HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-03-12-RTB Town of Ulysses
Regular Town Board Meeting
March 12 , 2013
Audio available at www. ulysses .ny .us
Present : Supervisor Roxanne Marino ; Councilpersons Elizabeth Thomas , Lucia Tyler, Kevin
Romer, and David Kerness ; Environmental Planner Darby Kiley; Highway Superintendent
II James Meeker; Town Clerk Marsha L . Georgia and Attorney Geldenhuys .
Others Present : Tompkins County Legislator Jim Dennis, Ryan McCune from TC Chamber of
Commerce, Diane Hillman, Jacksonville Community Association President, Town Historian
Nancy Dean, Edward Dean, Elizabeth Warner of Habitat for Humanity and Louis DiPietro Free
Press Reporter.
APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA
The Board made some modifications to the agenda. Unanimously approved .
APPROVAL OF CLAIMS
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approve the previous
examined voucher # 75 through 123 in the amount of $ 52, 955 . 44 .
Ms . Marino aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Romer aye
I Adopted
APPROVAL OF MINUTES : 1 / 16, 1 /22 , 2/ 11 , 2/26
Ms. Marino moved, seconded by Ms. Thomas the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approves the edited
minutes of the Working Town Board meeting of January 16, 2013 .
Ms . Marino aye
Ms. Thomas abstained
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Romer aye
Adopted
Ms . Marino moved, seconded by Mr. Romer the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approves the edited
minutes of the Regular Town Board meeting of February 11 , 2013 .
Ms . Marino aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Romer aye
Adopted
The Board approved to table the minutes of the Working Town Board January 22 , 2013 and the
Public Hearing of February 26, 2013 and the Working Town Board meeting of February26,
2013 .
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3 / 12/2013
REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tompkins County : Board (Jim Dennis)
Mr. Dennis gave a brief report of the County Legislators :
• Reported NYS Budget due to pass 4/ 1 /2013 — trying to get more money added to the
CHIPS program — discussion increasing living wage-
• Over 80 people attended a meeting on the Safe Act
• Chairing the committee for a new Finance Director — David Squires is retiring
• Discussed briefly the re-assessment of farmland and suggest that the Town may want to
have Jay Franklin, Director of Assessment come explain
• Mr. Dennis received an email from the Board of Elections where they may be changing
the boundaries of the different election districts
Trumansburg Fire Department & Ems — no one in attendance .
Village Of Trumansburg — not one in attendance .
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR
Town Historian Nancy Dean gave a brief report on her activities :
• Received over 20 inquiries
• • Attended nine meetings of the Municipal Historians ' of Tompkins County
• Worked with Highway Superintendent on getting the state historical markers re-painted
Ms . Dean said that due to her health she must limit her historical work. She would like to
continue working on some projects but will ask the Town to be looking for someone who is
interested in working with her and eventually become the town historian.
Presentation : TC Chamber of Commerce Sign Project; Ryan McCune
Mr . McCune presented the Town Board with a proposal "Gateway Signage Project 2013 " to
install two signs in Ulysses ; one on Route 96 and the other on Route 89 . The signage would read
"Welcome to Tompkins County / Town of Ulysses . Mr. Ryan explained the other
responsibilities the Town would have to undertake .
Program ; Habitat for Humanity : Liz Warner
Ms . Marino gave a little background before introducing Liz Warner from Habitat for Humanity
of Tompkins and Cortland Counties to give a presentation on "A Brush with Kindness" project.
The Town of Ulysses was awarded a New York State Small Cities Program Community
Development Block and the Town contracted with Better Housing for Tompkins County .
Homeowners who received assistance through this program entered into Diminishing Lien
Agreements with. the Town, which required repayment of a portion of the grant amount if the
property were sold within five years from the date of said agreement. The sum of $ 13 ,076 was
repaid to the Town by homeowners who sold their properties within the five year period.
