Full Text
Regular Town Meeting, April 12, 2018 1 Town of Niles TOWN BOARD MEETING April 11, 2018 Niles Town Hall PRESENT: Joan Jayne, Supervisor Steven Cuddeback, Councilman Bernard Juli, Councilman Joseph MacDuffee, Councilman Clarence Edmonds, Councilman Attorney Brody Smith Tiffany Landis, Town Clerk Patty Podolak, Deputy Town Clerk OTHERS PRESENT: David Powers, Roger Slater, Karen Porter and Pat Steger A. Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm by Supervisor Jayne B. Pledge of Allegiance C. Open floor to the public Mr. Dave Powers requested an update on the Adams Property. Attorney Smith stated Mr. Adams refused to be served the first time. A Trust owns the property. Another attempt will be made. D. Code Enforcement Report: Code Enforcement Report: Mr. Patrick Doyle, the Town's new Code Enforcement Officer introduced himself. His office hours will be 5-7 pm on Thursday nights and by appointment. He then summarized a written report that was given to the Board. Since being hired on 3/21/18 Mr. Doyle has issued one building permit. The acting Code Enforcement Officer Curt Coville issued two permits previously in 2018. Routine inspections on outstanding permits and site inspections for new permits were done. Mr. Doyle stated he revised the Building Permit application to include new contact information and Section 164-8 (Building Setback Lines). The application is available in the Clerk's office and is on our website. Mr. Doyle stated he can receive e-mails ([EMAIL REDACTED]) on his laptop which he has with him all the time. Mr. Doyle then discussed the New Hope Fire Department permit refund request. The Clerk found proof that Pat Merical paid $75 in October of 2015. Mr. Doyle found no record of a permit. The Board instructed the Clerk to refund to Mr. Merical. ---PAGE BREAK--- Regular Town Meeting, April 12, 2018 2 E. Approval of Minutes Regular Town Board meeting on 3/8/18 and Special Town Board Meeting to hire Code Enforcement Officer on 3/22/18 On a motion by Councilman Cuddeback, seconded, by Councilman Edmonds the following Resolution was ADOPTED Ayes Cuddeback, Edmonds, Jayne, Juli, MacDuffee Nays RESOLVED, that the minutes of March 8 and March 22, 2018 be approved. F. Motion to approve Abstracts by Fund: RESOLUTION #2018-48 APPROVE ABSTRACT 4 (APRIL BILLS). a. A General Fund $16,171.81 b. DA Highway Fund $34,840.58 c. SR Garbage Fund $11,834.50 e. H1 Water Fund $10,584.83 f. H2 Sewer Fund $53,635.09 On a motion by Supervisor Jayne, seconded by Councilman Cuddeback the following Resolution was ADOPTED Ayes Cuddeback, Edmonds, Jayne, Juli, MacDuffee Nays RESOLVED, that the Town of Niles board adopt RESOLUTION #2018-48 G. RESOLUTION #2018-49 TO APPROVE NYS RETIREMENT STANDARD WORK DAY AND REPORTING RESOLUTION FOR ELECTED AND APPOINTED OFFICIALS On a motion by Supervisor Jayne, seconded by Councilman Cuddeback, the following resolution was ADOPTED Ayes Cuddeback, Edmonds, Jayne, Juli, MacDuffee Nays RESOLVED, that the Town of Niles board adopt RESOLUTION #2018-49 ---PAGE BREAK--- Regular Town Meeting, April 12, 2018 3 H. RESOLUTION #2018-50 TO SET HOURLY RATE FOR DEPUTY CLERK HAVING SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED PROBATIONARY PERIOD Clerk Landis stated that she was extremely happy with Deputy Clerk Podolak's performance. She is trustworthy, dependable and a quick learner. Clerk Landis wants to extend Deputy Clerk Podolak's appointment to the 12/31/2018 and to increase her hourly rate by $2 per hour to $17 per hour. On a motion by Supervisor Jayne, seconded by Councilman Cuddeback, the following resolution was ADOPTED Ayes Cuddeback, Edmonds, Jayne, Juli, MacDuffee Nays RESOLVED, that the Town of Niles board adopt RESOLUTION #2018-50 to set an hourly rate for Deputy Clerk Podolak at $17.00 per hour. I. RESOLUTION #2018-51 TO COMPLY WITH RECOMMENDED COUNTY CIVIL SERVICE CLASSIFICATIONS: a. Abolish 3 Laborer Seasonal and 2 MEO Seasonal Positions b. Create 4 Motor Equipment Operator Part Time Positions Highway Superintendent Steger had a meeting with Civil Service and there are some name changes to seasonal workers. Same thing we are doing now but less paperwork - the process is being simplified. Part time is 1040 hours or less. On a motion by Supervisor Jayne, seconded by Councilman Cuddeback, the following resolution was ADOPTED Ayes Cuddeback, Edmonds, Jayne, Juli, MacDuffee Nays RESOLVED, that the Town of Niles board adopt RESOLUTION #2018-51 J. RESOLUTION #2018-52 TO AUTHORIZE EXECUTION OF AGREEMENT FOR THE EXPENDITURE OF HIGHWAY MONEYS (CHIPS) Superintendent Steger addressed the Board. We received $93,994.91 (CHIPS actual), $21,455.12 (Pave NY) and $17,670.04 (Extreme Winter Recovery) - total of $133,120.07. Major projects this year that Superintendent Steger would like to complete are Paving Mack Road and 9 miles of other surface treatments. Some other projects this year are culvert replacements, gravel & grading roads, ditching, dead tree removal and shoulder replacement on Harter Road. On a motion by Councilman Juli, seconded by Councilman MacDuffee, the following resolution was ADOPTED Ayes Cuddeback, Edmonds, Jayne, Juli, MacDuffee Nays RESOLVED, that the Town of Niles board adopt RESOLUTION #2018-52 ---PAGE BREAK--- Regular