Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-04-09TB 4 -9wWs TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING April 9, 2003 Board Members Present: Supv Mark Varvayanis, C1 Charles Hatfield, Cl Stephen Stelick, Jr., Cl Deborah Grantham, Cl Christopher Michaels Other Elected Officials: Bambi L. Hollenbeck, Town Clerk Jack Bush, Highway Superintendent Other `Gown Staff: Mahlon R. Perkins, Town Attorney Henry Slater, Zoning Office David Putnam (TG Millers), Town Engineer PUBLIC HEARING ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT ADD TAX MAP PARCEL #143. -1 -29.6 TO MA ZONE Supv Varvayanis opened the public hearing at 7:00 p.m. and Town Clerk read the public hearing notice published in The Ithaca Journal on March 26, 2003, David Dubow, Esq. of Barney, Grossman, Dubow & Marcus, representing the property owner, Cornelius Drost, addressed the board. He stated the purpose of the requested change was self - explanatory in terms of the documentation that has been submitted. This particular parcel, because of the way it had been subdivided in the past, is very difficult if not impossible for residential use because of the zoning that currently exists. After a lengthy period of time and effort on the part of the owner to find a use that would be compatible with the residential uses, the owner has petitioned the Town for a zoning change to the MA Zone. The property owner fully understands all of the uses in that zone would be subject to the Town's site plan review and understands further that an area variance will be required because of the road frontage. The property owner asks that the board act favorably on the request. Supv Varvayanis asked if there were any neighbors in the audience who would like to comment and there were none. The public hearing was left to open at 7:05 p.m. to allow for further comment. Zoning Officer Henry Slater introduced Richard Einhorn of FEMA and Larry Lepak from DEC who will present an award to Matt Shulman for the work he did on Project Impact during 2002. Larry Lepak: For the past seven years, and since the `96 Flood, I've had various interactions in this area with the community of the Town of Dryden, Village of Freeville, Village of Dryden. We all know about the damage the flood did and as a result of that flood there were various construction mitigation efforts that were taken. But a number of people thought that if there was some way that we could deal with disaster preparedness better, that would be a great thing to have in our community (the Town of Dryden, Village of f~reeville, Village of Dryden). A couple years ago a program came along through FEMA called Project Impact and in that communities were able to receive grants for doing hazard /disaster mitigation. As a result of that the board sent up a committee and they hired Matt Shulman to be their coordinator, 1110,1ge I of 1.0 s a W. TB 4 -94 -01 In my role, I interact with flood -prone communities across a nine counter area in central New York. Many people have problems, hut. only a few communities were selected to be a Project Impact community and to have an effort to mitigate many disasters, not just flooding. This area was lucky and as I watched the elffort of the comma, unity, excellent documentation occurred of what occurred in this con munity. Se, the community dirt the effort, but it was extreinely well documented. When I saw the final report I shipped a copy to FEMA, I shipped a copy to our main office in Albany, and I said someone here needs an au*ard. And with that FEMA heard it, and F'.ENIA is here to make a presentation today_ And I think you all remember around the `96 Flood, that every time we memtioned FEMA it vh-asn't pleasant circumstances because some people were very upset on some things, So this is a time that they can come out and make people happy. Richard Einhorn: Thank you. I6TU hanored to be here tonight. Under our previous admi- nistration there was an n9 utialive to help communities mitigate and reduce the potential of dame fzom natural disasters. This initiative as called Project Impact. Communities were nonuxiatedby their states and approved by FEMA to participate. Back in May of 2040, th.e Town of Dryden sued on to be one of those communities. They included themselves with the Villages of Dryden and Freeville. To lead them on in their quest, the Town hired Matt Shulman to be their coordinator. The community was given $60,000 seed money. Matt took that money, solicited help from business partners and citizen gr o ups and leveraged it into nearly one million dollarq worth of projects to better prepare and protect the communities against'' these natural disasters. Although our administration has changed the program. still exists though it goes by another name