Full Text
Regular Meeting, July 2017 TOWN OF NILES REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING Thursday, July 13, 2017 Niles Town Hall 5923 New Hope Road, Moravia, NY 13118 PRESENT: Joan Jayne, Supervisor Steven Cuddeback, Councilman Bernard Juli, Deputy Supervisor Clarence Edmonds, Councilman Joe MacDuffee, Councilman Tiffany Landis, Deputy Town Clerk Kevin Macleod, Attorney OTHERS PRESENT: Ryan Walczak, Pat Steger, Bill Sheppard, Karen Porter, Jim Matijas, Kelly Anderson Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm by Supervisor Jayne Pledge of Allegiance OPEN FLOOR TO THE PUBLIC Supervisor Jayne requested to the public that they please address the Board and do not talk amongst themselves. Mr. Ryan Walczak, new owner of Frozen Ocean Motorsports Facility, stood up and addressed the Board. He stated that he understood some members of the community have attended these meetings the past few months and he wanted to come and clear things up. He stated that a majority of the information presented is completely false. Mr. Walczak stated that he wanted to take a few moments of the Board's time to highlight what is false and to get facts down on record. He stated that he went through the May and June regular Board meeting minutes and highlighted topics to discuss in the hopes that problems can be resolved. Mr. Walczak then gave some background about himself and explained why he wanted to buy the track. Mr. Walczak said he did race at Frozen Ocean and a bunch of other places while growing up. He grew up in the Rochester Area and went to college to be a teacher. He was a teacher in Ithaca for 7 years and did excavating on the side. Mr. Walczak explained that his excavating business did well and he decided to do that full time. In the winter, Mr. Walczak would travel and build monster truck tracks, lacrosse fields, football stadiums, etc.. Mr. Walczak stated that his profession relates loosely with what happens at Frozen Ocean Motorsports Facility. When Frozen Ocean came up for sale, Mr. Walczak stated that he thought that the Facility provided a good opportunity and he tried to get other people to buy it. He stated that the business is a lot of work for not a lot of money. Mr. Walczak explained that he has spent a lot of time with Mr. Bill Denman there the past year and he saw huge value in the business, not as a business but as in what it does for people. Mr. Walczak stated there were lots of families, tons of kids, many good things happening. He stated that he has been out of racing for the last 10 years and he had forgotten what goes on there. Mr. Walczak stated that he does miss parts of teaching - having an effect on kids. He stated that many of his excavating employees were teachers or former students. I saw a lot of opportunity from Frozen Ocean and wanted to get involved. This was Mr. Walczak's main motivation for wanting to buy the business according to him. He stated that as a money making opportunity that buying the Facility is a terrible investment. Mr. Walczak said running the business is an insane amount of work and there isn't a lot of money in it. Mr. Walczak stated that going through something like this (having the community upset) is frustrating to him because he is doing this with nothing but good intensions. ---PAGE BREAK--- Regular Meeting, July 2017 Mr. Walczak stated that he was literally going to read through May and June's minutes and correct items which are false in the hopes of clearing up any miscommunication that may have caused the community frustration. May Regular Town Board Meeting (May 11, 2017): Mr. Walczak stated that he didn't know about any of these meetings until after they happened. He stated that nobody came to him to ask for his side of the story or to clear up what some folks even stated themselves was hearsay and heard through the grapevine. Mr. Walczak stated that not one neighbor or other member of the community came to him for actual facts to include information about the monster truck series. Mr. Walczak said maybe there was confusion about the Monster Truck series, which Mr. Walczak said is completely untrue. Mr. Walczak stated he thinks that there was confusion about what he does for his excavating business and what is going on at Frozen Ocean. Mr. Barrette stated that "notice of races is infrequent". Mr. Walczak stated that as far as he is concerned he doesn't have to give notice because the schedule is posted in numerous places and this year's schedule has been posted since January 2017. Mr. Walczak's opinion is the schedule can be easily found if it is looked for - that the information is public knowledge. Mr. Walczak stated that the schedule is posted in local gas stations, groups that race at Frozen Ocean post the schedule on their websites