MINUTES
of a meeting of the Board of
PRESENT:
Mayor Donald Hartill;
Mayor
Donald Hartill called the meeting to order at
Motion-To Close the Public
Comment Period
Trustee
Mayor Donald Hartill-
Aye Trustee Frank Moore-
Aye Trustee
Janet Beebe- Aye Trustee
Trustee Lynn Leopold-
Absent
The
Landscape Policy discussion was put off until the next meeting because it has
gone back to the Planning Board for their review.
Next
on the agenda was the approval of minutes. The Mayor had emailed some
corrections and there were no further changes requested.
Motion-Approval of Minutes for
Trustee
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore-Aye Trustee
Janet Beebe- Aye Trustee
Next
on the agenda was to discuss the codification. Randy Marcus apologized for
dropping the ball. Last spring, Randy and Carol incorporated the last set of
revisions. There are a number of parts for Dennis to complete. Randy stated
that under State law, to implement this codification the Village must adopt the
code by local law. The document would tell how the code came into being, general
references as to changes along the way and why. This will be a lengthy written
exercise. Randy will complete this in the next few weeks.
Randy
asked the Board how inclusive the Village wants the code to be. Don stated that
we have a mix of law, commentary and guidance. In a legal sense the Code will
become local law. By adopting this document, we’re converting policies into
law. Board members expressed concerns about the result, and Randy suggested that
the policy statements could be attached as an appendix. The original idea was
to have everything a law in one place. Larry understood that the zoning law was
going to be indexed so that one would be able to cross-reference. Larry doesn’t
want to suggest by having an appendix of policies that they’ll be enforced as
law.
When
the Village first started working on the codification the original draft was
intended to include all laws in effect and new laws, which the outside company
we hired had suggested be included. Board members again questioned whether we
want policies to have the force of law. Once this codification is adopted it is
law and any changes that are made to this document will require a public
hearing and the law being sent to the State.
Carol
and Jodi had put together a list of questions regarding the codification and
the Board went through them. One of the biggest concerns was there were things
in there that aren’t law. Do we want to include policies if that means they
become law?
The
Comprehensive Plan is a framework for our laws. It’s a policy statement. It’s
easy to chance a policy. You don’t need a public hearing to do so. Randy will
research the question of if the policies are in the appendix do they become law
or can you have a separate section of the code that isn’t law. Frank suggested
having 2 books with one common index. One book would be law and the other would
include all of the Village’s policies, procedures and guidelines. Randy will
also research if the index is part of the law or can it be changed without
going through the law adoption process. It was also suggested to have an index
for each book and then a separate index for a combination of both books.
Another
concern was having dollar amounts listed that are changed often. Would it be
more appropriate to have a statement saying that the dollar amount can be
changed by resolution rather than having an amount or percentage built into the
law that is changed often. Ben had suggested that some of the building fees be
changed. The Board would like Ben to put together a list of changes he would
like to see for the Board to consider.
There
is a law from 1985 for paying the Mayor and Board of
Jodi
will get the dog law from the Town of
It
was suggested that Carol goes ahead and change things that are obviously wrong
like the time when the office is open to request public assess to records and
the mileage reimbursement rate.
Randy
explained that the whole idea of the codification was to make things easier,
and everyone had thought that putting all laws and policies in one place would
do so. The State says that the village must have a Code of Ethics and a Procurement
Policy. The State doesn’t provide these. Do we want to have some policies
become law? The Mayor asked everyone to take a copy of the table of content and
circle the policies or guidelines they thought should be removed from the code
so as not to become law. Randy stated that it was not difficult to remove these
things. In the codification we could add a comment that says “see policies”.
The Board will have their suggestions to Carol by next Wednesday. Don will not
be present for next Wednesday’s meeting. Don also requested that Carol give him
an electronic copy of the code.
Randy
also suggested that if Dennis can’t get his information to Carol before
adoption of the code that we just leave it out and add it at a later date. Randy
also recommended that the Walkway Policy become part of the Comprehensive Plan.
Don
asks Randy to look into the sewer capacity charge issue.
Randy
brought up the topic of a cell tower in
Randy
reported that the Mobil contract is still not returned. Mobil has looked at the
contract, it’s fine but they wanted to add some language which Randy had no
objection to. When following up with this, it was found that the person he was
in contact with was away for 2 weeks. The issue of an easement for a sidewalk
beside Mobil is being held off until we get the property acquisition issue
resolved.
New
Plan Realty has no problem with the Village acquiring the northerly driveway
that runs between HSBC and the doctor’s offices. This driveway will become a
village road for a bus turn around.
The
Mayor forwarded the Initial Project Proposal (IPP) to Steve Vetter on Friday.
This is the last document before we get authority to manage the N. Triphammer
Rd. Project locally. It should be a month or so until we get the documents back
from the NYSDOT. Don asks Larry to get the process started. We should be able
to get access to the documents of the 15 firms.
There
is a sewer meeting on Thursday. The Mayor gave an update on the discussion at
the last sewer meeting.
During
our vacuuming of the sewers we identified a leak in the sewer system of 40-60
gallons per minute. We will document this, do the repairs and then ask for more
sewer units. This leak equals 60 sewer units. There were also 2-3 houses on
Larry
stated that the line for the new Internet service was being run this week. The
Board decided that Ben and Jodi would both get new computers from Danica. Ben
will get a 17” flat monitor and Jodi will get a 15” flat monitor. Ben’s
computer will go to Carol and Jodi’s present computer is to be surplused. They
also decided that the office would have Windows 98, 2nd edition. Jodi
will call Williamson Law Book to see when they can come and reinstall the
applications for her accounting programs. Larry would also like to know if
Williamson is working on running their program in XP. Right now the accounting programs
are in a DOS base.
Motion- To Adjourn
Trustee
Mayor Donald Hartill-Aye Trustee Frank Moore- Aye
Trustee Janet Beebe-Aye Trustee
Meeting
adjourned at
Village Clerk