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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018- 12-13TB 12-13-18 Page 1 of 6 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING December 13, 2018 Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl Linda Lavine, Cl Kathrin Servoss, Cl Alice Green Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Rick Young, Highway/DPW Superintendent Other Town Staff: Jennifer Case, Bookkeeper Ray Burger, Planning Director Ryan McHugh, Secretary Supv Leifer opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. The Cornell team that has been working on phase one of the compensation study for the town gave the attached presentation outlining what has been accomplished to date and briefly discussed next steps. A report will be available in the next few weeks. Abstract Approval RESOLUTION #174 (2018) – APPROVE ABSTRACT #11 Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its approval: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves Abstract #11, as audited, general vouchers #846 through #919 ($685,499.05) and TA vouchers #25 through #30 ($14,018.50), totaling $699,527.55. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Green Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Budget Modification - The Highway Department has requested a budget modification in the amount of $24,000 to pay for the LED light project. RESOLUTION #175 (2018) – APPROVE BUDGET MODIFICATION RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the following budget modification: From To A1990.4 Contingency A5020.4 Highway Engineering $24,000.00 2nd Cl Lavine Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Green Yes Cl Servoss Yes TB 12-13-18 Page 2 of 6 Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Budget Update – The financial reports as of the end of November are on the website. J Case pointed out that monthly financials will not be available for a few months as the 2018 year is closed out. Tompkins County Youth Services Advisory Board - Cl K Servoss currently serves as the town’s representative on that board and would like to be reappointed to that position. RESOLUTION #176 – RECOMMEND K SERVOSS FOR TOMPKINS COUNTY YOUTH SERVICES ADVISORY BOARD Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby recommends that the Tompkins County Legislature reappoint Kathrin Servoss to serve as its representative on the Tompkins County Youth Services Advisory Board. 2nd Cl Green Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Green Yes Cl Servoss Abstain Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Emergency Services Committee – Supv Leifer reported they met Tuesday night. The contracts to be used this year will be based on the ones used by Freeville & Etna. Only change may be one about requiring any department that chooses to respond to rescue calls to have at least one member of the responding crew have EMR certification. This was recommended by Dryden ambulance. The contracts require departments to follow recommendation of the ambulance regarding EMS. Supv Leifer will send out the contracts to fire departments. The committee wants to study the feasibility of a potential fire district for the town. This would include the villages. The district would have its own management, administration and taxing authority. There is also the option to do something similar and have the town board designate a coordinator. Unless volunteerism rises the town is facing the possibility of having paid fire fighters. The goal is making sure we have the coverage we need. Many parts of the current system are already working as one. There are grants available from DOS for a study. The board agrees we should look into this. IAWWTP Grit Removal Project – The board will pass a resolution next week setting a public hearing for January 2, 2019, at 5:30 p.m. The organizational meeting will be held January 2, 2019. Cl Green advised she will be away for both January meetings. She may be able video conference in from Portland, Oregon, depending on what is on the agenda. Retainer Agreement for IV4 - The retainer covers things not covered by the normal service contract. $5,000 seems to be a reasonable amount and should take care of about 18 months of services. TB 12-13-18 Page 3 of 6 Bolton Point sewer/water billing – Bolton Point changed their minimum water billing to 5,000 gallons. Other municipalities set their sewer at same. Dryden’s was left at 10,000 gallons. Supv Lelifer said he did not believe this had any impact on the budget, but fo r consistency we should pass a local law changing it. This can be done at the January business meeting. 1061 PUD Amendment – This will be heard on December 20, 2018. We have an agreement on language for the easement and resolution language to amend the PUD. The board will be able to accept the easement at the same meeting. TC3 SUP Amendment – The new administration at TC3 wants students to be able to get to the village without having to walk on Route 13. Approval for the residence halls originally had a condition requiring physical barrier to prevent student access to Lee Road. The Chair of the Board of Trustees, Ray Schlather, and the TC3 President, Orinthia Montague, both feel this needs to be fixed and would like the town to reopen SUP and remove that condition. Cl Lamb will work with R Burger on the wording for the resolution. He said this is sign to the college that we are a partner, welcome the campus and want stronger relations. The public hearing will be held next week at 8:05 p.m. Rail Trail Easements – A hearing will be held next week for acceptance of the last of those easements required for the rail trail grant. Tax bill insert – Cl Lamb