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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-1993 & adjournment to 01-03-1994MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1993 AT 7:30 P.M. Those present: Teresa M. Robinson, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman Gordon C. VanBenschoten, Councilman Donald E. Cummings, Councilman Carl E. Haynes, Councilman Jack Fitzgerald, Attorney Also present: Leland Cornelius, Liz Brennan, George Senter, Betty Sperger, Elsie DeCamp, Lila Pierce, Orlando Houghtaling. Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. VanBenschoten, that the minutes of November 1st be approved as mailed. Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson. Claim Nos. 199 to 223 of the Highway Fund in the amount of $31,778.84 and Claim Nos. 276 to 312 of the General Fund in the amount of $30,391.95 were presented for audit. Moved by Mr. VanBenschoten, seconded by Mr. Cummings , that the bills be approved for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson. LIZ BRENNAN - BOOKKEEPER - Handed out monthly reports for month ending November 30 and a list of expenditures to date. We have some transfers and I've also included a list of encumbrances. The sander, I believe, is already in the bills; the rotary mower that Corney was telling you about and the pickup truck. Also the fax machine. If they are not purchases or ordered before December we'll encumber them for 1994. We'll move the money from this years budget into 1994. Also, as budgeted, transfers to Capital Equipment Fund from General Fund - $15,000 and from Highway Fund - $1000. Read list of transfers for accounts that are running low or are already depleted. Total amount in Capital Equipment Fund is about $27,000. I will get a better picture of year end balance and fund balance when I finally close out and get all the bills in. The only other thing is the electric which we'll be paying what we have left in the budget this year and the remaining amount will come from what was budgeted for 1994. One resolution should cover all the transfers. Actually, the Capital is a line item so we'll just transfer the money. RESOLUTION NO. 58 - AUTHORIZATION TO TRANSFER FUNDS Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the following list of six transfers be authorized: FROM - Contingency DA1990.4 - $2,250 TO - Brush -Weeds Pers. Sery DA5140.1 - $2,250 1 FROM - Contingency DA1990.4 - $500 TO - Social Security DA9030.8 - $500 FROM - Contingency DA1990.4 - $2,250 TO - Machinery - Pers. Serv. DA5130.1 - $2,250 FROM - Retirement DB9010.8 - $880 TO - Gen. Repairs DB5110.4 - $880 FROM - Contingency A1990.4 - $500 TO - Buildings - Pers. Serv. A1620.1 - $500 AS BUDGETED - Transfer to Capital Equipment Fund from: General Fund - $15,000 and Highway Fund - $1000 GEORGE SENTER - CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER - Building Permits year to date: 1992 - 84 issued 14 houses 12 mobile homes 58 other 1993 - 95 issued 15 houses 15 mobile homes 65 other We had a ZBA Hearing - John Pachai was denied a building permit for lack of road frontage on Cedar Lane. A decision was made by the ZBA. He was granted a variance with conditions. You should have a copy of the minutes of that hearing. Sherry O'Brien will be inspected this month. We are working with Attorney on what to do with John Anderson. At this time it is not getting any worse. LELAND CORNELIUS - HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT - I have three quotes for a disk mower. Brown's Tractor - $7800; Palladino & Son - $6950; and Merrill C. Badman - $5700. I would like permission to purchase the mower for $5700. I was unable to find out what the state contract was for the pickup. New list will be out in 1994. I would like to rebid again next month then if the State bid comes in we'll take whatever. I'd like to advertize to bid again. Discussed rebidding or waiting to see what State Bid is and going with bids previously submitted. It was decided to wait for the 1994 State Bid which should be available by the end of December. COLLEEN D. PIERSON - TOWN CLERK - I have the 1994 Highway Contract ready for the Boards signature signatures. I also have the Ambulance and Fire Contracts ready for BETTY SPERGER - Have we found out anything about the sound system so that we can hear what you're saying? T. Robinson said we've had it checked out and are studying it, but it is a little bit more complicated than just putting in a system. He was here today checking it out. A rough estimate of how much it might cost is $7000 - $10,000. B. Sperger - Have you made any inquires about the system that we gave you? 2 T. Robinson - We're extending the bid to include recording as well as the sound. His does not have that in there and I'll have to get a hold of him to expand it to what we want. We may have to bid depending on the cost. Board Members and members of the public toured the Highway Garage to observe the new lighting and electrical work that was completed by Toolan Electric and which now meets the NYS Electrical code. Supervisor Robinson stated that one thing that has to be done every year is an inspection in December of all aluminum connections since they loosen up and can cause some kind of a fire. These are the connections that were put in originally, not this time. There is nothing wrong with them, but need to be checked by an electrician for tightness. Board reviewed Monthly Reports from the Town Clerk