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Home My WebLink About2017-09-12TOWN OF GROTON — MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 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 Victoria Monty, Attorney for the Town Absent: Sheldon C. Clark, Councilperson Also present: Erich Haesche, Lance Coit, Glenn Morey, Patrick O'Neil, A. D. Dawson, April Scheffler. MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Smith, to approve the minutes of the, August 8, 2017 meeting as presented. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Scheffler. Vouchers numbered 386 - 427 in the total amount of $42,918.98 were presented to the Board for their review. Vouchers for the General Fund in the amount of $22,125.3 6 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilperson Jackson, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, to approve the General Bills for payment. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Scheffler. Vouchers for the Highway Fund in the amount of $20,793.62 were presented for audit. MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Jackson, to approve the Highway Bills for payment. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Scheffler. Monthly Reports: Charles Rankin, Bookkeeper - Was not present but had submitted monthly reports for the Board's review and requested a budget transfer. RESOLUTION #17-053 - 2017 BUDGET TRANSFER RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the follow 2017 Budget Transfer: General Fund - Town Wide: From: Contingency, A1990.4 ........................... $450.00 To: Justices, Grant Funds, A 1110.41 .................125.00 Central Garage, Repairs, A1640.42 ..............325.00 Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Town Board Minutes Page 2 August 8, 2017 W. Rick Fritz, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer - Was not present but had submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. 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 which included an accounting for the Verne Morton Memorial Photography Show. She said that the last Bicentennial History talk is next Tuesday, which will conclude the Bicentennial events. Victoria Monty, Attorney for the Town - Had nothing to report. John J. Norman and A. D. Dawson, Town Justices - A. D. Dawson was present and monthly reports had been submitted for the Board's review. He said that he looked forward to meeting with the Board during the upcoming budget meetings. Councilperson Kelly Smith as Representative to Joint Youth Program - The meeting was last night and Jennifer gave out spreadsheets for the summer programs. The concert series is nearly breaking even, which is better than past years, probably because it is now at the Legion, with a little over 2,100 people attending the 10 concerts. The summer programs did really well, better than last year. They are trying to come up with a policy for background checks, in particular how to handle it if someone fails. They will be working with the Village attorney on this. The 5 -year memorandum of understanding will be up for renewal in December. Glenn Morey, County Legislator - The Legislature has been working on the budget. Their target is 2.24% and the tax cap is going to be 3.24%, so hopefully they will end up around 3%. It will be done sometime around October 8th. The Library will be celebrating 100 years this Thursday and Mr. Morey will be there to present a proclamation on behalf of the County Legislature. Lance Coit, Fire Chief - This past month, each week they have responded to a structure fire, all out of district except for last week's which as on Pleasant Valley Road in Groton. Hats off to the Code Officer, Rick Fritz, it was the first time in 15 years that Chief Coit had seen a Code Office after hours at a scene. The house was a total loss when they got there. There had been a cell phone problem getting the call through to dispatch, but when they got the call, the on -scene time was 8 minutes. The Fire Department has reached out to the community and has been able to offer the family some donations. To let the community know how many calls the department actually makes in a year, they have set up a sign board and to date they have taken 610 calls. A full time paramedic has resigned. There has been a committee interviewing candidates to fill the position, and they think they will have someone soon. In the meantime, others have been filling in to maintain coverage. They are looking at budget numbers and look forward to working though that. The Village has put a purchase offer in on the old Walter's building lot. Signs will go up to let the public know what the plans are. Everything is still in the rough planning stage, but the Village's wishes are for a public safety building to house the Fire Department, Police Department, and possibly the Village Office. The Village will own the building. After 25 years, this is a step forward. Supervisor Scheffler reported on Shared Services Initiative. The committee has discussed many ideas and has held three public hearings. Their plan includes a training academy for municipalities through TC3; a service modification plan using Laserfiche software to store and access records; a purchasing pool to acquire financial software; a county -wide mass notification system available to all governments to do mass alerts via phone, text, fax, and social media for urgent and/or routine notifications; a purchasing pool to convert streetlights to LED; and expand the Health Insurance Consortium. The plan has been approved by the Tompkins County Legislature; the final has passed our committee; and it has been sent to Governor Cuomo. Due to the fact that most all available cost saving efforts were already in place in Tompkins County long before the Governor's epiphany and mandate, the savings realized, while positive, were negligible. If the plan is fully implemented and the savings realizes, the taxpayers in Tompkins County can expect to save an average of $4.13 a year. Town Board Minutes Page 3 August 8, 2017 RESOLUTION #17-054 - SET DATES & TIMES FOR BUDGET WORKSHOPS MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby sets the following dates and times for Budget Workshops: Tuesday, September 26, 2017.- 6:00 017:6:00 pm for the Town Clerk 6:20 pm for the Town Court 6:40 pm for the Highway Superintendent 7:00 pm for the Highway Employees Thursday, September 28, 2017: Board will meet at 6:00 pm, if needed. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #17-55 - TOWN HISTORIAN TO ATTEND CONFERENCE MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler seconded by Councilperson Smith RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the payment of expenses for the Town Historian, Rosemarie Tucker, to attend the Association of Public Historians of New York State Conference, October 30 - November 2, 2017 in Poughkeepsie, NY, in the amount of $705.00. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Councilperson Smith reported on the Tompkins County Council of Governments (TCCOG). There had been a presentation on Cayuga Lake Watershed requesting project ideas on how to reduce sediments in the lake and looking to have a series of meetings. They will be asking for someone from Groton to attend along with meetings about the Owasco Lake Watershed. The EMS Task Force asked TCCOG to pass a resolution that each municipality would set aside $5,000.00 towards professional services to assist with emergency medical services planning for 2018. Councilperson Smith felt the money could be better used locally. Someone was there and spoke about the algae problems in the lakes and how that affected the local economy. They talked about the LED streetlight conversion and that there has been some push back from NYSEG. Privilege of the Floor: Erich Haesche was there to talk to the Board about possibly changing the M2 District where he lives back to a Rural Ag District. He has a business that is not allowed in this district and had to get approved for a variance last year. There was some discussion at the time that perhaps it should be changed. Councilperson Gamel explained that it was zoned M2 in 2011 because of the small lots and the grouping of houses there. After the discussion, the Board said that they would give it some consideration. Pat O'Neil wanted to speak about shared services and said that the Groton Highway does not participate in the shared services, work services. He said that Groton has not signed the shared work services agreement. The Board explained that while there is no formal signed agreement, that the Highway Department does share services, workers and machinery with many neighboring municipalities, including the County. Town Board Minutes Page 4 August 8, 2017 MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, to enter into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing a particular employee, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, at 8:14 pm Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Scheffler MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, to return to Regular Session, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, at 8:17 pm. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Scheffler RESOLUTION #17-056 - RESIGNATION OF BOOKKEEPER MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby accepts the resignation of the Town Bookkeeper, Charles Rankin, effective September 22, 2017. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #17-057 - APPOINT BOOKKEEPER MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Smith RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby appoints Charles Rankin as Bookkeeper for the Town of Groton, for an annual salary of $28,188.00, effective September 26, 2017. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Announcements: ➢ Planning Board meeting, September 21, 2017 at 7:30 pm ➢ Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, September 27 at 7:00 pm ➢ Groton Public Library Centennial Celebration, September 14 at 6:00 pm ➢ Groton Public Library Family Fun Day, September 16 ➢ Groton Bicentennial Mystery/History Series, Vietnam War, September 19 at 7:00 pm There being no further business, Councilperson Gamel moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilperson Jackson, at 8:20 pm. Unanimous. April L. Scheffler Town Clerk