HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-01-18TB 1-18-18
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TOWN OF DRYDEN
TOWN BOARD MEETING
January 18, 2018
Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl Linda Lavine,
Absent: Cl Kathrin Servoss, Cl Alice Green
Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk
Other Town Staff: Ray Burger, Director of Planning
Supv Leifer opened the meeting at 7:05 p.m. Board members and audience recited the
pledge of allegiance. Cl Servoss and Cl Green were excused and are at training.
PUBLIC HEARING (continuation)
AGRICULTURE & FARMLAND PROTECTION PLAN
Monika Roth of Cooperative Extension said the Ag Advisory Committee last week
reviewed the comments that had been received at that point.
The review of the Town’s zoning law was done by consultant George Frantz. He looked
at the current zoning law with an eye toward where it is consistent with NYS Ag and Markets
Ag District Law and where it might not be quite so consistent. It was an analysis for the
committee’s information and the committee has not endorsed it. They are considering putting
that in the appendix so that it doesn’t look as if the committee is completely behind all of the
recommendations. The Ag Committee looks forward to working with the Planning Board on
some of the points that were brought up in that study.
With respect to the implementation recommendations and who is going to fund them,
the intention is that the Ag Committee would have a work plan and committee members would
be engaged. If there is a cost they would bring that to the attention of the Town Boa rd.
Recommendations such as helping farmers with estate planning would be a service provided by
Cooperative Extension or they would be referred to New York Farm Net for estate planning.
There was no analysis as to what the plan would cost the town or the taxpayers, but M Roth
said there is no intention to create a heavy burden on the community.
There was some confusion about maps and they can do some additional mapping
showing the soils of statewide significance and prime soils. Areas that are already developed
should be blocked out, and some of the area is hillside that won’t be developed into agriculture.
It was stated in the plan that farmers were not interested in Purchase of Development
Rights programs and that came from a survey done of the farmers. There was no interest
beyond those that already have a permanent easement on their property. The state recently
announced that there is funding for PDR again and staff at the county they always go out and
see if there is anyone interested and make them aware that funding is available. If at some
point a Dryden farmer is interested, they will inform the town and see about partnering to
move the process forward for the farms that are interested.
Transfer of development rights is a very complicated tool and probably not appropriate.
There is only one town doing that in New York State.
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M Roth said as she understands it, the Ag Committee is not opposed to solar
installations, but there should be consistent language around that to avoid actively far med
land and prime Ag land. The committee will take these items up at their next meeting and
hopefully move forward to approving the plan in February.
Cl Lamb said the board is grateful for the committee’s work on this document. It is a
great document for the board and the town’s residents to turn to.
Craig Schutt read the following statement:
I would like to make a few observations about the comments and proposed changes on the ag
protection plan. First of all I think what is being ignored is that this is supposed to be a plan to protect
and encourage agriculture in the town and most of all insure its viability. That in itself could be a
perceived bias, but I like to think of it as finding ways for agriculture to coexist with other demands on
finite resources. Large continuous tracts of good agricultural land are one of the most important
resources for a viable ag industry. This shouldn't be one or the other. There is no reason why solar and
agriculture cannot coexist but it should not be at the expense of our farming community and other rural
residents. The Ag Committee has identified what some of the pitfalls of unrestricted large scale solar
development may be, not only on agriculture but on the larger population. To simply delete any
reference to these concerns is a disservice to the committee and the ag industry as a whole. I believe
that shows an anti-ag bias possibly by the town board. I am sure some will disagree with that statement,
but think about it. I think we also need to think about bias that is inherently built into the zoning law. I'm
not arguing one way or the other, rather it is good or bad, but I personally believe it is there. For
example there are restrictions either out right, or by special use permit of what activities are, or are not,
allowed in most of the zoning districts. For example in the rural agriculture zone there is no light
industry, industry/manufacturing, or large scale retail development allowed.
