VILLAGE BOARD MEETING MINUTES - APRIL 30, 2007

Mayor Skeet opened public meeting for budget at 7:03 pm.

Members Present:Mayor Skeet, Trustees Peterson, Patterson, Russ and Sobczak.

• Board discussed how pleased they were with Legislator Annie Lawrence’s visit last meeting. Mayor Skeet mentioned she has already gotten ahold of Tim Hens who will find out who has ownership of the viaduct. She also called Steve Hawley who told her if Corfu has to take care of the bridge, he has emergency funds set aside for such things and will help fund the project for the Village. She told Mayor Skeet she will follow through until the project is taken care of.
• Mayor Skeet said he had also spoken with Karen Marchese at Civil Service. Ms. Marchese told him the County went to competitive part-time for Police in 1984, but she has no idea why. Ms. Marchese said it is impossible to switch it back. She also confirmed that it only affects the Village of Corfu. Civil service suggests we put the potential hiree through the academy and require them to sign a waiver saying they won’t go elsewhere for 2-3 years. Mayor Skeet questioned if no one from the canvas comes back as qualified, why can’t we hire off another county’s civil service list. She said we can not NOT hire someone due to lack of Police training. She did say that if we interview all people on the list and don’t feel any of them are suitable, then we can hire off another list, but we must interview them.
• Legislator Lawrence told Mayor Skeet she will continue to work on this issue and try to find out why we can’t change the competitive status. She also told him she felt this Board is very forward thinking and wants to be part of the team.
• Trustee Sobczak gave a brief update on the status of the Kennelly residence. He mentioned that the two junk cars are now gone. He has been meeting with the Kennelly’s and it appears that at this time Mrs. Kennelly is not willing to make a deal on the house. He will continue to pursue the matter to see what can be done. Clerk will also check with Genesee County to see if Village ends up having to do cleanup on the house, and homeowner doesn’t pay for the cleanup, can the fees be levied to the taxes?
• Motion made by Trustee Russ and seconded by Trustee Peterson to close the budget hearing at 7:30 pm. No village residents were in attendance. Motion carried.
• Village resident Marge Wotherspoon arrived for benefit assessment hearing at 7:31 pm.
• Motion made by Trustee Patterson and seconded by Trustee Russ to open Benefit assessment hearing at 7:31 pm. Motion carried.
• Ms. Wotherspoon said she would like clarification as to what the Benefit Assessment is. The Board explained it’s origin and purpose. She questioned her assessment value as her property is consistently under water. The Board informed her that regarding assessment value, she would have to go to the town as they do the assessments.
• Ms. Wotherspoon expressed her irritation that no village residents showed up for either hearing. Some discussion ensued about the status of the Village sewer.
• Trustee Peterson explained the potential expansion of the sewer by marketing the excess capacity of the sewer plant, and that if the outside market does not pan out, the plant can be cut in half to save money. He also explained the Catch 22 regarding the Town of Pembroke not having a sewer system leads to lack of industry wanting to come in, and the lack of industry wanting to come in leads to lack of financing for a sewer system.
• Trustee Peterson also asked Ms. Wotherspoon if she had any thoughts on what we could do as a municipality to better communicate with the residents.  He said in most cases as soon as the Board starts to mention investing in sewer to develop more commerce, the response is negative to spending the money. He commented that you have to spend something to get something. He said he felt the residents don’t thoroughly understand the concept of what goes on, and that we are at a strategic point for the development of this community. If the residents want the village to stay as it is, with appx. 800 people supporting all the expenses, then they have to expect costs to be high.
• Ms. Wotherspoon also questioned whether trees that were taken down after the storm are going to be replanted. Mayor Skeet explained that we would be filling in where the stumps were with topsoil and planting grass seed. Regarding trees between the sidewalk and road, the village has chosen not to replant due to several reasons. He said that most trees that don’t grow “up”, grow “out” creating problems of visibility, difficulty plowing sidewalks or eventual sidewalk damage by roots. She questioned whether she could plant flowers in the spot and the Mayor responded that would be fine.
• Motion made by Trustee Patterson and seconded by Trustee Russ to close the benefit assessment hearing at 8:15 pm. Motion carried.
• Ms. Wotherspoon left the meeting at 8:15 pm.
• Mayor Skeet informed the Board that the sides are framed in on the drying bed, and they are working on getting the fans to be installed. 40” fans were not available so they are calibrating to see how many fans of certain sizes may be needed. The Board discussed how this would save on chemicals as well as sludge hauling costs. Mayor Skeet did mention they would have to shutter the fans to keep them from sucking rain and possibly birds into the fans.
• Motion made by Trustee Russ and seconded by Trustee Sobczak to file the final Benefit Assessment with the Clerk.  Motion carried.
• Motion made by Trustee Russ and seconded by Trustee Peterson to move the resolution adopting the budget for Fiscal year June 1, 2007 to May 31, 2008. (See attached) Motion carried.
• Mayor Skeet mentioned bill received from Duplicating Consultants for the old copier, which should have been under previous service contract. Work was done in February and contract did not expire until April, therefore we feel the service call should have been covered. Clerk will pull original contract as well as contract on new copier regarding trade-in for meeting on May 14, 2007.
• Brief discussion was held over description from NYCOM Handbook for Village Officials regarding Justice duties.
• Trustee Sobczak said he will look into the cost of a time clock for the Village Office.
• Mayor Skeet mentioned he and Officer Yueckstock were going to Niagara Falls on Monday to a Police Expo. Warnock Fleet will be there to answer any questions regarding the new police car.
• Motion made by Trustee Patterson and seconded by Trustee Sobczak to adjourn meeting at 8:45 pm. Motion carried.
  

Sandra Thomas
Clerk Treasurer