Village of Wampsville Regular Meeting December 10, 2013 The regular meeting of the Village of Wampsville Board of Trustees was called to order by Mayor Sandra Eaton at 6:00 pm in the Village Hall, located at 118 North Court St, Wampsville, NY. Present: Mayor Sandra Eaton, Trustees Paul MacDonald, Lori Brockway, Dawn Collins and Clerk-Treasurer Rosanne Warner. Trustee John Clute was absent from the meeting. Others in Attendance: Attorney Peter Finocchiaro, Chief Chris Colvin and Stephen Touron. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Approval of Minutes Res. # 52 Lori Brockway made a motion to approve the minutes from the November meetings and Dawn Collins seconded the motion. All were in favor; motion was carried. Treasurer s Report Treasurer's reports were read. Voucher's # 139 through #162 on General Abstract # 6 in the amount of $ 4,496.11 were audited, signed and approved. Res. # 53 Dawn Collins made a motion to accept the Treasurer's Report and Paul MacDonald seconded the motion. All were in favor; motion was carried. Financial Report The Treasurer reported that she had not received any bank statements and was unable to provide the board with an up-to-date report. The balances listed below are as of October 31 st, 2013. Trustee Brockway will be notified by the Treasurer when the statements have been received so she can review and check them to the vouchers. General Checking - $ 1,049.36 Trust & Agency - $ 564.35 Tax Account - $ 100.00 Building Fund - $ 2,759.03 (Chittenango Savings) Street Maintenance - $ 2,323.36 Fire Account - $ 80,497.37 General Savings $ 83,252.00 Capital Account for Bldg. Maintenance - $ 10,039.47 Totals in all accounts $ 180,584.94 (All Balances reported as of October 31st, 2013) Res. # 54 Lori Brockway made a motion to accept the Financial Report and Dawn Collins seconded the motion. All were in favor; motion was carried. Page 1 of 5
Attorney Comments Attorney Finocchiaro presented the board with copies of the proposed law to exceed the 2% Property Tax Cap. He reminded the board that the actual cap is not 2% but is currently set at 1.6%. Property Tax Levy Override Res. # 55 Lori Brockway made a motion to open the public hearing at 6:45 pm to review Local Law # 3-2013 A local Law Authorizing a Property Tax Levy in Excess of the Limit Established in General Municipal Law 3-c. Dawn Collins seconded the motion. All were in favor; motion was carried. No one spoke for or against proposed Local Law # 3-2013 entitled A local Law Authorizing a Property Tax Levy in Excess of the Limit Established in General Municipal Law 3-c. Res. # 56 Paul MacDonald made a motion to close the public hearing at 6:50 pm and Lori Brockway seconded the motion. All were in favor; motion was carried. Res. # 57 Lori Brockway made a motion to approve the passage of Local Law # 3-2013 entitled A local Law Authorizing a Property Tax Levy in Excess of the Limit Established in General Municipal Law 3-c. Paul MacDonald seconded the motion. All were in favor; motion was carried. Dog Control Law Attorney Finocchiaro reported that he was still researching the law at this time. Village Residents Concerns The increase in the Town and County tax rates was discussed. The increase will be seen in the upcoming Town & County Tax bills due out in January 2014. Mayor s Comments Volunteer Appreciation Plaques The Mayor stated that plaques were purchased from Malone s Service in Oneida at the cost of $10.00 each. The bill was included in the vouchers for approval. She has presented plaques to Stephen Touron, Richard Williams and Terry Blowers. Steve Touron was present and asked for board approval to continue volunteering for the village. The Board of Trustees thanked Stephen for volunteering his time and discussed establishing a list of things that he could volunteer to do under the over site of the Mayor. January Vacation The Mayor reported that she would be out of town for approximately 2-3 weeks on vacation and would not be attending the January meeting. Deputy Mayor Paul MacDonald will run the January meeting. Gerry Meeker Complaint Rosanne reported that she had been contacted by Gerry Meeker of Markel Drive who was upset that the fire truck carrying Santa did not drive down Markel Drive. Mrs. Meeker s Grandchildren waited for the fire truck until 7:00 pm. Chief Colvin stated that it was a complete over site on his part and apologized for the mistake. Snow Plowing Mayor Eaton stated that the Town of Lincoln had submitted a bill for $ 862.40 for snow plowing for the last week in November. She felt the plowing was excessive. The Trustees suggested the Mayor contact Superintendent Domenicone about the plowing to see what can be done and email them with an update. Rosanne stated that if the Town of Lincoln kept the plowing at 2 plows per Page 2 of 5
day we would be alright with what was budgeted for snow removal until March. If there are any overages in that budget line, it could be made up with a transfer from the fund balance. Fire Chief's Reports Chief Colvin reported that the lights outside the building have been fixed. He also reported that air pack repairs exceeded what was budgeted. A c/o meter was broken and had to be replaced. The department purchased 2 c/o meters to make sure they had one in reserve. The cost of the meters was $470.00 each. Chief Colvin also reported that the department would be doing fittings this weekend for turnout gear. He reported that he had 3 internal firemen that needed new coats. The cost of each coat will be $800.00. Dave Cimpi, Steve Collins and Brian Fellows are the three interior firemen who will receive the new coats. The department is still in need of three coats. Chief Colvin