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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB Minutes 1999-09-02 OF I r F 9 TOWN OF ITHACA 126 EAST SENECA STREET , ITHACA , N . Y . 14850 � Y TOWN CLERK 273-1721 HIGHWAY 273-1656 PARKS 273-8035 ENGINEERING 273-1747 PLANNING 273-1747 ZONING 273-1783 FAX (607) 273- 1704 TOWN BOARD SPECIAL MEETING Thursday, September 2 , 1999 5 : 30 O 'clock p . m . AGENDA 1 . Call to Order. 2 . Pledge of Allegiance . 3 . Consider Work Plan Priorities for year 2000 : a . Town Supervisor b . Town Clerk/Receiver of Taxes/Records Management Officer c . Director of Engineering d . Highway Superintendent e . Director of Planning f. Director Building/Zoning g . Human Resources Specialist h . Budget Officer i . Attorney for the Town 4 . Consider any further business . 5 . Consider motion to ADJOURN . TOWN OF ITHACA TOWN BOARD SEPTEMBER 2, 1999 5 : 30 p. m . At a special meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Ithaca , Tompkins County, New York held at the Town Hall , 126 East Seneca Street , there were present : PRESENT: Catherine Valentino , Supervisor; Mary Russell , Councilwoman ; Carolyn Grigorov, Councilwoman ; David Klein , Councilman ; Ed Conley, Councilman ; Bill Lesser, Councilman ; Tom Niederkorn , Councilman , PRESENT: Joan Lent Noteboom , Town Clerk; John Barney, Attorney for the Town (excused at 6 : 12 p. m . ) ; Daniel Walker, Director of Engineering; Fred Noteboom , Highway Superintendent ; Jon Kanter, Director of Planning; Andy Frost , Director of Building/Zoning ; Al Carvill , Budget Officer; Judy Drake , Human Resource Specialist . OTHERS: David Higgins, Eagle Broadcasting; Lisa Titti , Ithaca . Call to Order: The Supervisor called the meeting to order at 5 : 37 p . m . , and led the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance . 1 T he board took a brief recess at 5:38 p. m. until 5:51 p. m. EECUTIVE SESSION . Motion made by Supervisor Valentino , seconded by Councilwoman Grigorov to enter into an Executive Session to discuss legal action . Carried unanimously. The Board entered Executive Session at 5 : 52 p . m . Motion made by Councilwoman Russell , seconded by Councilman Lesser to resume regular session . Carried unanimously. The Board resumed regular session at 6: 04 p . m . Resolution No. 139 —_ Appeal from Stav Decision Cornell University Lake Source Cooling Proiect BE IT RESOLVED, the Attorney for the Town is directed not to file a Notice of Appeal from the decision of the Honorable Judge Rumsey regarding the continuation of the Town Law Section 282 Stay, related to the Cornell University Lake Source Cooling project, which decision was dated August 24, 1999, MOVED Councilwoman Russell, SECONDED Councilwoman Grigorov. A vote on the motion resulted as follows: Supervisor Valentino, aye; Councilwoman Russell, aye; Councilwoman Grigorov, aye; Councilman Klein, aye; Councilman Conley, aye; Councilman Niederkorn, aye, Councilman Lesser, aye. Carried unanimously. Vqendaa Item No. 3 — Consider Work Plan Priorities for Year 2000 . TOWN BOARD PAGE 2 SEPTEMBER 2 , 1999 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED a . Town Supervisor. Supervisor Valentino — My priorities are encompassed with the priorities of the department heads and staff members . b. Town Clerk/Receiver of Taxes/Records Management Officer- See Attachment #1. Joan Lent Noteboom , Town Clerk — I asked the Network Specialist to come this evening to hear the priorities of the departments . This will allow her to hear the priorities related to computer systems and records management . The first priority listed is to develop a plan to move to the New Town Hall . This includes planning and organizing the opening ceremony. There have been local laws and ordinances passed over the years that have specific duties and responsibilities of the Town Clerk. I hope to find these duties and get them underway. There is a park use ordinance that requires an application form be filled out if anyone wishes to use a park. There is a specific fee schedule that is to be paid . We have never enforced this . It needs to be reviewed . Councilman Klein — Would you be going through all the local laws? Mrs . Noteboom — Yes . I have been reading the local laws and making notes . The earliest is 195 The 1940s are when the Town started to pass ordinances and local laws . The Town has never deal with the Going Out of Business State Law. The Town Clerk is to receive an application . There ar certain guidelines and inspections . This is to prevent businesses from having the sale and then deciding not to go out of business . Water bill receivables current collection process needs to be modified and will be coordinated with Mr. Carvili in Accounting . There is a real problem of not being able to see what Bolton Point has on their computers as far as previous readings . We are unable to give customers a correct and accurate amount at that moment . We have to have them call Bolton Point . If there is a problem and something needs to be changed Bolton Point tells the customer to call the Town Clerk . The hope is to have a network setup when we move into the New Town Hall . This will allow us to answer questions . Councilwoman Grigorov — How does Bolton Point feel ? Supervisor Valentino — We are working with Bolton Point . We are getting good cooperation . We are going to work together to have compatible software . The Town and Bolton Point have never been able to balance due to adjustments . Councilman Niederkorn — Bolton Point does come out and read the meters when someone moves . Is it then billed to the original person ? TOWN BOARD PAGE 3 SEPTEMBER 2 , 1999 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED Mrs . Noteboom — It does not seem to happen the same way twice. Some people do not want to pay the charge to have Bolton Point to read the meter. The previous owners leave . The new owners come in and have a previous billing . The , new owner is being charged what should have been read for the previous owner. Councilman Klein — The property owner is legally responsible to pay the water bill . If a property is acquired and it has a prior water bill , the new owner is responsible . This has been a problem . Mrs. Noteboom — Bolton Point has occasionally changed the amount on water and sewer bills after they have been sent . This happens when someone has called to complain about the bill . Under statute, only the Town Board is authorized to change water and sewer amounts after the billing has been made . A lot of what will be happening is more effective communication with Bolton Point . Al Carvill , Budget Officer — As we approach the possibilities of a new accounting system , it is possible that the receivables are accounted for in our books . Bolton Point would generate and mail the bill . They maintain the details . They would take care of the appropriate problems . We are left with the baggage . There are adjustments that we do not