HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB Minutes 1991-07-08 TOWN OF ITHACA
TOWN BOARD MEETING
July 8 , 1991
At a Regular meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca ,
Tompkins County , New York , held at the Town Hall , 126 East Seneca
Street , :Ithaca , New York , there were :
PRESENT . Shirley Raffensperger , Supervisor
John Whitcomb , Councilman
Patricia Leary , Councilwoman
David Klein , Councilman
Frank Liguori , Councilman
Karl Niklas , Councilman
ABSENT . Catherine Valentino , Councilwoman
ALSO PRESENT : John Barney , Town Attorney
Dan Walker , Town Engineer
Scott McConnell , Highway Superintendent
Andrew Frost , Building Inspector/ Zoning Officer
Floyd Forman , Town Planner
Dan Collins , NYSEG
Melanie Chapel , NYSEG
David Auble , Town resident
Ted Wixom , Bolton Point
Jim Hilker , Burns Road
Jim Mayer , 1251 Trumansburg Road
Rich Leonardo , 1134 Danby Road
Paul Rider , Lansing
Orlando Iacovelli , 347 Coddington Road
Representatives of the Media :
Greg Williams , WHCU
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The Supervisor led the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance .
NYSEG PRESENTATION REGARDING PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION AT MILLIKEN
STATION
Dan Collins from NYSEG thanked the Supervisor for allowing him time
to present the proposal for the installation of a flue gas
desulfurization system . He then introduced Melanie Chapel from the
Binghamton office of NYSEG who is an environmental licensing
specialist . Mr . Collins continued , noting that this was a project
that will be impactful to Tompkins County . You will see it and
during the construction you might even hear it , so the Board needs
to know something about what is going on . We are making the rounds
of all of the Towns to make sure everyone has the opportunity to
make con? nts and to let people know that he was available to
answer questions .
Mr . Collins went on to say that the Clean Air Act Amendments of
1990 , probably the most far reaching piece of environmental
legislation every enacted in this county and we in the utility
industry are feeling the leading edge of it . In order to meet the
standards imposed by the Clean Air Act of removing sulfur dioxide
Town Board Minutes 2 July 8 , 1991
and nitrogen oxide from the atmosphere , we began as early as last
August to look at our options . At that time we identified two
hundred ways to comply , that list is now down to twenty , at this
point , and we are still working on it . But , in the meantime while
we were looking at all this something called round four of the
Department of Energies Clean Coal Technology funding came up with a
window of opportunity for us to apply for and hopefully to get a
Department of Energy grant in the amount of sixty-five million
dollars to help defray the cost of the one hundred and fifty-nine
million dollars for this project . One of the things that keep
coning up in our study of the two hundred options is flue gas
desulfurization . This is a process through which sulfur is
removed . In the case of Milliken Station we plan to use a wet
scrubbing system which uses a combination of limestone and water .
The limestone is ground into a powder , mixed with water to form a
slurry and that is sprayed into the flue gases as they leave the
power plant . The molecules of limestone hook up with the molecules
of sulfur and they drop to the bottom and after a oxygenation
process , a dewatering process , the product that cones out the end
of the tube does not have to be put into a landfill , it ' s called
gypsum . Gypsum is a marketable product . The other residue from
the plant. will be calcium chloride which is also a marketable
project . Our objective in this demonstration project that we are
proposing to the DOE is to put nothing into the landfill which will
extend the life of the landfill many , many years into the future .
Mr . Collins went on to say that the limestone would probably cone
in by truck . There will be about twenty-five truck loads a day of
limestone coming in and there will be about twenty-five truck loads
a day of gypsum going out . The trucks that come in with the
limestone will be taking out gypsum . He noted that NYSEG has
letters of interest from National Gypsum and Cargill Salt for the
respective output of the plant . One of the visual impacts that you
will see will be the smoke stack , it will no longer be sending out
smoke it will be water vapor . The current two stacks there are 211
feet tall , they will be removed and will be replaced by one vapor
stack 375 feet tall , with the desulfurization unit built into the
base of the stack . The appearance of the plant as seen from the
West side of the land is certainly going to change , a larger stack
and the plume coning out of the stack will be white . The objective
is to reduce the sulfur dioxide by approximately 95 % and a
concurrent reduction of nitrogen oxides . Currently there are
thirty thousand tons of sulfur dioxide going up the sucks when we
get through there should be less than three . During the course of
the project there will be two hundred construction jobs on site and
at the end of the construction project there will be twenty-five
jobs at NYSEG to run the plant , that is over and above the number
of people employed there now . If all goes well , we will get the
grant and, that will help keep the cost down . The cost of the
project could amount to 3 % . 4 % , it depends on what we get from DOE ,
in additional cost of electricity . The DOE will make a selection
by September of this year , there will be a years worth of
negotiations with the DOE on the fine points of the engineering of
the project as well as on the money . Construction will start in
1993 and will be completed in the Spring of 1995 .
Councilman Niklas stated that he would like to have the Highway
Superintendent comment on what it means having twenty-five trucks
coming in and out extra per day carrying that volume of material .
And , he would like Mr . Collins to comment , in terms of your letters
of interest , as to what probable route those trucks would be
taking .
Ms . Chapel remarked that it would probably be helpful if the
Highway Superintendent knew what the potential routes were that
they were looking at . We are looking at getting the limestone from
Michigan so the routes that we are looking at are North of the
Town Board. Minutes 3 July 8 , 1991
plant through Cayuga County . We are looking into limestone sources
locally but so far they don ' t meet the specifications for the
quality of limestone that we need in a system like this .
Mr . Collins remarked , if you don ' t have the right purity in the
limestone you won ' t get gypsum . Everything is a very delicate
balance . These trucks will be coming down the Thruway through
Cayuga County .
Ms . Chapel went on to say that one of the things that she was
involved with was going through the proper environmental review
processes . We have an environmental consultant who will be doing a
traffic study and will begin their investigation this summer and
will be looking at the various potential routes and the possible
impacts of: the truck traffic . Also , they will be looking at trains
and barges but our initial feelings are that they are more costly
options but we have only looked at it in a very broad sense .
Councilman Niklas asked if copies of these reports could be given
to the Town Planning staff . Councilman Niklas then asked if the
Michigan source of limestone did not work out , what were the
alternative local sources even though they do not meet the
specifications ?
Ms . Chapel replied , we would have to find something that met the
specifications . There are no local sources , that we are aware of ,
at this point . There are other sources in Pennsylvania and other
parts of the Northeast .
Councilman Niklas replied , so it is not likely that the traffic
would be passing through the Town of Ithaca ?
Ms . Chapel replied no , it doesn ' t look likely . The gypsum plant
that is interested is located in Western New York and that would be
taking a Northern route also .
Highway Superintendent McConnell asked what size trucks was NYSEG
planning on using?
Ms . Chapel_ replied , twenty ton trucks .
Supervisor. Raffensperger remarked that she had heard the warning
about noise , she asked what did that mean?
Mr . Collins replied , construction noise . There will be no
difference in the operating noise .
Town Attozney Barney asked about blasting .
Mr . Collins replied , we have to take the chimneys down and will be
done by blasting .
Councilman Niklas remarked that he observed that the stack that
will be releasing this 95 % reduced sulfur concentration is
sufficiently higher than your current stacks . Even though you are
reducing :your emissions of sulfur by 95 % could you give us any
feelings , on a daily basis , of what volume of sulfur material that
5 % really really constitutes ?
Mr . Collins replied that it would be less than three thousand tons
a year .
Councilman Niklas went on to say that even though the concentration
of sulfur is decreased , the point at which it is being released is
significantly raised and there is a very simple law of physics that
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Town Board Minutes 4 July 8 , 1991
for any settling of velocity , if you have a greater height of
release , you have a greater radius of dispursal .
Mr . Collins replied that if they were building that power plant
today the chimneys would not be 250 ' they would be 375 ' .
Councilman Niklas asked what was the increase in the width of the
chimney?
Ms . Chapel replied that the chimney was going to be very wide .
(The Board was then shown a crude computer drawing) .
Mr . Collins added , you have to realize that we have not yet even
began the studies on this . The consultant has just been hired and
the indepth studies have not begun yet . We don ' t have a lot of
details .
Councilman Niklas asked if there was a copy of the grant
application available to the public ?
Mr . Collins responded that the Public Library did not have roan for
it so it :has been filed in the Myron Taylor Law Library and at
NYSEG .
Councilman Niklas asked if the resale value of the gypsum and
calcium carbonate was significant?
Mr . Collins replied , no . Ms . Chapel added , the big plus is that we
won ' t be paying the landfill costs . Mr . Collins continued , if we
are successful with this we will be giving it away .
REPORT OF TOWN OFFICIALS
Supervisor ' s Report
Supervisor Raffensperger stated that today , the Town received , fran
the Association of Towns another version of the amount of State Aid
that the Town of Ithaca may receive . She noted that it looks like
some was given and some was taken but it is really impossible at
this point. to be sure . Later on in the agenda we will consider
possible budget modifications but we are not yet prepared to ask
for budget amendments because we don ' t know what is going to happen
as the year goes on .
The Supervisor went on to say that the Town had received
information on a retirement incentive program for municipal
employees . If we are to participate , a local law is required and
must be passed on or before August 16th , The Town staff is
attempting to access the potential cost involved in the program.
The costs seemed so substantial along side other State early
retirement programs that we will recheck our understanding of it .
She asked the Town Board to set the date for a public hearing for
August 121h so that if the Town wishes to participate in the
program , after we get more information , we will be able to do that .
Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the Town had also received word
of a Records Management Improvement Grant from the State Education
Department in the amount of $ 5 , 000 . The program will require a
waiver from State budgetary restrictions and the grant is
contingent upon the State Education Department receiving that
waiver . Nevertheless , she stated that she would ask the Board to
authorize her to sign the grant acceptance form . This award gets
us in on the first floor of a tiered grant structure for records
management .
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Town Board Minutes 5 July 8 , 1991
The Supervisor went on to say that she had also received a phone
call yesterday from Andy Yale from the City of Ithaca asking for a
Town representative on a new City Committee or Commission on public
transportation , the first meeting will be held on July 11th at 3 : 30
P . M . , at City Hall ,
Councilwoman Leary volunteered to be the Towns representative to
the City Committee or Commission .
RESOLUTION NO . 158
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Liguori ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby appoint
Councilwoman Patricia Leary as the Town representative on the City
of Ithaca ' s Traffic Reduction and Public Transit Committee .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
SET DATE FOR PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER THE EARLY RETIR MaU
INCENTIVE PROGRAM
RESOLUTION NO . 159
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Whitcomb ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca will meet and
conduct a public hearing at 7 : 00 P . M . , on August 12 , 1991 to
consider a local law electing a retirement incentive program as
authorized by Chapter 178 , Laws of 1991 for the eligible employees
of the Town of Ithaca .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none) .
GRANT ACCEPTANCE FORM FOR RECORDS MANAGEN'NT GRANT
RESOLUTION N0 . 160
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Liguori ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby
authorize the Supervisor to sign the grant acceptance form for the
Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund Grant of
$5 , 000 awarded to the Town of Ithaca , June 14 , 1991 , and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca
understands that the State Education Department has requested a
waiver frcan current New York State expenditure restrictions and the
payment of funds is contingent upon that waiver being granted .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
Town Engineler ' s Report
Town Engineer Dan Walker report that most of their efforts had been
spent on the water and sewer projects . On West hill the sewer
construction is about 90 % complete , with some laterals and site
restoration remaining to be completed . The water main tie into the
existing main was completed on Monday night , July 1 with a
temporary service interruption to the Professional Building .
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Town Board Minutes 6 July 8 , 1991
Watermain installation is continuing along Route 96 this week . on
South hill the site grading and fence installation has been
completed along the watermain and the new tank area . The
fiberglass instrument shelter has been installed and the controls
will be _installed this month . The Engineer went on to say that
they were in the process of awarding the bid for construction of
the first phase of the Inlet Valley water and sewer project and the
construction start is anticipated by the end of July . The notice
to proceed will be issued after all required paperwork has been
received from the Contractor and processed by the Engineering and
Legal staff . Cornell University has let the construction contract
for the Route 366 watermain extension to Paolangeli Construction
and a late July construction start is anticipated . The Town
Engineering department will be checking construction for compliance
with Town specifications , in preparation for Town acceptance of the
watermain after completion .
