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Home My WebLink About10-08-2002 TOWN OF GROTON - MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2002 AT 7:30 PM Those present: Glenn E. Morey, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman Donald F. Scheffler, Councilman Sheldon C. Clark, Councilman Duane T. Randall II, Councilman James Baranello, Town Attorney Also present: Liz Brennan, George Senter, Frank Satterly, Arland Heffron, Peg Palmer, Beverly Graham. MOVED by Councilman Randall, seconded by Councilman Clark, to approve the minutes of the September 2002 meeting as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey. Councilman Scheffler wished to make sure that note was taken as to his “statement of non- conflict of interest” in the Municipal Auction, which was made at the September Board Meeting. General Fund Claim Numbers 267-297 of the in the amount of $9,347.12 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the General Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey. Highway Fund Claim Numbers 176-193 of the in the amount of $72,910.69 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilman Scheffler, seconded by Councilman Clark, to approve the Highway Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey. Special Grant (HUD) Fund Claim Numbers 256-259 of the in the amount of $20,592.88 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilman Randall, seconded by Councilman Clark, to approve the HUD bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey. Town Board Meeting Page 2 October 8, 2002 Supervisor Morey offered privilege of the floor. No one wished to speak. Monthly Reports: Elizabeth Brennan, Bookkeeper – Presented her monthly report and requested transfers. Ms. Brennan explained that the transfer in the Highway Fund Part Town from General Repairs to Chips had to do with a different way that the State was accounting for the funds and this would allow the Town to be reimbursed for the maximum amount allowed. RESOLUTION #92 – TRANSFER OF FUNDS – GENERAL TOWN WIDE MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey RESOLVED , that the Town Board does hereby approve the following transfer of funds: General Fund – Town Wide: From: Buildings, Repair A1620.42……………………….. $849.85 To: Building, Equipment A1620.2…………………….. 849.85 (Highway Department Refrigerator) RESOLUTION #93 – TRANSFER OF FUNDS – GENERAL PART TOWN MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby approve the following transfer of funds: General Fund – Part Town: From: Contingency B1990.4……………………………… $86.89 To: Youth Program, Summer Jobs B7310.1…………… 86.89 RESOLUTION # 94 – TRANSFER OF FUNDS – HIGHWAY TOWN WIDE MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby approve the following transfer of funds: Highway Fund- Town Wide: From: Bridges, Contractual DA5120.4……………………. $ 981.60 Culverts, Contractual DA5120.41………………….. 92.75 To: Bridges, Pers. DA5120.1……………………………1,074.35 Town Board Meeting Page 3 October 8, 2002 RESOLUTION #95 – TRANSFER OF FUNDS – HIGHWAY PART TOWN MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Randall Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey RESOLVED , that the Town Board does hereby approve the following transfer of funds: Highway Fund – Part Town: From: General Repairs, Contractual DB5110.4………….. $14,500.00 To: Chips DB5112.2…………………………………… 14,500.00 George R. Senter, Sr., Code Enforcement Officer – Reported that there had been 14 Building Permits issued in September – 2 houses, 2 manufactured homes, and 10 others. There had also been 10 certificates of occupancy or completion issued. Richard C. Case, Jr., Highway Superintendent – Was not present. April L. Scheffler, Town Clerk/Tax Collector – Submitted her monthly report for the Board’s review and said that the office had been busy issuing hunting licenses. During a budget work session Clerk Scheffler had been questioned about why certain doors in her office were locked and why it should be a secure area. Clerk read an article written by legal council for NYS Town Clerks’ Association which sited Town Law, Arts & Cultural Affairs Law, and opinions of the State Attorney General and State Comptroller supporting the fact that no one other than the Town Clerk or Deputy have unrestricted access and asked the Board’s help in maintaining continued security. Clerk Scheffler described the large increase in the number of conservation licenses issued this year compared to 2001 and said that she expected those numbers to not only remain high but probably continue to increase since so many other towns and retail stores were no longer selling licenses. She indicated the continually increasing work that her office does for zoning and planning. Clerk also noted that money for extra help during tax time had been cut from budget. With all of these things constituting more work than the previous town clerk had, why did the Board feel that the Clerk did not deserve to have a raise? Councilman Sovocool didn’t think conservation licenses would be any extra work. Councilman Scheffler said sometimes jobs turned out to be more work than we thought. Councilman Clark said it was a Board decision. Councilman Sovocool pointed out that Clerk received a raise when she got the appointment and that someone coming in new should not get what the previous person got because they don’t know what’s going on. Clerk argued that the new Town Justice was going to receive the same pay as the previous one and that when a new Code Enforcement Officer was being hired all applicants were told that the pay would remain the same. When asked why the Board took away