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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.
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Pledge Of Allegiance
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Councilman Dole led the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance.
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Public Participation
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MR. JOHN DUCHESNEAU, MELVIN HILL ROAD, PHELPS asked Supervisor Teed about the questions he had requested answers to at last month’s meeting. Supervisor Teed said the valve is working fine, the problem is not the valve. He said the valve is doing exactly what it is supposed to. He said the Engineer’s, Mike Vienna’s and Rick Larsen’s conclusion is that it is the 6” main. He said the test on the seaquest shows that it is exactly where it should be. Mr. Duchesneau asked what the next step is. Supervisor Teed said he is not happy at all. He said his personal feeling is that the problem is an engineering flaw. He said he would like to pursue the situation. He said we have contacted our Town Attorney but has had no response from him in the last month. Mr. Duchesneau asked an engineering flaw with respect to the volume of water that can go through the 6” line? Supervisor Teed said yes, if it was a new line MRB said it would give you adequate flow. He said it should have been taken into consideration that there was 60 years of corrosion in the line. He said this is something that needs to be discussed with the Board. Supervisor Teed said that nothing has changed as far as the quality of the water, it is still bad.
ROBERT OAKS, CARTER ROAD, GENEVA said he had contacted Town Clerk Nieskes about the width of Hayes Road. He said she told him it was a 4 rod road. Mr. Oaks said he has a map that he had gotten many years ago and he said he would like the Supervisor Teed to look at it. He brought the map up to the Board. He said he contacted the County Clerk’s office and was told that all the road information was turned over to the Town about 1986. Supervisor Teed said he had a map in the Highway Garage when he was Highway Superintendent and he believed Superintendent Featherly still had it. He said it showed which roads were 3 rods and which were 4 rods dedication. He said some of them change in the middle to the road.
Mr. Oaks said he wished to discuss the Zoning Board of Appeals. He said he was at a meeting on September 21, 2006 when they approved Mr. Gary Palone’s variance application. He said he was on the Board at one time and had attended several schools. He said he does not think any of the Board has attended any schools. He said in order to obtain the variance, someone would have to show hardship. He said he never heard any of the Board Members ask any questions. He said there were 6 people sitting on the Board and one of them was an alternate. He said he did not believe the alternate should sit with the Board Members when something is being discussed. He said the alternate should be there in case one of the other members are not there. Mr. Oaks said when they made up their minds to vote, one member, Robert Taylor, said he was not going to vote because he was moving out of town. He said Mr. Taylor said Ken Maines, the alternate, could vote in his place. Mr. Oaks said he does not believe that is the way it should be done. He said he also asked to have one man excused because of a conflict of interest and they would not excuse him. Mr. Oaks stated that he believes he is going to have to file an Article 78 against the Town and see if he can get it straightened out. He said it is a sad situation, a man is asking for a variance and the Board does not even know the right questions to ask. Supervisor Teed said the alternates are there at most of the meetings so they are aware of the issues that are coming up. Mr. Oaks agreed with that statement, but he said Mr. Taylor should have excused himself at the beginning instead of waiting until the pressure came on him to vote. He said he wanted a copy of the September 21, 2006 Zoning Board minutes for which he would apply. He asked Clerk Nieskes if the minutes were approved at the next meeting. Clerk Nieskes said Mrs. Roll would have draft minutes. Mr. Oaks asked Clerk Nieskes if she would receive them to file after the next meeting. Clerk Nieskes said she has not been receiving the minutes; they are kept by the Zoning Board secretary. Mr. Oaks said he also asked Mrs. Roll for a site plan. Mrs. Roll told him there was no site plan, but when he got to the meeting that night, there was a site plan. Supervisor Teed asked Mr. Oaks if he had asked for the information in writing. Mr. Oaks said he had filed a Freedom of Information request. He said he is really disappointed in the Zoning Board. Supervisor Teed asked Mr. Oaks if he had contacted Glen Wilkes, Zoning Board Chairman. Mr. Oaks said he had not.
Mr. Oaks asked Supervisor Teed when we would know what the sizes of the roads are; 3 rods or 4 rods. Supervisor Teed said he would check with the County.
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Approve the Regular Town Board Meeting Minutes for September 11, 2006 and Special Town Board Meeting of September 25, 2006
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Supervisor Teed asked for a Resolution to approve the September 11, 2006 Regular Town
Board Meeting Minutes and the September 25, 2006 Special Town Board Meeting
minutes. Councilwoman Day offered the following Resolution. RESOLVED that,
the September 11, 2006 Town Board Meeting Minutes and the September 25, 2006
Special Town Board Meeting Minutes be approved as written. The Resolution was
seconded by Councilman Mattoon, who moved the adoption. 5 AYES. Motion carried.
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Resolutions
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- Appoint Additional Alternate Member to the Planning Board (see attached).
- Adopt Preliminary Budget for 2007 (see attached).
- Schedule Public Hearing on 2007 Budget (see attached).
- Adjust Reappointment to Board of Assessment Review (see attached).
- Accept Road Milling Bid (see attached).
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Highway
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Highway Superintendent Featherly gave his report for the month of September 2006.
(see attached).
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Zoning Report
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The Zoning Report for the month of September 2006 is on file in the Town Clerk’s office.
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Monthly Report
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The Town Clerk’s September 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
SUPERVISOR: Town Court on Saturday, October 21, 2006. He said the hours for the Open House would be 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM.
- Supervisor Teed said the water and sewer rates were increased at the Special Town
Board Meeting we had on Monday, September 25, 2006.
Supervisor Teed said he, Councilman Beechler and Bookkeeper Barb Middlebrook had met with the Village regarding the rate they were charging us for White Road Water. He said Bookkeeper Middlebrook gave us the numbers of what the October billing would have been before the meeting and what they are after the new agreement.
Before agreement - October 1, 2006 Bill $2,058.69
After agreement 716.14
Saving this quarter $1,342.55
Supervisor Teed said this has helped us out greatly. He said the savings will allow us
to put some money back into that fund. He said we had been paying more than we were
collecting from the customers. Councilman Beechler said we also still need to consider
adjusting the rate to the homeowners for that.
- Supervisor Teed said we had met with Anderson VanHorne and gone over some
numbers for the equipment that is stored in the Town Barns. He said we are looking at replacement value of vehicles that are 10 years old and newer. He said this would cover those vehicles if they were lost in a fire like what has happened in Ovid, Macedon and Rose where they lost everything. He said at least you would have your equipment 10 years and newer covered. He said they also reviewed the buildings insurance and found some are over insured and some are under insured. He said this will be addressed.
- Supervisor Teed said we received a letter from the NYS Department of Transportation
informing us they are investigating our request for speed reduction on Melvin Hill Road from the Town of Seneca to the Phelps Village line. He said they will advise us of their findings.
- Supervisor Teed said we have a building with which we can do nothing. He said
the old Phelps Town Court cannot be sold because of its lot size. He said we would have to get a variance from the Village of Phelps. He said in order to get a variance to do what we want to do, which is just sell the land that the building sits on, it would be a 50% reduction in the allowed lot size. Supervisor Teed said a representative from the Village Zoning Board said he did not feel that kind of a request would be acceptable. He said in order to sell it with the required amount of land; we would have to give up a considerable amount of the back parking lot. He said that is not something we want to do. He said he has another option that could work very well for us. He said he had to go down into the basement at the Town Hall where our records are stored. He said he believes the Board already knows the situation there. He said it is not a place to store records because of the dampness. He said he went through the old Town Court the other day and he thinks it could be utilized. He said he talked with the Zoning Officers and the Assessors. They would be willing to work out of that building. He said it would free up space at the Town Hall, which is very crowded. Supervisor Teed said he feels it would be better if we utilized that building instead of tearing it down. He said he had obtained 2 quotes for demolishing the building.