today, Predisaster Mitigation. There have been some modifications to the program, but the concept, still remains the same. We at FEMA Legion 2 are very pleased with what Matt and the community }nave accomplished, and on behalf c FF,MA Region 2, it is my privilege tonight to present Matt with FEMA-s award in excellence, I know Matt can't to here with us tonight; our prayers are with him, acid I believe your upervisor'will be accepting this award on his behalf. upv Varvayanis accepted the award for Matt Shulman, who was unable to attend the icaeeting because of family illness. Comchuw Drost, whose property is the subject of the public hearing addressed the board, He stated this was a 3,6 acre undeveloped lot on Royal Road. It is the only lot on Royal Road that is zoned residential, the rest being included m the MA Zone, He has been unable to sell the lot because of the wary it is zoned. He urged the board to approve the rezonhig request. The hearing was left open ac 7:20 p.m_ Supv Varvayanis opened the Town Board meeting and Board members and guests participated in the pledge of allegiance, RECREATION DEPARTMENT Jennifer tslaab presented the Booid with her monthly report_ The office is completely set up (telephone 844 -3303; e -mail Recreation(EYrcn tier, net ), and the receptic}n held on M2xch 0 went well. She attended a New York stage Parks && Recreation Society Cor]ference, participated in a coaching clinic, and attended meetings of the Dryden Recreation Commission and Recreation Partnership. She set up a booth at the TC3 fitness fair and has met with Bailey Insurance regarding additional insurance coverage for programN, Page, 2 of 10 TS 4m9mD3 Lacrosse is currently underway with 49 players (total revenue $1,200). She is assisting 0 Kiwanis un'th sign -ups, scheduling coaches clinics and assisting with coaches met�tfi Upco ming events include an egg hunt t0 be held on April 1.3 at Montgomery Park and a Pepsi Pitch Hit & 'un Competitian on April 26. Summer Base li llf Softball is being coordinated by Dave Hicks. Jennifer is assisting with Duke Erickson Co-ed Softball. Till[ nits Jennifer is currently working on include a holiday at Dryden Lake and a Music in the Park which may take place at Montgomery Park. upv Varvayams asked about the insurance matter. Jennifer explained the Town has a ger,aral liability that will cover general accidents and injuries, lout not sports - related acciderlts- Thcy loDked into purch ing additional excess coverage. There is a base premium of 150,0Q and each a,ddition�al player in a specific program would be $2.85 for children ux2der 12 and $4.60 for ages 13- 15 . This fee would be buil t into the registration. fee and would provide excess coverage when a, parents coverage did not cover fully or would coutrt toward deductible (it would supplement the parents coverage). Jen'nif'er said that lacrosse has 49 players and it would work out to $153 for coverage, which would be the initial premium to purchase the coverage, plus $5.00. Additional coverage would be purchased per participant and is through Travelers Insurance - upv Varvayanis asked if t1 xeze were any further comments on the proposed inning change. There were rime and the public hearing was closed at 7:20 p,m. AMBULANCE REPORT Terri Allen prevented the board %6th the ambulance service monl?xly reparts. There were 98 calls in Larch; 60 of those were billabler Year to date colleclaons for 2002 are $38,833 -83, and for 2003 they collected $24,673 -46- There is currently $1,928 -6 still outstanding for 200 1, and $31,910.24 for 2002- Cl Michaels noted tholir the call volume seems to be increasing and T Allen said that some months tend to be busier than others, The Board reviewed the short environmental assessment farm in connection with the requested zoning change. Cl Lficha.elsb disclosed that his tfrrtt, specifically his ,partner Mike Brawn, represents Transonic Systems on patent related matters- They are not the owner of the property ins question, but the property owner is an officer anri major shareholder in the corporation. He does not plan to recur himself because he doesn't believe it is a convict, but he wanted to publicly disclow the relationship- REWLUTION 057 - NM SEQR DEC - ZONING CHANGE C1 Grantham offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption_ RESOLVED, that Lhlis Town Board does hereby issue a negative declarO�tion based on the SE R review. This is an unlisted action and the Town of Dryden is the lead agency in uncoordinated review. The supervisor is authorized to sign all necessary document;s- 2nc Cl NEchaels Roll Call Vote Cl Hatfield Yes 1 Stelick yes Supv Varvayglruis Yes Cl Michaels Yes Page 3 of 10 n T13 4 -9 -03 Cl (jr�jntham Yes O Slater stated th ;t the County Planning Department have