The Town wishes to assist low- and moderate income homeowners in the hamlet of Jacksonville
with home repairs and work with Habitat for Humanity ' s "A Brush with Kindness" program.
Ms . Warner outlined Habitat for Humanity ' s "A Brush with Kindness" program .
TOWN REPORTS
Planning Board. / Zoning Officer Darby Kiley
Planning; Board
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3 / 12/2013
• The PB continued the Site Plan Review process for the ShurSave expansion.
• The PB reviewed the Zoning Analysis done by Bergmann Associates and decided that
they will each come up with a top three list and develop priorities based on that.
BZA
• After receiving the remand decision for the Mott property from the NY Supreme
Court. The BZA denied the height request and granted the setback request.
• Meeting March 20th to review two appeals : ( 1 ) area variance for a house setback from
the lake ; (2) sign variance for ShurSave .
Agriculture and Farmland Protection Plan
The Plan was approved by the Tompkins County Ag and Farmland Protection Board, and
was sent to the Commissioner of NYS Department of Ag and Markets .
Ad Hoc Zoning Committee
The committee met on February 28th and the discussion focused on stream setbacks and
lot size . The next meeting on March 14th will continue discussion on these topics and add
driveways/parking .
Ms . Kiley said that if the Town is pursuing regulating the docks and moorings using the
navigation law authority for the legislature that the Town should take the steps in that direction at
the April meeting . Ms . Kiley said that she can mention this to the Ad Hoc Committee if the
Town Board wants direction on how they are thinking along these lines .
Ms . Kiley reported that Don Smith resigned from the Ad Hoc Committee . Mr. Kerness offered
to take his place as a lakeshore property owner and also a member of the Westshore Association.
The Board discussed this with Attorney Geldenhuys . Ms . Geldenhuys said that there is no legal
reason why a board member cannot be on advisory committee .
Ms . Tyler moved, seconded by Ms . Thomas the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses accepts the resignation
of Don Smith from the Ad Hoc Committee and
FURTHER RESOLVES to appoint David Kerness to serve on the Ad Hoc Committee .
Ms . Marino aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Romer aye
Adopted
The Board would like Ms . Kiley to bring the regulating of docks, etc . up for discussion at the Ad
Hoc meeting to get their consensus .
Hazard Mitigation Plan
The draft update of Tompkins County's Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan is
available for public review at http ://www.tompkins-co . org/planning/haz mit. htm .
WRC - Hydrilla presentation
At the upcoming March 18th meeting, the WRC will hear a presentation from the
Hydrilla Task Force,
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Emergency Stream Intervention Program
The Tompkins County Soil and Water Conservation District is hosting an upcoming
Emergency Stream Intervention Program on March 19 , 2013 .
Highway Superintendent James Meeker reported the highway activities for February. Mr.
Meeker attended a bridge preconstruction meeting for the repair of the Seneca Road Bridge.
Start up for the work is scheduled for the first of April . Mr. Meeker reported that they all
attended the Erosion Sediment Control Training and received certification, which is good for
three years .
Ms . Kiley will get the report that the Highway Department attended and completed the training
for the annual report on Stormwater.
Town Clerk Marsha Georgia reported that a total of $ 942 . 50 was collected for the month of
February and $ 873 . 50 was turned over to the Supervisor with her monthly report. Ms . Georgia
said she has mailed the 2nd notices for delinquent taxes with the amounts due by March 31St and
April 2nd. April 2 , 2013 will be the last day to collect. A total of $612 .40 was collected for tax
penalties for February.
Code Enforcement Officer not in attendance .
Supervisor Roxanne Marino
Ms . Marino reported :
• Annual Audit to the State has been finished and sent to the State — copy available on
all_share
• The final inspection on the Solar panel systems is happening both at the Town Hall and
the Town Barns — after that the systems will be turned on
• The Ulysses Agriculture and Farmland was approved by Tompkins County Agricultural
and Farmland Protection Board and was mailed to the State .
