Minutes of October 8, 2003

TOWN OF DRYDEN

TOWN BOARD MEETING

October 8, 2003

Present: Supv Mark Varvayanis, Cl Charles Hatfield, Cl Stephen Stelick, Jr., Cl Christopher Michaels

Absent: Cl Grantham

Elected Officials: Bambi L. Hollenbeck, Town Clerk

Jack Bush, Highway Superintendent

Other Town Staff: Henry Slater, Zoning Officer

David Herrick (TG Miller Engineers), Town Engineer

Mahlon R. Perkins, Town Attorney

Supv Varvayanis opened the meeting at 7:10 p.m. Board members and guests participated in the pledge of allegiance.

RECREATION DEPARTMENT

Jennifer Glaab presented the board with her monthly report. She has updated the recreation site and registration forms are available. Sectionals for the NFL Pepsi Punt, Pass & Kick Competition will take place on October 25. Dryden will have five participants at the event.

Football and cheerleading are progressing well and the season will end on November 2. In-house basketball for grades 3 through 6 will begin in November and run through late December. Travel Basketball will run January through March. Wrestling will begin in January and run through March, with a tournament scheduled for February 28. Volleyball for grades 4 through 6 will also run January through March. Indoor Soccer will be run by the Dryden Soccer Club, with the junior league playing on Sunday afternoons and the senior league playing on Sunday afternoons. The Department will be running the After-School Ice Skating Program that has in the past been run by the after school program and that will occur in January, February or March.

For upcoming events, J Glaab is looking into an orienteering meet at Hammond Hill, and winter dances are tentatively planned for January, February and March. There will be an admission charge, and she is looking into locations and bands.

AMBULANCE REPORT

Terri Allen provided the board with her monthly report. For 2002 transports in September they received $1,109.99, and there was a credit for the previous month of $72.10 for an overpayment, bringing the net amount to $1,037.89. For 2003 transports in September they collected $13,742.64. Year to date totals for 2002 are $46,373.42, and $122,110.90 for 2003. There were 97 calls in September with 73 resulting in transports, bringing year to date calls to 827.

Jason Haremza of the Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council spoke to the board and introduced a project that they are facilitating on behalf of the New York State Department of State called the Watershed Local Laws Project. This project is meant to begin the implementation process of the Watershed Management Plans for three Finger Lakes Watershed. They include Conesus Lake, Cayuga Lake and Canandaigua Lake Watersheds. These watersheds have recently had watershed management plans completed and this is one of the first steps toward implementing the plans.

The first phase is an assessment phase of existing practices, laws and ordinances that impact water quality in all 62 municipalities of the two watersheds. The second phase, which happen concurrently with the first phase, is looking at the gaps or omissions in existing local laws for 12-14 targeted municipalities. Dryden has been as identified as one of those. They will be examining in depth the zoning and other local laws and ordinances that relate to water quality, working collaboratively with the Town and figuring out where they might want to introduce new laws or ordinances or revise existing ordinances to protect water quality and further the aims of the watershed management plan.

J Haremza has been visiting different communities to introduce himself and get to know the towns and villages. He stressed that this is meant to be a collaborative process and they don’t want to force anything on anybody that doesn’t want to participate. At this point the Town can decide whether they want to go forward. They have had some towns that have decided they did not want to be one of the targeted municipalities. They want to work with a willing government and use the resources from the Department of State where they will be most effective. They would essentially be making recommendations, but want some reassurance that any revisions or new local laws will be put forward for adoption.

Cl Michaels asked why Canandaigua, Cayuga, and Conesus Lakes were chosen. J Haremza said the watershed management plans for the Finger Lakes have been completed from two different pots of money from the State. Kayuka and Seneca Lakes were completed with DEC funds and Conesus, Canandaigua and Cayuga were done with State money.

J Haremza said at this point there is nothing they are asking from the Town, they are in the assessment portion of the program. He has given a draft assessment form to Cl Grantham. The Town could anticipate a meeting with the Highway Superintendent, Planning Board, Code Enforcement, etc in the future. As one of the targeted municipalities, the Town could anticipate in February or March working very collaboratively with them to identify the gaps in existing local laws and work to figure out what kinds of new laws may need to be drafted. There is no financial cost to the Town.

