HomeMy WebLinkAboutMayor's Report 1/15/1973Mayor's Report
1/15/73
The contracts drawn in connection with bidding in the sewer remodelling are the
subject of legal action now before the courts. Mr. Sovorool, as perhaps he will report
later, has filed a brief stating the Village position in answer to the brief filed
on behalf of the Cseneral Contractor's Association of New York. He has worked many
hours on this case and has visited New York to meet with our Consultants and their
lawyers. I have urged him to give full attention to this matter and have advised
him that his actions will fall outside his general responsibilities as attorney for
the Village.
The Environmental Protection Agency of the State and other State officials know
that we are involved in this litigation; they follow it with much interest. They
advise us to go forward with the processing of the papers. Teetor- Dobbins have
these matters in hand. In this connection I need a motion to complete one part of
our original contract with Teetor - Dobbins. The contract provided that they would
serve as inspectors of the remodelling workwhilth it was in progress. A formal
statement to this effect is necessary at this time. I therefore ask you to authorize
me to sign the following letter.
The high level of the'County and Town tax in the Village has caused much
correspondence and many telephone calls. Questions addressed to County officials
call forth the response that the sole cause of the increase is the decision by this
Board to take its share of the County Sales Tax. I have questioned this explanation.
In any case I have not been able to show to what degree the Sales Tax decision was
responsible for the tax increase. I have repeated what was said here a month ago -
that the Board would apply the Sales Tax receipts to its general operating expenses.
I have said that budgetary matters would be open for discussion at the annual Village
meeting next month and at the Organizational meeting on the first Monday in April.
Some letters to me as Mayor and many calls to the police have protested the
freedom with which dogs roam the Village, make excessive noise, overturn garbage
pails, and occasionally bite or attack persons. We have studied a number of
ordinances in use in other communities, particularly the one recently adopted by
the City of Ithaca. We have prepared a preliminary draft of an ordinance whose purpose
is to control the movement of all dogs and to penalize the owners of dogs whose
habits, over a period of time, show them to be a nuisance. The question before the
Board tonight is do you wish to schedule a public hearing on the subject and if so
on what terms.
The Board agreed at its last meeting to hold a public hearing on the question
of cluster housing in the Village. We should decide tonight when we wish to hold
the meeting and what the terms of reference of the hearing should be; In the light
of our discussion at the last meeting I suggest that when the meeting takes place
it should consider the general question "should the Zoning haws of the Village be
changed to permit the location of cluster housing areas within the single family
residence zone of the Village ?"
I have received a letter from Mr. Petruccelli of the E.P.A. urging the Village
to supply at once maps showing the location of work conducted during the past two
years In the Village sewer lines. Mr. Rogers has prepared maps for this purpose.
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I have received from Mr. Walter Schwan, Town of Ithaca Supervisor, a letter
indicating the intent of the Town to use Village Fire Service during the calendar
Year 1973. He asks if it will be possible, during 1973, for the Village to enter
into a long term contract for this service to the Town for a period of at least
ten years.
Questions concerning the new water program based on Bolton Point are at present
in abeyance following the. announcement that the Housing & Urban Design Program has
come to a halt. At this end we are altogether uncertain what the timing will be
for the reopening of the program or what the status of our enquiries may be.
F. G. Marcham