• Ms . Marino announced that she has hired a project assistant
• The Town participated in the Broadband grant and that has been awarded over two
million dollars for that project which will help provide broadband service to un-served
areas of Towns of Ulysses, Enfield, Newfield, Lansing, Danby, Groton in Tompkins
County and other surrounding towns .
Deputy Supervisor Elizabeth Thomas gave brief report and emailed report in full to the Board .
She reported on the following :
• Personnel Policies - provide comparisons of services between PayChex and Public
Sector HR.
• Planning/Zoning - Lake Shore - Attend Ad Hoc meeting to hear discussions .
• Website - Train Marci to update-community, supervisor, water district, census data,
maps . Upload audio version of meetings
• Water District clarification for the request to allow plastic pipe for houses closer than
150 ' from road . Interface with Phoenix Sentry to determine why the quote changed
by a large amount.
• Newsletter - topics AFPP , solar panels, lakeshore zoning, broadband grant, youth
services, CSI water quality report, Village water/sewer
Ms . Thomas attended several committee meetings and gave reports .
Ms . Geldenhuys who also attended the Association of Towns meeting distributed information on
ethics for planning boards and zoning boards .
Town Board Members and Committees
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Ms . Tyler said that the EMC working on the State of the Environment, which has not been
done in some time. Caroline Peterson is taking the lead and they will be addressing the strengths
and weaknesses of Tompkins County as seen in terms of environmental management resources .
Suggested EMC goals for improvement are in areas of weakness. They worked on prioritizing
projects.
OLD BUSINESS
Ms . Thomas has received thei revised quotes for a new remote cellular communication system to
monitor the water supply system from AquaLogic Systems and Phoenix Sentry as requested by
the Town Board . The quote for AquaLogic Systems is the lower quote . Ms . Thomas has
prepared a resolution.
There were questions regarding the payment terms . The Board tabled this until the next meeting
when Ms . Thomas can confirm or change the payment agreement per the Board ' s instructions .
Ambulance District Formation — vote on resolution to establish
a
Ms . Marino moved, seconded by Mr. Romer the following :
TOWN OF ULYSSES
RESOLUTION FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF AMBULANCE DISTRICT AFTER
PUBLIC HEARING
WHEREAS, the Town Supervisor of the Town of Ulysses, New York (the " Town "), duly
prepared a map, plan and report (the "MPR") for an ambulance district covering the entire Town
outside the boundaries of the Village of Trumansburg, to provide emergency medical service and
ambulance service in the Town, as set forth in the MPR; and
WHEREAS , after the Town Supervisor duly filed the MPR in the office of the Town Clerk, the
Town Board on February 12, 2013 , duly adopted an order reciting a description of the
boundaries of the proposed district, the maximum amount proposed to be expended for the first
year of operation of the proposed ambulance district, the fact that a map, plan and report
describing the same are on file in the Town Clerk's office for public inspection and specifying
that said Town Board shall meet at the Town Hall , 10 Elm Street, Trumansburg, New York on
the 26th day of February, 2013 , at 6 : 30 p . m . , for the purpose of conducting a public hearing on
such proposal to establish the iambulance district for the services specified in the MPR, and to
hear all persons interested in the subject thereof concerning the same; and
WHEREAS , copies of said order were duly p ublished and posted according dmg to law, and said
Town Board at the time and place specified in said order, duly met and considered such proposal
and heard all persons interested in the subject thereof, who appeared at such time and place,
concerning the same ; and
WHEREAS , the Town Board ;considered the evidence offered at such time and place;
NOW, THEREFORE, Be It Resolved, by the Town Board that it be and hereby is determined as
follows :
( 1 ) The notice of hearing was published and posted as required by law and is otherwise
sufficient.
(2) All of the property and property owners, within the proposed Ambulance District are
benefitted thereby.
