“Good manners will open doors that the best education cannot” ~ Clarence Thomas

There was not much new at this months meeting.  The meeting for September 14 was canceled due to illness.  In attendance were Dick Howard, Trisha Grover, Shawn Dunmire, Dick Kozlowski, Michelle Dunbar, Curt & Sue Rung, John Dunbar, Jean Howard, Mrs. Kozlowski, Theresa Baldwin, Larry Bedow, John Reitz, and myself.

Curt Rung had the following to report:

• $23,663.21 was received from CHIPS
• They widened the Pangburn Road from the Gas Company to Coles.
• Randy’s truck was repaired again- the torque bars were replaced
• The torque bars on Truck 3 will be replaced this month
• The hauling of the sand and salt were put out for bid
• The board approved a transfer between accounts for $200 for random drug testing

The board approved the Code Enforcement’s report.

Shawn Dunmire read a letter that was received from Invenergy stating that they are not in business with any current town employees.

The assessor’s had the current sales on the board.  I have attached them to the end of this post.

Judge Manners submitted a total of $830 to the State for last month.  The town received a check for $1,042.50 for the last quarter fines.

Jon Reitz inquired if there was a court case coming up for the town over assessments.  The board informed him that there wasn’t and Jane admitted that they do keep some things a secret which led into a very heated discussion.  By the way, there is a Supreme Court case coming up on October 16 that is very public knowledge at the County Clerks office if you are interested.  If this suit is won against the total assessed value for the town could take a huge hit which ends up falling on the rest of us.

Current Sales 9/21/09

In attendance at this months  meeting was Dick Howard, Mike Scott, Shawn Dunmire, Trisha Grover, Dick Kozlowski, Curt & Sue Rung, Alice Dunbar, Laura Manners, Larry Bedow, Jon Reitz, Theresa Baldwin, Paul Sadler, Jean Howard, Gary and myself.

Jon Reitz questioned the board the cost of this engineering study for the windmills.  Mike Scott explained the only cost is the initial cost to the lawyer.  The engineering company makes their money off from the windmill companies.

Curt Rung gave his Superintendent’s Report.  In addition to his written report he also reported that he had received a call from Chad Bugman questioning him about a road off from the Wells Road by Leonard Morseman’s.  Mr. Bugman was questioning if this road was legally closed if not he is looking at the town to reopen this road.

Curt’s written report was:

• The majority of the roads have been graded
• Ditched & graded shoulders on Pleasant Valley and some on Allentown Road
• Ditched on Monahan & Hydetown Road, Burdick, Emerson, Hicks
• Replaced crossover on Hicks Hill
• New crossover on Johnson Road by Herzogs
• Towns  Scio, Wellsville and Alma worked with the town to place a leveling course of blacktop on part of Harlen Ames Road.
• Mowed east side of town will complete the rest in July.
• Received a CHIPS check for $35,029.88

Laura Manners gave her Justice report to the Board.  She explained to the board what she can get from her grants that she applies for.  All items on the grant are only applicable for the Courtroom not the Town Hall.  She can apply for such items as, chairs, file cabinets, calculators, desks, bookcases, conference tables and improvements in the courtroom.  Laura explained to the board that she has applied for these things in the past and has received grants for them.  This year she is applying for new carpet and a security system.

Laura also explained to the Board that her position with the Village is up as of March 31.  She went on to explain to the Board that his will be a good thing for the town as the revenue from fines for the Village are a great deal more than they are for the town.

Dick Howard announced the following announcements:

• Reminder for the Public Hearings on Windmills- July 21 @ 6:00 p.m.- Town Hall, Main Street  (This is for Public Comments)
• District III Legislative Meeting at the Independence Town Hall on July 28th @ 7:00 p.m. (This is open to the Public)

Jane was appointed the Registrar of Vital Statistics.  This is one of the items that should have been done in January and was not.  The Board Dick & Jane decided to wait until they received a notice from the state saying it was expired.

The Board approved the 6-year plan for reassessments.  If you would like a copy of the 6-year report Alice would be happy to give you one.

There was discussion on open positions for John and Randy’s positions.  It is hard to complete the schooling for Assessors.  The majority of classes can be completed online though you do have to travel to Batavia for the test portions however; a couple  of the classes are week long events and if you have a full time job it’s hard.  At the moment we still have 3 assessors but this may be changing soon.  If John and Randy do resign the board will have to appoint assessors (if they can find anyone to do it).  It was mentioned going to an appointed assessor, only having one assessor.  This would have to go to a public vote.

