August 18, 2020 Regular Meeting Minutes
REGULAR MEETING – VILLAGE OF NORTHVILLE
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
The Village Board met Tuesday, August 18, 2020 at 7:00 PM
Present: John Spaeth, Mayor
Steve Collins, Trustee
Sue Eckert, Trustee
John Markiewicz, Trustee
Sue Sedon, Trustee
Absent:
Wendy Reu, Village Clerk
Nathan Matthews, Treasurer
Dan Reidell, Highway Superintendent
Mayor Spaeth called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Motion to approve the minutes of the July 21, 2020 Regular Meeting was made by Trustee Markiewicz, seconded by Trustee Collins, and passed by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Eckert, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
PUBLIC COMMENTS – Mayor Spaeth reported that prior to the meeting, it was advertised that the Board would take public comment via phone calls or emails between 7:00 and 7:20 p.m. During that period, no communication from the public arrived.
Assemblyman Robert Smullen was in attendance during the Public Session. He introduced himself to the Board and gave a brief report on his second year of his first term as our representative of the 118th Assembly District.
REPORT OF COMMITTEES:
Police – No report was provided.
Streets – The DPW report was read by Trustee Eckert and is on file at the Clerk’s office. It was reported that brush and leaf pickup would continue the first and third Wednesdays of the month and that would continue to be the policy next summer as well.
Highway Superintendent Reidell reported that the Town would be paving their section of Skiff Road in the coming weeks and he would be doing the Village section at the same time.
Mayor Spaeth discussed the upcoming vacancy in the Village highway department. He stated that the Board had previously made the decision to not replace Mike Warner when he retires in October in an attempt to save money. He continued by stating that a former highway employee, Matthew Ginter Jr., who left our employment to enter the military was now leaving the military and expressed interest in returning to a position in the highway department. It was reported that Mr. Ginter has his CDL permit and is also a diesel mechanic. Mayor Spaeth stated that there had been previous discussion about hiring someone per diem during the winter in the event of significant storms but that would not need to occur if the vacancy was filled. Trustee Markiewicz asked how it would affect the Village financially. Treasurer Matthews stated that we didn’t hire anyone to train while Mike was still here and he estimated that would be a savings of $ 25,000.00. He stated that as Mr. Ginter previously worked for the Village, he is familiar with the job and we are essentially rehiring a good employee that went into the military. After discussion, Trustee Eckert made a motion to hire Matt Ginter, Jr. to fill the upcoming vacancy created by the retirement of Mike Warner from the highway department. The motion was seconded by Trustee Markiewicz and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Eckert, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
Water – It was reported that usage decreased from 4,883,000 gallons in July 2019 to 3,676,000 this year. Water testing and operations were normal.
Mayor Spaeth gave an update on the issue at the Senior Housing project. He reported they are continuing to rebuild and repair after the water leak in July. Mayor Spaeth reported that the insurance company for Community Heritage Corporation has sent a notice of claim against the Village which was anticipated. Trustee Eckert asked if gaskets come with the new radio read meters that are currently being installed. Highway Superintendent Reidell stated that Allen and Palmer is using new gaskets in the new meters.
Mayor Spaeth stated that Community Heritage is also looking for a water bill to provide to their insurance company. Upon investigation, it was determined that the original tap application was never provided to the Clerk and as such, a water account and rate was never established for the project. He stated the Clerk has obtained the billing information but the Board needs to establish a rate for the units before a bill can be generated. Upon review of the current rate structure, the Senior Housing complex could be treated in two ways:
Option #1 – Treated the same as any other multi family in the Village where the first unit is a base of $ 35.00 and each additional unit is $ 87.50 (7) which would generate a base of $ 647.50 plus water consumed at $3.17/1000 gallons.
Option #2 – Treated as solely not for profit where each unit would be $ 35.00 (8) which would generate a base of $ 280.00 plus water consumed at $3.17/1000 gallons.
