Work Session Minutes
WORK SESSION MEETING
June 6, 2012
The Work Session Meeting of the Town of Royalton was held on Wednesday, June 12, 2012, at the Royalton Town Hall, 5316 Royalton Center Road, Middleport, New York. The meeting was called to order by Supervisor Jennifer Bieber at 5:32 PM.
The following were present:
Supervisor Jennifer Bieber
Deputy Supervisor Daphne Berg
Town Clerk Marie L. Little, RMC/CMC
Town Board Members Daniel Bragg, James Budde, Lee Criswell, Bradley Rehwaldt
Highway Superintendent Terry Nieman
Water/Sewer Superintendent Daniel Morse
Town Attorney Thomas H. Brandt
Also present were: See Attached Sheets
•v Mr. Dan Morse, Water/Sewer Superintendent stated that he has received a request from a Royalton resident who would like permission to hook on to the Town of Shelby water supply for water at their home. The residents who are making this request are: Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey Day, 10152 State Road, Middleport.
•v Mr. Dan Morse, Water /Sewer Superintendent, stated that he has also received a request from another Royalton resident who may wish to hook up to water on her own, Mrs. Margaret Burg, 7430 Rapids Road, Clarence Center, NY, this is the last house before crossing over in to Erie County. Discussion ensued.
•v Discussion ensued regarding the property next to Dr. Kaplansky's office on Route 31. Dr. Kaplansky would like to extend his parking lot by fifty (50) feet. Supervisor Bieber stated that she has spoken with Mr. Kleinschmidt regarding this issue and has asked him to present a written plan to Mr. Tom Arlington. The issue will be then forwarded to the proper board (Planning or Zoning) for consideration. Mr. Kleinschmidt stated to Supervisor Bieber that an agreement was made back in 2005 or 2006 that the water line would be extended whenever lots were sold in this area. Discussion continued regarding this issue.
•v Mr. Dan Morse, Water /Sewer Superintendent, asked for a formal resolution to purchase new equipment for his department at a cost of $4,147.60. Town Board approval is required according to the current Procurement Policy. Mr. Morse has the two (2) quotes required for this purchase.
•v Discussion ensued regarding the current Procurement Policy and removing the wording "must be approved by the Town Board prior to placing the order" when department heads are purchasing goods or services in the amounts of $2,001.00 to $20,000.00. This will allow the department heads to follow the Procurement Policy to obtain the two (2) verbal or written quotes and attach the documentation to the voucher without waiting for approval at the next board meeting to purchase necessary equipment.
•v Discussion ensued regarding a grant for the Waste Water Treatment Plant. The grant would be used to set up guidelines to follow for energy and efficiency for mechanical failures at the plant. The grant amount would be $36,000.00 and the cost to the town would be approximately $6,000.00 or a 20% match.
•v Mr. Terry Nieman, Highway Superintendent stated that he has done a lot of road work so far this year. Pricing continues to rise.
•v Supervisor Bieber wanted to publicly thank Mr. Nieman for mowing on Griswold Street. She stated that she received an email from a resident asking her to do so.
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•v Councilman James Budde stated that the residents near Cottage Road are very appreciative with the road work being done in their area.
•v Highway Superintendent Nieman stated that the new process being used is approximately $30,000.00 per mile to do. Chip sealing costs us approximately $12,000.00 per mile. Mr. Nieman stated that they are almost done with the first round of road side mowing. Discussion ensued regarding the Army Worms that are showing up more in our area.
•v Councilman Budde stated that the Eagle Scout, Kevin Bligh, did a very nice job on the fence at Vets Park. Councilman Budde asked if we would be recognizing him for his efforts. Town Clerk Little stated that we have presented previous Eagle Scouts with a certificate from the Town Board at a regular board meeting.
•v Councilman Budde asked if we were going to contact Mr. Don Jablonski now that we are in negotiations for our Union Contract. Mr. Jablonski had been asked to oversee our insurance program to see what options are available to us. Councilman Budde stated that he has spoken with him and he has his phone number available if anyone would like to contact him.
•v Councilman Budde addressed the issue with Huskey Cemetery. Councilman Budde and Town Clerk Little have both spoken with individuals on their board and they are currently in good financial shape and have no plans to turn the cemetery over to the Town of Royalton.
•v Councilman Budde discussed the issue of the caretaker for the cemeteries. Discussion ensued regarding the job description that Councilman Budde had prepared for the position.
•v Supervisor Bieber stated that there are a few graves at Union Cemetery that are beginning to settle and need to be filled in and seeded. Supervisor Bieber stated that we need to address who will be doing this job in the interim and address it again at budget time.
•v Town Clerk Little read a note from Deputy Town Clerk Pat Hinds regarding the barrels that are in front of the Town Hall. The barrels are labeled and will be planted or decorated by each department. Pictures will be taken and placed at the Town Clerks window for the residents to vote on throughout the season. The prize for the winning barrel has yet to be determined.
•v Town Clerk Little stated that she received a "Thank You" note for the help provided by the Water/Sewer Department in moving their barrels each year in the Hamlet of Gasport.
•v Town Clerk Little read off the two (2) quotes received for the back-up server for the Town Hall departments and the Highway Department. The server will be stored at the highway garage. The quotes were from Accurate Computer Service, Inc. for $1,821.43 and from C & H PC, Inc. for $2,393.00.
