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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-10-09 TOWN OF GROTON -MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2012 AT 7:30 PM PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED MORATORIUM AT 8:00 PM THE TOWN HALL, 101 CONGER BOULEVARD Those present: Glenn E. Morey, Supervisor Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman Donald F. Scheffler, Councilman Richard B. Gomel, Councilman Sheldon C. Clark, Councilman Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town Also present: Dan Cerretani, Pat O'Neill, Carol Barton, Kathleen Seibel, Tom Tylutki, Kristen Hewitt, Anna Gallow, Kyle Gallow, Carole Daugherty, Christine Hughes, Renee King, Peter Clark, Doug Newman, Rachel Newman, Mary McGarry-Newman, Susan Pickette, Ron Space, Dyan Lombardi, John Beck, Nick Babel, Bev Oaksford-Moore, Kay Blake, Matt Yuckel, Marc Perosio, Ed Neuhauser, Mickael Goldstein, Thomas Mayon, Noelle Mayo, Jen Schwade, Linda Mizer, Dan Mizer, JoAnne Cipool Dennis, Jason Jenks, Ann Marie VanOrder, Richard VanOrder, Dennis Toolan, Cyrus Umriger, Nelly Farnum, David Kalb, Asha Sanaker, Laszlo Botos, Margaret Botos, Kay Baldwin, Adam Law, John Norman, Sue Bennett, Joseph Bennett, David Bestys, Curtis Bestys, Kathleen Grimes, Robert Grimes, Mike Morris, Susan Ceretani, Lynn Musgrove, Ethan Musgrove-Robinson, Stefanie Brooks Jacobs, Ann Cary, Dan Carey, Chris Griffin, Ted Schiele, Julia Ganson, Alan Giambattista, Kelly Smith, Mary Roberts, David Bacon, Kevin Riese, Karol Riese, Lisa Maloney Hahn, Steve Breeds, Sara Knobel, Gregory Weiland, Pat Gaines, John Gaines, Elizabeth Snyder, Lisa Trust, Gailanne Mackenzie, Steve Gallow, Betty Yaichuk, Rena Caldwell, Joan Packard, Katherine Wolf, Joel Robinowitz, Andy Crispell, Wyane Chauncey, Dorothy Pomponio, Monica Carey, Jacalyn Spoon, Gary Coats, April Scheffler, others who did not sign in. MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the minutes of the September 11, 2012 meeting as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey. MOVED by Councilman Gamel, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, to approve the minutes of the October 3, 2012 Special Meeting as presented. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey. Town Board Minutes Page 2 October 9,2012 Claim Numbers 269-297 of Abstract Number 010 of the General Fund in the amount of $22,970.06 were presented and audited by the Board. MOVED by Councilman Sovocool, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to approve the General Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey. Claim Numbers 133-159 of Abstract Number 010 of the Highway Fund in the amount of $96,502.84 were presented and audited by the Board. MOVED by Councilman Clark, seconded by Councilman Gamel, to approve the Highway Bills for payment. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey. Monthly Reports: Charles Rankin, Bookkeeper - Was not present but had submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. Gary Coats, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review and pointed out one typo on it. He explained that under our new Code what used to be called Special Permits, would now be called Land Use Permits because the Special Permit process is being reviewed by the Town Board. Life Safety Inspections are all done for the year. April Scheffler, Town Clerk/Tax Collector - Submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. She is looking at other vendors to provide credit card services for the Town Clerk's Office since we are currently paying about $600 per year and there are other vendors that provide this service with no fees to the municipality. She will get back to the Board on that next month and may need a resolution to change companies. John Norman & A. D. Dawson, Town Justices - Were not present but had submitted monthly reports for the Board's review. (Judge Norman had signed into the meeting but was called away before it began.) Richard C. Case Jr., Highway Superintendent- Was not present. Councilman Donald Scheffler, Representative to Joint Youth Program - Youth Cross Country has started with 13 participants and Mr. Scheffler thanked Marc Perosio for coaching again this year. Winterfest is set for February 2. They are working on a new set of rules for youth sports. Looking for ideas for adult programs for the winter months. Privilege of the Floor: Supervisor Morey offered Privilege of the Floor to any who wanted to speak on a subject other than what would be discussed during the public hearing at 8:00 PM. No one wished to speak at this time. Town Board Minutes Page 3 October 9,2012 RESOLUTION #12-058 - SET PUBLIC HEARING ON 2013 PRELIMINARY BUDGET MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby sets a Public Hearing on the 2013 Preliminary Budget for Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at 7:00 PM and be it further RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby sets a Public Hearing on the proposed 2013 Fire and Ambulance Budgets immediately following the first Public Hearing. Announcements: ➢ Planning Board Meeting - October 18, 2012 at 7:30 PM ➢ Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting - October 31, 2012 at 7:00 PM ➢ McLean Fire District Public Hearing - October 16, 2012 at 8:00 PM at the McLean Fire Department ➢ Election Day - November 6, 2012 Supervisor Morey asked if anyone knew about a meeting concerning reducing the hours for the McLean Post Office. He thought it was on October 18, but was not sure. PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED LOCAL LAW #1 FOR THE YEAR 2012 MORATORIUM ON HYDRAULIC FRACTURING AND/OR HYDROFRACKING IN THE TOWN OF GROTON MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, to open the public hearing at 8:00 PM. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey The public notice was read by the Town Clerk as duly published in the Town's legal paper, the Groton Independent with additional postings in the Freeville Shopper. Written responses had been received from Donna McMinn and Tompkins County Planning. Tompkins County Planning had determined that the local law would have no negative inter-community or county-wide impacts. Supervisor Morey requested that Ms. McMinn's letter be included in the minutes and is as follows: "Please join the other towns in our beautiful county by banning gas drilling in order to preserve the extremely valuable farm land, organic crops, dairy industry, protecting property values, wildlife, water and the air we breathe. I firmly believe: if you all decide to keep gas drilling out of our special town you will look back and be proud to say: "We certainly made the right decision and did not let the gas industry manipulate us down a destructive road." Let's help farmers and good clean businesses to grow --- not the big gas companies who could care less about the destruction they cause and leave behind. We have lived in the town of Groton since 1974. It is too special to see it go downhill instead of becoming more beautiful and valuable each year. Thank you." Town Board Minutes Page 4 October 9,2012 Supervisor Morey stated rules for the proceeding: State name and address; respect others' opinions; each person can speak only once; no one can defer their time to speak to another person; a limit of three (3) minutes to speak; the Board is here to listen; keep your comments to the content of the moratorium; this is not a discourse as to whether you are for or against fracking, it is just let us know what you think are the good points and bad points of the moratorium. Mike Morris - I want to be clear that what we're talking about tonight is not whether the Board is pro-fracking or anti-fracking, but the question is are we prepared. Are there local ordinances that we can enact for roads, noise, water protection, etc. and are we as prepared as we can be. I want to be very clear that the Board can be entirely pro- fracking and still be pro-moratorium. There is no hypocrisy and no conflict, it is just literally a question of are we prepared. You can be the most pro-fracking person in the room and still support a moratorium. Good luck and hope everybody has a good public hearing. John Beck - Spoke on subjects that did not pertain to the moratorium. He indicated that he was in favor of tracking. Peter Clark - Spoke in favor of the moratorium, saying that he thinks there is a tremendous amount that all of us don't know, the Board needs more time to research this, and there are health implications that aren't known. He wants to keep using his wells and spring for the next 20 or 30 years. Joan Packard - Spoke at length about the petition that was presented to the Town Board by GRAC, the amount of the population who were against hydrofracking, and the unscrupulous practices of the gas companies. On the subject of the public hearing, she said that GRAC was in favor of the moratorium. Patrick O'Neal - Works for a company that works hand-in-hand with Chesapeake and thinks that there is responsible drilling and that people want to make money from their land rather than resort to subsidized living. He said he is in favor of fracking. Jane Crispell - Said that she was in support of a moratorium and even more in support of a ban. She then spoke about what she said were the five known ways that our drinking water or pond water can become contaminated by a gas well, which was not the subject of the public hearing. Kathy Wolf - Said she is in favor of a moratorium and a ban. She sincerely hopes that the Board will vote in favor of the moratorium to give everybody more time to think, learn and find out what all the implications may be. She said that there is a world-wide water crisis and that hydrofacking uses an enormous amount of water and the first thing it does is poison it. Osha Sanaker - I have a question actually about the text of the moratorium believe it or not. I understand that the governing bodies are separate between the Town of Groton and the Groton School, but there was a rumor circulating that the Groton School District was in financial trouble and was going to be closing down in a number of years. At a recent Groton Parent - Teacher Organization meeting she asked two school board members about the rumor and they said that it was true that the school districts in the Town Board Minutes Page 5 October 9,2012 area had struggled and that over the summer there was a regional meeting to talk about the possibility of consolidation. But our school board had worked so hard over the last couple of years to comb through their budget and make the school district financially solvent. In fact, our school district is in really good position financially and they have no debt, unlike many of the school districts in the region that have a lot of debt. If we had considered consolidation, there would have been money from the State that would make it really attractive in the short term but in the long term we would have ended up taking on the debt from other communities. If property values plummet because of hydrofracking, what happens to our school district? It says in this document that you're going to be consulting the Code Enforcement Officer, the Town Planning Board, and the Town Zoning Board of Appeals, but what about if the zoning decisions that the Town of Groton makes allows for property tax values to plummet and all of the sudden that the money that our school system really needs to be the excellent school system is, what if they can't survive anymore because we don't have property values that can support a school district? So, I would really urge the Town of Groton to sit down with the school board and discuss with them what happens if property values lower below a certain threshold. The ripple affects of the decisions that you make affect the school district and the children in the area for a very long time to come. Ron Space - Encouraged