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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-09-03TB Uy -03 -03 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING September 3, 2003 Board Members Present: Supv Mark Varvayanis, Cl Charles Hatfield, Cl Stephen Stelick, Jr., Cl Christopher Michaels, Cl Deborah Grantham Other Elected Officials: Bambi L. Hollenbeck, Town Clerk Jack Bush, Highway Superintendent Other Town Staff: Mahlon Perkins, Town Attorney Henry Slater, Zoning Officer David Putnam (TG Millers), Town Engineer PUBLIC HEARING PROPOSED LOCAL LAW REDESIGNATING THE CONSERVATION ADVISORY BOARD AS A CONSERVATION BOARD Supv Varvayanis opened the public hearing at 7:07 p.m. and the Town Clerk read the notice published in The Ithaca Journal. Atty Perkins explained that in 2000 the Town Board created the Towns Conservation Advisory Council and one of the things that the "Town Board did was charge them with coming up with an open space inventory of the Town. That was prepared and fled with the Town Board and the Town Board approved and accepted that in the Spring. The General Municipal Law permits that after that has been done for the Conservation Advisory Council to be designated as a. Conservation Board. As such it can have whatever the functions the Town Board assigns to it. The ones talked about in the enabling legislation are to receive applications when the application involves land on the open space index and. to comment on it. That is what they would be doing if someone made an application that would affect a parcel on the open space index. It would have to be referred by the zoning officer to the Conservation Board and the Conservation Board would have 45 days to act on it before the enabling board could act on it.. The zoning officer would have to make an initial determination about whether an application affects any property in the open space index. Any application which needs Town Board approval, such as site plan review or special permits, any application which requires Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals approval such as a subdivision plat or a variance would have to be reviewed. The Town Board can assign to the Conservation Board such additional duties as it would like. The Department of Environmental Conservation would have to be notified within 30 days of the designation of the Conservation Board. C1 Grantham said that state law allows the Conservation Board up to 45 days to comment on an application and one of the concerns is that would slow down the application process. She said the County Planning Department needs 30 days for §239(1) and (m) review for applications and the two processes could go on concurrently. As soon as the zoning officer receives a complete application the two reviews could be requested. The Conservation Advisory Council currently meets monthly and additional meetings could be scheduled if necessary. Jim Skaley, 940 Dryden Road, urged the board to support the proposed local law. He said if the conditions for the permit application are spelled out. carefully and the zoning officer provides all the information to the applicant ahead of time, it should be any more trouble than anything else they have to go through. The c..omprehensive plan. work will involve natural resource issues as well as economic and land use concerns, and he said having a Conservation Board to work with the Planning Board will be of assistance and help to clarify any questions Page I of 12 M0 • • 0 TB 094)3 -03 in certain situations. He said he understands it has worked fairly well in the Town of Ithaca. He said it would only pertain to the areas included in the open space area, so every application will not require review by the Conservation Board. He said it would help case the work load of the Town Board and provide an insight that would otherwise not be available. Cl Hatfield asked for clarification on what applications would be affected and Atty Perkins said it: would apply to special permits, site plan review, variances, subdivision approvals and to building permits if it: involves an activity within an area that has been designated on the open space inventory. Cl Stclick asked K Ezell to comment on the proposed local lair. He said that he had not seen the open spare inventory so he was not sure what areas it affects. He said that if it affects areas that are already wetlands or identified as unique areas, that is not going to affect the building permit: process at all to speak of_ if it affects other areas that. are not uvithin those designations then it would affect the building permit application because typical process for a building permit process is if "a, b and c" are met, the applicant: gets the permit without any further review by the zoning office. It is not discretionary, it is administrative. If it was in one of the areas designated in the open space inventory, it: would have to be reviewed by the board and it may not take 45 days, but they have 45 days in which to respond. He said he could not comment on how many applications it would affect because. he does not know the areas well. Cl Grantham said there are different areas in the inventory to consider, shown on 1 1 maps, that lay out the particular features they looked at, such as historic features; schools, etc, and that. is something that is considered in special permits anyway. She's not sure how that would affect building permits. She said certainly designated wetlands and unique natural areas would be considered. K Ezell asked if applied to buildings to be constructed within 1,00 feet of area, or some such guidelines. Cl Grantham said no, it is literally an inventory and makes no recommendations such as