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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-10-1998 MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1998 AT 7:30 P.M. Those present: Teresa M. Robinson, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman Donald F. Scheffler, Councilman Donald N. Palmer, Councilman Daniel J. Carey, Councilman Francis Casullo, Attorney Also present: George Totman, Rick Case, Liz Brennan, George Senter, Rick Neville, Chris Dempsey, Dennis Toolan, Francis Ciccoricco, Orlando Houghtaling, Joe Graham, Lauren Stanforth, Ithaca Journal. TERESA ROBINSON, TOWN SUPERVISOR- We're going to review action on minutes of the December 29th of 1997, and do we need to do these separately, Colleen? COLLEEN PIERSON, TOWN CLERK- No. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- I have a correction on the January 6th one, second page, resolutions, down in where it says that Elizabeth Brennan be appointed as part time, it isn't part time book keeper. She's going to be full time, with the hour that she's been given to the highway, so .... she's going to be full time. CLERK PIERSON- Pardon me? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- On the Resolution No.1, way down at the bottom, it says as appointed part time bookkeeper for the Town plus an additional hour for the Superintendent, which makes her actually full time. Right? CLERK PIERSON- I asked you that night and you said just an additional hour. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- No, it's going to be six hours. CLERK PIERSON- If you call six full time. I don't think we do but.... SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Ah, yes, we do. In our registration and for the retirement and everything, its six hours, makes the full time. CLERK PIERSON- I think the Town needs to review that because you're saying six hours for retirement. I don't know where that's in the law. Who set the six hours? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- It was set years and years ago. CLERK PIERSON- If that's right, it ought to be updated. What I'm saying is that these retirement hours have not been updated since years and years and years ago so there's really no record of it and I think the Town Board should be considering that. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Oh, I think there's a record of it. CLERK PIERSON- That leads me to another thing as long as we're discussing it: My deputy works seven hours. A thirty five hour week is considered full time for that position. So is it thirty hours or thirty five, or what are you calling full time? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- My understanding was that a full time was five or six hours a day. Because the retirement system, when we set it up, was for full time for six hours of credit. CLERK PIERSON- That's when you had a part time Clerk, and it's not true. That 1 Town Board Meeting, February 10, 1998 Page2 six hours. You only worked a half day on a Wednesday then. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Yeah, but they worked Saturdays. CLERK PIERSON- I'm suggesting that the Town just review those hours because they're way off base and I have spoken to the retirement system and I have also spoken with the Labor Department, and our help is working seven hours a day, five days a week, for thirty five hours, which is fine, but every time she gets vacation day she's only paid for six hours, which you can't do that. And they will be sending you a letter. Obviously, she should get an equal amount of hours for every vacation day, and this has gone back all the time that Carol was employed here. The Labor Department does not like it a bit. And it doesn't make sense. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- No, but Liz is working full time too, and I just didn't want to put down here as part time. COUNCILMAN CAREY- So, how many hours a week does she work? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- She's working....what......30.......well...I considered it full time. COUNCILMAN CAREY- Yes but isn't there regulations as to what is full time and what is not? Under the Retirement System? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Yes. FRAN CASULLO,TOWN ATTORNEY- I think that if a person worked full time without a lay off, and they have to have a time limit on the lay off, they're considered full time. To keep it as a part time job, you have to lay that person off, I believe. That's the way it's stated, something like that. If you employ a person for over, I think it's three working days, constantly, for an endless amount of time, they become full time. That's why Cornell lays people off every nine or ten months for three months. Then they have to start over. That's the game that they play. To get away from the benefits and stuff like that. And they're a State, and there's the Endowed, and they both do it that way, so there's got to be something written somewhere. I don't know whether it's a Labor Law or a State Law, but I believe for a person to be part time, there has to be a period where they're laid off. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Okay. Well, that was my correction anyway. COUNCILMAN SCHEFFLER- What about if we correct it to be appointed as bookkeeper. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Appointed as bookkeeper, yes. COUNCILMAN SCHEFFLER- And to study this and get things written down right. We'll just change it and appoint her as bookkeeper, because there's a couple other ones here that don't have part time or full time on them. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Okay, any other corrections? COUNCILMAN CAREY- Back in the December 9th meeting, Colleen, you indicated that you hired April Scheffler at $8.40 an hour.. CLERK PIERSON- $8.00. COUNCILMAN CAREY- Well, at that meeting it was $8.40, and she gets $8.00, or $8.40? CLERK PIERSON- It's $8.00. COUNCILMAN CAREY- Okay.....well, it was in the December 9th meeting.........Yeah, Resolution 2 is $8.00 an hour....well it was stated $8.40 in December and I just want to clarify that...okay, the part time clerk that you hired during tax time, she would earn the same amount as the Deputy Town Clerk? Town Board Meeting, February 10, 1998 Page3 CLERK PIERSON- Well, she's been here probably for ten years and she stays right at the same all the time. She was my full time Deputy prior to this. So you can't very well drop hers down. COUNCILMAN CAREY- No, so, she's eight dollars too? CLERK PIERSON- She's $8.00 also. She's just here a month and a half. She'll be going any day, as soon as we finish up with the taxes. COUNCILMAN CAREY- Okay. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Okay, we have December 9th, the 29th for 1997, and January 6th and 27th for 1998...with the corrections. RICK CASE, HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT- In the January 6 minutes, in my report, on page two, where we're talking about my sharing an office with the bookkeeper, it says "I feel there is room for a lot of error here", and what I said was "there is not a lot of room for error here." COUNCILMAN SCHEFFLER- Also, on the 6th, on page eight, in the middle of the page it says "proposed ag and farmland protection land". Shouldn't that read plan instead of land? CLERK PIERSON- That should be plan. Moved by Councilman Sovocool to approve the minutes of January 6, 1998 as amended. Seconded by Councilman Palmer. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson. Claim Nos. 1 through 25 and #218 of the Highway Fund in the amount of $25,459.09; Claim Nos. 4 through 31 of the General Fund in the amount of $100,492.07 and Claim Nos. 122 through 123 of the Special Grant Funds (HUD) in the amount of $1,540.60 were presented for audit. Moved by Councilman Carey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler to pay the bills as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- We have the 1998 liability insurance. Would you like to talk to us Mr. Dempsey? CHRIS DEMPSEY,INSURANCE AGENT- What I want to do, I want to present it to you a little differently than I have in the past. I'm going to give each one of you a list of what the bill is for the coming year. Now what I'm going to do is give you a copy of the bill from last year. Basically, what I'm trying to show by giving you these is what the insurance company presently carries. What they've done is they've reassessed on how they do their rates. In other words if you look at it, what you might see is last year your liability insurance was significantly different than it is this year. Last year it was a couple thousand dollars lower. What they've done is, they've come back and increased that, and then decreased your business auto premium. What they're showing is that the way losses are done, they're experiencing a lot less losses on the vehicle side and a lot more lawsuits and things of that nature. And what it ended up is that we're technically planning a few hundred dollars more than last year. But the reason is, if you look, it's not so much that it's a straight rate increase, it's what they always called a rate reappropriation, where they appropriate different rates. But the bottom line always seems like it's higher than it was before. So, what the company is saying to me is that what we have on the auto tends to have less accidents in the last five or six years, but lawsuits in general have tended to go up, and that's the reason for the difference, and that was my main reason for discussing this. Coverage wise, last year we significantly increased the coverage that we have versus what we had prior and are still paying less. What we used to spend is around $33-34,000. But we've added the three million dollar umbrella. A couple notes that we had, we're covered for 1.9 million dollars worth of property, and that's a blanket. One concern though, maybe directed toward Rick, one thing that I am concerned about is the pollution coverage, which we don't have, obviously. I'm concerned a little bit with the gas tanks. I know they're new, probably never Town Board Meeting, February 10, 1998 Page4 leaked. Sometimes I talk to Mr. Carey about his milk tank that sits out, and sometimes you can have a collision, it's sort of unprotected, and if we were ever to have a fuel spill, you know how DEC is, that can be a real problem. Pollution coverage is almost not worth while talking about, it starts at $25,000. But that is a real concern of mine, seeing way the fuel is now, probably those tanks could never be ruptured or something like that, but that could be a problem. That's the main thing I can see right now, that maybe you couldn't use it where you could encase it, but that I can see as a problem, possibly. Other than that all our coverage is good, and I don't really see any reason for any real change. Other than that, I went through it quick. Does any one have any questions? It's all pretty much black and white. COUNCILMAN PALMER- Chris, on the officials' liability coverage, that's for individual Board Members and appointed Board Members? CHRIS DEMPSEY- Yes. What it is though, what you have to be careful on, it's a million dollars with a million dollar umbrella. It's not a three million umbrella, it's a million dollar umbrella. And what it is, it's in total. So let's say that the Board was involved in an incident where the Board personally was named in a situation, there would be two million dollars of coverage for the incident, there wouldn't be two million for Mr. Carey, and two million for Mr. Palmer, etc. There would be two million in total. But that is for negligence as a Board Member. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Anybody else have any questions? Thank you very much. RESOLUTION NO. 5 - ACCEPT ROBERT C. DEMPSEY AGENCY'S INSURANCE QUOTE FOR 1998 Moved by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Carey Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Palmer, Carey, Robinson RESOLVED , that the Town Board does hereby accept Robert C. Dempsey Agency's 1998 insurance proposal in the amount of $31,713.14. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- You have the privilege of the floor. DENNIS TOOLAN, MAYOR OF GROTON- In view of the Rubbermaid shut down, and I see that Barb and Martha are going to show up and talk to you about economic development, well I think you better grab the bull by the horns or the horse by the tail, and as a community I have a little program that I want to propose to you. Eventually, I want to make an appointment with you guys and get our board and your board together, and before I leave here I'd like to have a date where we can discuss what direction we're headed. As you know we formed a joint action agency in the village so we could by bulk power. Let me go back in the history, our agreement with NYPA, that's the Power Authority, we're only allowed 4.4 megawatts of cheap power. Anything over that was 13 cents, which is...... So that means we were sort of boggled. What we did is we refused to buy that nuclear power and we formed our own Joint Action Agency and after we ......we're going to have unlimited power through an economic development clause and we're going to be able to sell power for less than Pataki's program, which ours will be under six. It will be around five and a half. The limitations right now with NYSEG and with their attorneys is that we have to be in the village. What I'm shooting at offering you people is that in light of the Munson and Wolf acquisition of the Hunter property, I think this now is the time to sit down and annex a piece of property. I'll let you know right now that we have a purchase offer working, going at those two people for a small piece. What I want to do is get a date from you people and get your feelings on it. Do your guys have an IDA, an Industrial Development Agency.... Town Board Meeting, February 10, 1998 Page5 ATTORNEY CASULLO- We do and we thought maybe we'd bring those people in. We're probably not looking at any economic development money or anything like that, but we can discuss that at the meeting. MAYOR TOOLAN- The reason why we want to go this way up there is obviously the sewer would be reasonable, the water tank is already on Elm Street....