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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-09-1999 MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1999 AT 7:30 PM Those present: Teresa M. Robinson, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman Daniel J. Carey, Councilman Donald N. Palmer, Councilman Donald F. Scheffler, Councilman James Baranello, Attorney Also present: George Totman, Mark Gunn, Liz Brennan Moved, by Councilman Scheffler, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to accept the minutes of the December 29, 1998 meeting as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson. Moved, by Councilman Palmer, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to accept the minutes of the January 5, 1999 meeting as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson. Claim No. 361 of the 1998 General Fund in the amount of $99.60 and Claim Nos. 5 - 40 of the 1999 General Fund in the amount of $161,314.10 were presented for audit. Moved by Councilman Carey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to approve the General bills for payment Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson. Claim Nos. 275 - 279 of the 1998 Highway Fund in the amount of $7,479.52 and Claim Nos. 1 - 26 of the 1999 Highway Fund in the amount of $25,227.01 were presented for audit. Moved by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the Highway bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson. Claim Nos. 145 - 149 of the 1999 Special Grant (HUD) Fund in the amount of $15,713.21 were presented for audit. Moved by Councilman Carey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to approve the HUD bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON presented a bill from Thoma Development Consultants for services rendered in conjunction with Diversified Technologies in the amount Pg.2 - Town Board Meeting - February 9, 1999 of 962.06. A discussion followed concerning Diversified in which is was stated that payments had not been made for October, November, and December of 1998, and that a payment had been made in January of 1999. Questions were raised about the Loan Agreement and Attorney Baranello said that he would talk to Attorney Casullo and make sure that the Town received a copy of that agreement. RESOLUTION #7 - PAYMENT OF THOMA BILL FOR SERVICES RE: DIVERSIFIED TECHNOLOGIES Moved by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Carey. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson. Resolved , that the Town Board does hereby approve for payment, bill from Thoma Development Consultants, in the amount of $962.06, for services rendered in conjunction with Diversified Technologies. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON asked for review and action on the 1999 Town Liability Insurance. COUNCILMAN SOVOCOOL- Was that in with the bills we just paid? CLERK PIERSON- Yes, $31,654.46. Did that list the coverage? COUNCILMAN PALMER- It lists the premium for each of the coverages, but not what the coverages involve. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- No, they give you that after. COUNCILMAN SOVOCOOL- Well, we already paid the bill, so it's already paid, right? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Yes, I guess so. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON invited privilege of the floor and asked George Totman if he had any news from the County. GEORGE TOTMAN- Well, they may be having a coffee shop in the Library. There are things in process with the architects for the new library. Other than that things are pretty routine with the County right now. February 9, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.3 LIZ BRENNAN- Right now I'm in the process of closing the books for 1998 and working on the annual report. I spoke with the auditor today and he'll be making an appointment to come out in April if that's okay with the Board. He'll be doing the Justice Court Clerk books and my books at that time. He wanted to get through tax season. My report has to be in by March 1st, and it will be done as long as I get all the books closed. I have some of them closed at this point. The transfers are for salaries. During budget time we talked about not putting things in the budget and trying to purchase with the 1998 monies. I've moved some money from Building, Contractual to Equipment. In the Highway, it's salary, and Highway, Part-Town is salary. All 1998 transfers. In the encumbrances, Garage, Contractual, that's for the electric in the barn and was approved in the December meeting. Building, Equipment, we talked about a printer for the clerk and highway office and a computer for the clerk. I put down estimated amounts. I'm not sure if you still want to approve that, whether the clerk still wants the printer and computer. In the Highway, Town-Wide, you've already approved purchase of the pick-up truck. That's the exact amount of the purchase, when we put the order in. So that amount would be moved. There was money left over from the County Highway Funds, and a truck jack was needed. So, we thought we would also include that, and encumber those funds over. Then the Highway Part-Town Funds are for the Highway computer program. COUNCILMAN SOVOCOOL- Now, this is all out of the 1998 Budget? LIZ BRENNAN- It's all out of the '98 Budget. If I get to a point, and it looks like we're going to be short in any way, then I'll come back to you and let you know what we're doing. But if it looks like we've got enough fund balance left I'll move it, if you give approval on it. I just need the information to get all this done before I can close the books. Do you have any questions? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Do you want the computer then, Colleen? CLERK PIERSON- Well, I don't have enough memory in mine to run the taxes. That was part of my problem in getting it up an going in January. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- So you do want it? CLERK PIERSON- Well, we're going to have to do something. I have to upgrade it or have a new unit. Not the screen and all that. I haven't had a chance to do anything since January, with collecting taxes........... I would rather look into it now that things are slowing down a little bit, and get someone in to give us a quote on everything that needs to be done. COUNCILMAN CAREY- Do you need that computer before next tax season? CLERK PIERSON- Well, actually, I need it now to run the disc from the County Assessment Office. I have no room for that either. So, that's just been sitting there since we got it. Pg.4 - Town Board Meeting - February 9, 1999 COUNCILMAN PALMER- I'll still say again, I think the long term solution is to bring somebody in who is a computer specialist, look at these needs and determine what is the best....if it's a matter of memory, that's pretty inexpensive. If it's a matter that you've got some programs on there that are taking a lot of memory, a lot of times you put them off on a zip drive and just bring them in when you need them. They don't have to be on the hard drive all the time. I suspect that's what a lot of the problem is. A lot of the stuff has just been added on and probably not all needed all the time, or obsolete files are still sitting there. They all take memory. CLERK PIERSON- Well, I don't think we have anything obsolete. A lot of our permanent records are on there. COUNCILMAN PALMER- But they can be downloaded if they're not referred back to. CLERK PIERSON- But we draw on them for requests that come in from the public. COUNCILMAN PALMER- But you can still do that without having it on your hard drive. CLERK PIERSON- See, I don't know that. COUNCILMAN PALMER- There's a lot of ways that you can enhance the system. You need someone who has the time to come in and evaluate what we need. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- So, we want to leave this money in there for that? CLERK PIERSON- Well, you didn't budget for it in the 1999 Budget. COUNCILMAN SOVOCOOL- I think that as long as we've got it, we should leave it in there. COUNCILMAN CAREY asked if Liz Brennan knew exactly what the truck jack was. She indicated that she didn't know exactly, but that it was heavy-duty. COUNCILMAN SCHEFFLER indicated that a heavy-duty jack of this nature was expensive. RESOLUTION #8 - TRANSFER OF 1998 FUNDS AND ENCUMBRANCES FROM 1998 BUDGET TO 1999 BUDGET Moved by Councilman Palmer, seconded by Councilman Sovocool. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson. February 9, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.5 Resolved , that the Town Board does hereby authorize the following transfer of 1998 Budget monies as shown in the Bookkeeper's Report: General Fund - Town-Wide: From: Building A1620.4...............................$3,641.80 To: Bookkeeper, Pers. Serv. A1220.12...............$2,305.80 Personnel, Pers. Serv. (Dep. Clerk)A1430.1.....$1,336.00 From: Buildings, Contr. A1620.4.......................$2,100.00 To: Buildings, Equipment A1620.2....................$2,100.00 * * * * * * * Highway Fund - Town-Wide: From: Machinery, Pers. DA5130.1......................$6,000.00 Services for Other Govts., Pers. DA5148.1......$ 600.59 To: Snow Removal, Pers. Serv. DA5142.1.............$6,508.18 Vacations DA5142.11............................$ 92.41 Highway Fund - Part-Town: From: General Repairs, Cont. DB5110.2................$5,718.53 To: General Repairs, Pers. Serv. DB5110.1...........$5,702.36 Social Security DB9030.8........................$ 26.17 And be it further resolves, that the Town Board does hereby approve the following encumbrances from the 1998 Budget to the 1999 Budget, as presented in the Bookkeeper's Report: General Fund Town-Wide: Garage, Contr. A1640.4 for electric in barn............$1,832.00 (Formerly approved in December Board Meeting) Buildings, Equip. A1620.2 for 2 printers(Clerk & Hwy)..$ 500.00 1 computer (Clerk).......$1,600.00 * * * * * * * Highway Fund Town-Wide: Machinery, Equip. DA5130.2 for pickup truck............$17,599.00 truck jack..............$ 1,760.00 * * * * * * * Highway Fund Part-Town: Pg.6 - Town Board Meeting - February 9, 1999 General Rep. DB5110.4 for hwy computer program.........