VILLAGE OF CANASTOTA

MINUTES

September 7, 2022

Mayor Warner called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

PRESENT:	Mayor Rosanne Warner, Deputy Mayor Doug Gustin and Trustees Jeffrey Watkins, Lori Torrey and Bill Haddad; Village Administrator Ryan; Doug Chandler; Assemblyman Brian Miller and Susan Jaquish; Adam Clark, Mike Leibl and Town of Lenox Supervisor John Pinard.

ABSENT:	None.

Motion by Trustee Watkins, seconded by Trustee Haddad, to approve the following budget modifications: increase 85604.01 (Tree Removal) by $17,600.00 (Note: this is to accommodate the contract for tree removal); increase 3389.01 (State Aid Public Safety) by $14,833.00; increase 31202.01 (Police Capital) by $19,844.00 (Note: this is for the LiveScan grant and expenditure.) Passed 5 to 0.

Motion by Trustee Haddad, seconded by Trustee Torrey, to approve the attached General Fund Abstract in the amount of $112,255.16. Passed 5 to 0.

Motion by Trustee Watkins, seconded by Trustee Haddad, to approve the attached Sewer Fund Abstract in the amount of $37,326.76. Passed 5 to 0.

Discussion regarding Industrial Park zoning.

Adam Clark addressed the Board about his company that he would like to put in the Business Park. They buy and sell equipment and do some rentals which is a small part of the business. He noted that his company would need to store inventory outside and pointed out that it is not permitted in the Park right now but other businesses do currently store equipment outside. The property is not visible by the rest of the Village. Mr. Clark would like to buy the Mahoney property and other properties behind there and noted that taxes would be caught up and he wants to work with BOCES and the school. Mr. Clark is looking to expand his business and will hire blue-collar and white-collar employees. He spoke about how he needs to train his employees because of how complicated everything is now. He spoke about how good their benefits are for their employees. Mr. Clark spoke about the software company that he owns that is developing software to be used in his business. Mr. Clark talked about the business owners from the Park that he spoke to who were going to be here tonight to support the change. They are businesses that would also benefit from outside storage in the Park. Mike Leibl spoke in favor of changing the rules in the Park to gain the sales tax revenue and help our businesses. Mr. Clark explained to the Board that his business is like Carvana - the equipment is on his lot and people see it on the internet and buy it. He then ships it to the buyer - they do not come to his building. Trustee Watkins asked how long the oldest piece of equipment was on site. Mr. Clark believes that they are 90-120 days in their inventory, but he does not have an exact amount of time. The Mayor noted that she has driven past Mr. Clark's business on State Fair Boulevard and saw that he is out of room. She asked Mr. Clark to talk about his employees and his plan for working with the school. Mr. Clark currently has 20 employees and would be hiring 10-
15 more if he had the room for them. He works with ESM currently and had a couple of kids that he wanted to hire. They have hired a couple of kids from the city. Mr. Clark talked about retention of employees from the local area. Trustee Gustin advised that he talked to the heavy equipment instructors at BOCES and the Superintendent of Instruction and they would like to talk with Mr. Clark if and when this happens. Trustee Gustin talked about the interns from the kids in the police program. Mayor Warner noted that some of the issues are outside storage and retail sales and stated that there are other businesses in the Park that could benefit from both of these. The Mayor noted that there are businesses that are storing things outside and are in violation of our zoning. The Mayor believes that this would be a good opportunity to clean up the zoning and the Village attorney is asking for direction from the Board. She believes they should make outside storage with a special use permit. The Mayor also believes that we will not be getting any new industries up there and thinks that we should change zoning to allow for the outside storage with a special use permit. Trustee Gustin asked what we have to do to bring the zoning current up there. Mayor Warner explained what the process would be for determining what uses would be allowed, allowed with a special use permit or not allowed or we can do a comprehensive review of the whole park. Trustee Haddad asked how we would do this - by each parcel, Section A and B or the whole Park. The Board discussed the procedure and the options. The Mayor spoke about her conversations with Joel Arsenault regarding the history of not allowing retail use in the Park. Trustee Gustin believes that we need to move forward with this. Trustee Watkins thinks that we need to change the zoning. He is against the special use permit. He is for retail and outside storage. Trustee Haddad thinks that we should try an area and see how it works. The Board talked about options and thinks that we need to consider the businesses that chose to come to the Industrial Park because of the regulations there. Trustee Haddad wants to know how this affects these businesses. Mayor Warner suggested that Administrator Ryan develop a survey to send to the property owners. The Board talked about some of the violations of outside storage regulations in the area. Mr. Clark noted that he wants to be cautious and do his due diligence and doesn't want to buy the lots and the building without the change. Trustee Haddad asked about where the employees live. Mr. Clark advised that 1/3 of his employees will be closer after the move and about 2/3 may be farther away. He talked about how he will take care of his employees if the business moves. He also shared information about other employee benefits. The Mayor will take to the Village attorney and will send the proposal to the Board. Trustee Watkins asked about the time table. Mr. Clark would like to be in there as soon as possible. He spoke about his needs and how he would use the property. Trustee Haddad asked if this would be fenced. Mr. Clark explained that they have never had fences. They use cameras and lights and they make sure that they take the keys out of the equipment. Mayor Warner asked Mr. Clark about his plans for expansion of the building. He is hoping that once he gets in there and when the business grows he can possibly expand to the north with additional space. Mr. Clark talked about how our location would work for him and that only 10% of his business is from the CNY area. He does not believe that he will lose anything as a result of the move.

Public Comments.

Mike Leibl would like the Board to address the code office policies and procedures that are inconsistent. He has 5 different issues that he has fixed and has addresses one of them already. Mr. Leibl spoke about the problem that he has had with the property on South Canal Street recently. Mayor Warner advised the Board that she spoke with Mr. Leibl on the phone the other day. She also spoke about the need to put a committee together to review the zoning in the Village and specifically the Ag Districts in the Village that don't make sense anymore, as well as other places and zones in the Village that no longer make sense. The Mayor presented a list of names for the committee to the Board for their review. Mr. Leibl stated that the code office is the first office that people will deal with when coming to our Village. He thinks that it is not a friendly place for people to come to first and that we are losing opportunities because of old things that haven't been changed or wrong answers that may have been given or not offering any other options. He believes that it is the personality of the person in the office that is losing business for the Village. The Mayor agreed that we need to look at our laws to see what needs to change. The list of names for the Comprehensive Planning Committee are Doug Gustin, Cathi Williams, Don Forth, Jeremy Ryan, Rosanne Warner, Sean Barton and Marilyn Higgins. The Mayor stated that this is a good list of people. The Mayor noted that it will take about a year to develop the plan and then we can take that plan and start putting other things in motion.

Brian Miller, the Assemblyman for the 101st District spoke to the Board. He talked about his background in local government and how he came into State politics. The Board and Assemblyman Miller spoke about grant opportunities.

Motion by Trustee Haddad, seconded by Trustee Watkins, to accept the resignation of Mark Maxwell as DPW Foreman effective September 30, 2022. Discussion: Trustee Gustin asked if we are doing exit interviews when people leave. Administrator Ryan noted that he and the Mayor were going to meet with Mark Maxwell and Doug Holdridge. Passed 5 to 0.

Motion by Trustee Torrey, seconded by Trustee Watkins, to approve payments totaling $3,118.47 from the General Fund to MBI for heal insurance debit card transactions from August 1, 2022 - August 31, 2022. Passed 5 to 0.

Motion by Trustee Watkins, seconded by Trustee Torrey, approving the attached Use, General Release and Indemnification Agreement between the Village of Canastota and Main Event Amusements and authorizing the Mayor to execute the same, with the change of #5 to state Main Event shall pay a flat fee of $5,000 as agreed upon by the Village. Discussion: The Mayor asked Administrator Ryan to give the Board an update. Administrator Ryan advised that we are in the late planning stages of the proposed carnival, which is being held on October 7, 8 and 9. He wants to talk with the Board about the rent. The flat fee would be $5,000 and the percentage could be around $10,000. If we want to play it safe, it will cost us about $1,000 for coverage. Trustee Haddad gave the Board a breakdown of how he fees the figures from this event. He is concerned with the cost of letting them use the Village facilities and losing money. The Mayor sees this as an opportunity to provide a recreational outlet for our residents, but if it rains the whole weekend, we could still make money on this. Doug Chandler talked about when the Fire Department use to do the field days and how much planning was involved. The firemen are going to sell food and they are also going to sell spaces in the pole barn for vendors for the weekend. Mr. Chandler spoke about recent improvements that the fire company made to the pole barn that will make this event even better. Trustee Haddad noted that having other opportunities to spend money on that day would take money away from the percentage that we might make, so he thinks that a flat fee would make more sense. Mike Leibl spoke about how other communities do craft shows. Trustee Haddad would like an audit of what this cost the Village after the event. Passed 5 to 0.

Motion by Trustee Haddad, seconded by Trustee Watkins, approving attached request from Chief Barton to close South Peterboro Street from Canal Street south to Railroad Street on Sunday, September 2022 from 7;45 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. for the 9/11 Ceremony. Passed 5 to 0.

Motion by Trustee Watkins, seconded by Trustee Gustin, to approve the auction results from Auctions International and approve the sale of the following surplus equipment: Lawn Mower #1 to tss2559 $1,050; Lawn Mower #2 to tss2559 $690; Lawn Mower #3 to tss2559 $510; 1994 Wood Chipper to plattekill $8,200; 1991 Skid Steer to car504 $16,200; 2003 Dump Truck/Sander/Plow to sfd161 $18,700; and 2009 Pickup Truck to Mvalent $10,900 for a total sale of $56,250 and to authorize the Mayor and Clerk/Treasurer to execute any and all documents necessary to effect the sale and transfer of title to said equipment. Passed 5 to 0.

Correspondence.

-	Letter from Costello, Cooney & Fearon letting us know that they are working on the updates to the municipal code enforcement program.

Mayor's Comments.

The Mayor spoke with Timothy O'Hara last week about the CSO annual maintenance and inspection plan that the DEC is instructing us to develop. Mr. O'Hara suggested that we camera the lines in the creek. He showed the Mayor a video and said that he would show the Board too if they would like. Mayor Warner talked about some of the things that they found and explained the process. The Mayor noted that this could be expensive but we are supposed to be showing the DEC that we inspect our pipes. Mayor Warner advised the Board that Fire Line Fiber is looking to take our space on the National Grid poles and needs us to take down our wire. CEO Adsit told the Mayor that this is copper wire and valuable to the Village. We can take it down ourselves or have the company take it down. Trustee Haddad advised that this is a make-ready for the County project. He thinks that if the company will remove it and give us the copper, we should to that. The Board talked about the County project to bring internet to under-served areas. The Board talked about the impact of the new internet service on the franchise fees that we are getting when people change over to the new service. Trustee Haddad and Administrator Ryan met with someone from the County about this and they are waiting for more information. Mayor Warner talked with the Board about the request from Mahoney to rent property in the Business Park from the Village to store equipment after the sale of his building. Mayor Warner advised that the Abolitionist Walk is still going on in October. They want to close a portion of Canal Street and part of Peterboro Street for the walk. The Mayor showed the Board a picture that she took today of the Canastota Creek where it goes under the Canal. There are trees that are in the creek that need to be removed. CEO Adsit told the Mayor today that he knew about it and had told the DPW. The Mayor would like our DPW to work with the Town to get the tree and debris removed before the rain comes in the fall and we have flooding.

Administrator's Comments.

Trustee Ryan is working on the Center Street one-way turn around. Letters will be hand delivered tomorrow and the DPW is putting up the signs. A go-to date of September 29 would give us time to let everyone know and have everything put in place. The signs are in and they are starting to put them up and are bagging the signs. The Board talked about a concern that the DOT has conveyed to DPW Foreman Maxwell. He gave them Administrator Ryan's contact information and he has not heard from them yet. The Board talked about the change that was made in the direction of Center Street. Administrator Ryan received a resignation from Nichole Boston today. He noted that this will be a big loss for the Village. The Mayor and Administrator Ryan will meet with DPW Foreman Maxwell and MEO Doug Holdridge tomorrow about Foreman Maxwell leaving. Administrator Ryan advised that he and the Mayor would like to talk with the Board about hiring a superintendent and also replacing Foreman Maxwell as Foreman. Trustee Haddad would like to have a discussion about this in executive session. Administrator Ryan advised that the cooling tower repairs will begin on Monday. The building will be without air conditioning during the repairs. The quotes came in for repairs to the elevator - $42,000 and $79,000. The Mayor advised that the Town of Lenox had a meeting the other night and there was a resident who needed handicap access to the meeting but could not access the meeting. The Board talked about bringing us back into compliance with ADA and Open Meetings Law. The Board talked about the tree removal project that started recently. They also talked about a resident who was not happy about the trees that were removed. The transfer of phones from Northland to Windstream was discussed. Administrator Ryan is meeting with Madison County next week regarding our IT services. Our current provider will be sending us a letter giving us 45 days notice of termination of our contract.

Trustee Comments.

Trustee Gustin has nothing tonight.

Trustee Watkins has nothing tonight.

Trustee Haddad has nothing tonight.

Trustee Torrey has nothing tonight.

Motion by Trustee Watkins, seconded by Trustee Gustin, Executive session at 9:00 p.m. regarding personnel. Passed 5 to 0.

Motion by Trustee Watkins, seconded by Trustee Torrey, to exit executive session at 9:33 p.m. Passed 5 to 0.

Motion by Trustee Gustin, seconded by Trustee Watkins, to adjourn the meeting at 9:33 p.m. Passed 5 to 0.

Respectfully submitted,

Catherine E. Williams

Clerk/Treasurer