Again I am not making a statement or a judgement on merits, good or bad on these. Yet to allow large
scale solar the town board wrote a new law with allowances for this industrial development most
anywhere in the town. Does this show a pro-solar bias? I think you need to ask that question before you
start accusing any one group of bias on one subject or another. The ag committee made
recommendations in its plan to take a closer look at where these facilities can be sited that has the least
negative effects on everyone in the town. I don't understand objections, unless you, the town board,
have a bias and want no restrictions on these facilities. Hard to argue that this is not bias. It only stands
to reason that there will be differing opinions on many subjects but to simply delete references to those
is wrong. The members of the ag committee are the most knowledgeable and informed people to
address these questions and complex issues and ultimately make recommendations. You, the town
board, should listen to, and work with them instead of deleting and dismissing their recommendations
because those may not be one-hundred per cent in agreement with yours.
Cl Lamb said he thinks this town is decidedly pro -solar and he doesn’t think that is
showing a bias. We had an election about this issue. Both sides of the election were pro -solar.
But if you use language like we need to inform landowners about the consequences of
converting to solar energy, “consequences” has a negative connotation. Consequences means a
penalty. He would like neutral language used in this report.
Cl Lavine agrees with the changes suggested by Cl Lamb.
Joe Osmeloski, 2180 Dryden Road, said he was on the Ag Committee and was involved
in this whole process. He was in favor of this document and his name appears in the
acknowledgements, but since this board is insisting on renaming this the solar protection plan
in Dryden, he would like his name removed. If all those changes are approved, he doesn’t want
his name on this document.
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Cl Lavine said she is taken aback by the degree of animosity here. This should not be a
political hot potato. It does not mean that we are rolling over agriculture. It means that we
thought that there really was a negative slant, given the language chos en, about solar. Any
decision is made on a rational, case by case basis. A farmer could make a lot of money putting
up solar panels and still grow some crops or raise animals that are completely compatible with
the solar panels. It’s their choice. It’s ironic that the people who wanted to lease their land for
fracking now suddenly want the right to say you can’t have solar panels on that land. This is
about land use and control of your land and having your property rights respected. So there is
an ironic twist here.
Evan Carpenter, 2265 Dryden Road, said his dairy barn is at 2242 Dryden Road. The
Delaware River Solar project is at 2243 Dryden Road on his property. He has chaired the Ag
Committee since its inception. He abstained from votes on this topic. Everyone on the
committee knows and understands and respects his opinions. They are not anti -solar. The
consequences referred to are things such as they want to make sure the farmers considering
solar understand that there may be property tax considerations. It’s those types of things they
want them to understand. It’s not a no strings attached pot of gold. That’s what they mean by
consequences. There are some drawbacks, some negatives that they want to be sure they help
people understand. The committee is not anti-solar, but they are pro-agriculture. The same as
the Recreation Department is pro-recreation. They will try to work with landowners and
counsel them, but not try to tell them what they can or can’t do with their land. They are pro-
agriculture and they are trying to help promote agriculture. That will be their bias. They are
not against solar and are not about to tell any landowner or farmer what they can or cannot do
with their property. Their job is to try and promote agriculture to the best of their ability and
to look at the town’s zoning laws to see if there is anything to encourage or discourage use of
property that they feel could be accommodated differently.
Cl Lamb wants it to be clear that this Town Board is definitively pro-agriculture. They
would not have asked for this report if they weren’t. He would expect a report that is pro -
agriculture. He edits a lot of papers and is pretty good at spotting language problems.
Language like “municipalities are struggling to get solar regulations in place” has a tilt to it.
We are not struggling. We are looking at a situation and developing appropriate regulations
like we should. He suggests adding “pros and cons” instead of using “consequences” for more
neutral language. He is not asking for pro-solar or anti-solar language; just maintenance of
neutrality.
M Roth noted that the State suggests that these plans be renewed every ten years.
Supv Leifer said when it comes to Ag land you want to protect the prime soils beca use
there is only so much of that. What’s been learned from the current solar projects is that there
are only a finite number of connections so there won’t likely be solar panels covering the entire
town because there aren’t enough viable connections. Th e current projects only affect .5% of
farmland. The biggest affect on Ag property is residential development and discussions focused
on the size of lots to be sold off. Things can be looked at as a threat or an opportunity. We are
looking to regulate an opportunity with solar and have a minimal impact on the overall
character of the town. We have to progress some place. This is an industry that doesn’t tax
the town services and this particular industry has minimal impact on farmland at the moment
is a win in all those circles.
