Author: Brendan Doran

March 7th, 2018

HORNELL, NY – The city of Hornell’s Law and Ordinance Committee met Wednesday afternoon and the first order of business was dealing with a law that has been problematic for Mayor John Buckley since he took office.

The current law reads that any/all city employees must maintain residency within the city to be employed by the city. This has created a headache for Buckley and the council because over the years exceptions have slipped through the cracks and decisions need to be made on how to deal with it, all the while insuring fairness to the roughly 99 city employees that have abided by the law.

Hornell City Attorney Joe Pelych attended the meeting prepared with newly written resolution amending the current residency requirements. According to Pelych’s proposal, the amendments would be as follows:

1- Change the venue for wavier hearings from the Board of Public Safety to the Law and Ordinance Committee.
2- The law now will not apply to part time/seasonal employees.
3- It will take out the Promotion Penalty.
4- The final decision on granting a wavier must be made by the full Common Council instead of the Board of Public Safety.

New full time hires will still have to abide by the residency requirement unless granted a waiver. According to Buckley, only six employees are being affected by this law, with two being automatically eliminated through the discarding of the Promotional Penalty and one through retirement. The remaining three will have to seek a waiver to still be employed by the city and live out of the area.

After the approval of Pelych’s amended resolution by the Law and Ordinance Committee, the next step will be to bring it in front of the full Common Council meeting next month.

March 5th, 2017

CANISTEO, NY – A public Hearing was held Monday night and Canisteo Village Mayor Monica Rectenwald put forth a resolution to raise the 2% tax cap for the upcoming budget year. How much over the 2% cap the village goes remains to be seen as all the numbers are still not in. This was hardly a surprise as the village has been hit with many unforeseen bills since Recktenwald took office. A budget presentation will be held right before the 7pm monthly meeting on April 2nd and the final numbers will be known at that time.

In other news, there are still talks behind the scenes on implementing a full time police force. Recktenwald said she is still receiving correspondence from residents for and against the idea. During public comment one person suggested she work more closely with the town government on this issue with the Mayor replying, “When the time comes, I will be there to discuss the issue.”

The village could soon be looking at two more added expenses in the upcoming budget. The Railroad crossing will soon be inspected and it is now the village’s responsibility to bring it up to code according railroad policy. Improvements such as signs and pavement markings may be needed. Also a dump site on the Hammer Creek road will soon be paid a visit by the DEC. Any cleanup recommendations by the DEC will have to be funded by the town and village and Reckternwald said there is a possibility of just unloading the parcel.

A new change coming to village residents will be the ability to pay bills directly through the village’s website. The idea is currently under consideration by the board but all trustees seem to be in favor of the idea. There will be a slight surcharge of 2.75% if residents use this feature. Also water and sewer bills will now be coming in postcard form to save money. Late payment fees will now be in the 10% to 20% range.

Also improvements to the village will soon be coming in the form of LED lighting, electricity in the park, and city wide garbage collection. Those issues are still under discussion.

And finally Police Chief Kyle Amidon announced that they will be conducting an event called Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE). This event will provide strategies, guidance and a proven plan for surviving active shooter event. The event is free and will be held on March 20th, 2018 at the Canisteo Greenwood High School starting 6:30pm.

March 5th, 2017

CANISTEO, NY – Canisteo Village Mayor Monica Rectenwald and Steuben County Sherriff Jim Allard had much praise for how various departments in the village handled the recent snow storm. Facing a state of emergency because of the heavy snow accumulation and loss of power, the Mayor said she could not have been prouder of the way the community pulled together to get the situation under control.

Special recognition was given to Incident Commander and Police Chief Kyle Amidon for coordinating all relief efforts, the fire department who worked round the clock taking care of downed trees and power lines, and the DPW who kept the streets clean throughout the ordeal. Also receiving praise were the many business for donating all the food, water and supplies to the relief shelter.

February 27th, 2018

HORNELL, NY – City DPW employee Don Mosher was honored this month by Mayor John Buckley for his outstanding service over the past 8 years for numerous jobs he performs for the city.