the Town Board to vote against the moratorium. He said that this is bigger than the Town of Groton and that is why the State sent a ruling down that they were going to make the decision. While we are all concerned about the influence of special interests, Mr. Space has faith in the State government and things that we need to let them continue studying it. He feels that they probably won't come out with a decision in even six months. He feels that all levels of government as well as us, need the money. He again encouraged the Board to vote against the moratorium. John Gaines - Said that short term financial gain looks good but decisions that the Board makes now will go forward into the future and may affect great-grandchildren in 100 years. He said that the moratorium talked about the health, safety and general welfare of the public and thinks those are important obligations and feels that failing to enact this moratorium now could affect the health and safety of our grandchildren. He would prefer a total ban but realizes that is not realistic but implored the Board to pass this moratorium. Dyan Lombardi - Is for the moratorium although she prefers a ban. She feels that she is on information overwhelm and Board should give itself some time to really study the information and feel that they are in control of what the State is doing to us rather than just letting the State decide. Dan Carey - Urged the Board not to pass a moratorium at this time. He thinks it is job that the State should be doing and not left up to the towns. He presented the Board with petition opposing the moratorium signed by landowners representing just under 9000 acres in the Town. He said that whether you are for or against fracking, it comes down to landowner rights. These people pay a lot of taxes and feel that the Town should not should not be able to legislate how they use their property. Sue Bennett - Is in favor of the moratorium and urged the Board to pass it. She would like to protect our neighborhoods, that everyone should be able to do what they want with their property, but not when it affects others. She objects to the fact that Rick Gamel and Sheldon Clark voted "no" when she has heard that they have a vested Town Board Minutes Page 6 October 9,2012 interest in the outcome. She has read in the paper that on other boards, members have abstained when they have a conflict of interest. She asked the Board to pass the moratorium although she wished it was for a year and hopes that the Board will extend it if necessary. Susan Cerretani - Talked about refinancing their mortgage and read a section of her agreement that said that the lender could cancel or refuse a mortgage on land leased for gas drilling. She asked that the Board pass the moratorium. Marc Perosio - Requested that the Board not vote on a moratorium and provided the Board with a copy of a court decision that overturned a moratorium that had been passed by the City of Binghamton. He also provided a copy of Northeast Driller telling about the reduction in carbon dioxide in the air since power plants have been turning away from coal and using natural gas. He said that there is a planned Federal pipeline that will come through New York State whether there is drilling or not. Joel Rabinowitz - Thanked the Board for considering a moratorium and Attorney Casullo for drafting the language. He is in favor of the moratorium because it will give the Town time to prepare for the impacts that fracking will bring if it is permitted at the State level. All residents, whether for or against it, will be better protected if the town officials have the time to research the likely impacts and put in place the appropriate regulations as the envision doing in the moratorium language. He said that those opposed to a moratorium ought to be in favor of it because of the impact to the roads and this would give the Town time to put regulations in place concerning traffic and roads. A moratorium would also give the Town time to communicate with lease holders regarding mortgage and insurance issues. The moratorium could give people time to get addition insurance protection in place. If fracking does come to Groton, everyone will have to deal with the impacts and the moratorium provides time to mitigate those impacts. Mike Goldstein - Thanked the Board for considering the moratorium. He explained some of the reasons that the Binghamton moratorium was struck down. Dan Cerretani - Spoke in support of the moratorium and is for giving our local elected officials the power to do what they were elected to do and protect our infrastructure, land use patterns, natural and cultural resources and community character. If we do not put a moratorium in place we will live by whatever rules are dreamed up at the State level. Some may be fine and some may be ridiculous or a disaster. He urged the Board to give themselves the breathing room to do the hard work and a thorough job on the issue for the good of all in the community. Jen Schwade - Is in favor of a moratorium. She knows that there have been gas wells in the area for a long time but hydrofracking is new technology and the moratorium would give the Board time to consider the effects on the community. Mary Roberts - Supports the moratorium. She had signed a lease which expired in April and she had received a release on it. She said that yes, she has landowner rights, but she also has landowner responsibilities to her community and fears the risks that fracking may bring. The gas will still be there when it is a safe time to take it and use it. Town Board Minutes Page 7 October 9,2012 Elizabeth Snyder - Thanked the Board for having this hearing. She suggested that the Board use this time to pass regulations to protect roads and water and address noise issues. Tompkins County Council of Governments has researched these issues and has useful information and sample laws available. She told the Board about some articles about