HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-03-13 - TB TOWN OF ULYSSES
REGULAR TOWN BOARD METING
MARCH 13 , 2007
Present : Supervisor Douglas Austic ; Town Council Roxanne Marino, Don Ellis, Rod
Ferrentino and Lucia Tyler; Town Clerk Marsha L . Georgia; Deputy Supervisor Richard
Coogan; Town Highway Superintendent James Meeker and Attorney Mariette
Geldenhuys.
Others Present : Jim Dennis Representative Tompkins County Legislature, Susan
Henninger, and Margot Brinn.
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 2/13/07 RTB & STB 2/26/07 PH 2/13 & 2/26
Mr. Austic asked if there was any discussion on the minutes.
Ms. Tyler made a motion that the Board Members meet down at the tables for better
communications, seconded by Mr. Ellis .
Mr. Austic questioned that there is better communications sitting down at the tables and
Ms . Georgia expressed her concern for the taping of the meeting and not being able to
hear clearly on the tapes without the microphones in front of each Board member.
Mr. Ellis said that down at the tables they could see each other. Ms. Marino stated that
she felt a more respectful discussion could take place if the Board could see each other.
Mr. Austic called for the vote .
Mr. Austic nay
Mr. Ferrentino nay
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms . Marino aye
Adopted .
Mr. Austic and Mr. Ferrentino moved to the tables, Mr. Meeker moved to the audience.
After discussion about the minutes and minor changes and corrections made by Ms.
Marino , Mr. Ellis moved, seconded by Ms . Marino the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approve
minutes of the Regular Town Board Meeting of February 13 , 2007, Special Town
Board Meeting of February 26 , 2007, Public Hearing of February 13 , 2007 and
the Public Informational meeting on February 26, 2007 as corrected.
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Ms. Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms . Marino aye •
Adopted .
APPROVAL OF CLAIMS
Mr. Ellis moved, seconded by Mr. Ferrentino the following :
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BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approve the
previous examined voucher # ' s 73 through 113 in the amount of $ 31 , 741 . 12 .
Mr. Ellis asked about voucher 112 to Barton & Loguidice and how much the overall
contract was for (This voucher was for $4000) .
Mr. Austic said that the contract is for $ 7000 .
The Board wished that Mr. Pond would come down and review his report to the Board.
A date and time was set for Friday March 23 `d at 10 : 30 am. The Board made clear that
paying the voucher for partial payment to Barton and Loguidice for work to date did not
represent acceptance of the draft letter report.
Ms. Tyler asked about voucher #84 for the extension of a desk in the court office, a
reimbursement to Mr . Austic for materials, and wondered if that was ethical . Ms . Marino
wondered if that would be a conflict of interest because he is approving vouchers and
reimbursing himself
Mr. Austic abstained
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Ms. Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms . Marino aye
Adopted.
REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tompkins County Board of Representative Jim Dennis reported that the County had
their second budget forum meeting in Enfield on Saturday. There were around 20 from
the public and about 30 County employees attending. Mr. Dennis said some good
discussions and questions were presented. One more meeting is scheduled on the 24`h to
be held downtown which will be their third meeting. This is the first year the County has
offered these meetings and they chose this year to hold them on Saturday mornings but in
the future they may have some during the week at different times .
Mr. Dennis and the Board discussed the County budget and the potential increase they
may face .
Mr. Dennis informed the Town Board that the Town of Enfield are trying to negotiate
their fire contract which will run out at midnight tomorrow leaving the Town of Enfield
without fire protection, which will mean the Enfield School will have to close its doors
with no fire protection.
Trumansburg Fire Department - no one in attendance from the Fire Department. Mr .
Ferrentino clarified to the Board that the Fire Department was not asking the Town Board
for additional monies this year that Ms . Tyler had previously reported but they had
discussed that it would be asked for in the next budget session in 2007 .
Planning Board Report - no Planning Board Member in attendance. Mr. Coogan
reported that the Planning Board finished the Site Plan Review for Regional Access and
that has been approved .
Ms . Marino asked about the policy that the Planning Board members are required to have
four hours of training. The Town Board may want to ask the Planning Board what they
think would make sense for the four hours of training.
Mr. Austic asked Mr. Coogan how many hours credit did he and Mr. Zeserson get in
NYC .