and Facebook pages and the schedule is on the Frozen Ocean Motorsports Facilicy's website and Facebook page. In Mr. Walczak's opinion, if the schedule was looked up, concerned community members would have seen that there are 6 races scheduled this year. Mr. Walczak stated that Mr. Barrette stated that there were a minimum of 40 races. Mr. Walczak said that is not true and he does not know where the 40 races per year came from. Mr. Walczak then addressed Wednesday night practices. Mr. Walczak confirmed that practices are held from 4 pm until dark, around 8 pm - this has been the case for the 30 years that the facility has been operating. Mr. Walczak than addressed Mr. Barrette's concern about the Facility causing a decrease in property values. Mr. Walczak stated that he has met with Mr. Barrette since the previous May and June Board meetings have occurred and they are, in his opinion, on better terms now. According to Mr. Walczak, Mr. Barrette is now leasing his land between his house and the Motorsports Facility to an organic farmer. Mr. Barrette used to lease to Bill Denman who used pesticides. Mr. Walczak stated that he knows that the community is concerned about the environment and so is he. Mr. Walczak states that in his opinion, Mr. Barrette's property value has gone up because his farm land is now becoming organic. Mr. Walczak stated that Mr. Barrette expressed that he is concerned about the environment and would like an environmental study done. Mr. Walczak stated he knows that the community is concerned about the environment and so is he. Mr. Walczak stated that during the purchasing process the County Health Department came out and inspected the septic system and the that the Motorsports Facility sells food so he (Mr. Walczak) had to go through the process of obtaining a permit to sell food. Mr. Walczak stated that Cayuga County Soil and Water Conservation came out to visit the Facility that day (7/13/17) to discuss various topics including the watershed. Mr. Walczak stated that as an excavator, he works very closely with Environmental authorities. Mr. Walczak stated that he too is very concerned about the environment and that the community/neighbors do not have to worry about him ruining the property. Mr. Walczak stated that he has visited with Mr. Barrette and he observed that there were drainage lines that were put in by Mr. Denman years ago that drain onto Mr. Barrette's property. Mr. Walczak said he cut new drainage lines that go to a pond on his property so nothing coming from Mr. Walczak's property drains on Mr. Barrette's property. Mr. Walczak addressed Mr. Barrette's statement in the May Board meeting minutes that there was an increase to 4 tracks. Mr. Walczak said he is not building any new tracks and he does not know where this idea came from. Mr. Walczak stated that he has nothing to hide and that anyone can come over and look at the facility. Mr. Walczak addressed the concern that races have run to 11 pm, sometimes as late as 2 am. Mr. Walczak said he couldn't speak to the past but since he has owned the Facility, the latest a race has run is 10:10 pm and that was on a Saturday. ---PAGE BREAK--- Regular Meeting, July 2017 Mr. Walczak stated that while he was traveling for his excavating business over the winter when he knew he was going to purchase Frozen Ocean Motorsports Facility, he did direct his attorney to talk to the Planning Board and that he did agree that if he was going to expand that Facility he would go to the Planning Board and to the Code Enforcement Officer. Mr. Walczak stated that he is very familiar with working with Boards and Enforcement Officers and that the public should know if he ever expands he will be working closely with these entities. Mr. Walczak then addressed the comments made by Mr. Pat Murray concerning Mr. Murray's statement that when he is outside with his family....he can't hear anything but all terrain vehicles. Mr. Walczak said he has information from the Denman's, which had paid an outside source to conduct sound tests. According to Mr. Walczak, readings at 1/2 mile away showed that there was undetectable readings of noise, period. Mr. Walczak stated that Mr. Murray's house is 1.5 miles away and that he has driven over there personally during a race and he couldn't hear anything. Mr. Walczak stated that Mr. Murray's statement about the Facility have 2 practices a week is false. Mr. Walczak said the Facility has never had two practices a week - practices are held every Wednesday. Mr. Walczak stated that one Wednesday the practice was cancelled and rescheduled the next Thursday. Mr. Walczak stated that the track was closed the entire winter and that there was absolutely no racing of snowmobiles. Mr. Walczak stated that the only tracks were from