HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-03-14TB 3-14-19
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TOWN OF DRYDEN
TOWN BOARD MEETING
March 14, 2019
Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl Linda Lavine,
Cl Kathrin Servoss, Cl Alice Green
Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk
Highway Superintendent Rick Young
Other Town Staff: Jennifer Case, Bookkeeper
Ray Burger, Director of Planning
Supv Leifer opened the meeting at 6:05 p.m.
RESOLUTION #60 (2019) – APPROVE ABSTRACT #3
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves Abstract #3, as audited, general
vouchers #97 through #181, totaling $879,506.54, and an amount not to exceed $140,000.00
to Tompkins County Health Insurance Consortium and $802.73 to Lincoln Financial.
2nd Cl Servoss
Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes
Cl Green Yes
Cl Servoss Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
Supv Leifer asked for a resolution to acknowledge a pay raise for the Assistant
Superintendent of Public Works. The amount was approved in the 2019 budget.
RESOLUTION #61 (2019) – APPROVAL OF WAGE INCREASE
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
Whereas, the Assistant Superintendent of Public Works has been in his position since
9/5/17; and
Whereas, the Assistant Superintendent of Public Works was not approved for a pay
raise in the list of 2019 salaries previously approved for staff that do not have a unique budget
code; and
Whereas, the Highway Superintendent requested a 2% pay increase for the Assistant
Superintendent of Public Works on 2/11/19, now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that this Town Board approves the 2% pay increase for the Assistant DPW
Superintendent effective with the pay period beginning January 27, 2019.
2nd Cl Green
Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes
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Cl Green Yes
Cl Servoss Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
Highway/DPW Superintendent R Young asked the board for a resolution not to exceed
$95,000 for the purchase of plow equipment for the truck that was recently delivered. He has
a quote for $90,000.00 but is looking into a specific type of control so is asking for $95,000.00.
The funds are in his budget.
RESOLUTION #62 (2019) – AUTHORIZE $95,000 FOR PLOW EQUIPMENT
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes the Highway Superintendent to
spend up to $95,000 for plow equipment.
2nd Cl Green
Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes
Cl Green Yes
Cl Servoss Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
Supv Leifer explained that he would like to close the trust and agency account at
Tompkins Trust Company and open a trust and agency account at The First National Bank of
Dryden, keeping the towns funds in one bank. J Case added that the Trust Company has
asked about the practicality of the situation and acknowledged that it would make sense to
close the account.
RESOLUTION #63 (2019) – CHANGE OF DEPOSITORY FOR TRUST & AGENCY ACCOUNT
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
Whereas, currently the Trust & Agency funds are held in an account at Tompkins Trust
Company, and
Whereas, this account was previously located at First National Bank of Dryden, but moved at
a time when Tompkins Trust offered more payroll dispersing options than First National
Dryden, and
Whereas, the payroll process is extended one full day due to the wait time in funds transfer
from bank to bank, and
Whereas, First National Bank of Dryden now offers equivalent payroll dispersing options, and
Whereas, Tompkins Trust Company has indicated they favor our moving this account,
therefore,
Be it Resolved that in the interest of expediency and consistency, this Town Board authorizes
the opening of a Trust & Agency Account at First National Bank of Dryden with check signers
on the account being: Bambi Avery, Jason Leifer, Lee Parker and Chrystle Terwilliger.
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Be it also Resolved that this Town Board authorizes movement of funds currently on deposit
at Tompkins Trust be moved to the newly created TA account at First National bank of
Dryden
Be it also Resolved that this Town Board authorizes transfer of funds between First National
accounts by: Jennifer Case, Sherri Crispell, and Bambi Avery.
2nd Cl Lamb
Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes
Cl Green Yes
Cl Servoss Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
Public Broadband Feasibility Study - The Town Attorney has prepared an Agreement
for Professional Consulting Services for the Fiber-To-The-Home network feasibility study to be
prepared by Hunt Engineers. Supv Leifer reported that there may be funding available in the
future for construction of this type of network and having this study in place will put the town
in a position to be “shovel-ready” for such an opportunity. After review, the board authorized
the Town Supervisor to execute the agreement.
RESOLUTION #64 (2019) – APPROVE AGREEMENT FOR PROFESSIONAL CONSULTING
SERVICES – HUNT ENGINEERS
Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves an Agreement for Professional
Services with Hunt Engineers, Architects, Land Surveyors & Landscape Architect, DPC, for a
municipal Fiber-to-the-Home network feasibility study according to their proposal dated
February 19, 2019 and authorizes the Town Supervisor to execute the same.
2nd Cl Servoss
Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes
Cl Green Yes
Cl Servoss Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
Ambulance Medicaid Funding Changes - Supv Leifer reported it had been brought to
his attention that the Governor’s budget proposes to cut Medicaid funding for rural ambulance
services. This would increase the financial challenges faced by rural ambulances. A loss of
this revenue to the ambulance service could result in an increase in the ambulance tax on real
property tax bills. Supv Leifer will draft a resolution opposing this an d bring it to the board
next week to be acted on and forwarded to our state representatives.
Virtual Farmers Market - The Ag Committee is working with R McHugh on a virtual
farm market website. There was also a discussion of the proposed comp plan changes at their
last meeting.
AIM Funding - Cl Lamb explained that the Governor’s initial budget proposed to cut
AIM funding. The budget proposal is in flux now and the Governor is getting pushback. There
was an amendment that provides for towns to receive a portion of internet sales tax, essentially
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a new revenue to offset the loss of AIM, but it looks like that has changed and the AIM may be
restored. The town could stand to lose $53,000 if there is no AIM, and the villages of Freeville
and Dryden will also be impacted. Cl Lamb will stay informed on any proposed changes and
will have a resolution addressing the town’s concerns for next week’s meeting.
