NO. 24 Page 1
November 7, 2013
WEB SITE http://macedontown.net
The Special Meeting of the
Town Board of the Town of
Pledge of Allegiance.
Upon Roll Call, the following members of the Board were
Present:
|
Councilperson |
Paul Kenyon |
|
Councilperson |
David Maul |
|
Councilperson |
David McEwen |
|
Councilperson |
Sandy Pagano |
|
Supervisor |
William Hammond |
Absent:
Also
Present:
|
Accountant |
Kim Leonard |
|
Attorney |
Anthony Villani |
|
Attorney |
David Fulvio |
|
Police Chief |
John Colella |
|
|
Barbara LaBrake |
RESOLUTION NO. 268 (2013) NATUARAL GAS BASE CONTRACT –
BOCES – NATIONAL FUEL RESOURCES, INC
RESOLVED the Town
Board authorizes the Supervisor to sign the National Fuel Resources, Inc.
contract.
MOTION BY KENYON,
SECONDED BY MAUL
ROLL CALL VOTE:
KENYON AYE, MAUL AYE, MCEWEN AYE, PAGANO AYE,
RESOLUTION NO. 269 (2013)
RESOLVED the Town of
MOTION BY KENYON,
SECONDED BY MAUL
ROLL CALL VOTE:
KENYON AYE, MAUL AYE, MCEWEN AYE, PAGANO AYE,
RESOLUTION NO. 270 (2013) FARMLAND PROTECTION EASEMENT
EXTENSION
RESOLVED the Deputy
Supervisor be authorized to sign the Farmland Protection Easement extension.
MOTION BY
ROLL CALL VOTE: KENYON
AYE, MAUL AYE, MCEWEN AYE, PAGANO AYE,
7:35 PM SOUTH MACEDON FIRE & RESCUE PUBLIC HEARING
(S) MACEDON FIRE DISTRICT
RESOLUTION NO. 271 (2013)
RESOLVED the reading
of the legal notice published in the October 27, 2013 issue of the Times be
waived.
MOTION BY KENYON,
SECONDED BY MAUL
ROLL CALL VOTE:
KENYON AYE, MAUL AYE, MCEWEN AYE, PAGANO AYE,
NO. 24 Page 2
November 7, 2013
The proposed
five-year contract for the South Macedon Fire & Rescue Association Contract
authorizes the following (Macedon Fire District):
2014
$110,000
2015
$113,300
2016
$116,699
2017
$120,200
2018
$123,806
J.J. Philips
representing South Macedon Fire & Rescue gave a presentation regarding
their contract with the Town of
Councilman Maul gave
a presentation on special districts within the Town on fire coverage costs. The presentation is part of the overall
budget presentation and is included in the minutes. If approved there will be a change in the tax
rate if we approve the two (2) contracts in front of us and the budget from
2013 to 2014. In 2013 SF1 (Macedon
Center District) was $.67/thousand and in 2014 it will be $.77/thousand, which
is a $.10 cent increase. In 2013
$180,000 was given to Macedon Center Fire Department. There is no fund balance in this district so
NO. 24 Page 3
November 7, 2013
whatever cost for
this district goes directly to the tax levy.
2014 it goes up to $205,000 which includes $185,000 for
Supervisor
7:50 PM SOUTH MACEDON FIRE & RESCUE PUBLIC HEARING
(N) MACEDON CENTER FIRE DISTRICT
RESOLUTION NO. 272 (2013)
RESOLVED the reading
of the legal notice published in the October 27, 2013 issue of the Times be
waived.
MOTION BY
ROLL CALL VOTE:
KENYON AYE, MAUL AYE, MCEWEN AYE, PAGANO AYE,
The proposed
five-year contract for the South Macedon Fire & Rescue Association Contract
authorizes the following (Macedon Center Fire District):
2014
$20,000
2015
$20,600
2016
$21,218
2017
$21,855
2018
$22,511
Residents concerns
were number of trucks, volunteers, housing, and mutual aid.
South Macedon has 21
actual signed up volunteers with other support people. South Macedon has two (2) fire trucks lined
up that they will own and temporarily be housed at the Highway Barns. Eventually they will be housed in a central
location. The extra $20,000 covers the
dual tone for every call and expanded service beyond the scope of their
district. These will remain two
contracts with each department due to different tax districts. Mutual aid is a county wide organization and
handled with 911. Village law states as
long as the Village Fire Department is housed in the Village it has to be owned
by the Village; therefore, it is an obstacle for the Village Fire Department to
be independent.
