January 7, 2025
The regular meeting of the Varick Town Board was called to order by Supervisor Robert Hayssen at 7:00 p.m. Present at this meeting were Councilmen Richard McCulloch, Tom Fox and James Velie, Town Clerk, Donna Karlsen, Bookkeeper, Angela Testa, Attorney for the Town, Emil Bove, Highway Superintendent, Ben Freier, Water/Sewer Operator, Ben Karlsen and Town Historian, Dolores Dinsmore. Also present were Miles Persing and Duane Reeder.
Petitioners to Address the Board: Duane Reeder introduced himself as an applicant for the Zoning Board of Appeals and provided background information for the town board’s consideration for appointment to the zoning board.
Town Historian: Dolores Dinsmore discussed with the board the development of a storage site to securely store in a climate controlled environment town of Varick historic information. She reported that the town’s previous historian, Charmian Dinsmore, her mother, and now she, as town historian, maintains in her dwelling a collection of historical memorabilia. She reported that the Town of Fayette has been offered a building to store their memorabilia, and she was approached by Dale Freier and Nancy Troutman Bromka inquiring if the Town of Varick would be interested in developing and sharing the space. She spoke of developing a historical memorandum of understanding that could specify items of retention and address other historical information. She estimated the initial costs to update the storage area and begin this process may be approximately a few $1,000. Legal research will need to be done to see if what is being proposed is within the law.
Duane Reeder suggested that only unique items to the Town of Varick should be kept. Ms. Dinsmore proceeded to discuss briefly historical facts pertaining to the town of Varick and items that she currently is in possession of.
Supervisor Hayssen will contact Jeff Trout and Mike Enslow at the county to research available space for historical storage.
Abstract: A motion by Richard McCulloch, seconded by Jim Velie and so carried unanimously to approve Abstract 14, Vouchers 434 to 442 in the amount of $157,750.81, Abstract No. 1, vouchers 1 through 12 in the amount of $113,848.23.
Highway: Ben Freier reported the highway’s new ten wheel truck is currently in Syracuse and will be delivered to Tenco in the spring for the plow to be fitted. He is considering sending the truck to Tenco now in hopes they will fit the plow sooner. He also reported that he has been trying to obtain further information on the State DOT pipe project the town was awarded funding for, but was recently told the gentlemen he had been working with had passed away. He is currently researching who has taken over this gentleman’s position. He is also completing the state work permit to be able to work within the state right-of-way.
Supervisor’s Report: A motion by Richard McCulloch, seconded by Jim Velie and so carried unanimously to approve the November 2024 Monthly Supervisor’s Report.
Code Enforcement Officer: Tim Dorn provided a written Zoning Code Enforcement Officer Report for the year 2024 for the board’s review.
Varick Water & Sewer Operator Report: December 2024.
- Marked Out Dig Tickets as requested
- Called in Dig tickets for upcoming jobs
- Changed meters as needed
- Read each master meter and did calculations of daily usage
- Answered customers questions in each sewer and water district
- Did final reads as needed
- Changed out grinder pumps as needed
- Took Bac T samples in each water district
- Filled out and submitted monthly report to health department
- Worked on lead and copper inventory
- Dispatched and activated loggers to help locate any possible leak in water districts
- Had the health department do a yearly surveillance on all 4 water districts
- Cleaned up shop on East Lake Road
- Exercised generator for sewer
- Shut water off as needed
- Tried to install water service on Rt 414; shale was too thick to go under road
- Checked out broken and leaking fire hydrant in front of Fayette firehouse
- Changed out grinder pumps as needed
- Had to come in to turn generator on during power outages
- Flushed dead ends to bring chlorine residual up
- Put together quote for new possible water connection in Varick 3
- Picked up sewer parts in Rochester to help rebuild pumps
- Replaced broken hydrant markers
- Worked on quotes and gathered information for generators for sewer district #1
Varick Sewer District No. 1: Mr. Karlsen reported that he has been working with Whitmers to obtain the cost of generators for this district.
Varick Sewer District No. 2: He reported that he installed the last new grinder pump in stock and will be ordering 5 more pumps to have on hand. They continue to repair pumps that are able to be repaired.
Capital Project: Varick Sewer District No. 3 and Varick Sewer District No. 4: Mr. Hayssen reported that he sent an email out to DEC requesting a meeting with them to discuss why this project was not considered for funding through the WQIP grant this year.
Varick Water District No. 1: Mr. Hayssen reported that Seneca County Water and Sewer had approved money to extend the water building housing the master water meter to install the meter correctly and according to specification. Mr. Karlsen reported that there has been some discussion about purchasing a new meter that would not require the extension of the current building. Supervisor Hayssen will make some inquiries regarding this matter.
Seneca Lake Water: Nothing further to report.
Varick Water District No. 3: Nothing further to report
Varick Water District No. 4: Nothing further to report
Clerk’s Report: A motion by Richard McCulloch, seconded by Jim Velie and so carried unanimously to approve the December 2024 Town Clerk’s Report: Supervisor: $640., NYS Ag & Markets: $8, Total Disbursements: $648.
Minutes: A motion by Richard McCulloch, seconded by Jim Velie and so carried unanimously to approve the minutes of December 3, 2024 and December 30, 2024.
Personnel: Nothing to report.
Zoning Board of Appeals: A motion by Richard McCulloch, seconded by Jim Velie and so carried unanimously to appoint Duane Reeder to the Zoning Board of Appeals to complete the term of Anne Bachman to expire on December 31, 2027.
Old Business, New Business, Correspondence:
A motion by Richard McCulloch, seconded by Jim Velie and so carried unanimously to designate Community Bank, NA, Lyons Bank and Five Star Bank as the official banks for the Town of Varick.
Supervisor Hayssen appointed Eric Riegel and Richard McCulloch to the auditing committee with Tom Fox and Jim Velie to the alternate auditing committee.
Mrs. Karlsen reported that she has completed a questionnaire on behalf of the town requested by the town’s insurance agent to obtain Cyber Security insurance. The insurance company is requesting further information, but before moving forward with this, Mrs. Karlsen questioned if the board wanted to obtain cyber insurance as they have not elected to do so in the past.
A motion by Tom Fox, seconded by Richard McCulloch and so carried unanimously to direct Mrs. Karlsen to inform the town’s insurance agent that the town has elected to not purchase cyber security insurance coverage for the year 2025.
Supervisor Hayssen responded to questions raised by Mr. Fox regarding the sales tax sharing from the county. Seneca County Local Law No. 9 of 2023 wording was reviewed by Attorney Bove with discussion to follow. Supervisor Hayssen reported that he had requested and just received on this date seven years of back water billing for both Varick Water 1 and Varick Water 3 to be reviewed by himself and the board. The County said they did not have any bills dating back further due to retention schedules. A discussion was held pertaining to how the county is withholding funds from the sales tax sharing money and the legality of this practice under the guidelines of the State Comptroller’s office. Attorney Bove suggested a formal letter be sent to the county concerning the town’s concerns regarding this matter. The board approved this action and directed the attorney to draft a letter for the supervisor’s signature. Supervisor Hayssen will review the bills that he just recently received and will present a report for further discussion at the next board meeting.
A motion by Richard McCulloch, seconded by Tom Fox and so carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:25.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna Karlsen, Varick Town Clerk