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Home My WebLink About2017-11-14TOWN OF GROTON — MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 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, Robin Cargian, Mike Neville, Crystal Young, Glenn Morey, Richard C. Case, Jr., Charles Rankin, April Scheffler. MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Jackson, to approve the minutes of the, October 10, 2017 meeting as presented. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler. MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Jackson, to approve the minutes of the Special Meeting and Public Hearing on October 30, 2017 meeting as presented. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler. Vouchers numbered 463 - 521 in the total amount of $119,105.91 were presented to the Board for their review. Vouchers for the General Fund in the amount of $47,146.90 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilperson Smith, seconded by Councilperson Clark, to approve the General Bills for payment. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler. Vouchers for the Highway Fund in the amount of $71,959.01 were presented for audit. MOVED by Councilperson Clark, seconded by Councilperson Jackson, 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. Town Board Minutes Page 2 November 14, 2017 RESOLUTION #17-062 - 2017 BUDGET TRANSFER MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Jackson RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2017 Budget Transfer: Highway Town Wide: From: Snow Removal, Personal Services, DA5142.1......... $700.00 To: Snow Removal, Vacation, DA5142.11....................7,000.00 Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed 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 - At the present time the Highway Department is in the equipment changeover from summer to winter. Repairs, PM program and NYS Inspections are taking place. Blacktop grader patching has taken place on East Brown Road, Duffee, Champlin, and Clark Street. Sears Road is being grader honed as well as the shoulders of Elm Street and Salt Road. The Wickham Road project has three culverts left to finish and we will get it if the weather and personnel stay available. Salt and deicing sand is being mixed and by Friday we will be in a good position to take on any weather thrown in our directions. RESOLUTION #17-063 - APPROVE RAISE FOR JOSH BARRON MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Jackson WHEREAS, Josh Barron has completed his 90 -day probation period as a Town of Groton Highway Employee, be it RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves a 50 -cent per hour pay raise, starting with the next pay period. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #17-064 - ACCOUNT FOR CHECK RECEIVED FROM AUCTIONS INTERNATIONAL MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Smith WHEREAS, a check for the sale of excess equipment, in the amount of $29,985.00, from Auctions International, be it RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby directs that the check from Auctions International be deposited in the DA513 0.2R, Machinery, Capital Equipment Reserve Account. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed April L. Scheffler, RMC, Town Clerk/Tax Collector - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review and had nothing else to report. Town Board Minutes Page 3 November 14, 2017 Victoria Monty, Attorney for the Town - Had nothing to report. John J. Norman and A. D. Dawson, Town Justices - Were not present. Councilperson Kelly Smith as Representative to Joint Youth Program - Winter programming has been problematic because of lack of gym space. Jennifer Jones has been jumping through hoops trying to get space for the girls and boys basketball. Cabin Fever is scheduled for March 3rd. She is going to have babysitting classes in January or February. The School signed the Memorandum of Understanding so that is set for another five years. Glenn E. Morey, County Legislator - Good news, we finally got a budget for next year for the County. Our tax cap was 3.53%. Our target was 2.4% and we settled on 2.32%, which was better than we ever thought. This means the taxable rate last year was $6.62 per $1,000.00 and the 2018 budget will be $6.57, so taxes will go down a little. Mr. Morey also announced that the County Administrator, Joe Mareane, has resigned. Paul Yunger will be Acting Administrator for the time being. Lance Coit, Fire Chief - If you look at our board it says 780, but tallying up the calls to date it is now 810 calls. The ambulance has been extremely busy. We've been running a lot of mutual aid for Cayuga County. Moravia and Four -Town have been quite busy and we've run quite a bit over in Dryden. This year it seems like it's not just one call at a time, but we are getting hammered with three calls in five minutes. But things are running smoothly. We're working on our recertification with the State. On the fire side, we received a DEC matching grant. We applied for hand lines and were able to replace 