MINUTES
of a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the
PRESENT:
Mayor Donald Hartill; Trustees Janet Beebe, Lynn Leopold, and Frank Moore;
David Dubow, Village Attorney; Ned Hickey, Planning Board Chairman
Mayor
Donald Hartill called the meeting to order at 7:38P.M. He opened the public
comment period. There were 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 Lynn Leopold-Aye
Next
on the agenda was the approval of minutes.
Motion-Approval of Minutes for
Trustee
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore-Aye Trustee Janet
Beebe- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
The
Mayor informed the Board that every spring the Village hires a part time
temporary laborer to help mow lawns and do general maintenance. This person
usually works with the motor equipment operator. Trustee Moore and
Resolution #3947-To Hire Bryan Teeter as Part Time Summer Laborer at a Rate of $10/hour.
Mayor Donald
Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore-Aye Trustee
Janet Beebe- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
Frank
commented that during the interview process they were very sensitive to the
question of whether the person hired would quit and collect unemployment.
The
Mayor advised the Trustees that
Roger
Jagoda of
Resolution #3948- To Authorize
Ben to Issue a Temporary Certificates of Occupancy For 50 Janivar Drive, With a
$400 Escrow Deposit and Expiration Date of
Trustee Leopold moved this resolution. Trustee
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
The Mayor reported that earlier in the year during the budget process we reevaluated our building fee structure. The Mayor and code/zoning officer have discussed increasing the building permit fees since our fee schedule has fallen further behind our actual cost of providing the service. The fees have not been changed in over 13 years. Other costs associated with providing the service - attorney fees, engineer fees, code officer’s salary and benefits, etc. have all gone up. With the new uniform international building code recently adopted by the State, Ben anticipates more stringent requirements that will consume additional time and resources, all of which will be in addition to those resources required for training, reference books, and software.
Looking at the rate structure, the Mayor indicated that the easiest place to
make an adjustment to help narrow this growing gap would be to increase the
commercial permit fees from the base cost plus $2/$1000 estimated construction
cost to base cost plus $4 per $1000. New residential building rates could also
be increased a little- currently they are based on floor area and start at
$120, then $200, $300, $400, etc. It was suggested that those permit fees could
be increased by $100 each. Finally, it was recommended that an additional
permitting category be added under nonresidential buildings for "temporary
commercial activity," the fee for which would be $50. The Board agreed that the permit fees do
need to be increased.
The
Mayor went on to explain how the new uniform International Building Code has
many more required inspections both by our code inspector and on the part of
the contractor who must hire an engineer to do some of the necessary
inspections. The new code is very complicated.
Resolution #3949- To Set a Public Hearing To Consider Increasing the
Building Permit
Fees for
Trustee Leopold moved this resolution. Trustee Beebe
seconded the motion.
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
The
next item on the agenda was to consider the proposed Clustering Amendment to
the Subdivision Regulations. Ned Hickey, on behalf of the Planning Board,
explained that this is the same proposal that the Trustees reviewed at their
last meeting that has now been revised by the Village Attorney to reflect
changes discussed and recommended by both the Planning Board and this Board.
The main portions of this document address the definition of “open space, the
distinction between open space and developable area, the establishment of a
minimum of 20% of the developable area as open space, and matters related to
the ownership and control of the open space. Attorney Dubow revised this
section so that the ownership entity need not exclusively be a homeowners
association, but can now also be another entity such as a land trust. The 6%
recreation exaction is completely separate from the minimum 20% open space set
aside. Ned reported further that the Planning Board is presently looking at
developing an open space plan to see what areas of the Village are desirable.
He indicated that the Village has a Greenway Plan and the goal would be to
coordinate that with the 6% recreational exaction and open space provisions. It
was explained that the clustering provisions in the Subdivision Regulations
have been and a will continue to be voluntary on the part of the developer.
Attorney Dubow stated that this amendment to the Subdivision Regulations would
be subject to General Municipal Law Sections 239-l and 239-m notifications and
SEQR. Since this must go to the County for review it was suggested that the
public hearing on this matter be put off until our first June meeting.
Resolution #3950- To Set a
Public Hearing To Amend the Subdivision Regulations Section 314 (entitled
“Application of Section 7-738 of the Village Law-Cluster Subdivision”) for
Trustee
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
Next
on the agenda was to consider the Open Space Plan proposal from Trowbridge and
Wolf. Ned commented that he had previously contacted the County to see if they
would be interested in doing a plan for us but they did not have time.
Subsequently, Ned went to Trowbridge and Wolf to ask them to submit a proposal.
The Planning Board voted unanimously at their April 14th meeting to
recommend this plan. This firm has done excellent work for us in the past,
particularly the Commercial Low Traffic Design Guidelines which have already
assisted the members in their deliberations on the construction of the Moldflow
building and the remodeling of the Lama Building.
