REGULAR MEETING
October 21, 2019
A regular meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Busti was held on Monday, October 21, 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 Todd Hanson
Councilman Jim Andrews
Councilman Rudy Mueller
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, Attorney Joel Seachrist, Town of Busti Court Clerk Beth Davis, Rachael Davis, Ron Brands, Susan Lane, Mary Griffin, Margaret and Gus Swanson, Tim and Candy Young, Paul and Jamie Gustafson, Bob & Judy Schultz, Jack Knowlton, Village of Lakewood Trustee Randy Holcomb, Village of Lakewood Trustee Ellen Barnes, Michael Nygren, and Carly Gould – Post Journal Reporter.
Supervisor Robbins noted it was 6:45 p.m. and time to open sealed bids to purchase the following lots of real property located at Hunt Road and Gleason Road:
Part of SBL 384.00-3-5: 7.62 acres
Part of SBL 384.00-3-39: 2.63 acres
10.25 acres
Proof of publication was placed on file.
Supervisor Robbins noted two sealed bids were received at the Town Clerks office. Supervisor Robbins opened and read the following bids:
Ray and Denice Johnson $3,500 Their intentions is to use the property as a buffer to connect their existing property for wildlife habitat.
Lake Shore Builders $6,500 Their intent is to clear some trees and build a structure on the property.
Supervisor Robbins moved the following resolution which was duly moved by Councilman Mueller:
RESOLVED, Lake Shore Builders be awarded the bid to purchase the following lots of real property located on Hunt Road and Gleason Road: Part of SBL 384.00-3-5: 7.62 acres
Part of SBL 384.00-3-39: 2.63 acres
10.25 acres
Highway Superintendent Peterson noted the said property is utilized by the Highway Department in various ways and voiced concern with the sale of the property. Discussion followed.
Upon roll call vote, all aye, carried.
Ron Brands and Judy Schultz voiced their disapproval of using Fund Balance to lower taxes.
Court Clerk Beth Davis noted she received the 2018 Court Reporting Activity at the training she recently attended. According to the report, the Town of Busti is recorded as the second busiest court in Chautauqua County with the Jamestown City Court being number one; Busti Town Court ranks one hundred thirty-three in New York State. She reported there have been 956 arraignments since the CAP Arraignment policy has been in effect and 10.6% were Busti Town Court cases. Discussion followed. Court Clerk Davis stated she and the Deputy Court Clerk will be attending training on the new Criminal Bail Reform Legislation on Friday, November 22nd from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Supervisor Robbins noted it was 7:00 p.m. and time to open a Public Hearing for the 2020 Preliminary Budget. Motion was duly moved by Councilman Hanson.
All in favor, all aye.
Proof of publication was placed on file.
Supervisor Robbins asked for public comment. Highway Superintendent Peterson inquired about the employee “cost of living” raise for 2020 and noted there was no increase in the 2020 Preliminary budget for the “Roads and Snow Removal Personal Services” accounts. Supervisor Robbins stated a 3% raise should have been included in the budget for all employees and the correction would be included in the final amendment before voting on the final budget.
Mary Griffin and Tim Young stated they are not in favor of using the Fund Balance to lower taxes. Councilman Hanson noted the Fund Balance policy, that was recently approved, is a goal recommendation and open to be adjusted on a yearly basis (as needed).
Supervisor Robbins noted it was 7:15 and moved to close the public hearing, which was duly moved by Councilman Hanson.
All in favor, carried.
Town Clerk Darlene Nygren reported she has submitted the final reports to NYSERDA for approval, once approved the final check will be issued. She received an email from Busti Fire Department Chief Matt Stafford with his report as follows: 14 – Emergency Medical Service, 3 – Fire/Fire Alarms, 4 – Motor Vehicle Accidents, and 2 – Service Calls for a total of 23 since the last meeting and 325 incidents year to date. The Fire Department’s Turkey Party is scheduled for Saturday, November 2nd at 7 p.m. and the Fire Department Auxiliary is hosting the 4th Annual Trunk or Treat on October 26th from 6 – 9 p.m. Clerk Nygren asked the board is the town’s trick or treat hours were going to coincide with the Village of Lakewood’s, the board agreed to have the same hours.
Highway Superintendent Melvin Peterson reported the department paved Anderson Road, has been mowing roadsides, and preparing for winter. He received a complaint about the new LED Streetlights from a resident on Lakeside Drive. National Grid adjusted the light. Superintendent Peterson noted Town Parks employee Randy Sargent will be retiring at the end of the year, he has reviewed applications and would like to make a recommendation to the board. Supervisor Robbins suggested to wait until after the budget has been passed to discuss the matter.
Jack Knowlton, Lakewood Fire Department President, reported 35 calls since the last meeting and 860 incidents year to date.
Attorney Seachrist noted there is no update on the Water and Sewer Agreement with the City of Jamestown.
Supervisor Robbins noted there was no update on the Town of Busti Bi-Centennial committee.
Supervisor Robbins asked the board for comments on the 2020 Preliminary Budget.
Councilman Mueller stated he was pleased the budget was under the tax cap, he would like to see the tax levy to remain the same after the amendments to the “Roads and Snow Removal Personal Services” accounts are applied. He believes the Fund Balance in the A Fund is excessive. Councilman Mueller emailed the bookkeeper for the town and was told that currently the available fund balance is $89,000 more than last year. He realizes that amount is through September and will be reduced by the expenses paid through year end but believes the fund balance at year end will be higher than the new policy recommends. One suggestion is to eliminate the Contingency Account – $10,000, another suggestion was to decrease proposed expenses for A8810.200 “Cemeteries” from $15,000 to $10,000. He believes the Sales Tax revenue is being underestimated significantly, he recommends raising the Sales Tax revenue by $10,000, which would be $17,000 less than what was collected in 2018. These changes would not require amending the Fund Balance used.