The Town Engineer continued noting that the sewer capacity
monitoring study initiated jointly by the Town and City Engineering
departments to evaluate the possible capacity problems is
continuing . Data from the University Avenue and Thurston Avenue
monitoring stations has been processed and the Town Engineering
staff is working with the City Engineering and Sewer Departments to
develop an engineering report and recommendations . Site work on
the Ithaca College road relocation and science building is
continuing on the site and the Engineering department is providing
periodic site review to monitor sediment and erosion control and
sanitary sewer construction . He noted that he had just discovered
today that: they may be doing some blasting but they will have
proper blasting permits . The Engineering department has not worked
very much on the Comprehensive Plan this month except to provide
information on utilities . The various intermunicipal agreements
are being evaluated and updates of the agreements are in the
development stage . The Mitchell street sidewalk has been surveyed
and the design is being completed by the Engineering and Parks
departments . Construction of the sidewalk is planned for late July
and August , and will be done by the Parks and Highway Department
with technical assistance from the Engineering department . The
sewer inspection program has begun with the Danby Road sewer survey
and inspection . The Assistant Town Engineer has been working with
two of the summer engineering interns on this work . The
engineering construction office has been delivered and set up at
the Highway department . The electricity has been connected and the
telephone cable has been installed . The phones will be connected
to the Highway Department phone system by the end of the week .
This will .provide a base of operations for construction management
and the summer student interns . The Engineer went on to note that
today he received notice fron the County that the Town had been
awarded a grant of about $3 , 000 for work on the Coy Glen landslide
areas .
Highway Superintendent ' s Report
Highway Superintendent Scott McConnell reported that in June the
Highway DE:partment ' s work consisted mostly of general repairs
throughout the Town . A lot of pot holes were filled and some roads
that were in bad shape were repaired with hot mix asphalt , namely
Chase Lane and Calkins Road . Some roads were ditched and had
shoulders c:ut . We also had the catch basin cleaner for two weeks
so we manacled to clean all the storm sewer catch basins and swept a
few roads .
The Highway Superintendent noted that permanent improvement work
done on Sar.Ldbank and Townline Roads consisted of shimming , patching
and leveling . Northview , Pineview and Hickory Place were patched ,
Town Board Minutes 7 July 8 , 1991
leveled and shimmed . All these roads were being prepared for
surface treatment in August . Elm Street Extension ditches were
cleaned and repaired after the rain . The Forest Home bridge
walkway decking was repaired except for the West end , which
required some materials to be ordered . This work will be finished
in July . Most of the shoulders on West Hill and South Hill were
mowed . Mowing will continue in July . The Highway Department also
assisted the Engineering Department constructing the pad , setting
the trailer and installing the electric line for the temporary
site . He noted that July ' s work will concentrate on ditching and
cutting shoulders , and scene water and sewer repairs .
Highway Superintendent McConnell stated that Monday of last week
they removed the bulk fuel storage tanks that were on site . We are
permitted for three storage fuel tanks which we were not using . We
removed one of then three years ago , earlier this year we removed
the second one and now have removed the third one . We have
received DEC ' s approval and will be off of the permit in October
when they are up for renewal again at a cost of approximately
$ 2 , 500 .
The Highway Superintendent then presented the Parks and Open Space
Manager ' s Report noting that the Grandview Park play structure was
completed on June 25th . A total of 233 man hours were spent , which
included :relandscaping and repairing the lawn disturbed during
construction . The entire structure will be sprayed with sealer at
the end of this summer . Shade trees will be planted around the
periphery of the structure this fall . Play structure safety
upgrades were resumed where Don left off last fall at Salem ,
Tareyton and Northview Parks . A total of 48 man hours were spent
in the last week of June . Safety and maintenance inspections were
completed on these three structures . Spraying with sealer will be
ccn pleted sometime this summer . Dry weather slowed down growth of
our lawns , thereby requiring a total of 128 man hours , which is
less time than normally required for June . Various routine
maintenance tasks occupied 163 man hours . Jobs included lawn
repairs for Engineering and Highway Departments , building steps for
Engineering ' s trailer , spraying Roundup herbicide on park
driveways , parking lots and gravel walkways , staking and watering
trees planted at Troy Park this May , replacement of several broken
swing seats and chipping of brush at Town ' s drop-off site . July
Parks projects include paving of Winthrop sidewalk , Lisa Lane ,
Sandra Place and Texas Lane walkways with the assistance of the
Highway Department : play structure upgrades at Hungerford Heights
and Tudor parks ; continued staining all park furniture ; begin
trimming of shrubs and trails at all facilities ; continue regular
grounds maintenance and continue watering at Troy and Grandview
parks .
Councilman Klein remarked that the Highway Superintendent had
mentioned that they had to repair a lot of pot holes on certain
roads that were in bad shape and one you mentioned was Chase Lane .
He asked if this wasn ' t a rather new road to be in such bad shape ?
The Highway Superintendent replied , yes . This is scmething the
Public Works Committee has been discussing and scanething that our
new Highway Road Specifications has been trying to address for the
last couple of years . That road was built under the old
specifications which the top coat is basically a double oil and
stone coat which is not satisfactory for a long life , especially
with construction traffic using it . Unfortunately that lower end
was accepted by the Town , there was no guarantee for that portion
of it . The other part does have a guarantee of workmanship for one
year . The other places where we have problems is Whitetail and
Saranac .
Town Board Minutes 8 July 8 , 1991
Councilman Klein continued , on the sidewalks that you are going to
be paving , are these currently gravel walks ?
Highway Superintendent McConnell replied yes , currently gravel
walks or oil and stone walks . There is a part of Winthrop by the
school which is asphalt and we won ' t be doing that .
Councilman Klein asked if this would be five foot of blacktop?
The Highway Superintendent replied that they were hoping to put
down six foot of blacktop , most of the gravel walkways are eight
feet .
Councilman Klein asked if the people who live adjacent to the
walkways have been notified? Some of these go through backyards .
Highway Superintendent McConnell that Rich and Don have talked with
the people by the Lisa Lane walkway where there are really nice
blue spruce trees that are right up against the trail , and the
people have been very cooperative but picky about how they want
things done . We are trying to notify as we go .
Building Inspector/ Zoning Officer ' s Report
Building Inspector/ Zoning Officer Andrew Frost reported that they
. had issued 12 building permits during the month . 15 Certificates
of Occupancy were issued , one of those was actually for the Cornell
Maplewood Apartments which has been carried over with temporary
certificates for a couple of years . The one remaining issue we
have with the Maplewood Apartments is continued existence of a
quonset but that was originally supposed to be removed from the
property . They have been to the Zoning Board and will be back at
the end of the month to hopefully resolve the issue . We
investigate
d twelve complaints , two being for filling in soils
without a permit contrary to what our new regulations are regarding
fill or extraction . Performed 110 field visits and issued one sign
permit .
Councilman Whitcomb questioned the complaint about filling without
permit , he asked how Mr . Frost had resolved this ?
The Building Inspector/ Zoning Officer replied that this was at the
Zebart loci3.tion , fill material was coning from Ithaca College and
he felt the Town Engineer could fill in the blanks on this as it
also had something to do with an easement , he thought .
Town Engineer Walker replied that there was no easement , the
contractor excavating for Ithaca College requested to deposit fill
and had a site that had requested fill . He stated that he went out
and reviewE.d the site it was after the fact the placement of the
fill , it was about 400 yards of material . There was about a twenty
foot buffet- strip around the area and was not causing a problem .
Mr . Frost remarked that the fill removal was actually tied into the
site plan approval for Ithaca College .
Councilman Niklas remarked , that ' s the giving end but the receiving
end is the real concern and if abating in this case means okay , you
did it that ' s fine , then he felt the Town had a problem .
Councilman Klein remarked that he guessed he agreed with Councilman
Niklas that. if fill was taken from Ithaca College Science Building
and taken over to that Danby/King Road site , he thought that the
ordinance required a permit for that site .
Town Board Minutes 9 July 8 , 1991
Mr . Frost. replied no , the way the ordinance reads is that if the
filling is being done in conjunction with an approved site plan , he
thought that if it was tied into a specific site plan approval then
they were exempt from the permit
Town Attorney Barney replied that the intent was that the site plan
review wa.s basically where fill was being removed , for instance you
are building a road and you have to remove fill from the upper part
of the road to the lower part of the road to even it out , that was
considered as being done as part of the site plan review by the
Planning Board and wouldn ' t require a permit . But if it was fill
being trucked all together away without and particular
review . . . ,, . . .
Building Inspector/ Zoning Officer Frost remarked , the way the law
reads is that "the following are exempt from the requirements as
set forth above " and set forth above is when you need the permits .
Both Councilman Whitcomb and Councilman Niklas felt that to deposit
the material to another site would require a permit unless it was
specific in the site plan review .
Councilman. Niklas stated that he would like to make the
recommendation , since this was not the place to resolve the issue ,
in specific reference to the removal of material fran the Ithaca
College construction site he would like staff to get together with
the Town Attorney , in particular , to look into whether or not this
is permitted . If what actually happened is technically permitted
in the Zoning Ordinance , as currently drafted , because if it is , as
far as he was concerned it was in direct violation of the intention
which means we have to modify that ordinance .invmediately because it
is not satisfactory . This is not a matter for discussion , this is
a request :because we are not going to resolve it now.
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that in the Board ' s discussion it
is evident that nobody ever thought that the fact that you had a
site plan and could remove material or move it around on the site
gave you an unlimited right to take material off the site and dump
it any place you wanted too
Councilman Niklas remarked that what the Supervisor just said is
the focus here , is precisely the one , the none specification of the
dumping site and it was his understanding that that law was to
prevent that from happening . That was why he was asking the Board
to table this discussion , have the staff evaluate and he would like
COC to be informed as to the upshot of the discussion because he
would place it on the agenda it that is actually permitted .
Supervisor Raffensperger agreed that the Board needed an
interpretation .
Town Planner ' s Report
Town Planner Floyd Forman reported that the Planning staff in
cooperation with the Ca prehensive Planning Committee and Stuart I .
on t
Brown Associates continued work he canprehensive plan . Work
during this time period focused on formulating a draft preliminary
land use map for the year 2010 with assistance of the Land Use
Subcommdtte.e . This land use map is a working document . It is
being used by staff and CPC members for discussion purposes only .
Staff also spent time working with Ron Brand of Stuart I . Brown
Associates and the Transportation Subccnlnittee in evaluation of the
Town ' s existing road network . The Comprehensive Planning Committee
held two mE.etings during this period on June 11th and July 2 . The
Land Use Subcammittee met on June 17 and 25th . The Transportation
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Town Board Minutes 10 July 8 , 1991
Subcommittee met on June 14 and 19th and the Coordinating Committee
met on Juae 11th .
The Town Planner noted that the Planning Board had met on June 18th
and July 2nd . The three subdivisions and two site plans presented
were approved by the Planning Board . The Planning Board also
recommended approval to the Zoning Board of Appeals for both
projects presented by Cornell University for modifications to
previousl;*i granted special approvals . At its June 18th meeting the
Planning :Board gave final approval to the Scope for the Cornell
GEIS .
The Town Planner went on to say that the Planning staff continued
to work with the Conservation Advisory Council on a number of
I
ssues , including the Open Space Inventory and natural resources
related elements of the Comprehensive Plan . Staff attended two
meetings of the CAC since the previous Town Board meeting , the 20th
and 27th of June . Staff also attended a meeting of the CAC
Agriculture Committee on June 26th and meetings of the Open Space
Committee on the 11th , 18th and 25th of June .
Mr . Forman reported that the Planning staff continues to work with
the Building Inspector/ Zoning Officer and the Town Attorney to
support the efforts of the COC . The Committee met on July 1st .
The major focus of the COC continues to be consideration of
revisions to the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance and other land use
regulations . It also continued its discussion of the proposed
Environmental Protection Overlay District and other land use
related environmental protection mechanisms which the Town of
Ithaca could consider in the coning months .
The Town Planner continued , noting that staff member Scott Dvorak
and Planning Board member Judith Aronson attended the New York
Planning Federation ' s Conference on Affordable Housing in Syracuse
on June 26 . The speakers focused on what municipalities could do
to provide affordable , owner-occupied housing . Their suggestions
ranged from identifying and obtaining federal and state financial
support to forming public/private partnerships . on June 28 Scott
Dvorak attended a bicycle transportation meeting at Cornell
University. Cornell is finalizing a bicycle transportation plan
for the campus and wanted to inform surrounding municipalities of
its plans as well as provide a forum for intermunicipal cooperation
on bicycle issues . After discussing their current activities it
was agreed to meet again in mid-September .
Councilman Whitcomb remarked that he noticed that at the next
Planning Board meeting , Cayuga Lake Estates is coning back . He
asked , at what stage of the process are these people ? They
continue to modify their site plan considerably but that area is
under consideration by both the Comprehensive Planning Committee
and the CAC; for significant open space preservation , etc .
Assistant Planner George Frantz replied that they have requested ,
again , preliminary subdivision approval at the upcoming meeting .
We haven ' t completed the environmental assessment for the project ,
at this point , however , again we are going to look very closely at
it . We are not ready to make any reccnutendation .
Town Attorney ' s Report
Town Attorney John Barney stated that the Appellate Division ruled
against the Towns appeal on the Hull matter . We won in terms of
restraining him from using it as a commercial operation but he was
permitted to maintain some warehousing and the lower court ruled
that included continued storage back and forth and the Town Board
am
Town Board Minutes 11 July 8 , 1991
decided to go ahead and appeal that decision even though there was
a question . Unfortunately the Appellate Court sustained what the
lower court had ruled . He can now continue to use the building for
storage pretty much as he has been doing for the last several
years . We do have an option which we can take up in Executive
Session if the Board so desires .