The Ag Committee will look at the plan in February and the Town Board may be able to
act in February. At 7:30 p.m. the public hearing was continued to the February 15 Town Board
business meeting.
RESOLUTION #32 (2018) – APPROVE MINUTES
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Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the meeting minutes of December
14 and December 21, 2017.
2nd Cl Lamb
Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
CITIZENS PRIVILEGE
Laurie Snyder, 36 Freese Road, read the following statement signed by her, Kim Klein
14, Freese Road, and Chris Kimball, 97 Freese Road:
First I would like to thank Kathy Servoss for organizing the January 10 th meeting at the Varna Community
Association. It was good to hear from the engineers of Barton and Loguidice, Doug Mills from the Dept of
Transportation, and Jeff Smith from the County Highway Dept.
We went to this meeting with an open mind, hoping the information presented by the various speakers
would indicate a genuine interest in what would be best for the Freese Road community. We have also
observed the dramatic increase in traffic speed on the new Game Farm Road two lane bridge. This is
exactly what we do not want on the Freese Road bridge.
We, the residents and homeowners on Freese Road have been eager to hear what was being proposed
for the Freese Road Bridge. What I heard on Jan 10th was that the engineers seemed more open to
discuss various ideas about the bridge replacement. But I also heard that Kathy Servoss, Jason Leifer,
Jeff Smith, Michael Lane and Doug Mills clearly want the bridge replaced with a two lane bridge.
We, the residents and homeowners on Freese Road would like to hear that a one lane bridge is being
considered as well as the two lane option. A wider modern one lane bridge, with a pedestrian path
should be designed as well. This bridge could and should accommodate fire trucks, snow plows and farm
equipment. But it should not encourage through truck traffic.
We were very concerned about the "accident" report. As presented by Kathy Servoss, we are not
convinced that the incidents actually have anything to do with the Freese Road bridge.
This documentation should be made available to us, the residents of Freese Road.
The number of cars (2000+) using Freese Road per day is interesting and yet the number does not feel
overwhelming at any time of day. Rarely are there more than 2-3 cars waiting to cross the bridge. The
stopping activity at the bridge keeps the traffic speed slower. I know that Jeff Smith does not like the one
lane bridge as a "traffic calming" device, however it works well.
It was repeatedly stated that time is of the essence in planning the bridge repair/rehabilitation . It has
already been a year since we first learned of this possible project. Therefore we want to be included in the
information gathering and decision making process as soon as possible. We are available to work with
the engineers, the Board, the DOT and the Highway Department.
Cl Lamb noted there was a town board presence at the meeting in Varna. They are
learning about options as the public is. There is a consultant looking at the different angles
that can be used on this funding. The accident rate is only one of the criteria that matter. The
criteria listed by the DOT puts it in their two-lane bridge requirement and the bridge far
exceeds the trips per day (over 2000). He agrees that accidents are likely not the issue and we
can continue to talk about options.
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Joe Osmeloski noted that he is not registered with any political party, never has been
and never will be. He said that on the Supervisor’s Facebook page the Supervisor made the
following statement after the election: “Now it is time to move past the divisiveness and come
together as a community so that we can continue to move Dryden forward.” J Osmeloski said
that his actions and that of the board have shown the exact opposite. In fact, they are
embracing divisiveness with the appointments to all the advisory boards. Don Scutt was third
in the votes for Town Board but not considered for the vacancy because of his politics. Tim
Woods was overlooked, but with another vacancy then appointed. It’s one thing to disagree
with the other side but now you are just squashing them and stomping on them while they’re
down. You could have shown that your words were true, but your actions show they aren’t
true.