$ 1,500.00 LIZ BRENNAN- For your information, the encumbrances are only for those amounts and only for those items. So, if they are not purchased, the money goes into an unappropriated fund balance. It doesn't get used for anything else. It's just earmarked for those items. ATTORNEY BARANELLO- I heard something, and I just want to briefly comment. When I represented the County, and now I represent the City. The rule....is that you should bid everything. Even if it's below the $10,000. If you've got the time to do it, they should all be bid. I think that it should be the exception, when you don't bid. It's always good practice to do that.......there should be a policy, a stated procedure set up in terms of soliciting a certain amount of quotations. I think that is always the safest route, and you should encourage all department heads to do that. You should set up a policy within your office to abide by with your purchasing, if you don't have one already, in the terms number of the number of quotes and where you want all the bidding to begin. Several people say that we have that policy. Attorney Baranello speaks again, but is not using microphone. LIZ BRENNAN- We always go out and receive the bids, informal bids. COUNCILMAN SOVOCOOL- I think there are three that they have to get. COUNCILMAN PALMER- Liz, would you expect to have the year end report available prior to the audit for the Board? LIZ BRENNAN- Yes, hopefully by next Board Meeting, if everything goes smoothly. MARK GUNN, CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER- I'll quickly get my usual business out of the way, for building permits and life safety inspections for the month of January. They're down a little bit in 1999 from 1998. We had a total of six permits last year and we only had a total of three for January of 1999. No new homes last year, and one new home this year. Everything else is under miscellaneous. The LSIs are current for January as well. George (Totman) and Don (Palmer) and myself got together and I think we pretty much finalized the fee schedule for the building permits and the special permits. I put together a cover letter that's on the front there. Along with that I've given you the proposed fee schedule and a copy of the old fee schedule. I think the new schedule, we've come up with something that's very fair in the building permit fees. And I think we've made a big leap forward in fairness for the special permit fees for motor vehicle repair shops. For February 9, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.7 the building permits, I'd like to base them on a sliding fee scale of $2.50 per $1000 of construction. What this would do is make it more fair compared to what our original schedule is. If you look down the old list, the actual fees from the old list were based on the $2.50 scale, the initial fees. For a $50,000 house, the fee was $125. That's $2.50 per thousand. But if you also look, it was the same price for $50,000 to $100,000. That meant that if someone bought a permit for a $50,000 and another guy walked in and wanted a $100,000, he's going to pay the same for a permit. We looked that over and that didn't seem very fair because there's a little bit more inspections included in a $100,000 house than there would be in a $50,000. So, the permits for the initial fees would remain the same, just the more expensive the house, the more expensive the building permit. Also, let me make a note that the majority of the building permits that are submitted to my office come from the contractor, whether it be MVE Homes, Bailey Homes, Bardon Homes. It's the contractor that comes in and says this is what I'm proposing to do, how much is the fee. That fee is put right into the fee that they put on the homeowner. That's all taken care of. It's not really a fee that's taken care of by the home buyer it's taken care of by the home builder. The lesser fees for people who are putting up garages, sheds, porches, electrical, that's actually even less, because we had a base of less than $2000, there was a $10 fee. That's dropped a little bit. Does anybody have any questions on that? COUNCILMAN PALMER- I think the other part we talked about, Mark, might be worth mentioning too, and that's included in this process that when the fees are originally set, it's based on the estimated cost of construction. That needs to be verified at the end of the project and if there's any adjustment needed at that point the contractor would be expected to pay the incremental costs at that time. MARK GUNN- Exactly, because there's an easy cost over-run for if somebody is going to build a $100,000 house. Once they start building it, it's easy to end up finding out that it can run several thousand dollars over, not because you've made a mistake, but because you decide brass doorknobs, or marble would be real nice, or something like that, and it happens. In that sense, that's what they do in neighboring towns, they have an affidavit after the project is finished to make sure it didn't go skyrocketing in price compared to what they originally signed and agreement for. Any questions on that? If you'll notice on the proposed schedule, the next thing is the agricultural permits. There's not going to be any charge for