Town Committee Report ' s
Conservation Advisory Committee
John Whitcomb noted that his ccumittee been very busy working on
the Open Space Index Report . The Agriculture Committee has been
extremely active and has cane forth with some recommendations which
the CAC will be looking at . He noted that he had written a letter
to the Comprehensive Planning Committee which represents , he
thought , -the sentiments of the CAC in that the large parcels of
land in Inlet Valley currently has been growing a lot of " for sale "
signs and at the me ment that land is in the hands of a few
landowner.; . If we were further along on our Comprehensive Planning
process wx� could do something creative in terms of land in that
area . That parcel also was identified by the CAC Open Space
Committee as having some of the most desirable features in terms of
open space and natural areas and he was concerned that the
opportunity to do something creative in terms of planning in that
area may be lost if the parcels are subdivided into a number of
small building lots or other small parcels in that area before we
have our act together . The letter gave no recommendations it just
asked a ncm -ber of questions as to where we proceed from here . He
stated that he would hope that this might be something the
Comprehensive Planning Committee might discuss .
Councilman Liguori asked if this couldn ' t be handled under site
plan review or subdivisions ?
Councilman Whitcomb replied that he was not sure if we have enough
teeth in our current regulations to dictate the kind of things to
be done there .
Councilman Niklas remarked that actually at this stage we do not
know whether or not the Zoning Ordinance is adequate or inadequate
because for all intense and purposes we don ' t know what our
objectives would be in that area . And until you really know what
your objectives are , what your plan is , you can ' t assess the Zoning
Ordinance in terms of its adequacy . He went on to say that because
there is a relatively small number of people who own this land , one
approach might be for the Town Planning staff , unofficially , to
approach those owners and discuss what the Town ' s concerns are and
ask the property owners what their broad objectives might be and
then to enter into a dialogue . There is nothing binding in it , and
he felt it would be good to have information flowing back and
forth .
The consensus of the Board was that this was a good suggestion .
Councilman Niklas added , we might enter into a discussion as to the
Town acquiring some land which he felt would be one very positive
constructive approach in dealing with an otherwise potentially
difficult :situation .
Town Planner Forman remarked , or just raising the issue and
possibly not acquiring the foresaid in fee simple may be acquiring
the develorment rights to it .
Town Board Minutes 12 July 8 , 1991
Councilman Klein asked if the Board could receive a report from the
Town Planner at the next meeting?
The Town Planner replied that he would make contract but beyond
that he Couldn ' t tell the Board what would happen .
Councilman Liguori remarked that he had not found an area in the
Town of Ithaca that did not have a critical environment .
Councilman Whitcomb went on to say that at the next Town Board
meeting there will be a discussion , he hoped , of the CAC ' s recently
adopted resolution which requests the Town Board to create an open
space acquisition fund .
Codes and Ordinance Cammittee
Councilman Niklas stated that Codes and Ordinance was dealing with
a number of issues such as the Environmental Protection Overlay
District , addressing initially stream corridors . We have also
included , per CAC recommendations , certain things , possibilities ,
in fact we have even added our own lake frontage . We are also
looking at permitted uses in Business District "D " , we are
reevaluating that because of a memorandum from ZBA regarding the
definition. of gas stations . We have a sign posting ordinance
drafted and he understood that the CAC had some comments but he had
not received them in time for the last meeting but they would
address them at the next COC meeting and then approach the Town
Board to :set a public hearing . Councilman Niklas went on to say
that the draft legislation for the Stream Corridor Protection ,
draft legislation currently refers to a map which identifies the
boundaries of those stream corridors to be protected . It seems to
him that they are at a stage where it might be useful to have the
Town Supervisor or the Town Board instruct Planning staff to begin
drafting the preliminary map . He stated that he did not feel
comfortable having the public evaluate a draft piece of legislation
or members of the Town Board without some visual reference , without
some land marks as to where these boundaries may be . With the
understanding that if such a map were drafted that these boundaries
would be very preliminary and only there for open discussion of the
open space .
Town Planner Forman remarked that in his opinion a map was needed
before you go ahead with the Environmental Overlay District because
that is sort of the meat of its If someone comes in they should be
able to take the overlay and set it down on the existing zoning and
know what they are in . The problem is time . We are taking a step
back with the Comprehensive Plan now and we are also taking , he
hoped , rather quick steps ahead once we firm up our goals and
objectives .. And , unless the Board tells him it is an A-1 priority ,
he would do what they wanted him to do , because he did see it as
being important but in terms of time he did not know if the time
was there right now .
Councilman Niklas replied that he was sensitive that right now
staff has more than they can possibly deal with and the only point
in raising this is that at some point we have to coordinate the
maps with -the draft legislation . He went on to say that a couple
of months ago he had asked the Town Board members to list in
priority the activities of the COC and at the top of the list by
virtually every member of this committee was the conservation
district or a way to deal with the environmentally sensitive areas
of the Town . He did not want this to be binding right now , he just
wanted , historically , to remember where the priorities were a
couple of months ago . He stated that he did not want this to be
resolved now but he understood that the Comprehensive Planning
Town Board Minutes 13 July 8 , 1991
Committee has an executive coordinating committee and he was asking
that that committee take this up at their next meeting and that it
communicate its decision to CDC so we have some feeling of how we
coordinate efforts of staff and the committee .
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that she had seen a lot of maps
recently . . . . .
Councilman Niklas stated that the steep slope map probably cams
the closest to the boundaries that may identify the stream
corridors and he would like to make a recommendation to the
Coordinating Committee that staff and the Committee discuss the
possibilities that that map act as a rough bases of what the
district might look like .
Town Planner Forman remarked that sometimes when you cane up with
rough drafts people tend to think they are carved in concrete .
Ccmprehensive Planning Committee
Councilman. Klein reported that the status of the Comprehensive Plan
is that e have , several times , reviewed a prelimi
w nary land use map
and it is a working documents and there will be revisions before it
is brought: before the public . Specifically at the last meeting ,
which was very well attended , we asked staff to put in writing the
criteria , the rational that went behind developing that particular
map . It had been verbally given to us at the presentation by Ron
Brand . And then , there is a lot of focus being put back on
developing the goals and objectives so staff is working tying to
edit the goals and objectives . The Goals and Objectives Committee
will meet on the 15th to review the progress of the staff .
PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE TOWN OF ITHACA
ZONING ORDINANCE RELATING TO PROCEDURES FOR SITE PLAN APPLICATIONS
AND MODIFICATIONS
Proof of posting and publication of a notice of public hearing to
consider a local law amending the Town of Ithaca Zoning Ordinance
relating t:) procedures for site plan applications and modifications
having been presented by the Town Clerk , the Supervisor opened the
public hearing .
James Hilker , 255 Burns Road stated that Bill Farrell had handed
him some papers and asked him read them tonight to the Town Board .
He then read the following letter :
Town Board , Town of Ithaca
From : Town of Ithaca Taxpayers Association
RE : Changes to the Zoning Ordinance " Sunset Provisions "
Date : July 8 , 1991
The Town of Ithaca Taxpayers Association is concerned with the
effects of the "Sunset Provisions " of the proposed amendment to the
Zoning Ordinance .
we object to Section 46-d , Item 9 . This item should be deleted as
the Zoning Ordinance does not at this time identify , quan y or
qualify these items . No definitions or boundaries are in the
present Ordinance . Until the new Zoning Ordinance is established ,
these item: should not be addressed .
rir•aroomm�nrmrnlumss®iws r ffff�
Town Board Minutes 14 July 8 , 1991
The Town of Ithaca Taxpayers Association is totally opposed to
passage of this law with these items left in .
Section 46-e , page 5 , item 3 . This amendment to the Zoning
Ordinance is unreasonably strict as written . We suggest that the
wording be changed to "within one year from the issuance of the
building ;permit authorizing such work , or within 48 months of the
date the Planning Board gave final site plan approval , whichever is
later " .
These changes would make the proposed amendment fairer to the Town
of Ithaca landowners . As they are written , the proposed changes to
the Zoning Ordinance are unacceptable to the Town of Ithaca
Taxpayers Association .
William Farrell
President "
As no one else in the public wished to speak , the Supervisor closed
the public hearing . She then asked the Board for discussion ,
including discussion of the points made by Mr . Farrell by Mr .
Hilker .
Councilman Klein asked , what was the first paragraph that he
conunented on?
Town Attorney Barney remarked that he thought they kind of
mixed . . . . . the first sentences * . . . . . their concern is with the sunset
provisions which is section 46-e which is referred to later on in
here .
Councilman Klein remarked , go to 48 months . . . .
Town Attorley Barney replied , so to 48 months or whichever is later
but the way it is phrased now it ' s within 24 months or the year of
the issuanJ"e of the building permit , which ever is earlier .
Councilman Klein asked about the Taxpayers Association ' s cents .
Supervisor Raffensperger replied , basically it says it ' s
unreasonable strict as written . They suggest the wording be
changed to within one year from the issuance of the building permit
authorizing such work and that is substituting . . . . . . . . . she stated
that she vjs still trying to find the paragraph .
Councilman Niklas remarked , it ' s on page 51 or within 24 months of
date the Planning Board gives final site plan approval .
Essentially their suggestion is to double the period of time . The
Town Board should recognize that the 24 months from the date the
Town Plann_��ng Board gives final site plan approval does not include
the leeway time , the buffer that the applicant has to reapply for
an extension of that date and the Town Board should also recognize
that there is no limit to the Town Planning Board granting
continuing waivers or continuing extensions beyond that 24 month
period , dependent upon the reasonableness of the request for the
extension .
Councilman Liguori remarked , there is also no guarantee that they
will grant its
Councilman Niklas replied , there is no guarantee that anything is
ever grantE.d when you are asking of permission from any agency ,
just like anything else , ZBA , Town Board , Planning Board .
Councilman Liguori asked what was the rationale of the 24 months ?
ffm��IR��\�LYBI II�11YY'JNII\\klilY ll H��I[FYN1fIillYlillY\I�liil
Town Board Minutes 15 July 8 , 1991
Councilman Niklas replied well , the rationale was that it seemed a
very good and reasonable period .
Councilman Whitcomb asked if this wasn ' t done at the request of one
of the Codes and Ordinance members who was a builder?
Councilman Niklas replied yes , we have a , . . . . that actually was a
smaller amount of time and a representative on Codes and Ordinances
who is a builder/contractor asked if we couldn ' t be more
reasonable , couldn ' t we give more time . We essentially increased
it to 24 with the idea that you could continuously request
extensions and that person , Harrison Rue , said that was a
reasonable amount of time . He was more comfortable with that , the
rest of us felt that was a reasonable thing to do .
Supervisor Raffensperger went on to say , the other matter
considered was Section 46-d , item 9 , on page 4 which talks about
the effect. of the proposed development on environmentally sensitive
areas including but not limited to wetlands , floodplains ,
woodlands , steep slopes and water courses and on other open space
areas of importance to the neighborhood or community . The
objection to this seems to be that no definitions or boundaries are
in the present Ordinance . She went on to say that her
understanding of this is that these are matters that the Planning
Board will. review in a general way but that we were not looking for
boundaries of woodlands or steep slopes but that they should
consider that when they look at a site plan . She stated that she
thought that they already did , so she felt this was sort of an
expansion of consideration of the review that the Planning Board
has already given . She asked if this was everyone elses
understanding?
Councilman Niklas replied that the Zoning Ordinance already refers
to things like wetlands and floodplains and things of that nature .
Town Attorney Barney remarked that right now the Planning Board
doesn ' t have any . . . . . these aren ' t specific . . . . . does not have any
really set forth criteria to view, he thought it was three things
right now , the general health and welfare of the community ,
something like . . . . . . . . it ' s a very , very broad type thing . And the
effort here was to try and articulate those kinds of things and we
may have not done it completely successfully but those kinds of
things that go into determining whether you are approving or not
approving the general health/welfare of the community . It was not
intended here to say that you are going to look and see whether you
are a wetland , per se , as defined under the environmental
conservation law or floodplain . But just generally speaking , if a
proposed site cones in and these types of area are in the vicinity
or may be just off site , that ' s one of the things the Planning
Board should consider in making up its mind as to how best to
approach it .
Councilman Niklas remarked , it is also fair to say that staff
traditionally provided prospective landowners who are going to
subdivide or developers who are going to develop , information as to
whether or not that site is near a wetland , floodplain area or some
other area that the Town Planning staff feels is environmentally
sensitive . He went on to say that there is even some more concrete
bases for identifying some of these because the Comprehensive
Planning Committee has a draft map , it is true , but carefully put
together by Planning Staff as to where wetland areas , floodplain
areas and certainly steep slopes , even to the point of identifying
the extent to which the slopes are angled . This is not meant to
be , he felt , as explicit as they seem to interpret it to be .
Town Board Minutes 16 July 8 , 1991
Mr . Hilke.r asked Councilman Niklas if he could explain the section
that says "and other open spaces " ?
