Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 7 2022 Special Town Board Meeting Minutes 1 Special Town Board Meeting Friday, October 7, 2022 6:00 pm In-person and Via the Zoom Meeting Platform Present: Supervisor Stephanie Redmond, Town Councilperson’s; Jude Lemke, Robert Lynch, Cassandra Hinkle; Highway Superintendent Buddy Rollins; Town Clerk Mary Cornell; Town Bookkeeper Blixy T. Absent: Town Councilperson James Ricks. Call to order: Supervisor Redmond called the meeting to order at 6 pm Privilege of the Floor: Denny Hubbell spoke as the President of the Enfield Vol. Fire Company. He spoke again of increasing the $10,000 for the current contract to $35,000. The fire company had assumed that the monies were not going to be in the budget and were additional funds. The fire company’s concern reflects its financing banker’s concern regarding the purchase of a new vehicle. The fire company has purchased a ~$800,000 vehicle and they will be looking at increasing the budget in the next contract negotiations. They currently have 6 new members and they are unable to put them in gear as they do not have the funds to purchase the gear. They would like $25,000 in additional Town funds put into the budget for budget year 2023. Additions and Changes to the Agenda: Supervisor Redmond noted the correction of the resolution for the Tompkins County Recovery Fund Match. The dollar amount should have read $74,163.23. Councilperson Lynch read the proposed resolution for the ECC matching funds of $20,000 for the grant they are submitting to the Tompkins County Community Recovery Fund. Correspondence: N/A New Business: Discussion of Tentative Budget: Councilperson Lemke shared that the big ticket item is the Highway Department and the increase of the salaries. Bookkeeper Blixy shared a salary comparison with the Towns of Newfield and Ulysses. In Ulysses a MEO & Deputy make $24.50 an hour and $25.00 an hour. Next year they will have a 4% increase at $26.50 and $27.00 and the Deputy is $27.50 and $28 (They are going up at 2% each year). Enfield has a current range of $22.70 - $23.94. The open position is currently at $21.00. With the proposed budget the open position would be $24.00 hr. The town only currently offers single coverage health insurance. Councilperson Lynch asked Blixy the salaries of the Highway Superintendent in the Town of Newfield versus The Town of Ulysses. Newfield is at ~$75,000 and Ulysses is at ~$63,000. Ulysses will be negotiating for a higher salary. Councilperson Lynch shared that all of the Town elected personnel should have a standard raise of 2% this year. Councilperson Hinkle asked what it would entail to offer family insurance. Bookkeeper Blixy shared that the process for changing the health insurance is cumbersome and will take time. Town Councilperson Lemke asked if any of the highway guys are currently interested in a family plan. Buddy shared that the Highway guys are set and this is something that can be looked at in the future. Councilperson Lemke shared that she is concerned as there are several signs advertising for highway personnel and we should be worried that we may potentially lose highway personnel. There was a discussion of increasing the Town Clerk’s Salary by 9.375% to a salary of $35,000. Councilperson Lynch asked if we were going to receive the building permit funds from Norbut this year? Supervisor Redmond shared that we have not and there has not been a mention of a start date as of yet. Supervisor Redmond asked the board how they would like to proceed with the tentative budget. The Town board is in agreement to raise the Town Clerk salary to $35,000. Councilperson Lynch has a philosophical issue with a large raise for an elected position. As a raise was agreed upon for the Town Clerk Councilperson Lynch has suggested a 4% raise for the Highway Superintendent and Highway employees instead of the 12%. Town Bookkeeper Blixy shared that the Highway 2 Department budget was modified to make allowances to allow for the 12% increase in salary within the existing budget projection for highway personnel. Further discussion followed. The Town Board had a majority consensus to support discussing further the 12% increase in salaries. Councilperson Lemke asked why the Fire Company wants the jump to $35,000 from the $10,000. Denny shared that some of their turnout gear was out of date and the Town by law is technically the boss of the fire company. They figured that the initial $70,000 was a start and they can use the $10,000 to purchase new gear for new members. The fire company is having an issue in financing other expenses. Denny shared that they will use the $10,000 for turnout gear, but they need the additional $25,000 to cover other expenses. Councilperson Lynch shared that he had gone into this meeting with the intention of supporting the additional $25,000 for turnout gear and not other expenses. As the focus is to keep the men and women who volunteer safe. Supervisor Redmond asked what happened to the old turnout gear. Denny shared that some of the members are using it, but they