(3 ) All of the property and property owners benefitted are included within the proposed
Ambulance District.
(4) It is in the public interest to establish the ro osed Ambulance District as hereinafter
p p e nafter
described, and be it further
Regular Town Board Meeting 6
3 / 12/2013
RESOLVED that the Town Board does hereby approve the establishment of an Ambulance
District as hereinafter described to be known as the Town of Ulysses Ambulance District, with
the following boundaries : The entire Town of Ulysses outside the boundaries of the Village of
Trumansburg ; and be it further
RESOLVED that this resolution is subject to a permissive referendum in the manner provided in
Town Law Article 7 and Town Law § 209-e (3 ) .
Ms. Marino 's statement:
I am voting for the resolution to establish an ambulance district covering the entire Town outside
1
the boundaries of the Village, to provide emergency medical and ambulance service. I am not
without reservations, but this action is necessary because the Town cannot continue to legally
contract for EMS with the Village unless a district is established, or unless the Town and Village
enter into a town-wide, shared service contract. The Village Board has rejected our repeated
requests to consider the latter, despite financial advantages to Village taxpayers. I want to be
clear that I support the men and women of the T-Burg EMS and their service to our community.
It is our responsibility to the taxpayers to try and obtain detailed information on what they can
expect for an annual expenditure of nearly a quarter of a million dollars before entering into a
contract for critical services. Our board has raised substantive questions about the potential
changes to EMS service and future costs to the Town with recent expansion of coverage territory
that remain unanswered. If the town does not contract with the Village for EMS, the Village
requires the Town to pay 86% of a full contract for EMS services in support of fire protection
(2013 budget), but for the $ 192, 000 "will not send an ambulance to assist any citizens in the
Town under any condition " (Dec 10, 2012 letter from the Village EMS attorney) . This letter also
raises concern in stating that the Village is not required to explain why it sets a price for its
contract or to have the price bear a close relationship to the actual costs, and that such
information is provided as a courtesy. Detail on the use of $200, 000 of taxpayer dollars to
provide services should not be considered a courtesy.
I still believe that a collaborative shared-services agreement on EMS is in the best interests of
both Town and Village residents and would best support the continued viability of the
Trumansburg Ambulance department into the future by spreading the costs of maintaining and
receiving the service equitably over all residents of Ulysses, both inside and outside the Village.
The Town of Ulysses website has an EMS page with the Village 's Dec. 10 letter and much other
information from the public record.
Mr. Kerness read the following into the record:
I cannot vote for the EMS District. EMS is not a federal or state required service and charges
from Trumansburg have been significantly growing. It also seems to me that taxing our
constituents and charging them directly for the service is unacceptable. Lastly Trumansburg
service area has grown significantly and has led to reduced response time and increased
dependency on the private sector provider.
Ms. Tyler said that she feels like the Town Board has been put in an unfortunate position and she
guesses that her decision making process and her vote is based on the statement that was made
that the EMS would not go if we did not sign the EMS contract. There was a communication
from the Village Attorney that the Village EMS would not go to even provide mutual aid and so
that leaves the residents holding the bags, so to speak and since it is a matter of health and safety
I do not think it is something we can play games with essentially and so that is the basis of my
vote.
Ms . Marino aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Kerness nay
Mr. Romer aye
Regular Town Board Meeting 7
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Adopted
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR
Ms . Krys Cail (who arrived to speak under the 2nd privilege of the floor) presented information
on "Climate Smart & Climate Ready" a joint coalition of Cortland and Tompkins County not-
for-profits, colleges, businesses and local governments who, under the leadership of
Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, have come together to support ongoing planning and action to
make our region more climate friendly and climate resilient.
Ms . Cail asked the Board for any ideas .
