SPECIAL
MEETING
Executive
Session
*Approved
Minutes
September 20, 2007
Members Present: Mr. Armstrong, Ms. Breed, Mr. Clark, Mr. Cornell, Mr. Dafoe, Mr. Daniels, Mr. Hartnett, Mr. McKee, Ms. Price, Mr. Ross, Mr. Spaulding, Mr. Steger, Mr. Tagliente, Mr. Troy, Ms. Tytler, Mr. VanDee, Mr. Willcox, Mr. Williams, Chairman Brown.
Others Present: Elizabeth Burns, Assistant County Attorney, Scott Schrader, County Administrator, Brian Parker, Director of Buildings and Grounds, Elizabeth Larkin, County Clerk, Susan Morgan, Clerk of the Legislature, Angie Wyatt and Katrina Spicer, Administration Secretaries.
Executive session commenced at 6:15 PM. Chairman Brown advised the
Legislature that the meeting is being recorded. Mr. Williams added that it is
not to be made public until such time as determined by the legislature.
Chairman Brown agreed.
Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee, Ms Tytler thanked the members of the
Ad Hoc Committee, the Chairman of the Legislature and the County staff members
for their help in putting the presentation together. She said she hoped this
procedure would be a model to be followed in the future. All legislators were
in receipt of a confidential notebook summary with pages for note taking to be
added. Ms. Tytler proceeded with a power point presentation as outlined in the
notebooks stating that questions are welcome at any point during the
presentation.
Ms. Tytler highlighted DMV background information, challenges and
opportunities to give better service to the community and Local Law #1 of 2003
establishing a Motor Vehicle User Fee. She said the committee decided not to
consider the Jail or the South Main Street property as they were just the
wrong location for DMV.
Ms. Tytler described the process the committee used. They established
criteria necessary for properties to meet, obtained information on properties
from various sources and all tolled looked at 30 pieces of property. The
committee’s goal was to narrow the search down to 5 finalists.
The three main criteria established were adequate space to accommodate a
4,000 square foot building, adequate space to park 50 cars and access to
public utilities. Other factors considered were the Courthouse Renovation
project, proximity to high traffic areas, proximity to heavy users in other
counties and easy access to the property. She discussed the road test site
needs, access to public transportation and security needs for the building.
The committee also considered proximity to other county buildings, the ability
to adapt existing structures to meet their needs and questions whether to
lease or buy. They inquired into presence of environmental hazards and
flooding risks on properties.
Ms. Tyler then
presented the properties with description, photos and aerial views.
Property A is MVE Homes located on Route 13 owned by the Simons,
represented by David Yaman and includes eight parcels. She identified in the
aerial map, the red triangle area that is offered for $300,000. She added that
there was a former tank removed with no formal soil samples taken but
environmental health has advised the committee that they didn’t feel there
were any risks. She discussed various access routes and noted there are no
flood plain risks. Mr. Willcox inquired if that is next to the old Rosen
junkyard. Ms. Tytler said yes. Mr. Willcox inquired if that is clean. Ms.
Tytler said they have no information on that. Mr. Willcox asked Mr. Parker if
he had problems with contamination on the Rosen site. Mr. Parker said those
questions were discussed in the committee and he had no personal input on that
issue. Ms. Tytler said she believed that Mr. Willcox was alluding to a 5th
property that we considered and removed for several reasons that she will
discuss later.
Property B
is the BOCES parcel owned by Joe Armedio and contains three options. The first
parcel on Port Watson Street has the owner’s concern of infringing on
parking for BOCES users. The second parcel facing River Street was described
as the Grassy Knoll and the third piece is where the old Great American Store
was located. Ms. Tytler said the committee preferred the second parcel.
Ms. Tytler
prefaced that Property C may or may not be on the table at this time.
This property is located on Commons Avenue and is the former Cayuga Health
Center. It is owned by the Beebee’s and represented by Hage Real Estate. Mr.
Hage has informed Ms. Tytler that there is someone else interested in the
property. She said that the building is adequate but parking is a problem so
the committee looked at a parcel owned by Mr. Ambrose offered for $40,000. The
Committee also explored building a road for better access but the estimated
cost of $600,000 was too high. We also asked State DOT if there were plans in
the 281 reconstruction project to put a light at Commons Avenue and the answer
was no.
Property D
is located between River and Cleveland Street, owned by the Luce’s and
represented by Seven Valley Reality. Chairman Brown inquired to the size of
the property. Mr. Parker answered 2.13 acres. Ms. Tytler said the original
offer was for $700,000. which was rejected and they are now at $400,000. Mr.
Ross expressed concern with the utility line going through the property.
Mr. Willcox asked for discussion on the property he submitted to the
committee for consideration. Ms. Tytler said that property is located on Lime
Hollow Road, owned by Carl Ochs and is part of the old Smith Corona Parking
lot across from the Ponderosa. She said that the property was on the table
until a few weeks ago when John Helgren from Environmental Health was asked to
look at all our options for environmental site assessments. She said that at
that time it was listed as an active hazardous waste site. Mr. Willcox asked
how long ago. Ms. Tytler said that since then, he has clarified that statement
with DEC and the site has been removed from the active waste site list and is
now in the TCE plume area that is managed by a filtration system on the Smith
Corona property to control the contaminates. Air stripper is managing that
site. Mr. Helgen advised that if we did choose the site construction
techniques that would draw off vapors in the foundation the building should be
used that will not add a significant cost. The Committee felt that they had
five properties, four of which had clean information and decided to eliminate
this site due to concerns for the health and safety of our employees and
environmental concerns. Ms. Tytler was questioned on the price of the
property. She responded that we never received the price on this property or
the Armedio site. Mr. Willcox asked if the MVE site is clean. Ms. Tytler said
that based on information received, it is. Mr. Willcox stated that based upon
his conversations with Mr. Hegren that the Ochs property has minimal
mitigation and they are not echoing the same concerns. He said maybe someone
should inform people eating at the Ponderosa of the problems. Ms. Tytler
stated that what you are saying is accurate and fair. Mr. Willcox added that
Audrey Lewis said those concerns are no different than with radon gas.
