[0:02] Good evening and welcome. I don't know what what word was coming out there, but

[0:08] um and welcome to a regular meeting of the Ulyses Town Board. It is September

[0:15] 8th uh and 2026. And I will call this meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. May I

[0:20] please have a roll call? >> Sure. Mr. Manley,

[0:25] » present. >> Miss Olsen,

[0:27] » present. >> Mr. Goldman, returned.

[0:30] Mr. Bonds >> present.

[0:34] » Miss weatherby is attending remotely due to extenduating circumstances.

[0:39] » That's correct. Okay. We have a agenda that was posted last uh Thursday.

[0:45] Um we have two public hearings um and uh presentation from the JCA. Um,

[0:55] anything else that needs to be um added or removed from the agenda? If not, I'll

[1:02] accept a motion to approve as presented. >> Move to approve as presented.

[1:07] » Thank you. Uh, all those in or second. Sorry,

[1:10] » I second it. >> Thank you. All those in favor?

[1:13] » I I >> Thank you. Okay. Um, first up is uh a

[1:20] public hearing a local law amending chapter 20 of the town code. This is

[1:24] related to the water code was introduced u back back in July I think and um so

[1:32] we'll um open and close that and then we'll open and close the one on the tax

[1:36] um override for 2027. Um, is our motion to open the public hearing um on

[1:42] amending chapter 20 of the water code? >> Chapter 200.

[1:46] » 200, sorry. What did I say? 20 >> to open the public hearing for chapter

[1:52] uh amending chapter 200 of the town. So, >> thank you. Is there a second?

[1:56] » I'll second that. >> Thank you. All those in favor? I I

[2:01] » Okay. Um, any public comment, please go ahead.

[2:08] Uh, my name is Vivian Rhodess. I do not live in the town, but I live in the

[2:13] town. I live in the village. So, I've reviewed this. The village, you probably

[2:18] know, instituted user fees on water and sewer three years ago, four years ago,

[2:25] something like that, which basically doubled my water bill and my sewer bill.

[2:30] So, I am a single lady in a small house and I don't use a whole lot of either

[2:34] one, but I do pay $600 a year for user fees for the facility of the sewer line

[2:41] and the water in addition to the water and the sewer charge. So, I'm uh I have

[2:47] two two inputs. One is um be very clear about what the

[2:55] percentage is that this is going to be. It seemed like the language in the code

[3:01] as I read it was you know when the board says which is very difficult for someone

[3:07] to budget and also the increments of growth of the user fee should also be

[3:14] very clear. Uh and that's that's from my experience as

[3:21] a village user. The other is that somewhere in this code it says that

[3:26] there would be penalties after 20 days. I looked at the town code at the at the

[3:32] state level and I couldn't find anything for penalty after 20 days. It was after

[3:37] 30 days. So I just wanted to bring that to your attention because I I did use

[3:43] the references to go read the parts that are supposed to be what that's about. So

[3:49] thank you. appreciate your willingness to hear my input.

[3:54] » Thank you. >> I have a question.

[3:56] » So, I don't get from the text what we're actually do what we're what we're

[4:00] changing. >> We'll talk we'll talk about that in the

[4:03] section of the meeting related to that. This is for the public hearing portion.

[4:06] » Is there anybody else who wishes to address the town board on this topic?

[4:14] » Um, did we receive any written comments for

[4:18] » No. Okay, >> then I would um accept a motion to close

[4:24] the public hearing. >> So move.

[4:25] » Thank you. Is there a second? >> Thank you. All those in favor? I

[4:29] » I >> um the next public hearing um is on a

[4:34] local law there, our annual uh one to override the tax cap limit for 2027.

[4:41] Um so accept a motion to open that public hearing. Move to open the public

[4:46] hearing on overriding the tax budget. >> Thank you. Is there a second?

[4:51] » Second. >> Thank you. All those in favor? I

[4:55] » I >> Okay. Um any any member of the public

[5:00] wishing to address the to this topic, please go ahead.

[5:06] » I Hello. I'm still Vivian Rose. I live in 104 Pennsylvania Avenue and Transburg

[5:12] and I pay town and village taxes and uh I really do not have a problem with the

[5:19] town overriding the tax cap. But I do have a problem with not understanding

[5:25] what's precious and what's going to be maintained and what is going to be paid

[5:30] out of local taxes if and when federal taxes and state taxes go away.

[5:36] And how that immediately impacts me is looking at a recreation specialist

[5:41] position. It appears to me that the town board

[5:46] needs to look very very carefully at what it is funding. what is absolutely

[5:52] essential to the daily life of its residents and what is

[5:58] not. Because at some point the local folks are not going to be able to

[6:04] support all the things that have been possible for us with grants, you know,

[6:09] with monies from other other people's tax pockets that were pulled together

[6:16] for county, state, national that I I'm concerned that that's coming down the

[6:24] pike and I'm concerned that we don't have a lean budget yet. because we have

[6:31] accumulated a lot of responsibilities that are not necessarily town government

[6:37] responsibility. So just a thought to share with you. Thank you.

[6:43] » Thank you. Um are there any other members of the public who wish to

[6:46] address the town board? Um did we get any public comment on this

[6:51] matter? >> We did not.

[6:52] » Okay. I accept a motion given that there's no other public um indicating

[6:57] they wish to speak is uh accept a motion to close uh the public hearing on the

[7:02] tax cap override. >> So move to second.

[7:04] » Thank you. Um all those in favor >> I thank you. Um very pleased to welcome

[7:10] next um uh

[7:15] uh Nancy Zaylor uh from coming to us from the Jacksonville Community

[7:19] Association. Well, welcome you. Thank you.

[7:23] Where would you where are you most comfortable? Would you like to Is it

[7:25] more comfortable to sit at a chair? Do you want to sit at the podium? What

[7:28] would you like to do? >> So, but sort of being in the front so

[7:32] that the camera captures. >> Yeah. So, would you like a chair or the

[7:34] podium? Which one was preferable? >> See,

[7:41] as long as they will be our guinea pig

[7:48] and then please the audience, everybody. Yeah,

[7:51] » that's very good. And that and I am a novice at this, but I do have a um

[8:02] Whoops.

[8:15] Oh, somebody disappeared. You might have to go back in.

[8:20] » Oh, I I signed up. Okay, that you know what? I'll just do this. Um,

[8:28] I am delighted to be here. Um, as Caitlyn mentioned, I'm Nancy Zaylor. I'm

[8:34] currently the president of the Jacksonville Community Association. And,

[8:38] um, we like to come each year to fill you in on what we've been doing and give

[8:45] a slight glimpse about what's ahead. And this has actually been a very active and

[8:51] exciting year. And I will be giving to you copies of the um pages of the

[8:59] PowerPoint that I can't project for people. Um so I will just uh uh because

[9:06] I know if I give them to you, you will just read them and stop listening. So if

[9:10] that's um if that's okay, I will I will give them to you. But um just this is

[9:17] this is quick. We

[9:21] as you know the Jacksonville Community Association

[9:25] I'm I'm striving for balance between what I know a lot of members already

[9:29] know about us and wanting to make sure others uh get a clear picture. The

[9:34] Jacksonville Community Association is a nonprofit and um back in like 1960, we

[9:40] were um we acquired what had been a a parcel of land owned by the Graange and

[9:49] it is uh still under our stewardship as a 10acre park on Swamp College Road.

[9:54] It's in the park zone now and we have since 2017

[10:01] had a memorandum of understanding with the town which has been tremendously

[10:04] helpful to uh sort of make a partnership and from our end that since 2017 we have

[10:12] dramatically improved made a bunch of improvements in the park. We have um in

[10:19] recent years dramatically increased the amount of community engagement and uh

[10:24] are sort of in a phase where we're expanding civic engagement. Um as you

[10:29] know we built a restroom with uh grants from the county and funds from the town.