Mr. Barrette's property which then cut into Frozen Ocean and then back onto Mr. Barrette's property on the trail they use to go hunting. Mr. Walczak addressed the statements concerning a noise decibel increase. Mr. Walczak said that every single year the Federal government sets noise decibel limits and that the levels are dropping and regulations are getting tighter. Mr. Walczak said that a lot of things are switching to electric - in his opinion, each year the levels decrease and noise levels will improve (decrease). Mr. Walczak then addressed comments from Mrs. Karen Porter concerning her comments that she can hear practices. Mr. Walczak stated that he is not saying that are not negatively impacting some things but in his opinion, the positives of the Facility outweigh the negatives. Mr. Walczak said that he has 100s sometimes almost 1000 people at his events. Mr. Walczak stated his Facility may be negatively affecting some neighbors but that he is positively affecting the community as a whole. Mr. Walczak stated that his Facility employs and supports several businesses in the area. Mr. Walczak stated that he hires the 4-Town ambulance crew and that they love coming up there and his mortgage is with Groton Bank and they are making money off of him. Mr. Walczak said that all of the food at the park is prepared, cooked and sold by the Owasco Market which was Mr. Barrette's former store. Mr. Walczak said that several of his employees are from the local area and that Summit Chevrolet in Auburn wants to sponsor future mud-bogging events. In Mr. Walczak's opinion, there may be 3, 4 5 unhappy neighbors but there are 100s if not 1000s of very happy community members. Mr. Walczak stated that he did not subdivide the land. Mr. and Mrs. Denman subdivided the residential and business property years ago and that he only bought the business side. Mr. Walczak restated that he did not build a new track over the winter and that he has owned the property since April 7, 2017. He then stated that he was gone with his excavating business building facilities all over the country from January 1 - April 1, 2017. June Regular Town Board Meeting (June 8, 2017): Mr. Walczak then addressed statements made during the June regular Board Meeting. Mr. Walczak said he has not seen the petition mentioned. Mr. Walczak stated that he could have his own petition with more signatures very rapidly if he wanted to. Mr. Walczak addressed the concern about decibel readings. He stated that Mr. Denman had a third party do an independent reading and everything was well within ranges they are allowed to be in. Mr. Walczak stated that current regulations require that dirt bikes must be under 92 decibels under full throttle, 5 feet from the exhaust and when you get out to neighbors' houses the levels are not even remotely close to that. ---PAGE BREAK--- Regular Meeting, July 2017 Mr. Walczak than addressed Mr. Nevius' statements from the June regular Board meeting. Mr. Walczak stated that Frozen Ocean Motorsports Facility has not expanded and that they have less races this year than there were last year. Mr. Walczak extended an invitation for any of the neighbors or community members to come to the Facility and to talk to him and ask him any questions they want. Mrs. Miranda Rumsey's statements that her or none of the other neighbors have ever asked their opinion by Mr. Denman or Mr. Walczak that were made at the June Board meeting were then addressed by Mr. Walczak. Mr. Walczak said that since the June Board meeting Mrs. Rumsey did come to one of the races and that he and Mrs. Rumsey talked for close to an hour. Mr. Walczak said Mrs. Rumsey saw the kids and the families and that she saw what is really going on there. Mr. Walczak said that by the end of their conversation Mrs. Rumsey hugged him and she stated that she was glad she came over. Mr. Walczak stated that he has a lot of respect for Mrs. Rumsey and he greatly appreciated that she came over to talk to him. Mr. Walczak said that Mrs. Rumsey then talked to the neighbors which led to him going to Mr. Barrette's house. Mr. Walczak said he picked up Mr. Barrette and showed him around the property addressing some of the concerns he had. Mr. Walczak feels that all parties are making steps in the right direction and things are much better off than they were. Mr. Bill Sheppard's comments from the June meeting concerning the statement that changes are made to the track over winter were then addressed by Mr. Walczak. Mr. Walczak stated that he slipped in nothing during the winter and that there is no fourth track. Mr. Walczak stated that he did not know that some members of the community were frustrated and that they had been coming to meetings. He stated he wished he did know and that communication