Mr. Coogan said a total of sixteen and these can be carried over into the next year. Mr.
Coogan said that County Planning will be doing a whole set of classes in conjunction
Regular Town Board Meeting 3
03/ 13/2007
with NY State so the Planning Board will have ample opportunity to get training this
year.
Ms. Marino said she thought about just laying it out, for example that the Board would
like the Planning Board to have one hour of training in the Town Zoning Law and
procedures and then two or three hours of other training because there may even be
online training available. Ms . Marino said she could attend the next Planning Board
meeting to discuss this with them .
PUBLIC PRIVILEDGE OF THE FLOOR — no one wished to speak.
TOWN REPORTS
Highway Superintendent James Meeker reported the following :
• Busy month plowing and salting, after every storm the wind would blow for a day
or two afterwards causing a lot of drifting.
• The Highway Department has had one Saturday and two Sundays off since the
last Board meeting February 13 `h — worked 25 of the last 28 days .
• Did general maintenance on plow trucks and spreaders when possible .
Mr. Dennis said that he has talked with many residents in the Town and they have
expressed their gratitude for the good job that Mr. Meeker and his crew have done
through the winter storms.
Code Enforcement Office Alex Rachun was absent and left no report.
Town Clerk Marsha L. Georgia report that a total of $ 777 . 00 was collected for the
month of February of which $ 587 . 85 was turned over to the Supervisor along with her
monthly report and no fees taken in for Plumbing Permits . The late tax notices were
mailed out Friday. A payment of $ 647 was made to the Supervisor for the February
penalties collected and $ 65 ,000 additional monies sent to the County on payment of the
2007 warrant.
The water bills were mailed Friday to 167 water customers in District 3 and 4 .
Board Members and Committees
Ms . Marino reported that there was a working meeting with the Recreation Partnership
Board to set the goals for the year on February 28 `h which had good representation from
Ulysses with herself and Mr. Austic in attendance . Ms . Marino said that there were a lot
of issues and thoughts raised and now the Rec . Partnership needs to sit down and decide
what the agreement will be for this year and how it is going to be modified. There is not
a lot of time to do that because it needs to be done by June . There will be several more
meetings. Ms. Marino is also on the finance committee and is trying to understand the
details of the budget. Ms . Marino said that some interesting ideas were raised at the
meeting, one of which was to possibly add providers . The only provider at this time is
the City of Ithaca, through the Ithaca Youth Bureau, but having some satellite providers
outside the City may be a good idea, such as the Cayuga Nature Center. Another idea
that was raised was allowing partial membership to the Rec . Partnership .
Ms. Marino said that she had a copy of a contract with Cornell Survey Research Institute,
which she distributed to the Board , and gave a copy to Ms. Geldenhuys the Town ' s
attorney to review. The contract would have to be signed before the Comprehensive
Committee could move forward with the survey. Ms . Marino also emailed the final copy
of the survey produced by the Comprehensive Plan Committee to the Board . Ms . Marino
recalls the Town Board committed in the fall 2006 up to $ 5000 to contract with Cornell
Research Survey Inst . to make a scanible form and also do some of the tabulation and
processing of the survey results. It is not totally clear if SRI needs the contract before
they move ahead or they just need it before they move too far forward.
Mr. Austic pointed out that the contract is lacking a price.
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Ms . Marino said that when she received the contract, it referred to exhibit A attached,
which was not attached. This will be resolved shortly. Ms. Marino understands it will be
the same as the quote the Board received back in October, showing the break down and
cost estimates . Ms . Marino feels that this information will be available to the Board
before their meeting of March 26th and at that time can move forward.
Mr. Ferrentino expressed his thoughts about the survey and said that you look at the
survey and you already know the outcome of it the way the questions are worded and
does not know what the survey really is going to tell them .
Ms. Marino stated that drafts of the survey had been sent to Town Board members
several times during its development, with requests for input . Input that was received
was taken into account in the revisions . Ms . Marino also stated that the Comprehensive
Plan Committee is made up of a diverse group of residents, who worked hard to come up
with this survey, which is designed to follow the 1991 survey the current Comprehensive
Plan grew out of.
Mr. Austic said that he sees Mr. Ferrentino ' s point and what is the sense of belonging to
the community have to do with Zoning.
Ms . Marino said it is getting the overall vision for the Town and for the future and it
guides zoning.
The Board discussed other areas of the contract .
Supervisor - Mr. Austic asked if the Board had any questions on the monthly financial
statement.
No questions were heard .
Deputy Supervisor- reported that there was a meeting of the Shared Municipal Services,
which is Towns of Caroline and Newfield, about sharing some of the storm water duties .
They are looking at different scenarios of how this would work and the job description
and requirements for an individual . The group is scheduled to meet again this month.
Mr. Coogan said that the corridor access is beginning to get started and after the initial
posturing by the different towns and the City has all come to the agreement that Route 96
will be from the south end of the Village of Trumansburg to Route 13 in the City of
Ithaca. They will start meeting and looking at actually what they will be looking for.
Mr. Ellis asked if the Village of Trumansburg is participating .
Mr. Coogan said they are not and the reason for that is they felt that the Village would
not take kindly to hearing how Main Street should be re-done with a corridor access after
they have just gotten through a Main Street project and also they said they had limited
funds .
Ms . Marino asked if these were regularly scheduled meetings and if the Board could be
notified of the times and dates .
Mr. Coogan said that right now they have been scheduled through emails, but he would
be glad to let the Board know.
Mr. Coogan said that the fly over should be done in the next couple of weeks .
Ms. Marino would also like to be copied on what is being looked at for a job description
for a storm water person.
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OLD BUSINESS
Action of Stormwater Law (Local Law #3 of 2007)
Ms. Marino provided her ideas of changes and corrections in the Stormwater Law, which
were projected on the wall for review . The changes were accepted by the Board with
discussions with Ms . Geldenhuys . Mr. Coogan made the modifications to Stormwater
Law, Local Law #3 — 2007 .
Mr. Austic moved, seconded by Mr. Ferrentino the following :
WHEREAS NYSDEC has designated sections of the Town of Ulysses to be
classified as a Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer Systems (MS4) area, and
has also established that such MS4 municipalities are required to enact a Local
Law governing Stormwater management and erosion control practices within the
municipality, and
WHEREAS the Town of Ulysses Town Board duly appointed a committee to
review and make recommendations for such law, and that the committee
recommended that the Model Stormwater Law provided by NYSDEC fits the
needs of the Town at this time, and
WHEREAS the Model Law was presented to the public at a duly advertised
public hearing at the Ulysses Town Hall on January 9th, 2007 at 7 pm and there
were no opposing comments about the Model Law at that public hearing as noted
in the minutes of the hearing,
NOW THEREFORE IT BE RESOLVED that the Ulysses Town Board enacts
Local Law #3 of 2007 to incorporate the requirements for MS4 communities to
establish requirements governing Stormwater management and erosion and
sediment control procedures for the Town of Ulysses .
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Ms. Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms . Marino aye
Adopted .
The Local Law #3 of 2007 will be filed with NYS Secretary of State and copy will be in
the official Local Law book in the Town Clerk ' s office .
Other
Resolution for Small Cities Community Development Block Grant
Mr. Austic moved, seconded by Ms . Marino the following :
WHEREAS the New York State Office for Small Cities has issued a Notice of
Funding Availability for Small Cities Community Development Block Grant
(CDBG) Funding, and
WHEREAS municipalities in New York State are eligible to apply for assistance
with community development needs such as housing, micro enterprise, public
facilities or economic development, and
WHEREAS the Town of Ulysses is an eligible community with significant
housing rehabilitation needs, as evident by survey work completed by Better
Housing for Tompkins County, Inc . ,
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03/ 13/2007
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of
Ulysses authorize an application to the NY State Office for Small Cities for
$400,000 to assist low-income homeowners with housing rehabilitation in the
Town of Ulysses outside the Village.
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Ferrentino abstained
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms . Marino aye
Adopted.
NEW BUSINESS
MPR Motion WD#5
Mr. Austic moved, seconded by Mr. Ferrentino to discuss the Map , Plan, and Report for
Water District #5 .
Mr. Austic , aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms. Marino aye
Adopted .
Mr. Austic said that he would like to hear from the Town Board members, Mr . Ellis, Ms .
Tyler and Ms . Marino as to why they do not want to go ahead with the Map, Plan, and
Report for District #5 . Mr. Austic said he needs to know why they do not care about the
100 plus signatures received on a petition asking for Water District #5 and who gains by
not doing Water District #5 and who looses and why is Water District #5 not important to
the residents of the Town of Ulysses including the Village of Trumansburg if it is the
next step for further progress in water built out in the Town of Ulysses .
Ms . Marino said from her view point she feels like she has answered those questions
multiple times and it is in the records of the October 23rd meeting where she read a
statement into the record . Ms . Marino said she also just wrote an article that the Free
Press published expressing her view.
Mr. Austic asked for Ms . Marino ' s short answer on who gains .
Ms . Marino said her concern is that there are too many large problems that have been
raised and it is very divisive. Ms. Marino said that if the Village of Trumansburg remains
opposed to District #5 , it will increase the cost significantly to the people who will be in
the district as there is much more added expense and there seems no way to resolve this .
There have been a lot of meetings and we ' ve even tried to look at any possible way to
resolve the concerns the Village has with regards to added infrastructure and there is no
way to do that within the scope of this project .
Ms. Tyler said some of her concerns are that the people affected financially by the district
do not get to vote on the district .
Mr. Austic said that is the way district law is and you can not change the law . The law is
the taxpayer votes not renters.
Ms . Tyler said when you have two municipalities and there is a revenue stream and one
writes a grant that will take away a revenue stream from the other it ' s a concern to her.
Ms . Tyler says that there are 500 families (approximately) affected in the Village versus
about 50 in the Town project .
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Mr. Austic said that there are (according to the latest figures) 1078 users in the Village of
Trumansburg which is the last billing done by the Village of Trumansburg . There are
872 bills mailed out. Mr. Austic said that if the district was formed the Village would
end up with 890 users left on the Village users . Mr . Austic said it would add up to a $40
increase per user.
Ms. Tyler feels like you can not use an actual dollar figure.
Mr. Austic believes you can.
Ms . Tyler said that at any rate there are people that are financially affected and it is kind
of like one taking from the other.
More discussion took place on revenues lost by the Village .
Ms . Tyler said there is the issue of the trailer park people who rent and have no say.
Mr. Austic said that he heard after the Village meeting that there will be a significant
water increase that will affect the trailer park and all the water users that will way over
power anything that the Town would charge . The trailer park people and the other water
users outside the Village have no say in that either.
Mr. Austic said that if the Board does not proceed with the Map, Plan, and Report, which
basically gives you more information on what is being done, sets users numbers by
establishing where the district boundaries are then you are loosing a no interest loan.
Ms. Tyler said it is not all about money that is just one aspect of it .
Mr. Austic said Ms . Tyler just said she was concerned that people could not afford this.
Ms . Tyler said it is about development and also about who is not being included in the
district.
Mr. Austic said that it is a step in the right direction for further expansion of water to
other residents in need. Mr. Austic sees no legitimate reason to be against Water District
#5 or to not do the Map, Plan, and Report and if you don ' t do the Map, Plan, and Report
you can not continue with the rest of the district. Other things have to be done such as
getting a hold of ag and markets, doing archeological studies and if you don ' t do all of
this by November or the middle of December you loss the funding. Someone will have to
explain to the people why they did not get a water district .
Mr. Ellis said that one of the very questionable things about the project is the degree of
risk for 93 households left if the 127 users at the trailer park should fall out of the
formula, those households would bear the burden of the debt service. Mr. Ellis said that
the Auble trailer park could collapse .
Mr. Ellis said that the Board would not be more informed with a Map , Plan, and Report.
Mr. Austic asked if the Board was just going to let this water district go .
Ms . Tyler said that Mr. Austic has not addressed some of their concerns .
Mr. Austic said he does not understand — he can not tell the Board that Mr. Auble will not
go out of business. Mr. Austic said that you would have to assume that he is not and
make a decision.
Ms . Marino said that the Board needs to consider the degree of risk in the decision
making and she feels unless she gets some further clarification, her understanding is that
the people in the district have to pay for everything and over 40% of the debt service is
going to be paid by just three users (Auble trailer park, State Park and Cayuga
Addiction) .
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Regular Town Board Meeting 8
03 / 13/2007
Also Ms. Marino said that if the Village maintains their position that they do not want to
participate and will not put any of the funding into the district that means $ 12 ,000 a year
more that the users would have to bear, plus all the lines that the Village own the Town
will not have access to and the Town will have to build those lines increasing the expense
even more.
Mr. Ferrentino said that the people in the district should be the ones to make these
decisions not Ms . Marino .
Ms . Marino said that it is a waste of tax payer ' s dollars to do a Map , Plan, and Report if
the district has too many problems .
Mr. Austic said that the Town received a grant for this, and it is not taxpayer money.
Ms . Marino said the grant is from the State which is tax payer ' s money.
Ms. Marino would like to see the Town use the grant money for another project that is
more inter-municipal cooperation and more benefit .
Mr. Ferrentino said clearly Senator Winner saw the water district as a good thing for the
community and he supports it and spent the money in this direction. Mr. Ferrentino said
he would stick to the fact that this project is a good thing for the Town of Ulysses and
that the people in the water district should make the decision and not Ms . Marino .
Ms . Marino said that the people in the district do not by law make the decision.
Mr. Austic said that the Town can do the Map , Plan, and Report under Article 12 and
have the attorney draw up a petition and that petition can be signed by the people in the
district and if they sign the petition saying they are in favor of the district as presented
they have a vote right there .
Ms . Marino said that the Town Board still has the responsibility to approve a municipal
infrastructure project.
Mr. Austic said that if the water district is approved it would be a vote by the people .
Mr. Ferrentino said that being responsible would be going to those people, showing them
what it is and having them make the decision. That is the right thing to do .
Ms . Tyler said but there are many more people affected by this district that do not have a
vote . The people in the trailer park are going to be paying the expense and they do not
have a vote .
Mr. Austic said they also did not have a vote when the Village doubled the rate and will
not have a vote if the Village decides to double it again. That is why it is divisive.
The heated discussion continued .
The Board talked more about the petition and talked about the recent report presented by
Barton and Loguidice .
Mr. Ellis said that there is a larger picture such as the comprehensive planning and water
planning. Mr. Ellis thinks it is nice to see one more report with more information and
insight into the water issues more largely throughout the Town.
.:
Mr. Austic said the Town can only do water districts as pieces.
Ms . Marino said that she has been contacted by other parts of the Town asking why they
1 were not included in this district and why the Town chose this district. Ms . Marino said
that the Town never had any discussion about how this district would be formed .
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Regular Town Board Meeting 9
03/ 13/2007
Mr. Austic said that other areas have been looked at in the past and also Ms . Tyler
brought up a survey which was never done . Mr. Austic feels this water district can
answer a lot of other needs in Ulysses but this is the best one to do first with the no
interest loan. This plan is a simple progression to provide water elsewhere .
Mr. Ellis said that Mr. Austic assumes that most people in the Town are in favor of this
project and he would be surprised if that was so . Mr. Ellis also feels that people are very
concerned to have water brought in before planning and zoning adjustments are done .
One of the things is the animal agriculture is not listed separately from agricultural as we
generally know it and is not something that people would necessarily want here .
Mr. Austic asked where they are afraid this would happen because the land zoned
agriculture in this district has the largest aquifer in the Town. If anyone wanted to drill a
well there for an animal farm he could get all the water he needed .
The Board discussed more about a petition.
Mr. Austic moved, seconded by Mr. Ferrentino the following :
WHEREAS the Town of Ulysses has contracted with Barton & Loguidice, LLP
(B &L) to conduct a feasibility study for the proposed Water District #5 and the
study has been completed and filed with the Town Board, and
WHEREAS said study indicates that the proposal is feasible both economically
and from an engineering standpoint, and
WHEREAS if completed District 5 when combined with District 3 are
compatible with the moderate pressure engineering zone and other areas of the
Town may not be included due to pressure differential which exists, and
WHEREAS a 30 year zero interest loan has been pre-approved for funding from
EFC, and
WHEREAS the office of Senator George C . Winner, Jr. has awarded a grant to
fund the total amount of the district Map, Plan , and Report, now therefore be it
RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses contract with B &L to
complete the Map , Plan, and Report (MPR) for proposed Water District #5 as per
the scope of service agreement sent to the Town Board, and be it further
RESOLVED the MPR when completed will be used as a basis for the
information of the proposed water district and to determine the need for further
studies to investigate the needs of other areas of the Town for municipal water
service.
Mr. Austic said that the idea of taking the Map, Plan, and Report, once it is done under
Article 12 of the formation of districts the Town can have the attorney do a petition that
is carried to each person who is listed on the water district. The people in that district
either say yes or no and then the Board would know if the people want the water district.
Ms. Marino has no confidence that those people would get full and complete information
on the possible cost to them.
Ms. Marino said she would also want to bid the Map , Plan, and Report out to another
engineering firm and not Barton and Loguidice.
The Board allowed Ms . Brinn to talk from the audience .
Ms . Brinn stated that she and her husband are the ones remodeling at 4445 Waterburg
Road and they are interested in the issue about water. Ms. Brinn had some questions and
the Board answered them as best that they could .
Regular Town Board Meeting 10
03/ 13/2007
Mr. Ellis said that there is no one at this table that believes all people here know
everything and know the facts . The people sitting at this table opposed to this project
while knowing the facts are opposed on the basis of the facts .
Mr. Austic asked if there was anymore discussion before the vote .
Mr. Ellis would like to follow up on what Mr. Austic was saying that a petition could be
circulated in the intended district . Mr. Ellis asked if this was a part of the Map , Plan, and
Report process or is it independent of it.
Mr. Austic and Ms . Geldenhuys responded to the questions on a petition.
Mr. Ellis said that he thinks it would be very useful information to know who is in the
intended district and when all are well informed would want to have the district go ahead .
Mr. Ellis believes that information is so simple and critical to this process and if we can
obtain it and we should .
Ms. Marino said she does not believe that a Map, Plan, and Report would do this because
the Town has plenty of information. Ms. Marino said she would not have a problem with
some kind of comprehensive interactive survey presenting information that encompasses
the concerns that the Board has based on things that could happen and the risks involved
in just two property owners responsible for 40% of the debt service . If the Board can
agree to lay these things out and circulate them to people, discuss them with people and
hold. public meetings she is all for that, but to date the Board has not been able to present
the alternative information in a format that people can listen to and feel comfortable with.
The Board discussed the Map , Plan, and Report again.
Mr. Ellis would like to see a controlled process by the Board where the Board would look
at the information that would be going to the people in the proposed district and get a
petition signed or not signed for wanting to be in with all the information in front of
them.
Mr. Ellis asked to go around the table and hear from each Board member .
Mr. Ellis said that he thinks going ahead with the Map , Plan, and Report if the Town can
find a way to do it which does not create the sort of understanding with the people that
this is it . Also if a petition is done information would go along with that and that
hopefully the whole Board would agree on.
Ms. Tyler said she thinks she has said more then maybe she should have said . Ms. Tyler
said if it was like District #3 she would not have a problem with the vote but right now it
is the one chance to represent the people that are disadvantaged with this project that
have no vote like the trailer park and the Village residents.
Mr. Ferrentino disagreed with Ms. Tyler because he is in the Village and happens to
operate in a world that is concerned with safety and has been on the Village Board and
has gone through many crises with the village water system, worked with the fire
department with other crises in other towns losing power in storms etc . , and the length of
time to mobilize the equipment to fix it the Village could be out of water a long time and
could shut down the school, the elderly out of water at Juniper Manor, and all the
residents . Mr. Ferrentino said when he was Major he was part of paying the Town the
initial $ 80 ,000 for a second source . Mr. Ferrentino believes the additional $ 12 ,000 a year
to be paid for by Village residents for the cost of a second source, which is around 800
users would be $ 15 additional a year to have that security. Mr. Ferrentino said also God
forbid if there was a fire when the Village water line is down. Also a water district puts
` hydrants out in the town for fire protection.
Ms . Marino said she is all for getting information to people if the Board can do it. Ms .
Marino also said that she is opposed to Barton & Loguidice doing the plan. Ms. Marino
said if you can get another firm to do it you would have a second opinion of the whole
cost and could also ask for supplemental analysis of the other things and also find out in
Regular Town Board Meeting 11
03/ 13/2007
the meantime the legal ramifications of EDU ' s changing to pay for the debt service. Ms .
