Town Board Meeting 7/8/08

I'll try to get the list of people present later.
There was a long discussion about parking and camping around the Grassroots Festival, an exciting statement by Sue Polvorde, and important discussion on the Ambulance/EMS privatization issue. Please go to my other blog trumansburgambulance.blogspot.com for more on this.

You will see a link to an mp3 file of the meeting below. If you click on the link, you can listen from within your browser, but there is usually a way to move this mp3 file to your desktop. In Firefox, you wait for the whole file to move to the browser, (a minute or two) then you go - File - Save Page As..... and you can put it anywhere you want. The advantage is that you can then listen with other programs (Real Player, Itunes etc.) which allow you to adjust equalizer settings and they give you a time counter. With the time counter and my notes below, you can jump to the part that interests you.


Here's the audio link

0 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds (o-0-o) - discussion about fee increase for dog licenses

0-16-0 - local law #2 traffic law - long discussion of parking and camping on Rabbit Run Road.

0-43-12 - planning board report

0-44-15 - Sue Polvorde Comprehensive Plan Report, and she reads a statement about inappropriate behavior of Supervisor Austic at the last meeting

0-49-33 - Geoffrey Hart wonders why Doug Austic tolerates criticism! (reminds me of a famous quote from George Bush "this would be a lot easier if it was a dictatorship, just as long as I'm the dictator" and it makes me wonder why the Village Board rules for public comment periods say that people should not direct criticism toward particular board members. Isn't that a violation of our 1st amendment rights?) Fortunately, Austic says it doesn't bother him.

0-49-53 - Highway Superintendents report.

0-50-50 - Town Clerk report

0-51-57 - Operating statement, Dick Coogan's report

0-53-10 - Water Advisory Board appointments

1-05-02 - Back to local law 2 about Rabbit Run. Liz Thomas argues in favor of the Board having a say in what roads are marked in what way, in-order to avoid a scenario where our community will be perceived as unwelcoming to the Grassroots Festival.

1-18-40 - They pass a resolution to post Rabbit Run

1-20-08 - Ambulance issue. Liz Thomas introduces the resolution below for discussion (not for voting because it would need to be made available earlier)

Town of Ulysses Resolution Regarding Funding of the Village of Trumansburg Ambulance/EMS Service.


Whereas, the Town of Ulysses has been notified of the recommendation of the Village of Trumansburg's EMS Task Force, to begin a policy of billing all recipients of ambulatory care provided by the Village of Trumansburg's ambulance/EMS service in order to recover funds from insured residents and,

Whereas, the Town of Ulysses provides a large share of the funds for the operation of the Village of Trumansburg's ambulance/EMS service and,

Whereas, the Village of Trumansburg has requested a letter or resolution expressing support or opposition to this plan and,

Whereas, it is the opinion of this board that this plan could endanger the health and welfare of some of our constituents and,

Whereas, it is the opinion of this board that this plan would move us in a direction opposite to the wishes of many of our constituents and,

Whereas, it is unclear where the recovered insurance funds will be dedicated, whether to a retirement fund for Fire Department volunteers or to a tax break for residents, and if so, the amount.

Whereas, a switch to billing for ambulance/EMS services may cause health insurance companies to raise premiums paid by our constituents and,

Whereas, many volunteers on the EMS/ambulance service are not in support of billing for ambulance services and have stated this change would negatively impact their willingness to serve and,

Whereas, billing for ambulance services could negatively impact the level of donations to the ambulance service.

Therefore, be it hereby resolved that this board stands in opposition to the current plan to hire a third party billing company to bill all recipients of ambulatory care provided by the Trumansburg ambulance/EMS service unless those who have no insurance are guaranteed EMS/ambulance service at no charge and,

Further, be it resolved that this board feels that the funds that the Town of Ulysses provides to the Village of Trumansburg for the ambulance/EMS service are well spent, and we wish to continue to guarantee service to all residents in need of emergency free of charge other than the payments made through taxes.

Finally, be it resolved that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Village of Trumansburg.

1-28-29 - Doug Austic " I think there are a couple of things in your resolution that probably are not true"
Rod Ferentino "Whereas, it is the opinion of this board that this plan could endanger the health and welfare of some of our constituents - That's not true - at all - ok - you can't say that - I don't agree with that at all. "

This is key. If Rod truly doesn't believe that this plan could endanger the health and welfare of his constituents, then he isn't listening to the nine volunteers that spoke up at the public hearing. He later admits that in his first hand experience (He is a volunteer himself) more than half of potential recipients of care, are leery of accepting care now, because of a fear of big bills. The average citizen is unaware of the billing policies for our ambulance. They don't realize that they pay for it with their taxes, and that there is no charge for the care. The volunteers that spoke at the hearing said that if we go to billing, they will no longer be able to say, as they do now, that there will be no charge. "please don't tie our hands like that" one of them said. If we tie their hands - a life could be lost. Further, if we go to billing, it will be reported in the papers, and someone will realize one day soon, that if they call 911 when they are having chest pains, that they will get a bill, and they won't make the call. If they then die, the Village will never even know, that they are responsible for the death. This is obvious, and obviously the most important issue here. I don't know why we bother arguing about all of the small stuff surrounding this issue. If we accept this reality, the argument should be over.

1-34-00 - Chris Thomas again states that when Bangs comes up here, that the recipient has to pay Bangs on top of having to pay their private insurance premiums. Uh, if they've got insurance then the insurance company should pay Bangs, right?

1-35-22 - Rod Ferrinto objects to "Whereas, a switch to billing for ambulance/EMS services may cause health insurance companies to raise premiums paid by our constituents" Rod says there is no evidence of this. Chris Thomas also likes to make this argument. At the public hearing Chris said,

"And the argument that the money collected from these insurance companies will immediately and entirely be billed back to our community in the form of premiums, is a red herring not backed up by the least bit of information or research, but instead by loosely connected circumstances."

Well, Chris, nobody said "immediately and entirely", but yes, they will largely, and eventually be billed back to us. Here's some research for you; William McGuire is the CEO of United Health, one of the largest HMO's in the country. He makes 8 million/year plus bonuses, and has amassed 1.6 billion in stock options, one of the largest stock option fortunes in history. Bill gets around in a private jet. Let's look at some business basics. Bill has to balance income, expenses, and profit. If expenses go up (more people billing him) he has a tough choice to make. He can either raise income (premiums), or cut profit. Based on a quick look at his net worth, I think I know which one he has been choosing. Chris can obfuscate with talk about this account and that account and actuarial tables, but I'm not buying it. If we start billing, premiums will go up. There is no free lunch.

1-36-30 - Rod objects to "Whereas, many volunteers on the EMS/ambulance service are not in support of billing for ambulance services and have stated this change would negatively impact their willingness to serve" Rod objects, in spite of the fact that many of the volunteers at the public hearing stated exactly that. Norm Hummel said, at the public hearing that he would quit. Rod said "Norm's not going to quit" I'm not sure Rod is the best listener. He thinks that volunteerism might actually go up under this plan. I've talked to many of the volunteers, and Rod is the only one to hold this opinion.

1-43-12 - Doug Austic "what I'm saying is, the insurance companies are not going to reduce their premiums to the people in the town of Ulysses because they don't have to pay for the ambulance." It would take a great deal of research to know exactly how much every insurance company is charging and exactly how they each arrive at how they charge for what they charge. I'm afraid I don't have the time for that research, but it seems obvious to me that the insurance companies have large quantities of data on all of the residents of our fire district, including frequency of payments to ambulance companies. This data is easily sorted by zip code, so it would seem obvious that our premiums should be based upon these payments plus the profit margins for the various companies. If my assumptions are correct, then how could increased ambulance payments by these companies not result in increased premiums? They sure as hell won't take it out of their profits.

