Village Board

Village Board Meeting Minutes November 2, 2021 Present : Mayor Lee, Trustees, Farrell (via zoom), Fowler, Speer, Zabelny Village Manager Shari Wilson- Pearce DPW Superintendent Jeff Pearce Asst Superintendent Chad McManus Treasurer Maryalice Edwards Code Enforcement Officer Mark Mazzucco Absent: Amy Harter Guests: Linda Viney, Laurie Marc, Marissa Pellegini, Mary and Ernie Persi, Ralph Dipalma, Anthony and Nicoletta Gibbado The meeting was held in person and via Zoom. Mayor Lee called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. with the pledge of allegiance followed by a moment of silence. Recreation Department Tom reported on changing the Halloween Festival from Saturday to Thursday and how well the event went. Tom gave an update on upcoming events. Code Enforcement Zoning Board: no update, there are two meetings this coming month. Mark updated his regular inspections; Empire Code Services will handle the remaining 18 fire code inspections. Mark remarked he sent 18 violations out this month, one second notice was sent out. Mark updated on the dog complaint from last month. 1  Treasurer Resolution Trustee Zabelny made the motion, seconded Trustee Speer. Re-appropriate $46,950 from 2020-2021 budget and amend the 2021-2022 budget for the installation of the generator for the Community Center. A960 Appropriations $46,950 (A11620.20) A599 Appropriated Fund Balance $46,950 Resolution: Trustee Zabelny made the motion, seconded by Trustee Fowler to amend the 2021-2022 budget to increase the revenue for the grant for the Unionville generator and increase the expense for the Unionville generator. G510 Revenues $40,100 G960 Appropriations $40,100 Resolution: Trustee Fowler made the motion, seconded by Trustee Speer. Renew the CDs for another 30 days at a rate of .18 %. Carried unanimously 5-0. Unpaid Taxes: The last day to accept village tax payments in our office is October 31, 2021, Maryalice requested approval to surrender the unpaid 2021-22 village taxes to Monroe County for reimbursement. Resolution: made by Trustee Speer, seconded by Trustee Zabelny to relevy the Village Taxes in the amount of $6,662.85 to the Monroe County Treasury to receive reimbursement. Carried unanimously 5-0. DPW Superintendent Resolution to deposit $53,500 into the DPW equipment reserve for the loader that was sold at auction. Trustee Speer made the motion, seconded by Trustee Zabelny, carried unanimously 5-0. Resolution to authorize the Superintendent to repair the overhead door at a cost of $2,207.00 from Alliance door. Trustee Fowler made the motion, seconded by Trustee Zabelny, carried 5-0. Generator: Community Center is almost complete, the payment has been authorized, however, Jeff will hold the check until all items are completed. Heavy rains: Jeff discussed some drainage issues with all the rainfall around the Village. 2 Electric Charge Stations: Jeff reported the Village has completed all the necessary improvements to the Railroad Ave area; we are awaiting RG&E to complete their end to finalize the project. DPW Security cameras: The board discussed restarting the project since the incident that happened last month. Trustee Speer suggested having the work done on a weekend when the shop is vacant. Jeff and Chad will talk with SG Security on the remaining scope of work to complete the project. DPW Policies: Jeff informed the board he is reviewing outdated policies in the garage and updating them as needed. He is also going through safety training procedures with the crew. Manager’s report Gross Receipt Tax Settlement: Shari remarked that we've reached an agreement in the long running dispute with Avangrid (parent company of NYSEG and RG&E) over their policy of excluding "delivery only" revenue from local GRT payments. Avangrid has agreed to reverse that policy and will not bring a legal challenge to it in the future. The 91 municipal clients will share in a compensation pool of $750,000 and Avangrid will include "delivery only" revenue in future tax payments. Individual municipal allocations from the compensation pool are based on Avangrid revenue figures. She noted, no matter how much you receive in this settlement, we will see a much greater impact through the inclusion of "delivery only" revenue for years to come. The anticipated refund is $7,500.00. Shari is requesting approval for the Mayor to sign the agreement. Resolution to approve authorize the Mayor to sign the settlement agreement between Rochester Gas and Electric and the Village of Hilton. Trustee Speer made the motion, seconded by Trustee Zabelny, carried unanimously 5-0. Resolution to accept the resignation of Shelly Kordish from the Zoning Board of Appeals. Trustee Speer made the motion, seconded by Trustee Zabelny, carried unanimously 5-0. Resolution to appoint Joe Ruta as a full acting Zoning Board member. Trustee Fowler made the motion, seconded by Trustee Zabelny, carried Resolution to advertise for two Zoning Board alternates. Trustee Fowler made the motion, seconded by Mayor Lee, carried 5-0. BOCES work study program: Shari reported the program is doing well. With the office Covid outbreak, we did have to pause the program for two weeks. We currently have three students participating in the program at the Community Center. 