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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-04-17TB 4-17-14 Page 1 of 14 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING April 17, 2014 Present: Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner, Cl Gregory Sloan, Cl Joseph Solomon, Cl Jason Leifer, Cl Linda Lavine Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Other Town Staff: Mahlon Perkins, Town Attorney Jane Nicholson, Director of Planning Supv Sumner opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. and board members and guests participated in the pledge of allegiance. PUBLIC HEARING PROPOSED LOCAL LAW FOR APPOINTMENT OF TOWN CONSTABLES Supv Sumner opened the public hearing at 7:05 p.m. and dispensed with reading of the public notice. She explained that the court security guards came to her a few months ago to talk about the fact that they were working as independent contractors. They asked that the town consider making them employees and the best way to do that is to establish a Constable position. That has some relevance as to what actions they are aut horized to take and allows the Town to assume liability for them. The Town attorney has researched the matter and prepared the local law that has been reviewed by the board. After adoption of the local law the security guards will have the status of Peace Officers. David Buck (court security) explained they were concerned that as private contractors they can’t take custody of anyone and can’t put them in handcuffs. They had to rely on a Sheriffs Deputy. With the constable position and Peace Officer status they will now be able to do that. Their biggest concern was for the safety of the justices and the public in attendance. Henry Kramer asked if there were economic consequences. Supv Sumner said they were only allowed to work within the constraints of the budget. They will be well within the existing budget. Atty Perkins said the powers of Peace Officer are spelled out in New York Criminal Procedure Law §2.20. In addition, under the Uniform Justice Court Act they are also court attendants. They are Peace Officers within Town of Dryden. Supv Sumner it will also allow the Town to assume liability for them. There were no questions or comments from the board and the hearing was left open at 7:10 p.m. Supv Sumner said that public hearings are often a good idea and often required by law. The board has agreed to add times to the agenda items and limit public comment under Citizens Privilege to 30 minutes. Speakers will be limited to three minutes and if there are more than 10 speakers, that part of the agenda will be continued at the end of the meeting. 3 min per speaker, more than 10 continue at end of meeting. Supv Sumner said she will make a TB 4-17-14 Page 2 of 14 greater effort to limit public comment to those periods, and will not allow public comment the rest of meeting, except at board’s discretion. PUBLIC HEARING ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT Supv Sumner opened the public hearing at 7:15 p.m. and dispensed with reading of the public notice. There were no comments from the board members. Supv Sumner said there is a commercial property in the neighborhood being considered (the former Wern incks furniture business) that is currently for sale. No one knew it was going to be for sale when the new zoning was adopted. Because the town would like the property to be able to continue as a business, a zoning adjustment is necessary. Cl Lavine arrived at 7:20 p.m. Jane Nicholson explained that realtors and people interested in the property had come to the Planning Department asking what they could do with it. There were questions about general office or retail space, which are not allowed in zone (rural residential) currently. This caused the department to take a closer look at what was going on in the area. When the zoning was adopted and the map created in 2012, it was done with a brush technique and each individual parcel was not reviewed. They now believe it was not classified correctly because of its use. At the time no thought the area would change or the business would leave . Now, unless it is used for exactly what it was, the right goes away. Th e proposed change opens up more opportunity and it goes to a more permissive district. Because of the creek, if anyone were to build, there are environmental constraints. There is transportation available and it is a high traffic area. The zoning should match uses. Jim Crawford, owner of one of the parcels, said he is not against the rezoning. It seems odd that the largest retail space needs to be rezoned to continue to be retail. This illustrates that the rezoning was too fine-grained. There are three parcels in this proposal; the Werninck property, his property, and the Blooms house. It is not clear why the house on the other side of the road needs to be rezoned. One of his neighbors called to say the property had been sold, but no one has been able to confirm that. J Crawford noted that received four postcards about this in the mail and his neighbor received seven. The town could save itself some money here. Supv Sumner said the sense of broadening the rezoning is that the other parcels are large enough that there may be a mixed use on them someday. Because this is a more permissive use it seems like the sensible way to go. Supv Sumner closed the public