1-43-50 - Rod Ferentino's paradigm shift theory. Maybe he's got a point here about a national trend of decreasing volunteerism. He says that it's largely to do with increased training time required of the volunteers. Perhaps we should consider paying the volunteers for their time and expenses to get this training. I think this trend away from volunteerism also has to do with a selfishness that has been growing in the national consciousness for many years. How long has it been since you've heard a president say "Ask not, what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" ? Instead we now have a president that, after 9/11, tells us to go shopping, and thinks we can fight oil wars and put the tab on future generations. This could be changing soon. There is hope. Rod says that volunteerism will continue to fall and that we will soon have to go to a paid staff 24/7 and that this will cost us a lot. Leadership like this is not helping.

1-47-25 - Rod says that the Town of Covert is supportive of billing and the Town of Hector is opposed.

1-48-00 - Chris Thomas says that he will not support billing if the Town of Ulysses doesn't support it. Then he says that this move to paid 24/7 and billing is inevitable and that as an owner of a business, he knows how important it is to foresee these crisis points, because if it happens in the middle of a budget year, it's going to hurt us severely in the pocket book. This sounds like scare tactics to me. I disagree that this is inevitable, and even if we did have a "crisis point" next week, and the cost of the ambulance service doubled overnight, we are talking about the average tax payer having to pay $60/year/person instead of the current $30/year/person. That's not a crisis. We should continue to pay for the service through our taxes, and we should provide incentives to volunteers through our taxes, and we should stop electing Libertarians that want to privatize our community services.

1-53-00 - Other old business? Code ethics, gifts, .....

2-00-38 - Public comments - I speak briefly here and I said that at the public meeting 18 people spoke against billing and 9 spoke in favor. I didn't have my notes. It was actually 18 to 7 not 18 to 9. Of those who spoke in favor, some of them seem to have fallen for Chris Thomas's trick of saying that people without insurance will not be harmed because the village will adopt a policy of "non aggressive billing"

In favor - 7
Chris Thomas - Trustee responsible for all this
Geri Stevenson - fell for the trick
Renee Carver - fell for the trick
Geoffrey Hart - neoconservative
Justine Kolb - wife of Chris Thomas, fell for the trick
Ben Curtis - Independence Party
Didn't catch the name - Searsburg Rd


Opposed 18
Norm Hummel - volunteer paramedic
Allen Carstensen - author of this blog
Bob Howarth - Cornell professor
Rany Haas - volunteer fire and ems
Ron McLean - former fire volunteer
Mary Anne Archangeli - significant other of a volunteer
Michelle Paollilo - EMS volunteer
Robert Lodder - Prospect Street
Peter Meskill - Sheriff
Patricia Bonzall - Pennsylvania Ave
Barry Bines - Cayuga St
Jim Mason - volunteer fire fighter
Jackie Wright - volunteer and president of the Fire Company
Didn't catch the name - Swamp College Road
Deloris Something - Ulysses
Tammy Ward - volunteer
Charle Heath - volunteer
Ruth Kahn Rt 227

Not really clear
Deloris Higareda?
Blair Obrien?

2-05-50 - Doug Austic, again claims my $30/person is wrong. He said that he got a call from a guy who claims that he is paying $700/year for the ambulances service. It's based on assessment. Fine, I get it. Let's look at it that way.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Ulysses-New-York.html
at this site you learn that the median value of a house in Ulysses is $130,000
The portion of the tax bill for residents of Ulysses for the ambulance is 57 cents/thousand of assessment.
130 x .57 = $74.10 per household. The average household has 2.6 people living there
$74.10 divided by 2.6 people = $28.50 / person
To base our policies on sympathy for the poor guy that's paying $700 while living in a mansion, would seem a little too Bush like. We're not like that here in Ulysses are we? It's called progressive taxation. The rich are supposed to pay more. That's a good thing. Some rich people realize this and don't mind paying more. Others don't. You can please some of the people all of the time, and you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time. (Bush has a different version)

2-09-10 - Liz let's us know that the rest of the meeting is going to be boring, going over bills.

PUBLIC HEARING -- SITE PLAN for PROPOSED BYRNE DAIRY PROJECT

Paula Hoorigan has written an important letter about this project. Get it HERE


You will see a link to an mp3 file of the meeting below. If you click on the link, you can listen from within your browser, but there is usually a way to move this mp3 file to your desktop. In Firefox, you wait for the whole file to move to the browser, (a minute or two) then you go - File - Save Page As..... and you can put it anywhere you want. The advantage is that you can then listen with other programs (Real Player, Itunes etc.) which allow you to adjust equalizer settings and they give you a time counter. With the time counter and my notes below, you can jump to the part that interests you.

Here's a LINK to the audio.

0 hours - 0 minutes - 0 seconds - start of meeting - Bill Connor speaks does the introduction and speaks about the purpose and format of the meeting

0-05-00 Bill turns it over to Christian Brunelle who manages the Byrne Dairy Stores

0-12-50 Sarah Adams speaks in favor of making changes to Bryne's plan, to bring it into line with the Comprehensive Plan,

As the plan currently is proposed the store would be open 24 hours a day. There would be 8 gas pumps, parking for 20 cars, extensive lighting, a double-sided backlit sign and approx. 25,000 sq. ft of asphalt.

The TC Planning Dept expressed concern that “the lighting proposed for this project is far greater than existing level of lighting emanated by the neighboring properties” and also recommends that the canopy design be revised to mimic the peaks of the building”. So far neither the Planning Board or Sonbyrne Sales has responded to these recommendations.

The “intent” of the Site Plan Review ordinance is :

“Preserving and enhancing neighborhood character”

“Achieving compatibility with adjacent development”

“Mitigating potentially negative impacts on traffic, parking, drainage, the landscape and similar environmental concerns”

“Improving the deign, function, aesthetics and safety of development projects and the overall visual and aesthetic quality of the village”

There are alternative ways to configure this project that would go a long way to mitigate its impacts. These include requiring hours of operation similar to those of all other businesses in the village; moving the building to the front of the site and placing the gas pumps behind the building; reducing the number of parking spaces and accompanying number of lights.


0-16-42 Geoffrey Hart speaks in favor of building it as currently drawn, and he calls it "modern architecture" "some people like Gothic, I happen to like Modern". I'm not sure that this is exactly what architects refer to as "modern architecture"

0-20-18 Don Scott, owner of Ron Don's, speaks in favor of the current design and says we have more important things to do than wasting our time on non issues like this. Okey Dokey, if he likes it, then considering other peoples opinions, is a waste of time.

0-21-40 Vicki Romanoff,

More later.........

