HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-06-09 - TB TOWN OF ULYSSES
REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING
JUNE 9 , 2009
PRESENT : Supervisor Douglas Austic ; Council Rod Ferrentino, David Kerness,
Elizabeth Thomas and Lucia Tyler; Town Clerk Marsha L. Georgia; Deputy Supervisor
Richard Coogan; Highway Superintendent James Meeker; Attorney Mariette
Geldenhuys .
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Others Present : Geoffrey Hart, Allen Carstensen, Diane Hillman, Village Trustee
Christopher Thomas, and Tompkins County Representative Jim Dennis .
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
Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Mr. Kerness the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approve the
minutes of the Regular Town Board meeting of May 12 , 2009 as amended.
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms. Tyler aye
Adopted
APPROVAL OF CLAIMS
Mr. Kerness moved, seconded by Ms . Tyler the following:
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approve the
previous examined voucher numbers # 187 through 214 in the amount of
$ 16, 502 . 26 .
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Adopted
At the May Board meeting the Board held out payment to the SPCA until the required
information was provided to Mr. Austic as stated in the contract. Mr. Austic had
requested this via email to Abigail Smith of the SPCA to provide the name of the person
that surrendered a dog to the SPCA that they had billed the Town in the amount of $300 .
Ms . Thomas had spoken to Ms . Smith and the name was given to her of the person that
surrendered the dog. (James Rose of 4380 W. Seneca Road) Mr. Austic will contact Ms .
Smith and ask her to provide this information on the DL- 18 form as requested per our
contract and upon receipt of that Mr. Austic will forward the check of the $ 300 to the
SPCA .
REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES
Trumansburg Fire Department - no one in attendance to give report.
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Planning Board Report — no one in attendance to give report.
Comprehensive Plan Report, Sue Poelvoorde Chairman — absent
Village Representative Christopher Thomas reported that the Village of Trumansburg
will have a draft fire budget available by July for the Village ' s review and have finalized
for presentation to the Town in August . The location of eight of the donated benches has
been identified to go onto Main Street and be in by July 1st . The survey by TG Millers,
for the annexed property, should be completed by July 1st.
Public Privilege of the Floor
Mr. Carstensen presented a draft resolution to the Town Board urging their support to
establish a local sustainable energy policy by adopting the following local law :
Rough Draft
Town of Ulysses Sustainable Energy Ordinance-
AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF ULYSSES , TOMPKINS COUNTY,
NEW YORK ,
ESTABLISHING A LOCAL SUSTAINABLE ENERGY POLICY by
MAKING LAW That :
1 . Declares that the energy policies of New York and the United States, controlled by
large
corporations profiting from carbon-based and nuclear power generation, is destructive of
human
and natural communities ;
2 . Asserts that the People of the Town of Ulysses reject the unsustainable energy
policies of the
State and Federal governments and that they have adopted a locally-defined, sane and
logical
energy policy based on a process of transitioning from unsustainable to renewable
energy
sources ;
3 . Prohibits people and corporations from energy production for sale when that
energy is
produced from unsustainable fuels ;
4 . Prohibits people and corporations from extracting unsustainable energy fuels in the
Town of
Ulysses, since they are used in the production for sale of unsustainable energy ;
5 . Commits the Township to a goal of assisting in the reduction of community residents'
and local
business's use of unsustainable energy by 20% in each three year period ;
6 . Requires the Township adopt and publish an annual Sustainable Energy Plan that
identifies
specific measures to which the Township is committed during each fiscal year to
achieve the
targeted reduction in unsustainable energy consumption ;
7 . Makes government agencies and individuals liable for assisting corporations to
violate the
Ulysses Sustainable Energy Policy by issuing corporate charters, licenses and
permits ;
8 . Provides for enforcement, both by the Town Board and by individual
residents, of the
prohibitions in this Ordinance and protection of the rights of residents and
ecosystems
9 . Removes claims to legal privileges and protections from corporations that might
be used to
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nullify the provisions of this ordinance .