hearing on the local law at 7:28 p.m. RESOLUTION #70 (2014) – ADOPT LOCAL LAW NO. 1 OF 2014 TOWN CONSTABLES Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby adopts the following local law and directs the Town Clerk to file the same with the Secretary of State of the State of New York: TOWN OF DRYDEN LOCAL LAW NO. 1 OF 2014 A local law providing for the appointment of Town Constables to serve as Court Attendants 1. This Local Law is adopted pursuant to authority of Municipal Home Rule Law Section 10(1)(ii)(a)(1) and Section 10(1)(ii)(d)(3). TB 4-17-14 Page 3 of 14 2. The Town Board of the Town of Dryden is hereby authorized to appoint not more than four (4) town constables to have powers in both civil and criminal matters as court attendants and enforcement officers for the Town of Dryden Justice Court. 3. Such constables shall be part time, non-competitive exempt employees of the Town and shall serve at the pleasure of the Town Board. They shall be peace officers as defined in the Criminal Procedure Law and enforcement officers as defined in the Uniform Justice Court Act. 4. Persons appointed constables pursuant to this local law need not be electors of the Town. 5. The Town Board shall fix the hours of work, wages, and terms of employment of the constables which wages shall be in lieu of any other fees or compensation. 6. Pursuant to Municipal Home Rule Law Section 22, to the extent the provisions of this local law are inconsistent with Town Law Sections 20 and 23, it is the intent of this local law to supersede such sections. 7. This local law shall take effect upon filing with the Secretary of State. 2nd Cl Solomon Roll Call Vote Cl Sloan Yes Cl Solomon Yes Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes TOWN CLERK RESOLUTION #71 (2014) – APPROVE MINUTES Cl Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby adopts the meeting minutes of March 13, 2014, and March 20, 2014. 2nd Cl Sloan Roll Call Vote Cl Sloan Yes Cl Solomon Yes Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes B Avery provided the board with a reconciliation report of the 2014 real property tax collection for their review (attached). Supv Sumner said it reflects the incredible amount of work that goes on in the tax receiver’s office during tax collection. CITIZENS PRIVILEGE Henry Kramer, 1524 Ellis Hollow Rd, read the attached statement. TB 4-17-14 Page 4 of 14 Supv Sumner said the resolution was brought to the board by a resident of the Town of Dryden. The board discussed at last week’s meeting whether to put it on the agenda. She said anyone can bring an item to board and ask it to be put on agenda. There will be more discussion when it is reached on the agenda. Supv Sumner returned to the zoning amendment matter and closed the public hearing on 7:36 p.m. This is an unlisted action and the board reviewed the short form SEQR on the amendment. RESOLUTION #72 (2013) – NEG SEQR DEC – ADOPTION OF ZONING AMENDMENTS Cl Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: WHEREAS, A. The proposed action involves consideration of the amendment of the Town of Dryden Zoning Ordinance. B. The proposed action is an Unlisted Action for which the Town Board of the Town of Dryden is the lead agency for the purposes of uncoordinated environme ntal review in connection with approval by the Town. C. The Town Board of the Town of Dryden, in performing the lead agency function for its independent and uncoordinated environmental review in accordance with Article 8 of the New York State Environmental Conservation Law – the State Environmental Quality Review Act “(SEQR), (i) thoroughly reviewed the Short Environmental Assessment Form (the “Short EAF”), Part I, and any and all other documents prepared and submitted with respect to this proposed action and its environmental review, (ii) thoroughly analyzed the potential relevant areas of environmental concern to determine if the proposed action may have a significant adverse impact on the environment, including the criteria identified in 6 NYCRR §617.7(c), and (iii) completed the Short EAF, Part II; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS: 1. The Town Board of the Town of Dryden, based upon (i) its thorough review of the Short EAF, Part I, and any and all other documents prepared and submitted with respect to this proposed action and its environmental review, (ii) its thorough review of the potential relevant areas of environmental concern to determine if the proposed action may have a significant adverse impact on the environment, including the criteria identified in 6 NYCRR §617.7(c), and (iii) its completion of the Short EAF, Part II, including the findings noted thereon (which findings are incorporated herein as if set forth at length), hereby makes a negative determination of environmental significance (“Negative Declaration”) in accordance with SEQR for the above referenced proposed action, and determines that neither a full Environmental Assessment Form, nor an Environmental Impact Statement will be required, and 2. The Responsible Officer of the Town Board of the Town of Dryden is hereby authorized and directed to complete and sign as required the determination of significance, confirming the foregoing Negative Declaration, which fully completed and signed Short EAF and determination of significance shall be incorporated by reference in this Resolution. 