an agricultural permit. In the past, there was a $25 fee. The State of New York does not recognize that a building permit is needed for an agricultural building. Therefore, an inspection on the building is not required, if there is no building permit. So, to charge someone for a $25 building permit that is not even required by the State of New York is somehow not fair. Does everybody understand that. I don't even have jurisdiction to go to a job site and inspect someone's barn. If Dan's going to build a barn, I don't even legally have the right, according to the State, to go over there. So, that's going to be free, I've only had two since I've been here, and the only thing I have inspected is the foundations, because that's the most important part of the building. So, Pg.8 - Town Board Meeting - February 9, 1999 that's the portion that I would inspect and then I would do the same thing that the previous code enforcement officer would do and that's say let me know when your project is done and I will send you a completion certificate that your project is finished. So, there won't be any fee charged for that. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- They will get a permit though? MARK GUNN- No, nothing. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- We don't even have to know they're building it? MARK GUNN- I don't know how we go about doing that. I mean, they do have to comply as far as set back requirements. They can't just go up next to the road and start building something. But the State does not require a building permit. Now, the building has to be solely agricultural. It has to be for animals, livestock, or machinery. ATTORNEY BARANELLO- I disagree, and I'll tell you why. There's set back requirements, there's height limitations, your Board of Underwriters.....electrical inspections..... I think those are all things that the Town is interested in knowing and require that you inspect. MARK GUNN- But the Uniform Code does not require that they come to the Town to put in a permit. ATTORNEY BARANELLO- The Town can set a higher standard. Okay. If the State doesn't set a standard, that's okay, but the Town can set a higher standard. And the minute you have the zoning, the minute you enact any zoning ordinance that has requirements that deal with set backs, height limitations,......., I think that you have an obligation to inspect and enforce those. This requires that at some point they have to submit a site plan. So, in my mind there's a permitting process. I think that all electrical work has to be done in accordance with the state building code, doesn't it? GEORGE TOTMAN- Well, you would think so, but it's a grey area. ..........and listening to people from other towns, there is sometimes a flat fee for agricultures permits, but they don't inspect them. There's other towns who do absolutely nothing. The general feeling is that the State says you stay away from agricultural buildings. ATTORNEY BARANELLO- If you've got a zoning ordinance that restricts area, area ordinance, that restricts in any way, there is nothing inappropriate in charging a fee for a building permit and sending your code officer out there to make inspections. I don't think you could issue certificate of completion. If there's electric going to that barn, I think that you need to have a Board of Underwriters certificate in your file before you can issue a certificate of occupancy or certificate of completion. MARK GUNN- Also, in the same sense, if you go stricter than the Uniform Code, you have to submit your law to the State. February 9, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.9 ATTORNEY BARANELLO- I understand that. We're not talking about building codes.... MARK GUNN- In a sense, this would be. ATTORNEY BARANELLO- No, no, no. There's no requirement. I've been down that path too........ Zoning ordinances are not considered part of your building code. So, you've got them. They're enacted. MARK GUNN- You mean zoning, as far as making sure they do their set backs..... ATTORNEY BARANELLO- Well, set backs, height limitations, plus there are certain things that you have to make sure of, like the electrical installed to standards. I think the Town has a legitimate interest in that because you're providing fire protection and those kind of things. And you're not asking them to comply with any standard higher than required by the State Board. MARK GUNN- That's going to have to be a portion that we're going to have to check on, because, there again, it's something that's never been..... ATTORNEY BARANELLO- If you don't want to charge a permit fee, that's fine, that's the Town's choice. But I think, whether you have a fee or not, you have certain requirements that everyone who builds has to comply with. I think that your inspection needs a site plan. I know that this town, any building requires a site plan. Site plan means so set backs, so building heights... MARK GUNN- Going in that direction, requiring more in the line of a site plan for an agricultural structure....I have to find out where I have the legal right to tell somebody that I have to come up to their barn and I have to inspect