Village Board Meeting approved August 21, 2012 A regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Union Springs was held in the Village Meeting Room. Mayor Lehtonen called the meeting to order and began with the pledge of allegiance at 7:07 p.m. In attendance at the meeting were Mayor Lehtonen, Deputy Mayor Dean Tanner, Trustees Dawn Locastro, and Diego Ruiz. Also in attendance was the Clerk/Treasurer Joanne Fleming, Superintendent of Public Works Robert Kneaskern, along with Village Attorney, Chad Hayden. Trustee John Wade was absent. Hear from the Floor: No one from the public attended. Minutes from Previous Meeting: No additions/deletions/correction. Minutes were unanimously accepted by the Board of Trustees. Treasurer s Report: No report available until after Rich Ward completes the Annual Update Document for the State Comptroller s Office. Clerk s Report: Clerk Fleming reported that she will be attending the NYCOM conference fall training school during the week of Sept. 10-13. Deputy Clerk Jean Lanning will be covering the office for the week. Clerk Fleming went onto say that DC Lanning will be gone from Sept. 19 - October 4. She asked the Board to consider the possibility of having a 2 nd Deputy Clerk available as a precautionary measure. A brief discussion ensued but no action or decision on the topic was made. Clerk Fleming reported on tax collection activity unpaid tax accounts total $23,016.60. Reminder notices were mailed. 7% penalty is in effect through 9/1/12. Penalty increases by 1% each month. No Village taxes are to be collected after November 1, 2012. Audit of Bills: Abstract #3 for August 2012 Vouchers 119-186 General Fund: $20,115.35 Water Fund: 26,111.86 Sewer Fund: 48,609.86 Trust & Agency: 13,152.03 Motion to pay abstract 3 made by Trustee Locastro, 2 nd by DM Tanner. Passed. Superintendent s Report: County Health Dept. is sampling beach due to blue green algae. Superintendent Kneaskern closed beach as a precautionary measure pending lab results. 1
Fall clean up day will be 10/13/12 7 am 11am. Clerk Fleming will post on website and put flyers around Village. She will also send mass email to village residents. Town of Springport is holding their 2 nd annual clean up day on 9/15& 9/16, Clerk Fleming will add this to the Village calendar. Austin Instrumentation provided an estimated claim for the water tower transmitter to be approximately $2,400. An insurance claim will be filed with the village insurance provider, NYMIR. Sidewalk repairs are going well, targeting the bad section first. Bob Kneaskern and the WWTP Operator, Evan Tyler will work through the water and sewer local laws and make sure that the ordinance is current. The new screw pumps have a seal that continues to be leaking at the Waste Water Treatment Plant. The final payment to the contractor has been withheld until it is repaired and the Superintendent is satisfied with the job. Groutech is scheduled to work at the end of September. Cayuga County Highway Department has the Village s old sewer cleaner and we anticipate their payment of $6,000 to be remitted shortly. Mayor s Report: Mayor Lehtonen passed an article to all of the board members concerning the competitive bidding vs. competitive offering. Need to pass a Local Law to enact. The LL authorizes the Village to proceed. Attorney Hayden cautioned that a change in work orders can dramatically drive up the cost. Mayor Lehtonen would like have on the agenda for the next board meeting a Local Law for competitive bidding. Town of Springport water supply, during the most recent budget process, it was determined the number of units was not correct. Going forward it is extremely important that the Town communicates with the Village any additions to the water system to ensure proper billing. It is important the Village does not violate its SPEEDES permit. Recommend speaking with the Town of Springport Planning Board. Mayor Lehtonen should go through Mr. Schenck and he should in turn go to Town Planning Board. Trustee Tanner said that it should be a condition for no addition if they exceed. Suggested visitation tour of Twin Oaks Campground and gain a firsthand knowledge of the number of campers there. North Pavilion(Jorgensen Pavilion): Mayor Lehtonen was approached by members of the Jorgensen family about building a restroom facility that would be in closer proximity than the restrooms at the lifeguard station. There is a great deal of difficulty in reaching the restrooms for handicapped citizens and seniors. The Jorgensen family could contribute much of the labor and possibly some of the materials. Structure would need to be in open area, if too isolated, the 2
facility may be vandalized. The Board is willing to take a look at what the Jorgensen s have to offer. PB and ZBA Board vacancies and appointments. Mayor has not yet contacted the members with expired terms to see if they are interested in serving for another term. The Mayor discussed the possibility of increasing the size of the board(s) from 5 to 7 members. DM Tanner prefers to leave the number at 5 as he has concerns about quorums. No action on this topic was taken. Trustee Reports: Trustee Dawn Locastro said that she had received complaints from an Oak Drive resident about lack of water pressure. Superintendent Kneaskern said they could have reduced pressure due to scaling. Mayor Lehtonen recommends putting a pump on. Water softeners and filters can affect water pressure. Trustee Locastro then discussed issues with court ordered community service. She said that Ryan Kott was ordered