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2004-10-13 SP MTG47 Special Town Board Meeting 10-13-2004 Mtg. #47 457 SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING MTG. #47 OCTOBER 13, 2004 RES. 498-506 5:20 p.m. TOWN BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT SUPERVISOR DANIEL STEC COUNCILMAN ROGER BOOR COUNCILMAN THEODORE TURNER COUNCILMAN JOHN STROUGH COUNCILMAN TIM BREWER TOWN OFFICIALS BUDGET OFFICER JENNIFER SWITZER DIRECTOR IT DEPT. BOB KEENAN DEPUTY WASTEWATER SUPT. MIKE SHAW WATER/WASTEWATER SUPT. RALPH VANDUSEN DEPUTY WATER SUPT. BRUCE OSTRANDER ASSESSOR HELEN OTTE TOWN HISTORIAN MARILYN VANDYKE BUDGET WORKSHOP IT DEPARTMENT Director Bob Keenan-Fine with the budget the way it is I think the only reason is to discuss salary increase for employee. Questioned the status of the GIS position. Supervisor Stec-We will meet with Marilyn at 3pm that plan has not changed since you were first told about it. Half of the salary will be in your budget the other half in Community Development Budget. It will be a full time GIS position. RESOLUTION CALLING FOR AN EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 498,2004 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. John Strough 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 discuss personnel, salary level. th Duly adopted this 13 day of October, 2004 by the following vote: Special Town Board Meeting 10-13-2004 Mtg. #47 458 AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Turner, Mr. Strough, Mr. Stec NOES: None ABSENT: Mr. Brewer RESOLUTION ADJOURNING EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 499.2004 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Theodore Turner WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. John Strough RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby adjourns its Executive Session. th Duly adopted this 13 day of October, 2004 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Turner, Mr. Strough, Mr. Stec NOES: None ABSENT: Mr. Brewer No Action Taken WATER/WASTE WATER DEPT. WASTEWATER DEPARTMENT Supervisor Stec-Questioned if any Department Head or Board Members have any questions regarding the Wastewater Budget? Councilman Boor-Regarding major projects is there anything in the future? Deputy Wastewater Supt. Mike Shaw-RE: Sewers 2005 Main Street Sewer Project… Councilman Strough-Questioned if the connector road would be serviced? Deputy Shaw-Not at this time, it can in the future through Luzerne Road or Main Street. The design is set for only Main Street, to change it now would hold up the County on their project. Special Town Board Meeting 10-13-2004 Mtg. #47 459 th Supervisor Stec-Oct. 20 2004 there is a Main Street Meeting at Warren County Municipal Center from 9 to 11. Deputy Shaw-Spoke about sewering Dixon Road which would involve the school, that has the potential of being a large project. In the area of Dixon and Broadacres and possibly Reservoir Park to enlarge the district. Water/Wastewater Supt. Ralph VanDusen-It would be subject to permissive referendum. Deputy Shaw-Noted there are funds available for Reservoir Park, twenty five residents on the system, it is falling apart, looking for alternatives in this area… Re: Budget the O&M rates are staying the same the taxing rate is done on every district, Quaker Road Sewer District is going down by about 5%. South Queensbury is raising because last year was minimal financing charges this year we are going to pay full bond and principal payment. Route 9 they will see their rate go up in making the full bond and principal payment… Noted O&M rates are tied to the City of Glens Falls plant… Supervisor Stec-We have negotiated for auditing their books…that is in the budget. Councilman Strough-Questioned if you divided the employee cost over the number of districts? Deputy Shaw-Currently Central Qsby. Quaker Road Sewer District is the biggest budget and generally that is where all our salaries and benefits and vehicles are coming out of there. I have identified thirty two different accounts in there that you could say, other districts are getting the benefit, what we did was calculated all the total flows of all the districts, came up with a percentage and those districts are paying back into Quaker Road for that. Supervisor Stec-You are looking to move somebody that is at maintenance II to working foreman? Deputy Shaw-We are at the point where you have one deputy director and three maintenance underneath it and it has gotten to a point where there are a lot of things to maintain and certainly you need another set of eyes out there. I cannot get out there as much as I would like to and I need another set of eyes out there to make sure that things are maintained to a certain level. Also, I had maybe seven years left possibly and I would like to bring somebody along. Water/Wastewater Supt. VanDusen-I would add is