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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-08-21TB 08 -21 -02 TOWN OF DRYDEN SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING August 21, 2002 Board Members Present: Supv Mark Varvayanis, CI Charles Hatfield, Cl Stephen Stelick, Jr., Cl Christopher Michaels, Cl Deborah Grantham Other Elected Officials: Bambi L. Hollenbeck, Town Clerk Jack Bush, Highway Superintendent Supv Varvayanis called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m. This was a meeting with the Dryden Village Board to discuss the possibility of providing water to an area north of the Village of Dryden. Present from the Village of Dryden were Reba L. Taylor, Mayor, and Village Trustees Michael Hattery, James Valentine and Daniel Wakeman. Mayor Taylor distributed copies of a proposed agreement and other material relative to previous discussions and negotiations about the formation of water district or otherwise providing water to the MA Zone north of the Village of Dryden. Mike Hattery said that the July 1999 proposed agreement to provide water contained a complicated way to insure that development: of the area was compatible with the Village and was a difficult way to insure the thing. He suggested that it would simpler and have no tax impact to the Town if the area was annexed to the Village. Cl Michaels said that one impact of that would be that the zoning would be decided by the Village instead of the Town, and he is unsure of other implications. Cl Grantham said that she recalled that the interest of landowners in the area previously was to get services because they were so close to the Village but did not receive Village services. For example, Mayor Taylor said that: the Village Police would not respond to that area now and owners have to wait for the Tompkins County Sheriffs Department. Mayor Taylor noted that she had provided copies of a recent letter from the Tompkins County Health Department indicating that the Lee Road water storage reservoir is outdated and should be replaced. They are looking at increasing the Village water rates to help offset the cost of that replacement. She stated that in the past the amount charged to outside users was an issue, with the Town not feeling it should pay more than the Village residents. She stated it is more stress on their equipment and personnel. She stated the rate would be two to two and half times the going rate for water in any water district that is formed because of the increased costs. M Hattery said they could not agree to extend water without some provisions to protect that portion of the Village which adjoins the district. Cl Grantham agreed and said she did not see any impacts that would indicate the Town shouldn't do annexation except that the landowners should be asked about it. Cl Hatfield said that he recalled when property owners were asked previously there were only two in favor of annexation. He is not in favor of annexation and does not believe the property owners are in favor of it. Mayor Taylor said she had been approached by two of the major property owners about being annexed to the Village. One property owner indicated he wanted the police protection and water service. She said the bank had been interested, but is not allowed a vote because of some banking regulations. Page I of 4 l 9✓ TS 08 -21 -02 M Hattery asked if board members would be interested in surveying the property owners to see if they were interested in annexation. Cl Grantham would like the Village to provide them with tar figures for their consideration. Supv Varvayanis said the size of the area would have to be determined. In 1.999 they were talking about an area the size of the current sewer district, but is under the impression they are talking about a smaller area now. He suggested the area could be scaled back depending on the results of the survey. M Hattery said he would be willing to survey the sewer district area and then scale back if necessary. Mayor Taylor said they could do a survey about who would be interested in being hooked into water if a water district was formed, or if they would agree to a water district because there was a question of how much it was going to cost, and there would have to be surcharge right away for formation of the district and construction which would be fairly substantial in addition to paving the going water rate at the time. Previously there was not enough interest in having a water district formed. M Hattery said that things are different now because of the NYS DOT proposal to relocate on Ellis Drive. That development would help reduce the cost of remaining infrastructure and reduce the cost to users in the area whether it is in a district or not. Cl Hatfield asked whether it was certain the DOT would go there. M Hattery said the only reason this discussion was started was because DOT wanted water. He said there are some down sides to them relocating there, but it would reduce the cost of getting water in the area for other properties. Mayor Taylor said she didn't understand if there was not unanimity on the Town Board about the location of the facility on Ellis Drive why the County and NYS are going to do an information session with the public to tell them about locating the facility. She said perhaps they should only be meeting with the Town instead of doing a public information meeting. M Hattery said the Village is secondary in that they will only need to work out supplying water to the facility. Supv Varvayanis pointed out that if the Town Board is meeting, then it is a public meeting. Cl Grantham said the Town has been telling the County that the Town needs to know about where and what the criteria are for placement of a DOT facility. Cl Stelick said the Board is interested in placing it in the Town of Dryden, but are not ready to agree to a specific site at this time. He said he has a problem with Ellis Drive and more specifically, the procedure that decided it was to be on Ellis Drive. He would like to find out what the criteria is, what sites were selected in the Town, and would like to be involved in the decision as to which site is most appropriate. M Hattery said that with that decision driving the whole thing about water, he doesn't feel there is a need for the Village to get involved at this point. Mayor Taylor said this was not how things were presented to them by DOT and Ed Marx (TC Planning) and Barbara Blanchard. They were told it was going to be located there and they wanted a water district. She was under the impression from discussions with representatives of DOT that they were prepared to meet with the public to discuss what the facility would look like, the operating hours, etc. She said it is a waste of her Board's time until the Town has decided what it wants to do. Cl Michaels asked what the Village is interested in having in terms of expansion of the water district, what the advantages are to the Village and what are the negatives. He asked if the Village preferred