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Home My WebLink About2014 Apr-Jun, Town Government Newsletter.pdf1 Town of Enfield 168 Enfield Main Road http://townofenfield.org April-June 2014 Newsletter Enfield Town Boards Meetings are held in the Community Building, 1st floor Town Board: 2nd Wednesday, 6:30pm Town Supervisor Ann Rider 277-3478 ann-rider@townofenfield.org Vera Howe-Strait Town Council Members Virginia Bryant 387-9376 Mike Carpenter 277-4204 Vera Howe-Strait 273-1413 Beth McGee 229-7870 Planning Board: 1st Wednesday, 7pm Chair, Dan Walker 387-6394 Ann Chaffee 272-6460 Dawn George 273-1247 Steve Givin 273-7434 Calvin Rothermich 272-5930 Red Poney Carpenter 279-2372 Henry Hanstein 727-3746 Town Offices Town Clerk 273-8256 Alice Linton, Town Clerk Sue Thompson, Deputy Town Clerk Town Office/Clerk Hours: Monday-Thursday, 3 pm - 6 pm Highway Department 272-6490 Barry Rollins, Highway Superintendent Town Highway Office Hours: Monday-Friday: 6 am - 2:30 pm Town Court 273-0363 Justice Poole: Monday, 5:00 pm Code Enforcement Office Community Building, 2nd floor Code Enforcement 277-0266 Alan Teeter, Code Enforcement Officer Code Enforcement Office Hours: Monday thru Thursday 8:30-11 am Wednesday 5-7 pm - Community Bldg, dwnstrs 882-9958 Town Historian Sue Thompson 272-6412 Enfield Volunteer Fire Company Roger Lauper, Chief 272-8757 Art Howser, Deputy Chief Tucker Snyder, 1st Assistant Chief Andy Senno, 2nd Assistant Chief Alan Teeter, Captain County Legislators Dave McKenna Enfield/Newfield 564-7243, dmckenna@tompkins-co.org Jim Dennis Enfield/Ulysses 387-4058, jpd821@yahoo.com Report from the Supervisor Dear Residents of Enfield - The Town Board welcomes 2 new members to its membership. Beth McGee and Virginia Bryant were both elected to 4 year terms in November and Mike Carpenter was elected to fill out my term as Councilperson when I was appointed to fill out Roy Barriere’s Supervisor term. Beth will be heading the Personnel Committee and has agreed to chair a working committee to finalize and complete the revision/update of the 2001 Comprehensive Plan which the Planning Board has worked on for the past 2 years. Virginia is reviewing our dog license fee structure and will be making recommendations to the full Board by May. She is also going to head a committee to address the future of our hamlet center both in terms of esthetics and growth possibilities. Mike is our new Facilities Manager, taking over from Chris Hern, who did a herculean job for the last 4 years. Mike and I are also working on a committee with other community members to review Town properties, their current usefulness and possible future use options. Progress reports of all these committees will be made regularly at our monthly Board meetings held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month starting at 6:30 pm in the upstairs of the Community Building. I am looking forward to working with our new Board members and welcome their knowledge, energy and enthusiasm. Enfield is cooperating with several other Tompkins County municipalities to do a dog enumeration during the next 3 years. This is a heads up to get your new dogs licensed before the enumerator tracks you down. All dogs need to have rabies shots and have a license from your local Town Clerk, Alice Linton. It’s part of your responsibility as a dog owner. The Town is planning Spring Clean-Up Days on May 13-17 to be held at the new Highway Facility, 475 Enfield Main Rd. It’s just 1 mile up the road from the old Highway Facility. If you have useable items that you want to get rid of, both the Enfield Community Council and the Fireman’s Ladies Auxiliary are sponsoring a Community Yard Sale on May 17 from 9-2 pm. Call Deena Rambaum (ECC) 379-3420 or Suzie Reynolds (Auxiliary) at 387-9764 to donate. Call Deena if you want your own yard sale advertised in the ECC flyer. Enough of the snow and zero weather, Ann Rider, Supervisor Town of Enfield Historian Report Thompson (sdt1@cornell.edu) Our afterschool program history club is still busy with learning about the post offices of Enfield and collecting stamps. We are currently working on puppets and will record “Enfield History” plays with the puppets. The Municipal Historians of Tompkins County will be updating the towns’ touring brochures this coming year. Remember there are still more US civil war events occurring in 2014 – monuments for the Civil War Nurses – TC3 program will be placed at the college; Dorothy Cotton Jubilee concert will be held on May 4 at the AME Zion Church in Ithaca and May 9 at the Danby Church. 2 Need a Space to Meet? The Enfield Community Center is available for Enfield community events and activities, and has tables and chairs available. To reserve space, or report a problem with the facility, contact the Town Clerk for the appropriate referrral. From the Highway Superintendent Sure has been an up & down winter, just like the roads getting beat up & down. We hope everyone had a safe winter. So far this winter (January and February) we have burnt a 1,000 gallons more fuel and put in 80 more hours of overtime, then we did in 2013. And used much more sand then last year too, which will have a little impact on our summer projects. We also had a few frozen pipes because of the extreme cold, which caused a few water issues. We will be concentrating on winter cleanup work and pot holes when the weather breaks. As usual our summer work will consist of cutting shoulders, ditching and some road crossing pipe replacements. Our hope is also to finish projects that were put on hold due to last August’s flooding. Enfield Center road and Akien Road. New summer projects are scheduled to be South Van Dorn road between Enfield Center and Bostwick Rd and Colegrove Rd. Which stands to change after this winter’s assessment of the roads. Spring cleanup will be the week of May 13th through the 17th at the Highway. And as usual call to be put on the fill dirt & wood chips list if interest. We will deliver if working in your area. We sure do appreciate all of the positive phone calls, e-mails and cards, it really helps to make the guys feel good about their hard work, (I post them on our front board at the Highway). See you on the roads. Buddy Rollins Enfield Highway Superintendent 272-6490 From The Town Clerk We’re hoping that spring is just around the corner and that many of you will have time to do some fishing in the months ahead. Yes, we’re ready to sell fishing licenses – when you purchase your license from the town, a small portion of the license fee stays in the town instead of going to a large store. If you should get a new dog, or have a dog that isn’t licensed, you can find a form for licensing on the town’s website, www.townofenfield.org, or stop by our office to pick up a form. All dogs residing in the Town of Enfield need to be licensed! A rabies clinic will be held at the old highway facility (the same place as in past years) sometime in May. You can call our office for the date, or look for a listing in local newspapers. Our office hours will continue to be Monday through Thursday from 3-6 p.m. If those hours aren’t convenient for you, give us a call at 273-8246 or send an e-mail to townclerk@townofenfield.org and we’ll be glad to open the office at a time that works for you. Enjoy the warmer days ahead, Alice Linton, Enfield Town Clerk Have you seen the Town of Enfield Comprehensive Plan? In 2001, the Town of Enfield took on the task of creating a Comprehensive Plan to determine community goals and objectives for the future of Enfield. Ten years later, with many of those goals met, it was determined that it was time to update that plan. To see our current Comprehensive Plan, please visit the Town of Enfield Website at: http:// townofenfield.org/comprehensive-plan-2001 A comprehensive plan provides a process for identifying community resources, long range community needs, and commonly held goals. It also provides a process for developing community consensus and a blueprint for future municipal tasks. Since 2012, the Enfield Planning Board has put much effort into the development of an updated version of that plan through a community survey, community committees, and gaining new information from updated sources. Their efforts have laid the groundwork for the next phase of this project, which will be to enhance the framework of our existing plan and to include new information from the recent draft plan and create a final document. In order to allow the Enfield Town and Planning Boards to return to their regular tasks, a working group is being developed to complete this final phase of work that will include some Planning and Town Board members and Community members as well. All talents and experience are valued and active community participation is encouraged. All meetings will be open to the public. If you would like to be a part of this working group, please contact Town Councilperson Beth McGee at beth-mcgee@townofenfield.org or by calling 229-7870. Your participation is valuable and appreciated. Enfield Bridge Replacements The State Department of Transportation held an informational meeting on March 19th about planned repairs of two bridges during 2015: one on State Route 327 over Enfield Creek and the other over the west branch of Enfield Creek. The bridges are located on Route 327 approximately 4 miles and 5 miles west of Route 13. The daily traffic on this portion of Route 327 is 450 vehicles. The new structures are envisioned to be made of pre-stressed concrete. The bridge over Enfield Creek is expected to be closed; traffic will be maintained on a detour route. The bridge over the West Branch of Enfield Creek will likely be built in two stages. At this time, the start date for construction is to be determined. 3 It’s not too late to donate to the Aquifer Study Fund! To support the Enﬁeld Aquifer Study, Please Contribute: ___$25 ___$50 ___$75 ___$100 Other_____ Make checks payable to: Social Ventures; Social Ventures is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Enter on the memo line of the check: Enﬁeld Aquifer Study Fund. Mail to: Enﬁeld Aquifer Study Fund, PO Box 571, Ithaca, NY 14851. Include your name and address so we may send you a written acknowledgment of your donation. We thank you for your generous support of this critical project. For questions regarding the Aquifer Study or the Aquifer Study Fund, please email enfield.aquifer@gmail.com Broadband Expansion Are you wondering if you can get high-speed Internet in the Town of Enfield where you previously were not able to? There’s been a lot of talk about new service areas and now’s the time to find out if your neighborhood is covered. To find out if you can get service, visit www.clarityconnect.com and click on the blue button that says “Contact Me About Wireless Internet Connection” to fill out a form requesting contact. You may also call Clarity Connect: Main: (607) 257-8268 or Toll free: (888) 322-4900 or email help@clarityconnect.com More information about this project and the grant that funded it: On March 5th, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that New York State will award $25 million in funding to expand high-speed Internet access in rural upstate and