Village Board Meeting 6/16/08

All officials were present, and,
Me - Allen Carstensen, and Laura
John and Martha Ullberg
Alan Vogel
Robert Brown
Geoffrey Hart

Tom Ferritti - Police Cheif

Jason Fuller - Fire

Ed Hetherington - Building Inspector

Bruce Vann - DPW, Water, and Sewer
Jamie Saine - our new Trumansburg Free Press Reporter

You will see a link to an mp3 file of the meeting below. If you click on the link, you can listen from within your browser, but there is usually a way to move this mp3 file to your desktop. In Firefox, you wait for the whole file to move to the browser, (a minute or two) then you go - File - Save Page As..... and you can put it anywhere you want. The advantage is that you can then listen with other programs (Real Player, Itunes etc.) which allow you to adjust equalizer settings and they give you a time counter. With the time counter and my notes below, you can jump to the part that interests you. You can also put the file on an Ipod, and listen while taking a walk, or driving or doing the dishes! When you're done with the dishes, pull the plug and watch the dirty water going down the drain, as you listen to our democracy going down the drain. Great fun!

Here's the AUDIO LINK

Before the meeting started I passed out printed versions of a piece written by Norman Hummel who was on the Task Force that unanimously reccomended that the Village should decide by referendum whether or not to begin billing for ambulance services. You can read it at the Trumansburg Free Press Blog http://flakes1.wordpress.com/ Mr. Hummel is an active paramedic in the Trumansburg ambulance corps.

0 hrs. 0 min. 0 sec. - call to order, then the first public comment period were I inform the trustees of the latest news that logically would inspire them to pass the resolution to encourage Congress to look into impeachment of Bush and Cheney. You can get the text at trumansburgimpeachment.blogspot.com.

0-03-08 -- Jason Fulton (fire chief) claims that there are a couple of factual errors in my Free Press editorial published last Wednesday 6/13. I stated that “Chris Thomas’s Task Force Report claims that we could collect $252,000 per year with his privatization scheme. That works out to about $25 per year for each of us.” Jason claims that is my first error, because actually there are 3500 households (not 10,000) in the fire district. I didn’t say there were 10,000 households, however. I said “$25 per year for each of us” in other words I’m talking per capita, not per household. I don’t have an exact figure for the population of the fire district, but it is undeniably much closer to 10,000 than 3,500 and 10,000 makes the math easier. If my math was way off, (which it’s not) and it cost twice as much to continue to support our ambulance with my taxes, it would not change my arguments.

Next, Jason claims that I was incorrect when I wrote “Also, a significant portion of the ambulance budget is offset by donations and these would likely stop, when donors saw that bills were being sent.” Jason objects because I don’t understand how these donations are handled. I don’t really care how they are handled, they offset taxes. Perhaps he doesn’t understand which donations I was talking about. When someone, or a family member, is helped by the Ambulance/EMS Service, they often feel a sense of gratitude that compels them to make a donation, because they realize that the service exists thanks to the generosity of the volunteers and the taxpayers of the Fire District. This will change radically if we enter into a relationship with multibillion dollar private for profit health insurance companies. This will reduce donations to the department, thus increasing our taxes.

I greatly respect and appreciate Jason’s service to our community. He volunteers a great deal of his time on our behalf. I wish he understood where I was coming from.

0-05-00 - Department Heads
Ed Hetherington
Tom Ferritti
Bruce Vann
interesting discussion of how to find the lost water main crossing a property at the intersection of Waterburg and Curry Roads. There is an application for a new water service. A pipe runs through the property but they can't find it. (Water witch failed to find it - no really) Bruce found an outfit that offers to attempt to find these things with ground penetrating radar equipment but it costs $1200 a day - no guarantees. Any volunteer witches?

0-53-29 - Tammy Morse informs us,

6/18 - 7pm Elementary School auditorium Ambulance Billing Public Hearing
6/19 - 7pm Elementary School auditorium Byrne Dairy Site Plan Hearing
6/23 - 7pm Village Hall another Byrne Dairy Hearing (zoning interpretation)

0-59-05 Tammy McMillen financial stuff, including moving $2119 that was for street trees into the Main Street Project Fund. This sparked a conversation that included the fact that Bill Chaisson has written a grant proposal for some funds for street trees, that if we get it could do a lot more for us than the $2119. Thanks Bill!

1-19-10 Mayor's report - Marty talked about the progress toward DOT rules that should soon reduce large truck traffic on Rts 89 and 96.

1-23-04 Commissioners, first Chris Thomas on Fire/EMS, and MSP lights should be here within a month. He spoke about the format of Wednesdays EMS hearing. The format seems to be a bit up in the air still, but they agreed that residents of the district should get 3 minutes to make comments and/or ask questions. Marty mentioned that perhaps the volunteers should have more time. This gets shot down. Chris says they are just residents of a fire district in terms of a public hearing. What if we did a straw poll at the end. Ask for a show of hands for in favor of billing, opposed to billing, and then undecided. Tammy says we can't do this. Why not? We are still arguing over how many were in favor of impeachment last September 24th. Chris said he asked NYCOM six different ways to allow a referendum. I wish I could have been on that call. It doesn't make sense. I understand why they would want to discourage frequent referendums on day to day matters, but this is potentially a life and death issue. To add to the irony, they would require a referendum before instituting Thomas's Length of Service Award Program (retirement fund - LOSAP) which is decidedly not life and death. Weird.

2-03-24 - discussion of correspondence - I mentioned that I had sent an email to the board asking what happens to the solids, after they are separated out at our waste water treatment plant - and hadn't gotten an answer. John Hrubos told me that it is put in a dumpster and taken away by Yaws Environmental Lab. So I called them today and learned that it is spread on a farmer's field in Romulus. John said that it used to go up to Seneca Meadows but this is cheaper. Personally, I'd prefer to pay the extra to have it taken to Seneca Meadows. John said it's excellent fertilizer. Yes. It's high in nitrogen and other beneficial nutrients as long as you don't mind the heavy metals, and pharmaceuticals and other toxins. There's a group of concerned citizens near Mecklenburg that have organized to fight the dumping of this crap on fields around them. http://carrcny.org/ Sometimes it gets spread on the fields before a heavy rain and then it gets washed into Trumansburg Creek. Lovely.

2-07-00 John talks about water infrastructure work. Coating a tank on 89, replacing some pumps, and some water main on 96.

2-10-11 request for closing Cayuga St. on 6/28 from Prospect to King for a block party - approved

2-12-32 John talks about a drainage problem on Lake St. that is going to have to be repaired for big bucks eventually.

2-16-00 Farmers Market Agreement

2-23-14 Telephone Building Update. Sounds encouraging. We are moving closer to purchasing the old building for use as a Community Center - thanks to the work of John Vogel, John Ullberg, and Don Schlather.

2-54-12 Zoning Moratorium extension on Auble property which expires on 7/31 They are going to try to extend for another 6 months - to give time to complete zoning ordinance update

We got 2 $1900 celebration grants for the Winter Festival and the Main St Dance - 9/6

The County will be helping us soon with the zoning ordinance update. Mayor and a couple of trustees will be meeting with Ed Marks soon.

3-02-40 Paying Bills

3-08-06 Public Comment period 2. I ask Chris Thomas to clarify the numbers that Jason based his objections to my Free Press article on. He agreed that I wasn't far off when basing my math on 10,000 residents of the Fire District. Tammy Morse said there are about 3500 Tax Parcels in the District - not people.

adjourn

Town Board Meeting 6/10/08

This was an important meeting. There was a lot of discussion about, and audience support for, the Black Diamond Trail. All of the Board members were present and here's a list of folks that signed the sign in sheet,

Jan Zeserson

Marvin Pritts - Jan and Marvin spoke on behalf of the Black Diamond Trail

Diane Hillman

Roxanne Marino

Paula McGuire

Jim Arey

Lee and Sherry Haifele

Allen, and Laura Carstensen

Dave Shurman

Paul Yonge

Warren Brown

Megan Carey

Tom Prisloe

Fred Bonn

Krys Cail

Tom Myers

Geoffrey Hart

Chris Thomas

Barbara Hotchkiss

Jason and Ethan Fulton

There wasn't quite enough room for everybody. A few people stood out in the hall. Many came to voice support for the Black Diamond Trail.

