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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-11-09TB 11-9-17 Page 1 of 6 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING November 9, 2017 Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl Linda Lavine, Cl Deborah Cipolla-Dennis, Cl Kathrin Servoss Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Rick Young, Highway Superintendent Other Town Staff: Ray Burger, Director of Planning Supv Leifer opened the meeting and public hearings at 7:00 p.m. 2018 Budget Public Hearings Ambulance Contract Fire Contracts Special Districts Budget Preliminary Budget Supv Leifer explained that the tax rate and the tax levy are lower than last year and they have covered the town’s needs in this budget. There is a need to address recreation staffing, but there are sufficient funds in the budget. Cl Lamb is glad money was put in for a full time secretary for the Supervisor. Supv Leifer said there is money to improve the website and they are looking into getting off the hardware server and into a cloud based system. That would hopefully allow for hosting the fire companies’ program there so the town has access to call information. The budget also includes the cost of codification of local laws and ordinances. The next challenge is to figure out a permanent funding source for the recreation reserve. If we get the grant for the trail, we will have to use a big part of that reserve fund for the match. The rail trail committee wants to do some to do some private fundraising. Cl Lamb noted that would be an investment that spreads across the town, not just one geographic portion of town. It is easy for the public to see the benefit. Sarah Osmeloski said she thought the board did a good job on the budget. It is nice to see the tax rate is not going up. She would like to see an increase in the donation to the Southworth Library and see it eventually get back to the previous level of $14,000. The Board agrees it is an important community resource. Supv Leifer said perhaps when we close out 2017 if there is a surplus the board can consider donating it then. RESOLUTION #132 (2017) – APPROVE ABSTRACT #11 Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves Abstract #11, as audited, general vouchers #744 through #817 ($544,807.41) and TA vouchers #27 an d #28 ($4,328.14), totaling $549,135.55. 2nd Cl Servoss Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Cipolla-Dennis Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes TB 11-9-17 Page 2 of 6 A budget modification is necessary in the recreation budget to move funds to cover the grant match for the fit trail equipment. RESOLUTION #133 (2017) – APPROVE BUDGET MODIFICATION Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the following budget modifications: From To A7020.404 Rec Master Plan A7020.201 Rec Admin Equip 400.00 A7020.401 Rec Admin Contractual A7020.201 Rec Admin Equip 2,964.24 2nd Cl Cipolla-Dennis Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Cipolla-Dennis Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes A budget modification is necessary to cover the expense of two board members attending the 2017 Association of Towns Conference last February. RESOLUTION #134 (2017) – APPROVE BUDGET MODIFICATION Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: From To A1220.454 Supervisor - Travel A1010.4 Town Board Contractual 822.80 2nd Cl Servoss Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Cipolla-Dennis Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Recreation Department Staffing – Jack Davison has resigned and is taking a job with the Town of Onondaga. His last day here is November 17. There are interviews for part time positions set up for next week and Supv Leifer said they will move forward with that. Cl Cipolla-Dennis suggested Jen Case also be part of those interviews from an HR/rec perspective. Points during discussion:  Part time (entry level) positions may be filled immediately.  Need to define the full time position – there is a civil service description.  Advertise the Coordinator position immediately for two weeks. TB 11-9-17 Page 3 of 6  Need someone with good leadership and communication skills.  Add comments to advertisement for Coordinator that we are looking for someone with exemplary leadership skills, excellent communication, that will work collaboratively with other organizations in the town, villages and county, and who is dedicated to fostering community in Dryden.  Rec Coordinator is the next step up from Rec Assistant.  Having a Coordinator allows us flexibility and should provide a good pool of applicants.  Cl Servoss has contacted the DRYC chair about having two members attend the interviews for coordinator.  The interview team will make recommendations to the board on the Coordin ator position.  The Board wants to vote on all positions. Supv Leifer closed the public hearings at 7:29 p.m. RESOLUTION #135 (2017) – ADOPT 2018 ASSESSMENT AND SPECIAL DISTRICT ROLLS Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby adopts the Special District and Assessment Rolls for the Town of Dryden for 2018. 2nd Cl Cipolla-Dennis Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Cipolla-Dennis Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes RESOLUTION #136 (2017) – ADOPT 2018 BUDGET AND SPECIAL DISTRICTS BUDGETS Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby adopts the preliminary general budget as the Town of Dryden’s general budget for 2018, and it is further RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby adopts the preliminary special districts budgets as the Town of Dryden special districts budget for 2018. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Cipolla-Dennis Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes RESOLUTION #137 (2017) – AUTHORIZE FIRE AND AMBULANCE CONTRACTS Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the following fire and ambulance contracts for 2018 for amounts listed and authorizes the Supervisor to execute the same: TB 11-9-17 Page 4 of 6 Neptune Hose Company No. 1 of Dryden, Inc. $282,773 Varna Volunteer Fire Company, Inc. 266,054 W.B. Strong Fire Company of Freeville, Inc. 169,575 Etna Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 170,000 Brooktondale Fire Department 28,536 Dryden Ambulance, Inc. 420,165 2nd Cl Cipolla-Dennis Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Cipolla-Dennis Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Server upgrade vs cloud storage – The board reviewed a 5 year cost comparison of keeping hardware in-house vs cloud storage. Discussion points:  5 year on premise estimate is $237,080.  