HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-10-12 - TB TOWN OF ULYSSES
REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING
OCTOBER 12, 2004
PRESENT : Supervisor Doug Austic , Town Councilpeople Lee Scott, Robert
Weatherby; and Don Ellis ; Councilwoman Roxanne Marino absent ; Town Clerk Marsha
Georgia; Highway Superintendent James Meeker; Deputy Supervisor Richard Coogan .
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Others Present : Margaret Dill , Representative Human Services Coalition, Nancy Zahler,
{ Tompkins County Youth Rep .
Supervisor Austic called the meeting to order at 7 : 30 pm, and led those assembled in the
Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES : RBM 9\14\2004 STB 8\24\2004\, 9\15\2004, 9\22\2004
Mr. Scott moved, seconded by Mr. Ellis to approve the minutes of the Regular Town
Board meeting of September 14 , 2004 and the Special Town Board meetings of August
24, 2004, September 15 , 2004 and September 22 , 2004 as presented.
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Scott aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Mr. Weatherby aye
Adopted .
APPROVAL OF MONTHLY CLAIMS
Mr. Ellis moved, seconded by Mr. Weatherby to approve the previous examined
vouchers # ' s 460 through 528 in the amount of $63 , 579 . 42
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Scott aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Mr. Weatherby aye
Adopted .
REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES
Peter Penniman, Representative Tompkins County Board — absent.
Trumansburg Fire Department - no one in attendance.
Planning Board Report, Chairman — absent .
Others
Human Coalition Services, Representative Margaret Dill
Supervisor Austic introduced Ms . Margaret Dill a representative from the Human
Services Coalition who wished to address the Town Board .
Ms . Dill introduced Nancy Zahler who is a member of the Coalition Board and
Representative of Tompkins County Youth Bureau .
Ms . Dill distributed literature to the Town Board explaining the Coalitions services and
provided extra copies for the Town Clerk to have for distribution.
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Ms . Dill stated the Human Services Coalition is a private non-profit corporation focusing
on efficient, effective planning and delivery of human service programs . The Coalition
works together to enhance consumer access to services , to facilitate cooperation among
service providers, and to advise community funders . HSC encourages affiliations that
provide group benefits, and evaluates the implications of change in state and federal law
as they affect local health and human services . The three programs are Human Service
Planning, Information & Referral Service, and Health Planning Council . Ms . Dill
reviewed they following publications the Coalition provides :
• Human Services Resource Directory
• Guide to Volunteer Opportunities in Tompkins County
• Human Services Coalition Foundation Directory
• Community Services Guide
Ms . Dill stated the Coalition has a new web page where there is valuable information
www . hstc . org . People can also email her at mfd@cornell . edu or call at 273 - 8686 or for
information and referrals assistance call 272-9331 .
Ms . Zahler distributed a new publication from the Youth Bureau called Ithaca Parent &
Teen. She also left extra copies for the Clerk ' s office.
Mr. Austic thanked Ms . Dill and Ms . Zahler for attending and sharing with the Board
information about the Coalition.
TOWN REPORTS
James Meeker, Highway Superintendent reported the Highway Department helped the
Town of Enfield do some paving, replaced a road-crossing pipe at the intersection of
VanDorns Corners and Perry City Road, stoned and oiled Pine Ridge Road, and did some
hand patching on Gorge Road, Glenwood Heights Road, and Willow Creek Road. The
crew also helped the Town of Enfield stone and oil and mow along roadsides and
backsides of ditches .
Mr. Weatherby asked if he had learned anything additional about the repair of the bridge
on Route 227 .
Mr. Meeker stated it is still on schedule for repair in the spring of 2005 .
Mr. Meeker reported he has plans for the repair of the bridge on Cold Springs Road,
which could cost around $ 30 to $40 thousand. He has started work on ditching in the
area of the bridge, which has to be done prior to the bridgework.
Alex Rachun, Code Enforcement Officer reported he issued a total of 6 building
permits for the month of September, two for single-family homes, and four for additions .
The Zoningi Board of Appeals scheduled a public hearing for an area variance and it had
to be re-scheduled twice because of a lack of a quorum . This was due partly because of
the death of Ken Christiansen, a Zoning Board member. The third public hearing has
been completed and the variance granted .
Marsha Georgia, Town Clerk reports a total of $ 7 ,238 . 00 . was collected for the month
of September and $ 665 . 62 was turned over to the Supervisor along with her monthly
report. Also $ 515 . 00 was turned over for plumbing permits and contactor fees . A total of
$ 5 , 917 . 78 was collected for the sale of conservation licenses, which was turned over to
DEC .
Mrs . Georgia reported she completed the final quarterly report for Municipality' s
Minority and Women ' s Business (M/WBE) for the New York State Environmental
Facilities Corporation. This report reflects the payments the contractors made to the MBE
and WBE subcontractors and suppliers for the work done in Water District #3 .