I spoke briefly on behalf of leaving our terrific Ambulance/ems service just as it is and should be - fully taxpayer funded. Please visit my blog about this - trumansburgambulance.blogspot.com

You will see a link to an mp3 file of the meeting below. If you click on the link, you can listen from within your browser, but there is usually a way to move this mp3 file to your desktop. In Firefox, you wait for the whole file to move to the browser, (a minute or two) then you go - File - Save Page As..... and you can put it anywhere you want. The advantage is that you can then listen with other programs (Real Player, Itunes etc.) which allow you to adjust equalizer settings and they give you a time counter. With the time counter and my notes below, you can jump to the part that interests you. You can also put the file on an Ipod, and listen while taking a walk, or driving or doing the dishes! When you're done with the dishes, pull the plug and watch the dirty water going down the drain, as you listen to our democracy going down the drain. Great fun!

Here's the AUDIO LINK

I'll add some notes and times later.

Town Board Meeting 5/13/08

You will see a link to an mp3 file of the meeting below. If you click on the link, you can listen from within your browser, but there is usually a way to move this mp3 file to your desktop. In Firefox, you wait for the whole file to move to the browser, (a minute or two) then you go - File - Save Page As..... and you can put it anywhere you want. The advantage is that you can then listen with other programs (Real Player, Itunes etc.) which allow you to adjust equalizer settings and they give you a time counter. With the time counter and my notes below, you can jump to the part that interests you. You can also put the file on an Ipod, and listen while taking a walk, or driving or doing the dishes! When you're done with the dishes, pull the plug and watch the dirty water going down the drain, as you listen to our democracy going down the drain. Great fun!

present at the meeting
Liz Thomas
Dave Kerness
Rod Ferintino
Doug Austic
Marsha Georgia
Jim Meeker
Bill Chaisson
Roxanne Marino
Peter Meskill
and who else? I wasn't there


Here's the audio link

Disappointing news - Chris Thomas reports that NYCOM has said they can not, by law, have a referendum on privatization of the ambulance/ems.

0 hrs 0 mins 0 sec - pledge of allegiance and approval of minutes

0-05-20 budget adjustment

0-7-15 Jim Dennis - report from County Legislature and discussion of the DOT truck traffic rules

0-14-15 Chris Thomas speaks about the Telephone Company building. Then he states that although the Village passed a resolution yesterday in favor of holding a referendum on his ambulance privatization scheme, He discovered today that NYCOM has very specific rules for what you can and can not have a referendum on, and this is not one of them. He said that they will go forward with disseminating information and hold a public hearing late in June or early in July. It will then be up to a vote of the Village Board.

Dave Kerness questions Chris about the Telephone Company building

Liz brings it back to the ambulance issue. She askes about the Length of Service Award Program. (LOSAP - retirement benefits for fire fighters and ambulance personel) Chris points out that this would have to be decided by referendum. This is strange. The question of whether or not to initiate LOSAP is important but certainly not as important as whether or not we privatize our ambulance system. So, if the board votes to privatize, then we would have a referendum where we are asked to weigh in on the less important of the two isssues? It's absurd. I would assume that the spirit of the NYCOM rules is to encourage officials to make day to day decisions without resorting to the expense and the bother of frequent referendums. This privatization issue rises above the level of day to day decisions. If NYCOM insists that we have a referendum for LOSAP, then lets vote on two proposals on the same ballot.
A.) shall we privatize the ambulance/ems?
B.) if we privatize, shall we also start LOSAP?
This wouldn't cost any extra.

Check out Michelle Paollilo's comments on LOSAP from yesterday's Village Board meeting below.

For some reason, Chris seems to think that the LOSAP referendum would be Trumansburg only. Why exclude the rest of the district? They are partners in funding the Fire Dept. and the ambulance service. Can't we somehow include them in the LOSAP decision making and funding? Doug points out that Ulysses funds 65% of the Fire/EMS. presumably they would have to shoulder 65% of contributions to LOSAP. But Ulysses can't vote? Dave asks this question, and Chris answers that the Village of Trumansburg, being the owner of the Fire Department, would bear the legal responsibility to honor the LOSAP obligations to retirees, in the event of the program going bust. Hmmm. Aren't there lots of pension programs going bust nationally, and aren't the losers the retirees as opposed to the employers? Couldn't the Village attorney somehow ensure that the village would not be on the hook if the company that handled LOSAP went belly up? Personally, I prefer to invest in canned tunafish. Our economic outlook is bleak. Maybe that would be a good way to encourage volunteers - safe investments like gold.

Liz Thomas points out that younger potential volunteers are not apt to be inticed by retirement benefits.

Doug says "I don't think we have any problem being in support of third party billing, do we?"
Liz says "I don't"

Damn.

0-37-10 Planning Board update -

0-38-12 Comprehensive Plan - Roxanne Marino - reports on the public meetings. Goal is to have a draft plan sometime in June. Ag Protection Plan progress.

0-45-40 Camping on the side of the road during Grassroots - various tactics are discussed to stop it.

1-12-09 Roxanne about wind power ordinances, and states her support for developing the Telephone Company building into a community center

1-14-10 Jim Meeker highway report.

1-26-02 Marsha Georgia treasury

1-27-04 Liz reports on the Village meeting.

1-29-34 Dick Coogan - Purchase of Development Rights? The battery in my recorder dies here. sorry.



Dave Kerness

Rod Ferrentino

Doug Austic

Liz Thomas

Marsha Georgia

Village Board Meeting 5/12/08

You will see a link to an mp3 file of the meeting below. If you click on the link, you can listen from within your browser, but there is usually a way to move this mp3 file to your desktop. In Firefox, you wait for the whole file to move to the browser, (a minute or two) then you go - File - Save Page As..... and you can put it anywhere you want. The advantage is that you can then listen with other programs (Real Player, Itunes etc.) which allow you to adjust equalizer settings and they give you a time counter. With the time counter and my notes below, you can jump to the part that interests you. You can also put the file on an Ipod, and listen while taking a walk, or driving or doing the dishes! When you're done with the dishes, pull the plug and watch the dirty water going down the drain, as you listen to our democracy going down the drain. Great fun!

AUDIO

At the meeting - all officials and,
Geoffrey Hart, Tom Ferritti, Bruce Vann, Susan Robertson, Ed Hetherington, Bob Brown, Richard Nowogrodski, Liz Thomas, Maryanne Archangeli, Michele Paollilo, David and Susan Means, Bill Chaisson, and Allen Carstensen (me)

0 hrs - 0 mins - o sec I got there a few minutes after 7pm and Liz Thomas was reporting on Ulysses news.

0-1-44 EMS news from Susan Robertson - Ice Cream Social 6:30 - 8:30 Monday the 19th

0-3-19 Ed Hetherington gives the Building Inspector report

0-5-20 Police report from Tom Ferritti

0-7-20 DPW, Water, and Sewer - Bruce Vann

0-11-45 Tammy Morse - Clerk's report - The Village got two community celebration grants

0-23-06 Treasury report - discussion of Village use of credit cards

0-40-28 Mayor's report - Marty went to Skaneatles to see Gov. Paterson, and Sen. Schumer speak. Paterson said he was ordering the DOT to enact rules which will limit the use of rural routes by truck traffic. Marty encourages Tom Ferritti to enforce these rules.
Marty says he wants to get together with the town, and the Community Science Water Quality Monitoring program to discuss their sampling protocol.