2nd Cl Solomon Roll Call Vote Cl Sloan Yes TB 4-17-14 Page 5 of 14 Cl Solomon Yes Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes RESOLUTION #73 (2014) – ADOPTION OF AN AMENDMENT TO THE TOWN OF DRYDEN ZONING ORDINANCE Cl Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: WHEREAS, the Town of Dryden adopted a zoning ordinance in 1969, which ordinance has at various times been amended, and WHEREAS, the town adopted a Comprehensive Plan on December 8, 2005 which replaced the Dryden General Plan adopted in 1968, and WHEREAS, since the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan, the town, through its planning board, planning department and consultants, has been implementing Comprehensive Plan suggestions and visions as well as addressing changes in the New York Town Law Article 16 (Zoning and Planning), and WHEREAS, it sometimes becomes necessary to revise the zone designation of certain parcels in the town to better reflect their actual historical use and to facilitate the appropriate re-use of such parcels where the historical use has ceased or changed, and WHEREAS, the planning department has proposed to change the zoning for three parcels (Town of Dryden Tax Parcels: 39.-1-1; 39.-1-2; and 39.-1-3) along the New York State Route 366 corridor to Mixed-Use Commercial, and WHEREAS, a public hearing to consider adoption of this amendment was held on April 17, 2014, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that this town board hereby amends the Zoning Ordinance as follows: 1. Section 401 of the Zoning Ordinance, Town of Dryden, Tompkins County, New York, originally adopted in 1969, as amended from time to time, is hereby further amended to read as follows: “Section 401: Zoning Map All land in the Town of Dryden shall fall within one of the established zones as shown on a map entitled “Town of Dryden Zoning Map” dated September 1, 2011 and revised March 18, 2014. The original and official Town of Dryden Zoning Map, as revised is filed with the Town Clerk. A reduced and unofficial copy is found in Appendix A-1”. 2. The Town Clerk is authorized and directed to publish and post notice of adoption as required by law. TB 4-17-14 Page 6 of 14 3. The amendment shall take effect ten (10) days after publication in The Ithaca Journal of a summary or abstract thereof (exclusive of the Zoning Map) or from the date of service upon any person personally served with a copy thereof as provided in New York Town Law 264(1). 2nd Cl Solomon Roll Call Vote Cl Sloan Yes Cl Solomon Yes Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes CITIZENS PRIVILEGE (continued) Art Berkey, 1205 Ellis Hollow Road, asked the board to seriously consider the Varna Community Center as a hotspot for internet access. He said he supports Henry Kramer and his concerns and read the attached statement. David Thompson – is concerned that the Critical Environmental Areas that were designated and then rescinded by the town are still listed on the Department of Environmental Conservation’s website as of 4/17/14. Supv Sumner said the information had been sent to them and someone will follow up. He asked about the water tower proposed for Bone Plain Road. He said he understood there was a meeting between the town and the village and he wondered if they were connected. Supv Sumner said Lansing is proceeding. They have acquired land to build the tower and it will increase availability of water to Lansing properties. D Thompson said he concerned about an agenda to create a new water district. Supv Sumner told him there are no plans for that. Victor Tiffany, statewide coordinator for Move to Amend, 1540 Danby Road, said the Citizens United decision of 2010 involved an intersection of two case law traditions, corporate personhood and the idea that political money is protected by the first amendment. These traditions are corruptions of constitutional rights and that is why there are so many organizations working to amend the Constitution. Over 550 municipalities and 16 states have passed resolutions to Congress. He said the Supreme Court has increasingly taken rights first by giving them to corporations over the last 125 years, and second, by decreeing that spending and giving money is equivalent of speech protected by the first amendment. Money is a legal tender, not speech. Money, not people, has become sovereign as the power that rules our government. There is no language in the Constitution to support the equivalent between money and speech. The same holds for the court doctrine that legal entities cr eated by the state of any sort have rights as natural persons. Supreme Court Justices have been legislating from the bench in an anti-democratic manner and we the people have lost democratic republic. Instead of securing our rights the court has distorte d and misused them and consequently, has undermined the government of, by and for the people. The Declaration of Independence makes it clear. “To secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends” these ends being the securing of our rights “it is the right of the people to alter … it”. In cases like Citizens United, Buckley and McCutcheon, the court has not functioned to secure our rights. Instead, they have corrupted the very definition of rights. He asked the board to consider the proposed resolution. TB 4-17-14 Page 7 of 14 Jim Skaley – 940 Dryden Rd, speaking for the proposed resolution referred to by Tiffany. We all have rights as citizens to petition our governments. The process of going forward needs to be considered. Corporations and some individuals have very large sums of money that can be used to flood the media in such a way as to change the perspective of something under debate. Citizens don’t have the same volume of voice. The board is the people’s representatives and move things from local to state when it is appropriate, and this is the same situation. This is a way of having a voice in moving something forward that will benefit the citizens as a whole. Craig Schutt – Schutt Rd, read from a Farm Bureau alert dated 4/8/14 (attached). The proposal could mean new permits just to farm the land. The EPA has proposed new water regulations under the Clean Water Act, that if finalized, have the potential to regulate nearly all forms of water in New York, including water that may pond on a field after a water event, like rain or snow melt. All waters will be federally regulated even if they are seasonal. Normal exemptions apply only to dredge and fill projects, not normal farming activities. 56 NRCS will need to met and are sometimes cost prohibitive to farmers. The cost to municipalities to do road maintenance will be very costly. He asked the board to push back on these proposed regulations. Susan Simmons, said she was here for the Varna Community Association in the event the board had any questions about the request to be a hotspot. On behalf of the Varna Church, she said they have huge flooding and drainage issues, and they need to find out if they can have access to the storm drain between the church and parsonage. She was told she would have to contact NYS DOT and will contact Rick Young to find out who and how to contact them. Jim Crawford said he was not aware of the resolution to amend the Constitution of the United States. He has spoken to the county legislature when they have done similar things. He said it is an irony that the board wants to manage better the public comments from the floor and yet open itself up to be the funnel for every issue that the citizenry might want to bring to the board so that they can obtain a majority of the five votes. Petitioning is a time honored way to try and address our elected officials, but this is not petitioning. This is asking five representatives who have been elected based upon campaigns that had nothing to do with altering the Constitution of the United States to act as super-citizens on behalf of the Dryden population. It’s been said some 500 municipalities have gone on record about this particular issue. That’s called log rolling; that’s leverage. If the board votes either way on this, it will be cited in other municipalities as one more that has done this. That has not happened in the Town of Dryden. You can’t make that happen in Dryden. You are five people. He said if he were to write a citizen and the town wrote as an institution of town government, the town is setting itself up as representatives of something that you have no idea who the town feels about. It would seem more important than the local citizen. He said this is a fine issue, but the board is not the place for it. If the board doesn’t want all kinds of issues funneled to the privilege of the floor, it needs to step aside on these matte rs. Ron Szymanski, Johnson Rd, said citizens privilege is important. It is the only way for a large group of people in Dryden to speak to the board. There is a disconnect between a lot of what the board is doing and the issues that are important to the residents. He recommends more outreach to community. He wants better government and suggests the board is a little insulated. He is asking for better debate and for the board to consider reaching out better to the community. A number of people want them to be laser focused on bringing the reserves away from the budget. Returning money to taxpayer is a big thing. Positions don’t need to be filled and can help to balance the budget. He is willing to help with outreach for better government. TB 4-17-14 Page 8 of 14 Pam Goldner, 28 Brooktondale Rd, said she supports the resolution to amend the Constitution. She recently became involved in political organizing locally. She is seeing situations where people aren’t treated fairly. She is helping people be aware of what is going on with government at all levels. There are a lot of people who are apathetic. Letting your voice be heard does make a difference. People in government want to know what people think. She wants to see more people involved and informed and not make assumptions that big corporations will always get their way. There are things that citizens can do to influence what is happening in the world. A Constitutional amendment starts at the local level. John Ruttel, 1621 Dryden Road and owner of New Vine Media, said he purchased the company from Peter Hopper and his family. They are new business owners starting a national level media company. They deal with clientele in networking and marketing. It is difficult in this state with the tax burden they are experiencing. They pay close to $6500 a year in taxes. His friend who started a business in Pennsylvania only has to pay about $1200 a year. He is asking the board to have some kind of understanding that they will contribute to the culture in Dryden. They will bring business and have people flying in and a