HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-05-08 - TB TOWN OF ULYSSES
REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING
MAY 8 , 2007
Present : Supervisor Douglas Austic ; Town Council Roxanne Marino, Don Ellis, and
Lucia Tyler; Rod Ferrentino absent; Town Clerk Marsha L. Georgia; Deputy Supervisor
Richard Coogan; Town Highway Superintendent James Meeker; and Town. Attorney
Mariette Geldenhuys .
Others Present : Jim Dennis, Representative TC Board, KC Christopher and Mitch
Clarke, Marcia Horn, Ron Loz .
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
Mr. Austic moved, seconded by Mr. Ellis the following:
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approve
minutes of the Regular Town Board Meeting of April 10, 2007 and the Special
Town Board Meetings of March 20, 2007 and March 26 , 2007 as corrected.
Mr. Austic aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms . Marino aye
Adopted.
Mr. Austic moved, seconded by Ms . Marino the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approve
minutes of the Special Town Board Meetings of April 23 , 2007 as corrected.
Mr. Austic aye
Ms . Tyler abstained
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms. Marino aye
Adopted .
APPROVAL OF CLAIMS
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approve the
previous examined voucher # ' s 154 through 202 , excluding voucher # 171 in the
amount of $ 3000 for a total of $ 35 , 881 . 26 .
Mr. Austic aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms . Marino aye
Adopted
REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tompkins County Board of Representative Jim Dennis — Mr. Dennis reported about
the vote of the County Board on the County Tax Levy. Mr. Dennis stated that the County
will pick up the expense for new radios for the fire and police agencies but they will not
cover paying for the pagers .
Regular Town Board Meeting 2
May 8 , 2007
Trumansburg Fire Department — No report.
Planning Board Report — no report.
PUBLIC PRIVLEDGE OF THE FLOOR
Mitch Clarke ; at 2057 Trumansburg Road stated that he is very interested in being
included in the proposed Water District #5 because they have bad water at the Bed &
Breakfast. Mr. Clarke also asked if the Town could possibly do anything about the truck
traffic noise and the big trucks using their Jake brakes coming and going down the hill.
Mr. Austic said that he would contact DOT about the traffic and the use of Jake brakes .
Mr. Austic said that also the Council of Government committee is looking into this same
thing and so is the West Shore Association.
Mr. Loz at 3061 Brook Road asked the status of Water District # 5 and what is going on
with it now.
Mr . Ellis said that the next step, if there was to be a next step, would be the MPR and the
course of that is a need to survey the people who are in the proposed district and that is
when those people would have a chance to speak. Mr. Ellis said that there is a brand new
approach to resolve revenue issues with the Village of Trumansburg and the Town of
Ithaca. There also is the application for annexation of Auble ' s Home Park, if annexed
into the Village the project could loose its major funding .
Mr. Loz said that he is worried about the time frame of the project in relation to the
loosing of the interest free loan and if the project is being put off to do more studies and
more studies that loan will expire and the district will become not affordable to the
people in the district. Mr. Loz also asked if the discussions of the Board will be on line
or will it be private .
Mr. Austic said that all discussions are open and it is true that the funding will be lost in
the middle of December unless the Board moves on because there are five to six months
of work to be , done before then.
K. C . Christopher also asked if the people will get to vote on the Water District or is it a
decision of the Town Board.
Mr. Austic said that there are two ways to do it that the Town Board could make the
could be a referendum of the people .
decision or there co p p
Ms . Marino said that the Town Board would have to form the district and then there is a
permissive referendum that the property owners in the district could petition for. Also,
the public could do a MPR along with a formal petition and request the Town Board form
the district, but the final vote to establish a district must be by the Town Board because it
is a bond.
Mr Ellis said that he did not hear the point made precisely. Mr. Ellis said that there are at
least two ways an action for water district can begin. It can be launched by the
municipality as is the case with WD # 5 ; the Town caused this action to begin. The other
possibility is ,that citizens that are in the logical district can petition the Town Board for a
water districtiand that would in fact amount to a vote that is requested and there is no
such petition ifrom this district but WD#3 did begin that way and was a citizen based
action to have a water district. t`
Mr. Austic corrected Mr. Ellis and stated that WD #3 did not start with a petition; it was a
Town Board action.
Mr. Loz said Ithat he signed a petition last summer stating that he was interested in water
and many others signed the same petition so now you are saying we need further petitions
submitted.
