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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-22-2019 minutes Minutes VILLAGE OF CAYUGA HEIGHTS Tuesday, January 22, 2019 Ronald E. Anderson Fire Station BOARD OF TRUSTEES 7:00 p.m. MONTHLY MEETING Present: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Friend (arrived at 7:06 p.m.), Marshall, McMurry, and Salton; Police Chief Wright; Superintendent of Public Work Cross; Assistant Superintendent of Public Works Wiese; Treasurer Mangione; Clerk Walker Absent: Trustee Robinson, Attorney Marcus. Call to Order: Mayor Woodard calls the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. 2. Approval of Meeting Minutes: October 30, 2017 (Exhibit 2019-103) Resolution # 8337 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves the October 30, 2017 meeting minutes as presented. Motion: Trustee Marshall Second: Trustee Biloski Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Marshall, McMurry, and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion Carried Approval of Meeting Minutes: April 16, 2018 (Exhibit 2019-104) Resolution # 8338 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves the April 16, 2018 meeting minutes as presented. Motion: Trustee McMurry Second: Trustee Marshall Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Marshall, McMurry, and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion Carried Approval of Meeting Minutes: July 16, 2018 (Exhibit 2019-105) Resolution # 8339 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves the July16, 2018 meeting minutes as presented. Motion: Trustee Biloski Second: Trustee Marshall Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Marshall, McMurry, and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: Motion Carried Approval of Meeting Minutes: August 21, 2018 (Exhibit 2019-106) (Trustee Friend arrives at 7:06 p.m.) Resolution # 8340 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves the August 21, 2018 meeting minutes as presented. Motion: Trustee Biloski Second: Trustee McMurry Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Friend, Marshall, and McMurry Nays: none Abstentions: Salton Motion Carried Approval of Meeting Minutes: December 17, 2018 (Exhibit 2019-107) Resolution # 8341 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves the December 17, 2018 meeting minutes as presented. Motion: Trustee Salton Second: Trustee McMurry Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Friend, Marshall, McMurry and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion Carried 3. Report of Fire Superintendent Tamborelle: Submitted Report (Exhibit 2019-108) •The Cayuga Heights Fire Department responded to a fatal fire on Christopher Circle on December 20, 2018. •There was a lower number of calls overall the year, largely due to the nursing center at Kendall of Ithaca making a medical emergency procedural change whereby the nursing center will call Bangs Ambulance directly before calling 911. •Annual fire training will be January 26, 2019 and the department will be utilizing the new fit test machine. 4. Privilege of the Floor: No members of the public wished to speak. 5. Report of Mayor: a. NYPA LED Presentation- Casey Mastro: CNY Energy Manager •New York Power Authority (NYPA) has a turnkey aggregated project geared toward smaller municipalities. •NYPA is currently working with 8 municipalities in the County. There are 3 ways to get LEDs – Utility owned model, municipality owned model, and deferred rental of the utilities. •NYPA will cover the cost of assessment, then construct a full design and engineering plan followed by procurement and then finance the project, with no money down. • This project would be a cash flow positive with a net savings to the Village of $35k per year. Mayor Woodard stated that the Village will not have to take on more bond debt to fund this project and the Village will finally have an accurate street light count. Village Treasurer Mangione asked C. Mastro to confirm that the Village will not be subject to the constitutional tax limit. C. Mastro confirmed. Trustee Salton asked if LED bulbs will come down in price. Casey stated that when the NYS Smart Street Lighting Program was launched, NYPA put out a nationwide RFP and secured the lowest possible pricing. Philips roadway fixtures included smart controls. Smart controls offer the municipalities the value of dimming and controlling lighting which will be a financial credit down the road. There is not a better price out there. Village Engineer B. Cross stated that owning our own lights would change to a service class tariff and that will defer all the facility charge payments. The Village will then be able to submit actual metered usage. The proposed NYPA project includes the control nods (lights) which will allow dimming and disconnection from the grid if needed. •NYPA financing rate is annualized every February. NYPA corporate paper will determine the percentage rate for financing, currently it is around 3 %. Trustee Marshall asked if C. Mastro could give the Board a schedule. C. Mastro stated that he hopes to hold a design meeting in March and installation completed by the end of 2019. The Village first needs to purchase assets from the utilities, which could take up to 60 days. Trustee McMurry asked to what extent the Village would have to coordinate with other municipalities on design and schedule. C. Mastro stated that each municipality is under their own contract with NYPA. All municipalities benefit from the material cost savings. •The unit per light cost is going up and will continue to increase as NYSEG loses customers. NYSEG is using a cost or PVROA – a formula for trying to re-coop costs of buyouts. •Once the City of Ithaca signs on to NYPA’s proposal. The volume of business is complete and NYPA can go to bid. Resolution # 8342 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves and authorizes Mayor Woodard to sign the Street Light Facility Sales Proposal Offer from NYSEG dated July 13, 2018. Motion: Trustee Salton Second: Trustee Friend Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Friend, Marshall, McMurry and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion Carried Resolution # 8343 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves and authorizes Mayor Woodard to sign the Energy Service Program and LED Street Light Conversion Project with New York Power Authority dated January 16, 2019. Exhibit 2019-109 Motion: Trustee Marshall Second: Trustee McMurry Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Friend, Marshall, McMurry and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion Carried b. GHD Design Drawing: Village Engineer B. Cross received a letter from Matt Russo of NYSDEC stating that the preliminary design drawings of phase I of the WWTP were approved. The next step will be for GHD to submit the 90% drawings for NYSDEC