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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSNYDER JUNK YARD HEARING 3-21-2000 (B) TOWN OF GROTON SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING AND JUNK YARD HEARING TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 2000 AT 7:30 PM Those present : Glenn E. Morey, Supervisor Ellard E. Sovocool, Councilman Donald F. Scheffler, Councilman Sheldon C. Clark, Councilman Duane T. Randall, Councilman Francis Casullo, Town Attorney Also present: Diane Tolen, Jan McFall, Bud McFall, Abe Congdon, Morgan D. Hall, Phyllis Randall, Robert Williams Sr., Laurence Parker, Helen Lane, John Lane, Sylvia Allen, Dayton Allen, Ed Neuhauser, Sally Neuhauser, Lisa Maloney Hahn, Sue Harrison, Ward Harrison, Jeff Snyder, Deforest Hall. Supervisor Morey – Good evening everyone. There is an agenda on the table. I'm sorry I didn’t pass it out till late. We’re here for a public hearing for the junk yard permit of Jeffrey Snyder at 575 West Groton Road. Clerk Pierson read the Legal Notice that appeared in the Town’s legal paper, the Moravia Republican Register, on March 8, 2000. Supervisor Morey – Now we will open it to the floor for public comment please. Janice McFall – I have a petition here pertaining to the junk yard. The only thing with the petition that we have come up with is, number one, I do not want the rats back that came out of the junk yard before. This is the biggest concern with us. There was some things in the 1997 Town Meeting that we did not know about, we were not in town when it went through. There is an article in there pertaining to a fence that was supposed to be put up. It was never put up. I would like to have the fence put back up. There is other concerns. There was people who used to come in there and steal the junk yard blind. There was people that was coming in behind the back of our property and going through. They were stopping in the front, on the road, and doing the same things all time of the day and night, didn’t matter when. And we would like to know a lot more particulars on this, on what they pertain to do, what he intends to do. I have no intention against you, Mr. Snyder. It’s just that there are some things that were supposed to have been done, and they were never done. I think Mr. Harrison knows that. We will be willing to listen to your side of it, but the rodents and the animals they came out of that junk yard, the way the junk yard was before. That’s my biggest objection. Now, if you can prove different…… That’s what I have to say right now. Junk Yard Hearing Page 2March 21, 2000 Duane Hall – I just don’t like the junk yard down there. We had it down there once before and that’s not necessary. And the oil and the…?…leaks down into the water and into the wells and some of these wells aren’t very deep. And we don’t need that oil and the noise from people bringing in junk cars and all times of night and day times. We just don’t need all this noise. Helen Lane – I’ve lived where I do for 43 years. For most of the time that darn junk yard has been there. Given the level of enforcement in the rules for junk yards in the Town of Groton, I don’t think it’s going to be very reliable even in the future as far as enforcement is concerned. For many years we knew there had to be a fence. He put half of it up, the owner at the time, and let the other half fall down before he ever got the other half up. Then part of it was never fenced when it ought to have been. Given the history of such poor enforcement of the rules that govern these things in the town, I definitely don’t want to see another one, and I definitely don’t think we need two junk yards two miles from each other either. That’s all I have to say. Deforest Hall – I’m from 721 Salt Road, on the other side of town. We just got through opposing one other junk yard in the Town of Groton, and I am not in favor of this one even though it’s on the other side, not being a problem as far as I’m concerned. But we turned down one; we should turn down this one too. We’ve been without one there for a good many years. I don’t think we need it now. Like everyone else agrees, I guess pretty much, to contaminate the ground water, and everybody knows there’s a creek right back there that runs right down in everybody’s water supply, barnyards and what-not. I am pretty much opposed to having a junk yard in the Town of Groton. Dayton Allen – 564 West Groton Road, which everybody knows, is right directly across the road. Actually I think there’s probably three or four of us here that have more at stake than others. I guess if I am right across the road from the thing, and I can live with it, then the people on the other side of town could probably live with it. Sounds to me like most people have as much problem with the enforcement of the rules than they do with the junk yard itself. I guess that would fall back on you guys. Maybe if you could decide whether you are going to enforce the rules, it might put some people’s concerns a little bit at ease. And