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Regular Town Board Meeting 3
May 8 , 2007
Mr. Ellis said not to denigrate the petition that was circulated that Mr. Loz signed but
there are petitions and there are petitions . The petition that Mr. Ellis is speaking of is the
formal action format specified by the State law.
Mr. Austic said that formal petition requires the petitioners to do the MPR.
Ms . Christopher asked if the MPR was going to go forward.
Mr. Austic said at this time he does not know but he would hope that it would.
Ms . Horn said she was at the last meeting and she understood that the Board voted not to
go forward with the MPR.
Mr. Austic said that was correct but that does not mean it can not come up again. Mr.
Austic said that a MPR is basically a map which shows the parcels that would be
included in the district and the estimated cost to the district .
Ms . Marino said that there are a lot of issues that need to be resolved and the Board is
working on them .
TOWN REPORTS
Highway Superintendent James Meeker read into record the following report :
• April snow storm - Plow and salted as needed
• Smoothed up roadsides with tractor and back blade then hand raked spots
• Finished raking sod
• Pick-up limbs along roadsides from heavy wet snow on April 16th & 17th
• Patching roads
• Starting to pull salt boxes of trucks
• Cleaning up cemeteries for mowing
Mr. Meeker asked the Town Board for permission to seek bids for a new salt spreader
box which will be around $ 12 ,000 to $ 14, 000.
Mr. Austic moved seconded by Ms . Marino the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses authorize James
Meeker, Highway Superintendent to seek bids for a 14 ' stainless steel salt box .
Mr. Austic aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms . Marino aye
Adopted.
The funds will come out of the equipment fund DA5130 . 2 .
Code Enforcement Officer Alex Rachun absent and Mr. Coogan read his report. Two
new permits have been issued for single family housing, seven permits for remodeling,
one area variance, two site plan review applications and four simple sub-division
requests . Mr. Coogan said that Mr. Rachun is waiting on further information for a couple
of variances and a site plan review will be coming in shortly.
Town Clerk Marsha L. Georgia reported that a total of $ 770 . 50 was collected for the
month of April and of that $451 . 86 was turned to the Supervisor for Clerk fees .
Mrs . Georgia said that today the date was finalized for the public hearing for the
application for annexation from Mr. Auble for June 4th, 2007 at 7 pm and will be held at
the TrumansburgHigh School Auditorium . The forms have been processed to reserve
the HS Auditorium, the stenographer has been contacted and she has confirmed, and
Regular Town Board Meeting 4
May 8 , 2007
labels have been received from the Board of Election for the registered voters in the area
of the land to be annexed.
Tomorrow Ms . Georgia will mail out letters to Attorney Guy Krogh (Mr. Auble' s
attorney), letter to Mr. Auble, the Town of Covert, the Village of Trumansburg, and
Trumansburg Fire Department informing of the date, time, and location of the public
hearing.
Also Mrs. Georgia will request Mr. Auble fill out the long form for SEQR part I, this
request will go through his attorney.
Mrs. Georgia brought it to the Board ' s attention (because the customer requested that she
did) a call and a letter from a water customer requesting that she be allowed to deduct the
late penalty on her water bill because she said she did not receive the original bill .
Mrs. Georgiaiadvised the Board that this customer has been a customer since September
2004 and should be aware of the quarterly billing cycle . Mrs. Georgia had informed the
customer that she was sorry that she had not received her bill but could have called and it
could be considered discrimination or interpreted by other water customers that way who
received a late charge and did not have their charge waived. The customer asked me to
ask the Board for their input.
After discussion by the Board it was decided to leave the late charge in place although
they do realize that bills can get lost but should be aware of the quarterly billing.
Mr. Austic moved, seconded by Ms . Ellis the following :
BE ITj RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses notify the
customer that she has to pay the late charge.
Mr. Austic aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms . Marino aye
Adopted.
Mr. Dennis said that the City of Ithaca has this same request all of the time and the City
never credits the late charge.
Board Members and Committees
Ms. Marino reported on the Youth and the summer camp registration is happening which
is run through the Village of Trumansburg . Nancy Irish is getting her program schedule
brochure finished and will be distributing them to the Middle School students in the
middle of May and also the Ulysses Work Program, which gets summer jobs to over
twenty middle school students, which is also supported with local money and other
funding administered through the County Youth Department. Another job related
program is at the Farmers Market that Carissa Mann organizes through the High School .
Ms . Marino expressed that Ms . Irish, Ms . Mann of Ulysses Youth and Karen Coleman of
the County Youth department all does a great job .
Ms . Marino announced that on May 16th, 2007 at the High School from 7pm to 9pm,
there is going to be a community forum on recreation that has been talked about to try
and get information out to people on what recreation programs are funded by local taxes
which will include the Recreation Partnership opportunities which are Ithaca based at this
point. Also Ms . Marino said that they hope to do a survey of just what people would like,
what they use, what they are interested in. They thought maybe they could take advantage
of being outside when the school board vote is taking place but the school board is
against that. , Ms. Marino said they need to think about other ways to potentially do that
but at least survey the people that attend the meeting on May 16th
Regular Town Board Meeting 5
May 8 , 2007
Supervisor Austic reported that he had distributed the Supervisor Financial Report for
the month and asked if any one had any questions . No questions were heard.
Deputy Supervisor - reported that the Corridor Study is moving forward on Route 96,
drafting a scope of work. One of the things that came up was if they move traffic from
Rt. 96 then it will most likely all go to Rt. 89 or Rt . 79 so they are trying to get funds from
the ICTC to see if they can do traffic studies on the Rt . 79 and RT . 89 corridor at the
same time.
On May 10th he is going to meet with Monica Roth, Sue Poelvoorde, Roxanne Marino ,
John Wertis and Ken Zeserson to talk about the Ag & Market grants . Mr. Coogan got a
message from Krys Cail and she can not make the meeting on the 10th but feels Monica
Roth will have enough information.
Mr. Coogan said that he did the first set of Stormwater inspections . The Town had
received one complaint on DuBois Road and also they checked some other building sites
that were currently open . The one on Dubois did have a problem and the contractor said
he would take care of it. Mr. Coogan did drive by today and the contractor did take care
of the ditching and getting it seeded .
Mr. Coogan reminded the Board that it is again time for the annual report on Stormwater
and that means a public hearing will be needed which could be scheduled at the June
Regular Town Board meeting because it has to be submitted by mid June.
The Town Board scheduled a public hearing for June 12th , 2007 at 7 : 15 pm prior to the
Regular Town Board meeting.
Mr. Coogan reported that the fly-over was scheduled to go but he has not received any
verification that it took place.
OLD BUSINESS
Mr. Ellis moved, seconded by Ms . Marino to adjust tonight ' s agenda to include the
following :
• Rules and Procedures (under Old Business)
• Zoning (under Old Business)
• Ethics Policy (under New Business)
Mr. Austic aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms. Marino aye
Adopted.
Discussion Joint Town/Village Meeting
Mr. Austic stated that he felt it turned out to be a fairly decent meeting with a very good
mediator and thanked Mr. Dennis for doing that.
Mr. Ellis said that he felt having a mediator made a big difference and a proposal that
addresses the equity in revenue between the Village and the Town.
Mr. Austic said then the question is where do we go from here?
Ms . Marino said that she thinks if the Board is going to investigate this further that the
Board should have sort of an engineering study so that the Board has all of the pieces of
information that are needed.
Ms . Marino introduced and moved for consideration, if there is an interest in pursuing the
water acquisition plan for WD5 presented at the May 3 joint TB &VB meeting, the
following Resolution to further consider the proposed water acquisition plan for WD5 .
1
Regular Town Board Meeting 6
May 8, 2007
BE ITRESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses resolved that the
Town Board will contract with an engineering firm to conduct a study of the
requirements and feasibility of the water acquisition plan for the proposed Water
District 5 (WD#5) that Supervisor Austic presented to the Town Board and
Village trustees on May 3 , 2007 . This study will supplement the January 2006
Draft Engineering Report on WD#5 prepared by Barton & Loguidice . When
complete, the final report from the study will include all of the following :
An analysis of the water volume needs source, distribution, and infrastructure
requirements necessary to implement such water acquisition proposal.
A letter or memorandum of understanding from the Village of Trumansburg
indicating that their well has, or can have, the permitted capacity to supply the
necessary volume of water (93 ,000 gal / day) to WD#5 .
A letter or memorandum of understanding from the Tompkins County DOH
indicating that they would approve of 1 ) the mixing of Village of Trumansburg
and Bolton Point source water that would result if the new water acquisition
strategy proposed for WD#5 is implemented, and 2) the use of such water as a
supply to Ulysses WD#3 , WD#5 , and possibly some customers in the Town of
Ithaca, if required as part of the plan.
