NO. 26 PAGE 1

NOVEMBER 18, 2004

WEB SITE http://macedontown.net

A Special Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Macedon held November 18, 2004 at the Town Offices, 32 Main Street, in the Village of Macedon, was called to order by Supervisor William H. Hammond at 7:00 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance

Upon Roll Call, the following members of the Board were present:

Councilperson………………Paul Kenyon

Supervisor…..………………William Hammond

Absent: Councilperson………………David Maul

Also Present: Highway Superintendent…...Richard Roets

Town Clerk………………....Judy Gravino

Town Engineer……………...Scott Allen

RESOLUTION NO. 259 (04) APPROVAL OF MINUTES

RESOLVED the Board approves the minutes of October 28, 2004 as submitted.

MOTION BY KENYON, SECONDED BY MC EWEN

ROLL CALL VOTE: KENYON AYE, MAUL ABSENT, MC EWEN AYE,

NAWROCKI ABSENT, HAMMOND AYE MOTION CARRIED

RESOLUTION NO. 260 (04) APPROVAL OF MINUTES

RESOLVED the Board approves the minutes of November 4, 2004 as submitted.

MOTION BY KENYON, SECONDED BY MC EWEN

ROLL CALL VOTE: KENYON AYE, MAUL ABSENT, MC EWEN AYE,

NAWROCKI ABSENT, HAMMOND AYE MOTION CARRIED

RESOLUTION NO. 261 (04) ALLEN - TOWN ENGINEER BUILDING INSPECTOR

BE IT RESOLVED to appoint Scott Allen as the permanent Town Engineer Building Inspector Zoning Officer after completing his civil service probationary appointment effective November 11, 2004.

MOTION BY KENYON, SECONDED BY MC EWEN

ROLL CALL VOTE: KENYON AYE, MAUL ABSENT, MC EWEN AYE,

NAWROCKI ABSENT, HAMMOND AYE MOTION CARRIED

RESOLUTION NO. 262 (04) COUNTY SNOW & ICE AGREEMENT

RESOLVED the Supervisor be authorized to sign the Snow & Ice Contract with Wayne County for the years 2004 & 2005.

MOTION BY KENYON, SECONDED BY MC EWEN

ROLL CALL VOTE: KENYON AYE, MAUL ABSENT, MC EWEN AYE,

NAWROCKI ABSENT, HAMMOND AYE MOTION CARRIED

RESOLUTION NO. 263 (04) BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS

BE IT RESOLVED the Board approves the following budget adjustments:

Transfers:

1. DB 0202 $ Market 41,668.42

NO. 26 PAGE 2

NOVEMBER 18, 2004

MOTION BY HAMMOND, SECONDED BY MC EWEN

ROLL CALL VOTE: KENYON AYE, MAUL ABSENT, MC EWEN AYE,

NAWROCKI ABSENT, HAMMOND AYE MOTION CARRIED

NO. 26 PAGE 3

NOVEMBER 18, 2004

Councilperson Nawrocki entered the meeting at 7:15 p.m.

RESOLUTION NO. 264 (04) TOWN ENGINEER VEHICLE PURCHASE

RESOLVED the Board authorizes the Town Engineer/Building Inspector/Zoning Officer to place an order for a 2005 Chevy Blazer 4-Door 4x4 vehicle not to exceed $20,550 from state bid.

MOTION BY KENYON, SECONDED BY MC EWEN

ROLL CALL VOTE: KENYON AYE, MAUL ABSENT, MC EWEN AYE,

NAWROCKI AYE, HAMMOND AYE MOTION CARRIED

On November 2, 2004 the Town presented a special proposition to the residents of the Town of Macedon as follows:

Shall the Resolution adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Macedon, New York

dated August 25, 2004 to expend seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) to

continue the lease of the property located at 96-98 Main Street, Macedon, New York to

house a town-wide Police Department be approved?

The official results including absentee ballots:

Yes 1,173

No 1,440

Blank/Void 1,597

Total Votes 4,210

Supervisor Hammond opened discussion to the public on this issue.

Penny Fredricks, 607 Quaker Road - Spoke for the Macedon Police Department. The letter received Saturday before the election was a hit letter on the Police Department and full of miss information to get the public to vote against the town proposition.

