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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-11-17TB 11-17-2022 Page 1 of 4 TOWN OF DRYDEN TOWN BOARD MEETING November 17, 2022 Zoom Hybrid Present: Supervisor Jason Leifer, Cl Daniel Lamb, Cl Loren Sparling, Cl Leonardo Vargas-Mendez Absent: Cl James Skaley Elected Officials: Bambi L. Avery, Town Clerk Rick Young, Highway/DPW Superintendent Other Town Staff: Ray Burger, Planning Director Cassie Byrnes, Secretary to the Supervisor Supv Leifer opened the meeting at 6:05 p.m. Board members and audience recited the pledge of allegiance. Cl Sparling has presented a list of suggested edits to the draft October minutes. RESOLUTION #177 (2010) – APPROVE MINUTES Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the meeting minutes of October 12 and October 20, 2022, as amended. 2nd Cl Vargas-Mendez Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes ANNOUNCEMENTS Supv Leifer reported that Dryden Fiber now has live customers and will begin billing in January. A bond will go out shortly and they will pick up construction on the project again in the spring. There have been articles recently in the Cortland Standard and the Rome Sentinel about Dryden Fiber. HIGHWAY/DPW DEPARTMENT Highway Superintendent Rick Young reported that he is currently getting quotes to replace the truck that burned last month, noting a large increase in the price of the trucks. He has received two quotes and is waiting on a third. He will use the insurance recovery funds from the truck that was destroyed and $100,000 from the 2023 budget. He does not expect the cost to exceed $300,000. He added that delivery may not be quick, noting that the two trucks he ordered two years ago have not been received. RESOLUTION #178 (2022) – AUTHORIZE PURCHASE OF TRUCK Supv Leifer offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: TB 11-17-2022 Page 2 of 4 RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes purchase by the Highway Superintendent of a new Freightliner or Western Star 10-wheel dump truck, after quotes have been received and reviewed, at a cost not to exceed $300,000.00. Funding for the purchase will come from the insurance recovery proceeds for the 10-wheel dump truck that was destroyed by fire and $100,000 from the 2023 budget. 2nd Cl Lamb Roll Call Vote Cl Sparling Yes Cl Vargas-Mendez Yes Cl Lamb Yes Supv Leifer Yes Last Thursday a dog was caught in a drainpipe in Varna. DPW had to dig out about thirty feet of pipe. Varna Fire Department assisted them. PLANNING DEPARTMENT Ray Burger reported that the former orchid sales property at 1274 Dryden Road has been sold. The new owner proposes a retail operation for exotic plants and to put in fourteen 2-bedroom townhomes. This project will require a special use permit to be heard before the Town Board. The department has ordered a 4-wheel drive Hyundai Tucson plug in-hybrid for under $38,000. They looked into the Chevy Equinox, but it wouldn’t be delivered until 2024. DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS Unsafe structure - 1892 Slaterville Road – A neighbor, Ed Dellert, emailed today saying that he had discussions with Jack Enslow, and agreed to some measures of progress. The board wants to see a 25% improvement by January 8. Jack Enslow said he has talked with all his neighbors and the town should have heard from them. What Ed Dellert wanted done along his line will be done soon. Enslow would like to extend the final completion date to a September 2024 completion. Agreement must be signed by December 8, or the town will file proceeding. J Enslow has some concerns about some of the terms and will discuss it with the Planning Director and town attorney. Supv Leifer stated there would be no extension of time beyond September 2024. Unsafe structure – 28 Leisure Lane – R Burger said he has learned that Tompkins County is going to foreclose on that property for taxes. Habitat for Humanity is interested in doing a rebuild on that property and have tried unsuccessfully to contact the property owner. He will talk with the county about the possibility of doing the demo and getting reimbursed before filing. If the town continues with its lawsuit, the town would be secondary to the county lien. Assuming the owner does not come forward and redeem the property, the county will take possession of the property in May or June. The concern is that if the county ends up foreclosing, the town may not recover the cost of demolition. After consultation with Atty Van Why, the board decided to continue the process and go ahead and file. The end goal is for removal of the structure. In the meantime, R Burger will consult with the County and continue discussions with Habitat for Humanity. TB 11-17-2022 Page 3 of 4 ADVISORY BOARD UPDATES Ag Advisory Committee – They met over an opinion piece sent to a number of advisory boards about methane digesters. Even though members agree with the concept of the