if you can’t enforce the rules, then maybe you should say so now. As far as seepage and stuff into the ground water, there again, we already have rules pertaining to that. We are in an agricultural community and I don’t think anybody would say that agriculture doesn’t pollute the ground water as much as anything else, and nobody is standing here and telling farmers how they should run their lives and make their livelihood. So, I guess, if there is no need for a junk yard, then no junk cars will come into it, so we won’t have anything to worry about. But I, myself, don’t feel right about standing here and telling somebody how they can earn a living and how they can’t. That’s not the way I was brought up. As far as the fence goes and activity all hours of the night, believe me, I have two dogs inside the house and if people stop at all hours of the night I know about it. Gosh, do I know about it. That was never a problem. Like I said, my dogs would let me know if somebody was sitting out there. So, I guess maybe we aren’t all against it. That’s about it, thanks. Jeff Snyder – Just to ease everybody’s concerns, it’s not going to be a junk yard, per say, like Ward’s got. My interest is more in fixing wrecks, newer cars. You know, you buy, take the front from one and the rear from the other, whatever. Fixing cars is my line, it’s not junk yard per say. Having one car on your property, legally, I just don’t want to be held to that stipulation. So, the junk yard permit is just a much easier way to handle it. Anything that I get my use out Junk Yard Hearing Page 3March 21, 2000 of, then it would go to Ward’s and be crushed and gone. There won’t be anything sticking around. I have no interest in that end of the business. I don’t know if that makes anybody feel any better, but it’s just not a junk yard. Diane Tolen – 554 West Groton Road. My question is to Mr. Snyder: Oil and the transmission fluid and antifreeze and gasoline that are in these cars, is that going to be on the property or is that going to be taken care of by Ward? Jeff Snyder – Ward burns all the oil. He has a waste-oil furnace and burns all that. Anything that I have there eventually could be resaled eventually down the road, not hanging around. A car has to sit for a long time before it rusts a hole in the oil pan. Ward Harrison – Regulations say that you have to take that stuff out of there when it comes on the premises. Diane Tolen – Yes, that’s what I’m saying because I read that. Ward Harrison – So the stuff is gone, and we recycle it. Diane Tolen – So, it’s going to go to you to be recycled? Ward Harrison – Most likely. And to answer your question about the reason I never moved the fence, is that I never utilized the property like I thought I was going to and it never justified the cost of moving it. I know there was a couple, three cars up there but they were quite a ways away from you. I just didn’t move the fence. The place was costing me money and that’s why I sold it. He is going to move the fence right away. Janice McFall – Can I ask a question? How many vehicles do you actually plan…. Supervisor Morey – Can you please direct the questions to us? Janice McFall – How many vehicles do you actually plan on keeping on the premises at any time, 20, 30, 50, 100? Jeff Snyder – I’m not real sure on that. It would never be 100 or never be 50. My biggest concern right now is getting the place cleaned up, getting a lot of the old junk out of there. The expense of buying the building and cleaning it up is going to be quite a bit and it’s going to be down the road before I even start doing anything like that. Like I say, I’ll be fixing cars, and not having junk cars on the premises to sell the parts. That’s not what I’m going to do. Janice McFall – Well, my question is also, Mr. Harrison said it was too much of an expense to move the fence which was in the minutes that you agreed to move the fence. Ward Harrison – Correct. We never utilized the property as we thought we were going to when we got the junk yard permit. I think at the very most I had maybe five cars, total, up there, the whole time I owned the place. Janice McFall – I would have to agree. You did keep the vehicles up near…… Junk Yard Hearing Page 4March 21, 2000 Ward Harrison – I knew you wanted the fence moved but I couldn’t justify buying the place, doing what I’m doing and moving the fence. So, I decided to bail out and let him have it. And I know what he’s doing. He’s going to clean the place up. We’ve already worked that over about how we’re going to get all that scrap and all the old tires and all that old stuff out of there. Basically all he wants to do is keep these guys off him about having more than one and a half vehicles on his repair shop. That’s basically how we believe they won’t come and give him the devil for having three or four or maybe ten cars there. He has a big enough fence. Janice McFall – You’ve never seen, and I’m sure most of them in this room that’s seen the mess that was there before. Ward Harrison – No doubt. I bought