The regular meeting of the Groveland Town Board was held on Thursday February 11, 2010 at the Town Hall.

Present: James C. Merrick, Supervisor; Burt Lyon, Bill Carman, John Driscoll, Craig Phelps, Councilman; Greg Adamson, Highway Superintendent

Absent: None

Other Attendees: Mark Caldwell, Deputy Highway Superintendent, Randolph Meyer, Town Attorney

 Supervisor handed out the monthly financial reports along with the Livingston County Board of Supervisor minutes.

Supervisor called the meeting to order @ 7:54 p.m.

Motion by Councilman Carman, seconded by Councilman Phelps the audited bills be paid. General Fund vouchers numbered 24-46 for $16,237.51; MVP voucher number 22 for $2,933.60;Highway Fund vouchers numbered 23- 50 for $18,378.05; Cemetery District voucher numbered 1 for $75.00. Motion carried unanimously.

Motion by Councilman Lyon seconded by Councilman Driscoll to approve the minutes of January 14, 2010 as written. Motion carried unanimously.

Motion by Councilman Phelps, seconded by Councilman Carman to accept the monthly financial reports as submitted. Motion carried unanimously.

Old/New Business:

HIGHWAY- Greg reported most of their work has been in the shop. He would like to put out bids for the truck box they bought, it turned out to be too narrow for the sander truck. Motion by Councilman Phelps, seconded by Councilman Lyon to declare the truck box as surplus. Motion carried unanimously.

HAWTHORN HILLS ROAD DEDICATION – Attorney Meyer was present to give his opinion on whether the town should take dedication and if so at what stage. Meyer feels that the topcoat needs to be done before taking over and look into if the dead-ends were part of the approval process or if they were to connect. He feels it is a waste of taxpayers money and too much of a liability for 2 houses, but the board has a choice to take it or not. Meyer also stated that the 2 houses are only deprived of mail delivery; they still get road service provided by Harold. In addition, Harold cannot compel us to take over the roads when he has failed to maintain the road bond.

Councilman Lyon feels we are going backwards and that Harold should finish the roads.

Supervisor Merrick asked the Highway Superintendent if he could utilize the 1-ton plow. Greg responded yes that it is possible.

Motion by Councilman Lyon, seconded by Councilman Driscoll to take dedication if Harold fixes soft spots and top coats the roads and turnarounds to Engineers specifications when Greg provides the board with a list of the approved road construction at the next meeting on 3/11/10. Motion carried. Supervisor stated that Harold would have to petition the board again for us to consider dedication.

HIGHWAY CONTRACT – Committee members Phelps & Lyon presented updated copy that shows a change in health care carriers. The rates quoted before with MVP are no longer valid, therefore, the committee and union agreed on a Blue Excellus Plan as indicated in the contract through the Chamber of Commerce.  The change in carriers is about $30/month/employee increase than originally presented. Motion by Councilman Lyon, seconded by Councilman Phelps to accept the contract as written and sign agreement. Motion carried unanimously. All board members signed the contract. Committee stated that the town will have to become a member to the Chamber since we are joining into their insurance program.

WEBSITE UPDATES – Town Clerk reported after contacting Association of Towns (AOT) to inquire if any new legislation as gone into effect of utilizing websites as official publication; the answer is not yet but they are working on it. In 2006 Section 239 of GML changed to notify any land use changes must notify adjoining jurisdictions within 500 ft and could be notified electronically, so they (AOT) see this as an opportunity. Our website hits shows 92,771 requests to date; this includes all the editing and adding information from us, but mainly that each page looked at is a separate hit.

ANNUAL REPORTS – Court, Town Clerk, Code Enforcement and Baldwin annual reports were handed out. Supervisor stated that the Justice annual report does not include $6,200 for the Diversion Program that is paid through to the Supervisor. Board will review and discuss approval at the next meeting.

CEMETERY CONTRACT – Greg reported the contract with Snyder comes up in March for renewal and wanted to know if it was necessary to bid out. Greg has been very happy with their service. He contacted Snyder’s to verify they are still interested in continuing their service, which they are at the same rates. Councilman Lyon, seconded by Councilman Phelps to renew Snyder’s contract for one year. Motion carried unanimously. Town Clerk will draft up a renewal contract.

Snyder’s made an observation that our cremation fee is at $150 and the Association use to be $200, Greg is unsure how we came up with that rate. Motion by Councilman Lyon, seconded by Councilman Carman to increase the rates for a cremation from $150 to $200 effective immediately. Motion carried unanimously.

Greg stated that he would be advertising for seasonal mowing/trimming to be utilized at Lakeview Cemetery @ $10.00/hr, he would give preference to Groveland residents.

Greg also reported that the doors on the vault at the Lake View Cemetery were in need of repair, which Doug Churchfield supplied all the materials and fixed it at no charge. His work and generosity was outstanding. He will be sending a thank you letter.

ZONING MAP UPDATE – map was reviewed with the Watershed included. Many of the coded roads were incorrectly labeled. Town Clerk will give to County Planning Board to make changes and provide an updated copy when completed.

Communications:

Supervisor Merrick passed around a letter from Senator Burling that indicates the chips money will remain the same this year.

Supervisor Merrick stated that a voucher was submitted for Farmland Protection Grant reimbursement, but adjusted to $6790.

Councilman Phelps updated the board that the Farmland Protection Board is on schedule and going well and a draft plan is expected on 2/23/10 meeting.

Supervisor Merrick reported that a letter was sent on behalf of the Conesus Lake Watershed to apply for a portion of the available $470 million.

Supervisor Merrick reported that he is looking into Time Warner and our Franchise fee reimbursements. He is concerned that due to mailing addresses that portions of our fees are going to other towns. He will follow-up on it as he gets the updates.

Town Clerk reported that Mr. Maxwell had his knee replacement and while he is out that Dean O’Keefe has been available and covering any calls and doing a good job.

Town Clerk reported that the question raised at the last meeting about the Insurance bill received was an error and Jan Roger’s has taken care of it and a refund check is due back.

Town Clerk reported that NYS AG& Markets is looking to end their database system along with anything that deals with dog licensing. This will impact our Dog law, software, mailing fees, notifications and many other areas, but will report them as we hear details.

Motion by Councilman Lyon, seconded by Councilman Carman to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried unanimously. Meeting Adjourned at 9:35 p.m. The next regular meeting is on Thursday March 11, 2010 in the town hall.

Dated February 12, 2010     ____________________________

Town of Groveland     Sandra L. Bean, Town Clerk