HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-01-12 TOWN OF GROTON - MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING
TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2010 AT 7:30 PM
THE TOWN HALL, 101 CONGER BOULEVARD
Those present: Glenn E. Morey, Supervisor
Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman
Donald F. Scheffler, Councilman
Richard B. Gamel, Councilman
Sheldon C. Clark, Councilman
Victoria Monty, Attorney for the Town
Also present: Nick Babel, Rosemarie Tucker, Chris Hatch, Jeff Cargian, Pat Nyman,
Sue Bennett, Joe Bennett, Sandra Swearingen, Lisa Swearingen, Lynn
Swearingen, Brian Robison, Dewey Dawson, Gary Coats, Elizabeth
Brennan, April Scheffler.
The Town Clerk conducted the swearing in ceremony for Supervisor Morey, Councilman
Sovocool and Councilman Scheffler, who were beginning new terms.
RESOLUTION #10-001 - 2009 ORGANIZATIONAL ITEMS/APPOINTMENTS
Item 1 —Depository. - MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED, that the First National Bank of Groton be designated as the depository for all
monies coming into the hands of the Supervisor and Town Clerk of the Town of Groton.
Item 2 — Official Newspaper — MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman
Scheffler.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED, that the Groton Independent be designated as the official newspaper of the Town of
Groton with notices also to be published in the Freeville Shopper.
Item 3—Law Firm —MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED, that the law firm of Pomeroy, Armstrong, Casullo & Monty be retained as
Attorneys for the Town of Groton.
Town Board Minutes Page 2 January 12, 2010
Item 4—Zoning Officer—MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED, that Gary Coats be appointed Zoning Officer and Building and Fire Code
Enforcement Officer for the Town of Groton.
Item S—Constable— Vacant
Item 6 — Deputy Supervisor - MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman
Sovocool.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,that Donald F. Scheffler be appointed Deputy Supervisor for the Town of Groton.
Item 7 — Deputy Highway Superintendent — MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by
Councilman Scheffler.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED, that Peter Can be appointed Deputy Highway Superintendent for the Town of
Groton.
Item 8—Deputy Town Clerk—MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED,that Robin Cargian be appointed Deputy Town Clerk for the Town of Groton.
Item 9—Bookkeeper—MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED,that Elizabeth Brennan be appointed as Bookkeeper for the Town of Groton.
Item 10— Court Clerk—MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED,that Cindy Vicedomini be appointed as Court Clerk for the Town of Groton.
Item 11 — Part Time McLean Crossing Guard — MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by
Councilman Sovocool.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED, that Margaret Albern be appointed part-time McLean School Crossing Guard for
the Town of Groton.
Town Board Minutes Page 3 January 12, 2010
Item 12— Town Historian —MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED,that Rosemarie Tucker be appointed as Town Historian for the Town of Groton.
Item 13 — Town Health Insurance — MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman
Clark
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,that full time employees to have 80%of Blue Cross/Blue Shield Health Insurance
coverage paid for by Town.
Item 14 — Town Board Regular Meetings — MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by
Councilman Sovocool.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED, that the Town Board will hold their regular Town Board Meetings on the second
Tuesday of each month at 7:00 — 7:30 P.M. to review invoices and 7:30 P.M. for the Board
Meeting, at the Town Hall on Conger Boulevard, Groton,NY.
Item 15 — Fix Salaries of Town Officers — MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by
Councilman Sovocool.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby fix the annual salaries of the following Town
Officers and employees at the amounts respectfully stated and that such salaries shall be paid at the
time respectfully specified:
a) Glenn E. Morey, Supervisor $ 10,000.00 Biweekly
b) Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman $ 2,250.00 Quarterly
c) Donald F. Scheffler, Councilman $ 2,250.00 Quarterly
d) Richard B. Gamel, Councilman $ 2,250.00 Quarterly
e) Sheldon C. Clark, Councilman $ 2,250.00 Quarterly
f) April L. Scheffler, Town Clerk $42,239.00 Biweekly
g) Richard C. Case,Jr., Highway Superintendent $ 60,553.00 Biweekly
h) John J. Norman, 1st Town Justice $ 13,325.00 Biweekly
i) A. D. Dawson, 2nd Town Justice $ 13,325.00 Biweekly
j) Gary L. Coats, Code/Fire Enforcement $ 28,064.00 Biweekly
k) Rosemarie Tucker,Historian $ 1,000.00 Quarterly
Item 16—Set Hourly Rates—MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED,that the Town Board does hereby set the hourly rates as follows:
a) Deputy Town Clerk $13.84 per hour
b) Court Clerk $14.09 per hour
c) Bookkeeper $19.09 per hour
d) Custodian $12.13 per hour
Town Board Minutes Page 4 January 12, 2010
e) Crossing Guard $11.50 per hour
Item 17 - Appointment of Representatives to Town and County Programs — MOVED by
Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED,to appoint the following as representatives to Town and County Programs:
County Youth Recreation Programs—Vacant
Environmental Management Council—Dewey Dawson
Tompkins County Transportation Council— Sheldon Clark
Tompkins County Human Services Coalition—Teresa Robinson
Tompkins County Planning Board—Vacant
Groton Youth Commission—Glenn Morey, Teresa Robinson, Peggy Ficken
Tompkins County Youth Advisory Board—Vacant
Tompkins County Recreation Partnership—Vacant
Tompkins County Fire,Disaster and EMS Advisory Board—John Miller
Item 18 — Supervisor's Appointment to Committee Members — MOVED by Supervisor Morey,
seconded by Councilman Scheffler
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED,that the Supervisor's appointment of committee members be approved as follows:
Finance—Glenn Morey&Donald Scheffler
Machinery—Sheldon Clark
Building—Richard Gamel&Donald Scheffler
Fire Department- Ellard Sovocool
Personnel—Glenn Morey&Donald Scheffler
Zoning,Bldg. and Fire Code—Richard Gamel
HUD Loans - Ellard Sovocool & Glenn Morey
Light Districts—Richard Gamel
Fixed Assets - Ellard Sovocool
Senior Citizens—Sheldon Clark
Recreation Committee—Donald Scheffler
Highway—Sheldon Clark
Planning Board—Rotating Attendance
Appeals Board—Rotating Attendance
Item 19 - Set fees for Town Services —MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman
Gamel.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED,that fees for the Town services be set as follows:
1) Certification of Taxes/Search $ 5.00 1st yr., $1.00 ea. addn. yr.