the mess! Janice McFall – And I mean to tell you they were right up into our hedgerow and I mean, I’m not lying, Mr. Snyder, those rats coming out of there were this big! Jeff Snyder – Well, they had to be feeding on something. They’re not going to just live in a car. They had to be feeding on something. There’s nothing there for them to eat. Janice McFall – I just don’t want that back. Thank God I didn’t have small children that the rats would come out and get. But I mean, we was infested with them. Ward Harrison – You won’t. You’ll have a better time with him than you would with me if I had got to operating, because I would have had 3 – 400 cars in there. That’s what I had planned to do with that property when I originally bought it. This guy is going to put 10 – 15 cars in there. I was looking to put 2 – 300 in there. Janice McFall - ……and it was a ridiculous mess. You walk out the front door and all you seen was junk cars and (?) and that was my biggest, that was our biggest objection. Ward Harrison – You’re not going to have that with him there. Janice McFall – Okay. What then can be done with the fence. Jeff Snyder – Oh, I’ll move the fence. That’s not a problem. Janice McFall – I know it may seem very trivial, but you live next to a junk yard and you realize…… Ward Harrison – I do. Janice McFall – I know you do. It used to be Mr. Bixler’s junk yard. Jeff Snyder – The fence is not a problem. In fact, Todd Twigg told me I could use his tractor and move the fence. It’s not a problem. Just, weather permitting, you know, it’s real wet right now and…… Junk Yard Hearing Page 5March 21, 2000 Janice McFall – I don’t expect you to go out there and tomorrow start moving the fence. But I do want it stipulated that the fence will be moved. And I want it enforced this time. I guess that’s it. Duane Hall – May I have a rebuttal? If you’re buying this for repairing cars, why are you applying for a junk yard license? That’s what I want to know. If you could just go to repair cars there, you don’t need a junk license, buddy. If you’re going to, but you have cars out there after you get through working on them and leave them there, then you need a junk yard. We don’t want any junk yards so I don’t know why you’re applying for a junk yard if you’re not going to have a junk yard there. Jeff Snyder – Well, I thought I just answered that question. Any car that I get done with, will be gone to Ward’s and be crushed, whatever. You do need to have a junk yard permit in order to have more than one and a half vehicles. So, it’s just a formality, so I don’t have the Town after me for having more than one vehicle there. Deforest Hall – After you repair these cars, are you going to put them out front and put for sale signs in them? Jeff Snyder – Maybe. Deforest Hall – I don’t know what the law reads on this, but there’s the possibility there could be an application for two or three different licenses, I would think, or types of ordinances or something….. I mean, that’s his problem, but I think we should all be aware of this. Helen Lane – We’re talking about an individual who apparently has some very good intentions and is making some verbal promises. But the bottom line is, he is applying for a junk yard permit, and anyone who has a junk yard permit then can have a junk yard. I think we need to not lose sight of the facts Cliff Norte – Peruville Road. I apologize for being a little late. I might have missed some of the early information. Is it a change of zoning? Is it presently known as a junk yard? Supervisor Morey – Yes. Cliff Norte – So, it is simply changing owners, so it needs to be re-applied for? Supervisor Morey – Correct. Cliff Norte – I’ve known Jeff for a little while. I know where he lives now. I know what it looked like when he moved in and I know what it looks like now. His track record is pretty good at improving properties. I think that when a person wants to be employed these days, we should do things within reason to help a person have a livelihood. We want a place to have our cars fixed when they’re broken. We all want a place to get gas when we need gas. We want industry to employ our workers. But none of us want it real close to us. I think we have to be a little more understanding and a little more tolerant. The way a lot of these rules are written they are overly restrictive. If what I hear about one and one half cars is the rule, then I am in violation where I live. But I have cars as a hobby and sometimes it takes two to make one. I try to keep my place sightly and I think Jeff has that intention. I think we continue to over regulate, we’re Junk Yard Hearing Page 6March 21, 2000 going to be doing ourselves a real disservice, not only from a tax base that business brings but as just a convenience to find people to supply services when we need them. If we have to leave the Town of Groton to find services, that won’t be a good situation. Thank you for your time. Diane Tolen – Up on Cobb Street, there’s two different garages. Lane’s have a garage and Hora’s have a