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Members Present
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Supervisor Norman Teed
Councilman Carl Beechler
Councilwoman Doris Day
Councilman John Dole
Councilman James Mattoon
Town Clerk Linda Nieskes
Highway Superintendent Terry Featherly
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Absent
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None
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Public Attendance
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See listing in minutes book.
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Call To Order
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Supervisor Teed called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. He asked that we observe a
moment of silence in remembrance of 9/11/01.
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Pledge Of Allegiance
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Councilwoman Day led the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance.
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Town Auditor, John Canale
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Supervisor Teed announced that Town of Phelps Auditor, John Canale had
passed away. He said Mr. Canale served the Town of Phelps very well for
many years. He said he will be missed
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Stedfast Group of Companies
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Supervisor Teed introduced Don and Brad Simmons from Stedfast Group
of Companies. He said he had asked them to come to the Board Meeting
to do a presentation on their company and its benefits.
Don Simmons explained that they are Group Insurance Consultants and they look
at small businesses, townships, villages, school districts and so forth to see what their
group benefits are and make sure they are getting the best benefits that they can. He said they deal with all of the insurance companies in upstate New York State. He said each year these insurance companies come out with new plans because they are competing against
one another. He said these plans are cheaper and the benefits are equal to or better than
what you have right now. Don Simmons said our job as Consultants and how we get paid is the money we save the people with which you work. He said we took the benefits that the Town gave us and put them into our computer system. He said we then massaged 3
different programs that would save you money. He said 2 of them have a better product that what you have now. Mr. Simmons went on to explain how the programs work. He
discussed the spreadsheets that had previously been given to the Board. He said every year
they look at the programs and get the best value that is available. Supervisor Teed said that
their fee is a percentage of what we save. Mr. Simmons said that is correct, our fee is 1/12 of your savings. He said every year the policy is reviewed and we look to see if another policy would be better. Councilman Mattoon asked if the insurance policies could change every year. Brad Simmons said they could, but if the difference if not significant you would not change. He said if there is a big difference, then you would definitely take advantage of that. Don Simmons said it is a decision not only because of the cost savings, but also to make certain the employees have a good plan. He said you do not want to take
benefits away from the employees. Supervisor Teed said that was his next question, he wanted to make sure that the coverage was the same or better than what we have now.
Councilwoman Day asked if we were to accept your proposal, who would do all the labor
of switching our employees to these new plans. Mr. Simmons said his company would take care of all of it. Councilwoman Day asked if one of the employees had an issue, would they direct their questions to the Board or to your company. Mr. Simmons said it could be done either way, they can talk to you or you can refer them to us. Councilman Mattoon asked if they come and do an education program for the employees. Mr. Simmons said they do. Supervisor Teed thanked Don and Brad Simmons and said the Board would review the plan and get back to them.
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Public Participation
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MR. JOHN DUCHESNEAU expressed more concerns about the Melvin Hill Water
District. He said over the last month their water has degraded and gotten worse. He said
when the bathtub is filled up the water is yellow and it has a mildew smell. He said when
the clothes are washed his wife is using extra fabric softener and they still have a mildew
smell. He said Midlakes School’s water is brown and the teachers have told the children
not to drink the water out of the fountains. He said the Village is also having some similar
problems. Mr. Duchesneau and the Board further discussed the ongoing Melvin Hill Road Water District problems.
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Approve the Regular Town Board Meeting Minutes for August 7, 2006
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Supervisor Teed asked for a Resolution to approve the August 7, 2006 Regular Town
Board Meeting Minutes. Councilman Dole, offered the following Resolution.
RESOLVED that, the August 7, 2006 Town Board Meeting Minutes be approved
as written. The Resolution was seconded by Councilman Beechler, who moved the adoption. 5 AYES. Motion carried.
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Resolutions
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- Approval for Highway Superintendent to seek bids for Town Road Milling Machine work (see attached).
- Approve Reappointment of Board of Assessment Review Member (see attached).
- Councilwoman Day offered the following Resolution. RESOLVED that, any requests for
use of the Town of Phelps’ buildings, property or equipment must be placed in writing to the Town Board prior to the event. The Resolution was seconded by Councilman Beechler, who moved its adoption. Councilman Dole said he would like to amend the Resolution.
AMENDMENT: Councilman Dole amended the Resolution to include that the request be received by the Town Board at least one (1) month prior to the event. The Resolution was seconded by Councilman Mattoon, who moved its adoption.
VOTE:
- Councilwoman Day - AYE
- Councilman Beechler - AYE
- Councilman Mattoon - AYE
- Councilman Dole - AYE
- Supervisor Teed - AYE
RESOLUTION: ADOPTED 5 AYES, DEFEATED 0 NAYS
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Highway
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Highway Superintendent Featherly gave his report for the month of August 2006.
(see attached).
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Zoning Report
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The Zoning Report for the month of August 2006 is on file in the Town Clerk’s office.
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Monthly Report
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The Town Clerk’s August 2006 report was reviewed by the Board Members for their approval.
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Discussion With the Supervisor
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- Supervisor Teed announced that an Open House would be held for the new Phelps
Town Court on Saturday, October 14, 2006. He said the hours for the Open House have not been set as yet. Councilwoman Day said she had talked with Judge Gary Fisher and
he thought it would be a good idea to form a small committee. Councilwoman Day said
Judge Fisher is willing to serve on the committee, along with Don Springer, Carl Beechler and herself.
- Supervisor Teed announced that there would be a joint Town Board, Village Board,
Town and Village Planning and Zoning Boards meeting on Monday, September 25, 2006
at 7:00 PM at the Phelps Community Center to discuss the status of the Comprehensive
Plan. Supervisor Teed said he would like all the Board Members to be there if at all possible.
- Supervisor Teed said Bookkeeper Barb Middlebrook had put a packet in your
mailboxes at the Town Hall regarding the water rate increases. He said this is something that needs to be addressed very soon to get it in place for next year.
- Supervisor Teed said he and Bookkeeper Middlebrook went over the White Road
Water District and found out where our discrepancy is. He said the Village used to charge by the cubic foot and the Town charges by gallons. He said if the resident does not use the minimum amount of water, their bill did go up a little. He said if the resident does use well over the minimum, their bill dropped drastically. Supervisor Teed said the Town never got one complaint on the bill going down. He said the Town rounds the water off to the 1000 gallons and the Village bills the exact number. He said the bottom line is we are paying more for the water than we are billing for it. Supervisor Teed said the maintenance fee goes into a fund and is used for repairs. He said this is something that we have to reach a decision on soon. The Town Board will have a Workshop on Monday, September 25, 2006 at 6:00 PM at the Phelps Town Hall. The meeting will be to discuss the White Road
Water District.
- Supervisor Teed said a few months ago we had our insurance agent here to discuss
additional insurance on the Highway Equipment stored in the Highway Garage.
Councilman Beechler said he is on the Insurance Committee and would like to look into
this a little further to be sure we are not over insuring ourselves. He said he would talk with Superintendent Featherly.
- Supervisor Teed said he had been in touch with John Reynolds, from Reynolds
Auctioneering. He said he got back to him this morning at 10:00 with a proposal. He said he had handed the information out to the Board but they had not been able to review it yet.
He said he has run into a problem with the Village as far as a variance and subdividing the property. He said it is only about ½ of the square footage that is required if we subdivide it
where we want to put the new property lines. He has gotten some feedback that they do
not think that will fly with the Village Planning Board because it is such a drastic change.
He said unless we come up with a solution to that, it is sell it at private sale, and there is only one property owner that would benefit or use it with a variance and that would be Ontario Telephone Co. He said they are very interested in it but they believe it will cost them too much to repair it for office space. Supervisor Teed said if they do not want it and we cannot get a use variance on it, our only option is to demolish it. He said he was hoping to get it back on the tax roll but it does not look like we can do that. Councilwoman Day asked if we had gotten an estimate on tearing it down. Supervisor Teed said he had not gotten that, but would look into it.
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Next Town Board Meeting
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Supervisor Teed announced the next Town Board Meeting will be Monday, October 2,
2006, at 7:00 PM at the Phelps Town Court Meeting Facility, 1331 Rt. 88, Phelps.
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White Road Water
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Councilman Beechler asked if we could discuss the White Road Water. Supervisor Teed said White Road Water is another water district issue that we are going to have to address in the near future. He said we had a break on that line, luckily it was not in the creek. He said the break was 10 feet outside the creek so we were able to find it. He said he has sent letters to all the residents in that district regarding the fact that there has never been a maintenance fee applied to that district, so we have no money to pay for repairs. He said Bookkeeper Barb Middlebrook informed him that in the last quarter, the money we paid for water and the amount collected from the residents for water usage was $400 short. Supervisor Teed said this was a losing proposition. He said if the residents wish to have a Water District established, they will have to petition the Town to move forward with the district.
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Bills
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Councilman Mattoon made the following Resolution. RESOLVED that
- PREPAID GENERAL "A" - #240 - #252 in the amount of $65,274.88,
- GENERAL "A" - #253 - #276 in the amount of $9,622.19,
- GENERAL "B" - #57 - #62 in the amount of $971.60,
- PREPAID HWY. - #159 in the amount of $8,243.52,
- HIGHWAY "DB" - #160 - #184 in the amount of $163,198.74,
- PREPAID SEWER - #19 - #20 in the amount of $18,297.22,
- SEWER - #21 in the amount of $21.84,
- WHITE ROAD WATER DISTRICT - #13 - #14 in the amount of $42.48,
- PREPAID 96/488 WATER DISTRICT - #64 - #66 in the amount of $45,435.16,
- RT. 96/488 WATER DISTRICT - #67 - #81 in the amount of $4,430.78,
- PREPAID ORLEANS WATER DISTRICT - #77 in the amount of $323.02,
- ORLEANS WATER DISTRICT - #78 - #92 in the amount of $15,206.37,
- PREPAID SPAFFORD RD. WATER DISTRICT - #64 in the amount of $80.75,
- SPAFFORD ROAD WATER DISTRICT - #65 - #77 in the amount of $439.22,
- PREPAID MELVIN HILL WATER DISTRICT - #21 in the amount of $21.83,
- MELVIN HILL WATER DISTRICT - #22 - #25 in the amount of $82.49,
- PREPAID TRUST & AGENCY - #9 - #10 in the amount of $2,514.95 be approved.
The Resolution was seconded by Councilman Dole, who moved its adoption. 5 AYES. Motion carried.
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Open Forum
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Supervisor Teed asked if anyone wished to address the Board.
CAROL CONKLIN, CHURCH ST., PHELPS: Mrs. Conklin said for more than 5 years every Monday morning at the Midlakes School the water is brown. She said that started before the Orleans Water District was developed. She said they thought that after the Orleans District was up and running it would correct the issue, but it did not. She said it is only on Monday morning that this occurs.
CAROL WICKUM, MELVIN HILL RD., PHELPS: Mrs. Wickum asked about air in the water. She said when she draws a glass of water it has a lot of air in and then after it sets for a while, it clear up. Mike Vienna said there is no air in the hydrants. He said you can get air pockets in the lines.
JOHN RAES, FORT HILL RD., PHELPS: Mr. Raes asked about the core samples that were taken from Fort Hill Road. Supervisor Teed said the rock ran very close to what they
estimated. He said the engineers figured $10,000-$20,000 on the whole project. He said he had talked with Mr. & Mrs. Lee Johnson today and gave them the figures from the report he got from MRB and it runs very consistent with what we already had. Supervisor Teed said it now comes down to how much grant money is going to be available. He said if we can get the 2 grants it would bring it down; but if we get only the one, the cost will be approximately $1,200.00 a year. Mr. Raes asked how we find out about the 2 grants. Supervisor Teed said he told the Johnson’s to circulate a petition and get it back to the Town and he would forward it on to our Grantsman. He said then the Grantsman would submit the requests at the appropriate time.
BOB OAKS, CARTER RD., GENEVA: Mr. Oaks stated that he thought the Town should
demolish the house and keep the land. Supervisor Teed said we had hoped to be able to move the line and sell the house; but it does not look like that is going to work.
Mr. Oaks asked if the Town water started at the pump house on Griffith Road. Supervisor Teed told him it started at the pump house behind Lally’s on Rt. 96.
HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT FEATHERLY: Superintendent Featherly said money was put into the budget for this year for the Highway Garage roof. He said we are getting
near year-end and we should probably get that done before cold weather. Supervisor Teed said Councilman Beechler and Councilman Mattoon are on the Highway Committee and they are going to set up a time to come and see you, maybe they could look at it then.
Superintendent Featherly said there is a gravel pit on Wheat Road that belongs to Hemdale Farms and he has talked to Dale Hemminger about possibly getting some gravel out of there to use for fill on the Orleans-Castle Road where it drops off so quickly. He said we need to get that bank built up there so we can put our shoulders in and stabilize that road.
He said he just needs permission to go off the Town’s right of way with the excavator to
mine that gravel out of there. Supervisor Teed asked if Hemdale was hauling out of there.
Superintendent Featherly said they have not hauled any out this year. He talked to DEC
and we are allowed 1,000 ton in a year. He said he would like to use that pit because it is
near the area where they need it and it will save fuel. Supervisor Teed said he did not believe the Board had to give the Highway Department permission to go into the pit. He said you are off the right of way when you go into Hanson or any other pit.
KATHY DUCHESNEAU, MELVIN HILL ROAD, PHELPS: Mrs. Duchesneau asked why the back of the new Court House was sided yellow and not brown like the rest of the building. She was told that the yellow siding was the original siding on the building and it was in good condition. It was left on the back of the building as a cost savings to the tax payers.
GERT DONNELLY, MELVIN HILL ROAD, PHELPS: Mrs. Donnelly asked Supervisor Teed to stop at her house to see what the water has done to her bathroom fixtures. Supervisor Teed said he would do that.
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Adjournment
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Councilwoman Day offered the following Resolution. RESOLVED that, the meeting be
adjourned. The Resolution was seconded by Councilman Mattoon, who moved its
adoption. 5 AYES. Motion carried.
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Time
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8:34 PM.
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Respectfully submitted,
Linda B. Nieskes
Town Clerk
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