underserved urban areas of New York through the Connect NY Broadband Grant Program. Clarity Connect was awarded $2,216,000 for the Tompkins and Cayuga Counties Last Mile Coverage project. This project is a multi-region project serving the Central New York and Southern Tier regions. This project leverages existing tower infrastructure to provide broadband services to the unserved portions of the Towns of Ulysses, Enfield, Newfield, Danby, Groton, Lansing, Ledyard, Genoa, Venice, Scipio, Niles, Sempronius, and Summerhill in Cayuga and Tompkins County. The project will also upgrade DSL services increasing existing speeds. You can also read about the NY State investment in this project at this link: https://www.governor.ny.gov/press/03052013-25-million-dollar-grant-bridge-digital-divide The December 31 deadline has passed, but NYS is accepting late registrations Register immediately to keep your Basic STAR exemption Receiving Basic STAR but haven't registered yet? Act now before NYS notifies your assessor to remove the exemption. Senior citizens receiving the Enhanced STAR exemption are not affected by the new registration requirement. New homeowners applying for the Basic STAR exemption do need to register this year. Register now: You can register by calling (518) 457- 2036: Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. You’ll need: · Your STAR code (from the letter NYS sent you) · provide the names and social security numbers for all owners of the property and spouses, and · answer a few questions about the income and residency of the owners and their spouses. What's Basic STAR and why do I need to register? The Basic STAR exemption saves homeowners $700 each year on average. · The STAR exemption is available for owner-occupied, primary residences where the combined income of resident owners and their spouses is $500,000 or less. · All homeowners receiving a Basic STAR property tax exemption must register with the New York State Tax Department in order to receive the exemption in year 2014 and after. · This registration requirement is not satisfied by your original application to your local assessor. For more information: Call (518) 457-2036 From the Code Enforcement Office After a long cold winter, building is starting to pick up in Enfield. As of the first of April I had only issued seven building permits, which is a little less than normal. I now seem to be getting several calls every day with questions about new projects, from new small businesses to swimming pools. Yes, people are thinking about swimming in the not-to- distant future. As always, feel free to call if you have any questions about work you may be planning. The first week of April I attended a conference in Syracuse to receive 24 hours of in-service training. NYS requires in-service training for all certified code officers to maintain their certification. Although the state requires training, do to staff cuts they only provide limited opportunities for trainings taught by state instructors. Now, most training hours are picked up at conferences like the one I attended last week. The drawback to this is some trainings, such as land use/zoning or commercial kitchens, don't really apply to Enfield. The session on manufactured housing, although, was very good for me – but it doesn't apply for the inspectors from the cities. Overall, it was a good conference and completes my requirements for the year. I would like to remind everyone that if you or someone you know is elderly or low income there are opportunities for no cost home repairs through Better Housing of Tompkins County or Bishop Sheen Housing. Most of these programs are ongoing and the work is done by local contractors and is inspected by my office. If you would like more information, they can be contacted by calling Better Housing of Tompkins County at 607 273-2187 or Bishop Sheen at 585 657 4114— or call me if you have questions. Have a great summer. Alan Teeter Enfield Code Enforcement Office 277-0266 4 Town of Enfield 168 Enfield Main Road Ithaca NY 14850 SPRING CLEAN-UP DAYS FOR THE TOWN OF ENFIELD The Enfield Town Board has arranged for Town Clean-Up Days to be held at the New Highway Facility, 475 Enfield Main Road during the following days and times: Tuesday May 13 from 9:00 - 5:00 Wednesday May 14 from 9:00 - 5:00 Thursday May 15 from 9:00 - 5:00 Friday May 16 from 9:00 - 5:00 Saturday May 17 from 7:00 - noon This clean-up is for Town of Enfield residents only. Please be mindful of this. The following items will NOT be taken: Household garbage Items that can be recycled at Tompkins County Solid Waste Waste or garbage from a business Waste or garbage from a landlord Radioactive or hazardous wastes Paint cans, unless they are open and empty Tires, unless they are on rims We will be taking scrap metal and appliances, including freezers and refrigerators. In moving these items, please be careful not to break the gas lines. Vegetative matter including scrap wood (without nails) can be taken to the Highway Department any time and put in the brush pile. The Highway Department will chip as time allows. If you have further questions, please contact Ann Rider, Supervisor at 277-3478. Dates to Remember April 2 Planning Board Meeting, Community Bldg, 7 pm 2 Volunteer of the Month nominations due 9 Town Board Meeting, Community Bldg, 6:45 pm May 7 Planning Board Meeting, Community Bldg, 7 pm 7 Volunteer of the Month nominations due 14 Town Board Meeting, Community Bldg, 6:45 pm June 4 Planning Board Meeting, Community Bldg, 7 pm 4 Volunteer of the Month nominations due 11 Town Board Meeting, Community Bldg, 6:45 pm