March 12th, 2018
CANISTEO, NY – After many letters pro and con, and months of public debate, the Canisteo Town Board decided against adding additional police officers that would essentially make the Canisteo PD full time. Town Supervisor Steve Weed said that the proposal left many questions due to a lack of preparation and also what was presented was not as punctual as the board would have liked.
“The issue can be revisited in the future,” said Weed, “We can make a motion to revisit it at any point. There are a number of people that would like to have it and still there are some that think taxes are already too high, especially with our skyrocketing fire contract with the village.”
The plan called for an additional full time and part time officer. Police Chief Kyle Amidon was in attendance and accepted the board decision regretfully but was still determined to press on with the issue and come up with an acceptable presentation that would be win/win for both sides.
After talking with Amidon after the meeting, he said a lot of the confusion lies in who was supposed to contact who regarding the proposal. He was under the impression that the board would contact him about attending a future meeting and have some concrete numbers plus supporting letters from the community to present. The board just figured he would show up on his own, hence the 3 month lapse with no communication. Amidon did present a packet with financial numbers to Weed and other board members before the decision was made but according to the Supervisor they did not quite understand it.
In other new, the town passed a resolution to replace the lighting at the highway department building with LED lighting at a cost of $3,500. According to Highway Supervisor Carl Howland, the town should recoup that money within 7 years with the expected savings.
Tom Richardson was appointed to the Board of Assessment Review (BAR). The choice was between Richardson and Sandra Pierce.
There will be a drug and alcohol meeting on March 27th at the Civil Defense building in Bath. Those planning on attending should notify the Town Clerk so the $60 cost can be paid.
And finally a meeting will be held concerning the Canisteo Wind Project on March 13th at 4pm at the Troupsburg Fire Dept. Hall.