Councilman Niklas replied , and other open spaces of importance to a
neighborhood or community that have been identified by the Planning
staff . When you cane with a site plan process is where you
interact with the Planning staff and he felt the point would be
that these areas or concerns that the Town Planning Board may have ,
staff would help you to identify whether or not your sites were
near them ..
Councilman Liguori stated that the Town had absolutely no policy on
open space in terms of restricting it , reserving it or regulating
it , and until the Town does come up with a policy that can be
interpreted by everybody and have sane meaning , we ought to be very
careful on how we use that word , open space . He went on to say
that he could see the concerns of people who say these people are
going to tell me that they want to preserve scene open space that
doesn ' t belong to them and the people are going to be forced to
preserve it . He felt the Board should be very careful about that .
Councilman Whitcomb stated that he would like to point out that
Section 46 a say , general considerations and it says the Planning
Boards review of general preliminary or final site plan shall
include a� appropriate the following consideration , it doesn ' t say
limitations , doesn ' t say restrictions , it says considerations .
They will be considering these things which they already consider
as a matter of course and this just puts it in black and white .
Town Attorney Barney remarked if a site plan came in , say adjacent
to the Cocldington Road Ca mnity Center , he felt that the Planning
Board under these provision would look at that and say normally we
would require a 30 ' buffer but because of this particular open
space we would like to see your site plan changed and may be 40 or
50 or 60 ' buffer . It just gives them sane leverage to talk to
people and. say these are scene general conditions that ought to be
taken into account . There is nothing dealing with an open space
policy here it is really looking , where is this project going to
be , what ,Durroundst what ' s in it already and how should we deal
with some of these things .
Councilman Liguori replied , it ' s negotiable . That means there is a
give and take on the part of the Town and the developer , etc .
Councilman Niklas replied that that was why Councilman Whitcanb was
pointing out what heads these various items .
Councilman Klein stated that he could relate to these things
because if a lot of these items are not put into the Ordinance then
the Plannialg Board is really handicapped , as John Barney said , they
only have the very general public health , safety and welfare
umbrella to make a lot of decisions which could be interpreted as
being arbitrary . And by sort of stipulating it , the years he was
on the Planning Board , very often the Planning Board reviewing a
site plan would want to do samthing and what usually happens is
you go to the Ordinance and the Ordinance doesn ' t really cover some
of the negotiations you would like to have take place . You are
kind of at. a loss . He felt this would give the Planning Board a
lot more authority which he did not think they were going to abuse
but it gives them that opportunity to make improvements in a lot of
i
projects .
The Supervisor noted that a lot of people had cane in since she
closed the public hearing and she was going to give them a chance ,
however , she was going to let the Board finish their discussion .
Town Board Minutes 17 July 8 , 1991
Councilman Niklas remarked that he thought it was also important to
bear in mind that the things that are listed in Section 46-d , items
1 to 10 , that it works both ways , it also give you as developers
and landowners , scene understanding as to what would enter into the
decisions of the Planning Board in granting a site plan approval .
In other words , being more specific about what ' s being considered ,
his ccmmLttee , Codes and Ordinance , felt they would actually
protect you because you have it more laid down in front of you
rather than sane kind of vague thing about , well the Town Planning
Board will consider the general welfare of the community and the
general good , etc . , etc . He asked , what did that mean? How do you
interpret that ? These are the things that the Town Planning Board ,
has in the past even before this current administration came into
place , has always considered when reviewing a site plan . So , if it
is done traditionally , if it has been doing it for the last ten
years , why not put it in so that a newcomer to the cc m mity can
see what the lay of the land is , so to speak . So , this was really
not meant to hurt anyone it was really meant to be much more
constructive , to be more helpful , to be more explicit . So he hoped
the people would view it , think about it in those terms as well .
But , it works both ways .
Supervisor Raffensperger noted again , that scene people had cane in
after she had closed the public hearing .
Richard Leonardo , 1134 Danby Road stated that his mother owns a
parcel of property at 1132 Danby Road and approximately twelve
years ago his father subdeveloped a piece of that land and it was
approved . Mr . Leonardo remarked that his question was , and he
referred to Section 46-e at the bottan of page 5 , number 3 , the
Planning Board shall give final site plan approval whichever is
earlier , not only on the building permit but on the site plan
approval . Now , does that mean there is some sort of a term on
whether or not her subdevelopment , which has already been approved ,
has expired?
Supervisor Raffensperger asked if it was a subdivision?
Mr . Leonardo replied yes , it was a subdivision which has had
approval .
Supervisor Raffensperger replied that she did not believe this
addresses that .
Town Attorney Barney added , that is correct .
Mr . Leonardo replied , this doesn ' t address that?
Supervisor Raffensperger asked the Town Attorney to address the
question .
Town Attorney Barney added , it ' s a simple answer . This doesn ' t
deal with subdivisions just site plans .
A man in attendance asked for a copy of the proposed local law .
Supervisor Raffensperger went on to say that the public hearings
are always advertised in the paper and when we advertise them we
always do have available the proposed local law if you wish to get
it , so it ' s always available to the public .
Councilman Niklas stated that he would like to add scoething to
that and that is that even before a draft piece of legislation
comes to the Town Board it ' s available from Codes and Ordinance
Camdttee through the Town staff . Any draft piece of legislation
that our cc�ni.ttee is considering , once it leaves our cam�ittee to
Town Board Minutes 18 July 8 , 1991
any other aspect of the Town to ask for its input , that immediately
becomes public knowledge and you have the right to ask for a copy
of any of those draft proposal . Even before it gets into the
general public notice . So anytime you can talk to George ( Frantz )
or Floyd (Forman) or himself and his name was in the telephone book
and people can call him , we ' ll make them available .
Supervisor Raffensperger asked if there were any other comments
from the public , any other Board comments ? She noted that in the
Board members packets there is a resolution of the Planning Board
which recmmnends to the Town Board the adoption of this proposed
local lawO The Board of Zoning Appeals reviewed it and decided it
had very little to do with their functions and so they did not come
forth with a recommendation one way or the other . It was without
prejudice „
Councilman Whitcomb stated that he had several questions . First he
wanted to ask the builders in the room , under what circumstances
might you cane in and get site plan approval for a project and then
wait four years before you start construction ? Would that happen ,
would that. be a common occurrence and if so why?
David Auble replied , in todays real estate environment what we are
finding is that financing is almost impossible to get for a
project , any type . It ' s really difficult . It sounds as though the
economic news is , in this industry , that ' s going to be the case for
a long time and he felt you could easily have a scenario where you
would have three , four , five years even once you have a site plan
approval before you could acquire financing . That easily could
happen and he felt this legislation might force sane people to
start a project at a lower level , quality wise , then they might
otherwise want to . when you get a time clock going , he
thought . . . . . . .
Councilman Whitcomb remarked that ' s fine but the other half of his
question was , will this force somebody to start quicker than they
would anticipate or what would be the negatives on that .
Mr . Auble replied , there are a lot of sites that are dormant that
have been approved as we all know , and he felt he was probably as
familiar with those sites just fran market research know what the
competition is potentially out there and he thought they would stay
dormant for a long time and he thought that the market and the
financing environment is such . . . . . he thought Andy (Frost) said . . . .
what would you say for new construction as far as permits .
Mr . Frost replied that he was not sure what Mr . Auble ' s question
was .
Mr . Auble replied , in June there how many new structures in the
Town?
Mr . Frost replied , one .
Mr . Auble continued , compared to a phase when there is a high
demand , when there is . . . . . what is typical , eight?
Mr . Frost replied , eight or ten in a month .
Mr . Auble replied , so there is a big percentage difference there .
So , he guessed what he saw, and again as we know there are a number
of dormant sites and he thought if some of these sites , if this law
for instanl::e was on the books a long time ago , he could think of
some pretty mediocre developments that would have taken place if
someone was either forced into using that or losing it as part of
the approval . This way someone can wait until financing becomes
Town Board Minutes 19 July 8 , 1991
available or they are replaced by someone who is more financially
capable .
Someone in attendance , stated that perhaps he might be misreading
the regulations , too .
Councilman Whitcomb replied that it seemed over time that the
community needs change , for example Beacon Hill which is a project
that Mr . Auble is very familiar with , was authorized by the
Planning Board twenty years ago as a student housing project ,
multiple residence .
Mr . Auble replied well no , it was actually a more upscaled
residential , twenty years ago .
Councilman Whitcomb added , and the guy went bankrupt and it sat
there as an MR for twenty years and now the questions is , is that
still appropriate ? An appropriate place given the Town ' s goals and
objectives at the present time for that kind of development . He
stated that he did not know the answer to that but those are the
kind of questions that would be asked . He stated that he would
have to see Beacon Hill start construction before they were ready
although he did not think they could have in that particular
instance .
Mr . Auble replied that he thought there were a couple of things
happening there . One is , for instance , when the site was taken
over , using that example which is what he is the most familiar
with , was taken over by Bill Manos . It was actually approved as ,
he would say , a student rental site and then because of the
economics of the situation it was left dormant and then when we
came in and we actually voluntarily down zoned the site to
residential for sale property with a much higher per square foot
cost , a lot of development design work . He guessed he had a little
problem , he didn ' t think it applied to his situation right now , but
he sees it with people investing hundreds of thousands of dollars
in design work that is pretty much wiped out by this type of
regulation .
Supervisor Raffensperger asked , when would scmbody do that? Why
would somebody put all that money into design work if they were so
completely aware that the financial climate would really not permit
them to start in a timely fashion? She added , if you have to pay
money to get money .
Mr . Auble replied , generally the design work is done based on
current market conditions , anticipated market conditions , if those
conditions change during the time the process is taking place , the
approval process as we know becomes extended out many times , Cayuga
Estates have been here for two or three years , that ' s happening all
over the county . . So , a one year , two year time frame makes huge
differences in the financial climate and market take place , as we
all know .
Councilman Niklas asked , wouldn ' t it be to your advantage then to
make sure that you have funding for your project as soon as
possible , after the site plan is approved ?
Mr . Auble replied , that isn ' t going to help you . Let ' s say you got
the funding but the market wasn ' t appropriate . There are a number
of variables that conspire to defeat development . And he. thought ,
in a sense the free market controls the development in industry and
by artificially adding other levels of controls he thought you were
adding unnecessarily to the expense and the unweildyness of
regulations as we know from interpreting the fill law . The
awkwardnesc� and interpretation , he thought it would be a little bit
Town Board Minutes 20 July 8 , 1991
of over regulation situation . Again , he stated that he did not
feel , unless he was wrong , he didn ' t know if he was interpreting
this correctly , he had a site plan approved by the Town Board . He
stated that he did not think this law applies to his site . He then
asked the Town Attorney if it did?
Town Attorney Barney replied , it would .
Mr . Auble remarked , it would . Then he guessed his concern . . . . . . .
Town Attorney Barney added , it will but you are subject to
basically the same requirements , the point is is that there is no
deviation from really what ' s in the law right now . The sunset
provision would not necessarily apply to your general site plan
because t7tis sunset provision runs from final site plan approval .
Assistant Planner George Frantz remarked that he thought there are
a lot of subdivisions out there for which construction has not
ccomenced . However , this as far as from his experience with the
site plan approval process , first of all most of the site plan
approvals that he has reviewed for the Planning Board or at least
witnessed for the last three years got under construction fairly
rapidly after the approvals . There has only been a couple where
construction did not comnence immediately . In many cases the
developers gathered up their financing as the approval process made
its way through the Planning Board .
Councilman. Whitcomb stated that he just wanted to clarify
something . This essentially adds District R-5 to the existing
language in the Zoning Ordinance , is this correct? Which adds it
to Multiple Residences , Business "A" I "B " I C and D and the
other Special Land Use Districts .
Town Attorney Barney replied , that is correct .
Councilman Whitconb continued , but it does not include R-30 , R- 15 ,
those kinds of things for normal subdivisions , he asked if this was
correct?
Town Attorney Barney replied , right and it doesn ' t really deal with
subdivisions themselves , per se .
Councilman Klein added , because there are no site plans approvals ,
per se , in those districts .
Councilman Whitcomb then asked , how about rezonings ?
Town Attorney Barney replied , this does not deal with rezonings
either . He staged that he was iumping . . . adding it does deal with
rezonings in the sense that it deals with the process of rezoning ,
the sunset provision is not dealing with rezonings .
Councilman Niklas remarked that he thought , he sensed what
Councilman Whitcomb was getting at and he stated that he should
point out that CAC recommended to COC that we consider sunset
carrying policies for site plan approvals , subdivision , rezoning ,
special permit . Special permits have already been taken care of in
another law . Subdivision approval is not being considered right
now, this is site plan approval . At the last meeting of the Town
Board we were talking about whether or not sunset periods should be
considered for rezoning , which the Town Board does . COC is
considering that , we haven ' t gotten to that stage , so we are
actually pursuing only one of the recommendations from CAC . But
you have to understand as Chair of COC that we haven ' t forgotten
all your other recommendations .