see . There is never one adjustment that appears consistently the same. There are a lot of arbitrary calls rather than consistent practice of policy. The potential accounting improvements would enhance the fact that we would do the collecting and the adjustments to the billing. We will have control over our receivable. At the present time the control lies with Bolton Point . This would allow the Town Clerk's office to retrieve the information from the network system rather than off a printout. Supervisor Valentino — The people that are having the problem are our customers . They are not Bolton Point's customers. When there is a real problem , I have told Bolton Point to refer them to us . The adjustments need to be made by us and not them . They do send more troublesome ones on to us . They are still making adjustments that we are not aware of until we try to balance out . Councilwoman Grigorov — Is this similar to what will happen with the Town Justice fees? Mrs . Noteboom — No . It will not be the Town Justices . We hope to make sure that all the fees that are collected within Town Hall go through the Town Clerk's office . Supervisor Valentino — Did we receive a memo on collecting Justice Fees ? Mr. Carvill — At the last board meeting we discussed the management letter. One suggestion was to computerize the report accounting of the Town Justices to the New York State Justice System . Test runs have been monitored between the Justices and New York State. They are running clean . The next phase is the delivery of Justice files will be remitted to the Town . The Town will be billed by the State and we will send the money to the State of New York. Councilman Klein — Are all of our computers Y2K compliant? TOWN BOARD PAGE 4 SEPTEMBER 2 , 1999 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED Lisa Titti , Network Specialist — The Town is using Microsoft Paddocks . We need to purchase th patches for that . We have two computers that need to be purchased because we are using 386s . We do not have a network system , so we need to update individual PCs . I do hope to have the patches done by the middle of September so that we can do a test . Councilman Niederkorn — Is Mrs . Noteboom coordinating the entire the move to the new building? Supervisor Valentino — She is coordinating the entire move . Mrs . Noteboom — Surplus equipment will be removed from the cellar and go to the County auction . The justice files have been indexed and the list will be going to Justice Bordoni . He will be going through the disposition list with us and we will determine what can be disposed of . We will write to the 7 Judicial District for permission to dispose of the records . Hopefully, this will be complete by the 1 St of October. I have contacted three moving companies for quotes . I have started an inventory of the antique furniture of the building . There are three companies that I am receiving quotes from to have the furniture refinished . Councilman Niederkorn — What is tax abatement? Do we try to inform people of these programs? Mrs . Noteboom — It is a program that gives you an abatement for 3 years on your school tax bill Last year the application needed to be filed by April 1St 1999 . We explained the deadline . Most our bills are received by mail . We are not allowed to put anything in with the receipt or the bill . c . Director of Engineering — See Attachment #2. Daniel Walker, Director of Engineering — I did not include the progress of the New Town Hall . We are in the contract document phase of the project . We reached an agreement with the Postal Service and they will be moving out this month . The Town has created significant delay because of we for legal items . We have gone through the historic review process . The City' s Landmark Commission has signed off on the process . We are waiting for final elevation of the outside handicap access . The plan is to have contract documents complete by the end of October . I will be getting a progress set of prints next week. We have a detailed project scope of all the work that needs to be done . The schedule says that by the November Town Board meeting we will have contract documents for approval and authorization to bid the job . There will be four contracts . The delay climate has become much stiffer than 18 months ago . Materials are scarce and contractors are busy. The cost will be up a little . Councilwoman Russell — Should not it be lower since it is being done in the winter? Mr. Walker — It is primary an inside job . There is some roof work and exterior brickwork . The roofing work may be put off until spring. It will not cause any damage to delay the work on the roof . We ar looking to have the construction to start in December and to be completed in April of 2000 . Pushin TOWN BOARD PAGE 5 SEPTEMBER 2 , 1999 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED and compressing the bidding schedule will not be to our advantage . Anytime too much pressure is put on a contractor the prices tend to be higher. Councilman Conley — The Post Office is supposed to be doing their construction in conjunction with our construction . There was some question about them renting a temporary downtown facility. Supervisor Valentino — They have secured a downtown facility. They will continue to provide all of the same services . Mr. Walker — Our architects have been in contact with them to coordinate the mechanicals . Their contract documents are due to be issued within the next two weeks . Their bidding process is different than ours . They will be starting construction within the next two months . Supervisor Valentino — They are to have the building vacated by September 20. It will be a cleaner process . Mr. Walker — They are committed to building the separation and party wall between the two spaces . They should be doing a lot of the demolition ahead of us . did not include a lot of individual projects. I feel that as an engineering department , that we are a AL support group to everything that goes on in the Town . The implementation of Town computer network and records management system is high on my priority list . There are a lot of engineering documents that need to be accessed more readily. The completion of the five-year capital planning program process needs to be in placed . This is setting the priorities for implementation . Supervisor Valentino — One of my high priorities is to get the capital planning process up and running . Mr. Walker — We have a major need to coordinate all the capital work that is done in the Town . All the departments need to be brought together so that we can use all the resources that we have available to us . Our Highway and Parks crew and water and sewer crews can do a lot of work. They have to know what is important to do and need the information to do it . I would like to formalize our capital project structure . We need to set- up a work planning process to have effective planning