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Present:
Supervisor Best
Councilwoman Burnham
Councilwoman Coller - arrived at 7:09pm
Councilwoman Jeanette
Councilman Whiteford
Town Clerk Eells
Highway Superintendent White
Guests:
Harvey Thomas
Iris Thomas
Megan Hinman
Bobby Knox
Ann Davis
Lockland Jeffries
Cynthia Jeffries
Meeting was called to order by Supervisor Best at 7:00 pm.
Newly elected officials Robert Best, Sandra Burnham, Larry White and Tess Eells were sworn in.
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Jeanette to adopt Parliamentary Law as defined by Robert’s Rules of Order, as the rules of procedure, with the following adaptions:
A. New York State Law supercedes parliamentary law a conflict between New York State law will be resolved in favor of New York State Law.
B. Time limit per speaker shall be five minutes per speech unless previously changed for a particular item or motion at the beginning of debating the item or motion.
C. Any citizen of the Town of Russell may participate in the debate of an agenda or item motion which has been introduced and seconded by elected members of the board, and accepted by the Supervisor/Chairman. Citizens participating in the debate are subject to these rules of procedures, except they may not second or vote on an amendment or other question put to vote.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - absent
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Burnham and seconded by Councilwoman Jeanette naming the St. Lawrence Plaindealer and the Watertown Times as the official newspapers for the Town of Russell for the year 2010.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - absent
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Jeanette appointing Jack White as the Dog Control Officer for the year 2010.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - absent
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Jeanette and seconded by Councilman Whiteford to allow the supervisor to sign a contract with Alton (Ike) Guyette as the Code Enforcement Officer for the Town of Russell at the salary of $7,675 for the year 2010.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - absent
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Burnham to hold the regular Board Meetings on the third Wednesday of each month at 7:00 pm.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - absent
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Jeanette and seconded by Councilman Whiteford naming the depository for the Supervisor the NBT Bank and the Community Bank in Hermon as the depository for the Town clerk/Tax Collector for the year 2010.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - absent
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Burnham naming Selective Insurance through Rose & Keirnan Insurance Company as the Town’s Insurance Company for the year 2010.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - absent
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Jeanette and seconded by Councilman Whiteford to appoint Tess Eells as the Registrar of Vital Statistics for the year 2010.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - absent
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Jeanette to make the following resolution:
Whereas, section 987 of the Real Property Law provides for the Tax Collector to mail a second notice to each owner of real property upon which taxes remain unpaid on the currant tax roll to which his or her warrant relates to, and
Whereas, the governing body of the Town of Russell may adopt by resolution providing for the expense of mailing out such notice with an additional penalty of not more than $2.00 chargeable against such parcel,
Therefore, the Town of Russell approves the penalty of $1.00 to be charged against each parcel requiring the second notice.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - absent
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
Councilwoman Coller arrived at 7:09pm.
Supervisor best asked for the floor to discuss the Town lawyer before a motion was made. He stated that he has talked to Charlie Nash from Canton; Fee of $125.00 per hour for services and Peter Lekki from Canton; fee of $150.00 per hour for services and they are both available. He has worked with both of them in the past. He feels Gouvernour is out of his way so a lawyer from Canton would be more available to him. Councilman Whiteford stated he is satisfied with Mr. Leader. Councilwoman Jeanette asked Tess what she thought; Tess stated she is satisfied also.
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Coller appointing Henry Leader as the Town Attorney for the year 2010 with the salary of $130.00 per hour.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Jeanette to set the mileage at .45 cents per mile for the year 2010.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Burnham to set the salaries of all elected officials as follows:
Supervisor: $8,392.00
Clerk/Tax Collector: $20,937.00
Highway Superintendent: $39,358
Municipal Judge: $ 9,029.00
Board members (each): $1,489.00
Assessor: $10,816.00
Bookkeeper: $4,726.00
DCO: $2,190.00
Health Officer: $600.00
Historian: $481.00
Registrar of Vital Statistics: $247.00
CEO: $7,675.00
Budget Officer: $2,287.00
Deputy Town Clerk: $9.34 per hour
Custodian Worker: $9.34 per hour
Court Clerk; $9.34 per hour
Town attorney: $130.00 per hour
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Jeanette and seconded by Councilwoman Burnham to allow the supervisor to sign the cemetery contracts with the North Russell and South Russell Cemeteries, in the amount of $500.00 each for the purpose of the up keep on the veteran’s graves for the year 2010.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Coller to authorize the supervisor to enter into a contract with Jack White for the care of strays and abandoned dogs found by Jack White as part of the duties as dog control officer, which is separate from dog control officer. The Town of Russell shall pay Jack White $ 1,800.00 for the care of strays and abandoned dogs for the Town of Russell for the year 2010.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Jeanette to amend the Russell Senior Citizens contract from $1,200 to $1,500.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Jeanette and seconded by Councilman Whiteford to authorize the supervisor to enter into a senior’s contract in the amount of $1,500.00 for the year 2010.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Coller to authorize the supervisor to enter into a contract with the Edwards-Knox Central School for the summer program for the year 2010 in the amount of $1,500.00
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Coller to authorize the supervisor to enter into a contract with North Country Life Flight Inc. for the year 2010 in the amount of $150.00 to be taken from account #A3989.4 for LIFE FLIGHT.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Jeanette and seconded by Councilman Whiteford to authorize the supervisor to enter into a contract with the Russell Public Library in the amount of $16,000.00 for the year 2010.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Coller to leave the senior citizens exemption at $10,000.00 - 15,700.00 sliding scales of 20% for the year 2010 assessment rolls.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Jeanette and seconded by Councilwoman Coller to set the compensation rate for the assessment review board for the year 2010.
