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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009 Enfield-Town-Government-Newsletter-Spring-2009.pdf1 Town of Enfield 168 Enfield Main Road http://townofenfield.org Spring 2009 Newsletter 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 Vacant: contact Town Supervisor if interested in this board Town Offices Town Clerk 273-8256 Alice Laue, Town Clerk Pat Dougherty, 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 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 Justice Varricchio: Thursday, 5:00 pm Code Enforcement Office Community Building, 2nd floor Code Enforcement 277-0266 Alan Teeter, Code Enforcement Officer Carl Staley, Code Enforcement Officer Code Enforcement Office Hours: Monday, Thursday & Saturday 8:30-11 am Wednesday 8:30-12 pm & 5-8 pm Town Historian Sue Thompson 272-6412 Enfield Volunteer Fire Company Ron Switzer, Chief 272-8757 Art Howser, Deputy Chief Roger Lauper, 1st Assistant Chief Ben Giles, 2nd Assistant Chief Kirk VanDee, Captain County Legislators Report from the Supervisor Enfield is a wonderful rural community with extensive resources and a vibrant population. In spite of this we often find ourselves ridiculed by the county population in general due to the appearance of an inability to get along and behave towards each other in a civil manner. In truth, while most of us do treat each other respectfully, even when we disagree, there is a small number of people who express disagreement and frustration inappropriately. This does not make Enfield unique, or even unusual; it does, however, make it difficult to govern effectively. Recently, in my own frustration with a few residents that have interrupted meetings with out of order comments, questions and accusations since I took office, I suspended the Privilege of the Floor period at Town Board meetings. As anyone reading the subsequent coverage of this meeting in the Ithaca Journal knows, this was not well received by some of the town’s residents. For the record, I have spoken with a greater number of residents that applauded my action than spoke out against it that evening. It is not my intention or desire to stifle dissent. I don’t expect that we will all agree, all the time. I ran for this office with very clear, very public intentions and believe residents voted for me because they supported my positions. I think this is an appropriate time to review the issues I cited as important when I ran for office, and where we currently stand on these issues: • Efforts to form a fire district have been side tracked (see page 2). During the process of trying to form a fire district, we were able to maintain fire protection for the town by acting in good faith with the Fire Company. When it became clear the fire district effort would fail, we negotiated a contract with the Fire Company. The fact that the Town Board and the Fire Company were able to work together to ensure continuing fire protection during this period has been used against as proof that fire protection would NOT have ended during the contentious fire contract dispute in 2007. Residents should understand the very real difference between these situations. • The board continues to move forward with new town facilities, again with opposition from a small group. We will break ground on a long-overdue highway facility shortly. • Since I took office, the Town board has held only a couple special or emergency meetings, as compared with 11 in 2007 alone held by the previous board. • With all but one town board member and me being new to town government in 2008, we’ve had a lot to learn. We’ve made mistakes, which we’ve admitted publicly and worked to rectify. We have not tried to hide our “warts”, which has again been used against us, with a repeated suggestion of incompetence. While we may not have made the progress we’d hoped for in some areas, we can be confident that what we have accomplished has been done the right way. • We’ve held the line on town taxes; Enfield continues to have the lowest property tax rate in the county: 1.107 per $1000 of assessed value. Our Fire Protection costs continue to be in line with other nearby communities—let’s hope our fire company continues to get the volunteers they need to remain [continued, next page] Greg Stevenson Enfield/Newfield 273-2439 gwstevenson@htva.net Jim Dennis Enfield/Ulysses 387-4058 jpd821@yahoo.com 2 Enfield Volunteer Fire Company Inc. The question has been asked as to where fire protection stands in the Town of Enfield. I must say that with all that has occurred over the last few months I sometimes wonder myself. First I want to make it perfectly clear that there is no intent by either the Enfield Volunteer Fire Company Inc (EVFC) or the Enfield Town Board to disrupt fire and emergency medical services in the town. Both parties have worked extremely hard the last few months to establish a fire district, a step that would have eliminated any possibility that fire and medical services would ever be disrupted, as was the case in 2007. It was the belief by both parties based on input from concerned residents and members of the previous town board that a fire district was more suited for the Town of Enfield. The Fire District would allow registered voters in the town to vote for Fire Commissioners to oversee the Fire Company. Voters would also have the opportunity to vote on major purchases such as fire apparatus and all fire district meetings are open to the public. Currently the EVFC Board of Directors oversees the fire company and their purchases and those meetings are closed to the public. The Board of Directors are elected by the membership of the EVFC. The Town Board held a public hearing on the formation of a fire district in December 2008 and a resolution