[10:35] It took a 5-year period from 2019 to 24, but it is fully operational uh cleaned

[10:42] bi-weekly and is open to the public from May until October. Uh after we uh or

[10:50] while we were completing that, we were concerned that the park was not as

[10:54] physically accessible as we had wanted it to be. And so here I can do this. We

[11:00] have uh we did create with a grant from the county a parking area and a path to

[11:07] the pavilion and the restroom. And um we did get a grant from the Ithaca Rotary

[11:14] Club to get a custommade picnic table with extended ends so that um someone in

[11:20] a wheelchair or a stroller uh could pull up to that and be um included in the

[11:26] activities that are going on at the park. We routinely maintain the park

[11:32] largely with the help of volunteers, but um an essential component of that is the

[11:38] mowing that the town uh DPW department does. They are absolutely terrific to

[11:44] work with. I assume you know what gems you have in the staff there. and our

[11:49] contact Dave Snyder um is always uh available and helpful

[11:55] and they're occasionally smaller uh projects like when we were having our

[12:01] cleanup day which was one of the most successful we've had in years. He

[12:05] offered to have a town truck placed at the park for us to load all of the uh

[12:14] clippings from the trails that our Ulisses pruners helped generate volumes

[12:20] of stuff that filled uh more than um one town truck. And we had um young children

[12:29] with little grabbers picking up garbage and were very excited about the dirty

[12:34] diapers they were finding near the uh fishing pavilion. They were probably

[12:38] about the only ones excited about dirty diapers.

[12:42] But uh we filled several trash bags and DPW uh was able to take that away for

[12:47] us. And this is relatively new from uh in 25. We um decided after getting a

[12:55] quote from NiceG several years ago that said it would cost about $30,000 to run

[13:01] an electric line from Swamp College where there was a pole right at the end

[13:05] of the driveway up to the pavilion and restroom. We said that's obviously not

[13:09] feasible. And so for $3,300, we were able to um get solar panels in

[13:17] uh installed on the roof of the restroom and then the accompanying meter and

[13:23] batteries uh which will be used to run uh some lights that we have purchased

[13:28] and that will soon be installed uh inside and outside the restroom uh to

[13:34] use this solar powered. We do take the batteries offline for the winter and put

[13:39] them on when the the restroom is open again from May to October. Um what is

[13:46] also brand new is that one of the things that has changed in the last year is

[13:50] that the Namaste Manasauri School that used to operate out of what people think

[13:55] of as the old Close Hall right on 96. they have closed that building as a

[14:00] school and the students are consolidated into the their campus opposite stick and

[14:05] stone. What that means is that the daily use that those students and staff had

[14:12] made of the park that was part of our sort of park supervision if you will

[14:17] because we don't have paid staff. Uh we don't have someone who checks the park

[14:21] every day like when uh Dave Sherman was alive. Um but so we actually felt the

[14:28] need to both monitor activity and also use of the park with some security

[14:35] cameras that would be um LTE style so we don't have Wi-Fi at the park but this

[14:42] would allow us to connect somehow and see it on our phone if we uh had an

[14:46] alert. And the um Ithaca Club Ithaca Rotary Club actually just gave us $600

[14:53] for those cameras. So those will be getting set up soon too. Um we're really

[14:58] excited this year about the increased community engagement. We have had two

[15:03] since the beginning of the year and these community engagement ideas

[15:08] actually came from the annual meeting that we had last fall. Jonathan Frolic

[15:13] who was president at the time sort of invited the community members who were

[15:18] there to share ideas about what would be helpful for JCA to do in the community

[15:24] and they were saying we'd like more opportunities to get together with one

[15:27] another and so we have um in the first months of the year planned two community

[15:34] dinners that uh were successful one of which co-sponsored with the Jacksonville

[15:39] um Methodist Church And we have had um our annual picnic just uh took place and

[15:51] that was uh successful. Plus this fall we're actually planning to have a series

[15:56] of events that actually are dual purpose as as a JCA as a community association.

[16:04] We want us to support our local businesses and other than sort of buying

[16:09] from them when we can, we realize that a lot of people in community don't

[16:14] necessarily know some of our local businesses and so planning sort of

[16:19] organized field trips if you will. So, the Honeybee Embassy, um, uh, Jonathan

[16:25] has talked with them about having a group of people come, maybe take a tour

[16:29] to see the apiaries and have like a honey tasting or some sort of social

[16:35] event that all is also good for the business. Um, the event would be free,

[16:39] but people could be free to, you know, buy if they chose, but they would know

[16:43] more about a business operating right around the corner from them. And

[16:47] similarly um in the heart of the village uh Danny Trippet has opened something

[16:52] called the Quanderey uh in Ulissi Square which is an escape room sort of mystery

[16:58] program that a group of people uh comes together and tries to solve all the

[17:02] clues to >> I I've never been. So

[17:05] » to escape the room. Yeah. >> To escape the room. So, um, we have

[17:08] said, you know, people have said, you know, I'm sort of curious about that.

[17:11] And we said, well, it's easy enough for us to put out to see who's interested,

[17:17] get a group together. Danny has said for the people we bring in, he will give

[17:22] half price as an introductory thing. So, it's sort of like a win-win. And maybe

[17:28] in the winter when thing when people are sort of hunkered down more um having a

[17:33] game night at Mama said which isn't in the hamlet but we think of it as sort of

[17:38] close by. Those are the kinds of things that um we're interested in doing. Plus

[17:44] we've got a new volunteer who is quite uh skilled and interested in doing more

[17:50] um uh like walks to identify plants and trees and birds and and things like

[17:55] that. Those would all be be free. So, I mean, people passively use the park now.

[18:00] We plan events at the park, but we don't we haven't yet, and we're looking

[18:04] forward to inviting people in a organized way to uh learn more about the

[18:09] park and take advantage of it. And the result of these these uh extra

[18:14] activities is we have Pentail. This this you will see a little bar graph is easy

[18:19] easy to uh get. In 2024, we had like just a couple of events and maybe 25

[18:25] people. And if everybody who says they want to come come to these extra events

[18:29] in the fall, we expect about 175. Now, that's may not be 175 different people.

[18:34] And I know the difference between attendance and unduplicated count, but

[18:39] um it shows a volume of engagement that is important to us. And um

[18:47] you we basically want to assure you that uh JCA does

[18:53] a lot with a little. Um we are extremely grateful for the uh annual uh allocation

[19:02] that we get and we are um but we have sort of parlayed our partnership with

[19:10] you into getting uh we got since 2017 in theouou we've had two free studies done

[19:17] one by students at Cornell as a master plan for the park and a second one done

[19:22] actually will Glennon your director who teaches at Sunni Courtland was able to

[19:27] hook us up and we got a separate plan that was for how to maintain and uh the

[19:33] park and how to improve accessibility and that was part of what triggered us

[19:39] wanting to do the parking area and path is that so that those were free to us.

[19:44] We got um with your help about uh 14 over $14,000 in county money as grants

[19:51] toward the restroom and accessibility. And we were able to leverage uh $1,600

[19:57] in grants from the Itha Rotary. We've got about 20 to 35 volunteers that help

[20:03] maintain the park and we are um you know pretty scrupulous in in how we spend and

[20:11] account for the the the annual allocation. So um as I mentioned we are

[20:18] planning to uh do a little more on increasing our our civic action. Um, and

[20:25] that is I mean back in 2017 there was a threat that the local post office in

[20:30] Jacksonville might be closed and the community rallied around. We actually I

[20:34] was out of town board then and contacted Senator Gillibrand's office who followed

[20:39] up and at that time they were reassuring. We don't know now. Um, but

[20:45] that kind of advocacy has been done in the past by JCA. Uh we wrote an uh a

[20:50] letter supporting increased funding for child care when Namaste was trying to

[20:55] expand. And um then this year you saw us at a number of meetings because we came

[21:01] to the um comprehensive plan steering committee to give feedback um on the

[21:06] Hamlet portion of the plan. And then um we were very grateful that that we

[21:12] actually were able to to schedule a special session of that comprehensive

[21:15] plan steering committee. at least some of the members came and met these some

[21:19] of the residents in Jacksonville so they could understand more about what was

[21:22] under consideration and um what was going on. One of the things that

[21:28] indirectly grew out of that is that this fall we hope to bring some people

[21:32] together to start doing what we're calling like a we're organizing in the

[21:37] hamlet to try to address some of the traffic safety issues on Route 96. when

[21:42] the um Living Essence Massage School opened, I know the town clerk's office

[21:49] got calls saying even though they added parking to the Ulissi Square location,

[21:54] they didn't have enough parking for all of their students and were wondering is

[21:58] there some sort of parking ride or is there a place that our people can park

[22:02] and it's like well sort of there's not a lot of good options and in the course of

[22:06] that discussion the idea of parking on 96 was raised. It's it's it's an option.

