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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-02-2000208 FEBRUARY 0292000 7:00 P.M. TOWN BOARD MEETING The Regular Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Cortlandville was held at the Town Hall, 3577 Terrace Road, Cortland, New York, with Supervisor Thorpe presiding. TMembers present: Supervisor, Raymond Thorpe Councilman, Theodore Testa Councilman, John Pilato Councilman, Edwin O'Donnell Town Clerk, Karen Q. Snyder Absent: Councilman, Ronal Rocco Others present were Town Attorney, John Folmer; Town Assessor, David Briggs and Highway Sup't., Carl Bush. Supervisor Thorpe called the meeting to order. Councilman Testa made a motion, seconded by Councilman Pilato, to receive and file Town Planning Board Minutes of October 5, 1999. All voting aye, the motion was carried. RESOLUTION #41 AUT HORIZE PAYMENT OF VOUCHERS-FEBRUARY Motion by Councilman Pilato Seconded by Councilman O'Donnell VOTES: ALL AYE ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the vouchers submitted have been audited and shall be paid as follows: General Fund A Vouchers #39 - 65 $ 4,629.62 General Fund B 11 - 14 $ 5,115.68 Highway Fund DA 1 - 1 $ 102.09 Highway Fund DB 36 - 43 $12,814.95 Water Fund 32 - 39 $42,067.16 Sewer Fund 15 - 17 $ 7,083.64 Capital Projects 3-9 HA 3-6 $ 2,551.21 HB 7 $ 18,969.95 HC 8 $ 2,777.14 HD 8 $ 1,575.23 HK 8 $ 1,821.07 HG 9 $ 682.90 Supervisor Thorpe offered privilege of the floor to those in attendance. Councilman Pilato reported he has audited the Town Justice books for 1999. He f ound all to be in order. Councilman O'Donnell stated an announcement of the Cortlandville Town Board meetings was in the section of Around the Town's section of the Cortland Standard, at. no cost to the Town. They will also post any special meetings or changes the Board may have. 209 February 02, 2000 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 2 The monthly report for the Tax Collector for January 2000 is on the table for review and filed in the Town Clerks. Councilman Pilato made a motion, seconded by Councilman O'Donnell, to receive and file correspondence from Cortlandville Fire Chief, Kevin Whitney regarding Local Law #1 of 2000-Lockboxes. All voting aye, the motion was carded. Chief Whitney expressed his appreciation to the Board for their efforts in passing Local Law #1 of 2000-Lockboxes. Councilman O'Donnell made a motion, seconded by Councilman Testa, to receive and file correspondence from the NYS DOT to Senator James Seward regarding the traffic concerns on McLean Road. All voting aye, the motion was carried. Supervisor Thorpe stated all correspondence received regarding McLean Road is being forwarded to the residents of McLean Road. Councilman O'Donnell made a motion seconded by Councilman Pilato, to receive and file correspondence from Bob Bean regarding a zone change request of David Narby. All voting aye, the motion was carried. Mr. Bean indicated in his letter he supports and is in favor of a zone change as requested by Mr. Narby. Town Clerk, Karen Snyder, apprised the Board of notification from the Census Bureau regarding Census 2000 jobs. She explained the wages and length of time the census would be conducted. Councilman O'Donnell made a motion seconded by Councilman Pilato, to receive and file notification from the U.S. Bureau of Census regarding jobs for conducting the 2000 census in the town. All voting aye, the motion was carried. Town Clerk Snyder apprised the Board of a request received verbally from Peg Bahou and Bob Howe, Board of Election Commissioners, regarding the move of voting district 13-4, from the old fire station on NYS Route 281 to the new fire station on NYS Route 13. She recommended the Board of Elections contact one of the fire conunissioners and Doug VanEtten, of the Cortlandville Fire Department. The town should have their permission to use the fire station, as the town does not own the new station. RESOLUTION #42 AUTHORIZE RELOCATING VOTING DISTRICT #13-4 TO THE NEW FIRE STATION ON NYS ROUTE 13, SUBJECT TO CORTLANDVILLE FIRE DISTRICT APPROVAL Motion by Councilman Testa Seconded by Councilman Pilato VOTES: ALL AYE ADOPTED WHEREAS, a request was received from the Cortland County Board of Election Commissioners to relocate voting district #13-4 from the old Cortlandville Fire Station located at NYS Route 281 to the new Cortlandville Fire Station located at 999 NYS Route 13, and WHEREAS, the town does not own the new Cortlandville Fire Station,, permission to utilize the new Cortlandville Fire Station as a voting district is needed from the Cortlandville Fire District., therefore BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby authorize and direct the relocation of voting district #13-4 to the new Cortlandville Fire Station located at 999 NYS Route 13, subject. to Cortlandville Fire District approval. 