3 Vacation: Due to the medical leaves in the office, there is a possibility that two salaried employees may not use all their vacation time. The board suggested to allow a two-week carry over the maximum for 2021-2022. Resolution to allow the Village Manager and Superintendent to carry over an additional two weeks’ vacation from 2021 to 2022. Trustee Fowler made the motion, seconded by Trustee Speer. Carried 5-0. ARPA: Shari stated the auditors will have the calculation completed this month for the board. Health insurance: Shari asked the board if they plan on continuing the same health benefits for 2022 for both full-time employees and retirees. She noted the rate adjustment as approved by the NYS Department of Financial Services (DFS) is 9.02%. This is really COVID-19 driven as lots of services and procedures that were deferred in 2020 were rescheduled and received in 2021 and these are driving number of claims and costs. Many preventative services/exams were not done in 2020 and this contributed as well. We budgeted an increase of 10%. Resolution to continue the same health insurance contributions for full-time employees and retirees with no changes in 2022. Trustee Speer made the motion, seconded by Trustee Zabelny. Carried 5-0. Election: Shari reported the election date is March 15, 2022, a notice must go in the paper for the office of vacancies. Resolution to authorize the Village Manager/Clerk to advertise office of vacancies for the upcoming March 15, 2022, election. Trustee Fowler made the motion, seconded by Trustee Speer, carried 5-0. Sick time: Shari requested the following be amended to the employee handbook to include language that states after three days sick time, an employee may be required to have an in-person doctor’s visit prior to returning to work not a tele-medicine call. Resolution to modify the handbook to add language that after three days sick, an employee may be required to have an in-person doctor’s visit prior to returning to work, not a tele medication conference call. Trustee Speer made the motion, seconded by Trustee Fowler 5-0, carried 5-0. Wages: Shari reported Aimee Doser is up for her first six- month evaluation and is recommending a $1.00 per hour. Shari noted Aimee is doing very well. 4  Resolution to increase Amy Doser’s wages by $1.00 for her six-month evaluation effective December 2, 2021. Trustee Speer made the motion, seconded by Trustee Zabelny. Cannabis: The board had a discussion on either to opt out or in regarding allowing Cannabis to be sold in the Village. There were discussion points for each board member. Trustee Fowler is for allowing Cannabis into the Village and feels this could be a substantial revenue stream. The four remaining board members are opposed; they feel this is not something they want promoted in the Village. Resolution to advertise a public hearing for Local Law# 5, 2021, to opt out of selling Cannabis. The public hearing is scheduled for December 7th. Trustee Zabelny made the motion, seconded by Trustee Speer, carried 4-1 (Fowler opposed, he would like the revenue generated for the Village). Family Leave, Paternity/Maternity: Trustee Fowler suggested doing a handbook workshop meeting in the near future, this item was tabled. Walt Horylev Beautification Award: The board has tentatively set aside November 30th for the ceremony and possibly the special police event. Public Forum 6:00 p.m. Mayor Lee opened the public forum at 6:00 p.m. 3 Fraser Dr: The owners spoke of standing water in their yard ten out of the twelve months out of the year. They have been told there is a drain by Cooper Dr and that we have to pay to open the drain. There are mosquitos and everything is sinking into the ground. Water is coming into the basement. They are asking the Village if there is anything they can do. Mark Laurie, 25 Cooper Dr, she also stated they have standing water in backyard and is getting the water close to the house. Ernie Persi, 1 Fraser Dr, they have lived in the home for 32 years and now this is the worst it has been. They also noted that their neighbors at 5 Fraser Dr, have the same issues. Trustee Speer has walked the property and the pitch is correct, but it is not draining properly. The Superintendent stated it would be roughly $600 in materials to make some drainage improvements. The board tabled this item to allow the DPW to collect more data and come up with an actual cost and to investigate if this is something the Village should be repairing or is it a homeowner responsibility. 5 Mary Persie, 1 Fraser Dr: She asked if each resident is required to have a tree in their tree lawn. She said one of her neighbors doesn’t want a tree and it doesn’t look right without one. The board answered that everyone gets a tree in their tree lawn. There are many trees that have been taken down because of the ash borer and are on the list for replacement. Linda Viney: Linda stated the Apple Festival is having a dish to pass dinner on December 6th and is wondering if they can serve wine with dinner. Alcohol is not permitted in the Community Center. After a brief discussion, the board has denied the request. Mayor Lee closed the public form at 6:17 p.m. Minutes Resolution to approve minutes of October 5, 2021, as amended. Trustee Fowler made the motion, seconded by Trustee Speer, carried 5-0. Vouchers Resolution to approve the November vouchers for payment, Trustee Fowler made the motion, seconded by Trustee Zabelny, carried 5-0. Prepaid $5,355.89 TA $31,053.27 General $305,187.93 Water $34,800.93 Sewer $48,721.30 Capital $23.01 Total $425,142.33 added at the meeting: Jackson Welding $15.32 Dave Crumb $223.85 NYS Floodplain & Stormwater $30.00 Life Science Laboratories $20.00 Patriot Diamond $1,545.00 Power & Construction $54,287.00 Southworth-Milton $167,372.00 Nicole Lupinette $40.00 MRB Group -$475.00 6  Discussion Resolution to enter into executive session at 7:18 p.m. to discuss an employee’s wages. Motion made by Trustee Fowler, seconded by Trustee Zabelny, carried 5-0. Resolution to exit out of executive session at 8:02 p.m. Trustee Fowler made the made the motion, seconded by Trustee Speer. Carried unanimously 5-0. Adjournment There being no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 8:03 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Shari Wilson-Pearce, Village Manager/Clerk 7