Author: Brendan Doran

August 10, 2017

HORNELL, NY – Hornell Mayor Shawn Hogan and Code Enforcement officer Bud Burdette were very pleased to inform the Public Safety board that the number of zombie properties in the city has decreased considerably.

After originally having 37 vacant properties, 19 or over 51% have been eliminated. Burdette said they accomplished this by working with the banks and landlords. “It’s a slow process,” said Burdette, especially dealing with the banks, but our effort is paying off. One major reason for the decline is the implementation of the Mortgage Assistance Program (MAP).

Hogan also added that another major reason for the high number of abandoned properties in the city is failure to pay property taxes which then makes the county enforce their tax liens. “It’s about a two year period for people to lose their property and in the third year it will go up for auction,” explained the Mayor. Hogan said that there are many programs to assist homeowners and they should explore them before giving up on their properties.

In other new there were four potential firemen being interviewed for two open vacancies. They will be taking over for retiring Steve Foster and Josh Proudy. Hogan said that a decision could possibly be reached by the end of the day.

August 10, 2017

HORNELL, NY – Hornell Mayor Shawn Hogan told the Board of Public Safety Thursday morning that the city has finally closed a loophole that allowed parking violators to not pay their tickets with no consequences.

Due to the fact that previously writing tickets was not digitized, it was hard to report and keep track of them resulting in many not paying. Police Chief Ted Murray said that in the past as many as 57% were not paid.

But as of August 9th all that has changed as the process has now gone digital. The city has contracted with Com Plus to manage parking tickets and people who do not pay their fines will be processed and further penalties issued.

Chief Murray told the board that there are still ways to appeal tickets; one by calling Com Plus directly or two by going to Murray’s office. Ticket payments must now be made directly to Com Plus as they will no longer be accepted at the Police Dept. or City Hall. The number to call now, if you want to pay for a parking ticket, is 1 866 752 1730.

August 10, 2017

HORNELL, NY – Hornell’s new school superintendent Jeremy Palotti told the board and all in attendance that although he was not wishing the summer away, he was excited to get things started in his new venue. “One of the things that’s been really going good is the nuts and bolts of planning for the upcoming school year,” said Palotti. “Also I am proud of the fact that teachers have been in and out all summer doing curriculum work and happy to announce that new teacher orientation will be starting next week.”

Also capital project superintendent Mick Pavlick was in attendance and gave the thumbs up to the board that classrooms and parking areas will be completed by the start of school with the only thing unfinished is the waxing of the floors.

August 10, 2017

HARTSVILLE, NY – For the 4th consecutive month the Hartsville Town Board was unable to start a meeting due to the inability to decide on a temporary clerk. Tom Dobell, as in the past suggested Kay Miles to fill in but he was immediately shot down by Supervisor John Bowles for personal reasons. Bowles suggested an executive session to discuss the matter but Dobell rejected that stating, “We been there before John, It will not do any good.”

People in attendance wanted some answers from Bowles about why all the animosity toward Miles but he was tight lipped only stating that it was a personal matter and not to be discussed in a public setting. A new clerk will be elected in November by vote so it could possibly be a stalemate until then.

August 8th, 2017

ARKPORT, NY – The Hornellsville town board is still adjusting to the absences of Town Supervisor Ken Isaman and his wife and clerk Sherrill Isaman. Current board member Dan Broughton was given the authority Tuesday night to sign any signatures required by the supervisor and also the control of the meetings. Debra Castle and Elizabeth VanScoter were filling in for Sherril Isaman who is on permanent medical leave along with her husband. Deputy Town Clerk Sharon Ames has assumed Sherrill’s role.

Planning Board head Joe Dick updated the board on the new hospital. According to Dick, the planning board has granted the subdivision. The new entrance will be where the car wash currently sits with new curbs throughout the parking area. The mechanicals will go to bid the 18th of this month with ground breaking starting September 1st. Dick also gave an update on the new Nissan Dealership and assured the board they would be up and running by May 1st of next year.

Town Justice Rich Scavo updated the board on the progress of the renovations on the courtroom and was very pleased to announce that the providers of the JCAP Grant ($30,000) were extremely pleased about how the money was utilized. A quote from a newsletter from an associate of the OCA is as follows, “In all my years working with the OCA I have never seen such a terrific transformation – and it was all accomplished with JCAP funding. The Hornellsville Town Court is now dispensing justice safely and with Dignity.”