0-45-50 Chris Thomas presents his Task Force report which recommends hiring Professional Ambulance Billing LLC (PAB) http://www.4pab.com/ to send a bill to every recipient of ambulatory care from our Trumansburg Ambulance Company. This would be a radical departure from the way we have operated since the 1970's when we first began offering this to the community. Currently, the service is supported by donations and by taxes from Trumansburg, Ulysses, and parts of Covert and Hector. We democratically decided to form this service and fund it through our taxes. In 2008 the cost was $300,535.00. Spread over the population of the district, about 10,000 people, the cost per person is about $30/year. This is a reasonable tax to pay, for an excellent service, largely staffed by dedicated volunteers. It is incumbent upon us to continue to pay this tax, and not try to shift the tax burden onto society at large. This is the essence of this scheme. By entering into relationships with private for profit corporations (PAB, and insurance companies) we could shift our taxes onto the already very expensive national health care system. This is perfectly legal, but completely wrongheaded.

Chris Thomas - "Some patients would choose not to accept necessary medical attention or transport due to the fact that they might receive a bill. While this is a concern, it's important to point out that the village is the employer of the third party billing company, if we choose to go that route, and what that means is that as a village we have the right to dictate the terms of collections. So, since we are trying to mitigate costs, and not create a for profit company, the idea is that we would move toward a system of getting the majority of our dollars from Medicaid, Medicare, and private carriers. If somebody does not have insurance (which we've determined to be about 15% of the population), if those people were to receive a bill and not pay it, the village would not pursue collection......." He goes on to point out that the cost of the ambulance ride would not be the overriding factor in comparison to other bills potentially coming from the hospital. He's missing the point. If someone loses a family member, for fear of the cost, then it's too late to discuss whether the village is going to pursue collection or not, and it's too late to discuss the costs of the ambulance vs other costs. The only way to avoid this scenario is a thorough public information campaign to ensure the public is completely aware, that the village will not pursue collection. When I've questioned Chris about this, he seems very much against such a campaign. He feels that anyone who can pay, should pay, therefore such a campaign would work against his plan.

Chris admits that this privatization scheme might change the way volunteers feel about their work. To offset this hazard (if volunteers leave, the costs go way up) he proposes to introduce the Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP) This would be a relatively expensive program of retirement benefits offered to the volunteers. (more on this below) Chris says that a referendum would be required to initiate this program.

Marty raised the issue of co-pays. It's not clear how that would work

Debbie points out that some insurance companies won't pay for some services. What happens if we send a bill and the insurance company doesn't pay it? I think Chris gets the answer wrong. I think the insurance company would, at that point send a notice to all parties, PAB, the village, and the care recipient, or family. At that point, most people would get out a credit card and pay PAB. Is this what the village wants?

1-14-33 Rordan says that this year's $300,00 will likely double in 10-12 years, if the 6% increases of the last two years hold. 6% is only slightly above the real inflation rate. Everything is going up, let's not base our decision on this. If we and other municipalities privatize, then profit enters the picture and has to come from somewhere. Pushing our costs off onto the already world record breaking costs of our national health care system is wrong. If we push it off, we should realize that it becomes larger when it lands on our national health care system, because it will include the overhead and profit of the private corporations.

1-27-0 passed resolution calling for a referendum and a public hearing. Marty says it's been a touchy issue for many years. I'd like some history here. Anybody know how this debate went last time, and who took what positions?

1-28-08 Main Street Project - lights are ordered.

1-31-30 Youth and Community - Debbie discusses movie nights

1-34-50 correspondence - bricks

1-41-08 cell phones for the village

1-44-30 Phone Company building potential purchase - meeting on the 27th - cost of asbestos removal is higher than thought

1-47-30 David Means - bike racks

1-53-12 Zoning - Tammy sent documents to Tompkins Country Planning

1-55-35 Bills

2-00-16 Second public comment period. I express my concern that people will not be aware that the village will not pursue unpaid bills (thereby risking some not accessing necessary care) and Chris responds "it's not something that we're going to advertise"

Chris says "I guess what Marty is suggesting is that in terms of the idea of advertising that you don't have to pay, that a fund is created, I don't personally support that. I mean the idea that a country where capitalism exists, and when people can pay they should pay, if people can't pay and they don't pay, then what we're saying is that we're not going to pursue you, but you know, I think the idea of advertising to people, you know, because at that point you're telling somebody that even though they don't have insurance but they have a good job and they have plenty of money, that they don't have to pay. I think that is an inappropriate way to approach it. (would Chris please provide some examples of people that don't have insurance, but have good jobs and plenty of money?) Um, if somebody can't pay they won't, if somebody can pay they might, you know what I mean? If you really can't pay, you won't and you won't be pursued or collected beyond that"
John - " the other problem with advertising that you won't be pursued at all is that there's potential for abuse"
Chris - " That's my point in not advertising"
John - "not only for those that can't but for those that can, they will then say - well this is mighty convenient. And I think the company experiences a little bit of that now. Some people will say - well this is a free ride."

It seems to me that Chris and John do not hold the people in high esteem.

2-08-20 Richard Nowogrodski - about the referendum. Then he points out that nationwide and statewide - volunteer ambulance companies are having a hard time keeping and recruiting volunteers, but Trumansburg is bucking that trend. We are doing well in that respect. He suggests that it would be wise to ask why. I think he's inferring that the fact that it is free might have something to do with the good morale.

2-12-50 Chris talks about the LOSAP program

2-16-30 Michelle Paollilo speaks about the LOSAP program. She asks how much it's going to cost. Chris says the first year would be about 120,000 which could be capitalized over 5 years. Then a guaranteed cost of about $30,000/year. Michelle says that as a tax payer it is unsettling that we would initiate this expensive program at the same time as we find ourselves compelled to look at billing for EMS services in order to save money. She said that she would not be compelled to stay on as a volunteer by being offered LOSAP.

2-23-50 Motion to adjourn.

Trumansburg Village Board Members

Tammy McMillen Treasurer


Tammy Morse Village Clerk


Mayor Marty Petrovic


Trustee John Hrubos


Trustee Debbie Nottke


Trustee Chris Thomas


Trustee Rordan Hart

Village Board Meeting 4/29/08

You will see a link to an mp3 file of the meeting on the morning of Tuesday April 29th below. If you click on the link, you can listen from within your browser, but there is usually a way to move this mp3 file to your desktop. In Firefox, you wait for the whole file to move to the browser, (a minute or two) then you go - File - Save Page As..... and you can put it anywhere you want. The advantage is that you can then listen with other programs (Real Player, Itunes etc.) which allow you to adjust equalizer settings and they give you a time counter. With the time counter and my notes below, you can jump to the part that interests you. You can also put the file on an Ipod, and listen while taking a walk, or driving or doing the dishes!

