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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-10-06 Town Board Minutes OCTOBER 6, 2021 5:00 P.M. TOWN BOARD MEETING The Regular Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Cortlandville was held via Zoom video and telephone conference as permitted by the Executive Order of the State of New York, with Supervisor Williams presiding. Members present: Supervisor, Thomas A. Williams Councilman, Jay E. Cobb Councilman, Jeffrey D. Guido Councilman, Theodore V. Testa Councilman, Douglas E. Withey Town Clerk, Kristin E. Rocco-Petrella Others present were: Town Attorney, John DelVecchio; Deputy Town Clerk, Abigail Albro; Highway Sup’t. Larry Drach; Supervisor’s Secretary, Patty O’Mara; Assistant to the Supervisor’s Secretary, Amanda Rainbow; Town Bookkeeper, Megan Johnson; Amelia McLean- Robertson, Attorney from Bond Schoeneck & King; Dan Gapski; Brendan McGovern; Canrles Warren; Adam Thielen; Whitney Hargett; Town Residents: Yvonne Ligoci; Bernice Potter- Masler; Tammy Timmerman; John Folmer; Jean Williams; Robert Martin; Pamela Jenkins; Kenneth Woodman; Donna Johnson; Peter Morse-Ackley; and News Reporters: Colin Spencer from the Cortland Standard; and Kevin Smith and Eddie Velasquez from the Cortland Voice. Supervisor Williams called the Regular Meeting to order. Councilman Withey made a motion, seconded by Councilman Testa, to approve the Draft Town Board Minutes of September 1, 2021. All voting aye, the motion was carried. Councilman Withey made a motion, seconded by Councilman Testa, to receive and file the Cortlandville Planning Board Minutes of August 31, 2021. All voting aye, the motion was carried. Councilman Withey made a motion, seconded by Councilman Testa, to receive and file the Cortlandville Recreation Commission Minutes of September 9, 2021. All voting aye, the motion was carried. RESOLUTION #283 AUTHORIZE SUPERVISOR TO SIGN PURCHASE ORDER #0184 TO P.A.C.S. SECURITY SENTINEL SYSTEMS TO UPDATE THE TOWN’S SECURITY SYSTEM Motion by Councilman Withey Seconded by Councilman Testa VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Guido, Testa, Withey NAY – 0 ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby authorize and direct the Supervisor to sign Purchase Order #0184 to be paid to P.A.A.C. Security Sentinel Systems, for the purchase of “twist on connectors for RG59 cable 16 channel, 4 tera byte digital recorder” and labor/installation to replace the failing digital recorder system in the Town Hall/Town Court, for the total cost of $3,289.00. RESOLUTION #284 AUTHORIZE PAYMENT OF VOUCHERS – OCTOBER Motion by Councilman Testa Seconded by Councilman Withey VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Guido, Testa, Withey NAY – 0 ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the vouchers submitted have been audited and shall be paid as follows: Funds A, B, DA, DB, Voucher #1216-1304 HG, SF, SS, SW General Fund A $ 50,132.72 General Fund B $ 12,970.19 Highway Fund DA $ 0.00 Highway Fund DB $ 37,097.73 Gutchess Lumber SC Project HG $ 0.00 C’Ville Fire District SF $ 0.00 Sewer Fund SS $ 4,545.56 Water Fund SW $ 13,900.13 OCTOBER 6, 2021 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 2 Funds CD1, CD3, CD4 Voucher #46-50 BMills Rehab CD1 $ 0.00 Town Wide Rehab CD3 $ 60,592.74 Business Devl CD4 $ 0.00 Funds TA, TE Voucher #29-32 Trust & Agency TA $ 46,658.10 Expendable Trust TE $ 0.00 Councilman Testa made a motion, seconded by Councilman Guido, to receive and file the following monthly reports: 1) Water & Sewer Department – August and September 2021; 2) Code Enforcement Officer, Kevin McMahon – September 2021; and 3) Town Clerk – September 2021. All voting aye, the motion was carried. *Councilman Cobb joined the meeting at this time. Supervisor Williams offered privilege of the floor to Pamela Jenkins. Town Resident Pamela Jenkins: There we go. Okay. Thank you Mr. Williams and Board Members. Today, I'm requesting that you please discuss in public the actions you have taken and the actions you intend to take regarding the Permissive Referendum Special Election. Please also put that in writing in a letter to me. Then, on to the Agenda Items. Well, item I-5a is so unspecific. Actually, the text of the amendment should be... have been included with the agenda so that the public could review it, and perhaps comment on it. You know, we don't know what that item, agenda item, means. So, regarding agenda item I-5b, concerning the possibility of changing the Town's personal… Personnel Policy to allow Mr. DelVecchio to be able to acquire his health insurance through the Town of Cortlandville, I have this question which I posed to the Town Clerk at 8:01 a.m. this morning. What would this agenda... I'm sorry. What would this amendment to the Town Personnel Policy cost taxpayers per year? And also, let's see. Mr. DelVecchio has a Private Limited Liability Law Office on Route 281. He is also Town Attorney for numerous other Towns, besides Cortlandville. Mr. DelVecchio is a part time contractor for Cortlandville. He is not an employee, and recall, he's part time. Currently, he does not qualify to receive his health insurance, nor potentially his family's health insurance through Cortlandville. Information… is absent from the agenda. It should show… it does not show the public the wording for the amendment to the Personnel Policy, which the Town is considering. It also lacks information about whether or what the burden to taxpayers would be if this Board were to pass the amendment to our Town Personnel Policy. Today, as I said, today I requested information about it at 8:01 a.m. this morning. I got nothing. So I'm asking you to reject the proposed amendment, which would allow Mr. DelVecchio to qualify for health insurance through Cortlandville. The wording of that proposed amendment is not available to the public. Also not available to the public is any information about if this would be at a cost to taxpayers. Again, Mr. DelVecchio has a private practice, legal office and he contracts with numerous other Towns. Cortlandville does not need to potentially burden taxpayers further by providing Mr. DelVecchio’s health insurance. Thank you. Supervisor Williams offered privilege of the floor to Robert Martin. Town Resident Robert Martin: Thank you Town Board Members. I would like to respond also to item I-5b, to allow the Town Attorney to qualify for Town Health Insurance. Per Town Law Manual section 7.5, Town Attorney and Town Engineer, there are two distinct options for appointment of the Town Attorney. One, the appointments for specific matters for “Attorney for the Town”. Anyone retained in this capacity is not a Town Officer, but rather an Independent Contractor. Second item, established of office where the Town who elects to establish the Office of Town Attorney, whoever is appointed is a Town Officer, and thus would be included on the Town Payroll, where the Office of Town Attorney is established appointees have a two-year term. I was not able to determine the Town Attorney’s appointment status from the Town's website. The list of Town Officials does not include the Town Attorney. From the Supervisor’s