digester, it is useful only on large dairy farms and is expensive. They felt it doesn’t work in Dryden, so they decided not to respond to this opinion. One member has decided not to continue on the committee, so there will be an opening on the committee for 2023. Conservation Board – At their last meeting they discussed a resolution in support of Owasco Lake Watershed Management Council. That resolution was tabled due to members wanting to replace the general term “best management practices” with specific types of those practices. Recreation and Youth Commission – The majority of the meeting was devoted to a presentation by Patrick Lynch who is the OURS senior program manager. He gave an update on the OURS/YOURS programs and a summary of what participants had done over the past year. They asked participants if they could design a classroom themselves, what form would it take. Climate Smart Communities Task Force – Dryden has hit 4500 points and is still in second place in the Southern Tier. Having those points allows us to apply for another $20,000 in grant funds. Climate Smart’s focus with the grant money is DPW. They applied $4,000 to the audit. $6,000 remains of a previous $10,000 grant. The committee will apply the new $20,000 grant to the DPW upgrades on top of the $6,000. For several reasons, Climate Smart has decided not to pursue community choice aggregation at this time and as a result has dissolved its CCA subcommittee. There was also a recommendation to not participate in NYSEG’s demand response program. That program would allow NYSEG to control air conditioning and thermostats of the owners of smart thermostats in order to prevent brown outs. The committee was uncomfortable with NYSEG taking control of people’s houses. Planning Board – John Kiefer will be stepping down as chair, and Tony Salerno has been recommended. The board discussed the project on the old orchid sales site on Dryden Road and they all seemed to like it. They spent some time discussing a housing project near town hall. The two current board alternates will not reapply, so the Planning Board will be down three people with D Bussmann on leave of absence. Cl Lamb would like to discuss in December what happens next with zoning since completion of comp plan. The board discussed an RFP process to choose a consultant . Cl Lamb suggested a panel of two Planning Board members, two Town Board members and Ray Burger to move the process along. Cl Lamb and Cl Vargas-Mendez will participate, and Cl Lamb will check in with the Planning Board. Rail Trail Task Force – They have been working with Barton & Loguidice to prepare the permit application for the Game Farm Road upgrade. B & L has revised their study based on new information. That will be combined with traffic data and will go to the county next week. There is a need for a crossing signal, and included in the permit are some s olar powered blinking lights, and a flashing yellow light, but they don’t want the full signal stop that the county was originally recommending. Between that and the tree removal, striping, and lighting, it should be enough. Cl Lamb said he thinks we are o n track to get it approved fairly soon. TB 11-17-2022 Page 4 of 4 R Young said the snowmobile club is interested in repurposing the old Red Mill Road bridge. The longer the bridge sits out there, the less likely anyone will want it. Cl Lamb will share information he has found. Affordable Housing – The committee had an update from Mayor Murphy on developments in the Village of Dryden. Rocco Lucente may have a housing project there. They continue to investigate places that could accommodate a housing development. Kimball Real Estate has a place in Varna and there is land behind town hall. They were made aware of funding opportunities, CBDG grants, inflation reduction grant funding, a county grant (too late to apply this year), and other sources of funding. They discussed hiring a consultant/grant writer and are asking the town for $10,000 to hire someone. Safety & Preparedness Committee – The committee is in disarray because they currently only have two members. They are hoping to resurrect interest and add three members. Broadband Committee – They are meeting tomorrow morning. Jeff Smith is getting the BAN documents together. Three and a half million dollars should cover next year’s construction. The CDBG grant application was not successful. They have applied for a Reconnect grant and are hoping to get funding from the outgoing congress. The project was originally planned just using bond funds, so any other funding received will reduce the total amount that will be bonded for. Knickerbocker and some other commercial customers are hooked up. There is a door-to-door campaign for customers in the Pinckney Road pilot area. CITIZENS PRIVILEGE None There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:26 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bambi L. Avery Town Clerk