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HomeMy WebLinkAboutB - 02 Town Board Minutes 03/01/23 MARCH 1, 2023 5:03 P.M. TOWN BOARD MEETING The Regular Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Cortlandville was held at the Raymond G. Thorpe Municipal Building, 3577 Terrace Road, Cortland, New York with Supervisor Williams presiding. Members present: Supervisor, Thomas A. Williams Councilman, Jay E. Cobb Councilman, David J. Donlick Councilman, Jeffrey D. Guido Councilman, Gregory K. Leach Town Clerk, Kristin E. Rocco-Petrella Others present were: Deputy Town Clerk, Abigail Albro; Highway Superintendent, Larry Drach; Cortlandville Court Clerks: Margaret Capps, Amy Keefe, Susan Soule; Town Justice, Mary Beth Mathey; Cortland County Legislators: Kelly Preston and Cathy Bischoff; Town Residents: Andrea and Chad Niggli; Barbara Leach; Karen Snyder; John Reynolds; Pamela Jenkins; Robert Martin; Dustin Smith; Jim Fellows Jr.; Lenore and Clyde LeFevre; News Reporter: Jacob Mack from the Cortland Standard. Others joining via Zoom video/telephone conference: Assistant to the Supervisor, Amanda Rainbow; Joan and Jack Fitch; Katherine Wickwire; Phil Cinquanti; Dan Gapski; Dan (unknown); and News Reporter, Eddie Velasquez from the Cortland Voice. Supervisor Williams called the Regular Meeting to order. He moved to agenda item I-18, regarding the resignation for retirement from Joan Fitch, Town Planning and Zoning Board of Appeals Recording Secretary. Supervisor Williams noted that Joan was joining the meeting via Zoom videoconference. He thanked her for her 28 years of service and offered his remarks about her exceptional service to the Town. Town Clerk Rocco-Petrella provided a little history about Joan and her career with the Town, noting that she started in June 1995, taking over for Julie Ray. In her tenure, she has worked with 3 Town Supervisors; 2 Planning Board Chairs; 15 Members of the Planning Board; 12 Members of the ZBA; has recorded over 2,600 Planning Board Actions and over 1,100 ZBA Actions; 533 Conditional Permits; 280 Site Plans; 477 Subdivisions; 246 Aquifer Permit recommendations; and 827 Variances. Town Clerk Rocco-Petrella thanked Joan for all she has done for the Planning and ZBA and for the Town as a whole, stating “it has been a pleasure working with you”. Supervisor Williams and the Board wished Joan well in her retirement. RESOLUTION #96 ACCEPT, WITH REGRET, THE RESIGNATION FOR RETIREMENT FROM JOAN FITCH, RECORDING SECRETARY FOR THE TOWN PLANNING BOARD AND ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS, EFFECTIVE MARCH 1, 2023 Motion by Councilman Cobb Seconded by Councilman Leach VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Donlick, Guido, Leach NAY – 0 ADOPTED WHEREAS, after 28 years of service to the Town of Cortlandville as Recording Secretary to the Town of Cortlandville Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals, from June 1995 to present, Joan Fitch has submitted her letter of resignation for retirement, and WHEREAS, Mrs. Fitch will be remembered for diligent work ethic and precise meeting minutes as she was a master of detail, therefore BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby accept, with regret, the letter of resignation from Joan Fitch as Recording Secretary to the Town of Cortlandville Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals to be effective March 1, 2023, and it is further RESOLVED, the letter of resignation, dated February 26, 2023, is hereby received and filed. Councilman Leach made a motion, seconded by Councilman Guido, to approve the Draft Town Board Minutes of February 1, 2023 and February 15, 2023. All voting aye, the motion was carried. MARCH 1, 2023 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 2 RESOLUTION #97 AUTHORIZE PAYMENT OF VOUCHERS – MARCH Motion by Councilman Leach Seconded by Councilman Guido VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Donlick, Guido, Leach NAY – 0 ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the vouchers submitted have been audited and shall be paid as follows: Funds A, B, DA, DB, Voucher #214-256 HG, SF, SS, SW General Fund A $ 42,985.69 General Fund B $ 3,706.31 Highway Fund DA $ 0.00 Highway Fund DB $ 30,942.44 Gutchess Lumber SC Project HG $ 5,128.01 C’Ville Fire District SF $ 0.00 Sewer Fund SS $ 163,325.76 Water Fund SW $ 4,154.55 Funds CD1, CD3, CD4 Voucher #7-9 BMills Rehab CD1 $ 0.00 Town Wide Rehab CD3 $ 40,716.70 Business Devl CD4 $ 0.00 Funds TA, TE Voucher #5-7 Trust & Agency TA $ 54,375.01 Expendable Trust TE $ 0.00 Supervisor Williams offered privilege of the floor to Town Justice, Mary Beth Mathey. Hon. Mary Beth Mathey made the following comments regarding the proposal resolution to eliminate the second Town Justice position, which she later submitted for the record. I find it curious that your protocol requires members of the public to express their concerns or questions before you have had your discussion. To date, all of your discussion of this proposal has taken place in illegal and secretive executive sessions. Unless and until you conduct open and public discussion of this proposal and reveal your rationale and financial justification for that decision, it is impossible to effectively address the issues. Three of you have represented to me that this is a budgeting determination. Obviously then some of the obvious questions that need to be answered are: How much do you anticipate saving by abolishing this position and based on what data? In that regard I will note that when Tom Williams discussed this proposal with me last week, he cited what he believed to be my current salary. He was inaccurate. So without open public disclosure, we have no way of knowing whether you are deliberating with accurate factual information. Also, have you been informed, and taken into consideration, that I do not take any benefits from the Town? I do not participate in the health insurance. I do not participate in the retirement system. This saves you thousands of dollars. May I assume that in doing your “due diligence” into actual potential savings you have considered that? Also, by how much are you expecting to increase the salary of the remaining part-time justice? This will certainly impact any purported savings you anticipate. Another question that should be asked is whether you have conferred with any of the current justice court staff about the impact of this decision on the operation of the court. Parenthetically, I know the answer is no. The court has four fulltime clerks, three of whom have served for 30+ years and under 6 judges. Not one of you has asked them how the court would function with one part -time justice. Are you not at all interested or concerned with how this decision will affect the delivery of judicial services to the people of Cortlandville? If you had sought information from the court staff, you might have learned that the number of vehicle and traffic tickets processed in this court in January 2022 was 528; in January of 2023, this number was 795 – a 56% increase. 525 tickets were processed in February 2022, and 759 in February 2023 – a 45% increase. There is no sound factual rationale for decreasing the number of town justices. MARCH 1, 2023 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 3 As I noted at the beginning of my remarks, these are just a few of the considerations which I would expect any responsible and ethical town board member would want to discuss in open public session before making a decision on this very destructive resolution. At the close of this discussion, I would expect, as public servants, that you will be open to comments and questions from constituents since up to this moment, we have not been privy to any of your reasoning or factual basis for this decision. Thank you. Supervisor Williams thanked Hon. Mathey for her comments. Supervisor Williams offered privilege of the floor to Robert Martin. Town resident, Robert Martin made the following comments with regard to the costs of Gutchess Lumber Sports Complex Phase 2, which he submitted for the record and are represented below. A recent Cortland Standard article stated that a $227,000 payment to Smith Site Development LLC was another drop in the Gutchess Park bucket. How big is the Phase 2 bucket? The original cost presented at the August 4, 2021 Town Board meeting, held at GLSC was $750,000 to $1,000,000. This was stated in the Highlights of the Management Agreement with PBR Tournaments and reiterated by John DelVecchio in his presentation. To-date from the Town Board minutes, $2,171,228.59 has been paid (see spreadsheet showing dates and amounts paid). Recent purchase orders total $111,508.80. Phase 2 Project costs include design, construction and construction management, Design costs for CHA Consulting include extra work $79,375 (parking lot) and $68,700 (concession stand/restroom building). CHA engineering services including design documents initial cost was $144,200. Smith Development LLC construction bid award