Ms. Breed requested that the site be put back on the list to be
considered by the full legislature. Ms. Tytler said if the full legislature is
in favor of that, that she didn’t believe the committee will object. Mr.
Willcox said he just wanted to have the property get a fair shake. Chairman
Brown polled legislators and determined that the site does not go back on. Ms.
Breed took exception to the process. She said that the Ad Hoc Committee
circumvents the General Services Committee and proposals should be presented
to General Services prior to going to the full legislature. There are issues
with other properties as well, what is wrong with adding this site for
consideration. Chairman Brown said that it bypasses the hard work of the Ad
Hoc Committee. She asked Ms. Breed if she had attended any meetings as other
legislators have. Mr. Willcox said his concern is with the inconsistency of
the information.
Mr. VanDee said he liked the way this was done this time and commended
the work of the committee. He agreed that General Services Committee should
review this as well. Mr. Troy said that he and Mr. Spaulding had attended
every meeting and all legislators have had an opportunity for input. Ms.
Tytler said her hope is these four properties be negotiated initially to get
the best deal and take it to General Services Committee. Mr. Tagliente spoke
of his concern with National Cash that had TCE identified and the issue has
recently surfaced in a public school in Ithaca. He said he doesn’t feel that
we can take a chance on building a public facility on a questionable site. Mr.
VanDee said his big concern with that site is the traffic problem in that area
and that is why he didn’t want it to go back on the list. Mr. Spaulding
expressed concern with the road test area combined with the heavy traffic
there. Ms. Breed questioned how we know where the road test area will be. Mr.
Spaulding answered that you would need to drive into the City.
Ms. Breed requested in the negotiations of options that Mr. Schrader not
sign any documents until we make a decision. Chairman Brown asked what her
point is. Ms. Breed said she is referring to the South Main Street project.
Chairman Brown ended that discussion and asked Ms. Tytler to continue. Ms.
Tytler asked Mr. Schrader to speak to the options of leasing versus buying.
Mr. Schrader referred to a memo in legislator’s notebooks that details
the impact on our constitutional tax limit if we lease versus buy. He said
that recouping the capitalization cost by leasing would take place over a
period of ten years versus a period of thirty years, which is the useful life
of a constructed facility owned by the County. A lease results in no equity in
that structure. His recommendation to the legislature is to buy, allowing for
a greater period of time to pay for the facility and have an investment at the
end of the thirty years. This does not impact our constitutional tax limit as
capital construction is exempt from the formula whereas leasing is an
operating expense and calculated in our ability to tax. Chairman Brown asked
if those payments would come from the General Fund. Mr. Schrader answered yes.
Ms. Tytler said there were property owners who want to lease to the county to
recoup their cost in ten years. Some were willing to build and sell however
Mr. Armedio will not. Ms. Breed asked what would be the interest costs. Mr.
Schrader said it depends when and if we would have to go out.and bond. He said
the potential exists to use Tobacco Securitization monies which is already
bonded for and is sitting in an account earning interest equal to the amount
of debt service we are paying. Using tobacco money will result in no impact.
If we go out and bond it will depend on the market at the time and would
probably be in the neighborhood of 4%.
Ms. Price stated that she favors leasing for two reasons. First, when we
renovated DMV years ago we were assured it was “state of the art” however
those needs have changed. Secondly, she is not in favor of taking more
property off the tax rolls.
Ms. Tytler said it is the recommendation of the committee that we
negotiate options on the four properties and bring them back to legislators
for final consideration. This gives the State DMV the opportunity to review
our plans and provide feedback. It also gives us an opportunity to hold public
forums for 30-60 days to allow the public comment. Then ideally we come to
resolution by December 31, 2007 with a final decision. Chairman Brown had
concerns that the public not receive this information at this time. Ms. Tytler
said she was comfortable that her peers will remain confidential with the
notebook information.
Mr. Cornell asked for clarification on what is the next step in the
process. Ms. Tytler said that the County Administrator and Assistant County
Attorney seek options and said she hoped that Mr. Parker be included in the
process. Mr. Cornell asked if it will be done within 30 days. Ms. Tytler
answered as soon as is possible. Mr. Cornell asked if this will be taken to
the General Services Committee. Ms. Tytler said the Ad Hoc Committee will take
their final recommendation to General Services.
In conclusion, Ms. Tytler stated that they have had open meetings
attended by other legislators, have kept all legislators informed and we will
continue to do that. Chairman Brown thanked Ms. Tytler for all her hard work
as well as members of the committee. Legislators added their gratitude also.
Executive session ended at 7:15 PM
*Approved and Released September 27, 2007 Regular Meeting
Minutes prepared by Susan Morgan, Clerk