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Scipio Town Board Meeting The regular public meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM on Wednesday February 14, 2018 by Supervisor Mutchler with the following people present. Supervisor: Gary Mutchler Town Clerk: Tom Olenych Town Board Members: Vivian Cunningham Highway: Mark Chamberlain Leslie Baxter Code Enforcement: Mick Piechuta Mark Ferrari Gary Whitten – excused absence Guests: Dee Allen Motion to approve agenda for the town board meeting. (Cunningham / Baxter) All in favor. Issues to come before the board from town residents and guests. There were no issues from town residents or guests. Motion to approve the minutes of the January 10, 2018 town board meeting. (Baxter / Ferrari) All in favor. Town Board Members reports: Leslie Baxter: 1) told the board there was not much going on at this time of year regarding the algae blooms on Owasco Lake. She will have more to discuss on this subject at the March 14th. town board meeting after she attends a seminar on algae control on March 6th. which is being sponsored by the Environmental School of Forestry of Syracuse University. 2) Leslie pointed out to the board anyone wanting to keep up with what’s going on with Owasco Lake can go to the Cayuga County website, click on Community / Owasco Lake Watershed. 3) Leslie expressed concerns about trailers being placed on local farms to house migrant workers. She wonders if the electric and septic system have been properly permitted and inspected. She notified Scott King of the Cayuga County Health Dept. who told her the septic systems had been inspected but no certificate to that effect had been issued. Vivian Cunningham: 1) Vivian reported to the board her training school for newly elected town official was excellent and will be useful to her in her capacity as a town board member. 2) Vivian met with a lawyer for the Association of Towns regarding fire district issues. She told the board she was assured by the lawyer that the town would not be liable in the event there were problems caused by another fire department’s negligence or lack of training. Mark Ferrari: 1) Mark told the board he had inspected the roof of the town offices without having to build an exterior access door. The roof is in good shape and does not require any maintenance of repair. ---PAGE BREAK--- The question now, regarding the placing of the solar panels on the roof, is whether or not the roof is in good enough shape to hold up for the life of the panels which is 25 years. 2) Mark tried contacting Chris Carrick of Solarize New York to check on the status of the solar panel project but had not heard back from him as yet. 3) the computers in the town offices use Word which needed to be upgraded at a cost of $99.00. He and Vivian Cunningham will look to see if there is an alternative to Word at a lower annual cost. 4) Mark has not heard back from Judge Dugan regarding using cameras as an alternative to a new door with bulletproof glass. Town Supervisor’s report: 1) Supervisor Mutchler asked the board to review and vote on Resolution #1 which outlines a more aggressive road paving schedule for 2018. This resolution was prompted by Mark Chamberlain, the town’s highway superintendent, who is asking the board to approve his crews paving Skillet Road from Route 34 to just past the intersection of Rice Road. This is a 1.1 mile stretch with an expected cost to pave of $110,000.00. The resolution would approve the cost of this project to be taken out of the unappropriated highway balance of $199,000.00. Superintendent Chamberlain pointed out to the board that new manure storage pits mean more heavy equipment using town roads and the more roads are built up the better they hold up. Leslie Baxter has been looking to see if there is any grant money available to farm communities to help defer the cost of road maintenance. Motion to approve resolution Mutchler – Aye, Baxter – Aye, Cunningham – Aye and Ferrari – Aye. 2) Gary read the board e-mails between himself and Jeff Eaton, who works in David Thurston’s law office, regarding a town law prohibiting electioneering of any type on town property. Jeff feels the town should not write a law covering all town property. Instead he suggests the town write the law to pertain only to those town properties where voting actually takes place. The town will write up a law and there will be a public hearing and vote at the May 9, 2018 town board meeting. 3) Gary went over the financial report and asked that it be approved by the board. Motion to approve the financial report. (Mutchler / Ferrari) All in favor. 4) Gary asked Vivian Cunningham to sign the town policy on Workplace Violence Prevention which she did. 4) Lastly Gary told the board the town lawyer was writing up a resolution that would allow a non-resident of the Town of Scipio to hold appointed positions in the town such as the town Code Enforcement Officer. Town Officers reports: Assessor: Heather Garner submitted a written report for the Month of March. Town Clerk: 1) Tom Olenych discussed the Spring Newsletter and asked that anyone wanting to contribute to the newsletter have their contribution to him by March 19th or 20th at the latest. ---PAGE BREAK--- 2) Tom also told the board that tax season was going well and to date there have been no issues to report. Highway Superintendent: 1) Mark Chamberlain told the board the town crews have been busy dealing with snow and ice as a result the latest snow storm. As a result of the heavier use during the storm some of the town equipment was in need of minor repairs 2) Lastly Mark said his attention was now to get the town’s equipment ready for the upcoming spring and summer season. Code Enforcement: No report Other Business: No other business. Approval of vouchers: General Fund 22 – 43 totaling $9,138.57 (Mutchler / Baxter) All in favor. Highway Fund (DA): 13 – 21 totaling $4,078.65 (Ferrari / Cunningham) All in favor. Motion to adjourn: 9:25 PM (Baxter) All in favor. Respectfully submitted, Thomas J. Olenych Scipio Town Clerk