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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-01-14TB 1-14-21 Page 1 of 6 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING January 14, 2021 Via Zoom Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl James Skaley, Cl Kathrin Servoss, Cl Loren Sparling Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Rick Young, Highway Superintendent Other Town Staff: Amanda Anderson, Bookkeeper Ray Burger, Director of Planning Supv Leifer opened the meeting at 6:04 p.m. Abstract Approval RESOLUTION #30 (2021) – APPROVE ABSTRACT #13 Cl Servoss offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves Abstract #13 (2020 fiscal year), as audited, vouchers #969 through #1052, totaling $503,286.67. 2nd Cl Skaley Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Skaley Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes RESOLUTION #31 (2021) – APPROVE ABSTRACT #1 Cl Servoss offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves Abstract #1, as audited, vouchers #1 through #29, totaling $143,649.49. 2nd Cl Leifer Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Skaley Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Budget Modifications Supv Leifer and Amanda Anderson reviewed the budget modifications that have been presented for approval. RESOLUTION #32 (2021) – APPROVE BUDGET MODIFICATION – HIGHWAY TB 1-14-21 Page 2 of 6 Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the following budget modifications: From To 7,693.41 A2680 Insurance Recoveries A 5132.4 Garage Contractual Insurance claim to replace Simplex system 6,592.00 DA5130.4 Machinery - Contractual DA5130.2 Machinery - Equipment Move Funds due to error 1,000.00 DA2680 Insurance Recoveries DA5130.4 Machinery - Contractual Insurance Money to fix damaged truck 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Skaley Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes RESOLUTION #33 (2021) – APPROVE BUDGET MODIFICATION – PLANNING Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the following bu dget modification: From To 1,500.00 A8020.412 Varna Development Plan A8020.458 Comprehensive Plan Move funds to Comprehensive Plan for encumbrance to 2021 2nd Cl Servoss Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Skaley Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Supv Leifer explained there was forfeited bail money that has been held in the TA fund for over ten years and should be moved to the A fund. A resolution was presented to accomplish that. Resolution #34 (2021) - Moving Forfeited Bail from TA Fund to A Fund Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: Whereas, the Town of Dryden has been holding forfeited bail in the TA Fund account for over 10 years and Bookkeeper is recommending the funds be moved to the A Fund, A2770 Miscellaneous Revenue. Whereas, according to New York State Criminal Procedure Law CPL § 540.20 Forfeiture of TB 1-14-21 Page 3 of 6 bail, forfeited bail is the property of the town or village in which the offense charg ed is alleged to have been committed. Whereas, the balance of forfeited bail as of December 31, 2020 was $3,389.11 is a total of bails and fines that were forfeited from 2018 and before. Whereas, due to new reporting on the 2020 New York State AUD, the Bookkeeper is trying to ensure the TA fund account is correct and the reporting will be simplified. Therefore, be it resolved that the Board approves the transfer of funds from TA 35 Forfeited Bail of $3,389.11 to A2770 Miscellaneous Revenue effective December 31, 2020. 2nd Cl Servoss Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Skaley Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Communicable Disease Preparedness Plan - A Anderson has prepared a draft of a Communicable Disease Preparedness Plan, which is required by the state. The board discussed the draft (attached) and made a few minor changes. It will be adopted by the board after it has been reviewed and approved by the union. Neptune Hose Company purchased an air compressor that will be used by all departments in the town for filling their air tanks. Prior to this it involved someone going to Cortlandville to fill the air truck. Because it will be used town -wide, the town would like to reimburse Neptune the sum of $75,000 from the fire district fund balance. Resolution #35 (2021) - Approve Dryden Fire Departments Request of Funding for an Air Compressor System at Neptune Hose Company Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: Whereas, the Dryden Fire Departments need to purchase an air compressor system to refill their self-contained breathing apparatus used on at least 75% of their calls. Whereas, currently the Fire Departments use a refill system on their fire truck which can only refill a few packs at a time and they commonly run out of air in the truck refilling system. Whereas, to refill the compressed air system on the truck, they must be taken out of service and taken to Cortlandville Fire Department to be refilled. Whereas, all fire departments in the Town of Dryden would have access to the new air compressor system that will be installed at Neptune Hose Company. Whereas, the Fire Departments have applied for grants to help cover the cost of the air compressor system and if they are award any funds, they will repay the Town of Dryden for any reimbursement they receive. Therefore, be it resolved the Town of Dryden will fund a one-time request from the Fire Department Fund Balance for an air compressor system for all Dryden Fire Departments that will not exceed $75,000. 2nd Cl Skaley Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes TB 1-14-21 Page 4 of 6 Cl Skaley Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes 2021 AOT Conference - Information on the 2021 Association of Towns conference was shared with board members. Cl Sparling is the delegate and Cl Lamb is the alternate for the business meeting. 1622 Dryden Road - Ray Burger explained that he has two permit applications for 1622 Dryden Road. The application for First Light for equipment sheds will be referred to a s 1622A and the contractor yard application will be referred to as 1622B. The First Light application will be ready for a public hearing in February. The application for the contractor yard is not yet complete and the Planning Board last night clarified its position against this application. Quarry - Supv Leifer has forwarded an email from DEC giving the notice for lead agency status on an application for a change in the permit for the quarry on Quarry Road. The board can discuss this next week. Varna Water Sewer - Cl Skaley said we have received a proposal from G & G Consulting to prepare the CDBG application for the Varna water and sewer projects and presented a proposed resolution. RESOLUTION #36 (2021) – CONTRACT FOR PREPARATION OF GRANT APPLICATION FOR THE CONSOLIDATED SEWER/WATER DISTRICTS. Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: Whereas, G&G Municipal Consulting and Grant Writing (G&G) has submitted a proposal to prepare a CDBG grant application to the Office of Community Renewal for purposes of obtaining a grant to assist in covering the costs of sewer an d water main replacements in the Consolidated Sewer/Water District, and Whereas, G&G has successfully completed an income survey for the District as part of the application for a hardship grant from the Environmental Facilities Corporation, and which will also be part of the CDBG grant application, and Whereas, G&G has proposed the following deliverables: Complete the application and submit it on time no later than the application deadline of March 5, 2021 1. Organize mandatory public meeting. The public meeting will likely be held via Zoom or similar platform due to COVID restrictions. 2. Include all hardship documentation (CDBG income survey report) in the application. 3. Administrate the grant if it is successful. G&G will NOT charge above the statutory limit for the administration of the grant. 4. G&G will maintain general business liability insurance ($1,000,000.00), errors and omissions insurance ($1,000,000.00), workers compensation and corporate vehicle insurance ($1,000,000.00). 5. The application and its narratives are proprietary to G&G and cannot be utilized for other purposes without permission of G&G. TB 1-14-21 Page 5 of 6 Whereas, G&G proposes a grant application fee of $4250.00 which is to be compensated from reserve funds in the Consolidated district, be it therefore Resolved that the Town Supervisor is authorized to sign this contract and related documents to the CDBG grant application and pay G&G Municipal Co nsulting and Grant Writing from the Consolidated District fund balance. 2nd Cl Skaley Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Servoss Yes Cl Skaley Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Supv Leifer noted that Municipal Solutions has also proposed to assist the town with the water and sewer matters. There was discussion about how this project may affect the DOT’s plan to pave Route 366 through Varna. We will know about funding by mid-summer. TG Miller will do a presentation on the project for the board. They would like to move forward with the engineering phase for surveying and other related items. The DOT is on schedule for project design in 2021 and construction in 2022 and are aware of this project. R Young has sent the 284 agreement to the board for review. He is unsure of State funding for 2021 so it is not a heavy schedule. The agreement can be amended if more funding than anticipated becomes available. Cl Skaley said one of the requirements for CDBG funding for the Varna water/sewer project is a public hearing prior to submittal of the application, which is due by March 5. He would like to hold that hearing at the February business meeting. There will be a vote on a public interest order at the February 18 meeting for the easements for the City Harbor project. Rail Trail Update - Cl Lamb reported he sent proposed revisions to the MOU with DEC for the Game Farm Road easement. Items requested included allowing horses on the r ail trail. Dryden Lake Dam - DEC is getting a quote on replacing the dam. The Village and the County agree that the dam should be replaced instead of removed. Scheduling audit – The board is responsible for auditing any departments that handle cash. Audits need to be scheduled with the court, clerk’s office, supervisor’s office and recreation. Sciarabba Walker has been contacted to do an audit for the town and for the BridgeNY grant. They are unable to take this on at this point. A Anderson will continue to look for an auditor. There needs to be a single audit for funds for federal grants. Freese Road Bridge – Cl Lamb reported the agencies have settled on approving Alternative 6 (single lane bridge, maintaining the façade on the side and installation of a traffic device) and really want us to preserve the old bridge intact by selling it. Because of the historic nature of it, we must now try to market the bridge and that may involve paying someone to take it. Things to consider are the cost of removing it and where that money comes from. He has asked Doug Mills to estimate the cost to remove it as well as the cost to relocate it. He assumes if this is so important to SHPO and Federal Highway there may be funds available to TB 1-14-21 Page 6 of 6 accomplish it. There is a non-profit