A letter or memorandum of understanding from the Town of Ithaca indicating that
the mixing of Village of Trumansburg water with Bolton Point water at the Woolf
Lane pumping station would be acceptable to them. This letter should also
address whether the Town of Ithaca would be amenable to the possibility of the
Town; of Ulysses supplying some of the Town of Ithaca customers currently
served from the Woolf Lane facility with this water, if required as part of the plan.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Town of Ulysses will send the
completed, final report of the study to the Environmental Facilities Corporation
and the New York State Department of Health with a request to review and
provide an opinion to the Town as to whether the proposed change in the water
supply structure of WD# 5 from that described in the January 2006 Draft
Engineering report would be acceptable within the hardship determination and
financing offer awarded to the Town in June 2006 .
Mr. Ellis offered an amendment to this resolution to include a report from the engineer to
address whether or not this acquisition plan brings additional costs to the project.
Ms . Marino accepted Mr. Ellis ' s amendment to her resolution, seconded by Ms . Tyler.
Mr. Austic aye
Ms. Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms . Marino aye
Adopted Amendment.
Vote on original motion with amendment.
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses resolved that the
Town Board will contract with an engineering firm to conduct a study of the
requirements and feasibility of the water acquisition plan for the proposed Water
District 5 (WD#5 ) that Supervisor Austic presented to the Town Board and
Village trustees on May 3 , 2007 . This study will supplement the January 2006
Draft Engineering Report on WD#5 prepared by Barton & Loguidice. When
complete, the final report from the study will include all of the following :
Regular Town Board Meeting 7
May 8 , 2007
An analysis of the water volume needs source, distribution, and infrastructure
requirements necessary to implement such water acquisition proposal .
A letter or memorandum of understanding from the Village of Trumansburg
indicating that their well has, or can have, the permitted capacity to supply the
necessary volume of water (93 , 000 gal / day) to WD#5 .
A letter or memorandum of understanding from the Tompkins County DOH
indicating that they would approve of 1 ) the mixing of Village of Trumansburg
and Bolton Point source water that would result if the new water acquisition
strategy proposed for WD#5 is implemented, and 2) the use of such water as a
supply to Ulysses WD#3 , WD#5 , and possibly some customers in the Town of
Ithaca, if required as part of the plan.
A letter or memorandum of understanding from the Town of Ithaca indicating that
the mixing of Village of Trumansburg water with Bolton Point water at the Woolf
Lane pumping station would be acceptable to them . This letter should also
address whether the Town of Ithaca would be amenable to the possibility of the
Town of Ulysses supplying some of the Town of Ithaca customers currently
served from the Woolf Lane facility with this water, if required as part of the plan.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Town of Ulysses will send the
completed, final report of the study to the Environmental Facilities Corporation
and the New York State Department of Health with a request to review and
provide an opinion to the Town as to whether the proposed change in the water
supply structure of WD#5 from that described in the January 2006 Draft
Engineering report would be acceptable within the hardship determination and
financing offer awarded to the Town in June 2006 .
FURTHER RESOLVE to include a report from the engineer to address whether
or not this acquisition plan brings additional costs to the project .
Mr. Austic aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms . Marino aye
Adopted.
Mr. Austic said he could get this information and contact Mr. Pond of Barton &
Loguidice to include it into a report .
Ms . Marino asked to have this report sent to the Village of Trumansburg.
Mr. Austic asked if the report from Mr. Pond; Subject — Infrastructure
Needs/Trumansburg Primary Water Supply Assessment, dated February 26 , 2007 could
be given to the Village.
Ms . Marino said that she still is waiting for some changes to be made to it that she
requested and the report should not be public until those are made and the final report is
approved by the Board.
Rules and Procedures
Mr. Austic said that he did not have the Rules and Procedures with him and asked if
anyone else had them .
Mr. Ellis had a copy and so did Ms . Marino but they were not the same.
Mr. Ellis did state that he had changed two things the first being in the matter of
adjournment; when recording equipment is used that it shall be left on till the meeting
room is cleared. Mr. Ellis ' s reason for this is that on many occasions there have been
Regular Towri Board Meeting 8
May 8 , 2007
persons present who use the fact that the Board is still not dissembled to make statements
that end up not being statements on the record and he thinks that is not something that is
conducive to good records . Just leave the tape on until folks get out of the room and
Board members get out of their seats and then turn the recorder off which would be a lot
better procedure then having people just jump lip after adjournment and making
statements .
