TOWN OF GRANBY
BOARD MEETING
DECEMBER 14, 2016
7:00 P.M.
CALL TO ORDER
Deputy
Supervisor Snow Jr. 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 Councilors Eric Clothier, Tracy Doyle, Melissa Fortier and Lori Thrall. Supervisor Williamson was not present. There were also 12 Residents in attendance.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Bob Phillips – Mr.
Phillips stated he was the former Highway Superintendent. He didn’t have a
comment in the summer about the way the Highway Personnel was not there during
haying season, but now that it’s winter, it is not any better. He also feels the roads have been pretty
poor. He thinks the Board needs to
figure out hour many hours are being spent here. Mr. Phillips stated he thought the position
required 32 hours to get insurance. He
also noted the snow fence has not been put up yet. He feels if there are no hours set, there
should be. In the wintertime there
should be someone here for the men for safety purposes.
Dan Whitens – He
is here again regarding the Solar Exemption on his property. Councilor Doyle looked into the situation and
explained the homeowner must apply for a permit, which Mr. Whitens did, and also
fill out the exemption form. The
Assessor’s Office mailed the form to all eligible homeowners. Mr. Whitens claims he never received his form
in the mail. Councilor Doyle assured Mr.
Whitens the forms had been mailed out.
Mr. Whitens thinks the Assessor should reach out to the people who are
installing solar to make sure they received the form in the mail with a follow
up phone call. He said his mother says
she did not receive the form either.
Deputy Supervisor Snow Jr. stated when he spoke to the Assessor he was
told fifteen exemption forms were mailed out and only four were returned. Deputy Supervisor Snow Jr. suggested putting
this item on the agenda for the next work session.
COMMUNICATIONS AND
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Deputy
Supervisor Snow Jr. reported that the Chief Constable has submitted his
Certificate of Completion for Firearm and Taser training.
Supervisor
Williamson received a letter from County Legislator Chairman Gardner and the
County Planning Board Chairman regarding a meeting about consolidation of
services between Municipalities. They
will be looking for ideas from Towns that the County can put together in a
proposal.
OLD BUSINESS –
The Board has been discussing changes to the Employee Handbook. This will be
put on the Agenda for the Work Session.
There has also been discussion regarding the Seasonal Employees. Deputy Supervisor Snow Jr. has recommended
that we increase their hourly rate. The
Board would like to keep the rate the same at this time.
NEW BUSINESS
MOTIONS AND
RESOLUTIONS
Councilor
Doyle made a motion, seconded by Councilor Fortier to pay the Stadium
International bill that was excluded for payment on Abstract #21 on November 9th,
2016 in the amount of $23,873.37, all were in favor, none opposed.
Councilor
Fortier made a motion, seconded by Councilor Thrall to approve Budget
amendments as follows, all were in favor, none opposed.
DA2401
+ $60.00 DA2680 + $2,677.00 DA2770 +
$2,188.00
DA2665
+ $14,870.00 DA5130.4 + $20,705.00 DA5140.1 +
$1,314.00
DA5140.4
+ $700.00 DA5142.1 - $10,000.00 DA5110.1 + $40,000.00
DA9090.8
+ $7,356.00 DA5142.4 - $38,880.00
Councilor
Fortier made a motion, seconded by Councilor Clothier to purchase new computers
for the Codes Office, Supervisor Clerk and the Town Clerk and a laptop for the
Historian, all were in favor, none opposed.
Councilor
Clothier made a motion, seconded by Councilor Doyle to dispose of the old
computers, all were in favor, none opposed.
Councilor
Thrall made a motion, seconded by Councilor Fortier to approve giving the Tax
Collector $100.00 in Departmental cash for tax time, all were in favor, none
opposed.
Councilor
Doyle made a motion, seconded by Councilor Thrall to sell the portable air
conditioner, all were in favor, none opposed.
Councilor
Fortier made a motion, seconded by Councilor Clothier to make John Snow Jr. the
Delegate for the Town of Granby for the Association of the Towns Annual Meeting
in New York City in February, all were in favor, none opposed.
Councilor
Fortier made a motion, seconded by Councilor Thrall to allow Deputy Snow Jr. to
purchase airfare and lodging for the New York City Schooling for himself and
the Town Clerk, all were in favor, none opposed.
Councilor
Clothier made a motion, seconded by Councilor Fortier to sell the old shelving
from the records room, all were in favor, none opposed.
REPORTS FROM
DEPARTMENTS
Youth Director – Deputy
Supervisor Snow Jr. stated the Youth Director filed reports to be sent in for
State reimbursement. We have not
received State reimbursement for any of our functions to date.
Assessor – Councilor
Doyle had a discussion with the Assessor regarding Mr. Whitens solar exemption
issue.
Highway Superintendent
– Highway Superintendent
Richards reported the new truck is due to be shipped from Watertown tomorrow
and should arrive by the middle of next week.
The plow and wing could be here by Friday or Monday. Mr. Richards said there have been vehicles
parking in front of the garage doors on Court night which could become a
problem in the winter. The Constable
said they would monitor the situation and made sure the doors are not blocked. He has been doing County payroll every two
weeks. They have put out extra road
stakes this year. Snow fence is up on
Hanley, Guernsey and County Line Roads and will be put up by the Summerville Curve.
They do not do Sharp Road. The trucks
have been out fourteen times this year.