Chairman: $150.00 (per year)
Regular members: $150.00 (per year)
Misc. reimbursed expenses of .45 @ mile for mileage.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
Audit: Robert Best and Sandra Burnham
Land use: N/A
Highway committee: Larry White, David Whiteford and Carol Coller
Will draw up a procedure to deal with the audit and will draft a contract for the CHIPs money.
Safety committee: will deal with it later
Ballfield committee: will deal with it later
Historian: Marie Rocca
ADDITIONAL APPOINTMENTS:
1. Citizen Advisory Committee: Robert Best and Co-chair Ann Davis - this committee will get recommendations
from the public for projects that they would like to see done.
2. Fire Department Relations Committee: Degrasse Fire Department will be Robert Best and Courtney Jeanette;
and the Russell Fire Department will be Robert Best and Sandra Burnham.
3. The Cemetery Committee: on hold for now.
4. The Theater Committee: on hold for now.
5. Horse Trail Committee: David Whiteford will be Chairman; he will find people interested to be on
the committee and report back on it at the February meeting.
Deputy Town Clerk/Collector of Taxes/Registrar: Tess Eells the Town Clerk; will appoint Bonnie Howard as her Deputy Clerk and Sub-Registrar and Linda Walrath as a 2nd clerk.
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Coller to reappoint Jack White to a 5 year term on the Board of Assessment Review Board Member commencing from 01/06/2010.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Burnham and seconded by Councilman Whiteford;
Whereas, there is no revenue account number A1256, in the chart of accounts as promulgated by the Office of the State Comptroller, who has jurisdiction over the chart of accounts to be used by towns of NYS,
Therefore, the Town authorizes removing that account number from the 2010 budget and adding $1,200 to account number A1410, clerk fees.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Coller and seconded by Councilwoman Burnham;
Whereas, legislature Board account #A1010.3 is reserved for depreciation, and,
Whereas, there is no depreciation expense related to the Legislature Board, and,
Whereas, the money in this account was intended for promoting the Township at the discretion of the Board;
Therefore, the Town Board authorizes the transfer of $3,000 from account A1010.3 to A1010.4.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Burnham and seconded by Councilman Whiteford;
Whereas, account number A1620.2 is for equipment expenditures and it is more appropriate for the money in A1620.2 to be for Repairs/Restoration to the theater
Therefore, the town Board authorizes the transfer of $7,000 from account A1620.2 to A7997.4; Other Culture and Recreation, Equipment & Capital Outlay.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Jeanette and seconded by Councilwoman Burnham;
Whereas, Whereas, account number A1620.3 is reserved for depreciation, and this money was intended for repairs/ improvements on the Library;
Therefore, the Town Board authorizes the transfer of $5,000 from account A1620.3 to A7497.4; Library Equipment & Capital Outlay.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Burnham and seconded by Councilwoman Jeanette;
Whereas, the funds in account 3620.1 and 3620.4 are meant to be used for Code Enforcement;
Therefore, the Town Board authorizes the transfer of the funds in 3620.1 and 3620.4 to Accounts 8664.1 and 8664.4 Code Enforcement Personal Services and Contractual Expense.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Burnham and seconded by Councilman Whiteford;
Whereas, the results of the past election indicated that the voters would like a multi-faceted program to improve the quality of life in the township, and
Whereas, the voters indicated that items to be included in the program could include a playground, a water/or sewer system, for the Hamlet of Russell, improvements to the ball field, a cleanup of the Hamlet of Russell, and an increase in economic activity in the township, and
Whereas, the Town supervisor has indicated that he believes the town can work with citizen advisory committees to research and plan such a multi-faceted program.
Therefore, the Town Board authorizes the appropriation of $15,000 from the fund balance to account # A8020.4 Planning, Contractual Expenses, for the purpose of planning those and similar activities.