2) Photocopies- 8 1/2 x 11 $ .25
3) Photocopies- 8 1/2 x 14 $ .50
4) Photocopies - 11 x 17 $ .50
5) Transcript of Marriage $10.00
6) Marriage Certificate $10.00
Town Board Minutes Page 5 January 12, 2010
7) Marriage License $40.00
8) Town,Village, County Maps $ .50
9) Mileage - Town Officials $ .50
10) Dog Licenses $18.00 unaltered
$10.00 altered
11) Returned Check Fee $20.00
12) Fax Copies - Transmit $ 1.00 per page
Receive $ .25 per page
13) Duplicate Tax Receipt $ 0.00
14) Town Directory $ 5.00
15) Land Use &Dev. Code $10.00
16) Mobile Home Ordinance $ 5.00
17) Certified Copies $ 5.00
18) Paper Copy of Comprehensive Plan $25.00, CD $15.00
19) Town of Groton Zoning Fee Schedule:
Building Permit Fee: $0 - $4000 $25.00
> $4000 $25.00+ $3.00 per$1000 over$4,000
Building Permit Renewals: 1/2 of the original fee and upon approval by zoning officer.
Agricultural Buildings- .... $ 25.00
Swimming Pool,Above Ground $ 25.00
Swimming Pool, In Ground- $ 50.00
Wood Stove. $ 25.00
Shed. $ 25.00
Deck. $25.00
Cellular Tower. $ 2.50 Per$1000 of Construction Cost
Demolition Permit ... $25.00
Site Plan Review/Special Permit ... <2000 sq. ft. $100.00
>2000 sq. ft $250.00
Junk Yard Annual Inspection• ... $ 25.00
Subdivision-Minor $ 30.00+ $20.00 Per Lot
Major ....$ 50.00+$20.00 Per Lot
Rural. $ 20.00+ $20.00 Per Lot
Flag Lot $ 30.00
Boundary Change- $ 25.00
Planned Unit Development ..$200.00
Application for Variance. .$ 50.00
Flood Hazard Area Comb. District:... $40.00
Flood Zone Certification. $ 10.00
Certificate of Conformance. $ 40.00
Additional Fees:
a) If a public hearing is required,the applicant shall pay the cost of advertising fees.
b) 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.
c) 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.
d) When Fees Are To Be Paid: All fees required by this fee schedule shall be paid to the Town of
Groton at the time the application is presented. No permit/certificate will be issued until all fees,
costs, and/or expenses are paid in full.
Town Board Minutes Page 6 January 12, 2010
Item # 20 - Miscellaneous Appointments, Fees, Etc — MOVED by Supervisor Morey,
seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby approve the following miscellaneous
appointments, fees, etc:
1) Annual Retainer Fee for Legal Services rendered by Pomeroy, Armstrong, Casullo &
Monty.
2) Authorize Highway Superintendent to give pay raises effective January 1, 2010
3) Authorize Annual Association of Towns Training School—February 14-17, 2010, in NYC;
Glenn Morey to attend.
4) Appoint Glenn Morey as Delegate for Annual Association of Towns Meeting
5) Appoint contact people for Drug and Alcohol Testing Program — Richard Case and Glenn
Morey.
6) Appointment of Town Planning Board Member—Reappoint Edward Neuhauser for a term to
begin January 1, 2010 and end December 31, 2016.
7) Appoint member to Zoning Board Member—Reappoint Carolann Darling for a term to begin
January 1,2010 and end December 31, 2014.
8) Appoint members of Agriculture Advisory Committee — Daniel Carey (Chairperson), Noreen
Atkins, Marlin Houston, Robert Fouts.
RESOLUTION#10-002 - CONTRACT FOR AUDIT OF 2009 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby retain the services of Cisaschi, Dietershagen,
Little, Mickelson & Company, LLP, to audit Financial Statements, including Justice Court, for the
year ended December 31, 2009.
RESOLUTION#10-003 - APPROVE 2010 DOG CONTRACT
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED, that the Town Board does hereby approve the 2010 contract with the Country Acres
Pet Services for the purpose of dog control in the Town of Groton at a fee of$17,100.00 ($1425.00
per month).
Town Board Minutes Page 7 January 12, 2010
RESOLUTION#10-004 -AUTHORIZATION TO PARTICIPATE IN
COOPERATIVE PURCHASING OF HIGHWAY SERVICES WITH
TOMPKINS COUNTY
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED, that the Town of Groton be hereby authorized to participate with Tompkins County
in the cooperative purchasing of various highway services.
