May 21, 2008 Town Board Meeting Minutes

Present:
Knox - Town Supervisor
Coller - Councilwoman
Foster - Councilwoman
Jeanette - Councilwoman
Whiteford - Councilman
Eells - Town Clerk
White - Highway Superintendent

Guests:
Bobby Knox
Fred Morrill
Tom Pete (CPA)
Ray Wilson
Bob Best
Marian Bice
Sandy Burnham
Harvey Thomas
Iris Thomas
Larry Cook
Linda Cook
Jack White

The meeting was called to order at 7:02pm by Supervisor Knox.

TOM PETE - CPA - Annual Audit Report:

• Tom Pete presented the 2007 financial Statements, required communications and communication of other matters to the board.

• Tom stated that the town was in good financial shape.

• Tom stated to be careful when budgeting the lighting districts at the end of this year; they are running high so far this year.

• They had no disagreements with anyone while doing the audit.

• He stated that the board should make sure all transfers are clear with accounts and amounts.

• The board thanked Tom for his hard work on the audit.

RAY WILSON - CPCU - Rose and Keirnan Inc.

• Ray presented the board with the bids from other carriers to the board; the town put it out to competitive bids.

• The town was with Selective their expiring premium was $30,701.13 and their renewal premium is $24,421.69.

• Trident presented a premium of $22,998.65.

• NYMIR presented a premium of $22,570.27.

• Arrowhead presented a premium of $23,143.08.

• Prime presented a premium of $19,575.00.

• Selective covers 35 Elite Commercial Property Extension Endorsements; Trident covers 25; Arrowhead covers 15; NYMIR covers 27 and Prime covers 12. Only six are covered by all companies Selective has them all.

• Knox stated he thought the coverage on our town hall was low.

• Ray asked them if something happened to the building would the town rebuild with same square footage or rebuild back to originality. He will check on a quote for both ways.

• The board thanked Ray for coming and all the hard work he did putting this together for the town.

Acceptance of the Minutes:

A motion was made by Supervisor Knox and seconded by Councilman Whiteford to accept the minutes from 04/16/2008 as presented by the Town Clerk.

Jeanette - yes
Foster - yes
Knox - yes
Whiteford - yes
Coller - yes

Motion carried.

Town Clerk's Report:

We sold 19 dog licenses, 1 kennel renewal, 7 building permits and $439.00 in Decals for a total revenue for the month of April of $628.00. I have taken in 81.60 % of taxes $885,302.44 as of 05/20/2008.

CEO Report:

N/A

Supervisor's Report:

1. The financial records have been turned in by Friday to the town clerk for April.

2. The Town received a check for $1,500.69 from the Russell Public Library for some electric and tubing for the in-floor heating.

3. The Town received $64,249.40 from St. Lawrence County for sales tax; this was put into the highway fund D1120.

4. The Town received $1,568.57 from the Russell Public Library for more electrical supplies.

Highway Superintendent Report:

1. We have completed work on the Mackin Road.

2. Most of the work on the plows and sanders is completed. We will be putting the 2 we built inside to go over and make some adjustments.

3. All the men attended the mine safety class on 04/22/08.

4. We have completed the swap of scrap metal for pipes and have them nearly ready to install on the Cassidy Road.

5. The # 12 truck is now running with minor work left to do.

6. We have the rock drilled on the Cassidy Road and have made arrangements for blasting.

7. On 05/01/2008 we reported to the sheriff office some stolen material from the town pit.

8. We blasted 2 small areas on Blanchard Hill Road for ditch lines.

9. We have been installing pipes as time allows.

10. We have started the shim on the Pyrites-Russell Road.

11. All the men have been busy with good production and I thank them.

12. There have been groups going around stealing our road signs.

13. White turned in a check from the Russell Fire Department for fuel of $632.79.

14. White asked what we should do about the Pit to prevent more thefts and the dumping of trash. He suggests putting a gate up and lock it with a sign stating why it is closed now.

Resolution #52: Gating the Town Pit

A motion was made by Supervisor Knox and seconded by Councilwoman Jeanette to have the highway superintendent put a gate at the opening of the town pit with a lock to be locked when the crew is not working. The town will put a letter in both town papers stating that the pit will be closed due to the theft of materials and the dumping of trash; the town will set up a day and time when the pit will be open to the public to drop off scrap metal materials.

Jeanette - yes
Foster - yes
Knox - yes
Whiteford - yes
Coller - yes

Motion carried.

