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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReg Mtg. Minutes 8/16/1999Minutes of the Regular Meeting August 16, 1999 VILLAGE OF CAYUGA HEIGHTS BOARD OF TRUSTEES. Present: Mayor Anderson; Trustees Fleming, Kira, Kusse and Dunning; Supt. ofPW Cross; Treasurer Silber; Police Chief Lansing; Fire Chief Day; AttomeyF.lash; Clerk Kord. Others: John Gutenberger, John Kiefer, Cornell Univ.; Kathryn Wolf, Trowbridge & Wolf Landscape Architects; Faust and Louise d'Ambrosi. Absent: Trustees Meinhardt and Bisogni; Attorney Tyler. Mayor Anderson called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM. and opened it to Privilege of the Floor. Kathryn Wolf spoke on behalf of Cornell Univ., giving an update on the Cornell North Campus Residential Initiative Project. First she gave a brief summary of the project and explained that the Town of Ithaca, City of Ithaca, and the Village of Cayuga Heights were all involved. There will be 3 new buildings constructed, 2 dormitories and 1 Community Center. There will also be a new 2 -way, open access road built connecting Thurston Avenue and Pleasant Grove Rd. She noted that the previously proposed entrance to Cornell on Pleasant Grove Rd. has been temporarily set aside as an independent project to be addressed at a later date. There was a brief discussion of the proposals to move the historic Moore house from it's present location. Cornell will donate the house to Historic Ithaca andlit will -then be moved to one of two parcels of land owned by Cornell. Both sites have been studied by Carl Sterns, a preservationist, and have been found suitable. The; house•will then be restored by Historic' Ithaca and sold. The entire North Campus Projecfshould.be completed by the fall of 2001. Faust and Louise d'Ambrosi asked to speak with reference to a letter that they had written to the Board members dated July 19, 1999, about a'dispute with their neighbor about a ditch between their properties in the Village right of way. There was a brief discussion of the situation and Supt. of PW Cross agreed to'resolve the eproblem imthe near future. •rrrrrrr••rrrrr•••... a rrr•• ■•r a rr rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr■•rr u r u ••• a rrrrrr� Attorney Silber noted a change necessary in the minutes of the Meeting of July 19, 1999. The minutes should reflect that the regular meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM, before the first Public Hearing. Motion by Trustee Kira, seconded by Trustee Kusse, VOTED to approve the minutes of the Regular'Meeting:of July'19,A999 'as'amended, and the Special Meeting of August 2, 1999, previously furnished to Trustees in copy form. Trustees, Fleming, Kira, Kusse and Dunning voted YES. .............rrrr rrrr.rrrrrrrrrr..rr rrrrr •.rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr r� Mayor Anderson reported on the following: He asked the Board to grant him authorization to proceed,with the Joint Wastewater Project, in order for the municipalities to meet tthe deadiline for State funding. Resolution 5032 - Authorization for Cayuga.Heights:Mayor. toXxecute' Applications and Other Documents Pursuant to the Cleau Water /Clean Alr`BondAct of-1996 —Joint Wastewater.Project, WHEREAS, the Village of Cayuga Heights herein called.the. "Municipality ", after thorough, consideration of the various aspects relating to wastewater treatment and study of available'data, 122 has hereby determined that certain work, as described in its application and attachments herein called the "Project" is desirable, is in the public interest, and is required in order to implement the Project; and WHEREAS, Article 56 of the Environmental Conservation Law authorizes State Assistance to municipalities for water quality improvement projects by means of a contract and the Municipality deems it to be in the public interest and benefit under this law to enter into a contract therewith; now therefore, be it RESOLVED, by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Cayuga Heights that 1. The Village Mayor is the representative authorized to act in behalf of the Municipality's governing body in all matters related to State assistance.under ECL Article 56, Title 3. The representative is also authorized to make application, execute the State Assistance Contract, submit Project documentation, and.otherwise act for the Municipality's governing body in all matters related to the Project and to State assistance; 2. That the Municipality agrees that it will fund up to $1,737,500 for.its portion of the cost of the Project and that funds will be available to initiate the Project's field work within twelve (12) months of written approval of its application by the Department of Environmental Conservation; 3. That one (1) certified copy of the Resolution be prepared and sent to the Albany office of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation together with the Application of State Assistance Payments; 4. That this Resolution take effect immediately. ' MOVED: Trustee Kira SECONDED: Trustee Fleming Trustees Kira, Fleming, Kusse, and Dunning voted YES. Mayor Anderson received a request from the City of Ithaca that an inter - municipal group be formed concurrent with the Environmental Impact Statement process in order to discuss regional planning issues that emerge as a result of the proposed sewer agreement. Mayor Anderson will participate. If was noted that the difficult traffic situation on Warren Rd. due to construction will continue for another several months. Mayor Anderson reported that there has been communication between Attorney Tyler and Cornell Univ. with reference to the transfer of the land on Lake Shore Dr. which has been involved in the litigation on the Lake Shore Cooling Project. - There was a letter from Tompkins County Assessment notifying the Village that,Kendal at Ithaca is requesting a reduction in their assessment from $33 million to $8.6 million. - There will be a Transportation Council meeting on 8/17/99 at 10:00 AM at the Transportation Building on Dey Street. - There was a letter from Tompkins County informing municipalities that they can put up signs requiring overweight permits on County roads. - Forms are available in the Village Office for participation in the Tompkins/Tioga Electric and Gas Alliance. Superintendent of Public Works Cross presented his report, which is on file, and reported'on';the following: The back -up generator for the sewer plant has been ordered. 