TOWN OF GRANBY
BOARD MEETING
AUGUST 10, 2016
7:00 P.M.
CALL TO ORDER
Supervisor
Williamson called the meeting to order at 7:00 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, Melissa Fortier and Brenda
Frazier-Hartle. Deputy Supervisor John
Snow Jr. and Highway Superintendent Jeff Richards were also present. There were 8 Residents and Guests in
attendance.
Councilor Fortier made
a motion, seconded by Supervisor Williamson to dispense with the reading of the
minutes for the previous meetings of July 13th and 27th,
all were in favor, none opposed.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Rodney Delong –
There are numerous places in the Town where the grass is three feet high. He feels that the Board should give the Codes
Officers more hours so this issue can be taken care of. He then said he followed the Codes vehicle
for two hours recently and it never stopped anywhere. Mr. Delong then asked why the Deputy Highway
Superintendent is meeting with Vendors about the new truck instead of the
Highway Superintendent.
COMMUNICATIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Councilor Doyle
presented his findings regarding the new plow truck to the Board. He has received three quotes and feels the
best option for the Town is Tracey Road Equipment. The quote is for a 2015 Western Star cab and
chassis at a cost of $119,000.00. The
best quote for the plow and body of the truck was from Henderson for $100,750.00
for a total cost of $219,750.00. All
equipment will be interchangeable with the current fleet. The body will be stainless steel at an
additional cost of $2,700.00. He feels
it is well worth the difference in price to go with the stainless body. They can secure a build date of November 11th
and have the truck here by the end of November.
He also feels the 2001 truck is not worth fixing. We need to paint it up and sell it as soon as
possible. Financing from Tracey Road
Equipment is available at an interest rate of 2.66%. Stadium International’s rate was 3.9%.
Councilor Fortier
stated that NBT’s Municipal Department is happy to be considered to do the
lending for the Town. They are committed
to excellent Customer Service as well as making the best fit for the
product. Anything they have available
they will offer to the Town at the best interest rate. She emphasized the fact that NBT does NOT negotiate interest rates. The Town gets the best rate NBT offers. It is not a non- published rate, it is a
municipality rate. Councilor Fortier
also stated she wanted to make it clear she has nothing to do with the rates.
This is not her Department, it is the Municipality Department, she is in a
Branch. Councilor Fortier then asked
Deputy Supervisor Snow Jr. to share their findings with the Board.
Deputy
Supervisor/Budget Officer Snow Jr. then presented to the Board the options they
have explored for financing the truck.
These options include a Statutory Installment Bond, an Installment
Purchase Contract and a Bond Anticipation Note.
He also informed the Board that two of these options would require Bond
Council and shared the quotes he had received for this service. Budget Officer Snow Jr. also stated they have
filed an application for a $100,000.00 grant for the purchase of the truck, but
there is no guarantee the Town will be awarded the grant. He feels the best option for the Town would
be the Bond Anticipation Note (BAN). He
did reach out to a number of Banks including Community Bank who declined, First
Niagara offered the Installment Purchase Contract (IPC) at 2.66%, Key Bank did
not bid, but they bought First Niagara, M & T declined, NBT offered the
2.5% Statutory Installment Bond (SIB) and Pathfinder did not respond. When Mr. Snow was questioned by First Niagara
and M & T regarding who we were dealing with at NBT, they both said he was
“top notch”.
Councilor Doyle made
a motion, seconded by Councilor Frazier-Hartle to purchase the truck from
Tracey Road Equipment at a price of $119,000.00 and buy the equipment from Henderson
at the price of $100,750.00 for a total cost of $219,750.00 and to go with
Option C for monies, use NBT Bank for financing and Bond Schoneck and King for
Bond Council at a cost of $1,200.00, Councilor Clothier and Supervisor
Williamson were in favor, Councilor Fortier abstained.
Supervisor
Williamson will contact Bond Schoeneck & King tomorrow.
Miller Engineering
has selected the low bidders for the Environmental Studies and Surveying for
Water Service Area 7. Several Residents
have contacted the Town expressing a need for water on various roads in the
Town. Supervisor Williamson said any new
roads added at this time will be an additional cost to the Town.
NYS Wind Energy
Assistance has sent information to the Town regarding wind towers. Each Board Member has a copy.
Supervisor
Williamson reported the Town’s equalization rate for 2016 is 95%.
