Regular Monthly Meeting 05-11-2015 Council Present: Donald Foster, Kevin Everly, James Pratt, John Tryon, Absent: Leon Cary Guest: Dan Eiklor, Kathy Rote (Waverly School), Bob Bell, Brenton Miller, Ray Case, Hwy Superintendent Chris Spaulding, Atty. Stephen Hoffmann Privilege of the Floor: Legislator Ray Case notified the Town that the Resolution for the Mortgage tax has been passed. He stated that the Town of Barton will be getting $21,589.92 sometime this week or early next week. Deputy Supervisor Donald Foster asked Legislator Case if he was aware of the issues of removing David Mumbulo from the County Planning Board. Mr. Foster stated that Mr. Mumbulo told him it was concerning attendance. Mr. Case stated that he was not aware of this issue, but stated he would look into it. All Councilpersons present stated that they felt Mr. Mumbulo was doing a good job, adding it is hard to find people to serve on these Boards. PERMITS: 2015-7 Dale Williams 280 Dean Creek Rd Demo 2015-8 Dale Williams 280 Dean Creek Rd. S\W home 2015-9 James LaPlante 2597-2 Ellis Creek Rd Garage 2015-10 Josh Bellis 1487 Rt. 17C Demo 2015-11 James Burbank 296 Norris Rd Garage 2015-12 Palmer s 5 Wilcox Estate D\W Home 2015-13 Patricia Richter 1249 Ridge Rd. Garage A motion by James Pratt was made to accept the permits approved by the Code Officer, seconded by John Tryon and carried. 4-s 1-absent A motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting was made by James Pratt, seconded by Kevin Everly and carried. 4-s 1- absent A motion was made to approve the Vouchers for the General-$73,070.38, Hwy-$24,120.79, and Sewer\Water-$19,448.20 by John Tryon, seconded by Kevin Everly and carried 3-s, 1- Abstain, 1-Absent Clerk: N\A
Hwy Superintendent: Chris Spaulding told the Board that his crew did shared services in the Village by filling in the foundation of the building on Fulton Street that was recently torn down. He stated that the crew is currently working on the bridge on Old 34 south end, adding that the north end of Old 34 bridge has been installed. He told the Board a tentative agreement with the Norfolk and Southern has been reached, adding that nothing is in writing yet. He stated that the railroad has agreed to give the Town $100,000.00 toward the bridge, remove old bridge, supply flaggers and training. He added that the Town would have to supply the concrete deck, ($66,000.) get engineers to engineer abutments. He stated that it will be a single lane 12 foot Bridge. When asked, Mr. Spaulding stated that it will handle farm equipment up to 12 feet, emergency Vehicles, with no weight limit. Atty. Stephen Hoffmann stated that he has been working on code cases with James Mead, and working with opposing council on a couple tax issues. Bookkeeper: N\A Revenue Received April 2014 TOWN CLERK/FEES MISC. 3,448.40 JUSTICE FEES 8,151.00 INTEREST ALL 380.32 TIOGA CO. SALES TAX 58,208.23 Deputy Supervisor Foster read the public notice sheet regarding the tire clean up. He stated that the dates are May 15, 16 from 9am-3:00PM at the Town of Barton Pit. Deputy Supervisor Foster read the letter from Code Officer Robinson to those in attendance, which stated that the property on Emory Chapel has been cleaned up, bringing it into compliance, with the tires to be removed at a later date. He stated that Mr. Miller intends to take the tires to the Town s tire clean up day. Deputy Supervisor Foster poled the Board, asking if they felt that the discussion on this property issue be ended. All members agreed that Mr. Miller had done as asked by the code officer. Deputy Supervisor Foster made a motion to end all discussion on this issue, adding that it is resolved by approval of the determination of the code officer, seconded by Kevin Everly and carried. Roll Call John Tryon James Pratt
Kevin Everly Donald Foster Leon Cary Absent Permit Fees on Building not getting a permit before building Mr. Foster stated that Mr. Cary request this issue of building without a permit be brought before the Board. He asked Atty. Hoffmann if the Town of Barton Code had a fine of $200.00\per day in the code book. Atty. Hoffman stated that in Section 79-14 of the code, it lists $200.00\day from the day the person is cited. The Code officer would issue an appearance ticket, then if the ticket is not taken care of, it would go on to the Courts System. Mr. Foster said he would like to table the issue, allowing Mr. Cary to take the lead on it. Mr. Everly stated that he was not going to go along with fines, adding they may not know they need a permit. Mr. Tryon asked if the party would have 3-5 days to comply. Atty. Hoffmann stated without a doubt, adding that the law said reasonable time. Mr. Tryon stated that he found it hard to believe a person building a house would not know a permit is required. Mr. Pratt felt the Town is missing out on revenue if permits are not gotten. Mr. Foster stated that the assessor can add them to the roll. Mr. Pratt