Date: February 23, 2011
Time: 6:00 pm
Elected Officers: Mayor Frohne, Trustees O’Connor, Kurkowski, Patrick, and Pierson
Appointed Officers:
Clerk – Diane Blackwell
Treasurer – Donna Wells
Roll Call: Mayor Frohne, Trustee O’Connor, Trustee Pierson, and Trustee Patrick, Trustee Kurkowski present.
Mayor Frohne asked if there were any objections to waiving the reading of the minutes of the Feb.8, 2011 minutes. No objections.
Motion to approve the Feb. 8, 2011 minutes made by Trustee Pierson, 2nd. by Trustee Patrick, Trustee’s O’Connor, Pierson, Patrick, Kurkowski and Mayor Frohne voted yes. Motion carried.
Special Business:
Lamont Engineers: Glen Simpson
Glen- Contract 1 – over and under presented to board at last meeting, needs to have $175.00 added to it for a manhole on Bronner St. needs work done.
Contract 2 - did bench walls on 2 manholes and needed to be re-done. Glen had them do them over and are ok now.
Contract 5 – everything is in as far as the contract, there is an issue of swapping out the fans and louver’s or possibly just reversing them, Glen is waiting for a price from JV Warren for a decision on this. Heaters are all in, just have to co-ordinate with Stilsing to come and have them wired.
Problem at 19 River St., the sewer backed up in basement of house. When DeVincentis hooked up the sewer for this residence it was hooked to the floor drain, instead of the sewer drain. The DeVincentis Co. hired Ed. Bello to temporarily hook the house to the floor drain, and then DeVincentis sent a cleaning crew in on 2/22/2011. Eventually a permanent hook up will be done; the resident must put in a sump pump. DeVincentis does not feel they should pay for the permanent hook up, but Lamont Eng. feels it is their mistake and they should cover the expenses.
Doug Bordinger – Property maintenance
Trustee Patrick expressed his appreciation as did the rest of the board members to Doug for the welding job he did for the water plant on the air tank 5 hp. compressor.
2/14/2011 - has been patrolling for illegal parking, going out 4:30 am. and has not had to write any tickets yet.
2/18/2011 – received a complaint about garbage build up behind the laundry mat on James St. He checked it and a certified letter was sent out to the owner, Claudia McNair on 2/23/2011.
Doug spoke to Judge Brykailo about the Rudenko property issue at 177 Main St.; he was told that he did not show up for court, so he will be getting a $200.00 fine per day from 2/17/2011 for not appearing.
Doug has tried to contact the County about different properties that have been turned over to them, but does not receive a phone call back. Mayor Frohne called them on 2/23/2011 and asked them to call Doug.
The issue with the snow on the sidewalks is difficult to handle. There are at least 30-40 residences within the village that are putting snow on the sidewalks because there is no place else to put it. He has also spoken to different people who have been snow blowing the snow out on the streets. Doug suggested that the DPW crew haul the snow away when they got a chance to clear out some of these areas.
Public Comment:
Jack Clark sponsors a car show at the Tally Ho every other Monday night throughout the summer starting on May 30th, and asked the Village board if there was an overflow for parking if they could use part of the Spring Park so no one has to park on Route 20. The board agreed there was no problem with that. Jack also asked about using the park for his last show of the season which he started last year and had a very good turnout. It was agreed by the board, and Jack was told to speak with the Clerk for the application and to reserve the date.
Barbara Smith approached the board about the water pressure in the village. She feels it is too strong and feels the village residents should be made aware. It was explained to her that the water for the village is gravity fed and has been this way for many years and is not anything that can be changed. She then asked about the amount of the water bills, and explained that she feels the residents are not made aware of the prices they are paying for water. It was stated that a price outline could possibly be sent with Tom Shypski’s water report that goes out once a year. No decision was made on that. She also feels that the figures on the reports are outdated. It was explained to her that Tom does water tests every day; therefore, the figures are accurate.
Clerk – Diane Blackwell
Abstract #18- General Fund- $11,433.68, Water Fund - $6,781.94, Sewer Fund - $3,684.24,
Trust and Agency $670.16, Total: $22,570.02.
Motion to approve abstract #18 made by Trustee O’Connor, 2nd. by Trustee Pierson, Trustee’s O’Connor, Pierson, Patrick, Kurkowski and Mayor Frohne voted yes. Motion carried.
The Clerk reported to the board that she had received a letter from George Erhmann requesting to do a concert in Spring Park again this year. It was agreed by all members and the Clerk will get back to Mr. Erhmann to reserve the date.
Treasurer – Donna Wells:
Donna informed the board that she has found a new uniform company for the employees. It is R&S out of Johnstown. The contract is good for 3 years with a clause that says if not happy with their services it can be canceled at any time. Quote for everyone who has uniforms now - $32.18 per month.
Motion to approve the new uniform contract which is good for three (3) years, R&S, made by Trustee Pierson, 2nd. by Trustee Patrick, Trustee’s O’Connor, Pierson, Patrick, Kurkowski and Mayor Frohne voted yes.
It was asked by one member as to why only 3 employees are getting uniforms? Donna informed them that the others did not want them. After a lengthy discussion, it was decided that all employees would get measured when the R&S man comes to the garage, and it would be decided by the board about the employees wearing uniforms or just shirt or t-shirts with their name and village name on them for identification purposes.
