HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-07-12-RTB Town of Ulysses
Regular Town Board Meeting
July 12 , 2011
Present : Councilpersons Elizabeth Thomas, Lucia Tyler, David Kerness and Kevin Romer;
Deputy Supervisor Sue Poelvoorde; Highway Superintendent James Meeker; Town Clerk
Marsha L. Georgia; and Attorney Mariette Geldenhuys .
Others Present : Free Press Reporter Louis DiPietro, Tompkins County Legislator Jim Dennis,
Jacksonville Community Association President Diane Hillman and Ithaca Journal Reporter
Aaron Munzer.
Absent : Supervisor Roxanne Marino (attending meeting via telephone)
First order of business was to appoint a chair to run the meeting; Mr. Kerness moved, seconded
by Ms. Tyler to appoint Ms . Thomas to chair the Board meeting. Unanimously approved.
APPROVAL OF CLAIMS
Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Mr. Kerness the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approve voucher #278
through 316 in the amount of $ 19,340 . 05 .
Ms . Thomas aye
3 Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Romer aye
Adopted
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
June 14, 2011 of the Regular Town Board meeting.
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Romer aye
Adopted.
REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tompkins County Legislator Jim Dennis
• Reviewed impacts of and questions on the new tax cap law passed by the State.
• Reported that the DEC Commissioner released a Preliminary Revised Draft SGEIS on
hydraulic gas drilling for comment.
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• County sold their Home Healthcare Organization (lost 14 employees) and will put the
service out for bid.
Trumansburg Fire Department & EMS - No one in attendance .
Trumansburg Village - No one in attendance . Mr. Dennis was at the meeting and said that the
Village is lease/purchasing a new ladder truck for $ 650,000 .
PRIVILEGE OF FLOOR
Ms. Hillman, President of the Jacksonville Community Association (JCA) reported :
• On JCA meeting and presentation by Andy Hillman who is developing a program for
community associations that manage natural resources . The JCA agreed to be a pilot
program and give him feedback.
• Questions on the absence of the farm stand at the intersection of Perry City Rd and Rt.
96 and the legality of the tent sale going on at that former County Home property.
TOWN REPORTS
Planning Board -- Mr. Kerness announced that there will be a public hearing held by the
Planning Board on July 13 , 2011 at 7 : 00 p .m . for the owners of the Namaste Montessori School
located at 1608 Trumansburg Rd.
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Highway Superintendent James Meeker reported :
• Mowed roadsides
• Installed a culvert pipe on Curry Road
• Patched all roads
• About half of the roads survey is completed by Labella
Mr. Meeker wanted to ask the Board to pursue the purchase of the McMillen property next to the
Town Barns .
Mr. Meeker will be posting Rabbit Run Road for the Grassroots Festival .
Discussed the Seneca Road bridge project and the Town needing to acquire land for the Curry
Road realignment.
Town Clerk Marsha Georgia reported that a total of $2 , 051 was collected for the month of
June and $ 1 , 130.47 was turned over to the Supervisor along with her monthly report.
Code Enforcement Officer Alex Rachun - absent.
Supervisor Roxanne Marino reviewed the financial report distributed to the Board.
Deputy Supervisor Sue Poelvoorde reported that a response came back from Tompkins County
on the Town' s request to have the Water Distribution and Maintenance Operator position be
moved to a non-competitive basis and the State has disapproved that request . Therefore our
incumbent will have to take the civil service test for this position.
Town Board Members and Committees
Ms. Tyler reported that the Healthcare Consortium is looking into a pool for retirees for
Medicare supplemental insurance.
Mr. Kerness reported that that there will be a public information meeting on July 19, 2011 at
7 : 30 p .m. to present the draft Lakeshore Zoning.
Ms. Thomas reported on :
• At the TCCOG meeting TCAT was there and gave a report
• Time Warner franchise agreements are forthcoming and a group of municipalities are
getting together to work on re-negotiations of contracts
• Reports from the Broadband group
• Report from Susan Christopherson on community impacts from gas drilling
• No meeting of the Gas Drilling Task Force
• Attended a meeting sponsored by NYS Association of Towns on land use and gas drilling
• Students will organize parking for Grassroots Festival at the Trumansburg School
• Reported on Black Diamond Trail and the installation of culverts
• Gas well mapping presentation on June 15 , 2011 was very well attended at the Racker
Center and there will be another presentation in Dryden on July 20, 2011
OLD BUSINESS
Proposed Zoning Law Amendment Related to Gas
The Board set the date for the vote on Local Law #2 for Zoning Law Amendment Related to Gas
Drilling for Wednesday, August 10, 2011 , at the Regular Town Board meeting.
