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Town of
Brutus
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Minutes
February 8, 2021 Town of Brutus Town Board Meeting Minutes
The Town Board of the Town of Brutus held a virtual regular meeting on February 8, 2021 at 6:00 PM via GoTo Meetings application. The instructions for joining the meeting were posted on the town website and the office doors of town hall.
Present: James Hotaling, Town Supervisor Thomas Flynn, Deputy Supervisor John Abraham, Councilor Derric Slocum, Councilor Pamela Kelley, Bookkeeper/Assessor Steve Siracusa, Highway Superintendent Thomas Piascik, Town Engineer Angela Skellington, Town Clerk
Absent: Amy Chirco, Councilor
Guests:David Lipiska (Planning Board Representative/Resident) – joined meeting virtually shortly after it began.
Opening: Supervisor Hotaling called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM
Adopt Minutes: Deputy Supervisor Flynn made a motion to adopt the minutes for the regular meeting of January 11, 2021, seconded by Councilor Abraham. RES 14-2021 VOTE: 4 ayes, 1 absent, 0 nays. Carried.
Next Meeting: March 8, 2021.
Public to be Heard: No comments from the public were made.
Department Head Reports: Supervisor Report, Town Clerk Report, Highway Superintendent Report, Bookkeeper Budget Amendments, Code Enforcement Report (via email), Water Operator Reports
Councilor Slocum motioned to accept the December 2020 and January 2021 supervisor reports, seconded by Councilor Abraham. RES 15-2021 VOTE: 4 ayes, 1 absent, 0 nays. Carried.
Town Clerk Report: · Tax collection – collected $1.6 million and the outstanding full payment amount is $1.14 million. · Collected all of the town tax and have sent $1 million to the county. · Opened back up to the public last week- still letting one person in at a time, contact tracing and sanitizing after each transaction.
Highway Superintendent Report · Brought a load of tires to Nucor · Replaced brake cans hydraulic line hangers quick release valve on truck 4 · Cleaned shop · Plowed and sanded roads · Had waste oil furnace repaired · Mixed more salt and put in salt shed · Put no snowmobile signs in park with barricades · Plowed office cleaned sidewalk and salted · Cleaned sidewalk at Gods acre · Plowed park and sanded · Cleaned food pantry and sanded · Sanded schools and bus garage · Removed snow banks at park and office · Replaced cutting edge on trucks 3 and 4 · Fred did monthly water reads · Repaired truck 5 plow and running issues · Washed and greased trucks · Repairs on Hamilton Rd bridge are complete · Ordered high bay lighting for highway garage
Deputy Supervisor Flynn asked Highway Superintendent Siracusa if he found another plow driver. Kevin Foster was hired; he retired from the Town of Aurelius and has a lot of experience. Discussion occurred about the repair of the waste oil furnace.
Budget Amendments The Town is billed for Time Warner/Spectrum taxes as part of the franchise agreement. This line item is short $252.72 this year. The Town can pull this from fund balance as follows:
DR A599 Unappropriated Fund Balance $252.72 CR A1989.400 Time Warner R/E Taxes $252.72
The Highway fund bridge account is short by $3,679.58. The budgeted amount requested and approved in this line item was $10,000. The most logical place to take the funds from to correct the shortage is the machinery account. The Budget Journal Entry is:
DR DA5130.400 Machinery-Contractual $3,679.58 CR DA5120.400 Bridges-Contractual $3,679.58
Motion by Deputy Supervisor Flynn to accept the budget amendments, second by Councilor Abraham. RES 16-2021 VOTE: 4 ayes, 1 absent, 0 nays. Carried.
Board Area of Responsibility Reports
Clerk Skellington shared the sad news that Judge Maltese’s son died in a car accident this afternoon.
Motion by Councilor Abraham to pay Abstract # 2, second by Deputy Supervisor Flynn. RES 17-2021 VOTE: 4 ayes, 1 absent, 0 nays. Carried.