determined that there are no adverse intercommunity impacts. RESOLUTION #58 - AMEND ZONING ORDINANCE Cl Grantham offered the fallowing resolution and asked for its adoption RESOLVED, that this Town Board does hereby amend Section 401 of the Town of Dryden Zonizig Ordinance as follows; in Sec6on 401, All land in the Town of Dryden shall fall within one of the established Zones as shown on a map entitled "Toam of Dryden Zoning MvR1 ongrnally prepared by Egner and Niederkorn Asso., Inc- and last Revised 4 f 09 f 03 ". The area to be affected by such chase to the MA Zone is more particularly described as being Town of Dryden Tax Map Parcel #43. -1 -29,5. rLa Cl Michaels boll Call Vote COUNTY BRIEFING Cl Hatfield Yes 1 Stelick Yes Supv Varvayan.is Yes C1 Michaels Yes Cl Grantham Yes Mike Lane said there had been some significant ec conomic actions in the County, Yesterday the Industrial Development Agency approved the bonding for the Ciminelli project in downtown Ithaca- If they get their final approvals they can proceed and secure their rights to the property, they will be developing a Cornell office building which wil-I employ about 500 people and an associated hotel 9%U be connected with that- The IDA authorized taut abatements and bonding for the next- for -profit podion of the project (the Oomell office building} - It is a 0 -year abatement and is under the density policy that was enacted by the IDA at the request of the City of Ithaca- The ILIA approved the inducement. resolution, which is the bee nnin of the process for the bonding for a not -for- profit LLC which will be the conduit for constructing the Cayuga Green parkin garage facilities on the soLeth side of the library- This will be necessary in order to support enough parking for the Cirninelh projeets- Other IDA considerations include 1ldvion's requests for tax abatements for their new building;. Ta &, T Distribuoxig has applied in connection with new construction ix) Dryden. Lane said it is important for Tompkins County to cc-ril inue to put its best foot forward when it comes to economic development. They need to let people Imaw that the County is open for business, is receptive to moderate, well- planned growth, that it is a good place, for people to live and grow their businesses, that we have goad educational institutiorxs. Growth is necessary to keep the tax base strong so that real }property t; ,x increases can be kept to a miT mural M Lane commented that it was rare for a federal agency to come to a town meehing to present an axvard, He said that Matt Shulman deserves the award for the hard work that he Pag4: 4 of 10 TO 4 -9 -03 did, and that commendation needs to go this Town Board and previous Town Boards that ® started Project impact because it is so important to the communities that have been affected by disaster in the past. He said Henry Slater had a large part to do with what was done with Project Impact. He said this was an important award and congratulated Matt Shulman and everyone who had a part in the project. Supv Varvayanis thanked M Lane for his help with the bank stabilization project. Robin Seeley: A few weeks ago Mr. Galbraith wrote to the Town Attorney and offered to settle the road widening lawsuit by simply accepting the judge's language in the temporary injunction and making the temporary injunction (on properties on 3 roads only: Hurd, Hunt Hill, and Freese) permanent. This eliminates properties on the other 4 roads from the injunction. I hope you will see this as a fair settlement of our disagreement. The plaintiffs are not completely satisfied with the judge's language, as we had hoped to have language that addressed more precisely where the town right-of-way ends. But since Jack has indicated on two occasions that he is satisfied with the judge's language, first last Spring when he said he was happy with the judge's Decision when it was first announced, and then again, I think it was on March 13, when Jack said he's actually using the language in the judge's Decision to locate the Town right -of- -way on roads that: are scheduled for work in 2003. So although the plaintiffs aren't completely satisfied with the language in the temporary injunction, in the interest of settling the lawsuit they're willing to accept it. And I hope that Jack is also willing to accept the language as he indicated on March 13. This seems like a fair ® wa_y for both the Town and the plaintiffs to stop spending more money negotiating different language in the settlement. The judge's Decision establishes pretty well where the right of way line is in general terms and when followed, should protect the Town and the plaintiffs against: any encroachments on private property. I would hope you would lend your support to that. Supv Varvayanis