The
Board reviewed the proposal and time schedule.
Attorney Dubow stated that since this is a professional service
contract, it is not subject to the mandatory bid process. The cost to prepare
the Open Space Protection Plan is $15,000, which will be paid in three
phases. It is scheduled to be completed
February 15, 2004. Ned commented that there currently is not much open space in
the Village. This plan will be very
helpful when the Planning Board is negotiating with developers. Ned predicts
development pressure in the next couple of years and would like to be prepared.
Resolution #3951- To Accept Trowbridge & Wolf’s proposal to Prepare an Open Space Place in an Amount Not to Exceed $15,000.
Trustee Leopold moved this resolution. Trustee
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
Next
the following Commercial High Traffic Design Guidelines were presented to the
Board.
Commercial
High Traffic
Design
Guidelines
A. Where possible, share parking with adjacent parcels. Where the varied parking demand for proximate uses allows joint use of a single parking facility, a reduced number of spaces is strongly encouraged. Shared parking areas should be conveniently located to all uses, but do not need to be located on the same parcel as the use.
B.
Design parking areas to provide easy, safe access to
buildings. Parking ratio requirements
for each land use type is defined in the existing
C. In general, parking should provide for 90 degree angled parking with nine feet (9’) by eighteen feet (18’) parking spaces and twenty-four feet (24’) wide two-way travel lanes.
D. Parking areas shall be curbed to provide clear separation of vehicles and pedestrians, control traffic, and define traffic and landscape islands. Curbs shall be concrete or granite as directed by the Planning Board.
E. Handicapped accessible parking shall be provided consistent with the Building Code of New York State.
F. Parking lots, including their access drives and service areas shall be surfaced with heavy-duty bituminous concrete, concrete, or decorative pavements.
G. Public and Multi-modal Transit: Commercial development should be served by public transit (TCAT). Transit stops should be located at safe and convenient points, to serve primary office destinations. Bike parking should be included in development proposal.
H. These Design Guidelines shall be applicable to new construction in the Commercial High Traffic District as well as to reconstruction projects. That is, any application for major renovation to an existing development in the Commercial High Traffic District will be reviewed with these Design Guidelines in mind.
2.
Landscaping for Parking Lots
A. The landscape architectural treatment of all parking areas shall be designed to promote safe and convenient circulation; to limit vehicular/pedestrian conflicts; to limit paved areas; to provide shade and reduce heat island effects; and to soften the overall visual impact of parking areas. A minimum of twelve percent (12%) of the interior ground area (i.e. excluding any peripheral planting area) shall be planting islands that include trees with a potential mature height of at least fifty feet (50'). Interior planting islands shall be a minimum of eighty square feet (80s.f.) with no dimension being less than eight feet (8’). The planter islands shall be curbed and have a minimum three foot (3’) deep excavation.
B. Landscape
islands shall be installed in parking lots, equally distributed throughout the
lot, but not less than one landscaped island for every twelve- (12) parking
spaces. Figure 11 on page 11 of the
Allowances to the above may be made by the Planning Board where an alternative configuration allows for saving existing trees or groupings of trees, or results in improved circulation and appearance.
C. Low
plantings in addition to the required shade trees are encouraged for landscape
islands in high visibility areas. Low
plantings are most effective at screening parking and providing visual
interest. Low plantings could include
low shrubs, perennials, and ornamental grasses.
The Planning Board may waive some portion of the required landscape
islands in exchange for significant low level plantings in high visibility
areas. Figure 12 on page 12 of
D. Parking lots should be screened from adjacent streets and properties with landscape treatments as approved by the Planning Board.
E. A planting bed, attractively landscaped with a variety of appropriate plantings, should surround the building on all sides. The pavement may not extend right up to the building except at doorways and service bays.
F. Trees in the public right-of-way shall be protected. If removal of a tree in the public right-of-way is required to accommodate a new access drive, then replacement trees shall be provided on a cumulative caliper basis in an appropriate location to be agreed upon with the Planning Board.
G. All trees shall be a minimum two and a half-inch (2.5”) caliper at the time of planting.
H. Proper species selection and installation of trees using best horticultural practices are critical to achieve the desired result. Tree selection should meet the following criteria:
1. Hardy to zone 5
2. Salt tolerant
3. Tolerant of alkaline soils
(high pH)
4. Tolerant of drought and
poorly drained soils
5. Select tree species from the
most recent edition of the publication
I.
There shall be screening with a minimum five foot (5’) wide planting
area between a parking area and adjacent properties and public ways, except
where there is parking that is shared by more than one property or where
commercial properties abut. In such
cases, the Planning Board may require landscaping as it deems appropriate.
J. There shall be a sidewalk
leading from the street to the door of the commercial establishment, separated
from the driveway by a tree lawn at least five feet (5’) wide and planted with
medium to large canopy shade trees every thirty feet (30’). (See Appendix for recommended tree species.)