[22:12] People at the chiropractic office do it, but most people feel like they wouldn't

[22:15] take their life in their hands to park on Route 96 there. Obviously, they park

[22:20] on Route 96 in the heart of the village and that parking does slow traffic down

[22:26] and obviously the village police enforcement makes a big difference. But

[22:31] we had thought that there might be some traffic calming measures that we could

[22:34] explore in cooperation with the town, with the state, and whatever. So anyway,

[22:40] we'll be uh those are the kinds of things beyond just being good stewards

[22:44] of the park that we are interested in. And um just a I mentioned a couple of

[22:51] things that we're coming ahead is um we will be getting probably in the next few

[22:56] weeks getting the solar lights installed inside and outside the uh the restroom.

[23:03] And depending on what we decide about the security cameras and where those

[23:07] should be, those will be going up hopefully uh later this year. One of the

[23:10] things that we want to do is the parking area and the path that we created is not

[23:18] yet as navigable as we would like. it still

[23:22] feels a little grally and so figuring out how to get that surface resurfaced

[23:28] so that it would be more accessible is one of the things that's that's on our

[23:32] uh on our plans for this year and um but for next year we are actually looking at

[23:38] um and I am just about done the uh we've talked about it here before and

[23:44] this is the year I think really 2027 is really the year to sit with a

[23:48] combination of the wonderful community uh resource people we have plus people

[23:55] at DPW and members of our board to put together a longer term uh both

[24:02] maintenance plan for the park and as well as improvements so that we have a

[24:06] sense about what it takes to to keep the park safe and to um you know then other

[24:13] things to improve it. But like this year uh our insurance company that's part of

[24:18] theou we provide the insurance and make sure the park is safe. The insurance

[24:22] company actually had said that the old uh foot bridge that crosses the pond had

[24:29] handrails but no ballisters and that really wasn't safe for little kids or

[24:34] whatever. And so, um, Cameron Newuhof, our our

[24:39] treasurer, is also a contractor, and he had gotten some local, I think, arch and

[24:45] sort of stripped it into um like 2 by two ballasters, and then we had a plan

[24:50] and and the DPW guys helped make sure that those got installed properly. So,

[24:55] you know, those are the kinds of partnerships that that are so so

[24:58] valuable to us. And for that, all of that and all that we're doing, I just

[25:03] want to say thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And we're also grateful to the uh

[25:07] Jacksonville Community Church because they offer us space for our events and

[25:11] they co-sponsor with us the uh Ithaca Rotary said every time you can talk site

[25:18] the Rotary Club of Ithaca for for their financial support. And then we've got

[25:22] some private donors who who donate money. So that ideally we would just be

[25:27] using donations to cover the refreshments that we do at at these

[25:31] various events. So, that's what we're up to. I'm happy to give you copies of this

[25:38] so you can peruse more at your leisure and uh send a couple this way. Send a

[25:46] couple that way. >> Liz, we'll make sure one gets in your

[25:49] box. >> I have one for Liz.

[25:51] » Great. >> So, any questions, comments?

[25:56] » Doing a great job. >> Well, we've got a small but mighty team.

[26:01] Um and uh we've been able to do a lot and

[26:06] what we're finding is that there are some people who have come to several

[26:11] events and so we're cultivating uh their interest and and hopefully they may or

[26:17] may not serve as board members but I think we have some that are going to be

[26:22] actively involved in organizing events and um in ways that I think will just

[26:27] make a community more connected and stronger. Um, we actually when when we

[26:32] had our picnic, Andy Hillman, who you I'm sure know is an arborist, um, was

[26:38] there because he lives just down the road and was talking about a wonderful

[26:43] tree that he had seen in one of the neighbors yards because she she always

[26:47] called him over and say, "Andy, check my trees." And he said, "She had one of the

[26:51] finest specimens." And I'm thinking the little part of me is like, I suppose, we

[26:55] got some pretty nice trees at our place. So, we have a listerve. Um,

[27:01] » I put out a a a picture of one of our trees and invited people to share some

[27:06] of their trees or plants or whatever. I got one so far. Another might be on the

[27:11] way. But those kinds of things that find ways to illustrate the connectedness of

[27:17] the people in the community um are are sort of what we're about. There were no,

[27:22] as far as I could hear them, virtually no political discussions. So, it's

[27:27] really just people connecting with their neighbors and that's what we're about.

[27:31] » Awesome. Very nice. Thank you very much. Sure.

[27:33] » I bet I know which tree it was, too. >> Oh, no. Diane has one beautiful one. I

[27:39] don't know what it is, but it's spectacular. So, she should definitely

[27:42] be on that one. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[27:44] » I don't know whether I'm allowed to take a question directly from Vivian.

[27:48] » Yeah. >> I just wondered if you could compare

[27:50] your budget to before town money to now and what kind of relationship between

[27:58] that town money and all the other money and donations that have come in.

[28:04] » Yeah. The the uh contribution from the town has been $5,000 for as long as I

[28:11] can remember. So, we haven't gotten cost of living increases. We always make do.

[28:16] Some years we do get like when we got county grants, those were bigger and

[28:20] those were one time. These smaller grants were able to write pretty easily

[28:23] and sometimes are successful. We don't ask members to like pay a membership fee

[28:30] to belong. Um, and you know, a number of years ago when we were just starting our

[28:37] restroom project, actually, we partnered up with the uh conservatory and they had

[28:42] a whole sort of sort of oldtime festival day where we

[28:48] raised uh money toward the restroom. And uh we've had the um

[28:58] uh Lions Club from Trumanburg actually uh

[29:03] held a chicken barbecue at Brownies for us and and shared part of the proceeds

[29:08] from there. So we've we we try to do those kinds of things, but uh we haven't

[29:12] really solicited a lot of donations. Obviously that may be in our future, but

[29:17] but we have I think been been good stewards both of the land and of of the

[29:21] town dollars. So, it's about the same, but it is the largest piece of what

[29:26] we've had now that the county grants have really uh dwindled, but they're not

[29:31] completely gone. And there are things like for celebrations and whatnot that I

[29:35] mean, I did go to uh the tourism workshop with various uh grants. It's

[29:41] just a matter of sort of what time times available to to ask for those to

[29:46] implement them. But we are hopeful. Actually, Tom Knip uh had some ideas

[29:50] when he came to our annual meeting last year um some ideas about what we might

[29:55] do in terms of uh tourism promotion and so we will pick his brain next.

[30:01] » So, thank you N. >> Thank you so much for your time and

[30:04] attention. I know you got a busy agenda. I look back

[30:08] » if you wanted one of these

[30:12] great >> Did you get one?

[30:15] » I did not. Oh, maybe. >> No, no, I got

[30:20] to make enough. >> Thank you very much, Nancy. I appreciate

[30:22] it. Um, next up is uh privilege of the floor. Any member of the public is will

[30:28] is able to speak on any topic about the town for up to three minutes. Is there

[30:33] anybody want to make a comment really?

[30:48] Um, my name is Vivian Rose again. I still live in the village of

[30:52] Trumansburg. I came before you in May and asked you to pass a resolution

[30:58] uh declaring the 2nd through the 11th of July uh celebrating 200 years of freedom

[31:05] days. This is a little report out. This is the repress which has an article

[31:11] about everything that occurred. Um, this is

[31:18] more you for your these are all the posters for all of the events.

[31:24] Um, these are

[31:29] little Revolutionary War soldier markers that were placed on

[31:35] cemetery um

[31:40] on stones of Revolutionary War soldiers and Grove Cemetery. And at this

[31:45] memorial, which is labeled D memorial, but this was actually a cooperation

[31:50] between the town and the local D to install this memorial, which I added

[31:57] biographical information to the back so people can All of these have gone to

[32:02] Grove Cemetery, so they're able to have more tours if they wish. Um,

[32:08] and there is this lovely

[32:13] lovely uh

[32:20] picture of the first reading of the Declaration of Independence in State of

[32:24] New York, the brand new state of New York by John Thomas and this

[32:32] illustration of the first printed declaration in the state of New York.

[32:37] Now, what ties the town of Ulyses to these items is the people who served on

[32:43] the commit on the in the battlefield, including all of our veterans who are

[32:49] buried in our various um cemeteries who settled here and who served on our town

[32:56] board who actually housed our town board when there were meetings without a place

[33:02] to um without a place to meet um who basically created the town of Ulisses.

[33:11] I'm here to say that I was surprised at the amount of uh

[33:18] at the at the difficulty of inviting people to participate. It appeared that

[33:23] some uh businesses didn't want to have posters of events about the 250th.

