March 10, 2021
A regular meeting of the Madrid Town Board was called to order at 6:31 pm, via Zoom.
Members present: Tony Cooper, David Fisher, Garry Wells, Alex Smith, Bill Barkley- Hwy Supt. ,Zoe Hawkins, Town Clerk. Absent: Kevin Finnegan.
Also Present: Judy Hargrave, and Anna Campbell.
Public Comment: The board meetings will go back to in person, starting in April, proper Covid guidelines will be followed.
Anna Campbell gave the MDMS report, she spoke with Sen Ritchie’s Office, and they are going to be giving her new guidelines for outdoor entertainment space in the beginning of April. There are also plans in the works for a new stage down at the park for the MDMS.
The planning board is hoping that now that courts are opening back up, they will get some compliance from landowners, and the code enforcement.
The electronic sign downtown will be finished soon, there was a bit of money left to be used towards it, and the time/labor will be donated.
The Beautification committee wants to plant flowers in the back of the park, however that section of land is used for hay. Bill Barkley suggested planting flowers along the stone wall by the boat ramp, once that is finish being cleaned up.
Tony is going to contact Aaron Jarvis, to have him come up with a plan to work on the front of the town offices, to help with the snow and ice buildup on the sidewalk.
The Assessor reported the deadline for exemptions was March 1st. She has been updated the roll, and NYS. Amy also stated she needs a resolution passed, at 100% support from the board members so that she can do a revaluation. Once she gets the support of the board, she will be submitted a budget of estimated costs. Alex Smith Made a motion, 2nd by David fisher to approve Amy Hunt to do a revaluation. All were in favor.
The board reviewed the monthly report, David Fisher made a motion, 2nd by Garry Wells, to approve. All were in favor.
The board reviewed the monthly bills, General #49-77 for $27,627.48, Highway #39-58 for $32,551.36, Water # 12-20 for $1,648.32, Sewer #14-23 for $2,765.81, Lighting #3 for $1,547.14, and Trust & Agency #3 for $5208.50. Alex Smith made a motion, 2nd by Garry wells to pay the bills. All in favor.
Communications: The Justice court fun was $762.00 to the town, and $1,778 to the state. The annual court audit was done, and everything was in order.
There was an audit done by the Teamsters for the town, for January 2014- December 2020. There was no audit liability found.
Highway: Bill wants to trade the payloader in, and keep all the attachments, as the current one is starting to show wear and tear. The current annual amount paid is $32,000, the new amount would be $22,000. This offer will expire June 21st. Bill would also like to sit down with the highway committee, and put together a 5 year plan for purchasing a new backhoe.
The snowmobile association should be contacted, as snowmobiles are being careless while crossing roadways, spinning up shoulders, and throwing stone.
Old business: The property transfer between Bill Hull and the town will soon be completed. The paperwork has to be transferred to the new town lawyer, Collin Loomis. Bill Barkley is going to get the right of way surveyed, and the drain replaced.
New Business: Cheryl Labarge asked about using the community building to do a lasagna dinner fundraiser for the Fire Department, the board decided not to allow it at this time, because other organizations have been turned down. The board is hoping to have the community building open May 1st. This will give them time to learn the guidelines that will have to be put in place due to Covid.
David Fisher made a motion, second by Garry Wells to approve the minutes of the February 10th meeting. All in favor.
The next regular meeting will be April 14th at 6:30 P.M.
Alex Smith made a motion, second by David Fisher to adjourn the meeting at 7:40 P.m.
_______________________
Zoe Hawkins, Town Clerk
March 24,2021 Special Meeting
Present: Tony Cooper, David Fisher, Alex Smith, Garry Wells, Bill Barkley- Hwy Supt., Zoe Hawkins-Town Clerk. Absent: Kevin Finnegan.
Also Present: Collin Nicol
A special meeting of the Town Board was called to order to discuss 2021 highway expenses.
The board discussed several pieces of equipment, and plans on how to start replacing them.
First, piece of equipment is the 2016 John Deere payloader, it is paid off, and worth 100,000 to trade in towards a new one. A new one would cost $22,000 a year to finance, for 5 years. If the town waits another year to trade it in, then there is a possibility of up to 15% depreciation in trade in price. Alex Smith made a motion, 2nd by Garry Wells to move forward and buy the payloader, All were in favor.
The next piece of equipment discussed was the 1989 Ford backhoe, Bill is running into issues of no longer being able to find part for this. Bill was hoping to replace this, at some point in the near future, with a broom and a grapple bucket. The price of this would be $129,500.00, and this piece of equipment would be kept long-term. David asked why get these attachments with the backhoe, instead of the payloader. It will be discussed with the Nortrax salesmen on prices to get these attachments with the payloader instead. This discussion was table by the board.
Next point of discussion was to replace the John Deere lawn mower that is used to mow the 4 cemeteries. The current on has over 4,000 hours on it. A new one would be approximately $15,500.00. Amy Moulton advised that this could be paid for out of the Highway Capitol Fund. There was no further action taken on this.
Finally, there was talk about replacing the 1996 Chevy pickup with the 2016 Chevy ¾ ton, and getting the Highway Superintendent a new pickup truck. Also there was discussion on roadside mowers, looking to buy used possibly from another town.
The board talked about the bandstand that is going to be going into the park for the MDMS, Bill will be pouring the cement piers, and then it will hopefully be built in place, with lumber from the Amish.
The board approved a resolution to set a 2nd fee notice for taxes at $2.00 per parcel.
Garry Wells made a motion, Second by David Fisher to adjourn the meeting at 7:15 P.M.
______________________
Zoe Hawkins, Town Clerk