HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-05-14-RTB Town of Ulysses
Regular Town Board Meeting
May 14, 2013
Audio available at www. ulysses . ny .us
Present : Supervisor Elizabeth Thomas ; Councilpersons Lucia Tyler, Nancy Zahler,
David Kerness, and Kevin Romer; Environmental Planner Darby Kiley ; Highway
Superintendent James Meeker; Town Clerk; Marsha Georgia; and Attorney Mariette
I Geldenhuys .
Others Present : Town Historian Nancy Dean, President Jacksonville Association Diane
Hillman and Free Press Reporter Louis DiPietro
Supervisor Elizabeth Thomas called the meeting to order at 7 : 00 p . m.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Ms . Thomas amended the current agenda to add the following : executive session, audit
and Grassroots advertising . The Board 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 approves the
previously examined vouchers # 157 through 207 in the amount of $95 ,957 . 96 .
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Ms . Zahler 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 approves the
minutes of the Special Town Board meeting of April 29, 2013 and the Town
Board Working meeting of April 30, 2013 as corrected.
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Ms . Zahler abstained
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Romer aye
Adopted
TOWN REPORTS
Planning Board / Zoning Officer Darby Kiley gave the following report :
Planning Board - At the May 7 meeting, the Planning Board continued the review of
language changes to the Zoning Law, Article III Administration, focusing in on Site Plan
Review. They will likely finish this review at the next meeting .
BZA - did not meet in April
Ad Hoc Zoning Committee- The committee is meeting two times per month.
Regular Town Board Meeting 2
May 14, 2013
At the April 11 th meeting, the committee discussed driveways and parking, dock square
footage, and boat hoist size. At the April 25th meeting, they discussed principal building
and building footprint and tree removal . At the May 8th meeting, they discussed
moorings, setbacks in Unique Natural Areas, and tree removal .
A page that includes supporting documentation of the lakeshore and conservation zoning
process is now available on the town website (http ://ulysses .ny. us/boards/board-
lakeshore-ad'-hoc/lakeshore -FAQ/ ), and includes a Frequently Asked Questions
document specific to the lakeshore concerns .
Stormwater - The Stormwater Coalition met in April : a wetland mapping proposal was
approved for $ 5 ,000 in funding from previous grant funds . The coalition has been
discussing options for public education with inserts or advertisements in the local
newspapers .
The MS4 Annual Report will be presented at the May 20th Water Resources Council
meeting (start time 4 : 15 PM at TCAT) . The Count Soil and Water Conservation District
compiles the information from each of the municipalities for a joint report, which is due
to the State in June.
ITCTC - The ITCTC has been developing a 2014-2018 Transportation Improvement
Program based on federal funding sub-allocations from NYSDOT Region 3 . A public
meeting to review, discuss, and accept comments on the draft TIP has been scheduled for
Thursday, May 23 , 2013 , 6 : 00 to 7 : 30p.m . , at the Borg Warner East Conference Room in
the Tompkins County Public Library, 101 E. Green St. , Ithaca, NY. The deadline for
public comments is June 14, 2013 . Comments may be submitted any of four ways : at the
public meeting, by mail to the ITCTC at 121 E . Court St. , Ithaca, NY 14850, email, or by
calling 607-274-5570 . http ://www. tompkins-co . org/itctc/
Ms . Kiley reported briefly of the Ledger property on McKeel Road and will provide more
information at a later date.
REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES
Town Historian Nancy Dean
Ms . Thomas. thanked Ms . Dean for her years of dedicated service to the Town in her
capacity as Town Historian. The Town appreciates all she has done and hopes she will
continue to assist the new Town Historian.
Ms. Thomas said that the Village would be interested in sharing a Historian with the
Town and may sit in on the interviews .
Ms . Dean said that she would be able to assist the new historian and help in the interview
process .
Ms . Thomas suggested a committee could interview. Ms . Thomas and Ms . Dean will
head up the committee and if any Board members are available they may join. Ms .
Thomas asked Ms . Dean to take the first crack at some questions. Ms . Zahler thought
maybe a summary of their activities have been and what experiences. When we have that
information a date will be set for interviews and then a recommendation will be given to
the Board .
PRIVILEGE OF FLOOR
Jacksonville Association President Diane Hillman said that there is much concern about a
property in Jacksonville on Rt . 96 that has several industrial containers in their front yard.
