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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReg Mtg. Minutes 10/16/2000Minutes of the Regular Meeting October 16, 2000 . Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees Present: Mayor Anderson, Trustees Fleming, Kira, Kusse, Dunning and Meinhardt, Attorney Tyler, Treasurer Silber, Police Chief Lansing, Fire Chief Evans, Supt. of Public Works Cross, Clerk Maiming Absent: Trustee Lynn Others: Kay Newman, Dan Govemanti, Mike Shay, Richard Baer, Vern Rockcastle, and James Adams. Mayor Anderson called the meeting to order at 7:35 PM and opened the meeting to the Privilege of the Floor. Richard Baer expressed his concern about the pump station being built on Wyckoff Road. The original plan called for the station to be as inconspicuous as possible. The roof is being installed and Mr. Baer, along with various residents, feels that it is bigger than was originally intended. Mr. Baer circulated pictures of the building in its current stage. He spoke with Dan Walker of the Town of Ithaca about taking the roof off and leaving the building without a roof. Dan said that the building would be acceptable without a roof. Cathy Valentino of the Town of Ithaca said that the roof, however, had to be kept because it was what the Village had agreed to. However, if the Village asks the Town not to complete the roof, the Town would take the roof off. Trustee Fleming asked about the cost of removing the roof. According to Dan Walker, it would not cost more to remove the roof than to complete it. Supt. Cross gave his opinion of how different the building would probably look after the roof is completed and the shingles are in place. Discussion ensued. The consensus of the Board was to have Supt. Cross tell Dan Walker to take off the roof. Daniel Govemanti and Mike Shay of Kendal were present to seek permission to put a bus shelter at the end of Kendal property for both Village and Kendal residents. Mr. Govemanti and Mr. Shay had already met with Chief Lansing and Supt. Cross on the location. There was no apparent disagreement on putting a shelter there. TCAT already has a bus stop at that location and the shelter would go as close to the current bus stop as possible, however, that that would put the shelter in the Village ROW. There was some question as to who would own the building if it were in the Village ROW. Trustee Fleming thought that maybe the Board should table the issue till Supt. Cross talks to TCAT. Trustee Kusse didn't see a need to delay. Chief Lansing said that there was no traffic safety issue. Attorney Tyler suggested that the Board approve the shelter subject to the location approval by the Mayor and Supt. Cross. Motion by Trustee Fleming, seconded by Trustee Kira. VOTED to approve the erection of a Bus Shelter at Kendal subject to approval of location by the Mayor and Supt. Cross. Mr. Rockcastle raised a question on the strip of pavement on Cayuga Heights Road. He is concerned about the type of gravel used on the road. His question is how 1 the surface will hold up. Mr. Adams had a concern about the road being flush up to the mailboxes and trees. Supt. Cross responded to these concerns. The surface of the road is recycled asphalt. It will stay put much better than gravel. Once the line stripes are painted on, the excess will be "shoulder ". Mr. Rockcastle wanted to express his satisfaction with the road surface; he was just concerned about what material was used. There was discussion about the number of tree casualties on Cayuga Heights Road. The Village Forester would like to initiate a Village sponsored program where residents would work together to plant trees next to older trees. Mr. Rockcastle stated that he has already started to do this. Supt. Cross said that lie would continue this discussion when he gave his report. There were no corrections to the minutes of the meeting of September 18, 2000. Motion by Trustee Kira, seconded by Trustee Fleming VOTED to approve the minutes the Regular Meeting of September 18, 2000, Trustees Fleming, Kira, Dunning, Meinhardt and Kusse voted YES. ***************************************** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** Mayor Anderson reported on the following: The Intermunicipal water and sewer program is coming to fruition. The Mayor had heard that the water program is set to go. There is interest from others to get water from Bolton Point — Cayuga County and Newfield are interested. Regarding the joint sewer initiative, there is a meeting of all municipalities scheduled for October 20. There may be an option on how things will proceed established at that meeting. The phosphorus treatment of our plant is a high priority. New settling tanks at our plant would be helpful. - The Transportation Policy Committee meeting is on October 17 and December 19. There is a workshop on the projection of transportation projects from 2001 to 2006 on October 19 at the Best Western on East Hill. The Planning Federation met on October 10. On November 6 there will be a training session at the Ramada Inn for local government officials to talk about what SEQRA really means. On Thursday, October 26, there will be an Intermunicipal Cayuga Lake Watershed Celebration to learn about Water Management. The Keynote Speaker will be the Secretary of State, Sandy Treadwell. Dooley Kiefer is attending and she would like to have as many Trustees attend as possible. There is a Municipal Official's meeting on October 24 at the Lehigh Valley House regarding the allocation of tobacco money which is allocated to New York State. The Town of Ithaca is having its grand opening at their new Town Hall on Friday, October 27 from 3 -6 P.M. The new McDonald's is having their grand opening celebration on October 21 from 2 -4 P.M. The regional workshop for Planning Boards and Trustees is December 8 in Mt. Morris, New York. Tuesday, October 31 from 8 -9:30, TCAD and Kendal would like to report to the community on their development area. Special guest speaker is John Cahill. 