Minutes. Village Board of Trustees. September 6 th, 2018

Transcription

1 Minutes Village Board of Trustees September 6 th, 2018 A meeting of the Village of Horseheads Board of Trustees was held on the above date at 7:00 p.m. Present were: Village Board and Staff Mayor Louise McIntosh Trustee Mike Skroskznik Trustee Bill Goodwin Trustee Pat Gross Trustee Rob Maloney Village Mgr. Brad Lytle Village Atty. John Groff Manager s Asst. Rachel Baer Justice Lou Tarantelli Others Present. Josh Baker, Steuben St. Don Zeigler, Watkins Rd. Skip McWilliams, Westlake St. Marilyn Mullaney, Gardner Rd. Elliott Blauvelt, Jr., Fletcher St. Albert Comfort, Grand Central Ave. Marge Butler, Grand Central Ave. Resolution by Trustee Goodwin, seconded by Trustee Maloney BE IT RESOLVED, that the reading of the minutes of the Board of Trustees Meetings of August 9 th and 23 rd, 2018 be dispensed with and the same stand approved as entered by the Clerk. Roll Call Vote: Mayor McIntosh: Trustee Skroskznik: Trustee Gross: Trustee Goodwin: Trustee Maloney: No Discussion Masonic Lodge Request for Parking Mayor McIntosh It is against the law to give them land for parking. And if we do it for one we have to do it for all. There are other buildings that have apartments. So I ve done some research. In your folder is the parking permit example from Corning. We should look into a parking permit program so that residents can buy parking permits. Rules and regs would have to be worked out. We really need to table this for now and either get together and have a workshop during a board meeting, or create a committee, something, to make this move forward. Trustee Gross I thought we designed that one south row for people who lived in Hanover Square. Atty. Groff yes, but the parking lots have time limits. You can t park there all day and night. With the exception of portions of lots where there isn t timed parking. So the south side of the lot across from

2 Village Hall allows people to park there for extended periods of time, but they are not designated for certain residents. Masons are asking for exclusive use of parking spaces. We have allowed for people to park for more than two hours, etc., in a certain section. We used to have a permit system years ago. But it also requires enforcement. Mayor McIntosh if we could put a committee together, with Atty., Manager, Police Chief and DPW. Let them sit down and come up with proposals to bring back to the Board. Big concern I have is that we have other buildings that are in the same spot. With all the grants this will be a domino effect. In the evening almost all the lots are filled. Don Zeigler we don t need this for our grant. Solution your proposing is perfect. Will be a good solution. Having residents purchase permits is a good idea. We want people to come here, spend money, etc. I compliment you on this idea. Everyone agreed on forming the committee. 2 Gross Receipts Tax - Verizon Manager Lytle Verizon sent us a check a while ago $12k. This was for our local gross receipts tax. They had never paid this tax. So we had hired Computel to look into our gross receipts taxes. If we were receiving what we were supposed to, etc. They went back and forth with Verizon for several months. Then this check appeared. I was hesitant to cash until we figured it out. Now nothing has since happened. Computel is not sure of their calculations because of the way cell phones are, etc. We went back to Computel and asked them to approach Verizon to ask for a little more money. Turned out to be $14k with 40% going to Computel. Resolution by Trustee Gross, seconded by Trustee Maloney WHEREAS, a Gross Receipts Tax or Utility Tax was imposed in the Village of Horseheads in 2005, and WHEREAS, the tax was imposed upon all utilities, which by definition includes Verizon New York, Inc. ( Verizon ), and WHEREAS, the Village retained Computel Consultants for the purpose of auditing the receipts of such taxes by the Village from Verizon to confirm that the applicable taxes for the period beginning 2005 have been paid and collected, and WHEREAS, the audit conducted by Computel has revealed that such taxes have not been fully paid and collected, and WHEREAS, Computel has negotiated a settlement proposal with Verizon which has determined and fixed the taxes which remain uncollected and unpaid for the period January 1, 2009 through the most recently filed utility user tax return filed by Verizon, and WHEREAS, Village Manager Brad Lytle and Village Atty. John Groff have communicated extensively with Michael Canton of Computel Consultants regarding the taxes, calculation of unpaid taxes, collectability of same, etc. and have recommended to this Board that taking all factors into consideration including costs of litigation and likelihood of recovery, and have recommended to this Board acceptance of the settlement proposal in an amount not less than $12, as being in the best interests of the Village of Horseheads. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Village Manager Brad Lytle is authorized to enter into a

3 3 settlement agreement with Verizon for the periods noted above in the above-noted amount. Roll Call Vote: Mayor McIntosh Trustee Skroskznik Trustee Gross Trustee Goodwin Trustee Maloney No Resolution by Trustee Gross, seconded by Trustee Goodwin WHEREAS, the Village of Horseheads is the owner of an N.C. Wyeth oil on canvas painting known as The Conqueror, and WHEREAS, this work has been on loan for many years to Arnot Art Museum, and WHEREAS, the Museum and the Village wish to update the current 1997 Loan Agreement between parties, and WHEREAS, the Museum has provided a Certificate of Liability insurance describing the work as valued at $200,000, and WHEREAS, the revised loan agreement has been reviewed by Village staff and found to be sufficient to protect the Village s interests. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Manager Brad Lytle is authorized and directed to execute the proposed Loan Agreement on behalf of the Village, and to transmit same to the Arnot Art Museum as soon as practical. Roll Call Vote: Mayor McIntosh Trustee Skroskznik Trustee Gross Trustee Goodwin Trustee Maloney No Audience Participation Don Zeigler Watkins Rd. compliments on recent storm which hit my neighborhood. Village responded to this community, and picked up limbs, immediately. Really meant a lot to people. Also, trucks and the 5 ton weight limit. Seeing a lot of truck traffic throughout the village. Don t see any stopping of those trucks. Even if you just have to warn the trucks. Its getting pretty bad.