Office page form of Town Government, the Town Government is governed by from us provisions of Town Law. The Town appoints a Bookkeeper, Engineer, and Town Attorney whose terms are fixed by Town Law. Before determining if a Town Attorney should be allowed to qualify for Town Health Insurance, his employment status must be clarified. Typically only full-time employees qualify. The Town Attorney is not a full-time position. For Section 7.21d of the Town Law Manual: Hospitalization, the Town Board may also provide medical insurance to its officers and employees. OCTOBER 6, 2021 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 3 The cost may be paid either partly by the Town and partly covered by the covered officers and employees or wholly by the Town. What is the option being considered, and the cost to the Town? Regarding item. I-8, resolution authorizing David Briggs, Town Assessor to hire Julie M. Gross as his Real-Property Assistant. Has the workload significantly increased to justify this position? Is there money in the budget to add this position at this time? Is there a transition plan in the event that David Briggs may retire? Thank you. Supervisor Williams offered privilege of the floor to Tammy Timmerman. Town Resident Tammy Timmerman: Hi. Good evening, my name is Tammy Timmerman. I am the co-owner of Willowbrook Golf Club on Route 215. I also happen to be President of the Cortland County Tavern and Restaurant Association and Treasurer for the NYS Tavern and Restaurant Association. I am here tonight as a representative of the golf courses, bars and restaurants of Cortland County to publicly support the contract between the Town of Cortlandville and PBRT. I am not here to throw numbers around tonight. Both sides have been good at that so far. I’m here tonight to tell you that this contract is just damn good for Cortland. This contract can and will have a huge economic impact not only for the town but for the entire County. After the past 18 months of economic hardships for our hotels, taverns and restaurants, the PBRT Contract is a blessing. As a County and a Town, we need to embrace the future of sporting competitions and tourism. The potential for millions of dollars in sales tax revenue, hotel occupancy tax revenue, and fuel taxes can be ours. I have listened to the opponents of this contract twist the facts to fit their own narrative. Have the opponents of the PBRT Contract contacted businesses and hotels for their thoughts – I think not. What I have not heard from the opponents of this contract is how they plan to generate $218,000 a year in guaranteed income for the next 10 years to the Town and millions of dollars in revenues for businesses, hotels and the County. Look 40 minutes north of us, do we really want Onondaga County reaping all of the tax benefits of those sporting events. Onondaga County is ready and willing to commit 25 million dollars to sporting fields. We cannot give them a chance to take baseball away from us. During the past 8 months our restaurants have had significant walk-in traffic from the people participating in this year’s tournaments. Not only is walk-in up business significantly up, the delivery of food to hotels is also significantly improved. People visiting Cortland for a weekend of baseball are also supporting grocery stores, gas stations, local attractions and yes, golf courses. During a baseball tournament weekend, we averaged 20-30 parents playing golf at Willowbrook. And, that’s just one golf course. For the first time in several years, hotels were full every weekend that PBR tournament was hosted in Cortland this year. I do not know why something that is so good for our future has been turned into a political feud. Regardless of party affiliation, we should all be working together to bring this much needed revenue to our Town, our County and most importantly our businesses. I would like to publicly thank Tom Williams, Jay Cobb, Jeff Guido, Ted Testa, John DelVecchio, Machelle Phelps, John McNerney and Garry VanGorder for all of your hard work, dedication and support of this project with PBR. Thank you for your time. Supervisor Williams apprised the Board and those in attendance that the fourth person who requested privilege of the floor was Gerry Ruggiero. Mr. Ruggiero did not have the capability to join the meeting via Zoom and was also unavailable this evening. Mr. Ruggiero delivered a signed written statement today and asked that it be included and read into the record. Supervisor Williams asked Deputy Town Clerk Albro to read the statement as submitted. Deputy Town Clerk Abigail Albro: Okay, statement from Gerry Ruggerio. I want to respond to Doug Withey’s campaign advertisement in the Cortland Standard on September 25, 2021. He claims that the petition for permissive referendum would allow the taxpayers a voice and the ability to choose on a very expensive project. What Doug failed to mention was a permissive referendum can only legally take place under specific statutory authority. Simply put, Town Law dictates when a referendum is legally allowed. It is settled law in this Judicial District, that the signing of a management agreement like this one cannot have a permissive referendum. It doesn't matter that there is a petition, it doesn't matter what the political motivation of the candidates are. If Doug cannot give a Town Law statue authoring a referendum he should retract his miss information. Doug stated in his advertisement that he isn't convinced if this deal is financially viable. Well political campaigns talk about inflation and escalation clauses they are talking around the truth. Currently taxpayers pay approximately $200,000 a year, towards the funding of the current Park, they will continue to do so if this deal wasn't made. Conservatively the total revenue from the management agreement and the sign rental agreement approximately covers the monthly debt obligation of the old deal and any new debt that might be necessary to complete the project. If my analysis is correct the taxpayer will save $200,000 a year. And this Town will eventually, own a multi million dollar asset that the taxpayers didn't pay for. Our restaurants and bars will hire more employees and pay more sales tax, our hotels will have more occupancy, and pay more occupancy taxes. New businesses will be attracted to the 281 corridor. What better development could we ask OCTOBER 6, 2021 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 4 for over our precious aquifer? I hope Doug corrects the record. This town has been successfully run, and it would be a shame if we continue this anti business mindset on the Town Board. Signed Gerry Ruggiero. Supervisor Williams thanked those who spoke during privilege of the floor. There was a brief discussion regarding the proposed Local Law of 2021 to Local Law to “Amend the Zoning Code to Further Safeguard the Existing Wellhead Protection Areas Within the Town of Cortlandville’s Aquifer Protection District and Other Related Amendments”. Supervisor Williams explained that after comments were received by various people the Attorney has made some changes to the wording. He asked the Board to table the matter