AUDIO

At this meeting,

Tom Ferritti - Police Cheif

Jason Fuller - Fire

Ed Hetherington - Building Inspector

Bruce Vann - DPW, Water, and Sewer

Sarah Adams

Don Schlather

John and Martha Ullberg

Alan Vogel

Geoffrey Hart

Amy Drake - Free Press

Allen Carstensen - author of this blog

All Trustees, Clerk, Treasurer and Mayor present.


beginning - chatter until,

0-hrs-3-min-15-sec- Marty calls the meeting to order and opens the first public comment period. This is when I lobby the Board for passage of the resolution which would state that the Board would like to encourage Congress to open an inquiry into the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. I pass out copies of the names of the 171 residents of the Village that have signed a petition asking that the Board to pass the resolution. Since the last meeting I met with Tammy Morse, the Village Clerk, and we found that some twenty names had been omitted. I’ve been going to these meetings since last September, and informing the Board of the most recent, and most egregious crimes, of the Bush administration. My little speeches are always followed by no response whatsoever. So, this time, I mentioned that I intend to e-mail the board on this issue, and that I will post this e-mail and the responses of the members of the board at my Trumansburg Impeachment Blog When I tell them this, Mayor Marty Petrovic says “You can send it to us, it is the Village’s prerogative not to respond, however.”

The Village government is the level of government closest to the people. These representatives are our neighbors. When they run for office, they invariably state that they are accessible, and want to hear from us. To think that they would refuse to respond to my e-mail, asking for an explanation of why they feel that it would be wrong to pass this resolution, after I collected the majority of the 171 signatures from their constituents, is shocking.

John Hrubos says “The thing that’s going to change this for me is 400 more signatures on the petition.” I think this is a cop out. They pass many resolutions without empirical evidence of majority support. This is the essence of representative democracy. We elected him to make these decisions. He is dodging his responsibility. None of the many villages, towns, cities, and counties that have passed similar resolutions have required the signatures of a majority of the municipality. When I went door to door collecting the signatures, most people were not home. It is simply very difficult to get to talk to every potential signatory. Some, that I did talk to, were understandably worried about putting their names on such a list. If there is a legitimate reason for them to worry, and perhaps there is, then this argues in favor of doing everything in our power to seek justice for the criminals in the Bush administration.

I suggested to John, that perhaps we should give those who oppose passage of the resolution, a period of time to collect signatures on a counter petition. He said “No, this is your argument to make” Perhaps he hasn’t read all that I have written at my Trumansburg Impeachment Blog. I have certainly made the argument.

More on this soon, over at trumansburgimpeachment.blogspot.com

0-11-07- Alan Vogel, John Ullberg, and Don Schlather (left to right below) make a proposal to convince the Board to purchase the old Trumansburg Telephone Company Building. Alan made a similar proposal at the last Town Board meeting. Overall, the idea was received much more favorably here.


1-00-24- reports from Department Heads. Ed Hetherington reported on building inspections.
Tom Ferriti reported on police business. He mentioned that he was out of town when the bomb threat was recieved in the middle school, so the State Police became the lead agency. He said that Trumansburg now has the dubious distinction of being one of only two schools in NY that have received a bomb threat, with an actual explosion following the threat. Read more about this over at Finding Ulysses


1-14-30- Clerk’s report, including discussion of the Youth Bureau. Durand Van Doren has asked for permission to use the Village Office parking lot to show movies outside this summer.

1-17-30- Treasurer’s report - there’s been a rash of bad checks lately. There’s a discussion here about the village taking credit cards.

1-27-10- Bruce Vann - DPW, Water, and Sewer. Again, they discuss how water is infiltrating the sewer system and overwhelming the plant. Bruce thinks it’s mainly down spouts improperly dumping into the sewer. He discusses smoke testing.

1-42-0- Chris Thomas says the EMS Task Force will present it’s report at the May 12th meeting. (more on this at the second public comment period) Main Street Project - they pass a resolution to purchase 16 street lights. Some of the blue stones will be engraved this month. There is also some discussion of the brick fields here.

1-58-30- John Hrubos DPW etc. Debbie Nottke - Commissioner of Agencies, Committees and Groups. She’s getting in touch.

2-0-30- Correspondence - The Planning Board request to be the lead agency for the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) . Board passes resolution to that effect.

2-04-28 More discussion about Village use of credit cards

2-07-45 Zoning revision discussion. The Tompkins County Planning Department will probably charge us 5-10 thousand, and work with who? This doesn’t seem to get resolved here.

2-14-10 More discussion of movie nights in the parking lot. The movies will have to have a “G” rating.

2-18-20 Searsburg, and Curry Rd. property sale. Resolved - to survey the properties

2-30-40 Agreement with TCSD for motor vehicle fuel facility sharing discussed

2-33-50 Water infrastructure projects bid opening May 22

2-35-20 Bills

2-41-35 public comment period #2. Martha Ullberg asks about the handling of the Byrne Dairy affair. John clarifies the role of the Zoning Board. Tammy points out that it is in the Planning Board's court until completion of the Site Plan Review. If the Planning Board finds an issue that they feel needs to be considered by the Zoning Board, that’s when they come in. If a special use permit is required, that would be up to the Zoning Board of Appeals. There will be two public hearings. One for the SEQR and one for the Site Plan Review. John says he thinks that petitions are premature because we haven’t given the planning board time to do it’s job. It seems to me that once the board makes a decision, it’s going to be rather late for petitions and citizen action. John says, “If there’s a problem when it’s done deal with it then.” Seems bas akwards to me.

2-53-50 I ask Chris Thomas about the Task Force Report that he mentioned earlier. This is a report that he and some people from the EMS service put together after visiting some neighboring communities that have experience with this privatization of the commons. Apparently these other communities are quite pleased with themselves, after engaging this third party private billing company to send recipients of ambulatory care, large bills which (if the recipients are lucky) will be paid by their private for profit health insurance companies. If the recipients are among the less lucky 47 million Americans, that don’t have health insurance, then the money can come out of their private accounts. Chris Thomas repeatedly denies that this can properly be called privatization. I asked him for a timeline - what will happen after this report? Might he make a resolution to go forward with the privatization? He said “ I’m going to make my report on May 12th, and things will grow organically from there.” He points out that the report will include recommendations. I say, “It’s disturbing to me to think that you might listen to this report, and then move forward without a referendum” Chris says, “I appreciate your concern, my response would be that the Village owns the Fire Department. While a referendum is certainly on the table, it is not required, it is not something that we have to do.” I think Chris is right about this and that is why I’m worried. The Board certainly could move forward with this plan, without undue concern for the will of the majority. I voted for Chris, thinking that he was a progressive Democrat. Perhaps we should have known that he was actually a Libertarian. I reiterate my opposition to this scheme, then Chris tells me “Right now you’re basically operating on no information. Truthfully, you’re operating on no information because you haven’t seen word one of the report.” Apparently, Chris thinks that all information about the privatization of EMS Services, is contained within his report, and that I am ignorant on this subject, because I haven’t seen it. hmm....

2-59-10 Debbie says she has a volunteer that’s willing to be our Village Historian. Karen Dickson, who is also the Town Historian.

3-00-33 motion to adjourn.

Town Board Meeting 4/24/08 8:30 am

You will see a link to an mp3 file of the meeting on the morning of Thursday the 24th below. If you click on the link, you can listen from within your browser, but there is usually a way to move this mp3 file to your desktop. In Firefox, you wait for the whole file to move to the browser, (a minute or two) then you go - File - Save Page As..... and you can put it anywhere you want. The advantage is that you can then listen with other programs (Real Player, Itunes etc.) which allow you to adjust equalizer settings and they give you a time counter. With the time counter and my notes below, you can jump to the part that interests you. You can also put the file on an Ipod, and listen while taking a walk, or driving or doing the dishes!