(gas)....right. But the Public Service Commission, I went to a meeting with them about a month ago, and they showed throughout the whole country where everything is booming, and where the energy cost is cheap is where the country is booming: Michigan, the Michigan Power Authority, Tennessee, and North Carolina, you have the TVA. I think, while we still have the opportunity, while electricity is between a half and a third of what people are paying in the outlying areas, I think we ought to take advantage of this. That's all. But I do want to get you guys to set a date..... SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- When do you want this? MAYOR TOOLAN- You guys decide that and I'll go back and get the... COUNCILMAN CAREY- How long do they give those electric contracts? MAYOR TOOLAN- 2013. Essentially, anybody that comes in or anybody that you bring in.... what we're looking at is something like a small technology park or something like that. But you know, we wanted to sit down and get some ideas from you people. I have looked up the annexation on what we're looking at and you will lose $500 in tax revenue. All someone has to do is put a $100,000 building in and you've got your money back. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Are you annexing..... MAYOR TOOLAN- We haven't decided yet how much we want to annex. We put an offer in right now for 24 acres, and some change. Any questions from the floor? COUNCILMAN CAREY- Where is this property located, Dennis? MAYOR TOOLAN- On Route 222. It's part of the old Hunter farm, goes all the way up Lick Street. So may I have a date? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Are you talking about with both boards. And do you have a time frame? MAYOR TOOLAN- Yes, I think I'm talking about within the next thirty days. I know you have a lot of things coming up, but if you could fit it in the thirty day schedule...if you want, it could be a weekend, but preferably during the week sometime. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Well, we'll have to work out a date here. I will let you know, okay? MAYOR TOOLAN- Like I say, I'd like to get a tentative date because then I can go plus or minus.... A discussion was held between Mayor Toolan and the Town Board and it was decided that the meeting would be held Thursday, March 12, 1998, at 7:30 PM at the Groton Town Hall on Conger Boulevard. MAYOR TOOLAN- We probably should have the Superintendent of Highways (Rick Case) and George, and any one else who's concerned, and it's going to be an open meeting, I hope. Thank you. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Okay, thanks, Dennis. (Supervisor Robinson then introduced Barbara Blanchard to the Board). BARBARA BLANCHARD- I wanted a few minutes tonight to come and talk to you about the counties Economic Development Plan and it's activities. I have become the "poster child" for Economic Development in Tompkins County. I Town Board Meeting, February 10, 1998 Page6 think I have been to every town and village board meeting over the last month, talking about this plan and asking for your help with a couple of things. So, let me give a little bit of history. Some of you may know that a couple of years ago, when Stewart Stein was still the chair of the Board of Representatives, he had some regular meetings with elected officials and community leaders and talked about how could Tompkins County stop talking about economic development and start doing something, and what was the best way to do that. The discussion centered around the fact that in some counties they have economic development offices in county government. In Tompkins County, however, we have a very good economic development agency in TCAD, Tompkins County Area Development, so the decision was made not to establish a separate county office of economic development, but to provide TCAD with some resources so that organization could be in charge of preparing an economic development plan for the entire county, including the City. So we did that, and we appropriated some money, and TCAD has gone forward with that plan. There are a lot people who are involved in this activity at different levels. There is a technical committee, a steering committee and a big strategic plan committee, and a lot of things like that. We feel very strongly that we have to reach out into the towns and villages and get some real information from town and village boards about the kinds of things that are important to you and the priority issues that you think we ought to be addressing in this economic development plan. In order to do that, I've brought some packets of material which I'm going to leave with you. I'm going to leave this big white envelope with the clerk because there's a piece of this that we'd like to have you take a few minutes and give us some thoughts and then return to us. This little packet includes a short survey, it's really an opinion survey, there's no right or wrong answers, but we're trying to get your ideas about what you think our economic development goals should be, because there's a number of ways you can target a program like this, and we want to be sure that we have some sort of consensus about what things we should be focusing on. The second page asks for your opinion on a number of economic development issues. There's two little news letters in here which have a little bit more information about the planning program itself, who's doing what, some of the meetings being held, some of the highlights, some of the initial findings, and the research and the background. There is a statement describing what we hope to accomplish in this plan, which defines the kinds of short term goals that we think are important, how we want to address issues of work force skills so that people can be continually climbing up the ladder and bettering their lives. We hope that this plan will give us a real good idea of how we should be targeting county resources. George knows, of course, and so do I, that every year at budget time a lot of people ask us for money. There's all kinds of ideas about how the county should invest in economic development. We want to make sure that when we make those investments that they reflect the types of priorities that most of us feel are the high level issues. We also want to see if with this planning project we can identify gaps in service deliver areas, things that we should maybe be spending more time on. And also to identify areas where we are duplicating services, because we all know that when that happens we hope that we can find those areas in these planning projects and provide better co- ordination with that. There's also a little schedule that shows the time line for the project. So, I'll leave these packets with you, and if you'll be good enough to take a few minutes, if you're real slow it takes about 10 minutes to do this survey, and get it back to us. Return it in this envelope to TCAD. There's also a business card attached to each packet. And that card has information on how you can reach Martha Armstrong, who is the TCAD economic development planner, who was hired specifically to work on this project. And Martha's phone, fax, e-mail, everything is there if you want more information or if you want clarification about something, you can get in touch with her. Of course, you can also call me, if you wanted to. And there's a dumb little cartoon, that we think is kind of fun, that just