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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-11-2019 Town Board Meeting Minutes ApprovedVirgil Town Board Meeting July 11th, 2019 1 | P a g e TOWN OF VIRGIL REGULAR MEETING July 11th, 2019 PRESENT: Supervisor John Kaminski, Board Members Jereme Stiles, Eric Snow, Matt Denniston, Gary Pelton, Attorney for the Town Pat Snyder, Town Clerk/Collector Alane Van Donsel, Ken Scherrieble & David Coish Camden Group, Highway Superintendent Britt Morse, Wes Kryger Greek Peak, Sandy Price Cortland County Legislator, Doug & Jenae Withey W2Operators, Jeremy Boyland Bailey Place Insurance, Mack & Sylvia Cook, Carole Rehkugler, Matt Hollenbeck, Paul Slowey, John Morse, Scott Elston, Bonnie Quackenbush, Daniel Haynes, Teri Pelton, Chris & Bob Applagate, Lori Megivern, 6:30 PM –THE REGULAR MEETING WAS CALLED TO ORDER Supervisor Kaminski called the meeting to order, followed by the salute to the flag. RESOLUTION #19-062 APPROVAL OF MINUTES Draft of the Regular Town Board Meeting Minutes dated June 13th, 2019: Member Stiles moved to approve the minutes for June 13th, 2019 regular Town Board Meeting with corrections. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None RESOLUTION #19-063 AUTHORIZATION TO PAY BILLS GENERAL FUND FOR JUNE 2019 NUMBER 007: Member Denniston moved to approve payment of the General Fund’s audited vouchers numbered 173- 202 in the amount of $ 23,927.30. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None HIGHWAY FUND FOR JUNE 2019 NUMBER 007: Member Denniston moved to approve payment of the Highway Fund audited vouchers numbered 1124- 1134 in the amount of $122,248.09. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None SEWER DISTRICT #1 FUND FOR JUNE 2019 NUMBER 007: Member Denniston moved to approve payment of the Sewer District #1 audited voucher’s numbered 2063-2071 in the amount of $5,993.92. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None They questioned WATER DISTRICT #1 FUND FOR JUNE 2019 NUMBER 007: Member Denniston moved to approve payment of the Water District #1 audited vouchers 3033- 3037 in the amount of $7,299.22. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None MONTHLY REPORTS SUPERVISOR’S MONTHLY REPORT FOR MAY & APRIL & JUNE 2019 LONG FORM: Member Stiles moved to accept the Supervisor’s Monthly Report in long form for May & April 2019. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays –None SUPERVISOR’S MONTHLY REPORT FOR JUNE 2019 LONG FORM: Member Stiles moved to accept the Supervisor’s Monthly Report in long form for May & April 2019. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays –None TOWN CLERK’S MONTHLY REPORT FOR JUNE 2019: Member Stiles moved to accept the Town Clerks Monthly Report for June 2019. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None SEWER DISTRICT OPERATIONS REPORT: Ken Scherieble & David Coish were present from the Camden Group. Member Pelton asked if everything was in good shape at the plant, Coish responded yes. There was some discussion about the tank replacement. Supervisor Kaminski said that it is close to being cured. He said he will be getting ahold of them next week to make arrangements to swap the tanks out. Member Stiles moved to accept the Sewer Districts Report. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None WATER DISTRICT OPERATIONS REPORT: Doug & Jenae Withey were present. Withey said that they haven’t read the meters for the third quarter yet. He said that their operator has picked up the machine and it’s not downloaded correctly. Withey mentioned that the hot weather has caused havoc with some of the equipment and they have been using cooling fans to help combat the situation. Member Pelton asked how long it will take to replace the meters. Withey replied two weeks. They plan on starting with the oldest meters first. Member Stiles moved to accept the Water Districts Report. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER’S REPORT: Member Stiles moved to accept the Animal Control Officer’s Report. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays-None CODE ENFORCEMENT AND ZONING OFFICERS REPORT: A written report was submitted by Code and Zoning Officer Kevin McMahon. Member Stiles motioned to accept the Code and Zoning Officers report. The motion was seconded Member Snow. Vote: Ayes- Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None Virgil Town Board Meeting July 11th, 2019 2 | P a g e COUNTY LEGISLATOR’S REPORT: County Legislator Sandy Price submitted a written report and was present. Member Stiles motioned to accept the County Legislators report. The motion was seconded by Member Denniston. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None HOPE LAKE OPERATIONS REPORT: Wes Kryger reported that the there were 89 people signed in to use the bath house the day of the fireworks. There were 171 cars parked inside the park and many cars parked along Clute road, as well as in the parking lot of the water park. He said that they had a good turnout. Member Stiles said that there needs to be more things planned during the day. He said that very few people showed up for the fireman’s BBQ. Kryger said that they could plan more activities such as a fishing derby. He flet that one of the issues was that the old celebrations had free food and people were used to that. Member Stiles motioned to accept the Hope Lake Operations oral report. The motion was seconded Member Snow. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None HIGHWAY DEPT. SUPERINTENDENTS REPORT: Highway Superintendent Britt Morse was present and submitted a written report. Morse said that they have been busy and they plan on oil and stoning roads in two weeks. Member Stiles motioned to accept the Highway Supervisor report. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays: None. OLD BUSINESS SCHOOL BUILDING UPDATE: Supervisor Kaminski said that he sent out an information sheet regarding the school building. He would like to have a referendum on the ballot in November on whether the town residents want to take over the building or not . They need to have the referendum in writing to the Board of Elections no later than Aug. 5th to have it on the ballot in November. He said that the board needs to do a lengthy seeker. He would like to hold a special meeting to finalize the SEQRA and to go over the proposed referendum. Attorney Snyder said that he will prepare the SEQRA and he said it could be lengthy. Snyder said that it’s not a type one action, but they have to go through the short environment assessment form. Kaminski said that the information sheet that he prepared is to the point. He contacted the Bond Attorney for the school bonds and the bottom line in that the DASNY bonds affect the district and the Virgil building in until 2028. Town can only use the building for normal town business until the bonds are paid off in 2028. The towns hands are tied because of the bonds. The tax burden of the building is $60,000. The values of both buildings, the current town hall and the school building are listed. Kaminski wants this to go to vote in November. Bob Applegate, stated that he feels the school building has more flexibility than the current town hall. He feels it’s important to list the amenities of the school on the information sheet. Lori McGivern, asked if the school left a list of items they were leaving? Kaminski said that the historian and t he clerk were in the building yesterday and it was pretty stripped. They said the town could use the electronic sign, but t hey took the computer that runs it. Paul Slowey said that he is all for the town controlling the use of the building, but as what cos t? The school district wants to dump their liability on us. He feels that the district is not going to be able to unload the building that easily. There are no buyers for the building. Slowey feels that the board should be deliberate on taking it over. If the town takes over the building, the entire cost of the school building is going to fall on the town instead of on the entire district. The district is are going to have maintain it, because they own it. He doesn’t see how the town can take it over without a defined use, can’t open it up to 503C non for-profits. Slowey says let them help pay for it. Bob Applegate, wanted to know if it was possible that if the referendum is passed and the citizens decide to take over the school building, then the town would sell the current town hall? Applegate feels that the income for the sale of the current town hall could be used to help us get over the hump with the school building. Member Stiles said that the problem still remains with the restrictions and 9 years out until something other than town use can be done with the building. Teri Pelton, said that because of the restriction on how the school building can be used, it seems the only option is to move the town offices over there. She feels it would be prudent to put the current town hall on the market immediately to see if there is any interest for someone to buy it. Kaminski said they could get a realtor to come in here and tell them they can sell the building, but it wouldn’t make sense if the town hasn’t had the vote to take the building over. McGivern asked if the town has hired a DASNY approved appraiser as the dormitory authority has suggested. Kaminski said that they said as long as the appraiser is certified they can do the appraisal. Scoot Elston, the town judge, thanked the board for the open discussion, he said that the board doesn’t have to do that. Elston