April 18, 2002
Supervisor
Zajicek called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM.
Present: Supervisor Zajicek, Councilmen Francisco,
Hunt, Maynard, Highway Supervisor Jim Reniff, Annette Harding, Attorney for the
Town.
Also
present: Gary Harding, Sue Collins,
Mark Bliven, Nancy Casterline, Vi Phillips, Anita Foote, Ron Lundberg, Robert
C. Ellis, Charles L Fordham, Mark Bliven, Wes Cline, Mike Presutti, Rick
Jordan, Ray Hoberg Jr., Ivan Quaintance Jr., Diane Quaintance, Patti Coleman, Dana Hand, Ed Whitney, Harold
Mitchell, and Pat Sawyer from the Cuba Patriot.
The
minutes of the Regular Town Board Meeting of March 21, 2002, were read. There were no corrections. Motion was made
by Mr. Hunt second by Mr. Francisco to approve minutes. Approved 4-0-0.
Town
Vouchered Bills.
Mr. Francisco made motion to pay bills
as presented. Mr. Hunt second. Approved 4-0-0.
Bob
Abbott, Sr.
Mr. Zajicek announced that Mr. Abbott
was quite ill. Our thoughts and prayers
are with him. Mr. Maynard stated that
Mr. Abbott was in Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.
Report
from Highway Supervisor Mr. Reniff.
The town highway crew has been working
on cleaning up the cemetery and putting top soil in the areas where the tree stumps
were removed. The have brought the
leftover sand/salt to the shop, worked on signs and beginning to sweep the
roads.
The D5 Dozer pins and bushing,
sprocket segments are shot. It needs
new wear strips, shims, plates, and springs.
Also needed are new track frame wear bars on the front idler
assembly. Mr. Reniff has sought out the
lowest reliable estimate. That estimate
is $4,259.52 for parts and labor from Five-Star in Rochester. Mr. Maynard made motion to repair the dozer
with that estimate. Mr. Hunt second.
Motion passed 4-0-0.
Mr. Reniff stated that when the Town
purchased the new excavator they also purchased a Guardian maintenance
plan. The original or first contract is
expiring. Mr. Reniff suggested we
purchase a second contract offered at $2,802.93. This contract covers labor, parts, everything and gives us to six
calls per month. Mr. Hunt asked if this
contract covered the wheel loader also.
Mr. Reniff stated that the wheel loader was covered by the same type of
contract, but a separate one. Mr.
Maynard made motion to purchase the second Guardian contract for the
excavator. Mr. Francisco second. Motion passed 4-0-0.
Mr. Reniff raised the question over
purchasing a new ten-wheel plow truck.
A ten wheeler would be more serviceable, the sand box is in the front so
that when they are done with a plow run, they can drop the plow in a matter of
minutes and use the truck for other things.
Also, the sand box is much bigger cutting down on the number of runs to
get sand. New truck would cut worker
time and mileage. (Also, new truck gets
7.3 mph compared to 4 on the old single axle.)
We currently have two single axles—one ’85 in not good shape, one ’93 in
good shape, but even this one requires multiple trips for a sand run as it has
a small dump box. Ivan Quaintance Jr.
asked if we were going to contract with the county. If so, we needed another driver. Mr. Reniff stated that another
driver would not be needed as we would still have three trucks. The two single axles would be traded in or
sold. Mark Bliven stated that we are
at the point that we need to decide—do we fix the old truck or get a new
one. If we do not get a new truck, then
if the 10-wheel goes down, we will have to hire another driver. We are at the point where you need to make a
decision. Nancy Casterline asked if we
had any idea of the value of the two single axles. Mr. Reniff stated that hopefully it would be around $20,000. Mr. Maynard stated that we created an
equipment reserve last year of $75,000, this would take care of a good share of
the price of a new 10-wheel. Mr. Reniff
guessed that the price for a new ten wheel would be somewhere around
$125,000+. Nancy Casterline thought
there was some problem with the money that had been set aside in the equipment
reserve ( but did not say what.) Mr.
