REGULAR MEETING
October 1, 2018
A regular meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Busti was held on Monday, October 1, 2018 at 6:45 p.m., at the Town of Busti, Town Administration Building, 125 Chautauqua Avenue, Lakewood, New York with the following members present:
Supervisor Jesse M. Robbins
Councilman Jim Andrews
Councilman Rudy Mueller
Councilman Todd Hanson
Councilman Kenneth Lawton
Supervisor Robbins called the meeting to order with the salute to the flag and a moment of silence was observed.
Present at the meeting were: Highway Superintendent Melvin Peterson, Busti Lakewood Police Chief John Bentley, Attorney Joel Seachrist, Jack Knowlton – Lakewood Fire Dept, Susan Lane, Ray Ayers, Warren VanDewark, Lisa Lowe, Erin Brickly – Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance, Mike Nygren, Tim Young, and Eric Zavinski – Post-Journal.
Lisa Lowe inquired to the status of a letter her attorney, Neil Robinson, had written to the Town Board regarding their neighbor located at 2917 Donelson Road. The neighbor is constructing sheds on his property with up to three employees, the property is in the Conservation/Agricultural District and the Lowes do not believe this is an allowed use.
Discussion followed. Attorney Joel Seachrist requested to meet with the board in Executive Session, later in the meeting, to discuss the matter further.
Jack Knowlton noted he was concerned with the erosion that is taking place in the North West corner of the Bentley Cemetery, along Southland Avenue. He recommends installing piping and a catch basin. Highway Superintendent Peterson estimated the overall project costing $10,000, he stated the Highway Department could install part of pipe this year and the remainder next year at a cost of $5,000 for this year and another cost of $5,000 for 2019.
Supervisor Robbins noted it was 7:00 p.m. and moved to open a Public Hearing pursuant to Section 405-27(F) of the Town of Busti Zoning Code for the application of Mike Nygren, Shadyside Road, Jamestown, New York, for a Special Use Permit to operate a Wedding and Special Event venue. The property is owned by him and located at 1113 Southwestern Drive and known as Section 420.00 Block 2 Lot 22 of the official tax map of the Town of Busti. The property is in the Conservation Agricultural District, motion was duly moved by Councilman Hanson.
All aye, carried.
Proof of publication was placed on file.
The following residents spoke in favor of the Special Use Permit application:
Warren VanDewark – stated it was great to see the property being used and cleaned up
Charlie Barlow – stated he was in favor of the venue and was happy to see the property cleaned up.
Tim Young – stated it was nice to see things cleaned up and was in favor of the Event Venue.
Supervisor Robbins noted the town has not received a response from Chautauqua County Division of Planning & Community Development regarding the Special Use Permit, therefore the board will not be able to act on the application tonight.
Supervisor Robbins noted it was 7:05 p.m. and moved to close the public hearing, duly moved by Councilman Hanson.
All aye, carried.
Town Clerk Nygren read an email from Kevin Myers – Chautauqua Chemicals Co., Inc., regarding their request for an additional streetlight on Cramar Drive, their original request was two years ago and there is still no streetlight. The board directed Clerk Nygren to forward the email to National Grid and request the status of the request. Clerk Nygren noted she will be out of the office the week of October 8th and will be back on October 15th.
Lakewood Busti Police Chief John Bentley reported the department has had 401 incidents since the last town board meeting and 6,850 ytd. The department, with the assistance of the State Police, completed a commercial truck detail. There have been three overdose cases in the past two weeks, with one being fatal.
Highway Superintendent Melvin Peterson reported the department will be blacktopping ½ mile on Wellman Road, this will be the final blacktop project of the season. The department has been busy trimming trees and mowing the roadsides, preparing for the winter.
Jack Knowlton reported 703 incidents ytd for the Lakewood Fire Department, with 93 alarms in September. Mr. Knowlton reminded the board about the open house on Saturday, October 13th as part of their 125th anniversary celebration.
Supervisor Robbins move the following resolution, which was duly moved by Councilman Mueller:
RESOLVED, the Town of Busti request a speed study and possible school zone for Sandbury Road from Wellman Road to the Town of Harmony line.
Upon roll call vote, all aye, carried.
Town Clerk Nygren will send a copy of the request to the Town of Harmony for their records.
Supervisor Robbins moved to set a public hearing on the 15th day of October, 2018 at 7:00 P.M. regarding the adoption of Local Law No. 3 of 2018 entitled “A Local Law to Override the Tax Levy Limit Established in the General Municipal Law Section 3-C”. Motion was duly moved by Councilman Andrews.
All in favor, carried.
Supervisor Robbins moved to set a public hearing on the 15th day of October, 2018, at 7:15 p.m. regarding the Preliminary 2019 Budget. Motion was duly seconded by Councilman Lawton.
Upon roll call vote, all aye, carried.