can’t get as involved so they would not get injured. Denny shared that the fire company’s tax rate is separate from the Town’s tax rate. With the fire tax separate they look at that rate and if that rate stays steady then you don’t necessarily hear much about it. If it gets reduced next year and then there is a large increase the following year people talk about it. Denny does not want to backtrack their budget as they will have an increase in payments for the new truck which will have an impact on the next contract. Glen Miller a semi-local person buys old gear/hoses and it is sold overseas. Supervisor Redmond asked if Mecklenburg had purchased the old turnout gear, Denny shared that no/not to his knowledge. The Enfield Fire Company is currently involved in an audit by an independent auditor. Town Bookkeeper Blixy asked Denny for a copy of the audit and financial reports. LAP company does the books for the Fire Company. Supervisor Redmond stated that the Town Board is not currently in compliance with the Town of Enfield Fire Company membership policy. Councilperson Lynch asked if we wanted to increase the contingency account to $30,000. Lynch suggested that additional contingency moneys might be needed to cover higher-than-expected future financing costs for the salt barn. Councilperson Hinkle supported the idea. In response to concerns she had expressed at an earlier meeting, Bookkeeper Blixy Taetzsch clarified that a $30,000 contingent account would fall within the allowable limits. Blixy said that based on her research, a contingent account is limited to 10 per cent of a Town’s operating budget, minus debt service. Given that limit, Blixy said, Enfield’s contingent account could be almost as high as $50,000. The Town Board agreed to increase the fund line to $30,000. Discussion: Restore NY NYS has a program called restore NY and is targeted towards homes to demolish. The houses that are being looked at need to be demolished. Supervisor Redmond and Code Officer Teeter identified 15 houses and Restore NY allowed 6 houses and out of those 6 only 1 homeowner is interested. We are going to have a public hearing tomorrow morning at 9 am. There is a $500 application fee. Resolution #77-2022: Tompkins County Recovery Fund Match. WHEREAS the Town Supervisor Plans to submit a grant application to the Tompkins County Recovery Fund for upgrades and repairs on Municipal buildings, and WHEREAS match funding increases the likelihood of the applications acceptance, and WHEREAS the Town has $74,163.23 in a reserve account for the Town Hall, now therefore be it 3 RESOLVED the Town Board authorizes the Town Supervisor to include a $20,000 match commitment to be included in the application Supervisor Redmond moved and Councilperson Lemke seconded. Discussion: Supervisor Redmond will prioritize the list (Roof at the Town Hall, Remodeling at the Town Hall, Painting of the Town Courthouse, etc.). Supervisor Redmond has the quotes. The deck on the Town Courthouse needs maintenance. Supervisor Redmond shared that her long-term plan is to move the sheriff’s satellite station and remodel the town hall for town offices. Councilperson Lynch shared that the Town Courthouse is an old building and we should be careful on what funds we are asking for from the building as it is an old building. Councilperson Lynch would like to move an amendment that we use ARPA funds to match this grant. There was no second. Vote: Councilperson Hinkle, Aye; Councilperson Lemke, Aye; Councilperson Lynch, Aye; Supervisor Redmond Aye; Carried. Resolution# 78-2022 Expending JCAP funds on Security Cameras. WHEREAS the Town Supervisor met with Ace Security to obtain a quote for security cameras for the Courthouse, and WHEREAS Ace Security provided an estimate of $7,585.00 WHEREAS the Town has $7,500 in a reserve account for use on Courthouse projects, now therefore be it RESOLVED the Town Board authorizes the Town Supervisor to engage the services of Ace Security to install security cameras for the Courthouse. Supervisor Redmond moved and Councilperson Hinkle seconded. Discussion: Supervisor Redmond spoke with Justice Poole and she is in support of using these funds for this. These funds have been in reserve for this use with the Courthouse for a while. Vote: Councilperson Hinkle, Aye; Councilperson Lemke, Aye; Councilperson Lynch, Aye; Supervisor Redmond Aye; Carried. Councilperson Lynch would like a resolution in place to purchase security cameras for the Town Hall ASAP as he is concerned about the security of Town facilities. Councilperson Lynch said that the first thing we need to do is protect our people. Supervisor Redmond shared that the purchase of security cameras for the Town Hall is included in the application for the Revitalizing main street grant with Tompkins County. Superintendent Rollins asked if the procurement policy is being followed. Supervisor Redmond shared that it is. Adjournment: Councilperson Hinkle motioned to Adjourn and Councilperson Lynch seconded. Adjourned at 7:52 pm. Respectfully submitted, Mary Cornell Mary Cornell Town Clerk