10 . Recognizes and enforces the rights of residents to defend their rights and the right of
natural
communities and ecosystems to exist and flourish
11 . Subordinates corporations to the people of Ulysses
Mr. Kerness asked Mr. Carstensen if he could furnish the Board with copies of other
ordinances from other municipalities .
Tompkins County Board Representative Jim Dennis reported the County Legislator
adopted a 3 % levy increase for 2010 which means for each department they are asking
for a 6. 25 reduction in expenses . A 3 % increase in the levy would mean about a . 9
increase in taxes . This translates to about 4 . 4 million dollar reduction and that translates
to having to look at programs and people. Mr. Dennis said that it is pretty much his
opinion and he thinks at least a simple majority of the legislature that property tax is
probably not the area that they are going to look into to maintain everything. Mr. Dennis
said that NYS has turned them into a carnival and so any help we thought we would get
from NYS may not appear. The County is also expecting that NYS will be coming back
to them in September/October and the Governor will have to bring legislature back and
review his revenue estimates because there is also a good indication that they will not
have the money that they thought they would.
Mr. Dennis said a couple simple things like pension costs have doubled and the sales tax
revenue quarterly has been reducing at about 8 % .
Mr. Dennis said that NYSEG and the County Planning Department are involved in the
gas drilling and his point of view he is hoping that the Towns and County will develop
help to property owners when a gas company comes to them that they at least know what
they are allowed to do, what the regulations are, because he thinks that there are people
out there who have gas companies show up and they tell them they will give them a week
and this amount of money so the people look at the dollar signs and think it is a
wonderful deal but what really happens is as soon as they sign the lease it gets sold to
someone else and sometimes it is a terrible trap for the property owner. The County and
Town should hold public information meetings to provide information.
Mr. Dennis urged the Town Board to vote to support and join the health consortium.
Steve Penningroth, CSI Executive Director of Community Science Institute
Mr. Penningroth distributed the following request to the Town Board and also a brochure
titled "Protecting Private Water Supplies Near Gas Well Drilling in NYS ".
I respectfully request that the Board release the funds that were
included in the 2009 budget, approximately $ 5 , 000, to support the
monitoring of water quality in Tompkins County, including the
Town of Ulysses . The following specific deliverables are suggested
as possibly meeting some of the Town 's interests and needs in
relation to
protecting water quality :
1 . Partner with Stream Watch volunteers to characterize
water quality along the lengths of Taughannock and
Trumansburg Creeks, including identification of
stormwater impacts;
2 . Provide three sets of certified baseline water tests for
groundwater wells valued at $ 500 per set in connection with
gas wells in the Marcellus Shale in the Town of Ulysses, the
Ulysses Town Board to designate wells to be tested at the
Board's discretion (see attached brochure for baseline tests
recommended by CSI) ;
3 . Organize a public forum on water quality by the end of 2009 at
the Ulysses Historical Society or the Ulysses Philomathic
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Library, the topic of the forum to be determined in consultation
with the Ulysses Town Board.
I would be pleased to respond to the Board's requests for
information regarding these
deliverables .
The Board discussed this in length.
TOWN REPORTS
Highway Superintendent James Meeker reported the following :
• Cleaned ditches on various roads
• Clean ditch on Penn. Ave and cleaned out pipe that was plugged
• Trimmed back brush along roadsides and around signs
• Working on cleaning-up plows & wings for painting
• Helped Town of Ithaca with their paving project
• The F-550 (little dump truck) went to the body shop for front end repairs
• Mowed all roadsides
• Building plans are almost completed for bidding late June early July
• Bids for the Seneca Road bridge project came in high and the County is
looking into possibly putting a sleeve on the bridge somehow instead of
moving it, so they are not any further along as far as what the Town would
need for land.
Mr. Meeker also reported that it still may be a possibility that the County could receive
stimulus money for the bridge project.
Code Enforcement Officer Alex Rachun - absent Mr. Coogan distributed his report to
the Board
Town Clerk Marsha L. Georgia reported that a total of $ 1 ,487 was collected for the
month of May and $655 was turned over to the Supervisor with her monthly report.
Ms . Georgia had received an email from Martha Armstrong asking if the Town Board
had acted on a resolution last fall titled "Endorsement of Memorandum of Understanding
and Pledge to work with Economic Development Collaborative For County-wide
Evaluation of Existing Water and Sewer Infrastructure" . Ms . Georgia did forward this to
the Town Board for their consideration.