Cl Michaels said that given what the board has already decided in terms of aquifer studies, etc. it seems reasonable that the Town would participate in this, and suggested the new environmental planner work with this program. J Haremza said that Kate Hackett with Tompkins County Planning has been pretty involved in this project. Supv Varvayanis noted that the State has put money into this project, and they don’t want to put money where it won’t be effective. He said that because of the work Cl Grantham has done with the watershed, they believe the project will come to some positive benefit for the Town. The sense of the board is that they would like to cooperate and participate in this project.

Doug Cotterill, Treasurer of Neptune Hose Company, said he had a question for Supv Varvayanis, the Chief Financial Officer of the Town: On or about July 1st of this year you or your bookkeeper received check #19908 for the amount of $7,634.17 from the NYS Insurance Department. This is for what is known as 2% foreign insurance tax money. By statute this money is to be dispersed by the Town to the volunteer fire companies providing service to the Town by July 15th. I have spoken to two other treasurers of fire departments in the Town and none of us have received this money. Mr Varvayanis, I’d like to know where are these restricted funds and why have they not been dispersed to the fire departments?

Supv Varvayanis said he is aware of the funds and where they are supposed to be distributed. He said he doesn’t recall what was done with them, but assumes they are in the bank account with the other fire department funds. D Cotterill asked if they could expect the funds to be dispersed in short order and Supv Varvayanis replied yes.

D Cotterill said he suggested that before Supv Varvayanis attacks the integrity of volunteer fire fighters in the Town of Dryden that he get his house in order first. Supv Varvayanis thanked him for his kind comment.

Supv Varvayanis said he would like to discuss union negotiations, and at 7:40 p.m. moved that the board enter into executive session to discuss contract negotiations, seconded by Cl Michaels and unanimously carried. Board came back to regular session at 8:00 p.m.

Cl Michaels said the board had a memorandum of understanding between the Town and Teamsters Local 317, and was in agreement with the concepts of that.

RESOLUTION #142 – APPROVE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

WITH TEAMSTERS LOCAL 317

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

RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves the concepts embodied in the Memorandum of Understanding with the Teamsters Local 317, subject to reducing it to writing in a formal contract and review by the labor law attorney for the Town.

2nd Cl Stelick

Roll Call Vote Cl Hatfield Yes

Cl Stelick Yes

Supv Varvayanis Yes

Cl Michaels Yes

Cl Michaels said the proposal includes some new job classifications and a reward for years of service. Largely this was proposed by the Highway Superintendent and Cl Michaels would like to give him credit for the thought that he put into the contractual terms that he wanted and in this case said the Highway Superintendent was looking out for the members of the union and giving them opportunities for advancement that were not previously part of the contract. At the same time work schedules have been modified and that will be ultimately beneficial to the residents when the employees show up for work at 5:00 a.m. so the roads can be plowed.

RESOLUTION #143 – APPROVE ABSTRACT #110

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

RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby approves Abstract #110, as audited, vouchers #761 through #847, totaling $297,483.70.

2nd Cl Michaels

Roll Call Vote Cl Hatfield Yes

Cl Stelick Yes

Supv Varvayanis Yes

Cl Michaels Yes

The bookkeeper provided Supv Varvayanis with a breakdown of the insurance funds distribution for the fire departments and he shared it with Doug Cotterill. Supv Varvayanis said the money had previously been distributed according to contract prices, and because all the contracts had not been received, they had not disbursed the funds. D Cotterill said the insurance funds have nothing to do with contracts.

Cl Michaels said the Tompkins Environmental Management Council is preparing to establish its membership for January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2005. Joyce Gerbasi’s term will expire December 31, 2003. If the Town wishes to have her reappointed, the County needs to know that. Joyce Gerbasi currently serves on the Town’s Conservation Advisory Council.

RESOLUTION #144 – REAPPOINT JOYCE GERBASI TO TOMPKINS COUNTY EMC

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

WHEREAS, Town of Dryden has established a Conservation Advisory Council, and

WHEREAS, Joyce Gerbasi currently serves on the Town’s Conservation Advisory Council, and

WHEREAS, Tompkins County has asked the Town of Dryden for a nomination to the County’s Environmental Management Council, now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that this Town Board hereby requests that Tompkins County appoint Joyce Gerbasi to serve on the Tompkins County Environmental Management Council.