Mrs . Georgia said that once the meeting is adjourned the meeting has adjourned there is
no more public information on the tape .
Ms . Geldenhuys said it would not be part of the minutes.
Mr. Ellis said that he is not asking for it to be part of the minutes, but thinks it would be
good procedure .
Mrs . Georgiai said again it is not part of public record and asked if Mr. Ellis is asking her
as Clerk to sit in the room after adjournment until everyone clears out.
Mr. Ellis said yes until all the dust is settled and the lights have faded. Mr. Ellis then said
that it may be unreasonable and to him it is bad forum and annoying.
Mr. Austic suggested that he just get up and leave which would be the best thing if he is
annoyed by this, and he is not particularly in favor of this idea.
The other item that Mr. Ellis has changed in the Rules and Procedures is that it would not
require a supermajority vote for adoption.
There still was some confusion as to which version Mr. Ellis was referring to .
Mr. Austic moved, seconded by Ms . Marino the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses table this until
the next meeting when everyone has the same version.
Mr. Austic aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms . Marino aye
Adopted:
Zoning
Ms . Marino wants to set up a procedure on moving through the things that have to be
done :
• The Board has the draft and the Board needs to read over and make sure it agrees
to what was decided
• The Attorney needs to review
• Ag and Markets needs to review
• County needs to review
Mr. Austic pointed out that in the filing instructions for a Local Law from NYS
Department of State it says "In case of a local law amending a previously enacted local
law or ordinAnce, the text must be that of the law as amended . Do not include in copy
parts of old llaw to be omitted. "
Ms . Geldenhuys agreed with this and the document will need to be totally re-written. Ms .
Geldenhuys aiso said that she has reviewed the changes but still has some questions
which may be best directed to Mr. Rachun or Mr. Coogan and once she does that she has
a few suggestions, more wording and clarification then substance. Once she has this
conversation then she will be able to mark up the document and provide it to the Board .
Regular Town Board Meeting 9
May 8 , 2007
Mr. Coogan will arrange to talk with Ms . Geldenhuys and Mr. Rachun, possibly a
conference call . The Board felt once this was done the document would be re-done and
provided for the Boards review by the next Special Meeting now set for May 21st because
the fourth Monday is a holiday. At that meeting it can be talked about for a public
hearing and who needs to get a copy.
Ms . Marino said that Mr. Rachun had asked for design standards for repair shops .
Mr. Austic said then if that is to be added it would have to be done and reviewed .
Ms . Marino suggested that Mr. Rachun create a draft of what he would like to see .
Mr. Austic told Mr. Coogan to pass that on to Mr. Rachun and have him get something to
the Board .
Housing Rehabilitation Project
Mrs. Georgia reported that she received the "Town of Ulysses Housing Rehabilitation
Project 2007 Application to the Office for Small Cities" in her office today that Better
Housing of Tompkins County put together. This report is available for any one to
review.
Annexation Application
Ms . Tyler asked if timelines needed to be set.
Mr. Austic said that the Board should not get into discussion at this time about the
annexation until after the public hearing and hear what the public has to say about it.
Ms . Tyler said that she was confused about this and does not know the process for it but
has heard there is a strict timeline.
Ms . Geldenhuys reminded the Board that she had provided the timeline to them when Mr.
Auble filed the first time .
Mrs . Georgia said to the Board that it is in the minutes of March 20th, 2007 .
Ms . Marino said that the timeline is not in there about SEQR and the Board had talked
briefly about how a lead agent would have to be established.
Mrs . Georgia told the Board that the last time Mr. Auble applied for annexation the
Village of Trumansburg was lead agent and she does have a copy of that in the file .
Mr. Austic said that the general procedure is that the petitioner would fill out the SEQR
form and the LEAF would make its determination.
Ms . Geldenhuys said that the SEQR determination needs to be done before the final vote
on the annexation is taken, and 90 days after the public hearing a decision has to be
made .
Mr. Austic said that at the public hearing a decision could be made as to who will be lead
agency and meanwhile the Town could get a hold of Mr. Krogh, Mr. Auble ' s attorney,
and ask for that form to be made out .
Mrs . Georgia will add that request in her letter to Mr. Krogh advising him of the public
hearing date .