RESOLUTION#10-005 -AUTHORIZE HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT TO
PURCHASE ON STATE BID
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey.
RESOLVED, that the Groton Town Board does hereby authorize the Highway Superintendent to
purchase oil and related products from State Contract Bids as appropriate.
RESOLUTION#10-006 -APPROVE FIRE AND AMBULANCE PROTECTION
CONTRACTS
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,that the Town Board does hereby approve the Fire and Ambulance contracts with
the Village of Groton Fire Department and Fire Protection with the McLean Fire Department.
RESOLUTION#10-007—APPROVE 2010 MUNICIPAL DRUG AND
ALCOHOL TESTING
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
RESOLVED,that the Town Board does hereby approve Energetix as Third Party Administrator
for the 2010 Municipal Agreement Renewal for the Drug and Alcohol Testing.
This concluded the 2009 Organizational Items.
MOVED by Councilman Clark, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the minutes of
the December 8, 2009 meeting as presented.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
MOVED by Councilman Clark, seconded by Councilman Clark, to approve the minutes of the
December 15, 2009 work session as presented.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
Town Board Minutes Page 8 January 12, 2010
Claim Numbers 389-419 of the 2009 General Fund in the amount of$20,756.98 were presented
for audit.
MOVED by Councilman Gamel, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to approve the 2009
General Bills for payment.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
Claim Numbers 1-20 of the 2010 General Fund in the amount of$221,791.20 were presented
for audit.
MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the 2010
General Bills for payment.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
Claim Numbers 234-252 of the 2009 Highway Fund in the amount of $34,262.57 were
presented for audit.
MOVED by Councilman Clark, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the 2009
Highway Bills for payment.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
Claim Number 1 of the 2010 Highway Fund in the amount of $26,267.00 were presented for
audit.
MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the 2010
Highway Bills for payment.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey.
Monthly Reports:
Elizabeth Brennan, Bookkeeper/Highway Clerk - Submitted monthly reports and requested
budget transfers.
RESOLUTION#10-008 - 2009 BUDGET TRANSFERS
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED,that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2009 Budget Transfers:
General Fund- Town Wide:
From: Contingency A1990.4 .$286.26
To: Supervisor, Equipment A1220.2 100.00
Deputy Clerk, Dogs A3510.12 11.26
Dogs, Contractual A35104 .75.00
Town Board Minutes Page 9 January 12, 2010
RESOLUTION#10-009 -2009 BUDGET TRANSFERS
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED,that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2009 Budget Transfers:
General Fund-Part Town:
From: Contingency B1990.4 $243.00
To: Deputy Clerk, Planning B8020.12 .243.00
RESOLUTION#10-010 - 2009 BUDGET TRANSFERS
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Clark
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark,Morey
RESOLVED,that the Town Board hereby approves the following 2009 Budget Transfers:
Highway Fund- Town Wide:
From: Snow Removal, Sick DA5142.12 ..$4,406.41
To: Machinery, Personal Services DA5130.1 4,406.41
Gary Coats, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer - Submitted year-end and monthly reports. Robin
spent quite a bit of time putting it all together. Mr. Coats had visited the DeMond farm
following their recent devastating barn fire and offered condolences on behalf of the Town. He
had a sample letter that he would like to send out to farmers, offering a non-binding and no-cost
fire safety inspection of their farms in an effort to help prevent this type of catastrophe.
Consensus of the Board was that this would be a good thing to do.
Richard C. Case, Jr., Highway Superintendent - Was not present but had submitted a monthly
report for the Board's review.
April L. Scheffler, RMC, Town Clerk/Tax Collector - Submitted monthly Town Clerk and
Tax Collector reports, County Acres report and year-end report for Town Clerk. The office is
busy with tax collection. Application had been made for a Decentralization Grant for the Verne
Morton Memorial Photography Show which will take place during Olde Home Days and we
have been awarded $600.
Victoria Monty,Attorney for the Town - Had nothing to report.
A. D. Dawson, Town Justice - Presented monthly reports for himself and Judge Norman, as
well as their year-end report. The Court had applied for a grant and recently learned that
announcements of the awards have been postponed due the overwhelming amount of requests
received. The Tompkins County Magistrates Association asked that the Board be informed of
the passing of Robert Stolp.
Town Board Minutes Page 10 January 12, 2010
Councilman Donald Scheffler, as Recreation Coordinator - Winterfest will be held January
30 at the Elementary School from 10 am to 4 pm. This year features dog sleds rides, Moreland
the Magician, cross country skiing, and the ever-popular recycled toboggan contest plus the
usual indoor games, crafters and food. There will also be a display of antique runner sleds by
Rick Neville.
Brian Robison, County Legislator - As a Legislator for six days, Mr. Robison was there to
answer questions. He spoke about the dire financial times and that it was going to be a
challenging year for the County. It appears that money that is traditionally handed down by the
State to the counties and then to the towns is being reduced by approximately 12.5% across the
board. He told the Board not to hesitate to contact him on any issue. Mr. Robison has been
assigned to the Budget and Public Safety Committees.
Rosemarie Tucker, Town Historian - Presented her year-end report for the Board's review.