buffers, but designates important natural resources in the Town of Dryden. it said that certain soils might. be problematic for septics, for example. K Ezell asked if areas were designated by lot lines and she said no, it was not done on a. parcel basis, but on a natural resources basis. K Ezell it would be good to have the parcels overlaid on the natural features and Cl Grantham said that George Frantz may have done it because many of the maps created for the comprehensive plan were used by the conseivation advisory council. Cl Michaels said it would be helpful for the zoning office to have a list by parcel number of the lots included in designated areas. Cl Grantham said it was in GIS form so would not be a. problem to do. K Ezell said he was given t:he files for the open space inventory (OST in mar, format and he was unable to read it. It is on the web site. Cl Grantham said George Frantz needs to get the GIS files to the zoning office. .K Ezell said the information could then be loaded in the new building permit program and they would get a flag when the permit information was entered. Cl Stelick asked what the difference would be as far as timing in the building permit process for a. person who wanted to build, in a critical area. K. Ezell said that now if a complete application is received on a Monday morning for a single family dwelling, the zoning work could he done that afternoon and the permit would be issued by Wednesday or Thursday, if they have already received septic approval and road cut approval, and have an accurate set. of plans. If they had to send the application to the Conservation Board, it could take from an extra week to perhaps the 45 days. Applicant would be advised of the involvement of the Conservation Board as soon as it was determined the property was in an area designated in the OSI. Cl Grantham suggested that the .Health Department, developers and other agencies the Town oftem deals with that this would be an additional review and it could take time and they Page 2 of 12 TB 094)34)3 should start: it right away. K Ezell said they could disseminate that information through the Tompkins Cortland Home Builders and Remodelers Association, which meets monthly. Cl Stelick said this would board would be advisory only and the final decision would rest. with the Town Board or other enabling board and Atty Perkins confirmed that. It was noted that the inventory referred to is called an index in state law. K Ezell asked what would happen to a. building permit application (where final decision rests with his office) if the application was reviewed by the Conservation Board and it was determined to have a negative impact or them as a negative comment. Atty Perkins said the zoning office would bring it to the attention of the board, but final decision would. rest with the zoning office. He said the weakest part of the proposed legislation is if someone applies for an activity that they are entitled to do as a matter of right. There is a ministerial function only because the zoning office is obligated to issue a permit. The only remedy if the Conservation Board believes that there is a negative impact is persuasion or to change the zoning. Cl Michaels said then in that case they may be about to pass something that isn't doing a lot of good. Supv Vaivayanis said thatss only when they are applying for a building permit that's an administrative function. if they are doing site plan approval, requesting a variance or something else it would be. different. Cl Grantham said the process would not have to be held up because the review by the Conservation Board could be requested at the same time as the §239(1) and (m) review. Ai:ty Perkins explained that a public hearing cannot be held until the §239 0) and (m) review is received. Cl. Michaels said then it would be he person trying to build a single - family home that would be impacted most by this review, and the delay would not result, as currently written; in any changes to their plan. Atty Perkins said that would be the case unless they could be persuaded to move the project away from the critical area, or you change the zoning. Cl Grantham that would not be as the consequence of one building permit, ® but the zoning would reflect what is in the open space inventory when zoning is revised. Martha Robertson said there isn't any other place a. homeowner would get that kind of information in the process and most homeowners would probably be willing to protect their own property, so she thinks ghat information would be valuable to the project. They may decide to go ahead anyway, but it gives them the opportunity to understand the effects of their plans rather than find out after the house is placed. She said it would he a benefit to property owners. Since the Town is in the process of their comprehensive plan and redoing the zoning, it would be a good opportunity to put it all together. J Skalcy said that a citizen could seek the advice of the Conservation board in advance of an application. Cl Michaels asked what the status of the comprehensive plan was and Cl Grantham said that the Town Board could adopt the draft: comprehensive plan. Board members have received a copy as the planning board was satisfied with it in the spring. Cl Stelick said that he thought there were some questions referred to George Frantz and Supv Varvayanis said that some of the numbers had been corrected. Cl Michaels asked someone to contact George Frantz and see if he was available to attend the October 1 hoard meeting. Cl Hatfield how many building permits last year were in any of the areas identified in the OSI. K Ezell said he did not know because he did not have the OSI and they would have to