for formation was passed. However, in February some of the same group of residents who wanted the fire district filed a petition signed by 176 residents of Enfield to force the fire district formation to a public referendum. One can only assume that those who signed the petition were against a fire district only because this petition basically stops the formation process. There is also some speculation that residents were misinformed on the purpose of the petition and were repeatedly hounded until they signed. Either way the process to continue with fire district formation has been put on hold. There simply was not enough time to work through all the legal interpretations and schedule a referendum and keep the EVFC financially afloat. The EVFC had been working on a per diem basis that was anticipated to only last a few days into February at most. This is somewhat disappointing knowing that a tremendous amount of time and taxpayer monies have been spent on this process. The EVFC has spent in excess of $30,000.00 in attorney fees between the contract problems in 2007 and the fire district formation filings; this does not include what the Town has spent, but I’m sure we’ve breached the $50,000.00 mark. The EVFC and Town Board have reverted back to doing business as we have in the past and by the time of this print we will have a fire contract in place for 2009. It’s important to note there is a big difference between now and 2007. The EVFC and Town Board have been in communication with each other on a weekly basis, something we could not do without attorneys present in 2007. Both parties agreed to work diligently to keep fire and medical services in effect, and based on that simple fact these services remained intact and the school was able to remain open. Please Note: It’s only when there is no signed contract or agreement in sight and the two parties are at odds with each other that create a situation that tends to make school officials nervous and closures an option. The EVFC has been serving the residents of Enfield for 60 years and plan to continue for years to come. However, volunteers are a crucial part of our operation and we welcome any interested residents to stop by any Thursday evening and check out what it takes to be member. Remember to keep up to date on the EVFC activities by visiting our new web site www.enfieldfirecompany.com Submitted by Dennis G. Hubbell, President Enfield Volunteer Fire Company [continued from previous page] at our service. My approach to town government has been to treat everyone respectfully and answer questions as they are posed as honestly as I can. I understand there are times when my answers are not what those asking the question want to hear. Sometimes questions are asked that I cannot answer, such as “Why did my taxes go up so much?", which is a question that must addressed to the County Assessment Department; the value of your home changes over time, impacting your tax bill. Other times I am asked questions pertaining to confidential employee records, which also cannot be answered. In closing, let me say I am hopeful we can get our Town Board meetings under control and continue to move forward on issues important to the community. I look forward to respectful treatment of each other and thoughtful, informed comment from residents during the Privilege of the Floor period. Respectfully, Frank Podufalski Town Supervisor County Level Activity of Interest to Enfield Residents • The Tompkins County Council of Governments (TCCOG) is working on a shared approach to employee health insurance for county municipalities. This could provide similar or improved coverage at a reduced price for both towns and employees. • Town Council person Herb Masser has been working with Verizon and Tompkins County on providing county-wide broadband service at an affordable price. • Town Supervisor Podufalski has approached TCCOG with a request to consider forming a county-wide Ethics Board to hear concerns from residents. Some Enfield residents are dissatisfied with the Town’s current Code of Ethics and the limitations of the County Code of Ethics. 3 Code Enforcement Updates With the warm weather here and the building season upon us, we'd like to once again remind people to check with us to see if a permit is required for that summer project that you may be considering. Some projects that people often don't realize require a permit are new decks, sheds over 144 square feet, and all new pools capable of holding 2 feet or more of water (yes, this also means the blue plastic ones sold at discount stores). All pools require a 48" fence with a locking gate and new pools require a pool alarm. There is an exception: a 4' metal walled pool does not need a separate fence as the pool itself serves as a fence. It's important to have all pools, old or new, secure from unauthorized entry from small children for there own safety. We also want to remind people that house numbers need to be visible from the road. This is especially important for emergency services; valuable time can be lost searching for a house number in the dark. The town is still providing signs and installation at no charge. If you would like one just give us a call. Finally, a reminder that our office hours are Monday, Thursday and Saturday 8:30 to 11:00 a.m. and Wednesday 8:30 a.m. to 12: 00 p.m. and 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. As always, feel free to give us a call with any questions or leave us a message and we will get back to you as soon as we can. From the Highway Department The first day as your new Enfield Highway Superintendent started at 4:00 am Thursday, New Years Day. I met the guys when they came back from taking care of their routes during a snow storm. It was agreed that it would be business as usual until the next Monday, Jan. 4th. At this time there was a two hour sit down, brain storming, meeting of the minds of what they expected, what I expected and what was expected of us by our town. I felt it was a good meeting and a good start to our working relationships. My last day of work with my previous employer Tompkins Highway Dept. was Jan. 23, 2009. I was happy to complete my commitments with them and to focus my time and energy where my heart is, Enfield. After working with the guys a week and getting settled in, my first order of business was to appoint a Deputy Superintendent. I selected Chuck Sinclair and was happy that he agreed to be appointed, and I feel he is an excellent choice. Two trucks were ordered by the prior Deputy Highway Superintendent and approved by our Town Board in 2008. The first a Ford 550 we have taken delivery of, and is already in service after a few minor improvements. We needed to apply a hitch and a speed control on the spreader. The plow is a little too big, but there is no doubt it can move snow! The second truck a 2009 International 10 wheeler, there is yet to be a delivery date for this, I will keep you informed. We have done a lot of cleaning at the Highway inside and out. There were some improvements that were needed in safety gear to be in compliance with OSHA and PESH, and also plain and simply just to keep our Highway guys and our town safe. I personally have found the guys that are working at our Town Highway to be, hard working and agreeable. The guys and I are on the same page as far as making some improvements while keeping some things the way they are in continuing to provide Enfield with excellent service. I asked our Town Board for a clothing allowance for the guys, as previously we had been paying for a Uniform Service which some of the guys did not take part in. Also a $100.00 allowance for steel toed boots, both of which have been approved and are for employees after they have completed their probation period. We will be using Cinta Service for rags and coveralls which will save the town money, not a lot but every little bit helps! Along with maintaining the roads during the winter storms, we have also been filling potholes and doing maintenance on our summer equipment. Please let us know of any pot holes we may have missed! In February, while myself and another employee were returning from Auburn after taking the Ford 550 for the needed adjustments, a wind storm came up. While our Highway crew was out clearing the roads of trees, the employee taking calls unfortunately missed a call from 911. Our Fire Dept. was called out to West Enfield Center Rd. to clear this tree from the road as our Highway crews, and then eventually myself, continued clearing other roads. I felt it was a good job done by all. Cutting of shoulders and digging of ditches is coming up as well as brush and tree work. Anyone that is interested in fill/dirt or wood chips need only to contact us at the Highway Barns. I have already enjoyed serving you the last few months as your new Highway Superintendent and look forward to continuing to do so. As always if you have any concerns, ideas, (or praises!) for myself or the guys, please feel free to contact us at the Highway and also at my home phone number. Respectfully Submitted, Barry (Buddy) Rollins Sr. Highway-272-6490 Home--273-5679 Seasonal Reminder: Open Burning is Illegal in Tompkins County As you begin spring clean up in and around your home, please remember to dispose or trash a rubbish appropriately. The only things that can be burned outside at home are food on your barbeque grill or camp fire (smile), farm waste (if you’re a farmer), garden and lawn cleanup material such as vines, leaves, needles, small trees and branches. Waste material like paper, paper products, rags, furniture, plastics, tires and junk is not allowed to be burned. For more information visit the Tompkins County Health Department website: http://www.co.tompkins.ny.us/health/eh/openburn.htm 4 Dates to Remember May 6 Planning Board Meeting Community Building, 7 pm 13 Town Board Meeting Community Building, 7 pm June 3 Planning Board Meeting Community Building, 7 pm 10 Town Board Meeting Community Building, 7 pm July 1 Planning Board Meeting Community Building, 7 pm 8 Town Board Meeting Community Building, 7 pm Town of Enfield 168 Enfield Main Road Ithaca NY 14850 Opportunities to Serve your Community: Town Planning Board: One current 7-year term vacancy; the Planning Board meets at 7:00 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month. Contact either Virginia Bryant or Jim Cockney, co-chairs, for information about the board, or Supervisor Podufalski if interested in applying. Town Government: The terms for Town Supervisor, two Town Board members, the Town Clerk and a Town Justice end this year; if interested in running, call the Tompkins County Board of elections, 274-5522, for contact information for your political party or information about how to run for office without a party affiliation. Enfield Volunteer Fire Company: Members train the second through fourth Thursdays of the month, starting at 7:30 p.m. Stop by any of these evenings to meet other members, learn about the company, see how your skills might benefit the community and what new skills you can learn by joining the fire company. Volunteers are needed on an on-going basis for Scene Support, Interior Fire Fighting, Emergency Medical Services and Fire Police. With the ongoing concern over the H1N1 influenza (swine flu), it’s important to remember some basic practices to keep ourselves and others healthy: • Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it. • Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective. • Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.