Since the publication of her book, Images of American - Groton and the book she assisted on,
Tompkins County-Images of Work and Play, she has had many more people come forward with
pictures for her to scan and add to her collection of historical photos. She has been asked to sit
on the board of the Groton Historical Society and elected to the board of the History Center of
Tompkins County. Her report has also been sent to the Tompkins County Historian and the State
Historian. Ms. Tucker thanked the Board for their continued support.
Privilege of the Floor:
Sue Bennett - I'd like to follow up again on the petition that we submitted September 8th. I have
a question for all of you: Did any of you listen to the music on the link I sent you by email? One
out of five.
Councilman Scheffler - I can't download it; I'm on dial-up.
Supervisor Morey- I've heard it before.
Sue Bennett - At our house. That really bothers me. That's the music we listen to. If you have
dial-up, I'll invite you to my house to listen to it. I'm serious, Don. This isn't a joke to us.
Councilman Scheffler - I can't download it, a. and b., the last concert, or festival, I drove
around the block; I stopped in front of every house that night and listened to it. So, I know what
it sounds like. Thank you.
Sue Bennett - Okay. That's fine. So, one of the questions I had is, the Zoning Code that's
online, is that the one that was previously sent to the County?
Clerk Scheffler - Yes.
Sue Bennett - That's what I thought but I wanted to double-check. So, when will the revised
one be available for review, and I want to thank you, April, for the notes that you sent me on
how this all works; that really helped, but I didn't understand when the revised one might be
available.
Town Board Minutes Page 11 January 12, 2010
Clerk Scheffler - Well, we're still working on a few small sections and we're waiting for
comments from our attorneys and then hopefully have it all together
Sue Bennett - So, then they'd be online?
Clerk Scheffler - Right.
Sue Bennett - So, it's my understanding from my last conversation with you, Glenn, that the
Board has chosen to move forward with the mass gathering ordinance and incorporate it into the
zoning code as Section 377 without addressing any of the concerns that we brought up. Is that
accurate?
Supervisor Morey - We did address every concern that you brought up, Sue. It wasn't
specifically what you wanted but we addressed every single issue that you brought up. Public
safety, well I'm sorry, I can't please you, Sue.
Sue Bennett - Glenn, you had people speaking here at the last meeting, explaining why it
doesn't address all the concerns.
Supervisor Morey - Sue, we can't bring a discriminatory regulation. We have to make sure that
it holds up in court. What you're doing is you are going against one person in the Town. We
have to make sure that this whole thing....
Sue Bennett - No, it's the way you're going about it. We're in total disagreement. The people
who have come here, in front of you, my sister was going to speak on that, but I'll cover that.
Many of them have prior engagements. They don't mind me speaking for them at all, but there's
still a united group of people and they're in total disagreement. I don't understand how you can
sit there, the five of you, and look at these people and be in total disagreement. I just don't
understand. I'd like you to explain it.
Jeff Cargian - Can I ask a question? I must have missed something. What's this about?
Sue Bennett - This is about a petition that was done in September that was turned into the Board
on the right to peace and quiet in the rural area and it was generated because of some festivals or
concerts, whatever you'd like to call them, of continuous noise, traffic, drunkenness, for a whole
weekend. It was a 3-day event and this is the third time this has happened. So, that's what this
petition is about and we're continuing to follow up on it.
Jeff Cargian -And what do you want to come about that they're not addressing '
Sue Bennett - Because the ordinance that they're creating is going to allow more than what it
currently allows now. Right now, it's not an allowable use and what they're creating is going to
allow more than what they currently allow in the zoning.
Jeff Cargian -You can't have a concert or outdoor music festival in Groton?
Sue Bennett - You can if it doesn't bother all of your neighbors.
Jeff Cargian - But you can't really....
Town Board Minutes Page 12 January 12, 2010
Sue Bennett - I'm not going to address you; I'm addressing the Board. So, you've covered that;
you don't really want to change anything. So, I'll end by saying, it's my expectation along with
everyone that signed that petition that you will adhere to the current zoning code and another
festival will not be allowed because it's not an allowed use and it's also, these festivals are being
run as a business which is also not allowed. That's the end of what I have to say today.
Sandy Swearingen - As my sister was saying, we do have a lower attendance and it's due to
mostly weather and meetings and sickness. I would also like to address the Board with a
concern. When I was reading the December 8th minutes I noticed there were a lot of blank spots,
I don't know if this is recorded and how it's transcribed, so I was wondering if it was possible to
move the recorder so you can catch all the phrases and pertinent information that we would like
on record. I mean, it's a suggestion and I hope you would consider that.
Jeff Cargian - I see you have the Ambulance and Fire Contract on your agenda. We all know
that it's been altered and I know some of you know that you're now charged for an ambulance
ride. I got the contract and read it and it's very vague; it just promises fire and ambulance
service on a two-pager. But since we're getting reduced service and the taxpayers are now liable
for an ambulance ride after a certain hour, if not for this contract, certainly for next year maybe
something can be firmed up where the level of service is on the contract and if the level is going
to drop, certainly the price of the contract should be altered.
Supervisor Morey - Yes, that's a big concern of the Board. I didn't have time to talk to Lee
Shurtleff. There's going to be a new Chief brought in this Saturday. I talked to Lester(Coit) and
he's well aware of what we have. There's some issues that they're trying to deal with right now.
But it is a big concern as to what we're going to try to do.
Jeff Cargian - I'm not sure what zoning or code you're looking to change but if you have a mass
gathering or something on the books already and it didn't cover this event, what changes would
you be making?
Supervisor Morey - There's a question as to whether the mass gathering is on the books right
now. I believe it is allowable in the rural area.