asked whether Atty Perkins would like to discuss the matter in executive session later. Atty Perkins said he had sent a copy of Mr Galbraith's letter to the Highway Superintendent and did not know whether he had had a chance to review it. COUNCIL PRIVILEGE Cl Grantham said with respect to the aquifer study, USGS has drawn up specifications for a monitoring well and they have been distributing those. They would like to try to approve it and get the well drilled by the end of the month. She would like the board to authorize the Supervisor to accept a bid. The cost is not expected to exceed $15,000. They will accept the lowest bid because she thinks all the people who are expected to bid are quite capable of the job. She doesn't want to put a cap on the resolution, but said that if the bids come in at $30,000 they will look for other bids, but she doesn't want to say $15,000 and have the bid come in at $1 5,000. They have looked at renovating an existing well, but: it isn't feasible because it is silted in. The well is expected to be 300' deep. They are trying to get it done this month because the County Health Department can pay for $6,000 of the cost. RESOLUTION #59 - AUTHORIZE SUPERVISOR TO ACCEPT BID FOR WELL Cl Grantham offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: 0 Page 5 of 10 El TB 4 -9 -03 RESOLVED that this Town Board hereby authorizes the Supervisor to accept the lowest bid meeting specifications for drilling a well i.rl connection with the aquifer study. 2n,1 el Michaels Roll Call 'Vote Cl Hatfield Yes 1 Stelick Yes upv Varvayarlis Yes Cl Michaels Yew Cl Grantham Yes Todd arid Diane TenKate have contacted the flown regarding their obligation to the Town under two separate HUD grant/loans, They are refinanc g their mortgage and are asking the Fawn to subordinate its liens, Atty Merlons explained that right now there is a first mortgage on the property and the 'town holds a second mortgage and a diminishi � lien agreement. The second mortgage is for 25"1/x, of the money that went into the project which they are paying back at 1% interest_ The dimin�g lien, agreement is for 75% of the project cost and if they sell the property within ten years they pay back based on the time that has elapsed. The proposal is that the TenKates will pay off the second mortgage (the one they are paying on) and have a new mortgage in place of the first mortgage ari d second mortgage, 7` a diminishing lien would then actually be second to everything else, and Atty Perkins said the ratios are about the same_ There is about $81,000 total debt against the property and they are proposing anew mortgage of $72,000, payoff- the Town's second mortgage (apprwdmately $5,125) and the lien would still be in place. Supv Varvayanis said he didn't sec where the Town would be any less protected as it gets the mortgage paid off right away and the TenKates save over $3,000 per year. That amount paid off would then be available for another project. Cl Grantham said she had no problem with it, and Cl Hatfield said he didn't either. Atty Perkins would like to review the subordination agreement_ RESOLUTION #60 - APPROVE TENKATE SUBORDINAT[ON C1 Michaels offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorize the Town �upeivisor to execute an agreement subordinating its lien on the property owned by'Pndd and Dianne TenRate, subject to review by the 'Town Attorney, 2nd ] Grantham Roll Call Vote G1 Hatfield Yes 1 tel%ck Yes aupv Varvayanis Yes G1 Michaels Yes 1 Grantham Yes upv Varvayal explained to the Board that the Town has had a ma s in tenance .agreement with Davelle Office Equipment for the typewriters owned ley the Town . It is due to renew at a cost of $284.00 fora year. After discussion, the Board decided that it would not renew the contract, but instead pay for service as necessary, RESOLUTION #61 - CAN EL T"EWRITER Hd.AIUTENAN E AGREEMENT l Grantham of Bred, the following resolution and asked for its adoption_ Page 0 of 10 TR 4 -9-43 RE SOLVED, that this To)xm Board will not renew the Maintenance agreement for typcxvriter maintenance - "c C'1 Michaels Roll Call Vote Cl Hatfield Yes Cl stehck Yes Supv Va- vayatus Yea Cl Michaels Yes CI Grantham Yes With respect to a site for the new'rown Hall, Supv Varvoyanis has spoken with Loren Hardesty owner of the 'box car site' on Dryden lZoad. He will agree to ari option through September at $180,000. He has also spoken to the Gus Katsiroumbus who said he skill hasn't received an offer from the DOT or from the insurance company. We don't know if there will be water available. He is not sure what lannd will be available, btx t sans he will be willirZ to sell at $32,000 azl acre. ratty Perl rns said he understood that Dryden Mutual has made an offer. Wt need to secure about