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October 11, 2011 Report
A moment of silence for Janet Engle who recently passed away. Janet is the mother of our assessor Earl Engle.
Sewer usage bills for the Ontario Heights residents are being mailed tomorrow.
The residents of Ontario Heights can still control their sewer bills by controlling their use of water. The residents of the Heights all have water meters installed.
In a letter to the residents I reminded them that the BOND for the building of the sewer system will be paid off in May of 2013, and at that time we will need to calculate a new sewer tax for the maintenance of their system. The sewer tax should be significantly less than their current sewer district rate.
Tonight we will be accepting Mike Hagenmayer's resignation from our Planning Board. We thank Mr. Hagenmayer for his dedication to the Town of Oswego and wish him well in Maryland. I will be submitting a name to the Board for consideration as his replacement.
We have begun the process for the speed reduction request on Lakeshore Road and will update the board with any new information.
We had our sprinkler system tested and there was a recommendation to have an authorized alarm panel service representative review the equipment and software and make appropriate adjustments to bring the system into compliance.
Mr. Hogan and I have submitted the 2012 budget to the Board. There is no tax increase in the budget and the levy will remain the same. Due to sound fiscal management we are in good shape for 2012.
Retirement costs and insurance costs remain high. We did receive more in sales tax revenue in the last quarter due to our population growth and by investigating alternative health care we were able to reduce the costs to the taxpayer while retaining good health care coverage for our seniors. Also by putting our town insurances out for bid those costs were also reduced. By changing phone service providers we have been able to save almost half of our communication expenses.
Cemetery report - 2 burials, one foundation, and no lots sold in September
Our Code Enforcement Officer issued 7 permits and performed 12 inspections in September. He investigated 7 complaints.
Our Dog Control Officer responded to three dog complaints in September.
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September 12, 2011 Report
Let us take a moment of silence for Robert Pritchard who has passed away, and also for the victims of 9/11. Mr. Pritchard was the husband of Anne who was a previous Town Clerk.
The first annual electronic equipment recycle day was successful! 16 pallets of items were collected by Maven Technology. It was very convenient for residents to just drive up, and have their cars/ trucks unloaded! Many residents commented to me on the ease of it! This was a free service to the town and I hope to do it again next August.
Mr. Hogan and I have been working on the budget and I will submit it to our town clerk Mrs. Cooper on Sept 30th.
We received a request for a speed limit change for West Lake road. We will start the process tomorrow with the state DOT.
Tonight I will ask the board to approve the appointment of Joe Buske, a new employee for our cemetery, for the remainder of this year. With Johns passing and the student laborers gone back to school, the superintendent needs help right away.
Code Enforcement issued 11 building permits in August and had 20 inspections.
Our Dog Control Officer investigated 9 complaints.
There were 3 burials in August, and no lot sales in the cemetery.
On Saturday morning our town historian George Demass took a group of interested people on a cemetery walk in the oldest section of the cemetery. As always he had a lot of information for us. We were all just leaving Dr Walkers grave site, when there was a loud thump! A very large, very old head stone fell forward and hit the ground!
One historical member went whizzing by me saying. "VICKY....maybe we are not supposed to be here"! It was rather funny at the time, and I was thankful that we not on a ghost walk in the evening or even I may have run!
Senator Patty Ritchie called me on Friday; she asked me if I would serve on a mandate relief committee. I accepted her request and will begin working in early October.
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August 8, 2011 Report
I met our seniors who are covered by town health benefits; and a representative of MVP Gold and our Insurance Broker. Two families had some misinformation cleared up concerning their health care plan. Their questions were answered and they were given both phone numbers and email address for direct contact should they have other questions or concerns about their policies. It is always best to go to the experts with questions; I am very pleased with the service they have been providing us.
The effluent ammonia limit for Sleepy Hollow exceeded its loading limit in June; G&G Wastewater determined that there was an electrical issue with submersible pump, #3 and the recycle pump starters; we have been in communication with Koester Associates to get this issue resolved. Koester will also schedule planned maintenance on the flow meter yearly calibration, and Lockwood's will be removing sludge from the septic tanks.
At Ontario Heights WD Malone excavating, has been working on the manhole covers in the streets.
The Historical Society held our annual ice cream social and concert in the park; it was very well attended, a nice relaxing summer evening only could have been made better if there was more shade. I will look into planning shade trees in the park in the fall, if I can get them donated! Our Historian George Demass could not be here tonight but wanted me to mention that the Mary Walker Statue unveiling maybe on October 8th with a small ceremony. Followed by a big celebration the second week of May 2012.
The Third annual community yard sale was held on Saturday AUG 6th. We had 39 families register on our map and many more than that participated. I believe it was a huge success!
We are having an electronic equipment recycle day on Saturday August 27th at our town highway complex from 9AM to 1PM. Maven Technologies will be here with their staff to collect items from our town residents and business, Items that may be dropped off for recycling are Computers, laptops, modems, servers, peripherals, GPS units, cell phones, fax machines, copiers, CD players, IT equipment, printers, Televisions, Monitors and microwave ovens! NO REFRIDGERATORS or other house appliances. There is no charge for this event.
