HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-11-10 - TB TOWN OF ULYSSES
REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING
NOVEMBER 10, 2009
* * Note the audio version of this meeting is on the Ulysses Web page at
www .Ulysses . ny.us
Present : Supervisor Doug Austic ; Council Rod Ferrentino, David Kerness, and Elizabeth
Thomas ; Lucia Tyler absent; Marsha L. Georgia Town Clerk; James Meeker Highway
Superintendent .
Others Present : Kevin Romer, Ed Sawester, Roxanne Marino, Diane Hillman and
Martha Ullberg.
Supervisor Austic called the meeting to order at 7 : 30 PM and lead those assembled in the
Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mr. Kerness moved, seconded by Ms . Thomas the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approve the
minutes for the Regular Town Board meeting of October 13th , 2009 and the Special Town
Board meeting of October 22 , 2009 .
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Adopted
APPROVAL OF 2009 BUDGET MODIFICATIONS
Mr. Kerness moved, seconded by Ms . Thomas the following 2009 Budget Modifications :
General Fund A
Increase A9060 . 8 Health Insurance $ 1500 .
Increase A1920 . 4 Ass . Dues 49 .
Decrease A3510 . 4 Dog Control $ 1549 .
Highway DA
Increase DA5140 . 1 Brush & Weeds PS $ 800 .
Decrease DA5120 . 1 Bridges PS 800 .
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Adopted
Regular Town Board Meeting 2
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APPROVAL OF CLAIMS
Mr. Kerness moved, seconded by Ms . Thomas the following:
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approve voucher
#387 through 426, less voucher #402 in the amount of $ 15000, for a total of $ 128 , 552 . 25 .
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Adopted
REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES
Jim Dennis, Tompkins County Legislator — absent.
Trumansburg Fire Department — absent.
Planning Board Report — given by John Wertis . Mr. Wertis reported that the Planning
Board is meeting on a regular schedule . Mr. Wertis said that Mr. Rachun has supplied
the Board with a well thought out direction for wording on the Conservation Zone and at
the last meeting the Town Attorney attended and she gave the Board advice, rulings, and
information. Mr. Wertis said he figures Mr. Rachun passed that same information on to
the Town Board. Mr. Wertis went on to explain further which can be heard on the
Ulysses web page at ulysses . ny. us .
The other discussion was on UNA"s and Conservation Zone .
The complete discussion can be heard on the Ulysses web site.
PUBLIC PRIVILEDGE OF THE FLOOR — Ms . Hillman reported that Jacksonville
Association is looking into the two hydrants that are on the property of Close Hall and the
pond that the Association is concerned about because these hydrants do not work.
Mr. Meeker said that the Highway Department are going to remove the hydrants and
there will be "out of Order Labels" installed on them until the time of removal .
Ms . Hillman also reported that the pond is being tested and figure out if it is polluted .
TOWN REPORTS
Highway Superintendent James Meeker — reported the following :
• Grind rebetes, driveway approaches for paving project on Maplewood
Road
• Paved Maplewood Road & Willow Creek Point Road
• Hauled hot mix for Tompkins County Highway
• Worked on new Town Barn building and the concrete floor to new
building tie-in
• Skim work on Colegrove Road
• Working on shoulders of roads
• New building progressing on schedule
Code Enforcement Officer Alex Rachun — absent. Mr. Coogan said that Mr. Rachun
has mailed out requests to Rod Hawks and Gerald VanOrden asking if they wished to
continue on the Zoning Board of Appeals . Mr. Coogan said that Mr. Hawks had replied
and that he does wish to continue but they have not heard from Mr. VanOrden .
Regular Town Board Meeting 3
11 / 10/2009
Town Clerk Marsha L. Georgia reported that a total of $3 , 509 . 50 was collected for the
month of October and $ 1 , 355 . 50 was turned over to the Supervisor along with her
monthly report.
Board Members and Committees
Ms . Thomas attended the Village Board meeting held last evening and she distributed
copies of a sketch of proposed building at the current site of the Farmers Market that
would be used for pavilion for vendor sales . The Village has received a half matching
fund grant of $25 ,000 for this project. The Village is looking for shared services for help .
More information will be fourth coming.
Deputy Supervisor Richard Coogan reported that the TC Insurance Consortium is
meeting on November 19th, 2009 and there are still three outstanding issues that need to
be discussed. One is to get approval from the State and how much the State will require
holding back for catastrophic illnesses ; they are hoping to get 17% which the budget is
based on. If they are required to have 25 % the Consortium will get a letter of credit
which will be an added expense . One of the big issues is that the teamsters are now upset
with the coverage and if they were to pull out the Consortium would not be able to move
forward .
If the Town goes with the Consortium each Town will have to have a person that
employees go to for questions ; they will not be able to call and get answers directly. The
first year will probably take a lot of time .