[33:30] um our our local uh Facebook page didn't want to post the posters. So, it feels

[33:38] to me I came away from this feeling like we are sitting on deep divides that are

[33:44] not visible to us and they have to do with who we are as a people. By

[33:50] comparison, in 1976, we had a year's worth of celebrations,

[33:56] and that had to do with the infrastructure that was created. There

[34:01] was a staff member on the town staff who was the D regent who helped to

[34:08] create the Ulyses Historical Society in advance of 1976.

[34:16] And there were multiple organizations that worked with that kind of embedded

[34:23] world, the school district and etc. So what carried that all together

[34:33] was the churches and the community organizations,

[34:38] not necessarily the town government. um when the town is not able to

[34:46] uh be able to reach out to infrastructure like that, it's not able

[34:51] to do something like this. If you go over to our Skyler, our neighbor, you

[34:57] will find that there celebrate 250 is in every community doing walks and talks

[35:04] and festivals and book clubs and exhibits. and their student intern

[35:10] actually just got an award from Representative Laneworthy for his

[35:14] citizenship, for his civil for his I just actually as a member of the D heard

[35:21] the Skyler County historian at Ulyses Historical Society talk about the

[35:26] British prison ships um which resulted from a skidding butts

[35:31] kicked in September October of 1776 because one of our revolutionary war

[35:40] soldiers who's buried in Updike's father died on one of those ships. So I wanted

[35:45] to thank you. I wanted to let you know what had been done. Um and I wanted to

[35:50] let you know that very few people donated to this. So I

[35:58] have made a donation to this community of about $1,000

[36:02] for the various things that have been produced which I was happy to do. I'm a

[36:07] proud descendant of a Revolutionary War soldiers and I am grateful every day for

[36:14] the fact that I live in New York which was an original colony and what

[36:18] has made it possible for us to live here together in our own country

[36:25] in our own democracy. So, thank you for your time. This is for you all and I'll

[36:31] put these back up on your bulletin board.

[36:35] But the rest of this is for you. Thank you.

[36:38] » Thank you. >> I just want to add that Yeah, that's I

[36:43] want to add that this package and and the resolutions and all of the people

[36:50] who participated are going in a collection that's going to be at the

[36:56] historical society. So that there's something about the celebration of that

[37:00] 250th anniversary here for future generations. Thank you so much for your

[37:05] time. >> Thank you.

[37:06] » And I'm going to sit here and watch you do what we're so happy about and this

[37:10] country govern ourselves. Thank you. >> Okay. Anybody else wishing to address

[37:18] the town board and privilege of the floor? I did obviously give more than

[37:20] three minutes by a couple laps. Um but it seemed only fitting. Um okay, then I

[37:26] would um move uh continue on with municipal uh board and staff reports.

[37:34] Um, any any updates? Liz, are you in a good spot to talk or No,

[37:40] » I should be.

[37:45] » And then the commission. Oh,

[37:50] » I'm on 17. Can you hear? >> It's okay. Do you I can give the

[37:54] commission update. I can give the youth commission update. I was there.

[37:58] » Huh. um youth commission um had a meeting um

[38:02] on September 1st um and it was our annual budget meeting um and uh went

[38:11] over budget presentation numbers and had conversations and um the recommendations

[38:16] coming out that will be embedded into the town board's um budget um agenda on

[38:21] the 21st. the youth commission uh representatives from the county and the

[38:26] uh school district um uh also uh prior to that meeting interviewed um the

[38:34] gentleman who's on here for the appointment to fill the rec specialist

[38:37] position. That's the it's that's its title in civil service that this is the

[38:40] person who we've the town Well Nancy I'm glad Nancy's here. Um how long has the

[38:46] town been doing put you on the spot? How long has the town been doing rural youth

[38:49] services funding? >> 1990. So this is a position in some

[38:53] capacity that's been around for for quite since since I was too young.

[38:58] » There was a youth worker here in Ulyses actually Trumanburg before the youth

[39:04] commission was created. Um the uh there was the Ulyses Youth Unlimited program

[39:12] existed for many years just sort of independently on its own and then when

[39:16] the youth commission was formed it became the youth services program that

[39:23] has morphed many times that RISA was big part of for many years and u

[39:32] had the oversight support of these commission. So yeah, so this is a

[39:35] position that's funded in collaboration between the county, the village and the

[39:39] town um and that's the minimum. So um we um they gave their Hardy approval um for

[39:47] that position um for the the folks who represented on the interview committee.

[39:51] Um so that'll be coming to you later in the agenda. Um, Three Falls had a

[39:54] meeting um, last Thursday. Um, and kind of going over,

[40:02] sorry, I don't know how I set my timer off on myself. Um, the let's see, we um,

[40:08] we're talking early budget numbers. We'll be having our budget meeting in

[40:11] October um, and going over summer activities um, in terms of use of the

[40:17] property um, coordinating. We are still waiting on um New York State Parks uh

[40:23] going through the environmental review on the concept plan that uh was created

[40:28] um uh and finished up um over the winter um and uh until until we're we're

[40:36] finalized there um we can't go forward with any funding applications

[40:41] um or activities like that. Um was Liz, is there anything else if you're able to

[40:46] get on that you wanted to mention?

[40:50] Okay, I think that's a headshake no. Take that as a no. Um I know BZA didn't

[40:56] have a meeting um on the landing board's meeting was canceled last week also. So

[41:01] I think it's fairly quiet in those regards. Any other um town updates you'd

[41:05] like to make about committees or anything?

[41:10] Okay. Um big focus here right now is developing the the budget. Um,

[41:17] uh, Rachel, our legislator, um, is not in attendance or able to attend, um,

[41:22] because she has a a budget meeting tonight. Um, but Chrissy, I think you

[41:26] already posted her, um, you already circulated her, u July report.

[41:32] Um, >> yeah. So,

[41:34] » August. >> Oh. Oh, yeah. We're already in

[41:37] September. Sorry. >> Muddling my my months. Um, okay. Um,

[41:42] next item of old business is the local law amending chapter 200 of the town

[41:46] code. Um, Chris, I'm going to put you a little bit on the spot.

[41:49] » Yeah. >> To talk about this because this is uh

[41:51] related to to your departments. >> Okay. Um, first of all, I will say that

[41:57] there um Vivian made a comment about the 20 calendar days and that is actually an

[42:04] old version. The correct version was posted for the

[42:09] July 28th meeting in public hearing that got cancelled. And um so that version

[42:18] includes the change of 30 days before a penalty will be implemented.

[42:25] Um so there's that >> is that 210 C1

[42:32] » correct? Yep. >> Is that the only change in there?

[42:35] or yeah, >> because this was still one of them

[42:39] posted for the meeting. >> The one with 20 days was posted for this

[42:44] meeting, but the the correct one of the 30 days was posted prior. It was the

[42:50] version that the board when you set the hearing.

[42:57] Um but basically this law was written so long ago that um we wanted to kind of

[43:06] clarify some things and make it a little bit more user friendly.

[43:12] So changing the 20 days to 30 days was one of the things.

[43:17] um clarifying the language for the user fees because in the way that we there

[43:23] are different ways to bill and um because you've got to bill for water

[43:28] usage and for any debt for the water district as well as for the operation

[43:34] and maintenance and you can do that all on the water bill. You can do it some on

[43:39] the water bill and some on the tax bill which is kind of what we do. So, we

[43:44] wanted to just update the language to reflect um how we've been doing it and

[43:50] also uh leave it open so that if in the future we decide we want to do it a

[43:56] different way, we have the flexibility to do that. So, we're not actually

[44:00] implementing any additional um fees right now. That's not um what this is

[44:06] about. Um

[44:09] » can I just can I pop in on that? And and so um as as you'll remember um and it's

[44:14] linked in actually in our on our page, we set the fees um every January at

[44:19] organization

[44:23] » fees and rates I should say it's rates really.

[44:26] » The other change has to do with master meters. So we have um a a couple of

[44:34] situations where we have one meter that is for an entire um you know for like

[44:41] several apartments or trailers and we wanted to clarify the language and um

[44:49] it's become a little bit cumbersome for the um water district operator to read

[44:55] all of those meters when we're also reading a master meter.

[45:00] So, um would like to be able to focus on just reading the mass for me.

[45:07] » Shouldn't it be easier with the video reads just to read them all?

[45:12] » Um well, not all of them have been updated.

[45:17] So the bigger issue is um it's not I don't think it's fair for the water

[45:25] district to be paying for potential water loss between the master meter and

[45:29] spread out on a private property that has multiple residents because if

[45:32] there's a break in the line even as it's crossing you know quite a bit of footage

[45:37] on a private property um having all those different meters at

[45:43] all the different residential locations can result in water loss. that that the

[45:47] water district pays for, not the property owner pays for. And it's very

[45:51] common in residential developments for when they're rentals um for be it

[45:56] electric, be it um you know water to have a master meter and then as soon as

[46:02] that pro you know as soon as it's crossing their threshold onto their

[46:05] property, it's their water. It's no longer the town's water and so we can

[46:09] bill it for all the water. than how they choose to break it up among their

[46:12] property owners um is or or you know residents um units um is is their

[46:19] option. Um so that's that's one of it because we could be relying on

[46:24] antiquated infrastructure on private property. Um and that becomes a problem

[46:28] for the water district. Keeping water loss costs down as much as possible

[46:33] keeps prices down for the entire district. Um and master meters are um

[46:40] uh was recommended um by by Scott and Cararissa as as making that as clean as

[46:47] possible. So basically when you you're connected to that master meter at the

[46:50] edge of the property, everything past that master meter is their

[46:54] responsibility as a private property owner

[46:57] whether they have one unit or 25. Although nobody has 25, but they have

[47:03] close to 20 in one. So, >> is this a preemptive move or there is

[47:09] this responsive to you mentioned a situation where there might be a pipe

[47:14] damage and loss of water between the master meter and extra meters that we're

[47:20] also reading. So, are we like preempting that or has that been a problem

[47:25] » that we are aware of? So, so we don't know of a problem, but you don't know of

[47:29] a problem if you don't have just a single and um we would need to the

[47:35] district would have to bear the cost of replacing all of those not smart

[47:40] vendors. >> Um and so that would be a cost that

[47:43] right now the district does not have the money to

[47:45] » but we replaced almost to >> we didn't replace all of them on all of

[47:48] those units. Now, >> how many did we replace?

[47:50] » We replaced most of I think we replaced all of them on the one per property. We

[47:55] did not replace them all necessarily on individual units on a single property.

[47:59] » So the master meter will take care of that.

[48:01] » And it already has one. It already has a smart meter. So it's not

[48:03] » You just didn't do the ones down from the master.

[48:06] » Yes. >> It would have been 18 additional ones.

[48:08] » Scott still reading this. >> Not really. No.

[48:14] » So is this thing just Why is it a bit though?

[48:19] » Because it's extra labor for him. >> Well, who's reading?

[48:22] » Well, we're selling the water at the mastering gear.

[48:26] And then the tenants don't pay taxes. Only the owner pays taxes.

[48:31] » So if you're trying to recover the water vents, you can recover the master meter.

[48:37] » Well, it doesn't prohibit a private property owner from putting meters of

[48:41] their own on so that they appropriately. >> Yeah, you can read them if he wants,

[48:45] right? >> You know, do that. But that's not really

[48:48] an US thing. And you know, as people are adding on more AUDs, what we also talked

[48:53] about is we don't want to be in the middle of a landlord tenant dispute

[48:57] about how much water is being used and and who's responsible and all of that.

[49:01] If you have a master meter, it's at the edge of the property. It's by the

[49:04] property owner. It's a very clear you you know, a clear this person is

[49:08] responsible and if they don't pay, it goes onto the

[49:10] » So, if you have an AUD, you don't have to put another meter on. You have to

[49:13] master meter. >> If in this in this case, that would be

[49:16] the case. Yes. You wouldn't have to have a second one. This would be a single one

[49:20] per property. And then if the private property owner wants to put on a meter,

[49:24] then that's their prerogative. But they're going to be responsible from the

[49:27] master meter line or the master meter um where it's connecting the line on their

[49:32] private property will be their responsibility, right? If they have a

[49:35] water leak in the middle of their property between their house and an AUD

[49:39] that's 100 ft away, right? That's going to be them that they're going to have to

[49:42] figure it out, but they're going to be responsible for it. the town's not

[49:45] getting in the middle of it and saying, "Well, because we with it's it's

[49:49] difficult. We we only want to be responsible for that which we can

[49:52] evaluate, right? Like if there's a leak, we want to be able to track it on our

[49:56] own town district lines. Um, and when you get with all these other meters, it

[50:01] just becomes something that's not feasible to do." Um, so this would clean

[50:05] up the process. And so as people add um you know an an AUD they can

[50:12] they have a master meter and if they choose to put on their own meter to read

[50:16] it at the AUD then that is that's their prerogative but it's not our

[50:20] responsibility to like be parsing it out. Um it's much easier if we have a

[50:25] single meter and if the bill is paid you know the bill is not paid the way it

[50:28] works right if it's not paid after a certain point at the end of the year

[50:31] it's remitted onto their taxes. So, we want have it's it makes sense to have it

[50:35] cleanly attached to um to a property because you also wouldn't want um I can

[50:41] see the reverse side, right? If you're a landlord and you don't realize that you

[50:44] have a tenant who has been racking up significant bills, right? Um, and you

[50:50] don't know there's a water problem because they haven't told you. And then

[50:53] at the end of the year, you're getting smacked with

[50:56] » a landlord. You see the water meter, you see the water bill

[51:01] every quarter >> with a master meter. You do.

[51:05] » Yeah. >> If you don't have master meters though,

[51:07] you wouldn't necessarily, right? So, if you think about it, if you have a

[51:10] property with 10 units and you don't have a master meter and each of them are

[51:14] getting metered individually, if they don't pay their water bill, what

[51:18] happens to that water bill? Right? It gets emitted remitted onto the tax bill.

[51:21] But if they're receiving the bill directly for their water and it's not

[51:25] going through the landlord, the owner of the property, that landlord can be

[51:28] surprised with something at the end of the year if something isn't paid. Does

[51:32] that make sense? >> Well, doesn't it have to go through the

[51:34] landlord? cuz that's the address of the ownership of the where the bill would go

[51:38] to the owner of the property, not to the tenant.

[51:41] » Well, it depends on if you have if we're going to install a meter though on each

[51:44] if we in the theory where we're installing a meter on each individual

[51:48] residence, then the then then the expectation,

[51:53] right, is that residence is paying for the bill, right?

[51:55] » Yeah. >> But that's not necessarily the landlord.

[51:58] » It depends on the leases, right? >> Sure. Absolutely. But at the end of the

[52:02] day, do you want to if we don't change the law, we're going to need to pay for

[52:07] out of the water district, which does not have the money. So, we'd be raising

[52:09] taxes for the water district to pay for it. Um, a a chunk of new meters or and

[52:15] then we'd be relying on the infrastructure on private property in

[52:18] this one particular case, not counting there are other cases, there are other

[52:22] properties as well. um we'd be relying on infrastructure that's transmitting

[52:26] that water from the the edge of the road where the pit is to the different

[52:31] properties with potential leaks that we're not aware of. The reality is is

[52:34] the recommendation has been that putting a master meter pit um at the edge of the

[52:39] property and knowing how much water is going in there is in the best interest

[52:43] of the water district so that we can keep track of water loss because water

[52:48] loss is an expensive thing. um you know unintended water losses can really drive

[52:54] up the cost because the district bears those costs not just an individual

[52:58] property owner. >> So have we ident we've had leaks in the

[53:01] past. >> Oh we have yeah leaks happen.

[53:03] » Yeah. >> So are we monitoring those?

[53:05] » Of course with the meter. >> Well we're monitoring to those meter but

[53:08] that's not the only place you get a leak. Right. We work with Bolton Point

[53:11] um to they have a GPS system um that we can use. Chissa what are some of the

[53:16] other ways? They do fire they do inspections of the fire hydrants. Um,

[53:20] what else is on that list of things we do to

[53:24] Scott's really in charge of that >> point can monitor the water use. So if

[53:28] there's a big pull from it, they get alerted. It's all all

[53:34] connected to the internet.

[53:47] Okay. So, any further discussion on it, questions, concerns?