Councilperson Nawrocki - What was on the ballot was not whether we have a police department, it was only the authorization for this town to spend money to house the force. The question of whether we have a local force or not was not up for a vote. Thank you for your vote.

Mark Henning, one of the committee members that put the letter out along with Helen Saversky, Bruce Niven, Bob Stanton, Susan Airy and Wayne Nichols - Publicly apologized for not signing the mailing that went out about the police issue. We realize that we should have signed it. It was meant to be informative.

Gene Jackson, 610 Quaker Road - Spoke against a police department. If creating the police department was put up for a referendum it would have been voted down.

Bob Stanton, 2670 Ontario Center Road - The electorate of Macedon saw the $7,500 not as a rent issue but as an issue of a referendum on the question of whether the Town should have its own police department. I am concerned with the 3^rd layer of protection and future costs.

Dan Allen, Parkwood - Suggested a random cross section survey on maintaining the police department or dissolve the police force.

Wayne Nichols, Canandaigua Road - 3,471 mailers were sent out with the cost far less than $10,000. It did not come out of any taxpayer's pocket. He asked about a contingency plan to house the police department with the defeat of the vote.

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NOVEMBER 18, 2004

Councilperson Nawrocki - An option has not been developed yet. The citizens of this community were informed of our intentions. There are no additional costs being put on the backs of the citizens of this community beyond what they have been paying in prior years based on the level of coverage and the level of housing. We did have a plan to maintain that exact level to spend this year through the middle of 2006 which then would have been addressed and given us appropriate and proper planning time to effect a transition and maintain the status quo. We will develop an appropriate alternative. The Town Board can not negotiate with the force until they are either authorized by their current employer to do that with us or they designate a bargaining representative that we will then recognize on their behalf. This Board has made it very clear in all our public discussions that they intend to maintain the status quo for the next year.

Attorney Villani - This is getting to sound like it is a new venture. Keep in mind that the Town has been paying 75% of the cost of that Village Police Department for some number of years as a result of which the Town has been involved in negotiations with the union every year. It is not that they are going out to do something fresh and without that experience. All those numbers are there. Any numbers of contingencies have been discussed but I don't think any have been decided on. They have discussed everything from alternate locations to staying with the current system.

Councilperson Kawrocki - I am not prepared to tell you at this time what our bargaining position is or will be. That is a matter of our bargaining with the current force in a transition.

Tom Littlefield - Presented a petition from concerned business owners containing 41 signatures stating that "We the undersigned are proud to be business owners in the Town of Macedon, and are in full support of the Town of Macedon's newly created police department. Having our own local department gives us the piece of mind that our department will be able to respond quickly to any of our public safety concerns. We feel that it is important to the current business owners, and to all future business owners, that the Town of Macedon continue their support of the police department, and create a plan to continually assess the needs and staffing in the future.

Jim Beckenbach, 79 Main Street - Spoke in favor of the police. My son's business was broken into a few months ago. I have concerns about the protection between midnight to 7 a.m. regarding the State Police and Sheriffs. The State Police had 1 car and the Sheriffs Department had 2 police cars for the whole county between those hours.

Rodney Mitchell, 694 Turner Road - Spoke against the police. Mr. Mitchell feels the taxes are too high.

Dennis Trovato, 43 Main Street - The informational letter should have come from the Board. The issue is not about police protection; it is about money and taxes. The whole package deal should go in front of the people.

Mark Henning - I have been attending the Town Board Meetings, some nights by himself right to the end. There have been people stepping up when there are issues on the table. This whole issue came up because there was a 75/25 split with the Village. The Town was paying 75% with no input on the police issue with the Village. For months both referendums were going to be on the ballot and one night there was a 3 to 2 vote to have one referendum on housing. There were comments that I am not going to ask the public to have a police department that we already have. We don't have, we have a contract. A business plan should have been put before the people. The $7,500 is not the issue; the issue is that it is a lot more than that. If they had voted for that it would have been a done deal. The landlord wasn't even contacted to see if he was going to continue that lease, raise the rent or if he was going to lease it to us. I would like to hear from the board members.

