to be eliminated from the
contract , and
WHEREAS , the Bolton Point staff recommended a change to the plans
involving eliminating the Electrical Manhole and installing the
tank level. monitoring equipment in an above ground prefabricated
shelter , and
WHEREAS , the Engineer ( Stearns and Wheler ) has modified the
drawings and specifications to incorporate these changes and the
Town Engineer has determined that these modifications are
reasonable and necessary , and
Town Board Minutes 28 April 8 , 1991
WHEREAS , the modifications have been presented to the Contractor by
the Engineer , and the Contractor has prepared a cost proposal to
make these changes , which the Engineer has reviewed and recommended
acceptance of , and
WHEREAS , the modifications will result in a net decrease in the
Contract sun of $5 , 039 . 00 , from the original contract sum of
$ 256 , 967 . 00 to a new contract sum of $ 251 , 928 . 00 ,
NOW 'IHUM;`ORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca hereby accepts Change Order # 1 to The 1989 Water and Sewer
Improvement Project Contract # 1 , Troy Road Water Storage Tank , and
authorizes the Town Supervisor to execute same .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
TOWN OF ITHACA WARRANTS
RESOLUTION N0 . 104
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Liguori ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approves
the Town of Ithaca Warrants dated April 8 , 1991 , in the following
amounts :
General Fund - Town Wide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 85 , 467 . 93
General Fund - Outside Village . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 40 , 053 . 99
Highway Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 35 , 553 . 15
Water & Sewer Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 133 , 535 . 06
Capital Projects Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 40 , 440906
Lighting Districts Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 696 . 35
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
BOLTON POINT WARRANTS
RESOLUTION N0 . 105
Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas ,
RESOLVED , that the Bolton Point Warrants dated April 8 , 1991 , in
the Operating Account are hereby approved in the amount of
$ 82 , 417 . 32 after review and upon the recommendation of the Southern
Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission , they are in order for
payment .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
EXECUTIVE SESSION
RESOLUTION N0 . 106
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Whitcomb ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby moves
into Executive Session to discuss possible land acquisition .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
Town Board Minutes 29 April 8 , 1991
OPEN SESSION
RESOLUTION NO . 107
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Whitccanb ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby moves
back into Open Session .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye , Nay; - none ) .
ADJOURINMIT
The meeting was duly adjourned .
.�J
To Clerk