2 1 U February 02, 2000 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 3 Attorney Folmer reported: Testa Property: Attorney Folmer has written to the NYS auditors indicating a request has been submitted to the Supreme Court requesting approval of the acquisition of the Testa property on NYS Route 281. Attorney Folmer stated he should receive the order tomorrow or the next day. Upon receipt of the order, Attorney Folmer will forward a copy to the auditors. Attorney Folmer has given copies of the documentation to Supervisor Thorpe. Minutes: Attorney Folmer read aloud a New York State law passed effective January 1, 2000 requiring decisions made by administrative officials concerning enforcing local zoning laws or ordinances must be filed within five business days for public access. Attorney Folmer expressed a concern with getting minutes accomplished in this time frame. He faxed a copy of this order to Code Enforcement Officer, Bruce Weber and will report his recommendations. If necessary he will speak with Joan Fitch, secretary for the Planning and Zoning boards. Cleary Easement: Attorney Folmer has paperwork surrendering an easement on the Cleary property and the acquisition of an 112 acre of land. Attorney Folmer was authorized at the last. meeting to proceed with this project, he now needs the necessary paperwork signed by Supervisor Thorpe. Attorney Folmer also needs the necessary paperwork signed by Supervisor Thorpe for the McNeil and Cleary easements being given to the Town at no cost. Town Engineer, Hayne Smith, now has the necessary surveys. BAN: The town will renew a BAN due in February with a callable clause. The town will be issuing a single public bond for several BANS later this year. RESOLUTION #43 AUTHORIZE EXTENSION OF TIME FOR TAX COLLECTION TO JUNE 1, 2000 Motion by Councilman Testa Seconded by Councilman O'Donnell VOTES: ALL AYE ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the supervisor is hereby authorized and directed to sign and forward a request for an extension of the tax collection program until June 1, 2000 to the Cortland County Treasurer, in compliance with Section 938 of the Real Property Tax Law. Councilman O'Donnell expressed his concern regarding a zoning issue of a property in Blodgett Mills. This property is currently for sale. Attorney Folmer stated usually a bank would require a certificate of occupancy. This initiates the zoning enforcement process. If Councilman O'Donnell informs Attorney Folmer of the listing agent, he will contact the real -tor concerning the zoning issues of this property. RESOLUTION #44 APPROVE 2000 ANNUAL CONTRACT WITH TLC AMBULANCE Motion by Councilman O'Donnell Seconded by Councilman Testa VOTES: ALL AYE ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby approve the 2000 annual contract with TLC Ambulance, in the amount of $9,724.00, effective January 1, 2000. u 1 1 February 02, 2000 TOWN BOARD MEETING . PAGE 4 21 RESOLUTION #45 APPROVE 2000 ANNUAL CONTRACT WITH THE FLOOR DOCTOR Motion by Councilman Pilato Seconded by Councilman O'Donnell VOTES: ALL AYE ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby approve the 2000 annual contract with the Floor Doctor for cleaning Town Hall, in the amount of $16,200.00, to be paid at $1,350.00 per month, effective January 1, 2000. Councilman O'Donnell made a motion, seconded by Councilman Pilato, to receive and file the Cortland County Planning Board and Departments recommendations for a zone change request submitted by David Narby. All voting aye, the motion was carried. RESOLUTION #46 SCHEDULE A PUBLIC HEARING FOR A ZONE CHANGE REQUEST SUBMITTED BY DAVID NARBY FOR MARCH 1, 2000 Motion by Councilman O'Donnell Seconded by Councilman Pilato VOTES: ALL AYE ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, a Public Hearing shall be scheduled for March 1, 2000 at 7:00 p.m. for the Zone Change request submitted by David Narby tax map #s 96.09-02-44.200, 96.09-02-45.000 and 96.09-02-46.000. RESOLUTION #47 REFER AQUIFER PROTECTION PERMIT APPLICATION OF WHELAN & CURRY CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, INC. TO TOWN AND COUNTY PLANNING BOARDS Motion by Councilman O'Donnell Seconded by Councilman Pilato VOTES: ALL AYE ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Aquifer Protection Permit Application submitted by Whelan & Curry Services, Inc. for property located at the southwest corner of the intersection of NYS Route 13 and Lime Hollow Road, partof tax snap #95.00-06-12.100, owned by SCWP, LLC, shall be referred to the Town and County Planning Boards for their- review and recommendations, and further RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby request consideration be given to input from Cortland County Soil & Water Conservation Department. RESOLUTION #48 REFER AQUIFER PROTECTION PERMIT APPLICATION OF WHELAN & CURRY CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, INC. TO TOWN AND COUNTY PLANNING BOARDS Motion by Councilman O'Donnell Seconded by Councilman Testa VOTES: ALL AYE ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Aquifer Protection Permit Application submitted by Whelan & Curry Construction Services, Inc. for property located at the southeast corner of NYS Route 222 and NYS Route 281 tax map #86.13-01-49.00, owned by LDD Corp., shall be referred to the Town and County Planning Boards for their review and recommendations, and further RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby request consideration be given to input from Cortland County Soil & Water Conservation Department. 