for projects . This will allow an integrated set of steps . This will maximize our resources . It will also eliminate people going in a different direction without knowing what others are doing . The two biggest priorities for water and sewer are the intermunicipal relationships that we are developing and expanding upon . The integrated water system development will have a significant amount of capital improvements . There are a couple of projects that have been on the capital project list dealing with water for many years . We have problems with flow and pressure on South Hill . Some improvements have been made . With the expansion of the Ithacare project the water system needs to be reinforced . The West Hill Water Improvement Capital Project Plan has one tank that cannot be taken out of service to maintain it . It serves the hospital , Lakeside , Sterling Complex and a TOWN BOARD PAGE 6 SEPTEMBER 2 , 199 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED number of apartments . Replacing the water main , adding a pump station at Oakwood Lane shout allow us to have a secondary supply to West Hill through the City. Supervisor Valentino — When this is in place , will we be able to take the tank down for service ? Mr. Walker — If a new pump station is installed at Oakwood Lane , we will have two pump stations to serve the area . I do not want to take the tank down because if there were electrical failure there would be no supply. We need to build another storage before I would be comfortable in taking the tank down . We have 1 . 5 to 2 days of storage in the tank. Supervisor Valentino — Mr . Walker's priority list is shorter than in the past . Some of his projects are linked into the integrated water system . Mr. Walker — The integration of the sewer system agreement includes a lot of interceptor work within the City. We have had a petition come in from people on Coddington Road . I am looking at ways of providing service to the existing homes . Councilwoman Grigorov — Would it be an extension ? Mr. Walker — There is a section of King Road that does not have sewer. There are half a doz houses that are not served , but everyone else is served . They have requested service . The sewer " on the opposite side of the road behind the houses . There is a section of Coddington Road out t King Road where there are a lot of homes that have failing septic systems . They have bee requesting service . Councilwoman Grigorov — It has not been decided that the Town is going to extend any type of sewer or water lines . Mr. Walker — This is a recommendation that this be looked at . Supervisor Valentino — It is important for us to look at the areas that are troublesome . There can be other ramifications of problems . Councilwoman Grigorov — This leads to a lot of empty land that could be quickly developed . Councilwoman Russell — The Comprehensive Plan states that we are not to extend services into new areas unless there is a health and safety problem . Some of these might be aging septics . People who have septics have to expect to replace them after a number of years. They also might not be getting them pumped regularly. Mr. Walker - The other issue is the Southwoods subdivision . It has an approved sewer plan that I do not agree with . It calls for a pump station that pushes everything up Troy Road and then back dow Troy Road . TOWN BOARD PAGE 7 SEPTEMBER 2 , 1999 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED Councilwoman Russell — The land is for sale at a price that does not reflect a subdivision . Mr. Walker — We had originally planned to rebuild Warren Road sewer along with the water main . We were unable to do so . As part of the evaluation of the integrated sewer plan and the evaluation of the loading on the Cayuga Heights WasteWater Treatment Plant infiltration in that area is of major concern . We are going to be looking at rehabilitating the sewers and starting a fairly aggressive capital program . The West Hill trunk sewer is based from the 1920s . It has been an on -going problem . A plan will be developed . The integrated system will take some of the pressure off the transmission lines in the City. We would like to complete the model of the storm water and water shed protection . The development of a capital drainage plan in conjunction with Highway and Park's department will allow us to use our resources in the most effective way. I was disappointed in the County. We did a fair amount of engineering to solve some drainage problems in the northeast . The County decided that the drainage system that we had designed was too expensive. They are putting back what was there in the first place . There still may be complaints from residents in the northeast . There will be some improvements . The biggest problem area is the area between BOCES and Winthrop Drive. Fred Noteboom , Highway Superintendent — We wanted to make sure the water was routed down the north side of Winthrop Drive . Mr. Walker — That section of the road is very flat. Drainage is a big problem in that area. The ditches have had standing water in them most of the year. The flat grades are difficult to maintain . We put in a plan for about 800 feet of underground storm drain to go from the walkway at BOCES down to Winthrop Drive and intercept the water. It would then safely convey it into the drainage system . Supervisor Valentino — How much money would it cost ? Mr. Walker — It would cost about $30 , 000 to $40 , 000 . Councilman Klein — Is it something that we could do as a Town ? Mr. Walker — We could . We offered to help the County do some of the work. We have the excavator and the crew that knows how to do it . The County had committed to doing that work starting May. They started this week. They were supposed to be done by the time school started . Supervisor Valentino — Do we need to set up a meeting with the elected officials? I have a feeling that they do not know of the problems that we are having . We have spent a fair amount of money to have our staff to do the engineering . Their road is causing serious drainage problems for the residents. TOWN BOARD PAGE 8 SEPTEMBER 2 , 199 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED Mr. Walker — The design that we have will work in the future . The opportunity to put the pipes it while they were already doing some of the work has passed . Supervisor Valentino — When we first started talking about this project , I understood it to be a major upgrade project. Then as discussions went on , the plan changed . The whole emphasis changed . I feel that they reneged on what they said they were going to do . The public will also be upset . Supervisor Valentino — Who is in charge of the Public Works? Mr. Noteboom — Ms . Blanchard . Supervisor Valentino — I have talked with her about this problem before . She was not much help . Mr. Walker — Our water main contractor will be finished by the end of the week . The project will not be completed