2nd Cl Michaels

Roll Call Vote Cl Hatfield Yes

Cl Stelick Yes

Supv Varvayanis Yes

Cl Michaels Yes

ATTORNEY

Supv Varvayanis said he had received a fax from the County about the annexation wondering if sending a correction at this point is sufficient. Atty Perkins reviewed the memo. The 90-day period expires on November 11 and the Town Board meets on November 5. Cl Michaels said his objections still stand. A new survey would have been appropriate with the petition. Supv Varvayanis said they have given us a petition and we have already had a public hearing on something they are now admitting was not properly surveyed, and asked if the petition could be corrected and amended after the hearing. Atty Perkins said there is no provision in the statute for this. It is a petition and it should stand on its own and on its own merits. Cl Michaels said the issues were brought up at the meeting the petition was presented at and at every board meeting thereafter, along with the guidance that they could refile, and he’s not sure what else the board could do. Supv Varvayanis suggested that Atty Perkins contact the County Attorney and explain that his advice to the board would not to act on it due to the technical problems, and they would reject it on technicalities and not even get to the merits. The sense of the board is the petition is legally deficient.

Atty Perkins said if the board were to waive the deficiencies it would leave the Town exposed to a challenge, and that as a matter of policy the Town holds its developers to a higher standard that the County seems to be willing to follow. It isn’t fair that a developer would be forced to do it right and then another branch of government let slide. Atty Perkins will contact the County Attorney.

TOWN CLERK

Board members have the clerk’s monthly report. Cl Grantham has requested some corrections in the minutes and those will be shared with other board members.

ENGINEERING

With respect to the Virgil Creek Stabilization Project, Dave Herrick said that toward the end of September, having realized that it would be necessary to extend the duration of the construction into October, they had used up all of the layout services for the project. The board had previously authorized a layout technique using GPS technology (by LRS) which worked very well. The project has not been completed. Two thirds of the project has been completed. TG Miller has asked LRS to continue providing their layout service, knowing they would have to ask the board for an amendment to the agreement for the extra length of time to complete the project. D Herrick has sent a letter to the Supervisor asking for consideration of an amendment for another 128 hours of layout services, utilizing LRS Excavating as a subcontractor of TG Miller. He is asking for the board’s approval of this second amendment to their original agreement, a cost of $14,080, some will be paid this year and the balance will be used at the onset of construction next year.

The board asked why the construction would not be completed this year. ZO Slater explained they had received an extension from DEC until October 15, but after it was approved it was rescinded for creek work effective September 22. DEC officially closed the creek to the Town effective September 22 rather than the original date or the extension date due to the continual invasive ground water problem at the site, resulting in a water quality violation. Things were going well until Labor Day when it started raining excessively. That section of the creek is the lowest in the general vicinity and the streambed accumulates the water. The last few hundred feet of new stream area contains a lot of clay, that could not be settled out of the creek water, though they tried a couple of different methods. ZO Slater said that a resident of Lake Road had complained to DEC about the murky creek water. DEC realized the efforts the Town had made and that it was a natural phenomena and did not penalize the Town. However it is not possible to continue any work this year, and DEC will roll our permit over to 2004. SEMO visited the site and advised the Town to request to have the funding rolled over also, and said that because the of problems encountered the Town could file for more funding.

Two thirds of the project has been completed. The unstable bank by Lake Road is being backfilled and will be completed by October 15. Nine structures of twenty-two remain to be built, and the area to be worked in next year is upstream from the Rumseys house and does not contain the same amount of clay. ZO Slater said the original grant was filed for based on 400 feet of corrective action in the stream. 1300 feet of creek work has been done to date. Dave Herrick explained that the design process being currently used looks more in depth at the stream bank dynamics, and the amount that needs to be reworked to create a stable streambed is larger than originally envisioned. The first plan did not contemplate the true dynamic of streams. He said that Dryden is the “show case” for this kind of stabilization project. It has been done in other places, but the Town and County have put together a good team that was asked to take on a significant piece of work. It is more than earth work. There is a lot of finesse to how the structures are built and laid out. It has been a learning process for the Town and County. The situations that have come up that have required manpower and expense to mitigate to satisfy the State have also eaten into the time that could have been invested in placing the rock veins. However, it will be necessary to finish the project next year. Work will continue outside of the stream bed, but they will not be working in the creek.

