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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008_Enfield-Town-Government-Newsletter-Spring-200 Enfield Town Boards Meetings are held in the Community Building, 1st floor Town Board: 2nd Wednesday, 7pm Town Supervisor Frank Podufalski 277—0838 Deputy Supervisor Jean Owens 273—5682 Town Council Members Roy Barriere 277—3843 Stephanie Gaynor 272—8384 Robert Harvey 277—7656 Herb Masser, Jr. 387—8213 Planning Board:1st Wednesday, 7pm Virginia Bryant, co—chair 387—9376 Jim McConkey, co—chair 387—9830 Ann Chaffee 387—8405 Rich Neno, Sr. 273—9464 Calvin Rothermich 272—5930 Debbie Teeter 277—4547 Doug Willis 272—2072 Town Offices 168 Enfield Main Road Town Clerk 273-8256 Alice Laue, Town Clerk Pat Dougheity, Deputy Town Clerk Town Office/Clerk Hours: Tuesday: 8—11 am, 3—8 pm Wednesday: 4—7 pm Thursday: 2—5 pm Highway Department 272-6490 David Miller, Highway Superintendent Town Highway Office Hours: Monday—Friday: 6 am — 2:30 pm Town Court 273-0363 Justice Poole: Monday, 5:00 pm Justice Varricchio: Thursday, 5:00 pm Code Enforcement Office Community Building, 2nd floor Code Enforcement 277—0266 James Mead, Code Enforcement Officer Alan Teeter, Code Enforcement Officer Code Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9 am—12 pm Town Website: http://townofenfieldorg County Legislators Greg Stevenson Enfield/Newfield 273-2439 gwstevenson@htva.net Jim Dennis Enfield/Ulysses 387-4058 'pd821@yahoo.com Town of Enfield Spring 2008 Newsletter Report from the Supervisor It’s been an exciting first three months in office for the new Enfield Town Board members. We hit the ground running with a new fire contract in place without all the in-fighting that has taken place in the past. We now look forward to working on a Fire District for the future. With a Fire District in place there should no longer be the problem of having to negotiate a fire contract on a yearly basis. This will provide for continuous fire protection for our town and give the residents more say in how money is spent on fire protection. As many of you know, we had to shut down the Community Building for a short period of time in order to bring things up to code so that we could hold our board meetings there. We are currently working on finishing the upstairs. Electrical inspections need to be made and some finish work needs to be completed. In the meantime the downstairs continues to be open to the Food Distribution Network as well as to the Enfield community in general. We thank the public for their patience while we continue to bring the building up to code compliance. Speaking of Code Compliance, I’d like to welcome our new Code Enforcement Officers. They are Jim Mead and Alan Teeter. They have been busy getting caught up on all the work in the office as well as inspections in the field. Please remember that before you start that addition, install a new wood or coal stove, or undertake any construction project in the town, you will need to get a building permit. While we’re on the subject of building, you all know our buildings are in need of replacement. Our current court room is located in the Town Hall Office along with the Town Clerk. There is not enough space to accommodate the Justices, the lawyers and their clients as well as anyone else during court sessions. We have grown out of our current facilities. A recent OSHA inspection of the Highway Facility found numerous safety violations, most of which would not have been cited if we had a modern facility. The Town Board is actively looking into the possibility of constructing a new facility at its 55 acre site on Enfield Main Road. There are so many possibilities for development of that site, such as a park, recreational facilities for our youth, a new Town Hall, etc. We look forward to moving the Town into the future. We are currently planning a Spring Cleanup for May 5‘h through the 81h. As in the past, the drop off site will be across from the Town Hall. There will be no road side pick-up. This is open to all Enfield residents. Please look for postings at the Town Hall, Community Building and at the Valley Korners Market. We have also resurrected and revitalized our Town Government Newsletter, which will come to you quarterly along with the Enfield Community Currents. This cooperative effort with the Community Council will save on postage and printing costs as well as avoid duplication of information. The Town Board and I look forward to serving the Enfield community, and welcome comments and questions from the residents. Frank Podufalski Town Supervisor Code Enforcement Update As of the first of the year Enfield has two new code enforcement officers. They are James Mead from Brooktondale and Alan Teeter, a resident of Enfield. Ron Clark has retired and moved to a warmer climate after many years of service—than ks, Ron, for all your hard work. The Code Enforcement office has been busy over the last couple of months, with many projects underway; with the building season upon us it will only be getting busier. Just a reminder: if you plan on starting a project this year, New York State has updated the building codes with a few changes as of the first of the year, so feel free to give the Code Enforcement Office a call with any questions or to obtain a building permit. Also a word of advice about applying mulch close to your home: sometimes mulch is shipped from a different