was for $3,152,189. Field Turf USA total contract was for $874,425.31. A bond resolution for $2,000,000 for phase 2 at GLSC has been issued for an estimated total cost of construction. At the 11/9/22 Town Board meeting Supervisor Williams noted that he has been working on the financial formulation for GLSC and planned to have a report to the board soon regarding a plan for financing the project. What is the projected total cost for GLSC phase 2? What is the plan for financing this project? Mr. Martin also commented on the proposal to eliminate a Town Justice position, which states that the Town has incurred financial losses. He asked for the data showing the losses, adding that he did not know the court was supposed to be a profit industry but thought it was supposed to provide safety and security for the community. Mr. Martin stated that the resolution also mentions a decrease in arraignments and asked if we have seen a decrease. Finally, he noted that the resolution, if adopted, would be subject to permissive referendum. He asked, if a petition were submitted in opposition of an adopted resolution, would the Town accept the petition or pull the referendum verbiage from the resolution and not allow a public vote on the matter. Supervisor Williams thanked Mr. Martin for his comments. Supervisor Williams offered privilege of the floor to Pamela Jenkins. Town resident, Pamela Jenkins commented on the proposed resolution to eliminate the second Town Justice position. Her written comments were later submitted for the record and are represented below. … Regarding agenda item number I-17, issue of eliminating the Town Justice position. This has never been discussed in public so, please slow down and provide the public with information about why you are attempting to eliminate an elected Justice position. I FOIL requested information from Ms. Rocco-Petrella and she responded with 3 sheets of paper which reflect only a small fraction of the cases seen per year in the Cortlandville Town Court. If Ms. Rocco-Petrella does not have more information… who does… or does no one have the complete story? The years were 2020, 2021 and 2022. Are these years when caseloads were down due to the COVID pandemic. Do we expect caseloads to rise again once COVID is behind us and people have resumed full activities? What percentage of cases would not be able to be seen by the other sitting Justice, Mr. DeMarco due to conflict of interest, time off, vacations? How much would it cost Cortlandville to cover those cases? How much time and disruption to the court system would this cause if cases have to be shifted to other courts? What is the estimated savings of eliminating one Justice position? Can this be offset by savings and reduced spending in other town activities? MARCH 1, 2023 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 4 Listening to what Mary Beth Mathey said, it is alarming that the court clerks were not consulted regarding the potential impact of eliminating a justice. So, again please slow down and provide this information so we can understand why you were considering this maneuver. Thank you. Supervisor Williams thanked Ms. Jenkins for her comments. Supervisor Williams introduced Cortland County Legislators, Kelly Preston and Cathy Bischoff, who were in attendance to discuss the redistricting plan for Cortland County; a follow- up to their December 7, 2022 presentation. Legislator Bischoff and Legislator Preston explained that the Cortland County Redistricting Committee voted to move to a 15 Member Legislature; the proposal would go before the County Legislature in the next month or so, with a public hearing to be held before a final vote. They explained, in great detail, the proposed redistricting map which would increase the number of legislators representing the Town of Cortlandville from three to five. Two legislators would fully represent the Town, which would represent approximately 74-75% of the population of the Town. One legislator would be shared with the Town of Homer, representing 11% of the population of the Town. Finally, two legislators would be shared with the City of Cortland, representing approximately 14-15% of the population of the Town. Legislator Bischoff explained the districts for the remaining 10 legislators, noting that the Committee worked hard to keep certain districts, such as Truxton-Cuyler-Solon, and Cincinnatus- Freetown-Willet together, while abiding by the law and the new 5% and 40% rule which is as follows: 1. Districts shall