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NOVEMBER 18, 2004

Councilperson Nawrocki - We have a responsibility to assemble the facts, process them, put together a plan and come to an orderly decision and not speculate and not instill fear amongst people in this town. It is not our intent to send out what was contained in that letter. It is true we spend $784,000 with the county for various services with the Wayne County Sheriff's Department. If we eliminated the road patrol we would save $100,000. The other $600,000+ is fixed costs. It costs over $327,000 just to operate the jail alone and that is Macedon's contribution. That wouldn't go away if we eliminated our coverage with the County. What we asked the people of this community for was to support an orderly transition for the next 18 months while we engaged in a take over of this department for which we are not yet authorized to bargain. We do have to engage in bargaining with the members of the Macedon Police Dept. It has been stated very clearly that our intention was to maintain the status quo for housing until we can determine our long term needs. Several of the circumstances which drove us to a decision to exercise our contractual rights in our intermunicipal agreement with the Village were based on the fact that it was understood by this Board that the Village was going to go ahead and build housing. That bill would have been passed to the citizens of this town and we would have paid 75% of it if we had stayed under the prior agreement. The actions we took prevented such an act from happening, in haste perhaps, this year or early next. This gave us time to continue where we are with a department that we are currently paying for and the staffing that is currently on board and with maintaining the status quo for housing until we could determine our long term needs. This Board has had numerous conversations about all the steps in plan, the assets and liabilities of the department. The benefits that have been accumulated and accrued, vacations, sick time, pensions, those are on the Village's books. Those are liabilities that come along with the Police Department. But the funding is there that would be transferred to this Town that would keep those things whole in an orderly transition process. Those are all the steps that we would have to take. This is not something that we have entered into lightly. This is something that we have considered for a long time so we could exercise the appropriate amount of control and so that we could exercise a fair and equitable distribution of the costs to all the citizens of this town. If we look at the way all the costs are allocated today the inequities would further continue and be acerbated. The Village is certainly limited in its growth. There is very little development left yet they were paying 25% of the burden of the taxes. The Village residents tax rates will go down approximately $.68/thousand. That is the portion of the police costs that are in their budget today. Town resident taxes will go up about $.10/thousand because that is the burden you should be paying for the coverage that you are not going to enjoy but the coverage you are currently enjoying today. That is an equitable distribution of the costs for the police protection that you have today from this force. That included the force, housing, all the cars and all the things. It is transferring what we have today. It has been our intent, and clearly stated, to maintain that at least through the middle of 2006. Furthermore, it was suggested that the $7,500 would open a door for this board to go out and spend a million dollars on a building. That is untrue. The only way we could build anything brick and mortar is to come to you. We would have to put that up for a vote. If we were to change the method of housing by building another or acquiring another piece of real estate it would have to come to a vote. The only thing we would be authorized to do is to maintain the current level of spending of $7,500.

Gene Jackson - I do not feel we need a police department.

Tim Doyle, employed by the Police Department and President of the Union - I have spoken with every one of the members of the union and they know this is a tough transition and were more than willing to work with the Town. We have several young officers doing an outstanding job and are rightfully nervous. I would only ask that this issue be put to bed as soon as possible. Relative to other police agencies, the Wayne County taxes are going up. Do you realize there is going to be a 10% cut in what the Sheriff is able to do? He is going to cut the snowmobile patrol, the boat control, so I also suspect that also means he is not going to commit more personnel to the Town of Macedon than he already does. State Police are in a similar situation facing massive cutbacks.

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NOVEMBER 18, 2004

Supervisor Hammond - We appreciate what you have given us this evening. I think we need to take that and, digest that a little bit. I'm not sure where we are going at the moment. I'm not afraid to say that. There was a vote. The vote was quite largely defeated to house this department. I'm not sure what people said in that vote, whether it was they don't want a police department, they do want a police department but don't want to house a police department. I think we need to discuss that. I think a lot of the comments we have heard tonight may help us do that.

Dan Allen - If we found another place to lease for $7,500 for the balance of that year, does that take another vote?