it, when in the Uniform Code it says that a building permit is not required. ATTORNEY BARANELLO- You're not making a building permit inspection. You're making a zoning compliance inspection, and this is all the same. You make those inspections every time someone builds a house. You require a site plan that has building code requirements, but it also has Town Code requirements that you have to make sure they are complying with. So, even though the permitting fee, there's no inspection required by the State Building Code, I think that a permitting fee could be required simply because you have obligations under the local ordinances to make inspections. I wouldn't abolish the fee simply because you don't believe that the building code applies to ...... you have administration costs and you can charge any legitimate fee in regards to those costs. MARK GUNN- We might be able to rephrase that and put agricultural structures under its own set of rules and standards, because right now it's just set up as a building permit for an agricultural building. ATTORNEY BARANELLO- Do you have Certificates of Zoning Compliance? Pg.10 - Town Board Meeting - February 9, 1999 MARK GUNN- No, only Certificate of Occupancy. COUNCILMAN CAREY- All the farm buildings I've built, I've always applied for the permit to do it. MARK GUNN- That's because you know. I've stopped a couple of places that have no idea, looking at it from the road, it doesn't look like a farm, but you stop there and that's why they're building it. It's about to be farmed. I've actually had two of them. When you go up to some place and you say, do you have an application for that, they start reciting this New York Code and say that you don't have jurisdiction to inspect my garage. As a matter of fact, Wolf was the first one who gave me a problem with inspecting the agricultural barn because the New York Code says you don't have the right. But we could stick that under, like you're saying, under the zoning, that we want to make sure it stays under the zoning laws of the Town. GEORGE TOTMAN- Would it make sense to take all the rest of the stuff that he's proposing and write a letter to Bill Stewart, who the State Code Engineer for the State Code Division out of Binghamton, explain the problem and ask him what other Towns and Villages do? Get some suggestions that he might give you. COUNCILMAN CAREY- That would be a good place to start because this ag thing is going to become more of an issue. MARK GUNN- Yes. I'll say right now though, that neighboring towns don't monkey with it. Further discussion was held on the subject, and it was generally accepted that some more thought was needed on how to handle the agricultural buildings. Board members felt that input from Bill Stewart and other towns would be desirable. MARK GUNN- To go back down the line again: We have never charged for Certificate of Occupancy. We used to charge for flood zone certification, at least it was on the old fee schedule. Banks have side-stepped that because they have their own forms that they're sending now. Basically, they are sending it to me and saying so-and-so has a house at this address with this tax map number, can you tell me what flood zone it is in. Ninety percent of them are in flood zone C. I fill that in, put it in the self addressed stamped envelope that they sent with it, and it's gone down the road. I don't know what the deal was, if it was ever charged the $40, for that sort of thing, but I propose that the fee for that sort of thing go by the wayside. I talked to George and he said that he hardly ever, if ever, added that $40 fee. I think we're the only town charging that fee as well. GEORGE TOTMAN- I think we should mention, when you talk about not charging those fees, is that when you go down through the list of fees that he's proposing not to charge, you're losing about $350 a year from what we've been getting. In the extra fees that he will be getting from the building permits, February 9, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.11 it's going to offset that by at least three times that much. So you're really not losing money, you're gaining money. MARK GUNN- Right, it's actually fees that aren't being charged now, because nobody is doing these........ We will be doing away with what is currently being done, where the Motor Vehicle Repair Shops are being charged $25 annually and being inspected annually. We're going to do away with that $25 fee because no other special permit in the Town of Groton gets charged that, except for MVRs. There is no State requirement that MVRs get inspected once a year. That's just a local thing. Now I only have 14 MVRs. If you figure that price out, that's where we came up with the $350 loss in fees that will be made up by the building permits. Nobody else is being charged this fee. I have two MVRs who don't fall into that category because they were in business prior to the ordinance being written. I can understand being "grandfathered" but there are other businesses that have been here for a very long time and they are getting charged. We're still going to do the junkyards. They're still going to get inspected