look at the permits again. Cl Michaels said he would like the zoning officers to have a copy of the OSI and hear their comments on it prior to adopting the proposed local law. Cl Stelick asked how many permits for single family homes were issued last year and K Ezell said 4D including the ones considered double wides or HUD approved homes he guessed about 25 or 30 and this year they have already had that many. Cl Stelick said he agreed with Cl Michaels Pagc 3 of 12 TB 0946-03 and would like to have feedback and information from the zoning officers, including what ® percentage of the land in the town is not included in the OSI. D Putnam said that when the unique natural areas were last updated his side yard and the strawberry field next door were included, but the unique natural area is actually west of both of those, and Supv Varvayanis said one of the maps seems to include one of his alfalfa fields. D Putnam said that could potentially cause a problem if he wanted to subdivide and build a house in what is presently his side yard. Cl Michaels asked whether the board had the power to modify the OSI and Supv Varvayanis said yes, and that he would hope the Town Board would review it periodically and make adjustments. Cl Michaels said that perhaps the property owners should be advised that their property is included in the OSi. K Ezell and Cl Grantham said that the County's Information Technology Services should have a copy of the OSI. M Robertson suggested that the County Planning Department might. also find it useful. B Hollenbeck read an email from Tom Hatfield. He said that he recalled when the CAC was formed that it would enable the community to apply for Federal and State funding that was available to communities that had such a board. He encouraged the board to establish the Conservation Board, but is concerned about adding another layer of review to application from those willing to invest in improving the tax base in Dryden and would like to see the 45 day comment period shortened and encouraged the board to consider ways to maintain the current schedules. Atty Perkins said this was the right step to be taking even if it needed to modified., such as by exempting single family homes. He said he was not suggesting that the review period should be less than 45 days. He also said that he did not think this process will affect any ® good project. It will not impact it negatively, but will result in a better project. It will utilize the expertise of these community members to comment on the impacts. if changes are made another public hearing will need to be held. Cl Grantham said that there are plenty of houses in the area that if they were just placed differently on the lot would have a better septic system_ and a dry basement and this is the kind of advice that can help them with that. The intent is to have a positive impact on the natural resources in the town and. the people who use the natural resources. After further discussion, the public hearing; was left open. R Hollenbeck read an e-mail from Leslie Chatterton for ,Jack Bush: h would like to express our appreciation and gratitude for the high level of service we received from you and your staff with our drainage problem at 140 Mt: Pleasant Rd. As you saw, the combination of the road work, and the rain event of Sunday and Monday July 20th and 21at caused a lot of gravel to run into our lawn, I was pretty concerned and not confident of my ability to clean it up. Your response to my phonelcalls, visits by you and your deputy, meeting me there to talk about the situation, your timely follow -up with the cutting of trees and the scheduling of a clean -up crew and finally, the good job your crews did on Tuesday and the much improved condition of my yard really says a lot about the attention paid by the Dryden Highway Department to the concerns and needs of Dryden Town residents. Thanks again. " B Hollenbeck read a letter from Floyd .Ayers of 360 Hunt Hill Road: Dear Supervisor Wwva_yanis, i will be unable to attend tonight's meeting but would like to submit the following during the citizen's comment period: eThis letter is directed to Highway Superintendent Jack Bush - Page 4 of 12 TB 09 -03-03 ® Recently there has not been much favorable commentary coming from the Hunt Hill neighborhood towards you and your depa.rtm.ent regarding the road condition. 1, for one, would like to reverse this trend and publicly offer my thanks for the recent resurfacing of the affected areas. I realize this is a. very busy time for you and your stab and I appreciate your efforts in fitting this project into your schedule. Traveling Hunt Hill Road is now much safer for all who use it, especially the school buses transporting our children. Thanks again to you and your staff, Floyd R. Ayers Supv Varvayanis has received a letter regarding renewing the contract with the SPCA. The Town is required by law to provide dog control. The board reviewed the letter and possibly extending the contract for one year to be in line with the expiration of other town's contract. B Hollenbeck said she would get .figures together for the next meeting for what is currently paid for dog control and what is collected in fees, together with the current contract. The current contract only covers dogs but does not cover cats. They can be surrendered by owners, but the SPCA will not come out to pick up strays. M Robertson said t:ha.t the County contracts with the SPCA for cats, but it may only be for shelter, not pickup. The letter to the Town says that owner surrendered cats will be accepted on a space available basis. M Robertson said she believes the contract with the county says that they will accept all owner surrendered