three acres for a building site. C`.1 Michaels noted that there would be a cost involved in demolishing the present structure at the box car site. Dave Putnam noted that most of that site i-s unconsolidated construction debris and that could cause excessive foundation costs. Cl Grantham said that Pam Kingsbury had stated that depending on the design of the Town Hall, the building behind the box car site might be suitable. CI Michaels asked for more information about the fill on the site. D Putnam said that fill had been brought in fairly recently from Pinckney Road- The water service to the building was or4�inally run up the back because the water main is behind the building. The shutoff valve is estimated to now be abouyl 9 feet underground. All has spilled over from the site onto Cornell property and onto the property behind it- Cl Grantham said it could be a condition chat the fill be removed from adjoining properties, Cl Steak said that he had spoken to Gus about three acres on the corner of Route 38 and Enterprise Onve, He'd like to get an appraisal of that property and compare the two sites. Ike thins that the Tawas may be ahle to got a beilter deal from Gus. Water for the site would have to be addressed- Cl Michaels asked about the status of %wager for the area and said that it appeared that the Town wvuuld not be able to get water from the George Junior Republic, The area being considered for a water district wrsuld consist of roughty forty parcels of land, including one large and one small trailer park and ten or so residential parcels. The rest are commercial properties. If a sufficient well could be had close to the district the cost involved would be around $800,000. The Town could contract x6th $oltnn Point to administer the system, TC3 could be added to the dislYict and the cost involved would be the cost of the pipe to connect them, but a well would have to be developed that would produce another 54 to 60 thousand gallons a day. Cl Michaels asked ifTC3 were included, would it help spread the capitalization of the water district, Cl G=rantham said if they are only paying for water they consume and not for capitalization, it will cost them more to be in a district. Cl Michaels asiced if it would make the district more affordable if TC3 and the School District were included and Atty Perkins said yes, it would make it more affordable. Atty Perkins said the first question to be answered is what is the supply of water and suggested the Town hire a geologist; have them point out where a potential source utight be and starr drilling wells_ Everything revolves around finding a local source of water- Cl Michaels said that makes sense 2md noted that the draft mastez plan discusses development in that area. Cl Stelick asked if the `['own were to build the new town hall on Enterinise Drive, did we need municipal water. D Putnam said it was recommended, bul. we did not need it. Chances Page 7 of 10 TB 4 -9-03 are it would be considemd a public water supply and there would be regulations to follow. Should water become available, the building could be booked up at a later time. K Ezell seated one issue with the water is that the building would need a sprinkler system. That could be accomplished m i th a storage tank and pump. The tank would ,need to be approximately 2000 gallons_ Cl Stelick said in order to compare the two sites, the cost of this would have to be considered. D Putnam suggested someone contact the insurance company to see what their water system cost. The beard discussed whether the monitoring wells for the aquifer study could be drilled on the site, and then used as a water source, but because the requirements are different for a room ring well, it is probably not feasible. C1 Nfichaels would like some information at the May 7 meeting regarding a geologist to give same recommendatiolxs. Supv Vanayanis said he had spoken with Alike Hattery (Village Trustee) about whether there was any flexibility on the Village's part, and he indicated they would be willing to an;n more land, but annexation was the only route they were willing to go, Cl Stelick said that there are a lot of people in the area to be served by the water district and it didn't seem that the initial cost was unreasonable_ The board asked upv Varvayauis to write to property owners in the district to deterE=i a whether they would like a water district. Cl Michaels suggested a letter be wzitten to the VMage advising them that the Town is about to order an engineering study and is looking at the area the water district would include and ghat it seems sensible to include T3 and the High School_ .He said that by far the most economical solution is to use the Village water source, and that perhaps if the Village reaHzed the Town was