Mr. Austic and Mr. Ferrentino felt that the Town should stay with the health insurance
plan that the town has now and wait until the Consortium has their act together.
None of the Towns have signed with the Consortium .
Mr. Kerness said lets table this until the December 8th, 2009 meeting.
Mr. Coogan said that he is on the Planning Advisory Board for Tompkins County and his
term is up and they have asked him to be on the Planning Advisory Board again and he is
willing to do this but one on the application form there is a place that states he is
recommended by the Town Board .
The Board felt that they would certainly like Mr. Coogan to continue and asked if he
could report back to the Town on what is happening.
Supervisor Austic distributed his monthly financial statement ; no questions were noted.
Mr. Austic said that a new water tap was installed on Route 96 .
OLD BUSINESS
Insurance for 2010
After the review of the applicants and seeing that they were very close in price. The
company that the Town is currently insured with was the lowest and that company will
give the Town a locked in price for three years .
Mr. Kerness moved, seconded by Mr. Austic the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses except the price
for the Town of Ulysses insurance from E . C . Cooper and continue with them .
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Adopted .
Regular Town Board Meeting 4
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Gas Drilling
Ms . Thomas said that many people have been looking at the draft regulations that have
been put forth and there are multitudes of comments on the short comings of the
regulations. A lot of concerns about the holes in the regulations, one of the most
important things are the protection of the water sources . The waste water treatment
plants are very concerned. There is a lot of information that is available .
A discussion about a drive-way permit law took place.
Mr. Meeker was not in favor of a law for drive-way permits .
Ms . Thomas continued with information which can be heard in its entirety on the Ulysses
web page.
Ms . Thomas said that public hearings that DEC are having are not close to Ithaca so
Tompkins County and the Council of Governments will be sponsoring one on November
19`h, 2009 at 7PM . The comments for this hearing will not be recognized by DEC unless
they are in writing so therefore Ms . Thomas is asking for the support of the Town of
Ulysses to help pay for a court stenographer. Other Towns are putting in $200 to pay for
this . They are hoping that DEC will pay for this but presently it is up to the Towns .
Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Mr. Kerness the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approve the
expense of $200 to help pay for a stenographer to take comments at a public
hearing and provide this information to DEC .
FURTHER RESOLVED that the $200 be taken from the account A1010 . 4 Town
Board Contractual .
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Ferrentino nay
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms Tyler aye
Adopted
2010 Budget
Mr. Kerness suggested that after review of the revenue of sales tax and the mortgage tax
he recommends that the additional money received from the mortgage tax be added to the
2010 budget revenue.
The Board discussed the pros and cons of this.
Supervisor Elect Roxanne Marino was not in favor.
Mr. Kerness moved seconded by Mr. Ferrentino the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses use the $35 , 000
more of fund balances in the A Fund that was received from additional mortgage
tax and use $35 ,000 less Sales Tax in the A Fund but increase $35 , 000 use of
Sales Tax in the DA Fund.
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Ms . Thomas nay
Regular Town Board Meeting 5
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Adopted
Mr. Kerness moved seconded by Mr. Ferrentino the following:
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approve to adopt
the 2010 Budget as modified.
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Ms . Thomas nay
Adopted
Ms . Thomas said at the last meeting she was in favor of reducing the pay raises to 1 %
from the original 3 % because they were worried about enough funds set aside so if now
the decision is to use more fund balance she moved to put the pay raises back to the 3 % .
No second was heard on this motion.
The general consensus of the Board was IF additional sales tax is received the pay
increase can be raised back up to the 3 % and can be discussed in December.
WD#3 Water Extensions
The Town is still waiting on the Map . Plan and Report for the water extension on Swamp
College Road. This should be coming shortly.
No written request has been received from the residents on Halseyville road . Mr. Austic
also received a verbal request for water on Dubois Road .
Public Comments
Ms . Marino asked what is the law to have to hold another public hearing when the budget
is changed.
Mr. Austic said that if the expenses were increased that would be cause for another
additional hearing but seeing that only the revenue was changed he would not see that it
be necessary to hold another hearing.
Mr. Kerness moved seconded by Mr. Ferrentino the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses adjourn to
executive session for a personal matter.
Mr. Austic aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Ferrentino aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Adopted
Adjourned to executive session at 9 : 30pm and invited Ms . Marino and Mr. Romer.
Town Board reconvened at 10 pm .
Hearing no further business Mr. Kerness moved seconded by Mr. Ferrentino to adjourn
the meeting . Meeting adjourned at 10 : 05pm .
Regular Town Board Meeting 6
11 / 10/2009
Respectfully submitted,
Marsha L. Georgia
Ulysses Town Clerk
MLG : mlg