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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-06-09TB 6-9-22 Page 1 of 6 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING June 9, 2022 Zoom Hybrid Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl James Skaley, Cl Loren Sparling, Cl Leonardo Vargas-Mendez Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Rick Young, Highway/DPW Superintendent Other Town Staff: Ray Burger, Planning Director Cassie Byrnes, Secretary to Supervisor Amanda Anderson, Bookkeeper Supv Leifer called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Board members were all present at Town Hall. FINANCIAL & HUMAN RESOURCES Abstract Approval RESOLUTION #100 (2022) – APPROVE ABSTRACT #6 Cl Skaley offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves Abstract #6, as audited, general vouchers #408 through #511 ($1,177,806.11) and TA vouchers #25 through #29 ($6,709.01), totaling $1,184,515.12. 2nd Cl Vargas-Mendez Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Skaley Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS Approve Juneteenth as a paid holiday and amend personnel manual – Juneteenth is recognized as a federal holiday. This would be for town hall employees. The Teamsters contract for Highway/DPW is coming up for renewal and this holiday will be negotiated at that time. Highway Superintendent Rick Young said he would like his department to have the Juneteenth holiday this year. Resolution #101 (2022) Approval of Juneteenth as a Paid Holiday for Town Hall Employees and Amendment of Personnel Manual Cl Skaley offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: Whereas, in 2021 a federal law was passed establishing Juneteenth, June 19, as a paid federal holiday in commemoration of the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans. TB 6-9-22 Page 2 of 6 Whereas, when the Personnel Manual was approved, June 19 was not included as a paid holiday for Town Hall employees. Therefore, be it resolved that effective immediately the Board approves providing all Town Hall employees eligible for paid holiday time a new paid holiday on Juneteenth which for 2022 will be observed on June 20, And further be it resolved that the Town of Dryden Personnel Manual will be updated to include June 19 as a paid holiday for Town Hall employees who are eligible for holiday leave. 2nd Cl Sparling Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Skaley Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Authorize Acceptance of Real Property – This is in connection with the acquisition of property to accommodate the pedestrian bridge over Route 13. RESOLUTION #102 (2022) – AUTHORIZE ACCEPTANCE OF REAL PROPERTY TO ACCOMMODATE ROUTE 13 PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: WHEREAS, on June 17, 2021, the Town Board of the Town of Dryden adopted a resolution to contract with the State of New York for managing the process of acquiring two parcels east of Route 13 for the Dryden Rail Trail pedestrian bridge; and WHEREAS, it is necessary for the Town of Dryden to agree to accept the real property acquired by the State of New York for the Dryden Rail Trail Phase 2 project, PIN 395071. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Dryden does hereby authorize the acceptance of the deed of all real property acquired by the State of New York or offered directly to the Town for the Dryden Rail Trail Phase 2 project, PIN 395071; and be it further RESOLVED that the Town Supervisor, upon review and approval by the Attorney for the Town as to form, is hereby authorized to execute any and all documents necessary to accept by deed all real property being transferred to the Town of Dryden for the Dryden Ra il Trail Phase 2 project, PIN 395071; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that, pursuant to Town Law §§81(1)(c) and 220(3), this resolution is subject to permissive referendum. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Skaley Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Purchase of Trucks – R Young explained that one Western Star 4700 truck he would like to purchase was ordered by another entity and they decided not to purchase it. It could be delivered by August. The trucks that Dryden ordered will not be in until 2023. There is TB 6-9-22 Page 3 of 6 another Western Star 4700 tandem axle 10-wheeler that he would like to purchase. He’ll take the equipment off the Freightliner that was already ordered (to be delivered in 2023) and put it on this truck. Another single axle will continue to be built and will be delivered. Funding would come from what has been budgeted, funds that were encumbered last year, and proceeds of the sale of other equipment. RESOLUTION #103 (2022) – PURCHASE OF HIGHWAY TRUCKS Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes the purchase of a 2023 Western Star Truck 4700SF, not to exceed $136,704 and a Western Star 4700 PRL 23T with plow and chassis not to exceed $256,000 per Onondaga County contract #8996 with funds from equipment budget DA5130.2 and DPW equipment A1490.2. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Skaley Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes R Young reported that our price of gas last year in January was $1.96/gallon and diesel was $2.23/gallon. In June of last year, he had spent $56,539 on fuel. This year to date they have spent $92,484 on fuel. They just started paving season and have some paving that must be done, but will be doing less. The price of blacktop is now up to $85/ton for black top (the less expensive binder). He will do more stone and oil this year, and while less expensive than blacktop, that price has also gone up. The stone and oil process can make a road last another 3-5 years. It works well on more travelled roads, but less travelled roads take longer for the stone to work in. The Department is trying to cut back on some things to offset increased fuel costs. Authorize Graybar Purchase – Graybar has submitted a purchase order for spools of fiber. RESOLUTION #104 (2022) – AUTHORIZE PURCHASE OF FIBER FOR BROADBAND PROJECT Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves and authorize the purchase of materials detailed in Graybar Quote #0240881628 in the amount of $78,113.21. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Skaley Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Supplemental Contract with Erdman Anthony – R Burger explained in March of 2020 the board authorized an expenditure of up to $254,000 on the design phase. The town entered into a contract with Erdman Anthony for an amount not to exceed $247,000. They have not gone beyond their original scope and a supplemental agreement has now been TB 6-9-22 Page 4 of 6 submitted for another $7,000. We are still under the original amount, so we do not have to involve DOT. Funds are paid from the DOT TAP grant. RESOLUTION #105 (2022) – AUTHORIZE SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT WITH ERDMAN ANTHONY FOR RAIL TRAIL PHASE 2 DESIGN WORK Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the Supplemental Agreement #1 as submitted by Erdman Anthony for right-of-way and engineering services in connection with the pedestrian bridge over Route 13 in the amount of $7,000 and the Town Supervisor is authorized to execute the same. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Skaley Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Freese Road Bridge Update – Cl Lamb reported they had hoped the Village of Groton would take the historical elements, but the idea that they have to report periodically to Federal Highway and enter into a long-term agreement to maintain the elements may have scared them off. He has been unable to get any follow-up conversation with the Village of Groton representatives. It seems they are not interested in moving forward. T he town has a decision to make and needs to look again at options. The board had planned to remove the old bridge and install a new single lane, truss style bridge with a pedestrian walkway, and needed to find a location for the old bridge. The county does not want a bridge that requires a lot of maintenance. Putting old elements on a new bridge, will require the town to maintain those, which is very expensive. The town does not want to add a line item in the budget for that work. Cl Lamb would like a new single lane bridge without the maintenance costs. It would require signaling. Federal Highway required that we advertise that we have an old bridge to be placed elsewhere. Interest from a company in Indiana and from the Village of Groton have not worked out. He discussed it with Barton & Loguidice and would like to remove the old bridge and tell Federal Highway and NYSDOT that we are going back to the way we were and need to move the project forward. Right now, no one can cross that creek because the old bridge is closed. He doesn’t know where to put the old bridge. It would cost up to $100,000 to move the bridge to the folks in Indiana, where it would be restored. Because the bridge is eligible for the historic register, Federal Highway is particular about what happens to it, but don’t provide funding to facilitate what they want. We already have a preferred alternative in the findings document. Cl Lamb will provide an update next week. Game Farm Road Trail Crossing – Cl Lamb reported a final crossing plan has been completed by the consultant and shared with the towns of Ithaca and Dryden. He doesn’t know if it is enough as it stands for the county to come on board. Assemblyperson Anna Kelles is interested in this and has set up a meeting with the Regional Director for DOT on Tuesday. He may give them a closed hearing on the idea of speed reduction zone there even though we were denied previously. There is continued increased use of the trail at that crossing. There will be a discussion with the state before sharing the report with the county. A speed reduction would make everyone feel better about the level of safety at the crossing. TB 6-9-22 Page 5 of 6 Draft Comp Plan Amendment – Cl Skaley has provided comment to the board. He noted there is no projection of demographics of the farming community in the next 20 years. He would like to see a promotion of regenerative agricultural practices. Cl Sparling said the Ag Committee discussed that and would not like that as an action step. They did not want to favor one type or form of agriculture over another. COUNTY UPDATE Mike Lane is concerned about the reduction in the gas tax (temporary for six months) saying it may be a hit on highway funding and will result in a five hundred million dollar hit to the state. He questions whether it is really a good idea. The gas tax holiday sunsets at the end of the year. There was a report at the legislature’s meeting from Sheriff Osborne regarding the reimagining public safety initiative. The county’s plan is not the city of Ithaca’s plan. They will work together where they can, but the city is in a quagmire and there is a lot of discussion about the first recommendation of a plan to completely change their police department. The county won’t do that. Good ideas came out of the studies, including better training for officers and police response to some kinds of issues. The Sheriff has hired two clerks that will respond to specific things such as noise complaints and property checks. The response from the deputies is very good because it takes pressure off them for lower-level types of responses they might be called for and will allow them to focus more on the more serious things they have to deal with. There have been a couple of incidents at the location of the Human Services building on State Street. There was a shooting and a stabbing on the street outside the building. The County is very concerned, and the County Administrator is working with the city on this. They are reviewing safety protocols in the building. There is lot of traffic in that building with both Social Services and the Probation Department located there. They want the employees and those there on legitimate business to feel safe. The County is going to begin accepting applications for their grant program. County Attorneys indicate there may be a need to reconfigure the way it was set up because they may not be able to use the money taken from fund balance and replaced with Federal money. There may be more flexibility with the Federal money. They have 6.5 million dollars set aside for this program and want it to work. They are looking to move forward with human service types of things, including daycare and housing. The Etna bridge replacement project is moving ahead. With respect to the speed issue on Game Farm Road, M Lane offered to have his committee take it up and pass a resolution. Cl Lamb responded that he thinks the state is hearing us now. The new TC3 President, Dr Amy Kremenek, started June 1 and has purchased a home on Kimberly Drive in Dryden. M Lane said he’d like to see a task force established in the county about infrastructure in order to make headway on construction of single-family houses again. The Assessment Department reported that we haven’t been creating so few single-family houses since after World War II. J Skaley said the town’s housing committee has discovered that no one want s to build single-family houses and M Lane said we need to incentivize that. He will suggest at the county that they put together a group to discuss where we want to have water and sewer lines, TB 6-9-22 Page 6 of 6 and how we might be able to get grants for it. The county doesn’t have land use authority, but they can work to encourage that kind of infrastructure. Cl Lamb said the idea that we can make single-family homes affordable is out of step with current market trends. They are extremely expensive. If we want to provide housing and have more people in the town, building single-family homes is a white whale. We want to preserve farmland and open spaces; how can we build single-family homes and at the same time reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy use? These are competing goals. We won’t see a building trend like we saw 20 or 30 years ago here. Cl Skaley noted there are new types of construction, things other than stick built. Supv Leifer noted that whatever is done, we need more water and sewer. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:12 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk