Village of Wampsville Regular Meeting February 2, 2016 The meeting of the Village of Wampsville Board of Trustees was called to order at 6:33 pm in the Village Hall, located at 118 North Court St, Wampsville, NY. Present: Mayor John Clute, Trustees Dawn Collins, Chris Colvin and Rita Church, Clerk Rosanne Warner. Others in Attendance: Madison County Planner Jamie Hart, Sarah Krisch, Mike Klenotiz, Town of Lenox Councilmen Richard Wimmer, Resident Stephen Touron, Attorney Peter Finocchiaro and Chief Monte Colucci. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Madison County Planning Jamie Hart from the Madison County Planning updated the board about the City of Oneida s grant awards for the Rail Trail. A copy of the trail map was shown where the proposed trail will be located. The trail encompasses 4 miles of trail between the City of Oneida and the Old Erie Canal towpath in Wampsville. The City of Oneida developed a proposed improvement design of the trails. Part of the project included the expansion of the road shoulder over the North Court Street Bridge. The bridge by Hubbard Place is under review and was recently cleared. Chief Colucci entered 6:37 pm Rendering of possible designs for the bridge were included in the presentation. A copy of the presentation was provided to the board. John Rouscher, Oneida City Engineer is the head of the project for the City of Oneida. The sidewalk extension was discussed and a copy of the sidewalk policy will be forwarded to the Planning Department. The grant is an 80% - 20% match with the match coming the City of Oneida and Madison County. A Memo of Understanding (MOU) with the village will be needed as the project moves forward. The sidewalk is proposed to be extended across two residents properties on North-East side of North Court Street. The sidewalk design is being discussed and may include a yellow stripe from the County to the Bridge to the county property to indicate where the trail is. Jamie stated that at this time, no one from the County Planning Department has spoken to the property owners who will have sidewalks installed. Jamie also stated that the sidewalk will be paid for as part of the grant but future replacement and maintenance will be taken care of according to what the village s sidewalk law dictates. The sidewalk expected life will last 40 years. Resident, Stephen Touron asked about who would be responsible to maintain the trail within the village limits. Jamie stated that that would be outlined in the MOU between the City of Oneida and the Village of Wampsville. Jamie did not believe that the village would incur any additional costs other than the usual maintenance. Mayor Clute stated that the trail in the village would actually be a sidewalk and not a grassy area requiring mowing and landscaping. Any paint striping responsibility would be outlined in the MOU. Mayor Clute asked about the inclusion of the proposed village park and if there could be an extension of the trail to that park which is proposed to be located in front of the DSS building. CNS Engineering is working on the project. Village of Wampsville Meeting February 2, 2015 Page 1
Trustee MacDonald and son entered - 6:55 pm. The proposal shown had renderings that included utilizing part of the Fire Company s property. Mayor Clute asked if there would be any structures included in the proposal that uses part of the Firemen s property. Jamie stated that there were two grants awarded for $1,300,000.00. She was not sure how much of the grant money has been used for the engineering and administrative fees. Attorney Finocchiaro asked how much money would be used towards the actual construction of the trail. Jamie stated that she did not know the amount. Stephen Touron asked if motorized vehicles could be used on the trail. Jamie stated that for the portion located on the road side, motorized vehicles cannot be on the sidewalks or trail but would be on the road. Attorney Finocchiaro asked if the park would be better located at the DSS building and would have a more natural atmosphere if it were located in front of the DSS instead of the fire department property. He notes that as the planners pointed out, the sheriff s department zooms down the parking lot area and it would be dangerous to have a park in that area. Stephen Touron felt that a traffic light should be installed at the road crossing by the sheriff s driveway. Attorney Finocchiaro noted that in the there could be an accident, the property owner would be sued and most likely, the trail would be closed. Jamie stated that the trail would be along the side of the road similar to a sidewalk. She noted that everything was preliminary and the county is trying to gather public comment for the project. Construction is hoped to begin this spring or summer. Jamie stated that with the development of the trail it could assist the village in applying for grants for the construction of a village park. Mayor Clute asked who would be responsible to speak to those two property owners about the extension of the sidewalk. Attorney Finocchiaro stated that the sidewalk extension would be included in the right of way to the county. Jamie stated that the county would construct the sidewalk as part of the grant. There was a discussion about the guardrails along the new Court Street Bridge being moved back on the east side of the road to allow for proper distance between the guardrail and white line. Approval of the Minutes Res. #9 2016 Trustee MacDonald made a motion to approve the minutes of the January meeting and Trustee Church seconded the motion. Treasurer s Report The Treasurer s report was presented to the board. Vouchers #160 185 in the amount of $7,231.36 were audited signed and approved. The Tax Cap law was discussed. Res. #10 2016 Trustee Collins made a motion to approve the Treasurer s report and Trustee MacDonald seconded the motion. Mayor s Business Attorney Issues Oneida Rail Trail Attorney Finocchiaro stated that he would not recommend the proposed trail through the driveway near the sheriff s department. He stated that it would be an issue in the winter and spoke about his concern of children playing near the path of emergency personnel. He did not feel that it would be aesthetically pleasing to see yellow lines painted along the sidewalks. There was a discussion about the need for the Oneida Indian Nation to sign onto this project which has not happened to date. The county has first Village of Wampsville Meeting February 2, 2015 Page 2
