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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-09-1999 MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, MARCH 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 Don Armstrong, Attorney Also present: Mark Gunn, Rick Case, Bill Stewart COUNCILMAN SCHEFFLER pointed out a discrepancy in the figures stated on page 6 CLERK PIERSON of the February 9th minutes. said that she would check on those amounts and correct it. Moved by Councilman Palmer, seconded by Councilman Scheffler to approve the minutes of the February 9, 1999 and the February 23, 1999 Board Meetings, with the exception of the correction to be made on page 6 of the February 9, 1999 minutes. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- I want to make a statement on the trip to New York. Before, when we were discussing the funds and everything about going to New York, we had said that they are not sufficient. When it came time to get the bus, the bus that we were going to get was too expensive if we didn't have the passengers, and we didn't have the passengers. So, we decided that we would try to get another way, and we cancelled the bus. After three or four days of scrambling around, we called Onondaga County and got a ride on a bus up there. They wanted the money down before we went, the full amount, which was $40 each. I asked the Board for it so that we could pay them at the time. Because the trip was an expensive trip, I thought maybe we could forego putting it on the trip and paying it back and have the Town pay for it. There was seven of us that went and one paid for their own. So that was $240 that we paid. There was some more discussion on the subject. RESOLUTION #11 - TOWN TO PROVIDE PAYMENT OF BUS FARE TO NYC Pg.2 - Town Board Meeting - March, 9, 1999 Moved by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Carey Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson Resolved , that the Town Board approves the Town of Groton shall pay the $40.00 per person bus fare to the Association of Towns Meeting in New York City. Said $40.00 shall be paid in addition to the $500.00 per person previously approved for the trip. Claims No. 27 - 50 of the Highway Fund in the amount of $20,500.68 were presented for audit. Moved by Councilman Carey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the Highway Bills for payment. Claim No. 150 of the Special Grant (HUD) Fund in the amount of $8151.80 were presented for audit. Moved by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Carey to approve the HUD Bills for payment. Claims No. 41 - 67 of the General Fund in the amount of $9,627.37 were presented for audit. Moved by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the General Bills for payment, with the addition of the bus fare to New York City. Before a vote was taken, Supervisor Robinson interjected. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- I am questioning one bill. I'm questioning the bill for the Magistrate's Dinner. COUNCILMAN SOVOCOOL- I didn't see that. It wasn't in there, was it? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- I believe it was. COUNCILMAN SOVOCOOL- It wasn't on the abstract. I was reading the abstract and didn't see any...... Several people indicate that the bill was in the folder but was not on the abstract. COUNCILMAN SOVOCOOL- That isn't a Town function. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Do you consider it a Town function? COUNCILMAN PALMER- I guess I would consider it as a representative of the March 9, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.3 Town. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- I went to it, and I didn't put in any bill for it. COUNCILMAN SOVOCOOL- I got invited to it too, but I didn't go. COUNCILMAN PALMER- I guess I'm not understanding what the issue is. If it's an event where there's representation of the Town, and it was specifically requested that the Town Board....... COUNCILMAN SOVOCOOL- Who specifically requested? COUNCILMAN PALMER- Bob Walpole, as representative of the Magistrate's Association, extended the invitation to all the Town... COUNCILMAN SOVOCOOL- He sent out over a thousand letters. COUNCILMAN PALMER- He also sent specific invitations, through the Town Supervisor, that all the Board Members be invited to attend. Is that true, Teresa? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- They sent an invitation to everybody.... COUNCILMAN PALMER- Is that true, that the Town was specifically asked to have representatives from the Town Board? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- They asked us to go. Generally, he wanted a crowd, so he asked everybody to go, and he does that every year. I have gone every year and I have never put in for any funds for it. I've always paid my own way, and I have been going for several years. I just didn't feel that it was... I felt it was a function that if you wanted to go to, you went as a guest and paid your own way. Naturally, he wants to have a good showing. But I just question it as something that we should pay for. COUNCILMAN SCHEFFLER- Is it a party or a meeting? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- It was a ceremony and a party. Judge Alexander was there, and he didn't put in for it either. And his wife went. I had a guest. I'm just asking whether...... COUNCILMAN SOVOCOOL- Well, my motion didn't include that, because I didn't see it. All I looked at was the abstract, and that wasn't in the abstract. My motion was without that. Moved by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Carey, to approve the General Bills for payment with the exception of the bill submitted by Councilman Palmer for the Magistrate's Dinner. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Scheffler, Robinson Nays - Palmer Pg.4 - Town Board Meeting - March, 9, 1999 Supervisor Robinson gave privilege of the floor to Bill Stewart from the New York State Codes Division. BILL STEWART- My title is Senior Code and Construction Engineer. I cover a region of several counties stretching from Schoharie right down the I-81 corridor to Tompkins and Tioga. About three years ago our division decided it was better to decentralize so we established eleven regional offices around the state. I have the one in Binghamton. As far as the building code is concerned, that was created by a law that was passed in 1981 and became effective on January 1, 1984. Prior to that time there was no state-wide building code. Municipalities had the option to adopt whatever codes they chose for their own use, although roughly 60 percent of them adopted those state building construction codes. For the most part, there was a series of five codes, one dealing with one and two family residences, one dealing with multiple dwellings, another for commercial construction, and then there's a farm code and a housing maintenance code. Mr. Stewart continued to explain the history of building codes and how they were originated, as well as building permits, certificates of occupancy and inspections. He explained that the government is putting together a national code which would be uniform for the whole country. Supervisor Robinson asked about towers, and Mr Stewart explained that towers were C7 occupancy and that there were code requirements based upon height, the most important of which is the ability to withstand wind. He explained that there were two sections of the education law, 7307 & 7209, which requires either architects or engineers to design all new construction and that it should be made certain that there was an architect's or engineer's stamp and signature on any plans for a proposed tower. COUNCILMAN PALMER- There was one issue that we were trying to sort out. Apparently there's a separate set of rules that pertain to farm, agricultural buildings. BILL STEWART- There is a general exemption, in the General Code, Section 651.3, which says the sub-chapter B requirements for the code are not applicable to what are called non-residential farm buildings. The sub-chapter B, those are the new construction requirements. There are other requirements in the code that deal with fire prevention, that's sub-chapter C, and housing maintenance...wouldn't apply. But that requirement is only for the construction portion of the non-residential farm building. I can tell you the three issues that usually come up in that vein: Number one is barns and that's pretty straight forward. The only thing is that there might be a question of when does a garage become a barn. People could say they are building a barn when in reality they are building a place to keep their car or equipment. This would not be a tractor, but I have run across a situation where someone was in the excavating business, and they had stored their trucks in a sort of barn and they wanted to call it that. But they were March 9, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.5 in effect running something that was not a farm operation. The second one would be greenhouses which would also meet this exception if they were used solely for the propagation of plants. If you've got a greenhouse and on May 1st people come in to pick out plants, then that ag exemption disappears and it becomes a mercantile establishment. That gets a little tricky. The last one is horse boarding operations. For years horse boarding was not considered an agricultural activity. The way it could be considered agricultural would be if it was a place where horses where raised and trained for whatever purpose. But if someone was running a business to board horses for people in the area, that was not considered an agricultural activity. In 1993 or 1994, the assessment laws where changed so that now we consider that an agricultural activity. COUNCILMAN PALMER- How would this effect the role of the code enforcement officer? Under the agricultural exemption, would an agricultural owner still be expected to meet all the requirements of the Town in terms of the zoning requirements, the set back requirements..... BILL STEWART- Zoning is an entirely separate issue. As far as that goes, and you would know better than I would as far as the laws that you just mentioned for zoning. I think that's up to the local municipalities to determine whether there is an exemption for barns or what have you for zoning issues. ATTORNEY ARMSTRONG- I'm "pinch-hitting" for tonight, so I'm not as familiar with the Town code as I am with others that I represent, but my understanding is that the NYS Fire Prevention Building Code is like an over-lay that we all have to comply with as it relates to building. Whereas our local town ordinance may have regulations as to different zoning districts, set backs, frontage requirements, and those sort of things which are kind of separate and apart. It's kind of like apples and oranges. So certainly all of those local requirements would have to be met unless we've got specific language in our ordinance that says that for an agricultural building certain parts of our zoning regulation doesn't apply. Otherwise it would have to meet that local regulation as any other activity would have to meet that same local regulation, be