the Ellis Drive site over other sites in the Town. Mayor Taylor said they were interested in helping the Town because she feels the Town has little hope of developing the Ellis Drive area without water there. She said there is no advantage to the Village to do anything unless the property is annexed to the Village. They figured out how much it would cost if the area was annexed versus how much they are making just renting sewer to the Town, and the Village would lose $42,000 a year at the current rate. She stated it was not Pagc 2 of 4 TB 08 -21-02 advantageous to the Village at the present time and if they raise the rages, all they would do is break even. M Hattery said if there were no negative environmental impacts if the DOT facility was sited on Ellis Drive or quality of life impacts, he would deem it a positive thing if there were not other community characteristic negatives. Supv Varvayanis reminded Board members that the area was an industrial zone and asked Board members what about the DOT they objected to. Cl Stelick said he does not object to the DOT, but: he does object to the process that occurred to get to this point. It's obvious that: the Village Board has a lot of information and the Town Board has some information, but he was not involved in it, and does not like the fact: that the County is telling him that this was the Town's decision and the Town telling him that basically we weren't in the loop. There are people on Lewis Street who don't know about the project, and recalls that when a cement plant wanted to go in that area there was a great objection from the community and he wonders if someone has been laying to keep this quiet. M Hattery said the cement plant had reached the point of site plan review and that was where the public was informed. The Village was approached now because of the need to have municipal water at the site. The Village is not interested in going to a public meeting until there is more information about what the development will look like. Mayor Taylor has spoken %nth some of the residents of the street about the DOT project. Cl Stelick said that he is not against having it there, but wants to make sure that it is what we want there and asked if it was possible that other businesses would want to locate next to the DOT facility. He suggested that the DOT facility go next to the Town Highway facility and the a new Town Hall be located on Ellis Drive, which would be more compatible with Dryden Mutual Insurance. M Hattery noted that the Ellis Drive site is zoned appropriately while the site on East Main Street: is not. IsMayor Taylor said she had spoken with Senator Seward and he indicated that if a decision is not made soon and some progress made, it is likely that the three million dollars earmarked for the project could disappear. Cl Michaels asked if there would be any impact on the Village's water system if the DOT located on East Main Street, and they said it would not make much difference. D Wakeman asked whether more traffic across from the elementary school would be a concern for the residents, and said that it appeared to be more space on Ellis Drive than on East Main Street. Cl Hatfield said that with the current truck traffic and school buses there would probably not be a noticeable difference in traffic. Supv Vwvayanis said they may need to purchase some property from Empire Livestock. Cl Michaels said there could be some sharing of facilities such as salt storage if the DOT located next: to the Town's Highway facility. Mayor Taylor said she had informed the DOT that whether it turned out: to be an annexation process or formation of a water district, the process would take six months or so. She stated there would be no special deal worked out for DOT to get water at the Ellis Drive site. There would have to be annexation of the area to the Village or the formation of a water district. They have been told by the Health Department that they will not allow any more special users in the area. The Board then discussed the possible boundaries of any proposed water district and which mains) the water would come from. Mayor Taylor and M Hat:tery said it with DOT and make some decisions before was the Village's understanding that the pi but wanted DOT to pay for a portion of the owners who want water, but she is unsure was clear involving •operty o« expense. that DOT Page 3 of 4 that the Town needed to interact further the Village. Supv Varvayanis asked if it Tiers in the proposed area wanted water Mayor Taylor said that there are property paying a portion is a factor. She said that TB 09 -21-02 the owner of Little Creek Trailer Park does not want to be part of a district because they have isnew wells and a good water supply. Mayor Taylor said that she understood the September 4 meeting was being advertised as specifically addressing the Ellis Drive site and suggested that someone inform the County and DOT that a specific site was not the subject of the meeting. She suggested that an ad be placed in The Shopper and flyers be put up. Cl Grantham and Cl Stelick said they wanted the meeting to discuss various sites and the criteria. Supv Varvayanis asked for written questions from Board members for the County. The Village has asked the DOT for specifics about the facility, i.e., lighting, truck traffic, hours of operation. Cl Stelick reiterated that he still had a problem with the way in which the Ellis Drive site was apparently selected by the County. Mayor Taylor said that if the Town wanted the Village to be present at the September 4 meeting to let her know, but until a specific site was chosen she didn't feel their presence was necessary. Village Board left the meeting at 9:00 p.m. The Town Board would like to meet with the County and ]JOT to discuss specifically the site selection process and criteria and will go ahead with that meeting on September 4, 2002, Cl Michaels asked Jack Bush whether he thought having the DOT facility next door was a good idea and he responded that while he had no facts about the size of the building or how much space they would need, there would be possible opportunities for sharing salt storage, Mel facilities, maintenance, etc. Supv Varvayanis said that he believes the citizens in the area wanted water and if that could be accomplished without annexing the area to the Village they would be happy with that and Cl Grantham agreed and said that if it takes annexation for the citizens to get what they want and it didn't affect the Town's revenues, that might only mean that the Town would not is be doing site plan reviews for the area. Supv Varvayanis will contract the County tomorrow regarding the September 4, 2002 meeting and let them know that this will be a discussion regarding the whole project and site selection, not a presentation of what they expect: will be. Cl Grantham and Cl Stelick will try to meet with the County prior to the September 4 meeting. On motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Hollenbeck Town Clerk Page 4 of 4