stated that the Assessor shouldn t have to do that. He asked how you recover the lost taxes until it is caught. Mr. Foster stated that is when you use the law for the fine at $200.00\day. Mr. Foster tabled the issue until Mr. Cary returns. School Budget Presentation by Kathy Rote Ms. Rote passed out a packet to each member of the Board outlining the Waverly School Budget. She stated that the vote for the Budget is May 19 th, with a budget of just over 29 million dollars. She stated that is a 4.23% increase. She stated that is an increase of 1.2 million dollars. She stated that the main cause of increase is debt services, adding they will be going to bonding. She stated that the debt service is about $875,000.00 which will start in 2015-2016 budget, which was left from a $43,000,000.00 project that was just finished. She added that without debt service the budget increase would have only been 1.7%. She stated that state aid was 95%, but not all things are aid able. She stated that Corning Inc. has donated $27,000.00 toward a stem program. She stated that the Budget would not only maintain the debt load but also add to the leased fleet of buses. She discussed a lot of issues that affect the Budget, BOCES, wages and benefits, cap programs, etc. She stated that eight and a half positions will be eliminated, either through attritions or other means. She stated that one teacher and one aide s positions will be lost unless another retirement takes place. She stated that a clerical position will be added. She stated that most lost positions are in the secondary, adding that the class size will be a little larger. She stated that the capital project seems to have generated the most interest. The Capital project is a 2.95 million dollar project, of that 2.45 million is for the learning commons (Library). The remaining is for a parking lot at the Elm Street School. She
stated that the money cannot be used for staff. She stated that the tax levy is at 6.89%, adding that the limit is 13.3% for the schools. She stated that the debt service helps because you can add that back in. Mr. Foster asked if that was an incentive to carry a higher debt. She answered saying the debt service won t come into play again next year. Mr. Everly stated that there is no disincentive to go into debt. Ms. Rote agreed. Hwy. Superintendent asked about the parking lot to be installed. She stated that the cost is $500,000.00 for the parking lot, due in part to prevailing wage. Mr. Everly asked what the cost per student was, as well as the national average. She stated that the cost per student is $17,000.00, with New York average at 20-22 thousand per student per year. Mr. Everly added that Tioga Central School stated $10,000.00 per student per year to be the national average. Mr. Everly asked why the average cost per student in New York State is the highest in the nation. She stated that she did not know that answer other than retirement. She stated that the packages have more information to answer questions the Board may have. She finished by saying, call the office with any question you might have, and to vote on May 19 th. Deputy Supervisor Foster announced tax grievance day is May 26, 2015, adding that anyone in need should contact the assessor s office. He added that the Town s level of assessment is 88%, same as last year. James Pratt stated that he had two bids for the stand by generator, one for $7200.00 the other for $8500-$9200. He added that there was talk of getting a surplus generator. Hwy Superintendent Chris Spaulding stated that yes it is available and spoken for. He added the Town is waiting on the paperwork. He added that it is a 15K diesel generator, on a trailer for ease in mobility. James Pratt stated that there are still $1500.00 to $2000.00 additional costs for hooking up the electric. It was decided to wait until the generator was actually in house. Mr. Pratt stated that there is only one bidder at this point willing to do the electrical. A discussion ensued on possible electrical contractor to check with for other bid options. Resolution 11-2015 was read by Atty. Hoffmann regarding the single lane bridge that will replace the current R\R bridge. A discussion was had on finances, which resulted in the removal of any finances mentioned in the resolution. Mr. Everly made a motion to approve authorization for a single lane Bridge on Old Barton Road in the Town of Barton, seconded by Mr. Tryon and duly carried Roll Call Vote: John Tryon James Pratt Kevin Everly Abstain
Donald Foster Leon Cary Absent A motion was made by Kevin Everly to go into executive session for possible litigation at 7:13pm, seconded by John Tryon and carried. A motion to come out of executive session was made by James Pratt at 7:35pm, seconded by John Tryon and carried A motion by James Pratt was made to adjourn the meeting at 7:35pm, seconded by John Tryon and carried. Respectfully Submitted Joan Richards-Town Clerk