scientists who have done research on fracking waste water and treatment. She also had copies of two road use agreements that she gave to the Board. Renee King - Explained at length the process of hydrofracking and its dangers. She did not address the moratorium. Chris Hughes - Is in favor of a moratorium and would be in favor of a ban. She would prefer that nothing happens, but if it does we need to do it right and this gives us the time to do that. Steve Breeds - As a former trucker he has been to Pennsylvania and says that it is not pretty and the roads are a mess. He described hydrofracking as a "Deal with the Devil" and is in favor of a ban. Dennis Toolan - Said that coming back to the point, this is a moratorium and it is something to remind us to do our homework. We have few resources here, family, community, educational systems, and fresh water. He said that we are here for the moratorium, not all the numbers which will come up later, and suggested that the Board do their homework. Katherine Grimes - Thanked the Board and said that they had to take the time to do it right. Cyrus Umriger - Is in favor of a ban and a moratorium. He lives in Caroline and says that the affects of hydrofracking will not be confined to Groton but will affect neighboring towns. He put forth arguments to dispute some of the things that people in favor of hydrofracking had said. Tom Tylutki - Urged the Board not to vote for a moratorium as he believes it is repetitive legislation in that under the State regulations we are currently under a moratorium and until the DEC and the Governor's Office makes their final recommendations, we could do a 6-month moratorium and maybe they won't make a decision for 8 months. He asked what the objective of the moratorium is. He suggested that a better objective would be to form a group to communicate with DEC and the Governor's Office to see what their findings are. All the discussion about a ban or a moratorium, at this point do we even understand how much of Groton would even be legible for fracking? Based on some initial reports of the DEC study, it might not be any of it. This may all be for not, until we actually understand what the DEC is saying. He urged the Board to form this group instead of passing a moratorium at this time. Lynn Musgrove - Supports the moratorium and ultimately a ban. Greg Weiland - Is in favor of a moratorium but would rather have ban. Brought a paper published out of Duke University concerning methane in gas wells. Town Board Minutes Page 8 October 9,2012 Joanne Cipolla Dennis - Thanked the Board for considering a moratorium and said it would be the most important decision in the Town's history to date. She talked about what fracking would do to property values, taxes, insurances, mortgages, and the dangers of fracking fluids and frocking silica. Betty Yaichuk - Is in favor of a moratorium. She would rather have it all for not than to not have it at all. David Kalb - Thanked the Board. He said that the Governor has said that Home Rule is going to be important. Mary McGarry-Newman - Talked about how wonderful Groton is and the fairytales that Chesapeake is telling us. She did not address the moratorium but did thank the Board. Richard VanOrder - Talked about Bear Swamp and the amount of water in the area and believes that it will all be contaminated if fracking is allowed. He thinks the moratorium is a good idea to take time to consider the options. It would also say to big government, the State, who he doubts care about our area as much as the Town Board does. The moratorium would give the Board time to look at all the options. Gailanne McKenzie - Read a long text message from Anne Weigard that addressed the issue of hydrofracking. She supported the moratorium. She thinks that any Board Member who has or might have a lease should recuse themselves from any discussions or votes on the subject. Andy Crispell - Is for a moratorium and certainly for a ban. There being no more people who wished to speak, Supervisor Morey moved to close the Public Hearing, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, at 9:57 PM. Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey Attorney Casullo - Explained that in the City of Binghamton case, the judge found their local law to be a moratorium and invalidated it. The concern that Attorney Casullo has is that the City did not refer the local law to County Planning because they felt that they were enacting the local law under their right of police power. Attorney Casullo had told the Groton Board that they needed to refer their local law to County Planning, which they did and they had no objections. He said that after review of the section of General Municipal Law that requires referral to County Planning, that he has deduced that the referral should be made after the public hearing and after people have had the chance to speak about it, just in case the Board decided to make changes after the public hearing. Procedurally, Attorney Casullo believes that another letter and copy of the law should be sent to County Planning saying that a public hearing had been held and that the law is now in its final form. The Board indicated that it did not want to make any changes. Town Board Minutes Page 9 October 9,2012 RESOLUTION #12-059 - REFER LOCAL LAW #1 FOR THE YEAR 2012 TO COUNTY PLANNING MOVED by Supervisor Morey, seconded by Councilman Gamel Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby moves that pursuant to Section 239 (m) of New York State General Municipal Law, the Town of Groton Local Law #1 for the Year 2012, entitled a Moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing and/or Hydrofracking in the Town of Groton shall be referred a second time, in its final form to Tompkins County Planning for their review. There being no further business, Councilman Sovocool moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Scheffler, at 10:03 PM. Unanimous. April L. Scheffler, RMC Town Clerk