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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-03-11TOWN OF GROTON -MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014 AT 7:30 PM THE TOWN HALL, 101 CONGER BOULEVARD Those present: Glenn E. Morey, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilperson Kelly Smith, Councilperson Richard B. Gamel, Councilperson Sheldon C. Clark, Councilperson Victoria Monty, Attorney for the Town Also present: Gregory Weiland, Stefanie Books Jacobs, Charles Rankin, Richard C. Case, Jr., April Scheffler. MOVED by Councilperson Sovocool, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, to approve the minutes of the February 1 1, 2014 meeting as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Morey. MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool, to approve the minutes of the March 4, 2014 work session as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Morey. Vouchers for the General Fund in the amount of $88,644.10 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilperson Sovocool, seconded by Councilperson Clark, to approve the General Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Morey. Vouchers for the Highway Fund in the amount of $41,059.82 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilperson Clark, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, to approve the Highway Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Morey. Monthly Reports: Charles Rankin, Bookkeeper - Almost done with the annual report to the State and it will probably go out by the end of the week. Discussion took place concerning the Senior Housing Facility and their project to put up a vestibule around the entryway to cut down on the amount of cold air that enters the facility. They have had some fundraising and are asking for donations but are about $3,000 short of their goal at this point. Mr. Rankin wondered if the Town would consider Town Board Minutes Page 2 March 11, 2014 putting some money toward this. He said that the Village would be putting something towards it also. Councilperson Gamel said that he is not really in favor of putting money into something that would be out of our control, but felt that it would help a lot of senior citizens who have paid taxes in the past. The rest of the Board agreed. RESOLUTION #14-017 - DONATE TO SENIOR CITIZENS VESTIBULE PROJECT MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilperson Gamel Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the donation of $750.00 towards the vestibule project at the Senior Citizens Housing. Gary Coats, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer - Was not present, but had submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. Richard C. Case, Jr., Highway Superintendent - We are still prepared for winter and think in the next few hours that might happen again. We did have some melting and rain which created some drainage problems. We have addressed those the best we can right now. With the cold, we've had more frozen cross-over pipes, culverts, since I've been here. We froze the sewer up here last week. So, we do have some frost in the ground. We've been patching potholes. We have reached the estimates I had for salt consumption, so we will be over the 120% mark. We are full right now and I only have about 25 tons that are in the extra $3.00 per ton cost. There's no problem getting the salt, but on State contract, once you go over the 120% the price jumps up. We are still in good shape, the deicing sand is in good shape, and I think the budget money is in good shape. I'd like to request a resolution for one of our employees, Ellard Keister, who has been here since his junior year in high school. He has a great performance record here, always here on time, makes himself available for snow removal, and has become an integral part of our workforce. RESOLUTION #14-018 - APPROVE RAISE FOR ELLARD KEISTER MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilperson Clark Ayes - Smith, Gamel, Clark, Morey Abstain - Sovocool RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves a 50 -cent raise for Ellard Keister effective March 1, 2014. April L. Scheffler, RMC, Town Clerk/Tax Collector - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. I would like to say a big thank you to the guys in the Highway Department who went above and beyond to help clean up some of that sewer mess, especially my archival vault. They did a great job. Town Board Minutes Page 3 March 11, 2014 Tax collection is winding down with March 31 being the last day for us to collect. Although it seems like a lot of people have paid this month, we are slightly behind last year in amount collected at this time. There has been a slight mix up with New York State making a direct deposit into the wrong account both last year and this year to pay taxes for Broome Development Services. I have been working with Glenn and Chuck to get this straightened out and have provided you with a draft resolution that will be needed to make everything right. I had a call from NYSEG today. A month or so ago I had been notified that there was a street light out in Peruville, which I forwarded to Rick. He contacted NYSEG to have it fixed. They called today to let me know that they had fixed it, but in the process of doing so discovered that this light had never been included in the billing. So, next month you will see a slight increase in that bill because of the added light. The office will be closed on Monday, March 24, while Robin and I attend the NYSTCA Regional Meeting in Auburn. The guest speakers will be Suzanne Etherington form State Archives and Maureen Reynolds, the Deputy Tompkins County Clerk will be there to talk about our Tompkins Shared Services Electronic Records Repository, or TSSERR, which we are participating in. This has become a model program and Maureen has been presenting statewide to town, village, county and state associations. Recently she asked me to design a logo that will be used on letterhead and publications, which I have done. General Code has offered to provide T-shirts or bags with the logo. She is hoping to have them for this meeting in Auburn so that all of us from Tompkins County can wear them for her presentation. RESOLUTION #14-019 - RESOLVE ERRONEOUS 2013 TAX PAYMENT FOR BROOME DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Morey WHEREAS, a 2013 Town & County Tax Bill for solid waste fees for Broome Developmental Services in the amount of $56.00, was