TOWN OF GRANBY
PUBLIC WORK SESSION
MARCH 25, 2015
6:00 P.M.
Supervisor
Williamson called the meeting to order at 6:05 P.M. Present for the roll call were; Supervisor Ed Williamson, Councilors Lori
Blackburn, Matt Callen and Eric Clothier. Councilor Brenda Frazier-Hartle was
not present. Deputy Supervisor John
Snow, Jr. was also present. There were 2
Residents in attendance.
The
Town of Granby Assessor David Roach, asked the Board to allow him to seek bids for
a potential re-assessment project. The
Town equalization rate will be 95% for 2015. Typically when the equalization
rates start to drop, they will continue to do so. This will lead to a problem if it drops much
more. A re-valuation needs to be done
before this happens. He will obtain three to five bids from a list of
Companies. This will have to be budgeted for 2016. A full re-assessment is an incredible amount
of work. He will work with the company
that is hired. Mr. Roach explained they
will have to build a new land schedule to value all the land in the Town. They have to build sales models, cost models
and manual models to value every piece of property individually using the three
approaches to value. A new Commercial
file will also have to be built as well as a valuation factor file. He also wants a street scene photo of every
property in the Town. We are currently
out of compliance with what is acceptable for the age of photos and the County
has opted not to do a flyover.
Councilor
Callen made a motion to allow Assessor David Roach to seek bids for a re-assessment
project, Councilor Clothier seconded the motion, all were in favor, none
opposed.
Mr.
Roach also wanted to address another issue which was not on the agenda. He stated the past two weeks, being exemption
time, have been really busy and inevitably, someone misses the deadline and
they end up being a little angry.
Recently he had a property owner take about an hour and a half of his
day because something was messaged on Facebook about an incident that took
place in his office. He asked the Board to please think before you post. The Resident was very
upset about seeing that private situation on Facebook later that day.
COMMUNICATONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Councilor
Blackburn made a motion to approve the additional spending estimate of
$4,000.00 for information regarding Water Service Area 6A, Councilor Callen seconded
the motion, all were in favor, none opposed.
There
is a meeting regarding Local Government Efficiency Plans at the County
Legislative Chambers on Monday March 30th, 2015 at 6:30 P.M.
The
Town has received a copy of a letter instructing Residents in the Country
Estates Subdivision to contact the Attorney General regarding problems with
septic systems.
OLD BUSINESS
The
Town Board should consider rewriting the Inter-municipal agreements between
both Fire Districts and the Town and make sure they are fair and equal for both
sides.
The
Board discussed how inter-municipal agreements work and what the Town should expect
from the Fire Districts and what the Town should in turn do for the Fire
Districts. Deputy Supervisor Snow, Jr. reminded the Board that when this work
is being done, it must be kept track of and wages must come from the general
fund instead of the highway fund. The
trade of services must be fair and legal.
Councilor Blackburn feels that if we had a catastrophic event it would
be worth having these agreements in place because they would be here for us in
a heartbeat.
Councilor
Blackburn made a motion to honor the agreement between the Cody Fire District
and the Town of Granby and honor the agreement with the First Fire District of Granby
and the Town of Granby, Councilor Callen seconded the motion, all were in
favor, none opposed.
Deputy
Supervisor Snow, Jr. explained the Court Clerks have a new report for the DMV
that they will need extra hours to complete.
The Court Clerks have had a lot of extra work put on them since one of
the judges has been away and it has been unfair and a couple of more hours are
needed in that office.
Councilor
Callen made a motion to allow Jessica King to work three more hours per week
for the months of April, May and June, Councilor Clothier seconded the motion,
all were in favor, none opposed.
NEW BUSINESS
MOTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS
PAYMENT OF TOWN BILLS
Councilor
Blackburn asked if the issues concerning the bill for Attorney Larry Malfatino
regarding the Highway Contract was disclosed to the Board. Deputy Supervisor Snow Jr. explained the
nature of the bill and told Councilor Blackburn that he did share the findings
with the Board. Councilor Blackburn
requested Deputy Supervisor Snow, Jr. reiterate his findings with the
Board. He stated there have been
inconsistency’s with the Highway payroll since the beginning of the year. He asked the Board to allow him to speak with
the Attorney to find out what can and cannot be done. The conclusion was that he was reading the
contract correctly, however because we have been doing payroll incorrectly, it
would not be prudent to change at this time.
A grievance could be filed because of past practice. He also addressed the overtime issue. The way the contract is written it can be
interpreted in two ways, so we will continue to calculate overtime the way it
has been done. As far as comp time, we
cannot add rules governing comp time because they have to be negotiated with
the Union.
Councilor
Clothier made a motion to pay the Town Bills as audited on Abstract #6,
Councilor Callen seconded the motion, all were in favor, none opposed.
General Fund $6,972.91 Highway
Fund $7,652.41
DATES FOR UPCOMING MEETING
Town
Board Meeting April 8, 2015 7:00 P.M.
Public
Work Session April 22, 2015 6:00
P.M.
ADJOURNMENT
Councilor
Blackburn made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Supervisor Williamson seconded
the motion, all were in favor, none opposed.
Meeting
adjourned at 6:59 P.M.