Trustee Collins stated that we were told when the project was proposed that no preference would be given to locals. He stated he felt the water rate should be established at the higher rate. After brief discussion, Trustee Sedon made a motion to establish the water base rate for the units at the Senior Housing complex as $ 35.00 per unit. The motion was seconded by Trustee Eckert and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Eckert, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: Trustee Collins
Abstain: 0
Trustee Eckert and Trustee Sedon volunteered to work with the Clerk to establish a Tap Application Policy to prevent issues like this from occurring in the future.
Fire – Fire Department Report for July 2020
| Village of Northville (3) | EMS Assist 2
Standby 1
|
| Town of Northampton (5) | MVA PI 2
Hazardous Condition 1 Outside Fire 1 EMS Assist 1 |
| Town of Edinburg (2) | Alarm Activation 1
Cancellation 1 |
| Town of Hope (1) | Alarm Activation 1
|
| Town of Benson (0) | |
| Mutual Aid Given (4)
Mutual Aid Received (1) |
Total Man-hours reported were – 11.48
Trustee Markiewicz reported that Greg Bedell resigned as Second Assistant Chief.
Mayor Spaeth reported that one of the trucks was taken down for repair and while it was down there, there was a positive Covid case at the shop and the shop was shut down for a period of time leaving the vehicles they were working on stuck inside the shop.
Code Enforcement- Mayor Spaeth reported that the Code Enforcement Officer was let go effective August 11th. He stated that Todd Unislawski was again assisting the Town and Village and was working every Wednesday from 8 am to 5 pm. Mayor Spaeth indicated that Todd would be assisting with the building permit process in both municipalities. Trustee Sedon asked if he would address any violations that occurred and Spaeth stated he would address code violations as well.
Mayor Spaeth discussed the future filling of the Code Enforcement Officer position. He indicated that it was discovered through the Civil Service office that a full time code enforcement position is a competitive civil service position. He stated that if we want a full time officer, we would need to hire off the civil service list. He indicated that the Town is interested in going back to a part time position and whether we would share the same person is still undecided. He stated that any position under 20 hours a week is not competitive. He stated that there are also options to provide benefits for a part time person if necessary. After discussion, the Board felt they wanted to proceed with a part time position and to see if we could work with the Town, sharing the same employee.
Dog Control – The Dog Control Officer report was filed with the Clerk. It was reported that one barking dog issue and two loose dog issues were resolved. DCO Duesler indicated that the Rager complaint is ongoing and awaiting legal action.
LWRP – Mayor Spaeth reported that he had a meeting with DOS and Elan earlier today. He indicated they were finalizing the project profile sheets and outlining potential costs of 25 projects that are on the list. He indicated that the next LWRP advisory committee meeting would be in mid September. He stated that the goal for 2021 was to submit a CFA application to get an engineering study done at the spillway for the walkway project.
PAYMENT OF BILLS
The monthly financial report was reviewed and bills to be paid from the General Fund in the amount of $ 76,456.13, from the Water Fund in the amount of $ 18,471.46, and from the Joint Youth Fund in the amount of $ 6,008.29 were presented for payment. Motion to approve payment was made by Trustee Markiewicz, seconded by Trustee Collins and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Eckert, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORTS
Trustee Markiewicz made a motion to approve Annual Financial Report for Village. The motion was seconded by Trustee Eckert and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
Trustee Eckert made a motion to approve Annual Financial Report for Joint Youth Commission. The motion was seconded by Trustee Markiewicz and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
OLD BUSINESS:
Mayor Spaeth gave an update on the cell tower buyout. He reported that the option agreement has been fully executed and that we have received the initial $ 100.00 check.