22 February 02, 2000 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 5 RESOLUTION #49 REFER AQUIFER PROTECTION PERMIT APPLICATION OF SUIT-KOTE CORPORATION, TO TOWN AND COUNTY PLANNING BOARDS Motion by Councilman Testa Seconded by Councilman O'Donnell VOTES: ALL AYE ADOPTED BE IT RESOLVED, the Aquifer Protection Permit Application submitted by Suit-Kote Corporation for property located at U.S. Route 11 in Polkville, tax map #'s 87.00-03- 16.120, 87.00-03-21.100, 97.00-01-04.000, 97.00-01-06.000, 97.00-01-31.000, 97.00-01- 60.000 owned by Suit -Kole Corp., shall be referred to the Town and County Planning Boards for them- review and recommendations, and further RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby request consideration be given to input from Cortland County Soil & Water Conservation Department. Attorney Folmer apprised the Board the DEC is the Lead Agency for this project. He expressed concerns about long term ramifications. Attorney Folmer received a copy of a letter sent to Dick Schutz of Suit-Kote, from the DEC, listing three pages of concerns. According to SEQRA regulations, applications should not be processed until the lead agency makes a report. Attorney Folmer stated if a positive declaration is made, Suit- Kote would need to file an EIS. According to Michael Barylski of the DEC, forwarding this request to the County Planning Board is an administrative step and it will be up to the County Planning Board whether or not to act without a SEQRA report from the DEC. If recommendations were received from the County, the Town Board would need to wait for a report from the DEC before making a determination. He cautioned the Councilmen regarding comments made concerning this project until after the DEC report. Attorney Folmer went on to explain a New York State statute that regulates the mining industry. This st.at.ute makes the mining regulations uniform within the state and pre-empts local authority. The statute states the local municipality may not regulate the operation of the mining facility. According to Mr. Barylski, the DEC is required to contact local municipalities for regulation concerns and include any pertinent regulation in thew permit process. This is not a quick process even with a big push from Suit-Kote due to their season approaching. Attorney Folmer stated the county might act on the request. or wait until the DEC. makes their report. He also explained time limits within the county with filing applications vs. the counties scheduled Board meetings. Councilman O'Donnell made a motion seconded by Councilman Pilato, to receive and file correspondence from Mark Lockerby, controller of Pall Trinity Micro regarding their- Water and Sewer Benefit Tax. All voting aye, the motion was carried. Supervisor Thorpe stated he requested Town Assessor, David Briggs, to attend tonight's meeting to explain the circumstances concerning Pall Trinity Mico. Assessor Briggs explained the Water and Sewer Benefit Tax Formula is based on one of three different methods; front footage, number of dwelling units, or water consumption, whichever produces the most units. This is the ordinance of the town that has always been in place. Assessor Briggs continued to explain the properties with industrial sewer billing and the benefit tax. Total consumption has been interpreted as the town's quarterly consumption plus industrial billing. In the past three facilities qualified. At present Pall Trinity is the only facility in Cortlandville charged an industrial billing. The previous controller for Pall Trinity, Leslie Sandman, questioned the computation process last year. Mr. Briggs explained the process to him and the procedure to request a correction. Pall Trinity did not pursue the issue. This year the present controller, Mark Lockerby, has written a letter questioning the process again. Also the issue of double billing regarding industrial billing and quarterly consumption. 1 1 February 02, 2000 TOWN BOARD MEETING PACE 6 213 This is the process that has always been in place. Mr. Lockerby contends consumption is quarterly consumption only. Assessor Briggs gave the same information to Nfr. Lockerby as did with Mr. Sandman. Mr. Briggs informed Mr. Lockerby the procedure for any refunds. The taxpayer would need to submit a request in writing to the Town Board. The Town Board would review the request. If an adjustment is warranted, a refund would then occur. Assessor Briggs explained industrial billing. Pall Trinity is charged a lesser sewer consumption rate quarterly by the town. The City of Cortland has an additional charge for sewage treatment. Attorney Folmer commented Pall Trinity is being billed twice but for different services. Assessor Briggs stated properties, which utilize the town's water and or sewer supply, pay a quarterly bill. 