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2003-07-28 SP SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 07-28-2003 MTG. #32 471 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING JULY 28, 2003 6:30 p.m. MTG.#32 RES. 348- 348D TOWN BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT SUPERVISOR DENNIS BROWER COUNCILMAN ROGER BOOR COUNCILMAN THEODORE TURNER COUNCILMAN DANIEL STEC COUNCILMAN TIM BREWER MEMBERS OF THE PINE VIEW CEMETERY COMMISSION DIRECTOR OF BUILDING AND GROUNDS CHUCK RICE 1.0 RESOLUTIONS NONE 2.0 DISCUSSIONS 2.1 H EO I Laborer Position at Cemetery Supervisor Brower-Commended the Cemetery Commission for being very responsive to the financial situation of the cemetery, you have been very responsible over a period of three years raising fees that are competitive with the region. Noted when the Crematory position became available and our HEO moved into the crematory to do that job it left a vacancy in the HEO position. The Town Board met and discussed it and we would allow a laborer to be hired and you met and you wanted an HEO to be hired, so we called for this meeting. Noted Mr. Manney is in a MEO position, noted that the Cemetery has no equipment at the Pine View listed for MEO operator...suggested Mr. Manney be promoted to HEO at the Cemetery to operate the heavy equipment keep the laborer job, the question is do we hire another laborer or could we fill in from other departments? Spoke to the Building and Grounds Supt. when the Cemetery needed an extra person could he loan the cemetery an individual his only question was who would pay for it? I assume the Cemetery would pay for the laborer. Building and Grounds Supt. noted that he felt it would work he would be willing to be flexible and work with the cemetery. Cemetery Commission Member-Noted that the Commission had discussed this at length noted they need another person. Supt. Mike Genier-Noted at present they are budgeted for a crematory operator foreman, HEO, MEO and Laborer the HEO is vacant right now... we approached the Town Board for another person to help us out the Board agreed that we could get another person, recommended a laborer. Brought back that decision to the Cemetery Commission it was reviewed they would prefer to hire an HEO. Looking for placement where a laborer could move up to MEO or MEO to HEO or Foreman...also spoke to the Board regarding persons can work on or below their title but not above...could cause a problem. Noted that they do not have a back up plan with the number of people that are presently working. Noted the HEO position is funded for 2003, and it is vacant. Supervisor Brower-Proposal you have a single axle truck which does not require an MEO, make the MEO the HEO then you have a HEO and Laborer and working Foreman..., why can't you deal with temporary part time laborer from another department on an as needed basis as opposed to having two there full time SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 07-28-2003 MTG. #32 472 employees year round? What are they going to do in the winter, I am still not convinced that these people are busy all winter long. Supt. Genier-Noted if you look at the job description of the heavy equipment operator runs blacktop machines, bulldozers, graders, we do not have that type of equipment, we have a one ton dump truck. My vision for the cemetery would be laborer, cemetery maintenance one, cemetery maintenance two, foreman, crematory operator... spoke about the use of temporary employees and noted circumstances that would not allow the switching of employees between depa rtments. Councilman Brewer-Noted he understood the Supervisor's point of borrowing a person...We have already approved a person for that department in the town by resolution, whether we call him a HEO or Maintenance One or Two or whatever I do not care what we call him. My point is if Mike or Chuck or Rick they have a project they are doing over there and they get a few hours or a few days where things are slow and they can go do it and Chuck doesn't need a man, certainly borrow and use them. But, when you run an operation with a certain number of people and one person is out for a week you can cover vacations. You just make adjustments but when that person is permanently gone and you do not have them you don't just get somebody to fill in, because then he looses in his department because he does not have things are to be done, done. So, I agree if there is some project that is being done and you see guys sitting around by all means take them and shift them to another department where he does need help. He gets one guy out sick and something happens to somebody else then what do we do stop the operation? Running that department with three men I do not know how they do it. They have ten outside cemeteries and Pine View and the Crematory... Cemetery Commissioner-That is our job to determine the qualifications of the employees. Supervisor Brower-You do not need an MEO you need an HEO so why wouldn't you want to elevate your MEO to an HEO, and if you hire another laborer then you would have two laborer and an HEO and working foreman. Councilman Boor-That would seem to make more sense. Supervisor Brower-What goes on in the winter, we do not lay anyone off in the winter time. Supt. Genier-Noted snow removal, a lot of winter burials...listed the items that need to be