MINUTES
of a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the
PRESENT:
Trustees Larry Fresinski, Lynn Leopold, Janet Beebe and Frank Moore; David
Dubow, Village Attorney
Deputy Mayor Fresinski called the meeting to order at 7:33 P.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
Trustee Lynn Leopold-
Aye Trustee Janet
Beebe-Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye
Next
on the agenda was the engineers report. Dave Putnam reported that 2 sewer lines
have been fixed. He will be getting the information to David Dubow so that the
Village can attempt to collect the $6,013.55 paid to Grant Street Construction
to repair the sewer at
Putnam
is working on finishing
The
next item on the agenda was to appoint John Piscopo to another one year term as
Planning Board Alternate and activate him for the July 29th Planning
Board Meeting. David Dubow gave the
following explanation: Local Law 2 of 1990 allows for the Board of Trustees to
appoint an alternate member to the Planning Board for a period of one year.
Then the Board of Trustees must take separate action to activate that alternate
as an acting member For the alternate to be able to vote he or she must also
have participated or had reasonable opportunity to participate as a voting or
non-voting member during the time the matter being considered has been heard
before the Board. Ben Curtis and Ned Hickey have both indicated that John has
met this criteria since he has been attending the meetings regularly and often
stops in the office to speak with Ben. There was some confusion on who
activated the alternate because the codification, once it is approved, will
allow for the Planning Board Chair to activate the alternate appointed by the Board
of Trustees. Until the codification is
completed, it is the Board of Trustees that must activate the alternate member.
This
brought up a concern that Larry didn’t think the codification, once approved
was changing any laws. He thought that it was just a document that was bringing
all the Village’s Laws together for an indexing purpose. Jodi pointed out that
throughout the draft codification there are footnotes that state what sections
are being changed at the time of adoption. Larry does not recall these
footnotes being on the version of the draft codification on the Village’s Web
Page and will investigate it further.
Frank
thought it odd to appoint John Piscopo for just one meeting and also thought it
was very complicated. David Dubow explained that the Planning Board has a
sensitive issue at the July 29th meeting and feels it needs 5
members present. They will be discussing the Millcroft Subdivision, with
respect to which the County Planning Department has notified the Planning Board
that it may have some negative inter-community effects, thereby necessitating a
majority plus one vote of the Planning Board to approve the preliminary
subdivision plat.
Resolution #3986 -To Appoint John Piscopo as a
Alternate Member to the
Planning Board for a Period of One Year.
Trustee Leopold moved this resolution. Trustee Beebe
seconded the motion.
Trustee Frank Moore- Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye
Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye
Resolution #3987-To Activate John Piscopo as an
Active Member to the Planning Board for the July 29, 2003 Planning Board
Meeting.
Trustee Leopold moved this resolution. Trustee Beebe
seconded the motion.
Trustee Frank Moore- Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye
Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye
Frank
asked for some specific information about John Piscopo and his qualifications
to serve as an alternate/active member of the Planning Board. Jodi explained that he is a mature gentleman
who lives in Lansing Trails Development. He himself was once a developer. He
has been involved as an alternate to the Planning Board since he moved to the
Village a couple of years ago. He also served on the Board in Newfield. He
enjoys being involved with his community. Larry stated that often we have had
to trust Ben or Ned’s recommendations and they have always worked out well. He
feels this is no different.
It was agreed that in the future the appointment of alternate Planning Board and BZA members will become part of our yearly organizational meeting in May. Frank repeated his feelings that this alternate/active member appointment procedure was ridiculous. David Dubow stated that New York State law allows for this to be done and it was instituted in the Village back when Ned Hickey would leave for three months in the winter to go to Florida. David suggested that Frank speak with Ben or Ned regarding this issue.
Next
on the agenda was general discussion. Larry stated that this is an opportunity
to bring up any issues that were not on the agenda. Lynn advised the Board that
she had received a break down of the Northeast Seniors expenses and income and
wondered why the Village gave $2,000 to this group each year and the Village of
Cayuga heights only gave $1,000. Jodi stated that this issue was brought up at
budget time because previously we were the only municipality contributing. This
is the first year that the Village of Cayuga Heights has contributed when in
fact most of the members live in the Village of Cayuga Heights. Larry explained
that sometimes we just take the lead and do something because it is important
to us.
Larry
indicated that he has spoken with a resident who is concerned with cars not
yielding to pedestrians as they cross at the Triphammer Rd./ Sevanna Park
intersection. This same person was also
concerned with the pothole at the edge by the sidewalk and pedestrians getting
splashed by cars as they drove by. The Board was advised that N. Triphammer Rd.
will be fixed to make it through the winter pending the start of the North
Triphammer Road Project next Spring. Frank suggested zebra striping the
crosswalk. The Board also discussed talking pedestrian signals and countdowns.
Jodi informed the Board that there is already a countdown display at that
crossing. Lynn doesn’t think the talking displays work. Another option would be
a no turn on red sign.
Janet
asked for some clarification on the Fire Inspection report that Carol put in
her folder. Some businesses have multiple dates after their name. It was
explained that this indicates that Carol found items that needed to be fixed
and she returned to re-inspect them again. The dates are all the times she had
to return for one item or another.
Lynn
questioned how long our Village could run with the current staff given the amount
of development that will be taking place in the near future. Frank feels there
should be a serious review of our Department of Public Works. He indicated that in the Village, it appears
that Greenway maintenance doesn’t happen automatically and that our DPW is a
reactive organization. If there is no negative trigger then nothing gets done.
Frank would like to see a system of scheduling because he believes that no one
manages a work plan. Larry commented that our Village operates reasonably well.
We identify top projects and the top project gets completed. Lynn feels there
is a need for more direction. Larry suggested we ask for a monthly report from
Dennis.
The
Board discussed that one problem is that there is no yearly employee review,
and that this should be done. Larry feels that, for the most part, our staff
has been self-motivated so we haven’t had to review. He also indicated that the
present staff has been very cost effective and the residents seem to be happy
with our tax rate. In this perspective, he indicated that we are doing really
well. It was acknowledged that growth is happening which will increase our tax
base but will also increase the amount of services we may need to sub out.
Lynn
commented that Carol Klepack was involved with the Greenway issues and also got
very frustrated. Frank stated that residents in Lansing Trails are eager to
help with maintenance but this is something that needs to be planned out and
coordinated. Frank does not see a system for how this can be done. The Board
discussed the possibility of having someone who could perform the duties of a
chief operating officer who would make the staff accountable, responsible and
provide follow up. Hiring another person to do this could be expensive and the
Board needs to look at the cost benefit verses the qualitative benefit. Lynn
suggested that we have an “adopt a trail” program just like we have an “adopt a
highway” program. The Board concluded that someone needs to take responsibility
for the Greenway.
Lynn
and Don indicated that they would not be at the meeting on August 4th.
There is a public hearing scheduled for that meeting on Proposed Local Law C.
It was agreed that the Board would hold the public hearing but hold off acting
on that matter and/or passing a resolution until the August 18th
meeting.
Motion-To Adjourn
Trustee Leopold moved adjournment. Trustee Moore
seconded the motion.
Trustee Frank Moore- Aye Trustee Larry Fresinski- Aye
Trustee Lynn Leopold-Aye Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye
The
meeting adjourned at 8:49pm.
Jodi
Dake
Village
Clerk/Treasurer