lot of different influence through many different media outlets. The last project they did has taken off on the charts in California. So they have money that is starting to come in but they still find it hard to understand why there is such a hefty tax burden on the land. They have incorporated under a not-for-profit status in New York State. They do not have a 501(c)(3), but are incorporated as a not-for-profit. He asked the board whether it affects their taxes. Supv Sumner asked him to call her office and she would arrange to talk with the assessor about it. J Ruttel said he understands that good government has a high standard of excellence in everything they do, proper roles, there are functions that happen. There are specific roles that happen in government and need to be paid for. However, there are people that are generating wealth, working 14 hour days making sure they can pay the government, so please consider this. J Cipolla-Dennis, 964 West Dryden Road, said she is in favor of the resolution to move to amend. She doesn’t have a corporation and can’t buy things she needs through our politicians. Corporations are trying to take away the freedom of speech that the people have, going so far as to even impose their religion. We need to be careful. She f eels protected by the board in Dryden. She didn’t mind standing in the road on a very cold day holding their name on a sign because she knows they protect her and her rights. She appreciates being able to speak freely and not be restricted from freedom of speech at a town meeting. She hopes that never happens here. She has been going to County legislature meetings, and was cited by M Lane for saying an officer’s name and for talking about police brutality because it made him uncomfortable. She continued speaking until her time was up and she hopes that the board doesn’t restrict people’s freedom of speech. The flag entitles her to say whatever she wants with respect and no one should be able to restrict that. J Cipolla-Dennis said she is very concerned about the people on German Cross Road. She doesn’t want them to face the things they have been facing over the last few years. She asked to board to see that it does not continue in whatever way it can. She and Deborah were volunteers for the Solarize Tompkins last year. They put solar panels on their house this year. They have a 5kw system through Solar Liberty (a lease of $46/month with no other costs) and are generating 3 times the electricity they use and NYSEG is paying them. That is energy independence. They don’t need a pipeline going through their frontage. TB 4-17-14 Page 9 of 14 Supv Sumner said there were 30 or 40 solar applications this year and 30 last year. She will get statistics on the solar panel system here and share them with the public. COUNTY BRIEFING Mike Lane said the County is on record as supporting similar resolution. He thanked Mr. Tiffany and folks across the country who have been bringing this issue forward. It is important that municipalities think about it. It is a grass roots happening and he can’t think of another situation this strong in a long time. He thinks it is fine that the town is considering this, whatever it decides to do. The state budget has passed and does include a tax freeze. They don’t know yet exactly how it will affect county, schools, towns & villages. For the first year for any municipality that stays within its tax cap the people who pay taxes within that municipality will receive a check at election time of the equivalent of what the savings were by staying within the tax cap. This year is likely to be about 1.25%. Our county has to look at the cost of things that are built into the budget. For example, they have contractual obligations with labor units of about 2% per year. Even with consortium, health insurance rates will increase an expected 7-8%. There may be some break in pension costs, but it won’t offset the difference if municipalities have to stay within the cap. Many municipalities have passed local laws to exceed the cap as a matter of course because they know if there is a mistake in the calculations and they accidentally go a bit over the cap, they could be punished for that. Now if you pass a local law and stay within the cap, the budget requirement is that in order for taxpayers to r eceive their checks, municipalities must repeal that local law before end of the year. The second year municipalities will have to demonstrate consolidated shared services. It’s unknown far back will they look at what has been done. There are already many examples of consolidated/centralized services in Tompkins County. M Lane will speak at the next TCCOG meeting about this so municipalities can begin to catalog those types of things and put them together. It looks like the county will have another unfunded state mandate to bring together all these calculations and figures to determine whether all the municipalities in the county have been able to have at least a 1% savings through consolidation efforts. It will be complicated. DEPARTMENT REPORTS Green house gas inventory report has been moved to next month. Planning Department – J Nicholson said the Town of Dryden has been a participant in the Tompkins County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan. The purpose is to reduce future disaster damages, public expenditure, private losses, and community