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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-07-21-Town-Board-Meeting-MinutesTown of Danby Town BoardRegular Second Monthly Board MeetingWednesday 21 July 2021 at 7:00 PMTown Hall & Zoom Video Conferencinghttps://zoom.us/j/97107232988?pwd=bHBJY3p5M2toYlFSZWpwbmtLaStkQT09 Meeting MinutesRoll Call :Town Board Joel Gagnon, SupervisorLeslie ConnorsSarah SchnabelMatt UlinskiTown Justice Theresa Klinger (Zoom); Gary HuddleTown Planner David WestTown Code Enforcement Officer Steve Cortright (Zoom)Town Bookkeeper Laura ShawleyRecording Secretary Cindy Katz, Deputy ClerkNot Present:Jim Holahan (Town Board) AGENDA1. Call to Order at 7:03pm by Supervisor Gagnon2. Additions/Deletions to Agenda2.1. Community Choice Aggregation Enabling Law2.2. Appoint Town Planner Administrator of YouTube Channel2.3. Budget transfer to fund Town Clerk contractual line2.4. Workplace violence report will be at the next meeting2.5. Community Choice Aggregation Enabling Law Review3. Privilege of the Floor3.1. Linda Wyatt, of 20 West Miller Road for 30 years, an EMT and member of DanbyFire Department appealed to the Board regarding the very serious flooding herhome has and continues to experience. Over the last 4 days, it has flooded twicewith 18 inches in the downstairs (first floor, NOT a basement)- Nothing that can be done on her property to change this and she requeststhe town do whatever they can to fix it. She feels she is being forced to move & thather property value is nothing.-Unknown why this is happening, but possible causes she cites are climatechanges, changes on Dobson property- Wyatt would like to be included in upcoming meetings with DEC andTompkins County Solar and Water3.1.1. David West, Town Planner just scheduled that meeting and would takeLinda’s contact info so she can join and walk the land3.1.2. Gagnon added that the problem is not just on West Miller, but onGunderman and Linda agreed that others are having problems. Both agreedthat the problem is a large one that needs to be considered fully from all angles Town of Danby Town Board Meeting 21 July 2021 Page 2 of 9 3.1.3. Steve Cortright reported he visited the house following flooding and agreesthis is a definite problem that needs to be addressed3.2. Gary Huddle, Town Justice: Will the town revisit the issue of mask wearing? Hethought we were going to follow the rules of the county but he believes we are notfollowing this.3.2.1 Connors responded we may be revisiting every month esp now as we are stillwatching what will happen with the Delta Variance.3.2.2. Schnabel suggested it be a standing agenda item each month4. Correspondence—none5. Presentations- none6. Reports6.1. Workplace Violence Team Report/Update postponed7. Consent Agenda7.1. Analysis revealed the clerk was over againResolution 119 of 2021 To Make a Budget Transfer to Fund the Town Clerk ContractualLine RESOLVED, the Town Board approves the amount of $100.00 to be transferred from theA9040.800, Workers Compensation account to the A1410.400 Town Clerk Contractualaccount Moved By:Schnabel Seconded By:Connors Vote:Councilperson Aye No Absent Connors x Holahan x Schnabel x Ulinski x Gagnon xResolution 119 approved on July 21 2021 7.2. Warrants7.2.1.General Fund No 13 Vouchers 227–251 for $22,292.227.2.2.Highway Fund No 13 Vouchers 164–177 for $22,533.707.2.3.Water District Fund No 13 Vouchers 22–24 for $549.50 Resolution 120 of 2021 To Approve Consent Agenda Moved By:Schnabel Seconded By:Conners Town of Danby Town Board Meeting 21 July 2021 Page 3 of 9 Discussion: Laura Shawley pointed out a change. The GF amount is actually $22,292.22.Other figures are the same. Question from Ulinski on budget to Shawley : There was aprevious discrepancy on some of the credit card accounts he thought? Shawley clarified thatwas included and is in the process of being reviewed with the clerk. Vote:Councilperson Aye No Absent Connors x Holahan x Schnabel x Ulinski x Gagnon xResolution 120 approved on July 21 2021 8. Old Business8.1. Highway Audit - Energy Efficiency grant8.1.1 Councilperson Ulinski provided an update on a $100,000 grant received in2018 from the Clean Energy Communities Program to upgrade the HighwayBuilding. After some delays for various reasons, significant progress made.Identified for upgrade included: doors, insulation, heat pumps, lighting, waterheating and the waste water disposal issue.8.1.2. Initial plan for upgrades was modified when it was understood that it,including wastewater system improvements, would take 175 years for paybacksavings. Therefore, plans were changed for an upgrade with a more reasonablepayback timeline.8.1.3. In 2019, Tatem did a targeted energy audit which provided variousrecommendations including lighting retrofits, air ceiling, insulated doorreplacement, upgrade to a heat pump, upgrade water heating, and later addinginsulation in office and attic.8.1.4. Choose to work with Halco, which is local. They offered a competitive bid todo everything together, which many did not. Been working for over a year withHalco and just finished all the upgrades recommended by Tatem.8.1.5 Left is the septic separation work. Of the money from NYSERDA, to date havespent $97,000 dollars. Still getting bids for washbid and Ulinski estimates thetown will need to spend ~$18,000 to finish the grant. This was was anticipated.8.1.6. Shawley clarified it was not a matching grant but the town has had to paysome extra costs. Of the $74,000 cost from Halco, we received about $24,000from the grant, leaving the town with about $50,000. Might be some room forswitching categories and moving money around. Ulinkski expected some Town of Danby Town Board Meeting 21 July 2021 Page 4 of 9 flexibility for that and anticipates they may come back to the Town Board nextmonth for the needed money to finish this as well as a waste-water work.8.1.7. Shawley mentioned that all three current bids assure us they can have thework complete in August, as there is a September 1 deadline.8.2.Solar Billing Agreement With Danby Fire District8.2.1. Laura Shawley provided an overview of this Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) with the Fire Department. The solar array is shared between the Town ofDanby and the Fire Department. Over the years, there has been some snags andconfusion regarding the easiest process for billing the FD for their portion ofenergy used. This MOU will formalize what has been agreed upon and makethings simpler for everyone.8.2.2. Gagnon noted that the date must be updated to reflect today.8.2.3. Gagnon wondered if the assumption is that the Fire Bills will never be morethan the aggregate. Shawley explained this process cuts down admin work sowe only have to do it four times a year instead of twelve .8.2.4. Schnabel and Gagnon asked an additional clarifying questions which Shawleyaddressed. Resolution 121 of 2021 To Authorize Signing of MOU on Solar Billing Agreement withthe Danby Fire DepartmentAdditional discussion: Council repeated that the effective date on the MOU needed tobe changed to July 21 2021. Not sure if an amendment is needed. Moved By:Schnabel Seconded By:Conners Vote:Councilperson Aye No Absent Connors x Holahan x Schnabel x Ulinski x Gagnon xResolution 121 approved on July 21 2021 8.3 Community Choice Aggregation Enabling Law8.3.1. Board did not feel comfortable discussing as some had not yet read thedocument, but were ready to schedule a Public Hearing for it. Resolution 122 of 2021 To Schedule a Public Hearing on the Community ChoiceAggregation Enabling Law on the first meeting of next month (August 9) at 7pm Town of Danby Town Board Meeting 21 July 2021 Page 5 of 9 Moved By:Schnabel Seconded By:Conners Vote:Councilperson Aye No Absent Connors x Holahan x Schnabel x Ulinski x Gagnon xResolution 122 approved on July 21 2021 8.4 Resolution 123 of 2021 To appoint David West the administrator of the Town ofDanby’s Youtube channel. Discussion clarified that West will administer the account from a work email and nothis private email account, only he will be able to post videos, and that thecommenting section is turned off for now. Moved By:Gagnon Seconded By:Schnabel Vote:Councilperson Aye No Absent Connors x Holahan x Schnabel x Ulinski x Gagnon xResolution 123 approved on July 21 2021 9. New Business9.1. Review of Draft Logging Regulation Proposal from CAC9.1.1. Gagnon reported that because Highway had not yet reviewed the document;he did not think they were ready to ratify the document yet but it would still behelpful to get a general sense if the proposal was in the ballpark of what we arelooking for.9.1.2. Schnabal asked for reference to what 4,000 