TOWN OF GRANBY
TOWN BOARD METING
MAY 11, 2016
7:00 P.M.
CALL TO ORDER
Supervisor
Williamson called the meeting to order at 7:02 P.M. leading those present in
the Salute to the Flag. Present for the roll call were; Supervisor Ed
Williamson, Councilors Eric Clothier, Tracy Doyle and Melissa Fortier,
Councilor Brenda Frazier-Hartle was not present. Deputy Supervisor John Snow Jr. and Highway
Superintendent Jeff Richards were also present.
There were 16 Residents and Guests in attendance.
Councilor
Clothier made a motion, seconded by Councilor Fortier to dispense with the
reading of the minutes for the previous meetings of April 13th and
20th 2016, all were in favor, none opposed.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Rose Anthony – Ms.
Anthony is here because she has heard Riccelli Trucking has applied to the
State for an entrance on to State Route 3.
When she started her business 49 years ago, State Route 3 was just being
built. There was a law that no one could put a driveway or entrance onto State
Route 3 from Hannibal Street to State Route 104 in Hannibal. There have been other businesses that have
tried to do this and they have been turned down. If it is not legal for one business it cannot
be legal for another business. Four
people have been killed in the spot that Riccelli wants to come out on. The Board needs to be concerned with the
safety of the people. Ms. Anthony asked
the Councilors to write a letter to Senator Patty Ritchie and Assemblyman
William Barclay to stop this entrance.
Lynn Lyons
– The wheel wash is still not working at the mine. They are washing the roads causing silt to
accumulate. She has an elderly neighbor
that almost fell on the silt getting his mail.
Dave Thompson – Mr.
Thompson asked the Board to reduce the speed limit on Russell Road. Cars are speeding through and one hit their
dog recently. There are a lot of
families with children on this road and they are concerned for their safety. Councilor Clothier stated that until law
enforcement starts to write tickets for people speeding in the area it won’t do
any good to put up lower speed limit signs.
The Board suggested the Residents of the area call the Sheriff’s
Department to patrol the area and start writing tickets.
COMMUNICATIONS AND
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Supervisor
Williamson reported that he has received a letter from Attorney for the Town
Chatfield regarding the findings to date on the abused dog case which is now in
the hands of the Court. It also covered
the changes requested by the Planning Board.
These changes are attached. If
the Board has questions, they can contact Mr. Chatfield.
Paul
Ketchum, Planning Board Chairman, presented the Board with the Proposed
Amendments to the Town of Granby Zoning Ordinance. This version has some changes from the one
presented last fall. They have done some
refinement on the way the document is arranged so it is easier to get
through. If the Board decides they want
to pursue the amendments, The Board will have to do Parts II and III of the SEQR. The Planning Board is not permitted to do
this. They have completed Part 1. The
Board will need to send a formal request to the County asking them to review
it. The County Planning Board may have
some recommendations and refinements to add.
Once the County signs off, Attorney for the Town Chatfield will draft a
Resolution and a Public Hearing will be held.
The Board will review the changes and be prepared to discuss them at the
Work Session.
Supervisor
Williamson announced that the bids for Water Service Area 6A were opened and
read. Each Board Member has a copy of
the bid results and they are available for the public to view.
Councilor
Doyle made a motion, seconded by Councilor Clothier to hold a Special Meeting
on Monday May 16th, 2016 at 7:00 P.M. at the Community Center to
discuss and award the Bid for Water Service Area 6A, all were in favor, none
opposed.
The
Board has a copy of the Seniors Group expected expenses for 2016. Larry Flora of the Granby Seniors Group
addressed the Board and requested $3,750.00 for the four coach bus trips for
the year. He also asked how they could avoid the problem of not having any
funds in the Budget for next year.
Supervisor
Williamson made a motion, seconded by Councilor Fortier, to put $3,000.00 in
the Seniors Budget Line for 2016, all were in favor, none opposed.
Budget
Officer Snow Jr. told Mr. Flora to meet with him in August with the Seniors
budget request for the next year.
Supervisor
Williamson stated it is time for the yearly cleaning of all the heating/AC
units and the boiler in the Town buildings. He has given each Board Member a
quote from Nodine’s who have installed all the equipment to date.
Councilor
Fortier made a motion, seconded by Councilor Doyle to do the yearly maintenance
on the heating/AC units and boiler in the Town Hall, all were in favor, none
opposed.
Supervisor
Williamson told the Board the State has made changes to the STAR Program and
there could be more changes to come.
Each Board Member has a copy of what the Supervisor received. Any questions, please contact the
Assessor.
