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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-04-30-WTB ULYSSES TOWN BOARD Working Meeting April 30, 2013 Present : Deputy Supervisor Elizabeth Thomas ; Councilpersons David Kerness, Kevin Romer and Lucia Tyler; Attorney Geldenhuys ; Town Clerk Marsha Georgia. Others Present : Ithaca Journal Reporter Andrew Casler, Martha & John Ullberg, Todd Searles, Lawrence McCann, Robert Thomas , Heinz Riederer, Francis Heptig, Rocco Lucente, Joseph Gond, and M. Coleman. Ms . Thomas called the meeting to order at 7 p . m. . . APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Ms . Tyler to approve the agenda as presented. Ms. Thomas aye Ms . Tyler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Romer aye Adopted APPROVAL OF MINUTES : 3/26, 4/9 BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approves the edited minutes of the Working Town Board meeting of March 26, 2013 and the Regular Town Board meeting of April 9, 2013 . I Ms . Thomas aye Ms . Tyler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Romer aye Adopted GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS : APPOINTMENT OF SUPERVISOR and TOWN BOARD MEMBER Ms . Thomas resigned the position of Town Board member to Marsha Georgia, Town Clerk earlier today . Ms . Tyler moved, seconded by Mr. Romer the following : WHEREAS , Roxanne Marino, the former Town Supervisor of the Town of Ulysses, New York (the " Town" ) , resigned effective April 15 , 2013 , thereby creating a vacancy in the office of Town Supervisor; and WHEREAS , pursuant to Town Law § 64(5 ) , whenever a vacancy occurs in a town office, ir the town board or a majority of the members thereof may appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy; and WHEREAS , Town Law § 64(5 ) provides the person appointed to fill an elective office holds office until the commencement of the calendar year after the next annual election; NOW, THEREFORE, be it RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses hereby appoints Elizabeth Thomas as Town Supervisor of the Town of Ulysses, effective immediately, to hold office until December 31 , 2013 . Town Board Working Meeting 2 April 30, 2013 Ms . Tyler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Romer aye Adopted RESOLUTION APPOINTING A TOWN BOARD MEMBER Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Mr. Kerness the following : WHEREAS , Elizabeth Thomas, resigned from her office as member of the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses effective April 30, 2013 , thereby creating a vacancy seat on the Town Board; and WHEREAS , pursuant to Town Law § 64(5), whenever a vacancy occurs in a town office, the town board or a majority of the members thereof may appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy; and WHEREAS , Town Law § 64(5) provides the person appointed to fill an elective office holds office until the commencement of the calendar year after the next annual election; and WHEREAS , the Town Board invited qualified applicants to contact the Town Clerk and indicate their interest in being appointed to the Town Board ; and WHEREAS , the Town Board reviewed the qualifications of applicants and selected a qualified appointee; NOW, THEREFORE, be it RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses hereby appoints Nancy Zahler as a member of the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses, effective immediately, to hold office until December 31 , 2013 . Ms. Thomas aye Ms . Tyler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Romer aye Adopted PRIVILEGE OF FLOOR Mr. Romer moved, seconded by Ms. Thomas to amend the agenda to allow for the "privilege of the floor". Unanimously approved . Rocco Lucente read a statement as follows : Hello, my name is Rocco Lucente, I am the new chairman of the Town of Ulysses Republican Party, and I 've been a resident of the town since I was 9 years old. I was motivated to come here tonight by my opposition to the lakeshore zoning plan, but as I thought about it zoning is not my only motivator for being here. Though the restrictions on dock length are ridiculous, it is also what the town is ignoring that frustrates me. On March 22nd an article titled "Trumansburg Sewage Plant Pours Filth into Creek " came out on the front page of the Ithaca Journal. The article asserted that contamination levels at the plant were an average of 380 times and up to 790 times greater than regulatory limits allow. This contamination flows down Trumansburg Creek into the lake, right at the Boy Scout camp. The boy scouts are no longer swimming in the lake due to high bacteria count. My family gets our water from this lake and we had been wondering why we were detecting high bacteria H Town Board Working Meeting 3 April 30, 2013 counts in our water the past few years. We suspect the reason we cannot drink our tap water and are buying bottled water at my house now is because the Village of Trumansburg's sewage treatment plant is pouring feces into the lake and contaminating our water supply. The Community Science Institute has numbers as far back as a report in May of 2007 showing that there was over 30 times as much fecal coliform in the water as legally allowed at that time. So this problem has gone on consistently from 2007 until now. The gentleman conducting the testing said to the Journal that the bacteria levels get so high at times that it exceeded his. capacity to count it. Every member of this town board has presided over this mess, and what priorities have you taken up instead? Does anybody really believe that dock size is more important than clean water? Why have you not addressed this water quality problem which is going on its 6th year? We are seeing the continuation of this problem with the lakeshore zoning, where you are tackling a false problem and ramming through ideas that nobody on the lake who I know thinks are good ideas, when there are real issues on the lake that have gone ignored for years. This zoning is completely unnecessary, infringes on the rights of property owners and creates a set of restrictions which will make it extraordinarily difficult for anybody who decides they want to build a new dock or modify an existing one. But once again, the failures of the zoning are not the only source of my frustration, it is also the fact that we are talking about such a ridiculous issue when there are such serious issues confronting the lakeshore. My question to the members of this board is simply this; don 't we have bigger things to focus on right now? I reiterate my earlier question; does anybody seriously believe that dock size is a more pressing issue than clean water? It is my hope that you will decide to drop this misguided distraction and instead focus on the sewer problem so the boy scouts can go swimming again and I can drink my water again. Thank you. Mr. Riederer said that he was not aware of this sewer problem but feels that the Town of Ulysses represents the people that are affected and would like to see the Board look into . Mr. McCann presented a written statement that he read at the 4/9/2013 meeting and requested that it be entered into the minutes in its entirety . The vote unanimously agreed to amend the minutes of 4/9/2013 and enter the statement. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SIGN Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Mr. Kerness the following : WHEREAS the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce initiated an effort to install Gateway Signage at the entrance to Tompkins County on major state highways in order to promote tourism; and WHEREAS the Chamber of Commerce has funding to purchase the initial set of signs ; and WHEREAS there are currently signs marking the entrance into the Town of Ulysses and Tompkins County on State Routes 89 and 96 where the Gateway Signage project proposes to place the new signs . THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of Ulysses is in support of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce Gateway Signage project to install gateway signs on Routes 89 and 96 as presented to the Town Board at the March 12 meeting of the Board ; and RESOLVED the Town of Ulysses will apply for the Waived Use and Occupancy Permit for Gateway Signage and any subsequent papers which might be required for this permit; and the Town of Ulysses Highway Superintendent is empowered to execute such Use and Occupancy Permit ; and Town Board Working Meeting 4 April 30, 2013 RESOLVED that this approval from the Town Board of Ulysses is contingent on the NYS DOT either removing the existing, standard issue gateway signs on Routes 96 and 89 or allowing Tompkins County or the Town of Ulysses to remove the existing signs ; and FURTHER RESOLVED the Gateway Signage project signs may not exceed 20 square feet in area. Ms . Thomas aye Ms . Tyler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Romer nay Adopted USE OF TOWN VEHICLES FOR CARPOOLING Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Mr. Kerness the following : WHEREAS , the Town Board wishes to encourage fuel efficiency by authorizing town officers and employees to transport passengers in appropriate circumstances ; Now, therefore, be it RESOLVED that Town Board of the Town of Ulysses hereby authorizes officers and employees of the Town to transport passengers in town vehicles to and from events and meetings attended by an officer or employee of the town for town related business . Ms . Thomas aye Ms . Tyler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Romer abstained Adopted DECLARING SURPLUS EQUIPMENT Ms . Thomas moved, second by Ms . Tyler the following : BE IT RESOLVED that the following equipment and items belonging to the Town of Ulysses are no longer of use to the Town and either little or no retail value and as such can be either disposed of or donated in an environmentally responsible way. • Chairs from the conference room - current value $ 0 . 00 suggested recycle . • Adding machine - Canon P23 DH 111 - current value $0 . 00 suggested recycle. • Non-working (TOU20) Dell Single core 2 . 8 GHz, Dimensions 5100C , Serial # 2106391 current value $ 0 . 00 suggested recycle . • We also have a non-working server (TOU3 ) OptiPlex GX 260, service code II (BNJ6621 ) current value $0 . 00 suggested recycle • non-working monitor (TOU27) E551 14 inch full size serial Number NY- 082CGN-46632-ocm-23LT current value $ 0 . 00 suggested recycle • Working Projector (no town number) model 2200MP, SERIAL NUMBER 26129748709 current value $ 50 . 00 suggested sale or donation { • 1972 Brockway model 361L single axel dump truck with plow and wing . Ms . Thomas aye Ms . Tyler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Romer aye Adopted ADDING SIGNATOR TO THE CHECKS _ I ft Town Board Working Meeting 5 April 30, 2013 Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Ms . Tyler the following : RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses approves Marsha Georgia to be a signer on all checks for the Town in the event the Supervisor is unable to be the signatory, and RESOLVED, that Marsha Georgia is also approved to be the second signatory for checks exceeding $ 5 ,000 as second signature is required by Town policy . Ms . Thomas aye Ms . Tyler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Romer aye Adopted MUNICIPAL EQUIPMENT PURCHASE Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Ms . Tyler the following : BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses authorizes Highway Superintendent James Meeker to purchase a used backhoe with low hourly use at a municipal surplus or contractor equipment auction with a cost not to exceed $ 50,000 and RESOLVED, this resolution is in effect for the year 2013 . Ms . Thomas aye Ms . Tyler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Romer aye Adopted PERSONNEL POLICY UPDATE The Board previously received retiree health benefits cost projections which they discussed. The Board will have further discussions . Ms . Thomas was asked to provide some additional information. EXECUTIVE SESSION Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Mr. Kerness the following : BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Ulysses moves to go into executive session to discuss matters related to the appointment, promotion, demotion, discipline, or removal of particular personnel . Ms . Thomas aye Ms . Tyler aye Mr. Kerness aye Mr. Romer aye Adopted Meeting adjourned to executive session at 8 : 45 p . m . Meeting reconvened at 9 . 09p . m. and Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Mr. Romer to adjourn the meeting . Unanimously approved and meeting adjourned at 9 : 10 p . m . Town Board Working Meeting 6 April 30, 2013 Respectfully submitted, Marsha L . Georgia Ulysses Town Clerk 11 I I