October 21, 2009 Town Board Meeting Minutes

Present:
Richard Knox - Town Supervisor
Carol Coller - Councilwoman - arrived @ 7:17
Evah Foster - Councilwoman
Courtney Jeanette - Councilwoman
David Whiteford - Councilman
Tess Eells - Town Clerk
Larry White - Highway Superintendent

Guests:
Larry Cook
Bobby Knox
Fred Morrill
Linda Matthews
Ike Guyette
Bill Howard
Bob Best

The meeting was called to order at 7:04pm by Supervisor Knox.

Acceptance of the minutes:

A motion was made by Councilwoman Foster and seconded by Councilwoman Jeanette to accept the minutes from 09/16 and 10/05 as presented by the Town Clerk.

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

Motion carried.

REPORTS

Town Clerk's Report:

We sold 17 dog licenses, 7 building permits, 1 marriage license, 9 certified copies, 1 impoundment fee and $19,037.00 in DECALS for a total revenue for the month of September of $19,365.00.

Supervisor's Report:

1. The financial records for the month of September have been turned into the Town Clerk.

2. The Town received $149,126.01 from the NYS Thruway Authority for CHIPS Program; this went into the highway fund.

3. The Town received $21,845.00 from NYS General Purpose Aid; this went into the general fund.

4. The Town received $2,040.00 from the Town Justice for September for court fines.

5. The Town received $650.00 from E.J. Noble Hospital for rent.

6. The Town received $236.64 from DCSR Fire Department for fuel used; this went into the highway fund.

7. 2 CD’s that were due the 1st part of October; the interest rate was lower for a new CD then the interest in our checking account for general and highway. I rolled one CD in the general for $100,000 plus interest of $228.20. The other CD was highway for $150,000 and interest of $365.30. I rolled both CD’s into the appropriate checking accounts.

Highway Superintendent Report: Larry White

1. We have completed getting our trucks inspected and have plows on 2.

2. We completed the work on widening the Cole road except for the blasting. We cut approximately 70 cords of fire wood and 4,000 board feet of saw logs. The logs have been sawed for a pole barn behind the town barn for equipment storage.

3. We have several areas that the beaver are flooding; the main one is a large pipe on the Smith road.

4. We have been patching roads and mowing as time allows.

5. We brought in an 8’ x 20’ pipe from Watertown and have cut the openings for additional wood shed.

6. We are now working on drilling on the Cole road.

7. The men have all worked well with good progress and I thank them.

Legislature Report: Fred Morrill

• We are working on the budget; it’s tough this year because of the sales tax shortfall. We will have to make cuts in areas like highway and sheriff. I am against these cuts but there will be big cuts. Larry White asked Fred how much less of a sales tax projection they see. Fred stated around 2 million less.

DCO Report:

N/A

CEO Report:

• Bill Howard reported he hand delivered a letter to Danny Beachard asking for the variance. He has not received anything back yet from him.

Putting signs saying Building permits are required in the Town of Russell was discussed and thought to be a good idea.

Ike Guyette showed the board pictures he took of a trailer that was brought in without a building permit. He will go see the owner the next day. He also put a do not occupy notice on the trailer. Ike also thanked Bill for covering for him while he was off.

Bill stated that the old trailer of Danny Beachard is now at Scott Wrights. They never got a building permit to move it and they have intentions of putting both trailers together and putting a roof over them both. Bill told them they needed a permit to do that also.

Supervisor Knox asked the board what to do about Danny and the variance; they will have to ticket him if he doesn’t comply. Ike will go and talk to Danny again.

AMP Report: Bob Best

Bob stated the Bill was in the assembly and negotiations were going on with National Grid. He had a couple talks with the lobbyists; there are changes they want in the Bill. Supervisor Knox asked if the negotiations had anything to do with the stranded costs; Bob stated no.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Supervisor Knox stated that on the voucher for Kevin Albern there was an extra $75.00 because he installed a culvert on the Clinic roof.

Resolution #91: Audit

A motion was made by Supervisor Knox and seconded by Councilwoman Jeanette to pay the following bills:

General vouchers # 338-370: $6,987.12
Highway vouchers # 176-196: $23,785.41
Street Lighting #10:   Russell $373.89
                              DeGrasse 120.25
                                           $494.14

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

Motion carried.

Resolution #92: Key for BOE

A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Coller to lend a key to the BOE to get in to get the voting machines. The key will be returned after the election is over.

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

Motion carried.

Ball Field:

N/A

Highway Report:

• Highway Superintendent White stated that at a highway meeting they went over the equipment that needs to be replaced. The grader needs some repairs; so should it be repaired or do we trade it in on a new one.

• Councilman Whiteford received a call wanting to know why so much money was being put into the Cole road. Superintendent White stated that only $444.00 was put into materials the rest was material they stocked. He couldn’t say how much was used on fuel. The reason the road was done is it’s a town policy to fix roads that people live on. And yes someone lives in there. The road has been on road inventory at 8/10 of a mile since 1962. We widened it from 12ft to 18ft. There is a decent turn-a-round area. The state was very helpful.

• Councilwoman Jeanette asked Superintendent White if he got a price on pumps at the barn for DCSR Fire Department; Larry stated it would cost up to $2,000. She also stated that some people in DeGrasse were complaining about some street lights going off. Supervisor Knox will talk to Dan Haden about getting them straightened out.

Resolution #93: Pumps for DCSR Fire Department's Fuel

A motion was made by Supervisor Knox and seconded by Councilwoman Coller to invest up to $2,000 for pumps at the town barn for the DCSR Fire Departments fuel. They will supply their own locks and be responsible for all the fuel used from these pumps.

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

Motion carried.

The board felt it was only fair that they have their own pumps because Russell Fire Department does.

Tentative Budget Discussion:

• A 3% raise was given to all part time employees and a 3.5% raise was given to Highway Superintendent and Clerk. The highway men get 3.5% per their contract.

• The board recapped the budget line by line as per last month.

• Historian purchased a new copier for the museum; Supervisor Knox felt like the board should help with the purchase; there were no objections.

• A new grader would cost around 60-70 thousand.

• Supervisor Knox stated the Superintendent White wanted the 2 weeks payroll moved into Improvements and he feels the tax payers will feel the crunch from it. Superintendent White stated fine for this year but next year it needs to be changed.

• The belt loader was bought with insurance monies.

Resolution #94: Adopting the Tentative Budget as the Preliminary Budget with Changes

A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Coller to accept the tentative budget as the preliminary budget with these changes:

a. Lower sales tax in highway to 126,250
b. Lower sales tax in general to 105,000
c. Change the appropriate fund balance to 24,500

A public hearing will be scheduled for November 18th @ 7:00pm with the regular meeting to follow. The preliminary budget will be filed at the town clerk’s office for reviewing.

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

Motion carried.

Resolution #95: Paying Bills Prior to Audit

A motion was made by Councilman Whiteford and seconded by Councilwoman Jeanette to authorize the Supervisor to pay the following bills prior to audit:

- Whitherbee & Whalen amount of $940.00
- LeBerge & Curtis amount 0f $1,795.00

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

Motion carried.

Adjournment:

A motion was made by Supervisor Knox to adjourn the meeting @8:30pm. All were in favor.