until the next meeting. RESOLUTION #285 TABLE ACTION ON THE PROPOSED LOCAL LAW OF 2021, “A LOCAL LAW TO AMEND THE ZONING CODE TO FURTHER SAFEGUARD THE EXISTING WELLHEAD PROTECTION AREAS WITHIN THE TOWN OF CORTLANDVILLE’S AQUIFER PROTECTION DISTRICT AND OTHER RELATED AMENDMENTS” Motion by Councilman Guido Seconded by Councilman Withey VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Guido, Testa, Withey NAY – 0 ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board hereby tables action on the proposed Local Law of 2021, “A Local Law to Amend the Zoning Code to Further Safeguard the Existing Wellhead Protection Areas Within the Town of Cortlandville’s Aquifer Protection District and Other Related Amendments” until October 20, 2021. Attorney DelVecchio reported: Permissive Referendum Petition re: Town Board Resolution #228 of 2021: Attorney DelVecchio: Okay. I want to speak about the Permissive Referendum Petition. In doing that and take everybody back to August 4 when the Town Board adopted a Resolution entering into the contract with PBR. Can everybody hear me okay? Just want to make sure. Okay. My advice to the Town Board at that point in time, was to make that Resolution subject to Permissive Referendum and that's what the Board decided to do. After that Resolution was adopted, a Permissive Referendum Petition was filed. The Town Clerk and I did what the law requires... required us to do, and analyzed that petition, which we did. We looked at all the issues, the relevant issues, and learned a bunch of things. One of the things that we obviously learned was that potentially the Town would have to conduct a Special Election, where a referendum vote would occur. In the meantime, an individual came forward to the Town and threatened to sue the Town. And, the basis of that was that the... that a referendum vote cannot legally occur with respect to that adopted Resolution. That, and all of the legal issues that I was parsing through at the time, caused me to do some more deep, deep legal research, very diligent, legal research, which I did. That legal research led me to consulting with the Association of Towns. Association of Towns is a... it's an apolitical entity, consisting of Attorneys that have a high degree of expertise in Municipal Law issues. They deal with Municipal Law issues on a daily basis. And that office essentially provides ancillary advice to Towns, and also Town Attorneys across New York State. I fully informed the Association of Towns, about the accused involved, the complicated issues involved. Involving the Resolution, involving the Permissive Referendum Petition, and also involving in the contract in question. The Association of Towns took the position that a referendum vote is not possible in this scenario. Even though a Permissive Referendum petition has been filed with the Town. That conclusion is basically, rooted or based on the notion that the document, the contract that was entered into by the Town, is in fact a management agreement. It's what it's titled at the top. And not a lease agreement. Because of that, legally the Town cannot conduct a Special Election, a referendum vote, as a result of the permissive referendum petition being filed. That advice, I took at the time. And I want to make sure that we get this right. I continued to do some research myself and I thought that a second opinion would be appropriate. I then consulted with an extremely well-respected law firm. I thought it would be appropriate to go to a law firm that was very far away from Cortland County, had no ties to the community whatsoever. And, I consulted with that law firm, and I consulted with an Attorney that has a high, high degree of OCTOBER 6, 2021 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 5 expertise, not only expertise, but experience with Permissive Referendum petition issues. And, I'm going to tell you there aren't a lot of Attorneys that have expertise and experience with those things. But, this attorney does. I informed him of the same thing I did with the Association of Towns. The Resolution in question, the Permissive Referendum Petition, as well as the contract with PBRT. That Attorney came to the same, almost the same, exact conclusion as the Association of Towns. And, the Attorney concluded that the document in question is, in fact, a management agreement. And, even though a Permissive Referendum Petition has been filed, the Town cannot legally conduct a Special Election, and a referendum vote. Now, two opinions have been obtained, along with my legal research. I know this is a sensitive issue. There are people that signed a petition and want their voices heard. And I understand that. I respect that. My advice, at this time, as a result of my investigation, and my research, and the opinions that I've obtained is for the Town Board to adopt a Resolution that makes a thing that the agreement that was executed on August 4 is in fact a management agreement. And further, that the Town Board rescind that portion of that Resolution on August 4, which makes that Resolution subject to a Permissive Referendum. That is perfectly in line with the opinions that I've received from Attorneys, with a high degree of experience and expertise, like I said, and my own research. Regarding the finding of a Management Agreement. I just want to let the Board Members know that what I did is I went back through all minutes in the last two years. And, everybody who has spoken about the agreement with PBR, everybody, anybody who's taken the Privilege of the Floor, Town Board Members, myself, anybody has referred to that document as an agreement or contract. It is a management agreement. Now, I understand that the effect of this is that you may not get people's voices... people are going to say, potentially, that they may not get their voices heard. Right? What everybody has to understand here is that the Town has to follow the law. It's my job as Town Attorney to make sure that we follow the law. And the law, unfortunately, does not allow a referendum vote on this issue. That's what the law says. And, in deliberating a potential motion on my advice, I'm asking that each Town Board Member take a hard think about making sure that you follow the law. Again, I've taken this very seriously. Maybe more seriously than anything I've looked at in my career. Supervisor Williams: Thank you John. Let me, let me see if I can call that down to a few sentences. Your recommendation is that we, as a Town Board, take an action now, by a motion, to recognize that what we did on the 4th of August was pure and simply a management agreement. And, in doing that we precluded a permissive referendum because there is no statutory authority for a Permissive Referendum in regard to a management agreement. And that has such, the Town Board now should rescind any mention of a Permissive Referendum only, just that... only from that original motion which we, we can do. Is that what you're saying Mr. DelVecchio? Attorney DelVecchio: That's what I'm... that's what I'm saying. In order for the Town to have a referendum voted, a Special Election, there has to be a statutory basis or authority for that to