cats. Cl Michaels said that it would make sense for the Town and County to all have contracts that expire at the same time. Cl Grantham said any new contract should incorporate language acknowledging that the Town will write tickets for unlicensed dogs, those tickets to be served by the SPCA. The Town has received a letter from the Department of F,,nvironmental Conservation regarding their possible purchase of a parcel of land to be included as part of Hammond Hill ® State Forest. They are asking whether the Town has any objection and the Board has no objection so long as the property is not taken by eminent domain. RESOLUTION #131 - DEC PROPERTY ACQUISITION Cl Michaels offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: PMSQLVIaD, that this Town Board does hereby acknowledge that it has been offered the opportunity to object to the acquisition by the NYS Department. of Environmental Conservation of a parcel of property to included as part of the Hammond Hill State Forest, and has no objection so long as it is a friendly purchase from a willing seller and eminent domain proceedings are not used. 2«<' Cl Grantham Roll Call Vote C1 Hatfield Yes Cl Stelick Yes Supv Varvayanis Yes Cl Michaels Yes Cl Grantham Yes Supv Varvayanis reminded the board that there had been a request by people on Leisure Lane for additional street lighting. A letter was received today from residents who are concerned about placement of a street light near their property. Town Clerk read the letter: Dear Members of the Board: We have recently learned that a fellow resident of Leisure Lane has requested the placement of three additional streetlights. No polling of fellow residents was performed, so to Page 5 of 12 TB 09 -03-03 ® our knowledge, this request is from a. single resident and does not necessarily represent all the affected neighbors. We would like to voice our opposition to the request. For the past. eleven years we have enioyed our country lifestyle inhere the evenings are quiet and lighted only by the soft radiance of the Milky Way. The proposed placement of one of the streetlights directly across from our driveway would allow light to glare right into our bedroom window. Although we would like to be good sports and good neighbors, we would also like to preserve our sleep — and any remaining semblance of country life. if the Board does consider granting the request in lieu of the support of the majority of affected residents, would it at least consider omitting the one light proposed to be placed in front of our driveway? We anticipate your reply. Sincerely, Anita and James Richards The board reviewed the boundaries of the lots in the lighting district and after discussion it was decided that the supervisor would write to the property owners in the district, advise them with respect the projected cost of additional lighting in the district, and ask for their comment:. Cl Michaels asked about the budget timing and Supv Varvayanis said that request forms have been distributed to department heads and by the end of the month he will have a tentative budget. to the Town Clerk. The audit of t:he Varna Fire Department has been received, and a draft of the Freeville audit. There has been no response from Etna yet. Supv Varvayanis will try and contact Etna. again. ® Cl Michaels said the he and Cl Stelick had been asked to go over contract proposals with Neptune and Varna.. He asked if any board members had concerns they wished to raise with any of the departments. T-le said his issues would be to identify things in the contract that that would go up if a particular department is very active, such as fuel costs, training, turn out gear_ if a department recruits a number of volunteers it could be a financial disaster providing the train.i.ng and turnout gear. He would like to see a. number of things in the contract moved to the Town basically reimbursing. Atty Perkins said there would need to be some cap for budget purposes. He would like to identify areas such as this to be "reimbursable items ", the goal being to lower the amount that isn't direct reimbursement and make it clearer how the funds are spent. Cl Michaels said he understands that some departments put away a certain amount of funds for reserves (the accountants are looking into what is an appropriate amount of reserves) and he would like to see language in the contract: that identifies what is a reserve and what: it can be used for. He would like to see all Departments look at: it in a similar way. His understanding is that: they all are in pretty good health financially. Supv Varvayanis invested by the departm is permitted to invest its guidelines. said he would like to see some language as to how the funds are Pnts. Su.pv Varvayanis said it is spelled out in state law how the Town funds and it would be good if the fire departments followed the same Cl Grantham said it would be good to look at what needs are common to all fire departments, such as data collection /transfer system, paging system. 