this year. Many things that happen within the Town , City and County projects impact our infrastructure . Mr. Noteboom and I have been very frustrated with the County. They do not seem to listen . If we do adopt a storm water ordinance , I want to make it a responsibility of the County to do planning as everyone else does . Supervisor Valentino — I have talked with Barbara Blanchard to set up a meeting to talk abo arrangements that we could make with the County that would allow the Town to have more contr over the roads and drainage that are in our municipality. It would be cost effective for us to have larger role. We are still having problems with snow and ice removal . I told the County that I am tire of having the same conflict every year. Mr. Noteboom — Coordination with the City and County is important . The coordination of work is becoming a critical issue . We are all still working independently. We need to bring it together to serve the public better. Supervisor Valentino — Would the Storm Water Management Ordinance be designed to give us control over what developers do? Jonathan Kanter , Director of Planning — The most recent version of it is incorporated into the Zoning Ordinance changes that we are working on . The Codes and Ordinances Committee has decided that it is appropriate to have the storm water management aspects in the Zoning Ordinance . Then there would be a separate ordinance for water resource protection . They would have additional requirements . Councilman Klein — The water shed model is to identify the improvements of drainage to our existing system . Mr. Walker — Currently, when a developer comes in with a project they do a water shed analysi Sometimes it is limited . A plan would require all developers to do the same analysis . We need TOWN BOARD PAGE 9 SEPTEMBER 2 , 1999 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED know that we are not going to create a problem when something is changed . Subdivisions are large projects . The town parks could also create problems. Councilman Conley — Did we have an agreement with the County on the northeast project? Was the Town notified that the plan was being changed ? Mr. Walker — The arrangement that we had was that our staff would work closely with the Public Works staff at the County. They said that they did not have the resources to do the storm water management plan . We knew where there were problems . We offered to evaluate the watershed and provide a drainage plan that would eliminate the problems that we have . We prepared the plan and sent them a copy in May. Mr. Hungerford looked at it last month and said that he did not realize it was in the plan . He said that they were not able to do it . They are improving some of the pipes that were there. They are not changing anything . Mrs . Noteboom — Did we bid this as a joint project with the County? Did not they take our specifications and put it in their bidding document ? Mr. Walker — They are doing it themselves. They did not go out to bid . It was unknown what they were going to do until they started doing the work . They promised to contact every landowner on the street and explain what was going to happen with their ditches and culverts. I received a call from a resident asking if someone was going to talk to them about their culverts . We are not getting much cooperation . They have not been organized in how they are approaching things . Mr. Noteboom — They have not gone after the project in an organized manner. They do not mean to be uncooperative. They have not always monitored quality control on a number of their projects . Mr. Walker — I expressed professional concerns about the specifications that they plan to use in rebuilding the road . We are documenting every cut , the condition of the pavement and the soil underneath it . Councilman Klein — Milling down the pavement and lying new asphalt will not prevent the road from breaking up . Mr. Walker — Staff would like to work with the County. We have resources and they have resources . If we work together we can do a better job for the residents . d. Highway Superintendent — See Attachment #3. Mr. Noteboom — Most of the priorities are listed yearly. They remain a priority from year to year. Some of the . major projects listed are questionable . The pavilion in Eastern Heights Park is questionable. I do not know what will happen . 1 did list it in case it did come about . The other major projects are items we plan on doing . TOWN BOARD PAGE 10 SEPTEMBER 2 , 199 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED One major area of priority is how the departments work together. All the departments ar interdependent . We need to continue to work together. Plan things ahead of time . We need to make sure we have the money to do a job and then move ahead . The entire process needs to keep rolling . Supervisor Valentino — What water tanks do we need to put fencing around ? Mr. Walker — The water tank on Northview needs to have the ownership clarified . The Eastern Heights tank fencing is up . The most critical ones have been fenced . Councilwoman Grigorov — Will the Coddington Road reconstruction include a walkway or a bikeway? Mr. Noteboom — This is a County project . The timeline is shown on the T21 schedule . The original plan that the County put forth was out to the Townline . It was sent out to the State . The State increased the price of the project and changed the scope of the project. We worked through some of it to narrow the scope of the project. The $ 10 million price tag eliminated it from the list . We wanted to get part of the project under the T21 schedule . Councilwoman Russell — Ithaca College uses this area as a practice run . There are a lot of bicycle in this area . The shoulders should be paved . Councilman Lesser — The road will be wider. It will encourage higher speeds . Councilwoman Russell — It does give runners and bicyclist more protection . Councilman Niede rkorn — Could you explain 4a? Mr. Noteboom — We have been looking at improving the highway facilities . Last year we accomplished a feasibility study. We have moved ahead on the smaller portions . Councilman Niederkorn — What are you planning to do on 9h with the traffic counts , park and trail usage counts? Mr. Noteboom — We are attempting to gather more information each year. The more we know about what type of traffic and how much traffic is using the road depends upon how we might want to build and improve the road . Councilman Niederkorn — What will happen with the park and trail usage? Mr . Noteboom — We have not figured out how to count the usage of the park and trail usage . The only way is to have someone count . We have not accomplished a good way of doing that . It is important when planning some of these areas to know what type of usage we are getting . TOWN BOARD PAGE 11 SEPTEMBER 2 , 1999 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED Councilwoman Russell — I did not see Inlet Valley listed under the parks projects . Will we be able to build it ? Mr. Noteboom — We are not intending on building it in 2000 . lacovelli Park is on next year's work plan . This is a large project . Mr. Kanter — The board will begin to see how the capital plan starts to fit together. From year to year we will be going through preliminary and conceptual designs , grant applications , more detailed plans . Construction might not happen 2 to 3 years after we start talking about a project . Mr. Noteboom — It will allow us to decide on what way we may need to move on them . Financially it might change things as well . Councilman Niederkorn — Are these the priorities for your specific department ? Then do departments set up the budget? Mr. Noteboom — When it comes to permanent improvement on the roads we plan on paving and reconstructing about 1 . 