MINUTES of a regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Lansing held on Monday, May 3, 1999, in the Village Office.
PRESENT: Mayor Don Hartill; Trustees Clifford Buck, John Caren, Larry Fresinski
and Lynn Leopold; Attorney Randall Marcus
Mayor Don Hartill called the meeting to order at 7:35 P.M. and asked for Public Comment. There was no public comment.
John Bailey from the George B. Bailey Agency, Inc. was present to give us a brief summary of the different areas of our insurance policy. He handed a proposal package to each Trustee. The Statement of Values showed what the Blanket Coverage covers. Jodi Dake and Dennis Reinhart had previously provided John with an update of contents. The elevated water tank on Brown Road will be coming down this year and when it does the Village will just need to contact John Bailey and have it removed. The Blanket Commercial Property Coverage is for $722,610. The General Liability is $1 million per occurrence. We have an Excess Liability or Umbrella Policy which offers an additional $1 million. Mayor Hartill asked what the cost would be to raise the Umbrella coverage to either $2 or $5 million. John stated that our policy isn’t renewed until June 25th and he would get us numbers. Cliff asked Randy if this was appropriate. Randy stated that typically you don’t see local courts rendering judgements in the multiple millions against municipalities, but, given the right set of facts, it could happen. The Village has Commercial Inland Marine coverage, which is for equipment that moves around such as mowers and backhoe. Owners and Contractors coverage is bought on behalf of the State of NY. Crime coverage is for people who would break into our property. Fidelity is in case Village employees steal money from the Village. And finally the Professional Liability coverage protects public officials. The premium for this year is $1,268 less than last year. John Bailey stated that there is fierce competition between insurance companies. They have lowered prices so they can get your money to invest in the stock market. Cliff asked John if he shopped around for the best deal. John feels that Selective is more aggressive, excellent with processing claims and does a good job with municipalities. He also has eight other municipalities with Selective Insurance.
John Bailey thanked the Board for the opportunity to work on behalf of the Village for NEST. It has been an enlightening experience and he has met many new people.
Next on the agenda was the consideration of a part-time public works employee. The Mayor spoke with Dennis and he has two candidates. We will wait until the next Wednesday meeting to do this so Rick has a chance to speak with the two candidates.
Next on the agenda was consideration of a number of items for the Annual Organizational Meeting.
Be it RESOLVED, that the Board authorizes the Mayor to appoint Jodi Dake as Clerk/Treasurer of the Village of Lansing
Trustee John Caren moved to authorize the Mayor to appoint Jodi Dake as Clerk/Treasurer of the Village of Lansing and Trustee Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee John Caren- Aye Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye
Larry Fresinski- Aye
Be it RESOLVED, that the Ithaca Journal is hereby established as the official paper for the publication of legal notices for the Village of Lansing.
Trustee John Caren moved to establish the Ithaca Journal as the Village’s official newspaper. Trustee Cliff Buck seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee John Caren- Aye Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye
Larry Fresinski- Aye
Be it RESOLVED, that the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month, at 7:30PM, and the second Wednesday, following the first meeting of the month, at 12:00 noon are hereby established as regular meeting days for the Board of Trustees of the Village of Lansing.
Trustee Lynn Leopold moved to establish the meeting days. Trustee John Caren seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee John Caren- Aye Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye
Larry Fresinski- Aye
Be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Trustees hereby adopts Roberts Rules of Order as a procedural guideline for Village meetings.
Trustee Cliff Buck moved to adopt Roberts Rules of Order as the procedural guidelines for Village meetings. Trustee John Caren seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee John Caren- Aye Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye
Larry Fresinski- Aye
Be it RESOLVED, that the Village Clerk/Treasurer is hereby authorized to pay claims for utilities, postage, insurance, debt service and Bolton Point’s charges for the quarterly water bills prior to audit by the Board of Trustees.
Trustee Cliff Buck moved to authorize the Clerk/Treasurer to pay the above stated bills prior to audit by the Board of Trustees. Trustee John Caren seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee John Caren- Aye Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye
Larry Fresinski- Aye
Be it RESOLVED, that the salaries for the Board of Trustees and the Mayor are hereby set at $3,000 for each member of the Board of Trustees and $7,000 for the Mayor for the next fiscal year.
Trustee John Caren moved to establish the salaries for the board members at $3,000 and for the mayor at $7,000.
Trustee Cliff Buck seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee John Caren- Aye Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye
Larry Fresinski- Aye
Trustee John Caren moved to appoint Donald Hartill as the elected S.C.L.I.W.C representative. Trustee Lynn Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee John Caren- Aye Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye
Larry Fresinski- Aye
Trustee John Caren moved to appoint Michael Newman as the non-elected S.C.L.I.W.C representative.
Trustee Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee John Caren- Aye Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye
Larry Fresinski- Aye
Trustee John Caren moved to set the mileage reimbursement rate at the federally approved mileage reimbursement rate.
Trustee Cliff Buck seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee John Caren- Aye Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye
Larry Fresinski- Aye
The next issue was the compensation for the Planning Board. John Caren suggested we raise the salary of the members by $500 and the Chairman’s by $1,000. The Mayor felt that both Boards should get a raise but the appropriate time to do this would be at Budget time. This will be proposed for next year.
Trustee Cliff Buck moved to set the compensation rate for the Planning Board at $4,000 for the chairman and $2,000 for each member.