completed for a winter burials...rebuild equipment...build enclosure for trash cans, painting, .. Supervisor Brower-What are the chances of Hank Manney being promoted to HEO? Supt. Genier-Spoke to Hank he does want to be considered for the position, we generally give first choice within the department... Noted Highway Dept. has helped with the Friends Cemetery and will be working with us in developing the Erie Section a new section of the cemetery. Supervisor Brower-How many lots do you have available currently? Supt. Genier-Currently, approximately one hundred and ten to a hundred and fifty lots left in Seneca, Horicon Section there are quite a few lots... noted that they do not sell lots in the outside cemeteries. Working with Town Counsel on Seeley one and two we maintain part of Seeley two Mr. Lee owns of Seeley SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 07-28-2003 MTG. #32 473 one...noted we will no longer maintain private property... working toward having the Town maintain all of Seeley... Supervisor Brower-Look to promote Mr. Manney to HEO, you then have a laborer and then hire another laborer? Cemetery Commission Member-That leaves one of our laborer's with no place to go... Councilman Boor-Maybe he should go to HEO at some point. Cemetery Commission Member-It has always worked that everybody could move up. Councilman Boor-My take as an employer would be who ever has seniority and most qualified be the person that is ahead of the other one. Councilman Brewer-How do we go about creating a maintenance one and two? Councilman Turner-That would have to be part of the contract with the union. Councilman Brewer-Move the MEO to HEO, leave the MEO there and then fill the position and get the men working so we can and then revisit the idea of maintenance one and two with the union after words. Make the jobs appropriate for the cemetery rather than a universal HEO or universal MEO. Supervisor Brower-Noted he spoke to the union and their concern is that they had an HEO position they felt it was important for them to have the HEO position filled. Supt. Genier-At the present time the HEO is funded and it is a viable job. Councilman Brewer-The next step is get the union in here and reclassify those jobs. Supt. Genier-Noted in moving the MEO to HEO he has the right to try the job for ninety days and if he wants to stay he becomes permanent, or if he changes his mind he has a right to go back to his job. Need to have the jobs match the titles. Councilman Stec-..Start with Option one evolving to Option two reclassifying the jobs... have the MEO position unfilled, have two laborers and HEO...... Councilman Brewer-You fill the positions and then you come up with a plan: Laborer, MEO renamed Maintenance one and HEO renamed Maintenance two and a working foreman and crematory operator...you out line that for us and we will bring it to the union. Councilman Boor-Noted if you needed at some time an MEO we could fill it as an MEO, right now it is a ridiculous notion. Supt. Genier-Noted he will post for an HEO... 2.0 QUEENSBURY LIGHTING POLICY Community Development Director Chris Round-Spoke about a Memo dated July 14th Reviewed history of the Town lighting discussed Mr. Kenny's request for lighting at million dollar half mile... hired CT Male Assoc. to prepare a lighting plan so Niagara Mohawk could provide a cost estimate, noted the lighting was to SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 07-28-2003 MTG. #32 474 be ornamental in nature, one foot candle on the ground, also work in Niagara Mohawk's constraints...after some meetings an Aspen Grove fixtures for the area. Lights every one hundred feet, staggered starting at Exit 20 to 149. Fifty one lights, There are several options: The Town could buy and construct, install and own the lights themselves... noted we are looking for Niagara Mohawk to do all the work ...second option; buy and install and have Niagara Mohawk provide you with operation and maintenance services... in both cases you would buy energy from Niagara Mohawk or someone else. The cost projected is approximately thirty thousand dollars a year including energy. It is like a life time lease. Noted there are five lighting districts in the town and this is in the Queensbury Lighting Dist. it is the largest and highest assessed district. Right now there is sixty thousand dollars in annual costs basically it would be a fifty percent cost increase to the lighting district users and that relates to ten cents per thousand cost to the entire district. Noted they look at creating a separate district for this area, also looked at consolidating all the districts, another option charging certain lights to general fund which we do now in a large area of town we pay for certain lights and just charging the entire lighting district for pedestrian lights and for lights that were on local streets. The plan is to get the lights in as part of the sewer district, once the sewer district is constructed, there will disruption of service to the driveways and businesses and there is going to be some restoration activities suggested doing this at the front end or tail end of the sewer service then restoration will not cost us anything it will be part of the sewer district restoration costs. In order to do that, you have a lighting district policy basically says we are going to light particular streets