garage and there’s cars all around there. Do they have to have a junk yard permit, or is there something else that Mr. Snyder can do to keep his business going without the junk yard? Someone says they are repair shops. Supervisor Morey – Gary Lane has a repair shop. Diane Tolen – I know Gary Lane has a repair shop. Joe Hora’s is more transmissions than it is body shop. But there’s always cars sitting out in front of their garages with no licenses on them. And I know from experience that if you’ve got more than one car without a license on your property, if you don’t get rid of them, then you are going to get a fine. Someone said they might be in violation. Supervisor Morey – Yes, we might want to check that out. Those are some of the questions that we, I am sorry, don’t know. I know Gary Lane tries to sell his cars too, so I don’t know whether that’s a business for used car sales as well as a collision repair shop. So, I’m not sure what his license is. Councilman Scheffler – Repair shop, same as mine. I have a repair shop and on my permit from the Town it says that I can have up to 10 vehicles outside the shop. It’s specified on my permit as 10 and they judge that from how big your parking is or whatever. It doesn’t stipulate licensed or not because occasionally someone will bring a car in that isn’t licensed and they want to fix it and get a license. But it’s on the special permit. Abe Congdon – I live in back of this so-called junk yard or whatever you want to call it. I’d like to ask him how many vehicles you’ve got up there now. Jeff Snyder – I probably have four. Abe Congdon – You better count again. The last I saw, the gate was up, there was at least six vehicles and a big truck in there. Another question I’d like to ask is how come all the junk that’s in there now and you’ve got to go and clean it up. How come that’s in there? Jeff Snyder – It was there. Abe Congdon – Yeah, but how come it’s there? Furthermore, furthermore, I have two greenhouses. You talk about farmers polluting, I’ve got two greenhouses, thirty five hundred square feet. I’m the only one in the Northeast, that I know of, that takes more precaution on pollution. My greenhouse is the only one that I know of that’s got plastic in the bottom of the trays for two reasons: it saves on fertilizer and water. Also, my well is only about 50 feet from where this stream comes down from there. I’d like to ask them if they’d ever tested the soil around the building where they go in and out there, about oil and stuff. If they like to say the junk yard, if you’re going to mechanic work, you don’t need a junk yard license. And we’d like Junk Yard Hearing Page 7March 21, 2000 to know how many cars are going to be lined up outside or inside there. The thing of it is, they talk about doing business, there’s let’s see, one, two, three, there’s four or five brand new houses that’s put around there. Look at the investment that those people have put in. Do you think they want pollution? No. And neither do I. Sally Neuhouser – We live at 434 West Groton Road, just up the road from Jeff’s shop. We had a difficult winter with people running into our cars. That’s how I met Jeff. I guess what I’d like to say is that I care about what happens on that road because I live there. But I have also been watching. Jeff was recommended to us by Ward, who works on our cars. I had never met Jeff before, and was quite impressed by the timeliness. When he said he was going to do something, he did it when he said he was going to and if he ran into trouble, he stayed in contact with me, let me know what his plans were. He did things that he didn’t really need to do, for nothing and went out of his way, did excellent work. I noticed, driving by, that even if he’s got stuff, particularly our recalcitrant vehicles that refuse to start when you want them too, that when he would go home at night, there wasn’t cars out in front, that the yard was kept neat. I guess overall, I would find that if there is somebody who is going to follow the rules, that I would bank on Jeff Snyder as being somebody who’d follow those rules. It sounds like the pollution concern has already been addressed under the stipulations under which you can get a permit in the first place about the fluids having to be removed, so that actually, that isn’t even there. The biggest issue, and this is not next to my house, so I can’t speak as somebody who is going to live next to it. It sounds like the fence is a big issue, and a valid one. I wonder if a permit couldn’t be issued after the fence has been moved instead of before with a promise that it will be. I think that Jeff has pretty adequately described his business as one where he would like to have the parts available to him for fixing cars. I’m very happy to have a new mirror on my Jeep because he happened to have one out there. I’ve hardly been able to see for years. We all drive cars. Our cars all wear out. They have to go someplace. Jeff’s wife is involved in the business. It’s a family business. That’s what I like to