'Those should be consistent town -wide so that when they help each other it works. Supv Varvayanis said he noticed that Neptune last year started putting $7,000 or $8,000 away for radio purchases and Oasked whether that was part of preparing for the County system or Natan Huffmann's system Page 6of12 TR 04 -034)3 or to upgrade what they have with the current system. He said there should be some town - wide plan for communication, whether we go with the County plan or N Huffmann's plan. C1 Michaels said the chiefs meet monthly and area pretty effective group. Part of the discussions at those meetings was identifying areas such as this where they had some interchangeability. There are connectors /adapters to enable them to use each others piping. The other aspect of this type of coordination is the larger pieces of equipment and apparatus. Problems may arise in determining there is a need for another pumper truck and then deciding which department gets it, or deciding which department would give up a truck if it was determined there was an excess. Joint training was discussed and they are moving forward with that. He said these things don't necessarily have anything to do with the contract, but is nice to sec the positive impact. Cl Grantham said there may be some things the Town can do to help with some of the issues, such as write grant applications. This coordination would be a way to help whether it. was spelled out in the contract or not. M Robertson suggested the Town could help with recruiting volunteers, that. it's the same message for the whole town and no reason each company should separately have the burden. Supv Varvayan.is asked D Putnam how he would envision the Town advertising recruiting for Freeville. D Putnam said he wasn't sure, but: that recruitment was a. big problem for them. He said several years ago they ran an explorer program that got them a lot of younger members and was very successful, but that has kind of fallen aside. M Robertson suggested a letter could be sent to all town residents expressing what the need is and who to contact. Cl Grantham said someone could be hired to do a nice 3 4old brochure about the fire departments with the fire departments and send it out, with a letter asking for volunteers. ® Cl Michaels said he would like to see the town build up a relatively healthy fluid balance so that the town can support items such as software or joint capital projects. It would be to the Town's benefit if they all used the same reporting sofwrare and communications system. Cl Stel.ick said that the audits for Freeville &. Varna. both mention that they are usir4g Quicken and should be going to something different, and that has been discussed in the chiefs meetings. Cl Grantham said Varna. has said that one of the problems with recruiting volunteers is that they want to tight fires not do paperwork. Cl Michaels said he had talked with them about some of the tablet PC -type solutions and he is not sure that they're going to get. a proposal from them. N Hoffmann was going to provide a radio proposal, but because of personal tragedy that has not been received. It would be a nice town -wide solution for not a lot of money. Cl Michaels said he thought if they budgeted $20,000 for just that he thought it would be safe, and didn't see any harm in putting it. Supv Varvayanis said he could put it in the fire department and chances are it would make the fire tax go up. Atty Perkins had explained last year that it could be taken from the general fund. Atty Perkins will check for sure and let the Supervisor know. Cl Michaels said it could be given back to the taxpayers next year if it was not used. Supv Varvayanis said the board had said they would like to see an incentive program for volunteers, but: he doesn't want to put in one department's budget and not another. He wants to know what it is and a similar program in all departments. He said they had also talked about reimbursement for new turn-out gear, and asked how and who determines who gets new turn -out gear. He is concerned about the replacement for existing members as opposed to gear for new members. Cl Michaels said they heard different things for different departments, one of the departments sawing their gear needs to re placed because it is wearing out, but Cl Michaels said it is more because the gear is out- dated. Some departments suggested replacing a. certain number of pieces every so many years. They have discussed 41 sta.ndardiming the equipment and when they are going to be compliant, etc. Ultimately it is the same amount of money, and said he is not sure why you would wait when it was a safety issue. Page 7 of 12 TB 09-03403 These things need t:o' wvorked out with the fire companies. Sizing is a. big issue and a lot of them have extra gear and if a department does not have the right size for a particular fire fighter, they have to buy new of the right: size. It: was suggested the extra gear be pooled, and then it seemed there was a storage problem. Cl Michaels said it is nice talking about: these things in chiefs meeting because Ron Flynn will step in when he hears something that's ludicrous and the other departments will police each other. He said they tell the departments the board is not trying to set a standard; but asking the departments to come up with one and make a recommendation. He said he's not: sure this is a one year thing, that that there are small steps that can be taken this year. Some things that are proposed are going to require some funding, others may actually save money (such as sharing of turn =out gear). Cl Stelick said if something could be worked out with fuel, instead. of Varna having to go to a gas station. Supv Varvayanis said that for years there has been talk not just about pooling the turnout gear, but pooling of the purchasing and asked how that was going. Cl Michaels said that they each have strong opinions about the equipment they choose and there is work to be clone there. He said he is not sure it's the town board's role to solve that, dispute, but they should hash that out. M Robertson asked about a. department thinking they were out of compliance because of a memo from the state when another department doesn't interpret it that way. CI Michaels said that it came up in turn out fear, and he doesn't think it is an OSHA issue, as much as one of the departments buys a specific brand because of certain