could have been better and that issues could have been handled differently in the hopes that resolution could have been achieved well before it became the Board's issue. Mr. Walczak explained that he was just trying to clear up the facts. Mr. Walczak then stated that this upcoming weekend (7/15/17) there was a Jon Rightmire scholarship race and Mr. Walczak is predicting that by the end of Saturday night they will have raised over $35,000 in scholarship money which will be awarded to racers going on to college. He stated several of his friends have received this scholarship and it helped them obtain their goals. Mr. Walczak reiterated that his Facility is a public place and he encouraged the public to come and see what his Facility is all about; his cell phone is on public sites and he asked that you please contact him with any concerns or questions you may have. Supervisor Jayne acknowledged and thanked Mr. Walczak for his comments. Deputy Supervisor Juli then asked how loud the mud-bogging event held on 7/9/17 was. Mr. Walczak stated that the noise level was much less that the dirt bike events. Mr. Walczak stated that they did have a band and that Mr. Barrette assisted in band placement; noise was directed to the woods. Mr. Walczak stated that there was one truck from the first mud-bogging event that was called and asked not to come back out of respect for everyone. Mr. Walczak stated he got rid of the loudest truck and brought in a band instead. Mr. Bill Carmine Carmen addressed the Board. Mr. Carmen requested that the Board notify members of the community on the proper procedures for reporting their damage caused by the recent July storms to the County. Mr. Carmen stated that he feels a mailing or a postcard versus an advertisement would reach more people. Supervisor Jayne stated we could put information on our website. Supervisor Jayne said she had discussed the same topic with other members of the community having the same concerns. Discussion ensued as to what avenue would be best to reach the most people. The consensus was that a postcard mailing would be the best ---PAGE BREAK--- Regular Meeting, July 2017 method. Cayuga County is collecting data and working with State and Federal Emergency Management to determine if the area has reached certain thresholds which are required to receive funding. Supervisor Jayne would like residents to first contact their insurance company with any damage they may have. The Supervisor is also requesting that all residents with residential damage please send their name, physical address, phone number and any pictures of the damage received to [EMAIL REDACTED]. The County's emergency management team can be reached at (315) 255-1161 if you have questions. Supervisor Jayne said she can try to answer any questions you may have. She can be reached at (315) 497-0066. Both Supervisor Jayne and Highway Superintendant Steger have met with County and State agencies regarding damage to our area. The Board directed the Town Assessor Tammy Schramm to provide the Deputy Clerk Tiffany Landis with list of addresses that could have received damage from the recent storms. Deputy Clerk Landis was directed to coordinate the design of a postcard that will be sent to residents to notify them of how to report damage to the County. Supervisor Jayne thanked Mr. Carmen for his comments. APPROVAL OF MINUTES On a motion by Councilman Cuddeback, seconded by Councilman Edmonds following Resolution was ADOPTED Ayes Cuddeback, Edmonds, Jayne, Juli, MacDuffee Nays RESOLVED that the minutes of June 8, 2017 be approved Supervisor Jayne thanked the Highway Department for all of their dedication and hard work during the recent rain storms. Supervisor Jayne thanked Deputy Supervisor Juli for framing the new Town map. DEPARTMENT REPORTS CODE ENFORCEMENT: Mr. Jerry VeVone was not in attendance. ASSESSOR’S REPORT: T. Schramm absent but submitted a report. Pictures were taken from the water of lake properties on Skaneateles Lake. Changes from grievance day were verified in the database. The final tax roll is filed with the Town Clerk and the notice was published in the newspaper. Verified sales are being loaded into the database. The sales will become the basis for land table values and new assessment values. The Assessor attended exemption administration class June 16th. School Bills will be generated at the end of August. TOWN ATTORNEY'S REPORT: Attorney Macleod is in for Attorney Smith. Attorney Macleod briefed the Board on current state laws on snowmobile use on seasonal roads. Attorney Macleod said a local law could be introduced. Attorney Smith and Attorney Macleod will draft up a law and present to the Board for their review. Superintendant Steger received a letter requesting the use of Church road by