January 2015 Minutes

MINUTES January 19, 2015 The meeting was opened by Mayor Kevin J. Flint at 6:58 p.m. In attendance were Trustee Louis A. Guido, Jr., Trustee Edward A. Harvey, Clerk-Treasurer Dorothy E. Johnson, Attorney Dennis B. Laughlin, Interim DPW Superintendent David R. Hajczewski, JoAnn Guido and Aaron VanBuren. MINUTES The first item on the agenda was the approval of the minutes, as sent to all board members in written form. It was upon motion of Trustee Harvey, seconded by Trustee Guido, and unanimously carried, RESOLVED, to dispense with the reading of the minutes and approve as written. TREASURER’S REPORT Checking Account 01/1/15 Balance General $143,671.54 Water 18,217.93 Total Fund $161,889.37 Trust & Agency $187.04 Savings Accounts 1/1/15 Balance Water System Repair Reserve $ 2,895.76 Cemetery Capital Reserve 10,824.90 Unemployment Insurance Reserve 5,173.39 Water Debt Service Reserve 22,503015 Parks & Recreation Reserve 8,487.10 Sidewalk Repair & Replacement Res 238.47 James Wait Basketball Court Fund $5,650.80 Water Taxes Unpaid Taxes Water Billed 1/1/15 $60,844.06 Paid in Billed in Unpaid After discussion, it was upon motion of Trustee Harvey, seconded by Trustee Guido, unanimously carried, RESOLVED, to accept the report as given. COMPLAINTS – JoAnn Guido Water Bills – Mrs. Guido brought her water bill to the meeting as she felt there was an error on it and gallons figured incorrectly. After discussing, the board lowered the bill from $264.00 to the minimum of $160.00, as it appeared to be incorrect. Next, Mrs. Guido presented her neighbor, Mrs. Hall’s water bill, stating that she would not even pay this bill. The bill did not have a prior reading on it and Mrs. Guido wanted to know who wrote on the bill and why it was scratched out. The Clerk explained that there was no prior reading because it was not read for the three past billings. When she got this reading she took the last reading and subtracted the gallons that had been previously billed for (total of 60,000 = 3 minimum bills) and billed the remaining gallons (26,630) to this bill. The bill had been altered by the Clerk as it was expected the bill would again be the minimum. The bills are started ahead of time to save time during the busy water bill preparation time. Therefore the Deputy Clerk had written under gallons used – meter stopped and written $160.00 for the amount due. When there was a reading, the Clerk crossed out this information and put the gallons used and correct bill ($213.40) amount on amount due. This bill was lowered to $160.00 by the board as they agreed Ms. Hall is use to getting the minimum bill plus all of the information was not on the bill. The Clerk said she felt these matters should have been taken care of during office hours and not at a public meeting. The Guidos said they were trying to help out and it was not their intention to make to do otherwise. Sidewalk Clearing – Mrs. Guido complained about not getting their sidewalk plowed and no attention being paid to the corner by the Triangle. Apparently Mr. George, across the street pushed snow and slush over, it hardens and the small plow cannot get through to clear the sidewalk. Stop Sign – A discussion was again brought up about vehicles driving too fast past the Guido’s home. They wanted to know if there is anyway to illuminate the area so the stop signs can be seen better, get their attention to slow people down. Mrs. Guido asked if there could be study done in this area. Mayor Flint said he would speak to the state in regards to doing a study. EMERGENCY SQUAD – Aaron VanBuren Mr. VanBuren told the board that the Cherry Valley Emergency Squad will be celebrating EMS week with an open house for the community on Saturday, May 23rd. He asked if the village would be able to purchase a banner, to be hung across Main Street and get permission to hang it. Board members each personally donated money to fund the banner. The Clerk will check with the state regarding hanging the banner. MONTGOMERY STREET PROJECT Mayor Flint has spoken to some engineers regarding the replacement of Montgomery Street. The board agreed that they would like to be able to finance the project with village funds rather than to borrow money. Mayor Flint will continue getting information so specs can be drawn up. ALDEN FIELD BRIDGE Mayor Flint said he has begun lining up help for the replacement of the bridge crossing over to Alden Field. Some money has been received from FEMA to replace the fencing and other funds have been saved to cover costs. CEMETERY LOT PRICES It had previously been decided to increase the cost of cemetery lots especially to out of area residents, as the cemetery is over half funded by tax payer money. The Clerk feels that the resident column should include any village tax payers regardless of their legal residence and disagrees with Trustee Harvey who feels that anyone not living here full time, not using Cherry Valley as their legal residence to vote, should be considered a non-resident. The Clerk explained that several years ago, it was decided that anyone who had been absent from the village or from paying village taxes for twelve months or more would be considered a Non-resident. If it were less than twelve months (as they had paid taxes) they were considered residents. Also, those who left the village to live in a nursing home are considered residents. This will be further discussed before the April Organizational meeting. GARBAGE CONTRACT Board members reviewed the present garbage removal contract, to be brought up at the February meeting. Attorney Laughlin will further review the present contract. NATIONAL GRID BILL Trustee Guido asked the Clerk to bring the amounts spent on National Grid bills from last year to compare with this year’s. AUDIT OF CLAIMS After review by the board, it was upon motion of Trustee Guido, seconded Trustee Harvey, unanimously carried, RESOLVED to make payment on bills and transfer appropriations as follows: General Fund Ch #’s 11049 - 11099 $26,460.53 Water Fund " 5,495.62 Total Fund $31,955.15 Trust & Agency Fund, Including deductions – Social Security, Medicare, Federal, Retirement Ch # 1831 - 1834 $2,009.07 1,983.37 $3,992.44 From To A5110.1 $1,000.00 A9060.8 $1,000.00 From - Parks & Recreation Savings - $1,835.50 to Trust and Agency for Christmas Fund. From – Parks & Recreation Savings - $1,614.55 to Trust & Agency for Community Center. The remainder of the money in the Parks & Recreation Savings is for Alden Field/Recreation. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned upon motion of Trustee Harvey, seconded by Trustee Guido at 8:45 pm. Respectfully Submitted, Dorothy E. Johnson, Clerk-Treasurer January 28, 2015 Amended at the Feb. 16, 2015 meeting re: Cemetery price list.