AUDIO

Present at the meeting are,
Supervisor Doug Austic
Trustees Liz Thomas, Lucia Tyler, and Dave Kerness
Also, Alan Vogel, Geoffrey Hart, John and Martha Ullberg, and Sue Henninger



0 hrs 0 mins 0 sec --- The first half an hour is all about the budget. It sounds to me like the only person in the room that understands the budget is the book keeper - Doug Austic. Apparently the State requires him to follow certain procedures, and formats, and use specific software. There are A funds, and B funds, and carryovers, double entry and multiple accounts. I don’t envy them this work. It’s difficult for dummies like me to know what the hell he’s talking about. I was pleased that others, especially Liz Thomas, were keeping an eye on it, and asking tough questions. I went to the website then to “Town Offices” then to “document downloads” and the budget aint there. Am I just not able to find it? The village budget is available on their website.

0-31-30 This is interesting. Alan Vogel speaks to the Board and encourages the Town to buy the old Trumansburg Phone Company building which is adjacent to the Town Hall. Doug plays his usual conservative role, and objects because of the liability and cost issues. Alan insists that the costs would be low if he and other volunteers did a lot of the work, and fundraising paid for materials, and asbestos removal. Alan was an important part of building the kids play area in front of the laundromat, and I believe he was also involved in the volunteer effort at the Ulysses Philomathic Library.

I see this as a philosophical conflict. Alan believes in “The Commons” and wants to grow the commons for the benefit of the community. Doug is more the traditional conservative, that wants to maintain the status quo. The discussion goes on quite a while. They both have valid points, but in these liberal vs conservative arguments I always side with JFK -

"If by a "liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "liberal."

just substitute “in Ulysses” for “abroad”

Doug does his best to pull the rug out from under Alan, but Liz sticks up for him. Apparently Alan will pitch the idea to the Village Board next. The Village decided to have a second meeting this month Tuesday 4/29 at 7pm. I don’t know if Alan is on the agenda. This meeting is not on the village website calendar.

1-05-06 They discuss the hiring of a Dog Control Officer other than the SPCA. My regular readers will know, that I think this is a lousy idea - privatization strikes again. They unanimously pass Doug’s resolution to create a position. Among the whereases,

whereas under the agreement with the SPCA, we have the ability to provide the same or better dog control services to the residents by having a town dog control officer contracting with the SPCA, for kennel services ..........

I object to the “same or better” part. I doubt that this fellow from Covert, doing this part time, can offer the same or better service as the full time trained professionals from the SPCA.

Liz wrote "The SPCA offers other valuable services which they will still cover at no cost to the town such as animal cruelty investigations, adoptions, housing lost pets, etc."

When we withdraw our support from the SPCA we essentially ask them to continue this work for free.

I wrote about this issue before the election on March 18th. You can find it below if you are inclined.

1-14-12 Ag Land Protection Plan discussed

1-18-25 Tompkins County Council of Governments (TCOG) is investigating pooling insurance

1-27-10 Liz to be alternate rep to TCOG

1-27-40 Dick Coogan - please come to working sessions

1-29-0 job descriptions , and all town board appointments - please report to the board at least twice a year.

1-37-0 Kris Cail to be Water Resources Council liaison

1-40-0 Liz wants a donut

Tompkins County Area Development Council - should we have a rep? Maybe they could help find someone to use the empty Babcock facilities - thereby boosting our tax base. Doug says they send everybody to the Airport Industrial Park.

1-42-50 Water District Commission

1-46-0 Dave says Anita Fitzpatrick (Tompkins County HR) is willing to review the town’s personnel processes and procedures and policies

1-57-30 Liz asks the board if they would like her to investigate website improvements. Doug downplays the importance of websites, but he and the board basically say - yes.

1-59-10 Liz reports on the last Village meeting

2-01-03 Comp Plan and Rt 96 Corridor Plan

2-02-10 Dave says Tompkins County Planning, and our planning board will have a presentation on Unique Natural Areas (UNAs) June 6th (tuesday) evening at the Town Hall - double check this - I’m not sure I got that right.

Next TB meeting - Tuesday May 13th - next working session May 27th 7pm?

Move to adjourn.

Informing Ulysses, by Liz Thomas

On and off the record, personal notes from Liz Thomas, your Town of Ulysses Representative





Planning for the Future of Ulysses

Several simultaneous efforts are underway in Ulysses to set the stage for expected changes in the future. How does it all fit together?



Comprehensive Planning: Two well-attended workshops provided an opportunity for residents of Ulysses to give direction on how to channel development over the next 20 years. Teams of participants were provided with maps to indicate locations for the most appropriate types of development for the Town. The resulting ten maps were remarkably similar and will feed into an updated draft of the Comprehensive Plan which should be available by June. There are only a few more chances to give your input on this plan, so keep your ears perked for the next opportunity.



Water Needs Committee: For those of you who do not have municipal water, watch for a survey sometime this summer which will help determine the areas with the most pressing water concerns. Results of this survey will help decide where additional municipal water lines are needed.



Planning Board: Our energetic Planning Board will begin to research ways to protect the unique natural areas (UNA) in our town as designated by the Tompkins County Environmental Management Council. Potential benefits include promoting tourism based on UNA attractions, preserving scenic views, and maintaining adequate vegetation on steep slopes to minimize impacts of erosion to Cayuga Lake. The Planning Board also intends to review current Lakeshore development protections and recommend improvements if necessary.



Progress on Municipal Water: The Town Board voted 3 to 1 to withdraw support for the revised Water District 5 proposal and instead employ a cooperative process to design a water district with input from the Town of Ulysses Water Needs Committee, the Town of Ulysses Comprehensive Plan, the Town of Ulysses Planning Board, the Village of Trumansburg, Finger Lakes State Parks, and the Town of Ithaca. You can read the resolution below - posted April 12th.



Dog Control:

Due to insurance woes, the Town ran into a slight snag in plans to hire Chris Austen as the Dog Control Officer. Last year, the SPCA announced a near doubling of its fees for Dog Control amounting to approximately $15,000 for Ulysses. Mr. Austen's fee is $5,500 plus $100 each time a dog is picked up (~17 dogs annually in our town). To cover liability insurance Mr. Austen would need to charge an additional $1500 unless he becomes a Ulysses employee. The SPCA offers other valuable services which they will still cover at no cost to the Town such as animal cruelty investigations, adoptions, housing lost pets, etc. Other Towns in the County are still negotiating with the SPCA and regardless of what the Town of Ulysses does this year, our dog control situation will be reviewed at the end of 2008. To be continued...



Ag and Markets Farmland Protection Grant

New York State Department of Ag and Markets recently awarded a farmland protection grant of $25,000 to the Town. The goal is to prepare a document that states the importance of agriculture and lays out a set of action strategies to preserve and protect agriculture as an industry and way of life in the Town of Ulysses. Based on data collected by Cornell Cooperative Extension in 2001, farming is the most significant economic activity in the town. The planning firm, Bergman and Associates, will facilitate the work and incorporate the findings into the revised Comprehensive Plan.



Ulysses Town Justice:

Tom Schlee has completed training to become our next justice replacing Christine Springer. Thanks Tom, for taking three weekends in a row away from your family to fulfill the justice position requirements.



