Minutes January 17, 2017
REGULAR MEETING – VILLAGE OF NORTHVILLE
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
The Village Board met Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at 7:00 PM at the village offices.
Present: John Spaeth, Mayor
Debra Ellsworth, Trustee
Matthew Ginter, Trustee
John Markiewicz, Trustee
Sue Sedon, Trustee
Wendy Reu, Village Clerk, Recording Secretary
Nathanial Matthews, Treasurer
Mayor Spaeth called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Motion to approve the minutes of the December 20, 2016 Regular Meeting was made by Trustee Markiewicz, seconded by Trustee Sedon, and passed by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Ellsworth, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
PUBLIC COMMENTS – Bob Ellsworth asked for a status update on the Third Street property. Mayor Spaeth stated the Village is in the process of doing environmental studies. He reported that Phase 1 of the study was completed and it was suggested that GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) be used on the property to look for buried tanks. He stated there was no rush to complete the GPR process and they would likely be doing it in the spring after the snow was gone. Mr. Ellsworth asked why the Village didn’t just sell the property without doing environmental studies or remediation. Mayor Spaeth stated they would prefer to be able to tell someone what issues there were with the property when the time came to sell it. He also stated that after the next phase of the study, the Village may opt to not do any remediation at the property.
Mr. Ellsworth also wanted an explanation as to who the CCC was. Mayor Spaeth stated that the CCC, the Community Collaboration Council, was a group of concerned citizens that formed over three years ago. He continued by stating that the Council was originally comprised of members of not for profit groups such as SVAN, Rotary, STFSL and the Merchant’s Association, along with the Village Mayor and Town Supervisor. He explained that the Council has no voting power and that they discuss ideas for the community and the elected officials bring the ideas back to their respective Boards for consideration and potential action. He stated that the Historic District and the Economic Development Plan were items that began through discussion by the CCC members. Mr. Ellsworth asked if the group reported to anyone and questioned how the Chamber of Commerce became involved with the group. Mayor Spaeth stated that one of the goals of the Economic Development Plan was to market the area and that the Village and Town agreed to contract with the Chamber of Commerce to advertise events around the community to promote the Village and Town. Mr. Ellsworth stated he felt that the people that are elected to office should make the decisions for their representatives.
Art Simmons stated he requested that the CCC meetings be open to the public, as they were not in the beginning, and since then he has attended a few. He stated that he feels that the Council has taken over the running of the community. He also stated that he didn’t feel the Mayor should be a part of it.
REPORT OF COMMITTEES:
Police – Mayor Spaeth cited the statistics in the police report for December, which is on file. There were 2 complaints handled, two of which were criminal. A total of 202 man-hours were expended.
Streets – Trustee Ginter reported that the crew has been removing snow from Main Street and the business district. It was also reported that they were working at removing snow from all the intersection corners and widening the streets when possible. Trustee Ginter reported that sand is still available at the Third Street property for resident’s use.
Water – It was reported that usage decreased from 2,288,000 gallons in December 2015 to 2,169,000 this year. Water testing and operations were normal. The annual water usage reported to HRBRRD for 2016 was 29,635,000 gallons.
Fire – Fire Department Report for December 2016
| Village of Northville (3) | Ambulance Lifting Assist 1
Standby for Hope 1 Malicious fire alarm 1 |
| Town of Northampton (1) | Structure fire 1 |
| Town of Edinburg (1) | Standby 1 |
| Mutual Aid Given (1)
Mutual Aid Received (1) |
Total Man-hours reported were 40.57
Mayor Spaeth stated he wanted to commend the members of the Fire Department for the excellent job they did at his son’s recent house fire. He wanted to publicly state how much he respects the job they do.
Code Enforcement – Mayor Spaeth reported that Code Enforcement Officer Edwards was developing a plan to begin inspections of multi-family structures and business units in the Village. It was also reported that he would be reviewing the property maintenance codes and addressing violations around the Village.
Dog Control – The Dog Control report for June through December 2016 was read and is on file in the Clerk’s office.
Joint Youth – Trustee Sedon reported that she received an email from the Joint Youth Director regarding potentially assisting with the cost of an outside drinking fountain at the school. She stated the Director indicated he had been approached by members of the PTO and they were short on funds for the fountain and asked if funds from the JY account could be used for this. After discussion, Mayor Spaeth stated he felt it was something that the JY Commission needed to review and suggested that the Director contact Chairman Bill Gritsavage.
Comprehensive Plan – Mayor Spaeth reported that the Public Hearing for the Draft Comprehensive Plan had been moved to February 1, 2017 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at NCS. He stated that the change of venue and date was made to accommodate a larger group of people due to the amount of expressed interest in the draft plan.
PAYMENT OF BILLS
Bills to be paid from the General Fund in the amount of $ 24,485.96, from the Water Fund in the amount of $ 3,400.35, and from the Joint Youth Fund in the amount of $ 24.41 were presented for payment. Motion to approve payment was made by Trustee Markiewicz, seconded by Trustee Ellsworth, discussed, and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Ellsworth, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
OLD BUSINESS:
Mayor Spaeth reported that the marketing contract with the Chamber of Commerce had been cancelled. Mayor Spaeth stated that there had been discussion of an individual marketing contract for $ 10,000 which would again be split between the Town and Village. He stated that he had prepared a draft contract and sent it to Supervisor Groff for his review. He indicated that it didn’t look like the Town would be participating in the marketing contract as they have some serious infrastructure issues and they feel the $ 5,000 share they contributed to the previous contract could be better spent. Mayor Spaeth reported that the Village has budgeted $ 5,000 toward marketing and asked if the Board felt the contract should be reduced or if they should seek additional funds for it. Trustee Ginter wondered if there was a way to cut the contract down and make it more affordable under the amount already budgeted. After discussion, Mayor Spaeth stated he would send the proposed contract to the Board for review and asked for input at the next meeting.
NEW BUSINESS:
The 2017 Fire Contract were presented as follows:
Benson $ 40,000.00
Hope $ 1.00
Northampton $ 85,250.00
It was noted there were no changes from the previous year’s contracts. Mayor Spaeth gave a brief explanation of why the Town of Hope’s contract was for $ 1.00, as it has been for several years, stating that it was a special mutual aid agreement and that Hope firefighters respond to all Northville calls which provides additional equipment and manpower for the Village.
Trustee Markiewicz made a motion to approve the 2017 Fire Contracts as presented. The motion was seconded by Trustee Ginter and carried by voice vote as follows:
Aye: Trustee Ellsworth, Trustee Ginter, Trustee Markiewicz, Trustee Sedon
Nay: 0
Abstain: 0
ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business before the Board, motion was made to adjourn by Trustee Sedon, seconded by Trustee Ellsworth, and passed by voice vote with no one dissenting. The meeting was adjourned at 7:41 p.m. The next meeting will be February 21, 2017.
Respectfully submitted,
Wendy Reu
Village Clerk