stated that the Fire Company will purchase the three remaining coats out of their funds and thanked the company for the donation. Chief Colvin also spoke to the board about upcoming grant opportunities. Darrin Ball wrote the grant for the last several awards including the past one for turnout pants. Chief Colvin stated that the village should pay someone to write the grant that will be due September 1 st, 2014. The board will include this proposal when the budget workshops begin in February. Equipment Inventory The inventory has not been filed with the clerk yet. November Calls were: 2 Medical Calls (1 County Complex) 5 Mutual Aid (Canastota, Chittenango and Oneida) Total Calls for the month 7 New Business Assessor Appointment Res. # 58 Lori Brockway made a motion to appoint Tanya Pifer as the village assessor with a term ending December 31, 2014. Dawn Collins seconded the motion. All were in favor; motion was carried. Planning Board Stamp The board discussed the purchase of two (2) boxes of United States Postal Service pre-postage envelopes. It was stated that the village receives a discount for purchasing the envelopes and that each box has 500 envelopes in it. The postage on the envelopes is forever stamps so when the rates increase, the envelopes will still be usable. Res. # 59 Paul MacDonald made a motion to purchase two (2) boxes of pre-stamped USPS envelopes and Lori Brockway seconded the motion. All were in favor; motion was carried. Mowing Costs/Relevies Rosanne presented the board with special use fees from the Village of Canastota. She suggested that the Village of Wampsville develop a fee structure for special costs incurred by the village including the mowing of properties that have been abandoned by the owner or are unmaintained by the banks. There are several properties in the village where mowing has been an issue. The board also discussed dumpster fees and other unstated fees that the village sometimes sees. The board will discuss the options with Village Attorney Peter Finocchiaro. Budget Workshops Rosanne asked Chief Colvin to begin working on his projected budget needs for the 2014-2015 budget. Workshop meetings will begin in February. The dates of the workshops will be: Page 3 of 5
2/4/2014, 2/18/2014 and 2/25/2014. All meetings will be held at 6:00 pm in the Village Hall. The public will be invited to participate in the discussions. Sign Policy/Reservation Form The board reviewed a copy of the sign policy and reservation form for the village owned signed that is located on the front lawn of the Village Hall property. The sign is for the benefit of the village residents and should be used to promote events that will take place in the village. The board agreed that birthday, anniversary, etc. announcements will not be placed on the board. Each request for use of the sign will be at the discretion and approval of the Village of Wampsville Board of Trustees. Old Business Website Updates RIkki Williams came in and showed both Lori and Rosanne how to update the website and add minutes. The board was appreciative of the work Rikki has done to get the website up and running. Rosanne stated that she removed the information about the tree lighting ceremony and replaced it with the information and locations of the winter farmer s markets throughout the county. Credit Report Update Rosanne reported that she sent another letter concerning the payoff information on accounts that were charged off for non-payment under the previous clerk. She has had no response from the company as to how to pay those debts off and stated that those bad debts still remain on the village s credit report which would prevent them from obtaining loans for future fire truck or hall improvement loans. Highway Issues Sidewalk Grant Dawn stated that she was contacted by the Franklin s concerning the proposed sidewalk extension. Dawn suggested to the Franklin s that they attend a village board meeting to convey their concerns to the board. They were most concerned with the liability and who would be responsible for repairs to the sidewalk in the future. The board agreed that they needed to have more discussions with the village attorney about the project. It was also noted that there have been requests from other village residents that for safety reason the village should have the sidewalk installed. Trustee Concerns Trustee Brockway stated that the board needs to address the Village Hall steps and handicapped ramp. Mayor Eaton reported that the last quote to fix the steps and ramp were $31,000.00 as the steps needed to be completely removed and reconstructed. Lori also asked if the Quickbooks program had been purchased for the clerk s office yet. Rosanne stated that she had not had a chance to get to Staples to purchase the program yet. Trustee Collins stated that Terry Blowers had still not picked up the planter in front of her house and she was concerned that it would be damaged over the winter. Mayor Eaton will call Terry again to ask him to pick up the pot. Correspondence Time Warner Cable sent a spreadsheet for the 3 rd quarter franchise agreement payouts. Page 4 of 5
City of Oneida Water system monthly report was received. An invitation was received from the Wampsville Post Office for the ceremony to appoint Eva Gigon as the new Post Master. A 30 day notice for a liquor application was received for the liquor license application of the Madison Bistro. Adjournment Res. # 60 With no further business to discuss, Paul MacDonald made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:10 pm and Dawn Collins seconded the motion. All were in favor; motion was carried. Respectfully Submitted, Rosanne Warner Village Clerk Page 5 of 5