[53:53] » This sounds this sounds like we're bringing code in line with a um a

[53:58] proposed idea that also aligns with some things that are effectively already

[54:03] happening, right? That we're not necessarily reading or actively reading

[54:07] meters that we could curious about the workload that this adds to our team

[54:14] install. You mentioned installing new master meters and there's there was

[54:19] previous master meters installed. Is there just thinking about the cost and

[54:24] the time for I'm assuming I'm I'm asking I guess

[54:29] are are we then the town installing master meters at these locations that

[54:34] don't currently have them? And what's that cost and time like how long

[54:40] does that take? Is that a couple months, a couple years over time? I'm not aware

[54:44] that we need to install any master. It's the opposite. We're trying to not

[54:49] reinstall all the submeters associated.

[54:54] » We're just saying we're going to rely on the reading of the master meter and not

[54:58] get into the reading of all the submeters on private property.

[55:02] » Okay. >> So, the expectation is that there's no

[55:04] new cost associated with this. And then we do have a cost. So if somebody builds

[55:09] a, you know, there's a subdivision of the house, someone puts up a new house,

[55:13] there's a cost for them to have all of that stuff installed. So we don't, so

[55:17] there's no expectation that this is going to create any new expenditure. In

[55:21] fact, it reduces expenditure. >> Okay.

[55:23] » So on our vouchers today, we have $43,698

[55:29] in water. >> Of which $10,452

[55:33] is water loss. So that's like a third of the whole bill is water loss. Is that is

[55:40] that normal? >> Nope. And that's why we got alerted to

[55:43] it. And Scott thinks he's tracked down what it is. And it was a fire hydrant.

[55:47] And so they did a repair what, a week ago?

[55:51] » Yeah. I think on Thursday he's going to be able to pull a log from the last week

[55:56] and see if >> that's what did it.

[55:57] » The reads are still high. >> Yeah.

[56:02] » Who alerts us to that? You said we got an alert or we got ben point.

[56:07] » Yeah. >> What's their what's the red flag number?

[56:09] Do you know it's like I don't know. It is

[56:12] » well >> is a percentage increase or

[56:15] » us actually doing that math and getting the bill from Bolton boy compared to

[56:19] what we build out and saying well there's a big discrepancy.

[56:24] » So we just had a meter reading and so we did catch it wasn't caught really until

[56:28] our last meter reading which was what two weeks ago.

[56:32] » Yeah. So, >> so the water district is paying for the

[56:35] water loss, which isn't a good thing.

[56:39] » No, >> but legally there's no one else to,

[56:42] » right? Yeah. No, no, I got that. So, >> you're saying this is very large loss.

[56:47] » It is. It is. >> We're glad if Scott found it.

[56:53] » So, hopefully he did. Yeah. Hopefully that's that's what did it.

[56:58] But um you said on Thursday they're able to pull

[57:01] » I think that's what Lori said. Yeah. >> Yeah.

[57:04] » So that'll check to see usage and see do a comparison to see if that's resulted

[57:09] in a decrease. >> Thank you. So

[57:11] » can we get a report or just another report on that at the next meeting?

[57:15] » Um it's got to happen. >> Yeah. I think usually Scott puts that

[57:17] stuff in his report. So it probably would be in his report for the next

[57:20] meeting. >> His highway report.

[57:24] » Any other questions about this?

[57:29] Okay. Well, I am going to uh there's it's a standalone resolution.

[57:35] » You're going to move it. >> Yeah. I'm going to go ahead and move it.

[57:38] Um it's a second standalone resolution.

[57:43] » Um so, I'm just going to read the resolves.

[57:46] Uh now, therefore, be it resolved that the town board of the town of Ulyses

[57:49] hereby adopts a local law titled a local law amending chapter 200 of the town

[57:54] code. And be it further resolved that the town clerk is hereby authorized and

[57:57] directed to file the local law with the New York State Secretary of State in

[58:00] accordance with the municipal home rule law. And be it further resolved that the

[58:04] town clerk, town attorney, and such other count town officers and employees

[58:09] as may be necessary are hereby authorized and directed to take such

[58:12] additional steps as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the intent of

[58:15] this resolution and effectuate the filing and implementation of the local

[58:19] law. So I'll move that. >> Thank you. Any further discussion?

[58:25] Okay. Uh, all those in favor? >> I I

[58:31] Liz, are you voting? >> I Yeah, there you go. Assuming that

[58:36] assuming that's denying. Um,

[58:40] okay. So, next up is a local law to over tax cap limit for 2027.

[58:47] um as a precursor of what's coming in the budget season. Um

[58:53] the to stay under the tax cap means we would have to stay under $65,000

[58:58] increase and um the precursor is I'm looking at over $104,000

[59:03] exclusively related to fire and EMS. >> So when you subtract those numbers

[59:09] » increase >> Yes.

[59:10] » Yes. >> Yeah.

[59:12] 100. It's approximately 104,000. Um, fire uh budget. The meeting is

[59:19] tomorrow. If anybody wants to attend, if you plan to attend, please let Kissa

[59:22] know. Um, there'll be a 6 p.m. meeting at the village hall um for fire and EM

[59:28] um the annual meeting. Um and our fire is expected to our shares

[59:38] going up. Um mostly related to the five-year transition that we've been

[59:42] making um that moved it more towards property tax based or property

[59:47] assessment based. Ulyses is the biggest dog in the in the kennel when it comes

[59:52] to um the property or the municipalities participating.

[59:57] Um, EMS is a sizable increase. Um, uh, budgetary impact looks like it's going

[1:00:03] to be about 18%. Um, our shares 14% of the total, but or not 14% of the total,

[1:00:08] it's a 14% there. But when I'm looking at preliminary increases in taxes, um,

[1:00:13] that's uh, related to to largely fires. And to put that into perspective, we

[1:00:19] would have to get rid of zoning and everybody related to zoning in the town.

[1:00:24] And that would about cover the cost of the increase of these two services for

[1:00:29] one year. It would not even touch. We're going to be we're going to be breaking

[1:00:32] $900,000 for buying EMS services alone. >> Insane.

[1:00:37] » So um we're looking at uh 20% I'm sorry 19.5 uh roughly in health insurance

[1:00:45] alone. We're estimating a minimum of 10% for um uh services uh related to

[1:00:52] insurance. um and um benefits. Um so I mean the the

[1:00:59] numbers are are sizable. Um counting cutting out, you know, youth recreation,

[1:01:05] um anything related to that, we wouldn't even begin to touch the increase

[1:01:08] percentage wise. Um it's just these numbers are so big. Um they're creeping

[1:01:13] up towards the 50% of our entire uh taxable levy. Um, good news is if you're

[1:01:19] um not in if you're if you're a village resident um you pay those bills, you pay

[1:01:24] fire and EMS through the uh through the village. Um these are for the the 104

[1:01:30] roughly is connected to uh the town um residents outside the village. Um and

[1:01:37] that's born exclusively by them. Um so yeah um these are just incredible years

[1:01:44] uh incredible year in terms of cost hikes. Um

[1:01:49] so it'll be interesting. Uh but I when I saw the preliminary numbers those are

[1:01:54] those are what we're working with. So

[1:02:00] uh so I don't see anything we can do but pass this. um and see, you know, we're

[1:02:06] bringing I'll bring with Blixie I'll bring a budget on the 21st um that you

[1:02:12] know, you know, we'll we're doing what we can,

[1:02:16] but I don't have $104,000 hiding in the cushions. Um part of the problem is EMS

[1:02:23] revenue has been flat since 2016. So, in 2016, our EMS revenue was uh $80,000. In

[1:02:29] 2025, our EMS revenue was $80,000, which means it's less money than it was in

[1:02:35] 2016. >> So, this new new group get billing

[1:02:38] situation isn't really helping. >> Well, it it's helping a little bit, but

[1:02:41] because it's better 2025 is better than 2024, but Medicare doesn't has an

[1:02:46] increased rates of reimbursement, and that happens to be one of the biggest

[1:02:50] drivers. Medicare and Medicaid um insurance uh are huge drivers of um

[1:02:56] reimbursements >> because those are frequently the

[1:03:00] populations that that um are are needing ambulance care, which is which makes

[1:03:05] sense. But when your average transport costs $900 and we get $180 back, can't

[1:03:11] make the ma the math doesn't math. So, it's being it's being subsidized at the

[1:03:15] the rate of the taxpayer, but I've yet to have a single resident in the entire

[1:03:18] town ask me to cut EMS services. >> So, um you know, uh that's that's really

[1:03:26] where our costs are significant. Um and going into going in we going into

[1:03:35] this year like I said you know we're effectively flat which means it's a loss

[1:03:39] for revenue and costs before this before 2027 had gone up 67% from 2016. So when

[1:03:48] your costs go up and your revenue remains flat there is a a um share of

[1:03:53] the tax it becomes a tax burden. So,

[1:04:00] um, so that's that's kind of where we are.

