“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.