features that they feel make a huge difference in the safety. D Putnam said that he buys a particular brand because he can move better in it because of the material and the cut. CI Michaels wiid it is in the contract, that the department will be in compliance with state, federal and insurance requirements, and if a department is admitting they are not in compliance, that is a different issue. State regulations do not specify a particular brand. Cl Michaels said that when Varna said they were not compliant, some in the department did not necessarily agree with that. Supv Varvayanis said they were not compliant with certain NFP standards, which are not regulations and laws; that they are compliant with all regulations and laws- Cl Michaels said these are the types of things, outside of contractual issues, that the town can be very helpful in. We have a town attorney experienced in these types of issues. Part of the problem is that we have an intelligent community and when they read through regulations and it sounds very authoritative, and gets passed around and there are a lot of ambiguities and misunderstandings. Cl Michaels said that the specific contract issues he will talk to them about are • looking for items for direct reimbursements that would effectively increase the amounts they receive as their expenses increase, things the town would, deem as part of a successful program • looking at capital expenses, identifying funds that are in reserves for capital equipment and certain guarantees that it will be used for those purposes • fiend investments, what are appropriate investments for these reserves • joint capital investment (radios, data software, etc.) • looking at coordination of equipment, joint training, recruitment • audit issues Cl Michaels said he will e-mail the fire department_% about discussing the above items. He will schedule a meeting for department representatives and Cl Stelick. Page 8of12 T13 09 -03 -03 0 Susan Gilbert sent a letter and asked that it be read into the record: Dear Mr. Varvayanis: T am concerned about the article by Ida Pease that appeared in the Cortland Standard, August 7, 2003, referring to the appointment versus an elected highway superintendent. You were quoted - 1 also voted against. it," "I didn't think that would actually happen.," he said, referring to an elected highway superintendent not showing up for work. But, that did happen with Don Gilbert, who did not show up for work after being elected in November 1997, The Town board still had to pay him, but did reduce his salary from $38,190 to $6,679 in 1999. That was a. misleading and unfair statement. You know very well that Don was out because he was sick and not because he just didn't show up for work. In fact, when Don tried to report to work; he was told by then Town Supervisor, the late James F. Schug to "stay home and get well." 1 feel in fairness to Don and his many loyal years to the Town that a correction should be printed in the Cortland Standard. That was a period of great anguish for him and his family. 1 would appreciate hearing from you at your earliest possible convenience. Sincerely, Susan Gilbert Supv Varvayanis - 1 was a little surprised to get that letter. I've seen Don, in fact I think he was out here at a. meeting last: month, and I hadn't heard any complaints about the comments I made. I haven't looked at the health records, but that was the .way I've always heard it expressed. My point at the meeting was not to say anything about Don, but that these things happen. The problems we had replacing him were well known, part of the public record. And if he was ill, I knew he had some apnea. problems, and I didn't want to get into a long discussion on his health issues. I'm not sure what she wants me to say now, but I'll be happy to go talk to her. Cl Hatfield - I think she took it kind of personal with you saying that he just didn't show up and not saying he was sick. That's what bothers her. Cl Grantham asked M Robertson about proposed cuts to the Health Department budget and what those entail. M Robertson said the Health and Human Services Committee met today to start looking at the program budget. The committee goes into detail with the budget and makes a recommendation to the Lull legislature. They voted to reduce environmental health by one full-time equivalent (two half time people). 'These would be people who do the inspections of restaurants, septics, pools, beaches, etc. Within the department they will evaluate the expertise of the individuals and make a decision with respect to who gets laid of Cl Grantham asked if there were more than one full-time equivalent staff person doing that. work and M Robertson said yes, that Jon Andersson would make sure that they would. will be able to perform the inspections, but she understood that response time will he delayed. It might mean that mobile home parks won't be inspected every year, but every couple of years, though if a problem is found they will still do the follow -up. Basic periodic inspections will be on a reduced schedule, The idea of cutting the department entirely meant two possibilities. Some of the inspections would be taken over by the state. Ot hers, such as septic inspections, would revert 40 to the towns. The committee decided it: made no sense to hand it off to the towns, which would have to come up with professional expertise to carry out the inspections. She said in Page 9 of 12 TB 09 -03-03 terms of looking at the taxpayer on the whole, it doesn't matter if you're paying for a service for this entity to do it: or that entity to do it, you want the most efficient entity to do it and clearly it makes sense for the County to provide the service. For