Roxbury Town Board Approved Meeting Minutes - November 10, 2016
APPROVED MINUTES
November 10, 2016
A Public Hearing and regular monthly meeting of the Town Board was held November 10, 2016 at 7:00 pm at the Town Hall. Present were: Supervisor Thomas S. Hynes, Councilmen Gene Cronk, Edward Raeder, Allen Hinkley and Carol Murray, Dpty. Hwy. Supt. William Sprague and 1 resident. Absent were: Hwy. Supt. Neil German, Assessor Robert Breglio, Building Inspector William Walcutt and Attorney Kevin Young.
The Public Hearing on the 2017 Preliminary Budget was called to order at 7:00 pm. The notice calling for the hearing was read. Budget Officer, Carolynn Faraci explained three proposed changes to the budget that include: General Fund Appropriations #7510.4 Historian contractual increase from $500 to $1,000 and #3120.4 Constable contractual decrease from $30,000 to $17,000. General Fund Revenues #1081 PILOT decrease from $2,451 to $2,417 and #2770 Election Reimb. decrease from $8,520 to $8,450.
Discussion took place on needed repairs on the old highway garage but is for nominal costs. Supervisor Hynes reported the 2017 County budget is expected to increase approximately 2%.
With no other comments being made, the hearing closed at 7:15 pm.
The regular meeting was called to order at 7:20 pm.
On motion of Gene Cronk second by Carol Murray the Minutes of the October 10th regular meeting and October 17th special meeting were approved.
AYES-5 Cronk, Murray, Raeder, Hinkley, Hynes
NAYS-0
Glenn Faulkner of MTC Cable updated the Town Board on the progress of expanding broadband service in the area where State grant funds will be used towards costs. 400 homes have just been hooked up and Denver valley is expected to be completed by year end. They are also in the process of submitting applications to the State for funding four other projects and are requesting a letter of support from the Town.
Steve Finch of MTC Cable reported that the 180 foot tower being installed in Grand Gorge is a little behind schedule but is moving along with the pinned rock anchor foundation being installed currently. The tower will be in partnership with the County for use as well. There is also a wireless provider very interested in signing on for cell service.
Supervisor Hynes questioned the building that MTC was to install in the Town parking lot. MTC reported it will be installed as part of the next phase of work. They will also check into the problems the Assessor’s office is having with the speed of their computers and issues with cameras at the park.
Dpty. Hwy. Supt. William Sprague requested putting the old gas tank at the highway garage on the Auctions International site to sell which no Board member was against, requested ordering the new truck now that is in the 2017 proposed budget and which the Board has no problem with ordering, stated having received one quote for stone & oil for the highway garage parking lot but will wait for a second quote and stated NYS DOT is requiring a resolution to confirm four Town roads for the purposes of CHIPS funding.
RESOLUTION #80-RESOLUTION FOR THE ADOPTION OF FOUR PUBLIC TOWN HIGHWAYS IN THE TOWN OF ROXBURY
On motion of Allen Hinkley second by Edward Raeder the following resolution was offered and adopted:
“WHEREAS; pursuant to §189 of New York State Highway Law, in order to establish a public town highway it must be demonstrated that the roadway has been kept in repair or taken in charge by public authorities for a period of ten years or more;
WHEREAS, the Town Highway Superintendent has advised the Town Board of the existence of four town roads that have been utilized as public highways and have been continually maintained by the Town Highway Department for a period of at least 10 years; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to New York State Highway Law, §140(8) Town Highway Superintendents are required to maintain an inventory that sufficiently describes and records highways in the Town Clerk’s office.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Board hereby authorizes the Town Highway Superintendent to add the following dead end roads to the Town’s highway inventory pursuant to New York State Law:
1. Tom Hinkley Road (from Lower Meeker Hollow Road to dead end, a distance of .30 mile)
2. Eber Cartwright Road (from County Hwy 36 to dead end, a distance of .14 mile)
3 Fairway Drive (from Burroughs Memorial Road to dead end, a distance of .51 mile)
4. Shepard Lane (from Park Street to dead end, a distance of .14 mile)
WHEREUPON, the Resolution was put to a vote, and recorded as follows:
AYES-5 Hinkley, Raeder, Cronk, Murray, Hynes
NAYS-0
RESOLUTION #81-MTC CABLE SUPPORT LETTER
On motion of Gene Cronk second by Allen Hinkley the following resolution was offered and adopted:
“WHEREAS, MTC Cable (MTC) is preparing to submit four grant funding applications to the New NY Broadband Program; and
WHEREAS, the projects will include bringing broadband to new local areas and to upgrade existing lines to other local areas; and
WHEREAS, the Town supports the benefits of broadband availability;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board, Town of Roxbury supports the applications being submitted by MTC to the New NY Broadband Program for four broadband projects in local communities.”
