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Home My WebLink About8-9-2022TOWN OF GROTON –MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2022 AT 7:30 PM Town Officers Present: Town Officers Absent: Also Present: Donald F. Scheffler, Supervisor Paul Lang, Town Justice Richard Gamel, Councilperson Randy Jackson, Town Justice Crystal Young, Councilperson Brian Klumpp, Councilperson Sheldon C. Clark, Councilperson Ellard Keister, Highway Supt. Mack Rankin, Dept. Highway Robin Cargian, Town Clerk Francis Casullo, Attorney Julie Graham, Bookkeeper W. Rick Fritz, Code Official The meeting opened at 7:30pm RESOLUTION #22-056‐ ‐ APPROVE ANNUAL AGREEMENT & PAYMENT OF $5300.00 TO FOODNET MEALS ON WHEELS MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel to approve and pay the $5,300.00 agreement amount which is the same as the previous year. Ayes - Clark, Young, Gamel, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Clark, to approve the minutes of the July 12, 2022 Town Board Meeting as submitted. Ayes - Clark, Young, Gamel, Scheffler, Motion Passed RESOLUTION #22-057‐ ‐ APPROVE PAYMENT OF INVOICES WHEREAS, vouchers for Abstract #8 for the Year 2022, numbered 333-376 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 13,509.82 B GENERAL FUND PART TOWN 43,386.00 DA HIGHWAY FUND 57,304.47 DB HIGHWAY FUND PART TOWN 2,495.76 SF1 SPECIAL FUND- FIRE PROTECTION 38,000.00 SL2- PERUVILLE LIGHTING DISTRICT 81.90 SLl- MCLEAN LIGHTING DISTRICT 146.28 Total 154,924.23 Town Board Minutes Page 2 August 9, 2022 MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Young Ayes - Clark, Young, Gamel, Scheffler, Nays - Resolution Passed Monthly Reports Julie Graham, Bookkeeper – You have my report, I have nothing additional to add unless you have any questions. W. Rick Fritz, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer – We have been busy following up inspections and unfinished permits. You have my written report, are there questions? Councilperson Gamel- Are people building houses again now that prices are down? W. Rick Fritz, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer – Not as much as in Preble. Groton is slow compared to what we did in past years. We have a few manufactured homes going in. One stick-built home permit was issued. Lots of decks, sheds, pools and garages. Ellard Keister, Highway Superintendent – The salt shed project is going well. The walls are up, forms were returned today. Hats off to all the guys, I cannot thank the highway crew enough! They worked very hard during the hottest part of the summer so far to get this done for the contractors to look at. We did something that is unheard of in a township. There is no municipality around that has the capabilities or manpower to do what we have accomplished here. I have checked with many other departments who have told me they would not even attempt to do this. A huge thank you to Kehoe’s for their consulting and assistance with the pours. They provided extra forms that were needed along with turnbuckles and scaffolding. The walls turned out great. We have one heck of a crew that can accomplish a lot. A thank you to Robin and Fran for turning out the bid packets which 6 are out so far. Ben has been busy updating equipment and getting trucks through inspections. We are waiting on more information for the new truck we spent money on two years ago before we decide what we will put into the old one due to the inspection report. You have been waiting on an equipment replacement plan for many years, which you now have before you. This is based on June numbers which you know these prices go up every hour. I plan on getting an update for budget time. As you are aware, Rick has essentially retired, we opened the position last month and I have hired Jacob Howell who comes in with 5-6 years of experience from the county. He is familiar with what we do here and plans to start August 22, 2022. While building the salt shed foundation, we only paid emergency attention to the roads and have a large list to get at. No petitions have been filed regarding the window referendum, so I will be calling after the 12th to get that ordered. There is a conference in Ellicottville, NY I would like to attend and will bring in that estimate for approval next month. RESOLUTION #22-058‐ ‐ APPROVE NEW HIRE, JACOB HOWELL PAY RATE OF $18.75 PER HOUR MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel to approve the new hire pay rate of $18.75 per hour rate for Jacob Howell. Town Board Minutes Page 3 August 9, 2022 Ayes - Clark, Young, Gamel, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Robin Cargian RMC, Town Clerk & Tax Collector – Denise and I have had a few fun weeks helping the youth football and cheer camps with their signup that Ellard helped organized. Hunting licenses are on sale, we are ready to go. As Ellard already stated, we have not had any petitions filed regarding the permissive referendum on the windows and 6 bid packets for the salt shed have gone out so far. Councilperson Young, Recreation Coordinator- Fran helped us with a hold harmless agreement for the coaches and the volunteers. Jennifer Jones was asking if this would cover the Town and the Village, as it says the “agents and sponsors” but was unclear. Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – It should, I will look it over and get back to you in case it needs updated language. Budget Workshops will be September 15, 2022 Town Clerk: 4:00pm Highway Superintendent: 4:30pm Town Justice/Court: 5:30pm Solar Project Update: Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town – Don and I met with the Town of Lansing Supervisor, Planner and Attorney. Several questions as well as several answers were exchanged concluding what is looking like the Town will have to move in the direction of hiring outside professionals to handle this project. It is one of, if not the largest project of this kind in New York State. The Town of Lansing typically does more capital projects to have a paid engineer and planner on staff. They have worked with a company called Labella in the past and are comfortable with them. The Lansing Planner, CJ, has been looking every day to see if the application has been filed. Guy Krough was kind enough to offer to reach out to some professionals to get a proposal as to what they would bring to the table and present it to the boards. Don Scheffler, Town Supervisor - The cost and how we would pay for these things was brought up. We have an hourly rate list but no one knows how many hours will be needed. CJ said C & S Energy has offered an escrow account to assist with fees as the money from NYSERDA will not be available until after the application has been submitted to ORES. We should look at doing a memorandum of understanding as most of this is within the Town of Groton though Lansing has been helping us out. Councilperson Young - Would we be able to hire an intern for planning purposes? Should that be something to consider? Fran Casullo, Attorney for the Town - That is a good questions that I will look into. We need to be further along than we are by September. There will be a meeting set up within the next couple of days. Canceled Checks Don Scheffler, Town Supervisor- The canceled checks for highway projects are needed in order to apply for CHIPS funding and the bank needs authorization by resolution to allow Julie to pick them up. Town Board Minutes Page 4 August 9, 2022 RESOLUTION #22-059‐ ‐ AUTHORIZE BOOKKEEPER TO RECEIVE CANCELED CHECKS FROM THE BANK AS NEEDED. MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded Councilperson Gamel to authorize the Town of Groton bookkeeper, Julie Graham, to receive canceled checks. Ayes - Clark, Young, Gamel, Scheffler Nays - Resolution Passed Privilege of the Floor: No one wished to speak. Announcements: Planning Board August 18th, 2022 @ 7:30 pm- Sheldon ZBA August17th, 2022 @ 7:00 pm – Sheldon Olde Home Days August 25, 26,27 2022 Salt Shed Bid Acceptance closes @ 10:30 am August 16, 2022 Salt Shed Bid public opening Tues. Aug. 16th @ 11:00 am. Assn. Of Towns annual meeting in NY City is Feb. 19-22 2023 -early sign up option There being no further business, Councilperson Gamel moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilperson Clark, at 8:10 pm. Unanimous. Robin Cargian, RMC Town Clerk/Tax Collector