The Highway Contract
negotiations will begin on Monday August 15, 2016. This contract will cover 2017 thru 2019. The negotiation team will consist of
Councilor Doyle, Deputy Supervisor Snow Jr. and Supervisor Williamson.
OLD BUSINESS
Councilor Doyle made
a motion, seconded by Councilor Clothier to pay Code Enforcement Officer
Hanford for the 36 hours of training he has submitted on his timesheet, all
were in favor, none opposed.
Chief Constable
Dalton has asked the Board to set up guidelines for the Constables attending
the Town Meetings. Councilor
Frazier-Hartle believes no one should be allowed to speak at a Work
Session. The Board stated they expect
the Constable to arrive by 7:00 P.M. and keep the meeting under control and
make sure there is no disorderly conduct.
Everyone will be expected to abide by the Standing Rules of Order or
they will be asked to leave. At the
request of the Supervisor, an individual can be removed from the premises.
The complaint form
from Water District 3 will be revised for Water Service Area 6A as a Residents
Concerns form. Deputy Supervisor Snow
Jr. will revise the form and number them.
They will be collected by the Town Clerk, stamped received, dated and
forwarded to the Engineer.
NEW BUSINESS
MOTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS
The Board discussed
new Permit Fees for Commercial repair, alterations and remodeling. The Board does not want to put a burden on
the businesses in the Town.
After some discussion
and review of the recommendations of the Codes Officer the Board decided to
proceed as follows;
Councilor Doyle made
a motion, seconded by Councilor Frazier-Hartle that for the Commercial repair,
alteration and remodeling permit fees there will be a flat fee of $275.00 for
anything up to 75,000 square feet and over 75,000 square feet 2.5 cents a
square foot, all were in favor, none opposed.
REPORTS FROM DEPARTMENTS
Town Clerk/Tax Collector – Total Revenue for
July was $1,836.38 with a check to NYS Ag & Markets in the amount of
$164.00 for the Spay/Neuter Program, a check to the Supervisor for local shares
in the amount of $1,667.66 and $4.72 to the DEC for licenses. The Town Clerk also requested the Board
approve the purchase of new dog tags.
Councilor
Doyle made a motion, seconded by Councilor Fortier to allow the Town Clerk spend
up to $500.00 for the purchase of dog tags, all were in favor, none
opposed.
Historian/Budget Officer – Historian
Snow Jr. planned to have a display at the Oswego County Fair this year, but
they changed the date of the Fair and he was unable to do a display. He apologizes for the Town not being
represented. He spoke with the
representative who designed all our shelving units and inactive storage
units. The Court is out of room, so he
is redesigning the records room and will be giving a quote. He has also tried working with National Grid
regarding getting a light at the Walmart entrance. He has tried and Supervisor Williamson has
tried. He has a new contact, so
hopefully he will be able to get somewhere with that. He has spent a lot of time working on the
truck for the Highway Department. There
have been several people in that live outside of the water district that now
want water. He feels the best way to
handle this is for them to get petitions and indicate what portion of the road
it is for and let the Engineer do a feasibility study.
Youth Director – (Supervisor
Williamson) The Youth Director has a program every Thursday at the Community
Center which consists of basketball and a bike rodeo. Councilor Doyle asked that the Youth Director
contact him and he will donate bikes to the program.
Dog Control Officer – 27
Complaints, 1 dog still in Mandatory Confinement, 228 miles.
Deputy Supervisor – He
contacted the CNY Planning Council regarding the LED lighting that was on the
agenda last meeting. He found out that
because National Grid owns our street lighting fixtures we cannot switch them
to LED. Now New York State has passed
something that says we can switch them, but he has no idea how to go about
this. A Planning Council will come and
look at the electric bills and do a cost benefit analysis and come up with a
rate of investment at no charge. Supervisor Williamson has signed a form
allowing them to review our records.
Assessor – Councilor
Doyle will be speaking with the Assessor regarding coming up with a formula to
let people know what the estimated taxes would be on new construction.
Code Enforcement/Zoning – Councilor
Doyle reported the Codes Department has their new tablet and updates so it will
work with the system. They will be able
to do a lot more in a lot less time and go paperless pretty much. The Codes Office Report for July is as
follows; 12 Building Permits issued with a construction value of $74,220.00,
Building Permit fees $533.73. 21
Building Inspections conducted, 8 Building Permits closed. 29 Violation Inspections, 11 Violations
issued, 9 closed.