AYES-5 Cronk, Hinkley, Raeder, Murray, Hynes
NAYS-0
Discussion took place on filling the vacancy on the highway department. Per Dpty. Hwy. Supt. William Sprague, Highway Supt. Neil German requests hiring Colin Oliver as HEO effective December 1, 2016.
RESOLUTION #82-HIRE OLIVER FOR HIGHWAY DEPT.
On motion of Allen Hinkley second by Gene Cronk the following resolution was offered and adopted:
“WHEREAS, a vacancy exists in the Highway Dept.; and
WHEREAS, the Highway Supt. requests hiring Colin Oliver as a Heavy Equipment Operator (HEO);
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board hires Colin Oliver as HEO on the Highway Dept., full-time, effective 12/1/16 or after per Hwy. Supt., at the reduced pay rate of $18.25 per hour plus benefits.”
AYES-5Hinkley, Cronk, Raeder, Murray, Hynes
NAYS-0
Dpty. Supt. Sprague also stated the highway dept. is planning to do some work for the Town of Halcott and them for us so it has been requested by the Halcott Supt. Alan Reynolds to add each other to our Shared Services Agreements.
RESOLUTION #83-ADD TOWN OF HALCOTT TO SHARED SERVICES AGREEMENT
On motion of Gene Cronk second by Allen Hinkley the following resolution was offered and adopted:
“WHEREAS, the Town Board, Town of Roxbury, adopted a resolution on December 14, 2015 authorizing the Town of Roxbury Chief Executive Officer to sign a contract for shared highway services to permit the Town of Roxbury highway department head to share services with highway department heads in other municipalities; and
WHEREAS, said Shared Services contract included services with the Towns of Stamford, Town of Andes, Town of Harpersfield, Town of Middletown, Town of Gilboa, Village of Delhi and County of Delaware; and
WHEREAS, on December 29, 2015 the Town Board added NYS Dept. of Transportation (NYSDOT) to the Shared Services contract; and
WHEREAS, said Shared Services contract expires 12/13/20;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board, Town of Roxbury, hereby amends the Town of Roxbury Shared Services Agreement to include shared services with the Town of Halcott; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED this resolution shall take effect immediately.”
AYES-5 Cronk, Hinkley, Raeder, Murray, Hynes
NAYS-0
Parks Clerk Carolynn Faraci reported the dollhouse window sashes are expected to be completed next week, but due to being more labor intensive than originally thought, the cost will be $43 per sash compared to $32 as quoted. No Board member opposed the increase. Mrs. Faraci added the park bridge repairs should begin soon.
A report has been received from Lamont Engineers PC regarding the Denver Water work for tank telemetry and adding bids for the PRV building are scheduled to be opened November 17th at 3:00 pm at the Town Hall.
RESOLUTION #84-SCHEDULE SPECIAL MEETING ON DENVER WATER
On motion of Edward Raeder second by Carol Murray the following resolution was offered and adopted:
“RESOLVED, the Town Board schedules a Special Meeting to be held November 21, 2017 at 7:00 pm at the Town Hall to discuss Denver Water District issues and any other business that may come before the Town Board.”
AYES-Raeder, Murray, Cronk, Hinkley, Hynes
NAYS-0
Councilman Hinkley, having received a call from Building Inspector William Walcutt, discussed issues with the amount of fees to be charged to NYCDEP for upgrades/repairs to the Grand Gorge Sewer Plant building. Questions arise with what part of the work actually requires a permit. The Board’s decision was to have the Building Inspector get the plans/specs of the project from DEP before a decision on a fee can be determined. The matter was also discussed in a written report from the Town Attorney.
The Board also discussed issues with the Building Inspector taking unannounced vacations and no deputy to fill in for him. It was stated that his contract requires him to appoint a deputy, subject to Town Board approval, to make determinations in his absence. The Town Board made no decisions in the matter.
On motion of Allen Hinkley second by Gene Cronk the Town Board approved the Town Clerk’s monthly report for October 2016 in the amount of $2,846.18 (Town Clerk $786.18 and Building Permits $2,060.00)
AYES-5 Hinkley, Cronk, Raeder, Murray, Hynes
NAYS-0
On motion of Edward Raeder second by Carol Murray the Town Board approved the Supervisor’s monthly report for September 2016.
AYES-5 Raeder, Murray, Cronk, Hinkley, Hynes
NAYS-0
A written Assessor’s Report was distributed to the Town Board.