in the town, Cobra head, one hundred and fifty watts and placed on an existing pole if you want anything other than that you have to pay for it. From an accounting standpoint that would be very difficult to do. Councilman Turner-In a subdivision every person would have to be petitioned in the association to have lights in the subdivision...they buy the lights. Director Round-Noted we do have lights owned by private subdivisions, all the lights on Route 9 are owned by the Town, on Main Street there will be a half millions worth of lights that we are going to own but pay Niagara Mohawk for energy and maintenance. The revision of the proposal for a lighting policy, adds a section D ..regional arterial, heavy pedestrian use area. We have said the area between Route 9 between 149 and the City of Glens Falls boundary we are going to allow this kind of light but at the discretion of the town board. Noted you can always vary from a policy it is only a guide. Looking at a district charge, ten cents per thousand increase. The policy that we are proposing for street lights for highway lights you could under New York State Law you could have the Town pay for the Highway lights on State Highways and County Roads. Comptroller Hess-Noted that in that particular district they are paying less anyway due to overcharges, the expenses in that district are sixty one thousand dollars this past year we only had to raise twenty one thousand dollars. We have taxed at 4.2 cents when actually the tax rate should be twelve cents. There is a fund balance of around eighty thousand dollars. Director Round-Noted they have discussed using some of the fund balance so the rate would not spike. Comptroller Hess-We're doing that slowly to use up the fund balance. Director Round-Noted there is a need to revise the policy Noted if the type of light fixture is changed it would raise the costs. A tour of lights has been looked into around the area. In this proposed area for lighting it was suggested that the Cobra lights be left with a small wattage along with the pedestrian lighting. SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 07-28-2003 MTG. #32 475 Councilman Brewer-Suggested leaving the Cobra lights for one year and taking them out if it doesn't work out. Councilman Turner-There are only seven lights on the front. Director Round-Noted there is a retirement fee for taking lights out of service...also noted that it has been suggested to put in our own, noted that we do not have the equipment to take care of the lights, if we had a public works department it would be something to look at. Noted the sewer projects looks like it will be put off until next spring. Supervisor Brower-Spoke about ornaments being place around the lights at Christmas time... Director Round-Noted that Niagara Mohawk is very specific on what can be placed on poles...no advertising of businesses is allow, they will allow Christmas decorations. Councilman Boor-Questioned how they charge for the convenience outlets on the poles? Comptroller Hess-We have convenience outlets that we use at Christmas at Bay and Quaker, there is no charge for that. Director Round-Noted it did say convenience outlets not including energy? Councilman Boor-Are they responsive when a bulb goes out? Councilman Turner-No. Councilman Boor-Who will write the contract, them or us? Director Round-They do. Councilman Boor-Do we get to augment it at all? Councilman Turner-Noted that they do not have a lighting crew, they are gone? Councilman Boor-They are guaranteeing service but they do not have a crew to provide the service? Comptroller Hess-They continue to bill you whether the light is out or not. The negotiations for us says, you take it or leave it. Councilman Boor-Would like to move forward, it is going to improve the looks of the area, I would like to see it extended into other areas of town .. 2.2 Emergency Generator Wiring for Town Hall Building and Ground Supt. Chuck Rice spoke to the Town Board regarding the need for emergency generator wiring for the main office building. SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 07-28-2003 MTG. #32 476 RESOLUTION CALLING FOR AN EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 348.2003 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Theodore Turner WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. Roger Boor RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby moves into an Executive Session to review applications for Recreation Commission Member. Duly adopted this 28th day of July, 2003 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Turner, Mr. Stec, Mr. Brewer, Mr. Brower NOES: None ABSENT: None RESOLUTION ADJOURNING EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 348A- 2003 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Theodore Turner WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. Daniel Stec RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby adjourns its Executive Session and moves back into open session. Duly adopted this 28th day of July, 2003 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Turner, Mr. Stec, Mr. Brewer, Mr. Brower NOES: None ABSENT: None Supervisor Brower-Chris Round brought something to my attention and I want to give you both sides of it. The City bought a property somewhere near the Northway on Dixon Road, the idea of buying the property was