the Health Department as a whole, the base budget includes a cut of 12 full time employees (FTE's). In addition they would cut one -half an FTE from R. preschool program for children with special needs. She stated she was against, that one. It was a person who monitors how the funds are being spent and she is not: sure that's where they want to cut and they may end yip spending more money for services. Supv Varvayanis asked if this was with a 35% levy increa :se and M Robertson said yes, they followed Steve Whicher's recommendation fairly closely. They cut some from mental health and public health and in both those departments there are already cuts in the base budget. On September 11 they will be looking at Department of Social Services and Office for the Aging, and on September 18 they will be looking at youth., the human services coalition and non -profit agencies. Public safety meets tomorrow to begin looking at their budget. M Robertson said the sentiment of the legislature so far is that there are things that really will hurt people if they are cut. ff they make a cut and times are better a few years from now, it. costs more to reinstitute a service that has been cut. They looked at: the cost, of laying someone off. The entire salary is not saved. They have to pay 26 weeks of unemployment insurance, a years worth of health insurance, many have terminal pay, and especially in the human services area, most: of the positions have some sort of state aid attached. So in health if you cut. a salary, you'll lose UP /o of the salary in state aid, and in the Department. of Social Services it is actually 8CP /o. Steve Whicher has said that in DSS you are actually losing money is if you cut, positrons. Case loads for Medicaid and basic family assistance are higher than they -Ve ever been, so cutting positions actually results in not being able to take care of the public. Cl Michaels asked if one of the entire department cuts was the division of human rights and M Robertson said that was in the 51/o scenario. Cl Michaels said that his recollection from some reports he'd seen was that they took something like 1.136 phone calls and that was WN-W of the services they provide. He said he fails to see how they are providing a .Service that an 800 phone number to Albany isn't; providing. Cl Stel.ick said he understood those people could go i:o Binghamton. M Robertson said that there are so many places state government is getting cut so it's not like you'd he sending people, to a better system; they are already at: a low level cif service, and her understanding is those people do not get help. Cl Michaels said that his experience is that state agencies, especially in that area., if you call know exactly what the laws are, and what rights are protected. He said he understood that our local department encouraged an age discrimination complaint by a 21 year old, and there is no way that person would have been told by a person at the state number that they had a case under that area of the law. He said he thought they would get better service at the state level. M Robertson said the living wage coalition had recently followed up on a complaint that an employee at Aldi's working an eight -hour shift was not given a lunch break. She said they could swap cases, but they will be looking at everything. Cl Grantham. said if there is good a chance that the Town will end up doing it's own septic inspections, there is a funding opportunity that we should be applying for, money to start, an inspection program. The application is due September 30. Cl Grantham will investigate the matter further if there is a good chance that the county will stop providing the services. Cl Grantham asked the board if they thought she should pursue the funding. M Robertson said that all local governments need to communicate about what it makes sense to have the county do, or perhaps the towns could contribute toward the cost based on some Page 10 of 12 TB 09 -03 -03 formula. Cl Grantham said that would be sort of double- dipping because it's the same taxpayers. M Robertson said they re not at. a point where they have any specific ideas or proposals, but this is a critical time and we need to look at our residents as people we're all taking care of, and we need to find ways to take care of them for the least. amount of money. M Robertson reported that the County voted 12 -3 last night to stay in the Recreation Partnership. There is no dollar amount: in the resolution because people felt: that it was inappropriate to identify a dollar amount outside of the budget process. They did feel they wanted to make a policy statement that they wanted to stay in the partnership. Last: year the County contributed around $48,000 to the partnership with 201/6 of that intended to be a one- time expense. In July the recreation Partnership voted on a budget that. absorbed the County's 20% cut and spread it out according to the formula.. She said the bigger part of the increase in the municipal contributions is due to the city's facilities charges. Cl Grantham pointed out that if the county cuts its contribution below the $38,000 that is expected it will mean a bigger distribution to the Towns. M Robertson said she hoped they would be able to preserve the $38,000 and in -kind staff time; that people have made a good case for continuing the partnership. Fred Apker asked about the stratus of the annexation process. Atty Perkins said it is up to the Town Board to make findings and a determination. Now we. are waiting for the transcript from the court reporter and the reports from the engineers who are studying water and sewer issues in that: area of town. Cl Michaels said that not feel that the