'Die benefit tax is a tax placed on the Town and County tax bill in January. Two separate bills procedures. Regarding the benefit tax Mr. Briggs contends the issue is what constitutes consumption and whether the Town Board wants to continue with the interpretation of the ordinance as has been done in the past. Assessor Briggs explained the number of units used by Pall Trinity to compute their sewer benefit tax. If the Board forgives half of Pall Trinity's sewer benefit tax, all other properties would increase considerably in the town next year. Highway Sup't., Carl Bush explained the sewer- quarterly rate for residents and that for Pall Trinity. Pall Trinity pays a lower sewer quarterly rate. Councilman O'Donnell asked if there was a municipality that could be used for a comparison. Assessor Briggs stated a comparison could not be made with the City because they do not have a benefit tax. A comparison could be done with the Town of Ithaca. Cortlandville derived their benefit tax formula from the Town of Ithaca. Attorney Folmer commented this interpretation of the ordinance is the way it has always been done with no argument. No one has been singled out. It was answered that was correct. Highway Sup't. Carl Bush stated the charge from the City is part of the wastewater contract the town has with the city. The city is regulated by the DEC as to the amount they can treat at their plant. The City Wastewater Treatment Board has no authority to bill outside of the city. They bill the town and we in turn pass the bill along to Pall Trinity. Pall Trinity is not complaining about the quarterly water bill plus their industrial use charge. Their- complaint is with the benefit tax. Assessor Briggs stated an error was made with the water benefit tax. He explained the only way any water or sewer benefit tax error can be corrected, per town ordinance, is by written request to the Town Board. This was explained to Mr. Lockerby. A discussion was held regarding the letter received from Pall Trinity. Assessor Briggs stated he had not. concurred with the doubling of the sewer benefit tax. He was unsure exactly what Mr. Lockerby felt he had concurred with. He informed Mr. Lockerby there could be no adjusted tax bill. The tax bill needs to be paid as issued and a request for a refund is made, in writing, to the Town Board. Mr. Lockerby feels the Assessor can correct the tax roll. A correction to the tax roll would have to go through the County Legislature. The county does not have the authority to act upon our special district tax. This is not a correctable error by means of the NYS ORPS application "Correction to the Tax Roll". Assessor Briggs explained what Pall Trinity had paid from 1995 - 2000 both in units and dollar amounts. This included a redistribution of units in 1999 requested by Mr. Sandman. This was reflected in the 2000 tax bill. Supervisor Thorpe stated he called Mr. Lockerby to inform him they would be going over his letter at tonight's meeting. Mr. Lockerby stated the corporation was looking into restructuring the entire corporation. Assessor Briggs stated he and Mr. Lockerby had discussed expansion in the area. Assessor Briggs informed him that the Board is receptive to business in the town and would be willing to work on the industrial billing along with the sewer and water benefit tax. Councilman Testa suggested requesting Nick Renzi to look into Pall Trinity's concerns. The Board agreed. Councilman Testa will ask Mr. Renzi for his input. Attorney Folmer also spoke with Mr. Lockerby stating the Board will discuss their concerns at tonight's meeting but in the mean time Pall Trinity needs to pay their tax bill as issued. The Tax Collector can not accept partial payments. 214 February 02, 2000 TOWN BOARD MEETING PAGE 7 RESOLUTION #50 AUTHORIZE AGREEMENT WITH NYS DOT TO RELOCATE EXISTING TOWN WATER LINES ALONG NYS ROUTE 13 FROM TERRACE RD TO THE INTERSECTION OF ROUTE 281 AND ROUTE 13 IN THE TOWN OF CORTLANDVILLE Motion by Councilman Testa Seconded by Councilman O'Donnell VOTES: ALL AYE ADOPTED WHEREAS, the NYS DOT will be reconstructing NYS Route 13 from South Cortland Virgil Road to the City of Cortland line in the Town of Cortlandville, and WHEREAS, a request was made by the NYS DOT for authorization to relocate existing town water limes from Terrace Rd. to the intersection of Routes 281 and 13, therefore BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board does hereby authorize the agreement with the NYS DOT to relocate existing town water lines along NYS Route 13 from Terrace Rd. to the intersection of Routes 281 and 13 in the Town of Cortlandville. Councilman Testa made a motion, seconded by Councilman Pilato, to adjourn the regular meeting. All voting aye, the motion was carried. The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Karen Q. Sn_yder Town Clerk Town of C.ortlandville I.