VILLAGE BOARD MEETING MINUTES - FEBRUARY 5, 2007

Mayor Skeet opened budget meeting at 6:30 pm.

Members present: Mayor Skeet, Trustees Peterson, Patterson, Russ and Sobczak. Also present was Village Court Clerk Taryn Vohwinkel.

• Ms. Vohwinkel presented the Board with paperwork showing amount of ticket revenues kept by the Village from January ’07 tickets and ticket matrix showing how many tickets each officer wrote. The Board is interested in getting report of tickets still open versus those that are closed. One reason for this is to see what her pending load is to determine how much additional help she would need to keep up with her work.
• The Board also talked about getting her a lap top computer for Court. That way she could print out receipts immediately when paid in court, plus it would automatically enter the payment on the program saving her steps. Taryn mentioned two grants coming up in which it may be possible to get a computer.
• Getting a credit card program for the court was also discussed. Taryn explained that NYS is planning on taking over the $15 per month fee and % charges for the courts, but will be starting with those already on credit cards, so suggested we get started on it right away. From her research she found that the ability to utilize credit cards will increase the court income by 70%, and eliminate a lot of scoffs.
• For budgeting purposes she informed the board that as an example, if you average $5000 per month, that would be appx. $100 in credit card fees. She said there is a $15/month rental fee, a $2 maintenance fee and VISA is 2.11% + .05/transaction charge, and Master card is 2.02% + .10/transaction charge. She said every transaction must have a signature and showed a sample letter to send out on scoffs. This would eliminate taking personal checks. She said the money would be in the bank in 48 hours. The system is portable so can be moved easily from office to court.
• Motion was made by Trustee Peterson and seconded by Trustee Sobczak to authorize Court Clerk Vohwinkel to set up for credit cards immediately. Motion carried.
• Ms. Vohwinkel said she would see how many scoffs she does have and also determine her work load by the next Budget meeting.
• Ms. Vohwinkel left the meeting at 7:03 pm.
• Mayor Skeet spoke to the Board about assigning each Trustee to look into different areas for the budget. Trustees Russ and Peterson said they would work with the Sewer department. Mayor Skeet mentioned to look into cost of upgrade on drying bed and possibly blacktopping the drives in the Sewer complex.
• Trustees Sobczak and Patterson said they would work with the court and clerks office. The delay in getting Roadrunner installed was discussed.
• Motion was made by Trustee Patterson and seconded by Trustee Russ to authorize Court Clerk Vohwinkel to call Time Warner and get Road Runner hooked up as soon as possible. Motion carried.
• Mayor Skeet mentioned he would like to see an allowance in the budget for computer training and programs to bring the Clerk’s office up to speed as everything is still being done by hand as it was in the 1950s and 1960s. He also mentioned the need for a new copy machine as the current one has been having increasing problems this past year. He would also still like to look into a different phone system that would route calls to the correct department.
• Mayor Skeet and Trustee Peterson said they would work with both the Maintenance and Police Departments on their budgets. Mayor Skeet mentioned that Officer Yueckstock has already got the Police budget proposal pretty much done.
• Trustee Patterson said she would like to see a line item added in the budget for a maintenance plan for cleaning creeks and streams. We have been informed that one reason for the rejection of our Small Cities grant proposal was the lack of a plan for regular maintenance. Also because no effort was shown prior to the storm for creek maintenance, the chances of getting FEMA to approve any storm cleanup of the creek are slim. If the Village were to become more proactive in creek cleanup, there would be a better chance of getting the Small Cities grant. One suggestion brought up was beginning with Goose Neck Creek and having Kevin McCarthy work with supervised inmates on getting that cleaned up.
• Mayor Skeet said a couple of the plans for the Maintenance department were to clean up and paint the Maintenance garage and reseal the floor.
• Some discussion was held regarding a rule of thumb for sidewalk plowing. The Board felt if Mr. McCarthy has to be called in on a normal day off, such as a holiday or weekend, he should be compensated for time and a half. If he gets called in off hours during the week, he should modify his hours if possible the following day to avoid too much overtime. The Board also agreed that the mayor may call Mr. McCarthy in without calling the other Board members every time.
• Brief discussion was held regarding repair of the viaduct. Mayor Skeet mentioned that Tim Yaeger of Genesee County Emergency Management informed him that the viaduct is at the top of their list to address.
• After some discussion, the Board decided on August 18th for the Corfu Family Day Celebration.
• The Board agreed to set up in advance every other Monday for budget meeting for a total of five more meetings.
• Mayor Skeet mentioned to the Board that Court Clerk Vohwinkel had spoken to him about some additional training that would be required for Adam Vohwinkel as Constable. The Board discussed the possibility of utilizing part-time officers for the 2-3 hours, twice a month to cover court night. It will be discussed further at upcoming meeting.
• Motion was made by Trustee Russ and seconded by Trustee Sobczak to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried.
• Meeting was adjourned at 8:35 pm.
  

Sandra Thomas
Clerk Treasurer