RESOLUTION #145 – APPROVE AMENDMENT #2 TO TG MILLER CONTRACT

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

RESOLVED, that this Town Board does hereby approve amendment #2 to the TG Miller contract for engineering services provided for the Virgil Creek Stabilization Project, increasing the amount to be paid by an additional $14,080.

2nd Cl Hatfield

Roll Call Vote Cl Hatfield Yes

Cl Stelick Yes

Supv Varvayanis Yes

Cl Michaels Yes

ZONING OFFICER

ZO Slater said his monthly report is not yet complete, but the board will receive it shortly. He is trying to wrap up his report on the Virgil Creek Stabilization Project.

RESOLUTION #146 – TRANSFER FUNDS

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

RESOLVED, that this Town Board does hereby approve the transfer of funds as follows:

$574.00 from A1410.4 to A1410.2 (clerk supplies to equipment); $701.93 from A1990.4 to A2980.4 (Contingency to PDM); $1809.72 from A1990.4 to A7110.1 (Contingency to Dryden Lake Personal Services); $5,000 from A7020.1 (Recreation Admin Personal services) to A7330.1 (Youth Com Sec Personal services); $254.00 from A8020.4 to A8020.2 (Planning supplies to equipment); $5,921.20 from A7330.1 (Youth Com Sec Personal services) to A7310.101 (Youth Corp Employment); $2,000 from A8020.1 (Planning) to A8710.4 (Conservation Advisory Council).

2nd Cl Stelick

Roll Call Vote Cl Hatfield Yes

Cl Stelick Yes

Supv Varvayanis Yes

Cl Michaels Yes

Cl Stelick said he would be meeting with Time Warner regarding the franchise agreement in the morning and asked if there were any suggestions. There were no new suggestions.

Atty Perkins has provided the board with a proposed resolution and amendment to the agreement of municipal cooperation for the Southern Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission. The resolution approves the amendment to the agreement. The amendment provides that the Town of Ulysses be permitted to purchase water from the Town of Ithaca (that water being supplied by Bolton Point). The Town of Ithaca is selling it to Ulysses at the same rate they charge their customers. There is no additional markup.

RESOLUTION #147 – AUTHORIZE SCLIWC AGREEMENT TO ALLOW SALES

TO THE TOWN OF ULYSSES

WHEREAS, the Town of Ulysses (“Ulysses”) has approached the Town of Ithaca (“Ithaca”) and the Southern Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission (the “Commission”) requesting that Ulysses be permitted to purchase water from Ithaca supplied by the Commission to serve Water District Number 3 in Ulysses, a water district formed to alleviate a long-standing water potablity problem that has plagued the Hamlet of Jacksonville for many years, which water district would also provide water for other residents in the southern part of Ulysses; and

WHEREAS, Ithaca has expressed willingness to provide such water if the other member municipalities of the Commission authorize Ithaca to so act by amending the intermunicipal agreement pursuant to which the Commission was formed and operates (the “Intermunicipal Agreement”), and

WHEREAS, Ulysses as lead agency has conducted an environmental review of the proposed district and the provision of water to such district pursuant to Part 617 of the implementing regulations of the State of New York pertaining to Article 8 (State Environmental Quality Review Act or “SEQR”) of the New York State Conservation Law and has determined that creation of such district, the construction of the related water system, and the obtaining of water for such district would not have a significant effect upon the environment and could be processed without further regard to SEQR; and

WHEREAS, at the time such determination was made it was not clear that Ulysses would be utilizing water from the Commission’s water treatment plan and other facilities; and

WHEREAS, now that it has been determined that Ulysses may need water from the Commission’s facilities, Ulysses has supplied to all the member municipalities of the Commission from its original documentation supporting its initial determination and supplemental information indicating that the water may now come from the Commission’s facilities rather than the City of Ithaca’s facilities and has requested concurrence with its (Ulysses’) designation as lead agency and with its findings that there will be no significant environmental effect resulting from the supplying of water to the district by the Commission and Ithaca;

NOW THEREFORE, IT IS RESOLVED, that this Board concurs with the designation of the Town of Ulysses as lead agency in the environmental review of the creation, construction, and supplying of water to Ulysses Water District Number 3; and it is further

RESOLVED, that this Board, after review of the Full Environmental Assessment Form and related materials supplied by Ulysses, concurs with the finding of Ulysses that there is no significant adverse environmental effect by having the Commission supply water to Ulysses as proposed and sees no reason to disturb the findings so made by Ulysses in this regard; and it is further

RESOLVED, that this Board approves the Amendatory Agreement submitted to this meeting authorizing Ithaca to sell water obtained from the Commission’s facilities to Ulysses and authorizes the signing of such Agreement on behalf of this municipality; and it is further

RESOLVED, that the officers of this municipality are authorized and requested to take such steps, and to execute such documents, as they, in the exercise of their reasonable discretion, deem necessary or appropriate in order to effectuate the intention of the foregoing resolutions.

