November 19, 2008 Town Board Meeting Minutes

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

Guests:
Bobby Knox
Fred Morrill

The meeting was called to order at 7:09pm by Supervisor Knox.

Acceptance of the minutes:

A motion was made by Supervisor Knox and seconded by Councilwoman Foster to accept the minutes from 10/15 and 11/12 as presented by the town clerk.

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

Motion carried.

REPORTS

Town Clerk's Report:

We sold 10 dog licenses, 2 building permits, 7 certified copies, 1 impoundment fee and $4779 in DECALS for a total revenue for the month of October of $4,959.

Supervisor's Report:

1. The financial records for the month of October have been turned into the town clerk.

2. The town received $1,500 from the Edwards - Knox Central School.

3. The town received two checks from the Russell Public Library for construction grant; $3,016.73 and $2,667.52.

4. The town received extra money from the US Postal for rent it was $425.92 and now $449.26.

5. The town received $67,054.56 from St. Lawrence County for sales tax; $53,531.24 went into the highway account and $13,523.32 went into the general account.

6. The town received $30.62 from TDS for the cancellation of the DECALS in the clerk’s office; as it is on road runner now.

Highway Superintendent Report:

1. Handed 3 checks to the supervisor; $21.68 for a sign, $175.80 for a pipe and $291.92 from Russell Rescue.

2. All the plows are ready to go and we should have enough sand screened, but plan to screen a few more days.

3. We removed a section on the Belleville Road corrected the base and shimmed.

4. The wood boiler is installed and the old heating system has been repaired. We completed building the wood shed and have approximately 30-35 cords of wood cut so far.

5. The first snow on 10/28/08 was heavy and the clean up went well. It left most roads with areas of brush and trees down. Several seasonal roads were completely shut down, but we have cleared them all.

6. We have graded all gravel roads twice but the rain continues to cause problems and we will stay on them until they freeze up.

7. We have installed 2 pipe crossings on the Cole Road and 1 on the first section of the Blanchard Hill Road.

8. We removed several rocks from the pavement on Pestle Street that surfaced this summer.

9. We added fill and gravel at the Library and Museum to help with the drainage.

10. Several men have been using up their vacation time.

11. The men have worked well and I thank them.

Supervisor Knox asked Superintendent White why another length of pipe was not added to the wood boiler, also a cap should be put on to keep water from getting in the boiler. White stated that Fobare said only put an extra length on if there’s a draft problem or neighbors complain. Knox asked the board what they thought; Councilwoman Foster and Jeanette stated we will wait and see if there are complaints.

Assessor Report: Donna Goodwin

I am still in the process of doing building permits, while keeping up with the necessary calls and meeting with landowners.

Unfortunately, we had a Domestic Animal damage report recently. All the paper work has been filed with NYS Department of agriculture and Markets, as well as the County treasurer.

In lieu of opening the office on the day before thanksgiving, I shall attempt to complete all building permits on November 25th.

I have purchased a new printer for only $59.99 to replace the broken one. I was able to save additional money by getting the identical make and model so that the old toner cartridge could be used.

AMP Report:

N/A

DCO Report:

N/A

CEO Report:

N/A

Legislature Report: Fred Morrill

1. County has worked at getting the budget down 4.3% from the tentative budget.

2. We used 4 million from the Fund Budget.

3. We cut positions that were open and don’t plan on filling them.

4. Our budget will be final December 1st; any more changes we have will be done at the November 24th meeting.

5. There will be a tour of the new Jail on December 6th I hope you can make it.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Resolution #80: Audit

A motion was made by Councilwoman Foster and seconded by Councilwoman Jeanette to pay the following bills with these transfers of monies:

Transfer $13,500 from the fund balance and put $6,000 into account D5130.4 and $7,500 into account D5110.4.

Transfer the balance remaining in County Snow Removal D5148.4 into Town Snow Removal D5142.4

General vouchers # 371-414: $23,446.53 ($23,474.52 TE)
Highway vouchers # 221-234: 26,520.96
Street Lighting #11:   Russell $432.32
                              DeGrasse 140.23
                                           $572.55

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

Motion carried.

Highway:

Supervisor Knox asked Superintendent White if he would check out some bad areas on Dana Hill Road before winter sets in.

Superintendent White stated that NOCO wants us to sign another agreement with them stating:

Resolution #81: NOCO Agreement

A motion was made by Supervisor Knox and seconded by Councilwoman Coller to sign this agreement with NOCO Energy Corp., with the changes the board added.

AGREEMENT

In accordance with your request dated 11/06/08, NOCO Energy Corp. will furnish NOCO HD 15W40 with the following equipment on loan. The equipment is loaned to the TOWN OF RUSSELL for the storage or dispensing of lubricants which shall be purchased exclusively from NOCO Energy Corp., the TOWN OF RUSSELL agrees to purchase all of its lubricant requirements from NOCO Energy Corp., during the term of this agreement. The term of this agreement is a minimum of 5 years.

If the TOWN OF RUSSELL should discontinue purchasing its products from NOCO Energy Corp. or use any other products for that equipment not purchased from NOCO Energy Corp. you will be billed at a cost of $1,500.00 less 10% depreciation per year in use, maximum 50% depreciation.

TOWN OF RUSSELL also agrees to purchase a minimum number of gallons. The product(s) and minimum gallons are as follows:
Product: NOCO HD 15W40    Minimum: 1200 gallons

TOWN OF RUSSELL also wants this contract to precede the prior contract with the life of the agreement.

TOWN OF RUSSELL is responsible for any damage and maintenance on the equipment for the term of this agreement and the equipment must be maintained in reasonable working order at all times.

CUSTOMER IS TO SUPPLY AIR LINE TO TANK

TOWN OF RUSSELL is responsible for any reasonable attorney fees and court costs if the seller takes legal action to defend its rights under this contract.

At the termination date of this agreement the equipment remains the property of NOCO Energy Corp., unless the agreement is extended or mutually modified.

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

Motion carried.

Supervisor Knox stated the new furnace is being installed in the new library/museum.

The old duct work needs to be covered so cold air can’t pass through.

He met with Canton -Potsdam hospital on Wednesday, they are interested in the clinic. The board feels EJ Noble hospital did all the leg work so they are still getting the building.

Resolution #82: Clinic lease

A motion was made by Councilwoman Foster and seconded by Councilwoman Jeanette to authorize the Supervisor to sign the Lease with EJ Noble Hospital after the town lawyer reviews it for the few changes that were made.

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

Motion carried.

Resolution #83: A Commitment to the Community Pledge

A motion was made by Supervisor Knox and seconded by Councilwoman Coller to have the Town of Russell Supervisor and Opera House Chairman sign the pledge to neither accept nor solicit any financial contributions, sponsorships, or gifts from any tobacco company, executive, or activity that promotes tobacco use. In addition, we will not allow the sampling, distribution and promotion of tobacco products to occur at events we conduct.

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

Motion carried.

Supervisor Knox stated that eaves troughs should be put on the new Library/Museum building.

Adjournment:

A motion was made by Supervisor Knox to adjourn the meeting at 8:30pm seconded by Councilwoman Foster. All were in favor. Motion carried.