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September 9, 2019 Regular Meeting

Mayor James R. Rensel
Trustee Timothy Dunn
Trustee James Jaroszynski
Trustee J. Michael Steele
Trustee Carmella Catanese

Anna L. Fales, Village Clerk
Alan P. Gustafson, Code Enforcement Officer
Peter C. Fuller, Dpw Superintendent

The regular meeting of the Village of Falconer Mayor and Board of Trustees was held on Monday, September 9, 2019 at 7:00 P.M. in the Community Building Board Room with Mayor James Rensel presiding.

Visitor

Carly Gould of the Jamestown Post Journal; Cody Dustin, 217 East Pearl Street, Falconer, NY; Joseph Taylor, 25 E, Falconer Street, Falconer, NY; Brian D. Nelson, 22 W. Falconer Street, Falconer, NY; Alan Gustafson, Jr., 105 W. James Street, Falconer, NY; Charles Piazza, 181 Frew Run Road, Frewsburg, NY, and Kristina Rogers & Jenifer Higgins of Home Leasing of Rochester, NY were all in attendance. Ms. Gould, Mr. Dustin, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Taylor, Mr. Gustafson, Jr., and Mr. Piazza were all in attendance to observe proceedings. Interim Fire Chief Babcock was in attendance representing the Falconer Fire Department.

Ms. Rogers & Ms. Higgins provided the Board with a short presentation, including a draft layout of their proposed W. Main Street project. Following a brief discussion, it was decided that a meeting would be scheduled with Home Leasing, Superintendent Fuller, the Jamestown BPU and other associated parties to address right-of-ways necessary to maintain the sanitary sewers and other utilities that run within and along the proposed development area. Chief Piazza suggested to Ms. Higgins that the construction should be designed to allow ease of access for emergency personnel and rescue equipment such as stretchers.

Minutes

Trustee Dunn made a motion, seconded by Trustee Steele, to approve the minutes of August 12, 2019 as written. Ayes: Dunn, Steele, Jaroszynski, Catanese, and Rensel. Carried.

Fire Chief

The chief’s August report was reviewed and noted that the department responded to 65 EMS calls, 1 electrical wire fire, 1 vehicle fire, 1 tree fire, 1 public assistance, 4 false alarms, 1 stand-by at station for Fluvanna Fire department, 4 system or detector malfunctions, 1 chemical release or reaction in Jamestown and 15 dispatched and cancelled calls (7-Jamestown, 3-Frewsburg, 2-Kennedy, 1-Gerry, 2 Falconer), totaling 96 calls in August. Falconer held four Drills in August. Acting Chief Babcock’s report reflected that the above stated calls reflect the number of times Falconer gave mutual aid to:

  • Fluvanna-1
  • Frewsburg -4
  • Jamestown-23
  • Kennedy -3
  • County Fly Car-7

Falconer received mutual aid from:

  • Alstar -2
  • Gerry -2
  • Kennedy -4
  • Kiantone -1
  • County Fly car -11

The Board expressed concern regarding the inequitable mutual aid responses (31 mutual aid calls to neighboring communities, not including the county fly car, accounted for 32.3 % of total calls in August), however they recognized that at times, due to unforeseen circumstances, additional support may be needed from any community.

Due to the recent resignation of assistant chiefs’ Marcus Fosberg and Stephen Stoll, both of whom resigned for personal reasons, a special election was held to fill the vacated positions.

The following individuals were elected by the department and have been put forward for the village board approval:

  • Keith Babcock -1st Assistant Chief
  • Eric Yager – 2nd Assistant Chief
  • Avery Faulkner – 3rd Assistant Chief
  • Willard Furlow – Captain
  • Ian Webster – 1st Lieutenant
  • Bryce Webster – 2nd Lieutenant

A motion was made by Trustee Steele, seconded by Trustee Jaroszynski, to accept the officer positions as voted on by the Falconer Fire Department members on August 26, 2019. Ayes: Dunn, Steele, Jaroszynski, Catanese, and Rensel. Carried.

The Board denied the Chief’s request to preapprove a new member contingent on the receipt of a clean background check. The paperwork had been delayed due to an oversight in Mayville. The request was denied based on the critical nature of a background check.

Mayor Rensel thanked the department for their time and commitment.

Code Enforcement Office

Code Enforcement Office Gustafson provided the Board with a verbal report for the month of August.

  • The Resource Center had purchase the property on Alberta Street that was previously owned by TAR Enterprises. There will be 4 regular apartments and as such, according to Mr. Peterson should remain on the tax roll as a commercial apartment building.
  • Addressed several high grass issues
  • A variance will be sought for an Elmwood Avenue property. Potential buyer is interested in constructing a large garage.
  • Fielding calls from interested parties regarding 211 E. James Street
  • Addressing issues with roofs leaking on E. Main Street (downtown) commercial property which is causing damage at neighboring properties

Department of Public Works

The DPW report was reviewed for the period August 11-September 8, 2019. Superintendent Fuller submitted to the Board a proposal regarding 2020 Brush Collection and suggested revisions to the schedule to reflect a once time per month collection for July, August and October as the demand by residents is significantly lower during these times. The Town of Ellicott and Village of Celeron are all in agreement with the changes. Celeron will also be revising their schedule. Celeron brush collection is held on Mondays and Falconer’s is held on Tuesdays on the same weeks from 4 pm-6 pm.

