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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-02-14TOWN OF GROTON — MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017 AT 7:30 PM THE TOWN HALL, 101 CONGER BOULEVARD Those present: Donald F. Scheffler, Supervisor Richard Gamel, Councilperson Kelly Smith, Councilperson Randy N. Jackson, Councilperson Sheldon C. Clark, Councilperson Victoria Monty, Attorney for the Town Also present: Lance Coit, Nick Graziano, Glenn Morey, Ed Neuhauser, Cassandra Negley, Charles Rankin, W. Rick Fritz, April Scheffler. MOVED by Councilperson Clark, seconded by Councilperson Jackson, to approve the minutes of the, January 3, 2017 special board meeting as presented. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler. MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Jacsion, to approve the minutes of the January 10, 2017 meeting as presented. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler. Vouchers numbered 12 - 71 in the total amount of $212043.96 were presented to the Board for their review. Vouchers for the General Fund, which included Special Light Districts and Special Fire Department Fund, in the amount of $161,013.56 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Smith, to approve the General Bills for payment with the exception of Voucher #43 which lacked supporting documentation and may be resubmitted next month with itemized receipts. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler. Vouchers for the Highway Fund in the amount of $51,030.40 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilperson Jackson, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, to approve the Highway Bills for payment. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler. Monthly Reports: Charles Rankin, Bookkeeper - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review and requested a budget transfer to move unexpended funds left in the 2016 DA518.4 Services for Other Governments Contractual Account into the 2017 Highway Capital Equipment Reserve Account. Town Board Minutes Page 2 RESOLUTION #17-015 - 2017 BUDGET TRANSFER MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Clark RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2017 Budget Transfer Highway Fund - Town Wide: From: Fund Balance, A911 .........................$75,000.00 To: Capital Equipment Reserve, DA231........ 75,000.00 Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed February 14, 2017 W. Rick Fritz, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. The Uniform Code Report was electronically submitted on February 10th. The yearly permits issued report to the U.S. Department of Commerce was faxed on January 27th. We issued 108 permits last year; 14 were new homes; and 5 are completed. There were 163 Certificates of Completion and/or Occupancy issued, 72 of which were started by the previous Code Official that we cleaned up. Richard C. Case, Jr., Highway Superintendent - Was not present. April L. Scheffler, RMC, Town Clerk/Tax Collector - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. Tax collection has slowed way down. The Town has been completely paid off and I take first installments to the County on Thursday. I did some work on the website last week and have a few more updates that I want to do along with creating a section for the Bicentennial information. Our plans for the April, June and July events are starting to come together. We had an offer from the Groton Booster Club to help out at the April kick-off event at the school. Rosemarie is working on lining up people for the history talks, which will be during August and September rather than June and July as we previously planned. This is because we want to coordinate with McLean's Summer Mystery/History Programs that will take place weekly from July 11 to August 1. So, we plan to continue on after their programs end. We want to have some talks here at the Town Hall, one in Groton City and one in West Groton. Rosemarie and I will be doing our Verne Morton presentation on July 18 as part of the McLean talks. One of the best things we did to help get the word out was to put the flyers in with the tax bills. That generated a lot of interest and helped sell some of the tote bags and lapel pins. We continue to send the flyers out with dog licenses and hand them out across the counter. The Groton Bank bought 114 tote bags from us to give to their stock holders at their annual meeting. So far we have sold 267 tote bags, 78 lapel pins and had donations totaling $115, with a grand total of money taken in of $3,285. This will really help to offset expenses. If any of you need a Valentine gift before you go home tonight, see me after the meeting! I would like to ask for a resolution from you tonight in support of my applying for a Tompkins County Tourism Celebrations Grant for the June event, which would be used for the advertising and promotion. RESOLUTION #17-016 - SUPPORT GRANT APPLICATION MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby supports the 2017 Tompkins County Tourism Celebrations Grant application submitted by the Town Clerk, April Scheffler, on behalf of Town of Groton Bicentennial Committee. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Town Board Minutes Page 3 February 14, 2017 Victoria Monty, Attorney for the Town - Had nothing to report. John J. Norman and A. D. Dawson, Town Justices - Were not present but did submit monthly reports for the Board's review. Councilperson Kelly Smith as Representative to Joint Youth Program - We have been busy. We had our meeting with the youth sports committee, unfortunately, it was the same night as basketball, so we only had soccer, baseball, and softball attended. Last week we gathered up all their financial records and did the audit for the year. Cabin Fever is on March 4th and Jennifer has a lot of things lined up for that. We had a class from SUNY Cortland at our last meeting and did a presentation of the survey of the parents as a follow-up to the survey of the students. It looks like from the parents' perspective that we are doing fairly well. Only about 10% of the respondents said that they didn't think that our programs were meeting their expectations. They thought the greatest need was a community teen center and skate park was lowest ranked. 56% of the parents had kids in youth sports; 43% had them in school sports; 28% were involved in clubs; and 8.4% were in other which we think would be Scouts, etc. Glenn Morey, County Legislator - At the County Board, last week we voted on the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and our resolution said that we are asking Congress to not repeal it without a acceptable health care alternative. So, I voted for that because we're just asking Congress to do a better job. Next week we have a resolution for Sanctuary County. I haven't made my decision yet, but Don has a copy of the resolution that is five pages long. Councilperson Clark - There's nothing we can do about it at this level anyways is there? We could put pressure on our Legislator. Privilege of the Floor: Lance Coit, Fire Chief - I just came tonight to thank you guys. Everything is off to a good start this year. As of this afternoon, we've run 89 ambulance calls for the month of January and up to 25 fire calls for the month of January. It was a busy month. This past week we were called to five different structure fires inter -county, so the guys have been pretty busy this past week. Not all of the fire calls are actual fires, but also road hazards, accidents, lines down, stuff like that. Only two were actual fires, but that number is high for a monthly count. Discussion took place concerning proposed changes to the Zoning Fee Schedule. It was agreed that the square footage formula was a better option than the current formula based on cost of construction. The concern was the difference in price between residential and commercial and whether the charge for commercial was too much. Councilperson Gamel asked how many inspections would need to be done on each and Mr. Fritz said 15 for residential and 26 - 28 for commercial. Discussion was suspended until after the scheduled public hearing. PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #1 FOR THE YEAR 2017 Supervisor Scheffler opened the Public Hearing on Proposed Local Law #1 for the Year 2017 entitled A Local Law Providing a Partial Exemption From Taxation to Persons Sixty -Five Years of Age or Older Pursuant to the Provisions of Section 467 of the Real Property Tax Law at 8:03 pm. The Town Clerk read the public notice which covered both the Public Hearing on Proposed Local Law #I and Proposed Local Law #2 for the Year 2017 and was duly published in the Town's legal paper, the Groton Independent on February 1, 2017. Town Board Minutes Page 4 February 14, 2017 Supervisor Scheffler asked if anyone would like to speak about the Proposed Local Law #1, and no one did. Supervisor Scheffler closed the Public Hearing at 8:10 pm. PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #2 FOR THE YEAR 2017 Supervisor Scheffler opened the public hearing on Proposed Local Law #2 for the Year 2017 entitled A Local Law Providing an Exemption From Taxation to Persons With Disabilities And Limited Incomes Pursuant to the Provisions of Section 467-C of the Real Property Tax Law at 8:10 pm. He asked if anyone would like to speak concerning Proposed Local Law #2, and no one did. Supervisor Scheffler closed the Public Hearing at 8:10 pm. RESOLUTION #17-017 - APPROVE LOCAL LAW #1 FOR THE YEAR 2017 MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves Proposed Local Law #1 for the Year 2017 entitled A Local Law Providing a Partial Exemption From Taxation to Persons Sixty -Five Years of Age or Older Pursuant to the Provisions of Section 467 of the Real Property Tar Law. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #17-018 - APPROVE LOCAL LAW #2 FOR THE YEAR 2017 MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Jackson RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves Proposed Local Law #2 for the Year 2017 entitled A Local Law Providing an Exemption From Taxation to Persons With Disabilities And Limited Incomes Pursuant to the Provisions of Section 467-C of the Real Property Tax Law. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Supervisor Scheffler explained that both laws are identical to the Town's previous laws for these exemptions except that they are raising the income limits by $2000.00 for both laws, thereby allowing more low income people qualify for the exemption. Discussion went back to the Zoning Fees and it was thought that they would go with what was being proposed by the Code Official and it can always be revisited and changed if it seemed that the fees were too high or low. RESOLUTION #17-019 - APPROVE 2017 ZONING FEE SCHEDULE MOVED by Councilperson Clark, seconded by Councilperson Gamel RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2017 Zoning Fee Schedule: Town Board Minutes Page S February 14, 2017 Town of Groton Zoning Fee Schedule All Projects Started Prior to a Permit being Issued: 2017 Will be charged regular Fee plus New Construction- $.45 per Sq Ft Residential Alterations/Renovations: $40 plus 2.00 per $1000 of cost New Construction - $.60 per Sq Ft Commercial Alterations/Renovations: $60 plus 3.00 per $1000 of cost Building Permit Renewal '/2 Original Fee &approval of CEO Agricultural Buildings $25 Non -Structural Roof Replacement No Charge Accessory Structures: Pools, Decks, Sheds, $40 plus 2.00 per $1000 of cost Detached Garages, Fixed Appliance $25 Fence Eft or higher/ Replace pool fence $25 Green Energy Production -Residential $40 plus 2.00 per $1000 of cost Green Energy Production- Commercial $500 plus 2.50 per $1000 of cost Disability Ramp No Charge Sign Permit $10 Demolition Permit $25 Junk Yard Annual Inspection $25 Annually Life Safety Inspection No Charge Operating Permit $25 Operating Permit -Public Assembly >100 No Charge People Cellular Tower $200 plus $2.50 per $1,000 of Construction Cost Outdoor Fireworks/Indoor Pyrotechnics 25 Permit $ Manufacturers' Pyrotechnics Testing Permit $25 Annually Subdivision - Minor $30 + $20 per lot Subdivision - Major Level One $50 + $20 per lot Preliminary Review - $100 + $20 per lot Subdivision -Major Level Two Final Review - $100 + $20 per lot Boundary Line Change $25 Town of Groton Zoning Fee Schedule Town Board Minutes Page 6 February 14, 2017 Cluster Development Planned Unit Development Site Plan Review (Land Use Permit) Preliminary Review - $100 + $20 per lot Final Review - $100 + $20 per lot Town Board Review - $200 Site Plan Review by Planning Board - $200 2000 sq. ft. &under - $100 2001 sq. ft. &over - $200 Site Plan Review for Echo Housing No Charge Special Permit -Cemetery $200 Special Permit -Junk Yard $500 Special Permit -High Density Housing $500 Special Permit -Mining $500 Special Permit -Manufactured Home Park $500 Special Permit -Sexually Oriented $750 Businesses Mass Gathering Permit $750 Application for Variance or Interpretation $50 Additional Fees: 1. Fees listed do not include postage, which may be an additional charge at current postal rates. 2. If a public hearing is required, the applicant shall pay the cost of advertising fees. 3. Costs incurred by the Town of Groton for engineering, planning, legal and other necessary expenses for the purpose of reviewing any application with regard to an item covered by this fee schedule shall be paid by the applicant. 4. The applicant shall be responsible for costs incurred by the Town of Groton for the review and/or preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement if said statement is necessary. 5. When Fees Are To Be Paid: All fees costs and/or expenses required by this fee schedule shall be paid to the Town of Groton before any certificate/permit is issued. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #17-020 - TOWN CLERK & DEPUTY CLERK TO ATTEND CONFERENCE MOVED by Councilperson Smith, seconded by Councilperson Jackson RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the payment of expenses for the Town Clerk and the Deputy Clerk to attend the New York State Town Clerks Association Annual Conference in Rochester, NY, April 23 - 25, 2017. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Supervisor Scheffler - Had given the Board information from the Tompkins County Industrial Development Agency concerning their Solar Voltaic Policy. I went to a meeting last week and the IDA is Town Board Minutes Page 7 February 14, 2017 proposing helping the Towns do PILOT plans for large commercial solar projects instead of the towns doing it themselves. There's a lot of questions that people have from other towns about land use, taxes, etc. I feel that they are taking our power to tax away from us if we allow them to do that. The solar companies want the IDA to do it because the IDA can do 20 and 25 -year PILOTS and the towns can only do 15, so they are looking for a longer term of the tax break. They are going to the IDA trying to circumvent the towns' authority to do PILOT programs. They are going to present this to TCOG on the 23rd of this month, but they may put it off a month to come up with more answers. Discussion took place on the IDA and most Board members indicated that they had a problem with another agency outside of our Town telling us what to do in our Town and taking away our Municipal Home Rule. Supervisor Scheffler said that they would appoint a Local Board of Assessment Review next month after he has a chance to talk to prospective appointees. RESOLUTION #17-021 - APPOINT DONALD SCHEFFLER TO RECREATION PARTNERSHIP MOVED by Councilperson Clark, seconded by Councilperson Jackson WHEREAS, at the Organizational Meeting in January, Kelly Smith was appointed to be the Town of Groton representative to the Intermunicipal Recreation Partnership and does not wish to accept this appointment, now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby appoints Donald Scheffler as the Town of Groton representative to the Intermunicipal Recreation Partnership. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Supervisor Scheffler gave everyone a copy of the current agreement for the Recreation Partnership to read through and see if they had any suggested changes as it is almost time to renew the agreement for another 5 -year term. Privilege of the Floor: No one wished to speak. Announcements: ➢ Planning Board Meeting, February 16, 2017 at 7:30 pm Councilperson Clark - I have a question, if I may. I am quite concerned about the County Legislature voting next week on making the County a Sanctuary County. I talked to Glenn and it looks like there is no way to stop it, and maybe this Board doesn't want to stop it, but it just doesn't seem fair that we don't get a choice or even comment on it. Supervisor Scheffler - You could pass a resolution, if you wanted to send it to the County, I suppose. Do we know what our views are on a Sanctuary County? Councilperson Clark - I just think it's going to cost the County some of money or they may lose a lot of money. Councilperson Gamel - I understand the Sanctuary City if that is their choice. But I don't agree that they should encompass the entire County. Town Board Minutes Page 8 February 14, 2017 Supervisor Scheffler - It's like telling us what we think. We can make our feelings known on it. Councilperson Clark - I'd like to make a motion and if anyone is against it, just do what you want to do. The Board agreed that it wasn't so much the content of the County's resolution that they disagreed with but the fact that they were making a County -wide mandate and the Town Board felt that if should be a decision made by each municipality. RESOLUTION #17-022 - REQUEST THAT TOMPKINS COUNTY LEGISLATURE NOT PASS RESOLUTION ID #6850 MOVED by Councilperson Clark, seconded by Councilperson Jackson WHEREAS, the Tompkins County Legislature will, at their February 21, 2017 meeting, be considering Proposed Resolution ID #6859 which will affect all of Tompkins County, and WHEREAS, the members of the Town Board of the Town of Groton feel that the Tompkins County Legislature would be over -stepping their authority and usurping the right of the Town of Groton, as well as the rights of the other local towns and villages within the County, to pass their own laws and policies under Municipal Home Rule Law, now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Groton respectfully requests that the Tompkins County Legislature not pass Resolution ID#6859. Ayes - Gamel, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Abstain - Smith Nays - Resolution Passed The Board directed the Town Clerk to send a copy of the resolution to the members of the County Legislature as well as the Towns and Villages within the County. Continuation of Announcements: ➢ Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, February 22 at 7:00 pm ➢ Thank you from Lew and Fran Sovocool ➢ Thank you from the Verl Rankin family ➢ Next Board Meeting, March 14 at 7:30 pm There being no further business, Councilman Gamel moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Jackson at 8:18 pm. Unanimous. April L. Scheffler, RMC Town Clerk