Trustee Lynn Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee John Caren- Aye Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye
Larry Fresinski- Aye
property of the Village of Lansing, and others, the following sums for
Village Government and other charges for the fiscal year 1999-2000
the Water Tax; $ .10 per thousand of assessed valuation and $16.06
per unit for Special Assessment-Sewer Collector; $112.50 per unit for
outside sewers and $75.00 per unit for inside sewers according to the
Village of Cayuga Heights.
General Fund 389,941.00
Water Fund 70,050.00
Special Assessment-Sewer Collector Fund 30,945.00
Delinquent Water Rents 24,005.36
Delinquent Sewer Rents 3,624.44
Sewer Rents (Cayuga Heights) 272,475.00
Total for 1999-2000 Budget Year 791,040.80
Trustee Lynn Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee John Caren- Aye Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye
Larry Fresinski- Aye
Next on the agenda was the approval of the minutes for April.
Trustee Larry Fresinski moved that the meeting notes, as reviewed and revised by the Board, are hereby adopted as the official minutes. Trustee Lynn Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee Cliff Buck-Aye Trustee John Caren-Abstain
Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski moved that the meeting notes, as reviewed and revised by the Board, are hereby adopted as the official minutes. Trustee Lynn Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee Cliff Buck-Abstain Trustee John Caren-Abstain
Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye
Trustee Larry Fresinski moved that the meeting notes, as reviewed and revised by the Board, are hereby adopted as the official minutes. Trustee Lynn Leopold seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee Cliff Buck-Aye Trustee John Caren-Abstain
Trustee Larry Fresinski-Aye
Next on the agenda was the approval of sending the Village clerk/treasurer to three different training sessions. The Mayor supports any village employees getting additional training when possible. Jodi explained the three different events to the Board.
Trustee Larry Fresinski seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee John Caren- Aye Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye
Larry Fresinski- Aye
Next on the agenda were the Mayor’s comments. The mayor stated that we have heard back from Tompkins County Planning regarding the comprehensive plan. Tompkins County Planning stated that the proposal has no significant deleterious impact on intercommunity, County or State interests. The comment that they did make was that we left out the City of Ithaca on the listing of participants in the Ithaca Wastewater Treatment Plant on page 45. The Mayor suggested we make this minor adjustment and go ahead with printing 30 copies of the Comprehensive Plan. They will be bound with the spiral plastic. Ned asked what we were going to do with the cover. The Mayor liked the idea of having a collage of pictures on the front not just the picture of our sign in front of the Tompkins County Trust Company. Ned will instruct Steve Halevy to take some more pictures of different areas of the Village such as the pond, open space land and the Village Office Complex. Don said that he would be happy to print the cover on his color printer. It was also agreed that a copy of the 239 Review be included in the Comprehensive Plan. The Mayor proposed that the Board discuss the Cable Franchise negotiations at the second meeting in May. Cliff stated that he was mind boggled by the amount of money the Cable Company owes us and feels we should take a stand. Randy stated that based on the meeting he and Larry had with Time Warner two or three years ago, they are playing a game with the Village; that is, they promised to return the Village’s money at the time the Village signs a contract. It has been confirmed they have the money that is charged to each cable subscriber in the Village. It is over $50,000. Randy will draft a letter to Time Warner.
The NEST meeting has been delayed to May 14th. The Mayor expects to have a significant discussion on this. He is enthusiastic about the public transportation aspect but not the connector road. There will be some pressure from the County for good transportation into the Ithaca area. Lynn stated that she was called regarding NEST. She would like to have them come to one of our meetings. The Mayor suggested we do this after the client committee meeting takes place. Lynn will tell them to send a letter to the mayor after the client committee has a chance to look at the report.
Ned Hickey, Planning Board Chairman, stated that the Planning Board appreciates the Board of Trustee’s support. Mr. VanCourt, the City of Ithaca Commissioner of Planning and Development, will be at their meeting in May. Ned proposed a joint meeting with the Planning Board and Board of Trustees in late June or early July and have road shoulders on the agenda. He also reported that Monroe Muffler would be going in in the Cayuga Mall next to EconoLodge.
Next was discussion of goals for the year. The following things were listed:
2. Complete employee handbook
3. Codification
4. Continue to pursue North Triphammer Road
5. Village Lighting Plan
6. Expand Pedestrian transportation
Randy stated that Ivar Jonson and Ben had both contacted him on waiving a letter of credit for the road Ivar is putting in. Cliff stated that he can’t build a road until the letter of credit is in place but feels we should cut him slack to the extent that the law allows. Ned stated that Ivar has already cut in the road. Don stated that Ivar contacted him to say he would like to begin the road, then get a letter of credit to finish the road. Ned feels Ivar will finish Lief’s Way this year and the road east to Kensington so he can start that next year.
At this point John Caren asked if they could have a short executive
session to discuss personnel issues.
Trustee Cliff Buck seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee John Caren- Aye Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye
Larry Fresinski- Aye
Trustee John Caren moved that we go out of executive session at 9:59PM.
Trustee Cliff Buck seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee John Caren- Aye Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye
Larry Fresinski- Aye
Trustee Cliff Buck moved adjournment. Trustee John Caren seconded the motion. A vote was taken:
Trustee John Caren- Aye Mayor Donald Hartill- Aye
Larry Fresinski- Aye
The meeting adjourned at 10:00P.M.
Jodi Dake
Village Clerk