Regular Town Board Meeting 3
10/ 12/2004
Mrs. Georgia stated the first water billing was completed at the end of September and the
payments are coming in. A total of 107 meters were read and billed .
Board Member and Committees - no reports from any Board Members or Committees
were heard .
Douglas Austic, Supervisor reviewed his monthly financial report and no questions
were heard .
Richard Coogan, Deputy Supervisor stated this was supposed to be the month the
Hazard Mitigation Plan was to be adopted . The State Environmental Facilities passed
HM plan to FEMA and they have not ruled on the plan as yet, so therefore there is a
delay. FEMA although has been gracious enough to say if the Town did have some kind
of disaster while they are reviewing, they would honor any claims . The best we can
come up with right now is the full plan will be available for adoption the first quarter of
2005 . While it is going through review the committee is continuing working on the
implementation of the plan, which has been done with the Red Cross . The big area in
Ulysses was emergency preparedness and we are working with the Village, the School
District, the Red Cross, the churches, and all other places that could house people
together. There have been two meetings with these groups and next week the third
meeting is scheduled for October 18 `h . The other thing being looked at is incident
command 100 training, which is very basic . It would be for someone from the Village
and the Town, to make sure they understand how the command structure works if there is
an incident. It is not training for taking over command ; it is just to explain how all the
different parts are integrated.
The MS4 Storm-water committee has been meeting and they are making progress in
looking at two different areas . The biggest concerns are the steep slopes and moderate
slopes, which is almost all along the lakeshore. Another thing being considered is an
environmental overlay district where the Town could make certain requirements of a
builder when they applied for a building permit. Along with that there are a lot of good,
common sense practices homeowners can do . Everyone on the committee thought this
was not something for a local law . Rebecca Schneider works with Cooperative Extension
at Cornell and has found there is a lot of material that exists that could be used to put a
package together so when a home owner comes in asking for a building permit they could
get this information good practices . Examples of practices being considered are; do not
do lawns, use ground covers with trees and scrubs, don ' t necessarily use gutters , but also
could look at cisterns, and rain disbursement systems that diffuse the water, and several
other ideas in the line of Storm-water Management . The committee is looking into the
possibility of coming up with some funding at some level for this project. People who
would adopt a majority of these practices on their own would get a plaque showing they
are environmentally conscience, similar to the way the energy program is working.
The committee seems to be on target for the end of the year to have the first draft of a
local law.
Another item that came out of the budget meeting that the Town Board had on the 5th of
October was the possible interest in a Town audit. Mr. Coogan has spoke with Duane
Scheon of Ciaschi , Dietershagen, Little & Mickelson, which is one of two firms in Ithaca
that can do full audits . Mr. Scheon stated he would be more than willing to come to a
Town Board meeting and do a short presentation on what an audit does, the difference
between a cash audit and a full audit, and what would trigger a need and really what do
they provide . Mr. Scheon is willing to come anytime if the Board would so choose. Mr.
Coogan did ask him for an estimate on a cash audit for a Town the size of Ulysses (This
firm does the audit at the Village of Trumansburg) , and you could expect the fee to be
$6000 to $ 8000 . Mr. Scheon would explain what the differences are between a cash
audit and a full audit and why you would have one over the other and what you would
expect to find and what kind of opinion the audit would be giving.
Mr. Ellis asked if what he refers to as a full audit is what they are routinely doing for the
Village of Trumansburg?
Regular Town Board Meeting 4
10/ 12/2004
Mr. Coogan did not say what they were doing for the Village .
Mr. Ellis stated he thinks it would be a good idea to hear what their services are .
Mr. Coogan replied that Mr. Scheon promised it would not be a sales pitch; it would be
information only and would not take much more than ten to fifteen minutes pending the
questions.
The general consensus of the Board was to invite Mr. Scheon to the next meeting. Mr.
Coogan will take care of this .
One last item is Ms . Marino has an application for the Water Resources Council that
she ' s waiting to file but needs a resolution of appointment from the Town Board .
Mr. Ellis moved, seconded by Mr. Scott the following :
Be It Resolved that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses recommends
Roxanne Marino to be appointed to the Water Resources Council .
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Scott aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Mr. Weatherby aye
Adopted.
Mrs . Georgia will certify the foregoing resolution and forward to Tompkins County.
OLD BUSINESS
Barton & Loguidice Annual Agreement
Supervisor Austic reviewed the previously discussion of an Annual Agreement with
Barton & Loguidice for their services . It was previously tabled awaiting a list of their
rates and they have been received and reviewed. Mr. Austic asked the Board if they
wished him to sign the agreement. The attorney has also reviewed the agreement and
there is no actual cost until a service is requested and then they would submit a "scope of
service" with their fee .
