REGULAR MEETING
June 17, 2019
A regular meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Busti was held on Monday, June 17, 2019 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
Absent: 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: LBPD Chief John Bentley, Highway Superintendent Melvin Peterson, Town Justice William Geary, Court Clerk Elizabeth Davis, Rachael Davis, Deputy Court Clerk Nancy Jordan, Hart Jordan, Bruce and Joan Erickson, Ray Ayers, Susan Lane, and Busti Fire Dept Chief Matt Stafford.
Town Clerk Darlene Nygren reported her office began selling 2019-20 Transfer Stickers on June 10th and have sold 217 to date. Dog Control Office Beth Moss has begun conducting the Dog Enumeration: she has completed South Avenue, S. Main Street, Garfield Road, and Ashville Road (Route 474). She has visited 62 homes and reported 61 unlicensed dogs, of which 8 have been licensed. Any unlicensed dog counted in the census will be assessed a one-time unlicensed dog fee of $5.00 at the initial licensing. DCO Moss will revisit the residences where dogs remain unlicensed and the owner will be issued a court appearance ticket, which could result in additional fees from the court. Clerk Nygren encouraged anyone who harbors an unlicensed dog to license them and avoid paying the additional fees. Clerk Nygren reported Southern Tier West received notice they were not awarded the combined Records Management Grant which the Town of Busti participated in.
Chief John Bentley reported the department has handled 4,376 incidents ytd and 385 since his last report to the town board. Chief Bentley noted Court Officer Conklin recently resigned from his position to take a full-time position elsewhere; the Chief is working with the court to resolve the high turnover in that position. Discussion followed.
Councilman Hanson moved the following resolution, duly moved by Councilman Mueller:
RESOLVED, to authorize Supervisor Robbins to contact the Village of Lakewood Trustees and discuss amending the current Police Agreement to include “the Village of Lakewood provide an officer be present for all court sessions at a rate comparable to the town’s cost of employing a Court Officer”.
Upon roll call vote, all aye, carried.
Highway Superintendent Melvin Peterson reported the department has been working on an oil program with the Towns of Kiantone and Harmony under Shared Services. The following roads have been oiled and stoned: Pine Ridge Road, west section of Nutt Road, west section Mead Road, Sandstrom Road, and Northrup Road. He noted the current price of oil is at $3.50 per gallon. The department will begin blacktopping next month. Superintendent Peterson stated the department does not have time to replace the Cold Storage building roof and would like to put the job out for bid again with the Highway Department taking care of the disposing the shingles.
Supervisor Robbins moved the following resolution, which was duly moved by Councilman Hanson:
RESOLVED, to authorize Highway Superintendent Peterson to advertise for bids to replace the roof of the Highway Cold Storage building using the specs from the previous request for bids.
Upon roll call vote, all aye, carried.
Superintendent Peterson noted the Highway and Parks Departments are falling behind, with the extreme wet weather this year, and requested to hire two temporary employees for the months of July and August, one employee would work with the Highway Department and the other with the Parks Department. He recommends rehiring Zach Johnson, who worked with the Parks Department last summer, and Trevor Delahoy, who has worked as summer help in the past. The funds are available in the budget for both the Highway and Parks departments.
Councilman Mueller moved the following resolution, which was duly moved by Councilman Hanson:
RESOLVED, the Town of Busti hire the following individuals for the months of July and August, 2019 at full-time hours: Trevor Delahoy to assist with the Highway Department for at a pay rate of $15 per hour and Zach Johnson to assist with the Parks Department at a pay rate of $12 per hour.
Upon roll call vote, all aye, carried.
Superintendent Peterson reported a semi-truck ran over a guardrail on Gleason Road and left the scene, as reported by an area resident. The incident was not immediately reported to Lakewood Busti Police Department and no one was able to record the truck’s license plate number. The cost to replace the guardrail was $3,000, Superintendent Peterson will contact Slone Melhuish agent, Randy Graham, regarding the incident.
Busti Fire Department Chief Matt Stafford reported the following incidents for the past month: 21 – EMS, 4 – Fires, and no Motor Vehicle Accidents or Service Calls; there have been 167 total incidents year to date compared to 155 last year.
Supervisor Robbins noted Attorney Bill Wright has yet to schedule a meeting with the City of Jamestown, Town of N. Harmony, and the Town of Busti to discuss the Water & Sewer Agreement.
Supervisor Robbins reported the town has received notice the State Office of Real Property Tax Services established a final State equalization rate of 98.60 for the Town of Busti down from 100.00. Supervisor Robbins spoke with Assessor Kevin Okerlund regarding the matter, Mr. Okerlund stated there is no impact on the Town tax rates, however, the change will have an effect on the County tax rate for Town of Busti property owners, which is apportioned between municipalities.
Supervisor Robbins reported Chautauqua County Land Bank Corp acquired property located at 4696 Ashville Road with the intent to demolish the structure on said property. The Land Bank has requested the Town of Busti pledge landfill credits to assist with disposing of the structure debris.
Supervisor Robbins moved the following resolution which was duly moved by Councilman Andrews:
RESOLVED, the Town of Busti agrees to pledge and provide its Chautauqua County Landfill Credits to Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency, per a contract with Chautauqua County Land Bank Corporation, relating to a proposal to demolish the structurally unsound and unsafe single-family residence at 4696 Ashville Road, s/b/l – 384.11-2-9, located in the Town of Busti.
Upon roll call vote, all aye, carried.
Councilman Andrews reported he and Councilman Lawton have researched pay rates for Deputy Town Clerks and Deputy Court Clerks. They are recommending that both positions in the Town of Busti be given a $1.50 per hour pay increase immediately.
Supervisor Robbins moved the following resolution, which was duly moved by Councilman Hanson:
RESOLVED, the Town Board authorize a $1.50 per hour increase to the pay rate for the positions of Deputy Town Clerk and Deputy Court Clerk effective immediately. Also, the board approve a pay rate of approximate $16 per hour, depending on experience, for a full-time replacement for Deputy Court Clerk Nancy Jordan.
Upon roll call vote, all aye, carried.
Councilman Andrews noted he and Councilman Lawton are continuing to work on the Employee Benefits.
Councilman Mueller presented his comparisons of budgets, taxes, and fund balances to the Town Board along with A(General), B (General Town-Outside the Village, and DA & DB (Highway) balance sheets from the town’s 2018 Annual Update Document. Councilman Mueller reminded the board of the discussion last fall regarding the need for the Town Board to set a policy for a reasonable amount to be held in fund balance.
Councilman Mueller noted NYS Office of the State Comptroller recommends each town assess what is a reasonable fund balance and he feels the current unappropriated fund balance for the Town of Busti is too heavy. He noted Chautauqua County unappropriated fund balance ranges from 5 – 15% of their overall budget and schools are limited to having unappropriated fund balance no greater than 4% of their budget. He would like to see the town use more of the unappropriated fund balance and reduce the town tax levy.
Councilman Hanson stated schools are authorized to hold money in other funds in addition to the 4% unappropriated fund balance, also school and counties budgets are much larger than the town’s budget, so it is unfair to compare the percentages. He believes the town needs to set a dollar amount for a reasonable unappropriated fund balance rather than a percentage because of size the town’s budget.
Discussion followed. Councilman Mueller reiterated that he believes the Town Board should have a policy establishing a reasonable amount the town should have in unappropriated fund balance.
Councilman Hanson suggested Supervisor Robbins create a policy of what he believes is a reasonable amount of unappropriated fund balance for the Town of Busti and present it to the board at the next Town Board meeting for their review.
Attorney Joel Seachrist emailed the Town Board with a recommendation of a single addition to the town’s current Telecommunications Tower regulation. The board agreed to authorize Attorney Seachrist to amend the regulation and submit the draft to the board at the next meeting.
Councilman Andrews reported the Busti Lakewood Swale Stabilization Project Team met on Friday, June 14th. Highway Superintendent Peterson, DPW Director Pilling, and Randall Perry researched the town’s designated watershed areas and identified nine specific drainage areas that would benefit from swale stabilization. The areas include locations on Shadyside Road, Winch Road, and Fairwood Drive. The application will be sent to the state for approval, upon state approval, the town will be authorized to advertise for bids for the project engineering, the project team will review the engineering bids and select an engineer to oversee the project. The anticipated project completion date is summer/fall 2020.
Councilman Hanson reported he spoke with National Grid regarding the LED streetlight conversion and is still waiting on a date for the project completion.
Supervisor Robbins moved to accept the June 3, 2019 Regular Town Board meeting minutes; motion was duly moved by Councilman Andrews.
All in favor, carried.
Supervisor Robbins moved the following resolution which was duly moved 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. 8 from warrant #336 to and including warrant #370 in the amount of $29,302.16.
Upon roll call vote, all aye, carried.
Supervisor Robbins moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:43 p.m. which was duly moved by Councilman Hanson.
All in favor, carried.
Respectfully Submitted,
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Darlene H. Nygren, Town Clerk