climate and may harbor dormant insects, including termites, so use caution when purchasing and applying mulch to avoid inviting pests into your home. The Code Enforcement Office is located in the second story of the Community Building and the phone number is 277—0266. The hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 9:00 am. to 12:00 pm; additional hours will be added for the summer. Give the office a call or stop in to introduce yourself. The new Code Enforcement Officers are looking forward to working with you. Tompkins County Health Department Free Rabies Vaccine Clinic Town of Enfield Highway Building 168 Enfield Main Road Thursday, May 15 7-9 pm. State law requires all dogs, cats and ferrets older than 4 months to have valid, current rabies vaccination. All vaccinations are valid for 1 year without a copy of a vaccination certificate for each pet. Proof of prior vaccination required for vaccination to be good for more than 1 year. For questions or additional information contact the Environmental Health Division at 274—6688. The Tompkins County Barns Project From Historic Ithaca and Sue Thompson, Enfield Town Historian In 1875, there were 318 farms in the Town of Enfield, which included, we can assume, at least that many barns. The town historian's collection now has digital files of approximately 130 barns and their accompanying structures. Barns in Enfield had their traditional use in farming and they also were used as churches and homes. The first barn built in Enfield was on the Judah Baker property in the vicinity of Enfield Center, in 1806. This barn was also used as one of the first churches in Enfield. There are approximately 55 barns that can be described as English barns. These are the more traditional rectangular barns. An example of these can be found on Enfield Main Road. Twenty—six of the barns have a gambrel roof, (that is, they look like typical big hay barns with the fancy roofs). Some may be found on Aiken and Fish Roads. Unusual barns are the steep gable (Gothic Revival style) barns located on Gray and Harvey Hill Roads. Some barns now exist only in pictures. The Town Historian has a 1920 picture of a barn that was behind her own home on Enfield Center Road, which was referred to as the Laughlin farm. John Warren Laughlin purchased the farm for his mother and father, Ida and William Laughlin. The barn was a large Gambrel— roofed, bank barn, surrounded by an apple orchard. Tompkins County is home to hundreds of historic barns. Some of these are known and highly visible, but many are hidden, undiscovered treasures of our past. In an effort to recognize our important agricultural heritage, Historic Ithaca has created the “Tompkins County Barn Project" contest to help our citizens discover and celebrate this significant type of landmark which is swiftly disappearing from the landscape. Anyone with an interest in their older barn, silo, chicken house — or other type of agricultural outbuilding — is encouraged to apply. Who knows... you might have the oldest barn, tallest silo, biggest chicken coop or only existing hop house in the county! Once the application below is submitted, judges will review the information. A winner will be announced in May 2008. Over the summer, Historic Ithaca will conduct an intensive—level survey of the rural landscapes of Tompkins County — including the barns and outbuildings from the contest. This will create an inventory of our precious rural history forfuture generations and researchers. A Barn Seminar will be held in early October. Historic Ithaca will take a tour of several barns throughout the county and hear from professional timber framers and architectural historians about the significance of these quickly—disappearing buildings. Barn Inventory Send the form to: Historic Ithaca, 109 West State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850. Applications should be submitted before mid—April. Section 1: Your name: Your address: Phone/E—mail: Your association with the property: Address or location of the barn: Owner‘s name: Owner‘s address: Owner‘s phonele—mail: Section 2: Please provide a brief physical description of the structure: (For example: the approximate size, a description of windows and doors, siding and roofing material, etc.) Section 3: Please provide us with at least four (4) photographs of the barn; at least two interior and two exterior. These photos should show as much of the barn as possible, and should be taken from different views. You may also provide additional close—up pictures, if you feel it would help your application 2 The Important Difference between Property Assessment & Taxes By Legislators Greg Stevenson & Jim Dennis Typically property tax rates are set by school boards, town boards, and county legislatures, but not by assessors. Each board determines the total amount of taxes it needs to raise, and then divides that number by the total taxable assessed value of the jurisdiction to determine the tax rate. Your share of the tax is calculated by multiplying the tax rate by your property’s assessed value minus exemptions, such as STAR. Assessors are responsible for determining your property’s assessed value. In order to do this, the assessor estimates your property’s market value (the price it would sell for in the real estate market), and then applies the municipal level of assessment (LOA) to that market value. In Tompkins County, for 2008 the level