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Home My WebLink About2020-11-18-TownBoard-MinutesTown of Danby Town BoardRegular Meeting Minutesvia Zoom Video Conferencing18 November 2020 at 7:00 PM Attendees: Town Board Joel Gagnon, SupervisorLeslie ConnorsJim HolahanSarah SchnabelMatt Ulinski Recording Secretary Janice R. Adelman, Town Clerk Town Justices Garry HuddleTheresa Klinger Town Planner John Czamanske Code EnforcementOfficer Steve Cortright Bookkeeper Laura Shawley Members of the Public Anthony WellsCarl SeamonKatharine HunterRonda RoaringTed Crane 1. Call to Order1.1.Meeting called to order at 19:02 by Town Supervisor Joel Gagnon.2. Privilege of the Floor2.1. Ted Crane made comments regarding current affairs in Washington, DC; theproposed law on the Highway Superintendent eligibility expansion; and kudos toMatt Ulinski again for foregoing his stipend in FY 2021 associated with deputysupervisor status.3. Consent Agenda3.1. Approval of Minutes3.1.1. Budget Workshop Meeting 28 October 20203.1.2. Regular Monthly Meeting 9 November 20203.2. Announcements3.2.1. Open Positions Committees/Boards3.3.Warrants3.3.1. General Fund Vouchers 354–370 for $12,114.85 Removed from consentagenda for discussion. Town Board Meeting Town of Danby, NY 18 November 2020 Page 2 of 9 3.3.2. Highway Fund Vouchers 198–205 for $34,985.693.3.3. Water District Fund Vouchers 37–40 for $1,098.50 Removed fromconsent agenda3.4. Reports3.4.1. Court Justices Huddle and Klinger provided updates regarding courtprocedures in the face of COVID; they are taking all precautions whileexperiencing a busy month having collected just under $6,000 in finesand surcharges. There have been no evictions nor small claims cases;these are on hold until January at least.3.4.2. Workplace Violence group led by Ulinski is proceeding with next stepsafter completing the workplace surveys and compiling those results.The next steps are to get safety recommendations, present those tothe Town Board, and then look at reporting procedures,documentation, and training recommendations for staff. If we do nothave a system in place, we are liable for fines and fees from the stateat any point; this is a high priority for Town Hall.3.5. Correspondence3.5.1. None Resolution 133 of 2020: Approval of Above Consent Agenda (absent Gen Fund and WaterVouchers) Moved By:Ulinski Seconded By:Schnabel No further discussion Vote:Councilperson Aye No Abstain Connors X Holahan X Schnabel X Ulinski X Gagnon XResolution 133 approved. 4. Old Business4.1. Warrants (removed from the Consent Agenda for clarifying questions)4.1.1. General Fund Vouchers 354–370 for $12,114.854.1.1.1. Schnabel questioned the appearance of two bills for the IthacaJournal and Central NY Newspapers for legal ads. It turns out thatVoucher #357 is not actually an invoice and the $54.64 amount Town Board Meeting Town of Danby, NY 18 November 2020 Page 3 of 9 referenced will be removed from the vouchers list, bringing the totalamount of the warrant under consideration to $12.060.21.Resolution 134 of 2020: Motion to Approve General Fund Warrant for $12,060.21 Moved By:Schnabel Seconded By:Holahan No further discussion. Vote:Councilperson Aye No Abstain Connors X Holahan X Schnabel X Ulinski X Gagnon XResolution 134 approved. 4.1.2. Water District Fund Vouchers 37–40 for $1,098.504.1.2.1.Connors found a discrepancy of $3 between the lawn mowinginvoice and the voucher line. Shawley will include the additional $3.50from the invoice to this fund.Resolution 135 of 2020: Motion to Approve General Fund Warrant for $1,102.00 Moved By:Connors Seconded By:Ulinski No further discussion. Vote:Councilperson Aye No Abstain Connors X Holahan X Schnabel X Ulinski X Gagnon XResolution 135 approved. 