Councilman Whiteford asked what the $15,000 was for, Supervisor Best stated for feasibility studies.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Coller;
Whereas, account #DA5112.1 contains 9 weeks payroll, at $4,380 per week, and
Whereas, the Highway superintendent states that only 7 weeks of payroll is required for Improvements and,
Whereas, this $8,760 is CHIPs revenue and should not be used for non-CHIPs work;
Therefore, the Town Board authorizes the transfer of 2 weeks of payroll ($8,760) From DA5112.1 to DA5112.4 to ensure that all of the CHIPs revenue is appropriated for only CHIPs work.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
Superintendent White stated that the money would be of better use for materials.
Ann Davis asked what the CHIPs was; superintendent stated it is state money used for road projects with a 10 year life span. State money can be spent on these roads for 10 years again.
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Burnham;
Whereas, the Highway Superintendent has stated that the General repairs account #DA5110.1 can absorb 1 week payroll, but cannot absorb a second week of payroll;
Therefore, the Town Board authorizes the additional appropriation of 1 week of payroll ($4,380) from the Highway Fund Balance to General Repairs DA5110.1
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Jeanette and seconded by Councilwoman Burnham;
Whereas, the Burnell Bridge was completed several years ago, and
Whereas, there is $1,000 appropriated for the repair of that bridge in the Improvement Account#DA5112-4.2;
Therefore, the Town Board authorizes the transfer of $1,000 from DA5112-4.2 to Transfer to Highway Capital Improvement account DA9959.0
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
Bobby Knox asked if you take the $1,000 out and if it was needed where would the money come from. Best stated it’s not that much that it could be taken from another account. The consensus of the board felt it has been in that account too long and should be used.
A motion was made by Councilwoman Jeanette and seconded by Councilman Whiteford;
Whereas, the State CHIPs money is currently co-mingled with Highway money, and
Whereas, it will provide for better financial oversight if the CHIPs money is in a separate Highway Capital Improvement Fund;
Therefore, the Town Board authorizes the transfer of $149,126 from Improvements, account DA5112.0 (total) to transfers to Highway Capital Improvements Account DA9959.0
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
| General Fund | Highway Fund | Fire Protection | St. Lights | Highway Improv. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App. & unapp. Fund bal. 12/31/09 | $145,249 | 203,201 | 0 | 3,321 | 0 |
| Add: budgeted tax levy 1/1/09 | $179,331 | 418,734 | 92,449 | 9,000 | 0 |
| Add: budgeted non-tax revenues | 185,130 | 302,077 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Subtract, budgeted appropriations | (414,461) | (779,301) | (92,449) | (9,000) | 0 |
| Add, estimated unexpended appro. | 48,000 | 35,000 | 0 | 700 | 0 |
| _________________ | _________________ | _________________ | _________________ | _________________ | |
| Estimated fund balance 12/31/09 (from Dick) |
$143,249 | 179,711 | 0 | 4,021 | 0 |
| Check book bal. from Brenda | $217,773 | 246,326 | |||
| Appro. Into D5130.4 (5,730) | 0 | 0 | |||
| Appro. For Loader (33,990) | 0 | 0 | |||
| Add Dec. interest | 19 | 24 | |||
| Subtract 2009 encumberances (hwy) | (41) | (19,724) | |||
| Subtract 2009 encumberances (gen) | (1,980) | 0 | |||
| Subtract 2009 encumberances (general estimated) |
(1,000) | 0 | |||
| ___________________ | ___________________ | ___________________ | ___________________ | ___________________ | |
| End of year fund balance | $214,771 | 226,626 | 0 | 4,021 | 0 |
| General Fund | Highway Fund | Fire Protection | St. Lights | Highway Improv. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimated Fund Balance 1/1/10 | $214,771 | 226,626 | 0 | 4,021 | 0 |
| Add, budgeted tax levy 1/1/10 | 180,042 | 467,493 | 92,449 | 9,000 | 0 |
| Add, non-tax revenues | 173,906 | 137,750 | 0 | 0 | 149,126 |
| Add, transfers in | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 150,126 |
| Subtract budgeted appro. | (403,948) | (628,743) | (92,449) | (9,000) | (150,126) |
| Subtract transfers out | 0 | (150,126) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| _________________ | _________________ | _________________ | _________________ | _________________ | |
| Estimated Fund balance 12/31/10 | 164,771 | 53,000 | 0 | 4,021 | 149,126 |
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Coller.
The Town Board authorizes the appropriation of $30,653 from inter-fund Transfers, account H5031 to Road Improvements H5112.1
The Town Board authorizes the appropriation of $119,473 from inter-fund Transfers, account #H5031 to Road Improvements H5112-1.4
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Coller.
Whereas, Margaret K. Pike was newly elected and sworn in as Town Justice for a four year term commencing on January 1, 2010.
Therefore, the Town Board authorizes the Community Bank NA; to be the depository of funds collected by the Town Justice.
Best - Yes
Burnham - Yes
Coller - Yes
Jeanette - Yes
Whiteford - Yes
Motion carried.
A motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 8:13pm all were in favor.