Gary Coats - As of right now, there's nothing in the current Code that addresses mass
gatherings.
Clerk Scheffler - What about entertainment?
Gary Coats - There are some entertainment clauses in there. However, when Bob Eckert came
to me way back when, before all these concerts happened, I scoured the Code looking for
something that he wanted to see if we could find it. I didn't see it as a land use. I saw it as a
one-day use of his land. A land use is of a permanent nature; you start a business there; you do
this there. This is not a land use change, which has been kicked around an awful lot, and I feel
that's wrong. It's a use of land, the same way as if you went out today and wanted to have a
garage sale at your property. It's a commercial venture; you're going to have parking problems;
you're going to have crowds possibly; you might have loud noise. It was a one-day use of the
land, not a land use, which has been kicked around, I think, wrongly.
Jeff Cargian - Well, I don't know. I don't really have any problem with that sort of thing. I'd
hate to see you control it too much. You go to the neighbors and tell them all you're all invited.
Town Board Minutes Page 13 January 12, 2010
Sandy Swearingen began speaking from the back of the room and Clerk Scheffler told her that if
she wanted to be heard on the tape to go to the microphone.
Sandy Swearingen - If you would like to know, we had almost 1000 people at that one concert
slash festival slash motocross thing and they take credit cards and had Discover and Mastercard
on his website. That's a lot different than a 5-cent item or a 25-cent item that you'd sell at a
garage sale. That was a lot of money coming in. He has built a stage. He says that on his own
website. He has his own speaker system set up and he has horseshoe pits, he has a RC track.
We're talking a lot, a lot of noise.
Councilman Gamel -But we've covered that by narrowing it down to more than 350 people.
Sandy Swearingen - The thing is, Rick, you weren't here at the last meeting, you were sick. We
were asked by Mr. Morey, every one of us who came up and spoke, we were all asked what's
your magic number. You know what? Everybody said 100 except for me; I said 50, and you're
still talking about keeping it at 300.
Councilman Gamel - I'll tell you why and
Sandy Swearingen - Mrs. Eckert said, she told me herself, she came to my house and said, we
had 300 people, we lost money on our last 3-day venture each day.
Councilman Gamel - But....
Sandy Swearingen - 300 allows them to not have any noise ordinance whatsoever. If they fall
into that guideline they can have free-rein. We can listen to it until 1 o'clock in the morning
again.
Councilman Gamel - But we have to be very careful because there's more.....
Sandy Swearingen - Oh yeah, my rights are totally violated but we'll be careful for Mr.
Eckert's.
Councilman Gamel - No, no, now listen to me. I'm not supporting Mr. Eckert in any way,
shape or form. What I'm trying to do is support everybody in the Town of Groton to have things
such as graduation parties...
Sandy Swearingen - Yes, and we have that in our proposal. We put that in there.
Councilman Gamel-Now, hold on. We're going to make exceptions for graduation parties?
Sandy Swearingen - Yes.
Councilman Gamel - So who's going to and how do we...
Sandy Swearingen - Do you charge for a graduation party? Do you make income on that?No!
Supervisor Morey- Sandy, calm down.
Councilman Gamel - We have that taken care of
Town Board Minutes Page 14 January 12, 2010
Sandy Swearingen - Do you have him getting his DBA?
Councilman Garnet - Excuse me. Not in the past, in the new Code.
Sandy Swearingen - Yes, right now, does he have a DBA?
Councilman Gamel - With the new Code, what we have in there.....
Sandy Swearingen - It doesn't stop him. Does he have a business name? Does he file taxes?
Does he do any of that? He doesn't.
Councilman Gamel - Okay, we also got complaints from one of your group about someone who
passed away and had an auction at their house? Is that correct?
Sandy Swearingen - We didn't have a complaint. We said we understand that that could
happen and it was like 3 hours, tops. And it was during the daylight. You're trying to go to
sleep at 10 o'clock at night in the summer; you can't close your windows; you have to close
them in the summer; you can't have them open; thump, thump, thump; f- this, f- that. That's
what you hear.
Councilman Gamel - I totally understand that. But what I'm trying to say is, we have to take
into consideration the rights of everybody in the Town to be able to do things
Sandy Swearingen - You need to look at noise ordinance. It's a law throughout the whole
country, check with your lawyer.
Councilman Garnet-Well, not the whole country.
Sandy Swearingen - No, and it's in other countries. It was based in ..? (Someone else speaking
at same time.)
Sue Bennett - It's a business; it's being run as a business. What Gary said initially, I can buy,
but that's only the first time, not the third time. We've had to listen to this three different times
for two years in a row. So, like I said the first time, what Gary said, fine, but not any more.
You've seen the advertisements; I've given you all copies. He advertises online; he takes credit
cards; it's a business and it's not an allowed use. That is the bottom line at this time. But you're
going to make it an allowed use with your mass ordinance gathering. So, then it's going to be
allowed but he's going to say, oh, I'm only going to have 300 in attendance, I don't even have to
apply. That's the point we're trying to drive home last time, that you've made it so he has ways
around this. What are you going to do if he doesn't apply for a permit and he....
Councilman Gamel - So what if we say it's 100 people or 50 people or 25 and he still says, I'm
only going to have 25?
Sue Bennett - Okay, then he's spending thousands of dollars in advertising. Does that make
sense for 25 people? That's what our point is. What you have designed does not fit what we're
trying to complain about. You've just proved it yourself Rick. You just proved it by what you
said.