[1:04:05] So, I'm, you know, we can certainly talk more about it, but I'm going to go ahead

[1:04:08] and and move the the tax cap the resolution um adopting a local

[1:04:17] uh resolution approving a local law that overrides the tax cap for 2027. uh to

[1:04:23] override the tax levy levy limit established in general municipal law 3C

[1:04:29] » second. >> Thank you. Any further discussion?

[1:04:32] » This is going to be local law number four since we just

[1:04:37] » Thank you.

[1:04:41] » I mean we in past years talked about maybe talking in bangs to see if there's

[1:04:47] other options. I based on based on my knowledge of

[1:04:52] what's been discussed at TECOG um and what's been presented to the county and

[1:04:56] the news reports that's not the case. Um you know I'm grateful it's a and it's

[1:05:02] expensive bill but I'm grateful we have an EMS service here. They're looking at

[1:05:05] response rates where banks can come in or mutual aid can come in of Enfield and

[1:05:09] Newfield to 25 28 minutes. You know that's just an inconceivably long time

[1:05:14] to wait for medical medical services. Um the most recent thing I continue to hear

[1:05:19] is that um banks has never been interested in signing contracts with

[1:05:23] municipalities uh because that limits their coverage area potentially. So

[1:05:27] that's not they're stretched thin. It used to be that there was a lot more

[1:05:31] mutual mutual mutual aid, right? Where um they were they were coming in and we

[1:05:38] were backfilling them and you know there was there was a lot of parody and then

[1:05:41] after co that's not been the case. We're looking at an average of between 10 and

[1:05:44] 15% of calls are going out of district. Majority of those ambulance calls are

[1:05:49] going into the city of Ithaca. Dryen is looking at 40% are going outside their

[1:05:53] district into areas that um right are not paying for uh municipal ambulance

[1:05:59] service. So, City of Ithaca residents do not pay a dollar for for ambulance

[1:06:04] services. Not a dollar. They don't pay any taxes for ambulance services. They

[1:06:09] have paramedics who work for the fire department. They have a paid fire

[1:06:12] department, but you can't transport a patient on a firet truck. So, they need

[1:06:16] an ambulance to show up and they're not paying for it. The only this is this is

[1:06:20] a it's, you know, it's my soap box. This is going to explode. This is this is a

[1:06:24] crisis that everybody knows about. The county knows about it. They've had a

[1:06:28] report that said as much. And what the reality is is we need countywide

[1:06:34] emergency services for ambulances the same way we have a sheriff's department.

[1:06:39] And it's just a matter of time to when there'll be enough political pressure

[1:06:42] put on by constituents to demand it. >> In terms of talk about their recovery

[1:06:47] from out of district calls, >> I mean, they bill for out of district

[1:06:52] calls, but they're in the same boat we are that we bill and if somebody doesn't

[1:06:56] pay, they're still, you know, there's there's a lot of what they're doing are

[1:07:01] second calls. So, they're there as a backfill to to an to to Bang. So they're

[1:07:07] in the city of Ithaca because Banks is tied up and and they need a second

[1:07:11] ambulance in accessible. Um and so there's no money made there, right? Like

[1:07:16] if you're not transporting, you're not making any money. Um so they do bill. Uh

[1:07:21] but they're in the same boat we are as if we bill and someone doesn't pay,

[1:07:24] quite honestly, we don't we don't go to collections for them.

[1:07:27] » Were they transparent about it though? Because they were putting We never saw

[1:07:30] that on the when we'd go to the meetings and they'd give us the budget sheet. I

[1:07:35] never saw that line item on there >> of revenue generated. Um I haven't

[1:07:38] looked that thoroughly at this one. Um Blixie um Blixie is coming to the

[1:07:42] meeting tomorrow night and she has a set of questions I can ask her about that. I

[1:07:46] didn't delve into that that aspect of it. I was

[1:07:49] » primed that before the meeting so we're not blindsided with it.

[1:07:53] » Yeah. Um the a village is seeing a 19.5% increase in theirs um because of the

[1:07:59] call volume. Um EMS is all call volume related.

[1:08:03] So their their their shares going up for EMS. Also, their fire bills are going

[1:08:08] down.

[1:08:12] Um,

[1:08:18] okay. Well, I moved it. Michael seconded it. If there's no further discussion,

[1:08:22] call for a vote. All those in favor? >> I I

[1:08:27] Liz voted I. Um, thank you. Um, okay. Appointment uh

[1:08:34] to fill a recreation specialist position. This is the youth services

[1:08:37] position. This is the uh gentleman um who will uh he's in the budget. Um Lucky

[1:08:44] um uh left us in July to go to graduate school um uh in another state. So there

[1:08:51] was no um uh no way to do that. And it looks like it got an older version of my

[1:08:57] resolution. So, let me pull that up quickly while um I apologize that I did

[1:09:03] not catch that when I in a moment so I can read it out loud.

[1:09:09] Um

[1:09:16] um so uh we'd be appointing um uh Thomas Cronin

[1:09:22] um uh to serve as our recreation specialist

[1:09:27] effective September 8th, 2026. Um at a rate of uh this is the budgetary

[1:09:33] amount that was previously paid of $23.69 69 cents an hour uh for up to 19

[1:09:38] hours um per week and that is budgeted that's period um for clarity that is

[1:09:45] budgeted at an average of 15 hours a week. Um and we have to stay under 19

[1:09:50] and that's what they they work but um under 19 because after 19 it um when you

[1:09:55] average it it goes into benefit c it goes into the benefits category. This is

[1:09:59] a position without benefits other than our contribution to the retirement

[1:10:04] system. Um so there's no health benefits

[1:10:07] associated with this. Um uh Tommy is uh coming to us from Ithaca

[1:10:13] College. She's currently um doing a uh

[1:10:20] a master's certificate master's program um at Sunni Courtland in recreation. Um

[1:10:26] and uh he's uh he's he's lovely. Um he's worked with the middle school population

[1:10:33] before. um as part of his work as as part of his uh program at Ithaca

[1:10:39] College, he created his own his own program. And he's going to be primarily

[1:10:43] um running the community center um after school um at uh the Church of the

[1:10:49] Epiphany, which is obviously secular programming, but it's in the space. We

[1:10:52] have a lease with them. Um and that's going to be starting, I believe, on

[1:10:56] Monday. So, we were fortunate to be able to um do get him in place right as the

[1:11:02] school year is started. Um, but Rick from the county and Paul Paddock from

[1:11:07] the school and Rachel and I all interviewed him and um I think he has a

[1:11:11] lot of potential. So I will move that. Is there a second?

[1:11:17] » Second. >> Thank you. Any further discussion?

[1:11:24] Okay. Um, then I will call for a vote. All those in favor?

[1:11:27] » I. >> And Liz is voting yes also.

[1:11:33] Okay. Well, it's nice to have Nancy here because um she's next up. Um Nancy

[1:11:37] applied to to fill a vacancy on the youth commission. We have an open um uh

[1:11:42] seat uh for a representative of the town of Ulyses. Um and uh uh youth commission

[1:11:49] members were were supportive of your inclusion. Um and so I'm I'm happy to to

[1:11:54] make pass make this resolution. uh resolved that the Ulyses Town Board

[1:11:58] appoints uh the following person to serve as a representative from Ulyses uh

[1:12:05] uh on the Truman Ulyses Youth Commission through December 31st, 2026. And that

[1:12:11] person is Nancy Zaylor. Thank you very much for being willing to do that.

[1:12:15] » Um is there a second? >> Second.

[1:12:17] » Thank you. Um don't think much discussion is

[1:12:22] necessary, but all those in favor I. Thank you, Nancy.

[1:12:27] And um after that um Liz would like to hand off the board of zoning the BZA to

[1:12:34] you Rich. Were you are you willing to take that? Sure.

[1:12:36] » She's already here for youth commissions on the date. So she said she's happy to

[1:12:40] stay with planning board. Um but BZA, you want to hand off BCA?

[1:12:45] » Yep. >> Off your hand.

[1:12:48] » Great. So, I'll make the motion >> that the Ulissiz Town Board makes the

[1:12:53] following adjustments to board leaison positions

[1:12:58] uh replacing um Elizabeth Weatherbe, with thanks, comma, uh for service on as

[1:13:04] a liaison to the Ulyses Board of Zoning Appeals and appoint uh Rich Goldman to

[1:13:12] serve through December 31st, 2026. >> Second. Thank you. All those in favor?