Ms . Kiley said that she is aware and has send out a letter.
TOWN REPORTS
s '
Regular Town Board Meeting 3
May 14, 2013
Town Attorney Mariette Geldenhuys gave an update on the Dryden and Middlefield
cases . (Audio available at www. ulysses .ny . us)
Highway Superintendent James Meeker reported the activities of the Highway
Department for the month of April . Mr. Meeker said that the Seneca Road Bridge project
has had some delays and will begin construction later this week. Mr. Meeker has not
received any information back about the sidewalks and will keep the Board updated . Mr.
Meeker purchased a new used backhoe at an action he attended and stayed under the
price the Town had allocated .
Town Clerk Marsha Georgia reported that the total fees for the month of April
collected were $2010 . 00 and of that $ 1 ,286 . 74 was turned over to the Supervisor with the
monthly report. Ms . Georgia will be doing water billing tomorrow.
Code Enforcement Officer Alex Rachun is not in attendance, he left his monthly report
with the Board.
Bookkeeper Mary Bouchard previously distributed the operating statement for April .
She discussed with the Board as to which format of the report they would like to see . She
can print a general report or a more detailed one . The general consensus was that she
could provide the extended report quarterly and the general one monthly. If any Board
member needed something different they could let her know.
Ms. Bouchard will be having Pay Checks report vacation, personal time, and sick time on
the employees pay checks.
Supervisor Elizabeth Thomas reported :
• distributed the sales tax report received from Tompkins County
• Fire and alarm system being installed on May 16`h in the Town Hall
• Mainstay has been contacted to fix minor things in the Town Hall
• Outside lights have been ordered
• Village of Trumansburg is negotiating with Taughannock Park for water and they
are doing some updates on their sewer system
• Village of Trumansburg is asking for a $ 10 an hour increase for Court Security —
she will check with other agencies
• Working on Association of Towns by-laws
• Attending a meeting with the SPCA director
• 22 residents have provided their email address to have the next newsletter be sent
to them electronically; the Board also said they would prefer it emailed
NEW BUSINESS
CLOHING ALLOWANCE HIGHWAY
The Board discussed providing a clothing allowance to employees of the Highway
Department. There were some concerns and questions that Mr. Meeker will clear up and
report back at the next meeting .
SURPLUS EQUIPMENT
Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Mr. Kerness the following resolution :
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.
1 . Hewlett Packard, printer, Scanner, Fax Ml522NF, Serial Number
CND822KOMN (on inventory but bought by NY Court Systems)
Regular Town Board Meeting 4
May 14, 2013
2 . Computer Monitor that the Ulysses youth brought in. 15inch full size
Dell model E770s SN : MX-02010V-47605 =08T-BTRK
3 . Cannon flatbed scanner H12275 SERIAL NUMBER SGH45065
Ms . Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Ms. Zahler aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Romer aye
Adopted
REQUEST TO DECLARE RDSGEIS INVALID
Ms . Thomas moved, seconded by Mr. Kerness the following :
Urging New York State to Declare Invalid the RDSGEIS for High Volume
Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing
WHEREAS the Town of Ulysses has participated faithfully in the process of
developing the New York State Generic Environmental Impact Statement on high
volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing and
WHEREAS the Town of Ulysses has closely studied the issue of high volume
horizontal hydraulic fracturing and has determined that natural gas drilling is not
in the best interest of the Town and
WHEREAS nonetheless gas drilling in other municipalities may well have a
detrimental effect on the Town of Ulysses and
WHEREAS it has been learned recently that three firms — Ecology and
Environment Inc . , Alpha Geoscience, and URS Corporation - hired by New York
State to work on the Revised Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact
Statement were closely involved with the Independent Oil and Gas Association of
New York (IOGA), a lobbying and advocacy organization for the oil and gas
industry and
WHEREAS such involvement with a lobbying and advocacy organization raises
serious questions about the three firms ' ability to maintain an objective viewpoint
on an issue with such an important impact on the residents of New York State and
WHEREAS the content of the Revised Draft Supplemental Generic
Environmental Impact Statement is therefore called into question
Now therefore be it
RESOLVED the Town of Ulysses calls upon the Department of Environmental
Conservation and the Governor to declare invalid the Revised Draft Supplemental
Generic Environmental Impact Statement and
FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be sent to Commissioner Joseph
Martens of the Department of Environmental Conservation, Governor Andrew
Cuomo, Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton and Senator Thomas O ' Mara.
