At the February meeting of the Marshall Town Board, the first order of business was the approval of the minutes of the January meeting.
The meeting was called to order by Deputy Supervisor Colleen Baldwin in the absence of Supervisor Jack Buschmann.
Jamie McNair reported for the Zoning Board of Appeals. The ZBA is taking a look at the forms they use.
They got information from the Tug Hill Commission about what is not on the forms but should be, and will bring that information back for discussion. There is room for improvement on the forms, he said, and modifying them would bring about some continuity.
McNair brought up maps which the Town uses for some issues which come before the Town Board, the Planning Board, the ZBA, and the Codes Enforcement Officer. They are difficult to read.
ZBA member Debbie Zweifel has been in contact with the county to prepare updated digital maps for the committee’s use which would be more readable using GIS, a mapping software. The digital maps would have zoning districts on them, as well as the parcels and the boundaries.
Good accurate maps would be beneficial to all departments, he said. They would all be looking at the same map so there would be no ambiguity.
He gave the Town Board an estimate of how much the maps would cost. In McNair’s estimation, having the maps the same across the board is what would help to keep the Town out of litigation.
A motion was made, which was accepted, to move ahead with the project.
McNair continued with the Comprehensive Review Committee. The Solar Law was presented to Town Attorney Bill Getman, who said he had some questions about the law he’d like to discuss with the Committee.
The Mining Law will deal with structured zoning rather than temporary re-zoning. They are focusing on small-scale mining excavation, under 750 tons or 1,000 cubic yards; the town cannot regulate anything that happens with a mine that is larger as that is the purview of the Department of Conservation.
However, the Town should have a say in the operation of smaller excavation, McNair said, and the new law addresses that. The goal of the Mining Law is to protect the landowners around the proposed operation.
He also spoke of the law regarding dog ordinances and leash laws. Rachel McNamara of the Comprehensive Review Committee is working on that.
In addition, the Committee is working on a law regulating wind turbines in the Town by taking a look at what other towns are doing regarding that form of energy.
The Assessor report was in the Board members’ packet, but Assessor Kathy Fitzgerald was present and stated this is a busy time of the year for the office because they are looking at the 2022-23 tax rolls.
As of March 1, any changes to the rolls will be recorded. This year, the Governor chose not to ask the elderly and infirm to come into the office with their income statements, and the Town Assessors abided by that decision….
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