Ms . Georgia finished updating the changes to the Comprehensive Plan and has emailed it
to the Board and also put a hard copy in their baskets .
Ms . Thomas addressed the resolution that Ms . Georgia referred to and said that she had
reviewed and would move to pass it, seconded by Mr. Kerness .
WHEREAS , the Tompkins County Economic Development Strategy' s goals
include increasing and diversifying the County' s housing supply and revitalizing the
County's unique commercial districts and town centers, and
WHEREAS , the Economic Development Collaborative was organized to
formalize, strengthen and deepen the cooperation among the many local agencies and
municipal bodies addressing economic development issues in the County to make the
process more effective through common goals and
approach, and
WHEREAS , the Tompkins County Council of Governments (TCCOG) is a
member of the Economic Development Collaborative, which is currently working to
address the goals of the County' s Economic Development Strategy, and
WHEREAS , the Economic Development Collaborative has suggested the
creation of an updated, County-wide evaluation of existing water and sewer
infrastructure and the development of a conceptual plan of water and sewer
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infrastructure needed to support planned future growth to meet housing and
economic development goals, and
WHEREAS , the last County-wide evaluation of water and sewer infrastructure
was completed in 1994, and
WHEREAS , an updated evaluation would facilitate the development of housing
within town and village centers, commercial revitalization of those centers and growth
in the tax base , with the most efficient use of public dollars for infrastructure, and
WHEREAS , the result of this evaluation will be a report that is available for all
municipalities to use in their planning of infrastructure development, but that no actual
investment in water or sewer facilities is included in this project, and
WHEREAS , the County of Tompkins, on behalf of TCCOG, applied for and
was awarded a grant known as Shared Municipal Services Incentive (SMSI) grant
from the State of New York, to conduct a County-wide evaluation of water and
sewer infrastructure and develop a conceptual plan, and
WHEREAS , the TCCOG unanimously adopted this resolution on
September 25 , 2008 and directed that it be forwarded to municipalities for
consideration and approval by local municipal boards, and
WHEREAS , the Tompkins County Legislature adopted Resolution No .
186 of 2008 on September 16 , 2008 , that authorized the acceptance of this grant in
the amount of $ 82 ,245 . 24 for the purpose of conducting a County-wide evaluation
of water and sewer infrastructure and to develop a conceptual plan, now therefore
be it
RESOLVED, That the Town of Ulysses, by adoption of this resolution, declares
its intent to support the development of a County-wide evaluation of water and sewer
infrastructure and the development of a conceptual plan of water and sewer infrastructure
needed to support planned future growth to meet housing and economic development
goals,
RESOLVED, further, That the Town of Ulysses pledges to work with the
Economic Development Collaborative to ensure cooperation of members ' planning and
engineering departments with this project, providing information and documentation
requested by the consultant team, led by TO Miller, including but not limited to :
• Current rated capacity of water and wastewater treatment systems from
existing SPDES (State Pollution Discharge Elimination System) permits and
facility plans
• Electronic files or paper copies of maps showing current water distribution and/or
sanitary sewer collection systems
• Recent studies of water and sewer facilities
• Treatment processes, mechanical and other systems related data
• Scheduled or anticipated system upgrades or new construction
• Historical problems and obstacles including operational difficulties, regulatory
compliance, land use restrictions, public impact and complaints, and funding
• Current population served by the utilities including number of service connections
• Anticipated population growth rate for the next ten years
• Existing or planned funding sources that may be available, and
Statement of need :
Increasing housing supply and revitalization of commercial districts are two of the
Tompkins County Economic Development Strategy' s three goals . Both require
improvements to water and sewer infrastructure, especially in the non-urbanized areas of
the county. The proposed infrastructure study is, therefore, an integral step to achieving
affordable housing and revitalization goals . In particular, to provide for housing to be
reasonably affordable, housing requires density . Continuing to build individual
homes on 1 -2 acre lots is not an affordable approach to providing housing . Dependable
water and sewer infrastructure is also critical for revitalization of our town and village
centers .