K. All snow storage locations
should be shown on the site plan.
Planting islands should not be utilized for snow storage.
L. All plantings required by
special permit must be maintained and replaced as necessary, as detailed on the
approved site plan.
3. Architectural Design Guidelines
A. Exterior appearance: The architectural character of each building will be evaluated in terms of the ability to maintain a high standard of construction and appearance.
B. Earth tones and muted colors are preferred. Reflective surfaces and bright colors are unacceptable. Buildings with high light level requirements should use absorptive materials and colors.
C. Every side of the building should be treated as a front façade. At least one entrance should face a street or plaza allowing pedestrian access from the street.
D. All exterior service, storage, and utility areas, including but not limited to transformers, meters, tanks, dumpsters, condensers, and delivery or service doors, will be located at the side or rear of the building and will be screened so as not to be visible from the street right-of-way or from adjacent parcels.
Landscape screening can be used where
applicable. However, architectural
screens and fences are preferable.
Architectural screens and fences shall be limited to wood or materials
to match adjacent buildings. No
chainlink or stockade fencing is allowed for service, storage or utility area
screening.
E. Roof
mounted utilities should not be visible from street level.
F. Commercial buildings should reinforce streets and public
spaces by providing an ordered variety of architectural detailing.
Ned
explained that the goal of these proposed guidelines, which have been prepared
by Carol Klepack of the Planning Board, is to get rid of the massive parking
lot pavement and have something more like Wegman’s has done downtown. It was
explained that the guidelines will not carry the force of law, do not require
action by the Trustees, and will be added as an annex to the already existing
Commercial Traffic Guidelines. The Board was very supportive.
John
Oneil, a member of the public, inquired as to sidewalks into parking lots. Ned
stated that he has been struggling with this question for years. People seem to
walk down the isles after they park; they don’t walk over 3 lanes to use a
sidewalk. Pyramid now has ring road and barrier islands to channel the traffic
and slow it down to make it safer for pedestrians.
The
next item on the agenda is the annual organizational meeting.
2003 Organizational Meeting
Trustee Beebe moved to appoint Phil
Dankert to the Planning Board.
Trustee
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
Trustee Leopold moved to appoint Michael Ward to the
Board of Zoning Appeals. Trustee Beebe seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
Trustee Beebe moved to authorize the Mayor to
appoint Jodi Dake as Clerk/Treasurer of the
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
The
Board commented that Jodi does a great job.
Trustee Leopold moved to authorize the Mayor to
appoint Carol Willard as Clerk Part Time of the
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
Trustee
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
The following are legal holidays that fall on Board
meeting evenings in 2003-04:
Oct. 6 Yom Kippur
Jan 19 Martin Luther
King Day
Trustee Beebe moved to establish the meeting days.
Trustee Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
Trustee Leopold moved to adopt Roberts Rules of
Order as the procedural guidelines for Village meetings. Trustee Beebe seconded
the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
Municipal
Law 77-b, authorizes municipal officials and employees to attend schools,
conferences, seminars, etc. Conducted for the benefit of the local government.
However, such attendance is not authorized, nor can reimbursement be applied
for, unless prior approval of the Board of Trustees is obtained. It would be
appropriate at the organizational meeting to adopt a resolution authorizing
certain individuals, by position, to attend meetings.
Be it Resolved, that the Board of Trustees hereby
grants permission for the Clerk/Treasurer, Jodi Dake, to attend the
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
WHEREAS all such claims shall be
presented at the next regular meeting of audit,
Trustee Leopold moved to authorize the
Clerk/Treasurer to pay the above stated bills prior to audit by the Board of
Trustees. Trustee Beebe seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
Trustee Beebe moved to establish the salaries for
the Board members at $3,500 and for the Mayor at $9,000. Trustee Leopold
seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
A
member of the public asked if the salaries for each board were recently
increased. The Mayor responded by indicating that the salaries were increased
two years ago.
Trustee Leopold moved to set the compensation rate
for the Planning Board at $5,000 for the chairman and $2,500 for each member.
Trustee
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
Trustee Leopold moved to appoint Donald Hartill as
the elected S.C.L.I.W.C representative. Trustee Beebe seconded the motion. A
vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
Trustee Beebe moved to appoint Michael Newman as the
non-elected S.C.L.I.W.C representative. Trustee
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
The
Mayor commented that Michael is currently serving as chair of this committee
and is doing an excellent job.
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
WHEREAS, Section 104-b of the General Municipal Law
requires the governing body of every municipality to adopt a procurement policy
for all goods and services which are not required by law to be publicly bid,
and
WHEREAS, the Villages procurement policy, which was
approved on January 7, 1992 and updated in 2002, states that there will be an
annual review of the policy, therefore
Trustee Beebe moved to adopt the Procurement Policy.
