May 9, 2016
Canisteo, NY – The Canisteo town board agreed to keep moving ahead with a possible fire district merger between the village of Canisteo and Hartsville Monday night, but reiterated that there are a lot of financial questions that still need to be answered. A big concern was the amount of years to pay off the loan on the new fire truck. The village stipulated that in order to get so much grant money, the loan had to be paid off in three years. Members on the Canisteo town board were wondering if it would be possible to refinance the loan over a ten year period which would greatly ease their financial burden.
Also board member Wally Wade questioned why the board was still paying town retirees health insurance. He noted that it is already costing the town enough money to pay current employees health insurance and they could save the tax payers money by eliminating it for retired workers. Town Supervisor Steven Weed said the matter will be looked into.
And in a final note the town is currently taking bids on the purchase of a new loader. Some board members were questioning why they had just put $4,000 in the old loader if they knew they were getting rid of it. It was explained that they will recoup some of that in the resale.