Preliminary scope of work :
A consultant will be hired to :
• Update the 1994 County-wide evaluation of water and sewer infrastructure
working with local municipal staff
• Prepare a conceptual plan of water and sewer infrastructure, including potential
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service areas, to support future growth.
• Prepare preliminary costs to expand infrastructure to accommodate planned
growth.
Work will reflect anticipated growth of the municipalities, local plans , and the
Tompkins County Comprehensive Plan . "
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Adopted
Board Members and Committees
Ms . Tyler said that Sue Ritter would like to be invited to the July Town Board meeting to
present the final report on the results of the water survey.
Ms . Thomas attended the Youth Committee meeting and reported that they are grateful to
the Town Board for the donation of $ 150 to sponsor a movie.
Ms . Thomas requested that the check be mailed to Cornell Corporative Ext .
The Youth Committee discussed the cut of 6% in the funding from the County which
they estimate is about $ 7000 . Ms . Thomas said that the Board will have to come up with
how to help them out in next year' s budget. The Youth Committee is working on a fund
raiser by urging the school to open up the parking lots for parking at the time of
Grassroots . Apparently that can not happen this year because of construction at the
school . The Youth Committee would like the Town Board' s support when they approach
the school board. The committee does other fund raisers ; they just had a chicken
barbeque and the sponsoring of the floating ducks in the Cascadilla Creek.
Ms . Thomas introduced a motion for the TCCOG Healthcare Consortium, moved by Mr.
Kerness, seconded by Ms . Tyler as follows :
AUTHORIZATION TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH
THE GREATER TOMPKINS COUNTY HEALTH CARE CONSORTIUM
FOR NEW YORK STATE SHARED MUNICIPAL SERVICES
PROGRAM
WHEREAS , The Tompkins County Council of Governments (TCCOG) is comprised of
all the municipalities in Tompkins County, and
WHEREAS , the Town of Ulysses is a member of the Tompkins County Council of
Governments (TCCOG), and
WHEREAS , in 2007 , the County, on behalf of TCCOG, accepted an incentive grant
award under the New York State Shared Municipal Services Program,
WHEREAS , the grant' s purpose is to assist the municipalities in Tompkins County
create a local municipal health insurance consortium, and
WHEREAS , the Health Insurance Consortium will develop health benefits
coverage for all participating municipalities with the intent to provide a net savings
to the taxpayers of Tompkins County, and
WHEREAS , TCCOG encourages the signature of an inter-municipal agreement by
TCCOG members, now therefore be it
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RESOLVED, by the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses, that the Supervisor is
hereby authorized to execute an inter-municipal agreement effective January 1 ,
2010 with the Greater Tompkins County Health Insurance Consortium for the New
York State Shared Municipal Services Program subject for approval by the Town
Board prior to signing agreement.
SEQRACTION : TYPE 11 -20
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Adopted
Ms . Thomas reported that only part of the stimulus money has been distributed and part
of that money was to go to the US Department of Agricultural who is managing the rural
broad ban money (used for internet service) and Ms . Thomas thought the Town should be
in a good position to get one of those grants . Ms . Thomas said that it is a matter of
finding out where those grants are.
Mr. Austic suggested checking with the Town of Dryden who has received grants in the
past.
Ms . Thomas said that when she spoke with Abigail Smith of the SPCA she informed Ms.
Thomas that the SPCA are interested in staying in dog control but because Cornell has
expressed interest in building an animal hospital at the site of the SPCA to allow Vets to
practice Ms . Smith expects this would reduce the expense for vet care at the facility.
Ms . Thomas asked the Town Board Coordinator to explain his hours .
Mr. Coogan did so .
M . Tyler asked about the celebration grant and when and how to apply.
Mr. Dennis said to call Jackie Kippola at the County Administer office.
Deputy Supervisor Richard Coogan had nothing to report.
Supervisor Austic previously distributed his monthly financial report. No questions
were heard .
OLD BUSINESS
Town Barn Project
Mr. Kerness wanted to give Ms . Geldenhuys a heads-up and said that the bid package
should be ready for her review between June 22 and the 26`h
Ms . Geldenhuys said she should be around the sooner the better.
