HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-10-21-TownBoard-MinutesTown of Danby Town Board
Budget Workshop at 6:00 PM
Regular Meeting at 7:00 PM
via Zoom Video Conferencing
21 October 2020
Attendees:
*Present only at the Regular Meeting
Budget Workshop
1.Call to Order at 18:16 by Town Supervisor Joel Gagnon
2.Budget Workshop
2.1.Shawley described how the budget shows the town to be adequately funded.
2.2. Question about whether to include the Water District employees in the
proposed forfeiture of the 2% raise.
2.2.1.Ulinski would like to see non-elected officials get a raise.
3.Adjourned at 1905
Regular Meeting
1.Call to Order
1.1.Meeting called to order at 7:05 PM by Town Supervisor Joel Gagnon.
1.2.Attendance Roll Call
Town Board Joel Gagnon, Supervisor
Leslie Connors
Jim Holahan
Matt Ulinski*
Absent Sarah Schnabel
Recording Secretary Janice R. Adelman, Town Clerk
Bookkeeper Laura Shawley (only present at Budget Workshop)
Town Justice Garry Huddle
Theresa Klinger*
Town Planner John Czamanske*
Members of the Public Katharine Hunter*
Ronda Roaring*
Ted Crane*
Town Board Meeting Town of Danby 21 October 2020
1.3.Additions/Deletions
1.3.1.Justices’ Report
2.Privilege of the Floor
2.1.None.
3. Consent Agenda
3.1.Previous Minutes
3.1.1.None.
3.2.Announcements
3.2.1.Open Board and Committee Appointments
3.2.1.1. BZA - 1 seat; incumbent interested in another term
3.2.1.2. CAC - 3 seats; 1 seat was resigned and can be appointed now
3.2.1.3. EMC - 1 seat; incumbent interested in another term
3.2.1.4. Historian - at least 1 seat; incumbent interested in another term. May
have another person to share responsibilities
3.2.1.5. Planning - 1 seat; incumbent may be interested in another term
3.2.1.6. Water District Board of Commissioners - 1 seat
3.2.2.Town Planner Search Update
3.2.2.1.Search Committee met and organized the task; received 19
applications; first pass revealed 3-4 standouts with 1 in particular with
whom they did an interview.
3.2.2.2.Some potential candidates asked to submit materials after the
deadline. The Search Committee extended the deadline to next Thursday
29 October 2020.
3.2.2.3.The Search Committee seeks to fill the position fairly soon.
3.3.Warrants
3.3.1.None
3.4.Reports
3.4.1.Town Clerk — Exhibit 1
3.4.2.Justices’ Report
3.4.2.1. Nothing to report for now.
3.4.2.2. In the future, this report will be included in the first monthly meeting
4.Correspondence
4.1.1.Emails from Ronda Roaring dated 13 Oct 2020 - see Exhibit 2
Regular Meeting Minutes of 2 9
Town Board Meeting Town of Danby 21 October 2020
5.Old Business
5.1.Resolution 125 of 2020: Approval of Changes to Health Insurance
Consortium Resolution Authorizing Supervisor Gagnon to Sign Agreement
on the Town’s Behalf to Include Danby as Part of the Revised Consortium
Resolution 125 approved.
5.2.Discussion of Enforcement: Who, What, and How
5.2.1.Who does what pertaining to code enforcement and zone enforcement.
5.2.2.Recommend task force of Connors & Schnabel; Czamanske to make
suggestions based on feedback from this evening that code enforcement
(Cortright) does building code and potentially junk law, and fire; planner
does planning and zoning enforcement. The subdivision regulations might
also have an enforcement paragraph. Terms and titles need to be changed
there as well.
5.3.Budget Revisited
5.3.1.Ulinski doesn’t feel that the paid staff should bear the brunt by not taking
the salary rate increase.
5.3.2.Gagnon suggested to look at the total compensation which includes
health insurance. Questions what has happened to the total compensation
looking back over the last 5 years; what is the inflation rate?
5.3.3.Connors would like to set another meeting to do the budgets one more
time with Laura along with warrants.
5.3.4.Budget Meeting Scheduled for Wednesday 28 October at 7pm.
6.New Business
6.1.Set Public Hearings — discussed but scheduling was tabled until next meeting.
6.1.1. Comfort Road Rezoning to Low Density proposed for November 18, 2020
6.1.2. Budget Public Hearing proposed for November 9, 2020
7.Discussion of Next Meeting Agenda 9 November 2020
Moved By:Connors Seconded By:Ulinski
Councilperson Aye No Absent
Connors X
Holahan X
Schnabel X
Ulinski X
Gagnon X
Regular Meeting Minutes of 3 9
Town Board Meeting Town of Danby 21 October 2020
7.1.Nothing yet
8.Adjourn
8.1.Meeting adjourned at 20:47.