Correspondence · Association of Towns Virtual Training Schedule via email · NYS Climate Action Council upcoming webinars via email · NYS Association of Conservation Commissions e-newsletter · NYSEG Community Connections e-newsletter · 2021 Volume 1 of In Session – Assoc of Towns e-newsletter · Comp Alliance Jan 2021 e-newsletter · Charter Communications updates · Auburn Doc Center – Computer Executive Summary · NYS Comptroller 2020 Student Achievement Award Nomination Confirmation? · NYS Comptroller information regarding county sales tax distributions and withholdings via email · Cayuga County Drug Free Community Coalition pamphlet · Town of Elbridge ZBA for a Use Variance of resident on River Road (borders Town of Brutus) · NYS Association of Town Superintendents of Highways – regarding Bridge NY funding · National Rural Water Association – Circuit Rider Services available to eligible systems · NYMIR email regarding coverage during COVID related activities · Proxy Card for American Family Insurance · Aquafacts Water Magazine
Bookkeeper Kelley summarized the information regarding sales tax. $250 million in sales tax revenue will be withheld to pay for hospitals and nursing homes in financial distress. Counties near New York City responsible for $200 million with the remaining $ 50 million responsibility shared among the remaining counties. She believes that Cayuga County’s responsibility will be $ 250,000. There are 23 towns in the county.
Supervisor Hotaling spoke about a possible stimulus package. He asked if the grants administrator that we contract with would be able to look into how the package would affect local towns. Clerk stated she would check in with Jay Grasso.
Old Business Correct a duplicate resolution (two RES 140-2019) Clerk stated that her deputy clerks print minutes on official paper and list the resolutions numbers and actions. Clerk stated that there is a duplicate for a resolution in 2019 and proposes the second resolution to be numbered as RES 140a-2019.
Councilor Abraham motioned to correct the 2nd resolution 140-2019 to be 140a-2019. The motion was seconded by Councilor Slocum. RES 18-2021 VOTE: 4 ayes, 1 absent, 0 nays. Carried.
Local Law for Prohibiting Sale and Possession of Dangerous Substances that are Mislabeled Clerk Skellington read the following proposed local law that was prepared by Attorney Kevin Cox.
TOWN OF BRUTUS COUNTY OF CAYUGA STATE OF NEW YORK
A LOCAL LAW PROHIBITING THE SALE AND POSSESSION OF DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES, WHICH ARE MISLABELED OR UNLABELED, WHOSE INTENDED PURPOSE IS TO BE INGESTED TO MIMIC THE EFFECTS OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES AND/OR MARIJUANA AND WHICH HAVE NO OTHER LEGITIMATE USE OR PURPOSE.
Local Law No. 1 of 2021
Be it enacted by the Town Board of the Town of Brutus as follows: Article I. Intent That pursuant to this law it shall be prohibited to sell, possess, or use mislabeled dangerous substances, which substances are mislabeled or unlabeled, whose intended purpose is to be consumed or ingested in order to mimic the effects of controlled substances and/or marijuana and which have no other legitimate use or purpose.
Article II. Authority Section 10 of the Municipal Home Rule Law.
Article III. Law It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, possess, or use mislabeled or unlabeled dangerous substances whose intended purpose is to be ingested to mimic the effects of controlled substances and/or marijuana and which have no other legitimate use or purpose.
Article IV. Definitions “Mislabeled Dangerous Substance” is hereinafter defined as follows: Any substance or product which contains a chemical which under the circumstances in which it is sold, possessed, or used indicates or demonstrates the intent that it be ingested or consumed in an attempt to replicate the effects of controlled substances or marijuana; and either (a) is substantially similar in chemical makeup to a controlled substance or marijuana, or is a structural analog to a controlled substance or marijuana, or shares similar structural analogs, salts or isomers to a controlled substance or marijuana, or is a synthetic chemical compound which is a cannabinoid receptor agonist, or mimics the physical or pharmacological effects of controlled substances or marijuana, or is not a drug approved by the FDA; or (b) the substance has no other legitimate commercial or private use or purpose.
The term “person” includes individual, partnership, corporation, or association.
The term “possession of controlled substance presumptions” as set forth in Article 220 of the Penal Law of the State of New York shall apply to the mislabeled dangerous drugs.
