February 2005 Town Board Meeting
Board Members: Harold Semple, Town Supervisor
Paul Stermer, Councilman
Gerry Simcoe, Councilman
Paul Mortzheim, Councilman
Approximately 12 people attended.
Code Enforcement Report: Dave Fuller, CEO, said he had no permit activity. Dave will have conformation on tickets already issued March 8, 2005 and will get with the Town Justice, Susie Williamee, to work out any fees or fines.
911: The town passed a law to have all 911 address numbers posted on mailboxes and empowered Dave Fuller, CEO, to issue tickets to residents who have not attached the special green reflective numbers on their mailboxes. (Note: I'll post the deadline when I find out). The mandated numbers can be purchased at Home Depot.
Three Rivers: The board adopted a motion to increase the retainer fee to Three Rivers Incorporated from $1,900 to $2,700 on a recommendation from Mary Lentzen, Chairperson of the Planning Board.
Gerry Simcoe made a motion to appoint Jacob Gross to fill the position of Councilman left vacant by the recent death of Ammon Titus. Paul Stermer and Gerry Simcoe approved Jake's appointment because they felt Jake showed a lot of interest in town business and the fact he attends most of the meetings. Paul Mortzheim was the only dissenting vote. Jake starts his term at the March 2005 Town Board Meeting.
The board also appointed Mark Swan to the Planning Board to fill a position left vacant by the recent death of Tom Bodnovich.
Paul Mortzheim asked for clarification on the term limit of a Building Permit: From the time you purchase a permit you have one year to complete the project. At the end of the year and your project is not completed you must re-apply for a new permit.
The board also explained the "Junk Law" in not a Zoning Law, it is a Town Law.
Paul Stermer, Councilman
Gerry Simcoe, Councilman
Paul Mortzheim, Councilman
Approximately 12 people attended.
Code Enforcement Report: Dave Fuller, CEO, said he had no permit activity. Dave will have conformation on tickets already issued March 8, 2005 and will get with the Town Justice, Susie Williamee, to work out any fees or fines.
911: The town passed a law to have all 911 address numbers posted on mailboxes and empowered Dave Fuller, CEO, to issue tickets to residents who have not attached the special green reflective numbers on their mailboxes. (Note: I'll post the deadline when I find out). The mandated numbers can be purchased at Home Depot.
Three Rivers: The board adopted a motion to increase the retainer fee to Three Rivers Incorporated from $1,900 to $2,700 on a recommendation from Mary Lentzen, Chairperson of the Planning Board.
Gerry Simcoe made a motion to appoint Jacob Gross to fill the position of Councilman left vacant by the recent death of Ammon Titus. Paul Stermer and Gerry Simcoe approved Jake's appointment because they felt Jake showed a lot of interest in town business and the fact he attends most of the meetings. Paul Mortzheim was the only dissenting vote. Jake starts his term at the March 2005 Town Board Meeting.
The board also appointed Mark Swan to the Planning Board to fill a position left vacant by the recent death of Tom Bodnovich.
Paul Mortzheim asked for clarification on the term limit of a Building Permit: From the time you purchase a permit you have one year to complete the project. At the end of the year and your project is not completed you must re-apply for a new permit.
The board also explained the "Junk Law" in not a Zoning Law, it is a Town Law.
posted by sallyann | 3:43 PM
13 Comments:
Do the by-laws of our town government allow for spouses to serve together on the town board?
Wouldn't it be nice if the town sponsored a free give-a-way of reflective letters so the people who can't get out to buy them could pick them up at town hall?
I would hope the citizens of Lindley would object to 2 of the 4 members of the Town Board being from the same family. Talk about control.....
What we need instead is for more Lindleyites to show an interest in running for the various town offices..
Regarding spouses on Town Board
Either some people have a very high opinion of themselves or they do not give the other residents of Lindley credit for knowing how to govern themselves. We may be farmers and a rural community, but we are smart enough not to let this happen.
One of the commentators is absolutely right...more people should get involved in local politics. The apathy here in town is overwhelming. It's the same old faces who keep carrying the heavy load. And bless them for doing it.
We live in a great country where we can do as we please (most of the time) and we should not take these liberties for granted. We've got soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan sacrificing their lives so we can enjoy the freedoms set forth by our founders. The least we can do is give something back on the local level and keep this great country going.
Evidently there are many uninformed people in this town. There ARE NOT any spouses on the TOWN BOARD. Further more, if all you can do is hide behind being anoymous and not attend meetings then shame on you. This is how gossip starts, with misinformation. No single person has control, it is people working together that make things tick and run smoothly and if you don't care to get involved that is your problem not any of the boards.
The fire number is no laughing matter, but really does our local code enforcement officer have time to run around giving out tickets for not having a number posted on ones mail box. I feel those who knew where to buy the green letters have and those who didn’t will, but how about those elderly folks who have a hard time just getting their mail. Who is going to help them install the numbers? . Maybe this would make a good project for The Boy Scouts or other youth group.
Who is responsible for policing the junk laws? I always thought the code enforcement officer was suppose to police that. I just hope the mailbox cop doesn’t get bit by an unlicensed dog or trip and get hurt on a junk car on the way to the front door with his ticket.
Who did the town board say takes care of the junk issues????????????
Regarding the fire numbers issue,again if you had been at the meeting you would have known that this directive came from the county level and not the Lindley Town Board I am sure the good folks of Lindley will help out their elderly neighbors just as they always have. The requirement for the numbers is a safety issue, making homes easily identifyable especially at night. It isn't like it used to be when you knew everyone and they knew you, thus the need for reflective numbers thoroughout the county to comply with the 911 service. I hope this will clear up some of the misunerstanding.
Perhaps,there are some of us who are from Missouri and will believe 911 when it happens. How long has this been in the works??
Whatever happened to the idea of one of the community organizations making snd selling the signs.The commercial ones are a bit pricey! We would rather keep the money in the community..
It's taken years for 9-1-1 to be developed in Steuben County. I still don't know if it's activated. A friend called 911 after an accident happened in front of him and the state police went to the wrong place. I think it's questionable if it's ever going to work well. We'll see. How about your 9-1-1 in Missouri? Is is up an running?
As both spouses serve on different Boards, there is no active conflict of interest. The Planning Board, as a group brings issues before the Town Board and vice versa. While, in theory, each of the spouses could tell the other how to vote on a specific issue, each of their votes is not the majority. Likewise, one spouse is only one of the Town Board members and, as such, does not constitute a majority.
In the event some issue did arise involving them personally (business venture, legal action, etc.) that would be impacted by a decision of their own or their spouse's board, then they would need to recuse themselves, as there would clearly be conflict of interest. This is true for any of the Board members however. If the Planning Board is making a decision regarding a business venture being undertaken by one of its members, that particular member should recuse themselves. If they do not, they are wide open for a conflict of interest battle.
Isn't this why we elect people to the Town Board?
Unlike the Planning Board (who I think are appointed)if we are displeased with the people on the Town Board ,we do have a choice. We just need someone to oppose them when they are up for re-election.
In the case with the one spouse who will sit on the Town Board, he was appointed to fill a position left vacant by the death of another longtime board member. Appointments such as this are legal and keep the government functioning until new elections come around. If this board member choses to run for that same position, the voice of the people will then be heard.
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