and Town Justice Court. RESOLUTION NO. 59 - ACCEPT LOW OUOTE FOR DISC MOWER Moved by Mr. VanBenschoten, seconded by Mr. Cummings Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby authorize the Highway Superintendent to purchase a Kuhn disc mower for $5,700 from Merrill C. Badman of Owasco who provided the lowest quote. LYLE RAYMOND - CHAIRMAN, APPEALS BOARD - Spoke to Board on Memorandum he had sent them regarding Violations under Section 410 of the Groton Land Use & Development Code. The procedure for prosecuting violations in our Code is drastically different from other towns in Tompkins County. Groton is the only Town in the County that requires the Code Enforcement Officer to present alleged Code violations before the Town Zoning Board of Appeals. Danby and Ithaca zoning ordinances state that Article 268 of NYS Town Law will be followed for prosecuting alleged violators, The Dryden, Lansing and Ulysses ordinances assume that Article 268 of Town Law will be used for alleged violations. The violations procedure is simple and occupies no more than one paragraph in any of these other town ordinances. By contrast, the procedure for violations under Section 410 of the Groton Code occupies nearly two pages. It requires the C ode Enforcement Officer to present the evidence for an alleged violation to the Zoning Board of Appeals. Violations are taken to a regular court of law only if the Zoning Board of Appeals directs the Code Enforcement Officer to do so. A cumbersome set of procedures, with deadlines and notifications, must be followed by the Code Enforcement Officer and the Zoning Board of Appeals in meeting these requirements. Deciding upon alleged violations requires knowledge of different areas of law than deciding upon a variance request, for which Zoning Board of Appeals members have little guidance. Training institutes for planning and zoning board of appeals boards do not include procedures for prosecuting violations because it is assumed that these are matters for the regular courts. WE THEREFORE REQUEST THAT THE TOWN BOARD REMOVED SECTION 410 OF THE GROTON LAND USE & DEVELOPMENT CODE AND 3 IN ITS PLACE, TO FOLLOW NYS TOWN LAW, AS OTHER TOWNS IN THE COUNTY DO, FOR CODE VIOLATIONS. Attorney Fitzgerald stated that this would mean an amendment to the Land Use & Development Code which is a local law. He will have the proper materials ready for next months meeting. RESOLUTION NO. 60 - 1994 STATE REGISTER SUBSCRIPTION Moved by Mr. VanBenschoten, seconded by Mr. Cummings Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby desire to subscribe to the 1994 State Register. A bill was received from the Tompkins County Comptroller for 1992 direct charge election expenses. The billing is for 3,304.49. Last year we received a billing for 1992 direct and indirect election expenses in the amount of $14,719.71. During 1992, the State Comptroller issue Opinion 92 -26 which suggested that charging back all the expenses of the Board of Elections was improper. Based upon this Opinion, the Towns disregarded the County's 1992 Election Expense billing. Again, the Towns have agreed that they will not pay. Lansing's Town Attorney will be doing the investigations this time. The law changed and someone at the County level decided to have Town's pay all election expenses. RESOLUTION NO. 61 - DISAPPROVAL OF 1992 ELECTION EXPENSE LEVY Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Groton, upon advice of our Town Attorney and our understanding of the law, that we not pay the bill from Tompkins County for Election Expenses. People who live outside the Town will not be paying County Taxes since the Town leaves sales tax revenues in the County to be applied towards this tax. There was an excess of $1,168.56 which was used to reduce the Town tax rate outside by .014. New outside rate will be 4.571 per thousand. RESOLUTION NO. 62 - AUTHORIZE SIGNING OF FIRE AND AMBULANCE CONTRACTS FOR 1994 Moved by Mr. VanBenschoten, seconded by Mr. Haynes Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby authorize the Supervisor to sign 1994 Fire and Ambulance Contracts with the Village of Groton in the 4 amounts of $58,000 and $51,000, respectively. RESOLUTION NO. 63 - AGREEMENT BETWEEN TOWN AND VILLAGE FOR USE OF TOWN COURTROOM FACILITIES FOR 1994 Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. Cummings Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Groton does authorize the Supervisor to sign Agreement between Town and Village for use of Court Room facilities for 1994 at the rate of $300.00 per month. Supervisor Robinson presented the name of Orlando Houghtaling for our Town Representative on the Youth Committee replacing Tina Smyers. RESOLUTION NO. 64 - APPOINTMENT TO LOCAL YOUTH COMMISSION Moved by Mr. Sovocool, seconded by Mr. VanBenschoten Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby appoint Orlando Houghtaling to the Groton Youth Commission replacing Tina Smyers. Board Members discussed Planning Board's recommendation of a Comprehensive Plan. In their recommendation, they said that they had conducted a public hearing on the proposed plan on October 14 and that they had reviewed the comments received at the hearing and taken them into consideration in the final draft of the comprehensive plan. No one had a copy of the plan dated November, 1993. Since there were some changes to be made and the Board didn't have a copy of the final draft, Mr. Haynes moved to table action until next months meeting. Seconded by Mr. VanBenschoten. Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson. Board Members discussed increasing exemption for the aged so as to keep the Town the same as the School and Village. Last year the School and Village went to the maximum limit. The Town went to $16,500. The $16,500 is the maximum for the 50o exemption. If you opt for the sliding scale, the maximum income level is currently $4,799.99 more. This means that a taxpayer who is 65 or older and has an annual income of less than $21,300 may receive a partial exemption on taxable assessed value of their residence. Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. VanBenschoten, to schedule a hearing on January 10, 1994 at 8:OOPM to amend Local Law No. 1 for the year 1993 which provided for a partial tax exemption of real property owned by certain persons with limited income 65 years of age or older. This is to consider raising income limits for the aged to comply with the County, Village and School. Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson. k, Moved by Mr. VanBenschoten, seconded by Mr. Cummings, to go into executive session to discuss personnel at 9:15PM. Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson. Board meeting reconvened at 9:35PM. Those planning to attend the Annual Association of Towns Meeting in NYC in February need to notify Supervisor Robinson. Attorney Fran Casullo and Supervisor Robinson plan to attend. Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. VanBenschoten, that a Special Town Board Meeting be scheduled for January 3, 1994, at 4:30PM. Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson. Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. VanBenschoten, to schedule the 1994 Organization Meeting for January 10, 1994, at 7:30PM. Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson Board discussed Encumbrances as submitted by Liz Brennan, Bookkeeper. The Rotary Mower and Sander were approved for payment this evening. Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. Sovocool, to authorize the purchase of a fax machine for approximately $1200 contingent upon the best quote. Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson. Supervisor Robinson had a call from Calf regarding sound system. They were here today to look over project and determine where microphones and speakers should go. Also discussed where recording unit would be installed. RESOLUTION NO. 65 - PARTICIPATE IN NYS EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE vunr_uAM Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town of Groton does hereby wish to participate in the State Emergency Assistance Program (SEAP) which can provide reimbursement to eligible counties, cities, towns and villages for extraordinary and unanticipated costs associated with the reconstruction or repair of public buildings, facilities and infrastructure, as a result of a natural disaster occurring after December 1, 1992. FURTHER RESOLVED, that an Emergency Preparedness Plan will be prepared to cite the authority, formulate procedures, and provide guidance for coordinated action in rendering assistance to the citizens within the Town of Groton in the event of a disaster. n Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. VanBenschoten, to postpone adjournment of this meeting until such time as we get state contract prices on the pickup truck (9:45PM). Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson. Colleen D. Pierson Town Clerk MINUTES OF CONTINUEDG TOWN BOARD MEETING MONDAY, JANUARY 3, 1994 AT 4:30 P.M. Present: Teresa M. Robinson, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman Gordon C. VanBenschoten, Councilman Carl E. Haynes, Councilman Absent: Donald E. Cummings, Councilman Also Present: Leland Cornelius, Betty Sperger, Franklin Mott Meeting is a continuation of December 13th meeting left open to take care of any unfinished business, specifically the State contract prices on pickup trucks. Mr. Cornelius reported that the State Contract price for pickups was not yet available and wouldn't be for approximately another two weeks. Since there was no further business, Mr. Sovocool moved to adjourn the December 13th and January 3rd meeting. Seconded by Mr. VanBenschoten. Meeting adjourned at 4:45PM. Unanimous. Colleen D. Pierson Town Clerk 7 MINUTES OF SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING MONDAY, JANUARY 3, 1994 AT 4:30 P.M. Those present: Teresa M. Robinson, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman Gordon C. VanBenschoten, Councilman Carl E. Haynes, Councilman Absent: Donald E. Cummings, Councilman Also present: Leland Cornelius, Betty Sperger, Franklin Mott Purpose of Meeting was to take care of unfinished business. Teresa Robinson read the following letter: "I am retiring from the position of Groton Town Supervisor on January 1, 1994. I respectfully request that the Groton Town Board appoint me as Groton Town Supervisor for the remainder of the term that I was re- elected for, on January 3, 1994. Yours truly, Teresa M. Robinson." Moved by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. Sovocool, to reappoint Teresa Robinson as Supervisor for the remainder of her term. Ayes - Sovocool, VanBenschoten, Haynes (Absent - Cummings). There being no further business, Mr. Sovocool moved to adjourn meeting, seconded by Mr. VanBenschoten, at 4:55 P.M. Unanimous. Colleen D. Pierson Town Clerk 8