Maynard stated that even if we start the process for the purchase now, that the
truck probably would not be ready for this winter. Mr. Reniff agreed. Nancy
Casterline asked if we couldn’t just get a truck off the line and add on to
it. Mr. Reniff said yes, if there is
something that meets the specs. Mr.
Reniff stated that after the specs were ready, that it would be at least 120
days until the truck was made and another 190 days after that before the dump
portion and plow were completely added.
Mr. Maynard asked Mr. Reniff if he (Mr. Reniff) would recommend getting
a new 10-wheel truck. Mr. Reniff said,
yes. Mr. Hunt asked what shape the old
10-wheel truck was in. Mr. Reniff
stated that we would need brake and suspension work and a new dump section at
some point. It probably would be good
for another year. Mr. Reniff stated
that the box on the old 10-wheeler was built out of hardwood and it was rotting
from the inside out due to moisture interaction with sand/salt. Mr. Mitchell asked if you couldn’t get an
aluminum body box. Mr. Reniff stated
that they did not make aluminum bodies.
Mr. Maynard made motion that he recommended that we get the specs
together for a bid for a new 10-wheel snow plow. Mr. Francisco second.
Motion passed 4-0-0. Mr. Zajicek
recommended to Mr. Reniff that he in include Mr. Hunt in the spec work as Mr.
Hunt was deputy highway supervisor. Mr.
Reniff welcomed Mr. Hunt and anyone else.
Ivan Quaintance Jr. asked how the pads
were on the bulldozer (discussed above).
Mr. Reniff stated that the pins and bushings were worn, but the pads
were OK.
Mr. Ellis asked if we wouldn’t want to
keep a single axle snow plow type truck for backup. Mr. Reniff stated that we have the old ten-wheeler for backup.
The question was again asked if we
were going to plow for the county. Mr.
Zajicek stated that he had been in contact with the county, Mr. Mancuso and Mr.
Roeske, and they will contact us when the time frame is right, probably August
or September. Mr. Zajicek has made it
clear that we are interested.
Washing
of Bridges
Mr. Reniff thanked Mr. Mitchell and
the fire company for washing the bridges.
Thanks were echoed from others.
Feathers
Creek Road
Mr. Mitchell stated that as soon as
the weather breaks, the traffic from Angelica to Belmont increases and most
cars proceed at 90 mph. He would like
to see Feathers Creek Road posted with a speed limit and signs for horses. Ivan and Diane Quaintance announced that it
did not do any good they had already tried that, and no one slowed down
much. Mr. Reniff stated that the town
highway crew could put up animal crossing signs, but the speed and horse riding
signs has to be done by the NYS DOT.
Mr. Maynard said that traditionally we have not had much success with
the NYS DOT in lowering speeds. The
Town of Amity had tried before along Back River Road and the State responded
that they saw no reason to lower the speed limit. Nancy Casterline stated that she thought that the speed the state
set depended on the number of houses per mile on the road. Mr. Reniff stated that maybe there were not
enough houses per mile on Back River Road for the state to lower the speed
limit. Conclusion was that Mr. Mitchell
would have to go to the state and do his best.
Tax
Reconciliation
Mr. Zajicek thanked Mrs. Fordham for
her job on the taxes and stated that he thought that it had been reconciled to
the penny. Mrs. Fordham presented the
tax reconciliation and sign off from the county treasurer to the board and
stated that she had done a three way reconciliation of the tax system on the
computer to the had stamping of the tax bills required by the county and to the
bank statements. All were in agreement
and reconciled to the penny. The tax
account still had the interest money in it for late payments and that she would
wait a couple weeks to make sure all checks had cleared before writing a check
to the town to clear the account.
Building
Inspector.