that, it is as you have more pumping stations more different districts to maintain you have three Indians you need somebody to coordinate, so Mike is not running out every day to tell people what to do, you can allocate that Special Town Board Meeting 10-13-2004 Mtg. #47 460 task to someone else and they can learn more about the system at the same time. It is not an extra position it is a reclassification. Councilman Boor-The raise for the working foreman how long has he been an employee? Deputy Shaw-Two and a half years for the Wastewater Dept. prior to that he worked for approximately five years for the Water Department. Board agreed to changes. WATER DEPARTMENT Capital Projects Deputy Water Supt. Bruce Ostrander-2005 Projects Main Street West Glens Falls, Bay Road from Cronin to ACC Water/Wastewater Supt. VanDusen-Bay Road project will be bid this winter to start construction in the spring. Deputy Ostrander-2005 projects Paint the Luzerne Road tank Water/Wastewater Supt. VanDusen-To replace water lines possibly in 2005 or down the road depending on budgetary constraints, areas to be considered, Meadow Drive…Meadowbrook South of Quaker Road, Wilson, Sargent and Cline… we have dollars in this years budget to transfer into a Capital Reserve Fund, before the end of the year we want to set up that Reserve Fund. Councilman Strough-Questioned if there is coordination between the Water and Highway on these projects. Water/Wastewater Supt. VanDusen-Yes, we do that every year… The only other Capital Project is at the Treatment Plant. Deputy Ostrander-We have a powder activated carbon system feed system now that was donated to us by Niagara Mohawk in the early 90’s when they had the small PCB incident along the shores up there and they want to ensure we could take care of any small problem that might come to our intakes. That was before the expansion of the treatment plant it was a manually intensive system, we dump bags into the hoppers and we do not have precise control over the feed rates right now I believe it is time. We have looked at it powder activated carbon is not only used for in case there is something happens with the PCB’s its used all over to taste and odor control generally in July, August, September when algae blooms and the tastes and orders that goes with algae, we use it for that purpose also. It has a third advantage of helping lower TOC levels. Special Town Board Meeting 10-13-2004 Mtg. #47 461 WATER/WASTEWATER SUPT. VANDUSEN-Noted that the 2005 budget reflects engineering study regarding this proposal the cost of the study will be shared with Qsby., Hudson Falls and Moreau…if this goes forward the cost of the improvements will also be shared between the municipalities. Re: Personnel request for 2005 is one fewer person than we had in 2004 tax rates and water rates for Qsby. and Shore Colony will stay the same for 2005. RESOLUTION CALLING FOR AN EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 500, 2004 INTR0DUCED BY: Mr. Theodore Turner WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. John Strough RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby moves into an Executive Session to discuss personnel matters, salary compensation. th Duly adopted this 13 day of October, 2004 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Turner, Mr. Strough, Mr. Stec NOES: None ABSENT: Mr. Brewer RESOLUTION ADJOURNING EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 501.2004 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Roger Boor WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. John Strough RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby adjourns its Executive Session. th Duly adopted this 13 day of October, 2004 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Turner, Mr. Strough, Mr. Stec NOES: None ABSENT: Mr. Brewer Special Town Board Meeting 10-13-2004 Mtg. #47 462 No Action Taken Discussion held regarding extension of Water District on Butternut Hill-they would have to pay to install the pipe in that Subdivision… Discussion held update on Sewers-Water/Wastewater Supt. VanDusen-Kubricky Construction has started on Route 9 from the County Center to 149 the first step will be directional boring under Route 9 they hope to be done by Thanksgiving. On the water transmission project the piping is done Haviland to Ridge to Cronin Road is energized now, today we started the last flushing in the Country Club, Round Pond area to turn that on. Our goal is sometime next week or the week after we will have all of those turned on. We have a punch list meeting on Friday with the Contractor and Engineer to develop the final punch list on the job. The water line under the Northway is done, installed, disinfected and we took lab samples this afternoon. We are now at final clean up. UPDATE Supervisor Stec-Re: Salvation Army had Director Hatin contact the Salvation Army they noted they