Jon Reitz questioned why everyone gives a report to the board except the Assessor.  If Curt, Laura or Paul do not have a report one month the Board is questioning why they don’t.  They though in turn include the previous months information onto the current.  Alice stated to Jon the she doesn’t have to give a report.  The town board can make this a requirement though and I believe that they request one every month.  It was explained by Gary Dorrett, Teresa Baldwin and Jon Rietz that it is good practice to provide a report so that the tax payers do know what is going on.  There would way fewer complaints if these reports were given.  I guess in the meantime we can assume our assessors are not doing anything.

Paul Sadler gave his report to the Board.  There were 5 building permits issued.  Paul asked the board to set a Public Hearing for the Local Law #2 Providing for the Administration and Enforcement of the New York State Uniform Prevention and Building Code.  The Public Hearing was set for Monday, August 10 @ 6 p.m.  This is prior to the regular board meeting.

In attendance at this months meeting were:  Supervisor Dick Howard, Trisha Grover, Mike Scott, Shawn Dunmire, Dick Kozlowski, Sue Rung, Paul Sadler, Theresa Baldwin, Jean Howard, Alice & John Dunbar, Michelle Dunbar, Legislator Bill Dibble, Larry Bedow, Jon Reitz and myself.

This months meeting went fairly quickly.  Jon Reitz inquired to when the town board will begin the 2010 budget process.  Mr. Howard stated that it will begin in September.

The following reports were approved:

Town Clerk

Building Code Enforcer- 2 building permits issued

Highway Superintendent (No Report)

Justice (Had report but never was talked about)

Alice Dunbar, Assessor gave the board a “6-Year Plan of Re inspection” to review and that needs to be signed by the board.  This was tabled until next months meeting for the members to have time to read it.

There will be a public hearing on Tuesday, July 21 at 6:00 p.m. on the windmill project.

Mike Scott stated we are back to square one on the property from the Mosher’s for the septic system.  It costs approximately $100/month to have the tank pumped at the Town Hall.

The board approved Jane to have a student from the “Summer Youth Program” work in her office this summer.  This student will spend 5 hours (a month, week, I don’t know) with Jane.  This is at no cost to the Town and is paid for through the County’s Employment & Training.

Next meeting is Monday, July 13.  Hope to see you there.  Have a safe and wonderful 4th of July!!

The meeting started with George Johnson explaining the town’s insurance to the board members and making necessary changes to the policies.  Mr. Johnson presented the board with a check for $1,257.00.  The way I understood the explanation for this check was it was a dividend check and the town should receive one for the next couple of years.   Mr. Johnson also suggested to the board as a result  of recent incidents in other towns that the board increase the policy on “Employee Dishonesty” from $10,000 to $25,000.

A motion was made to transfer $1,598.00 from Contingency to the Garage Contractual to cover the overage on the new garage doors that were installed last month.  This passed with no opposition.

Supervisor Howard then went on a tangent about how he wished someone would please explain the town budget to him and what all the accounts are.  Michelle did a very good job explaining to him that the State sets the accounts and that all of these figures have to be reported to the state not only by her but also by the Town Superintendent.  There is a purpose for all of these accounts.  Curt Rung then proceeded to explain to Mr. Howard the difference between contractual and salary. SCARY!!!

A motion was made by the board to close the Steuben Highway and General savings accounts and transfer them to the MBIA where they would earn interest.

The board approved the Town Clerks report but on a side note I would like everyone to know that this is the 6th YEAR that the taxes did not balance and as of the date of this report they are still not balanced with the County.  The tax collectors balance their taxes with the County the first week in April.  For anyone that is not familiar with the collection of taxes, these are computerized now..   When a tax payment is received the tax collector brings up the tax bill on the screen, tax collector marks it paid.  At the end of the day, the tax collector would then print out a report of that days payments.  That report should match your deposit.  Boom you are done. At the end of the tax season all your deposits should match her totals from

Curt has turned in a CHIPS claim of $35,029.88 to the state for reimbursement and has gone through 11-tons of cold patch so far this year.

Alice stated that the she received a letter from the state and the town is at 100%.  The Enhanced Star is $60,100 and the Basic Star is $30,000.  Grievance day is Tuesday, May 26th from 5 to 9.