4.2. Vote on Proposed Local Law re Highway Superintendent (Gagnon)Resolution 136 of 2020: Motion to Approve Local Law #4 to Expand Residency Eligibilityfor Pool of Candidates to Highway Superintendent Moved By:Gagnon Seconded By:Holahan Town Board Meeting Town of Danby, NY 18 November 2020 Page 4 of 9 4.2.1. Discussion centered around expanding the pool of candidates as a goodthing for Danby by allowing for better options, some of whom may stillbe from Danby.Vote:Councilperson Aye No Abstain Connors X Holahan X Schnabel X Ulinski X Gagnon XResolution 136 approved. 4.3. Proposed 2021 BudgetResolution 137 of 2020: Approve Proposed 2021 Budget Moved By:Gagnon Seconded By:Connors 4.3.1. Discussion ensued on one alteration/technicality in the Town Boardcontractual line. Vote:Councilperson Aye No Abstain Connors X Holahan X Schnabel X Ulinski X Gagnon XResolution 137 approved. 4.4. Policy on Correspondence (Connors, Holahan)4.4.1. Connors did a thorough job crafting a draft to start the conversationrolling. Board members will review and come back next month withrevisions. The Town Board and Town Clerk will make comments forConnors to compile to have a focused discussion in the next TownBoard meeting.4.5. Code Enforcement Draft on Personnel Responsibilities (Czamanske)4.5.1. Czamanske developed an expedient and short-term fix in consideringthe Code Enforcement vs Town Planner responsibilities based onconversations with the Town’s attorney. Town Board Meeting Town of Danby, NY 18 November 2020 Page 5 of 9 Resolution 138 of 2020: Approval of Designating Planner as Code Enforcement Officer forZoning and Subdivision Only Moved By:Schnabel Seconded By:Connors 4.3.1. Discussion included a question as to whether the current CodeEnforcement Officer (Cortright) and the new Town Planner (David West)are aware of these changes; they are. Vote:Councilperson Aye No Abstain Connors X Holahan X Schnabel X Ulinski X Gagnon XResolution 138 approved. 4.6. Stormwater Management Officer (Czamanske)4.6.1. The formal designation of Stormwater Management Officer (SMO) wasnever made apparent but has historically been transferred betweenstaff to decide who would be doing what. Former Code Officer SueBeeners was the first appointed SMO in Danby in March 2010. AfterBeeners left, it is unclear whether her replacement was subsequentlyappointed as SMO. Since there are training requirements associatedwith the SMO position, the appointment needs to be considered andmade or renewed annually. There is a clause included such that theappointment automatically renews if not modified. Connors noted thatthey last appointed Beeners in 2014.Resolution 139 of 2020: Appointment of David West as SMO Moved By:Connors Seconded By:Schnabel No further discussion. Vote:Councilperson Aye No Abstain Connors X Holahan X Schnabel X Ulinski X Town Board Meeting Town of Danby, NY 18 November 2020 Page 6 of 9 Gagnon XResolution 139 approved. 4.7. LED Lighting Resolution (Czamanske)4.7.1. There is a program with NYSEG to switch street lights to LEDs. Thequestion was whether this was actually cheaper. Based onCzamanske’s not quite exhaustive comparison, it is clear that it iseasier and probably cheaper to accept the NYSEG proposal to havethem switch the lights over and continue to lease rather than buythem and have to set them up ourselves both initially and over thelong-term with any required maintenance.Resolution 140: Accept Proposal From NYSEG Moved By:Holahan Seconded By:Schnabel 4.3.1. Discussion around fine details such as expandability and whether othertowns have gone this route. Schnabel asked if anyone has thought aboutdoing solar battery lights where there is no connection to the grid?Because if we were going to try to do something that’s not renting thepoles, then the units might be more but we wouldn’t have to hire anelectrician to do it. Ultimately, the desire to do something now ratherthan wait for solar options to materialize took precedence. Vote:Councilperson Aye No Abstain Connors X Holahan X Schnabel X Ulinski X Gagnon XResolution 140 approved. 