shared a draft of an insert about the sales tax offset he would like included with the real property tax bills. There will be a final version available for adoption next week. Recreation Partnership By-laws – are being reviewed by all partner municipalities. Cl Green is recommending the board pass this resolution next week. Court Audits – The finance committee will schedule with the courts. Solar Projects - Ray Burger reported Delaware River Solar has been doing their civil work and working on the items that were special conditions on their approval. They will wait until spring to begin construction. Instead of a financial security with their decommissioning plan DRS has chosen to open a bank account, adding 2.5% per year to cover the cost of decommissioning. The Ellis Tract Solar Project (sold by Distributed Sun to True Green Capital) is doing their civil work and working on the conditions of their special use permit approval. The decommissioning agreement and financial security agreement is ready for approval by the board tonight. They have put forth a bond instrument that covers $750,000 (the amount anticipated to cover decommissioning for the first 14 years). It then increments up to $1,250,000 over the life of the project. This is a good plan and has good security behind it. The last piece is signing of the decommissioning agreement by the Town, True Green Capital and Cornell. Cornell will likely sign it on Monday. The request for weekend work hours has been withdrawn. RESOLUTION #177 (2018) - Approving Financial Security for the Potential Decommissioning of Ten Large-Scale Solar Energy Systems at Turkey Hill, Stevenson and Dodge Roads (Collectively Referred to as the Ellis Tract) Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: WHEREAS, TB 12-13-18 Page 4 of 6 A. SUN8 PDC LLC was granted ten Special Use Permits (SUPs) to construct ten large-scale solar energy systems at Turkey Hill, Stevenson and Dodge Roads in Dryden, New York, on land involving Tax Parcels #56.-5-33, #57.-1-6.2, #57.-1-6.3, #57.-1-6.4, #57.-1-7.1, #67.-1-3.1 , #67.-1-3.2 , #67.-1-3.3, #67.-1-7.2 , #67.-1-7.3, and B. These permits have now been transferred to a new owner, Dryden-Tompkins Solar I, LLC, c/o True Green Capital Management, LLC, and C. A condition of the SUPs’ approval was that “the Town Board shall determine the amount of the financial security bonds or other forms of financial security to be provided for each site, to assure removal of the systems and property restoration”, and D. The Exhibit A attached to the “Solar Decommissioning Plan –Ellis North and Ellis South” dated December 2018 states the basis for the Decommissioning Bond Values (“Bond”) that will be maintained for the duration of these 10 projects, and E. This same Exhibit will be made a part of the Decommissioning Agreement (“Agreement”) to be executed by the permit holder, the landowner and the Town. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS: The Town Board finds that the Bond is sufficient to assure the removal of the systems and property restoration and authorizes the Town Supervisor to sign the Agreement incorporating this Bond. Exhibit A Decommissioning Bond Value Decommissioning Bond Value Timeframe (Year) Amount ($) 1 $750,000 2 $750,000 3 $750,000 4 $750,000 5 $750,000 6 $750,000 7 $750,000 8 $750,000 9 $750,000 10 $750,000 11 $750,000 12 $750,000 13 $750,000 14 $750,000 15 $1,000,000 16 $1,000,000 17 $1,000,000 18 $1,000,000 19 $1,000,000 20 $1,000,000 TB 12-13-18 Page 5 of 6 21 $1,000,000 22 $1,000,000 23 $1,000,000 24 $1,000,000 25 $1,000,000 26 $1,250,000 27 $1,250,000 28 $1,250,000 29 $1,250,000 30 $1,250,000 31 $1,250,000 32 $1,250,000 33 $1,250,000 34 $1,250,000 35 $1,250,000 2nd Cl Lavine Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes Cl Green Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Public hearings for next week include: • Special Use Permit – 117 North Street, Used Car Sales • Special Use Permit – 450 Cortland Road, Contractor’s Yard • Public Hearing for Acceptance of Rail Trail Easements & FH Fox Bridge • Amend PUD – 1061 Dryden Road, Evergreen Townhome Project (for easement) • Amend Special Permit to allow pedestrian traffic from TC3 Foundation Property to Lee Road. Unfinished Business The town received notification from NYS DOT that the speed limit reduction request for West Malloryville Road was accepted and the speed limit reduced to 45 mph. The request for a speed limit reduction on George Road was denied and alternative courses of ac tion were suggested to the town. The board discussed what has already been done to identify the trail crossing on George Road and whether to enlist help with the request from our county legislators and/or the MPO of ITCTC. The George Road bridge will be replaced this summer. The board decided it may have a better sense of what else needs to be done after that work has been done. Supv Leifer has sent a letter to other Town Supervisors regarding Dominion-New Market and sending a letter to the Governor. He only heard back from the Town of Bethlehem. DEC will be meeting with Dominion on December 17. He expects to hear from DEC when they TB 12-13-18 Page 6 of 6 know what is going on with the equipment and he will then set up a meeting with others. Dominion is now replacing certain pieces of equipment. New Business R Burger will bring a proposed local law updating the telecommunications local law next week. It makes the simpler procedures (upgrades and co-locations) administrative matters instead of an amendment to the special permit and appearance in front of the Town Board. The board can introduce it next week and set a public hearing for January. R Burger reported several proposals