of assessment is 100 percent, so a home with a market value of $90,000 has an assessed value of $90,000. The assessor also performs other functions, such as processing exemption applications and keeping track of the local real estate market, M the assessor does not determine your tax rate. If you feel your taxes are too high, you should take that up with the town board, school board, or county legislature that is determining tax levies and setting the tax rates. If you feel your assessment is too high, there are administrative and judicial processes where you can seek to have your assessment lowered. Assessments should be based on market value, and if you feel your assessment is too high, your first step in confirming that is to determine your property’s market value. The best way to do this is to look at the sale prices of similar properties in similar neighborhoods. The staff at the Tompkins County Department of Assessment can be very helpful to you when you have concerns about your assessment. You should not hesitate to contact their office. If you still feel that your assessment is too high, we recommend that you informally discuss your concerns with your assessor. More information on the grievance process is available from the Tompkins County assessor’s office at 274-5517 or go to www.tompkins-co.orqlassessment. Legislator Greg Stevenson can be contacted via e-mail at gwstevenson@htva.net, or by phone at 273-2439. Legislator Jim Dennis can be contacted via e-mail at 'pd821@yahoo.com, or by calling 387-4058. Assessment Review Day Wednesday, May 7 Town Hall 3-6 pm. Call 274-5517 for more information or to make an appointment. Community Beautification The Town of Enfield is beginning it’s 3rd year of projects through a Community Beatification matching grant funded by the Tompkins County Hotel Room Tax. Projects to date have been the new town signs and the plantings around them, planters by all the street lamps in the center of town and replacement of some of the shrubs at those same locations, planters at the Town Hall and Community Building, and new banners for the street lamps. The Enfield Beautification Committee will meet soon to plan and get underway with this year’s projects, and welcomes new members. If you enjoy working outdoors with flowers and plants and friendly people, contact Ann Rider at 277-3478. 4 Days Only: 12:00 noon until 7:00pm daily the Town Hall. There will be Ecurbside pick-up. ENFIELD’S SPRING CLEAN-UP WEEK Monday May 5 through Thursday May 8 Drop-off site will be in the same location as previous years, across from 0 Items accepted include large and small appliances, scrap metal and miscellaneous items. 0 Steel needs to be separated before being brought in so that it can be recycled. 0 Computers, monitors and printers will be accepted and set aside for trucking separately to the Tompkins County Solid waste management Division for recycling. 0 tems NOT accepted are construction materials, yard waste, tires, household garbage, batteries, chemicals, liquid paint, hazardous materials, refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners containing Freon. Newspapers, cardboard, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles, metal cans and paper milkjuice cartons should be recycled using your curbside recycling pickup offered through the Tompkins County Solid Waste Management Division. Proof of Residency may be required. A Drivers License, utility bill or tax bill with street address accepted, (no PO Box addresses) Town of Enfield Planning Board Re-energizes for 2008 After a nearly 5-month hiatus (the Planning Board’s last regular meeting was in October 2007), the Town Board invited the Planning Board to a joint meeting on March 19, 2008. At this meeting, the Town Board gave instructions to the Planning Board to re-start the process of drafting a local wind farm law since the local law passed by the prior Town Board in December 2007 had just been repealed. Planning Board Members were given material brought back from the NYS Association of Towns by Councilpersons Barriere and Masser which contained a model local law for wind farms as well as other related information. In addition, they received copies of Hartsville, New York’s adopted Local Law pertaining to wind farms. The comment was made, “We’ll be doing a lot of reading, that’s for sure!". Several Planning Board Members will attend a NYS Department of State sponsored training entitled “Wind Power" on April 9, 2008 in Cortland. The Planning Board had its first regular meeting of 2008 on Wednesday, April 2. All members were present, as was Herb Masser, the Town Board’s liaison to the Planning Board. Minutes from this meeting will be posted on the Town’s website after approval at the next Planning Board Meeting on May 7, 2008. The Planning Board’s regular meetings occur on the 1“ Wednesday of every month at 7:00 pm. on the first floor of the Community Building. Town of Enfield 168 Enfield Main Road Ithaca NY 14850 Dates to Remember Spring Clean Up Week Across from Town Hall 12:00 pm—7:00 pm daily Assessment Review Day Town Hall, 3—6 pm. Planning Board Meeting Community Building, 7 pm Town Board Meeting Community Building, 7 pm Free Rabies Vaccine Clinic Town Highway Bldg, 7—9 pm. Planning Board Meeting Community Building, 7 pm Town Board Meeting Community Building, 7 pm Planning Board Meeting Community Building, 7 pm Town Board Meeting Community Building, 7 pm