Transfer needed: From A9901.03 to L5031 for $2000.00.
Motion to approve transfer made by Trustee O’Connor, 2nd by Trustee Pierson, Trustee O’Connor, Pierson, Patrick, Kurkowski and Mayor Frohne voted yes.
We received a new rate schedule from Frank Toth, the man who digs the graves. April 15th – Nov. 30th will be $425.00, weekdays and Saturdays, Dec. 1st - April 14th, is $525.00, and Holidays and Sundays is $625.00. After discussion, it will be decided at a later meeting what the village’s rates will be.
The contract for Ove Varik, at 3544 St. Hwy. 20 for the outsider use for sewer only is ready to be mailed out. It states the board will set the fee from time to time.
Cemetery monies: would like to move money from LPL Financial, to NBT and eventually put into treasury notes or bonds or CD’s.
FYI for the board – as of Feb 20th we have $51,288.57 past due on water/sewer. Break down is: water - $19,102.39, sewer - $32,186.18. According to the village attorney it is legal to shut off water/sewer services to residences that are overdue on payments. If this were to be done, the dept. of health would have to be notified and if any children live at the residence, Social Services must be notified.
Mayor Frohne:
The attorney has spoken to Mayor Frohne about a new template for Property Maintenance: it has a 10 day warning, then a 5 day warning and then the codes officer can order it mowed. This will make the process move at a faster pace to get properties mowed and cleaned up.
Mayor Frohne met with all dept. heads on 2/23/2011 to discuss the budget needs for next year. He also spoke with Jim Malinowski about the workforce organization. He will make a list of all decisions made about the re-organization of roles for the workplace. Trustee Pierson has asked Jim Malinowski to keep a log of what the employees are doing and who is doing what, and the time frame it takes to do certain jobs.
After discussion about the sewer trainee and the issue of getting his license, it was agreed by all members that he will be given 1 year to pass the test for his license to operate the sewer plant. Mayor Frohne will talk with him about this issue.
CODES: all members reviewed the last part of the codes for General Codes.
Trustee Kurkowski:
Asked for a resolution to approve using money out of the fire dept. capitol reserve offset the cost of a new ambulance in the amount of $110,000.00.
Resolution to approve a motion for the Village to expend funds from the Fire Dept. Capitol Reserve for the purchase of a new ambulance in the amount of $110,000.00 made by Trustee Kurkowski, 2nd. by Trustee O’Connor, Trustee O’Connor, Pierson, Patrick, Kurkowski and Mayor Frohne voted yes.
Discussion was brought up again about the e-mail that the Clerk received regarding the playground in the Spring Park. A woman from Cullen, NY. would like to do research on either raising private funds or a grant to put a big playground in. After discussion, it was decided that because there is a playground in the park already and a playground at the school, and that the Village has serious concerns about the insurance liabilities, it was decided to not participate in this project at this time.
Trustee Kurkowski also expressed the fact that the roof of the pavilion is getting in need of repair.
Another discussion took place about the Rudenko property. It was stated that another junk car has been put on the property.
Trustee Kurkowski was also concerned about the Belle Vista property and if anyone lived there. No one had an answer for him.
Trustee O’Connor:
Wanted to stress the problems with the water plant. He explained that he has spoken to Tom Shypski and encouraged him to come to a board meeting and explain what he needed. The Mayor told him that he had met with all the dept. heads earlier that day and had gone over all of that.
Trustee Pierson: Nothing new at this time.
Trustee Patrick:
Praised Mayor Frohne about the good job he is doing.
There is a list of 24 water meters to be installed. Mayor Frohne has spoken to Tom Shypski to get the meters done and gave him a deadline of May 31st. 2011. He stressed to Tom that when a meter has been completed to let the board know about the progress. Mayor Frohne told Jim Malinowski that Doug Bordinger could help Tom during the April break when he will not be doing crossing guard; also have Bob help him if he needs to. There are a couple places where the homeowner needs to do some work to make it available for the meter to be put in. A warning can be given that they have so much time to get the repairs done so Tom can get the meter in, if not they will be fined.
The Library appointed new officers at their last meeting, but the officers must be appointed by the Mayor at the organizational meeting in April.
Rerob solution - Mayor Frohne e-mailed the attorney and he needs to know exactly what the village wants done.
Also, the Community Development revolving loan fund which is available strictly to owner occupied village residents of a 1-2 family home at an interest rate of 6%. Trustee Patrick would like to see this lowered. After discussion it was agreed to lower the rate to 2.5%, and it was suggested it be put in the Pennysaver to make village residents more aware.
Resolution to approve the motion to lower the interest rate of the Community Development revolving loan fund which is offered by the village and is currently 6%, down to 2.5% made by Trustee Patrick, 2nd. by Trustee O’Connor, Trustee O’Connor-yes, Trustee Pierson-yes, Trustee Patrick-yes, Trustee Kurkowski-yes and Mayor Frohne-yes.
A motion was made for an ad to be put in the Pennysaver that the money is available by Trustee Pierson, 2nd. by Trustee Kurkowski, Trustee’s O’Connor, Pierson, Patrick, Kurkowski and Mayor Frohne voted yes.
Motion to adjourn made by Trustee O’Connor, 2nd.by Trustee Pierson, Trustees O’Connor, Pierson, Patrick, Kurkowski and Mayor Frohne voted yes. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Diane Blackwell
Village Clerk