HIGHWAY/DPW DEPARTMENT
Highway Superintendent Rick Young asked to encumber the remaining funds left in the
Highway Street Maintenance account (DB5110.4) from the 2017 budget (approximately
$110,000.00) to be used for the purpose of resurfacing Yellow Barn Road. The job estimate
done for this in June was $126,000. Because of the rainy weather in the beginning the season,
they were unable to get to this road.
RESOLUTION #33 (2018) – ENCUMBER FUNDS
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves and authorizes the encumbrance of
the remaining 2017 funds in account DB5110.4 of $110,624.42 to be used for paving Yellow
Barn Road in 2018.
2nd Cl Lamb
Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
R Young asked that funds in the amount of $24,128.00 from the sale of trucks be
moved from budget line A2665 (sale of equipment) to the DPW Equipment Reserve fund.
RESOLUTION #34 (2018) – MOVE FUNDS TO DPW EQUIPMENT RESERVE
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves and authorizes the transfer of
$24,128.00 from 2018 fund balance to the DPW Equipment Capital Reserve.
2nd Cl Lavine
Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
R Young presented several budget modifications for the Highway/DPW Department.
Some have to do with payroll costs over budget due to: union retro pay, unexpected repairs to
vehicles, additional coverage for misc. work (brush/weeds), additional coverage for
roadwork/paving, and some are necessary due to increased funds for winter recovery and
PaveNY. About $124,000 more was received this year.
RESOLUTION #35 (2018) – APPROVE BUDGET MODIFICATIONS
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Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the following modifications to the
2017 budget and authorizes the Town Supervisor and bookkeeper to make the necessary
adjustments to the budget and to file any other forms or documents required by law:
To
To
DB3501 CHIPS DB5112.21 Road Improvements 67,082.11
DB3501 CHIPS DB5112.21 Road Improvements 57,171.67
From
To
A5020.4 Hwy Engineer A8745.4 C. Dam Inspect. 3,343.86
A1490.4 DPW Contractual A1490.1 DPW Personnel 4,699.33
A5132.4 Hwy Garage A1490.111 DPW Personnel benefit 9,060.34
DA5120.1 Bridge Personnel DA5130.1 Machinery Personnel 16,901.30
DA5142.1 Snow Removal DA5130.1 Machinery Personnel 15,135.90
DA5120.4 Bridge Contractual DA5140.1 Misc Personnel 22,647.24
DA5140.111 Misc Personnel Benefit DA5140.110 Misc Personnel OT 4,457.40
DB5112.1 Road Improv. Personnel DB5110.1 St Maint. Personnel 66,569.50
DB5110.4 St Maint Contract DB5110.1 St Maint. Personnel 37,652.03
DB5110.111 St Maint Personnel Benefit DB5110.110 St Maint. Personnel OT 517.70
2nd Cl Lamb
Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
R Young is hoping to have the §284 Agreement ready for the February meeting.
RECREATION DEPARTMENT
Stephanie Mulinos (Chair of the Recreation & Youth Commission) and Elizabeth Wolff
(Cooperative Extension) of Dryden Community Space Steering Committee presented the board
with a proposal for a program targeted toward middle schoolers:
"The health of a community is comprised of physical, mental, social and financial factors." A healthy
community that meets these needs is more economically stable.
There is a wealth of data that demonstrates the need/demand for places where members of the Dryden
community can connect, including:
• Town of Dryden Comprehensive Plan (2005)
• Dryden Recreational Needs Assessment (2006)
• Creation of the Recreation Reserve Fund (2009)
• Recreation Master Plan (2011)
• DRYC (Youth Development) Needs Assessment (2014)
• Community Cafe Discussion (events sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Ext.) 2015
• Tompkins County Achieving Youth Results initiative 2015-17
The following goal was identified in the 2005 Town Comprehensive Plan:
"Develop a system of park and recreational facilities designed to serve the variety of recreational
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needs of town residents in a cost effective manner, and located as to provide easy access from major
town population centers."
This was followed by a resolution to create a Recreation Reserve Fund "...established for the purpose of
accumulating all or part of the costs related to the development and/or improvement of recreation
facilities, fields, parks, trails, and other related assets of the Town of Dryden.
