The Town of Champion Town Board met on Monday, April 3, 2000 at 6:15PM at the Town Municipal Building. Present were Supervisor Buckley, Councilmen Miller, Stewart, Watkins and Buzzell (7:00PM), and Assessor Robert White.

Motion by Mr. Stewart, seconded by Mr. Miller to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing litigation and negotiations. Ayes-4, Nays-0. Motion carried.

Motion by Mr. Stewart, seconded by Mr. Miller to return to open session. Ayes-4, Nays-0. Motion carried. Open session resumed at 7:00PM.

Supervisor Buckley opened the meeting and welcomed all present to the Town of Champion’s Bicentennial Meeting. Supervisor Buckley read letters of congratulations from Congressman John McHugh and former Supervisor Mark Freeman. Supervisor Buckley turned the meeting over to Suzanne Wiley, Town Historian for a program that included selected reactments of Town meetings held between April 1, 1800 and 1816. The business meeting resumed at 8:15PM.

Supervisor Buckley opened the meeting to comments from the public. County

Legislator Kent Burto reported on recent action taken by the County in support of the agricultural community.

Bruce Freeman, Vorce Road, Copenhagen questioned the Town’s current subdivision law regarding Pleasant Lake. Mr. Freeman owns 1700 feet of lake frontage that he would like to subdivide. Current subdivision law requires all subdivisions to front a public highway. Supervisor Buckley and Councilmen Miller and Stewart stated their support for a change in the law that would allow subdivisions at the lake without highway frontage. Planning Board Chairman, Peter LaBarge, recommended a joint meeting between the Town and Planning Boards to discuss the ramifications of amending the law. The Board asked Mr. Freeman to provide a sketch of his proposed subdivision for consideration. The joint meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 26^th at 7:30PM.

Monthly Reports

• DANC-John Condino reported that the new electrical service for Water District #2 will be installed as soon as ground conditions permit. Interior painting at the water plant is underway and delivery of the warranted motor is still pending.
• Engineer-Eric Johnson reported that preconstruction meetings have been held for both Sewer District #1 and Water District #3. Some difficulties have been encountered during the road borings. Supervisor Buckley requested that Mr. Johnson contact Syracuse Constructors for a quote to install a new lateral service into the Town Barn at the time they do the directional boring in Water District #3.
• Councilmen-Mr. Watkins asked if ATV operators must be licensed to use Town Roads.
• Highway Superintendent-Mr. Martin recommended the purchase of a 17hp JD riding lawn mower/42" mower deck for the cost of $3,100 on State bid to replace the current mower. Motion by Mr. Stewart, seconded by Mr. Watkins to purchase the mower on State bid. Ayes-5, Nays-0. Motion carried. Mr. Martin recommended the purchase of a 12’ plow wing from Frink America for the cost of $1998.00 to replace a 30 year old wing. Motion by Mr. Watkins, seconded by Mr. Buzzell to approve the purchase of a plow wing at a cost not to exceed $1,998.00. Ayes-5, Nays-0. Motion carried. Mr. Martin reported on work completed on the Eddy Road and damage to the Micek Road as a result of a Town of Rutland plow leaving the highway. The Board will check the intermuncipal agreement for Micek Road to determine liability. Mr. Martin reported that gravel could be made available for construction of a road in the West Carthage Business Park. The road would require 12,000 yards of gravel at a cost of $10-12,000 to cover the cost of crushing.
• Parks-Mr. Eddy reported that work would resume in the Village Green Park this spring with the construction of an enclosing fence.
• Historian-Mrs. Wiley received congratulations from the Board for an excellent bicentennial celebration.

Motion by Mr. Stewart, seconded by Supervisor Buckley to approve the minutes for March 6, 2000 with the addition of the voting record for action taken to name Mr. Stewart as a representative to the River Area Council of Governments. Ayes-4, Nays-0, Abstention-Mr. Buzzell. Motion carried.

Motion by Mr. Stewart, seconded by Mr. Watkins to pay the following bills:

General fund #91-132………………………………$26,123.06

Highway fund #69-86……………………………….$15,994.15

Sewer district #1 Capital #19-23…………………$123,181.14

Water district #1 O&M #5-6…………………………….$357.38

Water district #2 O&M #13-21……………………….$4,562.20

Ayes-5, Nays-0. Motion carried.

Motion by Mr. Buzzell, seconded by Mr. Stewart to approve the Supervisor’s monthly report as read. Ayes-5, Nays-0. Motion carried.

New Business

Supervisor Buckley read a letter from Jane and Cowan Stark petitioning for the expansion of Champion Water District #2 to include their property located at 35208 NYS Route 126, Carthage. The Stark’s understand that they will be responsible for the costs of installing the service. Motion by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mr. Watkins to schedule a public hearing for May 1, 2000 at 7:15PM to hear comment from the public concerning expansion of the district boundaries. Ayes-5, Nays-0. Motion carried.

Councilman Watkins reported that the Black River Regulation Commission has some discretionary grant funds available to support activities along the Black River. The Board recommended sharing the information with the Carthage Chamber of Commerce for support of Riverfest 2000.

Motion by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mr. Stewart to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 9:52PM.

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Christina Vargulick

Town Clerk