The
Town has received a breakdown of repairs to the 2011 plow truck. The warranty lapsed in April. Stadium International is covering most of the
cost of the repairs. The Town will have
to pay labor charges only. Highway
Superintendent Richards had Mr. Delong go over the cost and he advised the Town
to go ahead. The total cost is
$29,157.96. The town will have to pay
only $4,003.25 of that figure.
Councilor
Doyle made a motion, seconded by Councilor Clothier, to pay the labor portion
of the bill for the repairs to the 2011 plow truck, all were in favor, none
opposed.
OLD BUSINESS
Deputy
Supervisor Snow Jr. asked the Engineer to look at the Road Standards that were
approved by the Planning Board several years ago. He asked the Board to review the Engineer’s
findings to discuss at the Work Session.
Deputy Supervisor Snow Jr. explained that by having the Engineer’s stamp
of approval, this can decrease liability to the Town.
NEW BUSINESS
Deputy
Supervisor/Budget Officer John Snow Jr. gave a report on the two day Town
Finance School training he attended. Mr. Snow Jr. stated the training was
excellent. One of the classes was on Capital Planning. This consists of looking at what we have, its
condition and what we need. We are
lacking a Capital Plan. It is important
to have a Capital for Budgeting and preparing a Five Year Plan. We should also have a road repair plan. Another
workshop was Accounting for Capital Projects.
A Capital Project is something that will take more than one year to
complete. Every Capital Project should
be separated with specific budgets. As
soon as the Town takes on one dollar debt there must be separate bank
accounts. He attended a class on
Financial Conditions Analysis. This is
our ability to finance expected services on a continuing basis. The four
components of Financial Condition are cash solvency, budgetary solvency,
service level and long term solvency. Internal
Controls for Town Operations was another class he attended. Internal Controls are activities or
procedures designed to provide reasonable assurance that operations are going
according to plan. There are five
elements of Internal Control. They are
Environment, Risk Assessment, Control Activities (Policies), Information and
Communication and Monitoring. Trust is
not an internal control. He attended a
class on Protecting Municipal Data and Computer Systems. The Town needs a policy
on how to handle a data breach. This is
a requirement by law. We have a foreign
router attached to our network. This
opens us up to a Ransomware attack. He
also attended a Question and Answer forum with the Town Attorneys which was
very good. They covered the topics of
Reserve Funds, Justice Court Funds and Highway Funds including the 284
Agreement. One theme they went over several times was
that in the Constitution of the State of New York it is illegal for the Town to
give anything, service or monetary, to a private person. A private person cannot benefit from taxpayer
funds.
MOTIONS AND
RESOLUTIONS
Councilor
Fortier made a motion, seconded by Supervisor Williamson to approve the
following transfers, all were in favor, none opposed.
increase
A1550, Dog Control, and decrease appropriated fund balance by $140.00
increase
A2701, Insurance Recovery, and decrease appropriated fund balance by $114.00
increase
A2705, gifts and donations, by $1,300.00, and increase A7310.4, Youth, by
$1300.00
increase
A9089.8, Other Benefits (for Direct Deposit), and decrease A1990.4,
Contingency, by $500.00
decrease
A1090, Interest and Penalties, and increase the fund balance by $413.00
increase
DA3501 $35,230.00, increase DA5112.2 $40,230.00 and increase Appropriated Fund
Balance by $5,000.00 for the DA Fund
Councilor
Fortier made a motion, seconded by Supervisor Williamson to increase DA2680,
insurance recoveries, and increase DA5130.4, machinery repair, by $16,751.00,
all were in favor, none opposed.
REPORTS FROM
DEPARTMENTS
Town
Clerk/Tax Collector – Total revenue for April was $1,744.76 with a
check to New York State Ag & Markets for $95.00 for the spay neuter
program, $22.50 to the New York State Department of Health for Marriage
licenses, $1,556.40 to the Supervisor for local shares and $70.86 to the DEC
for fishing licenses. The Oswego County
Town Clerk’s Association will be having a meeting on Wednesday May 18th. One of the topics to be discussed will be
setting up a meeting between County Assessors, Real Property Tax Office, the
Treasurer’s Office and Town Clerks to try and resolve the problems we are
having with the apportionment process.
The Clerk also reported she attended the Annual NYSTCA Conference in
April. She attended classes on how to
prepare for a Referendum Election, DEC system updates, Electronic Death
Certificate filing, a Notary Public refresher a Word Program refresher course
and a session with Bob Freeman on Freedom of Information.