In 2015 Tompkins County launched the Achieving Youth Results Initiative. AYR is a way for the entire
Tompkins community to help develop an action plan to support our youth and their families and includes
tracking indicator data to measure our progress. The action plan was developed after a series of 80
community convenings across the county, including Dryden.
Since 2015 there has been a group of local residents meeting to conceptualize a community center for
the Town of Dryden. Our shared need/interest is to create a self-sustaining, multi- generational, and multi-
use space that offers the Dryden community opportunities to promote, develop, and maintain social,
emotional, and educational well-being. Our short term goal is to encourage and facilitate community
connection by increasing programming in needed areas and increasing utilization of existing physical
resources. This will happen by creating partnerships between existing program providers and community
programming spaces, and then creating a mechanism to "get the word out."
This group - known informally as the Dryden Community Space Steering Committee - is seeking financial
support from the Town of Dryden. Our plan is to implement the following programs/initiatives in 2018. The
focus will be on middle school aged youth, as they have been identified as an underserved population.
Further, data supports that this is a critical developmental age where programming intervention can have
a significant and meaningful impact.
Our goal is to engage youth in identifying needs and then in planning and executing 1 to 2 events. The
planning phase will use the Community Cafe Conversation framework to engage youth in identifying
needs and conceptualizing an event. The Cafe methodology is a simple, eff ective, and flexible format for
hosting large group dialogue. CCE has hosted a number of these events including 3 in Dryden. They are
a very effective and powerful way to build engagement and connection in a community. The events will be
planned and executed by the youth under the guidance of the Community Space Group or another group
that has capacity, such as CCE or one of the Town's community centers. Examples might include: teen
dance, game night, or open mic/battle of the bands.
In order to execute meaningful events, financial resources are needed. We are requesting $2500 -$3000
to support the Cafe Conversations and the planned events. All funding will be routed through established
501C3 organizations, but the Community Space Group will assume ultimate responsibility for execution.
We will provide updates to the Town board and a final report at the end of the year.
The Dryden Community Space appreciates the Town Board's consideration of this request and is
available to discuss in greater detail if needed.
Kris Bennett, Tompkins County Youth Services
Elizabeth Wolff, Cornell Cooperative Extension
Dave Hall, Cornell Cooperative Extension
Stephanie Mulinos, DRYC
Mary Hicks, Dryden Central School District
Eric Guerico, Dryden Central School District
Fred Bachner, Resident
The proposal is fairly general until they know whether they can obtain funding. They
will partner with Cooperative Extension and some of the community centers and programming
will be provided by volunteers on the committee and Cooperative Extension. They are looking
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for financial support from the town and would provide regular progress reports to the town
board as well as an annual report at the end of the year. The focal point would be youth
coming together and engaging with each other to create a project and see it through.
Supv Leifer said both Cl Servoss and Cl Green are interested in this but are not present
tonight. Funding would have to come from an appropriation of fund balance and a contract
would be necessary. S Mulinos will talk with the Co mmunity Café about the possibility of them
acting as sponsor for the program. The board will revisit this in February.
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
Ray Burger has provided the board with a monthly update.
Next week the Planning Board will have a public hear ing on the final plat for the large
scale solar project at 2150 Dryden Road. They will also have a preliminary plat for the
conservation subdivision at 1540 Ellis Hollow Road. There will be sketch plan review for a new
business on Hall Road.
COUNTY BRIEFING
Martha Robertson reported she is Chair of the County Legislature this year. She will
serve on a special committee on housing. There is will be a new housing planner hired and
have a lot of things in the works that this committee will be involv ed in.
The County is working toward filling the positions of Deputy Commissioner of Planning
and Sustainability and Tourism Planner. They will also be looking for a Business Energy
Navigator under the Energy Communities Grant from New York State. There is $250,000 over
three years with half of that going toward the Business Energy Navigator program and the
other half toward electric vehicles in the County’s fleet.