Don Case’s resignation. Mr. Zajicek stated that Dana Hand has taken
the two basic courses and that he would have three years leeway to finish the
other courses. Mr. Zajicek stated that
he had received several other names, but these were from Friendship and
Wellsville. Mr. Manyard presented John
Clouse’s name as another alternative, as John Clouse was willing and currently
certified. Mr. Zajicek mentioned that
John Clouse was from Angelica. Nancy
Casterline stated that the town had had John Clouse in the past as building
inspector and that he had an attitude problem; the town would be foolish to go
back in that direction. Mr. Zajicek
stated that “he had spoken to the Village and at the time he spoke to them they
were not happy with John Clouse and were asking about Mr. Case. However, Mr. Case resigned. Dana Hand lives here and his attitude seems
to be right. We could wait until the
next board meeting to decide as Mr. Case’s resignation is not effective until
then.” Nancy Casterline asked everyone
to remember what John Clouse had done to the Rescue Squad. Ivan and Diane Quaintance stated that they
had had problems with John Clouse. Gary
Harding suggested that we table this until the next meeting. Mr. Francisco made motion to table the selection
of building inspector until the next meeting.
Mr. Hunt second. Motion passed
4-0-0. Mr. Zajicek stated that if John
Clouse wanted to be seriously considered that he should come to the next board
meeting. Nancy Casterline stated that
for two years we asked John Clouse to report on the status of properties and he
totally ignored our requests.
Pillars
on the front of the Town/Village Hall.
Mr. Zajicek stated that we have
problems from the previous paint job.
The pillars are looking the same as before they were painted. Mr. Francisco asked if we had paid for the
complete renovation. Mr. Zajicek stated
that we had not. Ivan Quaintance Jr.
asked if we hadn’t just painted the pillars.
Mr. Zajicek said they were done 3 years ago and did anyone have any
suggestions for a painter? Nancy
Casterline stated that Mr. Maynard OK’d the removing of the plinks from the
pillars and signed off on the liability of doing that. Mr. Hunt asked Mr. Zajieck if he was looking
for painters. Mr. Zajicek said yes, he
had found one painter, but that it would be an 8-day wait for him to come look
at the job. Comment from Ed Whitney was
that he would be willing to paint as soon as the grass dried up.
Electricity
Upgrade
Mr. Zajicek has shown one electrical
contractor, Doug Reed, around the building.
Mr. Reed is coming back in one week with his lighting person. Mr. Zajicek has spoken with Mr. Schmelzer,
Mr. DeTine, and Mr. Hoshel of the Village and all agree that an electrical
upgrade needs to be done. Mr. Reed
suggested ceiling fans and new lighting, possibly revamping the old fixtures. No estimate yet.
Telephone
line upgrade.
Currently the Town office has one
phone line serving three phones, the fax and the Internet connection. This is a problem currently and will
increase with the rollout of the DEC’s new licensing procedure via phone
modem. Hunting and fishing licenses
will only be able to be purchased via this method. Rollout is predicted by the DEC during the summer. Mr. Zajicek has an estimate from Verizon of
$50 start up cost and $20 per month additional on going cost for two additional
phone lines. Installation of lines to
the outside would be $211 to $221.
Verizon would charge an additional $270 to run the lines inside. Mr. Zajicek suggested we get a local
contractor to run the lines inside to reduce cost. Mr. Hunt made motion to add to the two phone lines with
installation cost not to exceed $300.
Mr. Francisco second. Motion
passed 4-0-0.
Records
Management
Mr. Zajicek met with Mr. Tammarro from
the Buffalo Archives. Mr. Tammarro
looked at what the Town had and made several suggestions. He mentioned that before we can do anything,
we have to have a resolution passed by the Town Board that the Town will abide
by the recommendations as set forth by NYS Archives. Mr. Zajicek passed around the Resolution, 2002-11, to the Town
Board and it was read aloud by the Town Clerk.
Mr. Zajicek also passed around a list of recommendations left by Mr.
Tammarro. Mr. Tammarro stated that
there were grants available and this might be a possibility. Mr. Francisco made motion to accept
Resolution 2002-11. Mr. Hunt
second. Motion passed 4-0-0.
