Ellicottville Village Board Meeting
Ellicottville Village Board Meeting
Board members discuss dumpster concerns, outside dining permits, Fall events, and more.
The August meeting of the Village Board opened with Good News, as the Annual Financial Report Update had been filed on time with the state. There was a motion to approve the July minutes with two minor corrections; a second and ayes carried.
Planning Report: There was a motion to approve the report; a second and ayes carried. Mayor John Burrell asked if the Board had anything for the Village Planner, Gary Palumbo, and concerns regarding the dumpster for the new EBC location on Washington Street were brought up. Specifically as to whether they were sharing one or storing garbage within. Currently there is a dumpster located on Adventure Bound property that already services Ellicottville Coffee Company, The Ratchet Hatchet and Villaggio. Village Trustee Patra Lowes spoke to the lack of maintenance currently of the dumpster with Trustee Doug Bush speaking to complaints he had personally received. Palumbo advised that with minimal space, the Village should encourage dumpster sharing but they must be in compliance with the updated refuse law. This means standards of tidiness must be met and the trash must be picked up frequently enough. Palumbo advised he would look back at the approval letter to see how the garbage at the new EBC location is being handled.
Engineering Report: There was a motion to approve the Engineering Report; a second and ayes carried. There is one interview left to complete for the Engineer position before an offer letter is sent for approval by the Town as this is a shared position between the Town and Village. Mark Chudy provided a DPW update regarding the Mill Street Sidewalk Extension. He asked if there could be a meeting to discuss the projects that need to be completed for the sidewalks to be completed. The Mayor advised this was on the budget for 2020 and would like for it to be accomplished. Chudy and Burrell will meet with the soon-to-be former Engineer, Niles Pierson, to discuss and formulate a plan. Chudy also received a request for a ‘No Outlet’ sign to be installed on VanBuren Place as there has been an increased volume of traffic back there recently. Bush feels they should bring a petition to the Board with signatures from owners on that street before the Board considers anything. There were also questions that arose due to the nature of the increased traffic and it seems to stem from Short Term Rentals. Although STRs are permitted on VanBuren Place with a Special Use Permit, there are none that have been issued. Given the current moratorium on short term rental permits until 12/31/2020, any rentals back there at this time would be deemed illegal.
Parks: The tennis courts at the park were to be resurfaced, however, the project will be put on pause until Spring 2021 to coincide with the new skatepark construction. In addition, it will be more cost effective to use the milling machine that the Village rents every spring to do the work rather than bring in an outside contractor. This way the tennis court specialists will only be sealing and lining. Trustee Greg Cappelli asked for investigation into a yearly maintenance plan as resurfacing every four years will not be cost effective. The Mayor agreed.
Special Events: Bush, who runs the EVL Half & 5k event each October, spoke to changes that are being made to comply with all State regulations in his modified 2020 plan. There will be roughly half the number of entries, and instead of putting 2,000 people through the course in three hours, the event will be spread over 6-7 hours. The only thing that could prevent the event from happening, according to Bush, is the plan for traffic and pedestrian control as it is a longer day and will require more man/woman hours from law enforcement. There was a motion to approve the modified plan, Bush recused himself; a second and ayes carried. Next, there was discussion regarding the weekend that would have been the Fall Festival and a push for this “Not Fest”. The Board advised that no outside vendors would be coming and erecting tents for vending. With this they would like to work closely with those village businesses that have the room, on their private property, to safely and effectively follow NYS and State Liquor Authority Guidelines, expand their footprint. Similarly, the Cafe Permit that allows outside dining on Village property ends October 1, 2020. A decision needs to be made as to whether it will be extended. There are concerns with more people in town that it is not possible to social distance with tables on the sidewalk. The Board is going to gather more information and discuss so a decision on these matters can be made at the September meeting.
There was a motion to adjourn the meeting; a second and ayes carried. The next meeting of the Ellicottville Village Board will be held virtually on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 at 6:00pm. Please contact the Village Clerk’s office at 716-699-4636 for access instructions.