The jail variances were not extended. The state doesn’t believe we need the variances
anymore and in fact the jail population has been down and there are very few people being
boarded out. The county is moving more quickly than usual with respect to positions related
to the jail population such as counselors and psychiatric services in the jail. There are items in
the budget for 2018 and they are trying to get them fast tracked. There is current ly a shortage
for support housing and re-entry housing and the County is working on solutions for that.
The sales tax report for November looks good and they expect to end the year with
about a million dollars more than budgeted for.
Mike Lane has been appointed to chair the Budget & Personnel Committee and will
continue to chair the Transportation Committee. He will also serve on the Govern ment
Operations Committee and continue to be the liaison to TC3. He anticipates a good year with
five new members on the legislature who are very eager people.
He thanked the town board for the first meeting held on the Freese Road and George
Road bridge projects. Kathy Servoss did a good job with holding what could have been a
contentious meeting together. She has followed up with a committee of concerned citizens.
This year the County wants to take a serious look at Route 13 and the issues that we
have with that road in sections from Cortland to Dryden and Dryden to Warren Road, the
Route 366 overlap and areas in and near the city. They have begun talking with Fernando de
Aragon and at their next meeting will invite the city traffic planners to discuss what they think
needs improvement in the downtown area. It will be necessary to have funding for a study and
will begin to look for that. The current transportation improvement plan that we have is poorly
funded with only about $5,000,000 over f our or five years and there isn’t a lot of money
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available to do some of the things that really need to be done. They are working with DOT and
other entities to see what can be done to improve traffic flow. It seems any part of the day
traffic is heavy on Route 13 and truck traffic is particularly heavy.
The Budget and Personnel Committee will be looking at the county budget and see what
the state will be doing this year. We know they want to cut back on aid to community colleges
and TC3 is already struggling, as are all community colleges, and the state is not doing a good
job of helping by not restoring the aid to levels of 2008. TC3 negotiates with its labor units and
is restructuring and reorganizing to close almost a half million dollar gap in its budget.
ADVISORY BOARD UPDATES
Planning Board – They completed site plan review for the Delaware River Solar project
and forwarded recommendations (to add width to the flagpoles of the subdivision, utilize the
new amendment to the solar law and compress the arrays toward the internal lot lines). The
revisions have been made by the applicant and in the revised plan.
Conservation Board – There was no meeting in December.
Recreation & Youth – There was no meeting in November or December.
Ag Committee – Work continues on the Ag & Farmland Protection Plan.
Rail Trail Task Force – Bob Beck reported he attended the semi-annual Parks & Trails
Network meeting this afternoon and there is great enthusiasm for the Dryden rail trail project.
There is a lot of work to do on implementing the NYS Parks & Trails grant and there will be a
meeting next Thursday to discuss that further. He and John Kiefer met with Rick Young and
Chris Clauson to discuss DPW involvement and their work on the trail. They are on board and
eager to go to work. R Young suggested he could contact TG Miller about some of the things
that need to be done, for instance check the safety of the structure on the Game Farm end. An
engineer’s stamp is necessary for the work to be done on the FH Fox bridge. There is more
work to be done with easements and documentation. There are a few items still missing for the
Game Farm portion.
The committee will continue moving forward in its efforts. They have a subcommittee
working on a logo.
NEW BUSINESS
Dryden Ambulance - Kevin Westcott, Director of Dryden Ambulance, Inc., distributed
the attached information. Dryden Ambulance is requesting an increase in their billing rates to
help cover budget shortages resulting from staffing issues. There is competition for wages and
minimum wage has been increased. Retention of employees has suffered because they are not
competitive in wages. Because insurance companies will pay what they are billed and no more,
increasing the rates will also result in larger payments from insurance companies and help
increase revenue.
Currently a lot of their volunteers are students getting their volunteer hours for
certification and then being employed elsewhere.
The board will vote on this next month when all board members are present.
UAW Contract for SCLIWC – This covers the UAW employees at Bolton Point from
2018 through 2020.