be as nearly equal in population as is practicable; the difference between the most and least populous districts shall not exceed 5% of the means of all districts; 2. No villages or cities or towns except those having more than 40% of a full ratio for each district shall be divided. Supervisor Williams and the Board thanked Legislator Bischoff and Legislator Preston for their detailed presentation and for their time spent on this complex matter. Note: The following handouts were provided to the Board and those in attendance. MARCH 1, 2023 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 5 MARCH 1, 2023 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 6 MARCH 1, 2023 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 7 Councilman Donlick made a motion, seconded by Councilman Cobb, to receive and file the following monthly reports: 1. Code Enforcement Officer, Kevin McMahon – January 2023; and 2. Cortland County Treasurer – March 2023; All voting aye, the motion was carried. Attorney DelVecchio reported: LED Streetlight Project: Attorney DelVecchio informed the Board that he recently met with Siemens Smart Infrastructure regarding the Town’s LED Streetlight project which was nearing the end of construction. Siemens requested Attorney DelVecchio sign off on the project, which he said he would do conditioned on three things: 1. Siemens assist Attorney DelVecchio in getting a rebate from National Grid, which the Town recently received in the amount of $30,840.00; 2. Satisfy Highway Superintendent Drach by finalizing punch list items that have not been completed; and 3. Attend a Town Board meeting to give a presentation to the Board on the cost savings the project will have for the Town, since the majority of the current Board was not involved with the project. Attorney DelVecchio had no further business to report. Supervisor Williams responded to comments made at the last Special Town Board Meeting as well as on a recent newspaper article. He stated that he was a “bit miffed” both with some comments made last week and with the reporting in the local newspaper where it was declared that the Board “has taken or might be taking illegal action”. He stated that he takes illegal activity very seriously, and that illegal activity can only be declared by a court. Supervisor Williams stated that he takes it very personally, and suggested that in the future, in this setting, that we all use a little more discretion in what we say and how we say it. At this time in the meeting, the Board proceeded with new business items. Councilman Leach made a motion, seconded by Councilman Cobb, to receive and file correspondence from New York State Office of Homes and Community Renewal, dated February 23, 2023, regarding the 30-day completion and termination notice for the Town’s NYS Community Development Block Grant for Economic Development for Seven Valley Specialty Cables, LLC (CDBG #287ED967-21), scheduled to occur on March 10, 2023. All voting aye, the motion was carried. RESOLUTION #98 AUTHORIZE APPROVAL OF PAYMENTS (DRAW #9) REGARDING THE TOWN’S 2021 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT TOWN-WIDE HOUSING REHABILITATION PROGRAM (CDBG #287HR317-21) Motion by Councilman Donlick Seconded by Councilman Guido VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Donlick, Guido, Leach NAY – 0 ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby authorize approval of payments (Draw #9) for the following regarding the Town’s 2021 Community Development Block Grant Town-Wide Housing Rehabilitation Program (CDBG #287HR317-21): Hammer & Nail Home Improvement – Payment to contractor (Coville) – $15,000.00 JMS Plumbing and Heating – Payment to contractor (Wells) – $10,067.88 Billitier Electric – Payment to contractor (Weibly) – $2,930.00 Town of Cortlandville – Payment to supplier (Wells) – $50.00 Town of Cortlandville – Payment to supplier (Coville) – $50.00 Councilman Leach made a motion, seconded by Councilman Cobb, to receive and file correspondence from Cortlandville resident, Donna Hill, dated February 13, 2023, regarding hydro-electric power. All voting aye, the motion was carried. MARCH 1, 2023 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 8 Councilman Leach briefly commented on the letter from Ms. Hill and asked if the Town could look into the suggestion for hydro-electric power. Supervisor Williams indicated he would forward the correspondence to the Town’s engineer, CHA, to see if the idea were something the Town could pursue. Councilman