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HomeMy WebLinkAbout5-10-2022TOWN OF GROTON --MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, MAY 109 2022 AT 7:30 PM Town O ff7cers Present: Donald F. Scheffler, Supervisor Richard Gamel, Councilperson Brian Klumpp Councilperson Crystal Young„ Councilperson Sheldon C. Clark, Councilperson Robin Cargian, Town Clerk W. Rick Fritz, Code Official Charles Rankin, Bookkeeper Ellard Keister, Highway Supt. Mack Rankin, Dept. Highway The meeting opened at 7:30pm Town Officers Absent: Francis Casullo, Attorney Paul Lang, Town Justice Also Present: Lee Shurtleff, Legislator Julie Graham Eric Deforrest, Fire Chief MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp, to approve the minutes of the April 12, 2022 Town Board Meeting as submitted. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler, Motion Passed RESOLUTION #22-035- - APPROVE PAYMENT OF INVOICES MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Clark WHEREAS, vouchers for Abstract #5 for the Year 2022, numbered 188-234 were reviewed and and audited by the Town Board, be it RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves said vouchers with the Total amounts as follows: A GENERAL FUND B GENERAL FUND PART TOWN DA HIGHWAY FUND DB HIGHWAY FUND PART TOWN SF1- SPECIAL FUND - FIRE PROTECTION SL2- PERUVILLE LIGHTING DISTRICT SLl- MCLEAN LIGHTING DISTRICT Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler, Nays - Monthly Reports 10,273.14 43 9404.001 %777.171 29522.59 38,000.00 81.90 147.72 Total 1049206.52 Resolution Passed Charles Rankin, Bookkeeper — Julie and I have been through a whole month cycle, and it went very well. I am confident that she will be ready by July 1 to fill my place. We will need to change some of the accounts over that she will need to have access to by next month. Town Board Minutes Page 2 May 10, 2022 W. Rick Fritz, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer — Building permit requests are up and we have been getting them out. I am still hearing it is difficult for people to finish their projects and hoping that will change. I will be doing more training the first week of June. Ellard Keister, Highway Superintendent —I want to thank Mack for doing a great job filling in for me last month on such short notice here and in the shop. The new trailer is working out great and would like a resolution to offer the old one up for sale or auction and to credit the highway fund. We sold the demo saw, the check was given to the Supervisor. Scrap culverts were sold, the amount exceeded the cost of a plasma cutter. We talked about using that money to offset the cost of the cutter so would need to go back into the repair fund. MOTION #22-036- - APPROVE SALE OF (1968) EQUIPMENT TRAILER MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Clark to approve the sale of the 1968 equipment trailer no longer used. Ayes - Clark, Young, Gamel, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Ellard Keister, Highway Superintendent - Paving update: Not wanting heavy farm equipment on new blacktop, we delayed starting as the farmers were not able to get to their fields due to the weather. The cost of pavement and fuel goes up every day. The quote for pavement alone has increased $12,000 from last year. I have scheduled in approximately two weeks, to pave 1.5 miles of Elm St. (Salt Rd. to Champlin). The first thousand feet will be ground and replaced with 12ft lanes of 4" pavement in the heaviest traffic spot, finishing at Beck's manure pond. Other highway departments have seen the benefit of laying wider lanes to make wider shoulders as this reduces the breakage from heavy truck and tractor traffic. This will put us over our CHIPS budget by about $8000.00 but we can make that work. Suite Kote should be moving into Tompkins County by the end of the week when we will join paving with the county as part of an intermunicipal cooperation. I propose projects still need to move forward in order to have time to cure before winter. MOTION 422-037- - APPROVE HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDANT TO PROCEED WITH PAVING PLAN AS PROPOSED. MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp to approve the paving plan as presented. It was confirmed this would not cause overall budget problems as 2021 surplus CHIPS funding will be used. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Ellard Keister, Highway Superintendent- Using our stock pile we plan to oil and stone Sovocool Hill Rd. with a smaller course to complete what was started last year. You typically seal over with a finer material to keep the water out and make a road stronger, especially for agricultural equipment. For lower traffic such as on Himan Rd., the county will be trying a new method. They will bring in equipment that acts like a giant rototiller which brings everything back to one level. Then stone and oil is added to that mixture before being laid back down. This could be a cheaper option for similar roads. Mack presented to you the engineering contract for the salt shed plans and bid packet last month. We have been working Town Board Minutes Page 3 May 10, 2022 back and forth with them, recently digging test holes for the base. We are getting close to having the drawings and I will immediately take it to the Attorney and start the bid packet process. The cost for the