to approval. c. NYSDEC Invasive Species Grant: The Invasive Species Grant (ISG) will complement the Tree Inventory Grant that was awarded to the Village in November. The ISG grant addresses 2 invasive species already in the Village: japanese knotweed, and emerald ash borer beetle. The Village Forester will be looking at the application later this week. d. M. Macenas: Mr. Macenas is interested in developing a vacant 6 acre plot next to the Corners Community Shopping Center. David Herrick from T.G. Miller P.C. has produced site plans, and architect Barry Hamel produced the elevations drawings. B. Cross stated that the reason M. Mecenas is addressing the Board tonight is because this project would fall into the Planned Develop Zone (PDZ) which allows for variation from the underlying residential zoning regulations. Trustee McMurry stated that the Trustees can create and approve zoning regulations specific to the site. The project will then be referred to the Planning Board for site plan review. Final approval falls on the Board of Trustees. D. Herrick pointed out that there is a wetland on the property covering 6/10 of an acre. The filling wetlands is allowed up to 1/10 of an acre with a permit. The idea would be to file for a permit to fill that wetland. •The setbacks would be 30ft with 92 parking spaces for the 3 proposed buildings. •One building would have lower level retail space and living above. Only residential in the 2 other buildings. •The type of units would be condominiums. M. Mecenas foresees 50 units. •Lot coverage is about 12%, this does not include wetlands and steep slopes. D. Harrick stated that there will be some non-standard storm water drainage approaches. Mayor Woodard asked why there is a need to fill the wetlands. D. Harrick stated that the wetland severs the property and just won’t work as a stormwater connection. Village Engineer B. Cross stated that one key component is that this is a residential district with a proposed 4- story building project with a height of 55’ average above grade. Residential zoning only allows for a maximum building height of 25’. Trustee M. McMurry stated that the goal was to create a transition area from residential to commercial zones. This project is more of a jump than a transition because of the building height. Trustee Biloski asked if there were any thoughts of pools, patios or other amenities for the project. M. Mecenas stated that it all depended what the marketplace wanted. Mayor Woodard felt that a 4-story building is too imposing for that area. It is difficult to envision the true height of a 4-story building. Flags could be installed to give a visual. The Norway spruces trees that are planted there are 25’ now and grow on average a foot a year, so might provide screening. Trustee Friend is concerned about the availability of adequate parking. T.G. Miller’s D. Harrick stated that parking and stormwater designs will be complicated. Mayor Woodard asked if there were plans to incorporate alternative energy. M. Maecenas stated that any concepts of utilizing alternative energy have not been looked at yet. e. February Board Meeting: Mayor Woodard proposed rescheduling the February 2019 Board of Trustees meeting to accommodate some Trustee’s travel schedules. Resolution # 8344 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: The Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves and authorizes the Mayor to change the Board of Trustees February 19, 2019 meeting to February 25, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. at the Cayuga Heights Fire Department. Motion: Trustee Marshall Second: Trustee Friend Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Friend, Marshall, and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: McMurry Motion Carried 6. Report of the Trustees a. General Code: The manuscripts were edited by Trustee McMurry, Trustee Biloski, and Treasurer Mangione with very little substance change. Attorney Marcus will add input and present a final draft to the Board in March. Village Treasurer suggested the 2019-2020 Budget Workshop be held on March 23, 2019 form 9-12 p.m. 7. Report of Police Chief Wright (Exhibit 2019-109) Submitted Report: Chief Wright still has 2 part-time officer positions he would like to fill. There is a continuous recruitment list that the County lists for the Village to draw from. Resolution # 8345 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: The Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves and authorizes Chief Wright to advertise and interview to fill 2 part-time vacancies for Village of Cayuga Heights Police Officer. Motion: Trustee Salton Second: Trustee Marshall Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Friend, Marshall, McMurry and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion Carried 8. Report of Assistant Superintendent of Public Works (ASPW) Wiese a. North Triphammer Road Lighting: Lights are working, and the pilot solar light is still working and will stay up. •The on-call snow crew worked a total of 36 hours of overtime during the recent snowstorm. •Sidewalk plow has a broom that worked well but now needs some repairs. •A resident on Upland and Triphammer Road had emailed Mayor Woodard asking why the Village didn’t salt the sidewalk. The Board recognizes her concern but decided that it does not make sense for the Village to treat the sidewalks. 9. Report of Engineer Cross: a. TCSWC – tabled until next month •The WWTP is operating on a single heating system and the replacement of that system is built into Phase II of the plant project which puts it 2 or 3 seasons down the road. B. Cross has asked GHD and will ask Casey Mastro of NYPA about shifting that project into Phase I. •The Bergmann contract is ready to be presented to the Board in February. •Trustee McMurry ask about the T.G. Miller Cayuga Heights Road study. B. Cross stated that they are just starting to look at it. 10. Report of the Treasurer Mangione (Exhibit 2019-110) Resolution # 8346 BE IT RESOLVED THAT: The Village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees approves Abstract #8 for FYE2019 consisting of TA vouchers 63-75 in the amount of $18,470.51 and Consolidated Fund vouchers 530- 605 in the amount $269,683.46 and the Treasurer is instructed to make payments thereon. Motion: Trustee Salton Second: Trustee Biloski Ayes: Mayor Woodard; Trustees: Biloski, Friend, Marshall, McMurry, and Salton Nays: none Abstentions: none Motion carried 11. Report of Clerk Walker a. Active Shooter Training: •The department heads were emailed the link to provide online training to their staff. b. Village Signs: •The Village doesn’t have proper signage to alert the public to changes to meeting location and times. Signarama of Ithaca will produce the new signs for Marcham Hall budgeted out of Village Hall Contractual fund. 12. Adjournment Mayor Woodard adjourns the meeting at 10:06 p.m.