once a year, and they're still going to have their fee. Trailer parks are going to be inspected once a year, and they are going to have a fee. Right now they are only getting inspected every three years. I only have the one, Jeslen, and that's a pretty nice park. The County goes in once a year and inspects everything that they have jurisdiction over, the septics, water, and stuff like that, and I get reports in on that. But if specific items are taken care of by the landlord, like their decks, that sort of thing, I don't know if that is the case up there, I would have to find out, but I went through there and there are a lot of decks that are falling apart, some don't have steps, and some the railings are partially broke off. Now, if that's the landlord's responsibility to take care of these for the people who are renting that lot, I think he should be made to make sure that these people have something decent to step out of their home on. If, on the other hand, it is the homeowner at that lot who is doing his own steps out of the place, there's not much I can do about the homeowner not wanting something decent to step on. But I can make sure that the landlord provides for them what they are supposed to have. Signs, demolition, subdivision, everything else would be the same. The biggest change is the increase in building permits for more expensive homes and the drop in the permits for the MVRs. I do agree that we have to do something on the ag buildings instead of just dropping it out altogether. Further discussion was held. Attorney Baranello and Mark Gunn discussed flood zone certification, liability issues and fees. General consensus was that perhaps there should be a $10 fee for flood zone certification. There was also some question on whether the fee for cell towers should be the $125 or based on the same sliding scale as other buildings. Moved by Councilman Palmer, seconded by Councilman Carey, to table the fee changes until the March 9th meeting so that further research can take place on the ag buildings, flood zone certification, mobile home park fees, and cell Pg.12 - Town Board Meeting - February 9, 1999 tower fees. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson. Meeting was recessed at 9:10 PM for Public Hearing regarding dog licensing fees and the penalty for violations of the Town's Dog Ordinance. Clerk Pierson read the Notice of Public Hearing. She explained that the first amendment to the ordinance would be a change in the licensing fee for unneutered male or unspayed female dogs from $15.00 to $18.00. The other amendment would pertain to punishment for violation of the law and would be a penalty of not more than $25 for the first violation, not more than $50 for the second violation and not more than $75 for the third and all subsequent violations. Since no one was present to make comments for or against proposed change, Public Hearing was closed at 9:10 PM. RESOLUTION #6 - AMENDMENT TO ORDINANCE RELATING TO OWNING OR HARBORING AN UNLICENSED DOG Moved by Councilman Carey, seconded by Councilman Palmer Ayes - Sovocool, Palmer, Carey, Scheffler, Robinson Resolved , that the Town Board does hereby on the 9th day of February, 1999, adopt the following ordinance: ORDINANCE RELATING TO OWNING OR HARBORING AN UNLICENSED DOG License: 1. Any person a resident of the Town of Groton who owns or harbors a dog six months of age or older shall immediately make application for a dog license. No license shall be required for any dog which is under the age of six months and which is not at large. Fee: 2. The license fee shall be as follows, payable to the Town Clerk of the Town of Groton: (a) For each neutered male or spayed female - $10.00 (b) For each unneutered male or unspayed female - $18.00 Violations: 3) 1. It shall be a violation for any owner who fails to license any dog and pay the license fee as provided in Section 1 and Section 2 of this ordinance. 2. The violation shall be punishable upon February 9, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.13 conviction as provided for in Section 8 of Local Law #2 of 1977, "Dog Control Law" and amended by Local Law #1 of 1984. Effective date of Ordinance is February 9, 1999. The ordinance adopted January 1, 1996 is hereby amended. RICHARD CASE, HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT- was absent. No report was submitted. COLLEEN D. PIERSON, TOWN CLERK/TAX COLLECTOR- Submitted her Town Clerk's monthly report and Tax Collector's Report for the Board's review. CLERK PIERSON- At the last meeting, I think Dan was the one who asked about extending the penalty-free period on tax collection. I talked to Fran (Casullo) on that and it can only be for reason of a disaster or mistake made in the bills. There is the 1998 payments from the County to the Town, and I do have a problem with this and I think Teresa does too. The Town received $19,232.10 in mortgage tax payments, which is one payment less than we should have received in 1998. Surplus dog monies was $1,231.70. Snow removal was $84,474.49. I don't know if Teresa talked with them or not, but we should have had that money considerably earlier. Everyone