The terms “sell,” possess,” “controlled substance,” and “marijuana” shall have the same meanings as those terms are defined in the Penal Law of the State of New York.
Section V. Penalties Any person found in violation of this Local Law shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a term of imprisonment not to exceed one (1) year or a fine not to exceed one-thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or both.
Section VI. Severability If any section of this Local Law shall be held unconstitutional, invalid, or ineffective, in whole or in part, such determination shall not be deemed to affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder of the Law.
Section VII. Effective This Local Law shall be effective upon filing with the Office of the Secretary of State.
Motion by Councilor Abraham to accept the local law and move forward in adopting it. Second by Councilor Slocum. RES 19-2021 VOTE: 4 ayes, 1 absent, 0 nays. Carried.
Employee Handbook Review The draft was reviewed by the handbook committee on January 19th virtually (Deputy Supervisor Flynn, Councilor Slocum, Bookkeeper/Assessor Kelley, Town Clerk Skellington). Clerk Skellington completed notes and questions for the consultant based on content from the meeting.
Discussion occurred about some items that the committee asked for board member input on before sending back to the consultant:
Protecting employee benefits who have already earned the benefit, unlined coveralls to be provided to the highway employees to protect clothing, review and approve hours of operation annually at the organizational meeting instead of listing in the handbook, written report of any accident involving town equipment, controlled substance and alcohol testing, overtime hours, highway department five- and four-day workweeks as overtime has increase since four-day weeks have been all year.
Highway Superintendent Siracusa was asked for his input on the overtime and four-day weeks. He originally spoke with the Town of Sennett Highway Superintendent who shared that his experience with having four-day weeks all year reduced overtime. It was agreed that they could try it December through March to see if the overtime hours decreased.
Highway Garage LED Lighting The lights have been ordered from Edward Joy. This organization had the lowest quote compared to the other quotes received.
Shadybrook Lighting District Status The transition from NYSEG owning the equipment and charging rent monthly to the town owning the equipment is in process. Coordination of disconnecting is taking place. There is a pole that is leaning that NYSEG is not planning to fix. Workers visited the site and determined that if it was repaired, the value would have to be added on to the light and charged back to the town. There is not a danger issue. A representative from NYSEG said that the town could possibly push the pole to straighten it.
No bids were received for the lighting district maintenance and repair work to be contracted out. This will have to be done again and Engineer Piascik will reach out to some electricians to make them aware of the opportunity once bid documents are prepared again.
Land Purchase on State Route 31 Engineer Piascik stated that the surveyor field work is completed. He anticipates the work to be done in March.
Water for 8734 Weedsport Sennett Road Engineer Piascik mapped out a potential water district including many town residents that have village water. As the town is moving forward in the direction, it could take a few years for the district to be constructed and in the meantime the town will request that water be provided to the 8734 Weedsport Sennett Road address at the owner’s expense for connection.
Grants/Projects The clerk stated that no one is responding back to Jay Grasso, contracted Grants Administrator, on the Shared Building Feasibility Project.
Engineer Piascik communicated that the Preliminary Engineering Reports for Water Districts #10 and # 11 were sent again to USDA Rural Development.
Supervisor Hotaling will set up a meeting with Mayor Winslow and Engineer Piascik to speak about the proposed water district.
Court Constables Clerk Skellington shared that the court constables do not meet the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) requirements for peace officers even though two of them have been trainers to others in their field. Judge Maltese and she have both worked on clarification with DCJS on the credentials and experiences that the constables have but DCJS remains adamant. It was suggested to contract with the Village of Weedsport police department. Supervisor Hotaling stated that he would speak with Mayor Winslow.
Board Resolution Accepting Town and Court Audits For 2019 The clerk said that she received a mailing from the NYS Unified Court System requesting the 2020 court audit and board resolution accepting it by March 1, 2021. She believes this is actually for 2019 and after reviewing the 2020 minutes, she found that while the Auditor was at a virtual meeting in June 2020 going over the 2019 audit, the board did not do a resolution accepting it.
