Ontario Town Board – July 23, 2012

The meeting was called to order by Supervisor Robert Kelsch at 7:00 p.m. with all Board members present. Under the Public Comments section of the meeting, Rose Sartin of 6166 Furnace Road addressed the Board regarding a boundary problem. A fence on her property had been inadvertently built on 1 1/2 feet of highway property along the existing sidewalk. Since the fence is about 20 years old, she was given a permit to replace the aging structure on the existing footprint. She then received a letter from the Town stating that if the fence is not moved, multiple fines will be levied. The company that built the replacement is not available until August; in the interim, she was sent a summons to appear in court to answer the charges. Councilman Jason Ruffell questioned if the notice gave a 15-30 day time of completion for moving the fence; the response was negative. Councilman Frank Robusto asked if land dispute agreements have historically been signed, wherein the homeowner declares that he/she is aware of the discrepancy and will not proceed with an eminent domain process. It was unknown at the time whether this has been done in the past, but Ms. Sartin would be willing to sign an agreement to that effect. A main concern of hers is that she & her husband have been maintaining the surrounding expanse of land – the Town does not mow it for them, even though it is Town-owned. The Sartins have never received a complaint about the location of their fence from any person living in the area. Councilman Jason Ruffell will check with the Code Enforcement Officer and get her a copy of the section of the code wherein it is stated who is responsible for the lawn maintenance. However, the homeowner is responsible for snow removal; the Town does not do sidewalks.

Supervisor Kelsch congratulated Town Clerk Debra DeMinck and her husband Charlie for being awarded first place in the woodworking category at the Corn Hill Arts Festival on July 7th & 8th in Rochester. They are the owners of Vineyardview Woodworking in Ontario.

– Department Reports for June were received from the Water Utilities Department and the Public Library.
– New Business – A motion was approved to authorize the Supervisor to sign the purchase agreement of 50 additional hours of professional services with Advance2000, which includes an on-demand support help desk at the same cost of $5500. The purchase is good for up to 2 years, and the block hours may be used for services not covered under the traditional service contract, such as new equipment installation. This request was made by Pam Grundman.

A conference request for the Town Court was approved to authorize Justices Reginald P. Higgins II and Paul E. Sucher to attend the NYS Magistrates Association Annual Conference to be held in Syracuse on September 9th – 12th. Court Clerks Dawn Yantch and Shelly McDonald were also authorized to attend the Association of Magistrates Court Clerks Annual Conference in Buffalo on September 30th – October 3rd. These conferences are a budgeted expense.

A motion was passed to waive building permit fees for Project Reach Ontario, a community service initiative being launched by the First Presbyterian Church of Ontario Center and the Wayne Central School District, as requested by Building Inspector/CEO Ed Collins. This initiative involves about 400 young workers.

– Information Forum – Supervisor Kelsch discussed the County’s proposal to consolidate the Sheriff’s Office and the E911 Center; he is in favor of this consolidation.

He also discussed the fact that hogweed has been discovered in Ontario on RG&E-owned property. It is a highly toxic weed, and needs to be eliminated; it is not known if the company has sprayed the growth in time to keep it from spreading.

Sections 100 – 600 of the Employees’ Handbook have been distributed to the Town employees for review.
Compliments were extended to all of the volunteers for organizing Thursday’s Concert in the Park; the attendance numbers were the highest so far for this event. Thanks were given to RG&E for donating a bench for the Town Park.

The next workshop meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on August 20th; the Greenway Park Plan will be on the agenda. The next business meeting will be held on August 13th at 7:00 p.m. at the Town Hall. The meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
Submitted by Monica Deyo

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