happen. And the documents of… the only way that that is possible, in this scenario, is if that document is a lease. It is not a lease, it is a management agreement. And therefore, there is no statutory authority for a Permissive Referendum, or a referendum vote. And the Permissive Referendum, unfortunately, is null and void as a matter of law. Supervisor Williams: Okay. Let’s, before we discuss this, let's see if we can get a motion to get this on the floor. Does anybody on the Board want to make that motion? Councilman Cobb: Tom? This is Jay. Supervisor Williams: Yes. Councilman Cobb: In light of what the Association of Towns has recommended, and this other lawyer. I’m going to make a motion that we rescind the part of the law like you’ve written. So… as far as the Permissive Referendum is concerned. And, it is a management agreement. Supervisor Williams: Thank you. Do we have a second? Mr. Guido, Mr. Testa do we have a second? Councilman Guido: I'll second. Supervisor Williams: Okay. The floor is open for discussion. We have a motion and a second. Councilman Withey: Tom, I have some comments. The number one, on August 4, the Resolution to sign the contract, I believe, I don't have in front of me, included a Permissive Referendum. Is that correct John? As the Resolution... Supervisor Williams: There was mention of Permission Referendum on that Resolution. OCTOBER 6, 2021 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 6 Councilman Withey: On that Resolution. Supervisor Williams: On that Resolution. Attorney DelVecchio: Yup. Councilman Withey: Okay. So I would suggest that we're going to rescind the Permissive Referendum part, that we rescind the whole contract and give the, the parties, the taxpayer, a chance to read the contract in full and comment back to the Board so we can get the flavor of our voters our taxpayers. We haven't got that. They haven't got that. Okay? And that's the part that is upsetting. Also, while I'm on the floor here. I would like to see a transcript or an opinion from these Attorneys of the Town Council of Attorneys and so on there so that can be read into the record, coming from them as their opinion. I think right now this is still a little bit loose, I'd like to see something more concrete. It's unfortunate that it was an error of our Attorney, that Permissive Referendum was an option. It's unfortunate that that statement was part of the resolution, in the sense that we should know when we sign a contract, what that means, legally, between the two parties. What it means to the voter. What it means to the Town Council. So, that error has created a lot of confusion, and a lot of angst out there regarding the Park. When 243 residents, Town residents, signed that in a very short period of time, and had real question as to why do we even have the Park, number one. Well, the fact the matter is there. It’s not like we are going to package it up and mail it back. It's there. And the whole thing requires some sort of sustainability. And this contract does not offer that as a contract. Now granted, there will be some economic gain out there, countywide and stuff, but there's no concrete numbers there. No one's delivered any numbers that substantiates their opinion that this is good, bad or indifferent. The fact of the matter is, for the past two years, we've been spending four times what we've been bringing in, approximately. It's not a solid number, but it's an approximate number, as one that's in the, in the Town's records for budget and finance considerations. I have asked several times for cost benefit analysis. That has not been done. For seven years, this whole program has been done in sec ret. And this is what's upsetting to the public. It's upsetting to me. I am one of the representatives. And I took the stance that the people need to know, and through the public ref... or Permissive Referendum, we did that. And so the answers to the public haven't been forthcoming. And the answers that I am looking for have not been forthcoming. And this is just the wrong, wrong way of doing governance in our Town. We need to recognize that. So, if you want to move ahead with this, I say first, let's get the evidence that this is wrong. And, I don't like questioning our Attorney, but he's done a lot of reaching out here, there, and everywhere. He's formulated his own opinions. And I just want to see it in someone else's pen. I wanted to see the Attorney that wrote his decision or his opinion, and the firm that it comes from. This is very very important. We're talking millions and millions of dollars here. And to just say well, you know we made a mistake and this is, you know, this is not a Lease Agreement this is a Management Agreement and so on. Financially, it doesn't matter. I don't care what you call it. Alright, if it's a way of getting away from the Permissive Referendum, calling something else, a rose by any other name is a rose. Or a dandelion by any other name is a dandelion. And, I'm not sure where this whole project stands. Is it a rose or is it a dandelion? So, I'd like to see that information from the Attorneys. John, you've taken the time to reach out to them. They've made an opinion. I would assume that it’s probably already in writing in some form or another so you've got it for your records. But for us to just move ahead on this in that fashion. If we do, rescind the whole Resolution, the permission to sign the contract and a referendum and let's start over with the public being informed finally, on what this project is. Thank you. Supervisor Williams: Okay, let's go back to the beginning. I guess your first comment, that on the 4th of August you had no knowledge of the... of the substance of the Contract. You had been involved with talks. Every motion. Every moment. From the beginning. At Town Board Meetings, Executive, wherever. You were a part of that. You were not excluded. You were not, as you said... You were not shut out. You want to use the baseball parlance. You were not shut out of anything. You had full knowledge. You had full knowledge several days before the fourth. And as you know, and I think it’s stated, that when you're negotiating large multi-million-dollar contracts, you don't put that out to the public for them to pick apart. It's… they elected us to do a job. We did a job. We voted on a contract, and that was what they... that's what they put us in place to do. As a matter of fact, as far as the Permissive Referendum, on your vote on the fourth you voted against it. You were the only nay vote in that agreement. So, in essence, you voted against having a Permissive Referendum. As far as the Attorney is concerned, that is, as your legal advisor, I guess, would advise you that anytime it's an attorney to me. That's a work in progress, and not subject to public information. It can't be published it's a sacred document... documents, back and forth between Attorneys. So, to have that… I don't have it. I don't think anybody on the Board has this. This is between a group of Attorneys, the Association of Town, and our Attorney, and another Attorney that has been brought into sort of verify the whole, the whole piece of this. So to put that out, is OCTOBER 6, 2021 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 7 contrary to common practice. And you voted for... you had it early, you had it early, how you distributed, I do not know that's not up to me to decide, but you as a Board Member had that. I believe, four or five days, the chapter and verse of the contract in your possession. And to say nobody had it, you had it. And you voted against it. Thus, you voted against having a Permissive Referendum. Then you went out and spent, well I guess, a fair amount of time as the principal architect of the petition, as I recall, I think you garnered 60 of those 200 and some odd petitions, so you were the principal architect of that. And so you voted against it, then you went ahead and worked for it. And now it's the legal issue is there that it has… that the legal issues is that we have an invalid… we did something, I guess that was not according to law… we are trying to rectify that. We are desperately trying to put the Town on good legal footings. And that's where we are. Does anybody else wish to comment? Councilman Withey: Well let me rebut your comment that I voted against the referendum. I voted against the contract Tom. And I did read it. The public didn’t have a chance to read it. And, the final draft was sent to me there, I believe it was the day before. We had had discussions along the way and I didn't like it from the get go. The public didn’t like it. Supervisor Williams: Let’s correct that Doug. You had that, I believe it was shortly before noon on the Friday before. Not minutes before, not hours before, but several days before. Councilman Withey: Still doesn't matter Tom. Supervisor Williams: Wait a minute. What you do with that is up to you. If you want to circulate that. You're a Board Member, you can do what you want. You’re elected to do that sort of thing. But to say, to characterize this as something that's been done in secret. And, that I believe your words... your exact words in your newspaper was, I was shut out. You were not shut out. You were part of the process from the beginning. Councilman Withey: Tom, the shut out that we're referring to is for seven years, your ad hoc committee has met in secret. I've been shut out of going to those meetings. I've been shut out of any notes or any minutes of those meetings. I also asked twice to be part of the negotiating team that was going to meet with PBR. And thinking that, okay I'll be there. And I said right from the get go, not to comment, but to see what was being commented on and take it in so I could formulate, is this a good thing or not. And, the day of or the day before, Tom, you said I can't go to that. That is wrong. It's wrong for a duly elected official, to be disallowed to sit in on a productive meeting on the Gutchess Lumber Sports Complex for four years of my term, not allowed to be their comment or anything and not have access to minutes, not have access to any notes, and there's never, to my knowledge, been any kind of a record sent to all the Board members, during that period of time. That too is wrong. If we're... if we've got a product that is so good, that's a cash cow - your words. Then let's put the numbers behind it and prove that, stand with it. You're not doing that Tom. You have not done that. Supervisor Williams: Alright. Councilman Withey: Okay. Supervisor Williams: Okay. To answer your, to... excuse me to answer this sort of in, as we go along. I shut you out of nothing. There were meetings that were held where there were two Board Members at. And, if there was a third board member, we would be in violation of the information. You cannot have a quorum at anything, I guess, other than a Christmas party or some other social gathering, without violating that. There were... I was there as a Supervisor, Mr. Testa was there as the Senior Board Member, that was a decision that was made. Unfortunately, if you attended, it would be a Board Meeting, it would put different dynamics on that, and anybody wanted, A. B, you had been involved for three years, three and a half years, four years. Let's say four years you have been involved in this. And I've gone back to the record Doug. I’ve gone through every vote taken and it struct me that in 2018. I believe it was May of 2018, there was a motion made to award a contract for Gutchess Park. That motion was made by you. And voted on in the affirmative, by you. And the amount of that motion, as I recall, was $3,896,000. The prime contract for that park. You made the motion, you voted on it. I don't see where you were shut out of anything. I've got the record of every ledger transaction from the day you took office to I believe the end of June of this year, there's hundreds of them. They range in amount from a few dollars for a light bulb, I believe, at Gutchess. Up to $392,000... I think that was the biggest one I saw, as a payment to the prime contractor. And you voted for every one of those. There's 30 some pages, probably 20… 20 items per page, 600 items. You voted for every one of those expenditures, without question, without a request for cost benefit analysis. We have spent, in the two years I've been there, we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on equipment, hundreds of thousands of dollars on sewer OCTOBER 6, 2021 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 8 projects, hundreds of thousands of dollars on water projects, and we have not had one request from you for anything near a cost benefit analysis. Now we do. As a for instance, and this will be probably near and dear to your heart. We spent last year $106,000 on a sewer project for Hillside and Meadow Lane, $106,000. There was a repair that needed.. that our water and sewer people thought we needed to make. We made it, $106,000. Now, if you do the math, which I did. There are 27 residents on those two roads, two streets, 27. And, I don't have the numbers in front of me, but the cogent number here, the important number here is that, if you divide. $106,000 by the benefit tax that those 27 homes generate, that... they will pay for that, repair in 48.8, years, no cost benefit analysis of that. None requested, none provided, none asked for by you, or anybody else. We've not done a cost... in fact, probably the closest thing we've done to a cost benefit analysis, in recent history, is Gutchess Park. We spent thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars for a feasibility study by a professional group out of Chicago, they came in, looked it all over. Granted, it was four years ago, and I know that you could make the case that... cost that the wages are down or not, or up now. You also need to factor into that payments are up so that I think that could well be a wash. But we had a cost benefit analysis done by them by a very professional, paid, consulting firm. Regarding Gutchess Park. Councilman Withey: Can we get back on topic though. Supervisor Williams: I’m trying to Doug. Councilman Withey: Somehow we got from ball to sewage. I don't know how that happened. Supervisor Williams: Well you... you've been singing the cost benefit analysis song for months now. We've tried to provide you every