2nd Cl Stelick

Roll Call Vote Cl Hatfield Yes

Cl Stelick Yes

Supv Varvayanis Yes

Cl Michaels Yes

ZO Slater said he has four matters for public hearing next month: Integrated Water Management expansion at 289 Cortland Road, Sopp storefront rental on Ellis Drive (site plan review), AT&T Co-location on Simms Hill Road, and a bed and breakfast on Quarry Road. He explained that one of the conditions for Integrated Water Management is that it has to be submitted to the Planning Board for review to assure that it is not a piece meal development and that the use is appropriate for the community. ZO Slater has asked what is contained in the storage tank, but has not yet received an answer. Supv Varvayanis said there appears to be no storm water retention plan.

HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT

Cl Stelick asked Jack Bush if he had reviewed the Memorandum of Understanding with the Teamsters and he replied that he had, that he supported it and felt that it was a good agreement.

DISCUSSION

Cl Hatfield asked about the status of the TenKate subordination agreement. Atty Perkins will send him a copy of the letter that was sent to the TenKates. Supv Varvayanis said his understanding was that the Town was still waiting for a copy of the commitment letter and to find out what the use of the funds was.

RESOLUTION #148 – HIRE ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNER

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

RESOLVED, that this Town Board does hereby hire Deborah Gross as Environmental Planner under the terms and conditions outlined in a letter from Deborah Grantham to Deborah Gross effective October 14, 2003.

2nd Cl Stelick

Roll Call Vote Cl Hatfield Yes

Cl Stelick Yes

Supv Varvayanis Yes

Cl Michaels Yes

BUDGET DISCUSSION

With respect to the amounts for the Fire Departments, Supv Varvayanis said the budget reflects the total dollars that were requested. The board had talked about the Town purchasing the generators or radio tower and not having that part of the contract amount. He asked if that would be legal to do and Atty Perkins replied that it was. There are amendments to the Town Law (§184) that allow the Town on behalf of the Town of Dryden Fire Protection District to purchase equipment and to own it or to acquire it and then to contract with entities for its use, maintenance and operation. Atty Perkins advised the board that they must advertise the maximum amount they are going to spend on the fire contract.

Cl Stelick asked why Brooktondale’s contract amount was increased from $10,500 to $15,000 and Supv Varvayanis replied that was the amount they had requested. Cl Stelick and Cl Michaels have not spoken with anyone in that department and Cl Stelick asked Supv Varvayanis to provide him with the name of a contact person. Board discussed whether the amounts for audits should be included in that section of the budget. Cl Stelick said the public might perceive an increase that is not real because it is put on this line. Cl Michaels said that the Villages do not pay the fire district costs, but get the benefit of the audit. Supv Varvayanis said that McLean Fire District would also need to be considered. Cl Stelick said that he felt the $25,000 should be included for OSHA training, but he is not sure that Brooktondale should receive a $5,000 allowance when their contract is so much less. Cl Stelick said some criteria should be established for distribution of those funds.

Cl Stelick and Cl Michaels would like the contract amount for Neptune increased from $142,500 to $161,000. Cl Stelick said if the one-time requests were removed, it would be a 4% increase. Cl Hatfield said that the McLean Fire Department had purchased their generator as surplus. Cl Michaels said that Neptune had not asked for the $10,000 they did not receive last year as anticipated, but did include the $10,000 for this year, plus 2%. Cl Stelick said that of the departments, Neptune’s increase was lowest when one time funding requests were removed.