to serve 13 hours and has not yet served any of the time. Mayor Lehtonen will send a letter to Justice Knolls asking him to ensure compliance with his sentencing. Lifeguard issues. Smoking and consuming alcohol in the beach area. Need for additional signage. Look at the Recreational Supervisor position over the winter months in hopes to curtail some of the issues the Village experienced over the summer. Attorney s Report: waiting for Peter Marshall to agree with the description of Mill Pond before they deed it over to the Village. Attorney Hayden commented on the Planning Board s recent meeting over the Gillespie Site Plan and Review. As a result of the County s 239 review, they wanted the expansion to have 1,440 sq. feet of green space. The architect s newest plans call for the removal of a manufactured home at the southeast corner of the property. The Planning Board recommended using this area to comply with the 239 Committee s recommendation and to also extend a sidewalk from the Post Office to the next residential property on Center St. At first Mr. Gillespie was not in favor of the sidewalk. P.B. Chairman Sidney Wolff spoke with Mr. Gillespie and got him to agree with the changes. Excellus Blue Cross/Blue Shield Resolution: Village of Union Springs Board of Trustees WHEREAS, the Village's health insurer is Excellus; and WHEREAS, Excellus has proposed raising the health insurance premium for the Village 10.4%; and 3
WHEREAS, Excellus is a nonprofit corporation, purportedly operated for the benefit of it's members; and WHEREAS in 2011, Excellus' CEO compensation was up 174 percent, to $5.2 million and WHEREAS in 2011, the chief financial officer was paid $1.6 million and chief operating officer was paid $1.2 million and sixty-six lower-level executives earned $200,000 or more; and WHEREAS compensation for civilian workers grew by just 2 percent last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the New York State Department of Financial Services is hereby urged to deny the application for a rate increase so long as senior executives are paid more than $600,000 per year. Adopted by the Board on August 21, 2012 Mayor Johan Lehtonen Dep. Mayor Dean Tanner Trustee Dawn Locastro Trustee Ruiz Trustee Wade Excused Joanne Fleming Village Clerk/Treasurer Proposed Zoning Ordinance: Attorney Hayden would like to meet with DM Tanner to further discuss signage. Attorney Hayden is working on a draft Resolution for the EPA response. Parking violations towing vehicles, in order to issue a ticket the Village would need to authorize and officer. The board engaged in a lengthy discussion about how to handle vehicles being left for extended periods of time. More activity in the downtown area will create these issues. No parking between Chapel St. to Center St. from 2am 6am. 1. Logical steps appoint parking enforcement officer. 2. Appoint street commissioner. 3. Landlord make as part of contract for lease. boot the vehicle, Attorney Hayden will find out rules and cost associated with booting. 4. Zoning Inspector to enforce 2 off street parking spaces. The Sweetery and Bijou both have new tenants. Mayor Lehtonen plans to have Sherriff Dave Gould come to the Village and see the camera surveillance system and discuss enforcement issues. 4
Old Business: Thoma Development Mayor Lehtonen said that we have received a binder with the CDBG Grant Application in it and upon initial review, some typographical errors were noted. Mayor Lehtonen called Thoma and they were apologetic but did not offer to re-submit the application or an adjustment in their fee. New Business: Crosswalk signs. The board discussed the need to have at least 2 pedestrian crosswalk signs to be placed on Route 90. One to be placed from across the Post Office and the 2 nd to be placed from Seminary St. to Chapel St. A motion from DM Tanner and 2 nd by Trustee Ruiz to expend up to $800.00 from the Streets General Fund was passed. Frontenac Museum and Springport Library contract(s) to make annual contribution of $1,000.00 and $3,200.00 as appropriated in the 2012-2013 annual budget. Motion to sign the contract made by Trustee Ruiz and 2 nd by Trustee Locastro. Motion carried. DM Tanner commented that the pump house should be roped off during the next Route 90 garage sale weekend to deter vandalism and trash from being left at the location. Mayor Lehtonen: informed the Board that a letter had been sent to resident Elaine Weaver 12 Homer St., about the overgrown bushes on her property which are creating traffic visibility issues for Evergreen and Homer Street commuters. She had the hedges taken down to ground level. Many of the hedges were left to close to the street. Due to the excessive quantity of the hedges, the Superintendent of Public Works contracted Cranebrook Tree Removal to remove the hedges as it was not economically feasible for the DPW to chip all of the brush. Misc. Correspondence: The following correspondence was received and reviewed by the Board of Trustees and will be kept on file at the Village Office. Received Cayuga County Public Auction Property list: Off N. Cayuga St. 134.17-1-2 Received letter from Cortland and Auburn YMCA regarding the Bon Ton Roulet event. Received thank you letter from NorthEast Anglers for Boat Launch use Received invitation from Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce Business After Five @ Auburn Doubledays 5-7pm Motion to adjourn made by Trustee Ruiz and 2 nd by DM Tanner. Passed. Adjourned at 10.00 pm Respectfully Submitted by, Joanne Fleming Village Clerk/Treasurer Jf 5