Councilman Gamel -By what,that he can get around it?
Town Board Minutes Page 15 January 12, 2010
Sue Bennett - Yeah.
Councilman Gamel - We could write a book this thick and you know what, there'd still be ways
around it. What I'm trying to say is, we have to take into consideration the rest of the Town as
well, that wants to have ..
Sue Bennett - You did..
Councilman Gamel - You're right, we did do that. And that's what we did do. We have it so
we can have graduation parties, somebody can have a wedding in their backyard, somebody can
have a garage sale, somebody can have a Fourth of July party...
Sue Bennett - Right, right....
Councilman Gamel -Not the way you want it. If you want a noise ordinance, you can complain
because I've got a radio on in my garage.
Sue Bennett - Maybe I'd like to if you lived right next door.
Councilman Gamel- Okay, well, maybe I'll buy the property next door.
Sue Bennett - Maybe I'll come park outside your house then and play this sh_ _ all weekend
long and see how you
Councilman Gamel - And I would do exactly what was necessary which is call the police on
you.
Sue Bennett - That's what we want to be able to do and we can't. And I asked. Even with your
mass gathering proposal, we still can't call the police because no one will know what it entails
because it's all going to be, okay, he's going to apply for a, b, c and d. You guys are going to
say okay a, b, and c are fine but d has to change a little bit. The police, I already checked, the
police said it's not enforceable, so we still can't call the police.
Councilman Gamel -What's enforceable is Public Nuisance.....
Sue Bennett - Right.
Councilman Gamel- and that's something you can call on them and they can enforce that. That
has nothing to do with Town law; that is a police matter. They're disturbing the peace.
Sue Bennett - No, there's nothing in the County for disturbing the peace. We were told that by
the State Troopers when they came to our house.
Sandy Swearingen - The said go to your local person and you make sure that your local level...
Supervisor Morey - Sandy, you have to come to the microphone to speak because we can't hear
you on the tape recorder
Sandy Swearingen - The gentleman that came to my home, who was a State Trooper, informed
me that, "Ma'am, we can't do anything about it because you don't have a noise ordinance in the
Town Board Minutes Page 16 January 12, 2010
Town of Groton, we checked. We went up by there and there's a lot of cars up there and there's a
lot of people but they outnumber us, first of all, and there's no noise ordinance, so please go to
your local level and get one in place." That's why we're here.
Joe Bennett - I think there's two issues here. You're making it sound like the group that's
behind this petition is singling out Bob Eckert. I don't really feel that's the case. The reference
to the auction is only comparison. Don, you mentioned hearing the football game at your house.
To me the difference is what is offensive and if you listen to this type of music, for the
neighborhood setting, a rural setting, I feel the type of music that's played down to the Ithaca
bars is offensive being an outside venue. Downtown it's inside; it's more controlled. So, we
have a noise issue; we have a mass gathering issue. You say
Councilman Gamel - Can we back up to your last statement? So, if that was country music it
would have been okay?
Joe Bennett-No.
Councilman Gamel - Well, you just said that the kind of music played in downtown Ithaca is
offensive. That kind of music is offensive but other types wouldn't be?
Joe Bennett - No, I didn't say music, I said noise. A football game and people sharing and
bands playing at a football game, I don't consider offensive.
Councilman Gamel- Someone might.
Councilman Scheffler - Someone might.
Joe Bennett- Sure.
Councilman Garnet- That's why we have to be careful. That's what I was trying say.
Joe Bennett - give them an avenue to bring that to make a decision. That's what we're
asking for. You say play a radio. I think that's a ridiculous comparison.
Councilman Gamel - What about Groton Olde Home Days?
Joe Bennett- What about it?
Councilman Gamel - It might be offensive to people. Someone may complain about that if we
have a noise ordinance.
Joe Bennett - I honestly don't think so. If they do, is it founded? What we're trying to say is
what we're bringing to you, we feel has legitimate foundation based on where the event's being
handled
Several people, including Sue Bennett and Jeff Cargian are arguing in the audience.
Sue Bennett - Why don't you shut the f___up?
Jeff Cargian - ....it's not okay when you hear it in the music but it's okay for you to say it here?
Town Board Minutes Page 17 January 12, 2010
Supervisor Morey- Okay, let's give Joe respect while he's talking please.
Joe Bennett - Everybody has different choices in music. This is where a noise ordinance would
help. If you're playing your radio next to my property so loud that it affects my peace and quiet
or my lifestyle, then I do believe I should have the right to complain. Then, let the law
enforcement come and say, "that's too loud," or "hey, buddy, you're off the wall, he's okay." If
you don't have anything in place, then there's no other avenue and that's where I'm coming
from. This, to me, is over the top and it is being run as a business; it's looking to be repeated;
it's not a one-day land use. His use of land is permanent. He has said that. He's looking to
develop it even further; put in more play sets for the kids; put in the RC. All this stuff is
permanent. It's not a temporary land use, it's a permanent one and it's already been zoned as
agriculture not festivals and whatever.
Supervisor Morey- Have you ever been up to Bob Eckert's house to talk to him?
Joe Bennett- I don't feel that I need to go talk to....
Supervisor Morey- ...to your neighbor?
Joe Bennett - He's not necessarily my neighbor. He's across the road. His house is way off the
road. No, I don't plan on doing that. I don't feel...you're here to represent the group. That's
my opinion. So, we're asking for your help with this problem. To have a one-on-one, you say
everybody's neighbors, but really, you're our neighbors and I don't see you helping us resolving
our problem at this point.