Town Board Minutes 21 July 8 , 1991
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked , you did realize that this does
not apply to R- 15 and R-30 residential . She stated that she hoped
Mr . Farrell and the Taxpayers Association understood that it was
not for R- 15 and R-30 .
Jim Hilker remarked , this is site plan approval under the sunset
provision?
Supervisor Raffensperger answered , that is right .
Councilman Whitcomb added , it ' s for Multiple Residence , R-5 which
is trailer and business districts .
Jim Hilker stated that he did not know if they realized that or
not . In regard to your questions about builders , the increasing
awareness of the wetlands and open spaces that are taking place , he
stated that they felt site plans are going to be coming under a lot
more scrutiny and a lot more approvals required . There is a case
in Eastei_n Pennsylvania , outside of Philadelphia , where it
consistently takes five years to get site plan approvals any more
because of all the sensitive areas they have to scrutinize . This
was one concern that he had , forty-eight months is really not that
ridiculou.: of a proposal because the recent sensitivity of these
areas , it could take a long time to get site plan approval .
Both Councilman Niklas and Supervisor Raffensperger replied , but
the period, is after the site plan approval has been finally given .
Supervisor Raffensperger added , the period of time , the twenty-four
months or your suggestion of the forty-eight , cm- es into play after
the final site plan approval has been received .
Councilman Niklas added , the clock doesn ' t start ticking when you
apply for site plan approval , it ' s after the Town Planning Board
said go do it . Then after the clock starts ticking , after two
years , you have another half of the year grace period in which you
can apply for an extension . And if you came before the Town
Planning Board and you said , as David Auble has just said , the
econcan5 climate is not good , funding is hard to get , he stated
that he would be surprised if our Town Planning Board wouldn ' t
extend the period . It has been , he thought , very sensitive to the
economy of the development , recognizing that there are just times
when it ' s not good to build . As long as your site plan is good ,
giving the planning conditions of the Town he could not see why
with a legitimate reason the Town Planning Board wouldn ' t extend
that period .
Councilman Liguori remarked , if there was a provision in there
which said that the Planning Board cannot unreasonably deny an
extension Then he felt everyone would feel a lot better . He stated
that he would if he were a developer because then he would know
they don ' t have absolute authority to deny it for no good reason .
Councilman Niklas asked if he could respond to Councilman Liguori ' s
statement . First of all , the Town Planning Board or any Town Board
acts unreasonably that ' s grounds for taking them to court . Second ,
of all the law reads , "and upon finding that the imposition of the
time limits set forth above would create an undue hardship upon the
applicant the Town Planning Board" , it specifically more or less is
instructed to consider whether . . . . . . .
Councilman Liguori replied , it ' s not instructed , read it .
Councilman Niklas continued , " and upon finding that the imposition
of the time limits set forth above would create an undue hardship
on the applicant , may extend the time limits for such additional
Town Board Minutes 22 July 8 , 1991
periods as the Planning Board may reasonably determine " . So your
words , Councilman Liguori , are in there .
Councilman Whitcomb remarked that he was certain the he had read
somewhere , a recommendation from one of the other Boards , that this
also applied to projects approved in the past . That the clock
starts running for then right now as well .
Town Attorney Barney replied that as he sits here past experience
is somet:is a good teacher and sometimes it is completely
forgotten and that he was drafting , in his mind , a provision that
should be put in here and basically says that a two year period for
existing approved site plans should start to run from whatever
night or clay you enact this .
Councilman Whitcomb replied right , you wouldn ' t want to come back
and say you were approved two years ago so time is up .
Town Atto_ey Barney remarked , it should be a grandfather clause .
We did it with the fill ordinance , we probably should have done it
here . The Town Attorney suggested the following words be added
after the words " the granting of any site plan approval " : "not
withstanding the foregoing , if final site plan approval was granted
prior to July 81 1991 , the time to materially connence work shall
be extended to July 8 , 1993 or one year from the issuance of a
building permit , whichever is earlier" . He went on . to say , and
correct him if he was wrong , there weren ' t any site plan approvals
granted utLere building permits have not been issued , at this point
in time . They haven ' t materially started working .
Councilman. Niklas stated that he would like to move that the Town
Board pass this legislation , as just amended .
Town Attorney Barney remarked that it should be , with the
clarification .
David Auble asked the Supervisor to explain what happens to the tax
revenue if` a sunset provision causes a site to revert , say from
commercial to residential .
Supervisor Raffensperger responded , that is not in this law . That
is not in here .
Councilman Niklas added , that would be rezoning . This does not
deal with :rezoning .
Mr . Auble :remarked , if you lose approval ?
Town Attorney Barney replied , taxes run from year to year , and he
thought that if you have an assessment its assessed today because
you can put in 400 units of housing and it lapes because you don ' t
do it , the tax assessment would presumably drop but it would be up
to the landowner to go to the Assessment Office to take care of it ,
it ' s not really the Town ' s bailiwick .
Mr . Auble stated that what he was saying was that the Town should
recognize its revenue from certain properties could diminish
considerably .
Town Attorney Barney replied , it would only diminish if the
assessment changed .
Councilman Klein remarked , the assessment is not based on what is
not built .
Town Board Minutes 23 July 8 , 1991
Town Attorney Barney added , it ' s based on the highest , best use of
the property . If you have a piece of real property that is zoned
for a particular use , say industrial use , and that is rezoned
residential with a space density requirement you probably would see
a reduction in your assessment , as a result .
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked , but certainly not under the
terms of this proposed local law .
Councilmm,i Klein remarked , if you had a resident ' s property change
to industrial . . . . . . . . . . .
Town Attorney Barney added , and then it lapsed , but he felt it was
remote an not a significant consideration .
Councilman Niklas replied , but that would require a rezoning by the
Town Board , right?
Councilman Klein replied no , it just reverts . The sunset clause
puts it . . ., . . .
Town Attorney Barney replied , only the site plan .
Councilman Klein continued , it doesn ' t change the zoning ? So if
the zoning is industrial it stays industrial , they just lost the
site plan .
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that she felt the Town was making
an effort and when the Newsletters go out to describe the basis
thrust of the local law we have changed so anybody can identify
their own personal interest in it and they can call and get the
complete copy of the law . She noted that she had closed the public
hearing about 45 minutes ago . We have had a motion to adopt the
local law as clarified . She asked if there was any further
discussion?
Councilman Liguori stated that he would like to compromise and
change , amend it to three years instead of two years . In hopes
that , since neither of those numbers is a magic number anyway , it
seemed to him the developers would be much happier with a three
year on than a two year one .
Councilman Niklas remarked , that would be adding six months .
Town Attorney Barney replied , twelve months .
Supervisor Raffensperger asked if the Board felt this was a
reasonable kind of ccanprcmise ?
Councilman Whitcomb stated that the original suggestion from CAC
said a year and a half . He felt that was a little short , two
years , he guessed he was not persuaded one way or another . The
public has made scene interesting arguments and he had no way of
knowing if two years was the magic number , or three years is the
magic number , or four years .
Councilman Niklas replied that COC had spent considerable time ,
including Harrison Rue who is the building representative , debating
the amount of time and he asked the Town Attorney to correct him if
he was wrong but he thought Harrison had said he was comfortable
with the twenty-four month period with the understanding that we
have the six month leeway time and then essentially no limit to the
number of times the Town Planning Board can reasonably extend the
limiting time .
se110..6�
Town Board Minutes 24 July 8 , 1991
Town Attorney Barney replied that he thought that that was
substantially correct . He went on to say that his concern , from a
legal point , was not so much with the 24 or 36 but to put some sort
of a time limit and it didn ' t matter so much what that limit is as
long as it isn ' t forty years .
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that it ' s the forty year old ones
that bother us , it really is . She did not think that the two year
old ones or the three year old ones are so much of a matter of
concern as the ones that we hardly even know about any more .
Councilman Niklas replied that he had no personal objection to
campromising with Councilman Liguori ' s ccwprcmise and that is add
six months to make it a thirty month period instead of twenty-four .
But to add a whole year , he thought that at this point then well ,
it should be thirty months , thirty-two months , three hundred and
thirty-thousand months , till the world freezes over ! He stated
that he was comfortable with the way it is but he was willing to
ccmprcxnise your ccupromise .
Councilman Liguori replied that a respected group of people in the
ccmmmity are suggesting that twenty- four months is to short and
since it is not that critical one way or the other he thought that
there were times when the Board ought to listen to the other part
of the ccmmunity .
Councilman Klein remarked that thirty was a help . He could see
circumstances because of the economy changing rather quickly that
somebody might fully expect to proceed with the project , get all
his drawings finished , and if it is a commercial venture ,
financing , the rates go up , looses his perspective tenants , and if
he doesn ' t proceed , it was true and he thought there were a lot of
mechanism in this thing to get reasonable extensions but he guessed
he could see twenty-four months may be being a touch on the short
side .
Councilman Niklas replied , how about adding the six months to the
grace period . Let ' s leave the twenty-four months but that you have
twelve months in which to apply for an extension . It still gives
you the six months .
Councilman Liguori asked , does that mean you start . . . . . . .
Councilman Niklas commented , it means essentially the same thing .
Town Attorney Barney replied , no it doesn ' t Councilman Niklas in
this sense because the granting of the extension is a discretionary
act . Twenty-four months is an absolute right .
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked that she was going to propose
that this proposed local law, that that particular number be
changed to 36 months .
Councilwoman Leary remarked , that ' s the maximum .
Supervisor Raffensperger replied , no . She went on to say that you
get thirty-six months and then if you want more you can go to the
Planning Board and ask them .
Councilwoman Leary asked when did the grace period start?
Councilman Niklas replied , after thirty-six .
Town Attorney Barney added , you can apply any time before the end
of . . . . whatever period thirty-six , twenty-four month period and up
to six month following the end of that for an extension . And , the
Town Board Minutes 25 July 8 , 1991
only reason for that is to put some cut off period beyond which the
Planning Board won ' t even consider an extension .
Councilwoman Leary asked , didn ' t it start at a year ?
Town Attorney Barney replied that it started at eighteen months he
thought .
Councilman Whitcomb remarked , the rational was , CAC being who they
are , thought that one building season was enough , one building
season could really be more than one year depending on when you got
approval .
RESOLUTION N0 . 161
Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Liguori ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve
the clarification and amendment to now read from twenty-four months
to thirty--six months in the proposed Local Law No . 11 for the year
1991 .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none) .
LOCAL LAW # 11 - 1991
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Whitcomb ,
LOCAL LAW # 11 - 1991
A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE TOWN OF ITHACA ZONING ORDINANCE RELATING
TO PROCEDLfRES FOR SITE PLAN APPLICATIONS AND FOR MODIFICATIONS OF
SITE PLANS
The Zonincr Ordinance of the Town of Ithaca as readopted , amended
and revised effective February 26 , 1968 , and subsequently amended ,
be further amended as follows :
1 . Article IX , Section 46 , the opening paragraph , is amended to
read as follows :
" Section 46 . Procedure Related to Establishment of a Zoning
District . When an application is submitted to the Town Board
for establishment of a Residence District R5 , Multiple
Residence , Business ' A ' , ' B ' , ' C ' , ' D ' , and ' E ' , and any other
Special Land Use Districts , the establishment of which may be
permitted under this Ordinance , all hereinafter referred to as
' Districts ' , the applicant shall proceed as follows : "
2 . Article IX , Section 46 , subdivision 1 , is amended to read as
follows :
"The applicant shall submit a general site plan to the Town
Board which shall show ( unless one or more items are waived by
the Town Board) property lines , including metes and bounds ,
adjacent public streets , topography , size and location of
existing or proposed structures , and the applicant shall
submij: such other plans and information deemed reasonably
necessary by the Town Board for adequate study of the proposed
plan . Upon its review of the general site plan , the Town
Board may refer the matter to the Planning Board for further
review and reCcnmendation . "
Town Boaz:d Minutes 26 July 8 , 1991
3 . Article IX , Section 46 , subdivision 2 , first sentence , is
amended to read as follows :
"Upon referral of the matter to the Planning Board by the Town
Board , the Planning Board may require such changes in the
general site plan as are necessary to meet the requirements of
this ordinance and may make any other recommendations which it
deems necessary to promote the general health , safety , morals ,
and -the general welfare of the community . "
4 . Article IX , Section 46 , subdivision 3 , is amended to read as
follows :
113 . Whenever a District is created pursuant to the provisions
of this Article , the owner shall be bound by the general site
plan as approved and adopted by the Town Board . "
5 . Article IX is further amended by renumbering former section
46-a to be 46-b and adding a new section 46-a reading as follows :
"Section 46-a . Procedure Related to Special Approvals . In
thosE! circumstances where site plan approval by the Planning
Board is a pre-condition to the granting of a Special Approval
for a use , the applicant shall proceed as follows :
1 . The applicant will submit a site plan which shall show
(unle!ss one or more items are waived by the Planning Board)
prope.!rty lines , including metes and bounds , adjacent public
streets , topography , size and location of existing or proposed
structures , and such other plans and information and any other
features deemed reasonably necessary by the Planning Board for
adequate study of the proposed plan .