see in our community. If the real problem is enforcing, that in not Ward’s issue; it’s not Jeff’s issue; that falls, I think on the Board. In fact I’d like to know more about who is responsible for that. At any rate, I think that those who live directly across have made it clear that they are not unhappy with the idea of a junk yard which it seems like there is a certain amount of fear involved with the term junk yard. It sounds like Jeff’s applying for permission to keep old vehicles behind a fence. As far as living next to it, if the McFall’s were happy, if they didn’t have to see it, rats don’t feed on old cars. If those issues can be adequately addressed, that I think we’ve been through everything four times now, and what we’re really talking about is somebody who’s trying to feed his family. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to have to go to Syracuse to get my car put back together, and I don’t want to have to buy a new one because if I did, I’d have to walk. Thank you. Robert Williams – 762 Clark Street. I agree with some of these people saying that it don’t get enforced around here, because I’ve had tickets for cars and the guy down below me’s got six and he hasn’t got a ticket yet. I’d like to know why. Thank you. Supervisor Morey – I don’t know, but I’ll find out. Robert Williams – I’ve been trying to find out for ten years. Supervisor Morey – Anyone else? Okay. I just want to make for the record that I was handed a petition with 38 signatures against the junk yard. Any other public comments? Junk Yard Hearing Page 8March 21, 2000 MOVEDclose the Public Hearing by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to at 8:12 PM. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey. Supervisor Morey – We didn’t close the meeting; we just closed the Public Hearing. We have 30 days to make the decision. Any comments from the Board? Someone asked if the public would be notified of the decision and Supervisor Morey said that it th would probably be at the next month’s meeting on April 11. Supervisor Morey – Louie, have you got any comment? Don? Councilman Scheffler – Not right at this point. I’d like to think about it a little bit. Councilman Randall – I live right up the road. I’ve always lived there. There has always been a junk yard there. But from listening to Mr. Snyder and the other people I think that there is a problem with the definition of a junk yard, basically. I’m not against the business being there. I welcome that. Him having a couple cars there as part of his business is no different than me, as a carpenter, having a pile of shingles once in awhile. It’s goes with the business. It seems like there is a problem with that definition. I don’t think Mr. Snyder actually wants a junk yard license. He thinks that he has to have that to operate without a hassle as far as having a few extra vehicles. I might be wrong, but….. Attorney Casullo – You are probably correct in that assessment that having two or three vehicles he has to…………. Councilman Scheffler – I’m wondering if you really need it. And do you want to go through the hassle if you’re not going to be selling junk or taking in junk like Ward is. Do you really…is that what you want, or do you just want a business permit? Jeff Snyder – Well, I just don’t want to put any limitations on it and I think with a junk yard, then I’m not restricted. Councilman Randall – How many cars, I mean, like Joe Hora’s was brought up, and most other vehicle repair shops have cars around them. They always have, licensed and unlicensed. Are we, is Mark actively enforcing that all the time? I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to that. And I understand where Jeff’s coming from if they are constantly on your back for having one vehicle over the allowed limit, then that’s a hassle and this would be the easiest fix for him. But is that really the right answer? Jeff Snyder – I think as far as issuing tickets, it’s kind of selectively done, on complaint. If they’re not being complained on, then they are not going to get issued a ticket. If they get complained on, then Mark goes out and pretty much has to then. Junk Yard Hearing Page 9March 21, 2000 Councilman Sovocool – I don’t think so. I think Mark takes a trip around the whole township every now and then and visible cars, I think, he writes up. He does this, I think, about twice a year. I believe, if I’m not mistaken. Jeff Snyder – There’s still a lot of them out there. Councilman Sovocool – Not as many as there was. Sometimes if they are hidden and you can’t see them from the road, I mean, you have to be able to see these from the road. But I don’t know, he may be missing some. Cliff Norte – Are they in violation if they can’t be seen? Councilman Sovocool – Technically, yes. Cliff Norte – I’m afraid that a little bit down the road that some of the townships that I read about in my old car publications where a guy comes home from work and his car is gone, and they’ve changed the legislation where they can enter a person’s private property