Pat Nyman - When you live a mile away and you go out at 9:30 at night and walk your dog and
hear the guy on the microphone yell "this is for all you mother f-ers"then I think that's offensive
and that's going too far. I shouldn't have to close all my windows in the summer to try to get
that beat out of my house that went on to almost one in the morning. It's ridiculous. By Sunday
it just drive you nuts when it starts Friday night and just keeps pounding and pounding and
pounding. What else do you want? I mean, we live in the country where we have a nice
peaceful neighborhood. If someone has party or something, that's one thing, but when they
advertise and there's even a sign on the road that says, "keep going you mother f-ers" what is
this doing to our neighborhood?
Supervisor Morey - Okay, we're going to move on.
Jeff Cargian - One more thing please. We do live in the country and we live in the country
because
Sue Bennett - Don't speak to us; speak to the Board, please.
Jeff Cargian - Okay. We are all neighbors and in my case, I have my party, anybody's got a
problem, come and see me. No problem,just come and see me and we'll take care of it because
we are neighborly. Another random thought, you are here to represent all the people of Groton,
not one small group. I, personally, don't care to have a noise ordinance. It's unenforceable; it's
going to take another person to even attempt to enforce it; and in the end it just won't do. If Mr.
Eckert's done this three or four times and he's setting stages that are permanent, you have a code
violation then, perhaps, and you can work on that. I know Mr. Eckert, only through his band.
I've only met him a few times and he was doing benefit work. His band plays benefits; they play
Town Board Minutes Page 18 January 12, 2010
for free. They don't get great gigs, but they donate their time. I think you could probably work
with him. I think if he were my neighbor, I'd go see him first. That apparently was not done.
As for offensive, one of the bands that Mr. Eckert had at his concert played the Cortland Concert
Series on Main Street and the City of Cortland apparently did not find them offensive and paid to
have them play in public. I don't believe you can legislate morality or offensiveness. If a sign is
on the road, that's a different matter, but you can't legislate morality or decide for people what is
or isn't offensive.
Chris Hatch - With a noise ordinance it's very tough. I have a construction company and six
years ago I was doing a pole barn just outside the Village. It was the middle of December; it was
freezing out; it just happened to thaw enough so I could doze that whole driveway and get
everything cut in. I worked until 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning doing that. Throughout the time,
because I was right on the edge of the Village and Town, I kept having police officers show up to
tell me that I had to shut the machine down because it was offensive to people. It was a brand
new bulldozer; had all the mufflers on it; very quiet. The thing that was p___ing them off was
that the lights were shining out. When they came out, they said it was the noise. We have to be
so careful when it comes to a noise ordinance to what it shuts down because if it was somebody
else's house, even some people here, and we were doing construction on their house, they would
be more than willing to let us get it dozed, dig the foundation, do whatever needed to be done to
do that. But if you have a noise ordinance, it's going to drive everybody freaking crazy. I don't
know the situation up there, but when it comes to a noise ordinance, you really can't do that to
the Town, because I live in the Town and I love working in the Town because of doing
construction. I have a shop on 222 and sometimes in the middle of the night I'm fabricating up
there because I've got a job that I've got to get in for somebody. Can someone disrupt my shop
because they were driving down the road and they heard my saw running in there? There's
nobody else around there but what happens to that? I don't want to shut down for that purpose.
The reason I'm not in the Village is that sole thing, I don't want to have that problem. So, I'm
against any kind of noise ordinance in the Township.
Supervisor Morey-No, Sue, you've said enough. No, no, Sue.
Sue Bennett - I want to answer one of the questions you asked Joe.
Supervisor Morey- I asked Joe the question, not you. One more speaker and then we're done.
Lynn Swearingen - Unfortunately this is not a perfect world and there are problems when you
get people together; a lot of high emotions. So, I guess you can see how emotional we are about,
adamant that something could be done to help us. We're not talking a small group of people
here. This is a larger community that, you had a petition that had a considerable number of
people on it. And again, it's not just one or two neighbors. There's definitely a problem. The
whole thing, you seem like reasonable people, and I don't understand, to me, if you had this
problem in your small little area you'd be pretty upset about it, I'm sure you would. If you
wouldn't then I just don't understand that. I don't necessarily relish the idea, I guess, of a noise
ordinance and other ordinances, zoning. I'm not about any of that, I guess, but unfortunately you
need that. You need laws to protect some people, which they're supposed to do. More times
than, not that we all see it, there's loopholes and people get around things. But you need
something in place and you need something that's going to be for more the majority of the
people and I don't know, I just don't understand I guess. A noise ordinance is not, in a perfect
world I guess you'd go to your neighbor and say, "look, we're going to have a party and it's
going to be like this and this and what we'd like and would that be okay with you." How many
Town Board Minutes Page 19 January 12, 2010
people would say, "yeah, I guess I could live with that for a day, that's fine." Most people would
be agreeable to that. Maybe Mr. Eckert didn't feel it was necessary to go to people as far away
as who have been coming in here and complaining about this noise ordinance, which is kind of
understandable. He may have went to his neighbors very close to him and said something, I
don't know. It's nothing against Bob Eckert himself We're not questioning how good of a
person he is or isn't, it's just neighborly to go to somebody and say this is what we're going to
do and if you have any problem with that. If they don't have a problem, that's fine. If later on
they have a problem with something like that and you know they're having a problem with
something like that, as a neighborly person wouldn't you kind of try to accommodate them
people and say okay we'll do it maybe from this time to this time and that will be the end of it;
we'll do it one day. No, that never happened. You end up with two different opposing negatives
fighting against each other and it's really tough. So, again, we're asking you for your help as
reasonable people and I think there can be something that can be done to try to satisfy both
parties. If it's going to be a business or something like that, have them do something to help
alleviate the noise; don't have it outside; make them put it in a building that's more soundproof;
something; they've got to be doing something. Have any of you thought about any of that kind
of thing?