Village had 1 reimbursement and ongoing should be in writing„ but did opinion that any portion the that. the appropriate time for Hunt ]Engineers. he met with Mike Hattery, Village Trustee, yesterday and he did 3cen asked about: a proposal where the Town would pay a capital fees for water service. M Hattery indicated that such a. proposal not express strong support for that. He also expressed his Village provided water to should be annexed. Cl Michaels said such a proposal would be after some figures were received from Supv Varvayanis said that he thought: he had sent: a letter asking the Village "to take $800,000 plus ". Cl Michaels said that M Hattery said that was unrelated to wager issues. Cl Michaels said M Hattery wanted to discuss the specific issues of the annexation proposal and Cl Michaels said he felt that it was spot zoning, it was just a step in the progression. to an overall plan.. His point: was that if there was an over -all plan, we needed to see it. Cl Michaels said the Village seems to assume that the school and TC3 would not be included in the Town's water district. M Robertson asked if this was tied to the annexation for the DOT garage and Cl Michaels said that it seemed from the public hearing that the only issue that would have any benefit for that area would be water. No one has expressed a. strong desire to be part of the village, but have expressed a strong desire for water. The Town has undertaken looking at providing water to the whole area, so the issue of annexation is moot. He said above and beyond what the Town is going to do otherwise, if the Town is providing water there is no benefit to annexation of that parcel. He said the conversation about water is, therefore, is necessarily about annexation. Cl Michaelis said those who support annexation are 100% in favor of supporting water; the people who want annexation are a subset of those who want water, but everyone who wants annexation wants water. M Robertson asked what the timetable was and Supv Varvayanis said the engineers would have a map, plan and report by mid October. Page I 1 of 12 T13 09-034)3 ® Cl Michaels said there have been significant obiections raised to the petition for annexation. It was not clear to him what: land was included in the parcel to be annexed. Atty Perkins said he was not sure that the response received made it any clearer. Cl Michaels said there are other issues, but: it is not clear how many property owners are involved and what. property is included in the area to be annexed. It seems to him that if the petition is defective in its description it needs to be done over_ Cl Michaels said that upon receipt of the petition the Town Board decided to provide its objections as soon as possible to the County, which they did the next day, and as an attorney it seems to him that the day after that the'rown should have received a new petition so the public hearing process could be started. Arguing about whether it is defective on such a substantial issue is beyond him. Atty Perkins said the response was sent to the Supervisor by the Assistant County Attorney and he is not sure it makes it any clearer and does not cure the grounds that form the basis of the objections. Atty Perkins said this is not a negotiation, it is a procedural issue. Cl Michaels said the hearing was left open for additional input, but it seems that the petition has to be clear on its face as to what property is covered. This was supposed to be a. sole property owner and one of the drawings provided references property sold to somebody else. He also noted that. the issue of the property owner and people living on the site was discussed in the spring. In the petition it is referred to as unoccupied property_ The board agrees that the County needs to correct and refile its petition. M Robertson said she will relay the position of the board. to the County Attorney. Cl Michaels pointed out that the Town was not waiting 90 days to raise the issues and that in February the County was aware of the majority of the Town's concerns. Supv Varvayanis said the Assistant County Attorney has said the Town could waive any of these requirements if it wanted to. Atty Perkins said it could be done if they felt it was the right thing to do, but when you look at the overall picture, there is so many problems with the petition that better practice would be to reject. it. in favor of one properly presented that does not have all these problems. M Robertson said she would tell Bruce Wilson what the reaction of the board was to his response. Cl Michaels said the Board would take the 90 days to hear back from Hunt Engineers with respect to formation of a water district, so he is not sure the time frame changes any, and that. is why they are making the point that they have an opportunity to change it without changing the final date the board would make a. decision. On motion of Cl Michaels, seconded by Cl Stelick, and unanimously carried, the board moved into executive session to discuss matters of litigation, Seeley, ct al v Bush, Tottey v Varvayanis, et al and Tottey v Bush et al, at: 9:30 p.m. No action was taken, and the hoard moved back to regular session at 9:40 p.m. Supv Varvayanis said that: the bids for the phosphorus removal project for the sewer plant had comeback at. 101/o over the amount allowed for. He is hoping to have more information next week and the board can possibly authorize an increase in the expenditure. On motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 9:42 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi 1,. Hollenbeck Town Clerk Pagc 12 of 12 Town of Dryden Town Board Meeting September 3, 2003 Name - {Please Print} sdm. Peas P,. Address Jk '