5 year cost to the cloud and Office 365 is $208,500.  Estimate for the cloud includes cost of migration.  5 year contract cost should be locked in.  IV4 costs should go down because of the things Microsoft will take care of.  State Archives should be contacted for their opinion/input.  Our current server needs replacement now.  What are estimates of storage costs based on? Currently a flat rate all five years.  Representative of IV4 will be available to attend the December agenda meeting.  We could make more use of the Tompkins Shared Services Records Repository.  Check with State Archives for their position on cloud usage. Conservation Board alternate members – Peter Davies has asked that the board take this up again. Supv Leifer expects the board can get this done in December. Unsafe Structures – 473 Bone Plain Road is still in the court system. There will be another hearing on November 15 to see what the court can inspire the owner to act on. They haven’t seen much activity thus far and will likely have to put this through the new process the town has. A letter was drafted to neighbors of this property. A compliance plan has been prepared for that property and the Morris Road property. Those two reports could come to the board within the next month . Delaware River Solar project – TG Miller sent a second letter for other items for Delaware River to expand upon and to get a SHPO formal response. Delaware River is trying to make it a complete application by next week. They have downsized the project to 3.2 MW because NYSEG will only allow that much on to the system there. They seem to have it sized right and the new site plan will reflect that downsizing. The Planning Board has a review step and has asked if Town Board would formalize that request. The solar law talks about the Planning Board having a review and recommend step on the site plan. That is a direction and that process is supposed to be laid out by the Planning Dept. It seems unnecessary. The Town Board wants the Planning Board to review it. The board decided it would be helpful to develop TB 11-9-17 Page 5 of 6 a guide of how these applications move through the process. The Planning Board may start looking at this application at next week’s meeting, and it would likely be December before they can make a full set of recommendations. Supv Leifer said we need a complete application before it goes to them and it needs to be made available to the public prior to the meeting. Cl Cipolla-Dennis said it might be helpful to have a flow chart that outlines how a solar project moves through the system. It would help the public understand the process also. Then the Planning Board should not expect a formal request from the Town Board to review a project because the progression will be clear. Stream Gauge Agreement – Supv Leifer asked for authorization to sign a new 3 year agreement for the Six Mile Creek Stream Gauge at Brooktondale. The expense of this gauge is shared by USGS, City of Ithaca, Tompkins County Soil and Water, and the Towns of Caroline and Dryden. Dryden’s share for 2018 is $2,650. The purpose is to gather information about sediment loads and stream flow. RESOLUTION #138 (2017) – APPROVE AGREEMENT FOR SIX MILE CREEK STREAM GUAGE AT BROOKTONDALE Cl Servoss offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves and the Supervisor is authorized to sign the Six Mile Creek Stream Gauge at Brooktondale Funding Partners Agreement. 2nd Cl Cipolla-Dennis Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Cipolla-Dennis Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Next week’s agenda includes presentations of the Ag and Farmland Protection Plan and Natural Resources Conservation Plan. There may be SEQR documents for the Freese and George Road bridge projects available. Chris Sidle addressed the board about a possible way to move forward with the Recreation Department. He coaches with Bobby Brull and Dan Murphy for football and basketball. They have worked in the programs for several years and fear a degrading of services to the kids. What they have to offer is volunteerism at its finest. Motivated people can make a huge difference in the community. They suggest breaking rec up into a series of committees of volunteers to run the programs with an oversight committee that meets regularly. They would also handle the summer programs. This is an opportunity to replenish the reserve and have people vested in the community running the rec department without salary. Trainings may need to be paid for. This would be a user-friendly model. They are offering an opportunity to meet and map out a volunteer driven endeavor. There’s no reason to spend money on people to run a department that can be b etter run by volunteers. There would be no favoritism if subcommittees of each group are represented. They would need an assistant in the office. This is an outstanding community and people are willing to be involved for free. He recommends and suggests that is what we want instead of a paid person who is going to be more of a dictator. They would like policies set by an oversight committee as it was originally designed. TB 11-9-17 Page 6 of 6 After discussion, it was decided that the DRYC should consider this proposal and provide input. It was announced that there were vacancies on that board and people interested should submit applications. Supv Leifer said they will still conduct interviews for the part-time positions and will advertise for the coordinator position. Mr Sidle will email his proposal so that it can be provided to the Recreation Commission as soon as possible. Highway Superintendent Rick Young would like permission to dispose of trucks 8 (dump truck), 4 (pickup truck), and 3 (pickup truck). He w ill want to replace truck 3 at a price not to exceed $48,000. He also wants to sell the John Deere tractor and a mower. The mower has already been replaced with a zero turn mower. The board discussed possible revenues from sale of the trucks. R Young will provide more detail on the vehicles being sold next week. RESOLUTION #139 (2017) – AUTHORIZE PURCHASE OF TRUCK Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes the Highway Supervisor to purchase a new 4 door pickup truck, not to exceed $48,000. 2nd Cl Cipolla-Dennis Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine (left the room) Cl Cipolla-Dennis Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Sumner Yes There being no further business, on motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk