The meeting was called to order 9:10 a.m. Jim Frisch arrived at 9:10 a.m., Mark Jordan arrived at 9:30 a.m.

THOSE PRESENT:
Sylvia Hurlbut, Supervisor
Lynn Odell, Councilman
Darwin Snyder, Councilman
Jim Frisch, Councilman
Mark Jordan, Councilman
Jim Bailey, Highway Superintendent
Rose Marie Belforti, Clerk

OTHERS PRESENT:
Brian Hicks, Code Enforcement Officer-elect, 14 Perrine St., Auburn, N.Y.
William E. Dugan, III, Main Street, Aurora, N.Y.

MINUTES: On motion by Jim Frisch, seconded by Darwin Snyder, the minutes for December 10, 2001 were approved and amended. In the paragraph "Discussion on the proposed renewed Cayuga County Agriculture District": Jim Frisch said that he did not say he would contact the Cayuga County Planning Board, but that he would contact the three property owners who are not included in the Ag District at this time; those being Art Myers, Gary Sheldon and Tim Lawrence.
VOTE: 5 Ayes, 0 Nays

BUTLER PROPERTY DISCUSSION WITH BRIAN HICKS, CEO-ELECT: Brian Hicks appeared before the Town of Ledyard Board to discuss possible options to handle the Butler property (216.00-1-17.2 and 216.00-1-17.1). The property owner, Doris Butler, residing in Keene, Kentucky, has not cleaned up her Ledyard property after appropriate measures have been taken by the Town of Ledyard to request that she do so. Brian Hicks, acting CEO for Bob Smith, who has been unable to work because of knee surgery, made the suggestion that the Town of Ledyard think about a Court Order procedure to clean up the property. He then said that he does not think the Town of Ledyard is in a position to enforce a court order right now because the Town does not have an Ordinance that effectively allows the Town to remove materials from a property. Sylvia Hurlbut, Supervisor, said "there has to be a Board Resolution to do that". Brian Hicks then said, "it is either that, or you go for a daily fine. You tell them that they either clean this up or the Town will impose a daily fine". Jim Frisch asked "who is it that imposes the fine?" Brian Hicks said "the justices". Jim Frisch then said, "hey folks, you all know what we are talking about here". Brian Hicks said the Town can create an Ordinance and the Judge has to stand by that Ordinance. He said "there are two routes we can go; either you have a Town Judge that works with you, or you have an Ordinance. Sylvia Hurlbut asked Brian if he had any sample Ordinances that we could look at. Brian said no, he would just as soon stay out of that part of it, and that Ledyard should put together its own Ordinance that suits the needs of the Town of Ledyard. He also said it should be checked by a lawyer. Brian continued "I understand that it really needs to be done and that you don't want to do it because you feel that it's an infringement and you want to keep things the same way, but sooner or later it's going to get worse, not better. Sylvia Hurlbut mentioned that we have a lot of absentee owners in the Town of Ledyard, and when you have absentee owners you have problems. She said that the Butler property is an example of an absentee owner. She said it will get worse down the road. As people get older, they will stay away from their property longer and will let it deteriorate because they are living somewhere else. They just may want to hang onto it but never do anything with it. Brian Hicks said "paying the taxes is nothing to these people, they'd rather keep it in the family because it was a homestead, but they will never see it again and they won't care". Brian mentioned another absentee owned lake front property owned by the Krause family (203.00-1-2.1) that he has received a complaint on. He said "the property is not being maintained, and the owner is recouping rental monies from the property and not doing anything to maintain it. So it is basically a business". Sylvia Hurlbut said "the Town Board needs to look at this problem and come up with an Ordinance that will address the problem so it does not get worse down the road". Brian Hicks said the idea of "roadside appeal should be acceptable to the residents of the Town, so you don't have the three or four boats parked in the front yard or the ten pickup trucks in the hedgerow rusting down". Darwin Snyder said "the definition of acceptable is going to be very subjective". Brian said "you have to be careful of your gray areas". Sylvia said "it has to be spelled out enough so that we don't have so much gray area that people can buy into". She said there is a safety issue here too. She is concerned about the boats at the Butler property because she had a call on her answering machine saying that kids are playing in those boats. She said "if we get a bunch of kids in there smoking and they set a fire; I don't know if you are aware of it but one of the biggest toxic areas in the Town of Ledyard is right next to those boats (referring to the Wilcox General Store gas spill). There's a system filtering all that gas into the air right near there, and if those boats ever went up in a blaze, my goodness". William Dugan spoke about the importance of meeting face to face with the property owner concerned. Brian Hicks agreed and also mentioned the importance of documenting everything that happens, leaving a paper trail, including a follow up with a face to face conversation with the owner after delivering the paper work that gets process started. Sylvia said that Bob Smith spoke to Robert Butler, Doris Butler's brother, who now lives in the house and he said he will do nothing about the property until he owns the house. He told Bob Smith that the property is being transferred to him. Rose Marie Belforti, Clerk said that she called the County Court Clerk to find out if there had been anything filed. She was told by the Cayuga County Clerk that no papers were on file as far as she knew. Lynn Odell suggested that Rose Marie, Clerk record all events. The Board had no other questions for Brian Hicks concerning this matter.

MEMBERSHIP TO THE MUNICPAL CLERKS INSTITUTE: Rose Marie Belforti, Town Clerk petitioned the Town Board for an annual membership to the Municipal Clerks Institute, an organization that provides support and education to municipal clerks. Annual dues are $75.00. Jim Frisch motioned to approve the membership, seconded by Lynn Odell.
VOTE: 5 Ayes, 0 Nays

SUMMING UP THE YEAR: Sylvia Hurlbut asked Rose Marie Belforti, Clerk for the receipts for money taken in by the Tranfer Site for the year. After reviewing these figures, excluding monies from the last Saturday of the Year, Sylvia said that the Transfer Site may have paid for itself, including the wages for the two men, for the first time, and if not it is within $50.00 or $60.00 of paying for itself. Sylvia said the Town of Ledyard Revenues are up for the year, Expenditures are in line. Dryden is going to be the lead agency for the Cayuga Lake Watershed this year. We have to transfer the Watershed funds to the Town of Dryden. Sylvia said that she has made copies of the transactions that have gone through the Town of Ledyard for Dryden, but that the originals stay here because we are accountable for those. She said that concerning the Noncompliance Letters, we have made some progress. There has been cooperation from the majority of the homeowners that is very much appreciated. Sales tax is up this year. We are leaving the year with $100,000.00 + in savings and accounts for the General Funds and almost $200,000.00 surplus in the Highway Fund, so financially the Town is in good shape. The Tax rate has increased a few cents, and we will be able to return a large sum back to the taxpayers and still be able to have a surplus left over. Sylvia asked the Board to cooperate with Bill Dugan the new Supervisor, and with Rose Marie Belforti the Town Clerk. She said that the Board should understand that the Supervisor and the Clerk are the people who meet the public every day, do the paper work to keep the Town legal, and they make the Board look good. Jim Bailey also makes this Board look good. He keeps the roads cleared, he's out there very early in the morning and he takes the complaints from the public. She also asked the Board to be more involved, to come in and see what is going on especially on Saturday when there is a lot of traffic. She said it takes many hours, probably three full days, to get the Town Newsletter out, and the Board could help with that. We should take a look at the bulk rate that we get for the newsletter because it is more expensive and the local Post Offices do not get them out on time. Sylvia wished the Board good luck and that she will see everyone at voting time! Jim Bailey thanked Sylvia personally for the Town Hall building and all that she has done for the Highway Department and for the Town in general. Darwin Snyder thanked Sylvia on behalf of the Town Board for her leadership and the good job she has done for the Town. Lynn Odell said that not only does the Board thank Sylvia for the leadership but also for her energy. He said it takes a lot of energy to keep going and be successful and he said that is what Sylvia brought to the Town. Jim Frisch said that this Board has succeeded in conducting business in a civil way and thanked Sylvia for all the good she has done for the Town. Darwin said that the operation of the Ledyard Town Board has been harmonious compared to some other towns. Sylvia said that for a Board to work together you need to leave politics at the door and look at it as a job that needs to be done. She said that when she considered anyone for an appointment to the Town Board she never looked to see what party they belonged to, she considered the person and if they could do the job. The Town Boards that have trouble do not leave politics at the door. Mark Jordan wished Sylvia and her husband Ronnie the best of luck in the future. "As far as leaving politics at the door, this is about the best it gets in small town politics", he said, "we are not going to come in here and agree, you and I have not agreed on a lot of things Sylvia, we can still walk out the door and say we have known each other and that we are friends, but this is the place where we come in and do the arguing and not everybody is going to leave happy. Politics is what gets things ironed out and eventually moves things along".

OTHER BUSINESS: Jim Bailey had one more question about the process of cleaning up the properties that were cited with violations. He said that Jackson property on Carpenter Road (193.00-1-70) was cleaned up but there is a trailer frame still there. His question was what happens next? Sylvia told him to check with the Brian Hicks, the Building Code Inspector. Rose Marie Belforti, Clerk had a question about the Town property that was for sale in the past. She said that periodically someone comes in and asks if it is still for sale. Sylvia said the property has to be advertised in order for a bid to come in on it. At this time it is not for sale. Lynn Odell questioned the legality of the Town of Ledyard paying for senior trips. Sylvia Hurlbut said that we voucher this to the bus company, the money does not go directly to the Office of the Aged and that this is a valid Town expense. She said N.Y. State says the Town may provide for the old and the very young.

CONTRACT WITH WILLIAMSON LAW BOOK COMPANY: Lynn Odell made the motion, seconded by Jim Frisch to sign the contract with Williamson Law Book Company for Payroll/Account Service the year 2002. Williamson will provide ongoing software support and maintenance to the Town of Ledyard.
VOTE: 5 Ayes, 0 Nays

PAY BILLS: On motion by Jim Frisch, seconded by Darwin Snyder, the bills on Abstract #460-486, General Fund A=$6,443.40; B=$360.00; DA=$2,827.72; DB=$2,014.23 were approved for payment. Transfers approved: $68.00 from A1460.4 to A1620.1; $1,672.00 from DA5130.4 to DA9060.8 for medical insurance; $400.00 from A599 to A1220.4 for Payroll Account Service for the year; $646.00 from A599 to A5010.4.
VOTE: 5 Ayes, 0 Nays

ADJOURNMENT: On motion by Jim Frisch, seconded by Lynn Odell, the meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Rose Marie Belforti
Town of Ledyard Clerk