Mr. Kerness said that he was looking at the schedule and would like to suggest
rescheduling the July second Board meeting from the 23rd to the 30`h or have two
meetings . The opening of the bids is scheduled for July 30`h and then the engineer would
review and would like to select the qualified bidder and award the bid on July 31S`
Mr. Ferrentino said it would work better for him on August 3rd, (Monday) .
Mr. Kerness asked if anyone would be available July 27th through the 31S`. Ms . Thomas
and Ms . Tyler said that they would be away until August 10`h, 2009 .
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Mr. Kerness said maybe the schedule can work out to have it scheduled for the 27th . He
will try and make this date happen.
Grass Roots Resolution
Mr. Austic said that Ms . Geldenhuys had prepared a resolution for the Special Permit for
Grassroots, which the Board had for their review .
The Board reviewed the EAF SEQR and Mr. Kerness moved, seconded by Ms . Thomas
the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses declares that
after review of the information that the proposal for a Special Permit will not
result in any significant environmental impacts and declares a negative impact .
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Adopted
Mr. Austic read the resolution into the record and moved, seconded by Ms . Tyler the
following :
WHEREAS , Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival (hereafter " the Applicant" ) applied
for a special permit for an overnight campground on premises located on Agard
Road in the Town of Ulysses , Tompkins County (Town of Ulysses tax map #20 . -
1 -6 . 1 ) (hereafter "the Premises") ; and
WHEREAS , the Premises are located in the R-1 (Rural Residence) zoning district;
and
WHEREAS , pursuant to Section 7 . 5 of the Town Zoning Ordinance, overnight
campgrounds are permitted in the R-1 district upon approval of a Special Permit
by the Town Board, subject to the design standards set forth in section 17 . 9 of the
Zoning Ordinance ; and
WHEREAS , the Applicant submitted an Environmental Assessment Form for the
(the "EAF ") in compliance with Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law
and Regulations adopted pursuant thereto by the Department of Environmental
Conservation of the State (collectively, " SEQR" ) ; and
WHEREAS , this application came before the Town Board on May 12 , 2009 and
WHEREAS , the Town Board adopted a Negative Declaration for this action
pursuant to SEQR;
NOW, THEREFORE, be it
RESOLVED that the Town Board hereby grants the Applicant a special permit to
operate a temporary overnight campground on the Premises for a period of one
week from July 13 -20 , 2009, including parking by campground patrons and event
parking for the Grassroots Festival on the Premises, subject to the following
conditions :
1 . Receipt of all applicable and necessary permits from the Tompkins County
Health Department;
2 . The Applicant shall submit an application for a Development District (DD)
under the Town of Ulysses Zoning Ordinance no later than August 1 , 2009 .
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Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Adopted
Permissive Referendum
Mr. Austic said that a resolution to remove money from the Audit Reserve Account has
to be advertised to withdraw the money that will be due for the audit.
Mr. Austic moved, seconded by Ms . Tyler the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses advertise a
permissive resolution for the withdrawal of money from the Audit Reserve
Account to pay the auditor for the audit in the amount of $ 12 ,043 .
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Adopted
Gas Well Drilling
Ms. Thomas has done some research and has provided the Board and Highway
Superintendent with several handouts. These handouts are available in the Clerks
office for review. They are :
• Road Preservation Law
• Weight limits on Town Roads
• Driveway permit application
• Memorandum — The Need for State Regulation of Oil and Gas Lease
Transactions
The Board discussed these briefly and will be discussed after the Board has time for
further review.
Comprehensive Plan Meeting Dates
Ms . Thomas provided the Board with a remaining project schedule that will be discussed
further at the second Board meeting in June scheduled for the 29th of June at 7PM.
Mr. Austic reminded the Board that Bergmann Associates are coming down for a meeting
on June 18th, 2009 at 1PM.
Hearing no further business Ms. Tyler moved, seconded by Ms. Thomas to adjourn
the meeting. Unanimiously approved.
Meeting adjourned at 9 :35 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Marsha L. Georgia
Ulysses Town Clerk
MLG : mlg