Attorney Villani - Sure, but I don't know that the Town Board has a tradition of multiple submissions of issues to people. Keep in mind this is a divisive issue. There are feelings both ways and it is an issue that the Board recognized was going to occur when it decided that the current contract with the Village was unacceptable where the Town taxpayer money was being spent without much input or control by the Town Board. The Board recognized that this can of worms was going to be opened up and there was going to be debate on the issue and it has to be resolved and it is going to take work to do that. So here we are.

Earl Hinkson - When I walked into that voting booth I read that proposition that we voted on was just for the housing part of the police department. No where in my mind did I see that the Town or the Village wanted to abolish the police department at all.

Supervisor Hammond - I believe that some people perceive that this was their only chance to say no to a police department.

Bob Stanton - I said that because it was not about a miserably small $7,500. It was an expression of the public opinion, in my opinion, it was support or lack thereof for the concept of at third layer of police department.

Councilperson Nawrocki - Like Mr. Stanton indicated, the public saw the proposition as a referendum on the department. It certainly was not that. It was only to authorize this board to spend $7,500 to continue housing and maintain the status quo. Obviously we have to develop another alternative and consider some of the things that we have discussed in the past. That's where we are. It was not a referendum to eliminate the police but it has opened up a debate.

Bob Stanton - It was the only way that the citizen taxpayer voters of this town could express an opinion on the question of the police department. We were not afforded a real referendum. We were not afforded a chance to vote on whether we did or did not want for the Town of Macedon to have its own police department. That was the only sliver the people had to express themselves.

Dennis Trovato - Why did 2 people vote no on the initial 3 to 2 vote for Macedon to adopt this police department from the Village?

Supervisor Hammond - It was 3 to 2 to put the proposition up.

Councilperson Nawrocki - It was not as to whether there should be a local police department, it was how to create it.

Councilperson McEwen - I voted no because I believed that the whole issue should have been on a referendum, both the housing and the formation of the department. I still believe that.

Supervisor Hammond - I voted no because I felt the housing should be resolved prior to the formation of the department.

NO. 26 PAGE 7

NOVEMBER 18, 2004

Chief Ellis - Why were the people not given the opportunity prior to the board doing the resolution to inform the other board that they were going to withdraw from the contract?

Supervisor Hammond - The first issue was a number of residents have come to us over the years and said that if you are going to pay 75% of something you should have control. The second issue was that of housing. We weren't being asked about housing and there were plans being developed for housing. We felt it was time for equitable costs across the town. The Mayor made a point that his residents were paying more than they should have for police coverage. We agreed with that. I don't think we were ready to go to 83 or 85% that he was and not have control. I think that was a necessary decision we made. That is what we based our thoughts on that evening.

Attorney Villani - There was almost a one-year lead-time. If the Board did nothing the contract automatically renewed. So if the Board did nothing it would have rolled over.

Chief Ellis - It seems to me that prior to that happening by going to the people with 3 options:

1. Do you want the Town of Macedon to continue to contract with the Village for police services at whatever rate the 2 municipalities worked out?
2. Do you want us to sever that contract completely and not have local police outside of the Village?
3. Do you want us to take on the whole ball of wax?

had that been done perhaps we wouldn't be in the situation we are here today. It seems that the cart was put before the horse and all the research was not done.

Trustee David Sliney - The decision has been made that the contract has been cancelled. The reasons why really doesn't matter now. You have to look at the size of the Wayne County Police Department and the area they cover as opposed to the size of the Monroe County or Ontario Police Department and the area they cover. We are the closest municipality in Wayne County to the City of Rochester. Think of the crimes that are being discussed in the paper every single night and where are they going to be moving. If you don't think that the criminals are noting that we will not have a police department I think we are just kidding ourselves. We would be foolhardy not to maintain the police department. Look at where Macedon is in Wayne County in relationship to the Wayne County Sheriff's Department. We are quite a ways away. Several years ago Supervisor Arthur Ainsworth had a meeting because he wanted to do away with the police department. The State Police and the Sheriff of Wayne County said you really don't want to do that. When it comes to public safety you want to be very careful how you cut your taxes.

Cindy Cologgi - I am new in this community. I have had a burglary already. Macedon Police came to my building, took care of it and handled it superbly. I have gotten all my money back. I really think it is because of the way they handled it. I would hate to see them go.

