Village Board

Village Board Meeting Minutes November 7, 2023 Present : Mayor Lee, Trustees, Fowler, Speer, Farrell, Zabelny Village Manager Shari Wilson-Pearce Code Enforcement Officer Mark Mazzucco Deputy Clerk Amy Harter DPW Superintendent Jeff Pearce Asst. Superintendent Chad McManus Absent: Treasurer Maryalice Edwards Guests: Doreen Johnson, Ignatino LaDelfa, Debra Hebing, Jeff LaChausse, Harry Reiter, Linda Viney Mayor Lee called the meeting to order at 5 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence. The meeting was held in the Board Room and was available via Zoom. Recreation Ryan Rockafellow updated the board on their events. Trunk or Treat was held at the Community Center on Halloween and was very well attended. Meetings continue for the upcoming solar eclipse. Code Enforcement Mark Mazzucco reported on the status of the Building Department. He has been asked to back up the Town of Parma Code Enforcement and Fire Marshal as they are shorthanded. There is an intermunicipal agreement in place for this circumstance. Fire Marshal: Ron Bragg continues to conduct all necessary fire inspections throughout the Village. The board is pleased with his substantial progress to complete this project. 1  Treasurer Resolution to authorize the Treasurer to relevy $38,649.66 to the Monroe County Treasury for reimbursement of Village taxes. Motion made by Trustee Fowler, seconded by Trustee Farrell. Caried 4-0. DPW Superintendent Resolution to increase the wage of Rob Quetschenbach by $.75 per hour for his six-month evaluation. Motion made by Trustee Farrell, seconded by Trustee Speer. Carried 4-0. Resolution to increase the wage of Kyle Degraeve by $1.00 per hour for his six-month evaluation. Motion made by Trustee Speer, seconded by Trustee Farrell. Carried 4-0. Resolution to increase the wage of Joe Mansfield by $1.50 per hour for his six-month evaluation. Motion made by Trustee Fowler, seconded by Trustee Speer. Carried 4-0. Make a Difference Day: The DPW hosted an electronic recycling event on October 28th and collected 7,167 pounds of electronics. There were two Village employees and two Parma employees. The Hilton Cadets football team assisted in transferring the items from vehicles to the collections bins for disposal. Sunnking did not charge for their services. Street Sweeper: The 2011 RAVO sweeper was taken to auction and received a bid of $26,100. The item did not have a reserve amount. After the auction, the offer was declined, the item could bring a substantial price in the Spring. A general discussion took place. The DPW will winterize and store the sweeper for the season, and it will be taken to auction next spring. It was noted that it is possible a future bid may not exceed $26,100. CDL: The Superintendent reported the DPW employee, Joe Mansfield received his CDL on his first attempt. Manager’s report South Avenue Water Repair: The necessary easement agreement has been signed. MRB is recommending advertising for bids in December. Resolution to authorize the Superintendent and MRB to advertise for bids and specs for the water main repair on South Avenue. Motion to approve made by Trustee Fowler, seconded by Trustee Speer. Carried 4-0. Permit: The Village Manager has submitted a Highway Work Right of Way Permit and fees for the boards review and approval. Any work from utility companies will be required to complete the permit and will be charged the appropriate fees. The Village attorney will review and approve the permit. Resolution to approve the Right of Way permit and fee schedule as presented. Motion made by Trustee Speer and seconded by Trustee Fowler. Carried 4-0. 2 Health Insurance: Shari Pearce explained the cost of Excellus Blue Choice has increased by 14.7% for full time employees and retirees under age 65. Humana’s cost increased 3.6% for Medicare coverage. Shari conducted an analysis of costs and fortunately, we are still under budget. She noted the board has not increased the employee/retiree portion in seven years. Shari is not recommending any changes to the retirees or employees for this year. Resolution to approve the increase with the health insurance increases for 2024 with no changes to the employee benefits. Motion to approve made by Trustee Fowler, seconded by Trustee Speer. Carried 4-0. Solar Eclipse: Shari reported the Town of Parma has budgeted $2,000 for signage and restroom facilities for the April 2024 event, she asked if the board is interested in using the contingency fund towards costs associated with the event. The board has previously agreed to provide dumpsters to be placed throughout the Village, which is a substantial cost. They agreed to table this item at this time. Plowing: The board has discussed ceasing plow services to the Hilton Fire Department parking lot for several reasons. The DPW has plowed the lot for decades at no cost, there are several municipal lots that must be plowed as well as public streets and sidewalks. The majority of DPW employees do not have the years of plowing experience that we’ve had for several years. Parma Highway Superintendent, Jim Christ is in the process of completing a contract between the Town and Fire Department/District for plowing at a cost of $1,000 per season. Trustee Speer stated his opposition to this action citing Parma tax dollars are being used for this purpose and is not fair to Parma residents that pay North Greece Fire Department taxes. He stated the responsibility should be that of the Village. Mayor Lee feels the time is right for the Town of Parma to add the Fire Department lot to their plow route. Resolution to amend the Salt Shed Agreement to remove the Village of Hilton from plowing the Fire Department/District property. Motion made by Trustee Fowler, seconded by Trustee Farrell. Motion carried 3-1, Trustee Speer opposed. Daycare Request: Kelly Climer is hosting an employee event on December 6th. She has requested permission to serve wine. She is willing to sign a waiver. Alcohol is prohibited in the Community Center. The board is not in favor of allowing alcohol for this occasion. Sick Time: Employees hired prior to 2016 currently receive 12 weeks of paid sick time each year. The intent of this benefit was to pay employees in the event of a catastrophic event as there is no New York State disability pay provided to them. This benefit is excessive in todays climate. Shari is recommending all employees receive 12 weeks of paid sick time every three years. In addition, the board offered employees the use of their sick time for medical appointments. This was done on a one-year trial basis for 2023. It is difficult to manage and is also being excessively used. The board agreed to discontinue granting use of sick time for medical appointments. Employees shall use their personal or vacation time for medical appointments. Family Leave remains unchanged. 3  Public Hearing Mayor Lee opened the public hearing at 6 p.m. to consider Local Law #4, 2023 to add the following to the Vehicles and Traffic Law Chapter 252-4 (A); The parking of vehicles in any of the following locations is hereby prohibited: The cul-de-sac of Green Lane, #11, 12, 13, 14, 15 For cul-de-sacs: The no-parking zone is comprised only of the roadway which actually comprises and is a part of the cul-de-sac and does not include the roadway leading up to the cul- de-sac. Karen Ricketts, 7 Green Lane, noted she has witnessed a vehicle blocking the school bus and agrees that parking can be a problem. She stated most recently, the vehicle in question has been parked in the appropriate driveway. With all persons being heard, Mayor Lee agreed to leave the hearing open for public comment until the December 5th meeting. Monroe County Department of Planning and Development comments are expected to be received in that time frame. Resolution to table Local Law #4, 2023 to permit parking from the cul-de-sac of Green Lane, #11,12,13,14,15 for the December 5, 2023 Village Board meeting. Motion made by Trustee Speer, seconded by Trustee Farrell. Carried 4-0. Public Forum Mayor Lee read the procedures and opened the Public Forum at 6:10 p.m. Kris Schultz, Schultz Associates asked board to consider 14, 2-unit townhouses to be developed at 261 East Avenue by the Wegmans Specialties. They own Hilton East Residential Home which is located on the property to the north. The property would require rezoning from Commercial to Multi Residential and re-subdivision of land of 2.065 acres. The board discussed some issues they have had with the current owners of Hilton East. Mr. Schultz will take the comments back to his client in hopes of working out these concerns. Jan Lloyd, was present to discuss the current state of the ambulance service in our community and surrounding towns and villages. Statistical data was provided to the board members and a copy is provided at the end of these minutes. She has been a paramedic for 45 years and explained her credentials. She thanked the board for not creating a tax district, as residents do not need an additional tax burden. She continued a dedicated ambulance would not be positioned only in Hilton Parma, it would likely be providing mutual aid to other districts. Mrs. Lloyd noted this is a nation-wide problem because EMS is not recognized as an essential part of public safety. Wayne County established a county wide ambulance service earlier this month. She highly recommends that Monroe County follows this example. 4 Dave Olney, 6 Cross Lane. Mr. Olney stated he was told that a resident called a Village Board member to make a complaint about the ambulance service and was hung up on. He asked how someone would file a complaint with the Village about ambulance service. The Village Manager explained all board member emails are listed on our website as well as a formal complaint form that is sent to a general Village email to the office. He noted response time is dwindling by both ambulance and fire with ambulance response times up to an hour. He agreed with Jan Lloyd’s comments that the problem is county wide and should be addressed by Monroe County. Mr. Olney is specifically seeking a commitment from the Village Board to the public with both a short term and long-term plan to address the ambulance problems, this should include reaching out to Monroe County. Mr. Olney also asked if the zoom meetings are available to the public. Every Village Board meeting is available on Zoom and are advertised prior to each meeting on the agenda which is available on the Village website. Each meeting is recorded and archived on Zoom. Mayor Lee closed the public forum at 7:00 p.m. Minutes Resolution to approve minutes of October 3, 2023 as presented. Motion made by Trustee Speer, seconded by Trustee Fowler. Carried 4-0. Vouchers Resolution to approve the November vouchers for payment with the following additions: Blodgett Farm $80.00, Charter Communications $159.98, Hilton Central School District $417.90, Jackson Welding $17.82, Lamont Awards $18.75, Lowes $72.30, Monroe County Environmental Services $11,881.03, MRB $1,395.00, NYS Floodplain $40.00, Regional International $1,109.52, Tops $69.35, United Business Systems $45.04, Z’s Automotive $89.00. Motion made by Trustee Fowler, seconded by Trustee Speer. Carried 4-0. Prepaid $5,425.83 TA $25,507.71 General $96,437.42 Water $36,537.03 sewer $740.00 Total $164,647.99 Discussion Recreation Liaison Report Fire District Commission Report 5  Adjournment Motion to adjourn at 7:30 p.m. made by Trustee Fowler, seconded by Trustee Farell. Motion carried 4-0. Respectfully submitted, Amy Harter Deputy Clerk 6 7 8 9 10 11 12