Supervisor Robbins informed the board the Town of Busti was not awarded a grant from the Sheldon Foundation which would have been used towards finishing the Concession Stand project at Loomis Park.
Erin Brickley, Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance reviewed the Alliance-Partnered Projects in Chautauqua Lake and Its Watershed, as well as the Member Services & Local Match Funds – Standard Operating Procedure. Ms. Brickley asked the board to consider renewing their membership with the Alliance. Discussion followed.
Supervisor Robbins noted $20,000 has been budgeted for Chautauqua Lake maintenance for 2019. The board will decide how that money is allocated after the final budget is approved.
Supervisor Robbins moved the following resolution which was duly moved by Councilman Hanson:
RESOLVED, Code Enforcement Officer Swanson be authorized to attend Southern Tier West’s seminar on NYSERDA Model Solar Energy Local Law on October 25th at JCC.
Upon roll call vote, all aye, carried.
Supervisor Robbins moved to authorize Clerk Nygren and Highway Superintendent Peterson to submit an Attachment Agreement with National Grid to install Holiday Decorations on their poles.
All aye, carried.
Supervisor Robbins moved to make the following change to the 2019 Tentative Budget – increase expenditures in A8810.400 by $5,000 to install ditch pipe and a catch basin at Bentley Cemetery.
Upon roll call vote, all aye, carried.
Supervisor Robbins moved to enter Executive Session at 7:45 p.m. to discuss a litigation matter, duly moved by Councilman Hanson.
All aye, carried.
Supervisor Robbins moved to close the Executive Session and enter back into the Regular Meeting at 7:55 p.m., which was duly moved by Councilman Andrews.
All aye, carried.
Discussion on the 2019 Tentative Budget took place. Councilman Lawton stated he thought it was a great budget that accomplished what has been previously discussed regarding the removal of the funds budgeted for the libraries and the Highway Equipment Plan. Councilman Hanson noted he believes the mileage rate should be increased to 57 cents per mile. He reminded the board that the town tax is approximately only 10% of the County Town tax bill. Councilman Mueller stated he was happy to see the $120,000 library appropriations was not included in the budget. He didn’t feel the Contingency Account should be increased and thought there should be revenue budgeted for the Fire Code Inspector. He also feels the sales tax is under estimated.
Supervisor Robbins informed the board he had recently received the current Fiscal Stress Monitoring System Status Notification from the Office of the State Comptroller. The Town of Busti’s Fiscal Stress for 2017 is 3.3% down from 15.8% in 2016 and 19.2% in 2015 while the 2016 Environmental Stress is at 30.8% which is also lower than 2015 and 2014. Discussion followed.
Councilman Mueller moved the following resolution:
– To not increase the amount budgeted for the Contingency Account due to a healthy fund balance
– To increase the revenue from sales tax by $10,000
– To lower the amount budgeted for Refuse and Garbage to $76,000 and revenue the same
Motion was not seconded.
Highway Superintendent Peterson noted the Transfer Station is in need of repairs that include cement work, repairing a railing, and repairing the blacktop; which he would like to do before the end of 2018.
Councilman Hanson moved the following resolution which was duly moved by Councilman Lawton:
RESOLVED, the town increase the mileage rate to 57¢ per mile, effective immediately and to increase revenue from the Fire Code Inspector in B1540 to $2,000 and increase account B8010.400 an additional $2,000 for the 2019 budget.
Upon roll call vote, all aye, carried.
Supervisor Robbins moved the following resolution, which was duly moved by Councilman Hanson:
RESOLVED, to increase A8810.400 – Cemetery – from $10,000 to $15,000 for the work that needs to be done at the Bentley Cemetery.
Upon roll call vote, all aye, carried.
Supervisor Robbins moved the following resolution which was duly seconded by Councilman Hanson:
RESOLVED, that Supervisor Robbins be authorized and directed to pay the presented General Fund, Highway Fund, and the Joint Recreation Fund for Abstract No. 13 from warrant #592 to and including warrant #623 in the amount of $42,807.19.
Upon roll call vote, all aye, carried.
Supervisor Robbins moved to accept the September 17, 2018 Regular Town Board minutes, motion was duly moved.
All in favor, carried.
Councilman Hanson noted someone has volunteered their labor to install the plumbing at the Loomis Park Concession stand. The NYSERDA grant is moving forward, we are waiting on an invoice from National Grid to submit to NYSERDA. He will talk to National Grid regarding the streetlight in Cramar Drive as well as Clerk Nygren forwarded the letter to National Grid.
Councilman Lawton noted he feels the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Alliance should be an entity the town should be able to rely on to fairly assess the management of the lake maintenance. Councilman Andrews noted the Alliance has 26 members with 9 board seats. The board agreed to have Councilman Lawton the town representative for the RFA grant process.
Supervisor Robbins moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:02 p.m. which was duly moved by Councilman Andrews.
All in favor, carried.
Respectfully Submitted,
_________________________________
Darlene H. Nygren, Town Clerk