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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 . "4 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. Regular Town Board Meeting 2 6/09/2009 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 ,;.. Regular Town Board Meeting 3 6/09/2009 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 Regular Town Board Meeting 4 6/09/2009 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 :.,. Regular Town Board Meeting 5 6/09/2009 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 Regular Town Board Meeting 6 6/09/2009 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 Regular Town Board Meeting 7 6/09/2009 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 . Regular Town Board Meeting 8 6/09/2009 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 . ■ ■■•1 2 Regular Town Board Meeting 9 6/09/2009 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