2 . The Planning Board may require such changes in the site
plan as are necessary to meet the requirements of this
Ordinance and may make any other recommendations which it
deems necessary to promote the general health , safety , morals ,
and the general welfare of the ccmm mity . The Planning Board
shall then adopt a resolution reccmmending either approval ,
approval with modifications , or disapproval of the proposed
plan . Before any such resolution is adopted , the Planning
Board shall hold a public hearing which shall be heard by the
planning Board within thirty ( 30 ) days of the filing of the
ccupLeted application for the Special Approval with site plan
with the Planning Board , and such hearing shall be advertised
in a :newspaper of general circulation in the Town of Ithaca at
least five ( 5 ) days before such hearing . The Planning Board
shall make its determination within thirty ( 30 ) days after the
hearij:ig and forward the same to the Chairman or Clerk of the
Board of Appeals .
30 The owner and applicant shall be bound by the final site
plan as approved by the Planning Board . "
6 . Article IX , former section 46-a , now renumbered 46-b , is
amended by deleting subdivision 1 and inserting a new subdivision 1
to read as follows :
111 . After a Residence District R5 , Multiple Residence ,
Business , Light Industrial or Industrial District , or any
other Special Land Use District , has been established by the
Town Board and whenever a specified development or changes in
the general plan are proposed , or whenever a site plan is
required by any other provision of this Ordinance , a site plan
for the proposed use must be submitted and approved by the
Planning Board before a building permit may be issued . If the
Town Board Minutes 27 July 8 , 1991
original site plan submitted in connection with the initial
creation of the District or the granting of the Special
Approval was of sufficient detail and contained sufficient
information as to constitute , in the Planning Board ' s
discretion , a final site plan , such original site plan shall
suffice . Otherwise , the applicant shall submit a detailed
site plan (hereinafter referred to as ' final site plan ' ) in
accordance with this ordinance . This final site plan shall
show (unless one or more items are waived by the Planning
Board) property lines , including metes and bounds , adjacent
public streets , topography , including existing and proposed
contours , size and location of structures , area and location
of parking , off-street loading and access drives , proposed
signs and lighting , proposed landscaping and any other
features deemed reasonably necessary by the Planning Board for
adequate study of the proposed plan . "
7 . Article IX , former section 46-a , now renumbered 46-b , is
further ended by amending subdivision 4 , openi
e ng paragraph ,
second sentence , by adding thereto the following after the words
" site plan approval " :
" and shall hold a public hearing on said application for
modification of the site plan and shall make its decision on
same within the time limits set forth with respect to an
original site plan application . "
8 . Article IX is further amended by adding a new section 46-c
reading as follows :
" Section 46-c . Waiver of Requirements Related to Site Plan .
The Town Board in those circumstances where a site plan is
required for Town Board review , and the Planning Board , in
those circumstances where a site plan is provided for Planning
Board review , may waive one or more items (e . g . , topography)
otherwise normally required to be shown on the site plan when
the applicable board determines that the circumstances of the
application do not require a full site plan for adequate
consideration of the applicant ' s proposal .
9 . Article IX is further amended by adding a new section 46-d
reading as follows :
" Section 46-d . General Considerations
The Planning Board ' s review of a general , preliminary , or
final site plan shall include as appropriate , but shall not be
limited to , the following considerations :
1 . Adequacy , arrangement , and location of vehicular access
and circulation including intersections , road widths , pavement
surfaces , off-street parking and loading areas , and traffic
controls .
2 . ;adequacy , arrangement , and location of pedestrian and
bicycle traffic access and circulation , control of
intersections with vehicular traffic , and appropriate
provisions for handicapped persons .
3 . Adequacy , location , arrangement , size , design , and
generill site compatibility of buildings , lighting , signs , open
spacer , and outdoor waste disposal facilities .
4 . Adequacy , type , and arrangement of trees , shrubs , and
other landscaping constituting a visual and/or noise-deterring
Town Board Minutes 28 July 8 , 1991
buffer between the applicant ' s and adjoining lands , including
the retention of existing vegetation of value to the maxurnnn
extent possible .
59 In the case of a residential property , and in the case of
other properties where appropriate , the adequacy and utility
of open space for playgrounds and for informal recreation .
6 . Protection of adjacent properties and the general public
against noise , glare , unsightliness , or other objectionable
features .
7 . Adequacy of storm water , drainage , water supply , and
sewage disposal facilities .
8 . Adequacy of fire lanes and other emergency provisions .
90 The effect of the proposed development on environmentally
sensitive areas including but not limited to wetlands ,
floodplains , woodlands , steep slopes , and water courses , and
on other open space areas of importance to the neighborhood or
community .
10 . Compliance with the Zoning Ordinance , subdivision
regulations , if applicable , and any other applicable laws ,
rules, , requirements , or policies .
10 . Article IX is further amended by adding a new section 46-e
reading as follows :
" Section 46-e . Other Provisions
1 . No building permit shall be issued for a project
with an approved final site plan until the applicant has
furnished to the Town Engineer an irrevocable letter of
credit in an amount to be approved by the Town Engineer .
Such letter of credit shall insure that all items on the
site plan that may be deemed necessary to provide for
adequate traffic flow , utilities , and other
infrastructure items are constructed in accordance with
the approved final site plan and any other pertinent
specifications and requirements . The Planning Board may
waive the requirement or may accept other evidence or
promise of completion of required facilities for the site
plan if , in its discretion , it determines that there is
no need for the letter of credit .
2 . No final certificate of occupancy or certificate of
�.anpliance shall be issued until all improvements shown
on the final site plan as approved by the Planning Board
are installed or until a sufficient performance
guarantee , such as a letter of credit , has been provided
to the Town for improvements not yet completed . The
:sufficiency of such performance guarantee shall be
determined by the Town Engineer after consultation with
the Building Inspector or other persons designated by the
planning Board . The Planning Board may waive the
requirement for such performance guarantee if , in its
discretion , it determines that the guarantee is not
needed .
30 Unless work has materially commenced in accordance
with the final site plan within one year from the
I
ssuance of the building permit authorizing such work , or
Tvrithin thirty-six months of the date the Planning Board
gave final site plan approval , whichever is earlier , not
Town Board Minutes 29 July 8 , 1991
only the building permit but the site plan approval (both
final and preliminary) shall expire and the permissible
uses and construction on the property shall revert to
those in effect prior to the granting of any site plan
approval . Notwithstanding the foregoing , if final site
plan approval was granted prior to July 8 , 1991 the time
to materially commence work shall be extended to July 8 ,
1994 or one year from the issuance of a building permit ,
whichever is earlier . The Planning Board , upon request
of the applicant , after a public hearing , and upon a
finding that the imposition of the time limits set forth
above would create an undue hardship on the applicant ,
may extend the time limits for such additional periods as
the Planning Board may reasonably determine . An
application for such extension may be made at the time of
filing of the original application or at any time
thereafter up to , but no later than , six months after the
expiration of the time limits set forth above .
For the purposes of this section , work will not have
"materially commenced" unless , at a minimum , ( i ) a
building permit , if required , has been obtained , ( ii)
construction equipment and tools consistent with the size
of the proposed work have been brought to and been used
on the site ; and ( iii ) substantial excavation (where
excavation is required) or significant framing , erection ,
or construction (where excavation is not required) has
been started and is being diligently pursued .
The Supervisor called for a roll call vote .
Councilman Klein Voting Aye
Councilwoman Leary Voting Aye
Councilman Liguori Voting Aye
Councilman Niklas Voting Aye
Councilman Whitcomb Voting Aye
Supervisor Raffensperger Voting Aye
Local Law No . 11 - 1991 was thereupon declared duly adopted .
Councilwon-an Leary questioned , we can vote , we could vote on it and
pass it even though it ' s substantially changed? She asked if the
Supervisor needed to sign a Certificate of Necessity?
Supervisor Raffensperger replied that it depends upon whether or
not anybody considers the change from twenty-four to thirty-six
that substantial . She stated that she assumed it was not .
Councilman. Niklas remarked , since we are sort of agreeing with the
recommendation , who is going to protest?
Town Attorney Barney stated that he would prepare a Certificate of
Necessity for the Supervisor to sign .
BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS VACANCY
RESOLUTION N0 , 162
Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas ,
Town Board Minutes 30 July 81 1991
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby
recommend the appointment of James L . Mayer , 1251 Trumansburg Road ,
to the Board of Fire Commissioners for the term of July 1 , 1991 to
June 30 , 1994 .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
James Mayer stated that he was the Captain of the fire station that
is located in the West Hill Station . We are trying to encourage
people who are in the Town on the West Hill side to join them as
volunteers .
AMENDING IATATER RATE STRUCTURE TO INCLUDE PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO
PROVIDE W7iTER METER READINGS
Supervisor Raffensperger stated that there were matters of concern
expressed at the previous Town Board meeting , there were also
questions about procedures . Ted Wixom has provided the Board with
som written material and is here tonight to answer questions .
Supervisor Raffensperger went on to note a letter dated July 1 ,
1991 from Noel Desch about the no-read policy and attached to it is
a "Dear C�ustomer " letter . She stated that at the Bolton Point
Commission meeting today she told the Commission that the letter
must be written so that people can understand what is being said
and they have promised to translate the legal language which is
quoted in here so that it is very clear to everyone what is going
to happen if they do not read their meter for three consecutive
quarters . She felt that these two items which basically came from
the Village of Cayuga Heights , in their public hearing , met at
least sane of the concerns of the Board . She stated that she knew
Councilman Liguori was concerned about the amount of the fine but
she felt that was partly in relation to lack of fair warnings .
Councilman Liguori replied , not really . He thought he was
concerned about the amount but he was also concerned that the
program has not been thought out enough to suggest that what you
are really doing is paying a penalty because somebody has got to go
out there and read the meter . There is nothing in here that even
suggests that at the end of three consecutive quarters somebody is
going out and read the meter . There is not a thing in here that
suggests that that is going to happen .
Ted Wixom replied , what we do is contact people by phone or write
them letters . It is not something we want to happen automatically .
The whole thrust of this thing is to get away from that because if
you do it on an individual basis it becomes a lot more expensive
than going right down the street . We are encouraging people to
involve th(mmselves in the program and this is one chance the people
get to directly help control costs in services they get . We are
trying to avoid automatically going out . When people do have
problems and they communicate to us that they don ' t understand how
to read the meter or they can ' t find it or they have legitimate
problems , we will go right out there with no sense of charging
them .
Councilman Liguori replied that what he did not understand was ,
after three quarters you are still not going out and read that
meter ? you are going to say to the customer we aren ' t going to
read the meter but you are going to pay $ 100 ever quarter after
three quarters ? If people really understood that what they are
really doing is paying a penalty , which is a fair market value , of
going out and reading a single meter and he didn ' t care what the
price was , but that they understood that they are paying i_s the
fair market value of the cost of going out there and reading their
Town Board Minutes 31 July 8 , 1991
meter then they would equate this whole thing , not to a penalty .
It seem to him that they could put a value on how much it is to go
out and read a meter . Councilman Liguori asked why wait for the
three quarters , if they didn ' t read it for two quarters in a row
then at the end of that time you charge them the $ 25 . 00 fee or
whatever it is and you go out and read it .
Councilman Klein added , if the purpose is to get the consumption
accurate , why wait for three quarters .
Ted Wixom replied that he thought the three quarters was picked
because isz this area a lot of people are legitimately gone . You
could pick one quarter to automatically trigger sending the
letters . The original wording on the card was not correct and has
been chanced . We do not go out automatically as 500 of the people
are not hcnne .
Councilman Klein asked if the issue was to raise revenue or to get
accurate readings ?
supervisor Raffensperger replied , it is to get timely meter
readings . The whole Bolton Point system is built on the assumption
that the �lmdividual will read their meter . If people don ' t , over
period of time , the whole thing breaks down . You are not able to
estimate consumption for the future , you don ' t know how to budget ,
you don ' t know how much was actually been consumed in any given
municipality . It presents a lot of different problems .
Councilman Klein remarked , that policy was changed in 1987 it
wasn ' t actually built in .
supervisor Raffensperger replied that is correct but it is now
because there is not the personnel to read meters , it was a cost
saving device .
Councilman Niklas remarked , if you estimate this thing , penalty or
charge whatever you want to call it , in terms of cost of sending
personnel to read the meter and the cost to the Commission for the
lack of precise and accurate information , it seems to him $ 100 is
not unreasonable . Particularly if one of the objectives is then
also to provoke the user of the water to do their own reading . It
really is three issues , the cost of sending scmeone out , the cost
to the Commission for not having accurate information and some kind
of incentive for the person to read their own meter and you sure
aren ' t going to accomplish all that with a $ 25 . 00 charge .
supervisor Raffensperger remarked that frankly she could not
support a charge because if she were to say it was a charge then
she would want it proven to her that it was directly related to the
cost of providing a meter reading . It is honestly a penalty for
not having done it , which she personally could justify on the basis
of all of the difficulties it causes the whole water production
business and the billing system , etc * she felt it was honestly a
penalty and she thought it was one that the Commission basically
hopes no one will have to pay but that it will be substantial
enough when they receive the notice that says if you don ' t do it
you will have to pay $ 100 , they are going to go down and read their
meter and , if they don ' t know how, they are going to call Bolton
Point and say ccme and show me how to read my meter .