it set back or allowed use in a particular district. I've seen it in many codes where there is a section that says that you must get a building permit to build with the following list of exceptions. And I have seen it several times where one of the exceptions, for example, is an agricultural structure with construction costs of under $10,000. BILL STEWART- Yes, there's a little list of activities that can be included in the local law to wave, and $10,000 is the magic number. It's a small building. ATTORNEY ARMSTRONG- So, if you build a barn that's under $10,000 you'd probably be exempt from the application of the requirements of the building code. BILL STEWART- Well, the requirement, there is that exemption stated right in Pg.6 - Town Board Meeting - March, 9, 1999 the building code for not requiring the construction standards for, again, what is called a non-residential farm building. Those would be construction standards. It has nothing to do with zoning. Zoning, as we both said, is a local issue, and it's something that each municipality establishes. As far as enforcement goes, that is something that has to be set up by the local law that establishes the building code. ATTORNEY ARMSTRONG expressed the opinion that certain ag buildings would not need to comply with the building code, but they would need a building permit and comply with the local zoning. BILL STEWART suggested that an application be required and that the zoning officer determine whether or not a building permit or zoning permit was required. It was asked if silos and grain storage would fall into this area and the answer was yes. There was further discussion on a variety of zoning issues. Manufactured homes was one of the issues and Mr. Stewart stated that they all needed to be manufactured to HUD standards and must be installed according to the manufacturer's requirements. Agricultural buildings were again discussed. Mr. Stewart again stated that a building permit could be required but the construction standards could not be required, only zoning standards. Councilman Carey stated that he had always filled out a building permit application for any farm building that he had built. Mr. Stewart said that he was available for calls. The Board thanked him for coming. LIZ BRENNAN, BOOKKEEPER was not present to give her bookkeeper's report as she was in the hospital. COUNCILMAN PALMER- What are the plans for covering the bookkeeper position? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Well, the Highway Superintendent has done a remarkable job on the payroll. And we have been offered help and everybody's cooperating very well. RICHARD CASE stated that Sue Mandrino, from the Village office, had helped out. MARK GUNN, CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER- Building Permits for February of this year are holding steady with last year, 2 and 2. The rest under others, garages and electric. My LSIs for February, I'm still waiting on one: there's some people who live out of this area who own an apartment building in McLean who aren't complying too well, so I'm still waiting for them to contact me. March 9, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.7 The Health Department is working on a complaint of Pleasant Valley Road which Rick (Case) and myself are working on together with that as well. I didn't prepare a final thing for the permit fees. I thought I would let you "chew" on what Bill (Stewart) had to say tonight. Then I would set it all up and have something final for you for next month, because that was the last thing, the ag buildings. If you like, we can set that up as a zoning permit for ag structures and present that as a final resolution for next month. COUNCILMAN CAREY- Do you know of any farms that are in violation of a zoning permit, or zoning laws? MARK GUNN- No, because you don't see, since 1985, so many new farms going in, and that's when the actual building code took place. So, unless an actual brand new barn is going up... there's not a whole lot of them going up. That's the only time you'd get any kind of a zoning issue, is if it's brand new. Everything around here is all existing. For the most part, people do come in for a building permit. I've had a couple over on the north side who came in for a building permit. I have issued the building permit, have charged them, have gone out and done an inspection on the footers. That's the extent to what I've gone out and done. I think we should keep at it in terms of the zoning. I don't think that would be an issue with people. This whole issue was brought about because of these fees. It's up to the Board, but an ag building permit, as it stands right now, with out fee structure, a $25 fee is being charged to anyone who comes in and wants to put a silo in and the NYS law does not require it. I feel that it should be taken right out of it. The silo and stuff can still be looked at, in terms of zoning, but for something that the State law does not require, I really don't see the fairness in charging them the $25 fee for the building permit. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- That's why we're doing this. MARK GUNN- Exactly. COUNCILMAN CAREY- I just don't want to see a farmer put in the position where a neighbor moves in that doesn't realize that there's sights, sounds and noises that go along with the dairy farm business. Of course, they should be aware of it if they are moving into the Town of Groton. But if the farmer decides to put up a barn and at the same time this new owner decides to put up a garage, and the new owner puts up a $5,000 garage and has to pay so much of a fee for it, and the farmer puts up a $200,000 barn with no fee. I'd like to see everybody treated fairly. As much as I don't want to see a farmer pay $25, I'd rather see everybody treated fairly. In that way, I think you can avoid some problem in that respect. MARK GUNN- Like I said, I feel I can go in there with no trouble, as zoning, not as code enforcement. There's a huge difference when it comes to agriculture...... COUNCILMAN CAREY- But just because you give somebody a building permit, you can accept it or reject it. You don't have to go on the site, do you? You can do that right in your office. Pg.8 - Town Board Meeting - March, 9, 1999 MARK GUNN- Right, but what I'm saying is, there's a huge difference. When I first started working here, it took me weeks to get the Village and the Town separate. I've lived in this Town for 31 years and I never knew anything about this Village and Town government being separate. That's what I think is the big distinction here. We have to make the distinction between building permit and zoning. They are two separate things. The questions are on the building permit about zoning, but they are two totally different things. Zoning is what the Town takes care of. Building permits is what the State takes care of. I can go on an agricultural property and make them adhere to zoning. I can not legally make them adhere to building laws. They could have us in court. It's up to the Town to decide whether or not we want to tell an ag business that they have to pay X amount of dollars for this zoning. It's never been required before. It's been kind of looked at, but there's a lot of ag businesses out there that aren't going to be able to afford to come in here and put in a permit for zoning that is going to cost as much as a $200,000 house. If a guy comes in and says that he wants to build a $50,000 barn for 20 cows, I must say he has to stay 55 feet from the center of the road, and 8 feet from any other structure. That's all I can tell the guy, and I'm going to charge him $25.00 for that, or more? That's my point. There's a fine line there and every town has been dealing with this. They've been dealing with it since this building code has taken effect. COUNCILMAN SCHEFFLER- What if you called it Building and/or Zoning Permit, and you charge whatever for each, the farmer and the homeowner. Then when the homeowner gets mad, the farmer says here's my permit, I've got one too. Several people agree that this would be a good idea. Mark Gunn agreed that this would be a workable idea. CLERK PIERSON- Mark, does it make any reference to a Zoning Permit in your code, or would we have to amend that? There was some discussion about the fact that the Land Use and Development Code does not contain specific wording allowing the issuance of a Zoning Permit and that an amendment to the Code might be necessary before the Town could actually issue this kind of permit. RICHARD CASE, HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT- At the present time, the Highway Department is dedicated to snow and ice removal. Brush and trees continue to be cut when time and weather allow. Equipment and building maintenance continue on a daily basis. Weather note: Provided by Frank Ciccoricco: The total monthly snowfall for February 1999, as recorded by the National Weather Service, for the Town of Groton was 9.2 inches. The total snowfall for the year, as of the end of February, stands at 39.8 inches. Repairs and preventive maintenance on the excavator, roller and loader are underway in the shop in preparation for spring road repairs. March 9, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.9 Employees received an "in house" tire safety seminar. Safe mounting and dismounting of heavy-duty truck tires was the main topic. The instructor was J.R. Rundell of Ithaca Tire Service. This seminar was recorded in the ongoing safety records for PERMA's workmen's compensation file. Teresa and I have been contacted by Ward Hungerford, the Tompkins County Highway Manager, asking if you or our constituents have any concerns in regards to the closing of the Tompkins County Highway satellite station. My feeling is that the level of service provided by the Town of Groton Highway Department for snow and ice removal to the residents living on the additional 9.12 miles of highway, is equal to or better than the service previously provided by the Tompkins County Highway Department. The contract for the winter maintenance of this roadway is up for renewal this year. A fair reimbursement for this service is important in this negotiation. Concerns with the every day maintenance of the County highways within the Town of Groton have been voiced. Whenever there has been a problem on a County road reported to the Town Highway Department, it has been taken care of in a timely fashion. Open communications among everyone involved is essential for providing an acceptable level of service. (Mr. Case said some other things on this subject but was not using microphone.) I have an opportunity to buy a cinder spreader for $4395. I have a couple of quotes. One from Capital and another from someone else. One was for $5500 and the other was for $5800. I'd like permission to pursue this. A new one is $8798 and we budgeted $10,000......(not using mic.) RESOLUTION #12 - PERMIT HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT TO PURSUE CINDER SPREADERS Moved by Councilman Carey, seconded by Councilman Palmer. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson Resolved , that the Town Board does hereby authorize Richard C. Case, Highway Superintendent to pursue Cinder Spreaders. Both the Zoning Officer and I have received complaints of vehicles parking on Old Peruville Road between Rt. 38 and Pleasant Valley Road. The Patchwork Riding Stable is located at the center of this problem area. As you travel west on Old Peruville Road from Rt. 38 you crest a hill and are immediately forced into a right-hand curve. Sight distance and narrow shoulders make this a difficult area to plow safely when vehicles are parked on the roadway. Since this is a County roadway, I have received a letter from Ward Hungerford in support of posting both sides of the roadway, beginning at the crest of the curve to the intersection of Pleasant Valley Road as a no-parking or standing zone. A Town resolution is needed by the Pg.10 - Town Board Meeting - March, 9, 1999 County Highway Department to enable them to post this area. Letter from Ward Hungerford, Tompkins County Highway Manager: "As I understand at the Patchwork Riding Stable, 90 Old Peruville Road, patrons and owners of the residence are parking along the roadway. Vehicles are actually parked on the pavement because shoulders through that area are generally 3-5 feet wide. Visibility is very limited because of a curve and crest in the road. I also understand that because of vehicles along the roadway snow and ice maintenance is adversely affected. You are not able to plow the driving lanes and shoulders, and are forced to cross the double yellow centerline where the visibility is very limited. Further aggravating the situation it seems is the indifference by the residents to cooperate with you and the Town to alleviate the parking problem. Mark Gunn, your Town's zoning officer, has also contacted me with similar concerns for vehicles parked on the roadway. If the residents are not willing to cooperate then I will support a Town resolution establishing a "no parking or standing" zone from Pleasant Valley Road to the crest curve approximately 800' easterly. Section 1200 and 1660 of Vehicle and Traffic Law authorize the Town to prohibit standing or parking." MARK GUNN- I contacted this lady, Lorraine Faucett, I believe her name is. I contacted her with this issue about parking, because I thought I could do something with her Special Permit. In the Planning Board meeting (when permit was issued) it was brought to her attention that she didn't have much parking, and she assured them that she had alternate parking up back. Now she's come to the point where she's parking three and four vehicles down on the side of the road. And because she's done that, and been getting away with it, the neighbor has started doing that, and he was getting away with it. I went through there before there was even snow on the ground and I almost got in a wreck. I was forced out around her vehicles and there was a vehicle coming right at me. I explained that to her and she was irate and nasty to me. She told me that she would tell her workers what they could do, but if she wanted to park there, she was going to park there, that she had outgrown the place. So, I talked to Rick and then I contacted Ward, because it is a County road. She is still parking out there. After everything I've asked her, she's still out there. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Don't you have another problem out there? MARK GUNN- Yeah, I've got the Health Department out there right now because of this snow build-up she's adamant that she can't keep the snow out of her driveway. I assured her that everybody in New York State is going through this thing with the snow. She has been dumping the horse manure from her barn down the side of the embankment, and it has been filling up the County ditch to the point where it was coming out into the road. I went ahead and contacted the Health Department and they have all kinds of restrictions. Janice Koski from the Health Department was supposed to be going up there last week and I am supposed to contact her sometime this week and find out what is going on. March 9, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.11 COUNCILMAN SOVOCOOL- Where do the customers park? MARK GUNN- That's the thing, I don't know how much handicapped riding they get in the winter time, but I saw in the fall and summer that there were vans and everything parked and unloading people right off the road. That's, to my knowledge, illegal. I want to help the lady out with her business as much as everybody else does, but it's a major hazard. She doesn't have parking on the road. She said she had it on top of the hill. I've been up there. There is parking. She's just got to keep the driveways clear and get up there. That's all there is to it. COUNCILMAN CAREY- So, if you post the road, it becomes the job of the sheriff to go out and ticket the cars. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- I have had complaints from the neighbors, not necessarily right there, but up the road, that when they take the horses out, they take over the road too. They don't move over when cars or anybody is coming up the road. You wait for them. COUNCILMAN CAREY- Did she have to go to the Planning Board to get permission to run this business? MARK GUNN- The rest of the story is that she's got the permission. She's got the permit, and she stated right in the minutes that she had alternate parking. They asked her if she would need off-street parking and she stated that she had alternate parking, she wouldn't need to have vehicles down there. I brought that to her attention and she got irate, real irate. She started telling me that if I was going to uphold this and she was going to start calling the cops on everybody who goes down that road, because she's lost four dogs on that road from people speeding. I said there was a leash law, so we just went round and round. She assured me that if I took it any further that we would have a fight on our hands if she was getting tickets for parking on the road. So, this gets it out of our hands and gets it more into the courts with the police department issuing tickets. There was some more discussion on the subject. RESOLUTION #13 - ESTABLISH NO PARKING OR STANDING ZONE - OLD PERUVILLE ROAD Moved by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Palmer. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson Resolved , that the Town Board of the Town of Groton does hereby request that a no parking or standing zone be established on Old Peruville Road, Pg.12 - Town Board Meeting - March, 9, 1999 which will begin at the stop sign at the intersection of Pleasant Valley Road, and proceed in an easterly direction to the crested curve, a distant of approximately 800 linear feet. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- While we're dealing with road problems, I received a request from Ward Hungerford. He sent this out as a draft resolution. The problem seems to be with the speed limit in McLean. I asked what in particular was his problem. He was talking about all of the five roads. I said that I didn't think that it was that much of a problem, except that he was talking about one in particular, near the school. He would like to have the State do a study. In all honesty, the State very rarely lowers the mileage, but he wanted to have a study and show that there was some effort made anyways. He wanted to particularly cut down the speed on School Street from the Post Office to the stop sign, and from Peru Road down to the school. I said that I would talk to the Board. Supervisor Robinson read the draft resolution. He's actually initiating it and asking us if we'll support him on it. The only comment I've had was from George Totman, and he told me to forget about it. There was some more discussion on the subject. No one had heard any complaints. RESOLUTION #14 - REQUEST STUDY OF MCLEAN SPEED LIMITS Moved by Councilman Carey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson. Resolved , that The Town of Groton hereby requests of the County of Tompkins and of the State of New York that a study be conducted of the current speed limits in the Hamlet of McLean, particularly in the school area. Said study to include input from the citizens of McLean and surrounding area. COLLEEN D. PIERSON, TOWN CLERK/TAX COLLECTOR- submitted her Town Clerk's Monthly Report and her Tax Collector's Report for the Board's review. March 9, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.13 ARLAND HEFFRON & ALTON ALEXANDER, TOWN JUSTICES- submitted their Monthly Report for the Board's review. Correspondence: Letter from Stu Stein, Electric Power Committee, Board of Reps., District #3, describing cooperative purchasing agreement between Tompkins and Tioga Counties to purchase electric power at lower rates with NYSEG Solutions, Inc. (NSI). The agreement would allow a process similar to other bids that the County takes, such as the buying of road salt. Although the Town building is in the Village electric district, it was Board consensus that the Town would benefit from this in buying power for its McLean and Peruville light districts. RESOLUTION #15 - AGREEMENT WITH TOMPKINS/TIOGA COUNTIES FOR PURCHASE OF ELECTRIC POWER FROM NYSEG SOLUTIONS, INC. Moved by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Palmer Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson Whereas , the County of Tompkins and the County of Tioga entered into an agreement for the purchase of electric power with NYSEG Solutions, Inc., and Whereas , the contract provides that political subdivisions within the counties may obtain electric power under the contract; and Whereas , the Tompkins County Board of Representatives adopted a resolution providing that political subdivisions within the County shall be included in such cooperative purchasing agreement upon the submission of a resolution approved by its governing body to the County Department of Finance; now therefore be it Resolved , that The Town of Groton shall participate in the cooperative purchase agreement and may, thereby, purchase electric power under the contract with NYSEG Solutions, Inc.; and be it further Resolved , that a copy of this resolution shall be sent to the County Department of Finance. Movedreappoint by Councilman Carey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to Steve Gallow to County Youth Commission. Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson Pg.14 - Town Board Meeting - March, 9, 1999 Teleconference- Final Countdown to the Year 2000 - March 18, 6:15 PM - 8:45 PM at the Tompkins County CCE, 615 Willow Ave., Ithaca, NY. (Same night as Public Hearing on Sirens) Discussion was held on the Youth Services Contract with the Town, Village and Cooperative Extension. RESOLUTION #16 - APPROVE CONTRACT BETWEEN TOWN, VILLAGE & COOPERATIVE EXTENSION FOR YOUTH SERVICES Moved by Councilman Carey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson Resolved , that the Town Board does hereby approve the agreement made between the Town of Groton, the Village of Groton and the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County for the purpose of insuring the development and availability of youth service programs for the youth of the Village and Town. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON reported that she felt that the Drug and Alcohol Training Program was going well. Letter from Town of Dryden notifying the Town of Groton that they were holding a public hearing to consider a request from Merrick & Georgette Burlingame of 1215 Peruville Road for a Special Permit to establish a part time livestock and horse trailer sales business at their residence. COUNCILMAN PALMER- Teresa what happens to the income off this M&T investment? Does the Town get any of that investment income? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Off of....it covers us in case something happens. It's set aside for us. March 9, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.15 COUNCILMAN PALMER- But what about the earnings on that? SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- I doubt if we get them. I'll ask though. COUNCILMAN PALMER- It says here that there's $81,000 worth of annual income generated. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Well that would be nice. I'll ask them. Maybe the bank gets it. Supervisor Robinson said that she would look into it and report next month. RESOLUTION #17 - APPOINTMENTS TO TOMPKINS COUNTY FIRE, DISASTER AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE BOARD Moved by Councilman Carey, seconded by Councilman Palmer Ayes - Sovocool, Carey, Palmer, Scheffler, Robinson Resolved , that the Town Board of the Town of Groton does hereby appoint the following members of the McLean Fire Department to serve on the Tompkins county fire, Disaster and Emergency Medical Service Board: Donald R. Hatch - Alternate - Replacing Self Term Expires December 31, 2002 Adam Buck - Delegate - Replacing Leslie Gifford Term expires December 31, 2002 CLERK PIERSON- I just want to mention that Louis Robinson will be going to the election custodian training school on April 12, in Ithaca... I have a letter from Stonehedges Golf Course. They intend to renew their summer liquor license for the period of April through October 1999. (The Board had no objections to this.) Groton Merchants Meeting - Wednesday, March 10 at 7:30 PM at the Groton Town Hall. Pg.16 - Town Board Meeting - March, 9, 1999 COUNCILMAN PALMER- Before we close, could we get an update of where we stand with the cleaning position? CLERK PIERSON- From me? Well, I don't know if I am going to head this up, or who is. But somebody had to do something, because he was coming in Monday, and he's here cleaning, Jim is. There's quite a noticeable difference already. He's going to have to work at it pretty hard to get things back in order and cleaned up. He's working three hours a day. He's going to be using the timeclock out in Rick's office when he comes in and when he punches out, and we don't have to keep track of time sheets or whatever. He did tell me that the vacuum cleaner is in very bad shape and we may have to get a new one. What else do you want to know? COUNCILMAN PALMER- Is he clear about what exactly the expectation is. What is to be cleaned and when and so on. Is it down in writing this time? CLERK PIERSON- Yes, Don. He is good. He has worked all his life... COUNCILMAN PALMER- I'm asking is it in writing, so that we have it down.... CLERK PIERSON- What do you want me to write down? COUNCILMAN PALMER- What needs to be done. CLERK PIERSON- I gave you a copy of that, the job specification, spelled out right on there what he's supposed to be doing. What do you want me to do? COUNCILMAN PALMER- I think we discussed at the last meeting we were going to come to a consensus of exactly what this person is supposed to do and when it is supposed to be done. If you don't want to supervise this person, then.... CLERK PIERSON- I don't care whether I do or not, believe me. If you want to do it, you do it.... COUNCILMAN PALMER- I have no intention.... CLERK PIERSON- ...I have enough to do! COUNCILMAN PALMER- We heard some bad reports before that you weren't interested in doing the supervision of this position, is that true? CLERK PIERSON- I just said, you can do it. I did it to fill in, for two days. There was no one else to do it. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- The thing about it is, that we sat down, and like you say, we do have exactly the rules and we can set that up. We'll have it posted. If there's something wrong, we'll date it and post it, and have a copy of our own. I doubt that for a little while we'll have anything to talk to him about, unless something comes March 9, 1999 - Town Board Meeting - Pg.17 right up, because he's already found out that there's a lot to do. In just two days he's accomplished quite a lot as far as the cleaning is concerned and organizing it. He's even organized the backroom which wasn't organized before. CLERK PIERSON- He's taken right ahold and appears to me to be doing a very good job. Rick (Case) and I went over that list and we couldn't think of anything else. It was all listed on there, what he was supposed to be doing. And it says "daily" on there and "weekly" and "as needed"... I don't know what else you want. COUNCILMAN PALMER- Well, for the record, who's going to supervise this position? I think we need to get that resolved. SUPERVISOR ROBINSON- Well I think Colleen has done an alright job of supervising. She's done it every time. There was further discussion on this subject but the recording tape ended at this point. When the discussion between Councilman Palmer and Clerk Pierson moved became heated, Councilman Carey to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, at 10:00 PM. Unanimous. Colleen D. Pierson Town Clerk