happened to come along at the right time. So, I'll leave these things with you. And finally, I want to ask your help with one other thing that's going on in this plan: on Thursday night, the 19th and on Tuesday night, the 24th of this month (February), we are convening two meetings of town and village representatives, and we are going to have some people there from city council as well, and as I've gone around I've asked each town and village council to please have one person volunteer to attend one or the other of those meetings, not both. But we would like to have one person, at least, if everyone wants to come, that's Town Board Meeting, February 10, 1998 Page7 fine, but we need to have one representative from each community come to one or the other of these meetings. Talk with your colleagues from the other towns and villages about what you would like to see in a plan like this, what you think would be of particular benefit to the Town of Groton, and that would be very helpful because we need to hear that face to face from you. The other thing that these meetings will do is give an opportunity for city council people and town and village people to get to know each other a little bit better. Sometimes I think I'm the city representative, which George teases me about all the time, being a city girl, but sometimes I think that we don't have a very good understanding about the issues and the concerns in the more rural areas, and sometimes I feel that the rural communities don't have a real feel for what some of the specific city issues are. So, we hope that by getting together for a short period of time, talking with each other, we would be beginning a relationship that can service the ..... in the future. And that's really all the time I need. I'd be glad to answer anybody's questions, and I'll leave these packets and the envelopes.... SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Would you give us those dates and times again? BARBARA BLANCHARD- Thursday, February 19, from 7:00 - 8:30, in the Old Jail Conference Room at the Court House Complex. If someone chooses to go to that meeting, the room will be open at 6:45. And the other choice would be on Tuesday, February 24, from 7:00 - 8:30, at the Transit Center. And if anybody is ready to volunteer tonight it would save us a phone call. If several people want to come that's fine too, there's no limit, just that we absolutely need somebody to participate and say "we're from Groton and this is what's on our mind." If you're not ready to decide that, maybe you could talk about that and let Martha know. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Alright. Thank you very much. Anybody else want to speak? If not, Liz... LIZ BRENNAN, BOOKKEEPER- First we've got quite a few transfers from the 1997 budget. You've had a chance to look them over. I'm not going to go through each one. Do you have any questions on them? COUNCILMAN PALMER- I have a question. The fuel tank project, I thought we had that pretty well wrapped up in December. We transferred money at that point, and now we're transferring more? LIZ BRENNAN- Yes. COUNCILMAN PALMER- I guess I'm concerned about that. As I look at the budget, almost thirty seven thousand dollars have gone into that project already. Now we're going to throw another three thousand at it. As I recall, the project initially was budgeted for twenty six thousand dollars. LIZ BRENNAN- That's correct. COUNCILMAN PALMER- I'm concerned. I'd like to request a formal accounting for that project for the next meeting. LIZ BRENNAN- Okay. I can give you a listing. I believe this last bill, they still needed some extra siding or something, it wasn't complete for them to finish it up, is that right? RICHARD CASE, HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT- We're still gathering pieces and parts. We've got gentlemen right here that have been working on it. I don't know what was ordered, I don't know what your bid was, or anything was like, but we've been finishing.... and we've got pieces that aren't there. Baker Miller is still furnishing materials that match everything in it, so that's where it's coming from. I think all the materials are here now, I don't know what, I don't believe there's any outstanding bills on it. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- You have them all in now, Rick? Town Board Meeting, February 10, 1998 Page8 RICK NEVILLE- As far as I know it is. They should be all in. The only thing is, Cornie (Leland Cornelius, former Highway Superintendent) wanted the building finished down on the sides, and when he left there was that left to do, along the sides. The only thing that was bid by Baker Miller was just the roof... .........anything from the roof down was not included in the initial quote. RICHARD CASE- That's my understanding, from what I heard, that the meeting December 9th, that was approved to finish it, as far as what we have left from Baker Miller....... LIZ BRENNAN- And actually, this transfer is expenses from '97 that the bills are just still coming in. I imagine that's it for the billing. COUNCILMAN SCHEFFLER- There was something said, I think, at the December meeting about Leland hadn't ordered. Is that correct? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- They changed the order. COUNCILMAN SCHEFFLER- Did he have the stuff ordered for it or...... SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- It wasn't the right order was it, when it first came? COUNCILMAN PALMER- It was steel. We transferred over two thousand dollars in December for steel, according to the December minutes. So we'll end up at almost forty thousand dollars in this project then before we get done probably, just in material cost and movement cost. I think that's way over what we originally talked about. COUNCILMAN CAREY- I think Cornie indicated back in October, or November that it was going to cost three thousand dollars to put a roof on it with the lumber and the steel, as I recall. That's what his estimate was. Now I don't know if my memory serves me right but I think that was what was said. LIZ BRENNAN- I think there was a change along the way, with the difference in color, there was an increase because of that. Originally it was supposed to be white, or they thought it was going to be blue, and when it came it was blue and it was supposed to be white to begin with, I'm not sure of the story behind it, but there was a difference in price between the white and the colored siding. COUNCILMAN CAREY- Maybe Rick would know, he was there. Was there a problem with the color Rick? RICK NEVILLE- I think the original, just the roof, was thirty seven hundred dollars, and anything added on below the roof line was going to be an added expense.......the extra lumber, trim and stuff that was used to do it with, there's a cost there that was added on.........there was no color change. RICHARD CASE- There was no color change, the roof and the trim was going to match everything here. He decided to close in the three sides, it's my understanding, and the next addition was that steel for the bottom part........none of us here are professionals, if there's been any mistakes made, but we're going a piece at a time so that we don't make