Marino said that she feels that the Town needs to know what the Village people think and
what it would cost if the Village does not participate . Also find out what it would cost to
replace the water pipes if the Village will not turn them over. Ms . Marino feels this is a
scenario to find out in the Map , Plan, and Report. Ms . Marino said she could support
doing a Map , Plan, and Report and have these things done by an independent engineer,
and ask for an extended Map , Plan, and Report.
Mr. Ellis said that right now it looks like I as a Board member have a lot of reservation,
we have four Board members that think gathering more information perhaps through a
Map, Plan, and Report might be a good thing and we have among those four, Ms . Marino
saying, that there are certain conditions and Mr. Ellis has said there are conditions, so
maybe the situation is that you ' ve got a motion on the table and it just needs an
amendment that all would be happy with and allows it to go .
Mr. Ellis said that he thinks that this Board should discuss encouraging the Village to
participate more effectively in what the Town is coming up with here and he thinks that
can be done and is not out of reach . The questions that are coming up about replacing
lines could be worked out because he does not think the Village Board as a body has ill
will towards the Town and the Village wants the people in the Town or the water district
to bear unnecessary expense.
Ms . Marino said she is going on the unanimous Resolution that the Village passed in
October saying they are not participating and not supporting Water District #5 .
Mr. Ferrentino said he remembers Mr. Levine saying that he is looking forward to Water
District #5 and he said that the Village would turn over the Waterburg Road water lines
to the Town.
Mr. Ellis said that maybe an amendment on Mr. Austic ' s resolution for the Map , Plan,
and Report can be written up and be presented at the March 26th, 2007 meeting that
would allow the Town to go ahead .
The Board discussed other engineers that could be hired for the Map , Plan , and Report.
The motion on the floor was tabled .
Other
Inquiry on Town Land
Mr. Austic received an inquiry from the attorney of Gary Redmond on Kingtown Road
about a small piece of land owned by the Town of Ulysses which they believe belongs to
them. Mr. Austic had forwarded this inquiry and the deed on to Ms . Geldenhuys for
review.
Attorney Geldenhuys stated that she had reviewed the deeds and the piece of land in
question is owned by Mr. Redmond ( Ms . Geldenhuys pointed the parcel in question out
on the map . ) and the parcel that the Town owns is still owned by the Town . The
Assessment Department included the smaller piece of the Redmond ' s property on the tax
parcel that belongs to the Town creating the confusion . Ms . Geldenhuys said that all that
is needed to address this issue is a letter to the Assessment Department saying that this is
the property that is owned by the Town of Ulysses and ask for the correction on the tax
map and tax role.
Ms . Geldenhuys asked if the Town Board felt it was worth retaining that triangular piece
of land or would it be worth inquiring if this owner would be interested .
Mr. Ellis asked how this came about .
Ms. Geldenhuys explained.
Regular Town Board Meeting 12
03 / 13 /2007
The Board ' s general consensus was that the piece of land has no value to the Town and
the owners of each side of the small parcel be contacted to see if either would be
interested in obtaining the land at a minimal cost to cover filing fees, legal fees and any
other costs that may be related, which would also put it back on the tax role. Mr. Austic
and Ms . Geldenhuys will get together and discuss the letter to assessment and in offering
it to both of the adjoining properties.
Comprehensive Plan Appointment
Ms . Marino 'would like to discuss appointing Rod Hawks to the Comprehensive Plan
Committee. Ms . Marino said that the Committee discussed this appointment and were all
in favor of it , and asked her to bring it to the Board .
Ms. Marino moved, seconded by Mr. Ellis the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses appoint Rod
Hawks to the Ulysses Comprehensive Plan Committee .
Mr. Austic nay
Mr. Ferrentino aye •
Ms. Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms. Marino aye
Adopted.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Ms . Henninger announced that there is going to be a candidate ' s debate on March 15 `h,
2007 at 7pm, held at the Trumansburg Fire Department. There are three candidates
running for the Village of Trumansburg Trustee positions.
Hearing no further discussion Ms . Tyler moved, seconded by Mr. Ferrentino for
adjournment . Unanimously approved .
Respectfully submitted,
Marsha L. Georgia
Ulysses Town Clerk
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