Supv Varvayanis asked whether Cl Stelick and Cl Michaels had answers to the questions he had asked at the budget workshop. Cl Michaels said not to specific questions, but of all the departments Neptune is the best run. They have significant reserves set aside for their equipment needs. When he roughs out their reserves futures it may appear they are over funded. He said what everybody is doing is assuming the cost of replacement equipment is a little bit above what it cost to buy it ten years ago. What he is finding when you look into the purchases versus expectations over the last five years for them and Varna and from reports of what the other departments are going through, they have been grossly underestimating the cost of replacing equipment. He said if you look at Varna’s predictions, it goes up and down and about ten years from now it goes negative and by 2030 it is a negative million. He said one of the reasons Neptune looks in such good shape is because they have paid off their mortgage and they might be comfortable for a while with a reduction in funding, but they won’t remain that way.

Supv Varvayanis said he would have preferred if the departments had gone along with the audit and had a plan. We don’t have a plan yet. Cl Michaels said he understood that, but Neptune is the one that has said let’s keep the status quo. The two departments that are the best off financially (Etna anecdotally and Neptune from their tax returns), have said until we have a plan let’s go with a two percent increase. He said if the Supervisor’s plan is to keep status quo, then go with $161,000 for Neptune; that it’s two percent over what they had been receiving. They did not come back and ask for the $10,000 that they thought they should have been getting. Cl Michaels said he agrees with the concept, but what he’s hearing is that the Supervisor does not agree with the concept.

Supv Varvayanis said it is not keeping with the status quo. They are looking for specific pieces of equipment that boost the price rather significantly for other fire departments. Cl Michaels said that Neptune has not and that is his point. Cl Stelick said both Varna and WB Strong gave budget requests that had the one time purchases separate, and if you look at their increases without the one-time items we are reasonably close to what was considered the status quo before pandora’s box was opened. It has been two percent for the last ten years. Neptune is trying to turn back the clock and go back and asking for the two percent plus the $10,000 that had been part of their funds in the past. Cl Stelick said that Varna and Freeville will go up this year and probably go down next year. He doesn’t anticipate a lot of one time requests on a regular basis. He sees an operating budget in the future with a separate budget for replacement. Eight months were spent this year trying to work out a previous contract. That has been worked out and feels comfortable about being able to get through this year’s contract in relatively short order so they can concentrate next year on something that the Supervisor will be more comfortable with. He acknowledged they have a long way to go and they don’t have anything concrete but he believes they have made great progress.

Cl Michaels said WB Strong’s request includes a thermal imaging camera that Neptune has already shown to be highly valuable. He said he expects the next request for one will come from Varna and he doesn’t feel the board will be in much a position to suggest they not have one. Responses to questions about sharing a camera between departments indicated it would not be easy or convenient because of the time involved in transporting it when it was needed. He expects that eventually it will come a standard of care. Supv Varvayanis said the City of Ithaca has three and they contract with the Town of Ithaca, Cornell, Ithaca College and are several times larger. Cl Michaels said the chiefs meetings have resulted in a good deal of cooperation. Supv Varvayanis said this is why he wanted to wait until there was a plan. Cl Michaels said one of the requests was for two generators, and what plan wouldn’t want them to have a generator. Supv Varvayanis said the generators and the camera are in the budget, and he had asked whether the Town should purchase those items.

Cl Michaels said that is not precluded by this, but what is not clear is why Neptune’s request was decreased when they have not asked for more than the status quo. He doesn’t see the advantage to the Town. Supv Varvayanis said because they handed in a budget that had specific items, he questioned those items and has not received a response. Cl Michaels and Cl Stelick said they had not received the correspondence until recently, and Supv Varvayanis said he thought it had been sent out weeks ago. Cl Michaels said that even without having had those, he and Cl Stelick had been asking questions along those same lines, where does the stuff go, what happens to excess, etc. The contract request is for status quo with two percent increase, which is virtually guaranteed to run every one of the departments into the ground. Their needs are not increasing two percent a year. What is saving Neptune is their mortgage went out. Supv Varvayanis said they are getting a lot of money from the ambulance. Cl Michaels said yes, and their needs are going up at a much greater rate than two percent, that they may feel flush now, but it doesn’t take a genius to see that those lines are going to cross five or ten years out and they are going to be feeling a pinch. He said he feels that when a plan is worked out, the likelihood that it will be a simple two percent increase every year for these departments is virtually nil. Supv Varvayanis said he doesn’t disagree with that. Cl Michaels said he does not understand then why their request needs to be lowered. This is money that goes into equipment reserves.