and take his private property. Councilman Sovocool – We haven’t got that bad. Cliff Norte – No, but it’s incremental, and that’s my fear because it is a hobby of mine. I think if we have consideration for our neighbors and do things in a sensible way that should eliminate a lot of it but if laws are passed where if you have more than one unregistered vehicle, that’s a violation that’s not realistic to a lot of our lifestyles. Councilman Sovocool – Is there a definition in there for antique cars or something like that? That they are excluded from the junkyard? Attorney Casullo – To go along with what Tyke’s saying is Mr. Snyder is saying that the reason he is going for this junk yard permit is not that his business is tailored to a junk yard but just that he wants to protect himself in the automobile repair business and he sees this as his only way of doing that. Maybe since you have thirty days to make a decision, maybe Mr. Snyder should get together with Mr. Gunn and Mr. Snyder can talk to Mark about this is the type of business that I’m doing, what about a used car, repair shop, would it fit better doing it that way. Then maybe Mark could report back to the Board and maybe there is no need, if they could find another way to suit Mr. Snyder’s needs along with staying within the Code, maybe you don’t need to have this junk yard application. That would protect and probably make a lot of people happy and plus, Mr. Snyder would still be able to do what he needs to do, if Mark, the Code Enforcement Officer, can find some other middle ground that allows him to do what he needs to do. I’m just thinking out loud, but it seems to me that would make the most sense. But it’s up to the Board. Dayton Allen – It seems to me that we’re just tossing names in the air and playing semantics. The people’s concerns are not necessarily with the word junk yard or repair shop. It’s the same business, no matter what you want to call it. It’s going to have the same number of cars there no matter what you call the business. The people who are against it are going to be against it whether you call it “Joe Shmo’s Blidget (?) Factory”. We are just tossing names in the air. I can see where you want to protect yourself, but just changing a word on a piece of paper, I don’t think it’s going to make anybody happier than they already are. Junk Yard Hearing Page 10March 21, 2000 Ed Neuhouser – What’s the definition of a junk yard? Supervisor Morey – Read from the law: “The term junk yard shall mean any place of storage, or deposit, whether in connection with another business, or not, where two or more unregistered, old, or second hand motor vehicles, no longer intended or in condition for legal use on the public highways, are held, whether for the purpose of resale or used parts therefrom, for the purpose of reclaiming for use some or all of the materials therein, whether metal, glass, fabric or otherwise, for the purpose of disposing of the same or for any purpose; such terms shall include any area or place where there is a dumping, accumulation, collection or storage of waste secondhand or used materials of whatever composition.” Sylvia Allen – So you can take almost anything you want behind that fence and drop it. Supervisor Morey – Yes. Okay, to the Board: Everybody has a junk yard ordinance. There is a couple of things that we have to do. There’s the hearing, which we just had, go over location requirements, aesthetic considerations, and grant or denial of applications or appeal. Section 12 is fencing. And that’s it. So, please read those things. I have some legal questions for Fran. Can we stipulate how many cars should be here? Attorney Casullo – Not really. Not with a junk yard. Supervisor Morey – Can we stipulate what can go in the junk yard? Attorney Casullo – As long as he’s applying with this junk yard ordinance and it fits that definition you just read, no. Supervisor Morey – We can’t limit it to automobiles and…. Attorney Casullo – No. Supervisor Morey – Okay. We can do the fence. Attorney Casullo – Absolutely. I’m a little surprised that I’m hearing that wasn’t enforced. Supervisor Morey – I think we found out last week that it wasn’t, when we handed out the information. Councilman Scheffler – The fence is there still, isn’t it? We’re talking about moving the end of it down, away from the neighbors a little bit. That’s the way I understand the problem. Sally Neuhouser – Originally the fence was supposed to be brought around so that there would be a 150 foot strip between the McFall’s …. Councilman Sovocool – Between McFall’s and the junk yard. Sally Neuhouser – On the west side of McFall’s. The problem that the McFall’s had was that the fence was never moved, so that there was never a physical barrier. When you look at it from Junk Yard Hearing Page 11March 21, 2000 the road there is, but Ward has never moved the fence around. He was just going to cut it shorter and bend it around. Supervisor Morey – Okay, thank you. Fran, DEC permits, is that a separate application? Attorney Casullo – Yes. If he wants to operate a junk yard there is some state and federal permits and he’s going to have to get them. Supervisor Morey – Okay, does Jeff have to clean it up before he starts all over, or is it just inherited? Attorney Casullo – I guess you could say at this point that it’s more or less inherited. Right now it’s a valid junk yard. It’s operating on a permit. He wouldn’t have to clean it up per say. I think the one thing that he’d have to do very soon is put the proper fencing up. Supervisor Morey – And we can stipulate that type of fence. Attorney Casullo – Oh, absolutely. Supervisor Morey – All automobiles have to be evacuated, which means that all the fluids have to be…that’s a DEC regulation? Jeff Snyder – Federal too. Supervisor Morey – What about some observation wells near the creek? Attorney Casullo – My feeling is that you could ask for that, especially when it’s so close to people’s water supplies. I don’t think that you would be out of your realm to ask for that. Supervisor Morey – Expansion plans. Should we know his expansion plans, if any? Attorney Casullo – Right now it would be for exactly for what he’s saying in his diagram right here. He couldn’t expand it any further. If he wanted to expand it, he’d have to come back in for another permit, another license. Supervisor Morey – Can we stipulate the operating hours of a junk yard? Attorney Casullo – No. Supervisor Morey – Is this license going to be granted to the individual or the company? Attorney Casullo – That’s a good question. How are you going to operate? Is that Jeff Snyder or Jeff’s Auto? Is it dba? It should be granted to Jeff Snyder dba Jeff’s Auto. Supervisor Morey – Okay. And if he had to enlarge or wanted to enlarge, would that constitute a new permit? Attorney Casullo – I would consider it, yes. Definitely he has to come back here if wants to expand or enlarge. Junk Yard Hearing Page 12March 21, 2000 Someone from public – How come when Ward got the permit you were able to stipulate the hours? Supervisor Morey – I think he was asked the working hours. Enforcement, can we tailor the enforcement like once or twice a month. Attorney Casullo – Mark has a right to go over there and inspect. If he feels that there is a problem, he has the right to go over there and inspect. Supervisor Morey – Can we demand to have a soil test right now? A request? Attorney Casullo – I think you can request. Someone from public – Why would that be his responsibility though? If there is pollution already there, that’s not his fault. Supervisor Morey – Oh, I know that. I was just asking whether we could request it or not. Any other questions from the Board? Councilman Clark – Jeff probably doesn’t know me, but I know him because he moved in next to my farm in Groton City. Cliff was right about how he keeps a place. What he turned the place into, how he changed it when he came to our community, and I would certainly have to think that that’s the way he operates. So, that’s something that I have to consider and I would consider it. But as far as understanding that he wants to make a living doing what he wants to the do, we stand in judgment here, all we can do is put all facts together and do the fairest thing we can. That’s the way I feel. Supervisor Morey – Any other comments? You have a letter in your packet, from the Cayuga Lake Watershed. I don’t know if you want to do anything tonight, but they are asking for $900.00. Let’s think about that. And also the cable television is being extended. Also summer employment, we have to start thinking about that. Colleen, did you figure out whether you want someone for summer employment. Clerk Pierson – Yes. Supervisor Morey – Alright. Another thing, do you want the SPCA records that I give you? Clerk Pierson – They have probably never seen them before. Jeff Snyder – I have a couple other questions here. Section 10 in this paper here, grant or denial of the application. After the hearing of the Town Board that within two weeks make a findings. Attorney Casullo – I don’t know if you have the amendment, it was before my time. I used to think that too. Apparently, I’m not too sure when they amended this, but there is a new section 10 and it says grant or denial of application or appeal, after the hearing, the Town Board shall within 30 days make a finding as to whether or not the application shall be approved or disapproved. They amended this code, I’m not sure when……. Junk Yard Hearing Page 13March 21, 2000 Jeff Snyder – What does section 13 mean? Attorney Casullo – What this is saying, this section 13, is when this was first…. this ordinance, what they are saying is that the junk yards that were there at the time, before this was enacted, those were considered to be approved. That’s what this is saying. Supervisor Morey – Was that a “grandfather’s clause”? Attorney Casullo – Yes. Someone asked when the ordinance was enacted and were told 1969. MOVEDadjourn by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to at 8:30 PM. Unanimous. Colleen D. Pierson Town Clerk