Cemeteries
– Rhonda
Nipper submitted a request for repairs needed at Merritt Cemetery. The cost will be approximately $50.00 to have
some boards replaced in the wooden fence and have it stained.
Youth
Director – (Supervisor
Williamson) Plans have been made for Family Fun Day. Bubble Mania will be here for the whole
day. The Supervisor has the bike helmets
and there will be a bike drawing as well as a bike rodeo. They have several other events planned as
well. He has donations of hamburgers,
hot dogs, snacks and water.
Dog
Control Officer – (Supervisor
Williamson) Complaints 38, Dogs picked up 4, Destroyed/Died 1, Turned over to
City of Oswego 4, Still in mandatory confinement 1(Abuse Case) Supplies 0, Vet
Bills - $753.65 (Emergency Vet for Abuse Case)
Supervisor
– Supervisor
Williamson has sent a letter to Assemblyman William Barclay and Senator Patty
Ritchie concerning the entrance on State Route 3. He stated as it was explained to him by
Senator Ritchie’s Office a private individual cannot put a driveway on State
Route 3, however, there is a separate agreement for a business. A request to come out on State Route 3 has
been submitted by Riccelli. He has word that it is about to be approved and
when it is approved it will go out for public comment.
Highway
Superintendent – Highway
Superintendent Richards reported most of the intersections have been swept and
the mower is ready. They have cut some
brush and the trucks have been cleaned, maintenance done and plows taken off. The 2007 truck that is at Delong’s is almost
done. The guys have been doing culvert
work. He will be attending a class on
paving maintenance tomorrow. He would like to see a different process on fixing
the roads. He has been reading about classifying roads based on use and the
shape they are in and putting them into a rotation. Superintendent Richards
gave the Board a list of bids he has received for roadwork. The Town Board discussed which Roads from the
list should be paved and who they should use to do the work and also looked at
the pricing provided by Highway Superintendent Richards.
Justice
– Councilor
Fortier will be attending DA night and will be meeting with Justice Schmidt
regarding the time she will not be working.
Code Enforcement/Zoning – (Supervisor
Williamson) Building Permits issued 11 with a fee of $790.75 and a construction
value of $206,650.00. Building Inspections 21, Building Permits closed 10,
Violation Inspections 10, Violations issued 2, Closed 5. Councilor Doyle
reported things are going well with the new Judge and the cleanup issues that
are currently in Court. He has also talked
with Code Enforcement Officer Hanford about purchasing a Notepad to cut down on
paperwork so they can spend more time out in the field.
Councilor Doyle made
a motion, seconded by Councilor Fortier to purchase a module and Tablet, up to
$600.00, all were in favor, none opposed.
Buildings/Highway – The
Board discussed installing two more cameras in the areas of the front door of
the Town Hall and in the Highway Garage.
Councilor
Doyle made a motion, seconded by Supervisor Williamson to purchase two cameras,
one for the front door and one for the shop all were in favor, none
opposed.
PAYMENT OF TOWN
BILLS
Councilor
Doyle made a motion, seconded by Councilor Clothier to pay the Town Bills as
audited on Abstract #9, all were in favor, none opposed.
General Fund $4,093.83 Highway
Fund $11,469.75
Wilobob Fund $87.61
DATES FOR UPCOMING
MEETINGS
Public
Work Session May 25,
2016 at 6:00 P.M.
Town
Board Meeting June 8, 2016 at 7:00 P.M.
Deputy
Supervisor Snow Jr. spoke regarding the Seniors. He stated that the law says that any Town is
hereby authorized and empowered to maintain and operate programs devoted in
whole or in part to the welfare of the aging and to contract with private non-
profit corporations, associations or institutions for the operation and
maintenance of such programs. He
believes there used to be a contract with the Seniors Group and as long as they
are providing for welfare for the aging that’s great. Mr. Snow is all for the Town providing for
entertainment for the Seniors, however, he does not think we should be paying
for the bus for their bus trips. He spoke with the Comptroller’s Office who
informed him this may not be the best idea.
The Insurance Company also agreed this was not a best practice because
of the liability issues. Mr. Snow Jr.
went on to say he was told by a member of the Seniors Group that he took the
money for the Senior’s out of the Budget.
He has the draft of the Tentative Budget that shows there is no money
appropriated for the Seniors. For
someone to say he took it out after the Draft is a lie. He was also accused of hating the Seniors. He feels there is so much work to do in this
Town and orchestrating this is not on the top of the list.
ADJOURNMENT
Councilor
Doyle made a motion, seconded by Councilor Clothier to adjourn the meeting, all
were in favor, none opposed.
Meeting
adjourned at 9:15 P.M.