5 miles of road each year. We plan on surface treating 5 to 7 miles of road each year for preventive maintenance . When we budget we do not tag the exact numbers to projects . We know projects will fit into the budget and that is how we come up with a budget line item . Supervisor Valentino — This process helps us to define what the board feels are the priorities . Last year I did not have the department heads do a priority list . We had the Town Board tell us what they wanted . I did not feel that technique worked very effectively. e. Director of Planning — See Attachment #4. Mr. Kanter — I tried to indicate the types of things we are currently working on and how that would fit into the next year and beyond . It is a current and future work plan . Many of the things that we do are longer-term projects . Codes and Ordinances Committee has been working on the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance revisions for over 2 years . This is the highest priority to be completed . We are getting close but there is a lot of work remaining . The new addition to the project is the outdoor lighting ordinance. Parts of this are in progress . The Zoning Map revisions are underway. We do not anticipate that all conservation zones will be complete in conjunction with Zoning Map revisions . Councilwoman Russell — Where is Inlet Valley conservation ? Mr. Kanter — It is a less defined area . The area needs to be studied more before we can include it on the Zoning Map . The South Hill swamp area has turned out to be larger than anticipated . Hopefully, early next year we will be able to finish the Zoning Ordinance . We have additional items that we would like the Codes and Ordinances Committee to start looking at . For example subdivision regulations and the Town 's Environmental Review Law. They have not been updated in a long time . TOWN BOARD PAGE 12 SEPTEMBER 2 , 199 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED Some of the provisions in the Town ' s Environmental Review Law are inconsistent with recen revisions to the State Environmental Quality Review Act . The implementation of the Purchase of Development Rights program will be ongoing . The board has recently adopted the PDR procedure manual . We know what approaches to take , but we need to start to seriously obtain easements on these parcels . We have talked with some farmers who seem very interested in the program . We will be applying for grants next year. The sample appraisers have just come in . We are trying to get a five-year Capital Improvement Plan in place . It will take another year to get a basic program set up . We are learning a lot from just thinking about the process . It involves compete coordination between departments . This will allow for financial long term planning . The 5- Year Capital Planning Committee started in late spring . We have had 4 to 5 meetings . We have made progress in setting up a program . We have been looking at a lot of resource material . The Associations of the Towns provided good information . We are now looking into evaluation criteria to use for the decision making process . It will take another year's work to get the program in place . This process could be used in making budget proposals for specific projects . At the Codes and Ordinances Committee meetings we have discussed developing rules an regulations for board procedures . This would give guidelines of how all the boards should functio We have also discussed including mandatory training provisions when Planning Board and Zonin Board of Appeals members are appointed . This is something that State Legislation allows us to do There are a lot of good programs that board members could attend . The New York State Plannin Federation Annual Institute is coming up. This program is beneficial to the Planning Board , Zoning Board of Appeals and Town Board members . These are directed towards new members . They also include special programs directed towards planning and zoning issues . The Tompkins County Planning Federation is trying to get more educational programs for board members as well . The transportation planning is ongoing with the MPO and the Transportation Committee . We have been attempting to work on updating the map and preparing the bicycle/pedestrian plan . The Census 2000 is coming up . We have been working with the Census Bureau on preliminary census activities. Our job is to let people know of the upcoming census and how important it is to participate in the surveys . Ithaca College and Cornell University play a significant role in our population . The students are to be counted where they are living at the time of the census . It has been an ongoing problem to get complete counts at those facilities . Supervisor Valentino — Ithaca College has not received any information regarding the census . I do not know if Cornell University has received any information . Mr. Kanter — We also have ongoing projects . We have development review projects . We devote as much time to the projects as they need . Supervisor Valentino — When will our next newsletter go out? TOWN BOARD PAGE 13 SEPTEMBER 2 , 1999 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED Mr. Kanter — The next newsletter will be going out in October. The deadline for articles is September 7 th Councilman Niederkorn — How big is the staff working on the newsletter? Mr. Kanter — The Planning Department has four professional staff. There is also a planning secretary. We are finding shared resources between planning , engineering , building/zoning and highway. Our secretarial staff has been moved into one area . The new arrangement has been working very well . It is much more efficient. Many of the items that are done cannot be broken down into specific departments. Many of our files are similar and related . It has helped a lot in communication . Councilwoman Grigorov — Are there four full time staff members and interns? Mr. Kanter — We have at least one intern throughout the year. They primarily help with GIS or mapping projects. Councilman Lesser — What is the estimated