4 4 Manager s Report DPW The old garage in the lot between Village Hall and the building which used to house the Zim Center has been taken down. The plan is to have the area leveled and seeded with grass for the time being. Verizon/GRT As we reported earlier, in December of 2017 we received a check from Verizon for $12, as payment for Gross Receipts Tax, which was due the Village but never paid. We disputed the amount because Computel, with whom we have an agreement to find and help us recover savings and lost revenues, told us the amount was not sufficient. After some negotiations between Verizon, Computel and the Village, it was determined that we might not have any way to accurately calculate what the true amount should be and that this could languish on forever, with us eventually receiving nothing, Computel suggested that we ask for slightly more and take Verizon s settlement offer. The offer was tentatively increased by the Verizon lawyer we are in contact with to $1,500, pending approval from Verizon Management. We will be asking the Board to approve this settlement, which will be split 60/40 between the Village and Computel per our agreement with them. Street Paving The paving of the streets is complete, and the curbs have all been installed. DPW We had a mini twister during the storm on Aug. 29 which took down many trees and branches in the Village, mostly along Highland, Perkins, Bush, Lynhurst Extension, Myers, Bowers. Our crews will be assisting the residents with some clean up. If they bring the limbs to the curb, we will be shredding them and taking them to the landfill. Purchasing Copiers: our lease contract for 3 of our copiers will be expiring in December Donna, Rachel and I have met with our current vendor and another and will meet with one more before we ask for quotes from these three. Fire Dept. I have been following up with NY Empire State Development on the $30,000 grant that Senator Tom O Mara helped us obtain. We are now awaiting a Grant Disbursement Agreement from them, which will need to be completed and submitted before we can ask for the grant revenue. Traffic We met with NY State to discuss the traffic/speed along Westinghouse Road. Present were two NYSDOT representatives, the Mayor, Village Manager, Traffic Commission Members, Deputy County Executive Mike Krusen and County Highway Commissioner Andy Avery. NYSDOT presented the traffic statistics, we discussed our concerns about speed and safety, NYSDOT agreed to work on these and get back to us in a month. Traffic The Mayor, Village Manager and Chief Stickler met with Deputy County Executive Mike Krusen and County Highway Commissioner Andy Avery to express concerns from the Traffic Commission about the intersection at W Broad and Sing Sing Roads. Traffic to the Mall and other sites on Colonial Drive, as well as the traffic to the Middle School create some significant traffic jams. All agreed that we should look at a Traffic Circle, which we believe would greatly improve the traffic flow at that intersection. Andy agreed to work up a plan within a few months and thought that there was a possibility they could even get it into next year s schedule, if all agreed to a plan and money is available.

5 5 Sexual Harassment Training Matt Ryan, Roemer, Wallens, Gold & Mineaux, who is our Counsel for Labor Issues, conducted a comprehensive training on this important area of concern. The Village of Horseheads is committed to maintaining a workplace free of discrimination, harassment and retaliation in accordance with national and state laws. There was a morning session for management/supervisors and an afternoon session for employees. Both sessions were well attended and Matt did an excellent job! FEMA After many disappointments working with New York State Department of Homeland Securities and FEMA, we have paid off the bond. We are continuing to work with the both to secure what has been promised to us and we will keep the Board apprised. Our acceptance to the Tompkins County Health Care Consortium is complete and we are working with them on the rates for calendar year Brown and Brown announced an 8% increase in their premiums, which were already $33,000 higher, as we estimated, than what we would have paid if we had known about the Consortium earlier last year and had joined then. The Consortium has announced that their increase this year would be 5% on what was lower premiums, so the Village saves! BOT, Department Head Updates Trustee Goodwin Attended County budget meeting with the Mayor and Trustee Maloney. Sales tax formula will be rewritten. Village will be getting an increase. Trustee Gross - Water workshop would like comparisons for last 5 years, and who is being paid out of the water budget, just the titles, and the % of time they are spending in the water department. Trustee Maloney - New firetruck to arrive end of September. Trustee Skroskznik - Atty. Groff Reason for No s is I was not given an agenda or the resolutions. Nobody has furnished me the documents. In your packets is a letter regarding Koppers Pond. Remedial design and remediation plan itself. Mayor McIntosh Sales tax will be a little more. Also shared services proposal, I had them change some verbiage on that. Meeting Wednesday at 2:00 in the Hazlett Bldg. Met with NYSDOT regarding Westinghouse Road safety. We gave them all of our concerns. This time they came back with studies and presented them to our entire traffic commission. We don t agree with their studies. Had a really good discussion. They will be coming back to us at the end of September with ideas they feel could improve safety on Westinghouse Rd.

6 6 Chris Lawrick and myself met with County planning regarding grants for engineering water studies. That happens in July of next year, if we can get an engineering study by then. Chris and I have a meeting next week. Adj. 7:31 p.m. /rmb