hazar d vulnerability. The town and its villages did not participate in the original plan, and now needs to participate and adopt it locally. If we do not, we may lose out on opportunities for FEMA funding. The Planning Department will look into this further, bring more information to the next abstract meeting, and the board can consider the resolution next month. Supervisor Report – Supv Sumner said she has been thinking about communication issues and the challenge of sharing information. She regularly attends Bolton Point meetings where they are working on succession planning and reserve fund planning. TCCOG is talking about management training for officials and haul route planning and intermunicipal notification for road preservation and fill site reasons. She serves on the Special Joint Committee that oversees the Ithaca Area Waste Water Treatment Facility that serves most of the towns 7 sewer districts. They are talking about renewable energy. Recent improvements there allow for using methane to generate more than enough electricity to run the plant. She attends meetings of the Conservation Board, Planning Board, Fire Chiefs, the Dryden Historical TB 4-17-14 Page 10 of 14 Society (where she is on the board. In addition she met with the Dryden Village Public Safety Committee about plans to replace antique siren. Tompkins County Solid Waste came to talk the town becoming a second site for a food/scrap recycling and the town probably will proceed with that plan. She spoke at TC3 biology/geology class that asked to speak about gas drilling and fracking. She met with the County Administrator about implementing the management training that they have been using in local municipalities. She has spent several hours with DRYC members regarding hiring a new Recreation Director. She attended a forum on housing affordability and the TC3 Town Gown meeting. They are excited about their new farm to bistro program and curriculum. It brings together education, tourism and farming. She has spent 17 hours this month meeting with town board members, staff, the town attorney, town engineer and department heads. Supv Sumner said she has been trying to help people understand what communication opportunities are available in town board meetings. She knows its not enough. We have had some luck with a newsletter distributed mostly by email. It is time consuming to update web, but those are only one-way communication. She takes a lot of appointments from residents who want to talk about various things. She is thinking about o ther opportunities to facilitate communication. That might mean establishing open office hours, regularly scheduled open meetings, and travelling around to converse with the public once or twice a month. She asked that anyone email her with thoughts. UNFINISHED BUSINESS §284 agreement – The board has reviewed the §284 Agreement and is ready to act on it. This is the board’s authorization to expend highway funds for road improvements. RESOLUTION #74 (2014) – APPROVE §284 AGREEMENT Cl Solomon offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the §284 Agreement to Spend Highway Funds as presented. 2nd Cl Leifer Roll Call Vote Cl Sloan Yes Cl Solomon Yes Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes The agreement was signed by board members. NEW BUSINESS Temporary Closure of Spring House Road – The board has been approached by a group that is raising funds for boys and girls lacrosse programs. They are holding a 5K road race on June____. The board has done this in the past for them. R Young said there will be fire police and police officers on site. Cl Sloan asked that signs be posted one week in advance of the race so that it doesn’t come as a surprise to people who regularly travel the road. RESOLUTION #75 (2014) – CONSIDER CLOSING SPRING HOUSE ROAD FOR ROAD RACE Supv Sumner offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: TB 4-17-14 Page 11 of 14 WHEREAS, the Dryden boys and girls lacrosse programs are sponsoring a 5K road race on Sunday, June 8, 2014, as a fundraiser for their teams and desire to use Spring House Road as part of their course, and WHEREAS, the safety of the public and its participants is best protected by a temporary closure of the road during the road race, and WHEREAS, Town Law section 64 (10-b) authorizes the town board to set terms and conditions for issuance of a permit by the town superintendent of highways to hold a road race on Spring House Road and temporarily block such road during the event, and WHEREAS, the Village of Dryden will consider the proposed route for the road race at their April 17, 2014 meeting, and WHEREAS, the road, although blocked, will still be open to authorized emergency or hazard vehicles, now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED, that a public hearing be held before the town board on May 15, 2014 at 7:00 PM for the purpose of determining the regulations and conditions of such permit, and it is FURTHER RESOLVED, that the town clerk post and publish a notice of such public hearing at least five (5) days before such hearing. 