They only had three trucks available for the first snowfall and it took
them between five and five and a half hours to do the routes. Superintendent Richards has been watching the
weather himself for the past year and is not paying a man to be here at night
to do that. He uses his desktop to see
where the snow bands are and if there is one around he goes out to check the
roads. When the guys are out on the
road, he goes out on the road. He
doesn’t feel he needs to sit at a desk hoping the phone rings. Councilor Fortier asked Mr. Richards at what
point do the plows go out? She was on
the Town Roads Sunday morning around 2:00 A.M. and the roads were horrific. She said it was clear but no plows had been
out. She feels this is unacceptable, the
roads should have been cleared after the snow had stopped. Highway Superintendent Richards said every
storm is different and it’s all timing.
Deputy Supervisor Snow Jr. asked if the 2011 truck was in good working
condition. Deputy Highway Superintendent
Longo said the engine warning light is back on and Stadium International
doesn’t want the truck back they are sending a mechanic to come here with a
laptop to look at it. He doesn’t think
it will make a good backup truck. In
light of this news, Councilor Doyle feels the Town should still not pay the
repair bill until the truck is right.
Councilor
Doyle made a motion, seconded by Councilor Clothier to not pay the Stadium International
bill, all were in favor, none opposed.
Councilor
Doyle said he had complaints about all the mailboxes that got knocked down in
the first snowfall. Deputy Highway
Superintendent Longo responded that the snow was way too heavy. He also had complaints about the roads being so
choppy. Highway Supervisor Richards said
they only had three trucks and it took between five and five and one half hours
to complete the routes and there were too many people out during the storm so the
snow got packed down and that makes the road rough.
Code Enforcement/Zoning – There
were 5 Building Permits issued with a construction value of $7,500.00. Building Permit fees were $81.20. There were 27 Water Service Area 6A Permits
issued with fees of $1,350.00. 23 Building
Inspections were completed and 7 Water Service Area 6A Inspections
completed. 7 Building Permits were
closed. There were 6 Violation
Inspections and 10 Violations issued and 9 closed.
Buildings/Highway – Councilor
Thrall had a Resident ask if there was an oil/water separator in the fuel lines
for the Highway Garage. Highway
Superintendent Richards said he wasn’t sure about the separator, but there was
a bladder around it. Councilor Doyle
stated the tank has been checked and doesn’t leak and there is no way water can
get into it. Deputy Supervisor Snow Jr.
walked with the Deputy Highway Superintendent over the summer and it was
brought to his attention that the drain that is running along the garage might
need some work because the grates are staring to fail. He needs pricing on that. He also mentioned the men’s bathroom in the
garage needs work.
Town Clerk/Tax Collector – Total
revenue for November was $4,750.70 with a check to NYS Ag & Markets for
$90.00 for the spay/neuter program, a check to the Supervisor in the amount of
$4,497.23 for local shares and $163.47 to the DEC for hunting licenses. The Town Clerk requested permission to
advertise for the position of Attorney for The Town for 2017.
Councilor
Fortier made motion, seconded by Councilor Doyle to allow the Town Clerk to
advertise for an Attorney for the Town, all were in favor, none opposed.
Historian – Historian
Snow Jr. reported he has had some requests for research and he is working on
that. He also had a woman who owns a
house in Granby Center contact him about some strange tunnels underneath her
house. He did some research and found
out that the house was a station in the underground railroad. He also reminded the Board that the Town’s
200th Anniversary was coming up in 2018 and we need to finalize
plans.
Dog Control Officer – There
were 28 Complaints, 1 dog picked up, 1 dog turned over to the City of Oswego
Shelter and 1 dog in mandatory confinement.
Monthly mileage was 101. Deputy
Snow Jr. also mentioned we are discussing entering into an Inter- Municipal
Agreement with the Town of Hannibal for using their dog kennels.
Supervisor – Deputy
Supervisor Snow Jr. has been in contact with National Grid and they will be
converting the Community Center light to LED, but they have to order an
arm. The rest of our street lighting
will also be converted to LED by mid-February.
Supervisor Williamson had a meeting with the USDA regarding Water
District 7 to get that process moving along.
The Board needs to decide how that Water District will be formed.
PUBLIC COMMENT – Linda
Parkhurst – Mrs.
Parkhurst stated that on behalf of the Assessor, David Roach, it is up to the
Resident to do their own tax exemption.
It is not the Town’s responsibility to go knocking on doors to say they
have a tax exemption coming, you have to take it upon yourself to go look for
them. It is a courtesy of the Assessor
to inform you of a tax break. She knows
from dealing with her agricultural exemptions. It is all up to the Resident to do their own exemption.
Deputy
Supervisor Snow Jr. recognized Hannibal Highway Superintendent George Ritchie
who was in attendance at tonight’s meeting.
PAYMENT OF TOWN BILLS
Councilor
Clothier made a motion, seconded by Councilor Doyle, to approve the payment of
the Town Bills as audited on Abstract #23, with the exception of the Stadium
International bill for the 2011 truck, all were in favor, none opposed.
General Fund $8,740.42 Highway
Fund $12,684.85
Wilobob Fund $88.49 WSA
7 $1,400.00
Han/W 11th Sewer $317.21 C.P.
Machinery (H) $221,531.00
Han/W 11th Water $349.59
DATES FOR UPCOMING
MEETINGS
Councilor
Doyle made a motion, seconded by Councilor Thrall to set the December Work
Session for Thursday December 29, 2016 at 4:00 P.M. and the 2017 Organizational
Meeting for Wednesday January 4, 2017 at 6:00 P.M., all were in favor, none
opposed.
Public
Work Session December 29, 2016 at
4:00 P.M.
Organizational
Meeting January 4, 2017 at 6:00 P.M.
Board
Meeting January 11, 2017 at 7:00 P.M.
ADJOURNMENT
Councilor
Doyle made a motion, seconded by Councilor Clothier to adjourn the meeting, all
were in favor, none opposed.
Meeting
adjourned at 8:25 P.M.