Mike Scott reported he spoke to the lawyer handling the Mosher property and it is still in the hands of their lawyer.  In the mean time, another month of paying to have the septic tank pumped at the town hall.

The town board hired Clark Patterson Engineers to handle the paperwork for the Windmills.  There will be a public hearing in July on this project.  I will let you know of the date.

Motion was passed to give the donation of $400/each to the Summer Soccer League and the Youth Program at the Library.  This money is already in the budget for these programs.

It was also suggested that they give the museum the $500 that is budgeted for them.  Mr. Howard seemed to have a problem with this money going to them.  He felt that the town was giving away too much money and that this appropriated fund should go to Don Cady instead for mileage.  For anyone who isn’t aware, Don Cady is the Town Historian though I’m not sure when he was actually appointed.

I hope everyone has a great and safe Memorial Day Weekend!!!!!

This meeting actually went quite fast compared to other meetings.  The board approved the justice reports from last month and this month.  They could not remember what their questions were on last months report or that they had even voted it down. Here is my sarcastic part for the night, maybe if the minutes were done correctly and detailed the board members could remember from month to month what is going on.  Oh…and another thing where is the road paved on the Harlan Ames road?  I seemed to have missed the new pavement the other day when I drove over it, according to the minutes the road was paved.

The highway superintendent did not submit a report his month.

Mr. Kozlowski spoke to the board regarding the windmills in Eagle.  Mr. Kozlowski met with Joseph Kushner, Supervisor,  regarding the windmills in their town.  Mr. Kushner offered to come down  and meet with us and answer any questions that we have about the windmills.  The Town of Eagle is having 83 windmills constructed.  Mr. Kushner stated that it took them about two years to complete the whole process of the windmills.  The Town of Eagle residents pay no tax.  If you are interested in hearing more about this please attend the board meetings I will try to keep you informed as much as I can.

Mike Scott stated he received a phone call from the attorney and the property behind the town hall should be transferred to the town within the next couple of weeks.   The board would like to get the sewer started as soon as possible.

At the end of the meeting, Mr. Howard stated they have revised the budget and the town’s portion of the increase is down to .91% with out the fireman’s budget in there.  The fireman’s budget puts it up to a 3% increase.  As far as raises are concerned the highway superintendent’s increase was cut back to $2,000, which is still a damn good raise.  I wish I could have a 6.25% raise after my first year on the job.  The assessor’s salary was changed from $12,500 to $9,900.

Jon Reitz questioned if board members are paid for months they are not present.  Dick Howard explained that board members are considered salary employees and get paid no matter what. Mr. Reitz also questioned why the revised assessments were not received from the Assessor’s Office.  Alice replied that she did not realize that she was suppose to send out revised assessments.  Mr. Reitz questioned Alice why this was, she had received the same letter from the lawyer that everyone else did.

The Justice Report was read.  There was a question from the peanut gallery whether or not Mrs. Manners has gone to training and was familiar with the increase in surcharges.  I went straight to the source for this information and yes Judge Manners is familiar with the new surcharges and they have been implemented.

What started out as a quiet meeting progressing along smoothly quickly turned tense between the highway superintendent and the “Highway Committee”. What brought this about? Dick Kozlowski questioned Curt why it took the men 60 hours to do the little bit of milling that was done on Blaine Road. (I thought we might have a donnybrook on our hands for a minute) This turned into a great deal of tension during the remainder of meeting.

Highway Superintendent’s Report:

• Millings on Blaine Road
• Cut brush on Harland Ames road
• Graveled Billings Hill Road and Claire Carrier Road
• 2 Culverts on Burdick Road were replaced
• Graded Bowker Road
• Worked on shoulders on Allentown Road
• Fixed bridge on Andrews Road
• Cleaned ditch behind shop
• Millings on end of Wells Road
• New cutting edge on loader
• New skid plates on under side of bucket
• Put crushed 3’s and 4’s on the seasonal part of Dimmick and then covered with screened bank run (at the request of the school)
• Graved and graveled by Hoshal’s on Dimmick
• Received three bids for hauling of Sand & Salt  (Jr. Green of Wellsville had the lowest bid at $5.34/ton)
• Curt made a point that bids should be in the paper earlier*
• County has brought approximately 1,400 tons of sand/salt
• Bought a 1995 1-ton Dump Truck from Andrews in Eldred for $4,000.
• Spoke with Guy James from the County DPW concerning the right-of-way for Paul Plants

The Code Enforcement Officer issued three building permits were issued for a total of $130.00.

