Town seeks funding to purchase and conserve Round Lake Island

The Monroe Town Board passed a resolution at its Sept. 8 meeting to apply for open space funding to purchase and conserve Round Lake Island.

Councilwoman Bethany Stephens, who voted against the resolution, asked if there were less expensive ways of protecting the land, such as a conservation easement. According to the town attorney, applying for open space funding is one way to see if the funds are available through the county, and said it was a good idea to consider all options.

Councilwoman Mary Bingham was concerned about making sure that the island does actually go to the town, since there have been talks about this for years. She also was concerned about taxpayers having to take on an unexpectedly large cost.

Town proposes law to repeal Conservation Cluster Residential Floating Zone

The town proposed a new local law that would repeal the Conservation Cluster Residential Floating Zone established in 2020. A public hearing to review the proposed law is scheduled for Sept. 21.

A conservation cluster is a type of development that concentrates properties in a smaller area in exchange for land conservation. A floating zone, unlike other types of zoning, is not connected to a specific location on a map. Rather, a floating zone can be applied to any property that meets a municipality’s requirements.

According a resolution passed at the Sept. 8 Monroe Town Board meeting, the previously established Conservation Cluster Residential floating zone created a way to allow more dense housing than would otherwise be permitted under the town’s zoning laws.

Town addresses issues with Lake Sapphire Drainage District

The town also passed a resolution stating that the previous administration was not given legal oversight to create the Lake Sapphire Drainage District in 2021, leading to improper taxation of residents and unauthorized financial financial commitments.

Tom Levington spoke on behalf of the residents around Lake Sapphire. He stated that residents don’t want a refund, they just want the projects around the dam completed. He stated that the importance of it is to secure grant funding for the project, but not asking the town to cover the costs.

The board scheduled a public hearing to address needed repairs in the Lake Sapphire Drainage District.

Board debates need for outside payroll and human resource services

Stephens questioned whether a proposed contract with Excel Force to manage municipal payroll and human resource services was a necessary expense. She argued the town already has a finance department who handles many of the proposed payroll tasks. Richardson countered that the person currently handling payroll should not have to be handling it, and said that town board members had requested the human resource services proposed in the contract. Stephens said that the proposed human resource services from Excel Force were not what was requested.

Bingham asked about the addition of a timeclock for town employees with this new contract, and was curious how that would change the current time entry system for employees. Richardson responded that the Highway Department and Dial-A-Ride employees already use a time punching system, and it would be a method for accountability for town employees.

The motion was not passed, with Rivera and Richardson voting for and Bingham and Stephens voting against.