VILLAGE OF AURORA BOARD OF TRUSTEE’S MEETING
September 16, 2009
Held at the Aurora Firehouse Meeting Room
Present: Mayor Thomas Gunderson
Trustees - James Chase & Janet Murphy
Also Present: Village Residents: David Brooks & William Maloney,
Cayuga County Legislator George Fearon and Attorney Tim Cappuccilli,
Deborah Brooks, Deputy Village Clerk/Treasurer
Absent: Trustees - Elisabeth MacCormick & George Farenthold
Village Clerk Dee Nance
Mayor Gunderson called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM, then led the room in the Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Gunderson informed the Board that Clerk Nance had called him and asked to be excused from the meeting due to a family emergency.
Mayor Gunderson asked for approval of the August 19, 2009 Minutes with corrections that have been submitted to the Clerk.. Trustee Murphy moved approval with corrections and Trustee Chase seconded. Motion Carried 3:0.
Changes to the Agenda - Mayor Gunderson added under new business approving the revised “Application for Zoning Permit” form.
Announcements - Mayor Gunderson presented to the Board the letter dated on 9/4/09 from NYS Assemblyman Brian Kolb in which he asked for support for his “People’s Convention to Reform New York”. Mayor Gunderson noted that the public may access his web site at www.reformny.org to review the legislation and sign up if they so desired to support this issue. The Mayor noted that they would further address this under new business later in the meeting.
Mayor Gunderson informed the Board that he and Kurt Wilmot had paid a visit to A-Verdi to check on the progress of the storage unit for Historian Edmunds.
Ms. Brooks informed the Board that:
1] Gail Fischer from NYS Records Management had recently met with the clerks to discuss the needs for the Village to come into better organization of their records. Ms. Brooks noted that they have a big job before them which will take some time to do. She added that there is some grant funding available for shelving, storage containers and personnel.
2] She didn’t attend the meeting with Board Chairs & Code Enforcement Officer so Clerk Nance would have to report on that next month.
3] Village Clerk Nance was in the process of inquiring into a Dell computer system for the office which will support the software for the County Tax Program as well as the records management software offered by Tee Ann Hunter who has dealt with this issue for sometime.
Visitor Recognition - Mayor Gunderson welcomed those present to the meeting.
Treasurer’s Reports - Ms. Brooks reported that she was into closing the books and hope to have them completed before the end of the month.
Mayor Gunderson presented the Budget Modifications to the Board:
GENERAL FUND:
$ 13,259.57FROM A5031R - Interfund Transfers Reserve
(A231B MM Saving- Building Repair Reserve)
$ 1,027.50TO A1620.2R -Building Repair Reserve
Trustee Chase moved the following Resolution:
RESOLUTION NO. 09-18
Budget Modification
BE IT RESOLVED that the Village Board agrees to expend from A231B MM Savings - Building Repair Reserve the amount of $13,259.57, which was encumbered from the 2007-2008 Budget, to pay Seneca Stone Corporation for the materials for the repair and paving of the Firehouse Front Parking Lot.
Seconded by Trustee Murphy.
Motion Carried 3:0.
$ 320.00FROM A7180.2 - Youth Recreational Facilities - Equipment
$ 585.01FROM A7180.4 - Youth Recreational Facilities - Contractual
$ 922.60FROM A7310.2 - Youth Program - Equipment
$ 932.61FROM A7310.4 - Youth Program - Contractual
$ 807.28FROM A7140.41 - Playground & Rec Center - Contractual
$ 3,567.50TO A7310.1 - Youth Program - Personal Services
This modification represents the total time for the program as expanded for the 8 Lifeguards @ 956.75 hours & 1 Director $1,500 salary.
Trustee Chase moved approval of the General Fund Budget Modifications; seconded by Trustee Murphy. Motion Carried 3:0.
WATER FUND:
$ 2,882.00FROM F5031R - Interfund Transfers Reserve
(F231B MM Saving- Water Repair Reserve)
$ 2,882.00TO F8340.4 -Transmission & Distribution- Contractual
Trustee Murphy moved the following Resolution:
RESOLUTION NO. 09-19
Budget Modification
BE IT RESOLVED that the Village Board agrees to expend from F231 MM Savings - Water Repair Reserve the amount of $2,882.00 to pay CS Reynolds & Sons, Inc. for the materials/labor for the repairs to water breaks located at 330 Main Street and at Richmond House located 19 Wells Road.
Seconded by Trustee Chase.
Motion Carried 3:0.
Mayor presented the bills for payment on Abstract # 4:
General Fund - voucher #s 117-119, 121, 123, 124, 126-132, 134, 135, 137-139 & 140-144 in the amount of $20,399.31. Trustee Chase moved payment of General Fund bills, seconded by Trustee Murphy. The Board unanimously approved payment of the General Fund bills. Motion Carried 3:0.
Water Fund - voucher #s 125, 129 & 130 in the amount of $ 3,482.31. Trustee Murphy moved payment of Water Fund bills seconded by Trustee Chase . The Board unanimously approved payment of the Water Fund bills. Motion Carried 3:0.
Sewer Fund - voucher #s 116,120, 122, 125, 128, 130, 133 & 136 in the amount of
$ 4,367.60. Trustee Murphy moved payment of Sewer Fund bills with a second by Trustee Chase. The Board unanimously approved payment of the Sewer Fund bills. Motion Carried 3:0
Committee Reports:
Buildings and Grounds - Trustee Farenthold no report.