He said they were as follows: Art Graf’s bid is $11,184.00. In Mr. Graf’s proposal he said if the Town Highway Department decides to cover with dirt and do the compacting, $1,600.00 could be deducted from that amount. If Art Graf tops the area with 6” of screened top soil and levels it off, an additional $1,258.00 needs to be added. Sessler
Wrecking’s bid is $19,300.00. Supervisor Teed said he thinks it would be to the Town’s advantage to use the building. He said it was not adequate for a Town Court because of the amount of people that had to be in there at any given time. He said for office space, it would meet code. He said he feels it is something we should consider. He said he did meet with John Reynolds of Reynolds Auctioneering. He said Mr. Reynolds would love to auction it off for us, but we are not able to sell the building without the variance and giving up half of the parking lot. Councilwoman Day asked about the other business that was looking at buying the building. Supervisor Teed said they would be interested but that locks it into only one party that would be able to benefit from it and he does not know the legalities of that. He contacted the County Attorney to ask about that situation and the attorney has not gotten back to him yet. He said using it for Town office space is just another option.
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Next Town Board Meeting
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Supervisor Teed announced the next Town Board Meeting will be Monday, November 6,
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 Beechler made the following Resolution. RESOLVED that
- GENERAL "A" - #277 - #316 in the amount of $50,457.30,
- GENERAL "B" - #63 - #67 in the amount of $247.74,
- HIGHWAY "DB" - #185 - #204 in the amount of $227,361.25, SEWER - #22 - #23 in the amount of $17.44,
- WHITE ROAD WATER DISTRICT - #15 - #16 in the amount of $746.14,
- RT. 96/488 WATER DISTRICT - #82 - #93 in the amount of $1,650.29,
- ORLEANS WATER DISTRICT - #93 - #102 in the amount of $2,001.94,
- SPAFFORD ROAD WATER DISTRICT - #78 - #89 in the amount of $2,192.29,
- MELVIN HILL WATER DISTRICT - #26 - #31 in the amount of $1,822.32,
- TRUST & AGENCY - #11 - #12 in the amount of $2,532.53 be approved.
The Resolution was seconded by Councilman Mattoon, 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.
BOB OAKS, CARTER RD., GENEVA: Mr. Oaks stated that he thought the old Town Court was not in good shape and we needed to build the new Court. Supervisor Teed said it was not adequate for the Town Court. He said because of the crowds of people that were in the building every week, it presented some dangerous situations. Mr. Oaks agreed that is was not adequate for the Court. Supervisor Teed said the building is adequate for office space. He said he thinks we can make it work and use the building for our needs. He said it will have to be a Board decision. Councilman Beechler said the strength of the floors was an issue and a couple of years ago the Highway Crew built up the floors to make them stronger. He said there was a possibility of installing a new furnace and we would most likely have to do that if we put that building to good use. He said this is a very interesting idea to use it. Mr. Oaks said it would be a good idea to use the building.
SUPERVISOR TEED said last month Carol Conklin had said that there was a problem every Monday with the water being brown at Midlakes School. He said he had found out that was just at the High School and it was an issue with the school’s line. Mrs. Conklin said she was aware that it was just the High School and it was the school’s problem. She said that is why she mentioned it; she did not want the Town to think it was their problem.
JOHN DUCHESNEAU, MELVIN HILL ROAD, PHELPS said he thinks it would be better to invest the Town’s money in a new boiler and a couple coats of paint to put the old Court to good use at probably half the cost (of tearing it down). He asked what the square footage of the building was? Supervisor Teed said he was not sure. He said he believed the furnace was forced air not a boiler, and that could be put in at a reasonable amount. He said the building has the old tin roof on it that has been coated a couple of times and is not leaking so that is something that could be addressed at a later time in another budget.
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Adjournment
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Councilman Mattoon offered the following Resolution. RESOLVED that, the meeting be
adjourned. The Resolution was seconded by Councilman Beechler, who moved its
adoption. 5 AYES. Motion carried.
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Time
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7:55 PM.
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Respectfully submitted,
Linda B. Nieskes
Town Clerk
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