Councilman Niklas remarked , does he take that to mean that if the
Commission is truly to do it without cost to the Commission , to the
user , that you would likely come up with a number that was less
than $ 100 ?
Town Board Minutes 32 July 8 , 1991
Supervisor Raffensperger replied , we don ' t know . It might be $ 95 ,
it might be $87 . 50 . She felt that it cost the Commission more than
$ 25 per "no read " , she felt there was no doubt about it .
Councilwoman Leary remarked , say people paid the $ 25 , if enough
people paid that could the Commission hire somebody to go out and
do those readings ?
Ted Wixom replied , ultimately if you had such a volume that you
needed a person full time or part time , the $ 25 would probably go
along way towards that . Although the other half of this is that
once you get the meter reading back in the office the billing clerk
has to set aside her production work and to do custom work , which
is the other half of the cost .
Councilwoman Leary replied that she did not see really what the
harm would be to make it more in line with what realistically it
would cost: . If they have to hire more people and there is enough
penalty . . . . . .
Supervisor Raffensperger remarked , if they have to hire more people
to read meters it ' s going to cost a lot more than $ 100 for every no
read .
Councilwoman Leary replied that Mr . Wixom just said that the $ 25
would go a long way toward it
Supervisor Raffensperger replied , he meant he could take his truck
out there and read the meter once in a while but if what you get is
a habitual . . . .
Councilwoman Leary replied no , he said they could hire somebody
part time -to do it .
Councilman Whitcomb and Niklas asked how may no reads were there ?
Supervisor Raffensperger replied , 12 % of the total number of
customers ?
Ted Wixom replied , at that the last reading there were five that
fit that category .
Councilman Niklas asked , do you have any sense of the number of
people that are not responding to reading their meters because they
are simply out of town for three quarters or a greater period of
time ?
Mr . Wixom replied that it was hard to define that . He suspected
that if you would cane up with a list of reasons why people don ' t
read their meters there wouldn ' t be more than two or three in that
category .
Councilman Liguori asked if the amount of the penalty could be left
out and ju:;t approve the concept and let Bolton Point decide .
Supervisor Raffensperger replied that she went back to the
Commission and told them that there had been an objection on the
Board to the $ 100 figure , there was not , as she could recall , a
single othE�r municipality who had any objection to the $ 100 .
Councilwoman Leary asked if there would be a situation where
somebody contacted Bolton Point and said that they just couldn ' t
read the meter , they couldn ' t understand it or they just didn ' t
have the time , etc . Bolton Point would make the judgement as to
whether their excuse was good enough and they would continue to
Town Board Minutes 33 July 8 , 1991
levy the $ 100 fine each quarter , even if a person said they
couldn ' t handle it .
Mr . Wixom replied a person who calls , our tendency is to move away
from any punitive approach . If they are elderly and can ' t make the
stairs we will run a remote up stairs . There are people who don ' t
even know where the meter is . If they originally chose to put it
in a crawl space we will move the meter .
Councilwoman Leary replied that what she would like to see is some
sort of mLddle ground where you get away from a penalty for people
like that and charge them something like $ 25 if it turns out that
you have to send someone out there to read the meter .
Mr . Wixom replied that hopefully the notices will bring compliance
before it was necessary to charge them .
Councilwoman Leary remarked , but you are not making any allowances
for the possibility that you will have people who just won ' t read
the meter or can ' t read the meter and then it will cost , it might
cost Bolton Point and instead of charging them $ 100 you could
charge them something a little more realistic but still cover your
costs . What you are having is like a very black and white
situation .
Councilman Klein remarked that he had expressed his problem with
this at the last meeting and he did agree with Councilman Liguori .
He stated that he felt it was like taking a sledge hammer to swat a
fly . He want on to say that he was also somewhat troubled with the
fact that we had some comments last time and more comments tonight
and other than modifications to the card , the Village of Cayuga
Heights had some suggestions about certified mail and the answer
was no , no we don ' t want to do that . This is our bill and this is
what we are asking for . He stated that he did not see any sense of
cooperation here .
Supervisor Raffensperger replied that the accomm -nodation was made on
the card and as far as the letter going out , you have a draft of
the letter . She stated that she did raise the objection that it
was very difficult to figure out what it said and they promised it
would go out in plain english but those accamiodations were made in
response to the Village of Cayuga Heights . The primary objection
from this .Board , which she stated she did take back to CcmTlission ,
she thought , had to do with the amount of money and also the lack
of sort of stepped up notification , which she felt had been
clarified . She stated that she was not sure of the procedures so
she could not assure the Board that that was the case , that was one
reason Mr . Wixom came and there is a stepped up effort to gain
compliance and cooperation .
Councilman Klein replied that he thought they could try to get that
cooperation without imposing a ridiculous charge .
The Supervisor then called for a roll call vote to approve the
proposed Local Law amending the water rate structure to include
penalty for failure to provide water meter readings , which resulted
as follows ;:
Councilman Klein Voting Nay
Councilwoman Leary Voting Nay
Councilman Liguori Voting Nay
Councilman Niklas Voting Aye
Councilman Whitcomb Voting Nay
Supervisor Raffensperger Voting Aye
Town Board Minutes 34 July 8 , 1991
The proposed Local Law was thereupon declared duly defeated .
Supervisor Raffensperger stated that she would inform the
Commission that the proposal was soundly defeated . She stated that
she would like scene sense as to the direction the Board would like
to have this take in order to make such a law acceptable to the
Board . She stated that she guessed what she was hearing was that
the Board wants the charge to be smaller and to collect the actual
charges that Bolton Point might incur .
Councilwoman Leary remarked that she could support a penalty
besides that but that she would like to see some middle ground , a
small amount being more like a service charge and then for the
people who just clearly don ' t want to be bothered she could see
charging them a penalty .
Councilman. Whitcomb remarked that he would like to see the policy
more clearly spelled out . Mr . Wixom says they won ' t use the hammer
except as the last resort but you know how bureaucracy works , and
five year: down the road they look at the law and say , oh , a $ 100
fee . . . . . . . .
AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT OF MUNICIPAL COOPERATION FOR CONSTRUCTION
FINANCING AND OPERATION OF AN INTERMUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY AND
TRANSMISSION SYSTEM
Supervisor Raffensperger stated that because of the defeat of the
local law to include a penalty for failure to provide water meter
readings there was not need , at this time , to address this item .
SET DATE FOR PUBLIC HEARING TO AMEND LOCAL LAW # 2 , 1970 ,
ESTABLISHING STANDARDS OF CONDUCT FOR OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE
TOWN OF IT..HACA
Supervisor Raffensperger noted that because Councilwoman Valentino ,
Chair of the Committee was not able to attend the meeting she would
like to defer this item .
BUDGET TRANSFERS
RESOLUTION N0 . 163
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Klein ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approve
the following budget transfers :
FROM : TO : AMOUNT
A1990 . 4 Contingency A1320 . 4 Independent Audit $ 500
A1340 . 2 Budget-Equipment A1340 . 4 Budget-Contractual $ 1 , 200
A1430 . 2 Personnel-Equipnent A1340 . 4 Budget-Contractual $ 650
A5010 . 2 Supt . Hwy . -Equipment A5010 . 4 Supt . Hwy . -Contractual$ 750
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
PRESENTATION OF ENGIlVEERING REPORT ON BURLEIGH DRIVE LIGHTING
DISTRICT AqD SETTING OF PUBLIC HEARING
Town Board Minutes 35 July 8 , 1991
Town Engineer Dan Walker stated that the estimate from NYSEG says
we need seven 100 watt high pressure sodium luminaires for the
district :itself . The lighting of Burleigh Drive would include four
lights that are included in the enlarge district because they are
intersection lights . The cost to the lighting district will be a
total of $ 780 . 78 per year , distributing that down , the annual
average cost per household is somewhere between $ 22 and $ 23 . This
will be distributed to the residents .
Supervisor. Raffensperger noted that the Town had received a
petition from the residents which was not legal so the Town is
going through this process so that they do not have to have a
petition circulated again . This was initiated by the residents of
Burleigh Drive , they have been kept informed and as far as she
knew, were only impatient for the Town to get through the legal
complications .
Councilman Klein asked if everyone on the list was being notified?
Supervisor Raffensperger replied that they have been notifying only
their contact person . She stated that they could send a
notification to all persons on the list .
RESOLUTION N0 . 164
Motion by Councilman Liguori ; seconded by Councilman Whitcomb ,
WHEREAS , on June 10 , 1991 , the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca
duly adopted a resolution directing the Town Engineer to prepare a
map , plan and report for providing the facilities , improvements , or
services in a portion of the Town of Ithaca wherein a lighting
district was proposed to be established , and
WHEREAS , on June 28 , 1991 , the Town Engineer duly filed said map ,
plan and report in the Office of the Town Clerk of the Town of
Ithaca , and
WHEREAS , the boundaries of the proposed lighting district are as
set forth on Schedule A annexed hereto , and
WHEREAS , the improvements proposed consist of the installation of
seven luminaries along Burleigh Drive between Uptown Road and the
Cayuga Heights village line , all as more particularly shown on the
street lighting plan and as set forth in the letter from New York
State Electric & Gas Corporation dated March 27 , 1991 , and
WHEREAS , the maximum amount proposed to be expended for the
improvement is $0 for the construction of said lighting system , and
WHEREAS , it is estimated that the initial annual cost estimate for
the operation of said lighting system will be $780 . 78 per year , and
WHEREAS , tae map , plan and report describing such improvement are
on file in the Office of the Town Clerk of the Town of Ithaca for
public inspection ,
IT IS ORDERED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca shall meet
at the Town Hall , 126 East Seneca Street , Ithaca , New York , on the
12th day of August , 1991 at 7 : 30 P . M . , for the purpose of
ari
conducting a public he on the proposal to establish said
lighting district with the improvements specified above , at which
time and place all persons interested in the subject thereof may be
heard concerning the same ,
AND IT IS FURTHER ORDERED , that the Town Clerk of the Town of
Ithaca is hereby authorized and directed to publish a certified
Town Board Minutes 36 July 8 , 1991
copy of this order in the Ithaca Journal published in the City of
Ithaca , Ithaca , New York , and to post a copy of same on the
signboard of the Town of Ithaca , said publication and posting to
occur not less than ten nor more than twenty days before the day
designated above for the hearing .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye , Nays - none) ,
SALARY INCREASE FOR ENGRiEFRING TECHNICIAN
RESOLUTION N0 . 165
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Liguori ,
WHEREAS , -the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca appointed Wayne
Sincebaugh. as Engineering Technician beginning employment on
November 26 , 1990 , at an annual salary of $ 19 , 500 , with
consideration for a salary increase upon successful completion of a
6 month probationary period , and
WHEREAS , Wayne has performed his job in an excellent fashion and
successfully completed the 6month probationary period on May 28 ,
1991 ,
WHEREAS , the Town Engineer recommends that the appointment of Wayne
Sincebaugh as Engineering Technician be made permanent with a
salary of $ 20 , 500 , effective May 28 , 1991 ,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca does hereby appoint Mr . Wayne Sincebaugh as Engineering
Technician at an annual salary of $ 20 , 500 , effective May 28 , 1991 .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none) .
MAPPING SERVICES FOR COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN
RESOLUTION N0 . 166
Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas ,
WHEREAS , the Planning Department has provided a revision to the
estimate of hours needed to complete mapping services for the
comprehensive planning effort ,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca hereby authorize the Town Supervisor to arrange for mapping
services , beyond those previously approved , up to an additional 185
hours , at an hourly rate not to exceed $ 14 . 00 , or for an amount not
to exceed $ 2 , 590 . 00 .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
1991 BUDGE..0 ADJUSTMENT GOALS
Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the Board had received a copy
Of the memo that she had sent to Department Heads that indicates
that at the beginning of March when we first heard rumors on how
ungenerous the State of New York was going to be to local
municipalities , Department Heads were asked to begin cutting back
on their spending and deciding how they were really going to cut
Town Board Minutes 37 July 8 , 1991
back on it when we got the final news . When we received what seems
to have been interim information now , she stated that she met with
each of the Department Heads and discussed it with them and then we
went through and made , what we are now calling budget adjustments
goals . Because everything is so indefinite we can ' t really ask the
Board to make changes to the budget , at this time . This is just to
let the Town Board know we are making the attempt to , in mid-year ,
cut out almost 10 % of the budget .
Councilman Klein asked if these adjustments amounted to about
$200 , 000 ?
Supervisor Raffensperger replied , what you will find is that we
have increased some revenues and decreased some and it is the
combination of those kinds of cuts that you will see coming to
almost $200 , 000 , mid-way in the budget year . Today she received
information that looks like we will receive less in state aid per
capita and. a little more in CHIPS .