Ms . Marino said that Mr. Austic had raised a couple of things when the first petition for
annexation was filed, and she is asking if they should be looked into . If one of the parcels
being requested for annexation is in an agricultural district, can it be located within a
Village. .
Regular Town Board Meeting 10
May 8 , 2007
Mr. Austic thought that should be looked into about being in an Ag district.
Mr. Coogan said that in Dryden this happened and Tompkins County Planning said that it
is not appropriate to have agricultural land within a Village because a Village is designed
for population. Ms . Marino said that the agricultural districts are currently being
reviewed, and the petitioner could request the property be removed from an Ag district if
he chooses .
Ms . Marino asked if moving forward with the MPR could be perceived as a pre-
determinationli of the Boards outcome of the annexation, and might leave the decision on
annexation open to a legal challenge
Ms . Geldenhuys said that both of these procedures and discussions are going on
concurrently and she did not see that as prejudice one way or another unless a final
decision had been made .
Mr. Austic asked Ms . Geldenhuys if she had looked into the thought of splitting the
annexation as to one parcel be annexed and not the other.
Ms . Geldenhuys said that Mr. Austic had asked whether the annexation could be
approved for part of the proposed land and not for all of it. Ms . Geldenhuys said that to
all indication you can not do that it is basically a package deal . The Town has a proposal
and must approve the proposal or disapprove that proposal, and cannot amend the
proposal as submitted. If the applicant decided to amend and come back with a different
proposal and petition then that would be different.
DEC
Mr. Austic introduced and moved, seconded by Mr. Ellis to support the following
resolution presented by Tompkins County Council of Governments :
RESOLUTION requesting that the New York State (NYS) legislature amend NYS Fish
and Wildlife Law section 11 -0505 to provide for exceptions to the trapping prohibition
under permit from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(NYSDEC) for research or management purposes .
WHEREAS , Tompkins County residents increasingly experience negative impacts
associated with deer, including damage to agricultural operations, residential property
damage, deer;related vehicle accidents, and ecological degradation; and
WHEREAS, the primary tool for deer management, hunting, is not feasible in all
locations experiencing deer-related impacts due to human safety concerns ; and
WHEREAS , New York State Fish and Wildlife Law section 11 -0505 , Interference with
Fish and Wildlife, states that no deer or bear traps shall be made, set or used upon land
inhabited by deer or bear ; and
WHEREAS, ;trapping and subsequently euthanizing deer under permit from the New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation would provide a management
option by which Tompkins County municipalities could address negative deer-related
impacts when other management tools are not feasible ; now therefore be it
RESOLVED that the Tompkins County Council of Governments (which includes
representatives of Tompkins County government and every village, town and city
government in Tompkins County) requests that the New York State Legislature amend
Fish and Wildlife Law section 11 - 0505 to provide for exceptions to the trapping
prohibition under permit from the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation for research or management purposes, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution is forwarded to NYS Senators James
Seward (51st District) , George Winner (53rd District), and Michael Nozzolio ( 54th
Regular Town Board Meeting 11
May 8 , 2007
District) , NYS Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton ( 125th District), and NYSDEC
Commissioner Pete Grannis
Mr. Austic aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms . Marino aye
Adopted.
Intermunicipal Shared Services Agreement
Mr. Austic presented a copy of the "Intermunicipal Shared Services Agreement" relating
to shared highway services that the Highway Superintendents have been working on for
several years . All the Highway Superintendents have agreed upon this version. The
Town does pass a resolution at the beginning of each year in reference to shared services
and this agreement expands on that to say who is responsible for insurance and liability.
Mr. Austic moved, seconded by Ms . Marino the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses adopt the
Intermunicipal Shared Services Agreement.
Mr. Austic aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms . Marino aye
Adopted.
Chambers Advisory Group
Mr. Austic said that the Chambers Advisory Group does evaluations of telephone service
on a commission basis . If they find any areas of savings or suggested savings, their
payment is 1/2 of the first year' s actual recorded savings . If they find nothing significant,
there is no payment to their firm . This is a similar deal as the Computel review or the
Town' s electrical and gas costs a couple of years ago . Mr. Austic said that it probably
makes sense and costs nothing if nothing is saved. Mr. Austic had previously distributed
additional information on this to the Board.
Mr. Ellis moved, seconded by Ms . Tyler the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses authorize Mr.
Austic to provide the information needed for the assessment of the Town ' s phone
bills .
Mr. Austic aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms . Marino aye
Adopted.
Assessment of Water Needs
Ms . Tyler moved the following resolution:
Whereas there has not been a comprehensive assessment of water needs in the
town of Ulysses although there have been many concerns expressed anecdotally,
Regular Town Board Meeting 12
May 8, 2007
And whereas the currently proposed plan for Water District #5 in the Town has
raised concerns and questions related to future land use planning and development
in the .Town and the Village of Trumansburg,
Be it resolved that the Town of Ulysses engage professional planning assistance
to perform an assessment of water needs throughout the Town, and evaluate
implications for possible water infrastructure development. This study will be
done in cooperation with the Comprehensive Plan review effort currently
underway in the Town, but funded separately.
Be it further resolved that the Town Board will expeditiously form a short-term
advisory committee consisting of the chair of the Comprehensive Plan Committee
and other knowledgeable individuals to help develop a Scope of Services, and
then to advise the Board as to the most appropriate firm or individual to retain.
The Town Board will invite the Village of Trumansburg to participate, in
accordance with the interest expressed at the May 3 , 2007 joint meeting .
Ms . Marino seconded the motion for discussion.
The Board had questions on this resolution and Ms . Marino did suggest some changes.
The Board discussed planners and creating a scope of services . The Chair of the
Comprehensive Plan Committee has not been asked to take this advisory committee on.
Mr. Ellis that Ms . Tyler' s resolution does not say what he would like to see happen, and
that is an assessment of development impact.
Ms . Tyler said she could add that to the first sentence of the resolution.
Mr. Ellis said that he has been making some inquiries with engineering firms that also
have planning services within them.
Ms . Tyler and Ms . Marino discussed the resolution and some changes.
Mr. Austic said that this study will not be done in time to make a water decision.
Ms . Tyler felt that it would depend on how the scope of services was set, and set
priorities .
Mr. Austic said you only have about a month to get it done before things HAVE to be
done to go forward with District #5 .
Ms . Tyler felt that it is valuable regardless .
Mr. Ellis said that the Comprehensive Planning Committee is doing a great job and he
would be concerned to propose something additional for the Chairman to do and rock the
boat.
Mr. Austic asked if there was funding for this report and said that the Winner' s money
could be used if the Board was agreeable .
Ms. Tyler said she would like to call the question if every one was comfortable with that.
Ms . Marino ; wanted to make sure it is clear that the proposed study does relate to trying to
look at Water District #5 as well .
Mr. Austic said his point was that if you wanted to do it to answer the Villages questions
and serve that purpose then you have to move on with District #5 fast.
Mr. Ellis said that he thinks this resolution needs a bunch of work and he thinks the scope
could be laid out more clearly in particular if there is going to be any way at all doing
anything quickly . Mr. Ellis said that when he talked to a planner this morning they were
saying just 1:o talk to the Town Board would be scheduled in August. Mr. Ellis said that if
Regular Town Board Meeting 13
May 8 , 2007
you wanted to go quickly the thing more then anything would be to spell out the scope as
tightly as you can in the resolution and then getting out there and getting professionals to
come would be a lot more likely then if you just have it in general terms .
Ms . Marino said she does not want just a separate study of the proposed WD5 area, and
the scope needs to be tied in with the comprehensive plan review currently being done
She does not want an isolated study that is not in context with what the rest of the Town
comprehensive planning effort is doing and what the Village Comprehensive Plan is
doing at the same time. Ms . Marino says if the resolution can be revised so this is written
into the scope she would be fine with it .
Mr. Austic moved to table this until the next meeting on the 21st , Mr. Ellis seconded .
Mr. Austic aye
Ms . Tyler nay
Mr. Ellis aye
Ms . Marino aye
Adopted.
Ethics
Ms . Tyler distributed the latest version of the Code of Ethics from the Association of
Towns and compared them with the Town ' s and is suggesting adding the six items not in
the Towns, also Ms . Tyler noted that the Town does not have a Board of Ethics .
It was noted by Ms . Geldenhuys that Tompkins County Board of Ethics can serve
Ulysses Board and provide advice .
Hearing no further business Ms . Tyler moved, seconded by Mr. Ellis to adjourn.
Unanimously approved. Meeting adjourned .
Respectfully submitted,
Marsha L. Georgia
Ulysses Town Clerk
MLG : mlg