that markets bridges he will contact. A lot of people in the Varna area were assuming that the new bridge would have the façade on it. The façade will not be available if the bridge is relocated. The town doesn’t have a choice because it must be marketed as a full unit first. It was noted that the current bridge is now posted at 6 tons. Cl Lamb will work on marketing the bridge. County Briefing Mike Lane said he will be running again for County Legislature. With the election calendar having been advanced, candidates will start petitioning in February. The legislature has had its organizational meeting and Leslyn McBean-Clairborne was re-elected as Chair and Shawna Black is again Vice-Chair. M Lane will chair the Facilities and Infrastructure Committee and will be on the budget committee. He hopes to continue as the representative to TC3 and ITCTC. Sales tax revenue is down about 12%. Towns & Villages did a little better than city as far as percentage losses. There is no December report yet. They hope that will help but still expect a major decline in revenue. The state continues to hold back 20% funding from some departments. The Governor’s state of the state address was long on idealism and short on specifics. We’ll know after the budget documents go out. The airport continues to struggle with people not being able to travel and/or not wanting to travel. The college continues with low student enrollment. T he county is trying to roll out the vaccine for Covid despite conflicting signals from Governor’s office. Phase 1B was going to be for age 75 and older and they got enough for one clinic that filled before the announcement in a press release because 1A people still needed shots. Everything depends on vaccine availability and then they changed the criteria to age 65 and above. They are doing their best at the county. Next week’s agenda will include: Set the First Light Public hearing TG Miller presentation on the Varna Water/Sewer projects Continuation of noise ordinance public hearing Approval of Municipal Solutions Agreement Approval of 284 agreement Action on the Varna Water/Sewer projects Preliminary showing of new town website Volunteer board appointments Possible resolution regarding the Dryden Lake Dam Cl Servoss reported the video conferencing equipment is installed and functional in the Caldwell meeting room. There being no further business, on motion made, seconded, and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 7:26 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk 1 Communicable Disease Preparedness Plan – DRAFT January 11, 2021 Town of Dryden Communicable Disease Preparedness Plan 1) Positions that are considered “essential” (essential positions are jobs that must be performed onsite, are utility services, or are for the safety of the community) All Highway and Department of Public Works positions Town Clerk Office Code Enforcement 2) Positions that can be performed remotely Financial and Human Resources Secretary to the Supervisor Planning Director and Planning Administrative position Recreation Director All positions that could be completed remotely should have the capability to have a laptop and VPN connection set up. If an employee does not currently have a laptop, they need to be able to move their computer, monitor, and have a VPN connection to allow them to connect to the server. All desktop computers should be phased out for positions that could be remote and switch to laptops with an additional screen. All town hall phone extensions for those employees who are working remotely should be set up to forward their direct dialed phone calls to their personal cell phone. If this is not possible, all voice mails will have a message instructing the caller to communicate through town email or leave a message and the employee will return their call. Also, the employee will know how to call in at least daily to review any messages that are left on their voice mail and return any calls. Court clerks and judges are dependent on what the state court system instructs them to do. They are not able to work remotely due to the sensitive nature of their work. If the court system is closed, they are not able to work. If the court system is able to have virtual court, they would be considered essential and so their work would have to be performed onsite. 3) Guidelines for staggering shifts 2 Communicable Disease Preparedness Plan – DRAFT January 11, 2021 Highway and DPW Employees - All employees will have staggered start and end times by at least 15 minutes to allow employees to clock in, get their equipment, and leave the building. If working in the Highway building, each employee should be working in separate areas. If employees are working on a project outside, there would be a limit of no more than 5 employees working together at a site. It is preferred that employees work alone, but there are some tasks that will need more than 1 person. Employees who need to travel to a worksite together would be limited to 2 people per vehicle in a vehicle that has a back seat: the driver in the front seat and a second employee in the backseat. When using a snowplow, there would be one employee in the vehicle. But if needed, an additional employee would be necessary to operate the wing for heavy snow falls. In this situation, each employee would wear the proper PPE to ensure a lower chance of exposure. Town Office Building Employees – For employees who are working remotely, set up a schedule of times such that one employee at a time can be in the workspace when fellow employees are not there. This way employees can get anything that is in the office or complete any tasks that need to be completed at the office (printing, picking up mail, looking up information, etc.). Town Clerks and Code Enforcers (who are essential) should stagger their work times as much as possible to keep employees from working in the same space at the same time. Employees and their Department Head should communicate the best way to keep the office staffed, but still complete all their tasks. If possible, the department head should arrange that one employee starts earlier in the morning and works to mid-day; a second employee would come as the first employee is leaving and then work until early evening. This would ensure that both employees would get close to their normal daily hours, the public would be served, and tasks related to Town business would be completed. Court clerks should try to follow the same system if they are allowed to work in person by the state court system. 