Superintendent Fuller submitted a price quote to upgrade the Community Building’s alarm system through FCS at $8,924.96. A second quote from Allied Fire Systems was much higher due to the fact that they would need to replace all current equipment and replace it with their own, rather than upgrade the system. Superintendent Fuller stated that Allied Alarm Systems rough estimate was $20,000-$30,000 to replace the existing equipment.

Superintendent Fuller reported that he as receive the first quote on the restoration of the community building’s parapet project that is planned for 2020. The first quote, from a Westfield company came in at $ 23,120. Another quote is expected to be submitted from C&R Construction.

Library

The August library report was reviewed. This month the library received $25.13 for fines, $96.20 for copies and faxes, $43.00 basket sale, $430.00 for gifts & donations. The 72nd Annual Book sale netted $4,137.00.

The Library’s Outreach Coordinator, Sue Seamans, continues to provide books to many at Edgewood Communities and Silver Tree Living.

Trustee Catanese made a motion, seconded by Trustee Dunn, to resolve that the Standard Work Day for the Senior Library Clerk position be set at 7.3 hours per day. Ayes: Dunn, Steele, Jaroszynski, Catanese and Rensel. Carried.

Committees:

Legal:

The Powell building demolition has been postponed. Goodwill case is adjourned until September 17th at 5:30 pm. The village is awaiting a formal request from Ms. Goodwill.

Animal Control:

No report submitted.

Parks:

Falconer Park is now closed on weekends. The restrooms are open Monday through Thursday until mid-October to accommodate midget football.

Historian:

The village received official notification from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation awarding funds to erect the Hugh Bedient Historical Marker near the Mosher Street backstop at Falconer Park. This is a significant milestone as it will be the village’s first Historical Marker. According to Clerk Fales, the Marker has been ordered from SEWAH Studios, Inc. per the Foundation’s instructions.

Pine Hill Cemetery:

The 9 foot tall Edward Work gravestone has been repaired.

Planning & Zoning:

Trustee Jaroszynski reported that he has called all planning and zoning members to check their interest in serving on a combined Planning & Zoning Board. Two of the three planning board members were agreeable and out of the 4 zoning board members, 2 were agreeable, one was not in favor and 1 member was out of town.

Old Business:

The Home Leasing Purchase/Sale agreement was tabled again to await a decision on the utility right-of-way.

New Business:

Trustee Steele made a motion, seconded by Trustee Jaroszynski, to refund Julie Thompson $20.00 for park pavilion #3 rental on August 11, 2019. Ayes: Dunn, Steele, Jaroszynski, Catanese and Rensel. Carried. The family rented 2 pavilions in error. They only needed and used 1 pavilion for their event.

Ro Woodard suggested the village consider a path connecting Falconer Park with the Lutheran Campus. Mayor Rensel noted that this was addressed several years ago and the Lutheran Home was not in favor of the idea. The village does not own that property.

A complaint was read that the village received from Gloria Strickland regarding an incident on Park Avenue.

Correspondence:

The Board received a letter from Jamie Haight, NYS Health Department, requesting the village’s support and assistance in requesting the state reconsider the elimination of Jamie’s position with the state. The board approved the mayor draft a letter of support on behalf of himself and the Board.

Abstracts

Trustee Dunn made a motion, seconded by Trustee Steele that Abstract #4, General Fund in the amount of $69,905.49 be approved for payment. Ayes: Dunn, Steele, Jaroszynski, Catanese and Rensel. Carried.

Trustee Jaroszynski made a motion, seconded by Trustee Catanese, that Abstract #4, Cemetery Fund in the amount of $3,229.16 be approved for payment. Ayes: Dunn, Steele, Jaroszynski, Catanese and Rensel. Carried.

Trustee Catanese made a motion, seconded by Trustee Dunn, that Abstract #4, Library Fund in the amount of $926.71 be approved for payment. Ayes: Dunn, Steele, Jaroszynski, Catanese and Rensel. Carried.

Trustee Steele made a motion, seconded by Trustee Jaroszynski, that Abstract #4, General Fund Hand Items in the amount of $ 40,376.68 be approved for payment. Ayes: Dunn, Steele, Jaroszynski, Catanese and Rensel. Carried.

Motion to Adjourn to Executive Session

Trustee Jaroszynski made a motion, seconded by Trustee Jaroszynski, to adjourn into Executive Session at 8:27 PM to discuss a real estate matter and a disciplinary matter regarding fire department personnel. Ayes: Dunn, Steele, Jaroszynski, Catanese and Rensel. Carried. No action was taken.

Respectfully submitted,
Anna Fales, Village Clerk