123 There was a meeting on August 11, 1999 with all the municipalities involved in the joint Clean Water Bond Act project at which there was agreement on a unified report with several additional enhancements. It was noted that the EPA may impose new regulations for discharges into the lake and may require an effluent filter. Therefore $2.6 million has been added for a filter for phosphorus removal. NYSDEC made an "unannounced reconnaissance inspection" of the sewer plant and sent a letter on July 2, 1999 identifying 5 areas of concern. The Borg -Warner mini - pretreatment violations are of the greatest concern. Mr. Cross has investigated each issue and has responded by letter to NYSDEC. On July 26, 1999 Mr. Cross attended an EPA Workshop on pre - treatment programs. An approach to the Borg -Warner situation would be to establish a new upper limit that would not be harmful to the Waste Water Treatment Plant and then create a surcharge schedule for any discharges that fall between the "domestic" limits and the new upper limit. Mr. Cross will come back to the Board with a specific proposal at the next meeting. Mr. Cross has asked Cayuga Landscape to seed the islands on North Triphammer Rd. Fire Chief Day gave his report, which is on file and reported on the following: - There were 37 emergency calls this month, 16 medical and 21 fire- fighting. - The ladder truck will be going in for repairs to the hydraulic system. - There was a letter from Mitchell Ross Assoc. containing the estimate costs for the renovations and additions to the fire station. The figures range between $1.4 million and $1.7 million. Treasurer Silber anticipates another $200,000 in additional costs. - There was money budgeted in last years budget for refurbishing emergency vehicle #203 that was not used. Chief Day requested permission to sent out bids at this time. Resolution 5033 — Authorize bids for vehicle refurbishment Motion by Trustee Kim, seconded by Trustee Kusse, VOTED to authorize Fire Chief Day to ask for submission of bids for the refurbishment of Emergency Vehicle #203. Trustees, Fleming, Kusse, Kim and Dunning voted YES. ................. ... ..... ...... . ... man .... now .... son .... ..............� Police Chief Lansing made his report, which is on file, and reported on the following: He has received letters of commendation for both Officer Lanning and Officer Steinmetz. The Police Department has received two bids for the sale of their old police car. Chief Lansing was disappointed in both bids, one at $7,815 and $6,777. The Board authorized him to take the highest bid if he could not find a higher offer. All three officers who took the Sergeant's test passed the examination, and Chief Lansing asked for permission to promote Thomas Boyce to the position. Resolution 5034 — Promote Thomas Boyce to''Sergeant Motion by Trustee Fleming, seconded by Trustee Kira, VOTED to appoint Officer Boyce to the position of Sergeant at an annuabsalary of $56,442.00, effective 8/17/99. Trustees Fleming, Kira, Kusse, and Dunning voted YES. All of the police vehicles now have Village of Cayuga Heights emblems. ................................ ............................... :...ammo.& Attorney Tyler was not present and did not submit a report. Treasurer Silber presented his report, which is on file, and reported on the following: The Accounting System upgrade has been delayed because of poor technical support from MCS Spectrum. Treasurer Silber has been looking into a computer support program for the Village staff and will report at the next meeting. He requested that the meeting go into Executive Session in order to discuss a specific personnel issue and a matter of potential litigation. Because of the delay in the new accounting system there were no transfers. There were several changes to the Abstract of Warrants: Page 2, the correct account code for F &R Safety Products is A5110.41; page 3, the correct account code for Sieba, LTD is A9060.8; also add to page 3, Staples- A1325.41 -Tape Drive, software - $269.93; and Silber-A1325.41-FAX-$10.00. Motion by Trustee Fleming, seconded by Trustee Kira, Voted to approve the Abstract of Warrants dated August 16, 199 in the following amounts; General Fund - $24,426.91; Sewer Fund - $42,618.25; Water Fund - $2,657.56. Trustees Fleming, Kim, Kusse and Dunning voted YES. ....................... ..... ....... ... .... ..............................� Clerk Kord reported that she has had a letter from Mr. Michael Timmons. of 126 Sunset Dr., dated July 28, 1999, asking that the penalty on his 1998 and his 1999 Village property taxes be waived. The Board declined the request since State Law requires the homeowner to be responsible for the payment of taxes on time whether he receives the bill or not. Village resident Kay Newman asked to speak and requested that the Mayor communicate with Tompkins County Solid Waste about the delay in pick -up of recycling on East Upland Rd. Mayor Anderson agreed to call. Resolution 5035 — Executive Session Motion by Trustee Kira, seconded by Trustee Fleming, VOTED to enter into Executive Session at 10:30 PM to discuss a specific matter of personnel and a matter of potential litigation. Trustees, Fleming, Kira, Kusse, and Dunning voted YES. Motion by Trustee Fleming, seconded by Trustee Kira, VOTED to move out of Executive Session at 10:55 PM. Trustees, Fleming, Kira, Kusse and Dunning voted YES. Motion by Trustee Fleming, seconded by Trustee Dunning, VOTED to adjourn at 11:00 PM. Trustees Fleming, Kira, Kusse and Dunning voted YES. Elizabeth Kord Clerk LJ 124