Mr. Ellis moved, seconded by Mr. Scott to authorize Supervisor Austic to sign the annual
agreement for engineering services with Barton & Loguidice.
Mr. Ellis stated he felt their rates were very reasonable .
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Scott aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Mr. Weatherby aye
Adopted .
Mr. Austic will sign the agreement and return it to Barton & Loguidice.
Other
Mr. Austic asked if anyone had any other old business?
Mr. Ellis stated the other old business is the Board had previously stated they would
revisit the question of the 30/70 fixed ratio frontages in the Al district . He does not bring
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it up because he thinks there should be a lot of time spent on it but because we said we
were going to .
Regular Town Board Meeting 5
10/ 12/2004
Mr. Austic stated the Town of Dryden is also been doing some work on this .
Mr. Coogan stated that an Inter-municipal Committee is being put together to talk about
the Al issues because several municipalities are having these same discussions . Right
now it looks like representatives from Dryden, Newfield, Enfield, Cayuga Lake Network,
Tompkins County and the Cooperative Extension all may want to participate. The
Committee would start by looking at definitions, what is trying to be accomplished, what
would be needed to be done, and general items of concern. The County would be
involved so they could start thinking about apportionment frontage and what would have
to be done at the County level to make this work. Mr. Coogan stated they are trying to
get the dialog started for everyone, not just Ulysses .
Mr. Austic stated he feels this is a good way to get started and get more opinions and
more information available.
Mr. Ellis asked Mr. Coogan if he could get the word out on when these meetings begin to
happen. Mr. Coogan stated he and Ms . Marino are working on it and at this time he is
waiting for her return from China and then maybe they could have the first organizational
and structural meeting sometime around the end of November.
Mr. Ellis feels than the Board should table the business about the 30/70 at this time .
NEW BUSINESS
Approval for New Doors Town Hall
Supervisor Austic stated at the beginning of the year he was appointed in charge of the
overseeing of the maintenance of the Town Hall and has the authority to spend up to a
$ 1000 . The front and back doors of the Town Hall are in need of replacement. He has
gotten prices on replacements, which are $637 for the back door and $ 536 for the front
door. The replacement doors are fiberglass and would be pre-finished so they will not be
subject to the rust from the salt . Mr. Austic thinks before the building is painted the
doors should be replaced. A formal resolution is not necessary for the purchase (but these
expenditures total more than $ 1000?) .
Town/Village Fire & Youth Budget Meeting 10/8/2004
The 2005 Fire and Youth budgets were presented to the Village of Trumansburg. and
Town of Ulysses at a joint meeting.
Fire Budget
The Fire Department presented their budget for 2005 indicating they had $28 , 000 left in
funds from 2004 . One of the things discussed and suggested was that if the Fire
Department was to put all of the $28 ,000 back into the 2005 budget, the Town of Ulysses
share would come to $6000 more than what the Town budgeted last year for the Fire
contract. If the Fire Department did not put any of the remaining funds back. Supervisor
Foster of the Town of Covert tentatively agreed it would not make a lot of sense to have a
fire department with out some kind of a fund balance . Supervisor Foster stated he would
go along with what the Town of Ulysses decides . Mr. Austic has suggested that half of
the fund balance be put into the 2005 budget the other half put in a separate savings
account. This way the fire department would have a fund balance of $ 14,000 . Mr.
Austic stated if this were done, the Town of Ulysses and the Town of Covert plan would
be to have a separate savings account in the Village of Trumansburg that was not in a fire
account. Mr. Austic suggested if that money was needed for something, such as a
disaster then the fire department should contact the Towns involved and they would vote
if that money could be used.
Another discussion that came up at the meeting was to establish an elected Board of
Directors for the Fire Department . That would be a hard thing to do unless the
organization of the fire department was changed, which would have to go through the
Regular Town Board Meeting 6
10/ 12/2004
State procedure . Mr. Austic suggested each Town have a designated Board member as a
representative to the Fire Department who goes to the meetings when they talk about
budgets and spending money. Then the five municipalities involved know how the
budget process is going and knows what is happening. The representatives would not
necessarily have to go to every meeting where they are taking about their routine
business . This may be a logical way to get into that kind of oversight with out getting
into the State-mandated elections .
I
Youth Budget
Mr. Austic stated Tompkins County has decided to make a permanent funding for the
Recreation Partnership . If the County had not done this, the Town' s share for 2005
would have been around $ 16 , 000 ; with the agreed upon County funding our share will be
$6100 .
Furnace // Exterior Painting // Court Room Bench Estimates
Furnace
Mr. Austic has received an estimate from Hubbard Plumbing & Heating for the furnace .