Guido made a motion, seconded by Councilman Donlick, to receive and file the 30-Day Advanced Notice for Liquor License Renewal for Bruench Inc., DBA Doug’s Fish Fry, located at 3638 Route 281 in the Town of Cortlandville. All voting aye, the motion was carried. Councilman Guido made a motion, seconded by Councilman Leach, to receive and file correspondence from New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Office of Real Property Tax Services, dated February 21, 2023, regarding the Notice of 2023 Tentative Telecommunications Ceilings pertaining to Roll Section Six. All voting aye, the motion was carried. Councilman Cobb made a motion, seconded by Councilman Donlick, to receive and file the Resolution of the Cortlandville Fire District, adopted February 21, 2023, resolving that the Cortlandville Fire District “no longer authorizes the installation or use of any existing dry fire hydrants. The Significant unreliability of these hydrants poises a severe threat to the health and safety of our firefighters as well as the citizens and the residents of the public we are sworn to protect.” All voting aye, the motion was carried. Councilman Cobb made a motion, seconded by Councilman Guido, to receive and file the Cortland County Planning Department review and recommendations, dated January 25, 2023, and Cortland County Planning Board Resolution No. 23-05, dated February 15, 2023, regarding the Town’s proposed Local Law of 2023, “A Local Law Amending the Town of Cortlandville’s Chapter 178-76 Zoning Conditional Permit Additional Specific Requirements”, in which they recommended denial of the proposed local law. All voting aye the motion was carried. Attorney DelVecchio explained the reason the County Planning Board recommended denial of the proposed local law. It was suggested that the law be more generic so that it does not mention the specific section of the New York State Fire Code, since the State Code could be changed in the future and as a result the Town would have to update its Code as well. Attorney DelVecchio informed the Board that he revised the proposed local law and made a general reference to the State Fire Code. He asked the Board to acknowledge receipt of the revised proposed local law and to forward it to the Town and County Planning Boards for review and recommendations. RESOLUTION #99 ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF A REVISED LOCAL LAW OF 2023, “A LOCAL LAW AMENDING THE TOWN OF CORTLANDVILLE’S CHAPTER 178-76 ZONING CONDITIONAL PERMIT ADDITIONAL SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS” AND FORWARD TO THE TOWN AND COUNTY PLANNING BOARDS FOR REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS Motion by Councilman Guido Seconded by Councilman Cobb VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Donlick, Guido, Leach NAY – 0 ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby acknowledge receipt of a revised Local of 2023, “A Local Law Amending the Town of Cortlandville’s Chapter 178-76 Zoning Conditional Permit Additional Specific Requirements”, received February 23, 2023, and it is further RESOLVED, the proposed Local Law shall be forwarded to the Town and County Planning Boards for review and recommendations. MARCH 1, 2023 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 9 RESOLUTION #100 ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF THE MEMORANDUM AND ORDER FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISON, THIRD JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT, DATED FEBRUARY 23, 2023, IN THE MATTER OF SOURCE RENEWABLES, LLC ET AL., V. TOWN OF CORTLANDVILLE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS ET. AL. Motion by Councilman Guido Seconded by Councilman Donlick VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Donlick, Guido, Leach NAY – 0 ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby acknowledge receipt of the Memorandum and Order from the State of New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, dated February 23, 2023, in the Matter of Source Renewables, LLC et al. v. Town of Co rtlandville Zoning Board of Appeals et al., in which the Court agreed with petitioners “that the ZBA’s determination was irrational and therefore must be annulled”. Attorney DelVecchio explained that the Appellate Case had to do with a proposed solar project on Locust Avenue that abuts the City of Cortland. Initially, the Supreme Court upheld the ZBA’s decision to deny the variance, however the Appellate Court overturned the