DPW head Mitch Cornish praised Mosher saying, “Don has a enormous job for us, and he performs every task with high praise. He is usually out of the limelight, and he is one of our hardest working team members performing anything we ask him to do throughout the city. He always goes above and beyond whats asked of him every time we call on him!”

Buckley has a goal to reward any city employee with designation for their hard work and dedication to their job each month. Buckley said of Mosher, “If it’s broke, this is the man you want to fix it. He can fix just about anything. He saves the city and taxpayers a lot of money each year.” Mosher has been with the Hornell DPW since 2010.

February 21st, 2018

ARKPORT, NY – The Arkport Village Board got some disappointing news last night from Gregory Lundergan, operator in charge of their water, that some imminent upgrades will soon be needed for their water filtration system.

According to Lundergan, lack of maintenance and oversight over the past decade has allowed the ultra violet purification system to decay to the point that it can no longer be trusted in performing its function. “Your system is composed of six super high intensity bulbs that kill bacteria in the water such as cryptosporidium, and because one of the bulbs is out, and no one has properly cleaned the sleeve containing the bulbs over the years, I highly doubt that the system is functioning up to specifications.”

Lundergan assured the board that there is no immediate threat to the drinking water, but some serious upgrading should be considered in the future. “Your current system is antiquated,” said Lundergan, “And you really should replace the entire unit instead of just replacing the bulbs and providing a thorough cleaning. It’s going to cost you a lot more money now, but will assure you clean water for years to come. Your current system is so old I highly doubt we can still get some of the parts needed to upgrade it.”

Lundergan stated that a company out of Rochester will come in and replace the bulb and clean up the unit for a cost of around $3,000, or they can overhaul the whole system for roughly $53,000. The village of Arkport has already committed millions of dollars upgrading their water infrastructure, and finding the funding for this upgrade might be a bit of a chore, but it’s something that can’t be overlooked much longer according to the head operator.

Mayor Charlie Flanders chimed in, “Well, I guess it boils down to do we want to do the band aid fix that may get us maybe one or two more years, or do we to overhaul the whole system now and save ourselves the $3,000 that will eventually be wasted?” Most trustees were in agreement that the whole system should be replaced asap, with John Hedges trying to secure a grant if possible, and somehow work it into next year’s budget. “We may have money left over from our current water project,” said Hedges, “And that would be great if we could use that toward this project.”

Gregory Lundergan, Arkport’s Operator in Charge of Water

February 19th, 2018

HORNELL, NY – Hornell Mayor John Buckley opened Monday night’s meeting with his first State of the City Address since taking office.

“The state of the city is strong,” said the Mayor, “In my lifetime, I have never witnessed so much positive activity in our city.” He went on to say that our housing, the economy, employment are all nothing short astonishing. “We are a city on the move!”

Although 99% of his speech held praise for the city, there were a few issues that he says need addressed. Buckley says that he has made the drug and opioid epidemic in our community a top priority, and is closely working with the Hornell PD, Sherriff’s Dept., State Police, and District attorney’s office sharing resources and manpower to battle this problem. Also a top priority is the education of our students and youth through town hall meetings and seminars at the high school about the dangers and consequences of drug addiction.

Buckley also went on to say that this year’s budget will be very challenging as well. “One again the city must tighten its belt, and do more with less. Resident can help also through actively recycling garbage as that is a major expense that continues to rise.”

February 19th, 2018

HORNELL, NY – The Hornell Common Council met Monday night and approved several resolutions with the first three dealing with the Water Pollution Control Plant.

The first resolution gives the city authorization to match 20% of a grant totaling $20,000. The city’s share will be $4,000. The grant will be used for a environmental study. The Mayor has the ability to increase the city’s local share without further approval from the Common Council.

The second resolution authorizes the Mayor to sign and execute a Grant Agreement with NYS Environmental Facilities and any documents necessary to fulfill obligations under the Engineering Planning Grant Agreement.

The third resolution allows a SEQR for the WPCP study.

Hornell Mayor John Buckley was appointed to the Steuben County Land Bank Corporation as a municipal representative for a 2 year term ending December 31st, 2019. The position was previously held by Shawn Hogan.