Route 96 Corridor Study

Plan to attend a public meeting on the Route 96 Corridor Study where preliminary findings, including resident responses from a recent survey will be presented. At this meeting, attendees will have an opportunity to learn more about the planning process, provide comments, and ask questions of the consultant team.

When: 6:30 Wednesday, April 23

Where: PRI (Paleontological Research Institution) 1259 Trumansburg Road



Takin' Care of T-burg

This group was started last year to provide an organized and fun way for community members to gather to do routine maintenance and cleaning in the Main Street area and to also work on some long-range enhancement projects. The first work session will be on Saturday, April 26 from 8-11 meeting at the Kid's Village. No need to commit to the full 3 hours. Next dates: May 10, May 31, June 14, and on into the summer. For more information, contact Karen Powers at 387-4058 kpp419@yahoo.com or Don Schlather 387-4135.



Are You Interested in Becoming a Representative?

The Town has a vacancy on the Water Resources Council, a Coordinating Committee for the Tompkins County Board of Representatives. The WRC addresses subjects such as drinking water supply, roadside ditching practices, and generally provides a countywide approach to water quality monitoring. Let me know if you are interested.



Next Meeting Times and Dates:

The time for the second meeting of April has been changed just for this month.

8:30am Thursday, April 24

7:30pm Tuesday, May 13



Spread the word

This letter goes out to about 180 residents of the Town of Ulysses and Village of Trumansburg. Please forward this to others who might have an interest in this information. I'm always glad to add to the list.



Here's to Ulysses!



Liz Thomas

Liz.graeper.thomas@gmail.com

387-8170





For more official and unofficial information:

Where opinions are expressed, they are mine alone and do not necessarily represent the understanding or attitude of the entire Board. Approved minutes of the Town can be found at: http://www.ulysses.ny.us/town-offices.html. You can hear recordings of meetings on the Ulysses Democrats website at http://ulyssesdemocrats.blogspot.com/ thanks to Allen Carstensen.

I encourage you to take a look at Finding Ulysses which provides all kinds of useful and interesting information about happenings in the Town. See it at http://www.findingulysses.com/ thanks to Jonathan Cook.

Village Board Meeting 4/14/08

Here's a link to the AUDIO

(see post below from 3/5/08 for technical info on how best to listen to the audio file)

Present at this meeting, in addition to the trustees, clerk, treasurer, and mayor who were all present were,
Robert Brown
David and Susan Means
Allen Carstensen
Liz Thomas
Geoffrey Hart
Vanessa Willard
Amy Drake
Jerry VanOrden

The first few minutes is just chatter.

6m40s call to order

7m15s first public comment period. This is where I, Allen Carstensen, read my monthly comment on the continuing insanity in Iraq, and the illegality of the Bush administration. I reassert that we want the Board to pass our resolution, and I ask for an update on the thinking of the Board members. I am ignored. They move on to more pressing issues, such as wether or not we should have a fire whistle. I will post the text of my comment over at trumansburgimpeachment.blogspot.com

10m31s Robert Brown's questions about fire whistles and blue-stones

17m20s organizational affairs - this is the first meeting after the election.
Hrubos - commissioner of water, sewer, dpw, and he is the deputy mayor
Hart - police commissioner
Thomas - fire, ambulance, ems commissioner
Nottke - this is her first meeting. She replaces Filiberto who was the youth commissioner. Mayor Petrovic has greatly expanded this commission, to include not only youth, but chamber of commerce, library, historical society, farmers market, winter festival, and senior organizations. She's going to have to go to a lot of meetings.

22m20s official designations, meeting dates and times, voting, minutes, etc.

36m5s slate of officers

41m51s general budgetary public comment period

49m30s water and sewer budget. there is some discussion here about the income from our water system. When the village annexed the Auble trailer park, we stopped charging 1.5x the normal rate. I asked what other 1.5x customers we have, and Hrubos answered - several residences, the gulf course, ShurSave, the fairgrounds, the American Legion etc. Amy Drake was at this meeting and wrote about it in the Free Press. She gives the impression that we lost all of our outside income. It's a little confusing - I don't know what percentage we lost when we annexed the Auble property.
The water rates will go up as of the August billing from 29.75/first 1000gals to 31.50/first 1000gals - for village residents (1.5x for outside customers)

56m20s sewer budget, stream watchers, discussion of sewer problems. Hrubos points out that our sewer system is dumping to much e coli into the river at times of heavy rainfall. This is likely because a lot of people plumb their sump pump discharge into the sewer instead of the storm sewer, or out onto the ground. This sends far too much water to the Lake Street Sewage Treatment Plant, and it is overwhelmed and can not properly treat the increased volume. If you, dear reader, know anyone that has a sump pump that is plumbed this way, and or has gutters plumbed this way - please alert them to the fact that they are responsible for polluting Cayuga Lake. (They are also in violation of the sanitary code) Jerry VanOrden, from Stream Watchers - affiliated with The Community Science Institute - was at this meeting and he reported that when they tested the discharge from the plant in January and February, the bacteria count was way too high.

1h5m20s water infrastructure improvements. Amy Drake did a good job on reporting this aspect of the meeting in the Free Press, but the editor titled her report "Village to Begin Water Infrastructure Work" . Odd. She reported on the whole meeting. I almost didn't bother to read it because the title is boring. Bill does this a lot. Maybe he ought to let his reporters write their own headlines. Anyhow, work will soon begin to replace some old water main on RT96, and Hunt Engineers is supposed to re-coat a tank on RT89, and replace some booster pumps.

1h11m0s passed the budget unanimously.

1h15m50s the village is probably going to soon sell 4 parcels of land that it owns. There will probably be somewhere around $50,000 income. There was some discussion here about what to do with this money. Chris Thomas mentioned Main St. Project completion. Hrubos mentioned buying a tiny little house on Salo Dr. adjacent to the DPW, for a youth facility. I would prefer that the village purchase the small lot next to the waterfall on the creek in back of the NAPA parking lot. This is on the market for $40,000. It would make a lovely little park. It is adjacent to the Carver's house on Congress. Frank Carver died early this year. He worked for peace his whole life. How about "The Frank Carver Memorial Peace Park" ? There is plenty of room for some picnic tables and benches here. The village owns the driveway down to the Carver's house, so a path could branch off of it down to the park. The creek is an underutilized asset to the village. If anyone agrees with me, I think now is a good time to make your opinion known.

1h23m47s much discussion about parking in front of the Town Hall.

1h30m50s pay some bills

1h37m30s Bill Chaisson has volunteered to write a grant application for street trees.

1h39m20s Gimme Coffee orange cone debacle

1h41m35s Safe Routes to School grant application. Chris Thomas says that chances don't look good. Maybe next year.

1h44m4s Public comment period 2. David Means on selling village property. Yours truly on the Frank Carver Memorial Peace Park.

1h50m50s Robert Brown asks what the new tax rate is - it's going from 5.28/1000 to 6.25/1000

1h52m40s Liz Thomas town update. Yours truly complains about the town's hiring a dog control officer other than the SPCA. Our SPCA does a lot of good work. More than just dog control (for which they are probably better trained and better insured and more likely available at any time) They also have an animal cruelty investigator for which they do not charge. I think it is a mistake to withdraw our support. This will come up again at the end of the year, and we could pressure the town to sign up with the SPCA again.

1h58m50s They decide to have a second meeting this month Tuesday 4/29 at 7pm.

2h1m30s Hrubos on the water main extension moratorium. He mentions that the City of Ithaca is also in violation, yet they are not under a moratorium. Odd.