Motion by Deputy Supervisor Flynn to recognize the 2019 town audit and court audit were completed and that the town board accepts the audit. Motion seconded by Councilor Abraham. RES 20-2021 VOTE: 4 ayes, 1 absent, 0 nays. Carried.
New Business Board of Assessment Review Applicants There is a vacancy on the Board of Assessment Review due to a relocation. Two people have applied. Someone needs to be appointed in time for required training and to participate in the Tax Assessment Grievance day which is scheduled for the last Tuesday in May.
Supervisor Hotaling requested that Councilor Abraham and Bookkeeper/Assessor Kelley interview both the applicants and make a recommendation to the town board.
Local Option for Property Tax Deferral The clerk forwarded an email to the town board members regarding legislation passed by the state providing a local option to defer property tax due date for up to 120 days after the original due date. In order for a town to enact this provision, there would have to be a public hearing and an adoption of a local law. The Cayuga County Treasurer’s office communicated some points to consider and ultimately believes that while the intent of the legislation is good, it would be very challenging to implement. The board members agreed not to defer the property tax due date.
US Census Boundary and Annexation Survey No changes to the boundaries of the town. The clerk will send confirmation of no changes.
Dogs on Mills Road Deputy Supervisor Flynn received a call from Code Enforcement Officer Ganey who communicated that there was a report of 23 pit bulls at a home on Mills Road. It was reported that the dogs were not being fed, watered or sheltered. Dog Control Officer Carl Collier visited the home and spoke with the person who lives there who offered Mr. Collier to inspect the area. Mr. Collier said there not all the dogs were pit bulls, some are cattle dogs. 14 adult dogs, 6 have not had vaccinations. The person living there said that he would get back to Mr. Collier with information from the veterinarian on the vaccinations. Mr. Collier also spoke with neighbors across the street and they stated that the situation was better since the fence was put up. Note: the fence is not built per town code but that has been addressed by code enforcement. The situation is being monitored by Dog Control Officer Collier and Tom Odessa of the SPCA Anti-Cruelty division. Mr. Odessa previously wrote tickets for inadequate shelter.
Solar Project Town of Conquest (sent email on project) The clerk forwarded the detailed report and pictures from the engineering consultants assisting with the Garnet Energy Center that is proposing the development of the solar energy center with energy storage.
The proposed project is the construction of a 200-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic electric generating facility and a 20 MW/four-hour energy storage system on land leased or purchased from owners of private property. Comments or feedback were requested back by February 12, 2021.
Councilor Abraham shared that the life span of the panels is about 20 years with some loss of use after 17 years. There is currently no place to dispose of the panels.
Supervisor Hotaling spoke of a recent Comprehensive Plan update meeting he attended virtually. He was asked if the proposed/planned shared building would have solar energy. He has requested that a representative from Cayuga County Planning Department attend the next meeting on February 17th.
Canal Corp Earthen Embankment Integrity Program A letter was received explaining this program. Engineer Piascik stated that the canal is the Seneca River/Barge Canal. He doesn’t believe that the town has any embankment issues; while it does have flooding and erosion issues.
Other Business · Engineer Piascik communicated that Trolley Connection Trail easements are being planned. · The Hamilton Road bridge is repaired. · Surveyor, Jeff Moore has sent maps to the NYS DOT for the surplus property request near the town office building. · Surplus property at Aqueduct Park can be purchased for $ 1.00 (the NYS DOT right-of-way is halfway into the parking lot). · The current owner of the NYS Route 31 property that is being purchased has a small portion that the owner would like to remain with the property he is not selling. This would be called a re-subdivision, not a lot line adjustment. · The special use permit zoning update is being worked on with Councilor Abraham and the Planning Board. · Supervisor Hotaling will check with the county on the status of the flood feasibility study for potentially re-watering the canal between Brutus and Mentz.
Motion to close the meeting at 7:40 pm made by Deputy Supervisor Flynn, second by Councilor Slocum. RES 21-2021 VOTE: 4 ayes, 1 absent, 0 nays. Carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Angela M. Skellington, Town Clerk |
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