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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-03-27 - CPC Town of Ulysses Comprehensive Plan Committee March 27, 2007 Approved 04/24/07 with corrections Present: Sue Poelvoorde, Sue Ritter, Elizabeth Thomas, David Tyler, John Wertis, Deputy Supervisor Dick Coogan Absent : Robert Brown, Heather Filiberto , Rod Hawkes , David Kerness, Darien Simon, Robert Weatherby Ms. Poelvoorde called the meeting to order at 7 : 15 pm . She presented the minutes from the February 27 , 2007 meeting, she noted content corrections to be made. Mr. Tyler made the MOTION to approve the minutes, Mr. Wertis seconded the MOTION. The vote on the MOTION was unanimous, MINUTES APPROVED WITH CORRECTIONS . Mr. Coogan stated he has some information about a grant from the Ag. and Markets seminar he attended . Ms . Poelvoorde stated she would have him present his information before proceeding with the rest of the agenda. Mr. Coogan stated he attended a seminar for Ag and Markets , they are making funds available for a non-competitive, 75/25 grant — 20 of the 25 have to be cash. The grant would have to be used for planning, the portion of the Comprehensive Plan that is dealing with farming could use these funds . The grant could be used for developing a PDR (Purchase and Development Rights) plan . The applications will be accepted in June, it is first come, first serve basis . They can request up to $25 , 000. 00. Mr. Tyler stated he has heard that the County is involved in a PDR in Lansing Mr. Coogan stated the County holds the title to the easement even though it is in the town of Lansing. The purchase and development program is such that if there is a farm of 100 acres and there is significant development pressure, that segment is eligible for a purchase of development rights . The municipality will come in and purchase from the owner in exchange the property will never be developed. Mr. Tyler asked if the Federal government was still involved. Mr. Coogan stated he does not know. Mr. Tyler stated he had done the first one in Tompkins County and the Federal government was involved at that point in time, there were several more in the pipeline . Mr. Coogan stated Lansing and Groton are interested in the program. Dryden had a farm they were trying to have purchased, they rezoned at the densest possible zone . It was a gamble but it did work out . Ms . Ritter clarified that this grant would be to develop this program. Mr. Coogan stated it would be, the State was finding municipalities at a loss on how to establish these programs . They are helping the municipalities in planning for these. It can also be used as a shared grant. If shared with Enfield or Covert the grant could be $50,000 . 00 . If the committee would like to be kept appraised of the application process he would be willing to do this . The cash would have to be available in September. Ms . Poelvoorde asked if this grant would be available every year. Mr. Coogan stated it has been budgeted for $400, 000 . 00 it is his understanding that when the funds are gone the program ends . It could be renewed in the new budget year. 1 A discussion ensued regarding the use for this program, the necessity and how it would tie in with the comprehensive plan. The committee members requested Mr. Coogan to continue looking into the application process and keep them advised. Ms . Poelvoorde stated she would be attending a Finger Lakes Land Trust meeting on Thursday, this group has been active in this type of work, she will check with Andy Zeppregarding these programs. Mr. Coogan stated he would get the information and present it at the April meeting. He will also let Roxanne know as it will require a Town Board resolution. Mr. Wertis asked if it would be advisable to inform the Ag. and Markets office we are interested . Mr. Coogan stated he would follow up with the individual at Ag. and Markets. He will try to get more concrete information and definition regarding what this funding would actually do . Ms . Poelvoorde stated they have a lot to report regarding the survey status . She asked Ms . Ritter to present her portion. Ms . Ritter stated they have been delayed as Yasmin was out on medical leave and is only working part time, she is healing from surgery. They have a few big projects they have to finish but it looks like early April is the time frame to get the scanned form prepared by them. In the meantime she and Ms . Poelvoorde have done research as to the steps that need to be taken. They have developed that the survey would be folded in half', Mailboxes of Ithaca would put the addresses on, Mailboxes does not do copying thus a different company would be needed to do the forms . SRI said tape is not good, and staples are okay, they decided to put an envelope in the packet to be mailed. Eagle Envelope would apply a business reply stamp as well as the SRI address at the cost of $ 127 . 