[1:13:21] I. Awesome. Thank you. Okay. >> Why are we talking about the planning

[1:13:26] board and the ECA? We still have a vacancy on the planning board, don't we?

[1:13:30] » Uhu. >> But I think we they've had some

[1:13:32] applications. So I would you should talk to um the committee and that committee

[1:13:38] of review was Liz Weatherbe and Carl um

[1:13:44] and so when Liz is not here um because that would be an executive session

[1:13:48] discussion. I think that that's a direct conversation you guys could have. We

[1:13:52] have >> cell phone numbers have a conversation.

[1:13:56] » Okay. >> She can give you an update.

[1:13:58] » Hard to put Liz in executive session right now.

[1:14:02] Um but good question. Um okay. Um upcoming events in addition to the

[1:14:08] meeting tomorrow night. If you want to attend um at 6 o'clock in village hall

[1:14:11] and fire at EMS. >> Are you going?

[1:14:13] » Um >> yes,

[1:14:14] » we have a special town board meeting um at 9:00 a.m. on September 21st and that

[1:14:20] will be our budget meeting. We're going to do a single day meeting

[1:14:24] and um then we have the next day our regular town board meeting on the 22nd.

[1:14:30] Um, and then we have I don't have any board

[1:14:35] notifications. Uh, budget modifications. We do have budget modifications.

[1:14:43] I'm happy to walk through. Um, so the first one in the A fund, um, this

[1:14:52] budget adjustment reflects anticipated health insurance spending for the

[1:14:54] remainder of the year. the increase costed due to incurring the cost of a

[1:14:58] family plan rather than the single plan that was budgeted for in 2026. So, we

[1:15:01] had somebody who chose to go on um to u health insurance uh for a family plan

[1:15:08] rather than the single plan. Um the uh the next one

[1:15:16] um this adjustment reflects anticipated legal costs through the end of the year

[1:15:19] as well as some anticipated contractual expenditures for our new historian. So,

[1:15:23] the historian was $100. Um, and uh we're pulling out a contingency more money um

[1:15:28] for the attorney. Um recreation uh summer camp staff. Um

[1:15:36] it's a it's an increase of $4,200. Uh this adjustment reflects increased cost

[1:15:41] and personnel for summer camp with the use of anticipated savings and

[1:15:43] contractual cost covering an overage. So, camp did get more expensive. It

[1:15:47] simply were just moving stuff around. um health insurance. Um we have an increase

[1:15:53] of $15,000 uh uh from contingency from our

[1:15:58] contingency benefits line. Um this budget adjustment reflects anticipated

[1:16:02] health insurance spending through the main during the year. Uh increased cost

[1:16:05] due to incurring the cost of a family plan rather than a single plan that was

[1:16:09] budgeted for 2026. And

[1:16:14] um in the DA, so that was the B fund. in the DA fund. Um we have um an increase

[1:16:20] in health insurance and it's being pulled out of maintenance of bridges

[1:16:23] contractual. Um this budget adjustment reflects anticipated health insurance

[1:16:27] spending through the remainder of the year. The increased cost is due to

[1:16:30] shifting of the allocation of personnel and benefits among cost centers and

[1:16:34] funds. Anticipated savings in engineering costs for bridges will cover

[1:16:38] the overage. Um and um S SW fund um we had a increase of

[1:16:46] $500. Um the adjustment reflects anticipated

[1:16:50] spending for purification chemicals through the end of the year. So any

[1:16:55] questions about that? Pretty straightforward.

[1:16:59] » Nope. >> Health insurance. It's expensive.

[1:17:05] » Okay. I will move those um budget modifications as presented. Is there a

[1:17:09] second? >> Second.

[1:17:10] » Thank you. All those in favor? >> I.

[1:17:14] » Okay. Next up is payment of audited claims. Um do we have two reviewers?

[1:17:19] » Yes. >> Okay. Thank you.

[1:17:20] » Thank you. >> Um

[1:17:23] so I'll read the resolution and then if there's any discussion about anything,

[1:17:27] we can discuss it. um resolved that the Ulyses Town Board approves payment of

[1:17:31] the following audited claims. Voucher number 19 in the HA fund totaling 20

[1:17:35] $2,87011 and vouchers number 410 through449 and

[1:17:41] the A through SW funds totaling $128,33.37.

[1:17:49] » Second. >> Thank you. Any discussion or questions

[1:17:51] about the vouchers? Uh yeah, some of the um some of them could use some more

[1:17:57] clarification on there. >> I'm familiar with them. I've you know

[1:18:02] » would you do you have any ones in particular?

[1:18:05] » Well, like there was the one survey one that I pulled out that cursive very

[1:18:09] clear. >> Oh, the survey. Yeah.

[1:18:11] » Just some of those like there'll be a invoice for something. There'll be like

[1:18:15] a part number on it so somebody could just say it's a you know a wheel bearing

[1:18:19] or whatever the heck but can't tell what some of them are

[1:18:25] » just note for >> is that something we can do

[1:18:27] » noted. Yeah, sometimes it's just for hard for us to tell

[1:18:31] » because you don't know either. >> Yeah, generally they were pretty good

[1:18:35] about writing them on there, >> but this time I noticed that

[1:18:40] some of them were missing. >> That's all. Okay, thank you. Um, we have

[1:18:47] a motion and a second. Any further discussion?

[1:18:50] » Okay. All those in favor? >> I.

[1:18:54] » Okay. Then go full circle back to put them to the floor. I will take those out

[1:18:58] of your hands. Thank you.

[1:19:02] » Um, and let me get my timer.

[1:19:08] Okay. Anybody who wishes to address the town board privilege to the floor?

[1:19:12] » Yes, I do. >> Okay. come on up this time. I am going

[1:19:14] to set the timer though.

[1:19:19] » Yeah, there's a lot that goes on in this little town.

[1:19:23] Uh, so my name is Vivian Rose. I still live at 104 Pennsylvania Avenue in St.

[1:19:28] Jamesburg, New York. And I want to point out that it's the 175th anniversary of

[1:19:32] the founding of the Union Agricultural and Horicultural Society of Hector

[1:19:39] Cobber and Ulyses. This year they have just successfully had an amazing fair

[1:19:45] and um they successfully showcased not only a historic uh

[1:19:52] traveling uh their company, the Coleman Brothers, but they

[1:19:59] also uh have had a full barn thanks to the participation of the

[1:20:11] F the 4F >> future farmers of America.

[1:20:14] » Yes. Uhhuh. Uh it's thanks to them and our local reporter said in the Cornell

[1:20:22] University area that this was an agricultural bear. This predates

[1:20:27] Cornell. It predates the a spool and it is a treasure. So, I wanted to bring it

[1:20:34] to your attention that this treasure is sitting on that beautiful property

[1:20:39] across from that Smith Woods. And if there is any way to preserve and support

[1:20:44] the operation of that as an agricultural facility for our community, that would

[1:20:52] be one way to undergur our local food production. M

[1:20:56] » what we see is Denver Derby's parades with fire trucks that are rural fire.

[1:21:02] That's why that parade was created support rural fire communities and the

[1:21:07] rides. But it's the horse poles and the cows

[1:21:15] that are the core of that historic local community organization. That's three

[1:21:21] county organization. You already know all this. Would you allow me to write a

[1:21:26] resolution in honor of that association located in

[1:21:32] the town of Ulyses for this 175th year? >> Or would you do it yourselves?

[1:21:39] » Um, well, I have a great working relationship with the president, the new

[1:21:42] president. So, Bill Conway, who works at DCW as the new president, and I they

[1:21:46] passed him >> was able to hang out with him for 10:30

[1:21:49] at night on the first night of the fair. Um, I think a resolution would be great

[1:21:54] if it's done in conjunction with the fair board because I think that they

[1:21:57] should be a part of that and >> of course

[1:21:59] » and so if you want to work with them on that then sounds sounds great.

[1:22:03] » Fantastic. Thank you very much.

[1:22:11] » Okay. Um, anybody else who wishes to address us on further to the floor?

[1:22:17] » Okay. Well, then give it back to Rich. Move to adjourn.

[1:22:25] » It's back. >> I need a second.

2026-09-08 Town Board mtg & Public Hearings

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