On motion of Gene Cronk second by Edward Raeder the Town Board approved the Assessor’s monthly report for October 2016.
AYES-5 Cronk, Raeder, Hinkley, Murray, Hynes
NAYS-0
On motion of Allen Hinkley second by Gene Cronk the Town Board approved the Building Inspector’s monthly report for October 2016.
AYES-5 Hinkley, Cronk, Raeder, Murray, Hynes
NAYS-0
On motion of Carol Murray second by Allen Hinkley the Town Board approved the monthly report of water receipts for October 2016 in the following amounts: Denver $3,602.78; Grand Gorge $4,024.61 and Roxbury $5,159.02.
AYES-5 Murray, Hinkley, Cronk, Raeder, Hynes
NAYS-0
There is no Justice Court report for September or October 2016 as invoices have not yet been received from the State.
The Board discussed the 2017 Preliminary Town Budget and the previously discussed proposed changes to General Fund Appropriations and Revenues.
RESOLUTION #85-ADOPT 2017 TOWN BUDGET
On motion of Allen Hinkley second by Edward Raeder the following resolution was offered and adopted:
“WHEREAS, the Town Board has reviewed and discussed the 2017 Preliminary Town Budget; and
WHEREAS, the proposed changes to the 2017 Preliminary Budget include the following: General Fund Appropriations #7510.4 Historian contractual increase from $500 to $1,000 and #3120.4 Constable contractual decrease from $30,000 to $17,000. General Fund Revenues #1081 PILOT decrease from $2,451 to $2,417 and #2770 Election Reimb. decrease from $8,520 to $8,450.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Town Board adopts the 2017 Town Budget, which includes the changes listed above and authorizes the filing of same with the appropriate agencies.”
AYES-5 Hinkley, Raeder, Cronk, Murray, Hynes
NAYS-0
The Town Board thanked the Budget Officer for her work on the budget and added that the 2017 Town Budget stayed below the allowable tax cap levy for 2017.
RESOLUTION #86-UNPAID WATER BALANCES TO TAXES
On motion of Carol Murray second by Allen Hinkley the following resolution was offered and adopted:
“WHEREAS, pursuant to subdivision 3 of Section 198 of the Town Law, all unpaid water balances due and owing for the period ending September 30th of each year are to be paid by November 1st of that same year; and
WHEREAS, any unpaid water balances for the period ending September 30th shall be added to the taxes levied for the next year; and
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the Town Board authorizes the unpaid water balances due and owing through the period ending September 30, 2017 be added to the taxes to be levied for the year 2017 in the following amounts: Denver Water $1,581.80; Grand Gorge Water $9,884.20 and Roxbury Water $4,064.96.”
AYES-5 Murray, Hinkley, Cronk, Raeder, Hynes
NAYS-0
Attorney Kevin Young was absent but submitted a written report for the Town Board including:
NYCDEP Collection System Assessment-Atty. Beebe has submitted the appraisal figures to DEP who is in the process of reviewing them to decide if they will withdraw their action.
Building Inspector-same issue as discussed earlier regarding a proposed NYCDEP building permit application.
Signs at Veteran’s Memorial-a draft Local Law was distributed to the Town Board to review and decide if they want to proceed with a public hearing.
GEIS Project-a proposed amended application has been submitted to CWC and is currently also being reviewed by DEP.
Grand Gorge Tire Sewer Hookup-the owner can apply for funds through CWC to cover costs with 100% of costs to be paid if DEP decides to eliminate the local match on the Business Septic Fund.
Supervisor Hynes stated he has spoken with the Tax Collector regarding the April 2016 bank interest and we should expect a check from her in a couple of days.
On motion of Gene Cronk second by Allen Hinkley the bills were audited and ordered paid in the following amounts:
General Fund #512-577 – $36,222.33
Denver Water #69-77 – $3,220.96
Highway Fund #234-251 – $39,766.56
Roxbury Sewer #77-85 – $8,997.04
Roxbury Water #84-93 – $3,716.39
Denver Sewer #95-105 – $13,819.35
Grand Gorge Water #85-95 – $3,862.88
Special Lights #16-17 – $2,087.84
AYES-5 Cronk, Hinkley, Raeder, Murray, Hynes
NAYS-0
On motion of Carol Murray second by Gene Cronk the meeting adjourned at 8:25 pm.
THIS IS A TRUE COPY
________________________________________
Diane Pickett, Town Clerk
Thomas S. Hynes, Supervisor
Gene Cronk, Councilman
Edward Raeder, Councilman
Allen Hinkley, Councilman
Carol Murray, Councilwoman