Ellsworth HVAC had been contacted regarding the constant problem with the Air conditioning system in the building. They have been in several times and made some changes to the system and so far things seem to be working.
We have received numerous compliments on the appearance of the Rural Cemetery. I want to thank Dennis Knopp and Tim Gibson for how they stepped up and carried on John. They are doing a great job!
Fire Pro inspected our sprinkler system in the building on June 29th and recommend replacing the missing sprinkler orifice on the piping so that a proper trip test can be conducted. I will talk to the board about this issue.
Our Dog Control officer investigated 3 complaints
Our Code Enforcement officer issued 9 building permits, and made 19 inspections In July.
There were 4 cemetery lots sold, and 3 burials.
I had contracted Governor Cuomo about issues facing the town; unemployment, shared services and JOB creation. I received a letter from Governor Cuomo thanking me for my leadership and cooperation to bring real reform to state and local government; I have been invited by Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney to attend a conference on funding opportunity that exists under the reorganization programs, offered by New York State Department of State. I hope to be able to attend.
Senator Ritchie's office contacted me to arrange meeting to hear some of the concerns I had on behalf of the Town of Oswego. We met here at the town hall late one afternoon; I feel it was a very good and productive meeting. I appreciate any support she might be able to offer the Town of Oswego. Thanks to Councilor Herrmann for his input.
There was very bad news for the economy this weekend , the US credit rating is down for the first time in history, Unemployment figures continue to be dismal, All this bad news at budget time; I have news from the County treasures office, that our sales tax revenue will be up slightly because of our population growth. Responsible fiscal management will carry us though the hard times. I am actively seeking information on the 2 percent property tax cap. It could adversely affect the towns. |
July 11, 2011 Report
I would like to have a moment of silence for John Knopp, who served the Town of Oswego for many years as our cemetery superintendent and recently passed away. John will be missed.
Tonight on the agenda there is a resolution to reimburse seniors who had met their prescription deductible up to $500.00 for 2011. Some seniors may have met their deductible prior to the change over to MVP GOLD. Of course the seniors will have to document their expenses. Cheryl Clary from MVP gold will be here on Monday July 25th at 4:00 to meet with any seniors who still may have questions on their policies.
Mrs. Botting will contact them.
Also on tonight's agenda there is a resolution to reappoint Fran Delamano, to our planning board. Fran has served the town for many years and we thank him for his willingness to serve the Town of Oswego.
Mr. Hogan and I are starting our budget process. Letters are ready to go out to all departments for budget requests for next year. Please remember to request only what is needed, not wanted! As I have said for the last 10 years, we need to make up the 186,000 dollars in lost revenue from the Metropolitan Water Pilot agreement which ends in 2014. With that in mind, I contacted the County Treasurers office last month about our share of Sales Tax revenue, since the town population has grown by over 800 people in the last 10 years. The Treasure's office will be recalculating our share of sales tax since that revenue is based on population. I will report to the board when the figures come in.
I wanted to look into possibly having a dog census conducted this summer; however since it was not budgeted for it should wait until next year.
The town wide yard sale will be held on August 4th, please contact Mrs. Botting if you want to be listed.
As a service to town residents, I have contacted Maven Technologies to set up either here at town hall or at the HW Garage for recycling of old computers, monitors, key boards etc. I will put out a press release on that as soon as details can be arranged.
Also I have spoken with Joan Dain about the possibility of the district's Book Mobile stopping here at town hall for children to take out books. Funding is an issue but I hope we can work something out.
We sold 2.cemetery lots in June and had 5 burials.
Our code enforcement officer investigated 5 complaints and had 8 inspections, and 14 building permits were issued in June.
Our Dog Control officer investigated 3 complaints in June. The finalized Rabies clinic will be posted in the vestibule. |
June 13, 2011 Report
Again this month I would like to thank our Historical Society for another wonderful event On Memorial Day weekend at the Rural Cemetery honoring the veterans both still with us and deceased. I have noticed over the last few years how well the events our Historical society holds are attended, I do hope you all will try to make their membership drive on Thursday, and thank Mrs. Cooper and Mrs. Mahaney for all their time and efforts to keep our history alive.
I have sent the estimate in to the DEC for the flow meter at sleepy Hollow sewage treatment plant that was suggested. When I get their approval we will have it installed.
The park has been spruced up and it is nice to see families taking advantage of it.
On tonight's agenda the town board is asked to approve the hiring of Maxwell Appraisal Service for a town wide revaluation project at a cost of $85.000.00 Over the last few years the state has lowered our equalization rate to approximately 83%. The town has not had a revaluation in over 10 years and unfortunately it is time, and can not be put off, or the rate of equalization will continue to drop and we will be taxed at a higher rate than our neighbors for School and county taxes. |
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