Attorney Villani - The problem is that the Board is on record that they wanted to take over the Village Police Department, however, you can't have a police department without housing. The people turned downed housing; you can't have the police department. Eventually the housing issue has to be addressed. To address that housing issue is going to require a referendum. That is where the Board is. It is not totally an issue that is within the control of the board.

Officer Heath Farabell - It is a little disappointing to come here today after coming here two weeks ago to discuss the vote that took place. I am very nervous about my job. I have settled here and just purchased a home. It’s a little disappointed about getting some answers about what my future is and the future of the police department. We have to leave here tonight without knowing anything. I just ask that the Board really does some homework and I would love to see some questions answered.

NO. 26 PAGE 8

NOVEMBER 18, 2004

Judge Donald Fox - In my personal opinion this is the best Macedon Police Department we have ever had. I was here Tuesday night holding court. Those benches over there where all the prisoners sit were full. Almost all of them were felons. The courtroom was full. Most of those arrests are Macedon Police Department arrests. Now if we want to let those felons go, we don't care, that is fine. The question is do we want a Macedon Police Department. If the answer is no we will have to live with the consequences. If you want to come on Tuesday nights when we have court and DA night and see the consequences we will be happy to have you come, but there will be consequences.

Bruce Niven - I was part of the group that mailed the letter. The reason I was involved in that was because I think that there should have been a referendum. It should have come out to the people whether we want it or don't want it. All the issues should have been brought out. Not going to the public made me mad.

Attorney Villani - There is no authority in Town Law for a town to hold a referendum on whether to create a police department. That resolution is not subject to referendum. There is a whole bunch of law that says when something is not subject to referendum you can't go put it out. This is representative democracy by law you can't go push off the decisions you have to make on other people. There was and there is a requirement that the housing issue go to referendum. The discussion that was had on the board is given that that was going to referendum could be expand where we did have that authority to make the referendum by adding the overall issue as to whether we should have this housing. That was a very tactical point and 3 board members felt they were uncomfortable with it. Two felt they were uncomfortable the other way. But that is a totally different issue. What Chief Ellis is asking for and what you are asking for was legally impossible. The resolution to create the department is not subject to referendum and there would have been no legal authority to submit that. The debate here has been that perhaps the sequence could have been turned around some. In terms of sequence you are not talking about ever submitting the issue of whether the Town shall create a police department to referendum. Now whether the housing issue should have gone out first before a decision to create the police department you can debate those things. Keep in mind all the town has done is create the department, it has never funded it. It has not hired anybody. It is merely created. The structure is there. It has not been flushed out.

Councilperson Nawrocki - We have not funded the department, but we have budgeted for its continued operation under the existing rates.

Chuck Holvey - Are we capable of housing the police department in an existing facility that the town already owns?

Councilperson Nawrocki - That has to be determined. That is one of the options we have to consider.

Attorney Villani - It is a pretty broad statue. The statue talks in terms in any modifications, changes, remodeling would all go to referendum. Certainly you can do that. The second question is whatever is required to do is subject to referendum. It depends on what you do. If something is subject to referendum it is going to go to referendum.

Gail Ellsworth - Asked where there is no legality to go to referendum on this. Could you help me find those references?

Mark Henning - You would not get the turnout you had before if you go for another referendum. This is a new business venture even though it is the same budget this is all new. You are making decisions now that you weren't doing before. You will never get the turnout of the town.

NO. 26 PAGE 9

NOVEMBER 18, 2004

Councilperson McEwen - Statistics on this vote:

Dennis Trovato - Can you send out a letter and ask the people what do you want?

Attorney Villani - You can as long as you don't spend taxpayer money to do it. It is not an authorized expenditure.

Councilperson Nawrocki - I made a decision to cast my vote in the interest of public safety to maintain the coverage that we have for the same tax dollars that we have and redistribute those tax dollars. And quite frankly, I had 2 of my fellow board members agree with me. The majority does rule. Now the majority told us that they don't want us to spend the $7,500 so we have to figure what our next steps are and what options we have. We took a vote here and that vote was based on our dialogue on a decision of public safety. We did consider support from other agencies. We had a letter from the Sheriff over a year ago saying that we weren't going to get any additional officers. That certainly went into my decision.

Earl Hinkson - There is not enough police protection for the fire departments.

