Town Meeting- August 2021

Regular 2021 Sidney Town Board was called to order by the Acting Deputy  Supervisor at 7:00 P.M.  August 12, 2021, in the boardroom at 44 Grand Street, Sidney.  Prior to the meeting, bills were audited by the Board.

Present were:

                        Eric Wilson                             Acting Deputy Supervisor

                        James Roberts, Jr.                   Highway Superintendent

                        C. Peter Cordes                       Councilman

                        Frank Selleck                          Councilman

                       William Hunt, Jr                      Councilman

                       Joseph A. Ermeti                     Attorney

                       Sheila R Paul                          Clerk

  PLEDGE TO THE FLAG

SILENT MOMENT OF REFLECTION/PRAYER

APPROVE TOWN BOARD MINUTES: of Regular Meeting held on July 8, 2021. Motion by Mr. Selleck seconded by Mr. Cordes and carried. AYES: E. Wilson. NAYES: None

APPROVE PAYMENT OF BILLS

A Fund Vouchers: 21-187 thru 21-209 in the amount of $ 26,640.34 Motion by Mr. Cordes seconded by Mr. Selleck and carried. AYES: E. Wilson. NAYES: None

B Fund Vouchers: 21-9 thru 21-10 in the amount of $ 650.00. Motion by Mr. Selleck, seconded by Wilson and carried. AYES: P. Cordes. NAYES: None

East Sidney Lake Voucher:  21-51 thru 21-65 in the amount of $ 9,501.12 Motion by Mr. Cordes, seconded by Mr. Selleck and carried. AYES: E. Wilson. NAYES: None

 Sidney Center Lights: 21-8 in the amount of $ 21.09 Motion by Mr. Cordes seconded by Mr. Wilson and carried. AYES: F. Selleck NAYES: None

Total General Vouchers: $ 37,004.55

DA Fund Vouchers: 21-97 thru 21-102 in the amount of $ 1,975.26 Motion by Mr. Selleck, seconded by Mr. Cordes and carried. AYES E. Wilson. NAYES: None

DB Fund Vouchers: 21-41 thru 21-53 in the amount of $ 64,071.34 Motion by Mr. Cordes, seconded by Mr. Selleck and carried. AYES: E. Wilson. NAYES: None

Total Highway Vouchers: $ 66,046.60

Hospital Vouchers: 21-121 thru 21-138 in the amount of $ 19,136.30 Motion by Mr. Cordes, seconded by Mr. Wilson and carried. AYES: F. Selleck. NAYES: None

TA Trust & Agency Fund: 21-1 thru 21-3 in the amount of $ 2,689.58 Motion by Mr. Selleck, seconded by Mr. Cordes and carried. AYES: E. Wilson. NAYES: None.

Total Vouchers: $ 124,877.03

CORRESPONDENCE:  Received invoice in the amount of $ 15,980.50 from Matco, for generated for Hospital which Bassett ordered due to an outage.

Mr. Wilson asked for a motion to pay but was informed by the town attorney Mr. Ermeti that there is a provision in the lease with Bassett that we can ask for them to contribute toward any extra high experience that occurs for the operation of the Hospital. The town is looking into having a new and permanent generated installed. Motion to approve this bill has been put on hold until we talked with Bassett.

REPORTS/DISTRIBUTED:

Monthly reports of Supervisor, Bookkeeper, and Town Clerk. The clerk is submitting checks totaling $ 1347.00 for fees collected during July 2021.

REPORTS/ORAL

HIGHWAY– Jamie Roberts: New Highway employee started July 26^th. Mr. Roberts stated that July was 2021 was the third wettest July on record and it resulted in dealing with downed trees, also a culvert was washed out on Fox Farm Rd in Sidney Center, the culvert was placed. Also, the crew has been morning, digging ditches and filling potholes.

SUPERVISOR– Eric Wilson: William A Hunt Jr was sworn in as board member by Mr. Wilson. Mr. Hunt was appointed to the vacant seat of the late Jeanette Hinkley.

 I met with representatives from Treffeisen & Son LLC about upgrading the electrical system and the NYSEG would like transformers relocated outside. Waiting for a price quote and put it out for bid. Also looking into replacing the boiler at the hospital as we use 15 to 30 gallons of fuel per day.

Meet with the Sidney DMV office along with the County Clerk Deb Goodrich, they are interested in moving the office into the Town Hall building.

BOOKKEEPER-Karen Kopp: Nothing

TOWN CLERK–Sheila Paul: Nothing

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Highway-Selleck & Cordes: On-going negotiations with the union for the highway dept.

Hospital- Wilson: Exposures the DMV moving.

Insurance-Cordes: nothing

Zoning & Planning– Selleck: The zoning and Planning committee is developing a  special use permit.

East Sidney Lake: Cordes & Wilson: Mr. Wilson received an email from John Nolan the park’s manager and that the park has been busy this season. Also, Mr. Cordes stated that Mr. Nolan stated that the lawnmower is wearing out and should look at a replacement.

 Finance-Wilson: Received our first half of American Rescue Plan money, will discuss how the money will be allocated. Looking into Town Court to cover lost revenue due to shut down during COVID-19. Mr. Ermeti asked Mr. Wilson if he knew how much revenue did the court lose. Mr. Wilson will be looking into that with the Court.

IT- Wilson: New Website. Per Town Clerk Sheila Paul: uploading building application.

DCO liaison– Wilson: Nothing

Transition-Selleck:  Continues to pursue the $ 200,000 grant with DASNY that was initially applied for in 2018 with help of the retired NY Senator James Seward. Mr. Selleck spoke with Assemblyman Joe Angelino and NYS Senator Peter Oberacker about the status of the grant.

OLD BUSINESS:

NEW BUSINESS: Acting Deputy Supervisor Eric Wilson announced that Councilmember Cordes has completed the Town Justice Court audit for the fiscal year 2020. A motion was made by Acting Deputy Supervisor Wilson to accept the Justice Court audit as written and seconded was made by Councilmember Selleck and carried. AYES: P. Cordes, W. Hunt NAYES: None

COMMENTS FROM THE FLOOR: Resident Beatrice Bishop has concerns with the speed on County Hwy 23 where her home is located. Would like to have the area monitored. Ms. Bishop requested that the town board meeting is via Zoom because of the increase in COVID cases in the area. Mr. Wilson stated that the next meeting will be on Zoom for residents to attend. Ms. Bishop also has a question about broadband, also wanted to ask if the board members could speak up as it’s hard to hear as the acoustics in the boardroom are not good.

At 7:43 p.m. Mr. Wilson moved to adjourn the meeting, motion was made by Mr. Selleck and seconded by Mr. Wilson and carried. AYES: P. Cordes,           W. Hunt NAYES: None

The next Meeting is scheduled for September 9th at 7:00 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Sheila R Paul