engineers is within salt shed budget line item. I propose, instead of waiting for the bid packet to be complete, your approval to use the ARPA money to start the concrete construction of the foundation and walls once I have the drawings. The cost estimate for footers and walls is around $3 5,000. Charles Rankin, Bookkeeper -There will be monthly budget adjustments as we go along with these projects. Supervisor Scheffler, the resolution for the engineering contract was approved using ARPA funding. There is $22,000 in the Salt Shed fund now. MOTION #22-038- APPROVE HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDANT TO EXPEND ARPA FUNDING TO COMPLETE THE CONCRETE WORK ONCE SALT SHED FUND IS DIMINSHED. MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Clark to authorize the Highway Superintendant to spend the money from the Salt Shed account and may then use ARPA funding to complete the concrete work. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Ellard Keister, Highway Superintendent, I also want to give credit to the highway crews. Now that the weather is breaking, we have two crews out running after jobs getting a great deal of work done and I appreciate the work they do. Robin Cargian RMC, Town Clerk & Tax Collector — Conference went well, except for having to leave early due to illness. The check for the scholarship from NYSTCA arrived today which will make up the difference in the hotel cost. Next year's conference will be in Syracuse close enough to commute. Paul Lang, Town Justice — Not Present Councilperson Young as Representative to Joint Youth Program- I also want to thank the highway crew and Ellard for helping to plant samplings along the trailway. They are waiting for a landowner to approve an easement which will add one more mile to the trail. The story walk was vandalized but has been replaced with new signs which are better than ever now. The pool and tennis court maintenance is underway. I attended a meeting with the school who is updating the memo of understanding to and will be updating rules regarding field/building usage, supervision and to address the complexity of scheduling the school's programs, recreation programs and separate youth leagues. I want to ask those with historical reference regarding the Recreation Committee's original agreement with the school for clarity. Ellard Keister, Highway Superintendent - I coach one of those leagues and have recently been receiving questions as to why the Town/Village does not have their own field. Supervisor Scheffler, Historically the school begged the Town and Village to start the youth program because their insurance wouldn't cover it and was not allowed to put money into an outside program. The Town/Village picked up the insurance, put funding into it and the school provided the facilities. We asked for oversite, office and computer use in exchange. Originally, the school got top billing for use, but the recreation director was to be the one in charge of scheduling for school facilities use. Town Board Minutes Page 4 May 10, 2022 Councilperson Klumpp, I hope the school is not losing site of the fact that the fields belong to the taxpayers and the school is part of the Town. Previous administrations wanted those fields used. I feel the school board should be reminded of this and to encourage the youth programs. Councilperson Young as Representative to Joint Youth Program, The proposed rules protect the fields from trash, vandalism and tarnishing the new surface. The rules that will need to be part of a larger conversation requires more volunteers to be present at sporting events. These programs are already stressed for help. There also may be the need to possibly increase the number of time it takes, and will keep track of scheduling. of a recreation assistant to help resolve some of the issues Jennifer is having with scheduling. Fall youth football and cheer are on hold until new program directors can be found. These programs will need to be self -insured, unless they want to come under the Town /Village Youth Program. A meeting is scheduled at the Village Hall for Monday June 61h , inviting leaders of soccer, football, cross country and baseball to discuss what can be done. Summer camp is open, having already received 135 registrations and 60 swim lessons scheduled. If anyone knows of a field, 3-5 acres of flat land for little league for sale, donation or lease let Jennifer know. Lee Shurtleff, County Legislator - I just had a conversation with a colleague regarding the appearance of small levy increases. The bottom line is all the boards, Town, Village and the School especially, which is usually the largest tax bill, need to recognize the larger picture of how those add up. It was the fire department that gave the school a piece of land to help the Ross Field project succeed. This was with the understanding it would be used for municipal purposes. We have one of the best youth programs in the area. Eric DeForrest, Groton Fire Chief - The Groton ambulance has had 301 calls and the Groton Fire Department has had 79 fire calls for the year. Fire calls are up from previous years and were not brush fire related. The easter egg hunt was very well received filling the gym. We thank Richard Brecht, who donated Ice Cream Caboose gift cards for the kids. Bun Appetite assisted in making the beans and potatoes for the sold -out chicken BBQ. It was a great group effort. We took a tour of C&D Assembly in their new building to develop a pre fire plan We aim to get out and do this with a few more businesses. Parades are rolling out again, we had a few crews attend in Mclean and Newfield which felt great. There was an issue with our radios not linking to the tower after an upgrade. The Motorola crew came right out but found more issues taking a week to fix. We are preparing for the Junior Fire Fighter Camp July 1 l th — July 13th as well as developing a camp for 12-18 year old's. We would be doing more hands-on drills hoping to retain them as volunteers, possibly coinciding with the EMT program at the school. Supervisor, Donald Scheffler — Last month we discussed the need for extra sick time because of Covid restrictions for those who did not have any built up or had used them up. The Covid related allowance from the State/County is no longer available. Councilperson, Crystal Young — Ithaca College instated a friendly policy when the State benefit ran out that would allow employees who had to be out because of Covid the ability to take 5 sick days that would not come out of their sick time bank capped at 40 hours per year. RESOLUTION #22-039- APPROVE A TEMPORARY SICK TIME BENEFIT DUE TO COVID RELATED ILLNESS MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel WHEREAS, the Covid-19 virus has continued to infect people indiscriminately and randomly, and Town Board Minutes Page S May 10, 2022 WHEREAS, the previous extra sick leave benefit for Town employees has expired, and WHEREAS, employees have continue to be exposed, sickened and prevented from working through no fault of their own, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town of Groton grants a benefit to its employees of an additional 40 hours of available annual sick time to be used if needed, for Covid-19 related illness, the mandatory quarantine related to Covid-19, or for caring for a family member due to Covid -19. This benefit is retroactive to January l , 2022 and will end December 31, 2022 at 12 midnight. Employees who have used sick time or personal time since January 1, 2022 for Covid-19 related illness will have their time restored and hours recorded as "Covid Time" on their record, at the sole discretion of their immediate supervisor. Proof of illness will be on the honor system. These extra benefits if used will be reimbursed from the ARPA funds. This temporary benefit may be altered, suspended, or cancelled at any time for just cause by action of the Town Board. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Supervisor Scheffler —The town has a road preservation law regarding building within the right of way. This is being brought up because of franchises running cables along the roads and other equipment being put in place. The law allows the highway superintendent to create a permit application, which we do not have. I would suggest we have the highway superintendent come up with an application for this. We would also need a fee. Ellard Keister, Highway Superintendent — I have some samples of applications from other towns and can put something together. I would need to know the deposit, fees, returnable deposit etc. MOTION #22-040- APPROVE HIGWAY SUPERINTENDENT TO PROCEED WITH CREATING AN APPLICATION FOR ALTERING/DISTURBING TOWN ROADS OR AREAS WITHIN THE TOWN RIGHT OF WAY MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel to direct the Highway Superintendent to create an application for local law # 1 of 2014. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Supervisor Scheffler — For retirement system reporting purposes, we need to set standard workday hours for the deputy highway superintendent, highway worker (laborer), custodian and the second deputy town clerk even though some positions are now vacant. The McLean school crossing guard was not in the retirement system which there is a document for them to sign off. RESOLUTION #22-041- SET STANDARD WORKDAY FOR THE DEPUTY HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT, HIGHWAY WORKER , CUSTODIAN AND 2ND DEPUTY TOWN CLERK. MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp to set the standard workday for the Deputy Highway Superintendent, Highway Worker/Laborer and the 2nd Deputy Town Clerk at 8 hours and the Custodian at 6 hours Town Board Minutes Page 6 May 10, 2022 Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Supervisor Scheffler — Date to review the record of activities for the newly elected Town Clerk and Highway Supervisor is set for June 14, 2022 to determine the standard workday for retirement reporting. MOTION #22-042- - APPROVE JULIE GRAHAM TO ATTEND ACCOUNTING SCHOOL VIA WEBNAR MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, to approve expenses for Julie Graham to attend the Office of the State Comptroller Accounting Training via the web in September. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Privilege of the Floor- No one wished to speak Announcements: • Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting, Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at 7:00 pm • Planning Board Meeting, Thursday, May 19, 2022 at 7:30 pm There being no further business, Councilperson Gamel moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilperson Clark, at 8:55 pm. Unanimous. Robin Cargian, RMC Town Clerk/Tax Collector