Recreation, Parks & Public Safety - Trustee MacCormick no report.
Streets & Public Safety - Trustee Chase noted that the Speed Bump located on Court Street between Chris MacCormick’s driveway and Walcourt was still missing and asked if anyone had found it yet. No one had any news on this situation.
Water & Sewer - Trustee Murphy reported that she had contacted Mr. Wilmot and found that he had a pump out of service, but the WWTP was running just fine. She also reported that
Mr. Van Horn was waiting for his test the results from the recent schooling he attended in early September.
Trustee Murphy expressed her concern that the Wells Community was using the west side of NYS Rte 90 along the sidewalk as a litter box for their cigarette butts. Trustee Chase informed the Board that Wells College had moved the smoking area from Woods End to Leach Upper Parking Lot with setting up of a picnic table and butt receptacle. He further suggested that maybe the Village could write to the Wells College’s Dean of Students with their concerns. Mayor Gunderson agreed that for the time being the butt post might work to correct this issue. Mr. Fearon also suggested that the letter, when written, might note the important benefits to be environmentally “Green” to the college and the students.
Community Preservation Panel - no report
Planning Board - no report
Zoning Board of Appeals - no report
Zoning Officer - no report. Mr. Cappuccilli introduced himself as the attorney for the Holland family and asked if the Code Officer would be present later as he wished to speak to him about concerns his clients had addressed to him and have not had any response especially the dock on their lake shore property.
Village Historian - no report
Old Business - Mayor Gunderson reported that he had given the Time Warner Cable Franchise Agreement to Trustee Murphy for review. Trustee Murphy asked for specific goals that she could work on to incorporate into the new agreement. Mr. Fearon asked her to check out to see whether all the public buildings had free access to Time Warner Services, such as the Village Firehouse and the Aurora Library. Mr. Fearon added that he has been involved in this program since Time Warner came to the area and he volunteered his help to Trustee Murphy.
New Business: Mayor Gunderson noted that the Board need to past a Resolution agreeing to abide by the NYS rules for records management.
Trustee Chase moved the following Resolution:
RESOLUTION # 09-20
RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees of the Village of Aurora, New York that Records and Disposition Schedule MU-1, issued pursuant to Article 57-A of the Arts & 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 Records Retention and Disposition Schedule MU-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 valve to merit retention beyond established legal minimum periods.
Seconded by Trustee Murphy.
Motion Carried 3:0.
Mayor Gunderson recommended that the Board accept the job description written by Trustee Chase for the Code and Zoning Enforcement Officer (CZEO) so as to create the job title with the Cayuga County Civil Service Commission. He further added that the job description could be amended later if they needed to add further duties. Trustee Murphy moved the adoption of the CZEO job description. Trustee Chase seconded the motion. Motion Carried 3:0.
Mayor Gunderson asked the Board to eliminate the need for a Trustee to sign Building Permits. He explained that Trustee Chase was assigned this duty as the Village contracted the Code Officer position in the past, but now the CZEO would become an employee for the Village. Trustee Murphy moved to eliminate the need to have a Trustee sign Building Permits. Seconded by Trustee Chase. Motion Carried 3:0.
Mayor Gunderson informed the Board that the renewal contract from Hill’s Heating and Air Conditioning needed to be approved. He noted that the contract for the Firehouse was in the amount of $659.00 and the Post Office was in the amount of $363.00. Trustee Murphy motioned that the Mayor be permitted to sign both rental contracts for 2010. The motion was seconded by Trustee Chase. Motion Carried 3:0.
Mayor Gunderson asked that the Board tabled supporting Assemblyman Kolb’s “People’s Convention to Reform New York” program until there was a majority to vote and to also give them time to review the web site information. Trustees Murphy & Chase agreed with his suggestion.
Mayor Gunderson presented the new Application for Zoning Permit form to the Board. The Board reviewed the information pleased that the process had been simplified for the applicant and the various Zoning Board Members. Trustee Chase moved acceptance of using this new form; seconded by Trustee Murphy. Motion Carried 3:0.
Mr. Fearon gave a presentation of the recent summary for Sales Tax collected in the County and how it will affect the Village. He also remarked that NYS needed to promote collection of Sales Tax on the cigarette sales by the Indian Nation. Mr. Fearon noted that the figures showed that while the Indian stores were closed NYS & Cayuga County profited, but as soon as they reopened the stores, the Sales Tax dropped significantly. He voiced his concern that the Tax Payers will ultimately pay more in NYS tax to compensate for the budget losses NYS is currently facing.
Mr. Maloney questioned the Mayor as to whether the Board had set up open communications with Wells College to convey issues that pertain to the well being of the community as a whole. Mayor Gunderson said that he would work out meeting with President Ryerson in the future after consulting recent NYCOM articles on the subject
Mr. Maloney also asked why the Village Task Force Committee wasn’t involved with the recent discussion on the ownership of the Firehouse. Mayor Gunderson noted that the committee’s report was received, but the Board hasn’t made any firm decisions yet.
Mr. Maloney reported attending a conference today on Improving Guardianship of Lakes and will share his notes with the Planning Board.
Trustee Chase motioned for adjournment at 7:45 PM. Seconded by Trustee Murphy. Motion Carried 3:0.
Respectfully Submitted,
Deborah M. Brooks
Deputy Village Clerk