NEW BUSINESS:
Mayor Spaeth reported there were a few Intermunicipal Agreements that needed to be completed by the Board. Trustee Markiewicz made a motion to authorize the Intermunicipal Agreement between the Town and the Village for the purpose of designating $ 50.00 per court duty by the Northville PD. The motion was seconded by Trustee Collins and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
Trustee Eckert made a motion to authorize the Intermunicipal Agreement between the Town and the Village to split the cost of the Code Enforcement Officer position at a 70/30 split. The motion was seconded by Trustee Collins and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
Trustee Sedon made a motion to authorize the Intermunicipal Agreement between the Town and the Village to split the cost of the telephone and internet services at a 50/50 split. The motion was seconded by Trustee Eckert and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
Mayor Spaeth reported that State Archives has updated their Record Retention Schedule and as such, the Village needs to formally adopt the new LGS-1 Schedule to be eligible for future records grant opportunities. He presented Resolution # 10 of 2020 as follows:
Resolution #10 of 2020
Adoption of LGS-1 Retention Schedule
RESOLVED, By the Board of Trustees of the Village of Northville that Retention and Disposition Schedule for New York Local Government Records (LGS-1),issued pursuant to Article 57-A of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, and containing legal minimum retention periods for local government records, is hereby adopted for use by all officers in legally disposing of valueless records listed therein.
FURTHER RESOLVED, that in accordance with Article 57-A:(a) only those records will be disposed of that are described in Retention and Disposition Schedule for New York Local Government Records (LGS-1), after they have met the minimum retention periods described therein;(b) only those records will be disposed of that do not have sufficient administrative, fiscal, legal, or historical value to merit retention beyond established legal minimum period.
Trustee Collins made a motion to adopt LGS-1 Retention Schedule as presented in Resolution #10 of 2020. The motion was seconded by Trustee Eckert and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
Mayor Spaeth reported to the Board that the Village has now assumed responsibility of the Information Booth on Route 30 and is required to accept the NYS DOT Permit via Resolution. He presented Resolution # 11 of 2020 as follows:
Resolution #11 of 2020
Acceptance of NYS DOT Permit #21696
for
Information Booth space on Route 30
WHEREAS the Village of Northville has assumed responsibility for the Information Booth on Route 30, North of MM 1199 in the Town of Northampton, and
WHEREAS, New York State Department of Transportation has issued an AIRSPACE permit, #21696, for the above-mentioned parcel
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT
RESOLVED, that the Village of Northville accepts the permit, and be it further
RESOLVED, that Mayor John Spaeth is authorized to sign the permit.
Trustee Eckert made a motion to approve Resolution # 11 of 2020 as presented. The motion was seconded by Trustee Collins and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Collins, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
Mayor Spaeth opened the discussion with the Board regarding Compensation Review. He stated that every so often, the Board should look at the compensation package offered to employees to determine if revisions should be made. He stated, as an example, that currently at 20-year employee can retire with full individual medical when they leave, but that they are not given any option to buy into family coverage if they so desire. He also stated there is no option to buy into it earlier and that the next option offered to an employee is 30 years which gives them full family coverage. He stated he felt it was important to look at various aspect of the package and adjust to keep us competitive with surrounding communities. He stated that our pay rates are lower than surrounding areas in the County as well, especially for the DPW. After discussion, the Board felt this was a good idea. Mayor Spaeth stated he and Trustee Eckert would plan to sit down together and review the data provided by Treasurer Matthews. He stated they would make a report at the next meeting.
Mayor Spaeth reported that a letter was received from the Tryon Radio Club indicating their reluctance to organize the DOINS in 2021. They cited that they had concerns about availability of members in their organization to pull off the event. Mayor Spaeth stated that at this point, there is no group coming forward to organize the event. He stated that in 2019, the Village was the sponsor and a committee of members came together to organize the event. He stated that this did pose a problem for the committee as they were not able to fund raise as it was a Village sponsored event. Trustee Collins stated the problem with having an organization hosting the event is that there are 10 people with opinions and only few workers. The Board agreed to keep sponsorship of the DOINS on the table and urged any groups willing to organize the event to bring their ideas to future meetings of the Board.
ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business before the Board, motion was made to adjourn by Trustee Markiewicz, seconded by Trustee Collins and passed by voice vote with no one dissenting. The meeting was adjourned at 8:28p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Wendy L. Reu, Clerk