decision. As a result, the solar company may come back to the Town ZBA with the decision in hand and potentially obtain a variance. If so, the Town’s new solar ordinance would govern the project. Councilman Leach made a motion, seconded by Councilman Donlick, to receive and file Resolution No. 33-23 adopted by the Cortland County Legislature, “Calling on the State of New York to Continue to Pass-Thru Federal Affordable Care Act Enhanced Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage Funds”. All voting aye, the motion was carried. RESOLUTION #101 AUTHORIZE TOWN HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT TO HIRE CHRISTOPHER GULINI AS MOTOR EQUIPMENT OPERATOR (MEO) FOR THE TOWN HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT, EFFECTIVE MARCH 13, 2023 Motion by Councilman Cobb Seconded by Councilman Donlick VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Donlick, Guido, Leach NAY – 0 ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby authorize Highway Superintendent Drach to hire Christopher Gulini of 3531 Kellogg Road, Cortland, New York as Motor Equipment Operator (MEO) for the Town Highway Department, effective March 13, 2023, at an hourly rate of $23.12. RESOLUTION #102 AUTHORIZE HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT TO PURCHASE SUPPLIES FOR BOX BEAM GUARDRAILS TO BE INSTALLED ON SWEENEY ROAD, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $25,000.00 Motion by Councilman Guido Seconded by Councilman Leach VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Donlick, Guido, Leach NAY – 0 ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby authorize and direct Highway Superintendent Drach to purchase supplies for box beam guardrails to be installed on Sweeney Road in the Town of Cortlandville, in an amount not to exceed $25,000.00. MARCH 1, 2023 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 10 RESOLUTION #103 ACCEPT AGREEMENT OF EXPENDITURES OF HIGHWAY MONIES FOR THE YEAR 2023 Motion by Councilman Leach Seconded by Councilman Cobb VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Donlick, Guido, Leach NAY – 0 ADOPTED WHEREAS, the Agreement of Expenditures of Highway monies, in accordance with Section 284 of the Highway Law, was submitted by the Town Highway Superintendent as required, therefore BE IT RESOLVED, the Agreement of Expenditures of Highway monies for 2023 is hereby accepted and shall be signed by members of the Town Board and Town Highway Superintendent. There was discussion regarding the proposed resolution to eliminate the position of the second Cortlandville Town Justice pursuant to Section 60-a of Town Law, subject to permissive referendum. Councilman Cobb made a motion to put the matter on the floor for discussion, seconded by Councilman Guido. Councilman Guido explained that the main reason for exploring the proposal to eliminate the second Town Justice position was because of the deficit over the past five years. He stated the proposal was nothing personal, but that it was the Board’s job to try do something to help with that deficiency. Councilman Cobb stated he would be happy if the Town just made a penny, but that the Town was at a deficit for at least five years. He stated there are more items that the Board needs to explore and suggested that there may be some other things that can be done. Supervisor Williams explained that the matter could be voted on, tabled or withdrawn. Councilman Guido stated that the Board needs “to give this more time and look at some other things as well” and that this was not the right time to do this. RESOLUTION #104 TABLE ACTION REGARDING THE PROPOSED RESOLUTION TO “ELIMINATE POSITION OF SECOND CORTLANDVILLE TOWN JUSTICE PURSUANT TO SECTION 60-a OF TOWN LAW” Motion by Councilman Cobb Seconded by Councilman Guido VOTES: AYE – Williams, Cobb, Donlick, Guido, Leach NAY – 0 ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby table action regarding the proposed resolution to “Eliminate Position of Second Cortlandville Town Justice Pursuant to Section 60-a of Town Law”. With no further comments or discussion to be heard, Supervisor Williams adjourned the Regular Meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 6:07 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kristin E. Rocco-Petrella, RMC Town Clerk Town of Cortlandville *Note: The draft version of this meeting was submitted to the Town Board for their review on March 21, 2023. The final version of this meeting was approved as written at the Town Board meeting of .