board feet represents. Ulinskisuggested that Bruce could give a sense and it was clarified that 4,000 boardfeet would include about an acre or less. Town of Danby Town Board Meeting 21 July 2021 Page 6 of 9 9.1.3. Gagnon explained the goal is to integrate new needs with the current lawwhile ensuring the burden on small-scale harvesting of firewood or timber is nothigh9.1.4. Schnabel mentioned the liability insurance was very low at $250,0009.1.5. Ulinski reiterated the desire to not impinge on the right to make money offprivate land through logging, as that supports keeping the town rural. Heexpressed a desire to hear Bruce’s thoughts as well as other professionals (DECor Soil and Water). Previously there was a roundtable discussion that this couldgo back to. Following that, should run past Guy. Ulinski said Angel Winklehelped navigate in the past and she was great.9.1.6. Shawley : Highway Department would like to have the loggers meet with theHighway Department as a part of the formal permitting process. Thesemeetings/check-ins have happened in the past, the loggers have been veryamendable to it. Highway would like to meet with the committee to discussincorporating that.9.2. Review of CAC-recommended changes to Conservation Easement Template –removed from the agenda by Joel because we were not ready yet9.3. Briefing and Discussion of Possible Uses of American Rescue Plan (ARP) Money9.3.1. Shawley and Gagnon have been researching. Water/sewer and broadbandare the only two categories of funding that are not pure reimbursements fromCOVID related expenses. All other uses need to be directly linked to anoccurring COVID related expense.9.3.2. Shawley attended a webinar recently and shared what she learned. Part ofhow how funding eligibility will be determined is based on if an expense can belinked to the need to the category of water or sewer. For example: software andbilling software upgrades would be covered because that falls under thecategory of water infrastructure.9.3.2.1. If roadwork or equipment purchases (or other things) can be linked towater or water quality or even stormwater, it can be covered.9.3.2.2. Some counties/ vendors are linking revenue loss to the upset in theirequipment replacement plans9.3.2.3. She added there is $370,000 and that municipalities can join togetherand pool their money.9.3.2.4. There is also potential for Fire Districts to utilize the funds throughvarious configurations.9.3.3. Gagnon was on a call with supervisors and spoke of potential to use thefunds. Specifically Caroline and Newfield are interested in possible Broadbandcollaboration.9.3.3.1. Directing the funds to stormwater efforts would be very beneficialbecause then they can be used by highway. Town of Danby Town Board Meeting 21 July 2021 Page 7 of 9 9.3.3.2. Funds can also be used to PLAN for things, does not necessarily have tobe actual work on the ground.9.3.3.3. Shawley added that mitigating flooding at Gunderman remains a greatneed. Maybe the funds can support a hydrology study that can then beleveraged for additional grants to take care of the issue. Shawley confirmedthat the ARP funds can be used for studies if they can be linked to water,sewer etc.9.3.4. Gagnon clarified that we don’t have to say right away how the money will beused. We have 4 years to spend the money, but 2 years to tell them how we willspend it.9.3.5. Shawley to doublecheck if there is Sept 1 deadline for us or not? Might notapply to small municipality.9.3.6. Schnabel wondered if we would have to hire people to do the reporting.Laura gave a few suggestions on what processes and strategies would helpmake reporting as easy as possible.9.3.7. Schnabel wondered if it makes more sense to use the money in a fewdifferent ways, or if it’s better to use a lot of it towards one bigger thing. Ulinskiexpresed interest in seeing a lot of proposals, weighing pros and cons.9.3.8. Schnabel : Major areas to focus on: Broadband, sewer, stormwater. Boardmembers wondered what the best way to meet the broadband needs of thosewho are completely unserved, who are a priority.9.3.9. How do we go about receiving proposals since 2 years isn’t that much time?Individuals can lead efforts in various areas, Zak can maybe do broadband,Highway Department can lead their area.9.3.10. Ulinski , Schnabel, and others agreed on importance of