Highway Committee

March 3, 2005 – 11:30 a.m.

Draft Minutes

 

Members present: Paul Allen, Chairman; John Steger, Vice Chairman; Merwin Armstrong; Larry Cornell; Steve Dafoe; Scott Elston; Dan Tagliente

Others present: Carletta Edwards; Eric Mulvilhill; Brian Liberatore; Scott Schrader, County Administrator; Don Chambers, Bob Buerkle; Diane Bean;

Chairman Allen called the meeting to order at 11:32 a.m.

Motion by Mr. Cornell, seconded by Mr. Allen to approve the minutes of February 3, 2005 with the correction that Mr. Cornell was not absent and a change in discussion item # 3 to say " to include in the next engineering study the concern" instead of " to bring a resolution to the next committee meeting." All members voting in favor; none opposed; the minutes were approved as corrected.

Motion by Mr. Allen, seconded by Mr. Elston to approve the minutes of February 17, 2005 as printed. All members voting in favor; none opposed; the minutes were approved as printed.

RESOLUTIONS:

 

     

  1. Amend Budget/ Transfer Funds, Highway Department – Mr. Cornell moved adoption; seconded by Mr. Elston. Mr. Steger asked if this would finish the Cold Brook Road project? Mr. Chambers said it would not finish the project – there would need to be engineering done and would be more work on this project next year. Mr. Buerkle had maps available and proceeded to show the committee what projects were going to be worked on this summer. Mr. Elston asked how many miles of road paving would the $500,000. that was put into the budget cover. Mr. Chambers said the $500,000. would be used for overlay projects and would be supplemented with CHIPS funding. He said it was hard to determine just how many miles of projects the money would cover because of different circumstance surrounding individual projects. Mr. Dafoe asked if these projects would be contracted out? Mr. Chambers said that only portions of work would be done by outside contracts but most of the work would be done in house. Mr. Elston asked if it would ever make sense for the County to buy a paver? Mr. Chambers said he would need to do an analysis of the costs savings before he would ever make that proposal. All members voting in favor; none opposed; the motion passed.

    2.  

  2. Amend Budget/ Transfer Funds, Highway Department – Mr. Cornell moved the adoption; seconded by Mr. Armstrong. Mr. Allen asked what this resolution was accomplishing? Mr. Chambers stated it was moving money from the Vehicle Maintenance account to the Repairs/Maintenance Account and Property Repairs Account for repairs to be done on small tools and the building. Mr. Dafoe asked if they do building repairs in house? Mr. Chambers said they do as many as they can. Mr. Tagliente asked what shape the dump trucks were in? Mr. Chambers said that usually three are in the garage for repair everyday so they are usually running with 11 out of 14 trucks - noting that the trucks are pushed round the clock basically. Mr. Elston requested a list of the trucks with information regarding age, mileage, etc. be given to committee members. Mr. Chambers said he would take care of that. Mr. Elston asked if there is any money in the budget to replace and trucks and if there are any existing bonds open on any of these trucks? Mr. Schrader explained that through the Tobacco Settlement money the bonds are being paid that would include any of these trucks. Mr. Elston asked how many years the dump trucks are good for? Mr. Chambers said it is more by the mileage than the age that determine the life of the trucks. All members voting in favor; none opposed; the motion passed.

    3.  

  3. Amend Budget/ Transfer Funds, Highway Department – Mr. Tagliente moved the adoption; seconded by Mr. Cornell. Mr. Allen explained this resolution was regarding the project at Little York Dam and was for the Barton & Loguidice Study and was to pay the second half of the payment. Mr. Dafoe asked if the County had received a report yet? Mr. Chambers said they had not received one yet but should be receiving one in late spring or early summer. Mr. Dafoe asked if there has been verbal communication. Mr. Chambers said they had been talking about some issues that had been found. Mr. Dafoe said that when he drives by there everyday and watches the water flowing he is concerned and with the spring run-off coming soon wonders what will happen. Mr. Chambers said they are watching it closely. All members voting in favor; none opposed; the motion passed.

    4.  

  4. Amend Budget/ Transfer Funds, Highway Department – Mr. Armstrong moved the adoption; seconded by Mr. Cornell. Mr. Allen explained this was moving the money to be able to purchase the salt/sander that had been approved at the special Highway Meeting. All members voting in favor; none opposed; the motion passed.

    5.  

  5. Authorize Agreement, Highway Department/ Recycling (J M Murray Center – Recycling Sorting Services) – Mr. Cornell moved the adoption; seconded by Mr. Elston. Mr. Schrader explained that about six months ago the County of Cortland and the J M Murray Center worked together to submit an application for a grant in the amount of $300,000. to provide employment for persons with disabilities to provide services for the County. He stated the ARC failed to award the grant to Cortland County, however, the County wanted to continue to pursue this move and through negotiations with J M Murray Center has come up with a proposal to perform the needed services. There is money in the budget to accomplish this. This resolution is to authorize the contract and move the money into the correct budget lines. Mr. Tagliente asked why Cortland County was turned down? Mr. Scharder stated it was his understanding that Cortland County was bumped off the list by a proposal from another County and that all grant money is competitive by nature. All members voting in favor; none opposed; the motion passed.

 

DISCUSSION:

 

     

  1. Approve Bidding for Material/ Supplies – Committee gave approval to move ahead as outlined.

    2.  