Supv Varvayanis said they had a budget that he thought had some very questionable items. There is a tax rate that is going up significantly this year, and they keep saying status quo. The $10,000, which was above the two percent, was to repay a loan from Dryden Mutual Insurance for a truck. The loan has been paid off. Cl Stelick said that is the Supervisor’s understanding, but there seems to be nothing concrete that that is what happened. No one seems to know for sure. Supv Varvayanis said that one of the problems has been that there were not good records and he is trying to fix that and get good records and justify and understand what is happening.

Cl Michaels said he would like everyone to be comfortable with what is going on. He characterizes himself as relatively fiscally conservative and he tends to think long term. This is a long term issue and he thinks next year’s budget numbers will go down, but he doesn’t think that there will be major reductions in equipment. Neptune is in good shape and part of what makes their contract additionally complicated is because there are issues with the Village. If it is decreased the Village is going to be wondering why and he doesn’t think we would be doing ourselves any favors or ultimately the taxpayers. He is in favor of lower tax rates and fiscal conservatism, but he doesn’t see how cutting the contract today is going to save the taxpayers any money.

Cl Stelick pointed out that the tentative budget contains $111,000 for Etna Fire Department, but the Town hasn’t signed a contract with them and they haven’t submitted to an audit. If the Town is talking about trying to save money, he said $111,000 is more questionable than $19,000 on what he considers a well run department. He is comfortable with $161,000, and doesn’t understand why the $19,000 was removed when the other requests were put in as requested. There is a 58% increase on the Varna request, 39% on Freeville, and those are much larger increases. He said Neptune was nice enough to give a breakdown of everything, where Varna and Freeville gave general information. He said if we are looking to save money and work on a long term plan, then there is no justification for the amount being paid to Etna Fire Department. He said he is more comfortable with the $19,000 than with the $111,000, but they are going to continue meeting with the departments and come up with a better long term plan.

Cl Michaels said they have worked hard on this, and he is trying to build consensus on the Town Board. He said it would send a huge message to the departments and to the community as a whole if they were able to come to agreement on this, and that would be worth every bit of the $18,500 they are talking about. He said they share a lot of the concerns, and are willing to continue to do so. Cl Hatfield said he wanted Varna and WB Strong to understand that this was a one-time deal, and Cl Michaels said they do. Cl Stelick said he has invested a lot of time into working with the departments and plans on putting in a lot more, but it is not an easy process and it won’t happen quickly.

Supv Varvayanis said he could vote against it now, and the board would have another month to come up with answers to his questions. He asked the board to understand that tax auctions really happen, and when people are thrown out of their house at gunpoint he wants to be sure there is a real reason for it. Cl Stelick said that Supv Varvayanis hasn’t been involved closely in the negotiations, and he feels that progress has been made. Supv Varvayanis said the reason he is having trouble is because he appointed Cl Michaels and Cl Stelick to a committee and he has a lot of difficulty rejecting the advice of the committee, and if it wasn’t for that it would be easy for him to say he’s not going to support it.

Cl Michaels said the $18,500 was going to save the taxpayers money in the long run, it is money that is going to need to be spent because the departments need to keep up with standards, and they are allocating and reserving it, and anybody can look at their tax records and see how they are spending the money. It is not being spent for things other than to fight fires. Supv Varvayanis said he agrees with that, but it is especially amusing that it is this department, and that department made it very clear that in their opinion every December 31 they can walk away and owe the Town nothing. Cl Michaels said that spoken in the heat of the moment, and they have very clear guidance from the Town Attorney to the contrary. Supv Varvayanis said Dan Tier (the Chairman of the Board of Neptune Hose) had made the statement in the newspaper that they are under no obligation to provide service to the Town. Cl Michaels said before they get the money in this budget they will sign a contract for providing service. There are a few things to fall back on, they are a not-for-profit, the attorney general does not let them just walk away. He knows of an instance where when a not-for-profit ambulance company felt they could no longer continue, the next closest ambulance received their equipment (with court approval). Cl Stelick said Dan Tier’s editorial was a response to Tom Seeley’s letter, purely political, and should be taken with a grain of salt. He read both and he feels comfortable going forward with Neptune. Supv Varvayanis all that holds true for Etna and Varna, but Neptune is in theory, in practice, and legally a Village Fire Department and they have the right to not deal with the Town and only work in the Village. He added that he did not think they would actually do that.