refusal on the fire company s property and the clause was written into the contract when they purchased the fire company building. Attorney Finocchiaro stated that the village could approach the Fire Company to lease the property but would only be able to purchase it if the county refused purchase. He stated that he still felt that the best place for the park would be in front of the County DSS building. Property Tax Override Law Attorney Finocchiaro stated that he will draft a property tax cap override law and have it ready for the March meeting. Residents Concerns Fire Departments Issues: January 2016 Fire Call Report Fires - 3 EMS - 14 MVA - 2 Standby 1 Total Calls: 20 Firehouse Updates Chief Colucci reported that the ceiling fans have been installed in the bay area and are working well. Truck Repairs The final service on 321 was completed by Churchville. A tack and air dryer have been fixed but the oil change on the pickup and inspections on all of the trucks still needs to be completed. FEMA Grant Application The village applied for a FEMA grant to install a generator. Chief Colucci thanked the Clerk and the Mayor for their work on the FEMA grant. Cascade Unit Updates The electric drain valve has been installed on the air compressor to the cascade unit and it is helping immensely. Chief Colucci stated that he was waiting for a price for the cascade annual service. Equipment Surplus The air packs were advertised on Firetrader.com and there were no bites. Chief Colucci will try to place them on e-bay to see if they will sell. The old radios are no longer used and need to be surplused. He stated that some of the radios are in good condition and some are junk. He proposed trading them in at Nutronics for batteries for other equipment. Res. #11-2016 Trustee Collins made a motion to trade off the surplus radio equipment with Nutronics and Trustee Church seconded the motion. Fire Department Correspondence The Fire Department received a letter from a person who would like permission to come to emergency scenes to take photos of the fire scene. Chief Colucci stated that he was not comfortable responding to the letter and felt it could be a liability. Trustee Colvin stated that it could be a problem if photos of Wamspville s fire equipment were taken and sold without the village s permission. Village of Wampsville Meeting February 2, 2015 Page 3
Trainings Chief Colucci will be attending a training about the Legalities and Responsibilities of the Fire Department Commander on February 26, - 28 th. He stated that he is still getting emails from the insurance company about free trainings they provide at no cost but when he has researched the trainings available, there are charges of $12 per class. Clerk Warner stated that sometimes the free option on these types of websites is not visible until the registration is started. Chief Colucci will check to see if there is a charge if he logs into the site and tries to complete a registration. He stated that he will do some homework on trainings available to fire departments. New Business: Old Business: Highway Issues: Trustees Concerns: Sidewalk Snow Plowing Trustee Collins stated that the village had problems last year with the sidewalk snow plowing and noted that the contractor has received two payments already. She noted that last season he got paid and slacked off on his job toward the end of the seasons. She stated that she did not feel he should be paid his final installment until the April meeting. Res. #12-2016 Trustee Collins made a motion to pay Jones Landscaping the final installment on the Sidewalk Snow Plowing contract at the April meeting. Trustee Colvin seconded. Clerk s Concerns: Old Erie Canal Group Clerk Warner reported that she had attended a meeting of the Old Erie Canal Group. She stated that the meetings are held once a month on the last Thursday of each month at 2:00 pm at the Chittenango Boat Museum. Information emails will be forwarded to the Board members when they are received. Correspondence: Heritage Baptist Church letter about designation as a full-fledged church instead of a mission. They will be having an event on Saturday, April 9 th. Mayor Clute stated that he will not be in town for the event and asked the Deputy Mayor to attend on behalf of the village. Letter from Cornell Cooperative. Notification that Perma Audit is due. NBT credit card application VISA with no annual fee. Water report was received from the City of Oneida. Sears sent a letter concerning a credit card sent to the village in error. Mayor Clute called them and it was an old account that has been closed. The cards have been destroyed. Notice of Arbor Day funds of up to $1,000. Perma Conference coming up in March. LaBarge social media card. Grant Action News. Village of Wampsville Meeting February 2, 2015 Page 4
Adjournment Res. # 13 2016 With no further business to discuss, Trustee MacDonald made a motion to close the meeting at 8:31 pm and Trustee Church seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion was carried. Respectfully Submitted, Rosanne Warner Village Clerk-Treasurer Village of Wampsville Meeting February 2, 2015 Page 5