Also a transfer of funds was approved to reflect changes in the upcoming budget. Capital projects funding was increased by $14,300 and airport miscellaneous decreased by $14,300. Street repair equipment was also bumped up by $8,000 and insurance recoveries decreased by the same amount.

The Mayor was given permission submit a Community Development Block Grant application for financial aid to pave the way for TTA’s upcoming renovations. TTA plans a multi-million dollar upgrade to the interior of their facility and hopes to hire an addition 30 full time employees in the near future.

And finally Mayor Buckley has replaced the last Commissioners seat on the Board of Public Safety. Scott Richardson will be filling that vacancy immediately.

February 16th, 2018

Officer J.R. Emo Receives a Check from Mayor John Buckley

HORNELL, NY – The Hornell Republican Committee decided to do something different this year with their annual donation and give $1000 to the Hornell PD. The money will be used towards the purchase of a long needed K9 vehicle. “Last year we gave a scholarship away to a high school student for winning an essay contest,” said the Mayor, “But this year we decided to do something different.”

According to Buckley, the old vehicle has well over 180K miles on it and the engine is failing and this will be money well spent. Chief Ted Murray added, “The K9 unit is an essential part of the Police Department, and I would just like to thank Mayor Buckley and the GOP for considering us for this year’s donation.”

February 14, 2018

HARTSVILLE, NY – Local attorney Peter Degnan was in attendance to observe the meeting and he will be fulfilling some duties previously done by David Pullen who resigned.

Also at Wednesdays monthly Town Hall meeting, a public hearing was held and the amending the current Dog Law immediately followed. The new law will raise dog license fees from $8.50 to $10 for spayed and neutered dogs and from $16.50 to $18 for unsprayed or unneutered. According to Deputy Town Clerk Carole Bowles, the bulk of this money stays right in the town with only $1 to $3 going to the state per license. Also planned in the near future is a dog census.

The January books were reviewed [audited] by each board member and all placed their signatures of approval on them. Also it was announced that Sothern Tier Central will be conducting two free classes that would be very beneficial for local governments. The first is on Tuesday, March 6th in Corning that will inform and discuss accessing grant funding from USDA-RD and the NYS Environmental Facilities Corp, and the second will be in Hornell March 8th discussing Planning and Zoning Board introduction, and Hot Button Land Use Issues.

Then the board went into a lengthy executive session to discuss a personnel issue pertaining to a certain employee. Upon returning from executive session the board discussed road use, procurement, and procedures under old business. Under new business Laura Snow was appointed to the vacant assessor’s position. Also discussion was held about the possibility of putting up a town information website like many small communities already have. Important dates, announcements, Town Hall hours are just a few of the things that could be readily available to residences.

Some important speakers will be attending future meetings to discuss wind farming. Steuben County IDA head Jamie Johnson speaking March 14th , and Jack Zigenfus from Cohocton the guest speaker on April 11th. The board also plans to present and discuss a pro wind letter to the Dept. of Public Services. A motion was passed to write the letter in support of wind development.

And finally the Environmental Emergency Services is again asking for donations. The town gave $100 in 2017.

John Bowles, Carole Bowles, and Peter Degnan

February 8th, 2018

HORNELL, NY – Police Chief Ted Murray and lead investigator Tom Aini updated the Public Safety Board Thursday morning on drug arrests and investigations for 2017.

In total the HPD had 144 drug arrests last year and can be broken down by drug as follows: Marijuana 67 arrests – Cocaine 24 arrests – Heroin 25 arrests – Prescription Pills 24 arrests – Methamphetamine 0 arrests – Other 3 arrests.

There were a total of 9 incidents of overdoses where officers administered naloxone. Most survived, there was one fatality. On a positive note there has not been an opiate overdose since 11/11/2017.

Murray said that these numbers do not represent the total number of drug investigations by officers during the year. Often investigations lead to arrests outside the jurisdiction with close cooperation with other law enforcement agencies.

Chief Murray concluded, “Our efforts of drug enforcement and eradication will continue into 2018 with new and aggressive tactics that will keep our city safe for our children and citizens, but will prove very uninviting to those who wish to bring drugs to our valley.”