Councilman Gamel - With the mass gatherings that we put in there, I think we tried to cover as
much as we could of that. Sue, I see you shaking your head, well, we did. We tried to take care
of, we had to put a number; we didn't want to limit it to too few. Again, I understand there were
a number of people on that petition but that was not the whole Town. To put a noise ordinance
in for the whole Town because of weekend or two weekends per year....to my knowledge Gary
has spoken to Mr. Eckert and he's not really interested in doing another one of these. Is that
your basic idea? (Gary Coats confirmed that was his impression.) He said I don't want to do
this anymore; it's too much hassle. Can I guarantee that he won't do another one? No. Can I
guarantee that if we get this mass gathering in the Code that it will be 350 or less people; that
there has to be a permit, that it has to go through the Health Department. That's what we have
done to try to accommodate what you were asking for so that we are not saying that everybody
who has a party in their backyard or has a campfire can't do it because we have a noise
ordinance and if you have more than 50 people for a graduation party that you have Health
Department and you have to have port-a-johns brought in and you have to have You can't
stifle it too much. We tried to do what we could for you, which apparently is not enough.
Lynn Swearingen - Does 300 sound reasonable to you?
Councilman Gamel -It does.
Lynn Swearingen -Do you have a family and friends of 300 people or more?
Councilman Gamel - Absolutely. Absolutely do.
Lynn Swearingen - Olcay.
Councilman Gamel - I have a huge family. My family reunion probably brings close to 400
people in.
Lynn Swearingen - Well, you're probably one of the few I would think that most families
would not have that many
Town Board Minutes Page 20 January 12, 2010
Councilman Gamel - And we've covered that in the mass gatherings. We've tried to cover as
many of those things as possible. Where does it end? Does it end at 20 people? If you have
more then 20 people you have to have port-a-johns, etc.? You might say 100 is fine and they
might say, no, no less than 150 and Sue might say, no, I don't want more than 30. There has to
be a cut-off point. Do I think 800 people and playing that music is obnoxious? I absolutely do.
I'm not disagreeing with you at all but it's my personal opinion. I'm also trying to represent the
entire Town of Groton saying that, in my opinion, a noise ordinance, that's a tough cookie.
Lynn Swearingen - It is, I agree. What I'm getting at is when something is unreasonable for the
amount of noise and the duration of the noise, that's when something needs to be put in place.
Councilman Gamel- And we did. What did we put in there, one days, two days?
Clerk Scheffler - We are still working on the definition of temporary.
Lynn Swearingen - I'm not sure of the connection between the mass gathering and the noise,
how that correlates to, I mean, you could have 500 monks and they would be very quiet.
Councilman Gamel - But you wouldn't be allowed to because we have 350 people limited. See
what I'm saying? There's a lot of things that cross here. You're right, right now we could not
have a gathering of 500 monks sitting in a building without going through a permit, they'd have
to get health and safety in there. Totally understandable. That's why it's tough. It's not easy to
sit here and weigh something out on paper because there are situations like that.
Lynn Swearingen - Okay. It's almost like you're fighting a losing battle and you're rowing the
boat up stream. It's getting kind of tiring and old but I'm sure you guys can come up with
something. I just feel that if you take your time a little bit more; think about it a little bit more;
you might be able to come up with something that might satisfy both parties a little bit more. I
don't know. It would be great if we could just go to Mr. Eckert and say, "don't do it no more."
Supervisor Morey-Have you tried it?
Lynn Swearingen - I have not. Again, I feel the same, you know if you're asking me that
question, that works both ways. I didn't get anything; no apologies; no anything of that kind of
nature either. So, and again, you shouldn't have to go to a neighbor and say look, I guess I can
see your point where it would be a good idea, but in lieu of the situation the way it is now, it's
not a good idea because emotions are too high and things could happen that get out of control
that you really don't want to happen.
RESOLUTION#10-011 - CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICE TO
ATTEND CONFERENCE
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Sovocool
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the payment of expenses for the Code
Enforcement Officer, Gary Coats, to attend Annual Training at the NYSBOC Central Chapter
Conference April 20-23, 2010 in Syracuse,NY.
Town Board Minutes Page 21 January 12, 2010
RESOLUTION #10-012 - SUPERVISOR TO ATTEND CONFERENCE
MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the payment of expenses for the Supervisor,
Glenn Morey, to attend the NYS Association of Towns Conference, February 14 - 17, 2010, in
New York City.
Work Session dates for Code Review were set for Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 6:00 PM and
Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 6:00 PM.
Announcements:
➢ Planning Board- January 21 at 7:30 PM
➢ Zoning Board of Appeals - January 27 at 7:00 PM
➢ Thank you from Groton Legion
➢ Groton Business Association- January 20 at Masonic Lodge
There being no further business Councilman Sovocool moved to adjourn, seconded by
Councilman Scheffler, at 8:26 PM. Unanimous.
April L. Scheffler, RMC
Town Clerk