extra help at tax time, the Clerk was told that it was because she did a good job last year when the previous clerk was ill. Board wished to move on. Town Board Meeting Page 4 October 8, 2002 James Baranello, Town Attorney – Discussed with George Senter and Clerk Scheffler an issue concerning the apparent fact that some of our Elder Cottage Housing Opportunity (ECHO) units were not receiving tax-exempt status and that this was a policy issue that the Board might want to address. ECHO Housing units that are available through Tompkins County are temporary structures that do not change the assessment and therefore are not taxed. Since there are only 3 units available for the whole of Tompkins County, the Town of Groton has allowed other temporary structures to be installed in accordance with its local law pertaining to ECHO Housing and these are the units that apparently are being assessed by the County. It was decided that the issue would be looked into further. Councilman Donald Scheffler for Joint Recreation Committee – Recreation Coordinator has moved on to better job and committee is searching for replacement. Arland Heffron, Town Justice – Said that the Town Budget, as far as the Justice Court is concerned, is totally inadequate. He said that he could see no increase in his Town salary and Supervisor Morey said that he had agreed to that. Justice Heffron explained that his Town salary for 2001 was $8051 and his Village salary was $6540. He suggested that since the Town was taking over the Village Court and he would be doing half of that work, that he should be entitled to at least half of his present Village salary, which would be $3270, making his total salary $11,321. He pointed out that Court was one of the few agencies in town government that brings money back. When Supervisor Morey said that the Town Court was losing money, Justice Heffron said of course they were losing money, that it is not supposed to be a money-making proposition any more than any other department. He asked the Board to reconsider the small, unfair wage that had been budgeted and indicated that he did not believe any of the Board members would be willing to take on 50% more work for that amount of money. Supervisor Morey said that it was his understanding that they had agreed to what Justice Heffron wanted. When Justice Heffron could not hear what Supervisor Morey was saying, the Supervisor ended the discussion. Justice Heffron said that the teller window had not been installed yet and Supervisor Morey said that he had assigned the Court Clerk, Peg Palmer, to see that it got done. Peg Palmer asked about the SPCA contract and whether that was part of the budget. The Board did not give them an increase in the budget, as the Town has not been too pleased with their service. Supervisor Morey said he would be talking with them the next day. RESOLUTION #96 - ACCEPT TENTATIVE BUDGET AS PRELIMINARY BUDGET FOR 2003 MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Randall Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Randall, Clark, Morey RESOLVED , that the Town Board does hereby accept the Tentative Budget as the Preliminary Budget for the Year 2003 with the following change being made: Personal Services for Town Board, A1010.1 will remain the same as for 2002: $6,616.00 or $1,654.00 each per year. Town Board Meeting Page 5 October 8, 2002 Public Hearing on Preliminary Budget was set for Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 8:00PM. Discussion was held on the Time Warner Cable Franchise Agreement. Peg Palmer asked if access to Road Runner was going to be given to the Town Offices and it was replied that one cable TV hook-up was going to be provided. Public Hearing to consider renewal of the cable television franchise held by Time Warner Entertainment-Advance/Newhouse Partnership was set for Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at 7:00 PM. A letter was received from the Dryden Fire Department asking for support for their expansion of Advanced Life support Service, 24 hours a day, seven days a week to the residents of the Town and Village of Dryden, Village of Freeville, Town of Harford and the southwest portion of the Town of Virgil. Board consensus was that Supervisor Morey should write the letter of support. Supervisor Morey announced the retirement of Deputy Highway Superintendent Judson Holl effective October 11, 2002. He thanked Mr. Holl for his dedicated service to the Town of Groton on behalf of the Board and the Public, congratulated him on his retirement and wished him the best of luck. Announcements: th Groton Youth Commission Forum – November 6 at 7 PM at the Town Hall McLean Road Status – Phase 1, May 2003, Completion, Spring 2003; Phase 2, April 2005, Completion, December 2005. st Halloween Parade – letter from Christy Walpole – October 31. th Municipal Officials dinner – October 15 at the Lehigh Valley House at 7 PM Tompkins County Water Resource Council is seeking applicants – Frank Satterly possibly volunteering. SEQRA training – October 23 & 24 at Women’s Community Building th GBA Dinner in conjunction with the Groton Rotary – October 17, 5:30 PM at Mineral Springs Councilman Scheffler said that someone was needed on the Community Council for United Way. Board members indicated that they had approached several people but no one was willing to do it. Clerk Scheffler said that she might consider doing it. Board members said that they had heard of a couple other names. There being no further business, Councilman Sovocool moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, at 8:32 PM. Unanimous. April L. Scheffler Town Clerk