4th Ward Alderman Rich Argentieri informed the board that there is a traffic issue at the corner of Jane and Loder Streets that needs to be addressed. He states he has received several complaints about the Alstom traffic situation there. “I am not sure what can be done to control the speed and flow better,” said Argentieri, “But 3 times a day during the week is getting pretty chaotic.”

Code enforcement officer Bud Burdette said his department will start another canvas and assessment of vacant properties in the city and update the vacant properties registry. He figures there are about 75 currently in the city with that figure likely to change. He made a note that vacant properties should not be confused with zombie properties, as those are two different entities.

Long time Public safety board member Dave Sengstock has decided to retire because of other obligations and Mayor John Buckley announced he is actively seeking his replacement.

And finally it was announced that John Buckley, Norm McCumiskey, and Jim Bassage will be holding a town hall meeting February 28th at the Hornell High School to address the current drug epidemic in our community.

     Hornell Board of Public Safety

February 5th, 2018

CANISTEO, NY – At the February monthly meeting Canisteo Village Mayor Monica Recktenwald put a plan in place to rectify oversights by the previous Village Clerk, and lay out changes that will recoup and save the village money in the future.

The first move will be to work closely with the Comptroller’s office and get all necessary paperwork submitted to them. Also a new program has been implemented that monitors the budget, and also tracks the water/sewer bills and taxes. Several onsite training sessions have already occurred with the Clerk in regards to that.

Water/Sewer bills will now be issued 4 times a year instead of two in hopes that residents will be able to stay on top of it better and be more punctual in their payments. Meter readings will still only occur twice a year. Non village residents that live in the town and Belle Haven could possibly face termination of services for failure to pay the bills.

The Clerk and Mayor now meet regularly with department heads and go over their budgets closely so there are no surprises come budget time.
The village also started streamlining some services several months ago to decrease operational costs. Paying bills electronically, developing a website to keep residents informed of important dates, switching credit cards to one that is tax exempt and also offers rewards, decreased the cleaning services, changes in how they purchase office supplies, and renegotiating their electricity to a lower rate are some of the steps taken.

In other news the Village will be looking at possibly laying underground electricity to the Town Park for events such as Krazy Daze and surrounding it with concrete posts.

Three new volunteer firefighters have been approved for the Village; Erica and Catherine Freitag, and Justin Campbell.

Also the village will be looking into LED street lighting similar to the route Hornell has just taken. The cost to the village would be around $5,000 with a possible 35% savings in electricity each year.

And finally the village will hold a public hearing right before the 7pm meeting March 5th to discuss exceeding the 2% tax cap.

February 5th, 2018

CANISTEO, NY – Canisteo Village Hall has taken out a $200,000 loan to pay bills and keep them afloat. Mayor Monica Recktenwald wanted to set the record straight with the board and packed house as to why the Revenue Anticipation Loan was needed and put to rest any rumors that were still circulating. “Im going to be very open truthful to all of you why we needed to take out the loan. There was a huge lack of oversight regarding the former Treasurer/Clerk position. Apparently there were 4 years where our year end reports were not submitted to the State Comptroller’s office and it put us in a very difficult position once we were finally notified,” explained the Mayor.

According to the Mayor, as soon as the board was informed, they immediately got a hold of the Comptroller’s office and had them come do an audit. “The village clerk’s position tends to be very independent,” said Recktenwald, “But it does need oversight.”

Other matters that were attributed to the necessity for taking out the large loan were the lack of residents paying water sewer bills on time. According to the Mayor, it could take up to 2 years by the time they collect the money through the county taxes and they have to carry that financial burden until then. Current unpaid water/sewer bills in the village have been as high as $180,000 in recent weeks.

Also several unexpected high retirement payments that had to be made and should have been handled by the former clerk never took place, and department heads reported a lack of support regarding communication about their budgets. “Even the former Mayor came in and apologized for this mess,” said Recktenwald, “And we seem to be on the right track now with new Clerk Catrina Oliverio doing an excellent job.”