mistakenly paid by the New York State Department of Treasury via direct deposit into a Town of Groton Money Market Account instead of the Tax Collector Account, and WHEREAS.. the Tax Collector, being unaware of said direct deposit, generated a 2013 Tax Bill Reminder, which included a penalty, and which was also paid by direct deposit into the Town of Groton Money Market Account in the amount of $58.12, and without notice to the Tax Collector, now, therefore be it RESOLVED.. that the Town Board hereby approves a payment from the Town of Groton to the Tompkins County Department of Finance for Broome Developmental Services 2013 Town & County Taxes in the amount of $56.00, and be it further RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves a refund from the Town of Groton to the New York State Department of Treasury in the amount of $58.12. Town Board Minutes Page 4 March 11, 2014 RESOLUTION #14 - 020 - APPROVE 2014 GADABOUT CONTRACT MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilperson Gamel Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the 2014 Gadabout Contract in the amount of $5,100.00. RESOLUTION #14-021 - DECLARE FAIR HOUSING MONTH MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Morey WHEREAS, in accordance with the Title VIII Fair Housing Policy of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 and, WHEREAS, the Month of April 2014 has been designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office as Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity as Fair Housing Month, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Groton hereby declares and proclaims April 2014 as Fair Housing Month in the Town of Groton. RESOLUTION #14-022 - APPROVE 2014 AGREEMENT WITH GROTON RURAL CEMETERY MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the 2014 Groton Rural Cemetery Records Deposit Agreement for storage of cemetery records in the Town Clerk's vault and authorizes the Town Supervisor to sign said agreement. RESOLUTION #14-023 - APPOINT LOCAL BOARD OF ASSESSMENT REVIEW MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilperson Gamel Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby appoints Fran Sovocool, Jack Miller, Elizabeth Conger, Jean Morey, Kelly Smith, and Glenn Morey as the Local Board of Assessment Review. RESOLUTION #14-024 - SET DATE FOR LOCAL ASSESSMENT REVIEW MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby set Thursday, May 15, 2014, from 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm, for the Local Assessment Review (Grievance Day) . Town Board Minutes Page 5 March 11, 2014 Victoria Monty, Attorney for the Town - Had nothing to report. John Norman and A. D. Dawson, Town Justices - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. They were not present. Councilperson Kelly Smith as Representative to Joint Youth Program - Youth track is signing up and will run for four weeks starting in April. Youth wrestling is nearly over but a few wrestlers qualified for regionals. Youth softball and baseball signups are going on. Due to the weather the high school sports have been limited to using the auditorium so it's cutting into a lot of the recreation program's use of the space. Youth basketball has come to an end. There was some discussion about in light of what happened in Trumansburg with the recreation director over there and the money, that maybe we should start asking for financial statements. I guess they bought a lot of t -shirts that no one bought, so they didn't oversee that. The concert nights, the location is going to change but they haven't decided where yet. The playground, they are still waiting for information from Jim Seward's office on whether he's going to put any money into that, but the Village does have some money left to upgrade the swings. They are also talking about an open swim Saturday and Sunday nights in July if they can get lifeguards to cover. Supervisor Morey said that they had also been offered free horseback riding from Patchwork Riding Stables. Privilege of the Floor: Greg Weiland - Urged the Board to start with a moratorium and move to a ban. Stephanie Brooks Jacobs - Urged the Board to pass a moratorium, preferably for 12 months. She asked when the public hearing and vote would be. Supervisor Morey said that it would most likely be next month. RESOLUTION #14-025 - INTRODUCE PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #1 FOR THE YEAR 2014 ENTITLED A LOCAL LAW FOR A MORATORIUM ON HYDRAULIC FRACTURING AND/OR HYDROFRACKING IN THE TOWN OF GROTON MOVED by Councilperson Smith, seconded by Supervisor Morey Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Morey Nays - Gamel, Clark WHEREAS, Councilperson Smith has introduced Proposed Local Law #1 for the Year 2014 entitled A Local Law for a Moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing and/or Hydrofracking in the Town of Groton, be it RESOLVED, that the Town Board shall set a Public Hearing on said proposed local law. Town Board Minutes Page 6 March 11, 2014 RESOLUTION #14-026 - SET H EARI NG DATE & TIME FOR PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #1 FOR THE YEAR 2014 ENTITLED A LOCAL LAW FOR A MORATORIUM ON HYDRAULIC FRACTURING AND/OR HYDROFRACKI NG IN THE TOWN OF GROTON MOVED by Councilperson Smith, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Morey Nays - Gamel, Clark RESOLVED.. that the Town Board hereby sets Tuesday, April 8, 2014, at 8:00 pm for a Public Hearing on Proposed Local Law #1 for the Year 2014 entitled A Local Law for a Moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing and/or Hydrofracking. Discussion took place on a proposed Road Preservation Law that the Board had worked on. Attorney Casullo has reviewed it and has some questions and concerns to address. The goal is to have it ready for the May meeting. MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilperson Sovocool, to schedule a Work Session to review the Town's 1988 Local Law on the Regulation of Solid Waste Management facilities for Tuesday, March 25, 2014, at 6:00 pm. Ayes - Sovocool, Smith, Gamel, Clark, Morey Announcements: ➢ Planning Board Meeting, March 20, 7:30 pm ➢ Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting, March 26, 7:00 pm ➢ Groton Business Association Meeting, March 19, 6:00 pm at the Legion ➢ Thank you note from the George Totman family There being no further business, Councilman Gamel moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Clerk, at 8:06 pm. Unanimous. April L. Scheffler, RMC Town Clerk