Brush With Kindness - draft contract to consider
Mr. Kerness moved, seconded by Ms . Thomas the following :
RESOLUTION OF THE ULYSSES TOWN BOARD APPROVING CONTRACT WITH
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY FOR NYS SMALL CITIES CDBG FUNDS
WHEREAS , the Town of Ulysses, Tompkins County, New York, was awarded a New York
State Small Cities Program Community Development Block grant in the amount of $400,000 in
2007, as set forth in the Grant Agreement dated October 1 , 2007 ; and
WHEREAS , the Town contracted with Better Housing for Tompkins County to provide
moderate rehabilitation (repairs valued between $ 5 ,000 and $25 ,000) to the residences of
qualified homeowners within the Town; and
WHEREAS , homeowners who received assistance through this program entered into
Diminishing Lien Agreements with the Town, which required repayment of a portion of the
grant amount if the property were sold within five years from the date of said agreement; and
WHEREAS , the sum of $ 13 , 076 was repaid to the Town by homeowners who sold their
properties within the five year period ; and
WHEREAS , the funds need to be used for repair projects within the Town of Ulysses; and
WHEREAS , the Town wishes to assist low- and moderate income homeowners in the hamlet of
Jacksonville with home repairs and
WHEREAS , Habitat for Humanity of Tompkins and Cortland Counties ("Habitat") has an
established program known as "A Brush with Kindness" (ABWK) to assist homeowners with
small repairs, and the Town Board has received and reviewed the documentation describing this
program provided by Habitat; and
WHEREAS , Habitat proposes to undertake the Jacksonville "A Brush with Kindness" Project ;
and
WHEREAS , the Project meets the objectives and requirements of the New York State Small
Cities CDBG funds ; and
WHEREAS , Habitat has a demonstrated capacity to implement the Project; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT
RESOLVED that the $ 13 , 076 of NYS Small Cities CDBG funds will be used for repairs to
homes of low- and moderate income homeowners in the hamlet of Jacksonville in the Town; and
be it further
RESOLVED that the Town will enter into a Subrecipient Agreement with Habitat, whereby
Habitat will use the abovementioned sum of $ 13 , 076 for the Jacksonville ABWK Project, on the
terms set forth in such Agreement, which will be subject to review by the Attorney for the Town
Regular Town Board Meeting 8
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and Town Supervisor prior to its execution.
Ms . Marino aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Romer aye
Adopted
Chamber Of Commerce Sign - possible resolution
The Board tabled at this time because of additional questions . Will put on the agenda for the
3/26/2013 meeting .
Water District Standard Specifications
The Board has received information from several sources and it was determined that they will
deny the request to update the specifications at this time .
NEW BUSINESS
Letter of Support for 2013 Cayuga Lake Triathlon
• Ms . Marino moved, seconded by Ms . Thomas the following :
WHEREAS the Cayuga Lake Triathlon is an event in the Town of Ulysses that brings hundreds
of participants and spectators to the town; and
WHEREAS the Cayuga Lake Triathlon has established a good record for being well organized
and keeping participants and spectators safe, including the clearly delineated plans for traffic
management and detours . '
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the Town of Ulysses approves having the Town Supervisor
sign and sends a letter of support to the Cayuga Lake Triathlon organizers .
Ms . Marino aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
• Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Romer aye
Adopted
Personnel Policy
The contract with Public Sector HR has been signed and a committee needs to be established to
work with them .
Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Ms . Tyler the following :
BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of Ulysses appoints David Reynolds, David Kerness
and Elizabeth Thomas to serve on a Personnel Committee convened to develop an updated
Ulysses Personnel Policy for approval by the Ulysses Town Board, with the assistance of the
firm Public Sector HR.
Ms . Marino aye
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Romer aye
Regular Town Board Meeting 9
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Adopted
ADJOURN
Hearing no further business Ms . Marino moved, seconded by Mr. Romer to adjourn the meeting .
Unanimously approved; meeting adjourned at 10 . 24 p .m .
Respectfully submitted,
Marsha L. Georgia
Ulysses Town Clerk