time that departments will need for the move to the New Town Hall ? Supervisor Valentino — Mrs . Noteboom 's office must be able to function the entire time . Mrs . Noteboom — The move will take 72 hours . We will start on a Monday morning and will be finished by 11 : 00 a . m . Wednesday morning . It will be easy as long as it is organized properly. We have a labeling system of the records . One office will be moved at a time. Councilman Lesser — There are big projects and we need to have the departments functional as soon as possible . Supervisor Valentino — The phone system will be working in both buildings for a while . Councilman Klein — Hopefully we will not be pressured to move out of our current building . Supervisor Valentino — We have not put the funds from the sale of this building into the budget . We also did not set a timeframe for selling this building . It gives us the flexibility of making the move smoother. Mrs . Noteboom — The front office will still be open while the rest of Town Hall is moving. The residents will still be able to come to Town Hall , Supervisor Valentino — It will be an adjustment for staff . They are used to working very closely with one another. Mrs . Drake — The communication part of it will have to be learned . TOWN BOARD PAGE 14 SEPTEMBER 2 , 199 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED f, Director of Building/Zoning — See Attachment #5. Mr. Frost — A lot of what I do is not dictated by my priorities . The public dictates it . Last December I received a phone call from fire patrol . They indicated someone had died and that there were building code violations . There were no building code violations . I always think about what the law requires and what would be the results if we do not do what we need to . This time of year there area a lot of college students moving in . Many students do not like the apartment and they call us with complaints . How long it takes us to respond may result in problems . My top priority is to be as responsive as possible. The preparation of Zoning Board of Appeals meetings is a big priority. We try to schedule the appellants in a timely fashion . Item number three lists the complaints . There is a long list of different problems . The items in red are problems that have been abated . The items in blue are pending . There are many complaints that we are able to resolve in a month 's time . Everything on this list has taken us more than 90 days . The two complaints since April are property maintenance. Property maintenance is not life safety issues and they are low priority. We try to prioritize based on life safety issues . Many of the illegal apartments go back a while. County Assessment gave these properties to us . These are priorities . The properties are vacant or the apartments are existing and do not comply with building regulations . The priority for 2000 is to eliminate this list. There are items that can be considered projects listed on page 2 . They involve Town wid applications or a large group of properties . Lock box regulations are boxes that are on buildings th contain the key to the building so that the fire department can easily access the building . There ar many buildings that have fire alarm systems that do not have lock boxes installed . Through fire safety inspections we have been able to identify the buildings . Councilwoman Russell — Is this a Town regulation ? Mr. Frost — Yes . This regulation was enacted 3 years ago along with the street numbers on the front of the building . There are still homes that do not have street numbers on the front of the building . Councilwoman Russell — This would be a good item to put in the newsletter as a reminder. Supervisor Valentino — Many houses do not have the required number size . Many do not even have the number. Mr. Frost — The size requirement is 3 inches . The City of Ithaca allows 2 inches . Councilwoman Russell — What is an example of non - residential occupancy? Mr. Frost — It is where there is a fire alarm system or sprinkler system . It is for multiple residential . The sign regulations have not taken top priority in the past . We hope to address this in 2000 . Th Sprinkler System retrofit is anticipated to be resolved in 60 to 90 days . We started talking about a TOWN BOARD PAGE 15 SEPTEMBER 2 , 1999 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED Open Burn policy 2 years ago . The Health Department feels that when someone burns something that is detrimental to public health it is a violation . I feel that what is a nuisance to one person may not be to another person . In many cases people call wanting permission to burn . Some people want to see the law. New York State will be changing the State Building Code. They are going to be adopting an International Code . There are fire and safety provisions in the current code that is not in the International Code . There is debate in Albany as to what to do about fire safety regulations . It will be a very time consuming process . Training often takes place months after they become laws . For a number of months you are applying the code when you do not have the expertise . The timing from going to the new code from the old code will be time consuming . Councilwoman Grigorov - Is this code less stringent for fire safety? Mr. Frost - I am not familiar with the code . I assume that it is not . I have always had good contact with the people who write the code . This allows me quick answers to questions . I do not know how that will be coordinated with the International Building Code Council , Councilman Klein — New York will have its own amendments. They will probably retain some of the current regulations . Mr. Frost — They have been discussing the change for many years . The experience people have with building code is the enforcement of the code . The owners will still incur problems . Councilman Niederkorn — How much time does your office have to spend on Ithaca College and Cornell University construction ? Mr. Frost — Over the past year and a half we have had five major projects at Ithaca College. Cornell University has had many projects as well . Councilman Niederkorn — Do they have their own inspectors? Mr. Frost — Cornell University has a very large group of specialized people . They technically do not have the authority that I have. In some cases I do rely on their people saying that they have witnessed a fire alarm inspection or if they have participated in a sprinkler inspection . There is a 2= hour test that is done on sprinklers . I do not have 2 hours to watch the pipes to make sure that they do not leak . Cornell University will commit someone to do that. I will go up in the beginning and come back in two hours . Ithaca College has one person . I have known him for a number of years . I rely on him sometimes , but it is not the same as Cornell University. Cornell University has a very large Planning, Design and Construction department