the Snowmobile club called Weedsport Wanderers. The club will carry their own insurance. Mr. Edmonds stated he would like a letter from the club releasing the Town from any liability for us to have on file. TOWN CLERK’S REPORT: Received shares totaling $694.00 and has been deposited. Deputy Town Clerk asked Supervisor Jayne to make a Motion to approve Abstract 7 (July bills). Motion by Supervisor Jayne to pay Abstract 7 (July bills), seconded by Councilman MacDuffee, motion carried ---PAGE BREAK--- Regular Meeting, July 2017 HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT: Mr. Steger presented daily log for highway and related projects. The County Soil and Water ground up the Town's pile of wood behind the Town Hall. Wood chips are available for free to Town residents. Superintendent Steger encourages all to come and get what you need. Highlights: Corrigan road paving went well. A lot of time was spent making repairs due to the recent rain. The worst hit area was on Glen Cove Road. We received a large amount of rain in a short amount of time. Many culverts were plugged and we spent a lot of time clearing debris. Councilman Edmonds asked about mower repair. Mr. Steger said one section on the mower had a crack in it probably caused by a rock; it has been repaired and is in use. Deputy Supervisor Juli asked that a corner on Rowe road be trimmed. Superintendent Steger said he would get to it soon. Councilman MacDuffee asked about training on the excavator and grader for our new highwaymen. Superintendent Steger said that when the Department had down time in the spring the men were trained. RESOLUTION #2017-69 APPROVAL OF DEPARTMENT REPORTS On a motion by Supervisor Jayne, seconded by Councilman MacDuffee the following Resolution was ADOPTED Ayes Cuddeback, Edmonds, Jayne, Juli, MacDuffee Nays RESOLVED to approve department reports SUPERVISOR’S REPORT Kelly Anderson met and worked with Suzanne Sinclair to close the month of June. Mrs. Anderson stated she is getting familiar with the software that the Town uses. Mrs. Anderson asked the Board to give her any recommendations on what they would like to see changed on the report. She is open to any ideas. Supervisor Jayne informed the Board that Mrs. Anderson is the Cayuga County Real Property Director and in the past she was the bookkeeper for Erie. Mrs. Anderson is a Niles resident and has been appointed as of 7/1/17. Bond receipts are in for the water and sewer districts. Next month's report will include a capital fund for the new Sewer and Water district so we can better track expenditures. The budget process will begin soon. RESOLUTION #2017-70 ACCEPT SUPERVISOR'S REPORT On a motion by Deputy Supervisor Juli, seconded by Councilman MacDuffee the following Resolution was ADOPTED Ayes Cuddeback, Edmonds, Jayne, Juli, MacDuffee Nays RESOLVED to accept Supervisor's June financial report OTHER BUSINESS: The first Niles Community Day is being held 7/16/17 from 1-4 pm. The tent was put up today (7/13/17). Several venders will be here, our historian will be serving strawberry shortcake and sundaes. Hotdogs and drinks will also be served. Cost of all food will be Postcard invitations were sent to the entire Town. Musical entertainment and a face painter will also be provided. Tell your neighbors and friends - it's going to be a great time. Terry Green, our Planning Board Chairman, has agreed to be appointed to the Cayuga County Planning Board. Supervisor Jayne thanks the Youth Director, Karen Porter on a wonderful job done. Niles has a total of 24 children attending Moravia Recreation for a total cost of $4800. Parents had to pay a $20 registration fee this year. Mrs. Porter talked about the $1200 administrative fee that was charged and was supposed to be split ---PAGE BREAK--- Regular Meeting, July 2017 between 5 towns. Niles will not pay this fee ($240). Mrs. Porter stated that this fee was not talked about in previous meetings. In her opinion, Mrs. Porter feels that all municipalities should pay per child like Niles does and that the $20 per child registration fee should cover the necessary administrative fees. The next Recreation meeting will be in September. The Board received notification of a Liquor License application. New Hope Naturals is the business requesting a license. Councilman Edmonds expressed concern about the parking. Mrs. Porter said that there is parking in the back. Councilman Edmonds wanted to see paperwork from the Planning Board and Code Enforcement. The Board will offer an opinion on the liquor license application once the paperwork is reviewed. Motion to adjourn made by Deputy Supervisor Juli, seconded by Councilman Edmonds; motion unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:21 pm Respectfully submitted, Tiffany H. Landis