Supervisor Hammond - There was some discussion that the Town permit number was used to mail out this information notice. That is totally bogus. This was mailed out by a company called the Amerimail who use to mail out our Macedon Messinger at one time. This is their permit number, not the town's permit number. We now have our own postal number. If there are rumors out there that this board had something to do with this letter it is totally wrong.

Councilperson Maul entered the meeting at 9:10 p.m.

Scott Allen informed the public that Wal-Mart has applied to the Town of Macedon to construct a 205,000 square foot super center with gas station at the northeast corner of Wayneport and Rt. 31. They will be at the December 13, 2004 Town of Macedon Planning Board Meeting making their initial presentation to the Board to begin the process. The burden of the approvals lies primarily on the Planning Board. The gas station does require a special use permit from the Town Board. There may be some variances required depending on the specifics of the project. It will be an extensive review that will take a number of meetings. As of right now they have not asked for any abatements. The assessment is assumed to be well over ten million. That would be a little less that 4% of the total tax assessment of the town. They would definitely be paying their way for town services. I would anticipate the Town Planning Board would declare itself lead agent for environmental review and approvals.

CORRESPONDENCE - The Supervisor presented the following:

1. A letter from Susan Peterson Gateley of Wolcott regarding privatized recycling in Wayne County.
2. Memo dated October 21, 2004 from Kim Leonard stating that there is no issue with Town cell phones and free minute plans since there is no value to the free minutes.
3. The Justice Court Assistance Program Grant from the State of New York Unified Court System was not approved.

 

NO. 26 PAGE 10

NOVEMBER 18, 2004

4. The Wayne County Water & Sewer Authority announced that as of January 1, 2005 the cost of water will be $3.50/thousand gallons purchased. This reflects an increase of $.15/thousand gallons from the 2004 rate.
5. The Towpath Volunteers Fife and Drum Corps was holding a free concert this evening at the Pal-Mac High School Auditorium at 7:00 as they prepare for the 2004 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
6. Aldrich Change Bridge November Report
7. Towpath Volunteers thanked the Board for the Town flag that they will carry in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
8. A thank you letter from Dorothy Reid to the Macedon Police for their recent assistance.

RESOLUTION NO. 265 (04) EXECUTIVE SESSION

RESOLVED the Board enter Executive Session at 9:35 p.m. to discuss possible litigation.

MOTION BY MAUL, SECONDED BY NAWROCKI

ROLL CALL VOTE: KENYON AYE, MAUL AYE, MC EWEN AYE,

NAWROCKI AYE, HAMMOND AYE MOTION CARRIED

RESOLUTION NO. 266 (04) OPEN SESSION

RESOLVED the Board return to Open Session at 10:38 p.m.

MOTION BY MAUL, SECONDED BY KENYON

ROLL CALL VOTE: KENYON AYE, MAUL AYE, MC EWEN AYE,

NAWROCKI AYE, HAMMOND AYE MOTION CARRIED

RESOLUTION NO. 267 (04) MACEDON LAND DEVELOPMENT FEDERAL

Action commenced in Federal District Court by Macedon Land Development against the Town of Macedon, Village of Macedon Exxon Mobil, Town of Walworth and Charles Kemp, Sr. be referred to the Town Attorney.

MOTION BY KENYON, SECONDED BY HAMMOND

ROLL CALL VOTE: KENYON AYE, MAUL AYE, MC EWEN AYE,

NAWROCKI AYE, HAMMOND AYE MOTION CARRIED

RESOLUTION NO. 268 (04) MACEDON LAND DEVELOPMENT STATE ACTION

Town Attorney be authorized to stipulate a discontinuance of the action presently pending State Supreme Court by Macedon Land Development against the Town of Macedon.

MOTION BY MAUL, SECONDED BY HAMMOND

ROLL CALL VOTE: KENYON AYE, MAUL AYE, MC EWEN AYE,

NAWROCKI AYE, HAMMOND AYE MOTION CARRIED

MOTION BY HAMMOND, SECONDED BY MC EWEN THAT THE MEETING BE ADJOURNED. THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 10:50 PM.

_______________________________________

Judy W. Gravino, RMC

Macedon Town Clerk