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RESOLUTION #36 (2018) - Approval of Collective Bargaining Agreement with the United Auto
Workers for Southern Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission’s Employees for 2018-2020
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
WHEREAS, the Southern Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission, in good faith, entered
into contract negotiations with the United Auto Workers union for a renewed col lective bargaining
agreement for the contract that expired on December 31, 2017; and
WHEREAS, on December 18, 2017, the Commission’s negotiating team reached tentative
agreement with the union’s negotiating team; and
WHEREAS, on December 20, 2017, the employees in the union bargaining unit ratified the
tentative contract; and
WHEREAS, the Commission reviewed and approved the tentative contract at the January 4,
2018, Commission meeting; and
WHEREAS, the Town of Dryden has reviewed the tentative agreem ent and determined it to be
acceptable as required by the contract and the Public Employees Relation Board; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, the Town of Dryden does hereby approve the tentative collective bargaining
agreement between the Commission and UAW unit; and, be it further
RESOLVED, the Town of Dryden authorizes the Commission’s negotiating team to sign said contract as
presented.
2nd Cl Lamb
Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
2018 Wages for non-union Highway/DPW & part time Town Hall employees – The
board needs to provide this list to Civil Service in the form of a resolution.
RESOLUTION #37 (2018) – APPROVE 2018 PAY RATES
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves 2018 pay rates for non-union
Highway/DPW and part time Town Hall employees:
Town Hall Employees
2018
Name Title Rate
Marty Conger PT Recreation Assistant 14.50
Sherri Crispell Confidential Secretary to the Supv. 16.65
Shirley (Diane) Michaud PT/Temp Deputy Town Clerk 15.00
Lee Parker PT Deputy Town Clerk 12.98
Dave Sprout for Stormwater Officer "stipend" $ 1,000.00
Janene Trojnar PT Senior Account Clerk 18.2711
David Buck PT Court Attendant 41.62
James Niemi PT Court Attendant 41.62
Jennifer Case Co-Budget Officer $ 2,050.00
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Jason Leifer Co-Budget Officer $ 3,075.00
Highway/DPW Employees
Randy Riker Seasonal MEO (PT as needed) 17.50
Shawn Flynn Seasonal MEO (PT as needed) 17.50
Justin Huff Laborer 15.00
George Ingalls Laborer (PT-Summer) 14.00
Allison Case PT Data Processing Helper 15.00
Christopher Clauson Assistant Superintendent of Public Works $ 47,990.00
2nd Cl Lamb
Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
RESOLUTION #38 (2018) – APPROVE AMENDMENT TO PERSONNEL MANUAL –
COMPENSATORY TIME
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
RESOLVED, that the Town of Dryden Personnel Manual be amended to include the
following language with respect to Compensatory Time:
COMPENSATORY TIME
Compensatory time is defined as time employees earn when actual hours worked in
one workweek exceed 40 hours. An employee must receive prior approval from the
Department Head before working additional hours beyond the standard workweek. A
non-exempt employee, as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, will receive
compensatory time in lieu of paid overtime. Compensatory time will be credited to the
employee at a rate of time and one-half for all authorized hours worked over 40 hours
per week.
Compensatory time may accrue to a maximum of 40 hours. Compensatory time may
not be accrued during a week that personal, vacation or sick leave is used. When
possible, accrued compensatory time should be exhausted before using personal or
vacation leave.
Exempt employees will earn compensatory time at the standard hourly rate.
Union employees should refer to the applicable collective bargaining agreement.
2nd Cl Lamb
Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
Swift911 – Katie Quinn-Jacobs and Dana Magnuson spoke with the board about
Swift911 project. It is a public notification system that Tompkins County has taken on. A user
can sign up for a variety of alerts (traffic, weather). Mothers Out Front has been working to get
a public notification for the Borger plant in the event of scheduled or unscheduled blow -downs
or emergencies that might happen there. Up to this point Borger has been putting door
TB 1-18-18
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hangers on neighbors’ doors based on noise levels and not on emissions coming out of the
stack. Borger has agreed to participate in the Swift911 system, but needs an official town
contact to pass information from Dominion to the Swift911 system. There was discussion
about whether it should be an elected official, a town employee, 24-hour availability,
establishing a task force or safety committee and appointing someone from that group .