2nd Cl Sloan Roll Call Vote Cl Sloan Yes Cl Solomon Yes Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes TC3 Change in Site Plan approval - TC3 has asked the board to consider a change to their site plan approval. The board has reviewed it and finds it sensible. The board thoroughly reviewed the project previously in public hearing and reviewed the SEQR. This is a minor change. RESOLUTION #76 (2014) – APPROVE TC3 SOLAR SITE PLAN AMENDMENT Cl Solomon offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption : Whereas, TC3 has asked the Town Board to consider an amendment to their site plan approval because they hadn’t considered the location of some trees that may block the sun and they do not wish to remove the trees, and Whereas, TC3 engineers have determined it is in the best interests of the project to be moved 100 feet to the west and move the location of the transformer to the front of the project, Now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves TC3’s application for a sit e plan amendment. 2nd Cl Sloan Roll Call Vote Cl Sloan Yes TB 4-17-14 Page 12 of 14 Cl Solomon Yes Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes Varna Community Center hotspot – Supv Sumner said as part of Clarity Connect’s state funding for their broadband project they agreed to establish three hotspots in town. The Varna Community Association is an obvious choice, but not always open regular hours during the day. The signal is accessible outside the building when they are not open. Supv Sumner supports this choice and asked for suggestions for the other two spots. R Szymanski suggested perhaps the fire station in Freeville. The Southworth Library has had issues Time Warner, and Supv Sumner doesn’t know if that was resolved. The consensus is to go ahead with the Varna Community Center site. Board members and the public can email the Supervisor with other suggested sites. Cl Leifer said he has talked with Chuck Bartosch about the building permit issue. He wants the board to consider a memo he wrote a year ago about waiving the fence requirement. C Bartosch will have to make a case for it. The board could schedule a public hearing for May. Resolution Urging Congress to Amend the Constitution – Cl Lavine said she is in favor of the resolution and said: “Money is speech. Corporations are people. These statements remind me of the language newspeak in 1984, invented by a government to keep people from understanding anything about their authoritarian government. The right to petition our government is one of the single most important bases of democracy as was indeed mentioned by some of the speakers against this motion. I would think that conservatives would find this to be a very high priority. So I find it surprising to hear that we should have no say in a matter that so dramatically corrupts the democratic process. This is not about altering the Constitution. Not only did the founding fathers not consider corporations to be people, but they could not have imagined the gargantuan role played by mass media in the modern world and the money that determines access to that media. Access to media is an ever increasing aspect of democracy. We place our democracy in jeopardy when we don’t enable every man to have reasonable access to voicing an opinion, whatever that opinion. It is that access that has enabled us to thrive as a democratic model to the world. In the current media saturated environment this access is placed in grave jeopardy by this ruling. The deluge of corporate money affects elections at all levels--including the Town of Dryden. As elected officials who participate and care about the process, we are in a position to take responsibility for input locally. While we cannot tell the federal government how to act, they certainly want and need our input as responsible democratically elected representatives. This is an issue of unique importance to the democratic process, no matter what side of a particular issue you are on. And just so you know, we don’t get paid by the hour. This deliberation is both priceless and cheap. I am in favor of the motion.” Cl Leifer would like to discuss the exact wording of the resolution. The characterization that something like this is not happening locally is not correct. Last fall outside money was brought into local politics. There is no law preventing that and it happened. That proves we do have a reason to address the issue. He doesn’t think that going the Constitutional amendment route is necessary. We can simply go to Business Corporations Law in New York and address different ways in other states to curb the powers of corporations in that way. Requesting Congress consider starting the process is a way to go too. That’s a process distinction. If we were talking about amending the Corporations Law in New York, that is something towns may want to comment on. The Farm Bureau is asking municipalities to comment on the EPA regulations. We see this a lot. The resolution has no legal effect to force anyone to do TB 4-17-14 Page 13 of 14 anything. Inevitably someone doesn’t want the town to talk about it so they tell us it is above our pay grade, or we don’t have enough understanding of the Constitution . Opinions of the board aren’t shared with everyone in the town, but it is our responsibility to maybe nudge the other branches of government into starting an important discussion. Just like commenting on the SGEIS for gas drilling. We were told the town had no reason to speak on that issue either, but we do. I think something little like this may get the conversation stared where it needs to go, on both the state and federal level. Will it change anything by itself? Probably not. The influence