______________________________________________
Janice R. Adelman
Town Clerk
Regular Meeting Minutes of 4 9
Town Board Meeting Town of Danby 21 October 2020
Exhibit 1
TOWN CLERK'S MONTHLY REPORT
TOWN OF DANBY, NEW YORK
SEPTEMBER 2020
Pursuant to Section 27, Subd 1 of the Town Law, I hereby make the following statement
of all fees and moneys received by me in connection with my office during the
month stated above, excepting only such fees and moneys the application and
payment of which are otherwise provided for by Law:
STATE OF NEW YORK, COUNTY OF TOMPKINS, TOWN OF DANBY
I, Janice Adelman, being duly sworn, say that I am the Clerk of the Town of
Danby and that the foregoing is a full and true statement of all Fees and moneys
received by me during the month above stated, excepting only such Fees the
application and payment of which are otherwise provided for by law.
Subscribed and sworn this 20th day of October 2020.
___________________________________
Town
Office License/Permit
Qty
Issued
External Agency
Oversight
Disbursed to
External
Agency
Amount
Received for
Danby
Clerk Hunting 9 NY State DEC $ 698.85 $ 42.15
Marriage 0 NYS Dept Health $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Dog 37 NYS Dept Ag &
Markets
$ 43.00 $ 442.00
Impoundment Fees 1 $ 25.00
Code Building 10 $ 892.00
Zoning Planning Fees 1 $ 150.00
Total Collected For Town of Danby General Fund $ 1551.15
Meeting Minutes Exhibit 1 of 5 9
Town Clerk
Janice R. Adelman
Town Board Meeting Town of Danby 21 October 2020
Exhibit 2: Correspondence
Exhibit 2a: Email from Ronda Roaring re Broadband
From: Ronda Roaring
Subject: broadband
Date: 13 October 2020 at 09:25:02 EDT
To: Joel Gagnon <supervisor@townofdanbyny.org>, Leslie Connors
<lconnors@townofdanbyny.org>, Matt Ulinski <mulinski@townofdanbyny.org>,
"sschnabel@townofdanbyny.org" <sschnabel@townofdanbyny.org>, Jim Holahan
<jholahan@townofdanbyny.org>
Cc: REDACTED, Town Clerk <townclerk@townofdanbyny.org>
All:
I've been thinking a lot about the broadband issue. I feel the Town doesn't have a handle on
the situation. How many people are affected by not having any internet access? Why?
(Choose not to have it. Can't afford it. Not available.) Where do the people who can't afford
it or have no availability live? What does the map look like?
I think we could get the answers to these and other questions without cost and create a map
(with Ted's help) so that we have a good handle on the problem. Here's my suggestion how
to do that.
1) Keeping in mind that putting a questionnaire online might not work for the target audience,
we should put a printed questionnaire in the DAN to be mailed back for Ted to input but
also encourage people to go online and answer the questions if they have the ability.
2) We should stress that we need to know their address to create a map of those who have
internet availability and those who don't.
3) We should ask the following questions:
What is your address?
What school district are you in?
Do you currently have internet access? If so, what type?
Do you feel this service is adequate for your needs?
Do you have children who depend on internet access for school assignments?
Do you or anyone living at your address have a job that depends on internet access?
If you can't afford internet access, do you currently qualify for Lifeline? (If you've never heard
about Lifeline, please go here to learn more about it .https://www.fcc.gov/general/lifeline-
program-low-income-consumers )
Etc.
By having a better picture of the situation we may find that problem is worse or not as bad as
we thought. We may also be able to help certain individuals to acquire internet service
when they thought they couldn't afford it or access it. Knowledge is power.
Ronda Roaring
Meeting Minutes Exhibit 2 of 6 9
Town Board Meeting Town of Danby 21 October 2020
Exhibit 2b: Email from Ronda Roaring re Cellphone Service
From: Ronda Roaring
Subject: cellphone service
Date: 13 October 2020 at 09:53:43 EDT
To: Joel Gagnon <supervisor@townofdanbyny.org>, Leslie Connors
<lconnors@townofdanbyny.org>, Matt Ulinski <mulinski@townofdanbyny.org>, Jim
Holahan <jholahan@townofdanbyny.org>, "sschnabel@townofdanbyny.org"
<sschnabel@townofdanbyny.org>
Cc: REDACTED, Town Clerk <townclerk@townofdanbyny.org>, Dan Klein <dklein@tompkins-
co.org>
All:
I want to make you aware of a cellphone service problem, if you don't already know.