information, all the information that we have as far as what the numbers are. You're the one who brought it up just, just this evening. And I'm saying that there has not been a request for a cost benefit analysis by you or anyone else for anything other than Gutchess Park. Councilman Withey: And you're wrong there. I requested the cost benefit analysis on your second highway garage that got turned down because there was no benefit there. That was performed by Mr. Guido, and our Highway Superintendent, Larry Drach. They came back with a conclusion, there is no benefit. So that's... it's been asked more than once, and it's been asked three times, maybe four now, to show a cost benefit analysis for the Gutchess Lumber Park. Now I want to go back to your 27 pages or 29 pages. And when you read through that, Tom. Doesn't that kind of smack that, you know, Doug’s in favor of this Park. And, I am. Totally in favor of it, but this contract is ludicrous. And I said this at the last meeting, if I took this to a bank as a private concern, and they want to see, you know, where's the money going to come from to pay back this debt and so on. I got a visceral feeling that it’s coming. You build it and they will come. They would have laughed me out of the bank, Tom. Our bank, the taxpayer, came out with 243 signatures saying, show me the money. And we're not doing that. Okay, so we can go back and say there's an error on our attorneys... whatever… on the Resolution that cost benefit or not, I'm sorry, Permissive Referendum. It's like, alright, so there's a task. We went out, we met the task, we come back now oh I made a mistake. That's not fair to the public. It's not fair to me. It’s not fair to the Board. Okay? Councilman Guido: Doug? Doug? Can I ask a question? Can I ask a question? Councilman Withey: Sure Jeff. Councilman Guido: You keep saying where's the money, the $218,000 a year coming in from PBR. If we don't have that contract, then who's going to be on the hook for our debt, for our debt service that's coming up.... the taxpayers. So… Councilman Withey: Exactly. Councilman Guido: When you keep saying there's no money coming in. I don't understand. What is your plan for… to make up the difference that... that's going to be... for the income that we currently have to what is being offered by PBR, I don't understand that. So, if you keep saying, where's the money, $218,000 a year for the next 10 years that's guaranteed. Councilman Withey: What's, what's our debt Jeff? Councilman Guido: The debt right now is 2.7. Correct? Councilman Withey: Mhmm… OCTOBER 6, 2021 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 9 Councilman Guido: And, and what is our payment when our debt is coming due here in the next year. Councilman Withey: And what's that going to be to expand for Phase 2? There's no numbers there, Jeff. Councilman Guido: It’s a lot… The $218,000 a year is going to be coming in Doug, that's a lot more than what we're bringing in right now. And, what my worry is, what my worry is is that we don't do the deal here with PBR and a big chunk of the income that we currently have with Gutchess Park right now comes into PBR, correct? About two thirds of the income that you brought up earlier comes in through PBR, right now. So PBR in two years, we don't do this Park, PBR is going to find somewhere else to go. So, and then the debt that 2.7 that came in before I was ever on the Board, that... how... that's all going to be on the taxpayers back right there. Councilman Withey: Potentially, if you don't do anything further from what we… Councilman Guido: What further do we have? What other options right now do we have Doug? I have not heard anything, any other plans. Councilman Withey: How many other contractors have we considered? To my knowledge, none. Councilman Guido: How many have come in and made this offer? Supervisor Williams: None. Councilman Withey: But why would we not consider? I'm told that there's nine contractors out there that do the same thing and PBR is number seven out of nine. Why didn't we research other things? And, going way back, why didn’t we even have a plan? We get to this point without a plan, and we have no plan to go ahead other than, well here's $218,000 to kind of cover the debt. Oh yeah, that's nice. That's really nice. And then we get the County to cough up a half million dollars. Well, now I've got my Town tax and I got my County tax supporting something that, from what I can see in the numbers, what I've been allowed to get. It's still not gonna be sustainable. Supervisor Williams: And now, I think we're starting to get out of the weeds here. Mr. Testa do you have any comment to make on this motion? You're muted Teddy. Teddy, you’re muted… Councilman Cobb: There we go. Supervisor Williams: Alright Teddy, you’re on. Councilman Testa: What did we pay for Gutchess property, Doug? Councilman Withey: What’d you pay for it? It was a land swap. Councilman Testa: It was a what? Councilman Withey: A land swap. Councilman Testa: Is that a good deal? Councilman Withey: Was that a good deal? Sure. The property’s a good deal. Councilman Testa: You know, for us to give... to get 100,000… a hundred acres to swap a piece of property… I thought this was terrific and it gave us an opportunity for our people in Cortlandville to grow and have another Park out there, which I think we're on the right direction. That's all I got to say about it. It's an uphill battle. Yes. It's gonna take some time. Yes. But it's 100 acres too. And, it was a land swap. Zero money. Councilman Withey: That takes care of the land Ted. Doesn't take care of the facilities that we're building on it. Those that are there now. Those in the future… Councilman Testa: What do you want the people to pay for the property? I mean, to put it on... Councilman Withey: No Ted. I want PBR... I want PBR to pay for the access of our Park. When they come in, according to the contract, they're going to have total control of the Park. We spent OCTOBER 6, 2021 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 10 the money, we built the facilities. And in a sense we're just handing it over to them during the whole ball season, Councilman Guido: But we're not... we're not handing it over to them. They are paying for it. Supervisor Williams: Alright. Hold it, hold it folks. Doug’s had his chance. Jeff’s had his chance. Ted’s had his chance. Jay, do you have something to add to this? Councilman Cobb: Yep, I just think it, you know, since the… I started running for this Board. And I realized that there's a debt out there. And we had to come up with a way to pay for that. And I think we have a great opportunity here to help take that monkey off of those taxpayers’ backs. I don't see any other way right now we can do that. And, I think it's a good deal. Period. Supervisor Williams: We have a motion on the floor with a second, we've had discussion. I'm going to call the question. All those in favor, please indicate by saying. Tom, aye. Councilman Cobb: Jay, aye. Councilman Guido: Jeff, aye. Councilman Testa: Ted, aye. Supervisor Williams: Thank you. Let the record…Doug? Councilman Withey: Doug, no. Supervisor Williams: Okay. Let