Ms. Thomas is working with Ms . Geldenhuys on the resolution to pass this law. The draft
resolution will be forwarded to the Board after Ms . Geldenhuys reviews it.
Draft Law : Illicit Discharge
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Ms . Poelvoorde said that if the Board had not had a chance to go through the draft there still is
time . Ms . Poelvoorde contacted Sue Ritter with the Town of Ithaca for a copy of their law for
review . Ms . Poelvoorde will make some changes and get it back to the Board.
Mr. Kerness said he is really focused on the septic issues and has looked into this further. He said
that the only county and closest county he is aware of is Cayuga County on Cayuga Lake who
developed a county-wide septic system testing program that has been in service for over 10
years . Mr. Kerness talked about this further and spoke with Mr. Dennis about this .
The Board discussed the option of bringing the topic up at a TCCOG meeting.
EMS Request for Proposals
Ms . Geldenhuys provided information for the Board related to the Town ' s options for providing
ambulance service for Town residents . The Board discussed the information at length. The Board
noted that they still need information from the Village of Trumansburg regarding the Village ' s
user-paid ambulance service. The Board decided that they would request a written estimate for
services from Bangs .
Electronics Recycling
Ms . Georgia contacted Tompkins County Solid Waste and they will not come to the community
to pick up electronics for recycling but they do have a program very similar to the one Ms .
Georgia previously looked into . Ms . Georgia plans on holding this event in early September.
Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Mr. Kerness that Ms . Georgia go ahead with arranging an
electronics recycling day through E Waste Alliance to be held at the Town Barns . Unanimously
approved .
Planner Position
Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Ms . Tyler the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses hereby authorizes
Supervisor Roxanne Marino to manage and complete all aspects of the hiring procedures
for the position of Environmental Planner based on the recommendations for a candidate
from the majority of the members of the interview committee and according to the salary
and benefits parameters set by Board resolution on 5/ 10/201 .
Ms. Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Romer aye
Adopted
NEW BUSINESS
Code Enforcement Office Staff Transition
Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Mr. Kerness the following:
WHEREAS the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses is in receipt of a letter of retirement
from Alex Rachun from his employment as the Zoning Officer and Code Enforcement
Officer, stating that he retired effective June 30, 2011 ,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses accepts
Alex Rachun ' s retirement effective June 30, 2011 .
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Romer aye
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Adopted
Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Mr. Kerness the following :
WHEREAS the Town of Ulysses is required to conduct building and fire code
inspections, and
WHEREAS the Town of Ulysses is currently without a Code Enforcement Officer due to
the retirement of Alex Rachun,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses appoints
Alex Rachun to perform the duties of building inspector as an Enforcement Officer
effective July 13 , 2011 , on a part-time basis not to exceed 20 hours per week for a salary
not to exceed the 2011 Budget allocation.
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms. Tyler aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Romer aye
Adopted
Executive Session
Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Mr. Romer the following:
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board adjourn for Executive Session on a personnel
matter.
Ms. Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Romer aye
Adopted
Meeting adjourned for Executive Session at 9 : 08 p .m.
Meeting reconvened at 9 :20 p . m .
Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Ms. Tyler the following :
WHEREAS cleaning services outlined in the cleaning contract for 2011 have not been
performed per the contract since June 16, and,
WHEREAS the Town Hall is used heavily in the summer season requiring someone to
perform cleaning duties on a weekly basis .
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the current cleaning contract be terminated by a
notice from the Town Clerk who has been designated by the current contract as the
supervisor; and
RESOLVED the termination notice will be in writing effective 30 days from the date of
receipt using the U. S . Postal Service Delivery Receipt date; and
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RESOLVED that the Town Clerk put out a request for bids to contract for cleaning using
the same specifications in the current contract ; and
RESOLVED that the Town Clerk find a temporary replacement for cleaning services
during this interim period.
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Kerness abstained
Mr. Romer aye
Adopted
Hearing no further business Ms . Tyler moved, seconded by Mr. Romer to adjourn the meeting.
Unanimously approved; meeting adjourned at 9 : 24 p .m.
Respectfully submitted,
Marsha L. Georgia, Ulysses Town Clerk
MLG : mlg
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