Supervisor – Supervisor
Williamson received a call from the Judge last Friday saying she had flea
bites. She indicated she will not hold
Court until the building has been professionally treated. Mr. Williamson has obtained a quote of
$795.00 for treating the entire building from Gannon Pest Control.
Councilor
Fortier made a motion, seconded by Councilor Clothier to allow Gannon Pest
Control to treat the building for fleas at a cost of $795.00, all were in
favor, none opposed.
Highway Superintendent – Highway
Superintendent Richards reported the prep work is done for the roads that are
to be paved. The mowers are working
well. They have hauled 150 loads of sand
from the Hannibal Transfer Station and will be looking for more. He has ordered the bare minimum for salt and
will get more from this year’s salt contract which he expects to be lower than
last year. He asked the Board to
transfer $2,000.00 from the tool account to the tree removal account because
they have a lot of tree work to do.
Councilor Clothier
made a motion, seconded by Councilor Doyle to transfer $2,000.00 from DA5130.2
to DA5140.4 for tree removal, all were in favor, none opposed.
Highway
Superintendent Richards went on to report the truck could be back from Stadium
by tomorrow. Councilor Doyle asked about
the progress on the 01 truck. Deputy
Highway Superintendent Longo said they will get it out on Monday and start cleaning
it up to get ready to sell.
Councilor Doyle made
a motion, seconded by Councilor Fortier to sell the 01 truck on Auctions
International and put the money in an Equipment Reserve, all were in favor,
none opposed.
A Resident asked if
she could say something and Councilor Doyle granted her the floor. She expressed
her concern over a tree in front of her house on Lybolt Road she thought was
being cut down in the next couple of days.
She said the tree was extremely dangerous. Highway Superintendent Richards said he is
aware of the tree and they have it marked with two arrows in front of the
tree.
Rose Anthony, with
the permission of Councilor Doyle, asked Highway Superintendent Richards how
many hours he puts in a week. Mr.
Richards said he had probably worked 20 hours this week. In the winter it is 50 hours, this time of
year it is less. She believes the Town
requires 32 hours a week to be eligible for insurance. Councilor Frazier-Hartle said the Employee
handbook does indicate an Employee is required to work 32 hours a week to be
eligible for insurance coverage. Ms.
Anthony said when she sat on the Town Board the Town Clerk at that time made sure
she spent 32 hours a week in the office so she and her husband could be covered
by insurance. She believes if the
Highway Superintendent does not spend the specified hours per the Handbook, he
should not receive insurance coverage. The
Board was unclear on the requirements for insurance coverage for an Elected
Official and decided to table the issue until the work session.
Buildings/Highway – Councilor
Frazier-Hartle indicated there needs to be something done with the kids playing
and riding bikes in the parking lots at the Town Hall. The Constable addressed the situation
immediately and told them they could not ride their bikes in the parking
lot. Supervisor Williamson stated he
had previously sent a letter to the parents informing them the children are not
to be playing on Town property. This was
after a child had tampered with the security camera at the back door.
Justice – Councilor
Fortier asked Supervisor Williamson if he had received a response to a letter
he sent requesting information on when Judge Winkworth would be back. Supervisor Williamson said he had not heard
anything yet, he will call again tomorrow.
Planning Board - Councilor
Doyle said there are issues with the Planning Board and Codes being on the same
page. A Codes Officer is planning to be
at the next Planning Board Meeting to work things out.
Town Board Comments – Councilor
Frazier-Hartle would like to contact the Valley News to have the Town Board
Meetings advertised in their Calendar of Events. She feels we need to get the word out so more
Residents attend the meetings. She also
said she was not happy that the Town paid a late fee on the Bond Anticipation
bill. It was two months late and that
does not look good for the Town.
PAYMENT OF TOWN BILLS
Councilor Fortier made
a motion, seconded by Councilor Doyle to approve payment of the Town Bills as
audited on Abstract #15, and an additional abstract item, all were in favor,
none opposed.
General Fund $2,807.67 Highway
Fund $9,371.60
Wilobob Fund $86.11 WSA
6A (H) Fund $1,281,156.19
SS1 Fund $8.14
DATES FOR UPCOMING MEETINGS
Public Work Session August 24, 2016 at 6:00 P.M.
Town Board Meeting September 14, 2016 at 7:00 P.M.
ADJOURNMENT
Councilor Clothier
made a motion, seconded by Councilor Doyle to adjourn the meeting, all were in
favor, none opposed.
Meeting adjourned at
9:05 P.M.
___________________________
Town
Clerk