1) Not having a cellphone is a serious problem in today's world. Walmart actually requires you
to have a working cellphone number when you apply for a job. It will not take a landline
number on its applications.
2) Some jobs depend heavily on cellphone connectivity. For example, when I was conducting
the census, I was provided with an iPhone on which were apps that had to be filled out
when I interviewed someone. The instant the interview was completed, the phone gobbled
up the interview and sent it to the big computer in the sky (probably in Maryland
someplace). But when I didn't have cellphone service in Danby and Caroline, I couldn't get
the phone to work and couldn't interview people. It was just crazy.
Here's another example. Since I have no cellphone service at my house, the iPhone I was given
by the Census Bureau lost connectivity, making it impossible for me to communicate with
the Census Bureau or my supervisor. I had to drive all around, trying to reconnect the
phone to a tower. That too is just crazy. (This actually happened to me in Collegetown
twice. When I talked to the Census Bureau IT person in Syracuse he said, "You need to
have at least three bars on these phones.")
Here's another example. When the Haefele technician was at my house connecting it to the
fiber optic cable, Haefele's office was trying to call him on his cell. But he couldn't talk to
them about the next place to go because I have no service.
3) People who need to talk to family members during the day when they're at work (keeping
track of kids who participate in sports, for example), but aren't allowed to use the company
phone, need a cellphone. But having a cellphone and a landline can be an expensive thing.
I can tell you that from personal experience. Even with benefits like Lifeline, having to pay
for both the landline and the cellphone adds up.
To my way of thinking, having cellphone service is just as important as having internet service.
Yet a much greater part of Danby is without cellphone service than without internet service.
We need to start looking into repeaters and requiring companies that use our airspace to
provide more extensive service.
Ronda Roaring
Meeting Minutes Exhibit 2 of 7 9
Town Board Meeting Town of Danby 21 October 2020
Resolution 125 of 2020: Approval of the 2020 and 2021 Amendments to the
Municipal Cooperative Agreement for the Greater Tompkins County
Municipal Health Insurance Consortium
WHEREAS, the Town of Danby is a Participant in the Greater Tompkins County Municipal
Health Insurance Consortium (the "Consortium"), a municipal cooperative organized under
Article 47 of the New York Insurance Law, and
WHEREAS, the municipal participants in the Consortium, including this body, have approved
and executed a certain Municipal Cooperation Agreement (the "Agreement"; effective
date of October 1, 2010) and the 2020 and 2021 Amendments that provide for the
operation and governance of the Consortium, and
WHEREAS, Article 47 of the New York Insurance Law (the "Insurance Law") and the rules and
regulations of the New York State Department of Financial Services set forth certain
requirements for governance of municipal cooperatives that offer self-insured municipal
cooperative health insurance plans, and
WHEREAS, the Agreement sets forth in Section Q2 that continuation of the Consortium under
the terms and conditions of the Agreement, or any amendments or restatements thereto,
shall be subject to Board review on the fifth (5th) anniversary date and upon acceptance of
any new Participant hereafter, and
WHEREAS, by motion 005-2020 and 008-2020 the Consortium's Board of Directors
recommends approval of the 2020 and 2021 amended agreements based on review of the
document by the Governance Structure/MCA Review Committee, the New York State
Department of Financial Services, and the Consortium’s legal counsel, and
WHEREAS, the Municipal Cooperative Agreement requires that amendments to the
agreement be presented to each participant for review and adopted by its municipal board,
WHEREAS, the Town of Danby is in receipt of the proposed amended Agreement(s) and has
determined that it is in the best interest of its constituents who are served by the
Consortium to amend the Agreement as set forth in the attached 2020 and 2021 Amended
Municipal Cooperative Agreements,
Now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Danby Town Board approves and authorizes the Town Supervisor to sign
the 2020 and 2021 Amendments to the Municipal Cooperative Agreement of the Greater
Tompkins County Municipal Health Insurance Consortium, and
Meeting Minutes Resolution 125 of 2020 of 8 9
Town Board Meeting Town of Danby 21 October 2020
RESOLVED, further, that the Danby Town Clerk is hereby authorized to certify this Resolution to
indicate its approval, transmit a copy thereof to the Board of Directors of the Greater
Tompkins County Municipal Health Insurance Consortium, and take any other such actions
as may be required by law.
Moved by Connors; Seconded by Ulinski
Approved unanimously 21 October 2020
Meeting Minutes Resolution 125 of 2020 of 9 9