Assessor Report: Donna Goodwin

I am currently in the process of getting all Forest Exemption parcels up to date with their Annual Commitment forms. If we do not receive these each year, the exemption must be taken off. We have three parcels that have not submitted the forms. In the midst of updating the new roll, we will have Grievance from 4:00pm to 8:00pm on Wednesday May 28th. The following week will begin the summer hours for the Assessor’s Office. I plan to spend quite a bit of time in the field this summer, becoming more familiar with the town and its parcels, as always, if someone needs to consult with me, Tess and I will make appointments with him or her.

Legislature Report: Fred Morrill

Fred stated the diesel fuel hit reopened; they calculated the Town of Russell gets $122.00 over in February by 80 cents a day since then. The Highway Superintendent thought it was a joke; he was expecting $5-6 thousand. Fred asked Larry to get his records of the times they plowed and the fuel they used so he can use it.

Fred stated the new jail was still on schedule and in budget. He thanked everyone that came to the open house; they will be having another one.

AMP Report: Bob Best

Bob handed out flyers to the board and gave some materials for the town clerk to put in her office. They made 4 trips to Albany. Senator Griffo submitted the draft bill to the Senate. The Bill was too late with the Senate for this year. While they were eating out they met Governor Patterson and had a conversation about AMP with him.

DCO Report:

N/A

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Resolution #53: Audit

A motion was made by Supervisor Knox and seconded by Councilman Whiteford to pay the following bills:

General vouchers # 141-183: $13,398.61
Fire Districts # 5-9:                 52,805.00
                                            $66,203.61 Total General

Highway vouchers # 105-127: $18,164.97
Capital Improvement #2: $1,648.02
Street Lighting #5:   Russell $454.35
                            DeGrasse 146.11
                                         $600.46

Jeanette - yes
Foster - yes
Knox - yes
Whiteford - yes
Coller - yes

Motion carried.

Highway:

N/A

NEW BUSINESS:

Russell Fire Department

Harvey Thomas, Fire Chief.
Harvey presented the board with a copy of the asbestos survey done on the former corner store on the corner of Pyrites-Russell Road and Pestle Street Road. Atlantic Testing Laboratories provided the services at the cost of $2,343.00. All the asbestos that was found was in the coating on the bottom of the base of the sink. LVI Services were hired to remove the asbestos at a cost of $425.00.

Resolution #54: Transfer for payment for 1/2 of survey.

A motion was made by Supervisor Knox and seconded by Councilwoman Jeanette to pay 1/2 of the Asbestos Survey costs in the amount of $1,171.50 from the Contingent Account A1990.4 into the Legislative Account # A1010.1 to cover the cost from Atlantic Testing Laboratories.

Jeanette - yes
Foster - yes
Knox - yes
Whiteford - yes
Coller - yes

Motion carried.

Harvey also asked if the Fire Department could reserve the upper ball field on the big hill for a volleyball tournament. They are having a block dance on July 18th in the parking lot. The parade will be the 19th they changed the route so the traffic will not get congested at the Blanchard Hill/CR 24 intersection. The fireworks will be the 19th at dusk. They need a resolution by the board to do fire works.

Resolution #55: Fireworks

A motion was made by Supervisor Knox and seconded by Councilman Whiteford to authorize the Russell Volunteer Fire Department to do a fireworks display on July 19th 2008 at dusk with a rain date of July 20th 2008. The Fire Department will supply Insurance coverage to the town.

Jeanette - yes
Foster - yes
Knox - yes
Whiteford - yes
Coller - yes

Motion carried.

Supervisor Knox stated that he got a call from RSI Roofing and they are too busy to come and fix the shingles on the town hall roof.

Supervisor Knox received an estimate from Gouverneur Roofing & Siding & Sheet Metal Co, Inc. for the roof repair of the town hall.

• for shingle replacement $1,500

• to replace the two valley’s $3,275.00 with copper $4,175.00

The board asked Supervisor Knox to check into it further and authorized him to go with the best estimate.

Resolution #56: Town Insurance

A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Coller to stay with Selective and renew our contract which runs out May 27, 2008 for the premium amount of $24,421.69 which will be good until May 27, 2009.

Jeanette - yes
Foster - yes
Knox - yes
Whiteford - yes
Coller - yes

Motion carried.

Superintendent White stated that the shim on the Pyrites-Russell Road is costing more than he estimated. He wants the board to know he may have to cut back on another project to compensate for it.

Councilwoman Jeanette asked Supervisor Knox why he cut the hired men pay who are working on the new Lib/Museum back this year. He stated he asked them if they would work for $2.00 less an hour this year due to the amount of funds the town had to use; they agreed. Knox stated he was upfront with them from the start. Foster stated she did not think with the cost of living and cost of gas they should have been cut in pay. Knox stated that if the Library wanted to pay $2.00 more an hour they could.

A motion by Supervisor Knox and seconded by Councilman Whiteford to adjourn the meeting at 9:30pm. All were in favor. Motion carried.