were received to hire a consultant for the housing conditions studies. The committee reviewed them and has made a recommendation. He will prepare a memo and present it next week. The Association of Towns Conference will be held February 18-21, 2018, in New York City. There being no further business, on motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk Town of Dryden: Wage & Compensation Study Consulting Team: Zai Liu, Arbias Llolluni, Will LaRose Challenges ●Mismatch between compensation and responsibility ●Need for updated job descriptions ●Overpaid or underpaid? Phases Phase 2: ●Classification system ●Market analysis ●Evaluation system ●Payroll adjustment Phase 1: ●PAQ design and administration ●Prelim findings Ultimate Purpose ●Equitable and fair wage compensation system ●Competitive pay in line with state and national averages SWOT Analysis Strengths: + Updated primary data; +Tailored factors reflecting value of Town of Dryden; +Based on market analysis Weakness: -Substantial time required; -Subject to biased/subjective feedbacks; -Discrepancies in different job grading systems Opportunities: + Boost morale; + Improve payment equality and public trust + Groundwork for comparable municipalities Threats: -Recommendations can only be adopted within the constraint of existing policy frameworks; -Could face political resistance SWOT Analysis Literature Review: ●Best practices ●National/state data ●PAQ creation PAQ -Weighting Factors Common Factors -14 Factors Relevant Factors -10 Factors ●Physical environment ●Basic knowledge, training & education ●Problem solving skills & effort ●Physical skills and effort ●Experience ●Interactions with others ●Confidentiality ●Occupational risks ●Complexity ●Supervision received ●Supervision given ●Supervision scope ●Judgement and initiative ●Accountability ●Physical demands ●Education / Certification ●Years of experience ●Occupational risk ●Confidentiality ●Relationship management ●Supervisory responsibility ●Complexity ●Autonomy ●Accountability Scaling Pay Scale ExternalInternal Board Budget SOC Best Practices Scaling system & rationale hypothesis Job Hierarchy Number Compensable Factors POINTS Best Practices SOC & Town Board 1 Physical Demands (Effort, Risk, Environment)10 2 Education (Certification/ YOS)20 3 Financial Responsibility 20 4 Occupational Risk 10 5 Confidentiality 30 6 Relationship Management 30 7 Supervisory Responsibility 60 8 Complexity (Problem Solving Ability)30 9 Autonomy 20 10 Accountability 10 240 Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) Google Form + Hard Copy PAQ -Timeline 10/17 Literature Review Samples from comparable municipalities and Human resource consulting firms Factor Design Customized factor weights according to value of Town of Dryden 10/31 Presentation & Administration Present and explain the PAQ to participants and answer questions 11/19 Data Collecting & Analysis Collect PAQs and analyze 11/2611/6 Digitize & Piloting Digitized PAQ into Google Form and conducted a pilot survey before executing the PAQ PAQ Administration Presentation at Town Hall: FAQs -Why should PAQs be signed off by supervisors? -Interviews? -Political/personal issues PAQ Alignment Aligned 80-100% There are at least one or two factors not being matched between the job description and the response of the PAQ. Review and adjustment is optional. Aligned 60-79%There are three or more factors not being matched between the job description and the response of the PAQ. Review and adjustment is recommended . Non-Aligned 40-60% There are five or six factors not being matched between the job description and the response of the PAQ. Review and adjustment is strongly recommended. Non-Aligned 0-39% There are more than six factors not being matched between the job description and the response of the PAQ. Review and adjustment is critical. Preliminary Findings: Bookkeeper / Personnel officer ●Non-aligned 0-30% ●… prepare monthly/annual financial reports, including the required report to New York state. ●Benefits administration … enrollments, terminations, billing, employee questions etc. … (and dealing with) workers’ compensation etc. ●Human Resources for all employees, supervise and assist the entire payroll process… ●[P]repare quarterly payroll reports (state and federal), prepare W-2s and 1099s… Accounting and financial management duties Human resources management functions Payroll related duties Preliminary Findings: Code Enforcement Officer ●80-100%: Alignment ●“Examines/review applications+plans to determine compliance with the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention, Building code, Energy Code, local laws and zoning ordinances” ●Does not perform duties beyond scope of job -no additional compensable factors uncovered Education Special Requirements/Licensing Job Description Continuity Preliminary Findings: Secretary ●Exceeds Education requirement of 2 Years Community College or equivalent ●Job Description requires unusual amount of budgetary oversight ○The Secretary PAQ confirmed this (80%) of the time ○Non-Aligned 0-39% ●Organization has no review process in place ●A shift of job title recommended to compensate for the high amount of budgetary responsibility Education Special Requirements/Licensing Job Description Continuity Limitations of Phase 1 ●Short timeline ●Need for quantitative perspective from external consultant Phase II/Recommendations ●Standardized labor grades for all town positions ●Equitable pay scale in line with state/national averages ●Refined job descriptions ●External market comparisons ●Outside expertise: critical for precise analysis ●Establish continuous external auditing system with Cornell CIPA/ILR Q&A Thank You!