In other news North Hornell Fire Chief Mike Robbins reminded the board that the three fire companies in the district are still looking for help in purchasing new pagers. The North Hornell, South Hornell, and Arkport departments are looking for $2000 each that was not included in the original grant. The board agreed to revisit the matter after checking on their financial situation.

And lastly the Hornell IDA will be holding a public hearing Wednesday morning 11am (August 9th) at the Hornellsville Town Hall on the new Hospital. According to Dan Broughton, the meeting will be strictly informational and the public is encouraged to attend.

August 7, 2017

CANISTEO, NY – The sole resolution passed at Monday night’s Canisteo Village Board meeting was the approval of a Heroes Banner program. The program will place banners on poles similar to North Hornell and other local villages that recognize veterans from that particular community.

According to Mayor Recktenwald, there will be no cost to the village other that the DPW labor for putting them up, with individual families responsible for their purchase. Each banner will cost somewhere around $175. There are different sizes of banners and whatever size the village decides on all will abide by that. The banners will be seasonal, going up in the spring and coming down in the fall.

In order for the program to begin; at least 15 families have to file requests, and that could take some time. Once the minimum number of banners is requested, an order is placed and then it takes about two weeks to receive them. Notifications about the program will be included in the next water bill from the village.

August 7, 2017

CANISTEO, NY – Reviewing intersections without stop or yield signs were discussed under old business Monday night at the Village of Canisteo’s monthly meeting. One of the major concerns to the village is liability if an accident occurs and it’s ruled the villages neglect for improper or no sign.

The Mayor herself stated she had a near miss at an intersection with a Hat Bus. Trustee Jack Beers said he had discussed the matter with attorney Chauncey Watches at a recent event and according to him you’re going to get sued whether you have a stop, yield or no sign altogether. It will not matter.

Some negative feedback from the board were concerns that the codes book would have to be changed at a cost of $1200, public hearings would need to be held for each change, and the possible impact that snow and ice could have on making motorists come to a complete stop on certain intersections. A decision was finally made to have police chief Kyle Amidon provide statistics on accidents on each intersection in question and move forward from there.

The Mayor and Village Justices are still in discussion about the fate of the old fire truck recently retired after purchasing the new one. A representative from Boces was in attendance requesting a barter providing the village with student labor with the acquisition of the truck in return. If the deal goes through, the village plans on using the labor to repair curbs on South Main Street after the removal of three bothersome trees. The only other option would be to take the truck to the Steuben County Auction which didn’t seem to popular of an idea.

Other items that were briefly discussed were whether there should be a code in place for which side of a residential fence that can remain unfinished, the possibility of requiring licensing for cats, and the launch of a new website for the village.

August 1st, 2017

HORNELL, NY – Eric Kerr, age 30, was officially sworn in at the Hornell Police Dept. Tuesday afternoon. Kerr, a lifelong Hornell resident and graduate of Hornell High School, will take assignment as badge 385 as soon as he completes the Police Academy. He currently resides on Mays Ave in the city with his fiancé and two young sons.

August 1st, 2017

ALFRED, NY – NYS Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul visited Alfred State College Tuesday morning to push the need for STEM Education Collaborative. STEM Education refers to utilizing the NYS MST Standards in the teaching and learning of the Science, Technology Education, Engineering and Math (STEM).

Hochul said there is a dire need for a qualified workforce in our state that can keep up with the ever changing skilled job market. “The businesses are coming,” said Hochul, “but the first thing they ask me about is the skill and qualifications of the area workforce.” After her presentation Hochul was awarded a plaque for her diligent work in the educational field and the promotion of jobs in our state. You can see her entire presentation and award acceptance below.

July 31, 2017

JASPER, NY – State Police have charged 23 year old Bethany Leach of Jasper, a Jasper Troupsburg Central employee, for allegedly exchanging nude photos with a JT student who was under age.
Troopers say that Bethany Leach was a teacher’s aide at the time of the exchanges on Facebook and Snapchat, though officials also say that Leach had no physical contact with the student.

July 29, 2017

SYRACUSE, NY – The Hornell Dodgers had a hot first inning scoring 8 of their 12 runs against the Syracuse Spartans in game one of the NYCBL Championship.  The final score was 12-7. They play again tomorrow (Sunday) at 3pm in game two at Maple City Park and will play a third game right after if necessary. You can listen to both games on AM1480 WLEA and  on our website wlea.net.