Councilman Hanson noted that the taxes have not been increased 6% per year as what recent distributed flyers have stated. He has reviewed the budgets for the last eight years; the actual tax rate increase over these years, since Supervisor Robbins has been in office, is 34¢ per thousand an average of 5¢ per year or the average of 1.47% per year. If a resident has a home valued at $150,000 the increase equaled $7 per year, for outside the village. Inflation for 2018 was 2.44%, so the tax rate increase is nearly half of the rate of inflation. The appropriations for the past eight budgets have increased an average of 1.17% per year. The tax levy over the past eight years have increased an average of 2.87% but the assessments are also increasing every year. The tax rate is determined assessments and levy divided out. Councilman Hanson had already talked to Supervisor Robbins about decreasing the Contingency Fund from $10,000 to $5,000. He does not believe in reducing it to zero as there are some things that need to be done and using the Contingency Fund gives the ability of tracking the expenditure rather than using budget transfers and using funds budget for other purposes. The sales tax revenue dropped the last year there was a presidential election per NYS website, it took two years to get back to where it was. The presidential election is next year, the sales tax revenue is always a guess and per New York State Office of the State Comptroller municipalities should overestimate costs and underestimate revenue. The Fund Balance Policy that was recently passed is retrospective, when the Annual Update Document is complete for 2019 the board can adjust the policy for next year. Councilman Hanson noted that with the new Criminal Bail Reform Legislation there may be an increase in police and court costs, which could result in renegotiating the police contract. Finally, he pointed out that the town board is made up of five members; the Supervisor is only one vote out of five and cannot do anything without a majority vote, it is team effort. The tax rate for the Town of Busti is the 10th lowest out of 27 towns in the county and pennies away from being the 7th; the town board has no control over the school or county taxes. The town has one of the best financial ratings of any municipalities in the state of New York. He is in favor of adjusting so the tax levy is the same as last year.
Councilman Lawton noted there are four ways to affect a budget:
1. Increase revenue –
2. Cut expenses
3. Use savings
4. Use a loan
These four things are the only tools that the town board have to use when preparing the budget. Over the last eight years the following there were decisions made that helped cut costs: there were years that employees were given a 1% raise; buying this building and selling the old; eliminating a Recreation Program; and Health Insurance changes. Councilman Lawton noted he has not always been in favor of cutting spending, but these decisions have kept the spending in line. There is no more room to cut spending, we are dealing with fund balance and using our savings; and possibly taking out loans. The board could make it look like they were cutting expenses by lowering the tax levy but that would not be truthful and not really saving the taxpayers money. He believes the 2020 Preliminary Budget is a good budget.
Discussion followed.
Jack Knowlton noted there were Bentley Cemetery projects that were presented to the board for two pipelines being laid; one down Southland Avenue where the bank is deteriorating and the other through the center, Superintendent Peterson had said that the cost for both projects would be around $10,000; which $5,000 was supposed to be designated in the last budget and $5,000 in this budget. Also, there are ten trees on Southland Avenue that are needing to be removed as their roots are shifting headstones that now need to be reset and another five on Southland Avenue that could cause issues with the power lines.
Discussion followed.
Supervisor Robbins reviewed the proposed amendments:
1. Reduce the Contingency Account by $5,000
2. Add 3% to DB5110.100 and deduct $5,000
3. Add 3% to DB5142.100 and add an additional $5,000
With these amendments the tax rate should remain the same. He will work with the bookkeeper in making the amendments and then present them at the next town board meeting prior to the final budget vote. Supervisor Robbins stated the budget is just a guesstimate. Nine years ago, when he was a town councilman, the amounted budgeted for Sales Tax Revenue was raised by $125,000 in one year; it has taken nine years for the actual Sales Tax Revenue to get to that amount. He is proud of the town and all that it has accomplished. He referred to the Highway Budget, in 2010 the budget was $993,000 and the 2020 Preliminary Highway Budget is $1,213,316; the town has approximately two miles more of road since 2010 but the cost of maintaining the roads has increased significantly.
This year the highway had two trucks blow up with a repair cost for one engine of $24,000. It is for times like that there is a need to carry a respectable fund balance and not be forced to raise taxes. The tax rates have been able to stay flat because of new homes being built raising the town’s total assessment.
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. 14 from warrant #624 to and including warrant #650 in the amount of $105,423.72.
Upon roll call vote, all aye, carried.
Supervisor Robbins motioned to accept the October 7, 2019 Regular Town Board meeting minutes; motion was duly moved by Councilman Hanson.
All in favor, carried.
Councilman Andrews reported the Stormwater Swales committee met Friday, October 11th to open bids for proposals Engineering Services for the Lakewood-Busti Precision Swales Stormwater Retrofits Project. The committee members will review the bids and present the bids to the board at the November 4th meeting.
Councilman Hanson stated he is pleased that the NYSERDA project is now complete and the town will soon receive the balance of the $100,000 grant. The utility bills will continue to get lower each month as the use demand is reduced.
Supervisor Robbins moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:10 p.m. which was duly moved by Councilman Lawton.
All in favor, carried.
Respectfully Submitted,
________________________________
Darlene H. Nygren, Town Clerk