Supv Varvayanis said he knew that he was infuriating the other side, and asked what he had ever said that wasn’t technically accurate. Cl Michaels said that he does not have a record of anything that was said and he has heard lots of commentary on what he has said, but he doesn’t think anything is served by what he has heard third hand. Cl Michaels said he and Supv Varvayanis had talked several times about the contracts and share much of the same concerns in seeing that everything is fiscally efficient. Cl Michaels said his biggest concern was to investigate what they were putting away in reserves. He reviewed the public record tax returns they file which makes no designation between cash on hand and reserve funds. He said he understands the auditor has commented that all the departments are putting money in reserves in what would otherwise be called restricted asset accounts, and he believes the auditor is indicating there should be a sentence in the agreement that says the funds being allocated need to be specified, and the bottom line is that for years they have been operating with these items as restricted funds whether they had to or not. He said with him that carries a lot of weight. There are decades of experience as to what they have actually been doing, and he said that he does think that calmer heads will prevail. Cl Michaels said they should not get wrapped up in Dan Tier’s description of the law.

Supv Varvayanis said if he votes for the $161,000 figure the Fire Department is not going to suddenly love him, and if he votes against it he doesn’t think they can hate him any worse. Cl Stelick told Supv Varvayanis that regardless of political affiliation, this is not Republican or Democrat, it is based on what they think is best for the Town of Dryden. This is important as a symbol that they do agree that there are problems, but they are willing to work through those and try and get something that is more long lasting. Cl Michaels said that he brought up specifically with Neptune that they had all talked about it, and ultimately Supv Varvayanis voted for their contract.

Cl Michaels said Neptune is feeling very singled out and they are. Supv Varvayanis said the other two have had audits completed, and they had specific requests. Neptune’s audit is not done and there are no specific requests. Cl Stelick said they are closer to the audit being done for Neptune’s $161,000 than Etna’s contract amount. Supv Varvayanis said if Etna’s audit is not done by December, they are not getting a contract. Cl Michaels said the field work on the audit is done, Neptune is not holding that up.

Cl Hatfield asked what would happen if one of the departments did not get a contract and decided to dissolve. Supv Varvayanis responded the Town’s Fire District would liquidate the assets. Cl Michaels said he believed the board of directors of the department would have some control.

Cl Michaels said that Jennifer Glaab (Recreation Coordinator) had requested a full time staff member to assist with the recreation position. He said that he thinks a large part of her needs could be solved with some part time staff at key periods, potentially to fund interns (which could also be a non-paid position). He said she felt that a large part of her needs were seasonal, and he believes she could get some assistance through Cortland State or Ithaca College. She needs clerical support and someone to be there when she is attending meetings. Cl Michaels suggested she could forward calls to the Town offices and that if there was database that all town employees could use to check on registration data, etc, it would be helpful. Cl Michaels said he is concerned with hiring additional staff while the program is trying to get off the ground and that could be difficult. If the offices are moved or a new town hall built, the staffing situation could be reassessed at that point. His recommendation at this time is that money be allocated in the budget for some part time staff and suggested $5,000. He said would encourage her to hire for specific events. The budget will be increased by $5,000.

Cl Michaels said the other thing he talked to J Glaab about was possibly increasing the fees for some of the programs. He doesn’t expect them to be self-supporting, but believes a larger fee could be charged to increase the revenues for the department. He said he is impressed with the work she has done. Supv Varvayanis said he expects we will partnering with other towns in the not-too-distant future.

Cl Stelick his concern with the part time position is that if the Town takes over the Youth Conservation Corps, that project will take a lot of time the first year. He also said he spoke with Vicki Wilkins of Cortland State and it looks like we will be able to get some interns from Cortland State. He said he feels good about the budget proposal submitted for the Recreation Department and the new programs.

Cl Stelick asked for more than a 2% raise for the Recreation Coordinator, stating that other larger raises had been given based on wages paid for the same position in other municipalities. After discussion, it was left at 2%. Other positions were reviewed and changes made. One Deputy Clerk was increased to 2%, and the other changed from a 13% increase to 6%. The Supervisor’s secretary/bookkeeper will receive a 2% increase.

Appropriations for water/sewer districts were discussed and no changes were made.

The contract amount for budget purposes for Neptune Hose was changed to $161,000 and Cl Stelick and Cl Michaels will try to get answers to Supv Varvayanis concerns.

Respectfully submitted,

Bambi L. Hollenbeck

Town Clerk