Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Johnson City, New York, held at 7:30PM in the Municipal Building on January 15, 2008

 

PRESENT:    Harry G. Lewis                                     Mayor

 

                     Donald Adams

                     Richard Balles

                     Dennis Hannon

                     Bruce King                                           Trustees

                                            

Beth Westfall                                        Village Attorney

 

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

 

The meeting was opened with the pledge of allegiance led by Mayor Lewis.

 

FIRE EXITS

 

The Mayor noted directions to the fire exits.

 

MISCELLANEOUS ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Mayor Lewis made the following announcements.

 

The Broome County Association of Towns and Villages will meet on January 24, 2008 at 6:30PM at The Spot Restaurant on Upper Front Street with Broome County Sheriff David Harder as Guest Speaker.

 

The New York State Department of State has announced that the Village of Johnson City has been awarded a Restore NY Grant in the amount of $471,568.00 in order to demolish a building on Ozalid Road.

 

BOARD MINUTES

 

Motion by Trustee Balles - seconded by Trustee King to accept and place on file the Village Board Minutes for the Work Session and Regular meeting of January 2, 2008.

 

Motion Carried                                                                          Ayes 5  Nayes 0    

 

BID OPENINGS                                                                      None

 

PUBLIC HEARINGS                                                               None

 

PETITIONS RECEIVED                                                          None

 

PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR – VISITORS                            

 

Julie Deemie – 153 Zoa Avenue – Asked if the Village Board solicited input from the residents around the Wal-Mart project site.

 

The Mayor and Trustees stated that they received communications from residents on the issue, however,  they did not say that they solicited input.

 

Julie Deemie – 153 Zoa Avenue – Stated that the Wal-Mart project should have received the same attention that a current project is receiving near Richard Street.

 

COMMUNICATIONS

 

Motion by Trustee King - seconded by Trustee Adams that the following communications be accepted and placed on file:

 

JCCSD – Reg. Mtg: December 11, 2007

Your Home Library – Reg. Mtg:  December 10, 2007

BC Association of Towns & Villages – Reg. Mtg: November 2007

 

Board members polled

Motion carried                                                                           Ayes 5  Nayes 0

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS                                                         None   

 

DEPARTMENTS REPORTS

 

Motion by Trustee Balles - seconded by Trustee Hannon that the following Department Reports be accepted and placed on file:

 

Code Enforcement

December 2007

 

Motion Carried                                                                                   Ayes 5  Nayes 0    

 

PAYROLL AND BILLS PRESENTED

 

Motion by Trustee Adams - seconded by Trustee King that Abstract #12 for the Fiscal Year 2007-08, having been audited by the board and approved, be ordered paid as follows:

 

GENERAL

$142,372.48

WATER

$6,079.31

SEWER

$1,422.67

REFUSE

$19,364.49

LIBRARY

$6,801.91

JSTP-PHASE III

$207,219.16

 

Board members polled                                                                       

Motion carried                                                                                    Ayes 5  Nayes 0    

 

UNFINISHED BUSINESS                                                    None

NEW BUSINESS

 

RESOLUTION #14

 

Motion by Trustee Adams - seconded by Trustee King to authorize the Mayor to sign an agreement with Broome County for overtime reimbursement related to the STOP-DWI Program from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008 for $9,840.00 

 

TRUSTEE DISCUSSION:

 

Trustee Hannon stated that he discussed this new change in policy in how funding is established with STOP-DWI Coordinator James May.  He hopes to keep the communication lines open in order to share how the Village is affected by the new funding amounts.

 

Board members polled                                                                       

Motion carried                                                                                    Ayes 5  Nayes 0    

 

RESOLUTION #15

 

Motion by Trustee Balles – seconded by Trustee King to approve Request-for-Modification,

RFM 4A-0021 – Contact 4A – General with Pinnacle Construction for the Repairs to the Interior

of Digester No. 3 related to the Phase III Improvements at the Binghamton/Johnson City Joint

Sewage Treatment Plant at an additional cost of $10,642.97.

 

Board members polled

Motion carried                                                                           Ayes 5  Nayes 0 

 

RESOLUTION #16

 

Motion by Trustee King – seconded by Trustee Balles to authorize the Mayor to sign all

documents related to the closing and buy-out of 37 River Terrace which was eligible for the

FEMA/SEMA buy-out based on the flood events of June 2006.

 

Board members polled

Motion carried                                                                           Ayes 5  Nayes 0 

 

RESOLUTION #17

 

Motion by Trustee Hannon – seconded by Trustee Balles to amend the fee for a Village of

Johnson City Tax Certificate to $10.00, effective immediately.

 

Board members polled

Motion carried                                                                           Ayes 5  Nayes 0 

 

RESOLUTION #18

 

Motion by Trustee Adams – seconded by Trustee Hannon to authorize the appointment of Todd

Place as a Probationary Laborer, within the Department of Public Works, at the negotiated rate of

pay of $12.99 per hour, effective February 4, 2008 and contingent upon successful completion of

all pre-employment testing requirements.

 

Board members polled

Motion carried                                                                           Ayes 5  Nayes 0 

 

RESOLUTION #19

 

Motion by Trustee Balles – seconded by Trustee Hannon to approve Request-for-Modification,

RFM 4A-0022 – Contact 4A – General with Pinnacle Construction for the Conversion of Digester

No. 3 to a Gas Holder related to the Phase III Improvements at the Binghamton/Johnson City

Joint Sewage Treatment Plant at an additional cost of $11,836.12.

 

Board members polled

Motion carried                                                                           Ayes 5  Nayes 0 

 

RESOLUTION #20

 

Motion by Trustee Balles – seconded by Trustee Hannon to approve Request-for-Modification, RFM 3B-0018 – Contract 3B – Electrical with Matco Electric for the Grounding of the Methanol Tank System related to the Phase III Improvements at the Binghamton/Johnson City Joint Sewage Treatment Plant at an additional cost of $30,000.00

 

Board members polled

Motion carried                                                                           Ayes 5  Nayes 0

 

RESOLUTION #21

 

Motion by Trustee Adams – seconded by Trustee King to adopt the Protections of New York Public Officers Law Section 18, Entitled, “Defense and Indemnification of Officers and Employees of Public Entities as follows”:

 

            WHEREAS, Public Officers Law Section 18, entitled “Defense and indemnification of officers and employees of public entities” provides employees of a public entity a defense in any civil action or proceeding which allegedly occurred while the “employee” (as this term is defined under Public Officers Law Section 18(1)(b)) was acting within the scope of his/her public employment or duties; and

 

            WHEREAS, the said provision also requires an adoption of a local law, by-law, resolution or regulation conferring the benefits of Public Officers Law Section 18 upon its employees, and agreeing to be held liable for the cost conferred under this provision.

 

            NOW, THEREFORE, this 15th day of January, 2008, BE IT RESOLVED by the Village Board of Trustees of the Village of Johnson City, Broome County, New York, as follows:

 

            RESOLVED, that Public Officers Law Section 18 shall be enacted, in its entirety, in the Village of Johnson City.

Attorney Jacobs provided details on the importance of adopting this language and incorporating it into Village policy so that it is clear that Village employees and Public Officials are indemnified so their official acts.

 

Board members polled

Motion carried                                                                           Ayes 5  Nayes 0

 

RESOLUTION #22

 

Motion by Trustee Adams – seconded by Trustee King to authorize T&M Excavating to close Park Place between Hudson Street and Harrison Street from January 21, 2008 through January 27, 2008 in order to make infrastructure improvements which are related to construction projects at United Health System at Wilson Hospital.

 

Board members polled

Motion carried                                                                           Ayes 5  Nayes 0

 

A resolution to enter into an agreement with BAE, Inc. for confined space services as provided by the Johnson City Fire Department was heldover under the rules by Trustee Balles so that additional information on the financial terms could be reviewed.

             

PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR                                                 

 

Trustee Balles stated that he recently attended a Planning Board meeting in which the developer of a proposed project near Richard Street requested that he assemble questions from the neighborhood surrounding the proposed project.  Trustee Balles stated that he was asked to coordinate a questionnaire which he did.  Trustee Balles added that he would have done the same thing for the Wal-Mart project if he was requested to.  He added that he is trying to coordinate a meeting with concerned neighbors on January 23, 2008 at the training room within the Police/Court facility.  He also added that public hearings and public comment sessions will be forthcoming as the project progresses.

 

Julie Deemie – 153 Zoa Avenue – Stated that several issues regarding the proposed development off of Richard Street need to be addressed.  She also asked about the status of a church project on Fairview Street.

 

Mayor Lewis provided details on the church project on Fairview Street.

 

Leo Meaney – 35 Greenridge Street – Asked if the Village could invest in a sound system so that everyone could hear the discussions.

 

Ron Jones – 149 Ackley Avenue – Asked Trustee Balles if he acted as a Trustee or as a private citizen when he coordinated a meeting between the developer and the Richard Street residents.

 

Trustee Balles stated that he was approached by his neighbors and he did this as a fellow resident and neighbor.

 

Attorney Jacobs stated that this upcoming meeting between the developer and the residents of Richard Street is a not a Village meeting but rather two private groups coming together to discuss an issue in which both groups have an interest.

 

Ron Jones – 149 Ackley Avenue – Asked about the Restore NY Grant that the Village just received.

 

Mayor Lewis provided details on the award and read from a list of Upstate NY communities who received an award as well.

 

Ron Jones – 149 Ackley Avenue – Asked if any progress has been made regarding the collective bargaining agreement with the Firefighters.

 

Mayor Lewis stated that there is nothing new to report.

 

Ron Jones – 149 Ackley Avenue – Asked about the status of the Pagoda.

 

Director of Public Services Robert Bennett provided details.

 

Dave Kellam – 42 Nassau Street – Asked about the progress and status of the capital improvements to the Binghamton/Johnson City Joint Sewage Treatment Plant.

 

Mayor Lewis provided an update.

 

Dave Kellam – 42 Nassau Street – Asked about staffing within the Code Enforcement Department.

 

Mayor Lewis stated that Code is comprised of two part-time employees and one full-time employees

 

Dave Kellam – 42 Nassau Street – Asked about code enforcement issues on Brown Street.

 

Trustee King stated that the violator has received a notice to remedy.

 

Greg Deemie – 153 Zoa Avenue – Stated that CFJ Park needs to be cleaned.

 

Mayor Lewis stated that he has asked the Lions Clubs to make every effort to clean the park as soon as possible based on their utilization of the park to sell Christmas trees last month.

 

ADJOURNMENT

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:36P.M.

 

 

_____________________________________

Thomas R. Augostini, Village Clerk/Treasurer