the record show the motion carries 4-1. … RESOLUTION #286 AMEND TOWN BOARD RESOLUTION #228 OF 2021, “AUTHORIZE TOWN OF CORTLANDVILLE TO ENTER INTO A MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT WITH PBR TOURNAMENTS NY, LLC (“PBRT”) TO ALLOW PBRT TO MANAGE FOUR BASEBALL FIELDS AT THE GUTCHESS LUMBER SPORTS COMPLEX SUBJECT TO PERMISSIVE REFERENDUM”, TO REMOVE THE LANGUAGE “SUBJECT TO PERMISSIVE REFERENDUM” Motion by Councilman Cobb Seconded by Councilman Guido VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Guido, Testa NAY – Withey ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board hereby amends Town Board Resolution #228 of 2021, “AUTHORIZE TOWN OF CORTLANDILLE TO ENTER INTO A MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT WITH PBR TOURNAMENTS NY, LLC (“PBRT”) TO ALLOW PBRT TO MANAGE FOUR BASEBALL FIELDS AT THE GUTCHESS LUMBER SPORTS COMPLEX SUBJECT TO PERMISSIVE REFERENDUM”, to remove the language “subject to permissive referendum” from the title of the resolution and from the body of the resolution which states, “RESOLVED, this resolution is adopted subject to Permissive Referendum”, and it is further RESOLVED, the Resolution as amended shall read as follows: RESOLUTION #228 AUTHORIZE TOWN OF CORTLANDVILLE TO ENTER INTO A MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT WITH PBR TOURNAMENTS NY, LLC (“PBRT”) TO ALLOW PBRT TO MANAGE FOUR BASEBALL FIELDS AT THE GUTCHESS LUMBER SPORTS COMPLEX Motion by Councilman Guido Seconded by Councilman Cobb VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Guido, Testa NAY – Withey ADOPTED OCTOBER 6, 2021 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 11 BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby authorize and direct the Town of Cortlandville to enter into a Management Agreement with PBR Tournaments NY, LLC (“PBRT”) to allow PBRT to manage four (4), (two of which are already built) baseball fields at the "Gutchess Lumber Sports Complex" located at 3111 Byrne Hollow Crossing in the Town of Cortlandville, County of Cortland and State of New York, tax map #105.00- 04-02.200, for a monthly license fee of $18,166.67 ($218,000 annually) for a period of ten (10) years with the option of extending the terms for two additional terms of five (5) years each, and it is further RESOLVED, the Supervisor is hereby authorized to execute the said agreement, and it is further RESOLVED, the Town Board Members may choose to sign the said agreement along with the Town Attorney with the understanding that the signatures of the Town Board Members and Town Attorney will only serve as symbolic. Councilman Withey: Just one point of clarification. So this is just rescinding the Permissive Referendum, the contract is still intact, is that what we're saying. Supervisor Williams: Yes, yes. Councilman Withey: Okay, so… Supervisor Williams: Out of the way… out of the motion on the 4th… Resolution on the 4th of August. The, I think it's four words, something like that, the Permissive Referendum language, that is rescinded by this motion. Everything else stands as is. Councilman Withey: Okay and I'll get a copy of that when you've done the change, please. Supervisor Williams: Of course you will. Councilman Withey: Thank you. Supervisor Williams: As you get copies of everything. … Town Board reports: Councilman Cobb reported that he was contacted by Greg Leach who wanted to thank the Town Highway Department for their diligence during Monday night’s flooding on East River Road and their follow-up the next day. Also, a member of the Village of McGraw Board of Trustees extended his thanks to the Highway Department and Water/Sewer Department for their help at the McGraw High School and other locations in the Village. Councilman Cobb also commented on agenda item I-6, to receive and file a thank you note from Mary Kimberly for the Town’s work in the old Baptist Church Cemetery in the Village of McGraw. Councilman Cobb stated that most people don’t even know the cemetery is located behind the Church, which is “around the hill right next to the Community Center.” The cemetery is well maintained. He thanked the Town and stated he would reach out to Mary as well to thank her for her note. Councilman Withey asked Attorney DelVecchio for an update regarding the Town’s contract with Siemens for the Town’s LED Streetlight project. Attorney DelVecchio reported that the financing was finalized; the money that Siemens loaned the Town has been tendered to an escrow account. The final aspect of the deal involves a closing between the Town and National Grid whereby the Town will purchase the street fixtures from National Grid. The Town will accomplish the purchase using the funds in the escrow account. Attorney DelVecchio explained that he was also working to secure a letter of credit or surety bond to effectuate the sale. Councilman Withey asked what the total cost of the loan was and the interest rate. Attorney DelVecchio explained that the interest rate was the same as when the Town agreed to the deal and would provide the specific information to the Board by email. Councilman Guido thanked Highway Sup’t. Drach and his crew, and the crews from area municipalities for their assistance with the heavy rains earlier this week. OCTOBER 6, 2021 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 12 Supervisor Williams reported: Flooding on East River Road: Supervisor Williams commented on the recent flooding on East River Road. He was in contact with the homeowner who experienced flooding from the nearby solar farm several months ago when there was another episode of heavy rain. Supervisor Williams reached out to the solar company at that time and though he had assurances from the company that was doing the solar install that they would handle it. He stated, “obviously they didn't”, and he reached out to the project manager on Monday. He told her that, “what has happened is totally unacceptable.” He continued, “this was supposed to be fixed, I believe it was, in June… first part of July… anyway, weeks and weeks ago. That she assured me that it had been... hadn't, and that was either a failure on design by their engineers or by execution by their people on the ground. And, it was totally unacceptable and that if it wasn't resolved I was going to talk to our legal people about whether or not the Town and/or the County, Highway people, could get involved, fix the problem, and bill them for labor. I had an email today assuring me that all efforts will be made to rectify the situation. I intend to keep the fire burning under their feet a little bit as we go along.” GLSC – Grant Application to US Economic Development Agency: Supervisor Williams apprised the Board that he has been talking with the Executive Director of the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board regarding a $750 million “pot that is to be distributed nationwide for travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation grants” from the US Economic Development Agency (EDA). The Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board will prepare the grant application at no cost to the Town for the GLSC. He indicated that the average grant was