3,700 feet of hand lines. So, that makes all of our hose up to new standards and that's good because we replaced a lot of hose that was 20 years old. DEC has been here and done the inspection and we are just waiting on the State to cut the check. The Girl Scouts did the Trunk or Treat and asked us to participate. There were over 25 cars. I doubled my order for cider and donuts that we usually get for the kids. I had 30 dozen donuts and 20 gallons of cider and it was gone in the first 15 minutes. That was 400 cups. We will definitely be on board with them for next year. The Girl Scouts do a lot for the community and the Village and Town and do an awesome job. This is the 50th year of Groton Ambulance and we will have a little celebration on December 8th. Invitations should be coming in to you soon. Further discussion took place between Chief Coit and the Board concerning the various aspects of the ambulance service, as well as some of the procedures and regulations they must adhere to. Proposed Local Law #4 of the Year 2017 was introduced to the Board and copies were passed out. The proposed law will be an amendment to the Land Use and Development Code, which will define and set standards for small and large scale green energy production and make clarifications to the section on signs. RESOLUTION #17-065 -DECLARE TOWN OF GROTON AS LEAD AGENCY FOR STATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY REVIEW (SEQR) MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Smith RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby declares itself as Lead Agency for the purpose of the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) of Town of Groton entitled "Proposed Local Law #4 of the Year 2017A Local Law to Amend Various Sections of the Town of Groton Land Use and Development Code as Enacted by Local Law #1 of the Year 2011. " Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Town Board Minutes Page 4 November 14, 2017 RESOLUTION #17-066 - SET PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #4 OF THE YEAR 2017 MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby sets a Public Hearing on "Proposed Local Law #4 of the Year 2017 A Local Law to Amend Various Sections of the Town of Groton Land Use and Development Code as Enacted by Local Law #1 of the Year 2011 " for Tuesday, January 9, 2018 at 8:00 pm. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Discussion took place on the Fiscal Year 2018 Preliminary Budget. Changes that had been made to the budget since the Public Hearing on October 30, 2017 were in the General Fund as follows: Decrease: Contingency, A1990.4 by $1,300 making the line item $42,346 Increase: Court Clerk, Personal Services, A1110.13 by $400 making the line item total $36,600 Personnel, Personal Services, A1430.1 by $400 making the line item total$19, 800 Celebrations, A7550.4 by $500 making the line item total $500 These changes moved money form one account to others and did not affect total appropriations or tax rate. RESOLUTION #17-067 - APPROVE FISCAL YEAR 2018 BUDGET MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Jackson RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget as presented. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #17-068 - APPROVE FISCAL YEAR 2018 FIRE AND AMBULANCE BUDGETS MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the Fiscal Year 2018 Budgets for Groton Fire Protection and Ambulance Service. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed RESOLUTION #17-069 - REAPPOINTMENT TO ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COUNCIL MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Clark RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby reappoints Peg Ficken as the Town of Groton representative to the Tompkins County Environmental Management Council. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Town Board Minutes Page S November 14, 2017 RESOLUTION #17-070 - APPROVE 2018 CONTRACT WITH HIGHWAY EMPLOYEES MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel RESOLVED, that the Town of Groton Highway Employees be granted the following for the Year 2018: 1. 50 -Cent Raise in pay across the board. 2. Show -Up Time. Any highway employee who is called out to deal with an emergency situation on a weekend or any time other than the regular work day shall be paid for a minimum of two (2) hours work. A minimum of two (2) hours, plus any time over the two hours, shall be added to the total number of hours worked for the week. Ayes - Gamel, Smith, Jackson, Clark, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Privilege of the Floor: No one wished to speak. Announcements: ➢ Planning Board Meeting, November 16, 2017 at 7:30 pm ➢ Zoning Board of Appeals, November 22, 2017 at 7:00 pm ➢ Groton Business Association Meeting, November 15, 2017 at 6:00 pm at the American Legion ➢ Next Board Meeting, December 12, 2017 at 7:30 pm There being no further business, Councilperson Gamel moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilperson Jackson, at 8:05 pm. Unanimous. April L. Scheffler, RMC Town Clerk