of money on politics is one of the things that need to be fixed. There are multiple ways to do it. He doesn’t see any harm in doing this. Cl Sloan said looking back on the history of the founding of the country, he doesn’t remember the founding fathers considering corporations. If it doesn’t have a soul, how can’t it be considered a person. He doesn’t understand how money can be considered free speech because he always thought we had equal rights. He’s pretty sure we don’t have equal money. He is puzzled as to why the issue has taken on such partisan lines. The only people who should be in favor of it are billionaires. It’s a question at this point of confusing the ends and the means. If it comes down to a Constitutional amendment that is voted by Congress and goes to the state legislatures, it will be a long, drawn out battle given the recent court decisions and the new influence of money, it will be a very unequal battle. We can now see that the more people are involved in a given election, the more media is required and more money is required to succeed in an election. It’s a sad fact. He was elected to the Town Board in what he considers to be a reasonably free and fair election. At local level at least, politics still seems to work. For him the role of outside money was quite good, because enough people were pretty upset about what the outside money was doing, that the voter turnout in an off-year election was a pleasant surprise for him. That’s why he’s here. Given the way he won his election, he feels he has to speak up. That’s the way democracy is supposed to work. It’s pretty clear where he stands on this. Supv Sumner said she agrees with most of what has been said. She knows the town board’s mandate is to protect health, safety and general welfare of the residents. A case can be made for the Citizens United decision of the possibility of impinging on health, safety and welfare. Given that it was brought to us by residents makes it more suitable for discussion at least. It is a legitimate concern. The Citizens United decision is one of the most horrible things to happen in the judicial world in her lifetime. She doesn’t understand the logic that led to the decision. Overall she does not think a constitutional amendment is the way to address it , but thinks it has to be addressed. The Constitution is not to be tinkered with lightly. She does not support amending the Constitution to clarify this, but defends the board’s right to consider the issue. Cl Solomon said he agrees that money shouldn’t be involved in politics. He is concerned with his elected responsibilities. He doesn’t have input from the community that he represents to make a clear cut decision and vote. Cl Lavine will re-write the resolution and bring it to the board for discussion next month. Local Law to establish traffic violations bureau – The Village of Dryden asked the town a few months ago to approve an intermunicipal agreement authorizing a traffic violations bureau. Atty Perkins reviewed this an d it cannot be accomplished by agreement, but requires a local law. He has drafted a local law that would enable the court to establish a traffic violations bureau which will accomplish the intent of the Village. They will meet with the justices prior to introducing this proposed local law. Water testing – The Village is researching new water sources and would like to test the Keith Lane well and Dryden Lake well for water quality as they are both options for the Village. TB 4-17-14 Page 14 of 14 Atty Perkins has reviewed the Village’s proposal and modified it to be a temporary license for water testing only. If the tests turn out that it makes it worthwhile for the Village to pursue that option, then they will talk further about an easement and whatever will be involved in the use of the water. RESOLUTION #77 (2014) – AUTHORIZE SUPERVISOR TO SIGN AGREEMENT Cl Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes the Town Supervisor to execute the Revised Memorandum of Understanding with the Village of Dryden and Temporary License, for testing of the Keith Lane and Dryden Lake wells, subject to review by the Town Attorney. 2nd Cl Solomon Roll Call Vote Cl Sloan Yes Cl Solomon Yes Supv Sumner Yes Cl Leifer Yes Cl Lavine Yes COMMITTEE REPORTS Agricultural Advisory Committee – Cl Leifer said the committee put together a draft of some amendments to the zoning ordinance they’ve been discussing relative to concerns of NYS Ag & Markets. They will send a draft to Ag & Markets to get their opinion. They will also need a copy of Dan Kwasnowski’s response to Ag & Markets. They have been working with Jane Nicholson on a grant application. There are a few amendments to be made and it will be submitted when the state is ready to accept applications. The Ag committee reviewed the ag portion of the Comprehensive Plan and had some questions. Perhaps it will be presented at the agenda meeting next month. Personnel Committee – Supv Sumner said the committee needs to address the policy for health insurance for elected part time officials, among other things. There is a need to address hiring a grant writer for the HOME grants. Supv Sumner will do this. Finance Committee – Needs to set a date for department audits. The board discussed a trip to view the Virgil Creek Dam. There being no further business, on motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk