VILLAGE BOARD MEETING MINUTES - FEBRUARY 26, 2007

Mayor Skeet opened Committee meeting at 7:06 pm.

Members present: Mayor Skeet, Trustees Peterson, Sobczak and Russ. Trustee Patterson was absent. Also present were Albert Graham of Valley River Inc. and Judge Robert Alexander.

• Al Graham gave sewer report. All limits were in compliance. Average monthly flow was 57,000 gallons. No sludge was hauled.
• Mr. Graham mentioned that Officer Yueckstock and Kevin McCarthy worked with the sewer crew most of the week doing snow cleanup in the Sewer compound. Blower had to be dug out and igloos were totally buried due to drifting. He said the pipe leading from the aeration tank to the clarifier clogged causing an overflow, but was contained in the compound so there were no violations. The overflow froze and created exposed ice. A Valley River employee fell due to the ice and injured his leg and arm but was back to work on Thursday. Salt and sand from the Town were spread and it is now all cleaned up and taken care of. Mr. Graham commended the great spirit of cooperation from all involved in the cleanup effort.
• Mr. Graham mentioned he has spoken with Steve Stocking of the Town and he has indicated he will help in any way he can if we have any further problems. He also said how convenient it is to now have the Jetter housed right there in the heated garage, as they had two instances where it was needed and it was right there ready to go.
• Brief discussion was held regarding getting an emergency plan for the sewer plant in place regarding what needs to be kept cleaned out etc. Also Valley River and Kevin McCarthy need to get together and go over what is needed to update first aid and safety supplies, such as ice packs etc. Mr. Graham presented a form for Mayor Skeet to sign from Rural Water Authority to sign for smoke testing.
• Mr. Graham also informed the Board of a grant for drainage and flooding that was just brought to his attention. The grant would be a 25% Village funding, 75% Government funding and a letter of intent would be due on Wednesday, February 28, 2007 to be considered for the grant. Clerk will contact O’Connell’s office first thing in morning to get letter of intent in mail to State Office of Emergency Management.
• Mr. Graham said Village sewer inspections are underway. One illegal hookup was found on Thompson Drive. VRI employee Greg Lang is going to help him change it. They will be doing more inspections on a continuing basis.
  Al Graham left the meeting at 7:28 pm.
• Judge Alexander spoke to the Board regarding the Court audit done with Trustees Patterson and Peterson. The possibility of getting an assistant court clerk in to help with data entry, working on outstanding cases, and assisting on Court nights was discussed. The concern over the number of outstanding cases and what can be done to alleviate the backlog was also discussed. Judge Alexander said getting set up for credit cards will help reduce the number because of more in-court payments leading to a much smaller percentage of scoffs. He did indicate that once the credit card system is in place, the court clerk will send out letters to outstanding cases regarding the availability of credit card payment.
• Trustee Peterson commented he would like to see the court get caught up and stay caught up, and wondered if there were some way the court clerk could report on case status on a regular basis.
• Some discussion was held regarding the increase in court revenues this year, and the Judge said this is just an indication of what can be done. He also said he is working with the Court clerk on the budget.
• Mayor Skeet questioned Judge Alexander about the working hours of the court clerk.
• Motion was made by Trustee Russ and seconded by Trustee Peterson to go into executive session to discuss personnel matters at 8:09 pm. Motion carried.
• Motion was made by Trustee Russ and seconded by Trustee Peterson to go out of executive session at 8:38 pm. Motion carried.
• Trustee Patterson arrived at meeting at 8:35 pm.
• Judge Alexander left meeting at 8:40 pm.
• Motion was made by Trustee Russ and seconded by Trustee Peterson to approve minutes of February 12th and 19th meetings. Motion carried.
• Clerk Thomas brought up that according to the Village Employee’s Handbook the regular part-time employees are to be compensated for Holidays at their regular daily rate of pay, and that through an oversight there were a couple of Holidays that the part-time employees did not get compensated for. Clerk requested approval to pay those employee’s for the missed Holidays.
• Motion was made by Trustee Russ and seconded by Trustee Sobczak to pay the part-time employees listed for those Holidays that were missed at their regular rate of pay. Motion carried.
• Clerk Thomas requested Board to approve a Review of Village books by Laura Landers from Batavia in lieu of a full audit per Ms. Landers suggestion. Board requested a written estimate for work to be done from Ms. Landers prior to approval.
• Clerk Thomas will obtain a written estimate and contract for Board approval for leasing copy machine from Duplicating Consultants.     
• The Board also requested Clerk to obtain information regarding a meter machine for postage.
• Mayor Skeet gave an update on the Police Department. He informed the Board that the transmission is shot on the Ford Taurus unmarked car. Estimate for repair would be $1800 - $2000. Board agreed it would not be in the best interest to put that much money into that car. He said Officer Yueckstock has placed a call to Warnock’s and they would be able to put together a Police package car in a two-week period and would be willing to bill it in June on the new budget. This would only be a possibility if the car were approved on the new budget.
• Mayor Skeet informed the Board that Kevin McCarthy has been working on a list of upcoming projects along with his regular daily duties. It is in the early planning stages, but there will be some projects that will require an extra man to accomplish. The possibility of hiring a seasonal part-time maintenance person to call in on an “as-needed” basis was discussed. For budget purposes, a figure should be set which would also control usage of this person to the most pertinent or important jobs.
• Mayor Skeet also informed the Board he would like to check into having Kevin McCarthy get his mechanic’s certification.
• Clerk Thomas requested the Board to set dates for the Public hearings for the Small Cities drainage grant. The Board decided on March 5th for the first and 19th for the second. Clerk will contact O’Connell’s office and Paul Chatfield to assure they can attend then.
• Motion was made by Trustee Sobczak and seconded by Trustee Russ to adjourn meeting at 10:16 pm. Motion carried.
  

Sandra Thomas
Clerk Treasurer