Minutes of February 5, 2003

TOWN OF DRYDEN

TOWN BOARD MEETING
February 5, 2003

Board Members Present: Supv Mark Varvayanis, Cl Stephen Stelick, Jr., Cl Christopher Michaels

Absent: Cl Deborah Grantham, Cl Charles Hatfield

Other Elected Officials: Bambi L. Hollenbeck, Town Clerk

Other Town Staff: Mahlon R. Perkins, Town Attorney

Prior to opening the meeting at 9:25 p.m., Supv Varvayanis and Cl Michaels toured the Freeville Fire Department and met with some of its members.

Cl Stelick presented Alice Green and Robert Slocum with a plaque of appreciation for the three years they each served as founding members of the Recreation Commission. He thanked them for the hard work accomplished during their terms.

Cl Stelick stated that interviews had been conducted for the Recreation Coordinator and he is recommending that Jennifer Glaab be appointed to fill the position, pending satisfactory drug test. The board will have an executive session to discuss salary. The school has space in the district office to accommodate the recreation coordinator, and Supv Varvayanis has spoken with the Superintendent and President of the School Board. An agreement can be worked out between the Town and School for an in-kind exchange and will be brought to the board at a later date for official action.

Supv Varvayanis reported that Cl Grantham has toured the Box Car site on Dryden Road with Pamela Kingsbury as a possible location for the new Town Hall. P Kingsbury indicated the foundation may be salvageable and she seemed to like the site. Supv Varvayanis is suggesting that the Town have an appraisal done by North East Appraisals at a cost not to exceed $500.00.

RESOLUTION #32 – AUTHORIZE APPRAISAL

Supv Varvayanis offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:

RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby authorizes an expenditure not to exceed $500.00 for a real estate appraisal of the “Box Car site” on Dryden Road by North East Appraisals.

2nd Cl Stelick

Roll Call Vote Cl Stelick Yes

Supv Varvayanis Yes

Cl Michaels Yes

Cl Michaels asked Cl Stelick if he had any concern about the Town Hall being at the Box Car site and he said that he did, but he still thinks it’s something that needs to be looked at and $500.00 is not an unreasonable amount of money. There are still other ideas, but he does not object to having the appraisal done, and wants to keep the process moving forward.

Cl Michaels said that the Town has received a proposal from Sciarabba Walker to audit the four fire districts. Audit fees are $6,000 for Neptune Hose, $6,500 for WB Strong Fire Department, $7,000 for Varna Fire Company, and $7,000 for Etna Fire Department and consulting fees are expected to be around $5,000. Supv Varvayanis said the estimate was based on financial records the Town has presently.

Supv Varvayanis said they had also received a proposal from Jack Little who was recommended by Ciaschi Dietershagen, but he felt that Sciarabba Walker would do a more complete and thorough job. He noted that there is a 10% discount if Sciarabba Walker performs the audit between April 15 and May 31. Supv Varvayanis said that the money would come from the general fund as there is no money in the fire district accounts.

RESOLUTION #33 – ACCEPT PROPOSAL FROM SCIARABBA WALKER

Cl Stelick offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:

RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby accepts the proposal from Sciarabba Walker & Co., LLP to perform audits of the Town’s four fire departments and to provide consulting services in connection therewith, at a total estimated cost of $26,500 for the audits and consulting services estimated to total $5,000.

2nd Cl Michaels

Roll Call Vote Cl Stelick Yes

Supv Varvayanis Yes

Cl Michaels Yes

Supv Varvayanis informed the board that Liva Brong has been hired as the Assistant Secretary/bookkeeper for the Town.

There are two vacancies on the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Town has received applications from Steve Trumbull and David Sprout to fill those vacancies.

RESOLUTION #34 – ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS APPOINTMENTS

Supv Varvayanis offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:

RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby appoints Steven Trumbull and David Sprout to serve on the Zoning Board of Appeals for terms to expire December 31, 2005 and December 31, 2007, respectively.

2nd Cl Stelick

Roll Call Vote Cl Stelick Yes

Supv Varvayanis Yes

Cl Michaels Yes

Supv Varvayanis reported he had spoken with Randy Marcus who says his firm is trying to get to $200 per hour for each client, but they are willing to charge $190 for the Town of Dryden. Cl Michaels said he is inclined to pay the $190 and the number of attorneys with municipal experience is limited.

RESOLUTION #35 – HIRE MARCUS AS ZBA ATTORNEY

Supv Varvayanis offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:

RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby hires Randall Marcus, Esq. as attorney for the Zoning Board of Appeals at the rate of $190 per hour.

2nd Cl Michaels

Roll Call Vote Cl Stelick Yes

Supv Varvayanis Yes

Cl Michaels Yes

Cl Michaels reported that he and Cl Stelick had met with the chiefs and board representatives of each of the fire departments last week and he felt it was relatively productive. He said that one thing with respect to the fire contracts is their desire that if they are going to be paid in installments that the money be put in some type of interest bearing account and that they would get the interest from the money. Supv Varvayanis said that the anticipated interest is already part of the budget, that the Town plans what it is going to pay out and taxes less than that because of anticipated interest. The interest is already accounted for.

Cl Michaels said they had also discussed how the departments plan for major purchases and that that forms a big part of their budget, and how that could change when their administration changes and decides to use the money for something else. He suggested that the Town could set aside that money for the departments and asked that the Supervisor and/or Attorney look into how to accomplish that. Atty Perkins said he thought the way to handle it would be contractually with the Fire Department. Cl Michaels said it was pretty clear that the major part of their budget was for such allocation. He said it seems we are heading toward a contract that details how the departments will use the money. Cl Michaels said he had asked the departments to get together how much each spends for training. Atty Perkins suggested that the Board ask Sciarabba Walker for a form of budget to be submitted by the departments to the Town.

Cl Michaels has requested proposals from the fire departments on radio communications. He said Natan Huffmann is convinced that with some upgrading of their system, and for much less money than anticipated by the County, the Town of Dryden could have complete radio coverage. N Huffmann also informed Cl Michaels that the FCC recently made a ruling that allowed the extension of one of the local stations license that was scheduled to expire on the same bandwidth that the County & State were planning to use for their system. This could make the system the County was anticipating totally unworkable.

Cl Michaels suggested that all the fire departments use the same software for reporting, such as Fire House 5. The Town could perhaps purchase the package with five site licenses.

The fire departments currently make purchases independently of each other, and Cl Michaels said he had asked them to look at making purchases for things such as turn out gear together in an effort to get a better price.

On motion of Supv Varvayanis, seconded by Cl Michaels and unanimously carried, the board moved into executive session at 10:05 to discuss the employment history of a particular individual. No action was taken, and the board was back in regular session at 10:20 p.m.

RESOLUTION #36 – HIRE RECREATION COORDINATOR

Cl Stelick offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption:

RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby hires Jennifer Glaab as Recreation Coordinator, with a beginning salary of $28,000, increasing to $29,000 after three months, and to $30,000 after another three months, effective on receipt of satisfactory drug test results.

2nd Cl Michaels

Roll Call Vote Cl Stelick Yes

Supv Varvayanis Yes

Cl Michaels Yes

There is $5,000 in the budget for supplies, etc, for the rec coordinator. J Glaab will be looking into prices for a lap top computer and cell phone.

The Board will begin its meeting next week, February 12, 2003, at Neptune Hose Company No. 1 of Dryden, Inc.

On motion made, seconded, and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 10:25 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Bambi L. Hollenbeck

Town Clerk