Trustee Moore seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank
Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn
Leopold- Aye
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
Section 1. That the Board of Trustees does hereby designate the following institutions as depositories of all moneys received by the Village treasurer, clerk, and receiver of taxes.
Tompkins Trust Company
M&T Bank
Section 2. That this resolution
shall take effect immediately.
Trustee Beebe moved to adopt this resolution.
Trustee Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye Trustee
Frank Moore- Aye Trustee
Janet Beebe- Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
The
next item on the agenda was Mayor’s comments. The Mayor reported the following:
Elections were April 22nd and Lynn Leopold and Larry Fresinski were
reelected as Trustees and Don Hartill was reelected as Mayor. On Election Day,
Don had lunch with Sherwood Boehlert. Two issues they discussed were the
unfunded mandate for Stormwater and Medicare. The mayor commented that
Congressman Boehlert is a very nice man who appeared genuinely interested in
local issues.
On
Friday the Mayor, Ned Hickey and Dave Putnam met with Fisher Associates on the
North Triphammer Road Project. The Phase 1B archeological fieldwork was
completed and no significant artifacts were uncovered. They found one
unidentified bone and 1 piece of glass. The report has been submitted to SHPO
for review and final determination of effect.
In
the meantime, the Mayor explained that he has been discussing with NYSDOT the
traffic flow issues. The problem seems to lie in the ramps at Route 13. The problem is that the stacking from the
north bound off ramp sometimes extends out onto Route 13. This gets very
dangerous with 55mph traffic. The solution would be to increase the stacking
ability by having 2 left turn lanes. This would be accomplished by moving and
angling the on and off ramps. The Village is having Fisher Associates conduct a
feasibility study for incorporating the intervening NYS Route 13-interchange
section into the project. Fisher is also obtaining a daily tube count for NTR
for hourly distribution analysis and to recount the Pyramid, Catherwood and
Graham intersections to evaluate the change in traffic patterns because of
traffic destined for Target. If the project is viable and concurrence is
obtained from NYSDOT to proceed, then the schedule for bidding the Village project
would be delayed by about two months. This is one of the downsides of the
inclusion of the ramps. Any time the State gets involved there is a longer
delay in the approval process due to additional approvals. We can include this
in our project as a reverse betterment. There is a fair chance we will be able
to do the ramps. This is a unique opportunity to fix this area. We hoped to have this out to bid by September
but if the ramps are included it may get pushed into January or February. The
Mayor is working hard on this. We need to decide in the next month as to how we
would like to proceed. The utility coordination meeting with affected companies
is scheduled for June 6th at 10:00 at the Village offices.
The
Mayor went on to discuss Bolton Point matters and explained that there are no
strong recommendations as far as security issues concern drinking water. Bolton
Point has installed 2 emergency generators to get water to the treatment plant.
If there is no electricity, he explained that a tank could last the Village 1-½
days. With these two new emergency generators and the gas engine in the pump
room next to our office, we could go on indefinitely. Bolton Point pumps 2-2.5
million gallons a day. There is a very low risk of getting a large amount of something
harmful in our water but we are still concerned about it. There are many
security measures in place.
The
Mayor next gave the following update on sewer matters: A 10-15,000 gallon per
day sewer line leak has been discovered in the B&T Park by the airport. It
seems that during Phase I construction there was a bad connection. We will fix
this and it will result in receiving more sewer units. As far as
inter-municipal sewer negotiations, the documents have been submitted to DEC.
This process has been going on for 6 years.
The
Mayor reported that street sweeping has been going on for 3 weeks. They have
removed 150 tons of material. This project will cost the Village an estimated
$8-10,000. Frank stated that he was not impressed with the street sweeping. The machine that is being used is for big
stuff and is leaving the small stuff behind. It was suggested we look into
better equipment next year. Lynn asked if Dennis gets to give the Town feedback
on the mix that they use on our roads. Don stated that we would next year. This
year we got 30% more snow.
Lynn
reported that she will be calling the Village of Cayuga Heights to inquire
about using their equipment for a yearly leaf pick up.
Frank
suggested that a meeting be set up with the Greenway Development Committee and
Dennis to discuss our trails and what needs to be done. Frank has spoken with
Dennis and he is having trouble getting a third estimate for the Wakefield to
Coventry Trail. Frank will stay on top of this with Dennis. Maintenance is
needed on Lansing Trail and the Miller property is also an issue. Tony Nekut
has volunteered to help so Frank will contact him once a meeting is set. John
Oneil may also have a volunteer from the Lansing Trails area.
Motion- To Adjourn
Trustee Leopold moved adjournment. Trustee Beebe
seconded the motion.
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye
The
meeting adjourned at 9:40pm.
Jodi
Dake
Village
Clerk/Treasurer