Supv Leifer will appoint a committee of people, including Katie Quinn-Jacobs and Dana
Magnuson, that can work with Dominion and communicate with Swift911. Supv Leifer
appointed Dana Magnuson as the point person.
Mothers Out Front has provided Supv Leifer with a draft letter to be used by towns
along the Dominion pipeline to urge Governor Cuomo to follow through on his methane
reduction and renewable energy policies. He will share it with the board and they agree that it
should be on town letterhead.
Retirement Resolution – NYS Retirement needs a resolution for Judge Clauson because
his information wasn’t available when the previous resolution was adopted.
RESOLUTION #39 (2018) – ESTABLISH STANDARD WORK DAY AND REPORTING
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
RESOLVED, that the Town of Dryden hereby establishing the following as standard work days
for elected and appointed officials and will report the following days worked to the New York
State and Local Employee’s Retirement System based on the record of activities maintained
and submitted by these officials to the clerk of this body:
Participates in
Standard Current employer's time
Days/month
work day term keeping system Record of Activities reported
Title Name (hrs/day) begins/ends Y/N Results based on ROA
Elected Officials
Town Justice Christopher Clauson 6 1/1/16- N 5.31 5.31
12/31/2019
2nd Cl Lamb
Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
Joanne Cipolla-Dennis sent the following letter and asked that it be included in the
record:
Dear Dryden Town Board Members,
I wish each of you a Happy New Year and am hopeful that Dryden will continue to transition to a more inclusive
community. My comments below are intended to be helpful as you move down that path.
I have heard from each of you that you are willing to listen and learn about ways that you can use your power as
elected officials to be inclusive and represent marginalized communit ies equally. Marginalized communities include
people of color, LGBTQ people, persons with disabilities, low-income families, single parents, youth, and aging
TB 1-18-18
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adults. Each of these communities face different challenges and experience structured discriminati on as they
navigate government systems. As local representatives, you can help reduce these challenges and break down the
structured discrimination in our local government and in politics in general.
One of the most impactful things that you can do is to invite people from these communities to participate in
decision making for the Town. While I congratulate you on having 3 women on the Town Board, I must point out
that the Town Board is all white and heterosexual. I was very disappointed that you did not take the opportunity
when Deborah stepped down to invite someone that is of color or LGBTQ to join the Board. When Deborah left,
you lost a very valuable voice and viewpoint from the Board.
I understand that you feel that Amy Crockford-Quenette doesn’t have enough experience. I would argue that she has
different experience; experience that you cannot understand because you do not face the same challenges that
LGBTQ people face. Similarly, I cannot understand the experiences of African-Americans because I do not face the
same challenges as they do.
There are historical institutional barriers that keep persons from marginalized communities from stepping forward to
run for office or even coming to meetings. They can be apprehensive to do so because they ha ve been excluded and
their needs have been disregarded many times before by government officials. In order to foster diversity, you can’t
wait for it to come to you – you must actively recruit diversity.
I understand that you have or plan to appoint Amy to the Planning Board, which is a good start, but is sort of like
saying to a black person that they can have a job, but they are going to sweep the floor while the nice white lady
answers the phones. I know that you are all good people and this is most li kely not your intent, but it is the impact
that I felt.
The Trump regime has brought a special kind of hate for us and while I see the Democratic Party taking a bold
stance on racism and women’s rights, I do not see them overtly standing up the LGBTQ com munity. Once again, I
believe that it falls to local government to make this stance and I hope that you will take my comments to heart and
in the future, consider the impact of your decisions with regards to marginalized communities.
I’m happy to discuss this further with you if you would like.
Supv Leifer reported that he was copied on a letter today from Willow Glen Cemetery to
Sun8 saying they are planning to appeal the decision that came out December 22 and are
trying to negotiate with Sun8 before filing the appeal. He said if the appeal is filed the town will
ask for attorneys fees.
There being no further business, on motion made, seconded and unanimously carried,
the meeting was adjourned at 9:11 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Bambi L. Avery
Town Clerk