00 for 2500 envelopes . Ms . Poelvoorde stated she had gone to the Postmaster and she will verify with the Ithaca Post Office as that is the one we have to use. The cost would be $ 160 . 00 for the positive image, the charge is 39 cents and 65 cents per returned envelope. She calculated based on prior survey that it would run about $250 . 00 dollars vs . putting postage on all of the surveys ($ 800. 00) and not having them be returned. The image they purchase is good for one year, so if the Town has additional mailings it could be utilized. Mr. Wertis stated they should change the introduction on the survey to reflect postage paid vs . stamped. Ms . Poelvoorde noted the change on the survey. Ms . Ritter stated once they have the survey forms and the envelopes they would like to ask for help in establishing a work group to stuff and staple . That would save some money if the group could do this . Ms . Carlisle Peck offered to assist them in stuffing and stapling. She stated the Town uses Kinko ' s for printing and has an account with them . The Town has an electric stapler to use as well . Mr. Wertis asked if they should take the finished product to the Post Office to establish if it can be mailed in this form vs . having 2300 returned to us . Ms . Ritter stated she would definitely do this . Ms . Poelvoorde and Ms . Thomas stated they have received newsletters in this format but it would be a good idea to check this . 2 Comprhensive Plan 3 03 / 27 / 07 Ms . Ritter stated she and Ms . Poelvoorde had worked on the database and had come up with the following totals . Ulysses- Homeowners 1907 Renters 243 Mobile Homes 121 2271 She would like to get 200 blank envelopes that are not addressed to SRI to round the number up and have these available if necessary. Ms . Poelvoorde stated Yasmin had suggested an edit to the Existing Aspects of the survey. She made these corrections , the question did not correlate to the ratings . Ms . Thomas asked if a husband and wife want to complete a survey is this possible. Ms . Carlisle Peck stated they could call and request an additional survey. Ms . Poelvoorde presented the survey statistical analysis as prepared by Mr. Kerness . A discussion eventually resulted with the committee tabling the review until the members could review the information prepared by Mr. Kerness and prepare information they would like to see in the statistics . Ms . Poelvoorde stated she had prepared a draft a scope of work item with deliverables to help in the next step of the process to hire a planning professional . She is looking for comments, recommendations, etc . Mr. Wertis asked when it would be desirable to get this out. Ms . Poelvoorde stated she would like to do it in May, having the selection done and working on the contract by early June . They may need to have another meeting. Mr. Tyler asked how it gets disseminated. It is a specialized type of request, how to focus communication to those they want to receive it. Mr. Coogan stated they need to establish who they want to receive . Ms . Ritter stated there is a NYS Planning Federation website that has an area to post consultant positions . The Town of Dryden just posted a position they are looking for, if they know individuals they are interested in they could send it directly to them. Ms . Poelvoorde noted they had received a list from County Planning and she did not see anyone that jumped out. Ms . Ritter stated many of these people on the list are from Saratoga Springs, there were some local but they were more into the scenic views vs . comprehensive planning. Mr . Coogan stated a lot of these are professional engineering firms . They do scenic byways, etc . Ms . Thomas stated the traveling costs would be expensive . Mr. Tyler stated if they could find a local person it would be beneficial in having them at the meetings . Ms . Ritter stated that can be viewed during the interview process, if someone local has a few negatives vs . a long distance group that would not be accessible . Mr. Wertis asked if it would be helpful to send this to other municipalities to pass on to their planning people. 