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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-10-1995MINUTES - TOWN BOARD MEETING - MONDAY, JULY 10, 1995 MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING MONDAY, JULY 10, 1995, AT 7:30 P.M. Those present: Teresa M. Robinson, Supervisor Gordon C. VanBenschoten, Councilman Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman Donald E. Cummings, Councilman Carl E. Haynes, Councilman Fran Casullo, Attorney Also present: Leland Cornelius, Liz Brennan, George Senter, Scott Andrews, Don Palmer, Dennis Toolan Moved by Mr. VanBenschoten, seconded by Mr. Cummings, that the minutes of June 12th meeting be approved as mailed. In addition, regarding Resolution No. 38 of the June 1995 minutes, the Town would like to *acknowledge a thank you to George Totman for the many years served on the Tompkins County Planning Federation with a great deal of dedication. Ayes - VanBenschoten, Sovocool, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson. Claim Nos. 91 to 107 of the Highway Fund in the amount of $10,013.15 and Claim Nos. 158 to 179 of the General Fund in the amount of $5,890.29 were presented for audit. Moved by Mr.Sovocool that the bills be approved for payment. Seconded by Mr. Haynes. Ayes - VanBenschoten, Sovocool, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson. Claim No. 6 of the Special Grant Fund (HUD) in the amount of $19,518.00 (Construction Contractors) was submitted for payment. Moved by Mr. VanBenschoten, seconded by Mr Haynes that the bill be approved for payment. Ayes - VanBenschoten, Sovocool, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson. LIZ BRENNAN - BOOKKEEPER - Handed out the list of Expenditure & Revenues. No questions were asked. GEORGE SENTER - CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER - Building permits issued year -to- date: 1994 3 homes 3 mobile homes (2 replacements) 31 other 1995 8 homes 10 mobile homes (3 replacements) 30 other Life safety inspections are current. Unlicensed vehicle survey status involves rubbish and junk, there are 3 left and I am working with these people and they are making an attempt. Mrs. Munson- Sovocool Hill Road, Bonnie Swearingen /John Wood- Spring St. Ext., and John Banas- Pleasant Valley Road. The building permit fee schedule was discussed. A choice of two sets of rates were presented. No public hearing is required to change rates. This will be tabled until the next meeting in August, to give our town attorney a chance to study this. LELAND CORNELIUS - HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT - Sovocool Hill Road - culvert will be placed Wednesday of this week. After this job is complete they will start paving. Leland is getting some quotes for a 3,000+ gallon diesel fuel tank which he should have by next month. COLLEEN PIERSON - TOWN CLERK - Not present - Supervisor Robinson handed out monthly report. TOWN JUSTICE - Monthly reports were passed around for Board Members to review. SCOTT ANDREW OF CIASCHI- DIETERSHAGEN- LITTLE- MICKELSON,LLP, - An audit is done for the Town every year. No major issues that will require me to signal the Town of any major problems in this report. The Town weakness (page 23 of Audit report) stresses Deficit Unreserved, Unappropriated Fund Balance is a major 1 MINUTES - TOWN BOARD MEETING - MONDAY, JULY 10, 1995 issue, fund balances were basically over appropriated when the report was done in March, so there was no unreserved unappropriated fund balance available. Essentially, what happened was all available fund balance was appropriated for 1995. This is a relatively dangerous thing to happen, essentially now you have no reserve. I understand that there was some action taken that you reduced the appropriation so that you didn't have that deficit under your fund balance. See if you understand really what is going on. I would like you to apply your efforts to keep the taxes down. This is good for the taxpayers however, it is not good for the towns health in general. If something were to happen today unexpected there is no reserve there to handle to pay for that.It just warns us that everything has been taken up for 1995.Your revenue stream is not high enough to compensate for it. One of the things you have to do is to either find a revenue stream or reduce your expenditures. My feeling is that taxes should probably be increased maybe to an inflationary level if you get too much more your fund level starts to fluctuate a great deal. What you really have to do is some long range planning, look at your fund balance two, three, four, five years down the road see where your going to be, see where you want to get to and go from there. So at this point in time, you really have to look at that. It is an issue that has got to be addressed, I can't stress that enough. The investment policy has not been updated since 1992. We strongly encourage that you look at it and update it to meet the current standards issued by the state comptroller office. You need a third party collateral agreement with the bank that you do your business with. It is a contract that spells out