any mistakes. We are concerned with cost.......... LIZ BRENNAN- We can give you a complete list, from the beginning. COUNCILMAN SCHEFFLER- Can you give us a spread sheet on the cost of it? Maybe we're looking at some of these numbers twice. LIZ BRENNAN- I don't think so, but I will. DENNIS TOOLAN, MAYOR OF VILLAGE OF GROTON- When you start putting stuff on the sides of a building, you've got things like ...panels, end panels, soffit facing, that's where the prices are coming from......that stuff is always expensive. It's like trimming a house, trim around the bottom and trim around Town Board Meeting, February 10, 1998 Page9 the windows, it costs more than the windows. LIZ BRENNAN- Did you have any other questions? If not, we need a resolution for the transfers. The rest of the report is all on '97. I'm in the process of closing the books right now, and we will be filing electronically. I'll be using the Village of Freeville's computer and modem, since mine is kind of outdated and doesn't have the capacity. I should have that done by the next board meeting, and then we can have the auditor come in and start the audit. Do you have any other questions? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Can I have a motion on the transfers? RESOLUTION NO. 6 - TRANSFER OF FUNDS IN 1997 BUDGET Moved by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilamn Carey Ayes-Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson RESOLVED , that the Town Board does hereby approve the following transfers: Town Board Meeting, February 10, 1998 Page10 SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Thank you, Liz. George. GEORGE SENTER, CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER- I don't have too much building permit activity to report. We did through January of 1997, we had six building permits issued. Three were mobile homes and three were others. And building permits issued through January of this year were only two, one mobile home and one other. The life safety inspections are current through January. I'd like to give you a little information. I had a visitor today, a gentleman by the name Paul McGinn. He's a developer from some place in Massachusetts. He came in and bought one of our zoning books. He's what they consider a zoning specialist for, guess what, cellular towers. He's looking at this area, and I told him that we had a moratorium. It don't know how long it's good for, but I told him we had a moratorium on cellular towers. It didn't seem to bother him a heck of a lot, because there are FCC regulations that you have to follow anyway. You can't stick these things where they can't be used, and they know that. I asked them where he was looking, and he told me he was looking at Chipman Corners/Sears Road area. What they do is, they develope these things, and they find somebody who's going to use them, and at least two people put their technology on the tower. And that makes them pay. So, they build the tower and then they rent them out to MCI or AT & T or whoever, and they pay the farmer or whoever owns the land, rent by the month. He said that they try to get a hundred by a hundred foot area that they fence in, of course, so that it's protected. They said that the more people that they board, they just come up and add panels to the tower. I asked him how far does this tower radiate, you know, how far out does it spread? He said depending on what you use, if your cellular it's about eight miles, but it's kind of garbled and has a lot of static. But if you go into digital, it's real fine, you can use lap tops with that and whatever, but it has less of a spread area. That's probably four to six miles. I said how many towers do you need if that's as far as they spread? He said, well, they overlap a lot. And they call this the Buffalo Corridor down through here. Anyway, he said that's a nice area up in there. He said what they're looking for is an area that's between twelve and thirteen hundred feet above sea level. But he has the ..........I thought that was interesting and I thought I would mention it. And I told him we were in the processright now of writing a regulation on cellular towers, and he didn't seem to be too concerned about that, didn't bother him a bit. He said you have to put aside an area force anyway, because of FCC regulations. And you can't just stick them off in a corner or down in the valley because that doesn't do them any good. So, I thought I'd bring that up. MAYOR TOOLAN- Did you go to that County meeting where two guys spoke........there were two guys there who will come in here and help you write a program that will benefit you. And, or, they will help the landowner write a lease. And they do it for nothing. They do it for the money they can make. TERESA ROBINSON- They do it for $500.00. DENNIS TOOLAN- Yeah, something like that. I mean it's peanuts. I mean, digital is going to be crazy. It won't be long before you're driving down the road and you punch in a little board in your car and you turn your microwave on and it's going to be crazy. These towers are going to be all over the place. COUNCILMAN CAREY- So this tower is just for Rt. 38.... MAYOR TOOLAN- They're actually putting it there for speculation, to lease it to all these carriers, and stuff....to go digital.....who knows. GEORGE SENTER- He says they won't put it up unless they have at least two people interested in putting their technology on it. Town Board Meeting, February 10, 1998 Page11 COUNCILMAN SCHEFFLER- Did he say how high a tower he was looking at? GEORGE SENTER- I didn't ask him. MAYOR TOOLAN- They start at one hundred feet. But if they're going to build a big one, and I imagine these guys are in the speculation business, it's going to be a good sized one so they can load the boards and the dishes right on it. GEORGE SENTER- This technology is like television, it's line of sight. It's not like ground radio that travels over the valleys and hills. It's line of sight. You have to see it. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Thank you George. Mr. Highway Superintendent? RICHARD CASE- (Not entirely audible, did not use mike.) Snow and ice removal......plow and sanding equipment.......plow wings, and plow blades and nuts and bolts have been gone through and put on new. It has been brought to my attention that three of the one way plows that we've got are in need of some extensive fabrication. Hopefully we can get through until the brunt of the snow season is over...............it's not gong to last forever. One person plowing has been implemented in three of the five trucks that we have out here. Mr. Neville has been fabricating, I don't know if anyone would want a patent on the design, but controls have been brought over so that they're easily accessible to the driver. And when conditions allow we go with one operator, which fees up some of our other people to do other things. And we've had a little better coverage than we have in the past. We've been through the building out back. The finish construction continues. Nobody will be more glad than we are to have this done. The guys are doing a good job on it, and if you take a minute to look at it,I think you'll agree. We're researching some lighting out back. At three o'clock in the morning, when we're using that facility, it's awful dark. I'd like to put some kind of motion lights out there and I think not only will this help the fueling operation and maybe avoid a spill that we don't have insurance for, but security wise it's awful dark.......The weather conditions have allowed in the last few days we have been cutting brush and trees that have been hindering the snow removal operation, and that seems to be going smoothly. We gathered $120.40 worth of salvage cleaning the stockroom inside, and that has been given to Teresa, the Supervisor ............any questions? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- No, but I want to tell you two things. The covering that the men have built over the tanks is really professional, very good, very nice. They've worked hard, and some of the days were kind of cold out there too. If you have a minute and if you want to travel around and look at that, and you want to look at the inside of the first bay of the garage over there, you won't believe you're in the same place. It would be worth the tour. You've done a fine job, all of you, and I really appreciate it. COUNCILMAN CAREY- Rick, I've got one question. On a lot of those bills I was going through where you're plow parts and miscellaneous things like that, you've got quite a bolt expense. When you buy the part, you've got to buy the bolt. If you buy bulk grade 8 bolts or heavier and store what you need instead of buying it with the part and they charge you ........ RICHARD CASE- Some of these we have stored ahead. COUNCILMAN CAREY- Okay. They charge you an arm and a leg when you buy the part, they're going to sell you the bolt for three times what....it's a small expense but if you do enough of it, it adds up. RICHARD CASE- Well, our inventory on that stuff was zero. COUNCILMAN CAREY- So you're going to try and carry an inventory of small things like.... RICHARD CASE- Yeah, and also if we have an emergency........you boys can help me out here, I know we're stocked better than we have been. Town Board Meeting, February 10, 1998 Page12 RICK NEVILLE- Yeah, one thing is though like on the bolts, on the front plows and on the weights, they're only good for one flip. You flip them over. They wear down on the threads on the bottom side of the plow, and you can't use them over. So, you can get two uses out of them, and then they're no good. If that's an expense somewhere, and probably in the winter time they're going to be more than they are in the summer. COUNCILMAN CAREY- That's sort of what I was getting at. To look ahead on some of it. COUNCILMAN PALMER- Rick, was any thing ever done as far as the salvage up in the gravel pit? There was a lot of equipment up there that was going to get disposed of? RICHARD CASE- We're getting to it. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- You'll be surprised at what they've done in a month so don't....they'll move along, they've done a wonderful job. RICHARD CASE- I told the fellows we were going to start in this corner and work this way........and move up on the hill. There's a shop up there....and we intend to make use of it...... and the salvage up there. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- The money he's making in the salvage, we hope to be able to use for other equipment that we need. I'm sure that's why he's saving it. Colleen, do you have anything? CLERK PIERSON- I have my tax collector report, due today. I don't have Town Clerk's report for January.....I just want to mention to you that the county sent me our annual notice of mortgage taxes paid to the town,$40,489.87. Sales tax for 1997 was $410,834.68. Surplus dog moneys $1112.85. Snow removal $105,280. The 1997 annual report from the Tompkins County SPCA, actually, it only amounted to $255 in impoundment fees for the entire year. For the stray dogs redeemed, 15, stray dogs adopted, 33, stray dogs euthanized, 11, tickets issued, 151, requested search for strays, 21, talked to owners, 52, trips made to talk to owners, 59, trips for taking complaints and statements, 11. That's about average every year. I did give you a copy of the property foreclosures coming up......there's one thing that we should look at here. As you see, the first person under the Town of Groton, it's John Anderson, Jr., and we do have a lien against that property, the Town does. You'll have to talk to Fran to see what we have do now. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- That's only if the taxes aren't paid, or.... UNKNOWN- How many properties are they selling? CLERK PIERSON- One in the village and five in the town. That's all I have. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- On a couple of dates here, is there anybody who can go to these, the 19th or the 24th? COUNCILMAN SCHEFFLER- I could go on the 24th. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- I can go on the 19th. GEORGE TOTMAN- It probably wouldn't be a bad idea for you to go to one of them or the other. I believe two people from our board are going................... (Several people talking at once, unable to hear) SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Then there's another meeting on the 26th, it's a Thursday. This is for the Adult Entertainment regulations and what municipalities need to know. This is going to be held at the Holiday Inn. This is about Adult Entertainment regulations and this is the one that we gave up our Links meeting for. I can't go to that one so if anybody could go to it, I'd appreciate it. COUNCILMAN PALMER- I'm tentatively planning on going to that one. Town Board Meeting, February 10, 1998 Page13 CLERK PIERSON- I think Lyle is going and he's going to try and get his board to go also. I believe George Totman is going. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- George, is your board going? GEORGE TOTMAN- No, that's why I'm writing it down. I'm going to bring it up. Our board meeting isn't until next Monday..... SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- It's Thursday, February 26, 6:30 registration, 7:00 is presentation, Holiday Inn, Seneca Room, North Cayuga Street, across from the Woolworth's parking lot, City of Ithaca. This is sponsored by the Tompkins County Planning Federation and the Southern Tier Chapter of the American Planning Association. The people who are going to be there will be Pat Kennedy, assistant City attorney, City of Ithaca, David Church, executive director New York Planning Federation, and Laurie Nisson, associate council, Association of Towns of the State of New York. Topics to be discussed include definition of adult entertainment, adopting a moratorium, conducting a study, first amendment rights, enforcing adult entertainment regulations, and recent case law. Next, authorizing payment of the 1998 ambulance contract in the amount of $56,000 and the Groton Fire Protection District at $63,000. We've already voted on it, but we'll vote again. RESOLUTION NO. 7 - 1998 AMBULANCE CONTRACT AND FIRE PROTECTION CONTRACT Moved by Councilman Palmer, seconded by Councilman Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby approve the 1998 Ambulance Contract in the amount of $56,000 and the 1998 Fire Protection District Contract in the amount of $63,000 and does hereby approve payment of same. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Discuss the 1998 agreement between the Town and the Village for the use of the Town Courtroom facilities on Conger Boulevard. MAYOR TOOLAN- I believe the check has been cut. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Oh, that's last year's. This is for this year. This is the agreement, I'll pass it along. The other thing, I'm looking for somebody, if you know anyone who would be interested in working on the Environment Management Council because we have not had anybody on it for several months. If you know anybody that's interested....(who's chairman?)....it's composed of sixteen members recommended by local government, twelve at large members. Each appointment is for two years. I'd like to have someone who could do it. The other thing that we have to do is advertise for a zoning officer. That will be done in the next, we would have got it out this time, but there's too much going on, so we'll have it in the papers, probably the Ithaca Journal and the Post Standard and some of the other places around. George is retiring. RICK NEVILLE- Can I ask what that pay is a year? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- What it pays a year? It pays, different wages, that's something we have to figure out too, won't we. CLERK PIERSON- It's actually two part time jobs. One is classified as a Zoning Officer and the other is classified as a New York State Building and Fire Inspector. And it has to be that way though the county. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- And you have to go to school and certify, for both George? GEORGE SENTER- No, just for the building inspector. You have to maintain Town Board Meeting, February 10, 1998 Page14 your registry number, 24 hours per year. They usually offer enough seminars where you can....... SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Francis Ciccoricco has offered his services, pro bono, to work with the Planning Board on the Cellular Towers. We're very happy to have him aboard. If you don't know Francis, he's sitting right back there in the green jacket. Is there any other business? RESOLUTION NO. 8 - 1998 COURT RENTAL AGREEMENT WITH VILLAGE Moved by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby approve the agreement between the Town of Groton and the Village of Groton for the rental of the Town Courtroom on Conger Boulevard for an annual sum of $3600 thus remaining the same rental amount as in the past. ATTORNEY CASULLO- Let me fill you in, as much as I can, without having to go into executive session, where we stand on the adult entertainment business in McLean. I talked with Scott Chatfield, who represents the Langers, yesterday. We're on for court the 27th in Ithaca, before Judge Rumsey. Our office is preparing the response papers. I've talked with Scott and we will exchange responding papers, no problem with that. I believe that the motion term starts at 9:30 over at the Tompkins County Courthouse on February 27. I have no idea if they've secured the motion term, so we could be first or we could be last, we could go at 9:30, or we could go at 12:00, I don't know ......to argue the motion. Last week the ZBA heard Clara Travis' appeal for a more appropriate interpretation. That went pretty smoothly. The ZBA has adjourned the matter. They're going to set up a workshop day. We're not too sure that the decisions could be made before or after the 27th. I'm just not too sure what will be discussed. I'll discuss that with them about when they want to time this thing. I'm not too sure how we're going to do this. It's ultimately their decision, but the key decision is going to be made the 27th by Judge Rumsey. I've been in contact with the General Council for the Department of State, and before you can pass an adult entertainment resolution or local law, you have to conduct a study weighing the effects of the adult entertainment business in the town or community or area. I believe, subject to your approval, I guess the Town of Dryden, as well as the Town of Lansing, is interested in having like a three- town study to be undertaken, which is probably a good idea. I have a number of studies that I received from the Department of State from different towns, but it's probably just as well that you do your own with Lansing and with Dryden. And I would ask that you ask for a resolution that Groton enter into a study with the towns of Lansing and Dryden, and that members from the Town Board, the ZBA, the Planning Board, the Town Attorney, George Senter, or the Code Enforcement Officer, and what I'm saying is you could leave it wide open like that in a resolution, representatives from the Town of Groton can come from each and any of those areas. Then we'll sit down with Rich John, Mahlon Perkins, and the reps from Lansing and Dryden. We could figure out how big of a committee we want and what we want to do here and get that going. To accomplish this, what I think we're going to need to do is extend the moratorium. So, probably there would be two resolutions. To extend the moratorium, we're going to have to enact a local law sometime in the next few weeks, so that we can extend our moratorium for another four months to allow additional time to complete the study and then to put together a local law that has taken the recommendations of that study. Probably what we need to do is a special meeting. I think I looked on the calendar with Colleen, March 2 or 3, where we could have a public hearing and adopt it right then and there. The meeting shouldn't take longer than a half an hour to forty five minutes. It really shouldn't take that long. In that way it gives us an additional four month period to wrap everything up. I just want you to know this, that Groton seems to be all over the place with this, but if you notice why on the Town Board Meeting, February 10, 1998 Page15 26th these other towns are having these seminars, you just happen to be the unfortunate one that this adult entertainment business came to, and now everybody is trying to get a moratorium in place, trying to do these studies, and trying to understand the whole issue of what needs to be done and how it needs to be done. Unfortunately, to be honest with you, the meeting on the 26th is fine for a lot of these other towns, but for us, a few hours after that meeting on the 26th, we're going to be in court. It's great to have that information about the local law, but for us, we're going to be in court a few hours after that meeting, so our work is going to be already done. Mahlon Perkins, I saw him today, and he asked me if I was going. I may, it all depends, I'll be preparing Thursday night for the thing Friday morning. Mahlon is going, as far as this committee goes. You guys are at the forefront of this thing locally, and now everybody in Cortland County and Tompkins County is now trying to pass these things so they don't end up where we were. It just happened this way, and it's unfortunate, but we'll get though it. I guess what I need is one resolution authorizing, if it's acceptable to the Board, authorizing that the Town enter into a study with the Towns of Lansing and