3 , . • f1�W� fR�l,atlmltff—ti n- ew.r�._�__._.._e._._ Ms . Ritter stated they do not do that at the Town of Ithaca, if a planner is looking for a consultant position they would probably go to the website to look. She suggested they may want to send it over to rural development, Rod Howe and that group of people . Mr. Wertis stated he was thinking of the group in Rochester, it was a regional group . Ms . Poelvoorde stated the Regional Planning Group may be a viable option to send it to . Mr. Wertis stated he thought the draft she did looked good. She has done a wonderful job in his interpretation, he would say let ' s move on it. The only question he had is would the applicant tell the group the time it would take to do these tasks . Ms . Poelvoorde stated this is in the RFQ, they want the applicant to come in and tell them they are qualified . It will be x number of hours and X number of dollars . Ms . Ritter stated they will put a tighter scope of work in the RFP, this is a general layout of the work. Mr. Coogan stated once they bring them in they will state a price then the negotiation process starts, they do not give the budget figure out. Ms . Poelvoorde stated one item she did not do is put in the location, she will insert a little description of Ulysses . She will also insert that there is a resident survey underway. Ms . Ritter asked if they need a contact person to email, etc . Ms . Poelvoorde stated she would be willing to be the contact and use her email. She asked Mr. Coogan and Ms . Carlisle Peck regarding the deliverables for digital files . Mr. Coogan stated they do have Arcview but the do not use it, it does make sense however because the County uses it . They do use PDF files as well the Microsoft Office Programs are available to be used. Ms . Poelvoorde was trying to establish any files that may be used. It does not necessarily mean they will use or need to use but establishing this would be helpful . Ms . Ritter stated on a RFQ she had the rates are in it, she asked if they should include this in ours . Ms . Poelvoorde stated that usually comes after, the applicant will present the cost and negotiate from there. Ms . Thomas asked what time frame they would need. Ms . Carlisle Peck asked if they need to prepare a resolution for the Town Board . Mr. Coogan stated they do not, they are doing what the Town Board appointed them to do . Ms . Poelvoorde stated she used the target dates from the resolution. It is their job to keep the committee on track. Obviously, it could get held up by the Planning/Town Board for six months but if their target dates are met that is not the consultants fault. She worked from the June 2008 date to have the Plan developed for the Planning/Town Board . Mr. Tyler asked if there were plans to have joint meetings with the Planning Board and Town Board, he feels this would be a good way to dissuade conflicts at a later date . Ms . Poelvoorde stated that would definitely be happening, she agreed with Mr. Tyler it would be very beneficial to keep these groups aware of their progress . She would like to see it presented when they have the draft. Mr. Tyler stated it would be a good idea, when it came to down to the Public Hearing it ended up being quite a lengthy time to complete the previous survey. 4 Ms . Ritter stated for the Federation website she noted it would have to be more condensed, she suggested they list a contact for additional information. Ms . Poelvoorde asked the members what their thoughts were regarding the RFQ . The consensus of the group was Ms . Poelvoorde was doing a great job , she should continue and get the listing posted . They would hope to have some names before the next meeting. She asked what the time frame for submissions should be . Mr. Ritter noted the one she has was posted April 26 and due back by May 20, the group feels three weeks • should be sufficient. She stated if anyone has any other suggestions please get in touch with her. Ms . Poelvoorde stated that was the last item on the agenda. She stated she would get in touch with the members that have not been attending . Mr. Coogan stated Ms . Simon mentioned she was having conflicts due to the time. Ms . Poelvoorde stated she would contact her and suggest it is fine to come late, they are often reviewing minutes and tend to start late thus this would be acceptable . Ms . Ritter asked if we can take Ms . Watkins off the list as not attending. Ms . Poelvoorde stated they have presumed she is not interested, she did email her but never received a response back. Mr. Coogan stated she should send a note to Roxanne that Ms . Watkins needs to be replaced on the committee . Ms . Thomas asked what the status of Mr. Schlough ' s appointment was . Mr. Tyler stated he would check with Mariette Geldenhuys, Town Attorney regarding advisory board residency requirements . The Town Board has denied the application again at the last meeting due to residency. Ms . Poelvoorde stated the next meeting date is scheduled for April 24, 2007 -7 : 00pm . TASK LIST Mr. Coogan -obtain Ag Grant application/information Ms. Ritter-Check with Eagle envelope regarding pricing for envelopes Check Planning Council website for instructions on posting consult position . Ms. Poelvoorde-Continue working on RFQ Mr. Tyler-Verify with Mariette (Town Attorney) requirement for residency on an advisory committee. All-review statistical information sheet provided by Mr. Kerness, provide additional input if there is information they would like provided . Respectfully submitted, Robin Carlisle Peck Administrative Assistant 04/01 /07 5