wanted to know if a referendum required? Does the whole town have to vote on this matter? Attorney Snyder said that under New York State law this item is subject to a permissive referendum. He said that if enough people signed a petition, it can go to a referendum. Under the NYS law a town board can skip the petition part and go directly to a referendum. Elston then said, so a referendum is not required, unless the towns people get a signed petition. Elston said that he felt that moving the town offices to the school building, will be a huge liability. He said that the town is not going to get away with just $60,000 a year in maintenance costs. Elston went on to say that the building is going to disintegrate over time. He doesn’t know how a board member can vote in favor of going to a referendum for an emotionally charged subject. Elston feels that if the town wants a referendum, using the petition process, then put it on the ballot. Town Clerk Van Donsel asked Supervisor Kaminski if he could add the costs that it will take to move the town hall and the court over to the school. Sandy Price said that there are grants available for the court and for the vaults. She is not sure how much is available. Kaminski said he would like to ask the board to move forward on going to a referendum for the town to acquire the building. Member Pelton said he would like to move ahead, but he feels he needs more information. Kaminski said he would like to hold a special meeting. Aug1st. 6:00PM, with the purpose of the meeting being to discuss the school building and to consider voting on a resolution. Kaminski would like to proceed with acquiring of the building under a referendum. Elston asked if the town votes to buy the building, can it be recalled, if more information comes to light? Elston is concerned that the community may be handcuffed that it might not be able to bear. Elston wanted to know if the board can have a public hearing and have the duly elected board vote on this matter. He Virgil Town Board Meeting July 11th, 2019 3 | P a g e feels that if it does get on the ballot, the board has to make it perfectly clear what the town is buying. Elston said that he didn’t know until that day that they plan to move the court over to school. Lori Megivern, said she thinks that the school building is a huge asset. She said that the town can have a library, a museum, a huge court room and a disaster center. She said they shouldn’t concentrate on negative opinions. Paul Slowey, said he wants the building, but it needs to be looked at as a business traction. He feels that the school should pay for it for a year. He doesn’t feel that the school sitting on it won’t change our tax burden. Elston said he feels that the school building is a great asset, but he feels that this can’t be an emotional decision, it needs to be a fiscal decision. It was asked how much the school will cost the town. Kaminski said a will be a nominal fee, maybe a dollar or a $100. Slowey, said that he feels that the district wants to wash their hands of it. Sandy Price, said she wanted to come to the boards defense. She said there have been a number of meetings, including committee meetings. The committee came up with approximately 35-36 different uses of the building. She feels that there has been due diligence. Bonnie Quackenbush was wondering about the list. It was stated that mostly everything on the list can’t be done because of the DASNY bonds. Megivern said that anything on the list that is a town function can be done. She said that daycare used to be a town function. Several of the items can be done, such as a museum and a library. These items should be explored. Member Stiles said that there are some items on the list that can be done, he would like to have a list of what can happen. He feels going to vote is premature. Stiles feels if they have a more tangible list, they would be able to have a discussion. Sandy Price said that when the committee developed the list, they didn’t know about the DASNY bond stipulations. Stiles said that he hates presenting something without having all the information. Megivern said that it’s not fair of the school district to allow both these communities to move forward without all the facts. Sylvia Cook said they need to see the written opinion of the bond lawyer. She said she was part of a conference call. She said there maybe other options, but they need to wait for the written opinion and they need to get a DASNY approved appraiser to appraise the building using the comp method. She said there may be another option. The town might be able to buy the building with an arm length transaction. She thinks the school might be able to put the building using comps, which the only comp is the Truxton school which sold for $50,000. She feels if this happens there would be no more restrictions on the building. She feels they can then let in 5013c and commercial property in from the get go. Cook said no one wants to put the burden on the tax payers. She feels the school would give the town hall room to grow in the future. Cooks said that are ways to get grants and there are revenue producing entities. One is a senior citizen community center. She thinks we can have a local government efficiency program, with Harford and Lapeer. Another option is to use the building for government offices and use 10% of the building for nonprofits. Member Pelton said that Virgil can’t compare ourselves to Truxton because the $51,000 came from a local person and it was a difficult transaction. John Morse said it going to take a lot longer than November to figure this all out. He said that there is asbestos in the building. He said the building is going to need to be heated and maintained. He said if the town takes over the building, we will need a full-time person to maintain it. He said that the town needs to know what we are buying. Supervisor Kaminski asked how does the board want to proceed. Kaminski would like to have all the facts in writing before we move forward. Member Denniston mentioned scheduling a special meeting. He said that they should have Matt Wells opinion in a few days. He feels at that point it would be much easier to move forward. Kaminski said that the resolution has to be to the board of elections by Aug. 5th. Denniston said that it would be his preference to hold a special election. Elston said that the town can have a permissive referendum at any time. He said you might have a 150 people educated on the matter vote. He feels that the board is misleading the people if they move forward. Kaminski said he doesn’t mislead people. Megivern said that five educated people voted to close the building. Quackenbush said that the people need more time to get more facts. Carole Rehugler said she is very interested in what’s going on and what the next step is. She feels that it would be prudent to get the information, from Matt Wells and then in 7 days call a workshop. Then move forward from there. Kaminski asked again how the board wanted to proceed. Pelton said that he wanted to get more facts and schedule a special election in the future. Stiles wants the information to review. Snow thinks it’s a good idea to wait. Kaminski said the item is dead at this meeting. CONTINUED DISCUSSION ON WORKERS COMPENSATION: Jeremey Boyland from Bailey Place Insurance presented to the board. Supervisor Kaminski said that the bill for workers compensation is going to be over $50,000. They got a quote from Compalliance for $43,000. Boyland said that the County rates for 2020 aren’t out yet, so it’s hard to compare. Right now, there would be a $15,000 savings. He said that Compalliance, insures over 300 municipalities and they work with a number of neighboring municipalities and a number of regional municipalities. Compalliance is funding future liabilities. He said that what we have now is based on assets and the number of claims. The county factors in three years of previous claims. Compalliance funds future liabilities, it’s similar to home or auto insurance, and it would be modified with claims. Compalliance, has wealth with risk management. Homer has moved forward with Compalliance. Supervisor Kaminski asked if the county will hire an actuary for each town Boyland said that would be a question for Attorney Snyder to discuss with the county attorney. Boyland said that the Village of homer took their claims with them and paid their claims. The county threw in an actuary. Stiles is concerned, that if the county says that we need to hire an actuary. Boyland said that would be a question for an attorney versed in comp law. Stiles said that the county can’t pick and choose who pays for an actuary. Price said that the county can still sue the Village of Homer. Stiles said that he is sick of being tied by the county. He would like to take the claims with us. Kaminski said that he concerned about the extra costs, if we are taking the claims with us, we are paying the costs. Member Stiles made a motion to move forward with Compalliance. Attorney Snyder said that they need a resolution stating that they are moving forward. The current insurance ends in Jan. 1, 2020. Member Snow seconded the motion. Member Denniston said they need to consider if they will need an actuary. The board decided to talk to the attorneys and the insura nce companies to find out if they will have to hire an actuary. Member Stiles withdrew the motion. WELLNESS POLICY: Member Denniston said that he looked at the sample wellness policy, but he hasn’t drawn anything up yet. He needs to look into this further. Virgil Town Board Meeting July 11th, 2019 4 | P a g e RESOLUTION #19-065 DISCUSSION ON CREATING ZONING OFFICER’S POSITION: Member Stiles made a motion to adopt the Zoning Officer job description as presented. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None RESOLUTION #19-066 SET HOURLY RATE SALARY OF ZONING OFFICER: It was stated that there used to be two separate positions. The previous zoning officer worked 10 hours a week. The town is having issues with junk cars. Member Stiles made a motion to set the hourly rate to range from $15.00 to $18.00 an hour depending on qualifications. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes- Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays - None RESOLUTION #19-067 SET HOURS OF ZONING OFFICER: HOURS: Member Stiles made a motion that the Zoning office will not work maire than 12 hours a week and these hours will be evaluated monthly. Member Snow second the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays - None RESOLUTION #19-068 TO SET A PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOASD LOCAL LAW #1 of 2019 TRANSFER STATION RULES: Member Stiles made a motion to set up a public hearing for the proposed Local Law #1 of 2019, a local law to establish procedures and requirements for the use of the Town of Virgil Solid Waste Transfer Station. Stiles proposed the public hearing shall be held at the next scheduled town board meeting on August 8th, 2019 at 6:00 PM. To be held at the Virgil Town Hall 1176 Church Street. Member Denniston seconded the motion. MD- five ayes. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None NEW BUSINESS DISCUSSION ON POND LAW: Supervisor Kaminski said that the Town of Virgil has a pond law. When he first came on board there was some issues with someone building a pond. Kaminski felt that the pond law was a good idea to try and help residents. He said that usually Department of Environmental Conservation deals with pond. In the case that Kaminski was referring to, t he DEC didn’t do anything. There are rules on offset and setbacks where ponds can be placed. He doesn’t want people infringing on the neighbors. Kaminski said that they are now having issues with the pond law. The Code Enforcement Officer, Kevin McMahon, feels the town should not be in the pond business. Member Stiles said that they are not looking to change the law, just looking to remove the requirement to get a pond permit. The Zoning officer would be in charge of the Zoning law. Stiles said that there are a bunch of laws that the board needs to review. He would like to review both the planning and zoning laws, as there is a lot that needs to be cleaned up. Attorney Pat Snyder agreed that there is a lot that needs to be cleaned up. RESOLUTION #19-069 APPROVAL FOR NEW DESKTOP COMPUTER FOR THE TOWN CLERK’S OFFICE- Supervisor Kaminski said that the Town Clerk informed him that the current desktop computer that is used at the front counter will no longer operate after Jan. 2020. It is a home version and it has Windows 7 on it, which no longer be supported by Microsoft. She got a state bid price form the town’s IT specialists Plan First in the amount of $958. Member Stiles made a motion to approve the purchase of a new desk top computer in the amount of $958.00. Member Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays- None DISCUSSION ON SEXUAL HARRASSMENT TRAINING: Supervisor Kaminski said that the Governor has changed the rules on Sexual Harassment Training. Highway Superintendent Morse said that the highway workers did theirs with the County. Kaminski said that he would like to have training here with about 35 people. The training has t o be completed by October 2019. He would like to hold it sometime in September. He said the Fire Department has to do it as well. RESOLUTION #19-070 APPROVAL OF NEW BUILDING PERMIT FEE SCHEDULE- Member Stiles said he met with the Code Enforcement Officer and went over the building fee schedule. There may be one correction that needs to be made on it otherwise it’s all done. Stiles said that the prices are in line with what we already have, it’s just a lot more simplified and now it’s on one page. Member Denniston made a motion to approve the simplified building permit fee schedule. Me mber Snow seconded the motion. Vote: Ayes- Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays - None CHRUCH STREET: Sandy Price said there are still some street lights out on Church Street. The Virgil Town Clerk will call National Grid. With no further business to discuss, Member Stiles moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:55 PM Member Snow seconded the Motion. Vote: Ayes-Members Pelton, Snow, Denniston, Stiles and Kaminski. Nays: None Respectfully Submitted by, Alane Van Donsel, Virgil Town Clerk