around $2 million. If the grant is awarded the CNY Regional Planning and Development Board could administer the grant. He anticipated the award of funds could be done very quickly. Attorney DelVecchio added, “Supervisor Williams is correct, that we have been in contact with folks that have agreed, in principle, to help us with that grant application.” The gentleman who has a lot of knowledge on how the money might be available is confident that given the relationship with PBR that it was likely for a grant to be awarded. He stated it would be extremely advantageous for the Town to take advantage of the opportunity. Supervisor Williams added that it is an outright grant with no matching funds. He asked the Board for a motion authorizing him to proceed to work with the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board to submit a grant application for the Gutchess Lumber Sports Complex to the United States Economic Development Agency. RESOLUTION #287 AUTHORIZE SUPERVISOR TO WORK WITH THE CENTRAL NEW YORK REGIONAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD TO SUBMIT A GRANT APPLICATION FOR FUNDING FOR THE GUTCHESS LUMBER SPORTS COMPLEX TO THE UNITED STATES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY Motion by Councilman Withey Seconded by Councilman Guido VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Guido, Testa, Withey NAY – 0 ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board hereby authorizes and directs the Supervisor to work with the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board to submit a grant application for funding on behalf of the Town of Cortlandville for the Gutchess Lumber Sports Complex to the United States Economic Development Agency. Payment to Outside Counsel: Supervisor Williams apprised the Board that as previously stated. Attorney DelVecchio reached out to outside counsel to request information about that counsel’s opinion on the permissive referendum. He asked the Board to recall that at the September 15, 2021 Town Board Meeting the Board authorized up to $10,000 for legal and/or clerical help in that process. The bill that will be submitted for the outside legal counsel will be charged to that account. At this time in the meeting the Board proceeded with new business items. OCTOBER 6, 2021 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 13 Supervisor Williams asked for a motion to amend the Town personnel policy to provide language that the supervisor of a department and or his/her deputy cannot be on planned leave at the same time. Councilman Cobb made a motion, seconded by Councilman Withey. A brief discussion occurred in which Councilman Withey asked for the verbiage in writing. Councilman Withey withdrew his second, and Councilman Cobb withdrew his motion to allow time for the proposed amendment to be drafted by the Town Attorney and brought back to the Board at their next meeting. Supervisor Williams asked the Board to amend the Town personnel policy to provide health insurance to the Town Attorney as it does for elected officials. Councilman Withey made a motion, seconded by Councilman Testa to amend the personnel policy to provide health insurance for the Town Attorney as it does for elected officials. Discussion occurred in which Councilman Withey asked for the proposed amendment to be writing. Councilman Testa withdrew his second, and Councilman Withey withdrew his motion. Supervisor Williams asked the Town Attorney to work with the Town Clerk and Bookkeeper to draft proposed amendments to the Town personnel policy regarding both matters Councilman Cobb made a motion, seconded by Councilman Testa, to receive and file the thank you note from Mary Kimberly, Village of McGraw Historian, dated September 21, 2021, expressing thanks for the mowing and trimming done at the Baptist Cemetery in McGraw, which is maintained by the Town Highway Department. All voting aye, the motion was carried. RESOLUTION #288 SCHEDULE PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING THE TOWN OF CORTLANDVILLE’S COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT NEEDS AND THE POSSIBLE SUBMISSION OF ONE OR MORE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2021 FUNDING YEAR FOR OCTOBER 20, 2021 AT 5:00 P.M. Motion by Councilman Withey Seconded by Councilman Testa VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Guido, Testa, Withey NAY – 0 ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby schedule a Public Hearing for Wednesday, October 20, 2021 at 5:00 p.m., to be held electronically via Zoom conference call/video conference, regarding the Town of Cortlandville’s community development needs, and to discuss the possible submission of one or more Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) applications for the 2021 funding year, as well as to provide further information about the CDBG program and allow for citizen participation in the development of any proposed grant applications and/or to provide technical assistance to develop alternate proposals. RESOLUTION #289 AUTHORIZE SUPERVISOR TO HIRE JULIE M. GROSS AS REAL PROPERTY ASSISTANT FOR THE TOWN ASSESSOR EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 12, 2021 Motion by Councilman Guido Seconded by Councilman Testa VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Guido, Testa, Withey NAY – 0 ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby authorize the Supervisor to hire Julie M. Gross of 7 Grove Street, Homer, New York as the Real Property Assistant for the Town Assessor effective October 12, 2021, and it is further RESOLVED, the position shall be subject to the successful completion of a civil service examination to be held at a future date, and it is RESOLVED, the Town Board hereby authorizes a salary of $37,000. OCTOBER 6, 2021 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 14 Supervisor Williams commented that Ms. Gross will be training under the Assessor’s Clerk, Val Hall until her upcoming retirement. He mentioned that there would be a decrease in the personnel budget line for 2022 as the retiring clerk’s salary was higher than what the new titled assistant’s salary would be. Councilman Cobb made a motion, seconded by Councilman Testa, to receive and file the Cortlandville Fire District Proposed Budget for 2022. All voting aye, the motion was carried. Supervisor Williams reminded the Board and those in attendance that the Board would be conducting a Special Town Board Meeting – Budget Workshop on Wednesday, October 13, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. via Zoom. The link to register for the special meeting was available on the Town’s website. No further comments or discussion were heard. Councilman Cobb made a motion, seconded by Councilman Testa, to adjourn the Regular Meeting. All voting aye, the motion was carried. The meeting was adjourned at 6:28 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kristin E. Rocco-Petrella, RMC Town Clerk Town of Cortlandville *Note: The draft version of this meeting was submitted to the Town Board for their review on October 21, 2021. The final version of this meeting was approved as written at the Town Board meeting of November 3, 2021.