  2. Appoint Committee Members for two Advisory Committees for the Airport – one would be

advisory and one would be technical. These committees are being set up to work with the consultants to move forward on the Master Plan for the Airport. Mr. Allen said he has a list of the names of possible committee members and proceeded to read the names for committee discussion and approval. The names suggested for the advisory committee were: Linda Hartsock, IDA/BDC; Raymond Thorpe, Supervisor Cortlandville; Dan McNeil, McNeil & Company; Garry VanGorder, Chamber of Commerce; Don Chambers, Highway; Dan Dineen, Planning Department; Paul Allen, Legislator; Scott Steve, Legislator; Scott Schrader, County Administrator; Dennis Whitt, County Auditor; Connie Mack, Resident; John Crannage, Resident. The names suggested for the technical committee were: David Jones, D. R. Jones and Company, Inc.; Steven Lissberger; Walt Logan, Highway Department; Robert Buerkle, Highway Department; Michael Capacefalo; Ronal Shaw; James Greene; Daryl Carter; Thomas Collins. Mr. Elston asked if there would be criteria set up for the technical committee? Mr. Buerkle said the technical committee would be charged with reviewing what was suggested by the advisory committee and discussing them with the consultant and then bringing the information needed back to the advisory committee. Mr. Elston questioned the membership of the advisory committee - was it administratively heavy and there were only two legislators assigned. Mr. Dafoe suggested only two legislators may be a little light on Legislative representation. Mr. Allen asked would he like to serve on the committee? Mr. Dafoe declined the offer. After discussion it was suggested that Mr. Tagliente be assigned to the advisory committee with Mr. Steger commenting this would balance the committee with representation from both parties. Motion by Mr. Cornell, seconded by Mr. Steger to forward the names with the addition of Mr. Tagliente for appointments to these committees. All members voting in favor; none opposed; the motion passed.

 

Priorities and Goals for Committee and Department 2005:

 

Mr. Allen said he had requested Diane Bean to come before the committee to address some issues within the department.

Diane Bean said the Highway Department currently has to enter financial information into three different systems which is very time consuming. She explained that if the County had MUNIS 2004 the information would only have to be entered once and could be spread into the reports needed from this information. She explained multiple entries are required each day to keep records separate for projects. Mr. Chambers explained that costs need to be specific to projects to allow for billing back and reimbursements of projects. Mr. Armstrong asked was the county looking to installing MUNIS 2004. Mr. Cornell asked if this was something that Mr. Corpora could help with? Mr. Allen stated this is one priority that needs to be looked at. Mr. Schrader stated that MUNIS 2004 should be able to be installed in April or May of this year. He is currently discussing the training availability with the State. He also stated there is a goal to transfer all payroll from the Treasurer’s Office to the Personnel Office in June noting there are discussions happening at the negotiating table to allow this to happen. Mr. Tagliente asked would this be the payroll for the whole county? Mr. Schrader said yes it would be. Mr. Tagliente asked then what would the Treasurer’s Office be doing? Mr. Schrader stated not the payroll. Mr. Elston asked is an extra staff person at the Highway Department was needed to help keep up with the entries? Mr. Chambers said that MUNIS 2004 should take care of the problem.

Mr. Allen reviewed the list of Cortland County Highway Department Goals for 2005 and 2006 that had been established. (see attachment)

The following areas were discussed:

Mr. Allen noted there is $50,000. available for engineering regarding this.

 

Mr. Allen stated the Highway Department feels moving forward with this concept will save the county money. Mr. Elston asked if other counties do this? Mr. Chambers said he does not believe so. Mr. Elston asked about forms for making them? Mr. Chambers said they would make there own. Mr. Buerkle said he attended a conference on precast and he believes there could be a substantial savings. Mr. Tagliente questioned how it could be cheaper to make them verses buying them. Mr. Dafoe questioned if these would need a strength test. Mr. Buerkle believes there definitely would be a savings and he said all concrete work is tested now. Mr. Chambers said as they move forward on this it would be looked at very closely and if it was not feasible or not cost effective they would not continue. Mr. Schrader believes this will help projects to be completed more timely also. Mr. Elston thinks this is a good idea but wants to be sure it is more cost effective.

Mr. Allen stated this discussion was started about one year ago and he would like to see this on an agenda within the next couple of months.

Mr. Allen said the facility will be ready for operation shortly and noted the building is well designed and thought out. He stated that community education will be an important part of helping this facility to operate. Mr. Chambers is working on an educational piece to be mailed throughout the County.

Mr. Allen sated they will be looking at material for covering – what can be used and what would save money. Mr. Elston asked can shredded tires be used for cover? Mr. Chambers said yes. Mr. Cornell said we should look at this. Mr. Schrader stated there are many areas that need to be looked at and researched in this area. Mr. Tagliente said we should look at closing the Landfill – that he believes this was a mistake in the beginning. He thinks we should just have a transfer station.

Mr. Armstrong asked Mr. Allen if he would address the request from the Cuyler Fire Department? Mr. Allen said there was a request from the Cuyler Fire Department to be allowed to take about two tons of C & D from the construction of their new building to the Landfill at no charge. Mr. Schrader asked would there be any concern regarding asbestos? Mr. Armstrong said this was all from new construction so there should be no concern. Mr. Elston asked why would we do this? Mr. Armstrong said for the good of the community as a whole. Motion by Mr. Cornell; seconded by Mr. Steger to allow Cuyler to dispose of approximately two ton of C & D at no charge at the County Landfill. All members voting in favor; none opposed; the motion passed.

Chairman Allen adjourned the meeting at 1:00 pm.

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