MINUTES
of a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the
PRESENT:
Mayor Donald Hartill; Trustees Janet Beebe, Lynn Leopold,
Mayor
Donald Hartill called the meeting to order at 7:40P.M. He opened the public
comment period. There was a reporter from the Fingerlakes Community News
present. No comments
Motion-To Close the Public
Comment Period
Trustee Beebe moved to close the public comment period. Trustee Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-
Aye Trustee Frank Moore-
Aye Trustee
Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye
Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
Next
on the agenda was the approval of minutes.
Motion-Approval of Minutes for March 3, 2003
Trustee Beebe moved that the draft meeting notes, as reviewed and revised by the Board, are hereby adopted as the official minutes. Trustee Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye Trustee
Janet Beebe- Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye
Trustee
Motion-Approval
of Minutes for March 12, 2003
Trustee Beebe moved that the draft meeting notes,
as reviewed and revised by the Board, are hereby adopted as the official
minutes. Trustee Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye
Trustee Frank Moore-Aye Trustee
Janet Beebe- Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye
Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
Dave
Putnam was present for the engineer’s report. He had nothing to report and the
board had no questions for him.
The
board received copies of the budget in the Clerk/Treasurer’s format. The village uses Williamson Law Books Budget
and Accounting Software.
The
Mayor gave the following overview of the budget. The budget proposal is
approximately a 3% increase from $1.75 to $1.80 per $1,000 of assessed value.
The main reason for the increase is to pay for the N. Triphammer Rd. Project
costs not covered by Federal and State funding. The employees’ salary and
benefits will be discussed in executive session. NYS Retirement is expected to increase
to 11% of payroll and the Mayor expects that we will continue to see this for
an extended period of time. This is just one of the costs of doing business.
There will be no increase in the cost of water or in the water and sewer
surcharges.
The proposed sewer collector special assessment is $16.84 per unit and $.12 per $1,000 of
assessed value. The proposed water special assessment is $5.14 per unit and $.04 per $1,000
of assessed value. The board discussed the issue of getting a five year BAN to replace the
sewer serial bond since we are paying 5% interest. We currently pay $12,500 a year in
principal and around $17,500 in interest yearly on our sewer bond which does not mature
until 2020. The water BAN that we currently have is 1.67%. With this in mind, it would be a
saving to the residents to pay off this serial bond with a 5 year BAN. Bill Troy suggested
calling GMAC to make sure there are no penalty clauses for prepayment. Jodi will call
tomorrow and we will continue this discussion next meeting.
Frank asked what he should tell residents when they ask why the budget has increased by
3%. The Mayor commented that it is due to inflation, the N. Triphammer Road Project and the
deficiency payment for NYS Retirement. Larry commented that to accomplish all this and still
stay within inflation is quite remarkable.
The Mayor asked if there were any further adjustments needed. Jodi recommended the
following adjustments:
A1081 In Lieu of Taxes was only $17,196 this year and it increases by ~5% each year. This was lowered to $18,000.
A2401- Interest income was increased to
$35,000 at the last meeting but the interest rates just went down again from
1.8% to 1.06-1.55% depending on the amount of money in an account. This year our
interest income is only going to be ~$28,000. The board decided to decrease
this line item to $25,000.
A2701 Refund of prior years total is misleading from last year
because it was the Uptown Road adjustment. Usually the only thing recorded here
is the State Insurance Fund refund of ~$1,500. Item lowered to $1,500.
A3501 Highway Aid (CHIPS) was high this year because we had not
done any projects in a while and the money was building up. Dennis told Jodi that
it was ~$40,000 last year but was unsure what it would be this year because the
State budget is not done. This item was lowered from $70,000 to $40,000.
F2401- Interest income was decreased to $3,000.
F2144- This line item is income from our
billing residents for when Bolton Point does water repairs and it is
appropriate to bill the owner. Unless the board feels there will be many
repairs this year, it was suggested that this amount stay consistent with the
numbers from previous years. The Board decided to lower this amount from $5,000
to $4,000.
G2401- At the last board meeting interest
rates were increased from $4,000 to $5,600. This was lowered back to $4,000.
G8120.42 The title will be changed to reflect
that it is intended for video & flushing.
The
Village does not have a heavy debt load and we don’t provide costly services
such as a police force. The biggest cost in the village is roads.
The
Mayor proposed that, with these changes and the ones decided in executive
session tonight regarding personnel issues, this will be used as our tentative
budget and a public hearing on the budget be set for our next meeting in April.
Resolution #3937-To Set a Public Hearing for Monday,
April 7, 2003, at 7:35p.m., in the Village Office, 2405 N. Triphammer Road, on
the Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2003-2004.
Trustee Fresinski moved to set the budget public
hearing. Trustee Beebe seconded the motion.
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-
Aye
Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
The
budget will be available in the office next week. By law it needs to be
available to the public 10 days before the public hearing. It was asked if it
was ever considered that the budget be put on the website. The Mayor prefers
that people come into the office and then Jodi can answer any questions they
may have on the budget. Otherwise it is just a bunch of numbers with no explanation
as to how they came about.
Next
on the agenda were the Mayor’s comments. There have been no changes since the
board last met. Thursday there will be the last meeting of the group of six and
a resolution of our sewer situation. After this our lawyers will be able to
begin to draft an agreement. The Village and Town of Lansing will both be long-term
customers of the Village of Cayuga Heights. There was reluctance of the owners
of both plants to change ownership so being customers will work out well. We
will pay an outside rate. This will accommodate at least 20 years of growth.
Don is also looking into calibration formulas.
On
the good water side, SCLIWC will be providing water to outside municipalities. Currently
they are in negotiations with the Town of Ulysses and Cayuga County and there
will probably be others. Bolton Point is under-utilized. It’s a 6 million
gallon plant and its current use is only 2 million gallons.
Brush
pick-up will begin May 5th. Don would like to get the street
sweeping done earlier this year since it seems to be a problem. Usually it is
done after the brush pick up but we may need to do it twice this spring.
David
Dubow will be replacing Bill Troy as our attorney. Bill is going into his own
practice with his three brothers. He will have an office down the street. Bill’s new practice will be mostly trial and
insurance defense. The Mayor and Board thanked Bill for all he has done for the
village and wished him luck. This will be Bill’s last meeting.
Motion- T o Go Into
Executive Session to Discuss Personnel Issues
Trustee Fresinski moved to go into executive session.
Trustee Leopold seconded the motion.
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-
Aye
Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
The
board went into executive session at 8:50pm.
Motion- T o Come Out of
Executive Session
Trustee Fresinski moved to come out of executive
session. Trustee Moore seconded the motion.
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-
Aye
Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
The
Board came out of executive session at 9:53pm.
Motion- To Allow the Mayor to Update the Employee Section
of the Budget To Carry Out the Board’s Request Within a Set of Narrow Guidelines
Trustee Fresinski moved this motion and Trustee
Moore seconded the motion.
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-
Aye
Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
Motion- To Adjourn
Trustee Fresinski moved adjournment. Trustee Leopold
seconded the motion.
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski-
Aye
Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
The
meeting adjourned at 10:00pm.
Jodi
Dake
Village
Clerk