Supervisor
NO. 24 Page 4
November 7, 2013
8:00 PM PUBLIC HEARING – 2014 BUDGET
RESOLUTION NO. 273 (2013)
RESOLVED the reading
of the legal notice published in the October 31, 2013 issue of the Daily
Messenger and advertised in the November 3, 2013 issue of the
MOTION BY MAUL,
SECONDED BY MCEWEN
ROLL CALL VOTE:
KENYON AYE, MAUL AYE, MCEWEN AYE, PAGANO AYE,
The 2014 budget
public hearing will remain open while the Board returns to the 7:35 PM
SOUTH MACEDON FIRE & RESCUE PUBLIC HEARING (S) MACEDON FIRE DISTRICT.
The budget meeting
will be adjourned at the end of the meeting until next Thursday, November 14
due to the
Residents were
concerned with money for equipment, tax increases, volunteers, coverage
availability, collateral, fire department politics, paid staff, procedures to
establish a new fire department and ownership of equipment.
South Macedon Fire
and Rescue will borrow money and build a facility over time. This is a five (5) year contract. There is a
small increase each year. The contract
amounts were published in the legal notice.
Instead of one year now we will be contracting for five (5) years.
Mayor Cramer read a
prepared statement in opposition. The Town Board wants to destroy this
Institution. They are prepared to make
our taxpayers south of the Canal pay more than twice what they have previously
paid for fire and emergency services.
These costs will soon go even higher as the newly formed Department will
likely have to hire paid staff. These
services are borne by the taxpayers and not the recipients of the service. Why would any taxpayers want to destroy our
fire department only to pay higher taxes to receive services from a department
with fewer experienced firefighters with a location farther away? The Town has used the revenue from High Acres
Landfill to engage in building a new ambulance corp
and now a new fire department. This
money could be used to reduce taxes. The
Town Board is spending public money to destroy the
Supervisor
Councilman Maul –
The tax rate is not more than twice the amount as stated by the Mayor, the
building will be near the existing one and we are not trying to put the current
fire department out of business. We have
been consistent that none of these problems are with the Village Fire
Department but we don’t contract with the Fire Department. We contract with the Village. These are some of the volunteers from the
Village Fire Department and others coming out of the woodwork. We are not taking anything from the
volunteers of the Village Fire
NO. 24 Page 5
November 7, 2013
Department. It’s not unique, these men and women came
from the Village Fire Department. They
have the same culture. They are both
volunteer departments. These people do
not get paid, but there is still a cost to run a fire department and tax payers
bare that cost.
Councilman McEwen –
There are no plans for paid firefighters in this town.
Trustee Sliney –
Supported the Village Fire Department. He
questioned the fire districts and how they were established? With the removal
of the funds from the Town it will be very difficult if not impossible to
maintain the Village Fire Department.
The Fire Department was built to serve the district. Now the district has been cut in half. No one ever came to him about the animosity.
Attorney Villani –
This district was originally handled by
Councilman Maul –
The bank is assuming that a five (5) year contract with a municipality, with a
solid credit rating, is good for the money.
Attorney Villani -
The banks prefer it because no bank wants to own a fire truck. A town can not put up a referendum unless it
is required by law; therefore, this can not be voted on by referendum.
Trustee Kelly -
Questioned what ownership the Town is getting out of this. You are setting up the new department for
failure and the taxpayers for a big loss.
To me the contract is a vendor’s contract and you don’t own anything all
these years. This is politics. I don’t understand why we didn’t get 100% of
the budget and we had to pay 30%.
Councilman Kenyon
asked what ownership the
Councilman Maul - We
did not tell South Macedon Fire & Rescue what it would cost to run a fire department. They brought a budget to us. We looked at it and we feel that they can do
what they want to with that amount of money.
We think that their numbers make sense.
The Village was doing it for less and you feel these guys can’t do it on
twice the amount of money we gave you.
Trustee Kelly - If
we have a budget of $142,000 and you are paying us $101,000 then our share came
out to $41,000. That’s the 30%
difference. I don’t understand why everybody
else gets 100% but when it came to the Village we were only suppose to get 60%
then it got up to 70%. Why is that? Now you have said take the 30% off the board
and raise it to 100%. Why are we
increasing and duplicating services?
Councilman Maul – It
is not us that is going to have ownership; it is the people of the district
that will have ownership. We feel this
newly formed organization can operate on the budget they presented to us. We are not duplicating services. We had a vendor’s contract. For years and years we have had no choice
which vendor to choose. This year we
have a choice and we picked a different vendor.
That’s all there is to it. The
30% the Village was suppose to contribute to the budget, whether you did or not
I don’t know. The 30% is because the
Village is responsible for the area in the Village. This district does not include the
Village. Your budget is whatever it
costs to provide fire protection for the Village plus the district that does
not include the Village. By assessed
value it comes out about 30/70%. That is
where the 30/70% comes from. You should
know that because you are on the Village Board and you should know how your
budget is constructed.
NO. 24 Page 6
November 7, 2013
Trustee Kelly – Like
I said, I never understood why we only got 70%.
We were covering the district over here.
All of a sudden you are paying the Macedon Center Fire District 60% more
than we ever got and we are covering the same thing if not more. Don’t make any sense to me, never did. That’s my opinion.
Town Accountant Kim Leonard
– I know you are on the Village Board. I realize you think you are getting a
percentage. A town resident pays x dollars.
A Village resident pays x dollars. Your
x dollars is 30%. If you don’t pay that
30% a Village taxpayer isn’t paying anything for fire. That’s why there is a split between assessed values. In special districts we can’t use any other
money. Your assessed value is 30%. The
Town’s is 70%. That’s what the district
is created on. That’s why you get 70%
and not 100%. If you didn’t pay 30% the
Village taxpayer would be paying $0 for fire protection. That’s where the rates come from. It’s the Village assessed value. A Village taxpayer has to pay for fire
protection like I do outside the Village.
There are three sections,
Councilman Maul –
Back in April when we had a meeting, the thing that we heard was quit bickering
over money. If we need to spend more money to make sure my house is safe that’s
okay. It was the Village that was
yelling at us saying we were nickel and diming them on the ladder truck. They said you shouldn’t care what anything costs.
We are keeping people’s houses
safe. We do care what it cost and we are
not trying to hide anything at all. The
number you saw tonight, that is an ugly number, but what are we getting for
that number? We are getting historic
coverage.
Trustee Kelly – A
contract is for you to do a job for me.
It shouldn’t matter whether the Village taxpayers pay a dime or
not. Where do you go with
Kim Leonard –
Trustee Kelly - You
are paying
Councilman Maul -
You and the other four (4) members of the Village Board came up with a number
year after year after year and said this is what it costs us to run the fire
department knowing full well the department covers the Village and the district
outside the Village. By assessed value
that split is 70/30. Why would we pay
anything more than our fair share? Every
year we do the assessed value and every year we pay our fair share. Why wouldn’t the Village pay their fair
share?
Trustee Kelly – I’m
just saying a contract is a contract and I don’t get where you can break it
down that way. Whenever I contracted out
nobody said I live in the Town of
Mayor Cramer – We do
not include in this budget clerical, maintenance and lawn care that the Highway
performs. She referred to the contract
presented in June.
Trustee Kelly read a
prepared statement written by Macedon Village Fire Chief Tim Wilcox.
A Village Resident
asked, from a business standpoint, how this is not bid. Is this is being fiscally responsible and how
do you not let the residents vote on this?
NO. 24 Page 7
November 7, 2013
Councilman Maul – If
a referendum is not required then we can not legally put it up for a
referendum. We are not here tonight
because we do not like the Village Fire Department. We see value in spending this additional
money. The Town can not own a fire
department. The people of this district
will have equity. If this goes through
the tax dollars that they pay on January 1st towards things that
fire department owns the district owns it.
That’s never happened in the current contract. The people outside the
Village have no equity with the current contract. They have nothing to show for it other than
the service itself. The service itself
they have and nobody is questioning that but they don’t own a boot, they don’t
own a truck, they don’t own anything. I
wish that all this spirit of cooperation was evident for the past ten (10)
years. I’ve been on this board and never
has the cooperation been offered by the Village Board that I am hearing tonight.
If there had been we might not be here.
There never was. Again, it is not
the Village Fire Department. A lot of
the same people in this new fire department were in the old fire
department.
A Village resident
voiced her opposition and felt the Town had a responsibility to the Village and
Town taxpayers by contracting with the Village for fire protection.
Highway
Superintendent Roets asked the resident if she had attended a Village Board
Meeting. He stated that this nonsense
has been going on all his life. This
Town Board has been beaten for years.
The resident agreed
both boards were at fault and should be able to come together and sign a
contract.
Councilman Maul – I
have said this Board is not without fault.
It takes two (2) to tangle and two (2) to come together and we have not
found a willing partner from the Village to come together.
Greg Frey read a
statement from the Village Fire Chief regarding the June contract offered.
Councilman Maul – It
did not allow the Town to set up an equipment trust fund and an equitable distribution
of equipment that we have already paid for.
We are talking about a numeric value on our share of truck costs. If we paid 70% of it we want 70% of the money
credited to the district.
Town Resident - Whether
the Village exists or not, are the trucks going to roll? We have paid a lot of money over a lot of
years. If the Village fire district goes
away what coverage do I have? Trucks
can’t roll because they are not owned by the fire department. I understand why we are here. I understand the numbers never add up. What if this new department doesn’t work, are
the Village trucks going to roll? If the
Village was to dissolve I have no say as a Town resident, as I have no say
right now.
Trustee Sliney – If
the Village were to dissolve we would have to sell our assets. That’s not to say we couldn’t sell to the
Fire Department.
All persons desiring
to be heard, having been heard the public hearing was closed.
RESOLUTION NO. 274 (2013) PUBLIC HEARING CLOSED (SOUTH
MACEDON FIRE & RESCUE PUBLIC HEARING (S) MACEDON FIRE DISTRICT)
RESOLVED that the Public
Hearing be closed at 9:27 p.m.
MOTION BY KENYON,
SECONDED BY MAUL
ROLL CALL VOTE:
KENYON AYE, MAUL AYE, MCEWEN AYE, PAGANO AYE,
NO. 24 Page 8
November 7, 2013
All persons desiring
to be heard, having been heard the public hearing was closed
RESOLUTION NO. 275 (2013) PUBLIC HEARING CLOSED (SOUTH
MACEDON FIRE & RESCUE PUBLIC HEARING (N) MACEDON CENTER FIRE DISTRICT)
RESOLVED that the
Public Hearing be closed at 9:35 p.m.
MOTION BY MCEWEN,
SECONDED BY PAGANO
ROLL CALL VOTE:
KENYON AYE, MAUL AYE, MCEWEN AYE, PAGANO AYE,
Councilman Maul
presented the 2014 budget overview. This year the overall assessment of the
Town went down by approximately 1%.
RESOLUTION NO. 276 (2013) PRELIMINARY BUDGET PUBLIC
HEARING CONTINUED UNTIL 11-14-13
RESOLVED the
Preliminary Budget Public Hearing be continued until the November 14, 2013
regular meeting at which time it will reopen at 7:35 p.m.
MOTION BY PAGANO,
SECONDED BY MAUL
ROLL CALL VOTE:
KENYON AYE, MAUL AYE, MCEWEN AYE, PAGANO AYE,
RESOLUTION NO. 277 (2013) SOUTH MACEDON FIRE &
RESCUE CONTRACT (S) MACEDON FIRE DISTRICT APPROVED
RESOLVED that the
2014
$110,000
2015
$113,300
2016
$116,699
2017
$120,200
2018
$123,806
MOTION BY KENYON,
SECONDED BY MCEWEN
ROLL CALL VOTE:
KENYON AYE, MAUL AYE, MCEWEN AYE, PAGANO AYE,
RESOLUTION NO. 278 (2013) SOUTH MACEDON FIRE &
RESCUE CONTRACT (N) MACEDON FIRE DISTRICT APPROVED
RESOLVED that the
2014
$20,000
2015
$20,600
2016
$21,218
2017
$21,855
2018
$22,511
MOTION BY KENYON,
SECONDED BY PAGANO
ROLL CALL VOTE:
KENYON AYE, MAUL AYE, MCEWEN AYE, PAGANO AYE,
RESOLUTION NO. 279 (2013) EXECUTIVE SESSION
RESOLVED the Board
enter Executive Session at 10:05 p.m. to discuss particular personnel issue and
litigation.
MOTION BY PAGANO, SECONDED
BY MCEWEN
ROLL CALL VOTE:
KENYON AYE, MAUL AYE, MCEWEN AYE, PAGANO AYE,
NO. 24 Page 9
November 7, 2013
RESOLUTION NO. 280 (2013) OPEN SESSION
RESOLVED the Board
return to Open Session at 10:45 p.m.
MOTION BY PAGANO,
SECONDED BY MCEWEN
ROLL CALL VOTE:
KENYON AYE, MAUL AYE, MCEWEN AYE, PAGANO AYE,
MOTION BY
_________________________
Barbara LaBrake
Macedon Deputy Town
Clerk