4) Protocols for getting, storing, and distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) Examples of PPE that would be necessary for Town of Dryden employees could include, but are not limited to disposable masks, disposable gloves, eye protection, disinfecting wipes and/or spray, and hand sanitizer. The Town would keep enough PPE on hand to be able to supply all staff for one month. Half of the supply would be kept at the Town Office Building and the other half at the Highway Building. 3 Communicable Disease Preparedness Plan – DRAFT January 11, 2021 The Town would also keep PPE supplies to provide to the public who would come into the Town Hall or Court who did not have the proper PPE. 5) Protocol for employee exposure to disease When an employee has been exposed to any possible communicable disease, they will need to report the exposure to their Department Head by phone or email, not in person. The employee should not report to work until they either go the required amount of time determined by the local County Health Department or the CDC, or if possible, obtain a negative laboratory test result. If the employee is considered essential and there is no one else available to do their job, they are allowed to work, but with some limitations. The employee must work alone and take all necessary precautions to prevent possible exposure to other employees (using recommended PPE). 6) Protocol for an employee who is showing symptoms of virus If the employee starts to show symptoms of a virus while at the workplace, they will be sent home immediately and follow health department guidelines for treatment, testing, and reporting. All employees who worked in close proximity to the infected employee should also be sent home to monitor for symptoms. The affected employees would then follow the guidelines listed above for exposure to the virus. Before leaving the workplace, the exposed employees should gather any tools or equipment that was used by the sick employee to be marked or set aside for cleaning. Twenty-four (24) hours after the sick employee has left, a cleaning person or employee will carefully clean and disinfect all surfaces that were marked or set aside. If an employee who was exposed is at work due to being classified as essential and has no symptoms but receives notification that they have tested positive for the disease or virus while at the workplace, the employee should alert their department head immediately, preferably by phone or email, and leave the workplace at once. Then they should follow the instructions above for an employee who shows symptoms in the workplace. 7) Leave Policy for Infected or Exposed Employees All full-time employees earn sick time that can be used if they are infected or exposed to a communicable disease. If the federal or state government mandates automatic sick time up to a 4 Communicable Disease Preparedness Plan – DRAFT January 11, 2021 specified number of hours, that will be used first. Then personal sick, vacation time, or compensatory time can be used. 8) Protocols for supporting contact tracing efforts through the documentation of hours and locations worked by each employee and outside contractor All Highway and DPW employees’ hours are tracked through timecards and time sheets that report what project that each employee was working on and which piece of equipment they used. The contact tracers or the department head could compare the time sheets to see if any employees worked together on a certain day, time, and location. Also, security camera footage can be reviewed to see if any employees were in the same area in or around the building. All Town Hall employees tend to work in their own area. The Town can question other employees to see if the infected employee was in their area and how long. Using guidance from the health department, that would determine if any employees had exposure to an infected employee. The Town Hall also has security cameras that could be used to review the activity of an employee in the building for contact tracing purposes. All outside contractors should check in before starting work with the proper department head. The department head should have a basic report for any outside contractors. The report should include why the contractor was onsite, the time the contractor arrived and departed, where the contractor was working, and any employees the contractor came into contact with. (See Example Report at the end of this plan.) 9) Identifying Emergency Housing for Employees, if needed We need to have permissions from the following organizations: • TC3 Student Housing (if no students) • Dryden Fire Department • Dryden Veterans Memorial Home Date Contractor Time Arrived Department Head Other employees Task Location(s)Time Departed Outside Contractor Report For use in Communicable Disease Preparedness Plan