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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-07-14TOWN OF GROTON — MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, JULY 149 2015 AT 7:30 PM THE TOWN HALL, 101 CONGER BOULEVARD Those present: Donald F. Scheffler, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilperson Kelly Smith, Councilperson Richard B. Gamel, Councilperson Sheldon C. Clark, Councilperson Victoria Monty, Attorney for the Town Also present: Dewey Dawson, Ed Neuhauser, Glenn Morey, Robin Cargian, Kathy Barron, Gary Coats, Richard C. Case, Jr., April Scheffler. MOVED by Councilperson Sovocool, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, to approve the minutes of the, June 9, 2015 meeting as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Scheffler. Vouchers for the General Fund in the amount of $15,477.3 5 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool, to approve the General Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Scheffler. Vouchers for the Highway Fund in the amount of $235,595.86 were presented for audit. Discussion took place on the lack of documentation for Voucher #311. MOVED by Councilperson, seconded by Councilperson , to approve the Highway Bills for payment with the exception of Voucher #311 to Grant Street Construction in the amount of $740.29, making the approved total $23 4,8 5 5.5 7. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Scheffler. Vouchers for the CDBG Housing Grant Fund in the amount of $1,200.00 were presented for audit. MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool, to approve the CDBG Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Scheffler Discussion took place on an addition CDBG Bill which had not yet been approved by the State. RESOLUTION #15-056 - APPROVE CDBG BILL CONTINGENT ON STATE APPROVAL MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the payment of the CDBG Bill from Builders Best, in the amount of $5,861.09, as an early bill on next month's Abstract #8, contingent on State approval of the project and deposit of funds. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Town Board Minutes Page 2 July 14, 2015 Monthly Reports: Charles Rankin, Bookkeeper - Was not present, but had submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. Gary Coats, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. Reported that he thought that 301 Pleasant Valley Road has a buyer who intends to clean up the property and put in a new house. There has been a lot of complaint work lately with much of it from McLean. Richard C. Case, Jr., Highway Superintendent - The new truck is in and Pete is working on the registration. It is a state-of-the-art piece of equipment. We have a washout on Sobers Road, the section that runs between 34B and Old Peruville Road. We started addressing it yesterday and it rained today well over an inch of water. Our problem is that the trenching next to our road, the sediment and rock that has gone down through has ended up on the County road. So, we are co -existing and working on the project. I will have to come up with an idea as to how to take care of it and fix it as we have a gorge that's in places eight feet deep right next to the road. The rest of the damage has been minimal and we're taking care of that. Councilperson Clark asked if there was any progress on the new salt shed and Mr. Case said no. Although they have some excavation, he has not contacted anyone on the design yet. Mr. Case - Next month I will come to you. We have a one -ton Chevy truck that we use for patching. As you remember in the budget workshops, we put away about $42,000.00 or $45,000.00 to find a roller. I couldn't find a roller for that amount of money. Talking with Luke today, he suggested, and I want to look things over a little closer, to take this one -ton truck that we have to the municipal auction and replacing it before winter. We use it to clean the parking lots out here and also the intersections. I want to replace it with a larger, one and a half ton truck with diesel instead of gas. Councilperson Clark asked if that would consume the money budgeted for the roller and Mr. Case said yes. Councilperson Clark asked what we were going to do for a roller and Mr. Case said that he has a pretty good network with the Towns of Dryden and Cortlandville to use equipment through municipal cooperation. April L. Scheffler, RMC, Town Clerk/Tax Collector - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. The office has been really busy. We are getting ready for the photo show during Old Home Days and are working with the committee to do a Village -wide treasure hunt for kids. I'm going on vacation starting Friday through next Friday and Robin is off the week after that. Victoria Monty, Attorney for the Town - Had nothing to report. John Norman & A. D. Dawson, Town Justices - Judge Dawson was present and had submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. He said that Cindy Vicedomini had resigned as Court Clerk and they had interviewed several candidates for the job. They have chosen Kathy Barron for the position and asked for a resolution to appointment her. Councilperson Clark asked if Miss Barron was going to continue working on the ambulance and Judge Dawson said that she planned on doing that part time, possible on weekends, but that the court clerk job is a full time position. RESOLUTION #15-057 - APPOINT KATHY BARRON AS COURT CLERK MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Smith RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the appointment of Kathy Barron as Court Clerk for the Town of Groton Justice Court at the same hourly pay as the previous clerk and retroactive to July 8, 2015. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Town Board Minutes Page 3 July 14, 2015 Councilperson Kelly Smith as Representative to Joint Youth Program - Summer programs are going well. A golf instructor was found at the last minute. Archery has been really popular this year and they expanded the number of sessions. They are not offering swim lessons with camp this summer because the camps are being held at the Elementary School and the logistics of getting kids back and forth were a problem. There have been some pool maintenance issues and I believe the Village is taking a look at those. The first Friday music series was at the Legion last Friday with around 100 people in attendance. Glenn Morey, County Legislator - The good news is they approved the Groton City Bridge. It will take two years to finish. The bad news is they ran out of money for the Groton City Road. With the help of Jeff Smith and Sheldon Clark, they did come up a month early to do the potholes and stuff. With the rain damage in other parts of the County, they have run out of money for the road. Hopefully, they will get it done next year. Privilege of the Floor: No one wished to speak. RESOLUTION #15-058 - APPROVAL OF THE 2015 AMENDMENT TO THE MUNICIPAL COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT FOR THE GREATER TOMPKINS COUNTY MUNICIPAL HEALTH INSURANCE CONSORTIUM MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool WHEREAS, the Town of Groton is a Participant in the Greater Tompkins County Municipal Health Insurance Consortium (the "Consortium"), a municipal cooperative organized under Article 47 of the New York Insurance Law, and WHEREAS, the municipal participants in the Consortium, including this body, have approved and executed a certain Municipal Cooperation Agreement (the "Agreement"; effective date of October 1, 20 10) and Amendment (2014) that provides for the operation and governance of the Consortium, and WHEREAS, Article 47 of the New York Insurance Law (the "Insurance Law") and the rules and regulations of the New York State Department of Financial Services set forth certain requirements for governance of municipal cooperatives that offer self-insured municipal cooperative health insurance plans, and WHEREAS, the Agreement sets forth in Section Q2 that continuation of the Consortium under the terms and conditions of the Agreement, or any amendments or restatements thereto, shall be subject to Board review on the fifth (5th) anniversary of the Effective Date and on each fifth (5th) anniversary date thereafter (each a "Review Date"), and WHEREAS, by motion 005-2015, adopted on May 28, 2015, the Consortium's Board of Directors recommends approval of the 2015 amended agreement based on review of the document by the Municipal Cooperative Agreement Review Committee, the New York State Department of Financial Services, and the Consortium's legal counsel, and WHEREAS, the Municipal Cooperative Agreement requires that amendments to the agreement be presented to each participant for review and adopted by its municipal board, and WHEREAS, the Town of Groton is in receipt of the proposed amended Agreement and has determined that it is in the best interest of its constituents who are served by the Consortium to amend the Agreement as set forth in the attached 2015 Amended Municipal Cooperative Agreement, now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Town of Groton approves and authorizes the Town Supervisor to sign the 2015 Amendment to the Municipal Cooperative Agreement of the Greater Tompkins County Municipal Health Insurance Consortium, and Town Board Minutes Page 4 July 14, 2015 RESOLVED, further, that the Clerk of the Town of Groton is hereby authorized to execute this Resolution to indicate its approval, transmit a copy thereof to the Board of Directors of the Greater Tompkins County Municipal Health Insurance Consortium, and take any other such actions as may be required by law. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Councilperson Gamel - I was under the impression that we had things settled with the ambulance that we had enough staff to support the Town and it does not appear that way. I don't know that if Kathy being here has changed that. Have you cut your hours? Kathy Barron - I am not working the day shift anymore. Some people are working double shifts. There just aren't enough people to cover it. Councilperson Gamel - I was just under the impression, with the meetings that Glenn and I went to with the ambulance committee and the times that I spoke with Lester Coit, that that issue was done. Kathy Barron explained that there have never been enough people to cover all of the shifts. It is a problem that is happening everywhere. People are getting a little older and, like her, are looking for less physically demanding jobs. Councilperson Clark asked who was in charge of hiring. After the previous meetings, he had put forth the names of a couple of people who were very interesting and was told that it was being handled in- house and they didn't need anybody. They were not even interested in taking down the names. Further discussion took place on the problem and it was decided that something needs to be done and some kind of meetings need to take place with the Town, Village, Fire and Ambulance, Board of Wardens, and whoever else involved. Supervisor Scheffler said that he would make the appropriate contacts and set up a meeting to see what can be done. MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, to enter into Executive Session to discuss a personnel issue at 8:20 pm. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Scheffler MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, to return to Regular Session at 8:47 pm. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Scheffler Supervisor Scheffler - Let the record show that the Executive Session was for informational purposes only. Announcements: ➢ Planning Board meeting - July 16 at 7:30 pm ➢ Zoning Board of Appeals - July 29 at 7:00 pm ➢ Farm City Day - at Cary Farms on Lick Street - August 1 at 11:00 am ➢ Next Board meeting - August 11 at 7:30 pm There being no further business, Councilman Gamel moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, at 8:48 pm. Unanimous. April L. Scheffler, RMC Groton Town Clerk