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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3-12-2024 Reg meetingTOWN OF GROTON - MEETING MINUTES OF THE TOWN BOARD TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2024 AT 7:30 PM Town Officers Present: Town Officers Absent: Also Present: Donald F. Scheffler, Supervisor W. Rick Fritz, Code Official Dan Carey, Ag Committee Crystal Young, Councilperson Monica Carey, Planning Board Sheldon C. Clark, Councilperson Barry Siebe, Community Comm. Richard Gamel, Councilperson Molly, Delaware River Solar Brian Klumpp, Councilperson Marsha, Delaware River Solar Robin Cargian, Town Clerk Julie Graham, Bookkeeper Ellard Keister, Highway Supt. Mack Rankin, Deputy Highway Supt. Francis Casullo, Attorney The meeting was called into session with the Pledge of Allegiance at 7:30 PM. MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp to approve the Special Business and Public Hearing minutes of January 30, 2024. Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed MOVED by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Clark to approve the Town Board Meeting minutes of February 13, 2024. Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed RESOLUTION #24-025 ‐ APPROVE PAYMENT OF INVOICES MOVED by Councilperson Young seconded by, Councilperson Klumpp WHEREAS, vouchers for Abstract #03 for the Year 2024, numbered 70-115 were reviewed and audited by the Town Board, be it RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves said vouchers which will make the accounts in the Total amounts as follows: A GENERAL FUND 92,026.65 DA HIGHWAY FUND 74,524.19 DB HIGHWAY FUND PART TOWN 2,434.81 SL2- PERUVILLE LIGHTING DISTRICT 103.89 SLl- MCLEAN LIGHTING DISTRICT 210.59 Total $169,300.13 Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays - Monthly Reports Julie Graham, Bookkeeper - You have my report. When we did the budget, I anticipated a 5% increase in the insurance but it was 7% so there is a budget transfer. Town Board Minutes Page 2 March 12, 2024 RESOLUTION #24-026 - APPROVE BUDGET TRANSFER MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel to approve the following Budget Transfer: From: A1990.4 Contingency………………………….…$1,900.00 To: A1910.4 Unallocated Insurance Contractual …..$1,900.00 Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays - W. Rick Fritz, Code/Fire Enforcement Officer submitted the following report: Building Permits Issued: 4 New Businesses: 0 Permits Completed: 2 Fire Safety Inspections: 0 Permits Renewed: 2 Building Inspections:16 Zoning permits: 0 Certificates of Occupancy/Compliance:2 Site Plan Reviews: 0 Violation Notices: 0 Subdivisions: 2 Complaints:0 Life Safety Inspections for February 2024: Inspected - 0; Completed - 0 Highway Superintendent, Ellard Keister - The weather has been unusual allowing us to get at some spring projects. The new pickup is in. We posted the old truck to Auctions International in hopes of having it closed before the meeting but they are behind on their listings so it has 8 1/2 days left. The current bid is $2,650. We anticipate a bit more but probably not over $5,000 as this truck’s body is completely rusted out and has a used motor. If you would prefer to give me a motion tonight to approve accepting that bid in anticipation of it selling, I won’t have to wait until next month. RESOLUTION #24-026 - ALLOW HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDANT TO ACCEPT THE HIGHEST BID ON AUCTIONS INTERNATIONAL FOR THE 2014 CHEVY SILVERADO 1500 PICKUP TRUCK. MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves the sale of the Town’s 2014 Chevy Silverado 1500 pickup truck at the ending bid price on Auctions International. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays - A discussion took place regarding replacing the back doors for a previous estimate of $5,730. The Building Contractual account has a balance of $49,000 so Mr. Keister was advised to “get it done.” He will be taking items for scrap and will pass those checks along as soon as he gets them. He also has to determine the salt usage soon, only having ordered 900 tons this year. In a typical year, they would have used 70% of that by now. Town Clerk, Robin Cargian - I would like to thank Denise Smith and April Scheffler for helping me get through tax season and keep things moving in the office while I was out for surgery. I have one more hurdle to go so you may not see me much in April as I am starting radiation. Attorney for the Town, Fran Casullo - Had nothing to report. Recreation Coordinator, Councilperson Young - Had nothing to report this month. Town Board Minutes Page 3 March 12, 2024 Groton Fire & Ambulance, Eric Deforrest - Dryden had a large structure fire at 5 am last week and we were called for mutual aid. We had a very good response despite the wind, rain, and snow. Easter Egg Hunt March 30th at the elementary school. April 19th is Career Day at the elementary school so we will send a truck and the ambulance up to let the kids go through them. We are in the planning stages for the mock crash staged for the Juniors and Seniors happening May 8th. Last year we had a good response from the kids after stepping up our game. New York State Burn Ban starts March 15th to May 14th. This winter has been very dry, so I wanted to remind everyone of that. Supervisor Scheffler- Will