with many architects and engineers . Ithaca College does not have these resources . Councilwoman Grigorov — Do they get charged for your time? TOWN BOARD PAGE 16 SEPTEMBER 2 , 199 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED Mr. Frost — Yes . With the big projects the Town receives $3 , 000 to $4 , 000 for a building permit . Th Town can receive $3 , 000 on Temporary Certificate of Occupancy. The Town is not losing money. Councilman Klein — Do you charge for review time? Mr. Frost — It is built into the permit process. It is based on a 5-step process of review. Mr. Kanter — Engineering and Planning also spend a lot of time on Cornell University projects . We charge review fees for the plan reviews that are suppose to cover the cost of our staff review. We have an accounting process worked out to keep track of the time that we spend . We collect an up front review fee deposit and then charge out of that. We do spend a lot of time on Ithaca College and Cornell University projects . Mr. Frost — There are some projects where we receive more money than the time spent . A lot of the time we spend depends upon how good the contractors and engineers are . Ithacare was a nightmare . Other contractors communicate well and things go well . Supervisor Valentino — The Fire Contract will also be a priority. Councilman Klein — Will we be discussing what the City has proposed regarding code enforcement ? Supervisor Valentino — One of our first negotiations was that the City wanted to do all of our fir inspections . Mr. Frost — The Fire Contract will take time . Supervisor Valentino — We have been discussing the Town becoming a percentage of an owner of the Fire Department and have the Town Board in the budget process . Gin Human Resources Specialist — See Attachment #6. Mrs . Drake — The first priority is to recruit and appoint Integrated Water System employees. We are waiting for SCLIWC to work on parts of the Personnel Manual so that we can integrated personnel manual . I hope to promote more of the Wellness Program . I would like to schedule more training sessions for management and staff. Mr. Kanter and I have discussed having Town Board , Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board member training through retreats on conducting meetings . I also plan to schedule management retreats for Department Heads . My payroll software does not allow me to run any reports besides payroll . I would like to be able to put employee information on the computer. Mr. Noteboom and I have been working on finalizing the Safety Manual . We would like to have this completed in the year 2000 . Supervisor Valentino — I would like to do a review of the job descriptions of the employees . We fin that their responsibilities and the things that they do change . It is an ongoing process of becomin TOWN BOARD PAGE 17 SEPTEMBER 2 , 1999 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED more efficient . It also means that the job descriptions of staff comply with the reality of what they have been doing . We have done a few. We need to look at all job descriptions . We look at their tasks and responsibilities . Then we look at how it fits in with civil service classifications . A complete review has not been done . Mrs. Drake — I am in the process of going through the job descriptions and matching them with the job classifications . We need to use the County civil service job description . We also need the Town of Ithaca job descriptions . Supervisor Valentino — We are trying to coordinate our job descriptions with Bolton Point and SCLIWC better than we have before . We are getting more cooperation . Mrs . Drake — We are hoping to have a classification chart included in the Personnel Manual . I also want to work on the relationship between management and employees to make sure they feel comfortable and there is good communication . Supervisor Valentino — It will be difficult when we move . The Department Heads and their staff are in the same work area . The Department Heads will have their offices separate from employees . There are going to be real changes for staff and Departments Heads . Councilman Klein — Our workforce is not diverse. Do we do any minority recruitment? Are we in compliance with any Federal Regulations? Mrs . Drake — I have found an old affirmative action plan . It is a high priority for me to get through the plan . With civil service we need to take off a list on some of our positions . This limits us . I do not know off a list what race someone is . Mr. Noteboom — We have thought about channeling the Safety Manual through the Public Works Committee . This will allow us to have feedback before we finish the manual . Mrs . Drake — We could have the Safety Committee make a recommendation to the Public Works Committee . Then we can have the Public Works Committee recommend it to the Town Board , Councilman Klein — I would be comfortable sending it to Public Works . Councilwoman Russell — Are you going to check on the Bolton Point policy? Mrs . Drake — I have been going to some of the Bolton Point Personnel Committee meetings . It gives me an idea of what they are considering to change . Mr. Noteboom — Hopefully we will have the manual setup. h . Budget Officer — See Attachment #7. TOWN BOARD PAGE 18 SEPTEMBER 2 , 19 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED Mr . Carvill — My biggest priority is the search for the integration and retrieval of information at eac individual workstation . There is software that will allow integration of fiscal information . We have looked at one software package . There are many on the market . The price range is from $ 15 , 000 to $ 150 , 0004 1 hope to have it up and running with the new network system . Due to finances , I would like to delay it to the year 2001 . 1 want to make sure the new network system at the new building is effective. This will insure that there is no down time with our fiscal reporting . I have elected not to put us into a network system . I would like to be able to network with payroll . We will do this in the new facility. We pass the information from a disk into our accounting system . I do not see this happening until 2001 . 