5. New Business5.1. Mail Delivery at Town Hall (Adelman)5.1.1. Given the continued closure of Town Hall, mail delivered to TownCouncilpersons and Board appointees is stacking up at Town Hall.Discussion involved what to do with the mail, if there are mailboxes forofficials in Town Hall or if mail could be delivered. Katharine Hunteroffered to pick up and deliver the accumulated mail as a courtesy tothe town.5.2. Audio and Video Recording Archive Policy (Gagnon/Adelman) Town Board Meeting Town of Danby, NY 18 November 2020 Page 7 of 9 5.2.1. Gagnon noted that previous Town Clerk Pfeifer used the minimumrequirements of the retention policy for audio, and that audiorecordings were not retained after 4 months. A policy decision wasmade that video records would not be kept due to space concerns, justthe audio would be kept. Now Gagnon wants to keep audio filesindefinitely.5.2.1.1. Discussion centered around what the official recording of themeetings are; by law that is the written minutes.5.2.1.2. One suggestion was to include the audio; another was to postthe video recordings to the Town’s YouTube channel.5.2.1.3. Another suggestion was having an internal policy even if it’sredundant with state policy.Resolution 141 of 2020: Approval of A/V Recording Archive, notwithstanding theminimum standards in the State Retention Schedule, that audio recordings will be keptindefinitely. Moved By:Gagnon Seconded By:Holahan No further discussion. Vote:Councilperson Aye No Abstain Connors X Holahan X Schnabel X Ulinski X Gagnon XResolution 141 approved. 5.3. Tech Upgrade (Gagnon)5.3.1. Given the way the world has changed when meetings moved tothe videoconference platform, we’ve also adapted by postingsupplementary meeting materials with the agenda on the website forpublic accessibility. For this meeting, we also for the first time postedabstracts of the warrants. Is this something that the board wants toembrace? Points for and against included whether including the actualvouchers would be problematic, however a government contract is notkept confidentially.5.3.2. Another important point around tech is that we are finding as we arecoping with pandemic that it requires us to do things that will enableus to function more effectively in the pandemic and beyond. The Town Board Meeting Town of Danby, NY 18 November 2020 Page 8 of 9 direction we are heading in is to invest in technology that will makehybrid services work. The problem is that we haven’t really budgetedfor it. However, consensus is that we can make it work.5.4. Living Wage Adjustment (Shawley)5.4.1. We are not in compliance with meeting livable wage standards for twocurrent employees. To be a living wage employer in Tompkins County,employees must receive at least the minimum wage of $15.37/hour.5.4.1.1. Town Historian, Mary Ann Barr, is underpaid by $0.45/hour;she works about 9hrs/week.5.4.1.2. David MacArthy is underpaid $0.07/hour.Resolution 142 of 2020: Motion to increase hourly rate to make the Town of Danby aLiving Wage Employer Moved By:Holahan Seconded By:Connors No further discussion. Vote:Councilperson Aye No Abstain Connors X Holahan X Schnabel X Ulinski X Gagnon XResolution 142 approved. 5.5. Second Meeting in December Status Resolution 143 of 2020: Cancel the Board Meeting Scheduled for 23 Dec 2021 Moved By:Ulinski Seconded By:Holahan 5.5.1. Discussion focused on the need to have applications for Boardappointments due at the first meeting in December, with interviews andappointments made at the second meeting. This has been rectified bymoving the deadline for applications up to December 9 so that reviewand interviews can be made at the Dec 14 meeting.. Vote:Councilperson Aye No Abstain Connors X Holahan X Town Board Meeting Town of Danby, NY 18 November 2020 Page 9 of 9 Schnabel X Ulinski X Gagnon XResolution 143 approved. 6. Discussion of Next Meeting Agenda6.1. Change rules of procedure regarding minutes (e.g. compilation and distribution)6.2. Putting Warrant Abstracts Up6.3. Revisit Records Management Policy6.4. Correspondence6.5. Codification/Organizing Laws and Policies7. Adjournment7.1. Meeting adjourned at 21:22. ______________________________________________Janice R. AdelmanTown Clerk