to create a parking area, a bridge to Coles Woods for additional trails. The City purchased it and Ed Hernandez came to Chris and said do you think the Town Board would have any interest in participating improving, participating in the cost for this project or in some way assisting? My initial reaction was a lot of Queensbury residents use Coles woods and they are really our property even though the law suit doesn't tax the city any more because the settlement that was reached by Dick Merrill. If you recall, Dick was acting Supervisor when Fred was on vacation and Dick agreed to a forty year no tax situation, after which the city has built a multi million dollar water plant there. In a way they have a huge advantage in that they are not going to be paying Queensbury any taxes on that improvement. By the other token though our citizens do use Coles Woods and I see both sides of it. I see where we could potentially participate in improving the parking area which a lot of our citizens are going to end up using to access the trails. Councilman Brewer-How much do they want us to participate? SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 07-28-2003 MTG. #32 477 Supervisor Brower-Whether it is dollars or in kind service I am not sure, there is a possibility that our highway department could assist with in kind services. Councilman Brewer-How much did they pay for the property? Supervisor Brower-I am not positive what that investment was. I am looking for some conceptual consensus. Councilman Boor-I can't offer a yes or no because I do not know what is being asked. Supervisor Brower-You want to know more of what they want... Councilman Boor-Is this an extended obligation or a one time? Supervisor Brower-I think it is a one time deal. They bought the property technically it is their land they are asking us to assist on. Noted in speaking with the Comptroller we have already given them a ton of advantage on that property . Councilman Boor-That is sort of the way I would lean now. Supervisor Brower-By the same token we talk about inter municipal cooperation. Councilman Turner-That is fine, but it has its limits. Councilman Boor-This isn't cooperation Councilman Brewer-This is a donation not cooperation. If you want cooperation here is what we can do, there is a piece of property that the City owns down by Hudson Pointe... Supervisor Brower-That was the other part, there is a piece of property down by Hudson Pointe that we would like to have that would link Councilman Brewer-All of our property together. Supervisor Brower-our recreational assets on that side ... Could we cut a deal, if we participated in the cost of this parking lot that would off set .. Councilman Stec-That is inter municipal cooperation. Give Chris that guidance. See what they want... Councilman Boor-I think we should see exactly what they want. RESOLUTION CALLING FOR AN EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUITON NO. 348B- 2003 INTRODUCED BY, Mr. Tim Brewer WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. Theodore Turner RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby moves into an Executive Session. Duly adopted this 28th day of July 2003 by the following vote: SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 07-28-2003 MTG. #32 478 AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Turner, Mr. Stec, Mr. Brewer, Mr. Brower NOES: None ABSENT: None RESOLUTION ADJOURING EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 348C.2003 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Daniel Stec WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. Theodore Turner RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby adjourns its Executive Session. Duly adopted this 28th day of July, 2003 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Turner, Mr. Stec, Mr. Brewer, Mr. Brower NOES: None ABSENT: None Open Session Discussion regarding Queensbury Central truck funding: Supervisor Brower- John from Queensbury Central came in requested the resolution for the twenty five thousand dollars for the truck. Councilman Boor- My understanding was that he was going to take it from the truck fund we were going to give him the twenty five thousand for his truck instead of the ninety he was going to get on hundred and fifteen for next year, that was the agreement. Councilman Brewer-That is what I told Joe DuPrey when he was here. Supervisor Brower-Noted we will have to open the contract sometime. Councilman Brewer- We were told that you were going to take it out of this fund and we are going to bump the fund up twenty five thousand next year so that it can be done this year. Everyone agreed to that. Get copies of the minutes and call in both parties to review them. RESOLUTION ADJOURNING SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING RESOLUTION NO. 348D.2003 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Roger Boor WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. Tim Brewer RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby adjourns its Special Town Board Meeting. Duly adopted this 28th day of July, 2003 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Turner, Mr. Stec, Mr. Brewer, Mr. Brower NOES: None ABSENT: None SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING 07-28-2003 MTG. #32 479 Respectfully submitted, Miss Darleen M. Dougher Town Clerk-Queensbury