Proposed Sustainability Additions to Comprehensive Plan - Cl Green asked that
there not be a public hearing this month on the proposed comp plan sustainability additions.
She reported a very productive dialogue at the March 7 information meeting. J Kiefer has
looked into the specific requirements to make these amendments. After receiving input at the
publication information meeting, the Planning Board will now need to hold a public hearing
and then request the amendments in the form of a resolution after that public hearing.
Cl Green said there is need for more dialogue. There is some worry about the Town
Board moving too quickly to make these amendments to the comp plan. There was good
rationale presented for this being one of the most urgent needs in the current comp plan. The
overall update will take more time. The Building Energy Committee will continue meeting and
will talk on Monday on incorporating some of the suggestions that were heard on March 7.
Other comments:
• There is no need to frame this in terms of climate change.
• Instead, acknowledge all these things that are happening with the weather and the need
to plan for them.
• Because the current plan is silent we need to move forward with this.
• The state is putting measures in place that will need to be dealt with by the town.
• Under new SEQR regulations an EIS requires looking at energy usage.
• We need a good understanding of why we are moving on this sooner than the complete
update.
• New reports in the last year make clearer the global consensus on climate change and
that gives urgency to this part of the update.
• The town wants to attend to this for its residents.
• Packaging and marketing are important.
Cl Green said there was a request that the membership of that subcommittee include
members of the building industry. That could help the board understand what these changes
and subsequent applications could mean for the housing industry.
Compensation Study – There is now a consultant on board through a grant. Cl Green
had a 2-hour video conference with Lisa Hunter earlier this week. She has helped the group to
hone in on the next steps for the town. The board discussed variables for comparison such as
geographic size, budget of municipality, median income, median household property values,
population, square miles, poverty rates, special districts, departments, amount of municipally
managed property including parks and trails, services delivered, number of staff, etc. The
board discussed and discounted comparison to businesses, schools and colleges. The
committee will need to determine the municipalities with similar service functions to be
compared to.
The consultant has advised that managers will need to review the PAQs for the people
who report to them.
George Road Bridge – Cl Servoss reported the estimate from engineers for construction
of this bridge project a $380,750 shortfall between grant funding and the total cost of the
project. The county is planning to pick up $50,663, leaving $330,087. She said we will need
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to try and get more funding from the county and if they won’t provide more than the 5% local
match, the town will need to determine how to cover the remainder. The grant for George Road
Bridge was written on a total cost of $1.13 million. The engineer’s estimate is $1.49 million
and does not include $150,000 in construction inspection costs. R Young will talk with Jeff
Smith because regardless of the cost of the two bridges, the county is saving $3.76 million out
of pocket. Cl Servoss will prepare a summary of the financial situati on for each bridge for next
week.
Cl Green said the resolution passed last month to create a Dryden Climate Smart
Community Task Force should have referred to her position on the committee as “coordinator”
and not “chair” and asked the board to pass the resolution again with that change.
RESOLUTION #65 (2019) – CREATE A TOWN OF DRYDEN CLIMATE
SMART COMMUNITY TASK FORCE
Cl Lamb offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:
WHEREAS, New York State introduced the Climate Smart Community (CSC) certification
program in 2014 to recognize the leadership of communities that go beyond the CSC pledge to
implement and document a suite of actions that mitigate and adapt to climate chan ge at the
local level, and
WHEREAS, over the past two years, DEC’s Climate Smart Communities grants program has
awarded approximately $20 million for 37 climate change adaptation and greenhouse gas
mitigation projects, and DEC has awarded another $1 million to support 26 Climate Smart
Community certification projects, and
WHEREAS, in 2016 the Town of Dryden approved a pledge to work toward becoming a New
York State Climate Smart Community, and
WHEREAS, the Town of Dryden has recently been awarded certification as a Clean Energy
Community, and received a $5,000 grant for further sustainability actions, and
WHEREAS, the first step towards bronze certification as a Climate Smart Community is
appointing a Climate Smart Task Force and Chairperson, to guide documentation of the Town’s
action steps toward Climate Change Resilience and Mitigation, now
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Town of Dryden appoints the following persons to the
Town Climate Smart Task Force:
Ray Burger, Director of Planning
John Kiefer, Chair of the Dryden Planning Board
Peter Davies, Chair of the Dryden Conservation Board
Joseph Wilson, Member of the Dryden Planning Board
Alice W. Green, Town of Dryden Councilperson
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Town Board appoints Councilperson Alice W. Green
to serve as coordinator of the Climate Smart Community Task Force.
2nd Supv Leifer
Roll Call Vote Cl Lavine Yes
Cl Green Yes
Cl Servoss Yes
Cl Lamb Yes
Supv Leifer Yes
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Next week the Safety & Preparedness Committee will give a presentation on the FEMA
plan and there will be a report from the Climate Smart Community Task Force.
Supv Leifer reported that the union labor agreement has been voted on and approved by
the labor force. Cl Green asked that the town’s HR person have an opportunity to review it
prior to the board voting. The thinking is that the HR person may recognize an impact from
the HR perspective that others may have missed.
Cl Green announced that the Rail Trail Task Force has received another grant in the
amount of $5,000.00.
R Burger said a final application from Trinitas is not expected until at least May.
There being no further business, on motion made, seconded and unanimously carried,
the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Bambi L. Avery
Town Clerk