Request
from Mr. Presutti read at 3/21/02 Town Board mtg. for minutes and supervisor
reports.
Mr. Zajicek passed the Supervisor’s
Report around the Town Board table. Mr.
Zajicek stated that he had not heard back from Mr. Presutti regarding his (Mr.
Zajicek’s) response. Mr. Zajicek
wondered if Mr. Presutti thought the price was too steep. Mr. Francisco inquired whether Mr. Presutti
needed to know how many pages were involved first?
Mr.
Presutti responded that he was waiting to know how many pages. Mr. Zajicek stated that the count of the
number of pages in the Supervisor’s Report would not include the copies of the
Town Board minutes that Mr. Presutti also had asked for. Mr. Maynard and Mr. Francisco requested
copies of the Supervisor’s Report for their study.
Auditor
The YTD report of the statement of
indebtedness can not be completed due to differing sources not agreeing on what
we owe and what the Bonds are called.
Annette Harding, the attorney for the Town, has one figure and set of
names for the Bonds, the bank has different figures and names, and the sheet
that the previous Town administration left has another set. Mr. Zajicek stated that unless someone can
come up with an answer that the report will have to go as is with no verified
answer to the State. It will be up to
the State whether they subpoena the previous Town administration. Mr. Francisco asked Mr. Zajicek if he wanted
to ask Mr. Presutti to lend his knowledge to the issue. Mr. Zajicek stated that we should have had
an accurate report. That he was trying
to make an accurate report out of an inaccurate starting report. Mr. Presutti stated that he was willing to
meet with Mr. Zajicek and help. Annette
Harding stated that the figures and names she had were from the Town Clerk at
the time and she assumed that the Town Clerk had gotten them from the
bank. Mr. Zajicek stated that somewhere
all the information is screwed up and what is on the report does not agree with
either source. Mr. Presutti stated
again that he was willing to meet with Mr. Zajicek to try and straighten it
out. Mr. Zajicek said that the auditor
would be here on Monday and suggested Mr. Presutti come. Mr. Presutti stated that he could not meet
Monday, but that he could meet Saturday or Sunday. Mr. Zajicek gave Mr. Presutti his phone number for Mr. Presutti
to suggest a time.
Computer
that was borrowed.
Mr. Presutti turned the computer over
to Mr. Hoshel and Mr. Hoshel turned it over to Mr. Zajicek. Mr. Zajicek stated that there is an
organization that organizes help for the disabled that is hoping to use the
computer. Mr. Zajicek stated that they
had trouble with the computer because the password was not available. Mr. Presutti said he had tried several times
to reach Mr. Hoshel to share the password and could not reach him.
Wilmac Park
Mr. Zajicek stated that Dana Ross said
he would be getting to Mr. Reniff with a start date and that they were planning
on starting next month. Mr. Zajicek
asked if anyone had approached the railroad regarding a fence. Ray Hoberg Jr. stated that Pat Magee might
get involved in the fence issue. Ray
Hoberg Jr. took the opportunity to compliment Mr. Reniff on the excellent job
the town highway crew had done along Cemetery Road.
Fuel
Heating Economy
Mr. Maynard suggested we contact Dirk
Knapp consulting company, a business that brokers saving energy dollars,
regarding the possibility of gas (natural gas) on bid for the Town Barns which
is the Town’s biggest user of gas. The
Village has already done that for the Village/Town Hall. Mr. Maynard would need the past 12 months of
gas bills that had the dollars and amount of gas used in order for the
consulting company to do an analysis.
Mr. Maynard suggested that he get the data right away as time was of the
essence for buying gas. Pat Sawyer
shared with the Town Board the presentation that Dirk Knapp consulting firm had
made to Friendship Town Board. The
result would be 12 months at a locked fixed price. Wes Cline stated that he would like us to look at the alternative
of used oil heat. He has been using it
at no cost for heat. The used oil
burner has improved a lot over the past years.