1 would like to expand the accounting staff by one full time position . The workload is extensive . We total about 1800 accounting transactions a month . This does not include payroll , investment , disbursements , and budget . The scope of my work has changed . I am involved with fire contract research , cost finding factors , supportive and analytical information , investing information to various personnel , two departments' heads , and two board members . This allows them to become more knowledgeable of financial decisions that we are making . We have been overwhelmed with our workload . Supervisor Valentino — Mr. Carvill has done a lot of work for the Recreation Partnership . We hav had difficulty analyzing different youth programs . We do not know what the staff and facilities cos The numbers that we have received from the Youth Bureau or the City of Ithaca never seemed righ Mr. Carvill has helped to improve the system . Everything on the priority list has financial implications . We are always in asking Mr. Carvill questions . There is a lot of analysis that he does . Councilman Niederkorn — People like to think that enhancing the computer technology will reduce the manpower requirements . Do you feel that you will still need another person after a new system is implemented ? Mr. Carvill — Yes . The accounting functions are divided into investment and cash flow. It involves abstract , payroll , taxation , general ledger, cash receipts and disbursements . At the present time those responsibilities are being distributed between Mr. Cass and myself. They are being blended in with other necessary work. Abstracts take about a week' s data entry time . It takes another day to complete the process of printing it. They then come to my desk for the review of looking at the budget . They then are prepared for Supervisor Valentino's review. Mainly Mr. Cass handles this . This is a delay in cash receipts and cash disbursement reconciliation . It delays my ability to get real time numbers for cash flow monitoring . We try to cross- reference with employees from Personnel and the Town Clerk' s office . We are trying to cross-train . If someone is sick or on vacation we will have someone to fill in . The new software will not reduce workload . It will increase the skill for the reportability. Skill level will change . Supervisor Valentino — We have considered doing all of our own water and sewer billing . This wi help to overcome all the problems that we are having with balancing . This will create additional wor TOWN BOARD PAGE 19 SEPTEMBER 2 , 1999 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED It will create some efficiency in how bills are processed . Mrs . Kelley has to do a lot of duplication . We are still looking at how we are going to refigure doing some of the procedures before we decide on another full time person . Mr. Carvill — There is always the concern of compromising the work . Supervisor Valentino — We want to keep everyone busy for their full work day, but we need to make sure that we are able to function well when there are vacations and illnesses . We have done a lot of cross training . Staff generates information quickly for the board 's decision - making. It is rare that it takes someone more than 2 to 3 hours before I have the information that I have requested . For my priorities I have fire negotiations and the Recreation Partnership . The Recreation Partnership needs to be complete in 2000 . 1 usually compare the previous years' priority list and compare with this year's list to see what was completed . I have not had a chance to do that totally. I looked at the priority list from John Whitcomb . He had a long list of what needed to be done . I think that everything on the list with the exception of completing the Zoning Ordinance and the five-year Capital Plan has been completed . Some of the things have been on the list for many years . Staff deserves a lot of credit for the work that they have been doing . Mrs . Noteboom — We made cross-training deputy staff with accounting a big priority in 1999 . We were able to free some of Mrs . Kelley's time in the Town Clerk's office to allow her to help with accounting work. It has not happened as we had hoped it would . The main reason is because I am now down one staff person . There is enough work in the front office that I have not been able to free up some of Mrs . Kelley's time . There is a need . Supervisor Valentino — I have not come to a decision on this because we have talked about having a full time receptionist that will answer phones . This might change things so that Mrs . Kelley might have more time . I understand the need , but I have not put all the pieces together on how we might do this . We need to maximize our different components in 2000 . 1 know that Mr. Carvill needs another person . When I became Supervisor, the Accounting Department was a 3- person staff and they produced half the work , would like to have Mr. Carvill and myself sit down with each Department Head and go over their budget. Then we will have a Department Head meeting as a group so that we understand one another's budget . I would like to go over the budget one more time before we officially present it to the Town Clerk. It then becomes available for the public . Looking at the current numbers , our projection is that there will be no increase in the tax or fire rate . The information that we are receiving from the State is interesting . We do not know what will happen with sales tax. The State feels that we should have a 30-40% fund balance because they are going to take away sales tax money. Mrs . Noteboom — Mr. Carvill , did not they do that with the Federal Revenue Sharing ? A few years before the Federal Government eliminated the funds they warned the municipalities to start getting fund balances . TOWN BOARD PAGE 20 SEPTEMBER 2 , 199 APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED - OCTOBER 5, 1999 - APPROVED - APPROVED - APPROVED Supervisor Valentino — We do not get State or Federal Aid for the Town . We only receive CHIPS . We rely on sales tax money. If they start taking it away, taxes will increase . Mr. Carvill — The State would like to pass a lot of different things on to the local governments . Supervisor Valentino — The State tries to put more of their money into Counties . They feel that the Counties should be providing more of the services . It will be hard for us to negotiate with the County to pick up costs on our behalf . We need to make sure that our constituents are getting the services that they need . It is going to be difficult on the towns . Mr. Carvill — The State might allow privatization bonds by groups of investors . These would be tax exempt. New York has been monitoring the amount of exempt bond income that they have been losing . They have gradually been reported back to the State . We will be seeing a new tax journal . Supervisor Valentino — Some of this is going to force some municipalities to carry a bigger debt load . It is important for us to be very conservative. Councilman Niederkorn — Is the State thinking about consolidating jurisdictions? Supervisor Valentino — They are thinking of consolidating towns in with other municipal groups . The seem to be favorable to cities and villages . Agenda Item No. 5 — ADJOURNMENT: As there was no further business to come before the Town Board , a motion was made by Councilman Conley, seconded by Supervisor Valentino to adjourn . Carried unanimously. Supervisor Valentino adjourned the meeting at 9 : 00 p . m . Respectfully sd Joan Lent Noteboom , Town Clerk * NEXT REGULAR MEETING — September 13 , 1999 at 5 : 30 p . m . " Minutes Transcribed by Carrie L. Coates .