you be participating in the Recruit NY event? Groton Fire & Ambulance, Eric Deforrest- We will have a chicken BBQ in April, but not the same weekend, probably the following. As the new building is not ready, we will have it at the current station and will post it online. I have a few people going to the basic exterior firefighting class in Lansing, and a couple signed up to take the fall class in Cortland. We are still recruiting 7-8 people a year Supervisor Scheffler, CS Energy Project- On Friday we had a meeting with representatives from the Town of Lansing. We are waiting for Yellow Barn Solar to make corrections to their application and move ahead as the Office of Renewable Energy Siting deemed their application incomplete. We discussed some issues, both towns agreed to have quarterly meetings, and new personnel were brought up to speed on the process. We thought it was a very productive session. End of Monthly reports RESOLUTION #24-027- DECLARE FAIR HOUSING MONTH MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, WHEREAS, in accordance with the Title VIII Fair Housing Policy of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 and, WHEREAS, the Month of April 2024 has been designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office as Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity as Fair Housing Month, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Groton hereby declares and proclaims April 2024 as Fair Housing Month in the Town of Groton. Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays - Delaware River Solar Sketch Plan Review Molly Messenger from Delaware River Solar described the proposals to the board. The north side of South Main St. is a 5MW array, which is the most you can do with a community development project. This will have approximately 10,000 solar modules supported by transitional mounting brackets that will move with the sun. There are no wetlands but a section of prime farmland in the staging area which may move from where everything is to not disturb those soils. The plan gives the interconnection information including the 3 poles required by NYSEG. Everything else is underground. The inverter is the thing that makes noise. It is placed in the middle of the array to not disturb neighbors and does not make noise at night. A noise study was completed, and copies were provided. The information submitted has everything to the code except the visual study because it was not known from what points the board would like the renderings from for the visual study. It is important to know where you would like us to Town Board Minutes Page 4 March 12, 2024 stand and at what interval, 5 or 10 years. There is a landscaping plan to protect the adjacent neighbor and will also come in that visual study. Most times the modules reach up to 12 feet tall at max height. Your code allows for 20 feet. The detail on the plan shows 20ft, sometimes due to the contours of the land but would probably only reach 15ft at max tilt. Councilperson Klumpp: How many acres of wood will be clear-cut? Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar- I have not yet broken this project down into plains or woods because we haven’t done the forestry study yet. The site itself is 102 acres and the project is only 28 acres. Other towns require a tree survey for 8 inch caliper and above so that is something to think about as we move along. Councilperson Clark: What runs the panels? Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar: They are electric. It is on a 24-hour monitoring system if it goes out or if there is an issue with a panel. Councilperson Clark: Is there noise to them? Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar- Very minimal, you wouldn’t hear it outside the panel area. We can supply neighboring solar fields that we have developed in case anyone wants to take a field trip. If anyone wants to see one. Councilperson Klumpp: I would like that. Supervisor Scheffler: The application depicts sensors to the monitoring system, are those on a battery backup or what feeds those? Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar- The electricity that does not go to the sub or gets distributed into the ground feeds those. That is a good question about the back up batter. I will ask. Supervisor Scheffler: We have submitted this to our engineer and have not heard back from him. Attorney for the Town, Fran Casullo: I would advise we get the necessary input from the engineer, the code official who’s been in training this week, and myself. Once everything is ok, the board should consider moving this to county planning for their review. Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar: Tonight, we wanted to introduce the project and see if there were any questions. We typically prepare the necessary notices for agencies such as the DOT and NYSERDA. We send them to you first for approval and handle the mailing. Councilperson Klumpp: If we wanted to walk the site is there a way to do that? Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar- Yes, we can arrange site visits. We have been working with Jessie Youngs to do a deep-hole test and track the wetlands. I have a couple of questions about the other project, if we can move to that one. All the same items apply here except this is a smaller project, only 4MW. I apologize for the error that is on the original application cover sheet which says 5MW. A portion of the site from the first project goes across the road. This has a separate tax map number, but they adjoin and are the same owners. We do have to cross an intermittent Class C stream. You do not need to get any Town Board Minutes Page 5 March 12, 2024 permits to cross it. Part of the solar field is on prime farmland. Your code allows a certain percentage to be on prime farmland, but we don’t know what that percentage is, and would have to be a discussion. The site itself is almost 59 acres, the project site is 22 acres. Five acres of that 22, is on prime farmland. We can’t move the project anywhere. Otherwise, we would move it off of those soils. We did not print out the prime farmlands map, but it is a weird “S” shape throughout the project. We could not move the project because of wetlands and woods. We also cannot move it across the stream. The board will have to speak with the attorney and engineer about the appropriate number to put on prime farmland. The visual study here is also waiting on board input and the noise information. We gave one copy of the boundary survey. If you need more copies of the SWIPP please let us know. There are drainage basins that the SWIPP allows to control stormwater. This one does not have a close neighbor, so the screening is minimal. Fire Chief, Eric Deforrest: How many access roads are there? Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar- There is only one. We did submit a Fire Safety Plan and will always reach out to the fire departments and do a walk-through before we even get started with how to shut it off, where the disconnects are, and if there are special needs such as equipment. Councilperson Young: Did you say the invert is buried? Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar- We place it in the middle of the solar field. Not underground just in the center. Supervisor Scheffler: I think before we do anything with visuals and noise buffers the board should take a hike to the site and see what all of this looks like in person. I think it will help to get our minds closer to what is there to decide. Councilperson Klumpp: Not just to walk on the site but to also get a view of what it would look like on Rt. 38 or other areas. Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar- The visual engineer that we work with can take the elevations and shade the area based on where you are standing to get a better idea. We can start that desktop review if you know of a point on Rt. 38 that you would like us to look at for those simulations. Maybe we could have a work session and a site visit with your engineer outside of the regular meeting. Supervisor Scheffler: We can schedule that after he’s had a chance to go through it. Are you going to own it or are you just the developers? Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar- We will develop it and own it for a time, but generally it gets sold off to a much larger conglomerate that owns millions of megawatts. They have a much larger monitoring system that makes sure they take care of everything. Supervisor Scheffler: You don’t know who that would be? Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar- They do sell the projects prior to them being built. We would have a lease on the property, and that lease would migrate and would let the town know who owns the lease at that point. It is generally right before construction to know what particular entity is taking over. Town Board Minutes Page 6 March 12, 2024 Councilperson Gamel: Where are those entities typically out of? Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar- All over the world. The owner of Starbucks owns the most megawatts in the world. We can get you more information and let you know who we typically sell to. Councilperson Clark- So foreign countries. Highway Superintendent, Keister: These are two separate projects so is it possible they would be sold separately? Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar- They would be sold together. Historically they sell them together. Supervisor Scheffler: The only other question is the fee. Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar- The Town Board has already seen the first project before, we submitted a $4500 building permit fee for that. Town Clerk, Cargian: That was a site plan fee. Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar -Right, we also sent in two site plan fees of $4,500 for these. There was a note written with these when they were submitted because I wasn’t sure if the board would take the first $4500 and roll that into an escrow for the engineering and legal review. I wasn’t sure how you wanted to start an escrow account. Councilperson Gamel: So, we have received $13,500? Town Clerk, Cargian- No, we have received one check for $4500. There were no other checks. Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar- They should have been in the box. Check 5093 and 5094 were both sent with the applications. I will investigate that, trace them, and get back to you. Yes, if we wanted to start the escrow with that first check while we look for the other two. I’m sorry I didn’t realize you did not receive them. Supervisor Scheffler- Once we get the other checks, we can figure that out. The attorney for the Town, Fran Casullo, suggested a couple of resolutions to allow the town to forward the applications once the attorney, Rick and Tim Buhl have had a chance to review it. Also suggesting resolutions that the Town would like to act as lead agency which may change to co-agency depending on what the Village decides. RESOLUTION #24-028 ‐ MOVE APPLICATION TO COUNTY PLANNING ONCE COMPLETED APPLICATION IS APPROVED BY CODE, ATTORNEY AND ENGINEER A MOTION that once the application for project one (1) located on tax parcel 26.-1-25.22, is completed and reviewed by the Code Official, the Town Attorney, and the Town Engineer, the town will forward it to Tompkins County Planning, was made by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp. Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Town Board Minutes Page 7 March 12, 2024 RESOLUTION #24-029 ‐ PROPOSES TO ACT AS LEAD AGENCY FOR SEQR REVIEW REGARDING DELAWARE RIVER SOLAR SITE PLAN PROJECT ONE (1) MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, the Town Board would like to be considered as the lead agency for the purposes of SEQR for project 1. Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed RESOLUTION #24-030 ‐ MOVE APPLICATION TO COUNTY PLANNING ONCE COMPLETED APPLICATION IS APPROVED BY CODE, ATTORNEY AND ENGINEER A MOTION that once the application for project two (2), located on tax parcel 31.-1-12.1, is completed and reviewed by the Code Official, the Town Attorney, and the Town Engineer, the town will forward it to Tompkins County Planning, was made by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Young. Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed RESOLUTION #24-031 ‐ PROPOSES TO ACT AS LEAD AGENCY FOR SEQR REVIEW REGARDING DELAWARE RIVER SOLAR SITE PLAN PROJECT TWO (2) MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Clark, that the Town Board would like to be considered as the lead agency for the purposes of SEQR for project 2. Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Molly Messenger, Delaware River Solar- Thank you for having us. The sooner we get all the information out to agencies the sooner we get input back from them. We will wait to hear from the Town Engineer, find out where those checks are, and organize a site visit. Privilege of the Floor Barry Siebe: I have a couple of questions about the solar plan. I invite any of the board to come to my home and look from my deck at the site lines of where this project is going to be or proposed. There is some visual screening for Zimmer and Miller, but I do not see any other visual screening for neighbors who are not right next to it. I also have a concern about the water retention. I know a SWIPP plan has been submitted but nothing in the drawings shows where water retention will be. They mention a water bar which I am not sure what those are, but I do not see any retention ponds. That is a big concern that we had during the ordinance discussions. Grant it, these plans are made for engineers, but they should have enough detail for those of us who are not engineers to understand them. I invite the board as well as the project proponents to come to my home, to come out and look at my site lines to see what I will be looking at. I would also love to be able to walk the site to see what I can see of my deck from the project site. We spoke about the fire and safety issues, but now my concern is the visual beauty. One of the reasons for moving here was for that view of the valley. I would love to see something that shows me that I won’t have to see this thing. They talk about 5% savings on the electric bill, which is $10.00 on a $200 bill, which isn’t very much. If they want to get folks on board, the neighbors and all the people directly affected by this project should get much larger savings. They are not in it to save the environment; I realize that is what solar is supposed to be about, but they will be making money off this. People on the other end of town can drive by it and see it but I must see it when I walk out my door. Dan Carey: I would like to second Barry’s concerns about water and runoff that have not been addressed. I think that is a concern for the nine owners living by this as well as the Village. There is a Town Board Minutes Page 8 March 12, 2024 tremendous amount of water that comes off that site now, and there is vegetation. There are considerable slopes on the North side of South Main that need to be addressed. I have water bars on my farm, and they are not going to cut the amount of runoff that is there. The other concern is I thought the State said to stay away from Prime Farmland and I would urge the board to stand by that. Not that the rest of it isn’t prime farmland to the farmer that is working it. Monica Carey: I wanted to comment and ask how the glare is going to affect my place, what I am going to look at? All of my decks are outback, and I would like to know what I am going to be looking at and the noise. There is a lot of wildlife there and I am concerned it will be gone. With everyone speaking that wished to be heard, Announcements:  Planning Board Meeting for Thursday, March 21, 2024 at 7:30 PM  Zoning Board Meeting March 20, 2024 @ 7:00 PM There being no further business, Councilperson Gamel moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilperson Clark, at 8:25 PM Unanimous. Robin Cargian, Town Clerk