He is still waiting for an additional one from Housworth Plumbing & Heating. It was the
general consensus of the Board to hold discussion until the other estimates have been
received. Mr. Austic requested a total of four.
Exterior Painting
The Town has received three estimates for the exterior painting of the Town Hall and
they are as follows :
• Denmark Painting $2940 .
• Wright Brothers 5200 .
• .Duthie 5900 .
Mr. Weatherby moved, seconded by Mr. Ellis to authorize Denmark Painting to paint the
exterior of the Town Hall at a price not to exceed $2940 .
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Scott aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Mr. Weatherby aye
Adopted.
Mrs . Georgia stated Denmark ' s stated that if the weather holds they would possibly be
able to do it this year. The estimate state the price is only good until Novemberlst, 2004 .
Mrs . Georgia will contract Denmark ' s and advise them of the decision and also ask if the
price would; still be honored if the painting were not done until the spring of 2005 .
Court Room Bench
The Town received an estimate from Ithaca Millwork for the construction and installation
of a bench area to be used for the Judges and also the Boards . The price for this was
$21 ,000 . Ithaca Millwork is agreeable to make a mock up of the bench so everyone
could see the results and not just try to visualize the end results . Mrs . Georgia will
contact Ithaca Millwork to see when this would be ready.
Regular Town Board Meeting 7
10/ 12/2004
Budget Meeting Schedule
Mrs . Georgia informed the Board she had received a request from Laurie MacCheyne
who does the cleaning for the Town, to increase the monthly pay for her services to $ 589
per month. At the present time it is $443 . 44 . The contract would include about the same
things as it does now. Mrs . Georgia stated Laurie does a very good job and she is very
happy with her work. She would have no problem with the increase but she would like to
sit down with Laurie and discuss the duties .
Mr. Ellis states we should not question this request if she does the job well.
It was the general consensus this request was not unreasonable and Mr. Austic would
change the tentative budget .
Mr. Austic asked if the Board felt if an additional meeting would be necessary other than
the meeting scheduled for October 25 `h to work on the budget. The Board thought the
one meeting would be sufficient .
A meeting does need to be scheduled for the continuing review of the Draft Zoning
Ordinance .
The Planning Board has reviewed parts of the "Design Standards" . Mr. Rachun stated he
attended the last Planning Board meeting and they were going to ask the Town Board if
the Board could move on to the review of sub -division and look at that so they would
have time to look at the design standards . Especially with Margot, who has some
expertise in this area, as she has worked on design standards with lighting etc . in
Lansing? Then the Planning Board could meet with the Board and/or present their
thoughts .
Mr. Austic felt that would be fine with him. The Town Board left off their review at
Adult Entertainment. Mr. Austic thinks the Board could continue where it left off and
then go on to sub-division regulations .
It was decided the review of the budget would not take much time so it may be a good
idea to have the Zoning meeting that evening also . The time was changed and the
meeting on October 25th will start at 6PM instead of 7PM allowing an additional hour if
needed .
Other
Previously Mr. Rachun had mentioned the Zoning Board of Appeals is minus a member
because Mr. Christiansen passed away.
Mr. Austic stated he believes Mr. Christensen ' s term is up December 31St, 2004 and the
Board could appointment someone to finish out his term .
Mr. Coogan has gotten in touch with the residents who applied for the Planning Board
and asked if they would be interested in serving on the Zoning Board of Appeals . Both
Gerald VanOrden and Don Schlather have expressed interest and both have already been
interviewed.
Mr. Ellis is familiar with Mr. Schlather because of his work in the Village.
Mr. Rachun asked if Mr. Schlather is a Village resident and reminded the Town Board
that the Zoning Board of Appeals has representation already from two residents of the
Village .
Mr. Weatherby moved, seconded by Mr. Austic the following :
Regular Town Board Meeting 8
10/ 12/2004
Be Iti Resolved that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses nominates Gerald
VanOrden to serve on the Zoning Board of Appeals for the remaining term of Mr.
Christensen expiring December 31st, 2004.
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Scott aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Mr. Weatherby aye
Adopted .
Mr. Coogan ! will contact Mr. VanOrden and notify Mr. Schlather.
PUBLIC COMMENTS - No public was in attendance .
CORRESPONDENCE - Correspondence previously discussed .
ADDITIONAL ITEMS - Mr. Meeker asked Mrs . Georgia if she had received any
information from the State on the Town ' s request for the reduction of the speed limit on
Searsburg Road. Mrs . Georgia had received nothing as yet.
ADJOURNMENT
, ,
Hearing no further business Mr. Scott moved, seconded by Mr. Weatherby to adjourn the
meeting. U :lanimously approved, meeting adjourned at 8 : 55 PM .
Respectfully submitte c ,
141 eel& /I deers
—42
Marsha L . Georgia I'
Ulysses Town Clerk
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