serious about the district, they might offer to sell the Town water. upv Varvayanis said he had spoken with lid Marx about the DOT project, They are meeting with the DOT tomorrow. Apparently there was same problem with the mechanism for releasing the funding. They may be prepared to make a presentation of the project -next month, RESOLUTION 462 = APPROVE ABSTRACT # 104 1 Hatfield offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption; RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves Abstract # 104, as audited, vouchers # -2 23 through 302, totaling $200,897.08, ,,' Cl Stelick RoU Call Vote HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT Cl Hatfield Yes Cl Stelick Yes Supv Varvayantc Yes Cl Michaels Yes Cl Grranthau, Yes J Bush aslwd the board for a resolution author zur g him to use a neighboring County bid to procure cold mix asphalt. This would save the Town roughly $2.54 per tote, RESOLUTION #63 - USE NEIGHBORING COUNTY SID UJYV Vai vayams offered the followia resolution and asked for iT,s adoption. RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes the Highway Superintendent, at his discretion, to use a neighboring county bid for asphalt products_ 2"<< Cl Stehck Page 8 of 10 Roll Call Vote C1 Hatfield Yes 1 Stelick Yes Supv Varvayanis Yes 1 Michaels ye 'q 1 GTantham Ves B 4-9 -0 The Leukemia Society has contacted the Town about conducting a fundraising walk for the organization on Thursday, September 25, 2003, at 7900 p.m. They are asking that the Town close Rmterprise and Ellis give 1br the event- The board is supportive, and J Bush will deterrxLine whether any board action is required. ATTORNEY No report. TOWN CLERK B Hollenbeck asked the board to approve prior meeting minutes. RESOLUTION #64 - APPROVE MINUTES C1 Hatfield offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board herelsy approves the minutes of the following board meetings= November 6, 2002, November 15, 2002, December 4, 2002, December 11, 2002, January 2, 2003, January 8, 2003, February 5, 2003, and February 12, 00�- 21L<' Cl Michaels Roll Call Dote ZONING OFFICER Cl Hatfield Yes Cl Stehck Yes upv Varvayaniis Yes Cl Nfichaels Yes Cl Grantham Yes O Slater reported that he and Kevin Ezell hKve attended several storrnwater management wozksliops, Cl Granthau n is concerned about erasion control where a pond is being buAt on Quarry Road. X Ezell will report it to DE in the morning. X Ezell presented the board with informalion an the tech prep program at the High choot He has spoken with Linda Bruno about getting a tech prep student/ intern to assist with the imaging project. The student would schedule work time and it wotdd be a paid position. The board needs to authorize payment for the intern, RESOLUTION -065 - AUTHORIZE INTERNE POSITION Cl Grantham enffere±tl the follo wing resolution and asked for its adoptior]; RE SOLVED. that this Town Board hereby authorizes the hiring of a teach prep student f intern to assist with the document. imaging project acid allocates a sum not to exceed $5,000 for 2005 for payment of wages- Page 9 of 10 2nd Cl Michaels 0 Roll Call Vote Cl Hatfield Yes Cl Stelick Yes Supv Varvayanis Yes Cl Michaels Yes Cl Grantham Yes TB 4 -9 -03 John Kelley will attend next month's meeting to explain how the digitizing program will work. Essentially, all building permits, zoning permits, documents etc in the zoning office will be scanned and sorted by tax map number, so that individuals will be able to know the history of a particular parcel of property. He has recommended that the system have it's own server with an automatic backup. There is a new process for having special inspectors for things such as concrete. The Town needs to approve those kinds of inspectors. ZO Slater said the Town may want to update it's local law to accommodate the new building code and special operational permits, such as for places of public assembly. DISCUSSION The owner of the property that was rezoned tonight will be appearing before the Zoning Board of Appeals on May 6 and would like to present their project to the Town Board on May 14, 2003. Supv Varvayanis said he has spoken with Dan Tier regarding the fire contract and he seems to understand the Town's position on the contract. He was going to try and call the other board members, get the contract signed and call back, but he hasn't yet.. On motion of Cl Michaels, seconded by C1 Stelick, and unanimously carried, the board adjourned to executive session at 9:35 p.m. to discuss the employment history of a particular individual. No action vas taken, and the meeting was adjourned at 9:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Hollenbeck Town Clerk Page 10 of 10 Name - (Please Prfn.tj Amk Town Board Mceting April 9, 2003 Address 1) pe 4M6wl