connecting allresidents to broadband.9.4. Gagnon asked Town Planner David West to update on technology concerns that wehave run into during the newly started hybrid meetings.9.4.1. West reported we have switched to an old clerk computer instead of the onewe used previously in the library which has serious issues. The two routers arealso very old and have issues. West thinks we need to run a cable through hereand to upgrade the router, but would need to go through serious walls. We willalso need to evaluate if this computer can support current needs. Thebandwidth is low, and it keeps saying that the wifi connection is unstable. Heclarified that the current computer being used as unused in the clerk’s office(Alex’s, the previous clerk’s, old computer) that still has some documents on itthat should be moved.9.4.2. Ulinski : Will need to continue to evaluate if we need to spend money toupdate the hybrid system or update what we currently have Town of Danby Town Board Meeting 21 July 2021 Page 8 of 9 9.4.3. Gagnon pointed out that it’d be great if the legislator approved Zoom, whichworked really well. Schnabel injected it worked only well for people withhighspeed internet.9.4.4. Schnabel wondered if we need to do both router upgrade AND run a cablethrough the wall at the same time, or try one and see how it goes. Maybe tryrouter first. The router belongs to the library, do they have funds to upgrade therouter and will they agree to replace it? It will also benefit the public as it is thepublic assess router.9.4.5. Ted Crane spoke: “A couple of things that I just heard said are contrary tofacts. At previous meetings, not tonight, but at previous meetings and othertypes, I’ve seen upward of 8 megabytes and up (down and up too). Since I canrun three simultaneous Zoom meetings at home on a 6 x2 xxx, there should beno problem with the router. Routers are extremely fast, even an ancient one,this one is about eight years old, the one i have at home is six years old. Thehardware is not the problem. If you were to ask me, I would suggest that whatyou do is don’t do a fancy cable installation, just run it right through the hall,wind it up when you are not using it, have a cable to access point right here inthis room to extend the strong wifi signal to this room to what you believe is abetter router, if you want. I have a suspicion, nothing more than that, that theline that the town pays for is probably more reliable and perhaps more capablethan this one, this one is free. Time Warner or whatever they are called today isprobably not paying as much attention to a free line as to one the town ispaying good money for, a business line, and so they do better work. And so youcould do a 3rd minimal solution: an access point under a thousands bucks Ithink, cable, whatever it costs, and try it out. If that does not work, than you goto expensive solutions. . But just getting a good wifi signal with a connection toa good line would, I think, be a good start and very cheap. But looking longterm, and I hate to tell you this, but maybe you should talk to Clarity Connect.For what you are paying for Time Warner, at least what you were six to eightyears ago when I looked into it, you could get a better than basic line fromClarity and although the speeds are not as good as Time Warner claims, they’rereliable - except when they go down, which Time Warner does too. Except whenthey go down, at least in my house, they say ‘six down, two up” and I get fivepoint six and two. And I get that all the time [indiscernible.] Just my two cents.”9.4.6. Crane responded to Gagnon ’s question about what he thought the problemwas then, if the router was fine, by saying he believes the problem is related touse during “prime-time” hours and cable access. There is less bandwidthavailable at specific times during the day.9.4.7. Gagnon suggested changing the router and seeing if that helped, and thenrunning a trial cable. He observed the system was running well tonight, muchbetter than previously. Town of Danby Town Board Meeting 21 July 2021 Page 9 of 9 9.4.8. Bruce offered over 400 feet of cable that he has.10. Discussion of Next Meeting Agenda10.1. Workplace Violence10.3. Draft Logging Regulation Policy10.4. CCA Public Hearing11. Adjourn at 8:30pm _________________________________________Submitted by Cindy KatzDeputy Clerk