Grafton Town Board Action – Tangled Finances

by Alex Brooks
Grafton Supervisor Frank Higgins had a lot of activity to report on this month.
He said the IRS had initiated a compliance check because they did not receive a quarterly report for the second quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013. He said the new bookkeeper had completed and sent the missing reports, but there is a possibility that the IRS will fine the Town for the tardy reports.
[private]The Town also has received the preliminary report from the Comptroller’s office on the audit of the Town’s finances  done last fall.
The Town’s reply is due August 19, and sometime after that the comptroller’s office will issue a final report on their audit.
Councilman Rick Ungaro said he was disturbed that Supervisor Higgins had not distributed copies of the report to all of the Board members. Higgins protested that he had made copies of the report for all Board members and left it in their mailboxes, paper clipped to the letter from the Comptroller. Ungaro said there was no report in his mailbox. Higgins insisted that he had put them in the mailboxes, and everyone present was wondering what could have happened.
Higgins said he had met with people from the Comptroller’s office on July 19 and they briefed him on their findings. They said they would contact the members of the Town Board to arrange individual meetings with them if desired. They subsequently met with Rick Ungaro and Barbara Messenger, and Messenger gave Higgins some comments about the report.
Higgins was asked if he would make public the contents of the preliminary report, and he responded “not at this time.” He said he will release the final report immediately when it arrives.
Higgins said the Town has neglected for several years paperwork needed to maintain the retirement benefits of its employees. He said time worked has not been reported and it had gotten to the point where benefits may have been in jeopardy for certain individuals because of a lack of information. He said this problem goes back “a number of years,” and vacation and sick leave have not been updated for two years. He said he is in the midst now of trying to understand the problem and get it straightened out, but he expects it will be a lot of work for himself and the bookkeeper to bring it all up to date.
Higgins also said that the Town has been paying $4,000 quarterly for a long time to the State unemployment agency, which he said the Town is not required to do. He said the Town is entitled to a “reimbursement type of set-up,” in which the Town pays only if someone makes a claim. He said the Town will stop making these payments, but they will not get back any of the money they have already paid.
New Website
The Town has a new web site, which the agenda said was done “to reduce maintenance and costs.” The address is www.townofgraftonny.org. The site was created by the Supervisor’s Secretary Joe Allain at no cost to the Town, and he can keep it updated himself without the expense of having an outside contractor being paid to maintain the site.  Councilwoman Marie Claus said she was unhappy that a decision had been made to get a new website without consulting the Town Board. Councilman Rick Ungaro expressed similar sentiments, urging Supervisor Higgins to hold workshop meetings so the whole Board can discuss things and work together on the Town’s problems. Ungaro said there is a lack of communication among the Board, and Higgins said, “Yes, there is.”
Solar Proposal
Supervisor Higgins said, “We looked at the Town Garage roof, and we think it should be replaced, not repaired.” He said he had received a proposal to put solar panels on that roof which would result in a 25% reduction in electricity cost for the Town, and it would not require any investment by the Town. The solar company would install, own and maintain the photovoltaic system, and the Town would simply pay them for electricity instead of their current provider. But the building would need a new roof before the solar panels are installed, so they are seeking bids to replace the roof.
Cable Coming
Higgins said a truck from Time Warner was in town for about a week mapping housing and telephone poles in preparation for stringing cable to offer cable TV. They are now waiting for approval from the State Public Service Commission (PSC) for the franchise, and the project can’t move forward until the PSC approves.
Supervisor Higgins said the Town was able to restructure its cell phone contract in order to reduce the cost.
Money and materials that were supposed to have been given to the Town by Valente Gravel as part of the agreement which allowed them to come into the Town have been delayed, and Supervisor Higgins said he has turned it over to the Town attorney to get them to deliver what is owed.
Two trailers have been donated by Price Chopper to serve as temporary storage for Town property. Some of this is old paper records which the Town may be able to digitize at some point.
Higgins said he met with a committee to discuss how to deal with the situation at Beach Road. He said there is a problem in the area near the beach – “It is a choke point.” But he said the Town is not ready yet to take action on it. At public comment time, ambulance Captain Donna Baldwin stridently urged him to do something about it quickly. She said once the Town has acknowledged that there is a problem, it would be at fault if something happened down there and the Town hadn’t addressed the problem.
The Board also was urged to address the camping prohibition which was brought to light by the Public Hearing two weeks ago. David Buckley said, “I hope we can come to a conclusion on this – it shouldn’t be a criminal activity to sleep in your back yard.” Others said they are going to sleep in their camper in the back yard whenever they feel like it, and they don’t think they should have to ask the Planning Board’s permission to do so.
Building Inspector’s Report
Tom Withcuskey reported that he has issued 33 building permits this year, including two new housing starts. He said he has been working with banks on foreclosures – “there’s a lot of them” – to get the properties taken care of. He said some of the houses have been robbed of copper pipes and wiring.
The meeting was adjourned in memory of Joe Casey.[/private]