else got their money, all but the Town of Groton. I believe Liz (Brennan) had to call down and find out why we didn't get it. We really don't know. We finally got the payment on January 27th. That brought the final figure up to $26,988.77 SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- I don't think he even would have sent it if she hadn't called. He said that it must have got stuck behind something. But it's funny, because it got "stuck behind something" last year too. CLERK PIERSON- For some reason, I don't know why, the Town isn't getting that. Clerk Pierson submitted the attendance sheets for the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals which the Town Board had requested to see. Invitation to attend Tompkins County Magistrates Annual Dinner, February 19th at the Lake Watch Inn, 6:00. If you want to go make a reservation with one of the judges. Tompkins County SPCA annual report. Pg.14 - Town Board Meeting - February 9, 1999 Bill from Division of Assessment for duplicate tax bill printing charging the Town of Groton 25 cents per page - $637.75. Clerk Pierson said that most town's were refusing to pay this bill. Consensus of the Board was that the Town of Groton should also refuse to pay this bill. Clerk Pierson submitted reprint of article concerning appointment of alternate members for Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board in reference to discussion that the Town Board had at a previous meeting. Moved by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, that the Town authorize the following to attend the Annual Association of Board does hereby Towns Training School on February 14-17, 1999, in New York City: George Totman and Van Travis. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson SUPERVISOR ROBINSON gave a brief report on the Intermunicipal Cable Commission saying that they would be having a meeting on Thursday, February 11th. She expressed a desire to find someone to represent the Town with the Cable Commission. RESOLUTION #9 - AUTHORIZE PAYMENT OF 1999 AMBULANCE CONTRACT AND GROTON FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT CONTRACT Moved by Councilman Carey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson Resolved , that the Town Board does hereby authorize the payment of the 1999 Ambulance Contract in the amount of $58,000 and the 1999 Groton Fire Protection District Contract in the amount of $65,000. February 9, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.15 RESOLUTION #10 - AUTHORIZE 1999 COURTROOM AGREEMENT BETWEEN TOWN AND VILLAGE Moved by Councilman Palmer, seconded by Councilman Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson Resolved , that the Town Board hereby authorizes the 1999 Agreement between the Town of Groton and the Village of Groton for the use of Town Court Room facilities on Conger Boulevard for the annual fee of $3,600. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON presented a letter from Ward Hungerford saying that recent reviews in McLean led him to believe that a reduction of the 35mph speed limit was warranted. He asked that the Board pass a resolution requesting that the NYS DOT conduct a review and that a copy of this resolution be sent to him to be forwarded to the NYS DOT in Syracuse. Supervisor Robinson asked George Totman if he had any input. He had not heard any complaints and felt that the 35mph limit was adequate. He felt that with a stop sign almost directly in front of the school, that traffic could not be moving very fast in that area. Moved by Councilman Palmer, seconded by Councilman Carey, to table the issue on lowering the speed limit in McLean until the March meeting until more information is received. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson COUNCILMAN SCHEFFLER asked the status of the joint youth coordinator for the Town and Village. Supervisor Robinson said that she is going to a meeting with the Village to work on a job description. A time had not been set yet and anyone interested could attend. Moved by Councilman Scheffler, seconded by Councilman Palmer, to enter executive session to discuss personnel at 9:10 PM. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson Regular session reconvened at 10:35 PM. Moved by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Carey, to approve $9.00 an hour as wage for April Scheffler, Deputy Town Clerk. (Retroactive to Pg.16 - Town Board Meeting - February 9, 1999 January 1, 1999, per Resolution #1 dated January 5, 1999.) Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson Moved by Councilman Carey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, that the Town Board would terminate the services of Debra Zarton as cleaner, effective two weeks from notice. It was further moved that the Town Board would retain the services of James J. Allen, Jr.at the rate of $8.50 an hour for a period of 90 days, after which time the hourly rate would rise to $9.00 an hour. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson There being no further business, Councilman Sovocool moved to adjourn at 10:40 PM, seconded by Councilman Carey. Unanimous. Colleen D. Pierson Town Clerk