are concerned about the dumping…also talked to Bill Remington he was going to put a sign up and Sheriff Cleveland would need to enforce it. Today I spoke with both Remington and Cleveland separately he said there was a small sign there now but he will put up a larger sign. Talked to Sheriff Cleveland and he said they would do what they could. Re: Greater Glens Falls Transit System not to be confused with the Adirondack Glens Falls Transit Council. The Greater Glens Falls Transit System is the trolley service that is who we would enter into an agreement with. The Town of Queensbury has two representatives to this Greater Glens Falls Transit System historically it has been the Supervisor and the Executive Director of Community Development, I have been going to the meetings, resolution forthcoming naming the Supervisor and Executive Director to this group. ASSESSOR Assessor Helen Otte-Updated the Town Board on the progress of the st Re-Val, will be done March 1. Last re-val was ten years ago. The re-val company has all the residential done this coming week they will start the commercial. Councilman Strough-Residents have questioned how the re-val will affect the Star Program? Assessor Otte-We are planning to come in at 100% of market value, in that case the people will have the full benefit of the Star. This way Special Town Board Meeting 10-13-2004 Mtg. #47 463 when our equalization rates start to drop that is one of the factors that affects the star amount, so it has been dropping for the last couple of years. RESOLUTION CALLING FOR AN EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 502.2004 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Theodore Turner WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. John Strough RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby moves into an Executive Session to discuss personnel matters. th Duly adopted this 13 day of October, 2004 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Turner, Mr. Strough, Mr. Stec NOES: None ABSENT: Mr. Brewer RESOLUTION ADJOURNING EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 503, 2004 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Roger Boor WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. John Strough RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby adjourns its Executive Session. th Duly adopted this 13 day of October, 2004 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Turner, Mr. Strough, Mr. Stec NOES: None ABSENT: Mr. Brewer No Action Taken (Councilman Brewer entered the meeting) Special Town Board Meeting 10-13-2004 Mtg. #47 464 Councilman Boor-The re-val will affect the School Taxes in the upcoming year and the property taxes in 2006. Assessor Otte-Yes. HISTORIAN Town Historian Marilyn VanDyke-Reviewed the aspects of the Historian’s job. I have been in this job 13 years now, the job has expanded, we need to look at the role that the historian plays in the community. Four part job, research, writing, public presentation and working on historic preservation – an advocate of history for the community. Now working with Town Planning Dept. … new aspect of Historical Tourism. Presently working one day a week on Wednesdays…in preparation for presentations other days are used to perform the task. Councilman Strough-Spoke on the number of meetings she attends on different committees to keep up… Historian VanDyke-Spoke with the Budget Officer and Supervisor regarding present salary…spoke on increasing the time in the Office from a day to a day and a half and in turn pay half of the salary again, working one day a week, eight hours, you have four hundred hours a year, if increased to another half day you have six hundred hours a year, if you half the salary from 5,000. it would go to 7,500 except if you divide that our by the hourly wage there is no increment so it still stays at $12.50 an hour. Councilman Strough-The job is a lot more than a day or a day and a half. Historian VanDyke-Felt that this is a 1/3 job equating to $10,000… Councilman Strough-Spoke on the number of people that request her assistance…spreading the word of what Queensbury’s role has been playing in the history of events, the 1600’s on wars, we have been trying to highlight that and put Queensbury on the map. Historian VanDyke-Spoke to the Board on a typical day, also spoke on the training that she has received. Councilman Strough-There is now a book on the History of Queensbury, Marilyn is working very hard on it, we are going to be on the map, so all the tourism maps and everything else that goes on we are going to benefit from that. That would not have happened if it wasn’t for Marilyn. Special Town Board Meeting 10-13-2004 Mtg. #47 465 Councilman Boor-Reviewed for the Board the significant impact Mrs. VanDyke had on the preservation of the Quaker Burial Grounds… Historian VanDyke-Working to have this historical site on the National Historic Register. Supervisor Stec-We do very much respect and appreciate your dedication and your professionalism and your talent. Requested an Executive Session We do have other items to review before we go into an Executive session. Announced that Sharon Borgos will be leaving for another position… We need to discuss Budget Issues, Non Profits, Elected Salaries and then Executive Session. DISCUSSION FIRE AND EMS Budget Officer Switzer-Sent our letters- W.G.F., Qsby. Central stayed the same without a restricted vehicle fund, as their operating budgets this year, their insurance and debt service in there. Bay Ridge and North Qsby. we knocked down fifteen thousand dollars and South Qsby. was staying at a hundred and twenty. Councilman Strough-They want an opportunity to set down with the Board and discuss their budgets…. Supervisor Stec-We will be meeting sometime in Mid November with all Departments. Budget Officer Switzer-There is 1.5 million in the budget… Supervisor Stec-CIP contributions gone, QEDC-In budget for One Thirty Five – discussed the possible future of QEDC. RE: Retirement The Governors Office and State Legislature were the ones you do not have to pay into the Retirement System in December you can pay in February. We have 2004 monies that we cannot pay in 2004, we can create a reserve fund, we propose to split it over two years so that next year we will use half the reserve and raise the balance for 2005 and then in 2006 we will consume the other half of the 2004 reserve and raise another half in other revenue. That would be roughly $170,000 off from spending. Budget Officer Switzer-Because of this the general fund will go down $150,000. in retirement, Cemetery will go down $14,000. Highway down $60,000. Wastewater down $9,000. Water down $60,000. and landfill down $9,000. This budget calls for us to appropriate two million dollars in fund balances…sales tax is going up that gap should be closing and this year it did close…you need to decide if next year do you want to continue to give a million dollars to the County or do you want to use less of the fund balance based upon what that number is. Every year you need to look at this. Special Town Board Meeting 10-13-2004 Mtg. #47 466 Discussed the sales tax revenue from the County…budgeting 5 million, one million turn over to County will received approximately seven million this year… DISCUSSION NON PROFITS Supervisor Stec- Adirondack Theater Festival 2,500 Big Brothers Big Sisters 1,000 Caritas 2,500 Chapman 17,000 TOTAL Youth Center 10,000 Symphony 2,500 Greater G.F. Seniors 2,000 Hyde 10,000 LARAC 1,000 (Asked for in kind service to transport the puppets) Literacy Volunteers 7,000 (Supervisor noted he is a member of Literacy Volunteers) American Legion 300 Land Conservancy 8,000 Little League 15,000 Student Employment 2,000 World Awareness 1,300 Youth Court 1,500 Fire Convention 10,000 need up to 30,000 for 2006 The only proposed change other than the truck use, is that were raising Chapman to $17,000 ELECTED SALARIES Budget Officer Switzer-I did what we did for everybody else, followed the Union Contract 3.5% Supervisor Stec-Proposed the 3.5% for all Elected Officials for the preliminary budget. Consensus of the Board to include this percentage in the preliminary budget. RESOLUTION CALLING FOR AN EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 504, 2004 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Roger Boor WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION Special Town Board Meeting 10-13-2004 Mtg. #47 467 SECONDED BY: Mr. Theodore Turner RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby moves into an Executive Session to discuss personnel matters, salary compensation. th Duly adopted this 13 day of October, 2004 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Turner, Mr. Strough, Mr. Brewer, Mr. Stec NOES: None ABSENT: None RESOLUTION ADJOURNING EXECUTIVE SESSION RESOLUTION NO. 505, 2004 INTRODUCED BY: Mr. Theodore Turner WHO MOVED FOR ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. John Strough RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury hereby adjourns its Executive Session. th Duly adopted this 13 day of October, 2004 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Turner, Mr. Strough, Mr. Brewer, Mr. Stec NOES: None ABSENT: None No Action Taken Supervisor Stec-Announced a meeting tomorrow at 3:00P.M. for Community Development for salary issues… RESOLUTION ADJOURNING TOWN BOARD MEETING RESOLUTION NO. 506, 2004 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 adjourns its Special Town Board Meeting. Special Town Board Meeting 10-13-2004 Mtg. #47 468 th Duly adopted this 13 day of October, 2004 by the following vote: AYES: Mr. Boor, Mr. Turner, Mr. Strough, Mr. Brewer, Mr. Stec NOES: None ABSENT: None Respectfully submitted, Miss Darleen M. Dougher Town Clerk-Queensbury