Ms. Thomas aye
Ms . Tyler aye
Ms . Zahler aye
Mr. Kerness aye
Mr. Romer aye
Regular Town Board Meeting 5
May 14, 2013
Adopted
REVIEW LIAISON POSITIONS
The Board reviewed the liaison positions that were adopted at the Organizational meeting
in January and made some modifications . The following is the amended list :
Supervisor Appointments
A . Highway Department Kevin Romer
B . Trumansburg Village Board of Trustees Nancy Zahler/alter. David Kerness
C . Personnel David Kerness
D . Health Insurance Consortium Board Lucia Tyler
E. Planning Board and Board of Zoning Appeals David Kerness
F . Fire Department Kevin Romer
G. County and other Emergency Management Kevin Romer
H. Town Court David Kerness
I . Trumansburg Ulysses Youth Commission L . Thomas/alter. Nancy Zahler
Town Board Appointments
•
A . Planning Board Chairperson Ken Zeserson
B . Board of Zoning Appeals Chairperson George Tselekis
C . Clerk for Planning Board and Board of Zoning Robin Carlisle-Peck
� Appeals
D . Board of Assessment Review Cheryl Thompson,
David Means
E . Tompkins County Environmental Management Lucia Tyler
Council (EMC)
F . Tompkins County Water Resources Council Bill George & Darby Kiley
(WRC)
G . Tompkins County Stormwater Coalition Darby Kiley
H. Trumansburg Ulysses Youth Commission Reps Sharon Bilotta and vacant
I . Recreation Partnership representative Durand VanDorn
J. Tompkins County Youth Services Board Vacant
K. Ithaca/Tompkins County Transportation Darby Kiley
Council Planning Committee
L . Ithaca/Tompkins County Transportation Darby Kiley
Council Policy Committee
M . Tompkins County Council of Governments L . Thomas / alter. N . Zahler
N . Tompkins County Area Development Nancy Zahler
O . Fair Board liaison Kevin Romer
P . Historian Nancy Dean
Regular Town Board Meeting 6
May 14, 2013
Q . Water District Advisory Board Chairperson Diane Hillman
R. Tompkins County Animal Control Lucia Tyler
S . Cayuga Lake Water Shed Intermunicipal Org. Darby Kiley
USING THE TRUMANSBURG FREEPRESS FOR LEGAL ADS
The Board previous discussed this with Ms . Kiley, Zoning Officer and she felt that seeing
that the Free Press is a weekly paper it would not be that convenient . Ms . Georgia said
she sometimes publishes the legal ads in both the Ithaca Journal and Free Press when it is
an important hearing.
Grassroots Advertising
Ms. Thomas said that the Town had never advertised in their program in the past.
Septic Systems
The Board discussed the subject raised at the last Board meeting in reference to pollution
on the lake. Mr. Kerness questioned can we, should we do anything about that. Ms .
Thomas said that she was glad to hear the Village is doing some fixes and she knows they
are required to get a full engineers report about their sewage treatment plant. On the part
of the Town there are the septic systems and she thinks we should pick that back up
again. Mr. Kerness will re-look into this. Also will look into becoming an Involved
Agency with DEC for the monitoring the Village system .
Upcoming Meetings
Supervisor Thomas said that topics be discussed at the TB Working meeting of May 28 ,
2013 are the following :
• Personnel Policy
• McKeel Road property
• Some point we need to talk about the Ambulance District
• Will have information about the audit
• Bring forward the Hazard Waste resolution that is being looked at at the
State level
• Septic systems
Rescheduling August Town Board Meeting
The Regular Town Board meeting of August 13 , 2013 was cancelled and rescheduled to
August 20, 2013 . Also the working meeting of August 27`h was cancelled .
Executive Session
Ms. Thomas moved, seconded by Mr. Romer 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 .
The Board unanimously approved and adjourned to executive session.
The Board closed the executive session and reconvened the Regular meeting at 10 : 07
p .m. and adjourned at 10 : 08 .
Respectfully submitted,
Regular Town Board Meeting 7
May 14, 2013
Marsha L . Georgia
Ulysses Town Clerk
{
I