7 The report of the Police Chief, which is on file, was presented. The past month has been busy with school safety classes, etc. Officer Steinmetz was going to attend a safety school later in the week. The voucher didn't get prepared in time so Chief Lansing was asking the Board to add a payment for $400 to the abstract payable to CNY Police Academy. - Trustee Fleming asked about the fire in Palmers Woods. Professor Patterson told Trustee Fleming that he was appreciative to Officer Ducey for his actions concerning the fire. Chief Lansing said that he would pass that along to Officer Ducey. On the subject of Palmer Woods, the Mayor asked if the Board wanted to hear the findings of the Unique Environment Inventory Group. The Board said no. ***************************************** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** The report of the Fire Chief, which is on file, was presented and Chief Evans reported on the following: The fire department assisted with the standoff on Warren Road by providing services to the police on site. Chief Evans gave an update from Paul Sarokwash on the new fire station. The project is approximately 3 weeks behind schedule, however, Christa Construction still says that they will make the December 1 deadline. Paul is working on getting Christa to provide heat for the 2 engines in the blockhouse at the Collins property. The ladder truck will be temporarily moved down to the DPW. Trustee Meinhardt suggested that Chief Evans invite OSHA over to see the fire station while it is still new. Chief Evans said that he was going to invite them over as soon as it is completed. Supt, of PW Cross presented his report, which is on file, and reported on the following: There was some further discussion on the "crosswalk" at the bus stop at Kendal. Supt. Cross requested feedback on Forester Pimental's idea for a co -op tree - planting program. The plan is for residents to plant trees on their property next to older trees. There was much discussion regarding who would pay for the trees, which older trees are in trouble, what kind of tree maintenance we could put into place, etc. Supt. Cross asked Attorney Tyler how we should respond to the proposed planting program. Attorney Tyler felt that it was not quite appropriate the way it was proposed and wanted to have Supt. Cross check out other programs in other municipalities. Attorney Tyler also said that the resources should come from other than municipal revenuer,, if the trees were planted on private property. Supt. Cross reported that FEMA declared our area a Disaster Area after the last two severe summer storms. We got a quote of approximately $19,000 for getting rid of our pile of brush. We will chip and move it away — for a lesser amount — than was originally planned. Trustee Kira asked if we had another dumping site. Supt. Cross said no. The Fire Department also spent time out during the storms and FEMA approved money for the fire department man- hours. A question was raised as to whether we could 3 use excess money from FEMA toward the tree situation. There was no decision made at this time. There was much discussion about the upcoming sewer meeting on Friday, October 20. The Joint Sewer Group wants to make another application. We would be responsible for 85% of hard costs (approximately %2 million dollars). As Supt. Cross sees it, there are three choices: 1) Co -sign the joint application with the rest of the group; 2) make our own application; or 3) sign the application but give a deadline to get things moving. Trustee Fleming asked what are we losing if we sign and things drag on? Supt. Cross said that we lose time that might be used working on something else. Trustee Fleming suggested that we go along with them. MOTION by Trustee Meinhardt, seconded by Trustee Fleming VOTED to approve Resolution 5205 — A Resolution Authorizing the Cayuga Heights Mayor to Execute applications and Other Documents Pursuant to the Clean Water /Clean Air Bond Act 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, 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 maters related to the Project and to State assistance; 2. That the Municipality agrees that it will fund up to $500,000 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 this 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 takes effect immediately. Trustees Fleming, Kira, Dunning, Meinhardt and Kusse voted YES. Supt. Cross mentioned that he had received some calls regarding political signs in the Village Right of Way. They will be removed. El Attorney Tyler reported on the following: The Putnam case was submitted without oral argument before the court. A decision is pending. A letter was sent to the Teamsters Union regarding the organizing of the DPW as discussed in Executive Session. Treasurer Silber reported on the following: The books have been closed for the year. The Sewer Fund ran a deficit in FY 1999 -2000 due to a shortfall in revenues. We may need to raise sewer rates. The Water Fund is healthy so we may wish to consider elimination of the water levy. The annual independent audit begins on Tuesday morning, October 17. Treasurer Silber asked for a resolution to approve transfers for fiscal year 1999- 2000 as listed in the handout. Motion by Trustee Fleming, seconded by Trustee Kira VOTED to approve the transfers for fiscal year 1999 -2000. Trustees Fleming, Kira, Dunning, Meinhardt and Kusse voted YES Treasurer Silber asked for a resolution to approve transfers on item 6 of the Treasurers Report for fiscal year 2000 -2001. Motion by Trustee Fleming, seconded by Trustee Kira VOTED to approve transfers on item 6 of the Treasurers Report for fiscal year 2000 -2001. Trustees Fleming, Kira, Dunning, Meinhardt and Kusse voted YES. Treasurer Silber distributed copies of the Village of Cayuga Heights Vehicle Use Policy. He asked the Board to note and approve a change on page 3 of the policy regarding routine commuting and/or personal use of Village vehicles. Motion by Trustee Meinhardt, seconded by Trustee Dunning VOTED to approve the Village of Cayuga Heights Vehicle Use Policy as modified. Trustees Fleming, Kira, Dunning, Meinhardt and Kusse voted YES. Motion by Trustee Fleming, seconded by Trustee Kira. VOTED to approve Abstract of Vouchers with one addition of $400. Trustees Fleming, Kira, Dunning, Meinhardt and Kusse voted YES Clerk Manning had no report. Motion by Trustee Fleming, seconded by Meinhardt. VOTED to adjourn at 10:25 PM. Trustees Fleming, Kira, Dunning, Meinhardt and Kusse voted YES. Norma Manning Clerk