Town Meeting, April 12, 2018 4 K. Department Reports a. Supervisor's Report: - no comments or questions from the Board b. Highway Superintendant's Report: Superintendent Steger summarized his daily journal which was provided to the Board members. Highlights included new grader tires being put on. The sander was calibrated. Black was painted onto the wings and plows. Everyone attended Comp Alliance PESH training. Weak Shoulder areas on Mack Road were replaced with crusher. Service was done on the F550. There was discussion on erosion and who is responsible for fixing. c. Attorney Report: Attorney Smith is working with the Code Enforcement Officer on ongoing issues. Conference call with EFC earlier this week on sewer and water. Kelly Latham which is the Town's fiscal advisor is putting together a comparison to see if it would be cheaper to finance with the state. Kelly thinks she will stay with a bank for private financing for water but that the state is offering zero percent financing for the sewer and that would be a better option. All the money to pay the bond for the Water and Sewer district will be coming from the district itself, not the Town. Kelly is doing a comparison and will let us know. The permissive referendum has been published on the Town property transfer to the New Hope Fire Department. Once 30 days has been reached Attorney Smith will start the paperwork needed to transfer the property. d. Town Clerk: Clerk Landis gave report. The Clerk received shares totaled $55.00 and they have been deposited. Eighty five percent of the property taxes have been collected totaling $2,278,409.47. We are done collecting taxes. Clerk Landis has a meeting with the County to close out tax collection on 4/18. The County will take over all delinquent payments. Clerk Landis has annual training in Albany from April 2-24. The office will be closed on Tuesday, April 24. e. Dog Control Report: There were 2 complaints of a dog running at large in area of 41A. f. Historians Report: The Historian is half way through the filing of Mable Crosby's information. She will finish the filing in June. g. Assessor's Report: All but 16 parcels have updated photos loaded in the database. Exemption renewal processing for 2018 is done. Building permits have been reviewed and new inventory was collected and photographed. The most recent sales splits have been entered into the 2018 roll. Tentative roll notice will be published in the newspaper at the end of April. Change of assessment notices will be mailed May 1st. Grievance ---PAGE BREAK--- Regular Town Meeting, April 12, 2018 5 day will be May 24th from 4-8 pm at the Town Hall. Data mailers will be sent to property owners in May along with a cover letter, so they may review their property inventory and either agree that it is correct or contact me about any errors prior to 2019 values being placed. Work continued on sales analysis and land table schedule for 2019 reassessment. The final analysis of these sales will happen between July and September of 2018. RESOLUTION #2018-53 APPROVAL OF DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS On a motion by Councilman Cuddeback, seconded by Councilman MacDuffee, the following resolution was ADOPTED Ayes Cuddeback, Edmonds, Jayne, Juli, MacDuffee Nays RESOLVED, to approve departmental reports. L. Other Business a. Rabies Clinic: April 28, 9-11 am at the New Hope Fire Department. The Clerk will advertise in the Republican Register, the Shopper and the Citizen as well as the website. b. NYS DEC presentation will be on 6/7/18 from 2-4 pm and 6-8 pm - topic is Carpenter Falls and the improvements being made. c. Karen Porter, the Town Youth Director briefed the Board on the recent recreation meeting. Ms. Porter stated that we pay on a per child basis. There will be a $20 registration fee per child. Councilman MacDuffee expressed interest in attending the next meeting. A swim contract has been signed with the YMCA. d. There is PESH/OSHA training available at the Moravia Fire Department on the 16th if interested. e. Clean - up Day assignments: April 21st - West Niles Fire Department - Councilman MacDuffee May 19th - New Hope Fire Department - Councilman Edmonds June 16th - West Niles Fire Department - Councilman Cuddeback July 21st - New Hope Fire Department - Supervisor Jayne August 18th - West Niles Fire Department - Councilman Edmonds September 15th - New Hope Fire Department - Councilman Juli f. Councilman Edmonds briefed the Board on security bars for the Clerk's window. Consensus was to purchase the bars for $150. ---PAGE BREAK--- Regular Town Meeting, April 12, 2018 6 g. Discussion ensued about how the generators performed during the recent power outage and possible ways that the Town should be supporting the public. Consensus was that the Highway Department should be doing checks on the generators. Superintendent Steger agreed and said he will put a program in place. A point of contact for National Grid would be helpful. A request was made to have the Public Service Commission number added to the point of contact list. M. Motion made by Supervisor Jayne to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Juli, motion unanimously carried to adjourn at 7:56 pm. Respectfully Submitted, Tiffany H. Landis