REFERRAL OF DRAFT PESTICIDE USE POLICY TO - CONSERVATION ADVISORY
COUNCIL
Supervisor Raffensperger noted that the staff has been assemblying
a draft policy on pesticide use . She felt this was partly in
response to the discussion which occurred in Common Council about
the Town of Ithaca ' s use of pesticides but she felt it would be
nice to have a written policy . She felt it was appropriate to
refer it to the Conservation Advisory Council .
Councilman Niklas remarked that in the second paragraph the word
"Particularly " be added after the word "employees " , because he felt
it was a primary concern at all times . The other thing , in
paragraph four that begins "Use of pesticides will be viewed as a
last resort . . . . . . . . . " , it is implicit here that pesticide also
means herbicide .
Supervisor Raffensperger replied that she had gotten a definition
and had brought it in , it came from a State or Federal manual which
defines pesticides and it was extremely clear so we can always
append it .
POLICY ON PESTICIDE USE
IN TCJWN OF ITHACA PARK FACILITIES
* * * * DRAFT * * * *
A respect for the land and assuming stewardship responsibility for
it will be the guiding philosophy of the Town of Ithaca in the
develoF merrt and maintenance of its public parks . To this end the
Town will practice pest control practices in its parks which are
effective yet safe for the environment and public at large .
Public health and environmental quality are primary concerns of the
Town of Ithaca and its employees particularly on those occasions
when pesticides must be applied in Town park facilities .
The design of Town parks will incorporate careful site selection
and preparation ; naturalized landscape design emphasizing a
diversity of native plant species ; use of heavy , disease and pest
resistant plant varieties ; proper planting and fertilization
procedures ;; and proper frequencies of watering , pruning , and
mowing .
Town Board Minutes 38 July 8 , 1991
Use of pesticides will be viewed as a last resport in the control
of insects , weeds and plant diseases in Town parks , and minimized
to the extent possible . By the calendar application of pesticides
will not be practiced .
All applications of pesticides will be done by professional
applicators who are certified by the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation .
All materials used are registered with and approved for use as
pesticides by the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation and the federal Environmental Protection Agency .
Individual. pesticides will be chosen for their effectiveness in
controlling specific pests and will be applied only when those
pests occur .
Whenever possible pesticide applications will occur early in the
morning in order to maximize the time interval between application
and arrival of park users .
Pesticide applications will occur only under weather conditions
that prevent the materials from drifting beyond the area being
treated .
Signs warning patrons to avoid the area will be posted at the
perimeter of the application location , as required by New York
State law . These signs will remain in place for twenty-four hours
after pesticides have been applied .
RESOLUTION NO . 167
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Klein ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby
recanmend that the policy on pesticide use in the Town of Ithaca
park facilities be referred to the Conservation Advisory Council
for their further consideration .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , . Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
CITY/SOUTH HILL TRAIL mFA4ORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
Supervisor Raffensperger stated that there may be some minor
changes in the language after the Attorney ' s see it again but she
was asking for the Board ' s approval on the basic content of this
memorandum of understanding .
Councilman Niklas questioned page 2 , item number 6 . He stated that
he thought one of the concerns of our attorney earlier was that the
fair market price of this land before or after the easement was
granted and he asked the Town Attorney if he wasn ' t concerned about
the fact -the value could be dramatically increased if the City
decides to subdivide this property , before the easement is
requested and granted? He asked if the market value would increase
if they subdivided it ?
Town Attorney Barney replied yes but if that ' s the time we took the
easement that would be the measure of our campensation , anyway .
Councilman Niklas went on to say the other question he had was
further down in the paragraph , " If the parties are unable to agree
on the amount of compensation with ten ( 10 ) days . . . . . . . . , he asked
Town Board Minutes 39 July 8 , 1991
why ten days , it seemed short , and are those ten working days
because it doesn ' t specify?
Town Attorney Barney replied , in the General Construction Law in
the absence of a definition otherwise it ' s ten calendar days . We
had originally drafted that we could go ahead and they would give
us a deed and we would later agree on the value and so we had
fairly long time periods in there , probably more reasonable time
periods to go through that process . They insisted they wanted to
be paid when they give us a deed so it seemed appropriate to
shorten the time periods , if NYSEG takes away their easement , we
would want to get started as soon as possible on a replacement
trail .
RESOLUTION[ N0 . 168
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Whitcomb ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby
authorize the Town Supervisor to execute the Memorandum of
Understanding with the City of Ithaca for the South Hill Recreation
Way Alternate Trail Route .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
PURCHASING CERTIFICATION SCHOOL
RESOLUTION N0 . 169
Motion by Councilman Whitcomb ; seconded by Councilman Niklas ,
WHEREAS , -the Town ' s Accounting Supervisor , Sally Alario , also
serves as the Town Purchasing Agent , and
WHEREAS , Sally has received no formal training relating to her
purchasing responsibilities , and there are potential savings in
further training relating to the Public Purchase arena , and
WHEREAS , the SAMPO Chapter of NIGP is sponsoring the General Public
Purchasing course in Ithaca , September 18-20 , 1991 , at a cost of
$ 400 , plus mileage and $ 25 for meals ,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca hereby authorize Sally Alario , Accounting
Supervisor,/Purchasing Agent , to attend the NIGP General Public
Purchasing course to be held in Ithaca , September 18-20 , 1991. The
costs for the course not to exceed $450 are to be charged to
A1670 . 499 Shared Services - Miscellaneous .
(Raffenspe:rger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
WATER AND SEWER REFUNDS
RESOLUTION NO . 170
Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Klein ,
( 1 )
WHEREAS , Theodore valkering of 305 Roat Street , paid a late penalty
of $5 . 67 on his water and sewer bill under protect , and there is
reasonable doubt as to whether he received the bill on which the
penalty was assessed ,
Town Board Minutes 40 July 81 1991
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca authorizes a refund of the penalty paid in the amount of
$5 . 67 .
( 2 )
WHEREAS , Mr . Ciriaco Arroyo , 108 Winston Drive , has received
permission from the SCLIWC billing supervisor to pay his water and
sewer bill_ in installments , and
WHEREAS , the large amount of the bill was partially a result of a
meter malfunction and the Town Clerk of the Town of Ithaca assured
Mr . Arroyo that no penalty would be assessed during the installment
payment period if such a request were made to SCLIWC , and
WHEREAS , Mr . Arroyo has made such a written request ,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca authorizes the installment payment of the March water and
sewer bill of Ciriaco Arroyo without penalty and authorizes a
refund of any penalty previously paid by Mr . Arroyo .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none) .
WATER AND SEWER REFUNDS
RESOLUTION N0 . 171
Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilwoman Leary ,
( 1 )
WHEREAS , the customer at 121 Winston Drive has been over estimated
for two quarters and is currently up to date , and
WHEREAS , the tenants have requested a refund as they are leaving
the premises ,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca hereby authorize a refund of $ 46 . 76 for water , $ 6 . 89 for
Water Surcharge , $ 42073 for Sewer , $3 . 26 for Sewer surcharge for a
total refund of $ 102 . 96 , to be paid to Dan Barbash , 121 , Winston
Drive , Ithaca , New York . Account Number U-32369
( 2 )
WHEREAS , the customer at 143 Birchwood Drive North had requested a
final read on his water account , and
WHEREAS , the final read bill included his normal June bill amount
which had already been paid ,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca here authorize a refund of $ 73 . 07 for Water , $ 7 . 95 for Water
Surcharge , $31 . 68 for Sewer , $3 . 74 for Sewer Surcharge , for a total
refund of $ 128 . 08 be paid to C . C . Chu , 143 Birchwood Drive North ,
Ithaca , New York . Account Number U-3053 .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
COPY MACHINE RENTALS
RESOLUTION N0 . 172
Town Board Minutes 41 July 8 , 1991
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilwoman Leary ,
WHEREAS , the lease for the first floor copier recently expired , and
WHEREAS , the second floor copier (purchased in 1987 ) has not held
up well do to the demands placed on it and was not rated to handle
the current copy volume , and
WHEREAS , recently several copiers were evaluated by Town Hall staff
in standard and special features , convenience , ease of use
reliability , etc . , and
WHEREAS , the staff rated the Sharp 8870 as most suitable for the
needs of 'Town Hall staff on the second floor and the Konica 4045 as
most suitable for use on the first floor ,
NOW THERE1'0RE BE IT RESOLVED , that a 12 month rental of the Sharp
8870 with noted options at a monthly cost of $404 . 25 and a 12-month
rental of the Konica 4045 with noted options at a monthly cost of
$ 402 . 00 be authorized , and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Supervisor be authorized to
execute the rental agreements after review by the Town Attorney ,
AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board hereby authorizes
purchase of the Toshiba BD7720 copies ( currently leased for use on
the first floor) at a cost of $919 . 00 total for use at the Highway
Garage . Monies were budgeted for these transaction in Account
A1670 . 200 - Copier Payments .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none) .
STUDY OF Wpa REN ROAD FOR N . Y . S . DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION BY
TOWN ENGINEER AND TOWN PLANNER
Supervisor Raffensperger reported that the State of New York has a
new procedures and if we want to we can provide them with the
necessary study data to go along with our request for a lower
maximum speed limit on Warren Road . We have to notify them within
30 days of our intentions .
RESOLUTION NO . 173
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Liguori ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby
authorize the Town Engineer and the Town Planner to proceed with
study data in conjunction with the Town ' s request for the lowering
of the speed limit on Warren Road .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
MaRD OF FUEL BID
Highway Superintendent Scott McConnell remarked that this was an
annual happening and that they had received bids from Andree and
Star Oil with Star Oil being the low bidder .
Town Attorney Barney asked if this was a firm price , per gallon ,
for the entire year?
Town Board Minutes 42 July 8 , 1991
The Highway Superintendent replied no Actually the fluctuations
are based on rack price changes and have to be substantiated with a
letter to us . This was the June 28th rack price .
RESOLUTIO14 N0 . 174
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Whitcomb ,
WHEREAS , Star Oil Company was the lowest responsible bidder for the
fuel service , and
WHEREAS , the initial costs are for diesel fuel to be $ . 662 /gal . and
for unleaded plus gasoline to be $ . 798 /gal , also for the skid tank
located at the garage , the diesel price is $ . 762 ,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca hereby accept the bid from Star Oil for the next 12 months ,
July 10 , 1991. thru July 9 , 1992 .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none) .
CHANGE ORDER # 3 - WEST HILL SEWER
Supervisor Raffensperger noted that this item had been withdrawn
from the agenda .
MANDATORY TRAINING FOR TOWN JUSTICES
RESOLUTION NO . 175
Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas ,
WHEREAS , the annual Town Justices ' s training seminar is scheduled
for July 21 , 22 , and 23 , at St . Lawrence University in Canton , New
York , and
WHEREAS , this advanced training seminar is mandated by the State to
be attended by all Town Justices ,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of
Ithaca hereby authorize Merton J . Wallenbeck and Warren A . Blye ,
Town Justices , to attend the seminar at St . Lawrence University in
Canton , Nela York .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
TOWN BOARD MINUTES
RFSOLUTION N0 . 176
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Supervisor Raffensperger ,
RESOLVED , that the the June 10 , 1991 Town Board Minutes be approved
as presented .
( Raffensperger , Whitccanb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
TOWN OF ITHACA WARRANTS
Town Board Minutes 43 July 8 , 1991
RESOLUTION NO . 177
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilwoman Leary ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby approves
the Town of Ithaca Warrants dated July 8 , 1991 , in the following
amounts :
General Fund - Town Wide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 100 , 709 . 36
General Fund - Outside Village . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 40 , 823 . 16
Highrvray Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 75 , 744 . 84
Water- & Sewer Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 589 , 536 . 57
Capital Projects Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 50 , 722 . 35
Fire Protection Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 495 , 865 . 04
Lighting Districts Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 550 . 74
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye , Nays; - none ) .
BOLTON POINT WARRANTS
RESOLUTION N0 . 178
Motion by Supervisor Raffensperger ; seconded by Councilman Niklas ,
RESOLVED , that the Bolton Point Warrants dated July 8 , 1991 , in the
Operating Account are hereby approved in the amount of $ 90 , 044 . 97
after review and upon the recommendation of the Southern Cayuga
Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission , they are in order for
payment .
( Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none) .
EXECUTIVE SESSION
RESOLUTION N0 . 179
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby moves
into Executive Session to discuss land acquisition , personnel
matter and matters of possible litigation .
(Raffensperger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
OPEN SESSION
RESOLUTION NO . 180
Motion by Councilman Niklas ; seconded by Councilman Liguori ,
RESOLVED , that the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca hereby moves
back into Open Session .
( Raffenspe:rger , Whitcomb , Leary , Klein , Liguori and Niklas voting
Aye . Nays - none ) .
ADJOURNNEN'.0
The meeting was duly adjourned .
Town Board Minutes 44 July 8 , 1991
Clerk '