Mr. Maynard stated that we had tried used oil several years back and
that it had not worked. Mr. Reniff
stated that the problem was oil that had been contaminated with antifreeze that
screwed the burners up. Mr. Maynard
stated that Dirk Knapp also could recommend other energy savings. If they could find us enough ways to conserve
then perhaps we may not have to up the current 200-amp electrical service. Mr. Zajicek agreed to have the last
12-month’s of gas bills for Mr. Maynard by Tuesday.
DeLong
Road
Wes Cline stated that the Town Board
voted to abandon DeLong Road on May 4, 1992, but proper procedures were not
followed. The Resolution was not signed
by the Town Clerk, only by the then Highway Superintendent and the then Town
Board. Wes Cline stated that no
document signed in this way was sufficient to abandon a road. The proper procedure was for the Town Clerk
to sign, the County be notified, the property owners notified and a hearing
held. Wes Cline stated that he had
asked the former Supervisor Presutti several times for a resolving of this
issue. He had been told that the then
Town Board had forwarded his letter to the Town Attorney. Wes Cline stated that he had heard nothing
back and did not know if the Town Attorney had received his request. Wes Cline stated that in addition he had
documentation from 1995 that showed the Town was receiving CHIPS dollars on the
entire road. Wes Cline had asked the
County for their records of the mileage of DeLong road, but had received only
one sheet that showed the mileage as much less in 1999. Wes Cline stated that the Town probably had
the same problem with other roads.
These roads were stated as abandoned in the minutes, but never properly
abandoned and property owners not notified.
Wes Cline stated that he had land for sale in the area of DeLong road
and prospective buyers wanted to know the status of the road. Mr. Presutti stated that he had not changed
the mileage on the County’s records based on Wes Cline’s original
inquires. Wes Cline indicated his
disbelief. Mr. Presutti stated that it
was the Highway Superintendent’s job to change the mileage and follow the
procedure. Ivan Quaintance Jr. asked if
the bottom line was that we needed to fix the road? Mr. Zajicek suggested that this was a matter for the Town
Attorney. Mr. Quaintance asked if we
were still receiving CHIPS money on the roads?
Mr. Reniff stated that we should not be. Wes Cline stated the decision to abandon the roads was made and
no one outside of the then Town Board and then Highway Superintendent
knew.
Wes
Cline stated that he wanted to say that he was in favor of the Town purchasing
a new 10-wheel truck. Ivan Quaintance
Jr. asked if they would need another employee on the Town crew. Mr. Reniff stated that hopefully we would
not have to. Wes Cline asked Jimmy if
they had a couple of stand by drivers if needed. Mr. Reniff said yes. Mr.
Manyard mentioned that the highway crew used to have four full time drivers and
they were now down to two. Mr. Reniff
stated that they had had six drivers when he was originally hired.
Someone
asked what CHIPS stood for. The
response from Mr. Maynard was Capitol Highway Improvement Projects and that we
see our CHIPS money at work. Wes Cline
suggested we remember where the money came from. Ivan Quaintance Jr. asked of Wes Cline, “so you do not want
DeLong road paved, or just graveled?”
Bob
Ellis had a further word regarding the building inspector issue: He asked that
we remember Mike Lindsey plumbing and the job he was doing on a well-known
building. The state had approved the
builder’s prints. John Clouse, the then
building inspector, made Mike Lindsey change the plumbing from the print read
out. The builder came back, looked at
what had been done and said no one changes my state-approved blueprints. The ending result was that Mike Lindsey had
to rip out all the plumbing and change it back to the original blue
prints.
Mr.
Zajicek indicated that at this point the Board needed to adjourn to executive
session. Mr. Francisco made motion to
adjourn. Mr. Hunt second. Motion passed 4-0-0. Board adjourned to executive session at
approximately 8:45 PM.
Board
recalled the Town Clerk at 9:10 PM. Mr.
Francisco made motion to adjourn the meeting.
Mr. Hunt second. Motion passed
4-0-0. Board meeting adjourned at 9:12
PM.