what they have to hold as collateral to cover your deposits over your FDIC insurance. You give them that its part of the regulations from the state comptroller office that are in conjunctions with the updates of any investment policy. I noted that the town is actively working on the agreement that it was in process. So I encourage that you continue and make sure its fully up to standards. You really have to look at your fund balance not just next year but 5 or 6 years down the road. You have a good plan and work plan so you can get your fund balance in a comfortable range and iron out any of your tax fluctuations. RESOLUTION NO. 40 - BRIDGES At a regular meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Groton held in and for the Town of Groton at the Town Hall on July 10, 1995,the following members being present: Teresa M. Robinson, Supervisor; Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman; Gordon C. VanBenschoten, Councilman; Donald E. Cummings, Councilman; and Carl E. Haynes, Councilman; the following Resolution was duly made by motion of Mr. Sovocool and seconded by Mr. VanBenschoten and the vote was unanimous. WHEREAS, in 1946, pursuant to the New York State Highway Law, the Tompkins County Board of Representatives resolved to take over the bridges having a span greater than 25 feet located outside of the City of Ithaca; and WHEREAS, the County of Tompkins, through its Highway Department, has had the responsibility for repair and maintenance of bridges having a span greater than 25 feet located outside of the City of Ithaca over the past 49 years; and WHEREAS, repairing and maintaining these bridges is an essential function of Tompkins County government which involved responsibility for the safety and well being of all Tompkins County residents; and WHEREAS, the failure to maintain and repair the bridge system in a timely manner has greatly reduced the lifespan of the bridges in Tompkins County and tremendously increased the cost of repair, and WHEREAS, the failure to repair and maintain the bridges has led to long detours and limited access to many areas of the County. These 2 MINUTES - TOWN BOARD MEETING - MONDAY, JULY 10, 1995 detours are not only inconvenient to the residents, but create a dangerous situation for rural residents in that response and return time for emergency vehicles has been impeded; and WHEREAS, the failure to repair and maintain the bridges has created a potential liability for the County of Tompkins in that the danger of accidents and bridge failures is increased; and WHEREAS, the County of Tompkins has failed to present a budget plan which would accomplish either reopening of the closed bridges or performing the postponed repairs and maintenance on the bridges which are still open; and WHEREAS, in preparing the County budget for 1995, the County Board of Representatives is considering passing new resolution to revoke its 1946 resolution, thereby attempting to avoid its statutory responsibility which it undertook for the repair and maintenance of bridges within the County, to avoid the expense of the repairs and maintenance it undertook to provide and to shift this cost and potential liability to the Towns, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Groton opposes any attempt by the Tompkins County Board of Representatives to revoke its 1946 resolution in which it assumed responsibility for repair and maintenance of bridges in the County having a span greater than 25 feet located outside of the City of Ithaca; and be it FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Groton takes the position that the Tompkins County Board of Representatives does not have a basis under the law to revoke its prior 1946 resolution which assumed responsibility for repair and maintenance of bridges in the County having a span greater than 25 feet located outside of the City of Ithaca, particularly where Tompkins County has failed to perform its statutorily mandated responsibility for repair and maintenance of the bridges; be it FURTHER RESOLVED, the Town Board of the Town of Groton requests that the Tompkins County Board of Representatives acknowledge bridge repair and maintenance as an essential function of government by allocating sufficient funds in the 1996 budget to repair and maintain the bridges it has assumed responsibility for; and be it FURTHER resolved, the Town Board of the Town of Groton requests that the Tompkins County Board of Representatives acknowledge bridge repair and maintenance as an essential function of government by preparing a plan for the reopening of the closed bridges and performing the postponed repairs and maintenance on the bridges which are still open; and be it FURTHER RESOLVED, the Town Board of the Town of Groton agrees to work with other Towns in Tompkins County to ensure safe and reliable bridges for the residents of Tompkins County. Dated: July 10, 1995 The undersigned, Carol G. Marks, the Deputy Town Clerk of the Town of Groton, a municipal corporation of the County of Tompkins, State of New York, hereby certifies that the foregoing Resolution is a true and correct copy of the Resolution duly adopted by the Town Board of said Town of Groton at a regular meeting duly called and held on the 10th day of July, 1995. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and the seal of the Town of Groton this 10th day of July 1995 3 MINUTES - TOWN BOARD MEETING - MONDAY, JULY 10, 1995 CAROL G. MARKS, DEPUTY TOWN CLERK GROTON OLD APPLIANCE DAY - Sponsored by the Village & Town Boards on Saturday, July 22, 1995 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Village of Groton Wastewater Plant, 205 Cayuga St. Will take: All metals; refrigerators, dryers, washers, hot water heaters, porcelain sinks & toilets microwaves, batteries and tires at $2.00 apiece - 16" and under only. No cost to the people, but will cost the town for 2 men, landfill permit to take tires to landfill at a charge. Contento's from Cortland will remove the appliances from the Plant. Moved by Mr. Hayes, seconded by Mr. VanBenschoten to sponsor. Ayes - VanBenschoten, Sovocool, Cummings, Haynes, Robinson T. Robinson- Discussed Counties proposal for Towns to collect on the tax notice the Solid Waste Fees, which is technically illegal. This is being discussed by the County and Town Clerks. The County is pushing real hard, this will make a lot of work for the Town Clerks, because since it is on the bill you can pay your taxes, but you don't have to pay your fee on Solid Waste. What kind of receipt will be given to someone when part of it you can't do. C. Haynes - I don't understand it, if the County think that they can't do it legally, why do they think the towns can? Does not make any sense. T. Robinson - The county would like the solid waste fee on one bill with the taxes, have the taxes and have the fees. D. Cummings - Will there be any percentage to the town for doing this? We should not do this for nothing. We should get 50, E. Sovocool - Besides, this is illegal they should do away with this - trucking fee, garbage tag fee, tax on top of that. T. Robinson - The town clerks all got together and they are not excited about it at all. In fact, the Town of Ithaca is really against it. D. Cummings - Seems like they should make this a mandatory thing just like your taxes in the first place. Not just go on your tax bill with the County taxes. We are going to have to pay this thing, there is no question about it, they can take your property if you don't pay your taxes, seems that they should get that into stone first before they can do this. How can we even be arguing about whether this is legal or not, apparently it isn't. T. Robinson- They want to get a company over in Cortland, one they picked even, to help with setting this up so the clerks can all have the same system. Under this system even, they are going to pay or let everybody get a their own computer system so they can put this software in and communicate with everybody. Some of these town can not afford that. We happen to have the system here. This makes more work. They don't have to mail it out and they don't have to collect it if we do it. I just want you to be advised that this going on. C. Haynes - I think what the county is doing, not to defend them, but I think that the problem they have got is they are doing the fee this way, they get to collect up a tax "from a lot of organizations that do not normally pay taxes ". Like a college, for example. Ok, we don't pay taxes over there, but they have given us a fee and we have paid several thousand dollars on this fee. Cornell pays probably tens of thousands of dollars on this fee, and Ithaca College and probably Town of Groton. What is our fee? My point is they are getting fees from the people generating garbage that don't normally pay taxes, so I think that is where the idea came from originally to have a fee. But then they applied the fee to everybody else already paying taxes and it begins to look like a double tax. T. Robinson - The clerks are very unhappy, they expect to have a meeting and ask that you (the board) to attend. Tracey Smith (circuit rider - Tompkins County Planning) will have a "Future Planning" meeting with our Planning Board 4 MINUTES - TOWN BOARD MEETING - MONDAY, JULY 10, 1995 and the Village Planning Board on Thursday, August 17th at 8:00 p.m. at the Town Hall. The Town Board members plan to attend this meeting. Ted Antrum would like to have a block dance on the Town's blacktop parking lot. Teresa will check with the Town's insurance carrier. The tentative date is Friday, July 21st. The board was in agreement. There being no further business, Mr. VanBenschoten moved to adjourn meeting, seconded by Mr. Haynes, at 9:10 p.m.. Unanimous. Carol Marks Deputy Town Clerk *24 July 1995 Dear George, I want to express on behalf of the Groton Town Board, our thanks and appreciation for your service on the Tompkins County Planning Board. For twenty years your hard work has won wide admiration. Your efforts on the Planning Board have received well deserved recognition from statewide professionals. The example of your dedication can only serve to uphold what public spirited service is. Sincerely, Teresa M. Robinson Supervisor Town of Groton k,