Dryden and that representatives of this committee can come from the Town Attorney, the Code Enforcement Officer, the Town Board, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Planning Board, and any other interested person. And then we can get this ball going and we can figure out how we're going to work this committee. RESOLUTION NO. 9 - CONDUCT A JOINT STUDY WITH TOWNS OF LANSING AND DRYDEN PERTAINING TO ADULT ENTERTAINMENT Moved by Councilman Palmer, seconded by Councilman Carey Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson RESOLVED- that the Town Board does hereby agree to enter into a joint study with the Towns of Lansing and Dryden for the purpose of the study of adult entertainment and its impact on the communities. Said study to be conducted by a committee consisting of members of the respective Town Boards, Planning Boards, Zoning Boards of Appeal, Town Attorneys, Code Enforcement Officers, and any other interested individuals as suggested by Attorney Fran Casullo. ATTORNEY CASULLO- The second resolution we're going to need is for somebody to introduce what will be Local Law #1 for the year 1998, which is going to extend the moratorium on adult entertainment businesses within the Town of Groton. The reason for the extension is because we're now entering into this cooperative study with the Towns of Dryden and Lansing, and New York Case Law has deemed that this type of study is required before we enact a local law or resolution regulating these types of activities. We need to conduct this study. We need this extra time to get together, put a study together, and then prepare a local law. So the local law that I would like introduced would be to extend the moratorium for another four month period to complete the study and to put together a local law or resolution based upon recommendations.......and then we will need to have a special meeting. COUNCILMAN CAREY- When is this moratorium scheduled to expire? ATTORNEY CASULLO- March 10 or 11. But what I want to do, Dan, is I want to get this done by, like the 2nd or 3rd, so that we don't have any overlap. I want to get it done and filed in Albany, so if we have an overlap it's on our side as opposed to not being on our side. So, that's why I want to do it on either the 2nd or 3rd. I want to do it for four months, 120 days, because that will allow us sufficient time. What I'd like to do at the end of that moratorium period, one, I'll know the decision from Judge Rumsey, two, we'll have the study completed, and three, we'll, between the Towns of Lansing, Dryden, and Groton, we'll have a pretty good model local law that we can present before you, to type this thing up, that I think is going to withstand any challenge. CLERK PIERSON- Do we want to say in there: Extend moratorium on adult entertainment provided for in Local Law #4 in 1997? Town Board Meeting, February 10, 1998 Page16 ATTORNEY CASULLO- It would be extending the time period of Local Law #4 for 1997. RESOLUTION NO. 10 - INTRODUCE PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #1 FOR 1998 EXTENDING MORATORIUM ON ADULT ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESSES Moved by Councilman Palmer, seconded by Councilman Scheffler Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby introduce proposed Local Law #1 for 1998 extending the time period of Local Law #4 for 1997 pertaining to a moratorium on adult entertainment in the Town of Groton. ATTORNEY CASULLO- What I'm going to do is, I'm going to get the draft of the local law on your desk right away, so that either March 2 or 3, schedule a public hearing. What happens then, it can either be passed or rejected. If it's passed, we'll get it filed and we're all set. RESOLUTION NO. 11 - SCHEDULE SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING & HEARING ON EXTENSION OF MORATORIUM FOR ADULT ENTERTAINMENT Moved by Councilman Carey, seconded by Councilman Palmer Ayes - Sovocool, Palmer, Carey, Scheffler, Robinson RESOLVED, That the Town Board will hold a Special Meeting on Tuesday, March 3, 1998, at 7:30, for the purpose of holding a public hearing on Local Law #1 for 1998. ATTORNEY CASULLO- I think, to be honest with you, one way or the other, I get the feeling that........from Judge Rumsey on the 27th, one way or the other. So, I think once he makes his decision on the 27th, a lot of this will start falling into place. I think he knows the impact. I think he knows the situation. I think he also sees that a lot of other communities are waiting to see how this is going to shake out. And I think he's going to make a fairly quick decision. I don't think he's going to make a decision, obviously, that day. But I think within a week, two weeks after, I wouldn't be surprised, if we're meeting on March 10, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he might have a decision by then. Then, like I said, everything is going to fall into place after that. MAYOR TOOLAN- The village, we did our own survey. What we did was we called police agencies, in Enfield where they have the other one. We asked if there was an increase in crimes or traffic. We called NYCOM, it might not hurt you to get hold of them. They sent us a little thing, and they say that personal opinion on a survey should have nothing to do with it, what people come and say. In other words, if you put that in a survey, more than likely, it won't be valid to the say of the judge. Essentially, you understand that you have to make an area available to these people. What we essentially did is, we put footages with churches and schools. Essentially we put it in a spot where it would be economically not very feasible to build a building there. That's essentially all we did. You have a lot more wide open spaces, and I understand your plight. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Where could we build it in the village? Town Board Meeting, February 10, 1998 Page17 MAYOR TOOLAN- Over next to Dave DuMont. Probably the back side...there's a couple of spots. You have to allow I think five or six percent....actually be presenting the good and honest contention of your total land....... ATTORNEY CASULLO- Dennis brought up some good points. The one I think we're going to follow, I got my hands on a study done in January of 1998 that was done by the Town and Village of Ellicottville, in Catturaugus County, which is out west...This thing is amazing. If their adult regulation, their rule, is ever challenged, I don't see how a judge could ever strike it down, because this study that they did is fantastic. They covered everything. A really great job. So, that's the one that we're going to model ours after. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Basically what we need is a study. ATTORNEY CASULLO- Yes, we're going to follow what they did here. MAYOR TOOLAN- Just remember, you can't use opinions. You have to use crime, traffic, you have to get hold of police agencies. Even if they don't have an opinion, you have to say you contacted them. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Do we have any more business? There being no further business, Councilman Carey moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, at 9:30 P.M. Unanimous. Colleen D. Pierson Town Clerk