Dog Control Officer passed their yearly inspection and had one run away dog.

The board passed a Resolution supporting the Cold War Veterans Exemption.  This exemption is for any service man/woman that served during the Cold War which is defined as September 2, 1945 to December 26, 1991 provided such property meets the requirements of the law and they have a honorable discharge.  Applications must be filed in the Assessor’s office by March 1 and must be accompanied by a copy of the member’s DD-214.  This exemption does not apply to school taxes.  The applicant cannot be receiving exemption under other veteran’s exemption programs.  The exemption is granted for 10 years and must be renewed annually.

There was more talk concerning the doors and new stove for the shop.  It was decided to put the doors out to bid.  I suggested to the board that they have specifics on their bid to make sure they were paying for what they really wanted and didn’t get stuck with underlying costs.  I found it interesting though that Mr. Howard said the board could still award to John Day (assessor) the doors even if he isn’t low bidder.  I’m sorry but as a tax payer, I want those doors awarded to the lowest bidder.  We might want to stress that to our board.  I’m not 100% certain but I would think there would be a conflict of interest anyways by awarding the job to John.  If he was an appointed assessor there wouldn’t be however; he is an elected official with the town.

Curt questioned why the highway fund still owes the general fund $25,000.  Michelle was not sure about this.  Didn’t the General Fund lend the Highway Fund $25,000 for the new grader?  Just wondering.

The town still has not requested a refund from Abbott Welding for the argon tank the Bob Sherwood has had for the last couple of years.  Why was this not done when it was discovered?  Why does everyone have to ask permission to ask for a refund for the town?

The town received a letter from the insurance company stating they want the town to fence in the yard at the town barns and if this is not feasible then install security cameras with night with night vision capability with continuous feed and digital recording.

Assessors Report- October 13, 2008

Town’s Budget as of October 13, 2008

The Fiscal Report was not approved this month. The board is questioning why transfers and corrections have not been done that they requested three months ago. There was also a question why the withholdings for the highway workers has not been corrected yet. Once the report is corrected I’ll have it back up for you.

Mr. Howard informed the board that the Town has received 2 petitions for Small Claims Assessment Review.

There will be a District III Legislative Meeting hosted by the Town of Wirt on July 29 at 7:00 p.m.

The Justice report was read. There was $950 taken in for the Town. This money is sent to the State Comptroller then the Town is reimbursed their respective amounts.

The Town Clerks report was accepted with total revenue of $126.68.

Superintendents Report highlights:

• Ditched on Zimmer
• Put up Stop sign at the bottom of Hicks Hill
• Grader (replaced solenoid and starter)
• Ditched on Monahan
• All paved roads are mowed
• D.E.C. inspected tanks- some repairs need to be done
• Is working with Mr. Kozlowski to get prisoners here to help out on the roads

There was discussion on taking bids for a new wood stove for the highway shop. Mike Scott is going to get some information and report back to the board next month.

Assessor’s Report:

• 2 Small claims received
• Alice attended “Deeds and Sales” on June 18 in Batavia
• Final roll is on file in the Town Clerk’s office
• Sales Information:
  • Elma Pangburn’s house sold for $61,800- her assessment was $45,200
  • 29.7 acres (vacant land) on the Pangburn Road just sold for $58,000

The board received a 180-day notice from Teamsters concerning contract negotiations. The current contract is up this year.

Mr. Dunmire inquired about the State Audit what the Town needed to do next. There was some discussion concerning having another meeting with the state auditor. Jane was checking with the State.

Gail Miller and Bob Dunbar addressed the Board concerning the recent problems they have encountered with the assessors. Mr. Dunbar had a list of information that was necessary in order for him to file a small claims review. However, Alice refused to help him. Mr. Scott stated that the board had informed the assessors that they were not to assess their own or a family member’s property. Mr. Reitz inquired to how far out this reached. He stated that in a small town such as Wirt everyone is related to each other somehow. What are the limitations?

Mr. Scott stated that it was a conflict of interest for Alice to help Ms. Miller and Mr. Dunbar. Mr. Dunbar stated that is fine, but Randy Harmon is never in town and John Day has not helped him. When he has phoned Mr. Day at his home he was asked not to call there because his wife did not want him to. Mr. Day informed Mr. Dunbar that if he wanted to get a hold of him he could go through his mother-in-law, Jane. Mr. Dunbar had asked Alice and Jane to have John give him a call and he never did. There was a unanimous vote from the board that Alice would provide Mr. Dunbar with the information and that Ms. Miller could pick it up from Jane on Friday.

Jane then stated that she was no longer going to send out minutes until after the board meeting of the following month. She stated that she had them done within the two weeks however she was refusing to send them out. Mr. Dunbar (and myself) inquired to why this is. He provides a self-addressed stamp envelope for her to send them. The board informed Jane that she was to send out the minutes to Mr. Dunbar.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Mr. Sadler informed the Board that Ann Hampshire has not done anything to clean up her property. The Board stated to send her a ticket. Bravo!!

Jamie Foster spoke to the Board about having inmates from the Groveland Correctional Facility (from Livingston County) perform work for the town all free of charge. Groveland will transport the inmates along with a guard. The inmates are allowed to run chainsaws and other equipment. The Town of Almond works with Groveland to help cut brush and clear roads. This to me sounds like a wonderful opportunity for the town. All of the roads in the town have brush that needs to be cleared away. The contact information was given to the town.

Another interesting tidbit that came out of this meeting was the fact that the Town had a $10,000 CD that was supposed to be cashed last month to pay back the general fund for the grader purchase. Well this was never done, the CD rolled over and now in order to get the money it will cost the town $100 to cash this.

Unfortunately this is all I have for you this month but I promise that I will be back next month with the full meeting.

Assessor Report June 9, 2008
Superintendet Report June 9, 2008

The meeting was called to order by Mr. Howard at 7:32 p.m. by Mr. Howard with the Pledge of Allegiance. The minutes from last month were approved after a couple of corrections were made. The minutes should read: “Mr. Robert Dunbar complained that he could not get the minutes within 2 weeks of the board meeting. The board replied Jane is doing what we told her to do. After some discussion it was decided that Jane WILL make the minutes public WITHIN two weeks with the word “Draft” on top of the paper”. The other change was that $200.00 will be paid to Kevin Hamilton not the Utopia Cemetery Association.

Public Comments:

Larry Thompson addressed the Board about the property located beside his property on the Watson Road that is owned by Jack Dell of North Tonawanda. Mr. Thompson stated that this is the 3^rd or 4^th time that he has addressed the board concerning the abandoned junk camper trailers on the property. Mr. Thompson spoke to Paul Sadler, Code Enforcement Officer, prior to building his new home and was informed that the trailers were in violation of the Junk Law that was adopted in 1965 and they would be taken care of. This is now 2 years later and they are still there. Mr. Sadler stated that he has sent Mr. Dell a certified letter but it came back unsigned. Mr. Dunbar stated that under the law that is enough proof to prove than an effort was made to contact a person and that he should proceed with the next step. Want to take bets on whether or not Mr. Thompson will have to go back to the board? My bet is that he will.

Theresa Baldwin requested that a cigarette butt container be placed outside the town hall so that everyone doesn’t have to look at the mess. Mr. Scott asked Curt if he would get a bucket with some sand and place out there.

Fred Tompkins, Mayor of Richburg, made a request that some of the town’s gravel be moved back by the town barn on Mill Street. The village plans on milling the street and paving it this summer. They would like it below street level. Curt stated he would get that done.

Fiscal Report: The fiscal report was approved once changes were made.

Town Clerk Report: Jane reported that the taxes balance this year. (What she failed to do was to give a big “Thank You” to the Town of Bolivar and Alma Clerks for all their help in making this happen) and that she collected 83% of the taxes for the Town “The Most in the County per Terry Ross”. Funny I thought the big “atta boy” should go to the town of Independence for collecting 93%.

Curt Rung presented his highway report and stated that the Clair Carrier Road had been ditched from one end to the other. Mike Scott thanked Curt for doing actually finishing a road that was started.

Assessors Report: Alice handed out her assessor’s report.

The General Bills were approved to be paid with the total amount of $4,032.07. They were all approved with the exception of the National Fuel bill which is still not correct.

The Highway Bills were approved to be paid with the total amount of $32,483.92.

At the close of the meeting, the Board passed a resolution to proceed with the NY CLASS program.

Town Budget as of May 12, 2008

Highway Superintendent Report May 12, 2008

Assessor Report May 12, 2008