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Scipio Town Board Meeting The regular public meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM on Wednesday May 11, 2018 by Supervisor Mutchler with the following people present. Supervisor: Gary Mutchler Town Clerk: Tom Olenych Town Board Members: Leslie Baxter Highway: Mark Chamberlain Mark Ferrari Code Enforcement: Howard Tanner Vivian Cunningham Gary Whitten – excused absence Guests: Bruce Besner, Dee Allen and Howard Nelson Motion to approve agenda for the town board meeting. (Mutchler / Cunningham) All in favor. Issues to come before the board from town residents and guests. 1) Howard Nelson told the board the Spring Cleanup Day went well and was one of the busiest he’s seen since he’s been volunteering to help on Cleanup Day. 2) Motion to approve the minutes of the April 11, 2018 town board meeting. (Mutchler / Baxter) All in favor. Town Board Members reports: Leslie Baxter: 1) Leslie attended a meeting of the Cayuga Lake Watershed Committee and asked about the town becoming a member of that organization. A copy of the 2018 budget was looked at and it was noted the town budgeted $900.00 for that purpose. She also added that due to the poor water conditions the Village of Union Springs could only allow swimming at it’s public beach 5 days last year. During the meeting Rebecca Snyder of Cornell University spoke about agriculture related runoff and she suggested keeping ditches clear would help as well as placing bags of wood chips along runoff areas to absorb the nitrates before these find their way into the lakes. Dave Orr, also from Cornell University, talked about requiring farmer’s field tiles to run into holding tanks on the farm rather than these field tiles going into ditches. 2) Leslie reported that inspection of the Owasco Lake watershed would no longer be under Cayuga County Soil & Water but would be governed by the Owasco Lake Watershed Management Council. She will attend a meeting of OLWMC next week and report about that at the June town board meeting. 3) Leslie brought up the subject of cleaning up the beach area at the end of Ensenore Road, removing the old rotted post and rail fencing as well as the old barbed wire and putting a couple ---PAGE BREAK--- of picnic tables there. Leslie will check with the home owners near the beach and if there is no objection from anyone the town can go ahead and remove what’s there. 4) Lastly, she told the board the blood drive at the fire station resulted in 14 pints of blood but no new volunteers for the fire department. Vivian Cunningham: 1) Vivian reported Spring Cleanup Day went well with 78 town residents signing up and that many of these residents made multiple trips. Howard Nelson, who has been volunteering for cleanup day for several years said he has never seen that many residents taking of this day. Mark Ferrari: 1) Mark informed the board he had contacted Clarity Connect regarding the rates it charges the town. He said Clarity Connect has agreed to lower the town’s rate to the residential rate and that a reimbursement check would be mailed to the town. 2) Justice Dugan’s door was discussed and he, Justice Dugan, had informed Mark a bulletproof door was not needed but a door with sufficient glass area to see who was coming into the court room was. 3) The town offices renovation project was discussed with no decision being made as to renovate the existing offices at an approximately cost of $30,000.00 or to add an addition to the south side of the town offices at an approximate cost of $150,000.00. Mark will get more information regarding costs which he will present at a future town board meeting. One question the town needs to address prior to any construction is, “where does the town conduct town business while work is going on?”. . Town Supervisor’s report: 1) Supervisor Mutchler brought up the solar panel project and the possibility of forgoing the current plan of installing solar panels on one of the town barns in favor of purchasing electricity from the Village of Union Springs was discussed. Leslie Baxter had briefly discussed this with Bud Shadduck, the mayor of Union Springs, who saw no problem but at this time did not know how such an arrangement would be set up or what the costs to the town would be. Should the town enter into an agreement with the Village of Union Springs it would get electricity from Union Springs at a reduced cost, as it would with an agreement with Abundant Energy, but would avoid signing a 25-year contract / lease agreement with Abundant Energy. 2) the subject of Eron Klipple filling in for Deb Kellogg, when Deb isn’t absent due to a medical related issue, was discussed. Eron’s compensation comes out of Deb’s contractual account which is now in the red due to the number of court days Deb misses due to non-medical related issues. 3) Supervisor Mutchler will attend the next fire commissioners meeting scheduled to be held on Monday May 14, 2018 at 6:000 PM at the Scipio Fire Department. 4) Gary passed around the financial statements which were reviewed by the board and found to be in order. Motion to approve the financial statements. (Mutchler / Ferrari) All in favor. ---PAGE BREAK--- Town Officers reports: Assessor: Heather Garner submitted a written report. Town Clerk: 1) Tom Olenych handed out a written report detailing all monies received during the 2018 tax season and how those monies were distributed. 2) Tom discussed a letter he received from Cayuga County Employment & Training Department regarding “Summer Youth Employment Program – Summer 2018”. The program is recruiting worksites that are able to link work skills to academic and occupational learning. After a brief discussion it was decided Scipio did not have anything that fit the needs of the program, so the town will not be participating. Highway Superintendent: 1) Mark Chamberlain reported his crews have been ditching and, in some cases, lining ditches with gabion stone which helps in preventing erosion. 2) the highway department has also been putting in culverts so local farmers can create access driveways into their fields. 3) the plates on Ensenore Road have been installed and the paving over of the plates should be completed within the next few days. 4) Lastly, Mark told the board the repairs to the pickup truck have been completed, costing $1,313.79, $1,252.22 of which was covered by insurance. Code Enforcement: 1) Howard Tanner submitted a written report detailing his activities for the month, permits issued as well as his comments, questions and concerns. 2) Howard had received a call from someone asking about the town’s rules and regulations regarding soliciting within the town. Howard asked if this was something the town wanted to consider because currently there are no rules or regulations for soliciting. Other Business: There was no other business to discuss. Approval of vouchers: General 83 – 96 totaling $6,610.17 (Mutchler / Baxter) All in favor. Highway (DA): 40 – 55 totaling $34,871.10 (Cunningham / Ferrari) All in favor Motion to adjourn: 9:21 PM (Baxter) All in favor. Respectfully submitted, Thomas J. Olenych Scipio Town Clerk ---PAGE BREAK---