•v Town Clerk Little stated that she has set up an account with Staples for the purchase of office supplies. There were twelve (12) cases of paper ordered with a coupon received in the mail so we should be set for a little while. We will place an order either weekly or monthly, depending on the needs of the departments.
•v Councilman Budde discussed removing the trees along the fence line at the town hall.
•v Discussion ensued regarding the lawn mowing on abandoned properties. In the past we have mowed them and had the costs added to the County Tax bill for the property. We are waiting of the official word as to whether we can continue to add these costs to the tax bills. Councilman Budde asked if we would be able to utilize the County Work Release Program to mow these properties. Discussion continued as to whether you would want criminals knowing which properties are abandoned and how to proceed with this issue. Lengthy discussion ensued regarding mowing issues and complaints received.
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•v Discussion ensued regarding the recent lightning storm and the power surge at the Town Hall. There were several phone lines that were taken out, a computer in the Town Clerks office and one of the inverter boards for the wind mills had to be replaced. These repair costs have been turned over to our insurance agent. Councilman Rehwaldt stated that we should have surge protection on the lines coming in to the building. Discussion ensued regarding these issues.
•v Councilman Bradley Rehwaldt asked about a time line for the proposed recycling program. Supervisor Bieber stated that she is working on this now with Modern Corporation. We will need to extend our contract with Modern going forward. Supervisor Bieber stated that we will not have the public hearing on Monday for the local law pertaining to recycling.
•v Councilman Lee Criswell stated that he met with the Union reps this afternoon for two (2) hours to discuss the upcoming contract. Attorney Brandt stated that they are waiting on some information.
•v Councilman Daniel Bragg stated that he met with the committee regarding the Local Roads Program. A copy of the proposed Local Law was passed out to the board members for review. Copies were available for anyone else who would like one. Discussion ensued regarding this issue.
•v Mr. Douglas Bennett, TVGA Engineer stated that they would like to wrap up the future improvement study for the Town Wide Water Project. Mr. Bennett asked how the town board would like them to proceed. Mr. Bennett asked if the town will be using town forces to install future water lines or if we will continue to use contractors. Mr. Bennett asked if the board will just do projects as funds become available or if they will bond in the future. Discussion continued regarding this issue. Councilman Bragg asked how we will ever be able to fund large projects. Councilman Rehwaldt stated that he would like to see a priority list on how we should proceed with the balance of the water project. Councilman Rehwaldt stated that the 2017 Project is going to be huge and we will need to bond at that time. Discussion continued.
•v Mr. Thomas Brandt, Town Attorney, discussed the issue of putting items on the tax bill. Attorney Brandt stated that has spoken with the Niagara County Attorney regarding this issue. There may be a chance down the road to continue to add the mowing costs to the tax bills. The real issue seems to be the demolition costs, which are often more costly than what the property is worth when they sell the property In Rem.
•v Supervisor Jennifer Bieber stated that she received a notice from the Gasport Beautification Committee regarding their free movie night on August 10th at Vets Park. The committee is looking for donations toward this event. It is a fun event each year.
•v Supervisor Bieber stated that she and Account Clerk Lorretta Criswell met with a representative from Key Bank regarding the upcoming transition. Key Bank will send us fifty (50) checks for each account and will also provide us with a voucher for $100.00 for each account to purchase more checks. All of our account numbers will remain the same for all of our accounts.
•v Supervisor Bieber stated that she received a call from someone in Newfane regarding the Royalton Union Cemetery and the land that was turned over to the church for their use as a parking lot. Supervisor Bieber stated that the individual was concerned about the access to the back of the cemetery. Supervisor Bieber stated that she would like our Attorney to draw up a permanent easement to grant us access to this area of the cemetery. Supervisor Bieber stated that she has asked Custodian Mike Richards to repaint the sign at Union Cemetery.
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•v Supervisor Bieber stated that she received a complaint from a resident regarding the fact that fire protection and ditching are based on assessment. The costs are based on assessed value of the property and he doesn't feel that it is fair - if his house is assessed at $200,000.00 and his neighbor is assessed at $50,000.00 the fire company is not going to get to his house any faster and wants to know why he is paying more in taxes. Supervisor Bieber stated that she has looked in to this issue and it is the way it is done across the country, it is not just this way in New York State.
•v Supervisor Bieber stated that she has invited Cap Solutions to come in to speak with us in September about doing our newsletter next year. This will give everyone time to come up with three (3) businesses in the town that would like to advertise in the newsletter.
•v Highway Superintendent Nieman asked about the fuel bids. Town Clerk Little stated that they were opened this morning and passed out sheets with the bid results from the two (2) companies that provided bids. Town Clerk Little stated that she was surprised with the overall pricing on the bids. The board members concurred. Discussion ensued regarding possibly going with the NYS bid pricing. Highway Superintendent Nieman stated that you have a small window of opportunity to get in on the state bid pricing each year. Highway Superintendent Nieman will look in to the dates for the state bid and if we are still eligible to participate this year. The board will be prepared to act on this issue at the board meeting on Monday, June 11, 2012.
There being no further information to come before this board, a motion was made by Councilman Budde, seconded by Councilman Criswell and carried unanimously that the Work Session was adjourned at 6:54 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Marie L. Little, RMC/CMC
Marie L. Little, RMC/CMC
Royalton Town Clerk